Chapter Fourteen: Confirmation

Rollins entered through the city of Peekskill in his beat-up silver Honda. As State Investigator of the State of New York, Rollins had been to every city, town and village in the state. He tried to remember the last time he had been to Peekskill. For a city, it seems awfully quiet, he thought as he drove through the streets.

He finally had a name to go with the indent-a-kit images along with a search warrant granted by Blackner. The computer database of Pontiac GTO owners had led him to the name and address of a Joanna Marie Bonner, a young woman who lived in Peekskill.

When he pulled up to her presumed residence, a small apartment complex, he found an elderly Hispanic woman sitting right outside the complex. He nodded politely to them as he knocked on the door.

"Hello, dear. Are you looking for somebody?" The old lady asked him.

Rollins turned to her, nodding. He then flashed her his badge

"Yes, ma'am. As a matter of fact, I am. Do you live here?"

The woman nodded.

Rollins showed her the two pictures. "Would you happen to recognize or know any of these two women?"

The woman peered closely at the two pictures, squinting. "Well, I have seen the brown-haired woman before. I see her when she goes into her car during the weekday mornings."

"So the brunette lives here, you say?" Rollins asked.

The woman nodded. "I believe so. I see her right from my bedroom window almost every morning going to her car, to work, I assume."

"And what about the other woman?"

The woman squinted again. "Well, I don't think she lives here but I have seen her here from time to time. I don't know her name though."

Rollins nodded. "Well, thank you, ma'am. Enjoy the rest of your day," he said.

He opened the door with the key given to him by the landlord and stepped inside the foyer of the complex.

Rollins walked up three flights of stairs until he reached the apartment he was looking for: 317.

He inserted the key inside the door and stepped inside Rick and Jo's apartment. It was spotless inside and it was empty. He wandered inside every room in the apartment until he came to the living room.

The living room was a bit small but there were various photographs everywhere. A wedding photo of Jo and Rick and various photos of the couple with family and friends hung proudly on almost every inch of the wall.

Rollins stepped towards one that caught his eye of a much younger Jo in a maroon graduation cap and gown. She was hugging a young blonde girl in a matching graduation outfit.

Rollins stared at it and then glanced at the ident-a-kit photos.

Well…I'll be damned.

There was a match.

"Some day somebody's gonna make you want to turn around and say goodbye!" Blair and Jo both sang loudly along to Wilson Phillips' "Hold On" at the tops of their lungs.

Blair grinned goofily as she then made bizarre, weird, movements with her hands and arms.

Jo followed suit with Blair's funny hand movements. The two women laughed hysterically, continuing to sing the rest of the song loudly and shrilly.

"Until then, baby, are you going to let them hold you down and make you cry? Don't you know? Don't you know things can change? Things'll go your way? If you hoooooooold on for one more dayyyyyyyy! Can you holdddddddd on for one more day? Things'll go your wayyyyyyyyyyyy…Hold on for one more dayyyyyy!"

Blair shut off the radio after the song had finished, wiping the tears from her eyes. "God, I love that song!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

"Me, too. Is that a new song?" Jo asked.

Blair nodded. "I think so. Tootie actually introduced me to Wilson Phillips' music about two or three weeks ago."

The mood suddenly changed drastically as soon as Blair had mentioned Tootie's name. Blair and Jo looked at each other.

"We're never going to see them again, aren't we?" Blair asked sadly.

Jo didn't answer. Blair then sighed. "Wow. This is really hitting home, isn't it, Jo?" She asked. "We're going to have completely different lives when we reach Mexico, huh?"

"Things will work out, Blair," Jo said, placing a reassuring hand on Blair's shoulder.

Blair only sighed. "I don't think I could ever go back to Peekskill, Jo," she admitted. "I mean, not after the way Casey treats me. I love Natalie and Tootie and my parents and Bailey but I can't see myself with Casey again, you know? I want more but I'm not even sure of what I actually want more of. It's so fucking confusing."

She frowned, furrowing her eyebrows. "Does that make any sense?" She asked.

Jo nodded. "It does," she agreed. She thought back to her own relationship with Rick. She knew for awhile, deep down, that she was now unhappy with him, but was unsure as how she wanted to let him know her true feelings. She wanted more in her relationship but she didn't think Rick could offer anything else she wanted.

"Speaking of wanting more, would you look at that!" Blair exclaimed, pointing.

Jo followed Blair's finger to the same man they had encountered before. He was standing by the side of the road with his thumb out, thumbing for a ride.

Blair then began whimpering like a dog, begging Jo to pull over and stop. She gave Jo her best puppy dog eyes, pleading with her eyes. Jo groaned.

She really didn't want that man in her car but she also knew she'd give into Blair's begging and pleading, especially when she was looking at her with those eyes.

I hate it when she does that. Her eyes are too irresistible.

Jo then bit her lip nervously. Shit. Did I really just think that?

Before she knew what she was doing, she had stopped the car and the man had then hopped right into one of the back seats.

"So you work here, right?" Rollins asked Roger, the Center's intern.

Rollins had arrived to the Hudson Valley Community Center and found Roger the only employee working there.

Roger nodded proudly. "Yep. Been here 'bout a month and a half, sir."

Rollins then pulled out the photographs of Jo and Blair from his pocket. "Do these women look familiar to you?" he asked him.

Roger's eyes widened. "That's Jo and Miss Blair!" He exclaimed.

"You know them?"

"Yeah, sure do! Miss Blair owns this building! Her dad is the richest man in town and she's heir to his money and the most prettiest gal in Peekskill! And Jo…she's just plain ol' Jo. I work with her. She's a social worker here and just real hardworking and nice."

A middle-aged, plump woman with short, strawberry blonde hair, came into the building at that very moment. "Mr. Clark, sorry I'm late but my niece broke her wrist and_" she cut herself off as she stared at Rollins and Roger in the room.

"Oh. Roger, I see you have company. Who's this?"

"This is Ted Rollins, Mary Ellen. He's the State Investigator. He's looking for Jo and Miss Blair."

Mary Ellen's face went gray. "Oh, dear. Jo's not in any trouble, now is she?" She asked.

Rollins stood up and went to shake Mary Ellen's hand. "I take it you work here as well, ma'am?" He asked.

"Only part time. I'm the secretary here. Now what's going on with Jo? You're looking for her and her friend Blair?"

Rollins nodded. He held up the ident-a-kit photos. "So you can confirm these are the identities of the women in these photos?" He asked.

"Of course. Jo Bonner is one of my colleagues and that other woman is Blair Warner. Blair and Jo have been friends for a long time from what I've known about them."

"Can you tell me when the last time was either of you had seen or heard from them?" Rollins asked.

"I saw Jo on Friday afternoon. And she was on the phone, talking to Miss Blair about going on a trip someplace," Roger informed him.

Mary Ellen nodded. "Yes. I loaned Jo my vacation house for the weekend. I waited for her so I could give her the keys but she never showed up. I called her apartment and there was no answer. I hope they're not in any trouble."

She then frowned. "I should call Ms. Stickle and tell her what's going on. I'm sure she'll want to be informed of what's going on. Wait one minute."

And before Rollins knew what was happening, Mary Ellen was making a phone call.

"Here's the address of Beverly Ann Stickle, sir," she told him, handing him a slip of paper with her scrawl written on it. "Please go see her right away. She wants to chat with you…it's urgent."

Rollins took it. "Thank you, ma'am," he said.

"Why exactly are you looking for them for, anyway?" Roger asked.

Rollins shrugged. "Just questioning," he informed him. "Thank you for your time."

He then left the Center, finally now on his way to Beverly Ann Stickle's house.