Richard Montanari - The Echo Man

Jessica remembered them well. They'd been investigating a case that eventually took them up the Schuylkill River into Berks County. Josh Bontrager had been on temporary assignment. 'I remember.'

'Kevin wasn't too crazy about me at first, you know.'

'It just takes a little time for him to warm up to people.'

Bontrager looked at her, offered a smile. 'Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania may not be a hotbed of intellectuals, but we do know people,' he said. 'I knew right away what a closed group this is. I was the new guy, and a really inexperienced guy at that.'

Jessica just listened. She had gone through a brutal initiation period herself.

'In those first few months I made a lot of mistakes.'

'You did fine, Josh.'

'No, it only looked that way. I can't tell you how many times Kevin took me aside and showed me the ropes. How many times he covered for me.' Bontrager put his hands in his pockets. He looked across the cemetery. 'Nobody wanted me to have this job. Not really. I heard all the jokes, you know. All the stuff said behind my back. People thought I didn't, but I did.'

Jessica remembered well the hard time Josh had gotten. It was always bad enough for the new guy in the unit, but doubly so for Josh Bontrager, considering his background.

'You toughed it out, Josh,' Jessica said. 'You've earned the right to be here. You're a damned good detective.'

Bontrager shrugged. 'Well, it was you and Kevin who went to bat for me back then. I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you guys. If I lose it all tonight, I can live with that.'

'It might get worse than that, you know. Much worse.'

Josh Bontrager looked at her. Sometimes, with his clear eyes, open smile, and seemingly untamable cowlick, he looked like a kid, some country boy who'd got off 1-95 at the wrong exit and wandered into the city. Other times, like right at this moment, he looked like a homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police Department.

'The Amish have an old saying,' Bontrager said. "'Courage is fear that has said its prayers."' He drew his Glock, checked the action, holstered it, snapped it in. 'I've said my prayers, Jess.'

Jessica glanced at the crime scene, then back. 'Thanks, Josh.'

'I'm going to lock my car,' Bontrager said. 'I'll be right back.'

As Josh walked across the street, Jessica thought about what Byrne had said.

It's always been about the music.

Before she could make a mental list of their options her phone rang. It was David Albrecht. She answered.

'David, now is not really a good-'

There was static on the line. 'What's going on?' he asked.

'What do you mean?'

'I heard the call go out. Is there another victim?'

'What do you mean, you heard the call go out?'

'I heard it on the police radio.'

'You have a scanner?'

'Well, yeah,' he said. 'Of course.'

Jessica hadn't considered this. It made sense. 'Where are you, David?'

'I'm following Detective Byrne.'

Jessica's pulse spiked. She waved Bontrager over. 'You're with Kevin?'

'I'm right behind him. He was parked near the hotel. I saw a woman in the van. I thought you guys were together. I followed.'

'Where are you?'

'Hang on,' Albrecht said. 'Let me check my GPS.'

A few agonizing seconds passed.

'We're on Bells Mill Road.'

Bells Mill Road cut through the northeast section of Fairmount Park, traversing the Wissahickon Creek just west of Chestnut Hill.

'Do you know where he's going?' Jessica asked.

'Not a clue,' Albrecht said. 'But I kind of like it that way. This is so-'

'Which way are you heading?'

'We're going east. Northeast, technically. My GPS says we're coming up on something called Forbidden Drive. Is that the coolest name of all time or what? I think I'm changing the name of my movie to Forbidden Drive.'

'David, I want you to-'

'Hang on.' A loud blast of static. The coming storm was playing havoc with the signal. 'He's slowing down. I'll call you right back.'

'David, wait.'

Dead air. Jessica hit the button to call right back. She got David Albrecht's voicemail.

She told Josh what Albrecht had said.

'He's on Bells Mill?' Bontrager asked.

'Yeah.'

'Where do you think they're going?'

'I don't know.'

Jessica put the location into the Google Maps app on her phone. Seconds later she had a map of the area. She really didn't know anything about that part of the park. She fished out her keys.

'Let's get on the road,' she said. 'We'll figure it out on the way.'

Bells Mill Road was a two-lane blacktop that spanned an area between Ridge and Germantown Avenues. At its western end, where it became Spring Lane, there were houses, but as it made its way into Fairmount Park it became wooded and dark. As Jessica and Bontrager drove, the night was cut only by the headlights of their car.

On the way Josh Bontrager dialed David Albrecht's number twenty times, getting his voicemail each time. At the same time Jessica speed- dialed Byrne's cellphone with the same result.

'Maybe Kevin left his phone somewhere,' Bontrager said.

Jessica thought about this. 'No. He turns it off sometimes, but he always has it with him. He's just not answering.'

Bontrager went silent for a few moments. 'Don't all phones have some kind of GPS in them?'

Jessica didn't know about all phones. 'What are you saying, Josh?'

'If we could slip through a warrant, maybe we could get a fix on Kevin's phone.'

Jessica had thought of this. But it meant bringing someone into the loop. There was no doubt in her mind that an APB on Kevin had gone out. Police were looking for him and his vehicle. If she reached out to someone to help find him, she would be taking the chance that it would leak, and it would all end badly.

She looked at her watch. It was 10:24. Time was running out. She had no choice. She knew who she had to bring into this. She called Michael Drummond.

'This is Michael.'

'Michael, it's Jessica Balzano.' 'Hey, Jessica. How are you?' 'I hope I didn't wake you.'

'Not a chance. I'm stuck at a Halloween party,' he said. 'What's up?'

'I need a warrant for a cellphone track.'

Drummond was silent for a moment. 'What do you have?'

Jessica told him the bare minimum.

'Who's the target?'

Jessica had no choice here, nor did she have a cover. 'Kevin Byrne.'

Once again, Michael Drummond fell silent for a few moments. 'This is about your serial?'

Jessica knew she was now on the record with this. If she lied, it would all come down around her.

'Yes and no.'

'Spoken like a true politician. But I'm going to need a little more if I'm going to get a warrant. You know it has to go through the chief.'

All search warrants related to a homicide case had to be approved by the chief of homicide in the district attorney's office.

Jessica had no choice. 'He might be in some trouble, Michael.' Jessica heard Drummond take a deep breath, exhale slowly. 'I'll need his phone number and his carrier.'

Jessica gave him the information.

'I don't know if I can get this through at this time of night.'

'I understand.'

'Let me see what I can do,' Drummond said. 'Where are you?' Jessica told him.

'Are you alone?'

'I'm with Detective Bontrager.' 'Hang tight. I'll call you back.'

Jessica clicked off her phone. She stood in the middle of the road, in the impenetrable country darkness. The road stretched into the gloom in both directions. Dark, forbidding, unknown, silent.

Darkness.

They were moving. There was tape over her eyes and her mouth. Her hands were still bound together behind her back with the plastic band.

Lucy tried to listen to sounds around her. She heard the sound of the road beneath her. They were on a paved road, smooth, maybe an expressway, although she did not have the sense that they were traveling at high speed. Every so often she heard the sound of something passing. It was a distinct rhythm. Light poles?