Pamela Tracy - What Janie Saw

Janie had gone to the studio once with Adam. Even though he’d started her in a beginners’ class, one he’d been teaching, she’d stumbled with the most basic of moves. Luckily, she’d been able to laugh at herself.

“That doesn’t mean she would never run away.”

“No, it doesn’t, but she’s just not that kind of girl. She was nice to my brother.”

Janie couldn’t come up with the words to respond. Having siblings with special needs was what had cemented Adam and Luke’s friendship all those years ago. Luke had had Bridget; Adam had his twin, whom he fiercely protected.

Being nice to his brother was akin to sainthood, at least to Adam. Right now, Aaron lived with Adam’s parents and worked at their tae kwon do studio. He was a helpful ten-year-old trapped in a twentysomething body and was always cheerful.

“What have you heard? Why are you asking this now? Has there been news about Brittney?” Adam asked.

“Nothing I can share,” Janie said.

Adam raised one eyebrow. His lips went into a thin line of disappointment. “Look—” he started to say.

And just like that, the anxiety enveloped her again. She couldn’t breathe, and the only thing she could do was seek escape. She managed to gasp, “I have to get out of here. I’ll talk to you later.”

She took off, running, ignoring the echoing shouts of Adam’s concern.

Nine years. It had been nine years since the walls had closed in on her, keeping her awake nights and searching for places to hide during the day.

Her sister had never shaken the anxiety. Even today with a husband and a baby on the way, Katie sometimes paced the living room unable to sleep or find peace.

Not Janie.

The minute she’d escaped their aunt to go live with Katie, she’d pushed the fear to some corner of her mind and fenced it in.

But today, it returned.

Her safe world had crumbled.

CHAPTER FOUR

TWO HOURS LATER, an hour later than he’d wanted it to be, Rafe pulled into a circular driveway just a mile down from BAA.

Belonging to Ruth Moore, who also owned the land BAA resided on, the minimansion was today a place where fund-raisers were held and where Ruth, along with Katie and her husband, Luke, lived.

Ruth was currently on her honeymoon. She and her new husband, Jasper, were overseas exploring the place where Jasper had lived before Hitler and the war made him an orphan.

Rafe exited the Jeep and walked around to the cottage out back where Janie lived. He had to knock twice before Janie opened the door. She’d changed into jeans and a button-down sky-blue shirt with ruffles.

“Do I really have to do this?” she questioned.

“Yes.”

She followed, and soon she sat beside him in his Jeep, no longer looking frightened. Fear had been replaced by exhaustion. They left the property and hit the main road.

“You did a good job with the CopLink photos today. I’ve given the names of the three students you picked out to the Adobe Hills police. Chief Summerside’s gonna go pick up the fourth, our local boy,” Rafe shared.

“I wish I could have done more. And I’m still not sure if the people I identified are just people I’ve seen at school or here at the zoo. Except for Tommy. You know him?”

Yes, Rafe knew Thomas Skinley. He’d been in and out of trouble for the last five years.

“How often does he come to the zoo, and are you sure you never saw him at school?” Rafe asked, trying not to show how disturbed he was by the name.

“No, not at school. He’s come to the zoo more than a few times with his sister. As I told your officer, Amanda Skinley is in my Monday/Wednesday class, Derek’s class.”

The dots were beginning to connect. Amanda was Tommy’s sister. Rafe could feel the case turning, gaining ground, starting to move forward. If he didn’t lose focus, if he asked the right questions, maybe they’d find Brittney.

“Was Amanda in class last night?”

“Yes, she never misses. She’s taking advantage of a dual-enrollment program that allows high-school seniors to take college courses for credit.”

Amanda Skinley was a bright girl, born deaf, who rarely made waves and basically avoided the criminal path her brother had taken. Still, she might know something.

“In class last night, did anyone ask about Derek? Did Amanda ask about him?”

“Amanda didn’t say anything, but she rarely contributes much. She depends on her interpreters. She did seem out of sorts yesterday, though.”

“Go on.”

“Truthfully, until after class, when I opened his art book, there wasn’t much to tell. We had our break, right at seven-thirty. Class dismissed at nine. I went to the student union to go over their art books and comment on their progress.”

“Something you did after every class?” he asked.

“No, Patricia and I usually do it together in her office. Last night was the first time I went through the books by myself.”

“And up to Wednesday night, Derek was turning in only what you expected.”

“Yes. I don’t know why I kept reading. His words made me feel like I wasn’t safe, like I needed to hide, like someone was watching me.”

Rafe knew what it was that had prompted her to continue: morbid curiosity. It was the same pull that urged civilians to slow down when they drove by an accident. Derek’s life had been a train wreck, and right now, unless Rafe missed his guess, Janie was more or less one more victim tied to the track.

They made it five miles before Rafe got a call from Nathan canceling their meeting and rescheduling it for tomorrow. Seemed Nathan was dealing with a multivehicle collision on Interstate Ten where a tractor-trailer had spilled enough cocaine to imitate a snowstorm.

After hanging up, Rafe hit the steering wheel. Not very professional, but a heck of a lot tamer than what he really wanted to do. “I need something concrete to tell Brittney’s parents,” he muttered as he pulled into a convenience-store parking lot and turned the car around.

Janie just stared out the window. Rafe couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but after Nathan’s cancellation, she had visibly relaxed. “The fact that we’re not meeting Nathan today,” Rafe reminded her, “doesn’t mean that Derek or his art book is going away. It’s a delay, not a cancellation.”

“I’m well aware of that.” Janie gave him a haughty look. “It’s just that everything’s happening so fast. I need some time to think.”

Some of his annoyance lessened. He knew he was being unreasonable. Missing persons cases did that to him. And, truly, Rafe understood what she was feeling. It was like a horrible roller-coaster ride, one you’d not meant to get on and one that had no end in sight. The police world was like that. You had to solve a case in twenty-four hours or the odds of solving it decreased by more than half.

A good officer held on to that roller-coaster car and rode it until the tracks collapsed and the park closed.

A great officer knew that at some point you had to exit the roller coaster, step back, watch what others were doing on the ride and then, in just a matter of moments, get back on.

Janie seemed more like the Ferris-wheel kind of girl. The roller coaster? Not so much. She’d probably want to paint the cars.

And look beautiful doing it.

He shook his head, trying to clear the wayward thoughts that were taking his mind off the case. He couldn’t afford the distraction. And she was distracting. From the elegant way she held her chin, so stubborn, to the way she crossed her long legs. Again he wondered why he’d not called her for a second date. A date didn’t mean committing to eternity. Maybe they’d have found common ground and built, if not a relationship, then a friendship.