“Bingo!”

“What?”

“I’ve got a phone number from Ed Garland’s records that also shows up on the records of Chelsea Morris.”

“Whose is it?”

“That’s odd. It’s McCollum High School.”

“Really? Why’s that odd?”

“That’s the school I went to.”

Jason laughed.

“Not so weird, a lot of people went to that school. Were they incoming or outgoing calls?”

“Incoming. The school called them.”

“We’ll need to go by and find out who made the calls.”

Jason turned into the parking lot of the DOT office and stopped.

“At least we have a connection now besides just the finger prints”

****

Suzanne arrived home a few minutes later. Home was a white, single story bungalow with a shake shingle roof and tan shutters.

She had never married and her only companion was a Yorkie called “Tizzy”. The name had come from the way her dog greeted her at the end of the day. A friend had given her a lift home one day not long after she got the pup. When the friend came in to see the new puppy, she watched as the little dog went crazy to see Suzanne.

“She’s having a tizzy!” her friend laughed.

Right there and then, the puppy was named.

She let herself in and the dog met her at the door. She went through the standard ‘pick me up and give kisses’ with Tizzy before putting her out in the backyard to do her business. She went looking for her address book. After several minutes of searching, she found herself standing in the kitchen.

Where is that stupid book?! My purse sits by my station and I don’t remember taking the book out today.

She decided to wait until she checked work tomorrow before going into a full blown panic. In the meantime, the Red Bull was kicking in and there was laundry to do.

****

 

Jason and Nina came through the double glass doors into the cool reception hall of the Texas DOT offices.

“Can I help you?”

Jason showed his badge to the twenty-something blonde at the desk.

“I’m Detective Strong and this is Detective Jefferson. We need to speak with Jack Burns.”

The girl immediately looked concerned and picked up the phone without saying anything.

“Mr. Burns, there’s two detectives here to see you.”

She listened for a minute before hanging up.

“He’ll be right out.”

Jack Burns was the name Lieutenant Patton had given them. Jason had called the lieutenant on the way over here to find out if he knew someone. The lieutenant had said he and Burns went way back.

“Thanks.”

Jack Burns came through the glass door at the far end of the reception area. Short, thin and tanned with silver hair, Jason guessed he didn’t spend all his time in an office.

“Jack Burns?”

“Yes, that’s me. How can I help you?”

“My name is Detective Strong, this is Detective Jefferson. Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“Sure, let’s go to my office.”

As they walked, the DOT official looked from Jason to Nina.

“Did I do something?”

Nina gave him a reassuring smile.

“No, sir. We’re involved in an investigation and believe you may be able to help.”

“Oh. In here.”

He let them in the glass door he had originally come through, then directed them immediately to their right and into a spacious office.

Jason and Nina both took the chairs offered to them.  Jack Burns shut the door before going around his desk and sitting down.

“Alright, Detectives. How can I help?”

Jason produced a sheet of paper. It was a map with the location where Chelsea Morris’ car was found and where Daylight Donuts was located.

“We need to see if you have any cameras along this route.”

He handed the paper to Burns and, after examining it for a minute, the DOT official punched some numbers into the computer on his desk. He turned the computer monitor towards the two detectives.

“I have one camera on this route. At Huebner.”

Jason couldn’t make sense of the multiple cameras that were displayed.

“Which one is that?”

Burns clicked a couple more keys and the screen changed to just one image.

“Can you call up specific times for these cameras?”

“Sure but they’re not movie cameras. These are ‘still shots’ that refresh about every 5 minutes.”

Jason handed the DOT official another piece of paper.

“This is the time frame and date we need.”

Jack Burns started pushing more keys and spun a roller ball on his mouse until he came to a specific frame on the cameras.

“Okay, what are we looking for?”

Jason took a quick glance at his notes.

“1995 Chevy Cavalier.”

Jack Burns clicked a button and with each click, a new image showed. Nina saw it first.

“There!”

Jason agreed.

“That’s it. Can you blow it up?”

“Some, but I’m limited.”

The picture zoomed in. The vehicle was going away from the camera and at least a hundred feet past the camera when it was taken.

They couldn’t see Chelsea but there was a clear image of a man in the back seat. Nina said what both detectives were thinking.

“She was stalked. He was waiting and ambushed her before the drive home.”

Jason just stared at the image. They now knew that both their missing person’s were likely chosen and hunted. And more importantly, they had no idea why or if he had more targets.

He got up and shook hands with Jack Burns.

“Can you print me a copy of the photo?”

“Sure.” Jack punched some more keys. “Be back in a minute.”

He left the office and Jason turned to Nina.

“The only connection we have between the victims is the phone number from the high school. We need to go there next.”

The DOT official returned with the photo and the detectives headed for their car.

 

Chapter  11

 

Suzanne finished folding the load of towels and went to the kitchen. The Red Bull was wearing off and she decided it was time for some TV to relax. She got some ice from the fridge and poured herself a Diet Pepsi. She was just about to sit in the recliner when the door bell rang.

Tizzy raced to the door and started her incessant barking which announced every visitor’s arrival.

“Tizzy! Shush! Tizzy!”

Suzanne opened the door to find the walk-in customer from her shop standing there. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Oh, hi. Can I help you?”

“Hi. I don’t know if you remember me but I was in your shop today.”

“Of course. Donnie, isn’t it? Is there something wrong?”

“Well, in an odd coincidence, I stopped at the Quikstop awhile ago and…”

Tizzy was going nuts, barking and baring her teeth at the stranger.

“Tizzy, shush. That’s enough!”

“…Anyway, I found your address book lying next to the gas pumps. I live just around the corner so I thought I’d walk over and bring it to you.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. I was looking all over for it.”

Tizzy kept at it, barking and threatening to charge the man, despite her tiny size.

“Tizzy!! Excuse me; I’m going to put her away.”

Suzanne scooped up the dog and walked to the bedroom. She put the dog in the room and shut the door. When she turned around, the man was in the middle of the living room, with a gun pointed at her.

“Don’t scream or I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

****

Jason and Nina took I-35 south to Military Trail, over to Commercial Ave, and then south to Formosa. Even though Jason knew where the school was, Nina was giving him directions.