boyfriend, classmate or someone who might have
pursued Emily, that would have had a hard time letting go or accepting
rejection.”
I
shook my head. “No. I mean Em liked to have fun, and she dated a lot of guys,”
I swallowed guiltily, knowing she wouldn’t want James to hear this, but I’d
already had to give him the rundown on some of her dating history. This wasn’t
any worse. “She wasn’t always the most selective and went out with a few jerks.
She also broke a few hearts and had a lot of admirers, but no one was ever that
hostile with her after being rejected. She never complained of having any
stalkers or anything like that. The only one who really worried me was her ex,
Jason Reeves.”
Parker,
recognizing the name, jumped in. “We spoke to Mr. Reeves following the missing
persons report being filed. He was along for the ski trip Emily was on with her
friends. The two of them had several verbal altercations before Emily left the
trip a couple days early. The rest of their friends vouch for the fact that
Jason remained through the weekend, and his credit card statements show
purchases made at the resort to back it up.”
Monroe
nodded at Parker, satisfied, and then looked back at me. “Is there anyone else?
We suspect this guy to be in his mid-twenties to early thirties, likely
good-looking and non-threatening as it appears he gets the girls to go with him
willingly. At the very least, he’s able to get close enough to subdue them
without setting off any internal alarms as we’ve seen no signs of fight on the
girls. He’s intelligent and has a high attention to detail. Meticulous almost.
Has a need to be in control and probably doesn’t do well with authority
figures.”
“I’m
sorry. I can’t think of anyone, and I’ve already spent the last two weeks racking
my brain to come up with who and why someone would have had a reason to hurt
her, and I just don’t know.”
“If
either of you do think of anything, even if it seems small, don’t hesitate to
call Detective Parker or myself.” He pulled two business cards from his jacket
and handed them to us. Then he started gathering everything back into his file,
including the notes he made while we talked.
There
was just one more thing I wanted to ask that was bugging me, but I didn’t know
if I could bring myself to ask the question. We all stood from our seats and I
tried to steel myself.
“Agent
Monroe?”
“Yes?”
He looked up from the file he was gathering into his hands.
“If
it’s the same guy who took those other girls, why hasn’t . . .” I couldn’t
bring myself to voice it, but he knew what I was asking and he gave me a
sympathetic look.
“I
wish I could give you a definite answer, but the truth is, until we know more,
I can’t say. The fact that she hasn’t turned up like the others could mean
several things.” He was reluctant to elaborate, but it wasn’t good enough for
me.
“Like
what? That you just haven’t found her body yet?” I croaked angrily, surprised
at how quickly my emotions were coming up. I couldn’t help it though. I’d been
wondering it for days. There were lakes all over western Washington. Each girl
had been dumped at a different spot along one of them. Who was to say Emily
wasn’t already out there, waiting to be found? Most of the girls had gone
undiscovered for several days or longer before someone came across them. Even
though I knew state troopers, park rangers and game and wildlife officers had
been put on alert to be patrolling all the lakes in the area, they couldn’t
cover every inch.
“Like
I said, Miss Scott, there are several possibilities. We have just as much
reason to believe she’s alive and will continue to look for her as if she is.
We also can’t ignore the possibility that these two cases might be unrelated
and Emily’s disappearance is being used as a convenient move to throw off our
investigation into this serial case. These types of predators are usually
tracked
pursued Emily, that would have had a hard time letting go or accepting
rejection.”
I
shook my head. “No. I mean Em liked to have fun, and she dated a lot of guys,”
I swallowed guiltily, knowing she wouldn’t want James to hear this, but I’d
already had to give him the rundown on some of her dating history. This wasn’t
any worse. “She wasn’t always the most selective and went out with a few jerks.
She also broke a few hearts and had a lot of admirers, but no one was ever that
hostile with her after being rejected. She never complained of having any
stalkers or anything like that. The only one who really worried me was her ex,
Jason Reeves.”
Parker,
recognizing the name, jumped in. “We spoke to Mr. Reeves following the missing
persons report being filed. He was along for the ski trip Emily was on with her
friends. The two of them had several verbal altercations before Emily left the
trip a couple days early. The rest of their friends vouch for the fact that
Jason remained through the weekend, and his credit card statements show
purchases made at the resort to back it up.”
Monroe
nodded at Parker, satisfied, and then looked back at me. “Is there anyone else?
We suspect this guy to be in his mid-twenties to early thirties, likely
good-looking and non-threatening as it appears he gets the girls to go with him
willingly. At the very least, he’s able to get close enough to subdue them
without setting off any internal alarms as we’ve seen no signs of fight on the
girls. He’s intelligent and has a high attention to detail. Meticulous almost.
Has a need to be in control and probably doesn’t do well with authority
figures.”
“I’m
sorry. I can’t think of anyone, and I’ve already spent the last two weeks racking
my brain to come up with who and why someone would have had a reason to hurt
her, and I just don’t know.”
“If
either of you do think of anything, even if it seems small, don’t hesitate to
call Detective Parker or myself.” He pulled two business cards from his jacket
and handed them to us. Then he started gathering everything back into his file,
including the notes he made while we talked.
There
was just one more thing I wanted to ask that was bugging me, but I didn’t know
if I could bring myself to ask the question. We all stood from our seats and I
tried to steel myself.
“Agent
Monroe?”
“Yes?”
He looked up from the file he was gathering into his hands.
“If
it’s the same guy who took those other girls, why hasn’t . . .” I couldn’t
bring myself to voice it, but he knew what I was asking and he gave me a
sympathetic look.
“I
wish I could give you a definite answer, but the truth is, until we know more,
I can’t say. The fact that she hasn’t turned up like the others could mean
several things.” He was reluctant to elaborate, but it wasn’t good enough for
me.
“Like
what? That you just haven’t found her body yet?” I croaked angrily, surprised
at how quickly my emotions were coming up. I couldn’t help it though. I’d been
wondering it for days. There were lakes all over western Washington. Each girl
had been dumped at a different spot along one of them. Who was to say Emily
wasn’t already out there, waiting to be found? Most of the girls had gone
undiscovered for several days or longer before someone came across them. Even
though I knew state troopers, park rangers and game and wildlife officers had
been put on alert to be patrolling all the lakes in the area, they couldn’t
cover every inch.
“Like
I said, Miss Scott, there are several possibilities. We have just as much
reason to believe she’s alive and will continue to look for her as if she is.
We also can’t ignore the possibility that these two cases might be unrelated
and Emily’s disappearance is being used as a convenient move to throw off our
investigation into this serial case. These types of predators are usually
tracked
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