Elly's Ghost (22 page)

His game plan
was simple: this case gets dropped now, and so does the warrant.

Elly Wittenbel
had called the CEO of Revolution Records to ask if he could recommend a lawyer
licensed in Montana. He quickly recommended Adolphson. The two had gone to law
school together.

Adolphson called
to set up an appointment with District Attorney Jack Coleman, to which Coleman reluctantly
agreed. Jack was waiting in his office when Adolphson walked through the open
door.

“Good afternoon,
District Attorney Coleman, my name is Fredrick Adolphson, counsel for Jason
Tessier,” he offered his hand to Coleman, who hesitated for a moment shook it.

“Then maybe you
can tell us where he is,” Coleman said, as he clicked open his pen.

“His whereabouts
are unknown to me at this time, but that will soon be a non-issue.”

“But he’s hired
you?”

“I was contracted
through a third party.”

“Who?” Coleman
asked.

“Someone who can
afford to fly me out here on a Sunday.” Adolphson gave up thinking Coleman was
going to ask him to sit, so he helped himself to one of the nearby chairs.

“How can you
claim him as your client?”

“That is
irrelevant. When he does surface, he will gladly accept my representation.
However, I don’t believe that will be necessary.”

“He’ll need
someone’s representation after what he’s done.” Coleman held up a newspaper
that read “Ten Found Dead.” “That’s why there’s a warrant. We have reason to
believe he’s the one who killed those people.”

“So this is all
circumstantial?” Adolphson asked.

Coleman stared
at Adolphson. Obviously irritated, he said, “We have two dead men who were shot
with a .338-caliber rifle. Your client owns a .338. One of the dead had his
throat cut open, and one, still in his sleeping bag, had his neck broken. That
sounds like a combat Marine to me. Mr. Adolphson, your client will be charged
very soon.”

Adolphson stared
at Coleman. “I hope he is. That way I can show the jury the video of five armed
men attempting to kidnap Elly Wittenbel. I can show how my client helped to
derail their kidnapping attempt. I can show them that Kevin McKnight was gunned
down trying to help Ms. Wittenbel. I can show them the weapons the gunmen were
carrying. I can show them the grind marks on the door from the plane that
crashed into the ocean, and the bullet holes in the floatplane.

“I will call
Victor Fines to testify how he masterminded this kidnapping shortly after he
was laid off from Revolution Records. I can show them the bank transactions for
the money paid to each of the men attempting to kidnap Ms. Wittenbel. I can
also show how these men followed them through fifty miles of heavily wooded
terrain, still trying to kidnap Ms. Wittenbel or, worse, kill her.”

“There’s no way
your boy is getting off,” Coleman growled. “This was a well-trained combat Marine
on a killing spree. He’s going to get charged. I look forward to meeting you in
court.”

Adolphson leaned
forward. “Stop and think about what you are doing. You will be putting the man
who saved Elly Wittenbel’s life on trial. It will be televised nationally. You
will lose in front of the whole country.”

“You arrogant
son of a bitch! Get out!” Coleman pointed at the door.

“Gladly.”
Adolphson grinned and walked to the door. “See you in court.”

Adolphson exited
the building and climbed into the waiting Cadillac.

“Sir, how did it
go?” one of Adolphson’s aides asked.

“He threw me out
of his office.” Adolphson smiled at him. “It couldn’t have gone any better.”

* * *

Elly gazed out the
open side door of the old Huey helicopter at the vast green Montana forest
bounded by distant mountains. Her hair blew in the cool wind. Below her was the
forest she and Jay had walked through for five days, and she was in awe of how
large it seemed. The view made her heart sink as she wondered how she’d ever
find Jay. She hoped by now he would want to be found.

“We’re coming up
on the hunting property Jay’s family owns,” Glen, Chris Pender’s uncle, said
from the pilot’s seat. They all heard him through the headsets they wore. Nick
was sitting in the copilot’s seat, and Pender sat behind him next to Elly.

Glen flew level
a few hundred feet above the tallest trees and pointed at a small clearing.
There was no sign of an extinguished fire, flat grass where a tent had been
pitched, or anything out of place.

Pender adjusted
his microphone as he glanced at Elly. “It would have been a long walk here from
the highway. I don’t know if he could have made it already.”

Elly nodded at
him and turned to look out her open door again.

They flew north
for a few minutes before Glen said, “To our right is another spot we used to
make camp.”

“Where?” Elly asked.

Glen banked the
Huey hard to the right. The world blurred below as their seat belts tightened
to keep them in place as the tops of trees whizzed by. Glen leveled the
helicopter, flew northeast for a few minutes, and then slowed as they
approached the small clearing.

“It looks empty,”
Glen said.

“I see a fire
pit,” Nick said.

“Yeah, but I see
weeds growing in it,” Glen said.

“I know another
spot,” Pender said. “It’s not on his family’s property, but he might be there.”
He relayed the directions, and Glen again banked the helicopter around.

A minute later Pender
said, “This is it coming up, south of the lake.”

They approached
a wooded spot in a valley next to a small lake. Elly recognized it immediately.
It was the spot she and Jay had camped at, when the fog had surrounded them as
they went swimming.

“We camped here
one night,” Elly said.

Glen slowed as
he dropped down to take a closer look. The trees swayed and thrashed under the
helicopter as they hovered.

“Anybody see
anything?” Glen asked.

“What is that?”
Nick pointed out his window.

“Something is
hanging in the tree,” Pender said.

Everyone saw a small
deer carcass dangling from a tree by its antlers.

Glen found a
spot and landed the helicopter. Elly jumped out and followed Pender to the tree.
The bottom half of the deer was chewed up, like it has been attacked by
coyotes.

“Someone gutted
this thing,” Pender said. “He shot him in the neck, and you can see where he
cut off some meat. This maybe happened yesterday.”

Elly noticed the
rope used for hanging the deer. “It’s the same brown rope Jay had in his
backpack.”

“The fire pit
was used recently,” Glen added.

“Do you think
he’ll come back?” Nick asked.

“Jay would know
you don’t leave a carcass next to your camp like this,” Pender said. “It would
attract all kinds of coyotes.”

“Unless you’re
not coming back,” Glen said.

* * *

Jay lay in the
weeds across from a mailbox and watched as a car drove up and shoved a rolled-up
newspaper into the plastic tube marked
Missoulian.
The mailbox sat on
the side of the same highway where he and Elly had sped away from the men on
the motorcycle, although Jay knew he was miles away from the spot where they’d
come out.

The car sped off,
and Jay moved in and grabbed the paper. His tinge of guilt for stealing it
disappeared as the headline confirmed his worst fear: “WARRANT ISSUED FOR LOCAL
MARINE IN WITTENBEL CASE”

“Shit!” Jay said
loudly, then scanned the area to see if anyone heard him. He hid in the tall
weeds and read as fast as he could. He was happy to learn that Elly was
recovering with her family, but surprised that she was still in Montana. He scanned the story for anything new and was shocked to see that two teenagers
had been found dead.

“Outrage at the District
Attorney’s comments has social media buzzing as Ms. Wittenbel herself leads the
effort to exonerate Tessier, claiming he ‘acted in self-defense.’ Social media
pages created to spread the word about Ms. Wittenbel’s claims of the injustice
Tessier is facing have already logged hits and followers in the hundreds of
thousands.

“Tessier has yet
to be found since he disappeared Thursday. ‘We believe he’s still in the forest,’
Sheriff Neuhaus stated yesterday. ‘Based on the facts of this case, we don’t
believe he’s a danger to anyone else. The best-case scenario is he will turn
himself in.’”

Jay dropped the
paper to the ground. He wondered if the sheriff’s statement was a trap and if
it was possible they thought Jay killed those two teenagers. He dismissed the
thought. Elly would have told the police they never had any contact with them.

As Jay had fallen
asleep last night, he envisioned Elly surrounded by her friends and family. He
pictured her happy to have her life back to normal. When he tried to picture
being a part of her life, he couldn’t. Why would Elly settle for a Marine
corporal like him when she could have just about any guy she wanted? If things
were different, Jay figured he might have a chance, but Elly was a celebrity,
and he wasn’t.

When Jay woke
up, he looked over to where Elly would’ve been sleeping next to him. It was
then that he admitted to himself how much he missed her. He wanted to be near
her again and felt like a fool for hiding when he should be doing everything he
could to be in her life.

He thought about
how Elly had invited him to her lake home and how they’d kissed the last time
they woke up together. And now she was still nearby. He knew her band was on
tour, and yet she hadn’t left. That meant she was here because he was still
missing.

He hoped she
would forgive him for abandoning her. Jay had to find out. He knew what he had
to do.

* * *

Elly’s parents
rented a house near the hospital when Elly made it clear she wasn’t going
anywhere else until Jay was found and was free of all charges. Her bandmates
Alex, Brent, and Jeremy were there when Elly returned from searching with Nick.
She was happy to see them, but no matter how much everyone tried to cheer her
up, she could only think about finding Jay. The guys had no problem with her
decision. They were still thrilled that she was still alive.

It was late in
the evening when their tour manager, Laura, arrived. She was the last person
Elly wanted to see. Laura was talking on her phone as Elly’s dad opened the
door and escorted her into the living room. Elly had a good idea how this
conversation was going to go, and this time she wasn’t holding back. She knew
Laura wouldn’t like Elly staying put, but Elly didn’t care.

Laura hung up
and said, “Elly, we need to talk.”

Elly’s anger
surfaced. Laura didn’t even say hello or express relief that Elly was still
alive after everyone thought she was dead. It was always straight to business
with Laura, and it made Elly sick.

“About what?”
Elly asked. As Elly spoke, Jeremy, Alex, and Brent walked into the living room.

“About how you’re
all here in Montana when you should be on your way to Montreal. You have a
concert tomorrow night.”

Elly took a
moment to stare at Laura. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Jeremy, Alex,
and Brent crossed their arms and joined Elly in glaring at Laura.

“You’ve missed
three shows already, and Montreal will be your fourth. Your fans—”

“My fans
understand,” Elly said. “And I’m so sorry I ‘missed’ those concerts. You make
it sound like I did it on purpose. Everyone thought I was dead, so my fans are happy
I’m alive. But I’m not sure about you.”

“I, I …” Laura
stuttered. “Of course I’m glad you’re alive. It’s just, now we have to get back
on track.”

“I’m not leaving
until I’m good and ready,” Elly said.

Laura glared
back at her. “And when will that be? You have three crews of people driving
around the country setting up stages for you. The organizers are scrambling
trying to figure out what’s going to happen.”

“It’ll be when
the person who saved my life no longer needs my help.”

“You got him a
lawyer. What more can you do?

“A lot more.”

“He’s a Marine
out in the wilderness. He doesn’t need help. Look, I’ve got Revolution Records’
executives calling me wanting to know what happens next. What am I suppose to
tell them?”

Elly stared back
at Laura. “You tell them System Override has decided to fire their manager for being
a soulless, insensitive bitch who only cares about herself. You’re fired! Now
get out!” Elly pointed at the door.

Laura’s glare
was gone, replaced by a look of shock and confusion. “No,” Laura whispered.
“No, you can’t mean that.”

“You’ve only
cared about what’s best for you since day one,” Elly said. “We’ve had enough. We
don’t want you anymore. Now leave!”

Laura’s eyes
searched the rest of the band members, who stared at her disdainfully. She stumbled
backward as if the room were spinning. She glanced around for a brief moment
and then walked to the door. She slammed it hard as she left.

MONDAY

Jay knocked on
the doors of three different homes before anyone answered. He explained to the
homeowner that he’d gotten lost hiking and could he use the phone and a phone
book? The elderly man agreed, and Jay found the number for the sheriff’s
office.

It took a minute
for the dispatcher to connect him with the sheriff.

“This is Sheriff
Neuhaus.”

“Sheriff, this
is Jason Tessier. I’m calling because I’d like to turn myself in. Would you be
willing to be the one to come and get me?”

“Sure, I can do
that.”

“I want you to
know, I didn’t have anything to do with the deaths of those two teenagers.”