The Promise (11 page)

Elie thought,
“Thank, God.”

Dr. Oden immediately jumped from the bed and went to the window. Just as he grabbed a book from the shelf, Verna entered the room.

She was noticeably surprised to see her brother standing there.

“Malcolm! What are you doing in my room?”

Dr. Oden just smiled calmly as he held up the publication, “I just came by to pick up my ‘Art of Seduction’ book. I have a counseling appointment in five minutes.

Elie quickly adjusted her sweater and stood up.

              Verna was visibly shaken, “Why were you in this room with Bree with the door locked?”

Her brother just smiled, “Verna, if I wanted to do anything inappropriate would I do it in your room in the middle of the day with your roommate? Don’t be silly. By the way, do you have the fifty dollars I loaned you, Verna? You had promised to pay me back. It has been a month now.”

His sister’s face looked downward, “Uh, no, not yet. But, I should be getting paid on Wednesday.” Her brother moved to the door, “Well, I guess I can wait. We are family, right?”

As he patted Verna on her shoulder and kissed her gently on the cheek, he slyly looked over at Elie and smiled smugly, “We are all family here. Thanks for allowing me to get my book, Bree. That was very kind of you. You’re a good person. We will talk soon, okay?”

Elie sat there shaking as Malcolm Oden laughed and departed through the door.

              Verna looked at Elie, “He’s pretty incredible isn’t he!”

Elie sat down on her bed in stunned silence. She was actually thinking of another word.

Chapter
Thirteen---An angry Father

             
“Gallagher, you have a phone call on line two. Archer Taylor,” shouted one of the officers. The detective picked up the phone,

“This is Mike Gallagher.”

The voice on the other end of the line was not up for social niceties.

“What in the hell is going on over there, Gallagher? It’s Monday and I haven’t heard a thing from you, Parker or anyone else all weekend! There’s a missing girl out there that I love very much and you are probably thinking to yourself, ‘this coffee needs warming up!’”

Gallagher looked down at his half-empty coffee cup, “Actually, it does need a little warming but that’s because I’m too busy to drink it, sir. I am on this case. And, I have some questions to ask you starting with Justin Shaw.”

              Archer Taylor shot back, “What do you want to know?”

              The detective asked, “Do you trust him?”

              “Hell, no, I don’t trust any young man who wants to be with my daughter, especially that one.”

              “Did he ever say or do anything that would cause you to mistrust him?”

              “Well, for starters he’s a pathological liar and, he manipulated Allison every chance he got.

In fact, one of the reasons I am calling you is to put a tail on him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had something to do with my daughter’s disappearance.”

              “Mr. Taylor, it is my understanding that you and your business partner, Redding Shaw wanted Justin and Allison to hook up someday. Is that correct?”

              “Redding wanted that to happen. His wife wanted it to happen. I sure as hell, didn’t share their sentiments. Since we’re on the subject of Redding Shaw, I’m in the middle of fending off his hostile takeover bid to buy me out. So, let’s change the subject.”

              Mike Gallagher made a note of Arch’s comment about Redding Shaw.

“Second question, what is the nature of Allison and her mom’s relationship?”

              “It’s lousy, the same as my relationship with my ex. I wish she would change her last name and move on with her life, the demented broad.

I should never have married her. She is trouble with a capital T.”

              Gallagher made more notes. “So, you don’t like Justin, his father or your ex-wife. Is that correct?”

              Arch Taylor laughed heartily, “I don’t like most people, Gallagher. And, if you keep this up, I won’t like you.

But, I love my daughter and I want her back safe and sound. Will you keep me posted on every detail as soon as possible? I’m a man who wants my news, good or bad, right away. Clear?”

              “Yes, sir,. I understand. I’ll keep you posted. One other thing…”

              “What is it?”

              “How desperate is Redding Shaw to take over your company?”

              “Desperate. You know his nickname?”

              “No, sir, I do not.”

              “It’s the cutthroat cardinal.”

              “Why do they call him that? Is he Catholic?”

              “No, he’s a red-headed bastard! That’s why.”

              Gallagher laughed into the phone. “I’ll keep you posted, Mr. Taylor. Hang in there.”

              “I’ll do more than hang in there, detective. If this thing doesn’t progress to my satisfaction, I will be calling my good friend, Mayor Resnick. I’ve known him for years. Sold him his first bedroom set when he was a gofer at the Chateau Elan Resort. This is my daughter we’re talking about.

Get back to me, Gallagher. Good day.”

Gallagher heard the click of the phone and a dial tone. He had a missing girl, an angry father and a cast of several suspects who could have taken Allison Taylor.

What a day for a daydream.

Cha
pter Fourteen--Raven

             
“Did my brother say anything to you, Bree? I mean, did he come on to you in any way?” asked a concerned Verna Oden.

              Elie, still emotionally recovering from her experience with Dr. Oden, stuttered a bit, “Uh, no. Actually he just wanted to pick up his book, like he told you. He was only here a for a minute or so before you came in.”

              “Oh, okay. I just know my brother. He has a way of engaging my roommates and freaking them out. Thank God he didn’t do that to you. He can be such a jerk sometimes…”

              Elie managed a weak smile. “Come on, let’s go get something to drink. I need some air.”

              Verna smiled, “Sure. Let’s go to Maggie Moo’s. I love their chili fries.”

              With that the two roommates headed out the door to the popular Athens ice cream parlor. Once outside, Elie suddenly felt better, the memory of her deviant encounter with Malcolm Oden fading fast as she breathed in the refreshing breeze cooling the humid, August day.

The FBI agent was resilient if nothing else, and she was even more determined to overcome this experience and find out what she could about a girl who apparently had a far worse encounter than she had personally faced.

“It feels great out here, Verna!” she sighed contentedly.

              “Yeah, well wait until you taste the chili fries with a vanilla coke. You’ll crave it every day of your life!”

              As they neared the parlor, Verna was approached by a beautiful girl in a sexy tank top and white shorts. She was strikingly beautiful, blonde and blue-eyed and very friendly,

“Hey V, what’s going on with you today?”

Verna turned to face the girl and smiled, “Not much, Sam, what are you up to? Have you met my new roommate, Bree?”

The girl, Samantha Shields, grinned warmly. “Any friend of V’s is a friend of mine, Bree! Welcome to the Colony. Hope you like our school. Where are you from?”

Without hesitating, Elie responded right on cue, “Statesboro. Home of the Division II National Football Champions! Heard of it?” Samantha laughed easily, “Sure have. I used to date a boy from Statesboro.”

              “What was his name?”

              “Coby Cook! Know him?”

              “Know him? He is dating my best friend now!” Elie bluffed. At that, all three girls started laughing.

Sam shrugged, “Well, I hope she has better luck with him than I did! He’s really hard to pin down.” 

Looking past the two girls, Samantha suddenly cut the conversation short, “Oh, there’s Raven, gotta go! Nice meeting you both!”

With that, she walked towards Maggie Moo’s and greeted the girl. They whispered something, glanced over at the two roommates and walked back over to them.

              “Bree, I want you to meet someone,” said Samantha as she motioned to her black-haired friend. “This is Raven. She graduated from the Colony last year.”

Elie sized her up and was surprised at what she saw in her. The first thing she noticed was that Raven seemed a lot older than both Samantha and Verna.

She did not look like a girl who had just graduated from high school. She was elegant, classy and tall. She was clad in black, off color for a warm day.

Her hair was jet black, long, straight and silky. Elie noticed that she looked and seemed different than the two girls standing next to her.

She soon found out that Raven talked differently, too.

              “So, you’re Verna’s new roommate.” she said in an articulate voice. It was not a question. It was posed as a dare. “What brings you to Athens?”

Elie was a little stunned that Raven knew she wasn’t a local girl. “My parents always wanted me to go to a private school. Prep for college.”

Unflustered, the red beauty responded, “Oh? And, there weren’t any schools like ours in your little town?”

Elie flashed back, “How do you know I’m from a little town?

”

Raven smirked, “You’ve got that pastoral look about you, country-fed, cow-milking, mulch-packing and boring. Iowa?”

Elie was now getting angry.

She had just met this girl and already she didn’t like her.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am from a little town. I’m proud of it, too.”

Raven smiled, “Well, of course you are. Why so defensive? I never said I didn’t like your little town.”

Elie retreated verbally, “No, you didn’t, but you, never mind. It’s, uh, nice to meet you, Raven. I’m Bree.”

Her antagonist just looked at her, almost with disdain, “I know your name. It’s pseudo cute. I’m sure you’re proud of that, too.”

Elie shook her head and resisted the urge to throw a punch at the haughty tart. “Yeah, I like Bree, even if I don’t have the pedigree of being named for a bird of prey, but I’ll manage!”