The Promise (9 page)

              Elie thinks to herself, “
Well, that confirms my feelings towards a certain administrator here at this school. What a sleazebag! I would love to run him in on a statutory rape charge.”

             
Her mind is brought back to the situation at hand however, by Verna's next question, which takes her off guard, "You’re only a senior in high school? You look older to me." 

              Elie studies Verna's face to see the intent of her statement.  As she sizes up her roommate, the same could be said for her looks as well.

She is tall and slender with a model's build but slightly more muscular. She has jet black hair, high cheekbones, dark penetrating eyes, full lips and a presence that is a little scary even when disarmed by a smile.

She has a very powerful aura about her and she knows it. It is a sense of control that people around her immediately feel and yield to because of its intensity. Elie decides her best option is to attack Verna’s statement directly.

              "That’s because I’m actually 26 years old and really stupid at taking tests. This is my ninth straight senior year. I keep flunking out of prep schools, please help me?"

This is accompanied by a pitiful chuckle which immediately disarms her roommate.

"I thought so,” she laughs.  Well, with my help you might just make it through here. But, I have your age figured for at
least
thirty!"  Both of them laugh and Elie feels safe, for the moment.

She quickly changes the subject, "Hey, I’m hungry! Are you up for a pizza?"

              Verna smiles, "I think I can handle that!  Why don't we go meet some of the girls and head into town.  Michaelangelo’s is great. They make a killer veggie combo with a whole wheat crust. It’s very healthy, too. You can stuff your face and make some new friends at the same time. 

How’s that for a promise?"

              That last word chills Elie. The Promise, the secret group mentioned by Allison Taylor's mother.

Is Verna Oden a part of it or is it just Elie's imagination that is running amok here? 

She looks at the girl and decides to try and find out a little more, "I guess you take your promises seriously around here, huh?"  She says it lightly with just a slight emphasis on the key word. 

              Verna responds, "Yes, we do. The friends I hang with say what they mean and mean what they say. That’s why we can count on each other, under any and all circumstances."

             
“Any and all circumstances were interesting choice of words,”
Elie thinks to herself.

She has no concrete proof that Verna Oden was a major player in The Promise, but now she has her suspicions she may very well be.

              "Well, if you’re looking for someone to count on," responds Elie, "You’re looking at the right person!" 

Verna smiles, "I think you’re going to fit in here just fine!" 

              With that, Elie smiles sweetly at her and the new roommates walk out the door.

Chapter Eleven--justin Shaw

             
Saturday dawned in Athens and it was unbearably muggy and damp, even at 7:00 a.m.

Chief Parker and Detective Gallagher were staring at their coffee cups and wondering aloud about any new possibilities of Allison’s disappearance.

It had been four days since she was last seen and statistically things were grim; when someone is abducted they are killed within three hours in 76% of the cases.

The hope, therefore, had been that Ms. Taylor was not abducted. The preferred belief was that she either orchestrated her own disappearance alone or with someone else or had run off with her boyfriend, Justin Shaw.

It was this tack that the two men focused on. If the boyfriend was somehow involved in a non-violent way; it would overcome the tragedy of this case and make for a happy ending.

So, they called the young Mr. Shaw and were waiting for his arrival that morning to have him write out a statement. Hopefully, it would reveal something that the case needed, a solution.

              Gallagher smiled wryly as he took another sip of coffee,

“Justin Shaw has not been in for an interview yet. He sounded calm over the phone when I called him in, overly calm.”

Parker laughed, “That could mean only two things, that he’s innocent or guilty.”

The detective smirked, “I think we have him narrowed down now. I vote for guilty. Let’s arrest him and end this travesty!”

Parker smiled, “If only it were that easy. But, I don’t think he’s our boy.

He is cocky, yes. But, he has every right to be. He was a three-sport athlete in high school, is working on a pre-law course of study and was voted into, ‘Who’s Who in America.’

He could probably have his pick of any girl in Georgia for the weekend or the rest of his life for that matter. And, from what I have observed of him, he is relaxed, low-key, self-assured and very charming.

I don’t think he’s the murderous type, though. That doesn’t mean he had nothing to do with Allison’s disappearance.”

              Gallagher’s eyes narrowed at his boss, “Don’t let his accomplishments fool you, chief. We’ve been down that celebrity road before. I want to talk to him as one man to another and see what he has to say about Allison, her vanishing and life in general.

I have a lot of questions for him. Until I process his answers, I don’t trust him or anyone who knew that girl one iota. Not one scintilla of one iota.”

Chief Parker smirked, “Young Shaw has his work cut out with you, Michael.”

              There was a sharp rap on the door as one of the policemen poked his head in and announced, ”Shaw is here, sir. Should I send him in?”

Chief Parker nodded his assent and in walked a very good-looking and poised young man.

His athleticism showed in his body language. Gallagher was impressed by the boy’s carriage, “
This kid has good  breeding,”
Gallagher thought to himself.

He steeled himself for the upcoming interview. This may be a challenge.

              The chief extended his hand to Justin, “Mr. Shaw, I’m Chief Parker, nice to meet you. Thanks for coming down.”

The young man smiled confidently, “I need to come down. I want to do everything I can to bring Allison back safely and in good health. I think the world of her. I would never want to see her hurt in any way.”

Gallagher thought quickly to himself, “
Why is this guy already defending himself? Doesn’t he know what Shakespeare said?”

As he thought this, he extended his hand, “Detective Gallagher, Mr. Shaw, pleasure.”

Justin shook it and smiled broadly. “It’s nice to meet you, too, detective.”

Gallagher noticed that Shaw’s hands were clammy. Was it nerves, dishonesty? Hiding a secret of some kind? He wanted to know more about this kid and the first question literally flew out of his mouth.

“Can you describe for us the nature of your relationship with Allison Taylor?”

Justin Shaw didn’t even hesitate, “Friends, just friends. My parents would probably want more for us, but so far, Allison and I have kept it cool. I have known her since kindergarten. She’s my buddy.”

              Gallagher seamlessly moved deeper into the questioning, “When was the last time you saw her?”

Again, Justin was on it. He smiled at the detective and explained their meeting, “We went out for pizza the night before she disappeared. We had been to the mall buying some clothes and we got hungry. So, we ate.”

Gallagher hit him verbally again, “Do you remember much of your conversation?”

Shaw responded, “Sure, she was really excited about school starting up and she liked her new roommates. It was just typical college stuff.”

The detective was unfazed by the young man’s confidence, “That’s all she talked about? Nothing unusual or odd that struck you funny?”

Justin thought a moment than dramatically looked at Gallagher as he spoke in whispered tones,

“Yes, there was one thing. She told me she was planning on disappearing the next day and joining the circus because she always wanted to be a clown.”

Gallagher frowned, “Don’t be a smartass, Shaw. We need to be serious here. Can you think of anything that would make her disappearance rational? It would really help us.”

Justin Shaw put his head down and stared at the rug for an interminable amount of time. Finally, he looked up and said, “Okay, she told me some personal things about her feelings for me. She asked me to promise to marry her someday.

I was stunned. I had never heard Alli talk like that before. I was so taken aback, I joked about it. I told her dramatically that we couldn’t get married because we were actually brother and sister, that our parents both had affairs with each other.

She got irritated with me that I was not taking her seriously. She said, ‘Maybe if I disappeared, you would miss me and take stop taking me for granted then!’

I just laughed and said, ‘Okay, Allison, disappear. That will be a brilliant plan to win me over.’

Then, she laughed and said, “If that’s what it takes, maybe I will!”

We finished our pizza and I took her home.”

Justin Shaw looked down at the floor and then looked up at Gallagher with some doubt in his eyes, “You don’t think that Alli was serious about disappearing do you?”

              Gallagher looked over at Chief Parker. For several seconds none of the three men spoke as they absorbed this new potential development in the case.

Could Allison Taylor be that insecure to voluntarily vanish so she could goad Justin Shaw into loving her more? This was not the profile of the girl they had thought they knew.

What was going on here? 

              Gallagher stared at Justin. “It would have been nice if you had come forward with this earlier. This could have major significance on the case, young man.”

Shaw just shrugged. “I didn’t take what she said seriously, so I forgot about it. Honestly, it never connected with me, until just now.”

Chief Parker was more sympathetic. “Justin, do you believe this is something Allison would really do? Is she that kind of person? You know her as well as anyone.”

Nothing was said for several seconds, finally Justin spoke; “No, I don’t think she would do that. She loves her father and her friends too much. I don’t think she would put all of us through the pain of wondering what happened to her.”

Gallagher, listening carefully jumped in, “She loves her father and friends and her mother, too, right?”

Justin looked blankly at the detective, “No, sir, she doesn’t love her mother. She and her mother have never gotten along. She feels the same way about her mother as her mother feels about her, they both wish the other was dead.”

Gallagher looked over at his boss and whistled softly. Parker looked at Justin Shaw, “Well, that’s not the impression we got from Mrs. Taylor.”

The young man shook his head, “Impressions can be deceiving, sir. That lady is not who you think she is!”

Chief Parker responded, “We are done here for now, Justin. You can go. Please keep what you told us to yourself. Thank you. We’ll be in touch.”

The young man rose from his chair, smiled wanly and said good-bye. As he walked out the door the two men just stood there not sure what they had just heard was real.