Page 15 of A Storm of Nightmares

“Jesus. Theyreallylook alike, Kat. If I didn’t know any better, I would guess Jess and Betty had to be sisters.” Keith jots some notes down on his legal pad. Even his handwriting is attractive. “So maybe that’s what this guy is after. Short, attractive, white females with blue eyes. Not to mention Betty was a senior in high school when she vanished. Jess is a senior now. It’s not a lot to go on, but I can’t rule anything out. There weren’t any signs of a struggle in either case, so this guy has to be someone the girls both knew.” He runs his hand through his hair, in that irresistibly sexy way. He seems so frustrated that he hasn't been able to crack the case yet.

“I have a list of people Jess knew, maybe that’ll help? Let me go get it.” I stand and leave the room before Keith can respond. I so badly want to figure this out. I just need answers. I grab the lists of friends and enemies and rush back into the surveillance room. “Here,” I say and hand them over to Keith. I bite my lip in anticipation. What if this is it? What if Keith recognizes a name on one of those lists and he’s able to put everything together. Maybe we can find Betty and Jess. Or find out what happened to Betty... I want to hold onto the hope that she’s still alive out there, but with Jess being taken now, I can’t fight the feeling of her being a replacement for Betty.

Keith’s eyes scan both lists. His eyebrows furrow and he looks up at me. My heart is racing so fast I'm scared it'll beat out of my chest. “Kat, I don’t think I recognize any names on this list. I’m sorry. But I’ll check them out and let you know for sure. It’s possible someone on this list was in contact with Betty and nobody knew about it. Although, I know for a fact we can cross off anyone who’s in high school right now. Betty went missing four years ago. Whoever took her couldn’t possibly have been in middle school at the time. We’re definitely looking for a person closer to her age than Jess' age.”

“You’re right... I’ll ask Malerie. I have no idea what the ages are of anybody on those lists.” I pull my phone out and start to call Malerie. Keith nods in agreement and resumes whatever I interrupted when I came in.

After three rings, Malerie answers, “Hello?”

“Hi, Malerie. It’s Kat. I’m working on Jess’ case right now and I have a quick question for you. The lists you gave me are fantastic! But I didn’t even think to ask about how old anybody is. Is there anyone that Jess hung around that was older than her? Possibly four or so years older.”

“Um, not that I can think of. I mean Roger, her boyfriend, maybe. Jess mentioned once she was dating an older man, but she never specified, and I always thought she was kind of joking.” She gasps, “Wait, you don’t thinkRogerhas anything to do with her disappearing, do you?!”

“I don’t know anything yet, Malerie. I’ll let you know as soon as that changes. Thank you so much for the information.” I start to hang up but stop. “Hey, Malerie. If you know anything else about Roger, or if you remember anybody else Jess was hanging out with who was older than her, let me know, ok? Just shoot me a text. Thanks again.” And then I end the call.

I turn to Keith. “Roger is older than Jess. He’s her boyfriend. Or was? Either way, we should look into him.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can dig up.”

“Did you ever suspect Dan? I mean, was he ever considered when Betty vanished?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking. I liked Dan, but I didn’t actually know him well at all. He was just Betty’s boyfriend who had convinced her to move far, far away from me. I liked him because Betty seemed so happy around him, but that was about the extent of it.

Keith sighs and looks me in the eyes before answering. “Honestly, I thought he was our guy. I spent all of my time and energy trying to pin it on him but there was never solid evidence to prove it. I thought the fact that Dan was with Betty the night she went missing should have been enough. It wasn’t.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know though. As much as I wanted it to be him, I don’t get that feeling about Dan anymore. I think I was so focused on him because he was the easy choice, the most obvious one. But now... Kat, I... I’m worried that I played right into this freak’s plan. What if I spent all that time looking for evidence against Dan that I missed anything pointing to someone else?”

Keith’s eyes hold so much anger and guilt. I can see how much he blames himself for not finding Betty. I want to throw my arms around him until I absorb all the guilt he carries, but I'm scared if I did, it would bury me alongside my own remorse. Instead, I reach over and take his hand in mine. Keith’s eyes soften and I can tell this small gesture is enough for him. He doesn't need me to take his guilt, he just needs me to understand it.

“We’ll figure it out, Keith,” I tell him. And then we sit in comfortable silence for the rest of the morning. I call most of the people on the list of Jess’ friends to ask them about Roger. None of them had met him and only a handful of them said he was for sure older by a few years, at least.

Keith had been trying to find information about Roger ever since I got off the phone with Malerie. I assume he hasn't been very lucky because he hasn't told me he found out anything yet.

I need a break from finding absolutely nothing, and my stomach is starting to growl. I decide to make us lunch since Keith so kindly made us breakfast. I stand up and make my way to the door, Keith doesn't even notice.

I almost get lost in the massive house, but after a few corrections, I find myself standing in the middle of the kitchen. The dark wood cabinets are in beautiful contrast to the white quartz counters and white walls. All the appliances are stainless steel and not a single one of them has a fingerprint or smudge anywhere to be found. The kitchen looks completely untouched.

I help myself to the contents of the fridge and the pantry. I don’t consider myself to be an amazing chef. Not by any means. But the few things I can throw together usually turn out pretty good.

When I'm done cooking, I smile. That’s a damn fine-looking BLTCO if I do say so myself. It’s a traditional BLT on white bread, but I add cheddar cheese and sliced onion. I grab the plates and start to head back to Keith. I’ll have to come back for drinks, I can only carry so much.

As I get closer to the surveillance room, I can hear Keith talking on the phone. It sounds like a pretty heated conversation, and for some reason, I stop walking so I can eavesdrop.

“What do you mean, exactly?”

...

“Well, who the hell is he then?! Check again.”

...

“No! There’s no time.”

...

“Look man, you owe me. I know you have connections. Pull some strings and get this shit figured out for me.”

...

“Alright fine.”

And just like that, the conversation is over.Weird.My feet start to walk again, and I'm pushing the door to the surveillance room open in a matter of seconds.

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