Page 18 of A Storm of Nightmares

I nod in response. His smile grows even wider, and then his lips are on mine. This time though, it’s not hungry and passionate. It isn’t oozing sex. This kiss is loving and gentle. I feel my body melt at his touch. All this Rick Baker stuff can wait a few more minutes. I need this.

Chapter 10

After that soul-shatteringly good kiss in the kitchen, Keith and I are back to business. We’re sitting at the metal table in the surveillance room. Frank, Keith’s cop friend, very reluctantly emailed over a copy of Rick’s background check.

My current task is going through all the information we have about Rick. We’re hoping I might be able to find out where he would have taken Betty and Jess. A safe place for him.

Keith’s been on and off the phone for over an hour now. He tried convincing Frank to set up surveillance at Rick’s parents’ house, but the answer was no. Evidently, the police won’t make any moves on Rick unless they get certifiable proof that he is involved in Betty and Jess vanishing. Frank’s chief basically said the assumption is “Roger” is missing, just like Betty, Jess, and Dan. Until he reappears or there’s evidence found against him, they won’t be sending out any of their men. Bull shit. That is precisely the kind of lackluster police work that failed Betty four years ago. It’s clear that Keith and I are on our own.

Keith has an old friend who is now ex-military. William something. Keith’s been on the phone with him, trying to convince William to sit outside Rick’s childhood home just to see if he’s stupid enough to go there. Hell, Rick thinks he’s in the clear. It actually wouldn’t surprise me if he did go home to mommy and daddy.

I find myself wondering if they know how fucked up their son is. A chill runs down my spine. What if they do know? What if they know and they’ve just kept quiet about it to protect their child? I shake the thoughts from my mind. I don’t have time to wonder about things that don’t matter.

Sorting through the mound of files we now have about Rick Baker, I try to find any scrap of information that might help. Where they took family vacations, where a favorite aunt and uncle might live, where Rick went to summer camp. Unfortunately, I’m coming up short. All I can gather is that this is a brilliant man.

Perfect attendance since preschool, straight As in every class. He was part of the chess team, the robotics team, and the AP study group in high school. Rick got scholarships to several colleges, including two ivy league schools.

He enrolled in Stanford’s technology program with a full ride. But he was put on academic probation his second year when his grades started slipping. He was able to get them back up, but he was far from getting his typical perfect grades. Then five weeks ago, his grades slipped again. He’s supposed to be graduating in a couple of months, but the way things are looking, he may need to repeat a few classes if he can’t get his shit together.

I would bet good money that Rick started slacking in school again when he met Jess. Malerie told me they had only been dating a few weeks. He could probably keep up appearances his freshman year, but the longer he had Betty, the more anxious he got. School became less of a priority. He held it together as best he could until Jess came into his life. That pushed him over the edge.

Hmm. An idea just struck me. I reach for my phone, and Keith eyes me from his seat. I do a quick Google search and then dial the phone number for Stanford’s technology department. After a few rings, a woman answers, sounding nice enough.

“Hello, Stanford Technology Department. How may I help you?”

“Hello, my name is Marie, and I am calling on behalf of International Technologies Incorporated, out of Northern California.” I pause to catch my breath. That sounded convincing, right? “I recently had the absolute pleasure of interviewing with a Mr. Rick Baker. It is my understanding that he is due to graduate from the Stanford Technology program shortly. We are very interested in extending him an offer to work with our company. I was just calling to see if I could have his school records faxed over so we can make short work of his onboarding process.”

I hear some typing, and then the woman’s voice fills the phone. “I’m so sorry to be the bearer of bad news here, but unfortunately, Mr. Baker’s graduation date may have to be pushed back a semester. I can’t really give out too much information, other than that, though.”

“How interesting. He told me he would certainly be graduating on time. I wonder what would have changed in the past few days and why he wouldn’t have called to update me.” I am doing my best to fish for information without sounding too suspicious.

“Well...” There’s a brief pause. “Honestly, ma’am, it’s not my place to say, but it looks as if Mr. Baker’s academic effort has dwindled away. His first-year grades were strong. Very strong. But it seems like each year he has tried less and less. There’s even a note here from two of his current professors about him being absent this past week, which is incredibly dumb when his grades are already struggling, and he’s supposed to graduate so soon. But like I said, it’s not my place. Who knows what’s going on in his personal life?”

Freaking jackpot.Looks like my phone pal has loose lips. Maybe she likes drama. “I see. Well, thank you for divulging so much information. I may have to make another choice then. Do you by any chance have Mr. Baker’s home address? So I can mail his rejection letter for the position he interviewed for.” I cross my fingers and hope and pray with all my might that this woman can give us what we need. If we got Rick’s address, we could go hunt him down.

“No, I’m sorry, I don’t have any addresses on file. Weird. We usually require that information.”

Dammit. “That’s alright, thank you anyways. You have a wonderful rest of your day.”

“You as well, ma’am.”

I hang up and let out a breath that’s part relief and part frustration. I didn’t get everything I wanted, but I pulled that off well, I think. Who knew I was such a badass? I giggle to myself.

Keith is on the phone still, and it sounds like the conversation with William has taken a turn. It seems to be mostly reminiscing about old times. I try to get his attention to ask if William will do the surveillance at Rick’s parents’ home, but it’s no use. Keith is deep in conversation about some football game they snuck beer into in high school. Whatever, I need to pee anyway. I stand up, still unnoticed by Keith, and leave the room.

Wandering down the hallway to the bathroom, I have the weirdest feeling of being watched again. I haven’t felt like that since I came here. Maybe it’s just because of everything we’ve found out today. I nod at myself. That’s definitely it. I wrap my arms around my torso, suddenly feeling cold.

After using the bathroom, I start to make my way back to the surveillance room. I cannot get rid of this eerie feeling. Being next to Keith will help. He’ll tell me that I’m overreacting and I’m completely safe inside his home. He would never let anything happen to me. The thought warms me up a bit.

I’m almost back to Keith and the surveillance room when there’s a loud, shattering noise coming from the living room. I stop in my tracks and seem to be frozen in fear. Shutting my eyes tight, I tell myself it’s not real. I’m just freaked out today. But then I hear footsteps coming towards me, and my feet are finally able to move again.

I open my eyes and start running down the hall, back to Keith. I don’t make it far before I crash right into his chest, though. The sight of him and the feeling of his hands on me immediately calms me down.

“What was that sound?” He asks, still holding onto me.

“I don’t know. It came from the living room.” I point in the direction with my chin. Not a single ounce of bravery remains in my system. There’s no way in hell I’m going in there.

“Wait here.” Keith releases me from his grip and slowly wanders into the dark room.

---