Chapter Thirty One
“I’m sitting here watching the video you so kindly included on your flash drive. What a thoughtful gift, thanks,” Agent Turner drawled. He leaned back in his office chair as he pondered the images on his laptop screen.
“I didn’t send it, so evidently your boy Mummy Man likes you.” Charles chuckled at his own joke but did not miss the significance of Turner already being in possession of the flash drive.
“It’s time to stop playing games. I think if we combine what we know about this guy we can get him off the streets.”
“If that’s how you want to word it, combine, well, Agent, I think I can work with that. But I think we both know where I stand on these issues.” Charles’ patience was wearing thin and the fact that someone was stalking his new daughter-in-law set his teeth on edge. He took his family’s protection seriously. It was obvious his son was in love with Teegan, so she was included in his care. Charles would stop at nothing to protect his only son and his new wife.
“You should be glad I’m on a burner phone.”
“If you didn’t have the good sense to cover your tracks, we wouldn’t be having this conversation or any other, Agent.”
They both laughed, a laugh that no doubt reached the eyes of both men. Their rapport was genuine. They respected each other and, if circumstances had been different, might have been friends. Neither of the two men had many friends so their connection, such as it was, filled a void that neither particularly cared to explore.
Charles looked up to see his wife standing in the doorway, wincing as she held her cell phone from her ear. He looked at Melanie inquisitively, for it was impossible to discern the nature of the problem simply based on the tinny, screeching of the caller’s voice. She pressed the phone to her side and leaned in as she explained, “It’s Goldie. I’m trying to calm her down, but all I can get out of her is something about being drugged and abducted. Says she barely got away. Thinks it might have been the Mummy Man.”
Charles nodded as he thought back to his conversation with Agent Turner. If Goldie was right, this could be the break they needed to catch the guy.
He filled the agent in on the news. “We’ll go talk to her and get all the details. If you two go, it’s going to freak her out. Being questioned by the FBI is enough to put anybody on edge.”
Turner concurred, then left Charles with some instructions. Typically, he would have couched them as suggestions, but he didn’t have time to be polite. “I want a location. We have a possible suspect but I don’t trust our justice system to put him away. I want to know everything there is to know about him, including where he commits his crimes. Oh, and your son needs to marry his woman.”
“Already done.”
Turner laughed out loud. “Of course, it is. Damn, you don’t waste any time, do you?”
“No. This asshole has been going in and out of her house like he has keys to the place. I know my son and he’s going to put a bullet in the guy’s head for crossing that line. That’s way too close for comfort so all bets are off as far as my son is concerned.”
“Can’t say I blame him. If somebody was doing that to my woman, I’d do the same thing.”
“Speaking of her, how is she, and when are you going to tie the knot?”
“You don’t know that we haven’t already done it on the down low.”
“Well, that answers my question.”
“Don’t worry about my personal life, you have more than enough drama to handle in your own. Go talk to Goldie. If she’s able to recall the moments after she escaped, she should be able to lead you to the location. Let’s get this son of a bitch off the streets. I don’t care what lines you have to cross, just do it in a way I can cover your ass. No loose ends.”
“I’ll do you one better than that. I’m going to handle it so you don’t have to do a thing.”