Fatal Silence by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Author:Carolyn Ridder Aspenson [Ridder Aspenson, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

24

Bishop had arranged to meet Baker at a local coffee shop under the guise of follow-up questions to finalize the files on Chip Stuart. I wanted to go, but Jimmy axed that idea for fear I’d end up on the news for assault. He had a point. He also wanted everything to appear casual and keep Baker from being suspicious.

Bishop returned to the office alone.

“Where’s Baker?” I asked.

“He didn’t show.”

The hairs on my arms stood. I jumped from the chair in the investigation room. “He knows, Bishop. He knows we think he’s involved. He’s running. We need a BOLO on him.”

“Already done.”

Jimmy stormed in. His face was red, and his hands were clenched into fists so tight his knuckles were white. “You lost him?” It wasn’t exactly a question.

“Chief,” Bishop said. “He didn’t show.”

Jimmy ran his hand over his cropped hair. “Call Birmingham. See if they’ve had any interaction with him since the investigation closed.”

I retrieved the phone number and called Detective Anderson. He picked up on the second ring. “Anderson.”

“This is Detective Ryder with Hamby PD. Mind if I put you on speaker?”

“No problem, ma’am.”

I hit the speaker button. “I have Detective Bishop and Chief Abernathy in the room with me.”

“Gentlemen,” he said. “What can I help you with?”

Bishop spoke first. “Did you receive the email I sent you earlier this morning?”

“Yes, I did. I’ve already got calls out to the victims, but I’m not sure why this is important.”

“We can explain that in a moment,” I said. “Right now, we have a question regarding Scott Baker. He was the father of Claire Baker who was attacked by Daniel Travis.”

“I don’t remember the name but go ahead.”

“Has your department had any interaction with him since the investigation closed?”

“Give me a moment.” He put us on hold.

“He’s an odd one,” Bishop whispered.

“If by odd you mean condescending, I agree.”

Bishop rolled his eyes. He always assumed I believed all male law enforcement was condescending. I probably did, but that wasn’t my point then.

Anderson returned to the line. “Detective, Mr. Baker is no longer a resident of Alabama. In fact, if you were to check for yourself instead of calling me, you’d see he’s a current resident of Alpharetta, Georgia. I believe that’s close to your town, correct?”

Bishop and I made eye contact. He raised a brow and mouthed, “He moved?”

“We are aware of his move,” I lied. “I’m asking if he’s had any run-ins with your department.”

“Unless he was arrested, we wouldn’t have noted anything in our system, so, to the best of my knowledge, no, there has been no interaction with Mr. Baker.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“May I ask why you’re asking?”

I regarded Jimmy. He shook his head. “We like to keep an eye on people who support serial killers, and he paid for Chip Stuart’s attorney.”

“I understand. And regarding the assault victims?”

I looked over at Bishop again. I wasn’t exactly sure what he said in the email.

“One of the victims here was threatened, and we’ve learned the women on that list may be at risk, too.

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