No End of Bad Guys by Jeff Buick

Author:Jeff Buick [Buick, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, mystery, thriller, suspense, international mystery, Crime
Publisher: Novel Words Inc.
Published: 2019-08-26T14:29:12+00:00

chapter seven

Something was eating away at Bobby. He had a lingering feeling

that he’d missed some detail on the NamUs site when he was searching for Molly Vaughn. He wasn’t sure what it was, but the moment he got back from Sarah’s game he fired up his computer and went online.

He logged into the NamUs site and started again with Alabama, the names and faces now vaguely familiar. When he reached Arizona, a file popped out. Chelsea Tanner, age 28, white female. She and her eight-month old daughter had disappeared on their way home from Sunday dinner at her parents’ house. He enlarged her picture and stared hard at her face.

There was a team photo on his cell and Bobby pulled it up and zoomed in on Molly Vaughn. He switched his gaze back and forth between her and Chelsea Tanner, taking in their facial features. They had the same high forehead and widely spaced eyes, and there was no mistaking Chelsea Tanner’s quirky smile. It was like someone had cut and pasted it on Molly. He scrolled over to the Scottsdale team investigating the case—Annette Carter was the lead detective. Bobby tapped her number into his phone and sat back as it rang.

“Carter.” Her tone was all business.

“Detective Carter, this is Bobby Greco, Orlando Homicide.”

“How can I help you?”

“Your name came up on NamUs as the detective working the Chelsea Tanner file.”

“I was working it, we found her body about eight months ago. Her daughter is still missing, so the file’s open but it’s gone cold.”

“Chelsea Tanner is dead?” Bobby asked. “NamUs shows her as missing.”

“They probably haven’t updated the file.”

“What happened to her?”

“Hang on,” she said. There was some tapping on a keyboard, then she said, “What’s your badge number, Detective Greco?”

“1703.”

More tapping, then, “Okay, just checking. Chelsea turned up in a shallow grave about two miles south of Phoenix. An axe in her head.”

“You mean she was killed by an axe blow.”

“No, I mean whoever killed her left the axe embedded in her skull.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, holy shit. We had our suspicions she and her daughter were dead, but that was a shocker.”

“No kidding. What about the daughter?” He checked the file for her name. “Olivia. Any idea what happened to her?”

“Nope.” There was a pause, then, “We worked it hard, detective. A missing mother and baby, it was all over the news. The family was fairly well off and they offered a substantial reward. We were swamped with calls, but none of them went anywhere. It was a very frustrating case.”

Bobby could only imagine. Murder and kids was a horrible combination.

“Why are you asking?” Carter said.

“It’s a long shot, but I might have found the daughter. Do you have a DNA profile on her?”

“We do.” A slight pause, then, “Is she all right?”

“If it’s her, then yes, for now. The faster we can move on establishing her ID the better.”

“I’ll send you the DNA profile within the hour.”

They exchanged email addresses and cell phone numbers, then Bobby hung up.

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