Secret Legacy by Flynt Ray

Author:Flynt, Ray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

19

I savored a relaxing evening at home, loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher from the meal Oliver prepared. I still don’t know how he does it, but he put an Italian pasta casserole on the table in less than an hour after working a full day at the office. My contribution to dinner consisted of opening a bag of salad mix from the supermarket.

Oliver now sat on the couch listening to TV—a program about Grand Prix racing that he knew wouldn’t appeal to me, so he wore a headset. I prepared to cuddle next to him and read Michael Connelly’s latest novel. I loved his new Ballard character and her work with Harry Bosch.

The sound of giggles drew me first toward the living room window. We lived across the street from Haverford College, where a bunch of students meandered along the sidewalk next to Lancaster Avenue. They might have been walking toward the White Dog Cafe, which had popular casual outdoor seating. The students laughed, horse-played, linked arms, did silly dances. They looked young and carefree. Lately I’d been experiencing what my mother used to call “the glamorous side” of forty. When I was their age, I couldn’t imagine spending a Friday night cooped up inside, especially on such a beautiful summer evening. These days, I relished it.

Oliver called my name, interrupting my reverie. “Check this out.”

I turned to see a breaking news bulletin on the TV. He didn’t take off his earphones, so I could only see the printed lettering on the screen: “Body found of missing seven-year-old from Conshohocken.”

That would be Tami Bishop.

My mind raced. Tami had disappeared after Elberta Edgerton, and El had now been missing for nearly five weeks. In fact, it had been two weeks that very evening when Brad and I first met with El’s mom and stepfather.

Oliver’s program resumed, but a news crawl at the bottom of the screen continued to broadcast the grim news. At roughly the same time, I alerted Brad to the bulletin via text.

I had to know more and retrieved my laptop from the bedroom and logged onto KYW news radio, hoping to learn more details.

They had a reporter at the scene where Tami’s body was found, and I picked up details in the middle of their live broadcast.

…a SEPTA commuter thought he saw a body in a wooded area next to the train tracks after his train left the Conshohocken Station bound for Norristown. He alerted the train’s conductor, who radioed police and they investigated. According to one of the EMTs who first responded, the girl’s face had been mutilated.

A spokesman for the multi-jurisdictional task force investigating the disappearance of four girls in the region refused to comment. However, Joseph Baronet, a criminal justice professor at the University of Pennsylvania, termed mutilation a “significant escalation” by the perpetrator.

I winced at the imagery popping into my head. My heart went out to victim’s family, who would soon receive a dreaded visit from the police.

That someone had kidnapped Tami

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