Come Back Jack: Our Father's Eyes Book 1 by Elias Barnes

Author:Elias Barnes [Barnes, Elias]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Backroads Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

I find a paperback of the book at Dwyer’s, sit at the bar and have a double cheeseburger, fries and a vanilla milkshake. I read half of the book while I eat. Marigold Madding was an excellent writer and expanded on the story that Samantha told me in the cemetery. She went through enough of the backstory of Elizabeth Madding that I feel like I know her. I pay for my food and walk around town, then on to the college campus, digesting my food, but also digesting what I’d learned about my brother.

How long has he been doing this? Years? I don’t know how long he’s owned Bellina’s Pizzeria, but it doesn’t really matter, does it? If he kills one person, it’s one too many. I remember what Agent Dowd said, later, in the car—when there weren’t microphones listening to my every thought.

“You know, once someone like this starts, someone like your dad, I mean,” he said, making eye contact in the rear-view mirror, “Once they start, it’s like some kind of addiction for them. After that initial thrill, they keep chasing it over and over, looking for that same feeling.”

“I don’t believe any of this,” I said, but I broke eye contact and looked out the window, smudging away a tear that was running a track down my cheek.

“You don’t have to believe it for it to be true.”

“I don’t think you will catch him.”

“We have a special task force made up of the best officers in the country. Eventually, we will catch him.”

“What about the ATF? Have you invited them? I hear they make excellent dog killers.”

He looked at me in the mirror and our eyes made contact for the briefest of moments, but his were calm, as always.

“I am sorry about that,” he said, looking down at the steering wheel.

“Have you ever thought that you’ve made some sort of mistake and he ran because he thought you were after him for some other reason?”

“That isn’t possible.”

“Explain why.”

He pulled the car over in front of an elementary school. It was the same elementary school I had gone to. Kids were on the playground, laughing and pushing each other on swings; a group of girls with bouncing hair were playing hopscotch, jumping in and out of the squares. Agent Dowd rolled the front windows down and turned off the car. We could hear the kids laughing and playing, yelling at each other from the playground. I wished he would roll them back up, but I didn’t ask. I would not ask this man for favors. He lights a cigarette, inhales deeply and blows a plume of smoke out into the wind.

“The government stores DNA in a database called CODIS. This database has over ten million individual samples of DNA. Are you familiar with ancestry websites where you can track your ancestor using your DNA?”

“I guess.”

“Individuals who use those websites can volunteer their DNA information to the CODIS system. About six months ago, we got a partial DNA hit from a sample downloaded via one of those websites.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.