Dark Passage by L.T. Vargus & Tim McBain

Author:L.T. Vargus & Tim McBain [Vargus, L.T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fbi thriller, serial killers, police procedural
Publisher: Smarmy Press
Published: 2021-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

Darger hadn’t eaten much the previous day, not after the stomach-souring experience of trudging through the landfill. It felt good to have her appetite back. And even better to be sating it with a plate full of wholly unhealthy comfort food. She didn’t think Curtis would approve of such decadence, which made her enjoy the food that much more.

She and Loshak were about halfway through their meal when Darger’s phone rang.

“It’s Ambrose,” she told Loshak before taking the call.

The detective wasted no time filling them in on what he’d found.

“I just talked with Courtney Maroni’s sister. She had the standard family-member-of-an-addict story. Not unlike Stephen Mayhew’s aunt, really. Gave Courtney chance after chance and got burned every time. She did feel like her sister’s stint with the Children cleaned her up, but she was pretty jaded overall. Didn’t seem too upset or surprised that her sister was dead. She gave me the mom’s number, and she was even worse. She says that she hasn’t seen her daughter in years. She has six kids, worked her fingers to the bone for them, and as far as she’s concerned, once they turn eighteen, she’s off the hook. And I quote, ‘So whatever Courtney’s done, it’s none of my concern.’ Damn near hung up on me before I could break the news.’” Ambrose’s tone turned sarcastic. “I tell you what, Agent Darger, sometimes this job is such a delight.”

Darger considered the few times she’d been in a similar position.

“The gift that keeps on giving,” she said. “Any luck with the emergency contact for Bailey Harmon?”

“I’ve tried the number three times. No answer.” Ambrose sighed. “We traced it to a local address. I sent some unis over to see if anyone’s home. They happened to see the next-door neighbor out watering her garden and asked around about the Harmons. She said they’ve been on vacation for the past week or so. She’s been feeding their cat. Anyway, they’re supposed to get back tomorrow. I had them give her my number so she can call when they do get home.”

Darger felt a familiar impatience in her gut but reminded herself that only a few hours ago, they hadn’t identified either Jane Doe. This was progress.

“What about our mysterious friend Worm?” she asked. “Find anything on him?”

“No. We went through the alias database. No one claiming the nickname Worm. I can’t imagine why.” Ambrose let out a single huff of laughter. “I’m going to assign a group to start combing through the DMV records. I made copies of the photo you sent. I’ll have them compare that to the driver’s license photos of anyone who owners a newish black Tundra and hope we can find ourselves a short white dude with a gold tooth somewhere in the mix.”

“We don’t know how long he’s had the tooth, so we should bear that in mind when looking at driver’s license photos,” Darger said.

“Good point. I’ll make note of it.” Ambrose yawned. “As for me, I’m calling it a day.

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