Fragmented by Fong George

Author:Fong, George [Fong, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Out of the Gutter
Published: 2014-02-19T05:00:00+00:00

Marquez watched Sizemore shuffle a stack of papers, tap them straight on the table. An open folder to his right exposed a series of black and white crime scene photos from the Grace Holloway murder in Renton, Washington, over a decade earlier. Behind him, Homer Landley was scrolling through websites, searching for the kidnapper/killer they now knew as Faust.

“Faust, eh?” Sizemore’s voice was filled with sarcasm. “I didn’t know Cooper was so well educated.”

“You can get college credit in prison,” Marquez quipped.

“The reports don’t seem to have much on his family prior to his arrest.”

“Wasn’t much there. Mom died while Cooper was traveling through Europe. He comes back to an empty house, rents a room he finds in the classifieds, gets a job, moves on….”

“Didn’t Jack say he befriended the landlord’s son and that they traveled together?”

“Youngblood,” Marquez said. “Eric Youngblood.”

“Was Youngblood in Seattle during the time our victim was found dead?”

“I can’t be certain. You’re going to have to wait and ask Jack.”

Homer groaned loudly and shoved his computer mouse off its pad. “Nothing! Guy’s all over the place, talking to anyone who’ll listen, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere!”

Marquez leaned back in her chair and glanced in Homer’s direction. His eyes looked tired, his whole body a wet shirt on a wire hanger. She actually felt sorry for the guy. “Ease up, I have faith in you.”

Homer sucked in a lungful of air and went back to clacking on the keyboard.

Sizemore turned to Marquez. “What was Youngblood doing with Cooper fifteen years ago when they were hitchhiking up and down the coastline?”

Marquez knew where Sizemore was going with his question. Placing Youngblood with Cooper at the scene of the Holloway murder meant more than identifying a murderer; it meant a possible conspirator, one who could be turned into a witness. Pit one against the other, someone to squeeze. A two-for-one deal. The question was, who was the weaker of the two?

“You get any DNA other than Cooper’s?” Marquez asked.

“No. Got some unidentified latent smudges. But only Cooper’s DNA.”

“Then I guess we should look for Youngblood as a material witness.”

“If Youngblood was present during the Grace Holloway kidnapping and murder, it’s possible he knows what’s going on with your current wave of killings, including the Baker abduction.”

Marquez agreed. “There’s too much smoke to ignore. The question is, why now? Why does Cooper risk escape and kidnap a child less than a year before his release? Why not just wait until his time’s up? Draws less suspicion.”

Sizemore shrugged. “You’re being too logical. Men like that are not guided by rational thought.”

Sizemore was right. Child abductors and murderers rarely allowed logic to dictate their actions. In most cases, it’s an urge that drives them to act, no matter the circumstance.

“Still, it just doesn’t feel quite right,” she said. “I can’t help but think Youngblood is involved in the Baker kidnapping.”

“Anything’s possible,” Sizemore said. “You got evidence showing the two have been in contact since his incarceration?”

She shook her head, recalling a report that Jack had received from Butte County jail.

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