The Silenced

When she called him at the cell phone number that was still, miraculously, the right number, he told her to come over.

His home was in northern Virginia, so it hadn’t taken her long to reach him—no more than forty-five minutes—even though she stopped by Lara’s on the way.

“You’ve graduated, Margaret. Congratulations!” he said as he welcomed her into his home.

“You...knew I was in the academy?”

“Of course. I thought maybe you’d find me. If you hadn’t, I would have sought you out. Do you want to be with the Krewe?” he asked her. “Oh, would you like some iced tea or coffee—or a drink?”

She shook her head. “I need help,” she said.

“Oh?” He seemed surprised. She realized he’d assumed she was coming to inquire about becoming part of the Krewe.

“My friend Lara Mayhew is missing. I saw the press conference about the woman discovered in the river. Adam, Lara fits the description to a T.”

He frowned, obviously not expecting this. “It’s a long shot to think your friend might be this girl. When did she go missing?” he asked.

“She left me a message at around two-thirty this morning, about leaving DC. She said she had to get out of there. And she seemed really distressed.”

Adam was silent for a minute. Meg knew he’d lived through a great deal of stress and heartache through the years. “But...if she said she was leaving, it’s quite possible that she...left.”

“There was something wrong with the message, Adam. She didn’t sound all right. She almost sounded as if...as if she planned to go into hiding.”

“Maybe she did,” he said gently.

“I know, but her message scared me.”

“So you’d say she’s been missing, what, about fifteen hours?”

Meg nodded unhappily. She knew that the length of time Lara had been missing wouldn’t fit the official interpretation of “missing.” It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours.

“And you haven’t been able to reach her?”

“No, and I made several other calls, too.” She hesitated, then added, “She was involved in politics. Not that I’m suggesting politicians are evil or anything.”

Adam laughed. “We could take a poll on that one,” he said.

“The whole situation really worries me, Adam. She worked in media relations for Congressman Walker, and I tried calling his office. They seemed to be saying she quit, but I couldn’t get any more out of them. They gave me...the brush-off.”

“I won’t get a brush-off,” he assured her, his voice grim. “Those offices are usually busy, and unless you represent a powerful lobby of some kind... Well, let’s just say that the days when a man could walk into the White House to chat with the president are long gone.” He paused, then offered her an encouraging smile. “Remember, though, your friend may be fine. Try not to stress too much. If she said she was leaving, she might have done just that.”

“Adam, I know that something’s wrong.”

“Ah,” he said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”

“I—I need to see her.”

“Of course. You mean you need to see the victim. If she can be identified, it’ll certainly help the investigation. You realize it’s not easy?”

“I went through the academy. I’ve seen all kinds of horrors.”

“Yes,” he said, “but this is the real world you’re entering—not a video of what others have been through or a lecture about what they’ve discovered. This will be up close. And it might well be personal.”

“I’ve been to an autopsy before.”

“However, it may not be your friend at all,” he pointed out.

“But then again, it may be. I can’t reach her, Adam,” she said, even more urgently than before. “I tried repeatedly. I called her aunt. I called other friends. And, as I told you, her office wouldn’t give me any information.”

“So they say she quit?”

“Yes, sometime yesterday or last night, I assume. Actually, they didn’t use the word quit. They used the words no longer here. And they suggested I speak with her if I wanted more information about her future plans.”

Adam was thoughtful for a moment.

“Have you...seen this friend?” he asked her softly.

Seen. As in seeing her ghost or whatever remained of the person who had once been Lara.

“No, but like I said, I’m absolutely certain that something is very wrong. She loved her job. Plus, her message seemed so strange. And there was another call from her phone but no message. I figured at first that she’d redialed by accident.” Meg shrugged hopelessly. “Adam, believe me, I tried all the people and venues I could. I had her landlady check, but Lara didn’t answer the door at her apartment. I checked her place myself on the way here. She didn’t respond. I have her spare key so I went in. She’s not there. Her purse and keys are gone, but she hasn’t packed to go anywhere. I’m aware that she hasn’t been gone very long and yet...her resemblance to the victim is so close.”

“I understand.”

“I just— I need to see the woman they found, Adam.”

“The body is badly decomposed,” he warned her.

“Still... I believe I’d know if it was Lara.”

“I agree that you need to see her,” Adam said.

“I noticed that the Bureau is handling the case.”

“Yes, the Krewe specifically, and yes, I can make the arrangements. Are you ready now?”

She nodded.

“You drove here?” he asked her.

“I did. So we can go to the morgue right away?” Meg asked.

“We’ll stop there first, although we probably don’t have to. I’m sure that if this is your friend, her fingerprints are in the system, since she works on the Hill. I believe the corp—the young woman was not... Well, it may take them time to get prints, but I can find out where the ME is with that.”

He made the calls as she drove. They reached the OCME and a receptionist was waiting to let them in. Adam was familiar with the morgue and led her down a hallway.

They were met by the man she’d seen on television. She was tall, but he seemed to tower over her. She tried to remember the name she’d heard on TV. Agent...Boswell or something like that.

It didn’t matter. Adam introduced them. He was Special Agent Matthew Bosworth. He was polite but restrained during the introduction, and assured Adam that Dr. Wong was already there, prepared to show the body.