Fragmented (22 page)

37

Thursday –
5:28 a.m.

Colfax parked
the Crown Vic just past the fork in the road, while Jack waited with the prisoner, who sat cross-legged in the dirt, his hands cuffed. Jack had confronted Youngblood, who denied any involvement in the Baker abduction. When Colfax returned, they stuffed him in the back, head first, before getting in themselves, Jack in the driver’s seat, making Blunt ride beside the suspect.

“Can I go home now?” Blunt whined.

“In a minute,” Jack said. “We’re a bit busy.” He threw his right arm over his seat and addressed Youngblood. “Is anyone in the house?”

Youngblood shook his head. “Like I just told you, I had nothing to do with that girl being kidnapped.”

“We’re going inside to find out.”

Jack steered the car carefully to the front, scanning the area for any movement.

Colfax gestured at Youngblood and Blunt. “What do we do with these two?”

“We take Youngblood with us.” Jack pointed at Blunt. “Get out and stand by the back of the trunk. If you hear gunfire, run.”

Blunt rolled his eyes, muttering, “Oh, fuck me.”

Jack got out of the vehicle, and led Youngblood out by the elbow. Colfax snuck up from around back. The front door was still ajar from when Youngblood bolted into the woods. Jack pushed him in front, like a shield.

“If anyone in there has a gun, you’re taking the first round.”

Youngblood tilted his head and sighed deeply. “I swear there’s no one in there.
”

Jack drew his pistol, keeping it close to his side. With his left hand, Jack grabbed a handful of Youngblood’s shirt. Colfax followed, covering Jack’s flank.

They entered a modest nook that led to a small kitchen, living room to the right, boxes scattered over a hardwood floor the color of pale beer. There was an overstuffed couch, a Barco-lounger, and two wooden dining chairs. Everything looked recycled from a second-hand store.

“Police!” Colfax called out.

“I told you I’m the only one. Cooper’s not here.”

Jack pushed Youngblood down the hallway and through two bedrooms and a bathroom.

The house was clear. Nothing. No sign Jessica Baker had ever been there.

During their search, Jack found a rental agreement in the kitchen under the name of Charles Petersen. Jack figured an alias for
Monroe
. Dools ran
Monroe
’s name through DMV and came up with only the
Southern California
address. Two hundred and fifty hits on Charles Petersen, but none listed to this place.

They returned to the living room and sat Youngblood on the couch. Jack grabbed one of the wooden dining chairs and placed it in front of him; Colfax fell into the Barco-lounger.

“Okay,” Jack said as he removed his ballistic vest and stood it by Youngblood’s feet. “Where’s the girl?”

Youngblood shook his bowed head. “I don’t know. Cooper’s the only one that knows.”

“Then tell me where I can find Cooper.”

“I’ve been waiting for Alvie to show up for two days now.” Youngblood sank into the couch. There was a bit of hesitation in his voice, like he was struggling to find the right words. “This is his place, sort of. He told me that it belonged to a friend. Guy named
Monroe
.”

“You ever meet
Monroe
?”

Youngblood shook his head. “No. I spoke to Alvie two days ago, at night. He asked me to meet him back here at the house. He told me
Monroe
was dead.”

“Is that why you’re using his bank card?” Jack asked.

Youngblood closed his eyes and exhaled. “Cooper left it for me. Said I could use it if I needed money.”

Colfax leaned in. “I’m lost. You’re a friend of Cooper, you’re crashing in a dead man’s house, you use his bankcard, and yet you’re saying you had nothing to do with
Monroe
’s death or the kidnapping of Jessica Baker?” Colfax spat on the floor. “Bullshit.”

“Look, let me explain.” Youngblood shifted his weight, pushing himself up to sit taller. “It’s been over a week since I received an e-mail from Cooper. Out of the blue, there it was.”

Jack asked, “Prior to that, when was the last time you two spoke?”

“It’s been over five years. Before he murdered his family. After that incident, I wanted nothing to do with him.”

“So why’d he reach out to you after all this time.”

Youngblood shrugged. “I can’t say. We were best friends for a long time. Traveled together, shared a room. Alvie came to our house right after he returned from his trip to
Europe
. Found his mother had died and needed a place to live. So he moved in, gets a job and we became friends. We traveled, did things together. Then, sometime during one of our trips, I found out something about him. He started acting really weird, scary. I don’t know, he just freaked me out.”

Colfax spoke. “You travel with him to
Seattle
back in ’89?”

Youngblood wouldn’t look at Colfax.

“I asked you a question, Eric. Were you there with Cooper?”

“You want to know if I had anything to do with that dead girl? The one you found in the church?”

“Bingo.”

“Nothing!” Youngblood shot back without a moment’s pause. “I had nothing to do with that girl’s death. It was Alvie. Alvie kidnapped her and killed her. That’s why I didn’t want to have anything to do with him. That’s why I asked him to leave. Leave my uncle’s house and get as far away from us as he possibly could.”

“I don’t buy it.” Colfax hovered over Youngblood, shoving a finger in his face. “Don’t lie to me. You either tell me the truth now or you won’t have to worry about being extradited back to
Washington
because I’ll kick the shit out of you myself.”

“I swear I had nothing to do with that girl’s death.”

Jack reached up and gently placed a hand on Colfax’s arm, then slid his chair, up close and personal with Youngblood. “Eric,” he said calmly, “you got five—strike that—you got two minutes to tell us what you know or you’ll be looking at murder charges in
Seattle
and possible kidnapping charges here.”

“The girl, the one in
Seattle
, I didn’t kill her.” Youngblood’s lips tightened into a straight line. “I was there when Alvie met her at
Pike Place
. We were looking for a bar that would let us in. She was in front of a restaurant with another friend. We talked for a bit and, the next thing I know, she’s following us around.”

Colfax lowered his voice. “Her name is Grace Holloway.”

“What about the friend?” Jack asked.

Youngblood shook his head. “Left after an hour or so. I don’t remember. All I know was her friend was gone and that Grace girl was tagging alongside of us.”

“So far you’re with him and her,” Colfax said. “Sounds like conspiracy to me.”

“It’s not like that. We spent the rest of the night bouncing between bars, getting kicked out of some, left alone in others. At first, we didn’t know she was sixteen. She looked older. By the time the sun started to rise, we were driving south toward
Renton
. Grace wanted to take us to this abandoned building, said she liked hanging there because it gave her time away from her mom and dad, you know, maybe smoke some weed. A place to think. Alvie started acting like he’s real interested in her well being but I guessed he was only trying to get in her pants.”

“What about you? You want to get into her pants too?”

Youngblood’s face wrinkled like taking in a bad smell. “Fuck no. I wasn’t going to screw a minor and get my ass thrown in jail. I’m not that stupid.”

“But Alvie is?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. I’m not his mother. Besides, things were already going south between us. I really didn’t care
what
he wanted to do. I just wanted to get away.”

“So what happened next?”

“We made our way back to
Tacoma
, where we found a cheap motel. I told Alvie to leave me there and those two took off on their own. They disappeared for the day. I couldn’t go anywhere because I had no wheels. I was bouncing off the walls until Alvie came back early evening, this time by himself. I asked him, ‘Where’s the girl’ and he told me she wasn’t worth his time.”

“What did he mean by that?”

Youngblood closed his eyes. “I pushed him for an explanation and he kept laughing like it was some kind of joke. Said he got aggravated and left her to die.”

“In those words?” Jack asked. ‘Left her to die?’”

“Yeah. It wasn’t long after that I saw the TV stations broadcasting the story of the missing girl and her photo. Then they found her body.”

“Why didn’t you do something?” Colfax demanded.

Youngblood shook his head emphatically. “I didn’t know where she was. I kept yelling, trying to get Alvie to tell me if it was that
abandoned building, but he laughed at me, said that would be the first place everyone would look, so he took her somewhere else. A place no one knew about, including me. I pressed him for the location but he wouldn’t tell me. He said she was a pain and needed to die.
”

“Why didn’t you go to the police?”

Youngblood rolled his eyes. “Look what you guys are suspecting me of right now. Alvie told me that because we were all together, we were both responsible for her death. Said if he fell on the murder, so would I.” Youngblood bit down hard on his lower lip. “I got scared. I didn’t know what else to do but to go along with it and get the hell out of
Seattle
.”

“So if you two had a falling out,” Jack asked, “why did he reach out to you now?”

“Said he wanted to talk. Said he was getting out and needed help. I told him no. After a few e-mails and a couple of phone calls, he started threatening me by bringing up the Grace Holloway murder. I had to meet with him.”

“You got a phone number or an e-mail that he’s using right now?”

“I got a number, his cell.”

“Give it to me,” Jack said.

Youngblood recited the number, looking over at Jack’s notebook to make sure he got it right.

“I left him a message on it today so I know it’s still good. Do you want me to call him now?”

Jack thought about it, then shook his head. “Let’s wait until we get the phone tapped.”

Colfax stood up and thumbed toward the door. “I’ll call Hoskin with the number and get started on tracing it. You finish up here.”