The Promise (23 page)

Dax Rambo was not going away.

Chapter Thirty-five--Raven’s Interview

             
As Gallagher waited patiently in the interrogation room, he mentally reviewed the questions he was going to ask Raven.

This could be the break in the case he so desperately wanted. Or it could be the most frustrating morning of his investigative life. He looked up and saw his boss peek in,

“Ready, Mike?”

              “Ready as I will ever be, Chief. I hope we get some solid answers here.”

              “I have confidence in you. Get back to me as soon as the interview is over.”

              “Will do, boss. Thanks.” Gallagher knew he had his work cut out from what Elie had told him about Raven. But, he was up to the challenge.

As a former athlete, an undersized linebacker, he was used to the give and take of competition. He just had to do it these days without the helmet.

He remembered his senior year in high school when he made fourteen tackles in a game and on the game’s last play, the opposing running back dragged him across the goal line as the game ended. He was too exhausted to make that last stop.

It haunted him for years. Gallagher was a perfectionist, tending to remember what he failed to do instead of,

              “Your interview is here, Mike,” the desk officer interrupted his reverie, “This is Margaret Williams.”

              Standing to greet the black-haired beauty, Gallagher looked a little puzzled, “I thought your name was Raven?” he asked.

              “It is Raven. But, my parents christened me Margaret. I don’t like my parents.”

              “Well, it’s nice to meet you, uh, Raven. Please sit down. I have a few questions for you concerning the disappearance of Allison Taylor.”

              Raven was proactive to the max, “Look, let’s get something straight here. I had nothing to do with that girl’s disappearance. I didn’t even see her that day. I wasn’t even near the campus that day. I heard about it on the news, like a week later.

So, can I go now?”

              Gallagher chuckled lightly, “No, you can’t go just yet. But, we will check out your whereabouts the day Miss Taylor vanished. Where were you between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on August 27
th
?”

              The girl stared at him, “I don’t know what I did that day. It was just a day!”

              The detective reminded her, “I thought you just said you were not even near the campus on August 27
th
?  How do you know that if you don’t remember that particular day?”

              She snarled, “Because I wasn’t on that campus for the entire month of August. I hate that, ‘Hey, now I’m in college, shit!’ It’s just a pickup time for all the horn dogs who can’t wait to get away from mommy and daddy and be pseudo-adults.”

              Gallagher realized he had a street smart girl on his hands here.

He skipped several questions and asked her directly, ”So you weren’t there that day. Let’s assume that. But, your hair was there. How do you explain that?

In addition, we found part of a poem, ‘The Raven,’ on a piece of paper near the curb where Allison disappeared and a necklace in the shape of a raven on the sidewalk. Care to explain that to me?”

              Raven laughed. “I can explain how my hair got there. I had a fight with the bitch the day before and so my hair could have gotten on her hands or somewhere on her body, right? It doesn’t mean I was there physically.

I don’t know anything about that piece of paper or the necklace. I already have a necklace. See?”

She leaned her upper body in towards Gallagher not only allowing him to see her raven’s necklace, but a considerable amount of her abundant cleavage as well. The detective kept his eyes high. He knew what she was trying to do to him.

              “Well, it’s possible that you bought this raven necklace after you lost your other one, isn’t it?”

              “Wrong, again. I have had this one for three years. I bought it in high school. Why would I wear two of them at the same time?

You don’t have anything here, Mr. Gallagher. But, I do want you to know if I hear anything about what happened to the girl, I will tell you. See ya!”

              As Raven got up to leave, Gallagher stopped her, “Whoa, I’m the one who concludes the interview. I have a couple of more questions. Sit down, young lady.”

              She defiantly sat down, “What?”

              “Allison Taylor belonged to a secret society in high school called, The Promise, I believe, is that true?”

              Raven never changed her fiery expression, “That’s none of your damn business.”

              “I’m a police detective investigating a possible murder or kidnapping, Miss Williams, it is my business. Are you going to cooperate or not?”

              Raven stood up, “Or not.”

              “You are making this more difficult for yourself, Miss Williams.”

              “No, I am making this more difficult for you, Mr. Gallagher, because you don’t have shit! I had nothing to do with her disappearance. You have no proof that I did and you are bluffing. One strand of my hair is not going to convict me, especially since we had a physical fight the day before.

I’m surprised you don’t have more strands of my hair, aren’t you?

By the way, finding the necklace and the poem is a nice touch. But, grow a brain. If I did do anything to her, do I seem dumb enough to leave that kind of crap lying around a scene where some blonde bimbo disappears? How long have you been a detective anyway?”

              Gallagher was angry, at himself.

He knew she was making excellent points here. He decided on one other line of questioning with this very savvy girl.

Sympathy.

“Look, I’m just trying to find out what happened to a girl here. I have a father and a mother who miss their daughter terribly and I just,”

              Raven sneered, “Don’t use that premise, man. Don’t try to manipulate me with her sleazy parents. If you want to find out how Allison disappeared, you need to re-examine mommy and daddy and start over. Your, two plus two is not going to equal four when you get to the bottom of that loopy family!”

              Again, Gallagher changed tracks, “What do you know, Raven. Tell me.”

              “I’m not telling you, jack! I want no part of this. The last thing in the world I would ever do is get Archer Taylor mad at me.

That guy is crazy. He would break me like a toothpick if I got in his way. You better watch your own step, Gallagher. He is one mean dude. Believe it.”

              Gallagher was puzzled,
“Did this girl know something personally about Arch Taylor that he had not revealed up to now?”

The detective was a pretty good judge of character. He respected Arch. Taylor had a good reputation in the community. He had never been arrested, nor had he ever been associated with any shady business associates.

He had been a major benefactor in several worthy causes and had been twice been named, “Man of the Year,” by the Athens Chamber of Commerce. But, listening to Raven, he got the impression that Archer Taylor was one biological step below a pig’s ass in a world of slop.

Why was she so negative about the man? He decided to take a shot in the dark by bluffing her.

              “Raven, we know you had an affair with Arch Taylor. That doesn’t make him a dangerous man or a criminal.”

              “It makes him a criminal since I was underage, legal boy. But, I’m not pressing charges nor will I help you in any way.”

              The detective was doubly stunned at her affirmative answer to his guise and her willingness to admit it.

“Just because he had sex with you, it doesn’t mean he did something terrible to his daughter. If what you suggest is true, it does make him a sexually perverted guy.”

Raven snapped back, “Tip of the iceberg, baby. He is capable of a lot more than that. Hell, for all I know, he could be the one trying to frame me for this murder. But, don’t repeat that!”

              “No one said anything about a murder, young lady.”

              She exclaimed, “Well, do you believe she’s alive? I sure as hell don’t. I doubt she ran away, she loved daddy’s money too much; she sure as hell wasn’t kidnapped or there would be a ransom note, so what’s your conclusion, Judge Judy?”

              Gallagher laughed aloud, “You’re very entertaining, you know that?”

              “Kiss my ass. Can I go now?”

              “How do you know there wasn’t a ransom note?”

              She sneered, “Because if there was, you wouldn’t be dragging my booty butt down here. Have a nice day. We won’t be in touch.”

Raven stood up, bent over purposely to collect her purse, giving the detective one more look at her large breasts, smiled smugly when he noticed them and walked confidently out the door.

Gallagher watched her go and sat there shaking his head, “
That is one smart girl. Maybe I will send her an application for the police academy. We could use her on our side.”

              But, his reasoning didn’t stop there.

For as of that moment, there were still no viable suspects in the disappearance of Allison Lynne Taylor, just a lot of loose ends that had no connection to each other.

Or did they?

Chapter Thirty-six--verna turns Up

             
“Well, I had the honor of meeting the infamous Raven, yesterday. God Bless any man who gets her for a lifetime,” laughed Gallagher, “Even Mick was blushing when she left here.”

              Elie smiled, “I told you to be ready. I wish I had her on my lacrosse team. We would have gone undefeated. She kicks ass and doesn’t look back.”

              “Well, I would like to believe she could be a potential suspect, but I don’t think she is. She has a lot of anger, but, I don’t think she’s capable of murder…”

              His partner cautioned him, “Maybe not, but she wouldn’t have to actually commit the crime. She could have had someone else do it for her.”

              The detective shook his head negatively. “Nah, she’s not the type. If she wanted someone dead, she would be upfront about it.