Page 54 of Her Final Hours
Callie glanced out the window, observing the serene surroundings. “It’s hard to believe we’re so close to a massive snowstorm. The radio has been talking about it nonstop. But you’d never guess it’s nearly upon us. Only a few flakes. It’s almost peaceful.”
Noah nodded, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. “Yeah, but then again, weather in the Adirondacks has always been unpredictable. Let’s hope it holds until we’re done here today.”
Noah decided to share some recent information he’d uncovered as they drove. “By the way, I made a call to the railroad earlier. It turns out Frank Rodriguez was lying to us.”
Callie raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued. “Surprise, surprise.”
Noah chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, it’s a wild story. At first, I thought it was significant, but after having Parish follow up with him, I came to find out the truth. The reason he never told the cops what he was really doing that night was that he didn’t want to get Don in trouble for giving him a ride outside of work hours. He would have also landed himself in hot water. He wasn’t supposed to be working that night. Something he didn’t tell Don either.”
“So, where was he coming from?”
“Albany.”
“Why?”
“Because he was seeing someone down there.”
Callie laughed. “Ah, I see. And this investigator friend of yours confirmed that with his mistress?” she asked.
Noah nodded, swallowing some coffee before setting his cup down in the console. “Oh, for sure, but it wasn’t a mistress. His ex-wife had already left him because she found out he wasseeing guys on the side. Frank begged Parish not to tell his workplace.”
Callie nearly spat out her drink. “What? You’re kidding.”
Noah couldn’t help but find amusement in the situation. “Yep, that’s right. Janice left him when she discovered his little secret. Talk about living a double life.”
Callie shrugged, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. “Hey, everyone’s got their skeletons. Let’s not hold it against him. He’s out there living his best life.”
Noah chuckled, picking up his drink from the console. “Yeah, except he doesn’t want his pals down at the railroad to know. It’s pretty ironic, don’t you think?”
Callie glanced at him. “We all have our secrets and our past. Even you, Sutherland.”
Noah’s gaze turned distant, his thoughts consumed by the missing case.
The conversation fell into a comfortable silence as they continued their drive through the wintry landscape. Snowflakes danced in the air, a temporary respite before the storm. “So, any luck going through the files?”
Callie took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Well, it seems like the investigation in the past primarily focused on the composites you and Jenna provided, along with another attempted abduction that occurred months later. The authorities created another composite for that which only seemed to muddy the waters of the investigation. Still, it’s surprising they didn’t make much headway since thousands of leads were coming in.”
“Yeah, leads that went nowhere,” Noah said.
She ran a hand over her tired eyes. “True. There were no significant breakthroughs because of the time, technology, or lack thereof, but maybe we’ll get those answers now.”
Noah focused on the road ahead. “I still remember that night —the blue truck with the light bar. It felt like a promising lead at the time.” He glanced at her. “Did you uncover anything in her files about that truck?”
She leaned back in her seat. “According to the records, they interviewed everyone that night. They even obtained video footage from families there, but the truck was obscured, hidden behind other vehicles.”
Noah’s eyebrows furrowed in frustration. “Yeah, they never did identify the owner or the make.”
Callie ran her hands over her legs. “Kind of hard. It wasn’t the best footage. Grainy. Even when they blew up a still image from the video, it was tough to tell what make it was. They thought it could have been a Dodge Dakota; others thought it was an ’80s Chevrolet. Either way, they never found it. However, the interesting part is that Helen created a list of sixteen people who had reported seeing a blue truck. Several of them were placed under hypnosis. From those sessions, they managed to gain some partial license information. They ran that information through the state system but got no record.”
Noah sighed; the Sheriff’s Office’s past failings had been the talk of the town for several years until he left for the military. “Yeah, it’s like a truck vanished into thin air. If they couldn’t find it back then, I doubt there is much chance of finding it now. Too much time has elapsed.”
She tapped a finger in the air with a sparkle in her eye. “You see, that’s where I think you might be wrong. What if it was stolen from another state? Maybe none of the four persons of interest owned it, so they didn’t focus on it. We know at times that law enforcement gets tunnel vision. Maybe it was a secondary vehicle kept out of state and specifically used for these purposes, hidden away in some garage or owned by a company.”
Noah’s interest was piqued; a glimmer of hope brokethrough the dark cloud of his mind. “You think the truck still exists?”
“Who’s to say not?” she replied. “It could have been sold or ended up in a wrecker’s yard.”
“Yeah, trashed. Come on, Callie. It’s been over two decades.”
