[MD2, 3:30PM, in the bushes]

>A rustling in the bushes behind her caught Kate's
>attention, and almost by reflex, she found her gun
>in her hand, trained on the location of the sound.
>A hand reached through the thick folliage and
>pushed it back, while Kate began to exert slight
>pressure on the trigger.

>"Hold your fire, it's just me," a voice said, followed
>by Damian's face peering through the leaves.
>"That's a real good way to get yourself shot," Kate
>warned and reholstered her weapon.
>Sharlyn appeared behind Damian. "We trailed
>Burrell here," she said. "He met a woman."
>Kate nodded. "Carol Drazinski, the mother of
>one of the missing girls." That brought a frown
>from both the agents. "Interesting, isn't it," Kate
>observed.

The three agents watched in silence for a few minutes while Burrell and Carol Drazinski carried on a rather animated conversation. By appearances, it wasn't quite an argument, but it was certainly a heated discussion. At one moment, Carol seemed to be pleading with Burrell, at the next angry with him, making gestures of chastisement, then she would seem resigned to what he was saying to her, and then the whole process would start again.

Kate was frustrated with not being able to hear what was going on. Looking at Damian and Sharlyn, she saw that they were thinking the same thing.

"This is as close as we can get without being seen," Kate said.

"We could just walk up to them and ask them what they're talking about," Sharlyn suggested.

Kate pondered that for a moment. She doubted that they would get anything even resembling the truth, and at the same time, they would be tipping their hand and letting Burrell know that he was under surveillance. Of course, that might get things moving. Kate shook her head. "No, we'll wait."

"They're moving," Damian said, just as Kate and Sharlyn looked up and noticed the same thing.

Burrell and Carol walked over to Carol's car, still talking as they went. Burrell got into the passenger seat.

"Go after them," Kate said to Damian and Sharlyn.

*****

[MD2, 3:30PM, Stevens house]

Ted Stevens sat on the couch, looking desolate and depressed, and staring at a photograph on the end table. "I've known her all my life," he muttered. "She's ten days older than I am, and our mothers were best friends. We didn't start dating 'til last year, but… I was going to ask her to marry me. She didn't suspect a thing. That night when we were supposed to meet at the restaurant, the night she didn't show up, that's when I was going to ask her. Now I'll never get the chance."

Craig nodded sympathetically, though he had heard the same story several times already. Ted had suggested that he had some important information, but he was certainly taking his time in telling it. "Ted, we don't know that Janet is dead. If there's anything you can tell me that might help us find her, please do. For her sake."

Unconvinced, Ted nodded anyway. "Yeah. It's just a little uncomfortable.. You know, because she made me promise never to tell anyone. Anyone at all, no matter what. She didn't like talking about, you know, the past." He stopped, obviously thinking that was explanation enough.

"What about the past," Craig asked.

Ted stared at him wide eyed for a long moment. "Maybe I shouldn't. Damn it, if it can help Janet, though… Carol, Janet's stepmother, used to work for the Richmonds, long time ago. This was back when Mayor Richmond's brother was still living here. That was, oh, twenty-some years ago. She was a maid up at the big house. Funny thing is, no one really knew Albert. I guess he never really left the house much. He'd been sent off to a boarding school somewhere, and when he was in town, he just stayed in the house and didn't go anywhere. I mean, people around here usually know just about everyone and everyone's business, but I've never met anyone who ever met Albert." He lapsed into a long silence and took a drink from a giant bottle of Pepsi that was on the floor next to him.

"Go on," Craig prompted.

"Yeah, well, Albert kind of took a liking to Carol, and they started dating." He shook his head. "Dating isn't the right word, because they never really went out, but they got close. One thing sort of led to another, you know, and as the story goes, one day Carol decided that things weren't working out the way she wanted. Truth is, Carol was only in it for the money, and when she found out that Albert wasn't going to inherit a cent of old man Richmond's fortune, she decided to split with him. Well, Albert was kind of strange anyway, so they say, and he didn't take the news too well. One night, someone broke into Carol's apartment. Beat her up, cut her some. Neighbors heard a racket and called the police. She almost didn't make it."

"Was it Albert Richmond?"

Ted shrugged. "Suppose so. But he wore a ski mask and Carol couldn't say for sure if it was or wasn't. She was going to go back to him, too. If he'd just waited a couple more days, maybe, well maybe none of this stuff would be happening now."

Craig frowned. "Why did she decide to go back?"

"Because of the baby."

*****

[MD2, 3:45PM, Campus Motor Inn]

Kate stopped by the office when she got back to the motel in hopes that the fax would have already come in from Naughton University. She was in luck, though the desk clerk wasn't thrilled about the little bit of extra work receiving the fax had demanded of him. Kate tucked the small stack of papers in a pocket in her purse and went back to her room.

Tossing her briefcase and jacket in the general direction of the bed, she picked up the phone and dialed her home number.

[Yo,] a young voice answered.

"Dillon, how many times have I asked you…"

[Gotcha, Mom. I knew it was you.]

"Uh huh," Kate said, rolling her eyes. "Everything okay there?"

[Nah. The party we had last night really got out of control. Cops showed up and everything. Beer stains all over the rug, a couple of burns in the couch. The place is really trashed. We got the fire in the basement under control before it did much damage, though.]

"Point taken. Anything important in the mail."

[Just bills. And a letter from someone named Lynn something-or-other.]

"Blythe?"

[Yup. That's it.]

"And I suppose you put it on my desk unopened."

[Of course.]

"What did she have to say."

[Dunno. Justin read it.]

"Is he home?"

[Hockey practice. You gonna be back for 'the big game'?]

"Saturday, right? I'm not sure, but I'll try. Do your homework."

[Mo-om!]

"Bye."

Kate managed to hang up the phone before she started laughing. No point in encouraging her younger son's slightly warped sense of humor. He was bad enough as it was. Not that she had any real complaints. Both of the boys were basically good kids.

Kate pulled a chair over next to the bed, sat down and put her feet up, relaxing for all of thirty seconds before she pulled the papers out of her bag. She had a pretty good idea of what she would find, but when she set aside the cover sheet and looked the photographs on the page, she couldn't help but be surprised. She recognized the man in one of the photos instantly. Although he was much younger, it was unmistakably Dr. Ramon Burrell of Karellon University, although the name hand printed under the image was Albert Richmond. The real Dr. Burrell, the man in the other picture, was slightly older, stocky and with a deeply receding hairline.

The ringing of her cell phone startled her as she studied the images. She grabbed the phone.

"Calloway."

[Kate, it's Craig. Have I got a story for you!]

"I've come up with something, too. I'm at the motel. Why don't you meet me back here."

[I can be there in five minutes.]

"Good. See you then." Kate cut the connection and immediately dialed Damian's number to let the team following Burrell know about the new information. After ten rings, there was no answer. She tried Sharlyn's number with the same result. She tried each number a second time, just to be sure, but there was still no answer. Could be any number of reasons, she tried to assure herself. They might have turned their phones off for any one a thousand reasons. They might be near something that was blocking the signal. But she wasn't inclined to believe either of those explanations.

She stood by the window until she saw Craig approaching the motel and went out to meet him. "I think we've got a problem. Damian and Sharlyn aren't answering their phones."

"They were on Burrell, weren't they?"

Kate nodded. "But Burrell isn't the real Burrell. He's Albert Richmond, younger brother of Rudolph."

A look of surprise crossed Craig's face. "Carol Drazinski was involved with Albert Richmond years ago. They had a daughter. Amy."


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