Ghost River, Jon Coon [ebooks online reader TXT] 📗

and then we did some lake dives. Nothing deeper than forty feet. We dove the river once. He put me on a line and showed me how he searched for stuff. It took a while to get my head around the black water, but after a while, it was okay I guess.”

“It normally takes a lot more than one dive to get comfortable in black water, so you did very well. If there’s a chance, once this case is over, would you like to dive with me?”

“You serious? Yeah, that’d be cool.”

“Okay, we’ll keep that in mind.”

That night Paul got a text from a girl in his class. Saw Zack and Mickey on the Emory campus this afternoon. Thought you should know. The attached photo was of them walking across the campus holding hands.

“My dad died because of their stupid high school stunt. I hope you put them in jail forever!” Paul shouted as Carol opened the door for Gabe. Paul was pacing the family room looking for things to hit. Emily was in the kitchen frightened of her brother’s tantrum. Carol hugged Gabe and shook her head sadly.

Gabe walked straight into the room and took Paul by the shoulders. “There’s more to it than just a stunt, Paul. Let’s get a grip and figure this out.”

“What do you mean more?” Paul tried to twist away. Gabe held fast.

“The body I recovered under the bridge yesterday was Zack Greenly’s dad. He was a state diver on the bridge inspection team. His murder and your dad’s are connected. My guess is Zack thought if he could get divers back under the bridge, we might find out what happened to his dad. He wanted to know. Just like you want to know what happened to Charlie.”

“How do you know that?” Paul asked. He deflated, and Gabe let him go.

“I’m a cop, remember? I promised you we’d get to the bottom of this and we will. Now calm down, sit down, and I’ll tell you the rest of what I know. It looks like this is a lot bigger than just one bridge.”

CHAPTER 9

1930

The Eberly Home

High winds and flying debris

Before reporting the sighting of Mickey and Zack to the department, Gabe returned to Mickey’s parents. Her father wasn’t at home, so he began with her mother. “Mrs. Eberly, Mickey and Zack have been seen in Atlanta, so someone has some explaining to do. It will be much better if they turn themselves in before we issue arrest warrants.”

She sank into a chair with tears welling.

“They didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Zack just wanted to know what happened to his father.”

“I understand, and it worked. I recovered his father’s remains, but as you know, my best friend died searching for your daughter.” Gabe felt his temperature rising. He kept his voice soft while he continued, not letting his anger overwhelm his composure. “You lied to me. I could arrest you and your husband right now for obstruction. If you know where they are, you need to tell me, and they need to come home.”

Mrs. Eberly held her head in her hands crying. “I knew this was wrong,” she sobbed. “They didn’t tell us what they were planning, and I know she only wanted to help Zack. She’s only eighteen. I hope she hasn’t ruined her life.”

“Do you know where they are?”

“She’s got an apartment near Emory University. She got a full scholarship to nursing school. I suppose now that will be gone. I’ll give you the address,” she blotted her tears on her sleeve and looked up at Gabe. “I’m so sorry about your friend.”

“So am I,” Gabe replied. “So am I.”

“Mrs. Greenly, I’m not sure how the courts are going to look at what’s happened, but I know it will be a lot better for all of you if the kids turn themselves in immediately. And, if you know what’s going on, this would be a good time to tell me.” Gabe remained standing, his expression appropriately stern.

Helen Greenly stood up to him, straight as a phone pole and her face frozen. “Just before he died Richard was convinced there was something illegal going on between my dad and some construction company. As usual he wouldn’t listen to me. He had to make a big deal out of it. He went to my father, and they had a terrible argument. Richard was furious when he came home. Maybe Zack found something in his dad’s old files.”

“Mrs. Greenly, there were booby traps on the old bridge. Two good men have died. If your father was involved, he could be complicit in two murders. If you know what happened now is the time to tell me before this gets worse.”

“I told you last time, we met in college and Richard was passionate about engineering. When we were first dating, he and my dad really hit it off. In fact when dad found out Richard had been an Army diver, he helped him get a part-time job on the state dive team. But when I got pregnant my dad was furious and cut us off financially. We got married, but we needed money, so school had to wait. Then Richard went full time with the state. He loved that job. But then it got him killed.”

“Yes, but my question is, what did your husband think was going on? What was that argument about?”

“I don’t know. It was something about a bridge. That’s all I know.” She hesitated; she looked away from him, shaking her head sadly.

“I want to see Richard’s files. I can come back with a warrant if I have to.”

“That’s not necessary. I’m not hiding anything. The boxes are in the attic.” She led him to the bedroom hallway and a pull-down folding ladder, which accessed a dusty attic.

“I haven’t been up here in years,” she said and then sneezed twice. The attic was roughly finished in bare plywood flooring and exposed insulation in the ceiling. At one end was