Charli Read online

won’t even allow me to drive it.”

  I chuckled and said,

  “I understand ma’ am, and again thank you for your time.” I handed her my business card and left. I then drove to the next address and then the next and finally I came to the last house in my GPS. A total strike out, but twelve suspects had been eliminated and that was a start.

  The next day I loaded twelve more and headed to my office. I decided I would work until four and then go out and search the ones I loaded.

  By the time four o’clock rolled around I was already heading for the first house. When I came to houses 5 and 8 on the list, people were home but no car was visible. In the fifth house, again an older woman answered, so I changed my tactic. I asked,

  “Ma’ am, how many people are in your family?”

  “Just myself and my teenage son.”

  “Well, thank you for your time.” I said smiling and handing her my card.

  The eighth house looked promising as the woman was about the right age for the man Charli described and she said that only she and her husband lived there.

  After I finished all twelve, I returned to house number eight and staked it out. About forty-five minutes later a car drove up, right car, wrong man. He was a tall man with short blonde haired. He looked like a real Joe college type. I crossed him off the list, now twenty-four eliminated. I planned to repeat the process daily until I found the car.

  I went home to my lonely house, made some dinner and drank myself to sleep. It seemed to help me sleep, without it, all I did was stare at the ceiling and think about Charli.

  The next afternoon, detective Novak, my ole friend, paid me a visit. He stood at the end of my desk and glared down at me and said,

  “You know, Foster, I’m not getting anywhere on this case and the Chief, another friend and former client of Charli’s, is up my ass! He wants the killer and he wants him now!”

  He slammed his hand on my desk, leaned forward and continued,

  “I am certain you know more than you are telling me, NOW OUT WITH IT!

  I calmly looked back at him and said,

  “Detective, I told you all I know, now kindly lower your voice, I have a business to run. Will there be anything else?”

  With that he turned and stormed out of the office. I went back to my work and headed out around three-thirty to check out the next twelve. Thirty-six total suspects had been eliminated by the end of the day, but I still had many more to check out. I searched owners by areas radiating out from the crime scene in order to keep the amount of running to a minimum. Tomorrow I would be in an area a good ten miles from the scene of the crime. There were thirteen cars in that area so I would contact them all.

  The next day I went in later than usual. I met with three agents that took up most of my day, and with my banker to show him my new business plan. A plan that unfortunately was required due to the loss of our biggest producer, Charli. After our meeting he was convinced the plan was good. I had found a way through streamlining the operation and bringing on four new agents. We had created a prescription that we only kept agents that produced and with the highest ethical practices. By turning agents away and not recruiting we created a desire for agents to want to join us. As soon as I let it be known that we were looking for four agents they flocked in for interviews. I held a meeting with our staff and associates to discuss them and get feedback. It wasn’t for them to choose or vote on, I just wanted opinions. I was able to eliminate fifteen candidates after speaking with them. I took the remaining eight and boiled it down to four, called them in and told them they were hired if they wanted it, on a six-month trial basis. All four took my offer. These four agents would produce what Charli produced annually. We posted a small polite sign that we no longer hiring. These four agents could replace Charli’s income, but there was no replacing her in my heart.

  Four p.m. and I am off on my quest, It took longer than anticipated to get to the area of my search. I might have to spend the night and finish in the morning. Finally I was at the first house, no match, same with numbers two, four, five, six, nine, ten, and twelve. No one home for houses three, seven, eight, eleven and thirteen. I decided to call it a day and stopped by a local restaurant. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw a black Mercedes that matched. I checked the list of plates and this was car number thirteen on today’s list. I walked over and looked inside the car and then I noticed it was not locked. I got an idea; I pulled open the door and turned on the running lights. I told the hostess about the lights, she then made an announcement over the sound system. Within a minute a man walked out and turned them off. When he returned, I was already seated and he approached my table.

  “Hi, I’m Jeff Travis, I am the owner of the car with the lights on. I just wanted to thank you for the heads up.”

  He held out his hand and I shook it but I wanted to kill him and it took all my strength to simply say.

  “You’re quite welcome, I would hope someone would do the same for me.”

  “What is your name, sir?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Jake Foster.”

  “Jake do you live around here?”

  “No, I live over in Garrett County, in Fletcherville.”

  “Sir, Are you ready to order?” A waitress asked.

  “Yes, I’ll have special number 1, steak rare and sour cream but no butter on the potato and blue cheese for the salad.”

  “Thank you sir.”

  “Well Jake, I’ll let you enjoy your dinner and again, thanks for the heads up.”

  “Good-bye.”

  He turned and walked away. I had my copy of the bestselling book, ALVA, so I read until my order came; it helped me get over my anger. I needed to dismiss emotion and now I was going to concentrate on this man, until I was absolutely certain he was my guy and if so, take him down. I had my dinner but could not stop thinking about this man. This had to be him but I had to be sure.

  The next morning I drove back to my office before anyone else was in. This gave me a chance to check for any messages from Charli, which I did everyday. But today there was a message from her that she would call tonight at eight p.m. I had a good five hours worth of work before me but I also had to research this man. I decided to enlist Sam’s help. She was sheriff of her county and I knew she could help out now. I called her,

  “Sam, it’s Jake, I need your help.”

  “Sure, Jake, what’s up?”

  “I need you to check out a man by the name of Jeff or Jeffery Travis. He lives at 1402 Bayshire Road in Summerset. I need to know anything you can find on him.”

  “Jake, what’s this all about? I can’t just go snooping around for that kind of info to give out to non-police types.”

  “Ok, look I’ll level with you, I’m after Charli’s killer and this guy matches the description she gave me on the way to the hospital.”

  I told her all that I knew, but not how I got it. Didn’t want her to think me insane. She fought the idea for a while but her own desire to catch that guy finally had her agree, provided she was in on it. I agreed.

  Later, around three, Sam called me back and said there was no record of anyone by that name. I went to my real estate books and cross-referenced the address with the tax records. Seems the property was listed to a Robert Cunningham and he bought it a year ago. I gave the new info to Sam. I knew I probably would not hear from her until the next day, left the office to get dinner and then was back at Charli’s desk by eight.

  As promised it rang at eight sharp, it was so good to hear her voice.

  “Hi Charli, I love you!”

  “I love you too, Jake, but you’ve found him, the guy that hurt me. Turn him over to the police now.”

  “I can’t yet, I have to get real solid proof first. The police won’t believe me at this point and how can I tell them I found him.”

  “I’m afraid you will get hurt or get Sam hurt. Please Jake, let the police do it”

  “Sorry, I can’t until I have some proof, but the minute
I do, I will.”

  We talked awhile longer and then we said good-bye for now. She reminded me to keep checking the voice mail.

  I decided to drive back to the house where this bastard lived and stake him out. When I got there, I saw the black Benz in the driveway. Lights were on inside so I settled in to watch. I had a thermos of coffee to keep me awake and since it was Saturday, and I am not usually in the office on the weekends. I thought I would observe a while then go to the motel. Unfortunately, I fell asleep and didn’t wake until about three a.m. His house was now dark, so I went to the motel and crashed. The next morning I awoke to find that someone had placed a complimentary newspaper under my door. So I showered, shaved and made some coffee. Then I sat down and started reading the paper. Then it hit me, it was Sunday, open house day. I decided to stick around, get breakfast and then go back to his house and observe him. Maybe he would try another house, another victim. I didn’t think about what I would do if he did. I was just obsessed in seeing him go down. I waited a long time, but finally around noon he came out, got in the Benz and drove away. I followed from a safe distance; he stopped for fuel, and then stopped to eat in the same restaurant where I met him. I ate at the fast food joint across the street in my car to be sure he didn’t get away. He took his time and then he was off with me on his tail. Sure enough he stopped at an open house. When he went inside it dawned on me what am I now going to do? Another car pulled up and a young couple