Chapter 68

Brian stayed with Sarra and Abby, but he buried himself in paper and phone calls. The first call was to Dean. "The child doll that was burned up was in good condition when Stephan Larousse gave the dolls to Amy Chaney. " He said. 'So Brandon burnt her."

"Which he is past the point in matching the woman to the dolls. He is manipulating them himself now." So much for Sarra using the dolls to try and figure out what he was planning for her and Abby.

"Even, so the research team is going over all the rest of the dolls now."

"Research?" He said. "Not Sarra?"

"Stard is worried about your girl. She suggest we get our own doll expert."

"Sarra knows what she is looking at,;"  Brian said. "She wants to help."

"Sure. But if that last pair shows up with a cord around the baby's neck and the nipples carved off the mother, how is she going to handle that?"

Brian's gut lurched. Score one for Stard. "OK, You have everyone butt covered who's working with the case?"

"we went through the videos. Any agent or cops who's face showed up on the news now has a family tucked away in hiding. Phil's wife took their kids up to South Carolina."

"Yeah. I talked to her this morning. Phil's brother is there, another cop." Looked just like Phil, with the same hair color..God Phil.

"We put information about the dolls on t.v.," Dean said, " and put every version of Brandon's face out there we can think OK.. Look like he knows how to use padding in his cheeks and latex for wrinkles to pull off Chadborne, and heaven knows what other tricks he learned as a theater major. But we were checking fifty tips an hour an hour now. That bastard won't be able to move. Won't have any place to go."

"He has the fire power and the silencers he picked up from Damien's. He probably popped an old woman, and has been sitting in her living room watching the news eating TV dinners. Driving around in her car."

Dean let out a curse. "If that is what he is doing, we will never find him."

But that is what he is doing. Brian knew it. He sat at his laptop for ten more minutes thinking it through, then dialed Dean again. A secretary put him on hold. Said Dean was playing the field. Brian paced while he waited.

"You got anyone checking packages at the post office and UPS?" He asked when Dean came back on the line.

"They are using x-ray machines at the post office that serves Foster's; UPS and Fed-ex already scan packages to the panama city area."

"OK. Brandon couldn't mail a package that big from an unmanned mailbox, but what about private parcels like UPS?"

"We  put drivers out on the lookout for anything that appropriate size and weight. They have pictures of him, male or female taped to their dashboards.  But if he wants to send something at this point  he will just pay someone like he did with the flower box.

Brian blew out a breath.

"But listen," Dean said, "Things are moving anyway.  That call I took just now was from the lab, that is doing the  mom's body and her fathers. Hold on to your hat."

Brian straightened.

Christie, Brandon's little sister still had blood work on file at the hospital where they worked on her. Test on her grandpa's corpse show to many similarities. Looks like with the grandpa living in the house the James's were more than one big happy family."

"What?" It took a minute to kick in. "Incest?"

"There is no way Christie's genes could have come from some other tree. Colleen James was being nailed by her dad. That explain's a few things doesn't it."

Brian's mind was racing, to Abby. "What about Brandon?"

"No is father was some schoolboy named Mike Swartz from the next town. We talked to his parents and they said he had never had anything to do with Colleen after Robin James found out she was pregnant. He beat the hell out the boy and locked Colleen up."

A mixture of nausea and relief surged through Brian. Bad enough knowing Brandon's blood ran through Abby's veins. To think that blood might have been spawned of incest....."So Colleen James was molested by her father. Robin James was Christie's father."

"And Grandfather, both. Stard's having a ball with this one." Dean said

"So there could be a child before Brandon. Everyone says Colleen didn't have any boyfriends until Brandon's dad  but.." he stopped wincing at the thought .. " Maybe she didn't need one."

"Man." Brian could picture Dean running a hand through his hair. " I will push the lab on the bible and  the receipt you found. But either way , it looks like textbook, long term sexual abuse. Colleen James spent her life making everything in her life look beautiful from the outside. Psychiatrist's playground, that family,"

"Anything about Robin James's death raising any eyebrows?"

"Grandpa was sick in his last years, everyone says stomach cancer."

"I know what everyone says, but what do the doctors say?"

"We haven't found a doctor who treated him yet."

"How about that?" Brian said.

"Don't get to excited until toxicology comes back. It could of been stomach cancer just like everyone thought."

Or it could of been murder.  By the woman who's dad chased away her boyfriend and forced her into his own bed. Who killed Cock Robin?

Brian took in a deep breath, pacing like a caged panther, As much as he wanted to be close to Sarra and Abby, staying cooped up was killing him.

"As for the mother's suicide." Dean said. " The physical evidence on the body isn't pointing to murder, but Brandon still could of done it."

"But why? Even if Grandpa was fucked up, we haven't found anyone who said Colleen James mistreated Brandon." But even as he said it he remembered what Sarra had said. Mother is singing she does that so she can't hear Christie cry.

Maybe Christie was mistreated.

"Well, dammit Fuller, It is something we are on a roll."

Maybe. But Brandon was on a faster roll, an inch ahead of them. Brian fingered the pictures of the dolls from Chaney's car. " The first dolls were sent from Boise by the the guy Chadborne paid, right?'

"Right."

"So how did he get the others here?"

"Could of driven them, Dean said. "we think he just drove in his car then dumped it somewhere and started using other peoples car."

"Maybe. Or the other dolls were waiting for him when he got here."

" I will tell the lab to check any dirt or cobwebs on the boxes the dolls came in. Maybe he sent them to his mothers house to be stored."

"If so who signed the delivery?"

The both said it at the same time.."Damien."

Confirmation came later that evening. Sarra just tucked Abby into bed, Brian was looking forward to tucking in with sarra when his phone rang. Dean and sent a search for Damien's gun shop again. while the lab  dug back into the boxes that had contained the first three dolls.

"The dolls weren't stashed at James's house." Dean reported. a weary note in his voice. "Damien stored them."

"How do we know?"

"They matched the specials on the boxes to paint used at Damien's shop two years ago. Its like you said, Damien was the connection between Brandon's plans and his run on Sarra. He must have stored those dolls for the years Brandon was in prison."

"And what does that do for us?"

"Not a damn thing." He sighed. "I will tell you what Brian, we know so many facts about Brandon my head is spinning. But not any of those facts is any help finding him."

"So pull him out. Make something happen.'

"That is what I have been thinking, it is the reason I called.  I wanted you to make sure Sarra knew that Hannah was turned the corner. She is going to be OK."

Brian closed his eyes. For once some news he would enjoy to give Sarra. "Great so what are we thinking?"

"That we are going to have a funeral for her, anyway. See if Brandon shows up."

Sorry I know this might be a boring chapter it falls into the story.. I am having writers block.. I will upload again today.. Brandon's pov.. Vote comment fan me...