“Row?” I frowned but picked up my pen beside my notebook. “Like the sport?”
“Yes. He told me he was on the rowing team in college. When I lived with him, he had a rowing machine and would work out with it every day. On Saturdays, he’d go to the aquatic complex in L.A. if he could schedule a rowing lane.”
Brandon told me where the complex was while I quickly jotted down the information. I wondered if there was a chance that Elijah had led Brandon to believe he was into rowing for no other purpose than to throw Brandon off from ever really knowing the real Elijah.
“Did you ever go to the complex with him?” I asked.
Rowing wasn’t an easy sport or something that could be easily faked. So I thought there was probably some legitimacy to Elijah’s love for rowing if Brandon had gone with him.
“Yeah, I went a few times,” Brandon confirmed.
I reached for my cell phone and sent a text to Roz.
Garrett: Our good doctor friend has a thing for rowing. Get Terrence and find all locations in the SoCal area that have a rowing facility.
I sent a follow-up text containing the aquatic complex that Brandon had specifically mentioned.
“So he liked rowing, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah, a lot. He has a tattoo of two oars crossed on his upper arm,” Brandon added.
Tattoos were serious things. People usually didn’t get them to lie about something, or to fake someone out. However, I had to remind myself that this wasn’t a normal, commonly functioning adult that I was dealing with. This was the highly manipulative Dr. Elijah Hamilton, who happened to be a serial kidnapper and who liked to row.
Hobbies could often be a downfall because they could distract someone. And a distracted criminal would get sloppy and stop covering their tracks. I was invigorated by my afternoon chat with Brandon and left James’s place with a spring in my step.
15
Salem
I busiedmyself in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes after breakfast while Garrett got ready for work. I was used to him going into the office here and there on Saturdays, so it wasn’t something new.
“Okay, baby girl,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me. “I’m not sure how long I’m going to be gone today, but I will text you and keep you updated. Terrence and I are going to drive down to a rowing complex just outside of San Diego and see if anyone down there recognizes Elijah.”
“And if they do?” I bravely asked as I turned around to face him.
“Then I’m going to try to chat with anyone who knows him and find out when they last saw him. I’m trying desperately to locate this son of a bitch before he starts handing over more young adults to kink houses. I’ve been on this Octopus case for years, Salem. I’ve got to put it to rest.”
I saw the stress his eyes. I knew he wanted to capture Elijah, and Brandon’s info about rowing might have been just the little extra bit the FBI needed. They at least had some possibilities of more starting points to locate him.
Elijah had told me that he had a genuine interest in finding his family heritage. But I discovered that he only said he had the interest because he was luring me in. I knew that now.
“Okay, be careful out there,” I told him as I hugged him.
“I will. What are your plans for the day?”
“I’m going to go get some coffee with Ali. Maybe hang out with her for a while.”
“Good. Stay with Ali today.”
There was something that sounded like a warning embedded in his words. Not as in, something could happen, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. And I didn’t want to ask.
I had a good morning with Ali, and we went to Three Brothers Coffee. All while Ali and I talked, I had the nagging feeling in the back of my head that there might have been something I could have said earlier to Garrett that might have helped the investigation. This feeling of guilt and anger continued to build in me all morning. When I arrived back at Garrett’s place, I felt disgusted that Elijah was still out there destroying families and luring innocent victims. Garrett and his team had been trying to capture Elijah, and I wanted to do something to help.
I remembered the general area of where the aquatic complex was located and looked it up online. There was only one that the search results returned and when I saw it on a map, I knew that was the place. I stared at the screen for a few minutes while I thought and planned. I held my finger over the number, and my screen switched over to the calling function. While I waited for someone to answer, I nervously drummed my fingers on the table. An automatic recording picked up with a friendly voice thanking me for calling. The recording fed me basic info about directions, hours of operation, along with some of the current offered lessons. I waited on hold for someone to assist me after the recording ended.
“L.A. Aquatic Center, how may I help you?” a man asked, picking up on the second ring.
“Um, yes. I was calling to see if all of your rowing lanes are taken for today,” I lied.
