Vanishing Girls

Chapter Sixty-Three

The Gosnell house was small and sparsely furnished. The back door led into a kitchen that looked like it hadn’t been updated since the seventies. Josie left Rena sitting with a glass of water in front of her at the yellowed formica table that took up most of the room. The rest of the house was empty. She breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe for the moment, but it was only a matter of time before someone came by. They couldn’t stay long.

From the living room window, the chief’s Jeep was visible. She hadn’t found any keys in his pockets, which meant he had probably left them in the vehicle. She could always load Rena into the Jeep and leave with her. But she needed to preserve the scene. Protect it. The last thing she needed was one of Gosnell’s sick customers coming by and destroying evidence.

The chief had said to call the FBI, but she didn’t know anyone from the FBI. Luke might, but he couldn’t help her right now—at the very least she hoped he was still alive. Denise Poole probably knew someone, but she was likely in custody by now. That left only one person—one person who had a unique ability to help Josie protect and preserve the scene, even though calling her went against every fiber of Josie’s being.

She returned to the kitchen and found the landline. It took three tries to get the number right—she was going by memory. Finally, her call was answered.

“Hello?” the woman on the other line said.

“Trinity?” Josie said. “I need your help.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Josie Quinn.”

There was a sharp intake of breath. “Where the hell are you? No one has seen you for two days. Or Ray. And someone at the station said the chief took off and no one can reach him either.”

Two days. She had been in that cell with Ray for two days. She wondered if Luke was still alive. She couldn’t bear to ask. She couldn’t lose him too. She would never survive it. She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’ll tell you where I am—where we all are—but I need your help. Do you know anyone in the FBI?”

“Sure. There’s an agent in the Philadelphia office I’m friendly with. I… wait. What the hell is going on?”

“I need you to call them. As soon as we hang up. Also, I need you to get Noah Fraley.”

“He was just discharged from the hospital,” Trinity said.

“Great. Get him and bring him with you.”

“Bring him where?” Trinity asked.

“I’ll tell you,” Josie said. “But you have to do exactly as I say. No exceptions, no deviations.”

Josie pictured one of Trinity’s perfectly groomed brows arching. “What’s in it for me?”

“The story of a lifetime.”