Waking up with a start, he
realized he had almost dropped the contents of the file. The picture of a young
girl was peaking half way out of the folder; her smile seemed to mock him.
Stuffing the contents back into the file unceremoniously he threw it on the seat
next to him before pushing up the window covering. Here above the clouds the
darkness seemed colder to him, closer, more impersonal.
The rest of the first class
passengers were asleep. A stewardess came over to see if he needed anything. He
answered with his best cop’s stare. So many questions yet to answer before he
could really begin to get a handle on what he was dealing with. He picked up the
file once again opening it to her picture. Just who was Jamie Cooper and what
made her tick? Thinking back to his interview with her parents. Her mother,
Emma, mournful and apologetic. Her father, Andrew, realistic and resigned. “She
knows she’ll never get her back home. Jamie’s gone too far this time. Best case
is the State takes guardianship and she’s put in the hospital in Albany. Worst
case…worst case well you know about that better than me…” He wondered at those
words then when he heard Andrew Cooper utter them. When you consider he was
speaking about his daughter…
Why had Jeremy Sabol found her
so irresistible? “Irresistible enough to obtain a counterfeit passport for her
and run off to Australia.” Still had to check with Australian Authorities to see
if the girl who arrived with Jeremy fit Jamie’s description. Had to find out
what life for Jeremy Sabol was before and after Jamie Cooper. “Where he is now
would be a great place to start. All you know is a clue to where he was and who
knows how stale the trail is now.” He chastised himself as he closed the file
once again tossing it on the seat beside him, her image burned in his memory
now.
The blackness of the night world outside the window caught his attention. Drawing down the white shade creating a barrier between himself and the darkness. “Darkness…the cold void in man’s soul. Or woman for that matter.” Closing his eyes for just a moment he sensed when the stewardess came by to turn off his light. “Leave it “, he stated simply not bothering to open his eyes as she reached for the switch. She placed a blanket on the seat beside him, a silent offering, before she left. Reaching under the blanket he found the file and he placed it on his lap. Keeping it close in the half-light.
