Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

The sun had gone down and night was fast approaching when news came into MPD headquarters from FBI Special Agent Kent Wayne.

“We’re found the children. Alive and well. They were with Edna Sue’s brother in Horn Lake.”

Anna Lisa and Patrick Williams had spent the night with their cousins in the suburb of Memphis and left early that morning to spend the day at a farm and petting zoo outside New Albany, Mississippi. From there, the couple, Ted and Joan Shumpert, drove to Oxford with their two children as well as the Williams children to tour the home of famous novelist William Faulkner.

No one except the parents knew where the missing children were, and the tragic news didn’t reach the shocked couple until they returned to Horn Lake. Child Protective Services was already involved, and had determined the children should stay with their aunt and uncle until permanent custody could be determined in court.

The Shumpert house would be under twenty-four/seven surveillance until the killer was caught

The manhunt was on.

Dudley didn’t leave the station until ten o’clock that evening. He was so exhausted he could barely hold his eyes open long enough for the drive home.

It was in total darkness. Not even an outside light to show that anybody inside cared whether he could see to get into his own house. Sighing, he trudged up the uneven sidewalk that needed repair to the front door that needed a fresh coat of paint.

Gloria Jean wanted to paint it blue, but he liked barn red. They couldn’t agree on the color, so it remained green with peeling paint that revealed a putrid looking yellow underneath.

Inside, he flipped on the lights, and tiptoed to the hall closet to get a pillow and blanket. He’d sleep on the couch. No use waking his family

The door squeaked when he opened it, and he froze, expecting Gloria Jean to call out for him to get quiet. Nothing happened, so he pulled out a blue wool blanket and a pillow too flat for his taste. Who cared? At this point, he could sleep on a pile of bricks.

He made his way back to the sofa, and that’s when he saw it. Lying on the coffee table. The envelope as stark as a heart attack. His name scrawled across the top.

I’ve taken the children to the mountains. Why disappoint them? They’ve had enough disappointment to last a lifetime. And so have I.

I can’t go on like this, taking care of our children by myself, explaining why Daddy is hardly ever here, making excuses that even children can see through. Even worse, making promises they know you will never keep.

The worry, the disappointment, the loneliness are just too much. I want a life.

Don’t bother coming to the mountains. I’m done. When I get home, I want you gone.

My attorney will be in touch with you about terms of a divorce.

Gloria Jean

P.S. I’m sorry about Charlie. He was a good man.

If his wife hadn’t added the PS, Dudley would have hated her. As it stood, he couldn’t hate her. Or even be mad at her. She was right. She deserved a life, and so did his children.

He carefully folded the letter back into the envelope and centered it on the coffee table so he wouldn’t forget to take it when he left. It was a map to his future.