Chapters 15 to 19

Chapter Fifteen

The three agents are in the small hotel room, crammed around the small table in Louise's room, eating burgers and fries as Janet sets up the query on her lap top, "last five years, do we want to stick with the same basic signature, gun shot wounds to the back of the head, drug related?"

Louise finishes a bite, "four states, yeah let's keep the numbers manageable, okay. Let's stick with these rural mountain counties, in these states, same manner of killing, suspected link to dispute involving drug suppliers and dealers."

Janet finishes her hamburger, uses a wet wipe to clean her hands. "Okay, give me some time to set this up." She is typing, and sits back "Okay we got fifty six hits; I am emailing you the summary report."

Louise gets out her laptop, "I will take Virginia and West Virginia."

Stan turns on his lap top, "I have North Carolina."

Janet nods, "okay Tennessee it is."

The three are scanning through the short summary reports the FBI has from local and state law enforcement, Stan is done first "I got nothing."

Louise is done with Virginia, "Nothing else in Virginia moving on to West Virginia."

Janet is reading through a hit in Tennessee, "okay I think I have something, Bristol Tennessee its not a sheriff it's a city police department. She clicks on the search engine, okay northeast border near Virginia it's quite a bit bigger than these Virginia towns around twenty five thousand people, but it's pretty rural."

She goes back to the report, "two years ago, in the late summer, two dealers and a suspected local distributor, GSW to the back of the head, flex ties around their wrists on their stomachs. The three were found together in a warehouse, full of drugs, cash and other evidence of their drug trafficking. Open case, no suspects, believed to be drug supplier or competition. Contact is chief of police, Barry Atkinson. Sounds like this is worth chasing."

Louise goes next, "I have one that might be worth looking at closer, but not like that one. Drug dealer and supplier nearly four years ago, GSW to the back of the head in Charleston West Virginia, received a tip. Known dealer and distributor, found with large quantities of cash and drugs, suspected supplier or competition. That's a big city, around fifty thousand not particularly rural and it's in the winter. Not so promising but we should get some more on this one when we are back in Quantico. Tomorrow is Saturday, we can get back on this Monday morning in the office. Janet, you chase out some more on Bristol and Stan you chase down some more on Charleston."

                   *******

Dan Popp stops by Louise's office when he gets to work on Monday morning, "read your email, the two sheriffs' may not be involved, but you have two other murder scenes with similar signatures. You think they might be earlier related crimes."

Louise nods with a slight turn of the head, "Well, we aren't sure, you good with us still chasing this."
"Sure, if Virginia bureau of investigation calls me, I will tell them the case is still open."

                   *******

Janet is on the phone with police chief Barry Atkinson, "we read through the FBI summary report about the triple homicide you had two summers ago, suspected to be drug related, is there any new information on that case?"

"No agent Taft, its is as cold as cold gets, it was a brutal crime for us a bit of a shock to be honest, we have a big drug problem like a lot of small towns in the mountains around here but not that kind of violence."

"The FBI report says the crime scene had drugs, money and other evidence of drug trafficking, was there something unusual?"

"Yeah, for me it was unusual. Lots of drugs, bagged up for sell, all laid out, bundles of cash same thing. On a table with other suppliers was a USB with pictures of the two dealing, lots of pictures of them coming to and from the warehouse with the distributor and around town with other street dealers. Professional surveillance type pictures. We knew those two were running local dealers, we suspected the distributor but we never had enough to go after them and we did not know about the warehouse."

"How did you find the bodies?"

"Call to the switchboard, said there were three bodies in a warehouse."

"Okay, thank you we might want to come and talk with you and any responding officers."

"No problem, can you say what this is about?"

"We might have some related crimes."

                   *******

Louise, Stan and Janet are in one of the team conference rooms, Janet goes through what she got from Atkinson and she moves on to the background on Atkinson. "Grew up in South Carolina, went to college at University of South Carolina. A political science major, started law school but dropped out after one year, his grades were good, apparently decided he did not want to be a lawyer. Straight into the Columbia South Carolina police academy. Came up through the ranks, made it to deputy chief of police, very well respected."

"Selected as chief of Police in Bristol a little more than five years ago, well respected in Tennessee law enforcement. Married with two children, forty seven, no financial problems, no skeletons that I could find. No connection of any that I can find to either Peter Clay or Paul Bachman."

Louise nods, "Sounds like this could be our UNSUB in Bristol, slightly different the USB was at the crime scene and the tip came to the switchboard not the police chief, so maybe he is not the connection."

Stan picks up with Charleston, "chief of Police Julie Claymore did not know a lot of details of the homicide nearly four years ago in Charleston. I talked to the chief of detectives, no USB and no pictures. Well known dealer and distributor, both had prior arrests, GSW to the back of the head, same caliber weapon. Drugs and money at the scene, this looks a lot more like a supplier or competitor dispute, urban area. I don't think this is our UNSUB, no pictures or other evidence like notebooks."

Louise walks over to the window; the sun is setting she sees a red tail hawk circling over the nearby woods. "We might have our first related crime two years ago in Bristol Tennessee, who could be our UNSUB and what is the motive? If the crimes are connected seems most likely vigilante, public service or drug trafficking disputes with the same supplier group."

She turns away from the window, "lets regroup in the morning, the big question is whether Bristol is really a connected crime."

Louise goes through her email before she heads home, she turns off her laptop, she thinks of something deputy Melissa Barton said after her interview, they hadn't seen any drugs in Clear Creek since the murders. Barton said she wasn't justifying the killing, but they had been watching and they could not see a sign of anyone dealing, they suspected the hard core addicts were getting their own fixes in Pulaski or Blacksburg. How could that be possible, no drugs after one year coming into the town? Louise turns the lights in her office off, I will come back to that later, let's see if there is a connection between Bristol, Clear Creek and Flat Top Gap.


Chapter Sixteen

Janet sees Louise is already working in her office. I thought I would beat everyone in. Janet gets a cup of coffee and head towards Louise's office, "Louise its only seven, what time did you get in?"

Louise looks up from her computer smiling, "early and I found something, a connection between Bristol and Clear Creek."

Janet holds her left hand up shrugging her shoulders, "okay I'm waiting?"

"Wait till Stan gets in; I am still working on it."

Stan sees Janet walking towards him as he comes through the door, "Stan come on Louise has something."

"Can I get a cup of coffee, its only seven forty five, what time did Louise get here?"

"She would only say early."

Louise looks up from her computer, Stan and Janet at the door. "Okay let me tell you what I have." They sit in the chairs at the work table putting their coffee cups down. "Nearly three years ago, a single twenty four year old woman Tina Baker died on an overdose in Bristol Tennessee. Tina's father is the former chief of police in Bristol, Andrew Baker. He was chief of police for six years, before Barry Atkinson took over. Andrew grew up in Colorado, an experienced hiker and mountain climber before going to college. He graduated from West Point with top honors in Military Science. He went straight into Army CID specialty training rising to the rank of colonel, served twenty years and left the military ten years ago. What do you think is the rest of the story Janet?"

"Crap, did he know Paul Bachman in the Army?"

Louise points a finger at Janet, "Yes indeed, Paul Bachman served under the direct command of Andrew Baker for seven years, including three deployments to Afghanistan. Bachman left military service a little more than one year before Baker as a captain. Andrew Baker is a highly decorated CID investigator, with extensive surveillance skills, computer skills, firearms and self-defense. He is fifty four years old and currently lives in Boones Fork Tennessee, northeastern Tennessee near the borders with Virginia and North Carolina."

Stan is rubbing his finger along the rim of his coffee cup. Louise is brilliant. "You never cease to amaze boss. He could be the missing piece, definitely has the skill set for surveillance, possibly the killings, either alone or with Bachman and Clay. Gets started because of the death of his daughter, maybe more of a revenge killing and then moves on to vigilante justice, helping his protBachman. Bachman asks him to help out a close colleague Peter Clay. Well, it fits, but there are a lot of gaps to fill in."

Janet frowns shaking her head, "Why do we keep chasing cops, you know when it started out with these possible high school buddies, it kind of made sense until we saw they were not really connected at all. These crimes seem to be connected, somehow, but maybe it's the same supplier organization deciding to play rough, whenever they have a beef with dealers or distributors they go after people the same way, they want some media attention so they leave pictures and evidence for sensational headlines."

Stan is shaking his head, "could be, but the connection between Bachman and Baker, that's a pretty strong connection."

Janet nods in agreement, "maybe Bristol is not even connected, we are stretching its not the same as the other two, no hand delivered USB and tip to the switchboard. I just think we need to be careful; maybe Baker goes after revenge, maybe he doesn't. It seems like a stretch for him to go off the rails as a vigilante."

Louise sips her coffee tapping her pencil on her desktop, "Janet is right, we might be making connections that are not there. Clay and Bachman working together, not so far apart is not so complex an operation. A three way conspiracy between them it is a bit of a stretch and complicates things, in terms of pulling it all off. Baker is literally a decorated war hero, we are going to be careful and systematic, we don't want to hurt his reputation. We need to find out more about Baker, before we go down this path very far."

Louise leans forward arms folded on her desk, "Dan says the Allentown PA police have been asking for a consult again, you two give them some help. I will dig into Baker, see what I can find out through informal channels. See if there if there might be something."

Janet smiles nodding in agreement, "that feels right to me."

Stan gets up, 'So Janet and I head up to Allentown, I will call and see when they would like us there, probably a week."

Louise nods, "while you are there, I think I will go to Bristol, formally an assist visit on the triple homicide if Chief Atkinson is interested, just a quick trip. See what he might know about the death of Baker's daughter."


Chapter Seventeen

Louise has been in Bristol for two full days, working in the small conference room that they set up for her with all of files on the triple homicide, there are no real surprises. The USB with the surveillance pictures was a little different, there weren't so many only three hundred not nearly as many as they had in Virginia. Maybe Janet was right, maybe Bristol was not the same UNSUB.

"Morning agent Spalding, got anything for us?"

Louise looks up Chief Atkinson is at the door, "morning chief, no I don't think so. There was no other evidence, like notebooks?"

Atkinson sits down in a chair in the corner, "you mean from the UNSUBs, well no, that really would be strange. You seen something like this before?"

Louise shakes her head, "well, we aren't sure, that's why I came down to take a quick look."

"Did we miss anything in our investigation?"

"No, I don't see anything that you missed, the speculation of narco-traffickers looking to send a message makes good sense."

His eyes narrow a bit, "That's a bit out of the remit of the BAU isn't it?"

Louise takes a drink of coffee and puts the cup down, "yes, it is. Can I ask you about something else?"

"Sure?"

"You know anything about the over dose death of Tina Baker?" Louise can see she has hit a nerve; Atkinson gets up from the seat and closes the door to the conference room.

He moves closer to Louise, "Why do you ask, do you think there is a connection to this triple homicide, do you have a connection?"

"I'm sorry this seems to be a sensitive point; we do not know of a connection to these homicides."

He has done some checking, Louise is an elite investigator she doesn't ask random questions, he speaks in a hushed voice, "you suspect some connection involving Andrew Baker, is that why you are really here?"

"Why do you say that chief? Do you suspect Baker in these homicides? There is nothing in the files?"

Atkinson opens the door, moving just outside the room, "thanks for the update agent, Spalding, how about dinner at my home tonight, Rachel is a great cook." He makes intense eye contact.

Louise nods, "That would be nice, thank you chief."

                   *******

Barry Atkinson opens the door, "agent Spalding, this is my wife, Rachel."

Louise steps into the foyer, "please just Louise, this is a beautiful home, I brought a bottle of wine, I wasn't sure if that was appropriate or not."

Rachel takes the wine, "my goodness yes we like a nice bottle of wine, Barry, you did not tell me how attractive she was."

Louise can definitely hear the South Carolina accent from Rachel, quite a stunning beauty. A teenage boy is coming quickly down the stairs, "you really from the BAU, did you take a jet from DC, do we have a serial killer in Bristol?"

Barry turns around looking at his son with arched eyebrows, "Riley, what did we say? Ms. Spalding is a guest for the evening, she is from out of town, we wanted to give her a night of home cooking and some Tennessee hospitality. Get back to your homework."

Riley stares for a moment, Louise sighs, "sorry Riley, commercial coach flight from DC, real life is not as exciting as TV."

Riley sighs shaking his head, "yeah sure, need to know, official business." He heads back up the stairs.

After dinner Louise gets up to help clear the table Rachel waves a hand, "sit down Louise, the boys will do that, they know women are not here to serve them. Riley you and Kurt get the dishes cleared away, I want the kitchen clean and spotless."

Rachel heads toward the family room, "you two can talk in the study, we can have a little coffee before you leave Louise. Barry said you had some business for a bit tonight."

Barry sits at the desk in the small study, Louise sits on the small sofa. He sighs, "Tina Baker had a drug problem for a long time, well before I was in Bristol, I did not know anything about her until her death. She bought from both dealers that were killed, and the distributor that was killed worked with them. I did not know she was Andy Bakers sister, until the chief of detectives told me. So right away my antennae were up, but it's complicated agent Spalding."

"Just Louise here, how is it complicated Barry?"

"Andy was only chief here for six years, but in those six years he had become a legend in this town and in the police force, apparently turning around what was becoming a massive drug problem. We only had about a month of turnover working together, the man was a force of nature. It was easy to see why he was so admired, not just smart, but creative, driven and physically a force as well. When Tina died, he was angry, he was very angry. He met with me, asked to see the files for the investigation, I refused. I told him we would meet with him and give him briefings but he could not give him direct access to the files, a lot of officers on the force were not happy with that call, including senior officers."

Louise nods, "okay, so when the triple homicides happen, he had to be a suspect."

"Well, he was for me, but not anyone else."

"What did you do?"

"I investigated him myself, for nearly a year on my own time." Barry picks up a USB and slides it across the desk, this is everything I could find. "The bottom line is Barry has a solid alibi, he was in Colorado weeks before the triple homicide, he has a cabin in Colorado a family mountain spot his parents left to him when they passed away. He has a reputation as a nature photographer, works freelance and sells quite a few pictures to magazines. It's ironclad, he was there, computer records, mobile phone, ATM machines, witnesses, CCTV from businesses."

Barry sighs, "So unless you have a partner working for him or someone he hired, it wasn't Andy Baker. Is there another angle, a BAU angle other crimes? I don't want it to be Andy, and frankly I go back in forth in my own mind, I do not know him that well. I want to know who is responsible for these killings, even if it's the town hero."

Louise shakes her head, "I don't think so Barry, I had a theory but given what you have found I don't think it makes any sense." Let's have some coffee with Rachel, I will finish up in the morning and study the evidence on this USB when I get back to Quantico. I will let you know if I come up with something but it doesn't seem likely."




Chapter Eighteen

Louise has been working at home over the weekend, going through the USB she had brought back from Bristol Tennessee. Its Sunday evening, she takes off her reading glasses sitting at her desk. What am I doing obsessing like this? Just drop it, Louise. Barry Atkinson had covered the bases with Andy Baker, he was in Colorado, no indicators he was involved in the killing, he was out there for three weeks before the murders, so he could have been involved in taking many of the surveillance pictures they had gotten in Bristol. Louise sighs, why can't I let this go?

She surfs the internet for a while, she types in Andrew Baker Nature Photographer. Oh wow, he does have a reputation. She clicks of the link for a literary agency, a high end agency for writers and photographers, focused on nature and wilderness, she clicks on the link for Andrew Baker. She reads the short biography; he had started nature photography when he was young in Colorado and picked it back up when he moved to Tennessee after retiring from the Army. Hmmm, he must have gotten really serious after his wife passed away. Louise clicks on the link, Selected Works Andrew Baker.

She looks at the picture of the deer drinking from a stream, Jefferson National Forest near Pulaski Virginia. Crap this is from last summer, Andrew Baker was in the mountains and forests near Clear Creek last summer. She sighs, that's quite a coincidence.

                   *******

Janet sees Louise is in early again, she stops by her office, "anything from Bristol last week?"

Louise looks up from her computer, "come by when Stan gets in, how did everything go in Allentown?"

"It was fine, looks like suicides, not linked."

Louise sits at the work table with her coffee, thoughts rolling around in her head. Not sure if she is onto something or not, she is struggling with this case, if is there a case. Is there a pattern of linked crimes or just similar MOs? She doesn't notice Stan and Janet at the door, "hey boss you day dreaming?"

Louise snaps out of it hearing Stan's voice, "come in, let me tell you what's bothering me?"

Stan slumps back in his chair when Louise finishes, "okay so you found published pictures from Baker last summer near Clear Creek and this summer near Flat Top Gap. He was definitely not in Bristol for the triple homicide for the dealers and distributor that sold drugs to his daughter. He wasn't even there when many of the surveillance pictures were taken, I see why you are bothered. This is confusing."

Louise nods her head, "I was ready to put this into the open and inactive pile. I think we need a more detailed timeline of Bakers movements the last two summers, one of you mind doing that?"

Janet gets up, "I am on it boss, lets see if there is something too this."

"Thanks Janet, but stay off the radar okay, don't let anyone know what we are looking at, catch me up on Allentown and we have an in office consult early next week with Raleigh Durham, we have a lot of files to get through."

                   *******

It's near the end of the day Friday, Louise, Stan and Janet are together around the small work table in Louise's office. Louise nods towards Janet, "okay tell us about the movements of Andy Baker."

"I pieced this together from social media, some interviews on background with different magazines his work has been published in, campgrounds, a variety of sources. Most of his published photography work is from the summer, but he does some work in the fall and winter. His work is pretty much dedicated to the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. Two summers ago, he started around Pulaski, he has a camper van he was there most of May and part of June, then he went back out to Colorado for the rest of the summer, in the areas around Rocky Mountain National Park during until late July. He stayed in Colorado at his cabin north of Boulder and was back home in Tennessee in early October. The surveillance photographs in Clear Creek were from May through July, so he was not in the area for the duration of the surveillance or when the homicides took place."

Louise sits with her hands folded in her lap, listening as Janet goes through the timeline for Andy Baker from this last summer in Flat Top Gap.

Louise summarizes, "He has a similar pattern, he works in the southern Appalachians in the early summer, heads out to Colorado. He was near both Clear Creek and Flat Top gap early in the summer but could not have taken all of the surveillance pictures and could not have participated in the murders. Good job Janet."

Stan slouches forward, his left elbow on the table left hand on his cheek, tapping his fingers on his cheek. "There is no way that Andy Baker could have pulled this off with either Peter Clay or Paul Bachman, no way. I don't see a lead; I don't see anywhere else to go with this Louise. I think we have been chasing phantoms."

Louise gets up, walks over to the window looking at the sun going down. "I'm not going to close it, open and inactive. We have too much other work. I still think there is something more than just drug trafficking disputes. Your right Stan, I don't see any leads."


Chapter Nineteen

Its late June, early in the morning he comes down the ridge, Andy has a spot he has been scouting for several days, the sun not yet above the horizon. The deer are gathering in the meadow, he clicks off a few dozen pictures. The light is perfect with a foggy mist hugging the ground and the rose colored sunrise in the background. He heads down the ridge toward the small town, he will be headed toward Colorado in another few weeks.

                   *******


Louise is in early Monday morning, early August, she starts the coffee in the break room and heads to her office. She sees Janet come in around seven thirty, Janet sees Louise in her office and gives a wave, she goes and gets a cup of coffee, sits down at her desk and starts going through her email.

A few minutes later, Stan comes in, "what is it with you and Louise and Mondays, you two can't sleep?"

Janet sees the morning state bulletin come up on her email, Rural Virginia Double homicide, she clicks and starts reading and jumps up, "Stan come on let's get go see Louise."

Janet is nearly running to Louise's office; Stan is walking behind trying to keep his coffee from spilling. Louise is at her work table reading through a hard copy of a recent report, "what is it Janet? You look excited."

Stan catches up standing beside Janet in the doorway just as she starts, "It just came in, double homicide in rural Virginia, Potters Peak. Sheriff's office got a USB in his mail box with pictures of the victims, local drug dealers."

Louise sighs and nods, "lets leave it alone okay, if they ask us to consult, then fine."

Janet looks at Louise and then Stan, "Louise, you sure?"

Louise holds both hands out palms up, "What new lead to we have? You think there will be anything new. You could be right Janet with your earlier assessment, some hard core regional drug supplier is playing rough with people, let the narcotics branch chase them, they have informants and surveillance capability."

Janet sighs shaking her head, "okay, okay Louise."

Stan and Janet head back to their desks.

Louise walks back to her desk she looks at the post-it note she had written on in late June, "mountains near Winchester Virginia." That was where social media posts from his agency said Andrew Baker had been early this summer.

She sits down and looks at zoom earth on her computer, Potters Peak Virginia, less than ten miles west of Winchester in the corner of the state near the West Virginia border. She rolls up the post-it note and throws it into the rubbish. She knows what they will find, Andy Baker has been in Colorado since some time in late June or early July. Her mind wanders back to something deputy Melissa Barton in Cold Creek had told her. She picks up the phone.

"SSA George here."

"Sharon its Louise Spalding in the BAU, could you give me some help? I don't think it will take too much of your time."

"Sure thing Louise, we owe you, what can the DEA do for the BAU?"

"There are two small towns I would like you to check on and I would like to come and see you early next week for a crash course in rural drug distribution networks."

"Okay what two towns and what do you want to know?"

"Clear Creek Virginia the status of local drug dealing
the last two years and Flat Top Gap Virginia the status of local drug dealing the last year."

"Okay we have contacts, that will not be difficult, I am open all afternoon on Monday, it will not take me long to find out what is going on generally in these two towns."

                   *******

Monday afternoon, Louise knocks on the open door of SSA Sharon George in DEA HQ, "hey I am a few minutes early, you, okay?"

"Yeah sure, I see you brought a coffee with you, don't much care for our brew? Let's sit at the table there."

Sharon sits across from Louise, "so you obviously are onto something or know something that would be of interest to us, these two towns are unique. What did you expect I might find?"

"I was thinking that local drug distribution and selling may have gone quiet for last couple of years."

"Well, you are right, more than a year in Flat Top Gap and two years in Clear Creek, I was shocked to hear. Six months maybe, but a year certainly not two years and I heard there were unusual murders involving dealers in both towns. You look for these mission killers, you are thinking these might not be supplier or a regional distributor using these killings as an enforcement. I did not know about the killings, but I checked around that is the operating theory in the DEA, that some supplier group is playing rough. Should I tell people we are off base?"

Louise sighs, "I don't know Sharon, I am searching for an explanation at this point, every time we have a lead and explanation it evaporates. We have these killings inactive at this point. I was thinking about supply chain, how would you go about cutting drugs off from these small towns in rural Appalachia?"

"Okay, I see what you are thinking, if someone had that as a mission of sorts. If you get to a much bigger city twenty or thirty thousand it probably is not possible, not without a lot more bodies. These two small towns far from any urban center it could theoretically work."

Louise nods, "so run it down for me, how would it work?"

"Starting with Clear Creek, they fall in the general regional territory of Charlotte, North Carolina. Large urban centers including cities like Charlotte have districts, drug districts with distributors that control their district, say out to the county lines. The district distributors work together to avoid turf wars and fights, sometimes they even form alliances to get good deal from major suppliers. Right now, synthetic opioids, dozens of varieties and street names and crystal meth are the big drugs in rural America."

"Don't they have local makers, cooking or making small batches of this stuff?"

"Not so much anymore, the large supply chains have become too efficient, the meth mostly flowing from Mexico and the opioids from overseas into Canada and then into Detroit, for the east coast. So, these suppliers have major supply runs to places like Charlotte, to these district dealers. Inside the urban areas the territories are clear, there are smaller local distributors and then dealers."

Sharon takes a drink of coffee, "in these rural areas it's different, there are rough territory zones, between the large cities. These district councils try and avoid conflict, the only real disputes come up if you are dealing with a large city, maybe around fifty thousand or more. But for these small towns like Clear Creek and Flat Top Gap, they aren't going to fight over them. They might make an example over them, if the local distributor breaks the rules, that could be what is going on here. Well anyway, there will be some local money man in the town, who decides he wants to get into business and he gets connected to a district dealer, like from Charlotte for the region. He makes runs to Charlotte, or has someone make runs to Charlotte to buy, and hires a few local dealers."

Louise nods, "What happens if they stop buying from the Charlotte distributor?"

"They aren't going to do anything right away, but after six months or so they will check and see what is going on, in a year likely they will definitely look into it."

Louise nods, "so if I really wanted to try and disrupt this for a few years, I would take out the district distributor in Charlotte, then the Clear Creek distributor and dealers. That would really disrupt the distribution network."

Sharon sets back, "that is how I would do it, might take three maybe even five years before someone gets back to Clear Creek. But Louise, you realize how hard it would be for someone to pull all of this off, it would take a team of people with some serious skills. Seems pretty remote, I would not dive down that rabbit hole."

Louise nods, "yeah, I understand, you said Clear Creek would be Charlotte, what about Flat Top Gap?"

"A small town distributor there would be going to Pittsburgh."

Louise is tapping her fingers lightly on her coffee cup, "what about further north in Virginia around Winchester?"

"Still Pittsburgh."

Louise gets up, "thanks Sharon, that helps."