The Case of the Disappearing Co-Eds - 1. Chapter 1

The rented U-Haul van left Manhattan via The George Washington Bridge, drove north on The Palisades Parkway, and entered the New York State Thruway in Rockland County. The passengers in the vehicle made their first pit stop just outside of Monticello, NY. It gave Joe, Tom, and George a chance to stretch their legs.

The driver of the van, Joe Vincente, had mixed emotions, happiness, and sadness at the same time. As the miles melted away, his two sons came closer and closer to their destination, SUNY Binghamton. The fact that they were flying out of the nest, saddened Joe. At the same time, thinking of the glorious adventures which lay ahead for them made him very happy.

Tom glanced at his brother, who was leaning against the back window of their car. “Are you as scared as I am?” he asked.

“Probably,” George mumbled.

Their father piped up from the driver’s seat. “Stop worrying you two,” he reassured them. “College is a great experience. Wonderful times lie ahead.”

As state universities went, Binghamton was relatively small. The boys chose this school for the express purpose of experiencing a more intimate environment. The hustle and bustle of Manhattan and their overcrowded high school had stressed them out. One of their dads, Kenneth Hall, was a New York City Detective. Some of the tales he brought home at night were hair-raising. Yes, the boys definitely looked forward to the peace and quiet of a campus with a country-like atmosphere.

Thinking about it, Tom said, “I hope it won’t be too boring.”

“Trust me,” his father said, “you’ll be too busy to get bored. College is an exciting time of life, so enjoy the experience.”

******

Joe Vincente literally rescued Tom Guzman and George Cole off the streets of New York. He petitioned the courts and Children’s Protective Services to be their guardian. His extreme wealth helped to hasten the process. When he had the boys for a little over a year, Joe called his friend, Judge Goldman, who had originally arranged for his guardianship of the two boys.

“I want to adopt them,” Joe informed the judge. “How do I go about it?”

“Well, it’s not impossible for a single man to adopt, but if you were married it would go a lot smoother. Are you and Ken ever going to do the deed?”

“I’ll get back to you,” Joe said.

One week later, he and Ken were married in Judge Goldman’s chambers. The judge immediately started adoption proceedings. He was able to cut through a lot of red tape, and in the middle of their senior year the adoptees became Tomas Vincente-Hall and George Vincente-Hall.

The boys objected at first to the hyphenated name, but Joe pointed out that hyphenated names were indicative of the high station in life of the people who bore them, and also hyphenated names hinted at great wealth. True or not, that information greatly appealed to the boys.

Notwithstanding the fact that the adoptions were final, Joe and Ken lived in fear that George and Tom’s dead-beat dads would find out how rich they were and try to extort money from them. Only eight months remained until the boys’ eighteenth birthdays, and Joe and Ken sweated out every day. The natural fathers never showed up.

******

Joe drove the van onto the campus, and with the help of a strolling student, he found his sons’ dorm. Tom and George were about to face their first hurdle in their new environment. They had become lovers even before they were adopted, and they had requested to room with each other. They would do just that, but all the dorm rooms were designed for four students. In the unlikely event that both their other roommates were gay, they would have to severely curtail and ration their lovemaking. They vowed to seek off-campus housing for their last three years.

Joe helped them unload the van. He kissed them goodbye, wished them good luck, and wiped away a tear as he rushed off. He wanted to get home and return the van before dark.

Their other two roommates had arrived and were putting their stuff away, when Tom and George came into the room. The four men introduced each other, and Tom had no doubt that both guys were straight.

“How come you both got the same name?” one of them asked.

“Because we’re brothers,” George answered.

He and Tom had to wonder about the guy’s IQ if he couldn’t figure that out all by himself. The academic standards for admission to Binghamton were very high, so how did this dunderhead get in? They were to find out that he was an academic brain, but apparently his talent did not extend to common sense.

by the end of the first week, their room smelled like a sewer. Tom and George were dismayed, especially since there were no servants to clean up. Their resolve to live off campus next year was renewed.

Tom’s major was education with a minor in math. Georges was business administration. Nevertheless, they had two required classes together, English Composition and World History. It was in their history class that the brothers met identical twins, Ellen, and Robyn Fields. They lived in Spring Valley, NY, a suburb of New York City. The two beautiful sisters, and the two handsome brothers, really hit it off, and began to have meals together in the cafeteria. The girls knew that Tom and George were gay, but that did not deter them from being good friends.

In the fourth week of the semester, the peace and quiet of The Binghamton Campus began to unravel.

Tom and George arrived at their history class and took their seats. They looked for the twins, but they weren’t there. In fact, the girls missed the entire class. After the last class of the day, the brothers strolled over to the twins’ dorm room to make sure they were alright. The door was closed, but they could hear muffled voices on the other side. Tom knocked and got no answer, so he opened the door.

They found Robyn sitting on a bed and crying. Two fierce looking cops sat on two desk chairs and were interrogating her. As soon as she saw the boys, she fell into Tom’s arms.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” he asked with great concern.

“It’s Ellen. She went out before dinner yesterday and never returned. I haven’t seen her since she left.”

One of the policemen addressed the brothers. “We’re taking all the information, but we can’t officially investigate for seventy-two hours. The subject has to be unaccounted for that long to be considered a missing person.”

“I can’t reach her on her cell phone. I’m going out of my mind,” Robyn screamed.

“Stay positive,” George tried to console Robyn. I’ll bet she gets back long before the police start their investigation.”

One of the cops handed Robyn a card. “He’s probably right,” he said, but take my card. If she shows up, or if something happens that we should know about, call me.”

They left, and Robyn continued to sob.

“Did you call campus security?” Tom asked.

“Yes, they’ve come and gone. They said it happens all the time and assured me that she would show up soon. I don’t believe them. Disappearing like that is not something Ellen would do without informing me of her whereabouts.”

“Wash your face,” Tom said kindly. “We’ll go to dinner, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she shows up by the time we get back.”

Ellen didn’t show up. Her frantic parents came to Binghamton and stayed at a motel. Robyn stayed with them and skipped all her classes. The police started a statewide manhunt, but without a single clue they did not have high hopes for a happy ending.

Then it happened. Three weeks after Ellen disappeared, another co-ed went missing. Her picture was posted all over the campus. As pretty as Ellen was, Cheryl Ann Baron was even prettier.

Two weeks after that, a third girl, Nancy Dougherty, was reported missing. All the campus police could do was urge women not to go out alone, and if possible, to double date. Since campus security and city police were getting nowhere, Tom and George decided to do a little investigating on their own.

******

A few weeks after the boys left for college, Ken’s boss, Chief Morton, called him into his office.

“What’s up chief?” Ken asked.

“Whatever your plans are, Detective, cancel them. I’ve got a major assignment for you.”

“Can’t you assign someone else? Joe and I are driving up to Binghamton this weekend to visit our kids.”

“Read this,” Morton said. “It showed up in my incoming mail. It was in a blank envelope, and it didn’t come in the US Mail. Somebody slipped it in with my other mail.”

Ken took the folded note and opened it.

Go to 417 E 33 St. In apartment B1 you will find three very young women, all beauties, tied up and ready to be shipped overseas to be sold as sex slaves. At least, that’s what I’m guessing. This is no joke. I accidentally saw them with my own eyes. Now I’m getting out of town for an extended vacation.

“Because the letter was anonymous, I wasn’t sure if probable cause would hold up, so I got a search warrant. I want you to take a couple of the guys, and hurry your ass over there,” Morton ordered. “This could be a hoax, or it could be very big.”