The threat was like a death sentence. Mouth shut. Eyes open. Faith didn’t think her eyes could open any wider or her mouth could close any tighter. She’d searched the house twice. She was constantly checking her phone, her email, Jeremy’s Facebook page. It was three o’clock in the afternoon. She had been trapped in the house like a caged animal for nearly ten hours.
And still nothing.
“Hey, Mom?” Jeremy came into the kitchen. Faith was sitting at the table, staring at the backyard, where Detective Taylor and Ginger were talking earnestly to the ground. She could tell from their bored demeanors that they were just waiting for the word from their boss so they could get back to their real jobs. As far as they were concerned, this case had come to a screeching halt. Too many hours had passed. No one had made contact. She could read the truth in their eyes. They honestly believed that Evelyn Mitchell was dead.
“Mom?”
Faith rubbed Jeremy’s arm. “What is it? Is Emma up?” The baby had slept too long last night. She was fussy and irritable, and had screamed for nearly a full hour before finally relenting to her afternoon nap.
“She’s fine,” Jeremy answered. “I was gonna go for a walk. Get out of the house for a minute. Take some fresh air.”
“No,” she told him. “I don’t want you leaving the house.”
His expression told her how hard her voice was.
She squeezed his arm. “I want you to stay here, all right?”
“I’m tired of being cooped up inside.”
“So am I, but I want you to promise me you won’t leave the house.” She played at his emotions. “I’ve already got Grandma to worry about. Don’t make me add you to my list.”
His reluctance was obvious, but he told her, “All right.”
“Just do something with your uncle Zeke. Play cards or something.”
“He pouts when he loses.”
“So do you.” Faith shooed him out of the kitchen. She charted his path through the house and up to his room by the familiar squeaks in the floorboards and on the stairs. She should put Zeke to work on her list of handyman repairs. Of course, that would involve actually talking to him, and Faith was doing her best to avoid her brother. Miraculously, he seemed to be doing the same. He’d been in the garage for the last three hours, working on his laptop.
Faith pushed herself up from the table and started pacing in hopes that she could work out some of her nervous energy. That didn’t last long. She leaned over the table and tapped the keyboard on her laptop to wake it up. She moused up to reload Jeremy’s Facebook page. The rainbow wheel started to spin. Jeremy was probably playing some game upstairs that was slowing down the wireless network.
The phone rang. Faith jumped. She startled any time there was an unexpected noise. She was as nervous as a cat. The back door slid open. Ginger waited while she took the receiver off the hook. She could tell from his tired expression that he felt this was not only perfunctory, but beneath his talents.
She put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Faith.”
It was Victor Martinez. She waved away Ginger. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
Now that the easy part was out of the way, neither of them seemed capable of talking. She hadn’t spoken to Victor in thirteen months, not since she’d sent him a text that he needed to get his stuff out of her house or she was going to leave it on the street.
Victor broke the silence. “Is there any news on your mother?”
“No. Nothing.”
“It’s been over twenty-four hours, right?”
She didn’t trust herself to speak. Victor had a habit of pointing out the obvious, and his love of crime shows meant that he knew as well as Faith that time was against them.
“Is Jeremy all right?”
“Yes. Thank you for bringing him home yesterday. And staying with him.” She thought to ask, “You didn’t see anything unusual when you were here, right? No one hanging around the house?”
“Of course not. I would’ve told the police.”
“How long were you here before they arrived?”
“Not long. Your brother came about an hour later and I left.”
Faith’s exhausted brain struggled to do the math. Evelyn’s kidnappers hadn’t hesitated. They’d driven straight here from her house. They were familiar enough with the space to walk right upstairs to her room and plant the finger under Faith’s pillow. Maybe they were watching the house even before that. Maybe they had listened to Faith’s phone calls or checked her calendar on her laptop and knew that she would be away. Nothing in the house was password protected because she had always assumed that she was safe here.
Faith had missed something Victor said. “What?”
“I said, your brother’s kind of an asshole.”
Faith snapped, “It’s not exactly an easy time for him, Victor. Our mother is missing. God knows whether she’s dead or alive. Zeke dropped everything to be with Jeremy. I’m sorry if you thought he was rude. It’s kind of hard to be friendly right now.”
“Hold on, all right? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Her breathing was revved up again. Faith tried to get her control back. She wanted to yell at someone. That person probably didn’t need to be Victor.
“Are you there?” he asked.
Faith couldn’t drag this out any longer. “I know that Jeremy showed you Emma’s picture.”
He cleared his throat.
“What you’re thinking about her …” Faith pressed her fingers to her closed eyelids. “You’re right.”
He was silent for what felt like an eternity. Finally, he said, “She’s beautiful.”
Faith dropped her hand. She looked up at the ceiling. Her hormones were so out of whack that the stupidest thing could set her off. She cradled the phone against her shoulder and tried to reload Jeremy’s Facebook page again.
“I’d like to meet her when this is all over.”
Faith watched the wheel spin on the computer screen as the processor worked. She couldn’t think about seeing Victor with Emma. Holding her in his arms. Stroking her hair. Pointing out that looking into her light brown eyes was like looking into a mirror. Faith could only think about right now, and how every second that ticked by made it less likely that Evelyn Mitchell would see her granddaughter’s first birthday.
“Your mom’s a fighter,” Victor said. Then, almost ruefully, “Just like you.”
The page finally loaded. GoodKnight92 had posted a comment eight minutes ago.
“I have to go.” Faith hung up the phone. Her hand hovered over the laptop. She stared at the words on the screen. They had a familiar ring.
You must be feeling cooped up. Why don’t you get out of the house and take some fresh air?
They had contacted Jeremy again, and her son, her little boy, had been ready to walk out the front door and put his life on the line so that he could get his grandmother back.
She raised her voice, calling, “Jeremy?”
Faith waited. There were no footsteps overhead, no squeaks on the stairs or floorboards.
“Jeremy?” she called again, going into the living room. An eternity passed. Faith grabbed the back of the couch so she wouldn’t fall down. Her voice trilled in panic. “Jeremy!”
Her heart stopped at the thumping sound from upstairs, heavy footsteps across the floor. But it was Zeke who called from the top of the landing. “Jesus, Faith, what’s wrong?”
Faith could barely speak. “Where’s Jeremy?”
“I told him he could go for a walk.”
Ginger came in from the kitchen, a puzzled look on his face. Before he could say anything, Faith grabbed the gun out of his shoulder holster and bolted from the room. She didn’t remember opening the front door or running down the driveway. It wasn’t until she was in the middle of the street that Faith stopped. She saw a figure up ahead. He was about to turn the corner onto the next street. Tall, lanky, baggy jeans and a yellow Georgia Tech sweatshirt.
“Jeremy!” she yelled. A car pulled up to the intersection, stopping a few feet from her son. “Jeremy!” He didn’t hear her. He walked toward the car.
Faith ran all out, arms pumping, bare feet pounding the pavement. She gripped the gun so tightly in her hand that it felt like part of her skin.
“Jeremy!” she screamed. He turned around. The car was in front of him. Dark gray. Four doors. New-model Ford Focus with chrome trim. The window rolled down. Jeremy turned back to the car, bent down to look inside. “Stop!” Faith yelled, her throat clenching around the word. “Get away from the car! Get away from the car!”
The driver was leaning toward Jeremy. Faith saw a teenage girl behind the wheel, mouth agape, obviously terrified by the armed madwoman running down the street. The car screeched off as Faith reached her son. She bumped into him, almost pushing him down.
“Why?” she asked, gripping his arm so tight that her fingers hurt.
He pulled away, rubbing his arm. “Jesus, Mom, what is wrong with you? She was lost. She needed directions.”
Faith was dizzy from fear and adrenaline. She bent over and put her hand on her knee. The gun was at her side. So was Ginger.
He snatched the weapon back. “Agent Mitchell, that was not cool.”
His words filled her with anger. “Not cool?” She thumped her open palm against his chest. “Not cool?”
“Agent.” His tone of voice implied she was acting hysterical, which only served to amp up her fury another notch.
“How about letting my son walk out the door when you were assigned to watch him? Was that not cool, too?” She pushed him again. “How about you and your partner standing around holding your dicks while my boy is gone?” Another push. “Is that cool?”
Ginger held up his hands in surrender.
“Faith,” Zeke said. She hadn’t noticed her brother standing there, maybe because for once he wasn’t making things worse. “Let’s just go back to the house.”
She held out her hand to Jeremy, palm up. “iPhone.”
He looked appalled. “What?”
“Now,” she ordered.
“That’s got all my games on it.”
“I don’t care.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Read a book!” she screamed, her voice screeching. “Just stay offline. Do you hear me? No Internet!”
“Jesus.” He glanced around for support, but Faith didn’t care if God Himself came down and told her to give the kid a break.
She said, “I’ll tie you to my waist with a rope if I have to.”
He knew she wasn’t bluffing; she’d done it before. “This isn’t fair.” He slapped the phone in her hand. She would’ve thrown it to the ground and crushed it with her foot if the damn thing hadn’t cost so much.
“No Internet,” Faith repeated. “No phone calls. No communication of any kind, and you stay in the fucking house. Do you hear me?” He walked toward the house, giving her his back. Faith wasn’t going to let him off that easy. “Do you hear me?”
“I heard you!” he yelled. “God!”
Ginger shoved his gun back into the holster, adjusting the straps like a haughty cheerleader. He followed Jeremy down the street. Faith limped along after them. Her feet were bruised from the rocky asphalt. Zeke fell in beside her. His shoulder brushed against hers. Faith braced herself for some kind of tirade, but he was mercifully silent as they walked up the driveway and entered the house.
Faith threw Jeremy’s iPhone onto the kitchen table. No wonder he wanted to leave. The space was beginning to feel like a prison. She leaned heavily against the chair. What had she been thinking? How could any of them be safe here? Evelyn’s kidnappers knew the layout of the house. They had obviously targeted Jeremy. Anyone could’ve been in that car. They could’ve rolled down the window, pointed a gun at Jeremy’s head, and pulled the trigger. He could’ve bled out in the middle of the street and Faith wouldn’t have known until his stupid Facebook page loaded that something was wrong.
“Faith?” Zeke was standing in the middle of the kitchen. His tone indicated this wasn’t the first time he’d said her name. “What’s wrong with you?”
Faith crossed her arms low on her stomach. “Where have you been staying? You weren’t sleeping at Mom’s. I would’ve seen your stuff.”
“Dobbins.” She should’ve known. Zeke had always loved the soulless anonymity of base housing, even if Dobbins Air Reserve was an hour drive from the VA hospital where he was doing his inservice.
“I need you to do me a favor.”
He was instantly skeptical. “What?”
“I want you to take Jeremy and Emma back to the base with you. Today. Right now.” The Atlanta police couldn’t protect her family, but the United States Air Force could. “I don’t know how long it’ll be for. I just need you to keep them on the base. Don’t let them off until I tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to know that they’re safe.”
“Safe from what? What are you planning?”
Faith checked the backyard to make sure the detectives weren’t listening. Ginger stared at her, his jaw rigid. She turned her back to him. “I need you to trust me.”
Zeke snorted a laugh. “Why would I start doing that?”
“Because I know what I’m doing, Zeke. I’m a police officer. I was trained to do this kind of thing.”
“What kind of thing? Run into the street barefooted like you’re escaping from the loony bin?”
“I’m going to get Mom back, Zeke. I don’t care if it kills me. I’m going to get her back.”
“You and what army?” he scoffed. “You gonna call in Aunt Mandy and go smear lipstick all over them?”
She punched him in the face. He looked more shocked than hurt. Her knuckle felt like it might be broken. Still, she got some satisfaction when she saw a thin line of blood drip onto his upper lip.
“Christ,” he muttered. “What the hell was that for?”
“You’ll need to take my car. You can’t fit a car seat in the Corvette. I can give you some money for gas and groceries and I—”
“Wait.” His voice was muffled by his hand as he felt the bridge of his nose for damage. He looked at her—really looked at her—for the first time since she’d walked through her own front door. Faith had hit her brother before. She’d burned him with a match. She’d beaten him with a clothes hanger. To her recollection, this was the first time any violence between them actually seemed to work.
“All right.” He used the toaster to check his reflection. His nose wasn’t broken, but a deep, purple bruise was working its way underneath his eye. “But I’m not taking your Mini. I’m going to look retarded enough as it is.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Will had never been quick to anger, but once he got there, he held on to it like a miser with a pot of gold. He didn’t throw things or use his fists. He didn’t rage or even raise his voice. Actually, the opposite happened. He went quiet—completely silent. It was as if his vocal cords were paralyzed. He kept it all on the inside because, in his vast experience with angry people, Will knew that letting it out meant that someone could end up very badly hurt.
Not that this particular expression of anger didn’t have its drawbacks. His stubborn silence had gotten him suspended from school on more than one occasion. Years ago, Amanda had transferred him to the nether regions of the north Georgia mountains for his refusal to respond to her questions. Once, he’d stopped speaking to Angie for three whole days for fear of saying things to her that could never be taken back. They’d lived together, slept together, dined together, done everything together, and he hadn’t uttered one word to her for a full seventy-two hours. If there had been a category in the Special Olympics for functionally illiterate mutes, Will would’ve had no problem cinching the gold.
This was all to say that not speaking to Amanda during the five-hour drive down to Coastal State Prison was nothing in the scheme of things. The worrying part w
as that the intensity of Will’s anger would not dissipate. He had never hated another human being as much as he did when Amanda told him that, by the way, Sara had almost been murdered. And that hatred would not go away. He kept waiting to feel that click of it letting up, the pot going from a boil to a simmer, but it wouldn’t come. Even now as Amanda paced back and forth in front of him, going from one end of the empty visitors’ waiting room to the other like a duck in a shooting gallery, he felt the rage burning inside him.
The worst part was that he wanted to speak. He yearned to speak. He wanted to lay it all out for her and watch her face crumble as she realized that Will truly and irrevocably despised her for what she had done to him. He had never been a petty man, but he really, really wanted to hurt her.
Amanda stopped pacing. She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but sulking is not an attractive trait in a man.”
Will stared at the floor. Grooves had been worn into the linoleum by the women and children who had wiled away their weekends waiting to visit the men inside the cells.
She said, “As a rule, I only let someone call me that word once. I think you picked an appropriate time.”
So, he hadn’t been completely mute. When Amanda had told him about Sara, he’d called her the word that rhymes with her name. And not in Spanish.
“What do you want, Will, an apology?” She huffed a laugh. “All right, I’m sorry. I apologize for not letting you get distracted so that you could do your job. I apologize for making sure your head didn’t get blown off. I apologize—”
His mouth moved of its own accord. “Could you just shut up?”
“What was that?”
He didn’t repeat himself. He didn’t care whether or not she heard him, or if his job was in jeopardy, or if she was going to unleash a new kind of hell on him for standing up to her. Will could not remember the last time he had experienced the kind of agony he’d suffered this afternoon. They’d sat outside that damn warehouse for a full hour before the Doraville police released them. Will understood intellectually why the detectives wanted to talk to them. There were two dead bodies and bullet holes everywhere. There was a stockpile of illegal machine guns on a shelf in the back. There was a large safe in Julia Ling’s office with the door swinging open and hundred-dollar bills scattered on the floor. You didn’t just roll up on a scene like that and release the only two witnesses. There were forms to be filled out, questions to be answered. Will had to give a statement. He’d had to wait while Amanda gave hers. It seemed like she had taken her time. He’d sat in the car, watching her talk to the detectives, feeling like an earthquake was going off in his chest.
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