Kellen snorted. “Believe what you want, but for a moment it seemed like you were having second thoughts about him.”
“Him? Never! I can’t forgive him for what he did to me.”
“Whatever. Just remember—he’s the one who was too busy texting to watch Ariana. Now there’s even evidence of him putting her in the van!”
Zoey shook her head. “Have you heard of Photoshop?”
“You said he was jealous when you showed him the engagement ring. Did you ever stop to think that he took Ariana to make sure he didn’t lose you?”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“Why not?” Kellen countered. “You’ve always said how all he thinks about is himself, right? Maybe he’s scared he’ll lose you or Ariana once we get married.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Is it?”
Her eyes shone with tears. “Yes!”
“Why?”
“Because he’s had all this time to do something, but he hasn’t.”
“And yet suddenly, he wants a daddy-daughter date. Right after seeing your ring.”
She shook her head. “It’s not like that. He wouldn’t kidnap Ariana.”
“How can you defend him?” Kellen exploded.
“Because I know him! I’ve known the Mercers longer than I’ve known anyone.”
“Really? You’ve hardly said two words to him since you graduated high school.”
“Yeah, he’s thrown his own life away, but he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Ari. Deep down, he’s still the same person he always was.”
Kellen wanted to punch the wall. He took a deep breath. “Even if Alex didn’t put her in the van, he still wasn’t watching her. Someone drove off with Ari.”
“That place is huge. It could’ve happened to anyone.”
He couldn’t take any more. “Look, if you need me, I’ll be at my place.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re going to leave me? Now?”
“Leave you?” he yelled. “No, Zoey. I’m giving you space. Clearly, you need it. I know I do. I have a lot to think about.”
She shook her head. “Unbelievable.”
He gritted his teeth. “My sentiments exactly.”
Dismissed
Nick hit snooze. He felt like he’d been hit by a bus, but then he remembered what Alex had shown him the night before. Although he had his doubts about the FBI taking him seriously, he was excited to show them what he had. He didn’t know how Alex had managed to connect some of the dots he had—it was some decent detective work, especially from a civilian.
The alarm blared again. He stretched and turned it off before getting up. With any luck, between all the new calls to the hotline and these new clues from the cold cases, they would find the abductor. The all-important forty-eight hour deadline was rapidly approaching. After that, their chances of finding the girl alive would rapidly diminish with each passing hour.
Sure, there were cases like Alex’s sister, but those were the rare ones. Definitely not anything they could count on.
Time was not on their side. But if they were right about this being connected to the other cases, at least they had a little more time—however Halloween was also approaching too quickly.
He got ready, his mind racing, and grabbed an energy drink on the way out. He made his way to the Mustang, safe in one of the few garage spots in the parking lot, and hurried to the station.
The entire place was buzzing when he got there. He put his coat in his office, recycled the can, and headed for the room. The white boards were filled with at least twice the notes, more papers lay scattered around the tables, and conversation was more lively.
Nick grabbed a donut from the box next to the door and stood by Williams, the head FBI agent, who was speaking with three others. She turned to him once she was done talking and pulled her light hair into a bun. “Did you get any sleep?”
“Some. Was there any good info from the hotline overnight?”
“Hard to say. There are a lot of leads to look into, but so far none of them are panning out. False sightings, mostly. Do you know how many eleven-year-old girls are out there with dark hair halfway down their backs?” She sighed and took a swig of her coffee.
“I’m sure thousands at least.”
She nodded. “I’ve got teams checking out leads in other states. More AMBER Alerts are going out and I’ve got an entire social media team on it in Washington.”
“This is Washington.”
“Washington State. I’m talking about DC.”
“Okay. I have something I want to go over with you. I found some new possibilities.”
“It’s not those cold cases again, is it?” A look of irritation crossed her face.
“I found some connections, and they’re too similar to this case to keep ignoring.” He stared her down.
“Fine. You’ve got five minutes.”
That was five minutes more than Nick’d had last time he tried talking to her about the previous cases. “Come to my office.”
She tapped another agent on the shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
They went to his office and he turned on his computer and pulled up everything relevant from the cloud server.
“You do realize that hot leads are almost always better than the cold ones?”
“Almost always,” Nick said. “Given the fact that there’s a serial killer out there, we need to pay attention to these.”
“We don’t know the cases are related.”
"Look at this." He showed her everything Alex had found, and for a change, she didn't cut him off and dismiss him. She listened, but didn't give any indication of what she thought. When he was done, he asked, "What do you think?"
“You could be on to something.”
“Could be?”
“That map leading to Myer’s house is a bit of a stretch though. Isn’t that a new neighborhood?”
“It’s been there for decades.”
Williams looked deep in thought. “I’m not going to allocate any of my resources toward this, but if you feel strongly about it, keep looking into it. Take Anderson and question Myer again, but it’s not a lead I’d put much stock into. If nothing comes of this, drop it.”
At least this was better than nothing. “What would it take for you to take it seriously?”
“Something more convincing than this. Better leads. That’s what we need to focus on.”
“Like what?”
“The stepdad.”
“She doesn’t have—wait. You mean Zoey’s fiancé?”
“Kellen McKay. He has no alibi for the time of the kidnapping.”
“But Alex was there. He saw the abductor. If it was Kellen, he would’ve known.”
“It was dark and he was upset. Distracted.”
“Distracted? He’d already put his text away. He gave us a description of the man—and it looks just like Myer.”
“Like I said, look into it if you want. I don’t put much stock into what the bio dad says.”
“Why on earth not?”
“He’s only involved with the girl a few times a year and from what I’ve gathered, spends his free time drinking. We have a missing child, Fleshman. I can’t spare a single resource for every off-the-wall idea that comes my way. Especially not from an unreliable witness.”
It was a good thing he hadn’t told her that Alex had helped him dig into the cold cases. “I realize this is about a missing girl. You think I don’t know that? Why do you think I’m hardly sleeping? This is the niece of a missing girl I worked tirelessly on about twelve years ago.”
A knowing expression covered her face. “I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“You’re personally invested.”
“I—”
“You have to step back. You know that—you didn’t get to be captain by accident. I can tell by the way your men respect you that you’re a good cop. Everyone allows something to get personal once in a while, but you have to be impartia
l. That’s how these cases are solved. Understand?”
He gritted his teeth. “Yes.”
“If you look into Myer, let me know.”
“Of course.” There was no way he was going to drop this. In fact, her unwillingness to consider it a valid lead only made him more determined.
Frantic
Ariana picked up a book from the shelf, looked at the cover, and put it back. It had been hours since breakfast and she hadn’t heard anything from Lloyd. Despite her fear of never seeing her family again, she was growing bored. She spent so much time in the bedroom. He pretty much only let her out to eat three times a day.
At breakfast, she’d tried talking him into another trip to the backyard, but he said he had an appointment. His eyes had darted back and forth, not paying much attention to her, like he was lost in thought.
She picked out another book. They all looked old and boring—and she usually liked reading. Maybe they would sound more interesting if she wasn’t locked in someone else’s bedroom. She shoved the book back and went to the window.
It was windy outside with a slight drizzle—the perfect fall day. It would be so much fun to run around in the grass, kicking up leaves. She and her friends loved piling up the leaves when they weren’t too wet and throwing them at each other. It was also fun to hide in a pile and scare someone when they walked by.
Ariana giggled, thinking of a few days earlier when she’d scared Emily real bad. Then they’d teamed up and ambushed some of the boys, covering them in leaves.
What she wouldn’t give to be able to go to school the next day. She’d even take two packs of homework if she could just show up and see her friends.
She leaned her forehead against the cold glass and sighed. What did Lloyd have planned? Just for her to continue her existence like this, pretending to be his sister?
Sadness washed through her at the thought of never returning to her old life. No, to her life. It wasn’t old, it was where she belonged. Where she needed to be.
There had to be a way out. Maybe she hadn’t looked hard enough before. Or in the right places.
Ariana walked around the perimeter of the room for what felt like the five-millionth time. Everything looked the same—sealed tight to keep her inside. She just had to look harder. Think more. Get creative.
She’d learned about how to get out of the trunk of a car—kicking the lights and stuff. The details were fuzzy, but the point was that there was always something she could do. Overpowering Lloyd was out of the question, but what if she could outsmart him? She could find a way out that he’d never thought of.
Sighing, she sat on the bed and glanced around, doing her best to think of something new. There had to be something she’d overlooked—that Lloyd had.
But what?
She studied the walls and the door. The lock was on the outside, but part of it was on this side. It was just a silver lump with a keyhole. Maybe she could find a way to unlock it. Sure, she didn’t have the key, but that couldn’t be the only way to get through. Everything in the room was ancient, and she’d seen old movies where people used bobby pins and paper clips to get through locks.
What if that worked?
Her mind raced, trying to figure out if she’d seen anything like that anywhere. Nothing came to mind, but she hadn’t been looking, either. She would have to check the bathroom whenever Lloyd came back and let her go.
In the meantime, she needed to go through every drawer, nook, and cranny in the bedroom. Even if she didn’t find anything useful, she might get an idea of something else to try. With as often as he left her alone in the house, she had plenty of time to find an escape.
Ariana opened the top drawer in the desk, but only saw blank stationary paper. Not even a pencil or a pen, much less paper clips. She moved to the top side drawer. Just erasers and some notepads. The next two drawers didn’t hold anything useful, either.
She went over to the dresser, hoping that might be her answer. Perhaps Jan had left a paper clip in a pocket and Lloyd hadn’t noticed when washing the laundry. Ariana rifled through the clothes, not finding anything. Even checking all the pockets didn’t yield a single stray item.
The sound of gravel crunching under tires startled her. Lloyd was back and she had clothes strewn all over the room.
Panic-stricken, Ariana rushed around the room, grabbing clothes. She’d barely folded two shirts when a car door slammed outside. Her heart raced as she tried to fold everything neatly. Her hands shook, making it even more difficult.
The car alarm beeped outside.
“Please don’t come in here,” Ariana begged as she folded a powder blue hoodie.
Noises sounded downstairs, but it didn’t sound like he was coming up. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued folding clothes as fast as she could.
Just as she was putting away the final pair of pants, the deadbolt clicked.
Ariana slammed the drawer, grabbed a random book, and jumped onto the bed. She opened it to the middle and noticed it was upside down. She flipped it upright.
The door opened.
She looked up, trying to act natural.
Lloyd glanced around the room before landing his gaze on her. He played with the zipper on his coat, seeming to be in the same distracted mood as before. “You hungry?”
“Yeah, but I really have to use the bathroom.”
“Sorry about being gone so long.” He paused. “Something came up.”
“It’s okay. Can I go?”
He stepped aside, and Ariana ran past him, eager to see what she could find. She closed the bathroom door behind her and did her business. She turned on the water to make it sound like she was washing her hands, but she went through the drawers. She found a brush, a comb, some bars of soap, towels, her toothbrush, and toothpaste. Nothing useful.
“Are you okay in there?” Lloyd called.
She turned off the water and messed up the hand towel before opening the door. “Yep.”
“Okay. Let’s eat. I picked something up on the way.” He took her hand and led her to the kitchen. A couple bags from a fried chicken place sat on the table. “Grab some plates. I’ll get the cups and some juice.”
Without a word, Ariana pulled a couple plates down. Then she opened the silverware drawer and put a couple forks on the plates. The butter knives caught her eye.
Could she use one of those to work loose the lock?
She glanced over at Lloyd. His face was blocked by the fridge door.
Heart thundering, she reached for a knife and slid it into the sleeve of her shirt.
Alone
Zoey rolled over and woke up when her hand hit the empty pillow next to her. The fight with Kellen filled her mind and her stomach twisted in tight knots.
How could he do that to her in a time like this? When Ariana was missing? She needed him now more than ever.
She reached for her phone, hoping for news about Ari. Nothing besides the now-typical flood of sympathetic texts, many from complete strangers. How they’d managed to find her number was beyond her.
Zoey scrolled through them to make sure she hadn’t missed anything important. It didn’t look like it. She found her earlier texting conversation with her mom and sent her a text.
Have you heard anything?
No. Called the station earlier. Nothing new.
Not even after the conference?
They’re going over leads.
OK. Thx.
She rolled over and closed her eyes. What was she supposed to do? It tore her apart that she couldn’t do anything to help Ari. Nobody could until they found her.
There had to be something she could do. Maybe one of the leads would pan out, but in the meantime, she would go crazy in her apartment. But what could she do?
Fliers. They could hand those out—she could set up a big party like the one they’d had for Macy. It had seemed like the whole town had shown up. Their whole neighborhood had, plus a whole bunch of people she’d never seen. They’d canvass
ed the streets, getting the word out. It seemed like holding an actual paper made it more real for people than just seeing a picture on TV or the computer.
Tears welled up.
“I’m not going to be weak,” she muttered and sat up. No, she would focus on setting up the flier party. She could order some of the police fliers to be printed at the nearest office supply store and then spread the word about the party. Thank God for social media. She could publish one post and tell all her friends to share it. Thousands would see it in minutes.
Zoey downloaded the flier to her phone and placed an order for five thousand copies, paying for a rush job. She posted the info about handing out fliers and meeting at the park next to Mom’s house. She tagged as many people as she was allowed and then got into the shower.
Even if no one else showed, she would hand out every one of those papers herself. But given how everyone had rallied around them, the more likely scenario was that she should’ve ordered more copies.
Before getting in the shower, she called Kellen. After the second ring, it went to voicemail.
He was ignoring her call.
She tried again, but after the first ring, it went to voicemail.
More tears threatened. She shook her head, refusing to give in to them.
Instead, she sent Kellen a text.
We need to talk.
She gathered her clothes and checked her phone again. Kellen hadn’t responded.
I don’t want space. Talk to me.
Zoey got into the shower, her mind racing back and forth between Ariana, the fliers, and Kellen. When she got out, she still had no new texts or calls.
She decided to give Kellen one last text.
Everyone’s gathering at the park to hand out fliers. Hope you’ll be there.
Her stomach rumbled, despite her having no appetite. She grabbed some fruit on the way out and hoped that would be enough.
Setup
Knock, knock.
Alex saved his file. “Come in.”
Mom came in and gave him a sad smile. “Have you gotten any sleep?”
[Alex Mercer 01.0] Girl in Trouble Page 13
