Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Box Set

by Willow Rose

  “Why are you keeping me in here?” she said, worried as he finally pulled the gag out. “I’m sick. Please, take me to see a doctor.”

  The masked man sat next to her on the bed, holding a knife in his hand. Ava saw it and felt her pulse quicken.

  “You girls think I’m an idiot; don’t you? Like I didn’t know you were trying to fool me, pretending to be sick. Did you really think I would take you to see a doctor so you could tell him I was keeping you prisoner, huh? Do you think I’m that stupid?”

  “N-no,” she said, anxiety rising inside of her. He had known all along that it was a trick. The realization caused panic to spread inside of her. “I don’t think you’re stupid at all.”

  The masked man tilted his head. “Oh, look at you, trying to make sure I don’t get mad, telling me what I want to hear. But the thing is, I am angry. I am a very angry man. You took me for a fool, and now you have to pay the price.”

  Ava whimpered and pulled back on the bed. She tried to pull loose from the chains but couldn’t. She tried to scream, but after throwing up the little she had in her stomach and not having any food or anything to drink for almost twenty-four hours, she didn’t have the strength to scream very loud, let alone fight back.

  “Please, sir. I…I didn’t mean to…I’m not…” Ava tried, but she was so exhausted she could barely think. Whatever kept her awake was fueled solely by her fear.

  The masked man approached her, knife still in his hand.

  “Now, the thing is, you weren’t supposed to die till last, but now that you pulled this trick, I decided to take you first instead. How about that, huh?”

  “N-no, please, mister, I am…I don’t want to…”

  “You don’t want to what?” he asked, coming very close to her face. “You don’t want to die; is that it?”

  “Y-yes. Please. I don’t want to die,” she pleaded, crying now. “I just want to go home.”

  The man’s face was close to hers now, and she could hear him breathing. Looking into his eyes, Ava suddenly recognized them and gasped loudly. Even though he was wearing a surgical mask, she could still tell that he was smiling.

  Chapter 38

  “So where are we on finding our bomber?” I asked as Matt drove out from the middle school’s parking lot, where we had just dropped off Christine. She had blushed and put on her jacket, hiding her face in the hoodie as she got out. The entire crowd of kids that was rushing to school had stopped and stared at the kid arriving in a police cruiser. I had to admit; I felt a little bad for her. Middle schoolers were merciless.

  “I’m guessing the lab isn’t done with their analysis yet, but have we had any luck with the surveillance cameras from City Hall?”

  Matt shook his head. “I had two of my men going through the footage all night. So far, all they’ve seen is the truck arriving, being parked in the middle of the intersection, and a guy running away from it.”

  “Any face? ID?”

  Matt shook his head. “I’m afraid not. We could only see him from the back. It’s almost like he knew where the cameras were. He was wearing a black baseball cap too. It’s no use.”

  “Okay, we’ll find him without it, even though it would be nice to put a face to him. Maybe Jane’s description of the delivery guy to the artist later today will give us something. I feel pretty convinced he’s the same guy who hurt Molly and who took Carina, Ava, and Tara. Say, wasn’t there a photographer who contacted Ava as well about becoming a model? I remember you saying something about it at the beginning of your investigation.”

  Matt looked at me. “Yes, I checked him out. It’s the same guy. Or rather, it’s the same profile. It’s called Space Coast Photography.”

  “So, he’s hiding behind a company name to make it look legit. Easiest trick in the book, but also something young gullible girls might fall for.”

  “It was the same profile that contacted Ava on Instagram and told her he would like to take pictures of her, but her parents wouldn’t let her go. They didn’t believe it was real.”

  “So, he was a suspect earlier on. Did you ever talk to him?”

  Matt shook his head. “He was gone when we went for him, and we never found him. A neighbor said they rarely saw the owner of the house, that they believed they had had family up north and maybe was out of town.”

  “Had he seen the girls?”

  “He said he often saw young girls come and go at the house, but he couldn’t recall seeing our three girls specifically. Our hunch wasn’t enough for a warrant, the chief said, since this was months ago, or we would have raided the house. We had a patrol stationed there for a few days, but there was no activity to report.”

  “I see,” I said. “And what is this guy’s name?”

  “The house belongs to a Jordan Daniels.”

  Matt parked the cruiser in front of a small townhouse in South Cocoa Beach and killed the engine. I took off my seatbelt and felt my gun in the holster. This was the moment I hated the most about the job. You never knew what awaited you on the other side of that door. It could be anything from a nice old woman or neglected children to someone willing to end your life.

  Chapter 39

  THEN:

  “He says he wants money. Let’s just give it to him.”

  Iris stared at Gary. He had called it in, and now the house was crawling with uniforms and the forensic team going through every corner of their home. As an FBI agent, Gary had been at dozens of crime scenes, but he had never ever imagined it would one day be his own home.

  “It’s not that simple, Iris,” he said. He was trying not to hiss at her, but it was hard. He couldn’t help himself. He tried not to be cross with her, he really did, but the fact was, he was blaming her for not keeping a proper eye on their son.

  Why would she leave him out of her sight like that?

  “We don’t believe he has been inside the house,” his supervisor, Agent Peterson, said coming up to him. Behind him stood Gary’s partner, Agent Wilson, along with most of his other colleagues. Seeing all of them in his house wearing FBI jackets and gloves made Gary’s heart drop.

  “There are no footprints or fingerprints anywhere, no sign of anyone breaking and entering,” Peterson continued. “Personally, I think he walked up from the street. He might have just passed by out there, then seen Iris as she put the baby in the carriage and thought there was his chance at making some easy money. My guess is that he is some drug addict or someone in deep gambling debt.”

  “So, you think that if we give him the money, then he might bring Oliver back?” Iris asked.

  “I didn’t say that,” Peterson said with an exhale. “With someone like that, you never really know what their next move will be.”

  “But it’s worth a try; isn’t it?” Iris said. “In the note, it says he wants twenty thousand dollars. I have that in my savings from when my mother died. I can go to the bank right now and get the cash. It says in the note that he will bring back the boy safe and happy if we do as he says.”

  “It also says that he will kill the baby if we make a wrong move,” Gary said. “God knows what a wrong move is in his book. Calling all my FBI colleagues probably isn’t a right move to him.”

  Iris’s expression changed. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, and her shoulders slumped. The hope in her eyes died out for a minute.

  “So, what are you saying?” she asked. “Are you saying he might already have killed him?”

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Peterson said. “We have literally everyone looking for the boy right now. Besides, why would he kill him if he wants money? Then he has nothing to bargain with.”

  Iris nodded, head bowed. “Peterson is right. I say we give him the money and get our boy back. It’s all I want.”

  She lifted her glance, and her eyes met Gary’s. It was hard for him to even look at her right now, but as their eyes met, he felt himself grow softer. Maybe she couldn’t have helped it. It didn’t have to be anyone’s fault. Bad things happene
d to good people sometimes. Accidents happened. At least that was what he always told relatives when he went to their houses to tell them about their loved ones having passed away.

  We can’t control everything in life. There was nothing you could have done to prevent this from happening. You must forgive yourself.

  Iris’s lips shaped half a smile as their eyes remained locked. “What do you say, Gary?”

  He nodded, biting his lip nervously. “I say we do it. Let’s give him the money and get Oliver back.”

  Peterson placed a hand on Gary’s shoulder. “I’ll set things in motion. We won’t let him get away, Gary. You know we won’t.”

  Chapter 40

  “Yes?”

  I stared at the small skinny woman in front of me standing in the doorway. She was wearing a long black skirt and a green tank top and had her dreadlocks wrapped in a very colorful scarf. In her hand, she was holding what looked like a very expensive and professional camera.

  “We’re looking for Jordan Daniels,” Matt said and showed her his badge.

  “That’s me,” she said indifferently. She was wearing heavy eyeliner and had a tattoo of an octopus licking up her shoulder.

  “You’re Jordan Daniels?” I asked.

  She gave me a look. “It can be a girl’s name too, you know.”

  I glanced briefly at Matt, then back at the woman. “Yes, of course, it can.”

  “So, what can I do for you?” she asked.

  “We have a few questions for you if you don’t mind?” I asked, sensing she would respond better to a female approaching her than Matt.

  She looked at me, then nodded. “Sure. Come on in.”

  She let us inside her small dark house where all the blinds were pulled in each and every room. In the living room, she had set up a regular studio with lamps facing the backdrop to give the right light.

  “I take it you work from home?” I said as we walked inside and she put her camera on the tripod. It was a cluttered place with many magazines spread out and photographs of young girls lying everywhere, yet it still came off as stylish with high-tech minimalistic furniture.

  “I sure do,” she said. “This is my studio. This is where I do most of my shoots if I’m not called out on a shoot somewhere.”

  Matt looked at the photographs on the long white desk leaned against the barren wall.

  “You photograph a lot of young girls, I take it?”

  “Those are the ones who are most in demand, yes,” she said with a sly smile.

  Matt showed her a picture of Carina Martin. “Ever seen her before?”

  Jordan studied the picture, then shook her head. “Nope.”

  “So, she hasn’t been here?”

  “No. I would have remembered that. She’s very pretty but not exactly a model.”

  “How about this one,” Matt said and showed her a school picture of Molly Carson.

  Seeing her picture again made my stomach churn. The previous night, before I went back home to dinner with my family, I had stopped by the hospital and sat down with Melissa over a cup of coffee. She was still in deep shock and had a heaviness to her face I had never seen before. She was barely keeping it all together with the kids at home and being at the hospital most of the day. Luckily, Steve had tried some new medicine and was up and running again now, so he could help her out, but he also needed to take care of his job, so he didn’t lose it and with it their whole income. Molly was doing better and was out of the ICU, and she was awake, they said, but she hadn’t said a word to anyone yet. We were still waiting for her to start talking so we could ask her about the pig who did this to her. The doctors didn’t really know if she was unable to talk or if she just chose not to. Only time would tell, they said. They were hoping it was still just the shock that was blocking her, and as it wore off, she would begin to speak.

  I prayed that they were right.

  Jordan grabbed the photo and peeked at it. I studied her closely to look for any reaction. Jordan shook her head.

  “Nope. Never seen her either.”

  “Are you sure?” I said. “Maybe take another look. Take your time.”

  She sat down, the photo still between her hands. She looked again and shook her head.

  “Those eyes. I would definitely have remembered those.”

  Yeah, well that was all any of us could do now. Her mother would never see them again.

  “I am sorry; I haven’t seen her before. Why?”

  “Are you the only one who handles your social media presence?” I asked. “Or do you have someone else doing it?”

  Jordan smiled. “Look around you. Do I look like I could afford people working for me?”

  “You could have an intern working for you maybe,” I said.

  “Well, I don’t.”

  I grabbed a photo of a random young girl from her desk and held it up. “How do you find girls? Do you contact them?” I asked.

  Jordan looked away as I asked the question, and I took note of her reaction.

  “They come to me,” she said. “They call me up, or they write to me because they want to become models. I tell them I can’t promise them anything, but I can take some professional pictures of them that they can send to an agency. I sometimes help them find the right agencies to send them to as well. It’s not illegal what I do.”

  “No one said it was,” Matt said, still looking through the pictures of girls on the desk. He picked one up and looked at it closely, then put it down. I took out the photos of all four girls and put them in front of Jordan. “Could you look at all these girls and tell me if you recognize any of them?”

  Jordan was getting annoyed with us now. I could tell by her agitated body language.

  “What is this about?”

  “Just do it for me; will you?” I asked.

  She exhaled and looked at all of them, shaking her head. “I haven’t seen any of them before. I am sorry.”

  “Try again.”

  “Seriously? It’s not like it’s gonna change. I told you I don’t know any of these girls.”

  I smiled, trying to hide how much she was annoying me right now. “Just humor me. I want to be one hundred percent certain.”

  “Are you for real?”

  I nodded. “I am very real, thank you. Now, take your time. Don’t rush it. We have all day.”

  “Geez, you’d think you people had better things to do.”

  As she studied them, I turned to look at Matt, who showed me a picture he had found in the pile. I nodded to let him know I had seen it. Jordan lifted her head and looked directly at me.

  “There. I have looked at them three times now, and I don’t recognize any of the girls at all.”

  “And you’re sure?” Matt said and approached us, still holding the photograph in his hand.

  “I am sure.”

  Matt turned the photo and placed it on the table in front of Jordan, then slid it across it till it was right in front of her.

  “Because this photo kind of looks a lot like this girl; doesn’t it?” he said and pointed at Ava Morales’s photograph.

  “I think we need to have you come in for further questioning,” I said.

  “But…but I can’t…I’m going out on a photo shoot this afternoon.”

  My eyes met Matt’s, and I nodded.

  “Let’s take her in.”

  Hearing this, Jordan sprang to her feet and bolted for the door.

  Shoot.

  “We have a runner!”

  I was quickly up and running after her, while Matt was slower to react. Jordan made it past him and opened the door. She leaped out into the driveway, then sprinted down across the lawn and into the street, Matt and I following her closely behind, hands on our weapons, ready to draw should it become necessary.

  Agile Jordan sprang down the street toward the river, sprinting like she was some darn track runner. Who would have thought such a small girl had such force in her? I, on the other hand, panted agitatedly as I tried to follow her, curs
ing myself for not being in better shape like I had promised myself. I guess I hadn’t exactly expected to be running after criminals anytime soon since I had actually quit my job.

  Matt was doing a lot better and was soon ahead of me, almost within arm’s reach of Jordan, ready to grab her. But just as he reached out his arm, she took a swift left turn and sprinted down Brevard Avenue instead. Matt lost speed and was soon left behind, while Jordan made it toward the river.

  Oh, no, you don’t.

  Angrily, I sped up, pressing myself to the utmost, then as I was about to lose her, I threw myself at her, reached out my arm, and wrapped it around her neck, then pulled her backward using all my weight and stopping her in her tracks.

  The next second, Matt pulled her to the ground. He was on top of her, turning her around, pressing his knee down on her back, and Mirandizing her.

  Chapter 41

  We let Jordan Daniels sweat for a while, then returned to our desks and sat down. The station was buzzing with activity as Chief Annie had called in help from the county’s sheriff’s office to find our bomber. I still believed it was the same guy we were searching for that had taken Molly and the three other girls, but Chief Annie wasn’t fully convinced. It couldn’t hurt to work several angles, she said.

  I could hardly argue with that.

  Matt brought both of us coffee while the adrenalin left our bodies. My legs were sore from running, and I think I pulled a muscle. I massaged my thighs as he handed me the plastic cup. I took a sip, then his phone rang.

  Matt took the call while I read a text from Christine. She was upset because everyone was talking about her in school, and she had no one to sit with at lunch. I shivered, thinking about my own middle school years. They really were the worst.