You Can't Hide: A pulse-pounding serial killer thriller (7th Street Crew Book 3)

by Willow Rose

  “I was at home. Why?” Danny answers.

  “You weren’t at the rally like everyone else?” Fisher asks.

  “No. I was at home.”

  “Can anyone confirm that? Were you with someone?”

  “Wait. Am I being accused of something here?”

  “Just answer the question, please.”

  Danny thinks about Junior. Saturday morning was the time when he told him about his sister and the affair. He really doesn’t feel like he can tell Detective Fisher about it. Junior got so mad, he ran out of the house, and didn’t come back till the afternoon. He doesn’t provide much of an alibi anyway. They were only together for maybe half an hour that morning.

  “My son was home, but only early in the morning. We had breakfast together, but he left in the middle of it,” he says, staying as close to the truth as possible. Then he adds, “We had a fight.”

  Fisher nods. “You had a fight, you say. About what?”

  “Is that really important? It’s kind of private.”

  Fisher looks seriously at him, then down at his papers. He gets up from the chair and walks around. “All right. Then tell me, what did you do after your son left?”

  “I…” Danny pauses, thinking about how he broke down and cried. Danny never cries. He takes in a deep breath. He can tell Fisher notices how nervous he is. “I had a cup of coffee and sat out in the back.”

  Fisher walks behind his chair. “All morning? That’s all you did all morning?”

  “No. I went on my iPad and read a couple of articles in Florida Today’s online paper, then went on Facebook.”

  Fisher walks up in front of him. “Did you post anything?”

  Danny shakes his head. “No.”

  “Did you write any emails? ‘Cause that could verify the time and date.”

  Danny shakes his head. He remembers sitting on the back porch with his coffee and iPad, but not really looking at it. All he did was think about his life while staring at the canal. Crying about how he had wasted his life, how all the choices he had made no longer made sense, how they had ruined so much. Worrying that he might alienate and maybe lose his son now as well, and be left with nothing. But he can’t explain that to the detective. They all know him as the tough guy, the firefighter, the captain of the fire department, and the man who’s saved more people with heart failure than anyone in the history of the station.

  They used to look at me like a hero. Now all I see is contempt in his eyes.

  “What is the nature of your relationship with Paige Stover?” Fisher asks.

  Danny’s eyes widen. “Is that what this is about? Paige Stover?”

  “Just answer the question, please. How do you know Paige Stover?”

  “From the rec center,” he says. “She plays basketball down there. You know I work there as a volunteer for the basketball team and have for years. Is this really about her?”

  Fisher clears his throat. “Yes. She disappeared on Saturday morning. Last seen just after nine o’clock when a car drove into the crowd at the rally.”

  Danny feels so confused. How can he think these things about him? “But…but I don’t know anything…I didn’t…you think I might have done something to her, don’t you?”

  Fisher sits down and rubs his stubble. He opens a file, finds a piece of paper, and slides it towards Danny.

  “You were arrested recently at the airport, right?”

  Danny’s heart drops. So this is what this is all about. “You think because I was arrested, then that means I took Paige Stover, is that it?”

  Fisher gesticulates. “You were trying to purchase a child!”

  Danny leans back in the chair with a deep sigh. “I think I need a lawyer.”

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  April 2016

  Tom stops by Monday afternoon. We decide to go down to the beach and hang out for a few hours while my dad naps on the porch. I don’t feel too comfortable letting him see me in a swimsuit, but I decide he has to take me as I am. It’s not like I can do much about it. I wear a one-piece and a cover-up dress that I only take off when we go in the water. We jump in the waves and I even take him out on a surfboard. I try to push him into a couple of waves, but he nosedives every time and never gets to even stand up before he finally gives up.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, when we get back on land. “I forget how hard it is to learn. When you’ve been surfing since you were just a kid, you tend to forget.”

  He laughs while shaking his wet hair. He grabs a towel and wipes his face. “Don’t feel bad. It was fun. We’ll try again another time. Makes me even more impressed that you can do what you do. Plus, it was great to just get out in the water. I kind of needed it. Get my mind off the latest events around here.”

  “You mean Paige Stover?” I ask.

  “Yeah. Can you believe that she would just disappear like that?” he says.

  We sit down in my beach chairs. I shake my head. “It’s odd,” I say. “Did you know her well?”

  “Not really. She was mostly with Coach Joe, who gave her private lessons, but of course I knew her a little. She was on the team.”

  I think about Tara and Maria and the two bodies found in the canals on the same day that Paige disappeared. I can’t stop thinking that it might all be connected somehow. I just don’t see how. I wonder if I should tell him what I know, but then I remember that I promised Chris Fisher to keep it between us. If word gets out, it might spoil the investigation when people start talking. And they will talk, he said. The more people who know things, the higher the probability that someone will spill the beans at some point. I can’t risk ruining anything. I don’t know Tom that well yet and have no idea if he can keep a secret like that or not.

  “What do you think happened to her?” he asks with a sniffle, as water comes out of his nose. I hand him a towel, knowing the feeling all too well.

  “I don’t know,” I say. “But the more time that passes without her showing up, the more anxious I get.”

  “I think that goes for everyone around here. I’m glad I took today off from the cape. I can’t help feeling a little guilty, you know?”

  “You? Why?” I ask, surprised.

  He shrugs. “I don’t know. Because she was supposed to come to the rec center and play in the tournament, and when she didn’t, we just went on with the game. I felt awful, but kept telling myself she would turn up at some point, that she was all right. I should have been out looking for her instead. It wasn’t until later I realized she still hadn’t shown up.”

  “You did what you could do. How could you have known?” I say, thinking about how guilty I have felt myself. “I’m the one who could have done something. I was there. I saw her; I photographed her with her friends right before she went missing. I was supposed to have brought her to her mother in the hospital. I keep going over that afternoon again and again, wondering if I could have done something differently, if there was anything I saw that can help the investigation, but I can’t seem to come up with what it should be. I have told the police everything I know and remember, but none of it helped.”

  Tom places a hand on my shoulder. I look at him. He looks very cool with his sunglasses on, but he is so pale he almost looks like he’s one of the tourists. I am guessing he doesn’t go outside much.

  “I think maybe you shouldn’t beat yourself up like that. You’ve done what you could do.”

  “I sure hope so,” I say, when my phone starts to ring from the side pocket of my chair. It’s an unknown number. I pick it up. Danny is on the other end.

  “I need your help, Mary. I think I got myself into some deep trouble.”

  Chapter Seventy

  April 1975

  Days pass and they get no more food. Only water is brought to them, and soon they start to starve again. Danh tries to ask some of the guards with the machine guns, but they only point their guns at him and yell in a language Danh doesn’t understand.

  A week after they were picked up, Bao starts
to run a fever. Soon, he is burning up. Danh recognizes the signs from when Long was sick, and it is with terror that he watches his older brother weaken. Without food and strength, it goes fast.

  Danh starts to beg and plead with the men onboard for food and medicine. He knows they must have something, like what they gave to Long, but now they don’t seem to want to help them anymore.

  “No more,” they tell him in Vietnamese. “No more!”

  Disappointed and scared, Danh returns to Long and Bao on the deck, where they lie uncovered in the burning sun. He tries to cover Bao up with his jacket, like he did with Long, but he is so hot now that he has to remove it for him again.

  Long starts to cry. “What are we going to do?” she asks.

  Danh shrugs with a whimper. He is scared. Usually in a situation like this, he would do anything he could to make sure Long wasn’t scared, to shelter her from the gruesomeness, but not this time. This time, he is angry with her for whining, for crying. He needs her to be strong.

  “Stop crying, you baby,” he says and gets to his feet. He walks away. He needs to get away.

  “Danh?” she says, tears springing from her eyes.

  He ignores her. Afraid of what he might say to her, he walks to the other end of the deck and stares out at the water. He feels tears on his face, but wipes them away. There is no time for this now. Crying is useless.

  A guy is standing next to him. A man with a machine gun. He is watching the ocean as well. Danh turns to look at him and spots a necklace around his neck that he recognizes.

  “Where did you get that?” he asks.

  The man smiles, showing off some very bad teeth. He grabs the necklace and pulls it out, then he laughs.

  “It belongs to someone I know,” Danh says. “See, it says his name on it, right here. He was the captain of the boat I was on. What did you do to him?”

  As the realization sinks in, Danh walks backwards, away from the man and his gun. He hurries back to Long and Bao, sits down, and pulls his legs up underneath himself.

  “What’s wrong?” Long asks.

  He looks at her. Usually, he wouldn’t have told her anything, but this time he decides she is grown up enough to know. “I think they killed them.”

  “Killed who?” she asks, sounding innocent and naïve.

  “Everyone on our old boat. The captain, everyone. I remember that necklace. He used to rub it between his fingers when he spoke. It’s gold. He would never have let go of that willingly. They must have killed him first.”

  Long doesn’t speak. She stares at Danh. Bao is groaning next to them. He’s barely awake.

  “You think they’ll kill us too?” she finally asks anxiously.

  Danh looks at her and wonders if he should tell her a lie, tell her it is all a game or part of a play or to look for pirates or dance like he used to, but he decides not to. He looks into her beautiful eyes, and then shakes his head.

  “I think they want to do something much worse to us.”

  Chapter Seventy-One

  April 2016

  I get ahold of my lawyer James Holland and make sure he takes care of Danny. As it turns out, the police don’t have any evidence pointing at Danny, it’s all suspicions based on the fact that he was arrested in Orlando recently trying to purchase a child, something he hasn’t even been convicted for. Holland quickly makes sure Danny gets home, and the next day I go to talk to him.

  “I got suspended,” he says, as he opens the door.

  “Oh, no, Danny. I’m so sorry.”

  He walks away from the door and lets me inside. “Everyone at the station knows I was in for questioning. My superior called and told me I was suspended. I asked him if he thought I was guilty, and even though he didn’t say it, I could tell he believed it. It was all in his tone of voice. I’m afraid to go downtown now, since I have a feeling the rumor is all over town that I am a suspect in Paige Stover’s disappearance.”

  Danny throws himself on the couch with a sigh. He hides his face in his hands. “I don’t think I can take any more.”

  I sit down next to him. I put my arm around his shoulder and pull him closer to me. “We’ll figure this out somehow,” I say. “We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  “Come on, Mary.”

  “I’m being serious here!”

  “So you’re going to do what the police haven’t been able to yet?” he asks skeptically.

  “If I have to. I have spoken to the others and they’re behind you as well. All of them. None of us are going to let you go down on this, you hear me?”

  He looks up at me. I touch his cheek. “We’re here for you, Danny. Come rain or shine. Like you always have been for us.”

  “Are you trying to make me cry?” he asks.

  “Not really,” I say with a chuckle. “But if you feel like crying, then be my guest.”

  “They called me Boxer,” he suddenly says.

  “Who did?”

  “The police. Chris Fisher.”

  “Oh, that little brat. I can’t believe he would arrest you. I thought we were making progress, that I was helping him with the case. Instead, he took one look at you and believed you were his guy. I could just…” I groan and pretend to be strangling Fisher between my hands.

  “He always was annoying,” Danny says with a light laugh.

  “I know, right? But why do you think they called you that?”

  “Apparently, they’ve found a lot of chats going between this Boxer and Paige Stover on her computer. They showed me a transcript of it and told me they believed I had written it. I had never seen any of these messages in my life, I said, but they didn’t believe me. Thank God for James Holland, that he got me out of there. I told them I would cooperate the best I could, but they would have to ask me about things I knew about, not just throw accusations at me.”

  I get up from the couch and find my phone in my pocket. I call Chloe. “Hey. It’s me. Do you remember the name of the guy that you found had chatted with Tara on her iPad? You remember? You had a hunch about him, but I didn’t believe you.”

  “Yeah. He was called Boxer, why?”

  “I thought so,” I say. “I think we need to take another close look at this guy. And most importantly find out who and where he is.”

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  April 2016

  Boxer has just handed over the girl to her new owner when he enters the police station. He greets Detective Fisher in the hallway and he shows him back to his desk. Fisher folds his hands on top of his stomach and leans back.

  “Thanks for coming down here. We really appreciate it. You say you saw something on the day when Paige Stover disappeared?” he asks. “Something you believe is important?”

  Boxer nods. “Yes. At the rally.”

  “So, you were at the rally?” the detective asks.

  “Yes. I was there with my brother to protest against the fish-kill. It’s truly awful how our river has been destroyed.”

  “Yes, we all believe so, but let’s get to the point here. We are interested in talking to anyone who was at the rally, as you probably know from the newscasts on TV. What did you see?”

  Boxer clears his throat and tries to sound sincere. “I saw Paige Stover at the rally. She was with her mother at first, then walked with some of her friends.”

  Detective Fisher writes on his pad. Boxer can’t help feeling a thrill go through his body as he watches him. He tries to hide it.

  “So you saw her at the rally,” the detective repeats.

  “Yes. She was walking down Minutemen Causeway with her friends.”

  “And where were you?”

  “Me and my brother were not far behind them. And that’s when I saw him.”

  “Who did you see?”

  Boxer clears his throat again and sits up straighter in the chair. “I don’t know his name, but he was also there in the afternoon when we searched for her, walking hand in hand. I should have known something was fishy.”

  “Wait, wait a
minute. Who did you see?”

  “He’s the captain at the fire station. That’s all I know. He’s got one of those faces you don’t forget, if you know what I mean, Detective.”

  “Are you talking about Danny Schmidt?” the detective asks. He leans back and grabs a photo from the drawer, then places it in front of Boxer.

  Boxer nods. “Yes. That’s him. That’s exactly who I saw.”

  “So, you say you saw Danny Schmidt at the rally?” he asks, while writing on his pad.

  “Yes. He was there. He was elbowing his way through the crowd and pushed me aside as he did. I saw him approach the girl after the panic erupted and everyone was screaming and running around. He walked up to her, grabbed her arm and talked to her, then they left together.”

  Detective Fisher stares at Boxer like he doesn’t quite know what to say. “And you’re sure it was him?”

  Boxer nods. “Yes. One hundred percent. I can’t have been the only one who saw them talking.”

  “As a matter of fact, you aren’t,” he says. “We have another witness that says she saw a man talk to Paige and grab her arm, but she didn’t see his face.”

  Oh, really?

  Fisher rubs his stubble and clears his throat. “Did you see anything else? Like, did they get into a car?”

  Boxer shakes his head. “I don’t know. I went back to look for my brother and then we drove home.”

  Detective Fisher gets to his feet and reaches out his hand. “Well, thank you for being such a good and concerned citizen and bringing this to our attention.”

  “I am just glad to be of help,” he says and gets up as well. He shakes the detective’s hand.