And he felt the darkness taking control.
*******
Katie pulled into the driveway just as the ice cream truck was coming to a stop at the end of the block. She gave Jack a dollar for him and Jesse to get a treat, and they were off.
Katie gathered the two sacks of groceries, and went to unlock the door. It opened without her turning the key, and she was immediately alarmed. “Hello? Anyone here?”
There was no response, so she moved to the kitchen. Everything looked in place. She set the bags down and called her mom.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mom. It's me. Didn't you say you’d lock up when you left?”
“Yes, and I did. Why?”
Katie tried to hide the worry in her voice. “Well, I just got home, and the door was unlocked. Are you sure you locked it?”
“I know I did, Dear. Maybe Wade stopped by and left it unlocked.”
The boys came in with their ice creams. “Maybe...I'll ask him. Gotta run, bye.”
The picture was always the same: Jack with his ice cream sandwich, and Jesse covered in fudgsicle.
Katie pushed her worries aside and laughed. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
She herded Jesse toward the kitchen sink.
Chapter 9
Wade Duncan rifled through the file box in the bedroom.
The papers have to be in here.
They kept all their important stuff in the fireproof box under the bed. Finally, he saw the folder marked ‘Adoption,’ and pulled it out.
He was looking for the number of the lawyer’s office that had set up the adoption.
None of the adoption paperwork has a phone number.
An odd fact they probably should have noticed before. The only thing on the paperwork was the address of Johnson & Carr, the attorneys.
Wade found the card Zebulin Johnson had given him the day they met at the cemetery. He dialed the number.
“The number you have reached is no longer in service. Please check the number and dial again.”
Wade did.
“The number you have reached…” He hung up and stared at the phone. The gnawing feeling was getting stronger.
“What ya doing?”
He jumped when Katie spoke. “You scared me! Oh, nothing.”
“Is that the adoption folder?”
“Yeah, I was looking for a picture of Jack taken when we first adopted him. I thought it might be in here.” Wade didn’t like lying, especially to Katie, but neither did he want to scare her.
After all, I might just be overreacting.
“You know all the photos are in the albums downstairs.”
“Oh, of course.” Wade started putting everything back in the box.
Katie gave him a weird look. “Hey, I forgot to ask you, were you home earlier?”
“Today?”
“Yeah, this afternoon.”
“No. Why?”
“Well, Mom came by and said the door was unlocked. She said she locked it when she left, but when I got home, it was unlocked again.”
He stopped what he was doing and stared at her. “I'm sure I locked it this morning.”
“Well, Mom swears she locked it when she left, too.”
Wade's stomach began to churn.
The phone call and now this.
“I'll check the lock; maybe it's not closing all the way.”
Katie gave him a skeptical look. “Okay. Dinner's ready.”
“Great, be right down.”
He grabbed the business card from the lawyer’s office and stuck it in his wallet. He was going to get to the bottom of this.
*******
Wade had a busy morning the next day and wasn't able to break free until almost one in the afternoon. He waved at Peggy. “I'm going out to grab a bite, call me if anyone comes in.”
The receptionist was on the phone, but she gave him a nod and a smile.
Wade got in his car and headed downtown. The address on the card was in the older part of Springfield, and it took him fifteen minutes to get there. When he pulled up in front, he found a law office, but not the name he was looking for.
CRANE, STOOPS, & COLLINS
Attorneys-At-Law
Wade pulled out the card and stared at it. The address matched, but not the name.
Maybe it’s just a name change.
He got out and entered through double glass doors into a darkly paneled waiting room, complete with deep leather chairs. He crossed to the window as the glass slid open.
“Can I help you?” A smartly dressed receptionist smiled at him. Her nameplate read ‘Beverly.’ Blonde, thin build, with brown eyes, Wade guessed she was probably forty-five, but thought she could pass for thirty.
“Yes. I'm looking for an attorney.”
“Well, we have three very good ones here. What's the nature of your case?”
“No…I'm sorry,” Wade gave her a sheepish smile. “What I mean is I'm looking for a particular attorney. His name is Zebulin Johnson.”
Beverly obviously didn't recognize the name. “Well sir, I've been here for thirteen years, and I don't think I've ever heard that name.”
“Has the firm been in this same location all that time?”
“Yes, sir. In fact, they've been located here for nearly twenty years. What was the name again?”
He handed her the card. “Zebulin Johnson, red hair and beard, maybe three hundred and fifty pounds.”
“I don't remember anyone like that. Let me ask Joyce.”
Beverly went and asked the woman in the next room. Wade couldn't hear them, but saw the woman shake her head. Beverly returned and handed him the card. “I'm sorry. She didn't recognize the name, either.”
“Really? Okay, well thanks.”
“I'm sorry I couldn't be more help.” She flashed him another beautiful smile. “Have a nice day.”
Wade didn't feel like smiling, but he nodded. He was too stunned. She had confirmed what he suspected before he’d come in. Something wasn't right with Jack’s adoption.
What exactly they were involved in, he didn't know. The question now was what to do next? He couldn't tell Katie, he didn't know how she would react, or what she’d do. Maybe he could tell Shirley. He needed advice, but it couldn't be just anybody.
He called the office and told Peggy he wouldn’t be in the rest of the day.
“Everything alright?”
“Yeah...yeah, fine. Just need to take care of something.” He hung up and sat in his car. Summer was turning to fall, and the sky was gray, a light drizzle coming down. The weather matched his mood. He stayed there for a long time, praying, and trying to figure the next step.
Nothing seems best, but nothing won’t give me any solutions.
He needed a plan. He started the car and called his mother-in-law.
*******
“Mom, can we have our dollar?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, Mom, the truck is coming,” Jesse chimed in.
“Okay.”
Katie left the pot she was stirring on the stove and retrieved her purse. She rummaged around until she found four quarters.
“Here boys, be careful.”
“Okay, Mom,” they said in unison.
Katie smiled as she watched them scamper out the door. The weather would soon be too cold for ice cream, and the truck will stop coming around.
I’ll have to come up with a new treat for after school, maybe hot chocolate.
She returned to her stirring.
*******
The boys reached the truck just as the driver was preparing to leave. Jack waved and Tommy reopened the window. “What'll it be boys, the usual?”
Jack was just about to say yes when he heard a voice behind him. “What's the usual?”
Jack, Jesse, and Tommy all turned to look at the stranger. Jack recognized him as the man named Michael who had shaken his hand at the grocery store.
“Ice cream sandwich for Jack, a fudgcicle for me,” Jesse answered.
>
“Really? Why don't we have something new today?”
“We only have a dollar,” Jack explained.
“My treat, anything you want.”
Jesse's eyes got huge. “I've never had an Explosion Cone! Can I have one of those?”
Jack knew they weren't supposed to talk to strangers, but they had met him before. Besides, he'd always wanted an Explosion Cone himself. “I'd like one, too.”
Michael looked at Tommy with a big grin. “Make it three…what was it?”
“Explosion Cone!” Jack and Jesse shouted together.
“Right, make it three to go!”
Tommy doled out the three giant cones, Michael paid, and they walked off. Jesse was in heaven, attacking his ice cream with frenzy. Jack paused his eating to thank Michael. “That was real nice, mister. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, and it was my pleasure. You boys get ice cream a lot?”
“Every day after school, if we've been good.”
“That's awful nice of your mom. You boys need a lift home?”
“No, thank you,” Jack wasn’t going to break two rules in a row, and no rides was a rule, even if he had met Michael before. “It's just a short walk. Bye, and thanks again.”
“Bye, Jesse. Bye, Jack.”
Michael got in his car and watched the boys walk toward home. Jesse and Jack had just helped plan his next move.
*******
Katie didn't see the boys come in.
“Mom look, we got Explosion Cones!”
Katie turned to look at them. “Really? That's great. Wasn't that nice of Tommy?”
“Not Tommy…”
Jack cut in. “The nice man from the grocery store bought them.”
Katie's face immediately turned dark, her voice rising.
“What man? You let a stranger buy you ice cream?”
“You remember, I shook his hand. His name is Michael.”
It took Katie a minute, but she did remember. She was still unhappy. “You boys know not to talk to strangers, especially you, Jack.”
“We knew who he was.”
“He's still a stranger. Grandma Shirley is someone you know. Your soccer coach is someone you know. That man is a stranger.” Her voice held both anger and fear.
“Sorry, Mom, I won't do it again, promise.” Jack was near tears.
Katie took a deep breath and pulled him to her. She gave him a hug, holding on for a long time. She would have done the same with Jesse, but as usual, he was wearing most of his ice cream.
Katie and Jack both looked at him, breaking out in laughter at the same time.
Katie's anger disappeared, but the uneasy feeling was still there.
*******
Shirley heard the phone ringing. Her hair wet, and a towel wrapped around her, the caller hung up by the time she got to the phone. She looked at the number. It was Wade.
She toweled off and got dressed. She was running a brush through her hair when it rang again. This time, she got to it before he hung up. “Hello?”
“Shirley?”
“Yes. Hi, Wade Everything okay?”
“Sure, Katie and the kids are fine. I'm calling about something else.”
Shirley put the brush down and sat on the end of the bed. “Okay, what's up?”
“You remember the phone call I got at the soccer field the other day?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it wasn't about a real estate deal.”
“I suspected as much.”
“It was some guy telling me I had his son and he wanted him back.”
A long pause followed while Shirley let it sink in. “Did you tell him he was mistaken?”
“Yeah, but he wouldn't listen. Finally, I just hung up on him.”
“Did you tell Katie?”
“No, I didn't want to scare her.”
Shirley tried to reassure both herself and Wade. “I'm sure it's nothing.”
“There's more.”
Shirley caught her breath and Wade continued.
“To make sure I wasn’t overreacting, I decided to call the attorney who set up Jack's adoption. The number is disconnected.”
Shirley didn't say anything, her mind was scrambling, and she didn't like where this conversation was heading.
“So I went to the address on the lawyer's card. It’s downtown, and there’s a law office, but the name of the office didn't match the card.”
“Maybe they changed the name.”
“I thought the same thing, so I went inside. They've been there nearly twenty years, and no one has ever heard of Zebulin Johnson.” Wade stopped.
Shirley's brain started trying to find some logical possibilities, but none came to mind, except for the one they were both afraid to say. “What about the name, did it show up in the phone book?”
“I did a search on my laptop and couldn't find a Zebulin Johnson anywhere in the country, as a lawyer or otherwise.”
Shirley sat quiet for a long time. Finally, she suggested the next step. “Maybe you should call the police.”
Wade had apparently already considered that and ruled it out. “What would I tell them? I couldn't think of an explanation that would make sense. And then they'd likely have a bunch of questions I don't have answers for.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don't know yet, but until I do, not a word to Katie. I don't want her knowing about this until I can figure out how to handle it.”
“You know you can trust me. Let me know if I can help.”
“I will. I needed to talk to someone. Thanks.” He hung up.
Shirley laid the phone down and sat for what felt like hours, repeatedly running through the possible scenarios in her head. She couldn't get any of them to come to a positive end. She hoped her son-in-law could think of something she hadn't.
Chapter 10
Detective Jason Strong had spent the last several days trying to find a connection between the victims. He wasn't having any luck.
He assumed Michael had lost touch with reality and somehow held all of these people responsible for what had happened to his son.
Never mind there was nothing to suggest that they even knew each other.
Sam Garner came into the conference room Jason was using as a makeshift office. He was waving a stack of papers. “Got something!”
“Really? What?”
“Phone records from Stan Turnbull's cell.” Sam handed them to Jason as he continued. “They show several calls were made recently to a number in Texas.”
“Did you get an I.D. on the number?”
“Yeah, it belongs to a Benny Carter in Hondo, Texas.”
Jason sat back in his chair and whistled. Sam stared at him. “You know the name?”
“Yes. He was the torture-murder victim that led me to check out Michael Barton in the first place.”
It was Sam's turn to whistle. “No kidding? And Stan Turnbull was trying to reach him.”
“Yes. That makes the connection between Texas and Missouri, but it doesn’t tell us why they were in contact.”
Sam was nodding. “It seems to settle the question of whether or not we're on the right track.”
Jason tossed the phone records onto the table. “I think so, but it still doesn't give us a next step. What do these people have to do with Michael Barton?”
Sam took off his hat and wiped his brow. “Maybe he thinks they stole his son. You know, some type of conspiracy.”
“It's possible. To Michael it may seem undeniable, and if that's the case, it makes him a very dangerous man.”
If Sam was right, Jason realized he could be on the path to solving the biggest case of his life. The Barton kidnapping still haunted him. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have the answers after all these years.
He also realized Michael may just be a lunatic, blaming innocent people for his pain, and making victims of people who had nothing to do with it.
*******
It was a few days bef
ore Katie allowed them to go to the ice cream truck, partly as punishment, and partly because of her own worries.
Jesse came up behind her. “Mom, can we have our dollar today?”
“Okay. First, tell me what the rule on strangers is.”
“Don't talk to anyone who has never been to our house.” Jack intoned.
It was the new rule. The revision had come from their dad when he found out what had happened. Dad had seemed even more upset than their mother had.
Jack and Jesse got on their bikes and headed down the road. The ice cream truck was there, and they could see Tommy waiting for them. They rode up and got off, laying their bikes in the grass.
“Hi guys, haven't seen you two in a few days.”
“We got in trouble,” Jack explained.
“I figured it was something like that. The usual?”
“Nope. I want an ice cream sandwich, like Jack.”
Jack turned and looked at his brother, then back at Tommy. “Okay. Make it two sandwiches, please.”
Jack paid and the boys said goodbye. Tommy helped some other kids while the brothers settled on the grass to eat.
Jack finished first, and got on his bike. “Come on, Jesse. Let's go.”
Jack started for home, as Jesse seemed to be trying to decide whether to eat the remaining ice cream, or wear it. Wearing it finally won out when Jesse scrambled to catch up to his big brother.
Jack looked over his shoulder and saw Jesse trying to catch up to him. He also saw a truck coming up from behind Jesse, and gaining fast. Before Jack could react, the truck had overtaken Jesse, and clipped his brother’s back tire.
Jesse catapulted into the air, his bike spinning out from under him. The truck sped away, barely missing Jack, as Jesse landed awkwardly on the sidewalk.
Jack screamed, dropped his bike, and ran back to his brother. Jesse's arm lay at a strange angle. Blood was coming from his knee and the back of his head. He wasn't moving.
“Jesse! Jesse!”
His brother didn't answer. Jack started to cry. He looked up and saw Tommy running toward him with his cell phone up to his ear. “Jack, go get your mother!”
WHERE'S MY SON? (Det. Jason Strong (CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 1) Page 9
