In the hall, she shared the find with Zach. “We’ve got to get a hold of Jack.”
-
Chapter 48
I’D GONE A FEW ROUNDS with Stanley Gilbert and wasn’t getting a confession beyond the abductions. Jack and I were in the observation room when Paige came rushing in, Zach behind her.
“We think Joshua murdered Esther Pearson.” She dangled a necklace from her hands. “There’s an engraving on the back that says, To my sweet Esther.”
“But Esther Pearson was murdered ten years ago,” I said.
Zach was nodding. “That’s right. Joshua would have been thirteen.”
“Mommy Dearest moved him to Savannah around that time.” Paige was practically breathless now.
“Maybe Joshua had killed Esther and she was running to protect her son.” There was such a thing as an unhealthy bond between parents and children, but this case was a good example of just how wrong things could go in that regard.
“Investigators might find the bones from Esther’s hands and feet on the Haven property. But that isn’t all we have… You want to share, Zach?”
“Sure,” he said. “Patty told us everything that Wayne Reed did to help Joshua. She went so far as to say he was in on all of it. She specifically mentioned letting Stanley use his van, sourcing the sedatives, and he makes the blue paint. How did you make out with—” Zach gestured to Stanley through the one-way glass.
“Not that well,” I said.
Pike stormed into the observation room. “Two things.” He glanced at Zach. “One, techs got into that laptop and found something you’ll want to see, but there is something more important to attend to right now. Plainclothes officers have found Reed. He’s at the Savannah train station.”
We were all on the move behind him.
“Have them stand back. We don’t need to spook him,” Jack directed.
Pike nodded. “More than happy to give you the lead.”
THERE WERE VEHICLES IN THE parking lot of the Savannah train station, but none of them were Reed’s Corolla. He must have parked it somewhere and took public transit to get here. Since we expected that Reed would be armed, his being in a public place—especially one with so few security measures—carried the risk of civilian casualties, despite our best efforts to avoid them.
“Officer Mullen confirmed that Reed bought a ticket.” Pike’s voice dropped lower. “And that train’s expected any minute now. I have plainclothes officers clearing out civilians as quietly and as inconspicuously as possible. I’m also having an officer make sure the train doesn’t allow its passengers to disembark until we get this under control.”
Jack started walking toward the building, Pike keeping pace next to him and the rest of us trailing slightly behind.
We were about fifteen feet from the front doors when Jack asked, “Do we know exactly where Reed is inside?”
“He’s at the doors for the loading platform,” Pike responded.
“No doubt anxious to get out of here,” I said.
Pike glanced at me. “He’s wearing a blue baseball cap.”
First ditching his Corolla and second an attempt at a disguise—a poor one, too, because it gave us something to look for.
The sound of a train horn blared through the station. We were running out of time.
Jack stopped about five feet from the doors and addressed Paige and Zach. “You guys go around back to the platform. We’ll go in the front.”
Paige and Zach ran off to follow Jack’s directions, and Jack, Pike, and I went in the front doors. If Reed spotted us—and that would be easy enough to do given the three-inch-high acronyms on our vests—he’d either make a run for it or fight. My gut told me that, if cornered, he’d opt for the latter. I just hoped that Jack was more prepared now than he had been at the Havens’.
Civilians were moving past us to head out the front door. The officers were doing a great job keeping them calm and moving, silencing the mob mentality and the inclination to panic when law enforcement took over.
None of us had our guns drawn yet, but we were ready to do so at the slightest sign of provocation. The difference between life and death was often the fraction of a second, and we had to make every moment count.
Jack’s episode at the Havens’ struck me with intensity, and my hands became clammy. If Paige hadn’t stepped in…
“I see him,” I said. “Straight ahead.”
At the back of the station facing the tracks was a wall of glass, and people were unloading from the stopped train.
“I thought your officers had it under control,” Jack snarled as we all started into a jog.
People were coming through the doors next to where Reed was standing by himself. The officers must have managed to clear the other people waiting for the same train, but we were left with another problem. Reed was getting harder to keep an eye on, and there was more potential for causalities.
An announcement came over the loudspeakers. “Train seventy-seven is now boarding on track one.”
“We can’t let him get on!” Jack was in a full run now, and so was I.
Pike was hurrying off in the direction of the front desk. He had to get the doors to the train closed.
Reed looked over his shoulder before stepping through the door to the platform and spotted us.
“He’s coming through the back,” Jack said over the comms to Paige and Zach. “Get him.”
We kept running, the intention being to direct the rabbit right into the trap. But Reed had his own game in mind. He grabbed a woman by the arm and yanked her against his chest. He put a gun to her temple.
“Stand down. Hostage situation,” Jack communicated.
Paige and Zach were just outside the glass. Reed spotted them and started working his way back inside the station. There was nowhere else for him to go. The train doors were now closed.
Civilians were scurrying around now, screaming and pushing to the front, but they were like a tidal wave that rushed over us and then was gone, leaving silence and a feeling of devastation.
Pike was back, and he and the plainclothes officers, Jack, Paige, Zach, and I all had our guns trained on Reed.
“Let her go,” Jack told him.
“You come near me and I’ll shoot her, I swear!” Sweat was beading on Reed’s forehead, and he was sniffling.
“Let her go, and we can talk,” Jack said.
“If I let her go, you’ll shoot me!”
“She has nothing to do with this. Look at her. She’s terrified.”
The thirtysomething woman was trim and swallowed by Reed’s six-foot frame and barrel chest. Tears were streaming down her bright-red cheeks and her chest was heaving. She looked like she was on the verge of having a panic attack or possibly something worse.
I glanced at Jack and blinked deliberately to let him know that I was going to move in. I took a few slow steps toward Reed. My gun was still drawn but not at the ready. It was time to become his ally. “Come on, Wayne. I know you don’t want to go prison. Help us figure some things out.”
Reed’s eyes were bulging, and the woman was heaving for breath.
“Pl….ease.” She struggled to get out a single word.
I looked at her and hoped that she received my silent promise. I would get her out of this.
“Wayne, I’m going to put my weapon away,” I said.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jack’s voice came through my earpiece.
I holstered my weapon and put both my hands up. “See? I’m unarmed. Just let her go.”
Reed’s eyes darted to all the other guns trained on him, ready to take the shot when they had the perfect alignment. But Reed kept the woman’s head in front of his own, only peeking around it. Taking a shot was too risky.
“Lower your weapons,” I said, directing the comment through the comms while
keeping my gaze on Reed.
Reed’s shoulders relaxed. My colleagues had followed my direction.
“Now, let her go,” I said.
“What’s to say you still won’t shoot me?”
“You have my word.” I took a few more steps toward him. Adrenaline was helping me focus, keeping my heart rate calm.
“Please,” the woman cried, turning her head the little bit she could to see Reed behind her.
“She’s not involved in this,” I reminded him, pushing yet dancing the tightrope.
Reed lowered the gun, and he released the woman. She took two steps and fell to the floor.
Crap!
She needed to move. Now.
I held up one hand to him and wormed in closer. I extended a hand to the woman while splitting my attention between her and Reed.
The woman was on one knee now, her other leg bent to get up. There was a flicker in Reed’s eyes, and he raised his gun. It was aimed at me.
I let the woman go and reached for my holster.
The bullet hit him between the eyes, and he crashed to the floor. But I hadn’t yet pulled the trigger.
I turned and saw smoke coming from Jack’s gun, and he was hurrying toward me.
I let myself slide to the floor beside the woman. I’d almost died twice today.
I needed a big fucking drink.
Jack towered over me. “What’s this, sitting down on the job?”
I glared up at him. “Just glad you found the courage to pull the trigger.”
He smirked and held out his hand for me to take. I got to my feet and looked at my boss. Oh yeah, he was messed up, just like I was. Like we all were, really, in one way or another. But he had come through for me. He had saved my life, and for that, I owed him. Scratch that, I owed Jack a lot more than that. For a man who had rubbed me so wrong at the beginning, a drill sergeant who expected nothing but perfection from his team, he had become a mentor and friend.
“Thanks,” I said.
He smiled and patted me on the back. “Anytime, Kid.”
For some reason, hearing him call me kid now didn’t feel like salt on a wound the way it normally did. I actually sensed some respect and affection for me in there. Guess I’d worked my magic on him over the last couple of years, too.
-
Chapter 49
WE’D SOLVED THE CASE, and some lab results hadn’t even made it back to us, including the evidence sent to the private laboratory. That ought to please the higher-ups. But the findings would likely strengthen our case when they did come through. Although, if any of it pointed to Joshua Haven, well, he’d already paid the ultimate price.
At least we’d stopped the bad guys, but it would still be awhile yet before all the victims’ families would get closure. But at least it was in progress.
Wayne Reed’s photo had been shown to Tanya Lewis by local law enforcement, and she’d recognized him. So much for Wayne just taking an active role years in the past. Elijah had been taken three months ago. His body was yet to be identified, but I had a feeling that it was just a matter of time before either the X-rays or DNA confirmed that he was among the remains.
It turned out that Stanley had pictures on his laptop of Esther Pearson’s body, and they looked eerily familiar to the crime scene photos. That meant one thing: whoever had taken the pictures had either killed her or watched. And while we’d pegged a thirteen-year-old Joshua as the killer, we might never really know for sure. People lied all the time. Maybe Stanley knew about Joshua longer than he’d claimed to, maybe he was involved in the actual torture and murder. The problem with being human and not a greater being was that all we had to go by was the evidence. Not to say that Stanley wouldn’t be tried for Esther’s murder, but he could always claim the photos had been sent to him by someone else. Hopefully, justice would prevail regardless.
We also found out where Patty had gotten all her money and it wasn’t a pretty discovery. Her father, who was a powerful man and senator, had abused Patty most of her life and when she had Joshua, he’d taken liberties with his grandson. Patty must have threatened to expose her father because there was a large sum of money put into her bank account just before she’d moved to Savannah and regular amounts were deposited every other month.
The team was clearing out the conference room at the precinct when Lieutenant Pike and another man came in.
“I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself,” the man said. “I’m Detective Hawkins.”
This was the detective who we’d only met through the initial investigative reports. He was also the one who had recently lost his unborn child. I was the first to hold out my hand to him. “I’m Brandon Fisher.” I wanted to speak words of sympathy, but something wouldn’t let me. I hoped he received the unspoken message, though.
The rest of the team introduced themselves to him, as well.
“Sorry for your loss, Detective,” Paige said.
Hawkins’s eyes glazed over. “I appreciate it.”
“Paige, I want to give you an update on the missing kid, Colin West,” Pike said. “The case has been reopened.”
She grinned. “Good news to go home with. I hope you find out what happened to him.”
“Well, we’ll do our best.”
I was listening to their conversation, but my gaze kept drifting back to Hawkins. The pain coming from him was palpable, and I remembered that feeling all too well. Old memories churned to the forefront, and I excused myself, stepped out into the hall, and headed for the bullpen.
I was alone again. Or at least I would be when I got home. An empty house and an empty love life. But I didn’t want a love life. I didn’t deserve one. I had a career I loved, and I made a difference by doing the job. That was more than some people ever got. Sulking over a ruined marriage and child I’d lost years ago didn’t serve any purpose. And what would have happened to him or her now that Deb and I had divorced? I was on the road so much I’d have been a horrible father, just as I had been a crappy husband and a bad boyfriend.
“Hey, are you all right?” It was Paige.
I’d been so deep in thought, I hadn’t realized that I was standing in front of the coffeemaker until I’d heard her voice. I turned to her. “Hey.”
She plucked a couple of disposable cups from the stack and filled them with coffee. “You still like it black with two sugars?”
“I do.”
God, she was so beautiful. Why did life have to be so complicated? Why did I have to be so complicated? But I couldn’t just admit to loving her and let a relationship grow between us. First, I couldn’t commit, and second, the job deserved our undivided attention.
She tore open two sugar packets, added them to one cup, and handed it to me. “Oh, you’ll want this.” She handed me a stirrer.
“Thanks, Paige.”
“Don’t mention it.” She licked the leftover sugar from her fingers and took a sip of her black coffee. “Blegh. This stuff is—”
“Caffeine,” I said. I was too tired to care about the delivery system.
She laughed. “Yes, it is that.”
The sound of her laughter was sweet to my ears. But I had to let all my feelings for her go. It wouldn’t work for so many reasons, and we’d revisited those reasons too many times since I’d come on board with the BAU just over two years ago. Not that it would matter if we left our jobs now anyway because Paige was in a relationship with another man.
“You never answered my question,” she said.
I’d forgotten she’d asked one. “Which was?”
“How are you doing?”
“Right.” I smiled. “I’m fine.”
She put her hand on my arm. “It’s me you’re talking to.”
I stopped all movement, my gaze tracing up her arm, to her face, to her eyes. The ones that were so familiar and full of love fo
r me. I took a deep, heaving breath. “Like I said, I’m fine. I broke up with Becky.” The last sentence had just come out, and I had no idea why. And had I broken up with her or was it the other way around? I couldn’t remember now.
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” She sounded sincere, but I also detected a wisp of hope in her voice. But maybe that was my imagination.
“No, it’s fine. It wasn’t going to last anyway.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Right, because you can’t commit to a relationship,” she said in a light, teasing manner.
“You got my number.” I winked at her. “Speaking of relationships, how are things with Sam?”
She laughed. “You really want to know?”
I bobbed my head side to side and grinned. “I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”
“Right. You don’t even care for the guy.”
“That’s putting it nicely.”
Since you called me out, I may as well be honest.
“Hey.” She smirked and pointed a finger at me.
“I’m telling the truth now, and I get penalized for it?” I smiled at her.
Her mouth fell in a straight line. “Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s going to last, either. He’s pretty mad at me because our Valentine’s Day plans were canceled. We haven’t talked since Tuesday.”
“He’s such a girl.”
She narrowed her eyes at me again. “You know me, though. I’ve never had a serious relationship before. Maybe I give up on them too easily.”
I nodded. She normally kept her affairs brief and never gave her heart away. I had been an exception she’d wanted to make.
“Sam wasn’t happy that I was here and not back home,” she continued. “He was going to fly out to Virginia and spend Valentine’s Day with me.”
“Aw, how cute.” I was trying here. I really was.
She shoved my arm. “Okay, now you’re making me sick.”
I laughed and wished I could just wrap my arm around her and pull her to me. She had a way of making me feel calm and complete.
Paige’s eyes went serious. “Are you going to make up with Becky?”
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