“I need to finish this damn medical examiner’s book first,” Jordan says, pointing back upstairs. “Maybe we won’t need it at all. Everything could work itself out tomorrow, or this could be the key to the case. Just in case, I need to get back to it.” Jordan hands the letters back to Devin and heads up the stairs, leaving just Luke, Devin, and me.
“I’m going to try to get some sleep,” Luke says, flipping his glasses up and rubbing at his eyes. “I knew all this was going to be exciting but I’ve still got to get some rest.” He heads up the stairs and Devin falls heavily onto the couch. I busy myself looking over a map I’ve laid out across the kitchen table while he flips through his old letters. I’m tired of looking at this damn map, I’m starting to know the topography of Clover like the back of my hand and I’m already tired of it.
When my phone rings it interrupts my thoughts and sends Devin jumping to his feet. That’s what phone calls do now, they put us all on edge with so much on the line. One call could change everything.
“Hey Nick, what’s up? Did you make it home all right?” I ask, surprised to get a call from him so soon after he left.
“Wait, slow down, what do you mean she’s gone? Where’s security? What did they say?”
“Adeline?” Devin is asking me as he shoves my shoulder to get my attention. “Is it Adeline?”
I nod yes and continue to try to get more information out of Nick. I have to cover my free ear with my other hand to block out the sound of Devin screaming for Luke. “We’ll be right there,” I say and toss my phone back into my pocket, shaking Devin from the fit he’s having. “We’ll find her.” I tell him firmly, both my hands on his shoulders, clamping down tightly. Jordan and Luke come barreling down the stairs, terror in their eyes.
“It’s Adeline,” I say, my voice cracking slightly with emotion. “She’s missing. Nick got home, went to check on the kids and she wasn’t there. Security is fanning out, but they have no sign of her yet, and no leads on what happened.”
“Let’s go,” Luke says as he blows past us and slips into his shoes. Jordan pulls her coat from a hook on the wall and I grab her arm. “You should stay here. I don’t know if it will be safe,” I say, pleading with my eyes.
“Like hell. I’m not sitting around here twiddling my thumbs. I’m going to look for her. If that son of a bitch . . .” Her voice trails off as she opens the front door.
Devin is shaking, his eyes wild with fear as he follows behind Jordan. “We have to find her.” His voice is low and tinny.
“We will,” I say adamantly, slapping him hard on the back, trying to make sure he knows he’s not alone. We have to find Adeline. None of this works if she gets hurt or worse. There is no happy ending without her. There is no moving on, no love or life if she isn’t in it. It will destroy us all; I realize now that Hoyle must know that too. He’s a desperate man, the truth he’s been hiding about his son about to be uncovered. Of course he’d sink this low. Of course he’d lash out in the most vehement way. Adeline is our lynch pin, pull her out of our lives and everything will crumble.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Devin
“I’m telling you right now I don’t think it was him,” Kurt says for the fifth time, pushing me out of his face. “I’ve had eyes and ears on him since the moment we rolled into town. None of this has been talked about as a plan on any intercepted phone conversations.”
“So then he was desperate, worried about the results of the autopsy and reacted spontaneously. Just because it wasn’t part of the plan doesn’t mean he didn’t do this.” I’m grateful Luke is getting out the words I’m too angry and scared to say.
“He hasn’t been within five miles of this house. Neither have any of the men we’ve been watching.”
“So then you missed someone. There is someone on his payroll you don’t know about. Someone he had come into this house and take Adeline,” Luke growls, the anger in his voice growing with every second.
The door swings open and Duncan storms in, his forehead covered in sweat. I know Click didn’t like the idea of Nick going to his a Marshal who’d made a deal with the devil to save himself from debt, but he could prove to be an invaluable asset. I want to hear what he has to tell us about Adeline.
“I haven’t heard a thing,” he says, taking only two steps in before I’m charging at him. I grab the collar of his shirt and smash his back into the wall.
“What the hell did he do? Who would he have come here and do this?” I say, pulling him away from the wall and then slamming him back to it. I feel Click’s and Luke’s arms on me but I am not letting this man go until I get the answers I want.
“I’m telling you,” he chokes out. “I don’t think it was him. He’s still completely focused on getting the results of the autopsy destroyed and stopping the hearing tomorrow. But he knows nothing about this as far as I can tell. None of the guys do.”
“Maybe they know you’re a rat and they’ve cut you out.”
“No, they’re still telling me everything else. If he took Adeline I’d know about it. I’d know where she was. He still trusts me.”
I let go of his collar but slam him backward one more time. “This doesn’t make sense, no one else would take her. Do you think she wandered off? Left on her own?”
“She’s a little girl; she wouldn’t go off on her own,” Nick says rubbing at his forehead aggressively. “The bedroom window was open. It wouldn’t be hard for anyone to get up there the way the lattice and the porch are set up. But the security . . . you had two men here, they would have seen someone.”
“Yes,” Click says, “they did normal checks of the perimeter, then came back into the house. Whoever did this would have to be small and quick.”
“What about Collin, Adeline’s father? Could he have something to do with this?” I ask, going through the list of people who might want to snatch Adeline.
“He’s still in prison,” Nick assures me. “I called in myself and he’s had no contact with anyone since his arrest.”
“Okay, how about Rebecca’s father?” Click asks, probably remembering what a bastard he was to Rebecca.
“I had a cruiser go by his house already. He was asleep. No sign of Adeline and he had an alibi for the last seven hours. He was sitting at a bar, getting drunk,” Nick says, ticking that off our list.
Jeannie comes walking down the stairs with her oldest son in her arms. Her own eyes are swollen from tears she’s clearly been trying to hold back, but she has devastation written all over her. We all fall quiet, not wanting to scare the boy more than he already is. “Nick,” she says quietly as she walks over to her husband, “he remembers something.”
I hold my breath. I knew the boys were in the same room as Adeline but Jeannie had said they were sleeping. She’d asked, but they hadn’t seen anything.
“Daddy,” the boy says timidly, “it smelled like perfume when I woke up. Like flowers. Like a lady.” His words are quiet, but because the room is silent I can make them out. Hearing them is one thing, registering what they mean is something else.
“Are you sure, buddy?” Nick asks, resting one hand on his son’s tiny shoulder and looking him straight in the eye.
“Very sure,” the boy states confidently, and Nick pulls him in for a hug.
“That’s a good boy. Daddy is very proud of you for being such a good detective.”
“Are you going to find Addy?” he asks, sniffling back his tears. “I miss her.”
I watch as Jeannie blinks back her tears and pulls her son back up into her arms. “Daddy is going to find her, sweetie, don’t you worry. You know Daddy, he’s a superhero.”
As they head back up the stairs we all look from one to another wondering what the hell this means. “A woman?” Jordan asks, wrinkling her forehead in confusion. “Could it be one of the women who made the incriminating statements against Rebecca?”
“We need to tell Rebecca,” Luke says, turning toward me, knowing I won’t agree. “She has to know what’
s going on. Maybe she knows something we don’t.”
“No,” I insist, cutting the air with my hand definitively. “No way. We find Adeline. That’s where all our energy goes. We check the woods. We close the roads, whatever we have to do. But if we tell her while she’s in there, she’ll die. This will kill her.”
“I’m thinking maybe this is a tactic,” Click says, his brain seeming to smoke with thoughts. “My instinct is to pull in every man I have to figure this out. But maybe that’s what they want. Security comes off the medical examiner’s office. We pull Olivia back from Rebecca, maybe this is a diversion to get us to shift our resources and leave areas vulnerable.”
“So we don’t do that,” Kurt says. “I have a team of six. I intended to have them just continue surveillance and ready themselves for raiding the trailers and making arrests tomorrow, but you can have five of them. One will stay on Hoyle. The rest can fan out, check the woods, whatever you want them for; they are yours.”
“Thank you.” Click extends a hand to Kurt. “But tomorrow morning, you go ahead with the plan you had. I think if we don’t we’re playing into their hands. Everything stays on track for tomorrow. The hearing. The medical examiner. The raids. It all happens.”
“And Adeline is what, a second or third priority?” I ask, ready to let my temper flair again.
“No, Adeline is first priority, but if this is a trap, changing things now could increase the danger for her. If this is Hoyle or any of his people, we flush them out tomorrow. We get the upper hand and have the best chance of finding out where Adeline is. In the meantime we get boots on the ground and we go looking for her. Security would have seen a car, so the person was on foot. They may know this place like the back of their hand and that gives them an advantage, but we have manpower.” Click unfolds the map that Nick had pulled out of his truck. “Let’s split the area up into quadrants and team up. We’ll have about twelve people. We can cover a lot of ground.”
“If this is Hoyle and he hurts her . . .” I say, grinding my teeth together and feeling a surge of rage roll over me.
“Devin,” Click says gripping my shoulder tightly. “If he hurts her, I will make him suffer in ways he never knew were possible. When his body is giving out and he begs for death, I’ll oblige. He won’t spend a second on this planet that doesn’t include me torturing him if he so much as scares her.”
The look in Click’s eye is not one I have seen before. It’s the Marine, driven by fire to protect those he loves. It’s a fierce and indomitable promise to sacrifice everything if need be. I am still terrified and full of rage, but I know I’m not alone.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Devin
I really believed we’d find her as we walked through the woods, patrolled the streets, and knocked on doors. I thought she’d be around every corner or behind every tree, but as the sun came up, I realized maybe she was really gone. Maybe Adeline wouldn’t be easily found, or found at all. Maybe she wasn’t even alive anymore. I tried not to let my mind go to that place. But as hours ticked by it became a harder beast to beat back. In less than an hour I’d be face to face with Rebecca at a hearing where the truth about Brent might finally be released into the world. Soon doors to drug-running trailers will be kicked open. Bad men will be cuffed and carted off. The knot of corruption will be loosened and set straight. Yet none of it matters if Adeline is not with us. If I couldn’t give her safely back to Rebecca there would be no life for us, for any of us.
“It’s time to get to the courthouse,” Luke says, hanging up the phone. “Titus and Dr. Patel are arriving and they’ll be bringing Rebecca in shortly.”
“I want to wait to tell her. Keep everyone out here looking for Adeline and I will wait until Rebecca is released before we tell her.”
“I think she’ll know when she looks at us,” Luke says, swallowing back his emotions and dusting dirt off his pants. “She’ll know something is wrong.”
“Then get your head straight and make sure she doesn’t. Because she’ll never make it through the hearing this morning if she knows Adeline is gone. And she won’t be released until Dr. Patel gives his analysis and we expose the corruption in the Marshal’s office. That has to happen first. Understand?” I point a finger at Luke’s chest and he nods, trying to straighten himself up, stand tall enough to look like nothing is weighing him down, even though it is.
“Still nothing,” Click says as he jogs to catch up with us back at Nick’s house. “Are you going to the courthouse now?”
“Yes. Can you make sure if they find anything they call me right away? I’m going to wait to tell Rebecca until she’s been released,” I say, brushing my dusty hands together and trying not to think about the woman I love finding out her daughter is missing.
“I’m going to come with you guys,” Click says, following us into the house. “If Hoyle intends to stop the autopsy results from being read this will be his last chance. We’ve kept everything heavily guarded until now, so if he’s planning a last-ditch effort it will be there.”
We all try to wash the dirt off our hands and hope the fresh clothes Jordan brought us will be enough, but no amount of scrubbing can wash the look of worry away. The lines in our faces are all deeper, the sadness in our eyes is too thick to mask with fake smiles. I think Luke is right; Rebecca will know something is wrong, but I intend to try to keep it from her for as long as I can.
The car ride to the courthouse is completely silent until Click parks the car. “I really do believe Hoyle killed his son,” I say, biting my lip. “I think he shot him. And maybe the medical examiner will get ballistics to tie it back to a gun of his, or maybe one of the guys they round up today will turn on Hoyle. He had to have help covering this up. One of them might talk.”
“She’ll get out today. There is no question about that, Devin,” Luke says as we step out of the car.
“But what the hell will she be coming out to?” I ask, slamming the car door shut as we walk up the stairs to the courthouse. I haven’t been here since the day my guilty verdict was read. After that I was carted away to a federal penitentiary and thought I’d never see Clover or Rebecca again. Before yesterday that was the deepest pain I thought anyone could ever feel. I thought I had been as despondent and alone as any human had ever been. But with one phone call, one realization that Adeline had been taken, the deepness of my pain fell to the bottom of a pit I didn’t know existed. I’ve been chasing these ghosts for so long, determined to make the person who killed Brent pay. Single-mindedly ready to pay back all that had been done to me. But now, none of that seems to matter. I want only one thing. I’d trade every ounce of my freedom for it. I’d trade my vendetta; I’d trade my life to be able to give Adeline back to Rebecca.
The judge is standing behind her bench as we walk in and I can see Rebecca is not out yet. “I’m opening the courtroom up to a few people but no more than that. I have not yet seen the results of the medical examiner’s autopsy and pathology, but I know they are highly anticipated and this case is emotionally charged. I’m going to have Miss Farrus led in so please take a seat. Dr. Patel, please come up to the witness stand so you can be sworn in.
I watch Rebecca enter through the side door I was led through years ago, and I instantly feel tears in my eyes. She doesn’t look our way. I want to run to her, to tell her I’m so sorry for what I’ve done and I will not rest until Adeline is found. Instead I feel Luke’s arm tugging me down onto the hard wooden seat. Rebecca is seated next to her lawyer. I watch the prosecutor whispering to his associates sitting next to him. We are all waiting to hear what the doctor has to say.
“Dr. Patel, rather than have either of the attorneys question you, I would like you to just read your report into evidence for me, and then they will have a chance to ask you follow-up questions. Remember, we are here today to determine if, under the circumstances, a case can be made against Miss Farrus for the murder of Brent Hoyle. Because so much evidence has been lost and destroyed we need to understand
if there is enough here to move forward. If there is not, Miss Farrus will be free to go today while the prosecutor continues to build a case, if he deems that possible.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Dr. Patel says as he flips open a large binder. “I hereby certify that I, Rakesh Patel, M.D., J.D., Ph.D., have performed an autopsy on the body of Brent Charleston Hoyle. This was performed in the State of North Carolina Center for Forensic Medicine in Oxberry. The purpose of this report is to provide a certified opinion to the Clover Court System as to the cause of death. The facts and findings to support these conclusions are filed with the North Carolina Department of Health.”
I hear the door creak open behind me, but I know Click has the building secure so I don’t worry too much. No guns are allowed in the courtroom, not even on the bailiff, which upsets Click but can’t be changed. He left his weapon up front and is standing guard outside the courtroom door. When Mrs. Hoyle walks in, I see Click step in behind her.
“I hope this is going to put you away for the rest of your life,” she says, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Excuse me, we are in the middle of testimony. Either have a seat or leave the courtroom,” the judge demands as she gestures to the bailiff to intercede if necessary.
“Oh, please continue,” Mrs. Hoyle says sarcastically. “I already know what it says. My husband told me what had been done to my son. What I’m more interested in knowing is how she feels about not having her daughter.”
“Bailiff, please escort Mrs. Hoyle out of the courtroom.”
At the mention of her child Rebecca instinctually turns around and stands.
“Isn’t it terrifying, not knowing if you’ll be able to hold her again? Not knowing who might have hurt her?” Mrs. Hoyle’s voice is raised a few octaves and sounds manic.
“Wait,” I shout, jumping to my feet as the bailiff turns her toward the door. “You took her? You took Adeline, where is she? You better not have hurt her.” I jump over Luke’s legs and lunge for her. I can hear Rebecca’s shriek.
All My Heart (The Clover Series) Page 14
