Jeremiah heard the sound of squealing tires and looked around, but couldn’t see a car leaving the area. He picked up his pace and less than a minute later Captain stopped at a spot on the next street over. He sniffed at some fresh skid marks on the ground, continuing to whine deep in his throat. He then sniffed the surrounding area before finally laying down and looking up at Jeremiah with the most wretched look on his face.
Jeremiah crouched down and inspected the skid marks as he scratched the dog behind the ears.
“Who was it, boy, who did you see?” he asked softly.
The dog laid his head down and sighed deeply. His posture reminded Jeremiah of when he had found him laying on the spot where his previous master died. Jeremiah stood slowly, wondering if it was possible that the dog had seen the man who killed his former owner. It would explain his reaction.
If that was true, though, Jeremiah had his answer. The dog’s owner hadn’t been killed by the same people who had been killing homeless people and stealing their dogs back then.
It took another five minutes before he could convince Captain to leave the spot. As they walked back toward where Mark would be waiting for them the dog kept looking around, but his whole manner was off.
“What kept you?” Mark asked when they finally arrived at his car.
“Captain needed a walk,” Jeremiah said shortly.
“Ah, good idea. Don’t need an accident in the car,” Mark said, opening the back door for the dog.
Captain got in and settled down on the backseat. Once the door was closed Jeremiah got into the passenger seat.
“So, what’s going on?” Jeremiah asked as Mark headed for Joseph’s house.
“I got a weird note. Anonymous, of course. It was found in an envelope outside the police building today.”
“What did it say?”
“It said ‘Ask him what his name is.’ It has to be a reference to Paul, but it makes no sense.”
Jeremiah nodded. It had been just over two months since Mark had asked his and Cindy’s help finding out the truth about Paul. With all the holidays, though, it had been rough to find time for anything that wasn’t work related in some way.
“It certainly seems like a reference to Paul.”
“It has to be. Who else could they be talking about?”
Me, Jeremiah thought. Of course, that was highly improbable.
“So, what do you make of it?”
“I don’t know, he’s dead, there’s no way to ask him.”
“And the real Paul is dead so no way to ask him either,” Jeremiah said.
“So, let’s review what we know. The real Paul Dryer was kidnapped at the age of eight. Two years later a ten-year-old boy claiming to be Paul was picked up wandering on the side of the road.”
“But that boy was the changeling, the false Paul that grew up to be your partner.”
“That’s right,” Mark said. “According to his younger sister, Gretchen, she was suspicious of the imposter from the first, but no one would listen to her and even though he knew almost everything about the real Paul, there were some odd gaps in his memory. She also noted that he had an aversion to church and to the word Righteousness.”
“That’s what she told you,” Jeremiah affirmed.
“We know that at the time of his kidnapping there were supposedly a few other wealthy children kidnapped and back then police suspected a cult run by a guy named Matthew that operated up in the hills above town, roughly where the Green Pastures camp is now located.”
“Ransoms were paid but those children were never returned,” Jeremiah said.
“And the police could never pin anything on the cult leader, and one day the entire cult disappeared.”
“But when the one cabin was blown up at Green Pastures, dozens of bodies were discovered underneath it.”
“Including one that DNA confirmed as the real Paul Dryer, kidnapped at age eight.”
“Only a few of the other bodies have been identified, but no one that can be linked directly to the cult.”
“However, a man named Matthew Tobias lived in the town of Righteousness where he swindled a lot of people out of money before disappearing. The timing is right for him to have reappeared here going by the name Matthew. His Wanted poster in Righteousness bore an uncanny resemblance to the Paul that you and I knew. The few people who knew Matthew Tobias in Righteousness don’t recall him having a son.”
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t. Or he could have connected with the boy afterward, kidnapped him from his mother. It seems logical that our Paul was either Matthew’s son or some other blood relative, like a nephew.”
“It does. The problem is proving that. Aside from that incident in Righteousness, I can’t find any records for a Matthew Tobias anywhere, no marriage, birth or death records of any kind.”
“So, he was a conman, that was probably an assumed name. Find his real name, or more of his aliases and you have a better chance at finding a birth certificate with his name listed as the father.”
“Given that the fake Paul knew so much about the real Paul’s life, it stands to reason that he either met and spent time with the kidnapped boy or-”
“Or somebody prepped him with the information as part of a more elaborate con that somehow went wrong,” Jeremiah supplied.
“Exactly.”
“There were no fingerprints, dental records or DNA of any kind on file for Matthew Tobias so for all we know one of those dead bodies under the cabin could be his. Or he could have died somewhere else or even be alive and well and spending his money down in South America somewhere.”
“Can you try to match any of the DNA of the unclaimed bodies with our Paul’s DNA?” Jeremiah asked.
Mark shook his head. “The case is officially closed and given everything that’s happened it could cost me my job. Plus, I’m pretty sure the Dryer family has gone to some lengths to put this whole thing to rest. When I spoke to them, only the daughter was willing to believe that it was even possible that the boy who showed up two years after the kidnapping was not their son.”
“Have you tried running down families of the other kidnapping victims?”
“No, but that’s not a bad idea. Not sure if they could tell me anything, but it’s worth a try.”
They started up the hill leading to Joseph’s mansion, and Jeremiah switched topics. “You think someone is really after Geanie?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it. Coincidences don’t happen around Cindy. You either for that matter.”
Jeremiah didn’t say anything. He had been thinking nearly the same thing. He had grown a little paranoid about Cindy’s safety, but not without good reason.
A couple minutes later they were pulling up outside Joseph’s mansion. He met them at the door and escorted them in, his face scrunched up in concern. Captain came in as well and began to wag his tail when he was greeted by one of Joseph’s poodles. The two headed off together while Joseph escorted Mark and Jeremiah to the living room. As soon as they were all seated, Joseph leaned forward.
“Okay, what’s happened?” he asked. “It has to be important or you could have just met me at the tux shop.”
“There’s been an accident. Geanie was knocked unconscious and she’s been taken to the hospital,” Mark said.
Joseph leaped up from his seat. “Why didn’t you say so? Let’s get to the hospital.”
Mark held up his hand. “There’ll be time to see her after the doctors check her over. For now, there are more urgent concerns.”
“What can be more urgent?” Joseph demanded, eyes wide.
“There’s some concern that maybe what happened to her wasn’t an accident.”
Joseph blinked slowly and then sank back down onto his chair. “What do you mean?”
Jeremiah still wasn’t sure why he was there. Perhaps it had been just because Mark wanted to talk to him about Paul on the way over. He could tell his presence in addition to Mark’s was spooking Joseph.
“It
’s going to be okay,” he said softly.
“The bridal store she was outside of...blew up,” Mark said.
“What?” Joseph asked.
“There was an explosion while she was outside getting something from Cindy’s car. The explosion knocked her into the car and she hit her head. That’s why she’s unconscious. She didn’t appear to have any other injuries, but she’s been taken to the hospital to be completely checked out.”
“That’s awful.”
Mark cleared his throat. “Earlier in the day a car attempted to run her down while she and Cindy were out.”
“This is a joke, right?” Joseph asked, his face draining of all color. “A surprise bachelor party or something, just trying to get me off balance, right?”
“I’m afraid not,” Jeremiah said quietly. He reached out and touched the other man’s hand briefly, a gesture of support and sympathy.
Joseph seemed to collapse into the chair so that it was barely keeping him upright. “This can’t be happening,” he whispered. “We’re getting married in ten days.”
“And we’re concerned that perhaps this isn’t all just bad luck or coincidence. We’re concerned that this has something to do with the wedding,” Mark said.
“How, why?”
“That’s why we’re here,” Jeremiah said. “We’re hoping that you can help us figure that out.”
Joseph nodded slowly. “I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Good. That’s good,” Mark said encouragingly. “Let’s start at the top. Do you have any enemies? Anyone who might want to hurt you or Geanie.”
Joseph buried his face in his hands and his shoulders began to shake. The shock was getting to him. “No, no one. I treat everyone fairly.”
“Okay, anyone who might be jealous of you or your success?”
“I...I don’t know how to answer that.”
“Take your time,” Mark said. To Jeremiah he mouthed, “It’s going to be a long night.”
Cindy felt like time had been standing still ever since the ambulance reached the hospital. Geanie had been scurried from room to room, one test to another with her and Liam trailing behind and guarding outside when they weren’t allowed in. Finally they put her in a private room and after what seemed like more endless waiting a doctor came in studying a chart.
“How is she?” Cindy asked, leaping to her feet.
“At the moment, stable. There’s no obvious trauma of any sort.”
“But she’s still unconscious.”
“Yes, and obviously that’s a concern. At this point we just have to watch and wait. Hopefully she’ll wake up on her own in a few hours.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Cindy asked.
“Then, we’ve got other things to discuss,” the doctor said. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”
Coma. That’s what he wasn’t saying. Cindy felt herself panic slightly at the thought. She forced herself to take a deep breath. It was okay, she was going to wake up and be just fine. There was no sense thinking about the worst case scenario yet.
“I’ll check back in before the end of my shift,” the doctor promised.
“Thank you,” she said, forcing the words out around the lump in her throat.
The doctor left and she instantly dropped her head and began to pray.
She didn’t know how much time passed, but it felt like an eternity as she alternated watching and praying. She and Liam exchanged a few words occasionally and nurses came in and out checking up on Geanie whose condition didn’t seem to be changing. At one point she called Jeremiah and gave him an update so he could tell Joseph and Mark what was going on.
Cindy struggled against the feelings of anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her and she kept reiterating to herself that God was in charge and that everything was going to be okay.
“I’m going to grab us some coffee,” Liam said finally.
“Thanks, sounds great.” She would have preferred a soda, but at this point she would take the caffeine in whatever form she could get it.
He got up and left. No sooner had he disappeared than her phone rang. She grabbed it out of her purse and blinked at the screen.
It was Gerald Wilson. She had been trying to get hold of the investigator turned author for the last couple of weeks. He had interviewed her almost a year earlier about her experiences with the Passion Week Killer for inclusion in his latest book about myths and legends surrounding notorious crimes. He had also been working on investigating the cult that had set up camp decades earlier up in the hills above Pine Springs. He had been driven out of town by an armed intruder in his hotel room who didn’t like his investigations. She had called him hoping to get more information about that and to see if he could help her figure out how Paul was connected to all of it.
“Cindy, it’s good to hear from you. I was on vacation and just got back in town and got your messages. I wanted to let you know that I’m dropping a copy of the book you’re in into the mail today. They just came in and they won’t hit stores for another month. You know, I think this one has bestseller written all over it.”
“Thanks, Gerald, I appreciate that, but I’ve actually been trying to get hold of you so I could pick your brain about the cult that was in this area.”
“Thinking of going after their buried treasure yourself?” he asked, his voice teasing.
“No, I’m trying to run down a connection. You remember the two detectives who worked on my case, Mark and Paul?”
“How could I forget?” he asked drily. “Neither was very forthcoming when I tried to interview them.”
“Well, I don’t know if you knew this, but a couple of days after you left town Paul was killed.”
“I hadn’t realized. Was it part of that land scandal mystery you were involved in?”
“Yes.”
“Well, what can I help you with?”
She took a deep breath. “It turns out Paul had been lying since he was a kid about his identity. They found the body of the real Paul during that whole mess.”
He whistled low.
“I’ve been trying to help figure out who he might have actually been and I have reason to believe he’s connected to that cult.”
There was a long pause on the other end and she began to wonder if the connection had been lost.
“Hello, are you still there?” she finally asked.
“Yes. Look, Cindy, there’s something I should tell you.”
“What?”
“Remember that I left town after an armed gunman threatened me?”
“Yes.”
“I told you then I didn’t care about figuring out who the man was.”
“I remember.”
“Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I knew who threatened me because I recognized his voice.”
“Who?” she asked, gripping the phone tighter. “Who threatened you because of your investigation?”
“It was Paul.”
4
“Are you sure?” Cindy asked breathlessly.
“Positive. I never forget a voice.”
“And you think he threatened you because of what he was afraid you might find if you kept investigating the cult?”
“With what you’ve just told me I’m positive that’s the case.”
Geanie groaned and Cindy jumped in her chair. Relief flooded her as she saw that the other woman’s eyelids were fluttering. She was waking up.
“We need to compare notes,” she said to Gerald.
“I’m free now.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not. I have to take care of something. When can I call you?”
“I’ll be home for the next three days doing nothing in particular, feel free to call whenever you can.”
“Thank you,” she said before hanging up and turning her attention to Geanie.
“Wh-what happened?” Geanie asked.
“You hit your head,” Cindy said, not wanting to reveal too much too quickly lest she send her into shock.
Liam e
ntered at that moment carrying two cups of coffee. Cindy took one and sipped it, wrinkling her nose at the bitterness.
“You’re awake,” Liam said cheerfully.
In her mind Cindy couldn’t help but contrast him with Mark’s former partner. Paul had always been quiet and staunchly against civilian involvement in police matters. Liam was much more friendly and easy going. At that moment, though, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was hiding secrets, too.
“Yeah,” Geanie said, edging herself up to more of a sitting position in the bed. “Why am I in the hospital?”
“The paramedics wanted to check you out and make sure there wasn’t any brain damage.”
“At least not any more than there already was?” Geanie asked wanly.
Her sense of humor seemed to be intact. That was a good sign.
“Well, you know, there was some concern in that regard, but I was able to set the doctors straight,” Cindy said with a smile.
Geanie smiled back. Color was starting to return to her cheeks and she was growing more alert by the second. Cindy sent a grateful prayer heavenwards. Everything was going to be okay.
A nurse entered. “Glad to see you’re awake,” the woman said briskly. “That was a nasty bump on the head.”
“Yeah, I’m fine, I think. When can I get out of here?” Geanie asked.
“That will be up to the doctor, but there’s no way you’re getting out of here tonight if that’s what you’re thinking,” the woman said.
“But, I’m getting married in a week and a half. I’ve got stuff I have to do.”
“And that stuff will just have to wait for you. I’ll get the doctor, though. He’ll want to check you over.”
The doctor came in a minute later and Cindy stepped out into the hallway. She called Joseph who answered, voice tense.
“She woke up. It looks like she’s going to be just fine,” Cindy reassured him.
“Thank you, God,” Joseph whispered. “And thank you for being there with her and for calling, and letting me know.”
For His Name's Sake (Psalm 23 Mysteries) Page 3
