Stolen Innocents (The Shadow Series Book 2)

by Kline, Addison

  Bridgette carefully approached the box. The flaps were open and unsecured. Bridgette reached into the box to see what lay inside. She retrieved another cardboard box, this one was firmly sealed. Bridgette tore the packing tape from the box in one fell swoop. The lid sprung open with tissue paper popping out. Bridgette swallowed as her nerves frayed. She pulled out the tissue paper one by one, until she discovered an ornate box. The box was incredibly old, with Victorian filigree work and a beautifully inscribed monogram on the lid. Bridgette was perplexed.

  “Who would leave this here? This doesn’t belong to us,” Bridgette said aloud.

  Bridgette continued to admire the external beauty of the box for a moment. She just couldn’t believe someone would just discard this all the way up here. They were an hour from Elkhart. It just didn’t make sense. Bridgette tried to figure out how to open the box and found a clasp on the front. She released the clasp as the lid slowly rose. A strange scent escaped from the box. Bridgette thought it smelled as if it was used for other purposes other than storing jewelry or trinkets. Bridgette peered down into the box and noticed that a stack of photographs lay inside. She put the jewelry box on the floor of the porch as she flicked through. The first photograph in the stack was of Tiffany O’Mara. She was dressed in a pretty green frock in the Forest of York. Bridgette flipped the photograph over, but the only notation was a date: June 20, 1980. Bridgette flipped to the next photograph; a recent photo of Courtney O’Mara. The picture showed Courtney standing in the middle of Mountain Road dressed in a striped shirt. She wore a pensive look on her face. On the back of the photograph, there was another date: June 17, 2000.

  Bridgette got a funny taste in her mouth as her brain started piecing the puzzle together. Bridgette flipped to the third picture in the stack. It was an old year book picture of April Dearing. Marked in pen over her picture was the date June 19, 2000. A heavy sigh released from Bridgette’s lungs. She knew what the dates meant. The date on the back of the photograph was the date that each of the women had died at the hands of another. A brutal murderer, who seemed to have it out for the women in Elkhart, had left the Morrows a box of clues… Or were they warnings? Without pause, Bridgette flipped to the next photograph. Angie O’Mara’s photograph stared up at Bridgette. She wore a nude colored dress and appeared to be at the Farmer’s Market in Shepard’s Grove. On the back of the photograph, Bridgette read the date June 20, 2000.

  Today.

  Bridgette released a breath as she glanced at the next photograph. Tears began to water from her eyes as she looked down at a recent picture of Natalie Piedmonte. She was smiling and dressed nicely in a red tea-length dress. Bridgette’s hand shook as she turned over the photograph. A neat scrawl on the back read June 20, 2000. Bridgette had to catch her breath. After a beat she flipped to the next photograph, placing Natalie’s picture gently at the back of the pile. A young Jenna DiNolfo peered up at Bridgette with a sassy smirk from the photograph. She was dressed in an all black prom gown with Joe on her arm. Someone had circled her face with a black magic marker. On the back of the picture, the date June 20, 2000 was marked. Anger rose in the pit of Bridgette’s stomach. There was only one picture left. Somehow, she knew who would be on it. As she flipped Jenna’s photograph to the back of the pile, she felt as if she was going to faint on the spot. Tristan and Bridgette smiled broadly in the photograph. It was the photo that was published in the Elkhart Bugle last month for the Mother/Daughter luncheon that Steeplechase held. Bridgette remembers how thrilled she was that Tristan had asked her to attend. Now Bridgette felt empty. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Finally, she did the only thing she could think of in that moment to do. She called the one person that would know how to handle this calmly and rationally.

  “Frank!” Bridgette cried loudly as the photographs fluttered to the porch floor, one by one.

  ***

  Jesse Trafford had a sneaky look on his face when he emerged from the back door of Trafford’s Auto Body. He saw someone standing by the chain link fence that surrounded the property. With a sly grin, he emerged the back gate with tightened fists.

  “You got what I need?” he asked as he approached the gate.

  “Shut up! There’s snitches all over the place back here…”

  “You’re paranoid, bro.”

  Hunter McCord hid under the shadow of his black hoodie as he took something from Jesse Trafford’s hand. He reached into his pocket and pounded something into Trafford’s hand.

  “Pleasure doin’ business with you,” Trafford began to say but was stopped when he saw that another person had approached the gate.

  “Down on the ground, McCord!” Officer Liam Morrow yelled.

  He had witnessed the entire exchange. He saw Hunter approach the back gate from his patrol car, and he just waited for his moment to pounce. Jesse backed towards the middle of the yard but he had nowhere to go as Officer Adam Morrow climbed the chain link fence.

  “Empty your pockets, Trafford!” Adam yelled as he approached him.

  “Shit!”

  “Don’t try to run. There’s nowhere to go,” Adam said as he cornered him in the lot. Aware that he had run out of choices, Jesse reached into his jean pockets and pulled out a bag of white powder.

  “Cuff ‘em,” demanded Adam.

  ***

  Frank’s horse raced down the winding path through Cavegat Forest but he couldn’t see the intruder anywhere. He set off a warning shot towards the sky to make sure they were good and gone. As he turned the reins on his horse to leave the woods, a desperate scream flooded the air.

  ***

  Adam and Liam secured Trafford and McCord in separate holding cells at the Elkhart Police Department where they would await DiNolfo’s wrath. As the officers headed down the hall back to their desks, Adam’s cell phone rang.

  Francis Kilpatrick - 717-555-8014

  “Hello?”

  “Get up here. NOW.”

  “What’s happened?” asked Adam in an urgent voice.

  “There was someone on the property and they left something that you’re going to want to see.”

  “Can you fill me in a little?”

  “It’s a box that has pictures of all the deceased women with dates of their murders on the back, but four others who are still alive. The date on the back of their photos is today’s date. The killer is going to try to take them.”

  “We’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  Chapter 21

  June 20, 2000

  Somewhere on I-80

  Grove City, PA

  4 P.M.

  Jenna DiNolfo slammed hard on her horn in anger and she shot a vicious stare at the car in front of her. Jenna and Joe were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic that accumulated thanks to a three car pileup on I-80.

  “Why is it that when I need to get somewhere fast, stuff like this happens?!” Jenna demanded to know.

  Joe nodded his head in agreement as he casted a disgusted look out his window.

  “I’d really like to know who set you up…” Joe said angrily.

  “I’m just worried about getting back. I really hope nothing has happened. I know Adam and Liam have the investigation under control, but I still worry.”

  “I know what you mean, and I can’t even get a signal out here on this phone…”

  Joe tossed his cell phone in the glove box in annoyance and slammed it shut. His eyes continued to glare out the car window.

  “What does that sign say up there?” asked Jenna as she squinted out the windshield. There was a roadside sign with flashing lights situated about one hundred yards away.

  “Construction. Expect delays…”

  “If it’s not one thing, it’s another…”

  “You’re going to need to get off. There is an exit coming up. We can take the streets.”

  “Please don’t get us lost.”

  “It’ll be quicker.”

  The crawl towards the exit seemed to take forever with traffic moving at a snail’s
pace down I-80. Jenna was becoming more on edge with each passing mile marker. Joe had become quiet and he looked like he had something on his mind. He scratched his head in a perplexed manner.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Jenna as she peered over at Joe. Joe, who was always so jovial and light-spirited, looked as if he had a heavy weight on his shoulders.

  “Something just occurred to me…” Joe began with a troubled look on his face.

  With the car stalled in traffic, Jenna looked over at Joe with a concerned look on her face.

  “What is it? Tell me…” Jenna urged.

  “Explain to me how Angie knew Kendricks…”

  Jenna swallowed. Joe gave her the impression that he had something big that he wanted to share. He did live next door to the O’Mara’s since he was a kid, after all.

  “Well, I just found out from Roger O’Mara that Bernard is Gwen’s cousin. So that would make Angie and Bernard cousins, too.”

  “No, that can’t be…” remarked Joe with a dark look in his eye. He looked utterly confused.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I remember seeing him at a lot of parties when we were younger. That’s actually where I first met him. But Jenn, there is no way in hell that they could be cousins.”

  Jenna looked at Joe with an inquisitive look on her face.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t think to tell you this before…” said Joe as his memory went crashing back to the spring of 1980.

  ***

  May 2, 1980

  Elkhart, PA

  3 P.M.

  “Pop… I’m leaving!” yelled Joey Piedmonte as he exited the backdoor of Monte’s Café. He had just finished up a six hour shift and was eager to get home and get ready for his date with Jenna. Joe slung a trash bag into the dumpster and meandered down the dirt path that leads through the Forest of York. Though the forest was muggy and overrun with mosquitoes, Joe found it to be the quickest way to get home. As he stepped onto the dirt path he realized that he wasn’t alone in the forest. He could hear voices just ahead of him. This surprised Joe because he never ran into anyone in the secluded forest. Bernard Kendricks stood just a few feet away talking to Angie O’Mara at the base of the Bone Tree. Bernard held her hand and looked at her as if she was a possession of great value. Angie smiled back at Bernard broadly until she saw Joe and her smile quickly faded. Angie nodded in Joe’s direction as Bernard turned around quickly with a violent look on his face.

  “What do you want, Piedmonte…” Kendricks called with deep disdain in his voice.

  Joe raised an eyebrow at Bernard and gave him a testy look.

  “I’m minding my own business… What are you doing?” asked Joe angrily.

  “Laying low.”

  “You know Jack is looking for you, right?”

  “Let him look.”

  “He’s pretty pissed.”

  Bernard shrugged his shoulders. Jack was always angry when Bernard showed up at Morrow Manor unannounced.

  “Hey Angie… Hunter was looking for you earlier. Does he know you’re here?”

  “I’m not his possession,” said Angie firmly.

  Bernard smiled strangely at Angie’s comment and he whispered something in Angie’s ear.

  He could swear that he heard Bernard say, “No, but you’re mine.”

  Angie laughed as she grabbed her necklace, relishing the attention that Bernard was lavishing upon her. Joe stared at the odd couple, wondering what he was missing. Joe knew for a fact that Bernard was one hundred and fifty percent obsessed with Jack’s wife, Catherine. Meanwhile, Angie was in a relationship with Hunter. They both had their hearts elsewhere, but yet, here they were in each other’s arms looking utterly inseparable. Joe felt awkward. There was something very strange going on. For one, Joe never condoned infidelity, in marriage or dating. If you want to stray, break it off, Joe thought. The other thing that bothered Joe was that Angie and Bernard just seemed off. He was entirely too old for her. It was as if they were hiding something dark and twisted behind their sly smiles. Bernard was a strange guy to begin with, and Angie hadn’t exactly endeared to the Piedmontes with her aloof manner.

  Awkwardly, Joe said, “I have to go…”

  Joe walked away from the pair, much quicker than he had approached them, with a strange feeling in his heart.

  As Joe departed, Angie asked in a worried voice, “Do you think he’ll tell?!”

  Bernard replied in a slick voice, “Let him.”

  Joe approached his parent’s house and jumped over the white picket fence with a hop. Tiffany O’Mara was in the front yard sitting on her mother’s porch swing when Joe saw her.

  “Joey!” Tiffany called with a sweet smile. She was holding a baby on her lap.

  “Hey Tiff… How’s it going?”

  “Okay. Have you seen my sister?”

  “Angie?”

  “Yeah. Mom’s been looking for her.”

  “I actually just saw her with Bernard in the woods.”

  “Bernard?!” Tiffany said his name like it was a disease.

  Tiffany stood up with baby Courtney in her arms.

  “Yeah… I didn’t know they were going out…” said Joe looking perplexed.

  Tiffany stared back at Joe with a surprised and disgusted look. She didn’t reply to Joe’s comment, but instead ran in the house, calling after her father, with Courtney in tow.

  “Dad!”

  Joe thought nothing of the exchange and went inside to get ready for his date with Jenna. He was taking her to the roller rink in Shepard’s Grove. That night when Joe returned to Caribou Road, he was alarmed to see that a police car stood outside the O’Mara house. Roger O’Mara was on the lawn screaming, but Joe couldn’t quite tell who was on the other end of his tirade. Joe parked his car in his parents’ driveway and tried to get a closer look of what was happening. A police officer was trying to detain Roger O’Mara from attacking Bernard Kendricks in his front yard.

  “Mr. O’Mara, please!” Officer Rutledge begged but Roger was not backing down. He struggled to free his arms from the officer’s grip.

  Roger spat at Bernard with venomous fury, “Touch my daughter again, and you’re dead! How dare you!”

  Bernard glowered at Roger causing his anger to intensify. From behind Roger, Angie was crying.

  “Daddy, please!”

  “Go inside, now! Let me go, I’m going to get that son of a bitch!” Roger screamed.

  Joe had never known Roger O’Mara to be a man with a temper. In fact, Joe had never heard him raise his voice before. Suddenly, Tiffany came to the door with a twisted smile on her face.

  “Dad, Mom said to come inside…”

  “No! I should’ve never let that bastard in my house!”

  “Tiffany, get a life!” Angie yelled from across the lawn.

  “Pfft! That’s funny!” said Tiffany as she cackled loudly.

  “This is entirely your fault!” screamed Angie as she ran towards Tiffany with fury.

  As Angie took Tiffany to the ground, Joe went inside of his parents’ house and slammed the door shut. These people are nuts, Joe thought. That night a yellow taxi cab came and took Angie away for two weeks and she didn’t return until just before prom. Bernard Kendricks never stepped foot on Caribou Road again after Roger O’Mara threatened to kill him on the spot if he did. The O’Mara’s didn’t tell anyone where Angie had gone, but Joe had a pretty good idea. Just a few days after Angie had left, Joe was in the front yard going through the mail. The mailman had given the Piedmontes a piece of Roger O’Mara’s mail by accident. Joe thought nothing of it at first, until he read the envelope. It had come from the St. Mary Psychiatric Crisis Center for Women in Harrisburg, and it was addressed to Roger O’Mara in care of Angela O’Mara. When Angie returned, she refused to talk about Bernard Kendricks with anyone.

  ***

  “How did I miss this?” asked Jenna who was actually friends with Angie at the time.

  “Her father told me that she was sick at
home.”

  “I guess to save face?”

  “I don’t understand why they would send her to a mental institution, though…” said Joe, still confused.