“Um, the night before, around one a.m., they were up on deck with everybody else, but I got really sleepy and went to bed first.”
“Sleepy? Could you have been drugged?”
Autumn’s eyes grew wide at the thought.
“You know, yeah, now that I think about it, it was weird. I only had soda that night, no beer, and I was ready to lay on the deck and go to sleep, even though I had taken a late nap the day before.”
“Who handed you that soda?”
Autumn thought back for a moment.
“Grace, it was Grace.”
“Sammy and Chloe were your friends, where did you meet them?”
“On the beach in Key Largo, they were homeless too, Chloe was a runaway, but she had just turned eighteen, and so she was really an adult.”
“And what was Sammy’s story?”
“Sammy was older, maybe twenty-one or so, and he just like to drift around.”
Jessica looked over at Keri and could see that the woman understood what she was thinking.
Sonny or Junior or whatever he called himself, was someone targeting young people with no ties, runaway kids, drifters, those who wouldn’t be missed.
Keri wiped away her own tears, gave Autumn’s hand a squeeze, and excused herself from the table.
“I’m going to call the detective I spoke with when I reported Rachel missing.”
Jessica nodded.
“We’ll join you at the car.”
Keri left, and Autumn stared across the table at Jessica.
“Do you think her daughter is dead?”
“I don’t know, but I do know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You were very lucky to get away.”
Autumn looked down at the remaining second half of her sandwich, and pushed her plate away, her appetite gone.
CHAPTER 14
Keri told the police detective looking into her daughter’s disappearance about Rachel and Richie’s trip to Kitamura Key, and also about the man named Sonny they were last seen with. He told her that he would add the information to her daughter’s file and look into it when he could.
When Keri asked him how many new cases he had since she first reported her daughter missing two months ago, the man admitted that there had been more than a dozen. For months, Keri had spent every waking moment searching solely for her daughter and had little to show for it, the overburdened detective would likely never find Rachel.
This thought so depressed Keri, that when Jessica and Autumn returned to the car, they found her leaning against it and sobbing.
Autumn, who had only just dried her own tears, went to Keri and hugged her.
“What’s wrong?”
Keri took a deep breath and let it out it a huff.
“I’m okay, it’s just depressing. The police are so overworked and understaffed that they’re next to useless, and me, I’m just worn out. I’m worn out, but I can’t stop, I can’t, I have to find my daughter.”
“There’s another option,” Jessica said.
Keri dried her eyes with her sleeve.
“Another option?”
“I have friends that can help. Come home with me, I’ll make a few calls, and maybe I can get the help we need. If I can, they’ll find Sonny and they’ll deal with him, legally or otherwise, but they’ll deal with him.”
“Deal with him how?” Keri asked.
“He’ll tell them what he knows about your daughter.”
Keri blinked as she looked at the sophisticated Harvard trained doctor of psychiatry.
“You know people like that?”
Jessica stepped closer.
“I am people like that, and if I knew where the bastard was I’d handle him myself.”
Keri looked down at Autumn and saw that the girl appeared to be as surprised as she felt.
“I don’t care what it takes, Jessica, I just want to find my daughter.”
“All right, then, come home with me and I’ll make those calls.”
Autumn climbed in the back seat of Jessica’s rental.
“When we get back, you can just drop me off at the beach, Dr. White.”
“Autumn,” Keri said.
“Yes?”
“You’re with me now, honey. You’re no longer alone, understand?”
The reply came back in two words, spoken in a choked whisper.
“Thank you.”
And as her companions did earlier, Jessica wiped away tears.
CHAPTER 15
“What the hell, Lawson, you want me to work with little girls?” Jace said.
He was standing in the driveway of the PREY house, and looking at Cassandra and Kelly, who were both staring back at him with distaste.
Lawson sighed.
“They’re not little girls, in fact; I believe they’re both older than you.”
Jace pointed at Kelly.
“She’s what, fifteen?”
“I’m twenty-four,” Kelly said. “And I’ll thank you not to point at me.”
Jace lowered his arm and gazed at Cassandra.
“This one looks my age, and she’s tasty too,”
The frown left Cassandra’s face and she smiled.
“Forget the flattery and let’s get down to business. Who are we going after?”
Lawson told them about the call he received from Jessica and gave them everything he had been able to gather about Sonny/Junior, which was little more than Jessica knew, the only new bit of knowledge gathered, was that a boat with the registration numbers matching Sonny’s boat was last docked in Key West.
“I thought I was going down there to help with the thing Colonel Beck was on?” Jace said.
“No, the doctor’s husband will be handling that alone, but I believe this case is just as important. There’s every reason to believe that this ‘Sonny’ is a serial killer.”
“What’s our approach?” Cassandra asked, her long brown hair was hanging loose and she was dressed in shorts, with a blouse that showed a touch of cleavage.
After asking her question, she looked over at Jace, and saw that he was staring at her legs.
“You’re to track Sonny and his companions down and then pretend to be either drifters or homeless kids, whatever you think is best. You and Jace will pretend to be a couple, while Kelly will be on her own, but tagging along.”
“What do we do when we find them, make friends?” Kelly asked.
“Exactly,” Lawson said, “But be careful, it’s believed that they may attempt to drug you.”
“And once we get them alone, we find out what happened to those two couples, Sammy and Chloe, and Rachel and Richie, right?” Cassandra said.
“That’s it, and use whatever means necessary,”
“Exactly what do you mean by that?” Kelly asked.
Jace answered her.
“He means roaches check in, but they don’t check out,”
Lawson grimaced.
“Use your judgment, but the main thing is to get answers.”
“Fine,” Cassandra said. “But if this trio is the murderous scum we believe they are, I vote we don’t give them a second chance.”
Jace walked over and put an arm around her shoulders.
“My girlfriend is right.”
Cassandra slid his arm off.
“Pretend girlfriend,”
Lawson smiled.
“There’s a jet waiting for you and mission packages and ID’s will be on board. Good luck.”
“I thought you were coming down with us?” Jace said.
“I planned to, but something’s come up.”
“Who’s going to drive you?”
“I’ll drive myself until my regular driver returns tomorrow.”
“You’re going to miss me, Lawson, I made your car trips fun.”
“No, you gave me a headache, now get going.”
Kelly drove to the airport with Cassandra beside her, and Jace in the back.
“Yo Kelly, you should sit
on a phone book or something, a cop sees you, he’ll think it’s a kid driving.”
Kelly grinned. “It’s happened to me more than once,”
Cassandra turned in her seat and stared at Jace.
“You’re a little young to be a Federal Agent, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but I’m a special case,”
“I can believe that, but what’s your story?”
Jace smiled.
“You want me to tell you everything on our first date?”
“This isn’t a date.”
“I’m just joking, and besides, my girl is down where we’re headed, and I can’t wait to see her.”
“Who’s your girl?” Kelly asked.
“Her name is Maggie, she’s the sister of Dr. White’s husband.”
Cassandra looked surprised.
“She must be older than you, huh?”
“Nah, she’s younger, he was already grown when his moms popped her out.”
“And what about you, are there any more like you at home?” Cassandra said.
“I’m one of a kind, baby.”
Cassandra looked Jace over and smiled.
“I can believe that too.”
She kept eye contact with him a little longer and then turned around in her seat, when she looked at Kelly, she saw a smile on her lips. She whispered to her.
“What’s with the smile?”
“You like him.”
“Don’t be silly, and besides, he’s got a girlfriend,”
“Uh-huh,”
“And stop smiling.”
“I will if you will,” Kelly said, and then they both giggled.
CHAPTER 16
After visiting Beck in the hospital, Jessica’s husband drove to the airport and waited for his mother’s plane to land.
It was a short wait, and by midday they were back at the vacation home, which Amanda declared as being, “Spectacular!”
After Jace informed Maggie that he would be arriving later that day, Maggie asked to speak with Jessica alone, and the two of them walked down to the beach and strolled along the water’s edge, while barefoot.
“What did you want to talk about?”
“Cole,”
“What about him?”
Maggie let out a little moan as she sighed.
“I like him, Jessica. I mean I really like him.”
“But, there’s Jace,”
“Yeah, and I like Jace too, actually, I thought I loved him, but when I’m with Cole... oh God, I don’t know what to do.”
“How far have things gone between you and Cole?”
“Oh, nothing, no, I wouldn’t even kiss him, although he did kiss me.”
“I take it you want advice?”
“Yes, because I’m so confused.”
“The sane thing to do would be to wait until you know if you and Cole will even be able to have a relationship. If the two of you wind up at Harvard together, that’s one thing, but if you’ll only see each other while we’re vacationing here, that would make it more difficult to maintain a serious relationship.”
“So you’re saying I should stay with Jace?”
“Not necessarily, and that’s another reason to wait. If you go to Harvard, will Jace move to the area with you, will you even want him to? See, by waiting, it gives you time to sort out your feelings towards both of them.”
Maggie nodded in understanding, and they walked on in silence as she thought about the wisdom of Jessica’s words. After they had turned around to come back, she asked Jessica a question.
“You were my age when you met my brother, right?”
“Yes, maybe a few months older.”
“Did you already have a boyfriend?”
“I did, his name was Kevin, and oddly enough, he was the one on vacation when I met your brother.”
“Oh, and so you waited until he came back, and gave yourself time to think things through?”
“Not exactly,”
“What then?”
“I’m not proud of myself, but I dumped Kevin the second he came home from vacation and then flew into your brother’s arms. Poor Kevin, I don’t think he knew what hit him.”
Maggie laughed.
“I thought you said it was best to wait?”
“I said that was the sane thing to do, the smart thing to do is to follow your heart, you can’t fight it anyway, you’re going to feel how you feel.”
“I don’t want to hurt Jace.”
“I know, baby, but we love who we love, and in the end, you’ll both be happier.”
They left the beach and walked back towards the vacation home.
“Whatever happened to Kevin?” Maggie asked.
“He married my best friend, Megan.”
“I never heard you mention a Megan?”
“We stopped being friends when I dumped Kevin. Looking back on it, I think Megan hung around me just to be close to Kevin.”
“What a bitch!”
“The last I heard, they were still going strong,”
“And so it worked out for all of you?”
“Yes.”
“Love’s not easy, is it?”
Jessica thought about meeting her husband for the first time, on the day he abducted her with plans to rape and murder.
“It’s easier for some than others.”
***
Jace, Cassandra, and Kelly arrived in time for dinner, and with so many people in the house, they decided to have a cookout by the pool.
Afterwards, the older adults moved inside, while Maggie, Jace, Cassandra, Kelly, and Autumn hung out by the pool.
Cassandra changed into a bikini, and it did not escape Maggie’s notice that Jace eyed her often.
Cole stopped by, dressed in shorts and a tank top, and Jace saw the looks he was giving Maggie.
“You’ve been showing my girl around, hmm?”
“You could say that,” Cole said. “And I’ll show the rest of you around too, if you want?”
“Can’t, we’ll be busy,”
Cole looked at Maggie.
“You’ll be joining them?”
“No, I’ll be here.”
Cole grinned.
“Great,”
Jace stood up from the chair he’d been sitting in.
“Yo, Maggie, can we talk?”
Maggie led Jace into the kitchen where they were alone.
“What’s with this Cole dude? He seems too damn friendly.”
“He is friendly, and that’s all.”
Jace held up a hand.
“Alright, I won’t go all green-eyed monster and all, but he does know that we’re together?”
“Yes.”
“What was that about Harvard? Is he going to Harvard too?”
“He might be, neither one of us knows yet. Now, you tell me, what’s with Cassandra?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t give me that, I saw the way you were looking at her.”
Jace shrugged.
“She’s cute, so I look, but it’s just work between us, and hey, I just met her.”
Maggie hugged Jace and whispered into his ear.
“My room is the last one on the left. I’ll be waiting for you tonight.”
Jace kissed her.
“I’ll be there.”
They would have their rendezvous, and while their bodies were together, their minds would be on others.
CHAPTER 17
In Miami, the man Jack Beck knew as Boone Smith entered a bar and looked around. When he spotted Angie Ward sitting in a booth, he saw that there was a man standing near the table and talking to her.
Boone walked over and tapped the guy on the shoulder.
“Get lost.”
The man turned around and looked Boone over, having to crane his neck to do so. Boone wore a pair of black jeans, black boots, and a denim shirt that fit tight enough to reveal the slabs of muscle beneath it.
Without looking back at Angie, the man mumbled something abo
ut being late and hurried from the bar.
“Aw, you scared him away, and he was good for at least a dinner or two,”
“What would that have cost you, a blowjob?”
“That would have been free, for a blowjob, I could make him take me to The Bahamas.”
Boone laughed, and when the waitress came, he ordered a Jack Daniels on the rocks.
“What’s the most you ever got out of a guy without having to do anything?”
“Oh, that’s easy, that would be my high school history teacher.”
“High School? How old were you?”
“Fifteen, but I looked eighteen, and I was making good money down at the local truck stop by then too.”
“Who pimped you out, your father?”
“Father? What’s that? All I had was a drunken mother. No, I didn’t have a pimp until I went to Vegas about a year later.”
“So what happened with this teacher?”
Angie grinned.
“I got him to leave his wife, but only after he cleaned out his bank accounts and gave me the money.”
“He did that without screwing you?”
“I tongue-kissed him once and he had to change his pants, after that, I knew I owned him. We met in the park and he gave me the money, told me he left his wife a note saying he fell in love. I was supposed to meet him at a motel the next town over, but instead, I went to the principal and told her that my teacher touched me, you know, down there, I think I even called it, ‘my special area.’”
Boone laughed again.
“Shit, what happened then?”
“My principal almost fainted, and then she called my mother, but of course, my mother was too drunk to come to the school. That night they arrested the teacher and he told them about the money, but no one believed him, not the way I was crying.”
“How much did he give you?”
“I did good, it was over twenty grand, I think him and his wife had been saving for a house, and oh yeah, some of that was from a college fund for his brat.”
“How much time did he do?”
Angie shook her head.
“None, the dumb bastard hung himself in jail.”
Boone smiled as he looked at her. He had run a lot of cons with a lot of women, but Angie Ward was the only one with a heart as cold as his own.
Angie took a sip of her drink and then spoke to Boone over the rim of her glass.
The TAKEN! Series - Books 13-16 (Taken! Box Set Book 4) Page 39
