Vendetta

by Lisa Harris

  Tyler took a step forward. “What are your questions, ma’am?”

  “Ma’am . . .” She let out a nervous laugh. “It’s been a long time since someone called me ma’am.”

  Nikki watched the woman’s eyes shift to the right to the couple at the far end of the information desk, then jump back to Tyler.

  Tyler took another step forward. “What would you like me to call you, then?”

  “Wait . . . Don’t come closer.” She gripped the gun tighter and pointed it at Tyler, her hands still shaking.

  “Okay.” Tyler raised his hands in defeat, then took a step back, but his gaze never left the woman’s face. “Can you tell me your name?”

  She hesitated again, as if sizing him up. “Loretta. My name’s Loretta.”

  “Loretta.” Tyler smiled. “My grandmother’s name was Loretta. She used to make me lemonade and peach cobbler in the summertime.”

  “I like peach cobbler.”

  “I do too. You said you had a question, Loretta. Can you tell me what it is?”

  Nikki felt her heartbeat accelerate. Ford’s skin had paled to a chalky white. Blood had already soaked through a double layer of her fleece jacket. They were running out of time.

  “You’re going to be okay, Ford. Stay with me . . .”

  “I’m looking for someone,” Loretta said. “Her name is Bridget Ellison.”

  “Do you know Bridget?” Tyler asked. “Because we’re also looking for her.”

  “Yes. I know Bridget.”

  “Do you know where she is?”

  Loretta pressed her lips together. “The last time I saw her she was eating an ice cream cone. Chocolate mint with sprinkles. She loves sprinkles. Has loved them for as long as I can remember.”

  Nikki watched as Tyler took another step forward. “You’re her mother, aren’t you?”

  Caution flickered in Loretta’s eyes. “How’d you know?”

  “I’ve seen her picture. She looks like you. She has your brown eyes. And the same color hair.”

  “Except the blond highlights in her hair are natural. I color mine.” She pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and held it up. “They gave me this flyer when I got here. She looks so . . . grown-up.”

  “We’re trying to help find her, and we could use your help as well. But first, I need you to let the ranger go. Would you do that for me?”

  She was still holding the gun in front of her, her attention on the flyer they’d been handing out. Nikki saw that Jack and Anderson were just outside the other exit doors behind her, ready to react if given the opportunity. “I don’t know. I need to find Bridget.”

  Sirens sounded in the distance.

  “Someone called the police?” Panic laced Loretta’s voice.

  “It’s an ambulance,” Tyler said. “The ranger needs a doctor. Let us take him outside.”

  “I don’t know . . .”

  “Please, Loretta.” Nikki shifted her weight beside Ford, careful to keep continual pressure on the wound. “He’s going to die without medical help, and I know you don’t want that.”

  Nikki could see the flashing lights of the ambulance as it drove into the parking lot. Police backup would be there as well, ready to take over the situation.

  “I promise I won’t go anywhere,” Tyler said, “and I’ll try to answer your questions.”

  Loretta glanced out the window. “I’ll let two paramedics with a stretcher in.”

  “You made a good choice, Loretta. Thank you,” Tyler said. “I’m going to call someone and let them know it’s safe to come inside and get the ranger.”

  “Tell them not to try anything heroic,” Loretta said. “And no one else leaves. This isn’t over.”

  Nikki turned back to Ford. He was still conscious, but his pupils had dilated and his pulse was weakening. He was going into shock. “We’re going to get you out of here, Ford. The paramedics are coming for you right now.”

  A minute later, two uniformed medics rolled Ford out on a stretcher. Nikki rubbed her bloodstained hands against her pant legs as the glass door to the center shut behind them.

  God, don’t let him die . . . please.

  Tyler motioned for Nikki to move beside him. “Nikki works on the state’s missing persons task force. She’s working with the park rangers and the local police to find your daughter.”

  “I said I don’t believe you.” Loretta’s voice cracked. “The police took my husband. Promised . . . they promised he would be back, but he never came back.”

  “I’m sorry for whatever happened to your husband,” Nikki said, “but my job is to find people, Loretta. People like Bridget. Which is what I’m trying to do, but I need you to trust me so I can help you.”

  Nikki caught the conflict in Loretta’s eyes.

  “I saw her picture on TV. She was such a beautiful baby. She never cried. I could put her on a blanket on the floor, and she would play, content for hours.” Loretta stared at Bridget’s photo on the flyer, then looked up at Nikki. “Why didn’t somebody call me and tell me she was in trouble?”

  “Your son tried to call you.”

  “Kyle?” Loretta’s frown deepened. “Where is he?”

  “On his way here right now. He’s been doing everything he can to help us.”

  “I thought . . . I thought they were going to hurt her. Like they hurt my husband.”

  “No one wants to hurt Bridget,” Nikki said. “We want to find her.”

  Loretta’s hands were trembling harder now. Nikki glanced down the row of hostages. Until the gun was out of the woman’s hands, none of them were safe.

  “Loretta, have you had any contact with your daughter?”

  “Of course. I’m her mother. She sent me a card for my birthday last month.” Loretta smiled. “It had a flower on the front. A red rose.”

  “Does she call you?” Nikki asked.

  “She emails me sometimes.”

  “What do the two of you talk about?”

  “School. Boys,” Loretta said. “Do you think you can find her?”

  “Yes, I do, but not as long as I’m in here. I need to be out there. Talking to people who might have seen her. Making sure everyone sees her picture. Can you let me do my job so I can find your daughter?”

  Loretta looked down at her weapon, shoulders slumping. “I shouldn’t have brought the gun.”

  Nikki took another step forward. “No, you shouldn’t have.”

  “I didn’t think . . . I didn’t think anyone would listen to me.”

  “I’m listening. Let me have the gun, Loretta. And I’ll do everything I can to help you find your daughter.”

  Loretta hesitated, then slowly handed Nikki the gun.

  “They’re going to arrest me, aren’t they?” Loretta said.

  Nikki made the call. Local police moved in to handcuff Loretta and read her her rights. Nikki handed the gun to one of the officers as Kyle arrived at the front door.

  “Clear the room and make sure everyone is okay,” she said to Jack and Gwen, before turning to Tyler. “Thank you.”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Nikki glanced down at her clothes, not missing the worry in his gaze. She needed to wash her hands and change, but first there was something else she needed to do. “Just glad it’s over. I need to speak with Kyle. He needs to know what’s going on.”

  Tyler nodded. “Go.”

  Nikki hurried outside the building behind the officers and Loretta. “We need to talk, Kyle.”

  “Wait a minute.” He hesitated as they led his mother past him toward one of the squad cars. “What’s going on?”

  His mother looked back and caught his gaze. “I’m sorry, Kyle.”

  Nikki pulled him aside. “They’re arresting your mother. You’ll get a chance to talk with her later, but for now you need to stay out of the way.”

  He watched his mother walk away, then turned back to Nikki. “They told me she came in with a gun and took hostages. That she shot someone.”

/>   “I’m sorry.” She hesitated, knowing it was going to take time for everything that had happened to sink in. “But right now we need to talk about your sister.”

  “Did you find out something?”

  Nikki jumped straight to the point. “Did you know Bridget was struggling with depression and cutting?”

  “Yeah, I tried to get her to go to counseling, but she hated it. Said they didn’t understand her, so I didn’t make her keep going.”

  “She was also communicating with your mother.”

  “What?” Kyle shook his head. “She never told me that. And me . . . I was always so busy. This is all my fault.”

  “Why?”

  “If I’d been around more, paid more attention to what she was doing—”

  “Don’t go there, Kyle. All you can do is focus on what’s happening right now.”

  “I need to talk to my mother.”

  “Not now, Kyle.”

  But Kyle was already headed for the squad car. He made it to the vehicle just as they were about to put his mother inside. “You walk out of our lives and we don’t see you for months on end, and then you think you can just show up and try to fix things?”

  “Kyle—” Nikki started.

  “I’m sorry.” Loretta turned around to face her son. “I know I wasn’t a good mom, but after your father died . . . I didn’t know how to take care of you, and Bridget, and myself.”

  “You know how to drink. And party.”

  “I wanted to help.” Loretta’s voice had dropped to almost a whisper.

  “With a gun?”

  “I just wanted to protect her. When they took your father, I couldn’t stop them. I thought . . . I thought they took Bridget away as well.”

  “The police aren’t the enemy here.” Kyle’s voice rose. “Don’t you see that?”

  The flyer that Loretta had stuck in her pocket fell out and fluttered to the pavement. “I’ve missed so much. When did her hair get so long? Last time I saw her she had it cut short.”

  Kyle picked up the flyer. “She decided to grow it out. About a year and a half ago. You’d have known if you’d been around.”

  One of the officers motioned at Kyle. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to step away now—”

  “I was trying to protect her.” A tear slid down Loretta’s face. “I know I’m not perfect, but I never stopped loving the two of you, no matter what has happened between us.”

  “What’s happened between us? Well, let’s see. You’re a drunk. You deserted your family. Shall I go on?”

  “He took her, and you were too busy to notice what was going on.”

  “Who, Loretta?” Nikki felt her heart pound in her ears as she took a step forward. There was something about the way she’d phrased her sentence. Was it possible the woman knew something? “Do you know who took Bridget?”

  “Maybe. There was a man who’d been following her. She told me she was scared.”

  “You knew she was being followed and didn’t tell me?” Kyle said. “You—”

  “Enough. Both of you.” Nikki motioned for them to stop. “At this moment, I don’t care who failed who. I think we can agree on one thing. We all want to find Bridget.” She turned to the officer. “I need to know what she’s talking about.”

  The officer shook his head. “And I need to take her down to the station and have her booked. She just shot a ranger.”

  “I realize that.” Nikki rushed on. “But I’ve got a girl missing and a woman who might know something. Please.”

  “Meet me down at the station in thirty minutes, and I’ll give you first dibs.”

  9

  Thirty-five minutes later, Nikki and Jack stepped inside the small interrogation room at the station back in town where Loretta Ellison sat rocking in her chair. Nikki slipped into a chair, wearing a pair of jeans, navy jacket, and white blouse she’d picked up on the way, replacing the bloodstained outfit she’d been wearing when Ford had been shot. The latest word from the hospital was that he was still in surgery but was expected to make it. She hoped so. Both for Ford and his family’s sake and for Loretta.

  “We’d like to talk with you for a few minutes about Bridget,” Nikki said.

  “Did you find her yet?”

  “I’m sorry, but no.”

  “And the man I shot. They haven’t told me if he’s still alive.”

  “The last update we received, he’s in surgery. The doctors are expecting him to pull through.”

  Loretta pressed her fingers against her temples. “I’ve disappointed my son again. I need to see him again. To try and explain.”

  Nikki studied the woman’s face, aged, she was sure, beyond her years. It wasn’t hard to feel sorry for her, despite what she’d done. Nikki would never forget the moment everything in her own life had spiraled out of control. Or the fact that she could have easily become the person sitting across from her.

  “I’ll make sure you get a chance to speak with Kyle,” Jack said, still standing, “but we’d like to ask you a few more questions about your daughter.”

  Loretta looked up at him, eyes bloodshot, hands shaking. Assuming the woman had been high when she came into the visitor center with a gun, she was crashing now. “I didn’t mean to shoot him, but it was his fault. He . . . took my husband. And now Bridget . . .”

  Nikki had gone over Daniel Ellison’s file when she arrived at the police station. According to the autopsy, he had died of a heart attack while in police custody after being arrested for stealing a car found with narcotics.

  Nikki leaned forward and rested her arms against the table. “I’m very sorry for the loss of your husband, but the police arrested him, Loretta.”

  “I still can’t trust them.” Loretta traced an imaginary line on the table with her finger. “Said he was in trouble for stealing some car, but all I know is that he never came home.”

  “It’s hard to lose someone you love.” Nikki swallowed the emotion threatening to surface. She needed answers, and in order to get them she needed to connect with the woman. Needed to earn her trust. “My sister was abducted when she was sixteen.”

  Loretta looked up at her, frowning. “Did you ever find her?”

  “No. That’s why I want to help you. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love. And even harder not to know where they are. I want to find your daughter, Loretta. And I think you might be able to help me.”

  “But I don’t know where she is.” The woman started coughing.

  “Would you like some water?” Jack asked.

  Her fingertips gripped the edge of the table. “No . . . I’ll be okay.”

  “Back at the visitor center you said ‘he’ took her,” Nikki said. “Like you knew who might have taken her? I need to know who you were talking about. Did someone threaten to take Bridget?”

  Loretta was losing focus. Rocking in her chair again. “Maybe.”

  “Loretta?” Nikki leaned forward. “I need your help to find Bridget. Remember? Just tell me what you know. You must have had a reason for saying that.”

  “She . . . she sent me a message a week or so ago. She seemed scared of something.”

  “Did she tell you what she was scared of?” Jack asked.

  Loretta shook her head. “I think she didn’t want me to worry, though I couldn’t help it. I always worry about her.”

  “Think, Loretta. Did she ever mention someone specific? Perhaps someone she believed was watching her or stalking her?”

  “She thought someone—an older man—had been following her.”

  “Did she know who he was?” Nikki prodded. Gwen was going through Loretta’s phone records and text messages, but she had to make sure they didn’t miss anything. “Who had been watching Bridget?”

  “Don’t know. She never gave me any details. Told me later it was nothing. Just a creepy feeling like you have when someone walks over your grave. When I heard she’d gone missing, I remembered she’d told me that.”

  “I need you to tell
me everything Bridget told you, Loretta. When did the man follow her? Where was she?”

  Loretta clasped her hands together. “Once . . . once while she was jogging, maybe. A second time I think she was . . . leaving school.”

  “And she was afraid?” Jack asked.

  Loretta nodded. “She wouldn’t tell me she was afraid, but I could tell. The first time she thought someone was following her, she sent me a message and told me she ran into a store until she was sure she’d lost them. I told her to tell Kyle. Later she told me to forget the whole thing. That she’d watched some horror movie with her friends and it had creeped her out. Set her imagination on overdrive.”

  “And these conversations you had with Bridget. Did you call her or simply text each other?”

  “We texted,” Loretta said. “She likes to communicate that way.”

  Nikki quickly sent Gwen a message, telling her to look specifically through the conversations between Bridget and her mother.

  “Tell me more about Bridget,” Nikki said.

  A slight smile appeared on Loretta’s face for the first time. “She was always happy. Hardly ever cried. And so beautiful. I thought about putting her in one of those pageants you see on TV, but she loved sports and playing outside. She was always a tomboy. Never wanted me to dress her up in frilly clothes.”

  “When’s the last time you saw her?” Nikki asked.

  “Christmas, a year and a half ago. Kyle invited me over for dinner. I was surprised. We don’t much get along. Not since Daniel died. He blames me for not being able to take care of Bridget.”

  “And since then?”

  “I . . . I’ve had some problems with drugs. Drinking. Messed me up after Daniel died. They told me I couldn’t take care of Bridget anymore.”

  Yet another reason Loretta didn’t trust the authorities.

  “How often do you talk with her?”

  “Every few weeks. Emails and texts, mostly.”

  “What else do you and Bridget talk about?”

  “She tells me about school and her volleyball games. I promised her I’d come to one of them someday. About her friends. Boys she likes. Classes she likes. She’s smart, but I don’t think she tries hard enough.”