Yuletide Abduction

by Virginia Vaughan

  “Who wouldn’t let you, Brooke?” Elise’s mind raced with information. What truth was Brooke trying to share with her? And who was the “they” who wouldn’t let her? Larkin? Her family? Or someone else entirely?

  “I wanted to warn you, but they said you were getting too close. They said you were going to ruin everything. They had to make you look at someone else.”

  Larkin. It had all been a ruse to turn Elise’s attention toward Larkin and away from the real culprits. Brooke had not been abducted that day. Someone had planned her abduction...and called in the anonymous tip that led them to find her. Had they also killed Larkin to cement his guilt, or had he taken that measure on his own after realizing that he was being so efficiently framed for something he hadn’t done?

  She stared around the dirty, damp basement room. Brooke’s family had been keeping her locked up. They’d done this to her...assuming they were actually her family.

  Brooke had said it. Elise had been getting too close. She’d been too close to uncovering the trafficking ring. Brooke was just a pawn, another victim of the trafficking ring. She was certain that was what was behind this. She was being kept prisoner, released only to do what she was told—to lure girls into captivity.

  “I’m going to get you out of here,” Elise assured her, lowering her weapon.

  Brooke’s eyes grew wide with fear. “I don’t think so. Neither one of us is going anywhere.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Movement on the steps grabbed Elise’s attention. She swung around, raising her gun, only to have it knocked out of her hand. Her flashlight went flying, too, casting the cellar into darkness. As Brooke screamed, someone grabbed Elise. She was overcome by the smell of cigarettes and beer. Pain ripped through the back of her head. Then the darkness changed and the fight left her body as the last remnant of light faded and complete darkness enveloped her.

  NINE

  Josh spent the evening reminiscing with his buddies about old times, then the morning coordinating a search area through the woods surrounding the shed where Brooke had been found. It felt good to have his team with him, and after trading stories all night, he was confident they would uncover something that would lead them to find Candace’s body.

  He and Matt were just returning from an uneventful search when Josh’s phone rang.

  “This is Carolyn Stringer over at the Medical Center,” a lady said when he’d answered. “As you know, I’ve been calling Agent Richardson every day since she left the hospital.”

  He was only too aware.

  “Well, today is the last day we had scheduled to phone her, but she doesn’t seem to be answering our call. We’ve tried multiple times.”

  “I haven’t spoken to her since yesterday.”

  “I’ve called the paramedics, but I thought you might know something. Please let us know if you hear anything.”

  “I will.” He hung up and dialed Daniel’s cell phone.

  “I take it you’ve heard?”

  “The hospital called me. How long has she been out of contact?”

  “They spoke with her last yesterday afternoon but haven’t been able to reach her since. I had an officer meet the paramedics at the hotel, and she’s not there, but neither is her car. It’s possible she just finally decided to ignore Nurse Stringer’s call.”

  “No, she wouldn’t do that.” Josh knew she found those calls annoying, but she hadn’t ignored them. In fact, she’d gone out of her way to make certain the nurses knew she was fine.

  “You said her car was gone? Maybe her phone died and she hasn’t been able to get in touch. I’ll check Patti’s and the school.”

  He hung up and turned to Matt. “Elise is missing.”

  “You go,” Matt said. “We’ll stay here and keep searching.”

  He ran to the Jeep, dialing her cell phone number as he hopped inside. As Daniel had stated, the call went straight to voice mail. “Elise, call me when you get this,” he said after the beep.

  He drove by the hotel. Her SUV was gone, but that didn’t stop him from pounding on her hotel door without response. He went to the office, intent on getting Bobby to open her room so he could make sure she was okay, but the office was locked up tight.

  He jumped back into his truck and dialed again, this time calling his sister-in-law’s number. Patti answered after two rings. “Patti, have you seen Elise? I’ve tried calling her cell phone and she’s not answering.”

  “I haven’t seen her since yesterday afternoon.”

  “Did she say anything to you about where she was headed when she left?”

  “Um...no, nothing.” Patti’s voice held a note of nervousness. His sister-in-law had never been good at hiding things. She hadn’t had the practice he had. He could almost see her fidgeting as she spoke and nervously pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “I’m on my way over.” He clipped off the call and threw the Jeep into gear. Patti’s nervousness mixed with Elise’s failure to answer her phone and Daniel’s concern was enough to prick his senses. Something wasn’t right with this situation. He needed to find out the truth from Patti, and he was best at doing that face-to-face.

  He roared into the driveway and jumped out. Patti was waiting for him, her hand in the air as if trying to bat off his questions.

  “I wanted to call you, Josh, but she insisted I not. She wanted to go alone.”

  His heart kicked up a notch, sensing a not-so-good response. “Where did she go, Patti?”

  “She was worried about Brooke Martin. She said she was going to her house to check on her.”

  “When?”

  “It was after school let out yesterday.”

  His gut twisted.

  Something was wrong.

  No one had seen or heard from her in over eighteen hours. That was too long for her to be out of touch.

  He turned and walked back to his truck, Patti following behind him.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  He didn’t care that their future together was unresolved. He wasn’t going to lose someone else he cared for.

  “I’m going to the last place I know she went—to see Brooke Martin.”

  * * *

  As consciousness slipped back into her, Elise was aware only that she was lying on something cold and wet. She moved her arms and lifted herself. Her head felt as if it was going to burst with pain. Her world spun and her hand flailed for some stability.

  “Are you okay?” a voice asked, full of concern.

  She jumped, scrambling to a sitting position and reaching for her gun only to discover it was gone. “Who’s there?” she demanded. Through blurry eyes, she saw the outline of someone sitting a few inches away.

  “You’ve been unconscious since they lowered you down.”

  Elise used her hands to steady herself as the world spun and nausea rolled through her. What had happened? How had she got here? Memories flooded her. She’d been searching Brooke’s home and found the cellar. Then...blackness. Someone had hit her from behind. That explained the weight of pain across the back of her head.

  She struggled to focus against the nagging darkness to get a better look at her companion. “Who are you?”

  The girl leaned forward into a stream of light and Elise noticed red hair, braces and a purple hoodie.

  Candace?

  Could it really be her? Was she alive?

  If Brooke’s abduction truly was staged, then so probably was Candace’s death.

  “Roy brought you in last night. I thought you were dead at first. Then I wondered if you would ever wake up.”

  Elise used the wall as support as she crawled to her feet. They were on a dirt floor and the walls surrounding them were damp and cold. Elise stared up at the only light that shone. It came f
rom a circular area several feet up and opened up to blue sky. Elise quickly realized they were underground, probably in an old, abandoned well...a perfect spot to hide abducted girls for the trafficking market where no one would ever look and no one would hear them if they called for help.

  “Roy?”

  “Roy Martin. Brooke’s cousin.”

  Elise looked at the girl. It was indeed Candace. The girl’s red hair was streaked with blood and dirt, but other than being dirty and bruised, she didn’t seem to have sustained serious injury.

  “Where are we? Still at the Martins’ house?”

  “No. Somewhere else. I’m not sure where. There’s a cabin, but otherwise the area is surrounded by woods.”

  “How long have you been down here?”

  “I don’t know. A while.”

  “Where’s Brooke? Is she here?”

  “No.”

  “I found her locked up at her house.”

  “I know. She’s the one who recruited me.”

  “What do you mean recruited you?”

  “It’s her job. They let her go to school so she can find girls like me who would be good candidates.”

  “They? Brooke’s family did this? Her father, her cousin? They’re the kidnappers, not Larkin?”

  “It’s mostly Brooke’s dad, Roy and another man. I heard Roy call him Jay. There used to be another guy named Taylor, but I haven’t seen him in a while.”

  Elise nodded. She knew why. Taylor Johnson had been used to make a point.

  “But there’s someone else,” Candace told her. “There’s someone else in charge. An older man. I don’t know who he is, but he made me write a letter to my mom. He made me tell her I was mad at her and I wasn’t coming home.” Tears slid down Candace’s face. “She must think I hate her.”

  “No, she doesn’t. She didn’t believe the letter, Candace. She knew something had happened to you. She knew you wouldn’t just leave and not come back. She and Josh, they never gave up hoping they would find you.”

  But Elise’s suspicions about the notes were right. Someone—whoever was in charge—had forced Candace, and probably the other girls, to write those letters.

  She’d been right about the trafficking ring, too, but it was little consolation when she was trapped underground by the same ring no one else believed existed.

  “They were going to move me, but Brooke overheard them say it was too dangerous right now. Are you the FBI lady she told me about?”

  “Brooke talked to you about me?”

  “Yes. She said you were here to find me. They don’t lock her up here because she can’t get away. Sometimes she comes and talks to me.”

  “Have you seen Brooke since I arrived?”

  Candace shook her head. That wasn’t a good sign. Wherever Brooke was, she was in danger. But before Elise could worry about her, she had to find a means of escape for them.

  Climbing up the walls would be impossible, and even if she placed Candace on her shoulders, the opening was still too high for the girl to reach.

  They were trapped.

  “Don’t worry. An FBI agent can’t just go missing. They’ll be out looking for us. Help will be here soon.”

  Candace seemed comforted by her words, but Elise knew they were empty assurances. She’d told Lin she was taking a few weeks to reevaluate her direction, which meant it would be weeks before he realized Elise was missing. And after the way she’d left things with Josh, he would probably believe she’d made her decision and gone back to the FBI. He would take her disappearance as a rejection of him. No one would be looking for her.

  They were on their own.

  Except maybe...for God.

  Was it possible she was still a part of the plan Patti had mentioned? He had guided her to find Candace and to find her alive. Was that merely a cruel final joke in His cosmic plan? Or was God really with them? Was it possible He cared more than Elise had thought? Did He have a plan for getting them out of this situation?

  She wasn’t yet ready to pin all her hopes on divine intervention, but she wasn’t above accepting God’s help in escaping if He offered it.

  * * *

  Josh gripped the steering wheel as he drove the winding country roads that led out of town, following the GPS directions from the address Daniel had given him for the Martins. They lived in a rural area south of town and Josh spotted deer several times in the woods along the road. He briefly wished he had his rifle with him to take out a few. It was easy hunting this time of year.

  He found the house and pulled into the driveway. He got out and knocked on the door. Rick Martin answered the door barefoot and without a shirt, but sporting a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

  Josh got straight to the point. “I’m looking for Agent Elise Richardson. I was told she came by here last night.”

  “Nope,” Martin said. “Nobody’s been here.”

  “She was coming to talk to Brooke.”

  “She’s not here and she hasn’t been here.”

  Josh bit his tongue, his instinct itching to grab something and beat the information out of this man. He calmed his thoughts. This wasn’t a terrorist or even a suspect in anything. He couldn’t allow his emotions to guide his actions. He had to remain calm, despite this man’s lack of forthcomingness.

  “Were you home last night? Maybe someone else saw her?”

  He turned to two young men sitting at a card table inside. “Either of you see that lady FBI agent come by here yesterday?”

  One of the boys shook his head. “Haven’t seen anyone around here.”

  Josh noticed the other hesitated, stopping the game for a moment before resuming and agreeing with the other boy. “Haven’t seen nobody around here,” he echoed.

  “What about Brooke? May I speak with her?”

  “She’s not home,” the boy answered. “She spent the night with a friend.”

  “What friend?” Josh asked. “What’s her name?”

  He glanced Josh’s way. “Didn’t ask and she didn’t offer.” He dropped the game controller and stood, coming to the door. “Besides, that lady wouldn’t have talked to Brooke because her dad wouldn’t have let her.”

  Josh didn’t like the way this boy cocked up as if he was all important and in charge. “That was when she was a witness to my niece’s abduction. My understanding is that Agent Richardson was worried someone might still be hurting Brooke.”

  The boy gave him a sadistic grin. “My cousin don’t concern you.”

  “She does if someone is hurting her.”

  Rick Martin stepped in. “That’s enough, Roy.” He addressed Josh with his final comments. “Agent Richardson is not here and she hasn’t been here,” he said before slamming the door in Josh’s face.

  Josh turned and walked slowly down the unsteady porch. The steps wobbled beneath his feet. He scanned the yard, noticing the junk cars and car parts scattered across the lawn and the wooded areas surrounding the tract of land.

  This place was out in the middle of nowhere. No street lamps and no neighbors to witness anyone’s comings and goings.

  He had no reason not to believe the Martins when they claimed not to have seen her. But this was the last place he knew Elise had come.

  * * *

  A shadow crossed over the opening of the well. Elise scrambled to where Candace was sleeping and nudged her awake. They both looked up to see Roy Martin peering over the edge.

  “Hello there, ladies.” He tossed down a rope ladder and pointed at Candace. “Climb up.”

  She looked to Elise, fear pooling her blue eyes.

  Elise hated to be split up, but she knew they had no choice. Besides, if there were any chance for escape, it would be up there and not down here. “If you have the opportunity to run, take it,�
�� Elise whispered to her.

  Candace nodded her understanding then took hold of the rope ladder. Elise stood holding the bottom so it wouldn’t slip beneath her and cause her to fall. Once Candace was safely to the top, Roy grabbed her arm, causing Candace to cry out in pain.

  He glanced back down the well at Elise. “Now you, too. Climb.”

  She chewed her lip and bit back the fear that crawled up her. This couldn’t be good. They’d held Candace here for weeks and now suddenly they were calling them both out? Still, she grabbed the rope and started to climb. At least they would both be out of the well. Escape was probably their only chance, and they wouldn’t be able to escape while they were stuck at the bottom of an abandoned well.

  She reached the edge and crawled into the intense brightness of the afternoon sun. Roy grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. Elise noticed Candace being held at gunpoint by another man about Roy’s age, obviously the guy named Jay Candace had mentioned. She didn’t recognize him, but she memorized every inch of his face in case she got out of this situation and needed to identify their abductors.

  Roy pressed the cold metal of his gun into Elise’s side. “There’s someone who wants to meet you, Agent.”

  He motioned for Elise to move and led her toward a cabin while Jay pulled Candace along behind them. While they walked, Elise scoped out the area. Candace had been right. They were no longer at the Martins’ house. They were in an open area surrounded by woods. Two pickup trucks and a high-priced sedan sat in front of a cabin. If they could get loose and run into those woods, they might be able to hide long enough to stay safe or run across a hunter who could help them.

  But as Elise’s feet hit the cabin steps, their chances for escape dwindled.

  Roy pushed her up the steps and into the cabin, through the door and into a large, well-decorated room. He pulled out a chair at the dining table and ordered her to sit. In front of her on the table was a pad of notebook paper and a pen.

  The letters. They were going to make her write a letter.

  Roy walked over to a closed door and knocked softly. “We’re ready,” he called to whomever was inside.

  Elise held her breath. She was going to see him...the man behind all of this...the man she’d been chasing after for months...the man responsible for all the missing girls on her wall.