by Debra Webb
Jess settled her eyeglasses into place and focused on her phone, tapping and sliding her fingers over the screen.
Back to business. “What’s your assessment of the Porters?”
“They don’t know anything, but I want Tim followed up on just in case I’m missing something besides his workplace affair.”
“I’m beginning to wonder, Jess,” it pained him to say the words out loud, “whether we might be wrong. There may not be a connection between these girls.”
She lifted her attention from her phone’s screen. “That is a possibility.”
He braked for a light, turned to her. “There’s a lot we may be wrong about.”
“That’s always the case. What we have to bear in mind is whether or not the steps we take are hindering any aspect of the investigation in the event these are five separate abductions by five different unsubs. If the answer is no, and it is, then we’re only guilty of wasting resources.”
Dan hoped that was the only part of this strategy they would have reason to regret.
“You said Andrea is strong, Dan.”
She hadn’t called him by his first name but once or twice since her arrival. It shouldn’t have made him want to reach across the console and touch her, but it did. “She is.”
“Then her chances of survival are better than average. We have to hang onto that.”
“With both hands, Jess.” He took a deep breath and gained speed on the interstate. “With both hands.”
“I think I’ll call Mr. Williams.”
“For all the good it’ll do.” Attorneys just loved yanking cops around.
Jess left Williams a voicemail informing him that his client had fled in a borrowed car and that she was now an official person of interest in this case.
As exhausted as he was, Dan smiled. He was lucky to have her on his team for this one. Finding a way to repay her would be difficult. She had dived right in and focused fully on the case.
He wondered if beneath all that determination she worried just a little about Spears. Her explanation that she had no need to fear him since she wasn’t his type was more BS. Jess was far too smart not to be at least a little afraid. All the more reason not to let her out of his sight.
And to be a lot smarter than he’d been last night.
Dan slowed for the turn into the subdivision where the Sawyers lived. He rolled down the street, slowing as they passed the Sawyer home. No white Taurus. Disappointment pricked him.
Jess muttered, “Shoot.”
“Warrior’s not that big. We could drive around just to kill some time,” he offered. “Give the news hounds a chance to get restless and go sniffing around elsewhere.”
Jess was busy entering information into her phone.
Dan turned around and headed in the other direction. He slowed as he passed the Sawyer home again. If the Sawyers knew anything…if Sullivan knew something that would help find those girls, he wanted to know, too, because damn it they had nothing. Nothing!
Frustration and fury collided in his gut. He banged his palm against the steering wheel. How the hell were they supposed to find those kids with nothing?
“Dan?”
“I’m all right.” The hell he was. He wanted to find whoever had done this and…
“I’m entering an address on Jasper Lane into your GPS.” Jess awakened the screen and started entering information.
“Jasper Lane?”
“The Murray farm.” She stabbed a few more times at the screen. “Dr. Sullivan treated Dana for emotional problems related to their son’s death. That’s the connection between those two as far as we know.” She sat back in her seat. “Since that’s all we’ve got, that’s where we’ll go.”
Dan inhaled a deep breath, worked at calming himself. God Almighty, he wasn’t sure how he would have gotten through this without her. He blinked. It was true. Maybe it was his personal connection to one of the victims, he couldn’t be sure. But he needed Jess to keep him level.
“Thanks, Jess.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We have to find them first.”
~*~
Less than fifteen minutes were required to reach the address. The farm was one of only two on this three mile lane. The two-story Victorian style house stood several hundred yards from the road, surrounded by mature trees. Between the house and the road was a pond. An old rowboat was tied to a short pier. The dirt driveway ran alongside the pond and disappeared somewhere behind the house. Quiet. Peaceful.
“Keep going so I can get a look at what’s behind the house.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The road came to a dead end at the second farm. Dan turned around and rolled back in the direction they’d come. He slowed to a crawl so he could get a look as well. There was a barn, probably as old or older than the house.
“I see a tan or light brown minivan. A black truck, newer than the van.”
“No white Taurus?”
“Stop!”
Dan hit the brake hard.
“There’s a man coming out of the barn. Pull in the driveway. I want to talk to him.”
“Jess—”
“We don’t need a warrant to ask a small town neighbor about a missing girl.”
Maybe he’d been in administration too long. When had he become more concerned with appearances and following the letter of the law than following leads?
Dan turned onto the long drive and drove all the way to the house. A man, Mr. Murray presumably, rounded the corner of the house.
“Let me do the talking.” Jess opened her door and bailed out.
“Don’t I always?” Dan muttered.
By the time he caught up to Jess she had already introduced herself and him to the man who identified himself as Raymond Murray.
“Mr. Murray, we’re sorry to bother you, sir, but we’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“’Course.” He looked from Jess to Dan and back. “How can I help you?”
Jess shifted her bag so she could poke around in it. She withdrew a photo. “Mr. Murray, do you know this young woman?”
He took the picture from her and studied it. “Sure do. That’s Dana Sawyer.” A frown furrowed his weathered face. “I saw the news. I sure was sorry to hear about that. She’s a good girl. My Tate was wild in love with her back in high school. She was always over here.”
While Jess continued to question him, Dan absorbed as many of the details about the property as possible. The house had been painted recently. A bright white. Checkered curtains hung in the windows, flanking either side of white shades that could be lowered for privacy but were not. The minivan was a Chrysler. The truck a Chevy. The place was tranquil, a world away from downtown Birmingham.
“All I can tell you,” Murray said, “is the same thing I told the other lady who came by right after lunch asking about Dana.”
“What lady is that, Mr. Murray?”
Dan listened up.
“Maureen somebody. Said she was looking for Dana, too.” He shook his head. “I think she might have been a little crazy though.”
“Why is that?” Jess asked.
“She said she was worried that Dana might try to commit suicide.” He shook his head. “Now, I haven’t seen that little girl in a good long while, but I don’t believe for a minute she would do anything like that. She’s a good girl. My Tate couldn’t have loved her if she wasn’t.”
Jess dragged out her cell phone, fingered the screen. “Is this the woman who visited you this afternoon?”
Murray studied the image. “Sure is. She was driving a white car. I felt bad about the dusty driveway.”
Jess reclaimed her phone and tucked it into her bag. “Sir, would you call me if you hear from her again?” She passed him a card.
“I will.” He shook his head. “I respect the work y’all do. It’s the Lord’s work.”
Jess thanked him; Dan did the same. She made no comments as they loaded up and prepared to go. While Dan executed a three-point turn, she st
ared at the house, twisting around in her seat as he drove away.
When she remained fixated on the house as he rolled out onto Jasper Lane, he asked the burning question. “You think he wasn’t being completely honest?”
Jess finally settled in her seat. “I think he was very neighborly, cooperative and stated exactly what was in his heart. He believes Dana is a good girl. That his son loved her. And that Dr. Sullivan came by this afternoon in a white car.” Jess took one last long look before the farm was out of sight. “Even so, there’s one thing he didn’t do.”
Dan knew her pause wasn’t to build the drama; she was deep in analysis mode.
“He didn’t ask if we were getting closer to finding the girls.”
Dan smiled. She was right. Most folks they questioned, ask a few of their own, that question being at the top of the list. He made the next turn. “I guess we face the music now.”
“Actually.” She reached back into her bag. “We need to talk to the Sawyers. Afterwards we need to talk to Amy Porter. If Dr. Sullivan thinks Dana is suicidal, then her parents or her best friend should have at least noticed something was off.”
Dan’s cell vibrated. He slid it from the holster and checked the screen. Text. From the mayor himself. That was a bad sign.
My office. Now.
“Looks like we have a reprieve from battling the press.” He passed the phone to Jess so she could read the screen. “Unfortunately, we have a bigger problem than reporters.”
The political shit was about to hit the fan.
Chapter Fourteen
“They gone yet?”
“They’re gone.”
“You think they believed you?”
“Think so.”
Andrea could hear the man and woman talking. Had someone come? Oh, please, please let them come back.
The man had shoved Andrea into the pantry. Her back was to the closed door so she couldn’t even attempt to see anything, but she could hear. What were they going to do to her now? They’d dragged her out of the basement what must have been an hour or more ago.
She fought the urge to struggle against her bindings. She tried not to scream behind the tape. Her body trembled with the effort.
“They’ll be looking for that woman now,” the man said. “You should’ve been patient. I told her I hadn’t seen Dana. She was gonna leave.”
The woman laughed that nasty, condescending sound. “Yeah, right. She didn’t believe you and even if she had of, all we needed was her going to the police with what she knew. That stupid little bitch shouldn’t’ve told her nothing.”
“There wouldn’t have been anything to tell if you hadn’t been messing with her head about his birthday.”
“If you hadn’t brought Dana here we wouldn’t’ve had to worry about her. She hurt him too bad. She’s nothing but a loser. A bitch loser.”
“I got just as much say in this as you,” the man growled.
“Just shut up and get Andrea out of there.”
The door opened. Andrea’s heart swelled with renewed fear. The man grabbed the back of her chair, his fingers snagging strands of her hair. She winced as he dragged the chair, her bound to it like a rag doll, out of the pantry. Her gaze clung to the normalcy of the rows of canned and dried goods lining the shelves. Probably bought with all those damned coupons. How could people who looked so ordinary be so crazy?
Her chair was dragged back to the table, with her facing forward as if she were about to have dinner.
“Pull down those shades, get Reanne and we’ll move on to the next test.” The woman leaned over Andrea as the man left the room. “As much trouble as you’ve been I think I like you best.” She leaned closer. “Don’t mess up ‘cause he likes Dana better. I don’t want her to win.”
Andrea shuddered, couldn’t help herself.
The man brought Reanne into the room. Her hands were tied behind her back, like Andrea’s, and a wide strip of the silver tape covered her mouth. He forced Reanne into the chair directly across from Andrea.
What were they going to do now? Andrea had already been tested. They had showered and scrubbed her and then examined her. She closed her eyes and tried to block the memories. The woman had announced she wasn’t a virgin but still suitable. Her body started shaking again. Andrea forced herself to stop thinking about it. She had to pay attention. She was out of the basement. There were windows and doors. She needed to stay aware in case she got an opportunity to run.
“Okay, girls,” the woman announced. “We start the elimination rounds today.”
Don’t stare at her! Andrea blinked. Tried not to look at her face. The woman wasn’t ugly. She was kind of pretty. Short and chubby but pretty. The man wasn’t awful looking either. Broad and kind looking. Why was this happening? Why were they doing this?
Reanne sat with her head down as if she’d had another of those pills. There was a big white bandage on her chest, just above her right boob. What had they done to her?
“Reanne,” the woman shouted, “hold your head up!”
Reanne didn’t react. The man grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head up. “Pay attention, Reanne.”
Reanne opened her eyes. She stared at Andrea. Andrea wanted to cry. Her eyes looked blank as if she no longer cared what happened.
“If you don’t try, Reanne,” the woman yelled at her, “you forfeit.”
Reanne turned to her. She stared at the woman a second then she tried to say something. The woman removed the tape so she could talk. Reanne spit in her face.
The woman slapped her hard, then swiped the spit from her face. “I’m done with this one.” She turned to the man. “You were right. That tattoo was a sign. She’s not fit.”
He grabbed her by the shoulders. Reanne went crazy. She started screaming and biting and kicking her legs. The man slung her over his shoulder and stalked out the back door with her still thrashing.
“Stupid little bitch.” The woman walked to where Andrea sat and started to finger comb her hair. “You’re so pretty. I want you to work really hard. Don’t fail me, Andrea. I’m counting on you.” She patted Andrea’s shoulder. “I’ve waited a long time for a daughter.”
Andrea couldn’t keep the tears from sliding down her cheeks. She tried. She really tried. But she couldn’t. She closed her eyes and searched for a way to leave this place…she remembered the trip to the beach she and her mother had taken at the end of May. A getaway for girls only. Andrea’s lips trembled into a small smile beneath the tape.
Where are you, mommy?
~*~
“Pay attention, Andrea! How do you make those perfect grades dozing off like that?”
The woman slapped her on the back of the head. Andrea jerked her head up. Blinked to focus her eyes. Kitchen. She was still in the kitchen.
Reanne was gone.
A scream rushed into her throat. Don’t scream!
Someone made a sound. Andrea looked around. Macy was at one end of the table. Callie sat at the other. The man pulled out the chair where Reanne had been sitting. He ushered the new girl, Dana, into it. Tape had been plastered over all their mouths and their hands appeared to be bound behind their backs.
The woman ripped the tape off Macy’s mouth. Macy cried out but quickly snapped her mouth shut.
“Of all these girls, you’ve been in training the longest, Macy, so you go first.” The woman moved around to the other side of her. “Recite your purpose and your Psalms. Be very careful. You don’t want to be eliminated like Reanne.”
Macy licked her lips as if she were thirsty. She sucked in a ragged breath. “My purpose is to be a loving wife. To bear children and raise them in the way of the Lord.” She cleared her throat, licked her lips again. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down—”
“Weaaahhh! Wrong! Strike one!”
Macy blinked back the tears. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” Her voice shook hard. “He leadeth me by the still waters.”
“Weaa
ahhh!” The crazy bitch thrilled. “Strike two.” She stuck her face in Macy’s. “I think you’re going to be eliminated with this round, Macy.”
Macy started to cry.
“What comes next?” the woman shouted. “Can’t you remember anything? I taught you well!”
Macy sobbed harder.
“You have five seconds, Macy!”
The room spinning, Andrea closed her eyes, tried to block the sounds. This was crazy. It couldn’t be real.
That screeching noise that signaled a wrong answer pierced the air again.
“Take her away, Daddy. She failed. Macy’s a loser!” The woman danced around the table, shouting loser over and over.
Macy screamed. The sound was twisted with the sobs rocking her thin body. Andrea wished she could reach out to her. She watched, in horror, as the man took Macy away.
“Woo-hoo! We’re narrowing down the results. Kicking the idiots off the island! Let’s see if you can do better, Callie.”
Callie began reciting her lessons.
Andrea stared across the table at the new girl, Dana. She stared back at Andrea, resignation in her eyes.
That was the moment when Andrea understood the reality of the situation. No one was going to make it in time to help them.
They were totally fucked.
Whatever the goal of these stupid tests, it was a competition. Between the tattoo and her refusal to be submissive, Reanne had been eliminated. Macy hadn’t been able to hold it together under pressure. Callie wouldn’t either. She was worn down from days and days in that damned hole of a prison.
These people weren’t just mean or stupid or crazy nuts, they were twisted, evil. The skeletons in the basement proved that.
Andrea understood perfectly now. The reason the woman liked her was because she was strong. As scared as she was, Andrea paid attention and followed instructions. The woman wanted a winner for a daughter.
When this was over, there would only be one winner and the rest…would be losers.
If Andrea tried her best and won, what happened to the others would be her fault.
