Obsession

by Debra Webb

  “Does that make us the bad guys?” Lori eased into the turning lane. “Because we don’t want it all right now? That we’re more focused on ourselves?”

  “Maybe.” Jess attempted a laugh. “Or maybe we’re just the smart guys.”

  There were always two sides to every coin.

  At the convenience store, Lori hit the ladies’ room and Jess grabbed a couple of Pepsis. She paid and returned to the car. She’d just settled into the passenger seat when her phone vibrated again. No doubt Burnett burning up the towers.

  Text message.

  Tormenter.

  Ice slowed her blood.

  I like your friend.

  Son of a bitch!

  Movement snatched Jess’s gaze forward. Lori bounded from the store. She jerked her door open and dropped behind the steering wheel

  “We have to get back downtown.” She sounded breathless…upset. She couldn’t know about the text Jess had just received.

  Jess shook off the distraction. “Has another girl gone missing?”

  Wells backed up the Mustang, pulled forward but braked before pulling out onto the road. “The chief got a text asking him why he wasn’t watching you more closely.”

  Jess’s throat tightened.

  Spears was here.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Andrea fought to stay focused.

  She didn’t want to be carried out of the kitchen by that man.

  Callie and Macy were gone now. To wherever he had taken Reanne.

  The only girl left besides her was the new girl, Dana. The one the woman had said she didn’t like. The man liked her though. Andrea watched the way he cheered her on and smiled when the woman wasn’t looking.

  Andrea didn’t know what happened to the winner in this competition but she knew one thing for certain, she didn’t want to be one of the losers. She already knew what happened to them…yet if she won, all the others would die like the girl in the basement.

  “Answer the question, Dana!” the woman screamed.

  Andrea jumped.

  Dana sat perfectly still. She didn’t even blink, like she was in a coma even without the pills.

  The woman stuck her face close to Dana’s ear and shouted, “Who will you love and respect most besides your Lord and your husband?”

  Dana turned slowly, lifted her face to the woman glaring at her.

  Andrea held her breath.

  “You…are…insane,” Dana said in a voice so low, so terrifyingly anger-filled that Andrea flinched.

  The fury that erupted across the woman’s face almost made Andrea’s heart stop. She tried to control the trembling but it would not be stopped.

  Her eyes still bulging with anger, the woman hurried around the table to Andrea. She stared down at her. Andrea was afraid to look up or to say anything.

  “Andrea, can you answer the question?”

  The woman asked so sweetly and softly that the difference was as startling as it was stunning. Andrea feared anything she said would turn the woman back into that raging monster.

  But if she didn’t answer…

  “You.” The word was rusty and shaky. Andrea prayed that was the right answer. She was pretty sure it was. But there had been so many lessons. So many rules and Bible verses.

  “Who else?” the woman prompted in that same sweet tone.

  Andrea struggled to drag in a breath. She managed a brittle smile. “Him.” She looked to the man. Something the woman had said to her climbed out of the fog in Andrea’s brain. “I like it here. I want to be your daughter.”

  “We have a winner!” The woman threw her arms up in the air and skipped around the table. “Andrea’s a winner!” she repeated over and over.

  Andrea’s gaze locked with Dana’s. There was something in her eyes…relief. Tears burned Andrea’s eyes. What was wrong with these people? Why were they doing this?

  The man lifted Dana from her chair and hoisted her over his shoulder. Andrea thought his cheeks looked wet as he glanced back at the dancing woman, then turned and carried Dana out of the kitchen.

  Andrea felt the hot tears slipping down her own cheeks. She didn’t want to cry for fear of angering the woman. She wanted to be strong. The woman stopped long enough to kiss Andrea on the head.

  Please, God, she prayed. Help me!

  “Come on,” the woman urged. “It’s almost time.”

  She dragged Andrea out of the chair.

  “Come on, come on.” She ushered her from the room. “I think you’ll like the dress I bought you. I knew it would be you. Mothers know these things.”

  At the stairs, she gestured for Andrea to go first. Lightheaded and her knees weak, Andrea climbed the first step, then the next. She couldn’t hold onto the bannister since her hands were still tied behind her back.

  At the top of the stairs, the woman led Andrea to a door on the right. She opened the door and motioned inside. “Do you like it?”

  Unable to breathe much less speak, Andrea nodded.

  “Oh good!” She pulled her into the room. “I picked out everything myself. You told me you like pink. So I painted it pink. I didn’t care if the others liked it or not. I wanted you to win and you did!”

  When had Andrea told her that? She couldn’t remember. All those Bible verses and rules and names kept rolling through her mind.

  “I watched you for a long time before we bumped into each other at the store.” She smiled. “You’re so pretty and smart. Not like the other girls.” She nodded knowingly. “I had watched them too and they weren’t good girls like you.” She laughed. “Daddy wanted Dana to win but I knew she didn’t deserve to win.” She leaned close to Andrea. “I played a trick on her. Made her think she was losing her mind.” The woman snorted. “She deserved it. She broke his heart. But that’s behind us now. Come on!”

  She guided Andrea to the bed to sit down. Then she went over to the closet and pulled out a white dress with small pink flowers on the sash. “You like it?”

  Andrea licked her dry lips and nodded. “It’s very pretty.” Say something else, Andrea! Be smart! “Thank you.”

  The woman carefully laid the dress across the bed next to Andrea. Then she rushed to the chest of drawers and gathered up panties and a bra. She placed them on the bed, too.

  Footsteps outside the room drew Andrea’s attention to the door. The man walked in. He wasn’t crying anymore but he looked sad and tired. Why was he letting the woman do this? Why didn’t he stop her?

  What had he done to the others?

  “Wait outside, Daddy! She has to change. She has to be ready. This is the most important day of her life.”

  He stepped outside the room, pulling the door closed.

  “Now, I’m going to untie you, but if you do anything stupid you’ll be a loser like the others.” She sighed. “Then we’d have to start over.” She patted Andrea on the shoulder. “So you be good, okay?”

  Andrea nodded.

  She held her tears and fear inside and stood while the woman untied her hands. She rubbed her wrists and wrestled back the urge to run. The man was right outside the door. She didn’t want to be a loser.

  “Take off your clothes and I’ll help you with the dress.”

  Her hands shaking, Andrea pulled her blouse over her head. She unbuttoned her jeans and peeled them down her legs, kicked them off her bare feet. Her bra and panties came off next. Her arms covering herself, she waited for what the woman would tell her to do next.

  One item at a time, the woman helped Andrea dress. The new fabric felt scratchy. Andrea didn’t care. She had to keep this woman happy until she saw a chance to escape.

  What if they were dressing her up to put her in one of those boxes like the girl in the basement?

  The tears burned her cheeks before she realized she was crying. Why had this happened to her? To the others?

  The woman guided her to the mirror over the dresser. “Don’t you look pretty?”

  Andrea smiled but her lips trembled.

&
nbsp; “Let’s brush your hair and you’ll be ready.”

  Andrea closed her eyes while the woman brushed her hair. She prayed again but she wasn’t sure help would come in time. Something big was about to happen and she just wanted to live through it. If she died in this awful place, would they ever find her? No one had found the girl or the baby in the basement.

  “You are so pretty, Andrea.” The woman smiled at her in the mirror. “From the day my son was born, even though they told me I couldn’t have any more children, I knew one day I would have a daughter.” She laid down the brush and squeezed Andrea’s arms. “And now I do.”

  Andrea’s heart threatened to burst out of her chest. Since she didn’t know what to say, she stretched her lips into a smile and nodded.

  The woman guided Andrea into the hall outside the room. “Doesn’t she look pretty, Daddy?”

  “She sure does, Momma.”

  “Hold her hand,” the woman ordered.

  The two led Andrea to another room, farther down the hall. Outside the door, they hesitated.

  “We’ve waited a long time to find the perfect daughter.” The woman reached for the door. “Now you’ll see why we’re so excited.”

  The door swung inward. The room was a light blue, trophies stood on the dresser. Sports posters lined the wall. The curtains were closed over the window, but next to it a pale glow from the table lamp spilled over a young man seated in a chair. At first Andrea thought he was asleep since his eyes were closed, maybe drugged like she had been. But he didn’t move at all. His chest didn’t rise and fall. His face was pasty and pale. He wore jeans and a dark blue Polo shirt. His arms and hands rested on the arms of the chair.

  Andrea’s heart stumbled, then, pounded erratically.

  “Andrea,” the woman said, “this is our son, Tate.’ She smiled at the boy in the chair. “Tate, this is Andrea. The one I’ve been telling you about.” The woman laughed. “Yes, she is beautiful.” She looked at Andrea with approval. “She’s perfect. She passed all the tests.”

  Andrea swayed. She tried to steady herself. Don’t mess up. Don’t mess up! She had to be strong.

  “Tate and Andrea,” the woman sing-songed. “It’s just perfect.”

  Andrea fought the blackness trying to drag her down. She had to hold it together. She wasn’t tied up any more. Maybe she would get a chance to run before it was too late.

  “Daddy, you help Tate get ready. He can’t get married wearing that lucky Polo shirt of his.”

  Andrea’s knees buckled.

  The woman steadied her. “You’re all right, hon, it’s normal to be nervous before your wedding.” She hugged Andrea. “I’m so proud of you. You’re the perfect wife for my son.”

  But her son was…dead.

  Chapter Nineteen

  BPD, 2:51 p.m.

  Dan took another breath in hopes of remaining calm. “I have a unit watching your sister and her family,” he said to Jess. “Lily knows that since the media brought her into public focus, that she and her family may end up in Spears’ crosshairs.”

  “I tried—”

  He held up his hand to stop whatever excuse Jess intended to offer. “I’ve contacted my Bureau liaison to see what they intend to do in the way of protection. I’m certain after hearing about the text messages from Spears they’ll have no problem stepping in.” Dan had had some time to come to terms with the situation and still it twisted his gut into knots.

  “At this point,” he went on before Jess could try taking charge of the conversation again, “we have to assume he’s here and watching you.” Fury whipped to a new frenzy when he considered how that bastard had taunted him about Jess. “For now, I’m responsible for your protection, Jess. You will do exactly as I say.” He glared at his detective. “That goes for you, too, Wells. When I give an order, I expect it to be followed.”

  She and Jess started talking at the same time.

  He held up both hands this time. The two fell silent. “I have just one question.” He reached for calm again, didn’t exactly find it. “What the hell were you thinking?” He stood behind his desk, Wells and Jess at attention on the other side, both rigid with guilt. He figured he needed something between him and the two of them to prevent shaking the hell out of one or both.

  “I’m sorry, chief,” Wells said respectfully, “the urgency of the situation got the better of my judgment.”

  “That’s not true,” Jess argued. She looked from Wells to Dan. “She followed my direct orders. Detective Wells had no choice.”

  Now that, he didn’t doubt.

  “That’s not the way it happened, sir,’ Wells countered. “I made the decision on my own to follow up on the Debarros case in connection with our current case. Anything Agent Harris said or did not say was not the deciding factor.”

  Dan shook his head. “That’s all you have to say for yourself?” This he directed at his detective.

  “No, sir.” Wells squared her shoulders. “I respectfully request that I be dismissed so that I can get back to work. I’m hopeful that any disciplinary action can wait until we find those missing girls.”

  If she hadn’t been right Dan would have given her the dressing down she deserved. “Go. The others are in the conference room going over the possible link between the Debarros case and this one.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  She and Jess exchanged a look before Wells left his office, closing the door behind her. Dan rested the full weight of his unhappiness on the last woman standing.

  “Detective Wells did what I asked her to do,” Jess told him without a hint of remorse. “She argued that we should wait until after the press conference. I pushed the issue. She reluctantly agreed.” Jess bracketed her waist with her hands. “She doesn’t deserve any sort of disciplinary action. Besides, this investigation is more important than a stupid press conference. Waiting would have wasted precious time, just like what we’re doing right now is gobbling up time that should be focused on finding those girls. The Murrays—”

  “You got your point across about Wells.” He tamped back the rising frustration. “But you had to throw out a smart ass remark about the press conference. That was outside my control.”

  “You know I’m right.”

  “You’re right, Jess.” He threw his hands up. “You’re right. But I can’t help these girls or anyone else if I’m fired. I, for one, would like to keep my job.”

  She looked as if he had slapped her in the face. Oh hell. “Jess, I wasn’t implying—”

  “Yes, you were. And you’re right.” She glanced around for some place to focus her attention besides on him.

  Well, hell. He rounded the desk and took her by the shoulders. “You don’t understand.”

  Reluctantly she met his gaze. “I should have gotten word to Sergeant Harper to provide backup in case we ran into trouble. I screwed up. Again. Shit. Shit. Shit!”

  “Jess, your instincts were right on target. I’m the one who freaked out. Instead of rushing to provide the two of you backup, all I could think about was the fact that the text messages that bastard sent might mean he was watching you. That he was close to you.”

  Anger flared in her eyes. “I am not twenty-two years old anymore. I can take care of myself. Wells and I had the situation under control.” She shrugged away from his touch. “We should be talking to the Murrays right now instead of playing these ridiculous power games.”

  Dan once more restrained the need to shake her. Resisting was a hell of a lot harder this time. “What you and Wells found is damned interesting. But I knew Detective Newberry. He was a good man and a damned good detective. If he couldn’t find a connection between the Murray boy and the missing girl, then one didn’t exist.”

  Jess rolled her eyes. “Are you sure about that, Burnett? Or are you just assuming he couldn’t find a link because he belonged to the same club as you? I know how you good old boys stick up for one another.”

  That flame of frustration he’d kept at a low burn blazed
higher. “You have to be right, don’t you? No matter the cost to yourself or anyone around you. You just can’t see past your vision of how things are.”

  “Don’t be absurd.” She lifted her chin. “My vision and the facts are one in the same in this case. That is what we’re talking about, isn’t it? The case? Five missing girls?”

  The blaze roared into an inferno. “It’s just like that last summer we were together.” He was barely hanging on to reason. He knew it but, at this point, he could do nothing but embrace it. “You refused to see any other route to our future together except the one you had planned. It didn’t matter that I might have slightly different priorities.”

  She laughed, a dry, aching sound. “We had been together for four years. I think I understood your priorities as well as anyone could. At least until your ego got the better of you.”

  The emotional impact of that statement stunned him, obliterated the last of his reason and any lick of his self-control. “Okay, yes.” He steadied himself against the tremors rocking his insides. “I was disappointed and my ego was bruised when I didn’t get the internship. Is that what you want to hear?”

  “I didn’t need to hear you say it. I’ve known it for twenty years!”

  His jaw ached from clenching. “I was also struggling with the fact that my family was here. I wasn’t so sure at that point that I wanted the rest of my life to play out in a whole other region of the country.” He grappled for calm. Couldn’t find it.

  “I guess you forgot to mention that part to me.”

  He took a moment, fought for some semblance of composure. “I didn’t want to be the reason you didn’t follow your dream.”

  “How noble of you.”

  “You had no one holding you back. Your sister is here but that’s different. My parents weren’t getting any younger. I knew there would come a time when they needed me. I realized this was where I was supposed to be.”

  “Like Katherine Burnett would ever need anyone.” Jess scoffed. “She probably talked you into coming back. She never liked me any way.”

  Jess and his mother had started off on the wrong foot and time hadn’t altered that path. His mother’s opinion of Jess had been irrelevant to Dan. “She didn’t talk me into anything. I talked myself into taking the step that was best for you and for me. You wanted to be free of entangling commitments with family. I didn’t. It just took me a while to be able to grasp it, accept it and to do the right thing. It was the right thing, Jess. It was right for both of us.”