Missing (Everyday Heroes Book 6)

by Margaret Daley

  The dog saw Beth, stood, and closed the few feet between him and the little girl. He sat next to the sofa. Beth petted Charlie for a few minutes. The child’s eyes brightened for a moment, but then they slowly closed as her arm dangled over the side of the couch where Charlie was.

  Emma slipped out of Brody’s office and went to Nick. “Let’s go. I need to get back as fast as I can.”

  Knowing the layout of the town, Emma realized when Nick pulled into a driveway that their journey to the place had been a roundabout route. “Checking for someone following us?”

  Nick smiled. “Yes.”

  Emma opened her car door. “What do you want me to get from Bobby Joe?”

  “Anything about the other two men. And if he has more on the guy with the snake on his arm, great. He has dark hair in a long ponytail, but that’s easy to change. The snake isn’t. I need a more detailed description of what kind of snake and how it looked. We could use that to find him.”

  “I’m going to start with that then move to the other two thugs.” Emma walked around the hood of Nick’s car. “Let’s get this over with. I want to take Terri, Danny, and Beth home. They need to get back to as normal a life as possible.

  “Sarah says you’re one of the best child psychologists she’s ever seen.”

  “Tell your soon-to-be wife thanks for me.” Emma mounted the porch of the house.

  Nick grinned. “I will. And I feel the same way after what you did to help Candy. My soon-to-be daughter is doing so much better because of you.”

  The heat of a blush flooded her cheeks. “Okay. No more. I can’t wait to see you and Sarah getting married.”

  She hung back while Nick approached the door. He rang the bell. When a minute passed and no one came to let them in, he pulled his phone from his pocket and made a call.

  His dark eyebrows slashed downward as he tensed and withdrew his gun. “Stay back.” He reached out and put his hand around the knob. As he turned it, his eyes widened. “The door isn’t locked. Stay out here.”

  “No. I’ll follow you. If something bad occurred, Bobby Joe will need me. He won’t understand what happened.”

  “If he’s here.” Nick moved into the living room and came to an abrupt halt.

  Emma nearly ran into him. She leaned to the left, and her gaze zeroed in on the only person in the room—Officer Winters, lying on the floor, his eyes staring at the ceiling with blood pooling on the carpet.

  Chapter Twelve

  A shriek of terror alarmed Piper to her very core. As her eyes flew open to a room with light streaming through slits in a closed blind, she shot straight up in a sitting position. Her body quaked in the cold room, no more than ten by ten feet. Next to her, there was a thin blanket she must have tossed off of her when she bolted upright.

  She didn’t even know how long she’d been here or where she was. Whenever she was moved from one place to another, she was knocked out. And when she woke up in a new situation, it was worse. At least this time, she had light in the room, but she wasn’t sure that was better or worse. A reeking scent coming from the thin mattress she sat on made her stomach roil.

  Another blood curdling scream blasted through the air. She tried to cup her ears to reduce the noise, but her hands were cuffed together with a short chain from the wall behind her. All she could do was cover one ear.

  Piper took a deep breath, laid down with her right ear pressed into the dirty mattress, and tried to block the awful noise as much as possible. The contortion did little to suppress the sound.

  Then the shrill sound stopped.

  She released a long sigh—until she wondered what happened to the person. Did they kill someone? Am I next? I have to get away from here—wherever this place is.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “See if Winters is alive and call 9-1-1 for backup and an ambulance. I’m checking out the rest of the house.” With his pistol in his hand, Nick walked past the officer lying on the wooden floor between the living and dining rooms.

  Emma quickly knelt next to the victim and felt for a pulse on his neck. There wasn’t one. She picked up his hand and tried to find a pulse on his wrist. Nothing. She leaned down near his mouth to see if she felt him breathing while watching to see if his chest rose and fell.

  Again nothing.

  She couldn’t do anything to help him. Officer Winters had lost a lot of blood from a gunshot wound to the chest. She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She started to make the call when Nick shouted, “Joseph Patterson is down in the hallway. He’s alive but unconscious.”

  Emma made the call to 9-1-1, requesting backup and two ambulances then walked to the corridor to the bedrooms. Not five feet away lay Joseph. As she knelt next to him, Nick came out of a room. “Officer Winters is dead,” she said while sending up a prayer that Joseph and Bobby Joe were all right.

  “That’s what I suspected. I need to check the rest of the house. So far no sighting of Bobby Joe.” Nick continued toward the next bedroom.

  “I’ll stay here with him.”

  “As you can see, Joseph was shot in the upper left shoulder. He was lucky. A few inches down and a little closer to center mass, he would be dead, too. He also has a nasty knot on the back of his head from taking the table down with him.”

  As Nick disappeared into the bathroom, Emma leaned close to Bobby Joe’s uncle. “Joseph.”

  Nothing.

  She checked his pulse which was faint but beating. Again, she said his name, repeating it several more times.

  Finally, Joseph’s eyelids fluttered open then closed again. He moaned.

  “Help’s on the way,” Emma said as Nick emerged from the last bedroom.

  He joined her, squatting on the other side of Joseph. “Where’s Bobby Joe?”

  “Don’t—know.” Bobby Joe’s uncle tried to sit up but winced and lay back on the floor.

  The sound of sirens announced the arrival of the police and the ambulances. At least Joseph would get the help he needed. She prayed she was wrong about Officer Winters being dead. But in her gut, she knew she wasn’t. The thought of Bobby Joe being taken by the bad guys sent a shudder through her body. He didn’t know how to deal with changes. How in the world did they take him without the whole block knowing? He wouldn’t go quietly, especially if he saw his uncle and Officer Winters being shot.

  Then the most important question flittered through her mind: how did the people after Bobby Joe know where he was?

  * * *

  Later that night, Brody, with Charlie at his side, walked around the perimeter of Emma’s house. He found more cigarette butts and decided to ask the neighbor about them. A thin man about five feet eight or nine inches answered the door. “I found cigarette butts between your house and Emma’s when I took my dog for a walk. She said you smoke. Are these yours?” Brody pointed toward the area where the cigarette butts were on the ground.

  The guy flushed. “I’m sorry. I don’t normally leave them, especially on Emma’s property. I’ve been working overtime, and when I come home, I’ve been exhausted. I smoke a few before going into the house then practically fall into bed. Twenty-four-hour shifts at the hospital are doing me in. It’s a new policy that I hope they change.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I’m a nurse. I’m Neil Lowe.” He held out his hand.

  Brody shook it and told him his name. “It’s nice meeting you. I was concerned someone was watching Emma’s house and left them.”

  “If I see anyone, I’ll let you know. Emma’s a great neighbor. I hope no one’s stalking her.”

  “Me, too. Thanks.” Exhausted, like Emma’s neighbor, Brody left Neil’s yard. In the dim lighting, he scooped up the butts and threw them away in her garage bin sitting at the curb for pick up.

  After what happened at the safehouse, his first priority was keeping Emma and the kids safe. Nick would keep him informed about any clues to what occurred earlier with the kidnapping of Bobby Joe. Why did the criminals r
isk taking him? What did Bobby Joe see that day Piper was snatched? If only they knew, the police might be closer to solving the crimes going down recently. Maybe Joseph Patterson would have information to help them locate the killers. Nick was at the hospital right now, waiting for Bobby Joe’s uncle to wake up after surgery.

  Brody headed for the porch and knocked on the door. Emma opened it almost immediately and stepped to the side to allow him and Charlie into the house.

  “Beth was wondering where Charlie went. She didn’t want to go to bed until she saw him again.”

  “Where is she?” Brody unhooked Charlie’s leash and placed it on the table in the foyer.

  “In the den with Aunt Polly.”

  “Where are Danny and Terri?”

  “In their bedrooms. Danny can’t believe he has one by himself. From what I understand, all four kids slept in the same room while living in Riverbend. I wish I had another bedroom to let Terri and Beth have their own, but being together is what Beth needs the most.”

  “I agree. So much has been changing for her, and it has to be hard for her to understand.”

  Emma started for the den in the rear of her home with Brody and Charlie following her. When she entered, she grinned. “Look who’s here to see you, Beth.”

  With a smile from ear to ear, the child patted the sofa cushion next to her and said the command Brody had taught the five-year-old earlier at the Pals Center. “Come, Charlie.”

  The black and brown Belgian Malinois trotted over to Beth, hopped up onto the couch, and lay next to the child who continued grinning while rubbing the canine.

  “Brody, this is my aunt, Polly,” Emma introduced.

  “It’s good to meet you, Polly,” Brody said to Emma’s aunt, who was knitting in a lounge chair across from Beth.

  “Yes. Nice to meet you, too. I’m working on a sweater for Beth. Then I’ll make one for Terri and Danny. It’s always nice to have something productive to do.”

  “Are you staying here tonight?” Brody took the chair near Polly, watching the little girl curl up beside Charlie. He was glad to see the bonding between the two because Brody was relying on his dog to protect the children.

  “Yes.” Polly put her knitting on an end table next to her and looked at her watch. “Beth, it’s time for you to get ready for bed.”

  The young child frowned, her lower lip sticking out. “But Charlie just came.”

  “Charlie is going to stay tonight. He’ll be close by.” Brody hadn’t told Emma that yet. He hoped she didn’t mind because he wanted to stay, too. He’d never sleep well if he didn’t. So much had happened in the past couple of days. An ache pounding against his skull attested to the stress the events caused.

  Emma entered the den and shot him a confused look, her forehead crinkled at the same time that Beth clapped her hands and grinned.

  She hopped off the couch. “Come,” she said to Charlie and patted her left thigh.

  Charlie turned toward Brody. He rose and closed the space between him and Beth. “Come, Charlie. Guard, Beth.”

  Brody followed the two until the little girl went into a room. He turned to go back to the den, but he nearly ran over Emma. He’d been so focused on Beth and Charlie, he hadn’t realized Emma was following him. He would need to keep his senses sharp if he was to protect the kids. He couldn’t let his exhaustion cause him to make a mistake.

  “What do you mean about Charlie staying?”

  “I’d like to stay, too. I can sleep on the couch in the living room. Charlie can stay back in the girls’ bedroom. If he hears anything, he’ll let me know. We can’t take any chances. Look what happened earlier with Bobby Joe. I—”

  She pressed two fingers against his lips. “You don’t have to convince me,” she whispered. “Their safety is my number one priority. Your presence and Charlie’s makes us safer. I have an alarm system, but somehow, the people still managed to get into the safehouse despite its alarm system. Nick said it had been compromised. How did they know where Bobby Joe was?”

  “Good question I’ve been wondering that too and so has Nick.”

  “I hope he figures it out. If he does, we can be one step closer to finding the kids who’ve disappeared.”

  Emma glanced at the girls’ bedroom then took Brody’s hand and tugged him down the hall totally out of earshot of the children. “I don’t want the kids to hear us. They don’t need to worry any more than they already are. With you and Charlie being here, I think they’ll feel better. I hope you don’t mind sleeping on the couch in the living room. All the beds are taken.” Including Aunt Polly was sleeping in Emma’s room.

  “No problem. I can sleep anywhere. I learned that as a soldier.”

  “Good. After I get the kids in bed, I’ll bring you a pillow and a blanket.”

  “I’m going to walk around your home and make sure everything’s locked down.”

  She turned and looked over her shoulder. “I appreciate anything you do to make us safer especially after the crime scene I saw this afternoon.”

  “Nick’s going to call me when Joseph comes out of surgery and he’s been able to talk to him. I hope Bobby Joe’s uncle can give the police some good information about who raided the safehouse.”

  Emma swung around and faced Nick. “Why did they take Bobby Joe? To silence him? If so, they could have killed him like they did Officer Winters.”

  “Good questions. Bobby Joe is nineteen. They may have wanted to silence him or possibly add him to the number of young people they’ve captured for either putting them into the slavery market or sex trafficking them.”

  The thought that was the assailants’ purpose caused her to step closer to Brody. She gripped the back of a wingchair, leaning into it for support. “Bobby Joe will completely freak out. He won’t understand what’s going on. He’s a large guy and can cause self-harm to himself. It will be hard to contain him.”

  Brody skirted the chair and cupped her hand, gently squeezing it. “That’s why we need to do what we can to stop what’s going on and find the kids who were taken. Before coming over here, I was at the safehouse. Nick had Bobby Joe’s clothing. I used it to follow the path from the house with Charlie. Bobby Joe only went into the place through the garage, but there was a scent trail from the back door. At the back fence, there was blood at the top. Nick’s going to have it compared with Joseph’s DNA to see if it’s a match with Bobby Joe’s.”

  “If it’s Bobby Joe’s blood, then the kidnappers are keeping him alive for a reason.”

  “I agree.” Brody heaved a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The trail continued on the other side of the fence. Nick found more drops of blood on the grass of the home behind the safehouse. Then, as before, the trail vanished. At least the police know how and where the kidnappers got into the place and how they left it. The police are scouring the area especially the block where the trail stopped.”

  Emma twisted toward Brody. He gently grasped her upper arms and closed the space between them by several inches. “It seems like half the police force is working on keeping a sharp eye out for any children in danger. The FBI will be here tomorrow. All roads out of Cimarron City are being monitored.”

  “But Maria was taken late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Six days ago. And Piper’s been missing over twenty-four hours, and if Nate was caught, he’s been gone since Wednesday. They could all be out of town by now.”

  “Except Bobby Joe. He went missing only hours ago, and the exits from the town have been locked down.”

  “The police didn’t really get started until yesterday when Piper vanished.”

  He cupped her face. “That’s because you cared about her and went to see her Thursday night. If you hadn’t, hours or possibly days would have gone by before the police were pulled into what happened.”

  “If only it could have started with the disappearance of Maria. I know what the brother said, but it doesn’t make sense. He should’ve pushed the police to find his little sister, whether it was h
er running away or something else.”

  “You’re right. They should have started a case on Monday.

  “The officer who was on vacation? I don’t believe in coincidences.”

  “Neither do I.” Her soft gaze entrapped Brody in a snare. “What’s wrong?” He brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Terri, Danny, and Beth are safe.”

  “At times, when children are involved in tragedies, I wrestle with my faith. Why are the kids going through this?”

  “God never promised everything would be easy and go the way we want. Especially in difficult times, we need to grasp onto our faith, believe in our Lord, and give the problem to Him. I would never have survived the war zone without believing that.”

  “Not all children are safe. I want to protect every one of them, but I couldn’t with Piper.”

  “You’re doing what you can. That’s all we can do besides praying.”

  “A good suggestion. Will you pray with me?”

  “Yes.”

  She bowed her head and held Brody’s hands. “Father, please keep the children safe and help us to find the ones who are missing. We need Your help. Put a wall of protection around them. Amen.”

  “We’ll find them.” For a long moment, they stared at each other.

  She cupped her hand, his chin cradled against her palm.

  When her touch slipped away, he tugged her toward him and brushed his lips across hers. As he leaned back and gazed into her smoky gray eyes, he felt lost in those depths as though a cloud had encircled him. He wound his arms around her and kissed her with feelings he hadn’t realized were developing.

  When they parted, he couldn’t look away from her beautiful face. He didn’t know what to say. While working with her at the center, he’d admired her and depended on her. Now he was feeling something beyond that. Since leaving the army and coming home right after his dad’s murder, he’d poured all his focus on taking care of his sister before she went to college then into getting his Pals program up and running. It gave him a purpose.