The Kidnapping of Cody Moss

by Sara L Foust

  Without a warrant, they’d agreed that stealth was better than brawn, at least.

  Annalise snapped her helmet in place, tightened the Velcro over her shoulders, and flipped the gun safety off. “Ready?”

  The men nodded in unison.

  She turned and drew a deep breath, comforted by the muted crunch of their feet on gravel following close at her heels. This was it. The chance she’d waited for. With the money as bait, though they lacked firm evidence of Jimmy Vern’s guilt, they would be able to get him to talk. To trade Cody to them. And then they’d take Jimmy Vern down.

  It sounded so good in her head, but each step closer nailed more worries into her mind. Zach had been right to be skeptical. She stopped in her tracks.

  “See something?” Zach hissed in her ear.

  She shook her head.

  “It’s a good plan, Annalise.”

  It was the only one they had.

  “Let’s get in there. Cody’s counting on you.”

  Kirk squeezed her shoulder. “Trust your instincts.”

  They hadn’t gotten her very far lately. But Zach was right, Cody needed them. She resumed her slow approach.

  A single light shined from the cabin windows. Jimmy Vern’s rusty truck sat in the driveway. Good. He was home.

  Annalise took cover behind the truck, motioning for Zach and Kirk to slide around each side of the house. She counted to 120 and then yelled, “Jimmy Vern Buchanan. We have your money.”

  Where were the dogs? And why didn’t they come out barking like the world was ending?

  There was no noise within the cabin, but a shadow passed across the window.

  “Jimmy Vern! Come on out. We need to talk.”

  The front window shattered in an explosion of popping glass, immediately followed by the roar of a shotgun blast. Pellets thunked into the truck. The dogs broke into a loud ruckus from somewhere inside.

  Annalise ducked. Her ear piece crackled to life with Zach’s worried voice. “You okay?”

  “Yes, stand down. Hold your positions, guys. Watch for the dogs, if he lets them loose.”

  She cupped her hand around her mouth and tried once more. “If you shoot me, you’ll never find your ten grand!”

  Another shot blasted the air.

  She counted slowly to sixty, drawing deep breaths. This was going to work, right? “Jimmy Vern! Last chance!”

  The creak of the front door sounded almost as loud as the gunshots. Jimmy Vern stepped onto the porch. “You found my stolen money?”

  “Yes.” She risked standing up. Though he held the gun across his arm, he wasn’t aiming at anything in particular. That was a move in the right direction. The door behind him jiggled. The dogs barked again.

  “I wanna see it.”

  “It’s not with me. You know I’m smarter than that. But I can get it, if you give me Cody.”

  “I don’t know nothing about that missing boy.” Jimmy Vern’s hand drew closer to the doorknob.

  She bit her tongue. Hard. And tasted copper. “We know you’re involved. It was your man murdered at that campsite. The boys stole your money from there.”

  “I didn’t know the money was missing until you showed me that photo of Buster.”

  “Why did Buster have ten thousand dollars of your money in the middle of the woods?”

  “Was taking it to the bank for me.”

  Oh, sure. That was logical. “Don’t open that door, Jimmy Vern. We will shoot them.”

  Red colored his face, but he dropped his hand.

  She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Zach and Kirk were sneaking closer along the sides of the house. “Who killed Buster, Jimmy Vern?”

  He shrugged.

  “Whose still was that?”

  Another shrug.

  “Have it your way. Move in.”

  Jimmy Vern’s eyes widened. He spun and opened the door. “Get ’em, boys.”

  The dogs barreled out, baring their teeth, back fur raised into an arch, and barking.

  Annalise jumped onto the hood of the truck.

  The Rottweiler snapped at her left heel and planted his paws on the grill. The mutt ran in wild circles around the truck.

  Zach and Kirk waited for her command, guns aimed at Jimmy Vern.

  She scrambled to the windshield and aimed for the massive mouth. “One, two. Don’t test me...” She squeezed the trigger.

  “Fine, fine.” Jimmy Vern whistled.

  Instantly, the dogs retreated under the porch.

  She blew out a heavy breath. “We are taking you in for questioning, Jimmy Vern. I’m sure we can find something to charge you with.”

  Zach and Kirk moved in simultaneously. They cuffed Jimmy Vern, and Kirk held him in the corner of the porch.

  “You hear that?” Zach cocked his head.

  All Annalise could hear was the pounding of her heart.

  Kirk grinned. “Sure do.”

  What were they talking about?

  “Sounds like someone screaming back there toward the barn, doesn’t it, Jimmy Vern?” Zach smiled.

  “That’s my mule, and you know it.”

  Ah. The perfect excuse to search the premises. “No, I think I hear it too now.”

  “Come on, Annalise. Kirk, you got him?”

  Kirk nodded.

  Annalise followed Zach toward the barn with her stomach vying with her heart for top position in her throat. This could be it. Cody could be on the other side of those doors somewhere.

  Zach slid the door open. “Cody! Cody!”

  A horse whinnied, but no human voice responded.

  “Search everywhere, okay? Look for hidden doors and rooms.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Zach grinned. “I like when you take charge, Lise. This job looks good on you.”

  She blushed and shook her head. “I didn’t say yes. Let’s focus on finding him.”

  They split up. Annalise climbed the stairs to the loft and searched through the innumerable bales of hay. Jimmy Vern had apparently told the truth about that part, at least.

  What if there was a tunnel into a hay-room of some sort, hiding in the middle of the giant stack? She and her brother had done that in their grandparents’ barn as children. “Cody! If you can hear me, make some noise.”

  If Jimmy Vern kept his prisoner drugged, Cody wouldn’t be able to make any noise. She holstered her gun and slid some of the bales at the edges around. There didn’t seem to be any gaps anywhere.

  Zach’s steps clumped behind her into the loft. “Find anything?”

  “No. Was checking to make sure there wasn’t some tunnel or hidden area under this.”

  “I’ll help.”

  Before she could argue, Zach leaped onto the nearest bale and climbed the stack like a mountain goat. “Be careful!”

  “Always.” He stopped at the top, a good fifteen feet higher than her, and looked back. “I don’t see anything that would lead me to believe there is anything hidden underneath. Except rats and snakes, maybe.”

  Her heart sank. If Cody wasn’t here—if there wasn’t some hidden, tucked-away niche they would miraculously find—then where was he? She’d been so sure the barn would house not only a moonshine still but her missing child too.

  “I need to show you something downstairs.”

  She followed him to the two last stalls on the right and peeked in. A mule and a horse. “What do you know about that?”

  “Did you collect manure samples from the moonshine still site?”

  Annalise grinned. “Sure did.”

  “Knew I could count on you to cover all the bases.” He collected a manure sample from each equine inside two latex gloves. “Let’s rush this to the lab.”

  “If they match, we have enough evidence to search the house.”

  “And arrest Jimmy Vern.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “IT’S A MATCH!” ZACH grabbed Annalise and swung her around, hugging her tight.

  She exhaled and laid her head on his shou
lder. “I knew it was him. I just knew it. Let’s find Cody.”

  The dogs growled at them from the pen where they’d insisted Jimmy Vern lock them. He had unwillingly accompanied Kirk on his rush into town with the samples. His destination at the end of the day largely depended on what he and Annalise found.

  Annalise swung the front door in and disappeared.

  Good. “I’ll check the cellar,” he shouted after her. If Cody was down there, dead already, he wanted to find him first and break the news gently to Annalise.

  The cellar door had been padlocked shut. Suspicious. He found a pickax nearby and broke it open with a few heavy strikes. He tugged hard and lifted the heavy wood panel open. A horrible odor met his nose, and his hopes fell even further. Oh, Lord, please. Not this ending. Not this way.

  His steps grew heavier as he descended, and the stench grew stronger. He shined his flashlight into the corners, stopping on the farthest one. What was that? It certainly didn’t seem large enough to be a human body.

  He covered his nose with his shirt and eased into the area. Someone had been here and been very, very sick. A dead rat lay at the edge of the nauseating pile. He backed away, and he searched the rest of the area. There was nothing here and nowhere to hide.

  Drawing a deep breath of fresh air at the top of the steps, he sighed. He hadn’t found Cody, but he hadn’t found a body either. And that was a positive. “Annalise!” he called as he entered the cabin.

  “In here!”

  He followed the sound of her voice to the room on the right. A tiny kitchen boasted a messy table with one chair and rows and rows of empty Mason jars. Oh, gee, wonder what those were for. “Find something?”

  “Maybe.” She lifted a credit card from the trash bin.

  “Brian Moss. Think Cody had this?”

  “I’d say it’s a good possibility.”

  “I need to show you something too.”

  Her face paled. “What is it? Is it...is he dead?”

  He shook his head. “I think he was here though.” He led her to the stairs and stopped her. “You may want to cover your mouth and nose.”

  Her eyes grew wide. She nodded.

  When he reached the bottom, he stopped and let Annalise explore and see for herself. His heart ached for her as she made her way slowly around the space.

  When she reached the corner, she sank to her heels and froze.

  What was she thinking? For once he didn’t know.

  “He was here, Zach.”

  “I think so too.”

  “No, I mean he was here. Come look.”

  In the opposite corner from the dead rat, low on the wall, shined shallow hash marks. Five of them. “That means—”

  “He was here yesterday.” Annalise turned to him with tear-filled eyes.

  So where was he now? Were they only a day late? Only a few hours too late to save the boy? Why, Lord?

  He pulled Annalise into his arms. He longed to offer comforting words, but he couldn’t find a single one. She’d poured her heart into finding Cody, and to come here and find out she’d missed her window by only a few hours? It was too cruel. Why, Lord?

  Annalise pulled away, her teeth gritted and her eyes dark. “Take me to Jimmy Vern. Now.”

  “Annal—”

  “I will bring Cody’s body home for his mother. She deserves to give him a proper burial.”

  He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Okay, Annalise. Okay.”

  ANNALISE HELD THE TEARS in only by focusing on the intense anger roiling in her chest.

  “We’re on our way, Kirk,” Zach said from the passenger seat. “Yeah...we need to speak to Jimmy Vern...yeah, alone.” He ended the call. “Kirk agreed.”

  “Did you tell him...everything?”

  “Yes. The forensics team is on their way to the cabin now.”

  “Good.” They could at least collect enough evidence to seal Jimmy Vern’s case. “Dogs?”

  “They’re going to try “

  Maybe Jimmy Vern just moved Cody since he felt their team closing in. “Good. Maybe they’ll—”

  “Cadaver dogs, Annalise.”

  Blood rushed to her head. Cadaver dogs. Of course. She sandwiched her head between her knees and took deep breaths. “I really thought we would find him.”

  Zach rubbed her back with his free hand. “I know you did. I’m so sorry, Annalise.”

  “You didn’t think...you knew, didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t know anything.” He sighed. “And neither do you yet. Not for sure.”

  “There’s no point, Zach. It’s time to face reality. Cody’s dead. I will have to consider it a win, now, putting that monster behind bars and finding Cody’s remains.”

  He grimaced but remained silent.

  What could he say?

  In Memphis, after her first few years of death and brutality, she had gone somewhat numb. And she’d stayed that way, hadn’t she? Was this what Dave had been talking about when he said she was too independent? Too self-sufficient? When really it was too scarred?

  Scarred. Did she think of herself as broken? Jaded?

  The thoughts kept her breath just out of reach.

  Zach pulled the truck onto the shoulder. Semis whizzed by and shook the truck. He hopped out and ran around to her side, yanking the door open. “Look at me.”

  Had he really just risked being smattered on the side of the road for her? “That was dumb, Zach.”

  “Look at me.”

  She turned her head to face him.

  “Dave was wrong. Okay? Dead wrong.” He wrinkled his brow. “Sorry. Poor choice of words. The point is, you are amazing.”

  She shook her head. No, she was selfish and self-absorbed to the point her husband had sought attention in someone else’s arms.

  “You deserve better. Someone who will cherish you and treat you like the wonderful person you are.”

  “I failed. Dave and Cody and Celine.”

  “And yourself.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And me.”

  “Uh-huh.” Wait. “How did I fail you?”

  “By being so hard on yourself. This isn’t you, and you know it. Get Dave out of your head. He is a fool.” He tugged her chin up, reminding her to look him in the eye. “God can work good from all things, even if it feels like the world is ending. You just have to keep believing and keep going.”

  “I can’t.”

  He tilted his head.

  “Okay, fine. I don’t want to.”

  He arched his eyebrow.

  She growled. “Fine. You win. Pity party over.”

  “There’s my girl.”

  His girl? Why did it suddenly sound so different from all the other times he’d said it? She swallowed the rest of her crazy emotions. “Thanks. Let’s go get him.”

  He patted her knees and kissed her forehead. “Good.”

  They met Kirk at the gas station off the Midland exit.

  Annalise reached for the door handle, but Zach grabbed her arm.

  “Take a deep breath.”

  “I’m good.” Resolution settled a calming weight over her mind and heart. Until this really was over, she would hold it together.

  Kirk pulled Jimmy Vern from the passenger rear of his car.

  Still in handcuffs, Jimmy Vern’s red face dripped with sweat. “You can’t keep me like this!” He spat into the leaves. “I will press charges.”

  She stopped toe-to-toe and stared deep into his eyes. Ten seconds, twenty, thirty.

  His mouth clamped tight, and he took a step back.

  “I know Cody was there.” She laid her hands on his shoulders. “And you will tell me—look at me, Jimmy Vern Buchanan—”

  He brought his wide eyes back to hers.

  “Where his body is, so I can take him home to his momma.”

  “Or what?”

  She leaned in, so close she could see the closed-up piercing in his earlobe. “I will put your body somewhere no one, and I mean no one, will find you
. After I starve you for five days like you did him.”

  “I didn’t starve—” Jimmy Vern clamped his mouth shut.

  “Arrest him, Kirk. That’s as good as a confession for me.” Annalise moved quickly enough that Jimmy Vern flinched. She spun him back toward the truck and slammed the door on his protests. He made her physically ill. “Get him out of here. I can’t look at him a minute longer.”

  Kirk stared at her, open mouthed. He swallowed and regained his composure. “I’ll get it out of him before we get to the jail, Annalise. Get back out there and see if you can find the boy’s—” He winced. “Get back up there.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Zach smiled at her. “I’m proud of you.”

  For what? She hadn’t gotten any real, helpful answers.

  “For not taking his sorry hind end out right now.”

  She chuckled. “I wanted to.”

  “But you acted responsibly. Like the upstanding officer and child of God you are. That’s the difference between him and you.”

  He was right. And it did feel good to know the truth. Jimmy Vern was guilty of kidnapping, moonshine making, and now, probably, double murder. He would never see the light of day again, if she had anything to say about it.

  They pulled into the driveway, now backed up with emergency personnel vehicles almost to the road.

  She twisted her hands in her lap. “Think they found anything yet?” Even though it seemed the odds were in the negative, the thought they would find him alive crept back in. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful miracle, Lord?

  “They would have called.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ready?”

  “Give me a minute.”

  He stepped out.

  She bowed her head. I need You, Lord. I’m about to give up. You know my heart. You know how badly we all want to find Cody and bring him home. One way or another.

  I’m here. I’ve always been here, child.

  Tears popped into her eyes. I need strength.

  You need to trust.

  It hurts too much, God. I trusted Dave, and he betrayed me.

  I have a plan. In all of it.

  She raised her eyes to the mountains covered in reds, yellows, and golds. A strong wind kicked up, rustling their brilliant fringes together and rushing toward the valley. God was here. In the middle of all this pain. In the middle of her heart, and in the middle of the sorrow. No matter what happened, He could bring good, maybe even joy again someday. If she chose to focus on Him, and not the problem, He would bring a solution.