by Laura Scott
“Mama!” Louisa finally let go of Naomi’s hand to embrace her mother. Naomi slipped out the door, leaving the two of them alone in the room.
She leaned against the wall for a moment, staring down at her feet. Hopefully, Louisa would recover from this with the help of her mother’s love and counseling.
Kate would too.
But first they had to find her.
She pushed away from the wall when Officer Tim Krill and Sawyer approached. She met Sawyer’s compassionate gaze and gave a tiny nod.
“Rape kit has been completed.” An ordeal that would haunt Naomi almost as much as Louisa. “Her mother is in with her now.”
“Did she give you any more information on the other guy who took Kate?” Sawyer asked.
“No. But I didn’t push either. She was going through enough without me adding to it.”
Sawyer took her hand and gently squeezed it. “Thanks for your help with Louisa.”
Having done what any woman would have, she simply nodded. “I’m so worried about Kate.”
“I know.” Sawyer continued holding her hand. “I’m sure Louisa will be able to help with a description of the guy.”
“Yeah, maybe.” The thought wasn’t encouraging. She’d given the sketch of leering man, and that hadn’t helped as much as she’d hoped.
Except that Sawyer had recognized him. And based on that, they were able to find the cabin, and ultimately Louisa.
Officer Tim Krill poked his head out of the hospital room. “Ms. Palmer? Louisa would like you to be here when I question her.”
“Please call me Naomi.” She released Sawyer’s hand and joined Officer Krill in the room.
The questioning didn’t take long, mostly because Louisa couldn’t remember much. She’d been held in the cabin for most of her time with leering man. He kept her tied to the bed after Paula had escaped. Today, she’d managed to escape the binds. She’d been too afraid to run, until she heard gunfire.
Naomi tried not to show her dismay at the news. Paula hadn’t escaped, not really. She’d ended up murdered, if she was the same girl that had been found in the woods.
“What can you tell us about the other man?” Officer Krill asked. “Is he tall or short? Fat or thin? What color is his hair?”
Louisa cuddled closer to her mother. “He was tall, skinny, and had light hair.” She shivered, then added, “What I remember the most was his mean eyes.”
“What color were his eyes?” Krill pressed.
Louisa shook her head. “I don’t know, he mostly came at night.”
No one spoke for a long moment. Finally, Naomi stepped forward and crouched down next to Louisa’s bed. “Louisa, when was the last time you saw the other man and Katie? How many days ago?”
“Last night.”
“Did the other man say where he was taking Kate?” she asked.
“No, just that he wanted to take Katie someplace else.” Louisa’s dark gaze clung to hers. “You’re going to find Katie and Paula, right?”
“Yes, we will. Thanks for giving us this information, it will help a lot.” Naomi forced a smile and glanced up at Francine. “Your daughter is strong, but she’ll need counseling. I plan to have Kate go through counseling, too, once we get her home.”
“I know. Thanks for helping find her.” Francine looked as if she wanted to cry.
Naomi stood and walked from the room. Louisa had seen Kate less than twenty-four hours ago. The news was both encouraging and frustrating. If they’d have found the cabin a day earlier . . .
No, there was no point in going down the what-if road.
She tried to take heart in the fact that her sister was alive and in East Ridge less than twenty-four hours ago.
There was still time to find her.
If they only knew where to look.
Sawyer listened as Krill asked Louisa a few more questions, but it was clear the girl had told them everything she knew.
He stepped forward, glancing at Francine, then down at Louisa. “You might think of something later, so please don’t hesitate to call Officer Krill, okay? Any small detail could help us find Katie.”
“Okay,” Louisa agreed.
He left the room, hoping to find Naomi. He was relieved to see she was waiting in the hallway.
Before he could say anything, another man came toward them. He straightened when he recognized Detective Turner.
“Murphy,” Dewayne Turner greeted him with a solemn nod. “Good work finding Louisa.”
No thanks to you, he thought wearily. Still, this was the most professional Turner had been toward him, so he forced himself to be polite. “Thanks. Any word on the injured perp?”
Turner nodded. “He’s in surgery, but it sounds like he’ll recover. Hopefully soon enough to tell us what he knows about the other guy and Kate Palmer.”
“Louisa mentioned a girl by the name of Paula who had managed to escape,” Naomi said. “She might be the girl who was found dead nearby.”
“I heard. The reason it took me so long to get here is that I checked the missing person’s data bank. A girl named Paula Rivers was reported missing from Chatsworth, Georgia, five days ago.” Turner glanced at Naomi, then back at Sawyer. “We’re in the process of requesting her dental records to match up with our Jane Doe.”
It seemed as if Turner was finally putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Why it took him this long, Sawyer had no clue. “Great. Don’t let Louisa know we believe Paula is dead. She has enough to deal with right now.”
“I won’t,” the detective agreed.
“Do you have an ID on the guy in surgery?” Sawyer figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.
“Yeah, we ran his prints before he was whisked off to surgery,” Turner replied. “His name is William Evers, goes by Billy. He has a rap sheet significant for soliciting prostitution.”
Sawyer turned to Naomi. “Does that name mean anything to you?”
“No.” She looked depressed at the news. “I wish it did.”
“Did his prints match those on the shanty?” Sawyer asked.
“No.” Turner moved past them to the doorway, then turned back. “Murphy, what about that motel where you saw the guy in the sketch? Do you think the motel is involved in some way?”
Sawyer thought back. “Yeah, maybe. Although I don’t think Louisa was in the truck when I followed it.”
“It just seems odd,” Turner muttered. “Either he was looking for another girl to snatch or he was looking for some guy who might want to have sex with an underage girl.”
Naomi shivered, and he moved closer so that he could take her hand. “Good point. Maybe you should take a team of cops there to check things out.”
“I will as soon as I’m finished, here. The lieutenant is getting a team together now, and the FBI will be arriving shortly to take over.” Turner seemed glad to hand the case over, and Sawyer realized the detective must have been overwhelmed by the complicated case. It was likely why he kept trying to simplify things by going after the boyfriend angle. Maybe he’d spent so much time on details because that was easy for him to do. Sawyer watched as the detective entered Louisa’s room.
“I want to go back to that motel,” Naomi said in a low voice. “The third guy involved in this might have her there.”
“Hold on, Naomi. I don’t have a weapon, and I’m still on paid leave. I’m already on thin ice from the incident at the cabin. We need to leave this in the hands of the police and the Feds.”
“But what if Kate is there now? She could be gone by the time the cops arrive.”
He hated disappointing her. Worse, he silently agreed with heading to the motel. It had been bugging him that he’d found leering man, AKA Billy Evers, there.
“Please, Sawyer.” Naomi put her hand on his arm. “We need to find Kate.”
She was impossible to resist. He raked his hand through his short hair and nodded. “Okay, fine. But first I need to go back to my place. I can’t go near that motel unarmed.”
&
nbsp; Her eyes widened. “You have three guns?”
“Shh.” He winced. “The weapon I’m going to pick up isn’t exactly legal.” He didn’t want to mention how he’d bought it from some gun dealer years ago, the serial numbers having been filed off. It was after he’d been nearly killed by a group of thugs on the street and before Joe Kohl had taken him in.
Living with Joe who was a cop, Sawyer knew he should have gotten rid of the illegal weapon a long time ago. At the time, he’d hung on to it, wanting backup in case he ever had to go on the run again. In the back of his mind, he’d always worried he’d have to take off from Joe’s place to start over someplace new. In the years he’d been on the police force, he’d still kept the gun. Maybe because the kid in him still wanted some way to protect himself from some unknown threat. Stupid and crazy since being found with an illegal gun could end his career.
Sawyer felt certain he’d prevail in the shooting of Melvin Curtis and William Evers. But being in possession of an illegal weapon would be impossible to explain away.
He glanced at the door to Louisa’s room. By the time he went back to his place, then returned to the motel, he figured Turner would have the police and the Feds there as well.
And if they found Kate, the young girl would be more comfortable with Naomi than with a slew of strange men, even if they were cops.
“Come on, let’s go.” He took Naomi’s arm and headed out of the emergency department. He led her to his badly dented SUV.
“How did you get your car back?”
“They took photos of the two vehicles together and let it go at that.” He figured Officer Krill and the others were cutting him a break since he’d helped find Louisa. “Thankfully, the engine runs, its entire passenger side took the brunt of the collision. You’ll have to go in through the driver’s side.”
“I was worried the airbags would deploy, but apparently I wasn’t going fast enough for that.” Naomi crawled over the console, then dropped into the passenger seat.
He followed her into the vehicle and headed back toward Chattanooga.
“Sawyer, are you sure about this?” Naomi’s voice held a tinge of doubt. “I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
Her concern was touching. “I’m sure.” He wasn’t and privately hoped the Feds would beat them to the motel.
Naomi looked concerned but didn’t say anything more as he made the drive back to his cabin. Returning to his place was a risk, but now that William Evers, AKA leering man, was in the hospital, he wasn’t too worried. After all, the other guy had taken off with Kate.
Hopefully not out of state. He didn’t like knowing Paula had been from Chatsworth, Kate from Dalton, and Louisa here in East Ridge.
A sex-trafficking ring that crossed two state lines, and maybe more. He doubted Paula, Louisa, and Kate had been the first girls taken by this crew.
But he silently promised they would be the last.
He increased his speed, wanting to get to the motel shortly after the Feds and local cops did. Hopefully, he wouldn’t need his unregistered weapon.
But he couldn’t go near danger empty-handed.
He slowed the SUV to enter his long driveway. The vehicle bounced up and down over the rocky terrain more than usual, and he suspected there was structural damage to the SUV as well.
Not that it mattered. Capturing Evers and finding Louisa had been well worth it.
“Stay here and wait for me.” He glanced at Naomi as he shut down the engine. “This won’t take long.”
She rested her hand on his arm. “Last chance to back out, Sawyer. You don’t have to do this. I really don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He smiled and slid out of the driver’s seat. Before going inside, he made a quick detour to check on his trip wires.
They didn’t appear disturbed. Reassured, he turned toward his cabin.
As he inserted the key into the lock, the front door abruptly opened, revealing a tall thin man with blond hair, holding a gun leveled at his chest.
Sawyer froze, especially when he caught a glimpse of a young girl sitting inside tied to one of his kitchen chairs.
“Get Naomi.”
At first, the stranger’s request didn’t make any sense. How did this guy know Naomi’s name?
“I want Naomi, now. Get her or I’ll shoot you where you stand.” The skinny guy didn’t look as if he were on drugs or suffering from a mental illness. His eyes were cold and steady.
Sawyer tensed. This was not going to end well. Especially since he didn’t have a gun.
“Tony? What are you doing?”
Naomi’s shout came from directly behind him, which means she’d gotten out of the car. Still, Sawyer didn’t dare take his gaze from the gunman. Then it clicked. Naomi knew this guy. He was her former boyfriend.
“Get over here, Naomi, or the cop dies. And your sister too.”
No! Don’t do it! Stay back! Sawyer willed Naomi to jump into the car and drive away. He didn’t dare move, keeping a wary eye on Tony’s trigger finger.
Sawyer was unarmed and too close to the guy to avoid being shot. All he could do was sacrifice himself to save Naomi and Kate. He sent up a silent prayer for God to watch over the two women. A strange sense of calm washed over him.
“It was you?” Naomi shouted incredulously. “All this time, it was you? Why did you have to drag Kate into this, Tony, huh? Why not just take me?”
“I wanted you, but you left me.” Tony’s trigger finger tightened but then relaxed, the perp’s gaze seemingly focused on Naomi. “Now, Naomi!”
Movement from behind Sawyer made him tense, and then he heard a series of strange thuds, like something hitting the ground, then another something hitting a tree. Sawyer watched as the tip of the gun wavered, then moved away from him.
Now.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Sawyer dropped, rolled, and kicked Tony below the belt. A gunshot rang out at the exact moment the guy howled. Sawyer kicked again, managing to hit Tony’s gun hand. The weapon flew into the brush. Tony was doubled over in pain but kicked out at Sawyer. Ignoring the impact to his kidney, Sawyer leapt to his feet and brought both of his fists down on the back of Tony’s head.
The man teetered for a moment, then fell to the ground. Sawyer grabbed both of Tony’s wrists and yanked them together. He didn’t have a pair of handcuffs in his pocket, but it didn’t matter.
Tony groaned and went limp.
Sawyer dropped his chin to his chest. Three for three.
It was over.
Chapter Seventeen
Heart lodged in her throat, Naomi ran toward Sawyer and the supine form of Tony Baldwin. She hadn’t known what to do to draw Tony’s attention away from Sawyer, so she’d stupidly performed a backflip, followed by a cartwheel, and then she picked a rock up off the ground and threw it into the woods.
The moves hadn’t been pretty, her aim off, but the rather pathetic attempt was all she could think of to distract Tony. She’d been so shocked to discover Tony was involved she’d gotten out of the car and approached him without even realizing what she’d done.
Sawyer had almost been shot because of her. The horror of almost losing him forever made her head spin.
“Naomi, are you all right?”
His concern was humbling. “I’m fine, but what about you?” She frantically scanned him for signs of injury.
“I’m okay. Go inside, check on your sister.”
Kate was inside? Naomi rushed through the open doorway. Her stomach lurched when she saw her half sister, Kate, seated in one of Sawyer’s kitchen chairs, tied and gagged. Kate’s eyes were wide and frantic as she struggled against the bindings.
“Shh, it’s okay, you’re safe now.” She removed the gag first, then fought the knots. But they were extremely tight. She ran around the kitchen table, grabbed a knife from the butcher block on the counter, and quickly cut the rope digging into her sister’s skin.
“H-how did you find
me?” Kate’s voice was hoarse, as if she’d been gagged for a while.
“It’s a long story. How long have you been here?” Naomi couldn’t imagine what would have happened if they hadn’t shown up when they did.
“I-I’m not sure. It seemed like hours.” Kate moaned when Naomi cut her arms free. “Hurts.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Tears pricked her eyes, but she concentrated on cutting the binds around her sister’s feet. Then she took the remains of the rope out to Sawyer. “Can you use these to tie him up?”
“Yes, thanks.” Sawyer was still holding Tony’s wrists.
“Is he—unconscious?” Naomi stared down at Tony’s limp body.
Sawyer glanced up at her as he bound Tony’s wrists tightly together. “Yes, but he’ll survive. How’s your sister?”
“She’ll survive too.” Naomi returned to the kitchen, crouching beside her sister. “Listen, Kate, we’ll need to take you to the hospital, okay?”
“No need, I’m fine.” Kate’s words were brave, but her lower lip trembled, and bright tears filled her eyes.
“It’s okay.” Naomi gathered her sister close, offering as much reassurance as possible. “You’re going to get through this, Kate. I’ll do whatever I can to help you get through this.”
Kate leaned against her, burying her face in her chest. “It’s my fault,” she whispered. “I went with Tony. I wanted to be with him.”
Naomi hugged her sister tight. “You’re only sixteen, Kate. It’s not your fault. Tony is a monster who preyed on young girls.” It made her sick to realize she’d actually dated the guy.
Bile rose in the back of Naomi’s throat. She fought the urge to throw up, focusing on Kate. Her sister needed her to be strong.
“I thought he liked me.” Kate’s words were muffled. “I thought it was cool that he liked me more than you. Only then I realized he only wanted me for sex and expected me to be with other men too.” Her slim shoulders shook with sobs.
“Oh, Kate.” Naomi closed her eyes against a fresh wave of tears and rested her cheek on her sister’s head. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I wish there was something I could do to change what happened to you.”
