“I got a call this morning from a man who claimed to know where Maime is,” George said, looking over at me, motioning for me to get in the truck.
I didn’t budge. “We can’t go alone. We need to call the police. I’ll call Luke.” I reached for my cellphone in my pocket. I couldn’t believe he thought we could handle this alone.
“We’re fine,” George said, putting his hand over mine. “I already called Detective Morgan. He’s pulling a team together and heading there. He asked that I pick you up.”
I was as sure as I was standing there that Luke had not asked him to pick me up, but my hands were starting to turn numb against the cold. Given Luke was on his way, there was no point stalling. I relented and got in George’s truck. Once we made our way out of my neighborhood, I asked where we were headed.
“Down towards Hot Springs,” George responded.
After a moment when I didn’t say anything, George said, “Just trust me on this.”
“Tell me what the guy said when he called about Maime.” I knew Luke had been in Hot Springs all night, but we never got the chance to talk before he left this morning so I didn’t know whether to believe George or not.
“Just that he had Maime. He is going to release her, but he wants money in exchange. I pulled together all the cash I have and got the rest from Edwin. He’s driving down separately. See that bag in the back? It’s got the money he wanted. The guy gave me directions. Said no cops, but I called them anyway.”
There was a bag I could see right behind the driver’s seat on the floor.
“What did Luke say? Why didn’t he call me?”
“I said I would call you. He was a little busy pulling everything together. Riley, it’s going to be okay. We are going to get her back,” George said, trying I’m sure to sound reassuring.
I sat for a good twenty minutes staring out the window. As we exited off city roads and onto the highway, we were definitely headed in the direction of Hot Springs. I didn’t like how I was feeling though. Something wasn’t adding up. I couldn’t quite put the pieces together. By the time we reached I-30, I had a plan.
“George, can we stop please? I know you are in a hurry. I have to go to the bathroom. I was in such a rush I didn’t go before we left,” I said urgently, squirming in my seat for effect. I was hoping once he pulled over, I could use my phone and get myself out of the situation.
“Not now,” George said gruffly and shot me a look. “Let’s keep going. We’ll be there soon. You’ll make it, I’m sure.”
I turned my cellphone over in my lap and lifted the screen up to get a better look. I was going to call Cooper to at least let him know where I was and to see if he was on his way. I stared in disbelief when I realized my screen saver was not the scene of huts over the water in Bora Bora. I slid the graphic to unlock my screen and clicked the people tab in the lower left corner. It was blank. My mind flashed back to my cell sitting on the inside table right near my front door. I had left my phone downstairs while I took a shower.
I turned my head, and was about to ask George what he did to my phone, when his hand with a white cloth in it slammed into my face.
He held the cloth against my nose and mouth. I struggled against him, my hands clawing at his arms, but I was confined by the seat belt and the interior of the truck. My eyes darted in panic not wanting to inhale. But in my flailing and panic, I sucked in two short deep breaths. My limbs grew heavy. I struggled to keep my eyes open. I couldn’t even turn my head to look at George.
The last thought I had was that I didn’t want Luke to find my body like the rest of the women. He couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t do that to him. Then darkness overcame me.
CHAPTER 79
FOR DAYS LUKE FELT like he was trying to walk through quicksand. The further he got into this case, the more he sunk down into the muck with seemingly no way out. They just didn’t seem to be catching any breaks. He thought Norwalk would have led them to the guy that was buying Maime’s drugs by now. He hadn’t. Luke kept thinking that maybe Norwalk was smarter than he had given him credit for and wouldn’t be so easily duped. He kept Cooper on it just in case.
Luke arrived at work at seven that morning. He had rolled out of Riley’s bed around six after sleeping for five hours. He had too much on his mind to sleep. He felt guilty each night he went to bed. Luke knew he needed sleep. That he wasn’t good to anyone without the proper rest, but each hour asleep meant another hour a ruthless killer was still out there. And there were two missing women’s lives still hanging in the balance.
Luke thought he probably should start sleeping in his own bed again. He’d been spending every night at Riley’s. He was sure his late nights and early mornings were depriving her of the peaceful rest she needed. She never complained.
Each night, he promised himself he’d go home, but when it came time to leave work, the temptation to sleep next to her won over. Riley looked exhausted the last few days so when he had left that morning, he was extra quiet and just didn’t have the heart to wake her. She was sound asleep and looked too peaceful to be disturbed.
He still felt bad for crawling out of her bed without saying a word. Luke looked at his watch and realized it was already close to eight. Riley would be up by now. He reached for the phone. As he did, it started to ring. Luke answered. The person on the other end started speaking before he could even say hello.
“Detective Morgan, we were given your number if any new leads on your case came in. We’ve had another this morning. Just now in fact,” Janelle, the news reporter, said. Her voiced was rushed and high-pitched.
“What was the message?” Luke asked, realizing then the dread growing in his stomach.
“It was the same man as before. He said he just threw another woman in the Arkansas River,” Janelle said and then paused.
“Anything else?”
“Yes,” Janelle said tentatively.
Luke heard her crying.
“Go on, this is important. What else did he say?” he urged.
“He said to deliver a personal message to Detective Morgan. He said to tell him that we took his precious Riley and that she would be dead soon just like the others,” Janelle said and then broke into sobs on the phone.
Luke couldn’t catch his breath. It was like he’d been punched in the gut. The wind knocked out of him. He wasn’t sure what to do first. He waved Tyler over to finish the call and get the rest of the information from Janelle. He needed to call Riley immediately. He needed to get to her. If it was just a joke, she’d answer and be okay.
He sprinted from the office and down the flights of stairs, taking two at a time. He called Riley as he went, but she wasn’t picking up. He called Cooper and asked him if he’d heard from Riley. He hadn’t. Luke explained. Cooper said he’d meet him at Riley’s as fast as he could.
Luke threw on his siren and raced through the city. It was morning rush hour traffic. He weaved in and out as cars pulled over to let him pass. He zoomed through red lights, unconcerned for his safety and the safety of other drivers. All he cared about was getting to Riley. He knew though deep down in a place he didn’t even want to think about, that she wouldn’t be there. He knew she was gone. But still he raced. Maybe someone saw something. Maybe he could find her. Just like he knew she was gone, Luke knew he still had a chance to save her.
He squealed his brakes, slamming his car to a stop in front of her house. His siren still blaring brought all of the neighbors into the street. Good, he thought, as he raced to her front door. Let them all know right now that Riley was gone.
Luke unlocked the front door as he had done the previous nights and called her name over and over again, yelling at the top of his lungs. She wasn’t there. He was only met with silence. Deafening silence.
Luke raced up the stairs. Room after room he searched. In each closet. In each part of the house. He searched over and over again never ceasing calling her name. He heard voices downstairs and knew that Cooper had arrived.
Lu
ke bounded back down the stairs and said only three words to Cooper and Riley’s friend Emma who were now standing in the living room. “He took her.”
“Who? How?” Emma asked, leaning on Cooper for support. Cooper put his arm around her shoulders and stared at Luke waiting for a response. The growing concern was evident on their faces.
“He called it in to the news tip line. He said he left another body in the river and that he took Riley.” Luke put his hands over his eyes and groaned. “I was just here. I left her asleep a little after six this morning.”
They each started looking around Riley’s house. Emma noticed immediately that the shower and bathroom towel were wet, like someone had just used it. She asked Luke if he had showered before he left. Luke told them he hadn’t. He had showered at home.
Luke’s limbs felt heavy as he stood in the living room trying to remember every detail from that morning. Were there any suspicious cars in the neighborhood? Had he seen anyone before he left? Why didn’t he just stay a little while longer?
Cooper called from inside the kitchen that he found her cellphone sitting on the kitchen table. Luke willed himself to walk out to his car. He flipped off the siren and pulled out a pair of gloves. Riley never went anywhere without her cellphone. That much he knew.
As Luke walked back to the house, a kid from the crowd that was still gathered in the road in front of Riley’s house called out to Luke, “Are you looking for the lady that lives in that house?”
Luke stopped in his tracks and turned to the kid and asked, “Yes do you know where she is?”
“Yep,” the boy said proudly. “She went with that guy on the television. The one that killed his wife. He parked way down the block. I saw them leave in his truck.”
CHAPTER 80
AFTER HEARING THE KID’S DESCRIPTION, Luke jumped into his SUV and drove directly to George’s house. Luke hoped Riley was there. He knew in his gut she wasn’t. He needed to rule it out. He needed to see for himself.
There were no vehicles in the driveway, and the house looked dark. Luke tried all the doors. He looked through the windows but nothing. Standing on George’s front lawn, Luke cursed himself for not keeping George under twenty-four-hour surveillance. They hadn’t received approval for the GPS unit on his truck yet.
Luke kicked the ground in front of him, pissed off at himself for not trying harder, not pushing harder. Screw procedure, he thought. Everyone knew George was guilty.
Speeding back to Riley’s house, Luke called Tyler. Luke explained everything he knew so far and asked Tyler about what else they found out from Janelle. Tyler said they already sent guys down to the river to search the spots the other victims were found. Another boat unit was dispatched to search the water. Luke asked Tyler to send another unit to George’s house again and break the door down if they had to. It needed to be searched now.
Luke also asked Tyler to try to call George and put an immediate trace on his cellphone.
Luke’s next call was to put a BOLO on George’s truck. He would have photos of George and Riley on the news immediately. Luke would make it impossible for George to hide.
Just as Luke was hanging up from police dispatch, his cellphone rang. Luke looked at his cellphone screen. It was Ben the reporter.
“Is it true? Is Riley really missing? We just got a tip,” Ben asked sharply.
“Yeah, George took her from her house this morning. We need to get this out there now. Can you put this up on the newspaper website?” Luke asked slightly out of breath. “I can have their pictures and an official statement emailed over.”
“Sure. Anything to help. I’m at the office right now. I’ll watch for it and get it up there as soon as we can.”
Luke hung up and walked back into Riley’s house. He came face to face with a very concerned and confused Emma and Cooper.
Seeing their concerned looks, Luke explained, “It’s George. He’s got her.”
Emma and Cooper looked at each other and then back to Luke for explanation.
“A neighbor kid just told me he saw Riley leave this morning with the guy he saw on the television accused of killing his wife. We’ve got to get to her. I don’t know what he’s doing, but if he harms one hair on her head, I’ll kill him myself,” Luke said angrily.
Cooper swore under his breath and said, “Luke, listen there’s something Riley didn’t tell you. It happened the other day. Riley told me not to tell you because she didn’t want to add any more stress to your life.”
“Just tell me,” Luke said impatiently.
Luke knew from experience that whenever Riley kept a secret it was never good. When she was happy, she couldn’t wait to share the news. When it was bad, she was a vault.
“The other morning when she told George about Dean, George grabbed her and shook her hard,” Cooper said and then hesitated. “He told her he knew you spent the night at her place. He’d been watching her.”
“Why wouldn’t she say something?” Emma asked, her voice cracking. She looked on the verge of tears.
“Riley just brushed it off like she has been doing. She was upset and shocked but thought it was the stress. Coming by the house, she chalked it up to George being George,” Cooper explained but his voice sounded hollow.
Luke knew this wasn’t good. He should have arrested George whether they could make a case on him or not. If he’d been doing his job, Riley would be safe now.
CHAPTER 81
AFTER GETTING THE NUMBER FROM EMMA, Luke walked into Riley’s home office and sat down at her desk. He wasn’t ready to make this call, but he knew it had to be done.
Luke wanted privacy and didn’t want to have to talk in front of Cooper and Emma. This was going to be one of the hardest calls he was ever going to have to make. He hesitated, then punched the numbers into his cellphone and took a deep breath.
The phone rang three times before a woman picked up.
“Mrs. Karen Sullivan?” Luke asked for Riley’s mom. It was the first time he’d ever spoken to the woman. Emma said she’d make the call, but Luke wanted to do it himself. He wanted to assure Riley’s mother he was doing everything he could.
“Yes,” she said with hesitation in her voice.
“My name is Detective Luke Morgan. I’m a detective with the Little Rock Police Department. Riley is missing. We believe George Brewer took her this morning. We are doing everything we can to find her.”
The woman didn’t respond. All Luke heard were shallow rapid breaths.
“Are you there, ma’am?”
Finally, she spoke. “How well do you know my daughter, Detective?”
“Truthfully,” Luke paused. He knew this wasn’t the time for such a conversation, but he wasn’t going to start this call with a lie. “Very well. We were dating for over a year before she moved back to New York. We just picked up where we left off.”
“Good, Detective. Find my daughter. If you know Riley, he’ll have a fight on his hands.”
It was the first time Luke smiled. He knew her mother was right.
Karen continued, her voice strong and even, “If I were a betting woman, I think we all should say a silent prayer for George Brewer. He may very well be the one that ends up dead. You find my daughter, then we can discuss your relationship with her. I’ll be on the first flight out.”
She hung up before Luke could say anything else.
Luke set his cellphone down. He rested his head in his hands and looked down at Riley’s desk. It was clean and neat. Her laptop was open but turned off. There was a pile of papers stacked neatly to the left of her computer. Atop the pile was an orange sticky note with Riley’s perfect handwriting. The note read: How is Maime connected to this number 501-555-2734?
Luke immediately recognized the number. It was the number Janelle had just given him. The number the killer was using to call in tips to the media. They had tracked that number to a prepaid cellphone, but then the trail ran cold. He wasn’t sure what Riley had meant in her note.
Luke be
gan flipping through the stack of papers until he found Maime’s cellphone records. The paper was covered in yellow highlighter. Riley had highlighted line after line of calls coming in and going out to the same number. Luke flipped back through older phone records. More highlights. The calls went back for at least six months from what Luke could tell. Maime was in some way connected to the same guy calling in the tips.
But something wasn’t adding up for Luke. George wouldn’t call his wife from a prepaid cellphone. There would be no reason. They would use their regular cellphones.
Luke picked up the stack of papers and walked out of Riley’s office and down the hall back to the kitchen where Emma and Cooper were waiting. He handed the note and the cellphone records to Cooper.
“What do you make of this? Riley connected the cellphone number calling in the news tips to calls coming and going to Maime’s phone.”
“Really?” Cooper asked as he flipped quickly through the pages. He looked back at Luke and seemed as confused as Luke felt. It wasn’t adding up for any of them.
Luke turned to Emma, put a hand on her shoulder and said, “I know Riley has said that Maime is crazy. She said that all along, but we didn’t take it seriously. How crazy is she?”
Emma looked between Luke and Cooper, her eyes darting between them. “It was really bad. It was part of the reason she left Little Rock. Maime got crazy. She called and drove by at all hours. She had her friends do the same. It was serious harassment. Riley never wanted to make a police report. She said it would stop if she just ignored it. It didn’t. It continued even after she left. For months, even long after Riley left, I saw Maime drive by the house.”
“Is she crazy enough to kill?” Luke asked.
“Honestly,” Emma said and hesitated, looking between Cooper and Luke. “Yes. Probably. She would need help. I don’t think she’d have the guts to do it on her own. She wouldn’t be strong enough.”
Deadly Sins Page 25
