by Dana Nussio
“Where the hell—”
He stopped himself as a flash from a few years prior struck him. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? He leaped up and rushed to his file drawer. Not the one from the four-drawer filing cabinet pressed up to the wall. Instead, he pushed away the fake rubber tree in the corner and pressed in the section of the square wall paneling where a second cabinet was hidden.
Plenty of suckers had offered him gifts for a little extra help over the years. He’d even taken a few presents, when they’d pleased him. But what was he supposed to do with what amounted to a timeshare of a crummy, deserted cabin in the woods? Keep record of it, of course. Alongside all the others. One never knew when something like that might come in handy.
Like now.
He pulled out an unlabeled file and sifted through the stack of papers until he came to a miniaturized property diagram and a few blurry photos. Nothing more remarkable than any rural central Michigan hunting cabin other than that it was on a huge wooded property that had been in Fox’s family for generations.
“I’ve got you this time.”
The words didn’t ring true, even as he spoke them, but he needed to believe it was at least something. Fox might not have been the suspect at all and was probably just another of the run-of-the-mill creeps who’d made him rich.
But if he was right? That might even make for a delightful plan. He had a customer who’d drawn too much attention to himself and a few investigators who’d stepped too close to his cyberspace property. Didn’t he deserve the chance to employ his version of Michigan’s Castle Doctrine in these circumstances?
Maybe it would be a hard sell if his attorney tried to use it as a defense in court, but that wouldn’t matter if there was no one around to tell. And a deserted location might be the perfect place for three nuisances to be quieted for good.
Chapter 23
Nothing.
Kelly propped her elbows on her desk and lowered her head into her hands as words on the chat room board continued to scroll on the screen in front of her. None of the conversations in any of the chats they’d monitored had produced even a red flag in more than forty-eight hours. In fact, she’d never seen them so dead.
She couldn’t say she was surprised after the article had appeared two nights before on one of those local online newsfeeds. She clicked on the tab where she kept the article open and ground her teeth as the headline appeared on the screen again.
Local teens’ deaths connected to chat room play?
The reporter probably thought she was keeping the search for Sienna and Madison alive by bringing to light details collected from the victims’ neighbors rather than from police. Kelly was tempted to message her through that link at the bottom of the article and tell her she’d only been telegraphing warnings to potential suspects. They’d gotten the message, too.
As if they needed any more setbacks after her wild goose chase involving BIG DADDY. She would have thought that a bad lead was better than none, but she was wrong.
“Slow day?”
Kelly startled at the sound of Eric’s voice and turned back to find him standing at her cubicle doorway.
“The slowest. How about you?”
He shook his head. “Not a thing. Same with Lazzaro, Golden and Strickland. Even the local agencies in Toledo aren’t getting any new tips. The suspect who took the victim—”
“Harper, you mean?”
Eric blinked a few times and then nodded. “Whoever took...well, they’ve had a long time to get far from northern Ohio or do whatever they’d planned.”
“We can’t give up. Harper needs us not to give up.”
That those were the same words she’d spoken to Tony the night before startled her. Tony had coaxed away her worries with tender lovemaking for the second consecutive night, but her misgivings had intensified in the daylight.
Eric was watching her too closely when she remembered to look back at him again. Had she given him some clue that she and Tony were far more than colleagues now, or was it something else? Could Eric have been the one who’d betrayed them? She still didn’t want to believe that about any of them.
“I know this is new for you, Kelly, but we don’t always win. You came in after the first two victims—”
“You mean after Sienna and Madison were murdered,” she ground out. Whether or not she should be suspicious of him, she couldn’t let him whitewash their identities or the truth.
“Yeah.” He shifted his feet when he said it this time. “We don’t even know for certain that the abductor brought, uh, Harper, to Michigan. And even if he did, they could be dipping their toes in Lake Superior by now.”
“Or she could be dead. I know.” Her shoulders dropped with her concession. Maybe he was just looking out for her. Maybe he didn’t know any more about the threats than she did.
“I just want you to be prepared for the possibility.”
“Thanks. I’m good.”
It was a bald-faced lie, and he probably knew it. She was nowhere ready to accept that Harper might have faced the same fate as the other two victims. Not if Kelly could have done anything to reach the girl first. Not if she could have found answers sooner if she hadn’t been spending all her time falling in love with Tony.
“Well, okay, then.”
Eric turned away.
“Hey, sorry, Eric.”
He turned back and brushed off her apology with a wave of his hand. “No problem. We all get on edge when the leads stop coming in. Oh, Lazzaro’s on his way over. If I don’t get to the coffee first, he’s going to drink it all, and I’ll have to make a new pot. Again.”
Eric hurried away, and Tony came to her only seconds later.
“Guess I’ll be making coffee,” he said when he paused in the doorway.
“Looks like it. Eric said you’re stuck, too.”
Tony’s eyes narrowed as he glanced in the direction the young officer had gone. Clearly, he hadn’t ruled out any of their coworkers, and he appeared suspicious of each move they made.
“Yeah. Not even any larger-item bartering on the Dark Web.”
Since larger items tended to indicate human trafficking, she didn’t mind this time that he’d spoken in code.
“Maybe Eric’s right. Maybe the Toledo suspect didn’t even come to Michigan.”
He shrugged. “Could be, but until we’ve ruled out that possibility, we investigate as if she’s in our own backyard.”
“I hope we’re not wasting any more time.”
Kelly started to say more, but her activity watch vibrated against her wrist to signal a text message on her connected personal cell. No name on the watch face. Just a phone number she didn’t recognize. The message that scrolled after it had her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest.
He didn’t listen!
He? It didn’t say You? She didn’t bother trying to guess who the “he” was or what message Tony had ignored. Both were obvious, and they were about to pay for not heeding a warning. She tried to release the breath she was holding, praying he wouldn’t notice.
“Anything important?”
Slowly, she lifted her gaze to find him staring down at her, concern etched in the pair of vertical lines between his brows. He was trying to get a look at her watch, so she was grateful that the words had vanished as quickly as they’d appeared.
“Oh, that? It’s nothing.”
That she had any voice at all surprised her no less than how effortlessly she’d lied. To this man who’d gone out of his way to help her deal with her past. This person she loved, whether she’d told him or not. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t told him the truth about the text other than that the instinct to shield him had been immediate and overpowering.
The side of his mouth crinkled. “Doesn’t look like ‘nothing.’”
“I just don’t usually get text
s on my personal cell. I told you my parents and brothers aren’t big communicators.”
Instead of giving him time to dismantle her argument, she bent beneath her desk and pulled her phone out of her purse. After turning her office chair so she was facing him and the screen wouldn’t have been visible to him, she clicked on her messages and read that one again.
She’d expected more since her watch didn’t always show the whole message, but only those three threatening words showed on the screen.
“Mom just got a new phone number. She probably still thinks I’m on the afternoon shift, so she wouldn’t know I’m at work now.” She clicked out of her text messages and tossed the phone back in her purse.
“You never told her about the change?”
She cleared her throat. “Guess they’re not the only ones with communication problems.”
“Guess not.”
“I probably should give her a call. You know. Catch up.”
He gave her another skeptical look but then shrugged. “You want any coffee?”
She shook her head. No way could she keep that down right now.
Tony continued up the aisle, and Eric passed her cubicle again. This time he didn’t stop. She scooted her chair to the entry, and after assuring herself that no one else was coming, she dug in her purse again. She nearly dropped her phone when it vibrated in her hand, a similar pulse following at her wrist, before she could even click on the message.
You didn’t tell him, did you? He’ll be sorry if you did.
A tremble shimmied up her arms, and she curled her shoulders forward. She should let Tony know about the message, but how could she do that? He was the one in danger this time, and she couldn’t risk involving him until she knew what she was dealing with.
She swallowed and started typing.
What do you want?
I thought we were talking about what YOU want. A missing girl, perhaps?
Kelly gasped, her chest feeling like a truck was parked on it. But the texter already had her at a disadvantage. She couldn’t afford to reveal her hand too quickly.
What are you talking about?
Do you want to bring the Toledo girl home alive or not?
Harper was alive? She gulped down several quick breaths, but her lungs were still starved for oxygen. She couldn’t type fast enough to let him know that, of course, she wanted what he was offering. Forget worrying about showing her cards, this suspect held them all regarding Harper’s safety and, possibly, Tony’s as well.
The next text had no words at all, just a photo of a printed map of rural Livingston County with a star in the middle.
Come here in one hour. Alone.
I’ll be there.
If you don’t come alone, she dies. If you bring your FBI boyfriend, he’ll die first. Then the girl. Then you.
She typed her promise to be there and set the phone on her desk, continuing to stare at the screen. If she didn’t go, Harper would die. If she told Tony, he would insist on joining her. That would be like signing his death warrant.
She shot a glance to the aisle to ensure that no one was watching her and unlocked her desk drawer, sliding her weapon and holster into her purse. Then she grabbed the phone again and scrolled through the message thread. Her breath caught again as she read the first one.
He didn’t listen!
No, she couldn’t take the chance that the man she loved would die while trying to help her with this rescue. Or, worse yet, be killed trying to protect her. She would be a fool not to believe that someone as motivated as this suspect wouldn’t make good on that threat.
She considered—for a fraction of a second—calling on some of the others for backup, but even among her state police colleagues, whom would she choose? She still didn’t know which of them were friends and which were enemies.
Her purse was already on her shoulder when Tony passed her desk again, glanced over and stopped.
“Where are you going now?”
“I have to do something. Can you cover for me for a little while with Dawson?”
His gaze traveled from her purse to her face again. “Let me get my keys.”
She shook her head and forced a smile. “It’s not about the case. It’s my mom. Something’s up, and she needs me to come by the house. I won’t be gone long.”
“What is it? Can I help?”
“It’s nothing serious. But she did ask for me. Not Bruce. Not Sam. Me. You know what a big deal that is.”
That it was also an enormous lie with no chance of ever becoming the truth caused a lump to form in her throat, but it couldn’t be helped. She needed Tony to accept her story, and this was the only way she could convince him she had to do this on her own.
“If there’s anything I can do, call me.”
The hurt in his eyes before he looked away made her throat squeeze even tighter.
“I will.”
It was another lie, but what was one more? She would do whatever was necessary to keep him safe.
“I’ll be back soon.”
As she waved and started for the door, she tried not to think about whom she was trying to fool this time. She could be driving into an ambush, but she had no choice. She wasn’t that scared little girl who’d watched as her best friend was dragged off that lime-green bike. If there was even the slightest chance that Harper was still alive, she had to reach her. If she didn’t make it back, at least she’d protected the man she loved from making the same mistake.
Chapter 24
A pulsing circle filled the screen of Tony’s cell phone, Kelly’s photo off to the side, as it showed her car’s changing location on the map. He zoomed on the circle until the streets were visible, and her movements were displayed, turn by turn. He swallowed and flipped the phone facedown on his desk.
“You can’t do this,” he whispered, shoving his hand back through his hair.
His reasoning had sounded almost valid the day before when he’d adjusted the settings on her phone to grant himself permission to locate her on the Companions Connect app. He’d invaded her privacy as a precaution, the same excuse he’d given himself to push past his suspicion of Dawson and request that Kelly be reassigned from the case. She was too close to it. They both knew that.
So, what was his excuse for using the app now? When had he become one of those guys who checked up on their girlfriends? Technically, she wasn’t even that yet. They hadn’t had the talk. Was his worry about the threat she’d received enough of a reason? She wouldn’t think so. She was a cop. Though they’d been taking care of each other the past few days—in so many ways—she clearly could handle her own safety.
No, he wouldn’t be that guy. He hated that guy. To decrease the temptation, he pushed the phone farther away on the desk. He would be happy for her that her mother had reached out to her instead of her brothers this time, even if he couldn’t help wondering why now after the woman had spent a lifetime failing her daughter. He would be grateful that at least one of Kelly’s broken pieces might be mended.
“Hey, Lazzaro, could you come out here for a second?” Dawson said from the open area outside his cubicle.
He popped up and hurried out. “What’s up?”
Dawson clutched a file folder to his chest. “Have you seen Trooper Roberts?”
Tony shook his head. Of course, now would be the time the special agent chose to announce to Kelly that he’d removed her from the case, instead of yesterday or even this morning, when she’d first arrived.
“She’ll be back soon. She said she had to run a quick errand.”
“Okay. You’ll just have to catch her up when she gets back. I wanted to update you all at the same time.”
Only then did Tony notice the others crowding the walkway around them as if they’d all been summoned.
“What’s going on?” Eric asked from several feet
over.
“There’s been a development,” Dawson said.
“What’s in there?” Tony asked, pointing to the file.
Instead of opening it, he turned to face Tony. “You’ve still been comparing the list of regulars in the chats from ten days ago to now, right?”
Resisting the urge to grab the papers from his superior’s arms, Tony gestured with his thumb toward his desk and the pile of conversation printouts on top.
“Yeah, but there are multiple suspects who drift in and out. Some lie low after relatives discover their extracurricular activities. It might take a while before we have a complete list of those who were active ten days ago and haven’t appeared since.”
“Keep on doing what you’re doing but see if this one rings any bells.”
This time Dawson handed the folder to him and then turned back to the others. Tony opened the file and scanned the notes inside, splitting his attention between the documents and his boss.
“A mother in Florida asked the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department to do a welfare check on her son, Cory Fox, age thirty-two, in New Hudson. When he didn’t respond to their knocks, they entered the premises and found it mostly deserted. The guy has vanished.”
“That doesn’t necessarily make a connection,” Eric pointed out. “A guy in his thirties disappears so he doesn’t have to deal with his mother? I can name five friends who would trade places with him.”
The frown Dawson gave him suggested that joke time was over.
“Any chance that he just skipped out on his mother?” Tony asked.
“There’s always that chance. But it’s the stuff he left behind that has local investigators reaching out to us.”
“Such as?” Tony prompted, though he was already scanning the pages, searching for the answers himself.
“The desktop computer with all kinds of encrypted material and a random IP generator. The posters of animated princesses papering the closet walls.”