The Toybox

by Charly Cox

  After checking in with Sophie’s parents and Aunt Natalia, assuring them Jersey was asleep, she and Sophie left the hospital to grab some food. It wasn’t easy leaving, but they knew they needed to clear their heads in order to be any good to Jersey. On the way to her car, Holly found herself searching for Nick, knowing he was likely still with his sister. She hadn’t realized she’d been half-hoping to see him inside.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Sunday, May 26

  Two blocks from the precinct and stopped at a light, Alyssa took a call from Hal. ‘Tell me you’ve located Tatiana Salazar.’

  Hal cleared his throat. ‘Sorry. Not yet, but we’ll find her. Also, as we expected, all the men brought in yesterday are still squawking about it all being a great big misunderstanding that’ll get cleared up in the light of day.’

  ‘Of course, it’s a big misunderstanding. Isn’t it always?’ Cord’s jaw looked like it might crack if he clenched his teeth any tighter.

  ‘Usually,’ Hal agreed, ‘but that’s not why I’m calling. Like you asked, we’ve been tracking Steve Yarmini’s credit cards.’

  Alyssa shifted in the driver’s seat, unintentionally pressing the accelerator and jolting the car forward. She hit the brake inches from tapping the car in front of her.

  ‘We just received a credit card alert that Steve Yarmini just purchased a one-way plane ticket to Nepal. Flight leaves at 1:16 from United heading into Dallas.’

  Alyssa glanced at the clock displayed on the dash. 11:18. ‘Is he trying to throw us off, or is he really that thick?’ Though she muttered the question more to herself than to Hal, he answered as if she’d asked him directly.

  ‘Not that thick, Alyssa. It’s my understanding, after all, that Nepal has a no extradition treaty with the United States.’

  ‘Thanks, Hal. Can you update Hammond for me?’

  ‘Sure thing. Anything else?’

  ‘I’ll let you know.’ At the intersection, she flipped the car around and sped toward the freeway. Cord was already on the phone with Joe.

  ‘You and Tony get to the airport and get in place. We’ll be there as soon as we can. That plane isn’t taking off with Yarmini onboard.’

  The second she hit I25, she hit the accelerator, the speed on her Tahoe steadily climbing to seventy-five, eighty, ninety as she hurried to intercept Steve Yarmini. Thankfully, it was before noon on a Sunday and traffic was still fairly light, so less than ten minutes later, the car barreled onto airport property.

  Inside the terminal, they stopped at the large display for departures, noting what gate they needed, and then took the escalator two at a time. At security, they flashed their badges, and one of the guys ushered them through. Maneuvering around the cleaning crew, Alyssa and Cord sprinted down the corridor to Gate B. The crowd was sparse, and they picked out Yarmini right away. His head was in a magazine, but he darted nervous glances out the window every few seconds. It was during one of these that he spotted them, and he leaped to his feet, his head jerking left and right as he spun around in a circle, desperately searching for an escape route.

  Apparently the guy wasn’t used to going on the lam, considering he’d used his own credit card and hadn’t scoped out possible escape routes before they’d arrived. It was a rookie mistake that would cost him. Alyssa and Cord shared a look, then Cord moved off to the left while Alyssa continued straight down the aisle. ‘Mr. Yarmini, we’ve been searching for you, and here you were, planning on leaving without saying goodbye? That was quite rude, and I admit I’m a little hurt by that. But you can make it up to me by coming with me peacefully.’

  It was the way his eyes flickered to his right that alerted her he was really going to make a run for it. And she wasn’t wrong. She adjusted her approach as he darted around the chairs, heading for one of the doors leading into nothing but a steep fall to the tarmac. When he tripped over his bag, she actually shook her head. Not the sharpest criminal in the class.

  Two minutes later, with the small crowd waiting for the plane watching, Alyssa had Yarmini on the ground and cuffed. Yanking him to his feet, she read him his rights as Cord latched onto his other elbow.

  Yarmini continued his futile struggles, his face turning bright red from the exertion. ‘You’re making a huge mistake here.’

  ‘You’re the one who made the mistakes, and now you’re going to pay for them,’ Alyssa promised as they escorted him outside to Joe and Tony who were waiting by the curb to drive him to the police station.

  * * *

  Half an hour later, just after noon, Alyssa and Cord rushed past Ruby and headed straight to the interrogation room where Joe had taken Yarmini.

  As soon as he saw them coming, Joe uncrossed his arms and stepped away from the door. ‘All yours. I’ll be writing up my report if you need me for anything.’

  ‘Thanks, Joe.’

  Alyssa unlocked the door to a pacing Steve Yarmini, interrupting him mid-rant. Closing the door behind him, Cord moved into the corner while Alyssa pulled out a chair and offered a smile that wasn’t meant to be the least bit friendly.

  ‘Why don’t you take a seat and get comfortable? We’re going to be here a while.’

  Dark smudges stained the bags under the brown eyes that glowered back at her, but he dragged back one of the chairs and plopped into it like a sullen teenager. ‘Can’t say I’m sorry I interrupted your travel plans, Mr. Yarmini. What’s in Nepal anyway?’

  Steve Yarmini did his best to look intimidating as he crossed his arms and narrowed his gaze at her, but his shaky voice and the sweat popping out on his lip belied his confidence. ‘I was heading there on vacation.’

  Cord’s posture was relaxed, though Alyssa knew him well enough to know he was anything but. ‘Do you happen to drive a 2017 Dodge Viper, Mr. Yarmini?’ He mirrored Yarmini’s stance – crossing his arms over his chest.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Dodge Viper? Sporty little number? Sound familiar?’ Cord’s tone suggested he wasn’t buying into Yarmini’s act.

  Yarmini’s eyes flickered around the room. ‘Yeah, but it was stolen a few days ago.’

  Cord feigned shock. ‘Stolen? Really? If it was stolen, why didn’t you report it?’

  Manic energy radiated off Yarmini. ‘What?’

  ‘Why. Didn’t. You. Report. It? I mean, hot little number like that, I’d be on the phone to the police immediately.’

  Alyssa skewered Yarmini with her glare, not giving him time to answer Cord’s question. ‘Was it stolen, or did you dump it like you did Meghan Jessup after you raped and murdered her?’

  Like a spring-loaded trap, Yarmini bolted out of his chair and pressed his back against the wall. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know—’ His eyes widened into near-perfect circles.

  Alyssa cut him off. ‘Do you know what’s great about science these days, Mr. Yarmini? We can determine assailants from the tiniest little things. Say for instance, bodily fluids discovered in a fourteen-year-old rape victim.’ The results from the lab hadn’t yet come back, but Yarmini didn’t need to know that.

  Steve Yarmini paled at her announcement. ‘You’re lying,’ he sputtered, specks of spittle spraying outward and landing on the table.

  ‘Am I?’

  Defeated, Yarmini sank back into his chair. ‘I demand to speak to my attorney before I say anything else.’

  Alyssa stood and Cord pushed off the wall. ‘Of course. That is your right. In the meantime, you’ll be a guest of the Metropolitan Detention Center.’ At the door, her hand hovered above the handle as she twisted around, her smile stretched tight. ‘I do hope you’re aware that while prisoners are guilty of many things, they still hold grudges against child rapists and murderers.’ She had the satisfaction of watching all color drain from Yarmini’s face as she pulled open the door and walked out in search of someone to escort him to a holding cell.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Sunday, May 26

  An unfamiliar perfume drifted in the air. Someone wa
s in Rachel’s room, someone who wasn’t her brother. Her muscles turned into hot liquid, and she couldn’t get any of them to obey. She needed to be quiet, needed them not to know she was awake. Still, a whimper escaped.

  ‘Good morning.’ A voice like polished silver came from near the side of her bed, and Rachel’s eyes flew open. A nurse wearing camel-colored scrubs stood with a dry erase marker in one hand, eraser in the other. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you. You were sleeping so well, I didn’t want to disturb you. I’m Bethany. I’ll be your nurse today. I was jotting my name and extension on your board over there in case you needed me for anything when you woke.’ The smile she wore was soft and kind, but it was the gentleness and understanding in her demeanor that made Rachel want to cry.

  ‘Where’s my brother? Can I have some water, please?’ She wondered if her voice would ever again sound like her own.

  ‘I think he stepped out to get a bite to eat, but he said if you woke to tell you he’d be right back.’ Bethany scooted the table nearer to the bed before picking up the water and wrinkling her nose. ‘Let me go get you some fresh stuff, okay? This looks like it might’ve been sitting here all night. I’ll be right back.’

  A few minutes later, Bethany returned with a fresh pitcher of water and a cup of ice. ‘Here you go, hon. Now, you just lay back and relax while I take your blood pressure.’ She secured the cuff around Rachel’s arm and squeezed the bulb, watching the needle and keeping her rambling monologue going.

  A fine sheen of cold sweat broke out on Rachel’s skin, and so she concentrated on breathing, reminding herself this was a blood pressure cuff, she was in the hospital, and this was a nurse. She wasn’t in the contraption in The Toybox with her torturers.

  ‘You and your brother seem close. Blood pressure is 120/74. Excellent.’ Bethany removed the cuff from Rachel’s arm, folded it, and shoved it into a very large pocket on the front of her scrubs. ‘I know most nurses prefer the mechanical cuffs, but I like my old-fashioned one. It hasn’t failed me yet, anyway.’ After she ran the thermometer across Rachel’s forehead and jotted down her temperature, Bethany turned serious.

  ‘Okay, let’s find out how you’re doing today. On a scale of one to ten, where does your pain or discomfort fall? And be honest because we can’t help you if we don’t know.’

  ‘Four, five. It’s a little better today.’

  ‘I can get you something to help with the pain, if you’d like.’

  ‘I’m okay with acetaminophen or ibuprofen.’

  Bethany nodded. ‘If that’s what you prefer, we can work with that. Now, the doctor prescribed an antibiotic to help stave off any possible infections from those lacerations on your back. That’s the extra bag you see hanging there.’ Despite her efforts to remain matter-of-fact, Rachel could see the pity in the nurse’s eyes. Then she tucked the call button remote closer to Rachel, patted her hand, and said, ‘I’ll be in again in just a bit to check on you.’

  Just as Bethany reached the door, Rachel stopped her. She had a question, but she’d been afraid to ask Nick. ‘Did anyone… did they do a rape kit on me?’

  The nurse crossed back over and gripped Rachel’s hand gently in her own. ‘Yes, they did. You probably don’t remember because you were in and out of consciousness when they brought you in yesterday. They needed to collect whatever evidence they could to help convict the men who did this to you.’

  Tears trailed from the corners of Rachel’s eyes as she nodded. How could she admit she was glad she hadn’t been alert enough to know what they were doing? Mentally, she knew it was done to help. Psychologically, she felt as if she’d been violated all over again.

  No sooner had Bethany exited than Nick entered carrying a take-out bag from Blake’s Lotaburger, the scent of French fries drifting toward Rachel’s nose. ‘You’re awake. Just got off the phone with Dad. They’ll be by this evening to see you. In the meantime, you have another visitor.’

  She twisted her head toward the open door. Anna. Rachel struggled to sit, a sob breaking through as her friend moved hesitantly from behind Nick and further into the room. And then Nick was by her side in an instant, squeezing her hand, reminding her he was there, and she realized she’d been on the verge of hyperventilating.

  ‘Anna?’

  Her friend moved cautiously closer to the bed where she shoved her hands deep into her pockets and then swayed back and forth on the balls of her feet. ‘I’d heard you were here. I’m so sorry I haven’t come to see you before now. I just, I felt so bad because…’

  ‘I didn’t know what had happened to you. When I woke up, and you weren’t with me, I didn’t know if they’d taken you or killed you or…’ Rachel gripped her brother’s hand, reminding her to stay anchored in the moment, not to return to the house of horrors.

  ‘I’m the one who convinced you to go to the party that night. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I forgot my purse, and when I came back, you were already gone. I just thought you’d gotten tired of waiting or that you were mad at me. And then you didn’t answer any of my texts, so…’

  What was Anna talking about? When had she forgotten her purse? The last thing she remembered was sinking into the mattress…

  Nick released Rachel’s hand long enough to set the take-out bag on the chair by the window and then crossed back over to Rachel, taking her hand in his again and clasping it between both of his before directing his question to Anna. ‘Why didn’t you go to the police when you realized my sister had disappeared?’

  To a stranger, Nick probably sounded curious, but to Rachel, she heard the underlying tension in his voice. Plus, there had been a subtle tightening of his fingers around hers.

  Anna averted her gaze, her shoulders drooping. ‘I went to visit my father in Kentucky, so I didn’t know. I got back late last night and saw it on the news. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘None of this is your fault.’ Even as Rachel said it, a tiny voice inside her screamed, Yes, it is! If you hadn’t insisted I go with you to that stupid party, none of this ever would’ve happened.

  ‘Um, I have to go, but I’ll be back tomorrow. If that’s okay?’

  Rachel didn’t have a chance to answer because Nick did. ‘I’ll give you my number. Why don’t you text me before you come, and I’ll let you know if she’s up to visitors?’ He may have been smiling, but his voice contained a dark hint of distrust. Or blame.

  After Anna left, something shifted inside Rachel, leaving her mind murky and confused. And even while Nick tried to coax her into replacing her hospital food with the fries he’d bought, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was forgetting something, something urgent.

  Chapter Fifty

  Monday, May 27

  Five-thirty on Monday morning, Alyssa was showered and ready to go. Just before she’d drifted off to sleep late last night, something had tickled at the back of her mind, but she’d nodded off before she could fully pull on that thread.

  ‘You know you’re not going to do anyone any good if you drive yourself into the ground, Lys. The girls are safe and surrounded by hospital staff and security. Take a day and refresh.’ Brock, hair tousled, rested on his elbows, eyes still heavy with sleep.

  A cocktail of guilt and frustration burned through her because she’d been trying so hard to find these girls that she’d been neglecting her husband. And she was about to do it again. ‘I can’t, honey. There’s something I’m missing, and I’m close to figuring out what that is. Plus, not only are we still looking for at least three more men, but we’re also trying to hunt down Tatiana Salazar, not to mention this mysterious girl Becca and Katelyn remembered approaching them about a phone just before they were drugged.’ Her eyes begged him to be patient and understanding a little longer. ‘Let me wrap this case up, and I promise I’ll make it up to you.’

  ‘There’s nothing to make up, babe. You’re doing your job. I’m worried about you is all. When’s the last time you actually ate a decent meal? Notice I said decent, not fast food.’


  ‘I don’t know,’ she mumbled.

  ‘At least let me make you an omelet before you go.’ He’d already swung his feet out of the bed and pulled on a pair of shorts, so even though she was itching to get out the door, Alyssa capitulated.

  ‘I’ll meet you downstairs.’ Lost in the elusive link she was missing, she didn’t notice someone was in the kitchen until she practically knocked into Holly, who was apparently one step ahead of her father in that she was already assembling all the ingredients for an omelet. ‘Morning, sweetie. What’s got you up so early?’

  Holly continued chopping green chile. ‘Wanted to feed, see, and talk to you.’

  Alyssa chuckled as she poured herself a cup of coffee. ‘You and your father seem to be on the same wavelength this morning. He’ll be down any minute to make me an omelet, too.’

  ‘Great minds and all.’

  Something in her response made Alyssa feel like Holly was mentally miles away. She snagged a knife from the butcher block on the counter and proceeded to help chop vegetables. ‘Should I be worried?’

  Holly stopped chopping. The knife in her hand wobbled. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Whatever you’ve got on your mind this morning. Should I be worried?’

  Holly resumed chopping, the motion of the knife going fast enough that Alyssa was a little afraid her daughter was going to slice her fingers off. ‘Will the other girls be okay?’ There was the slightest waver in her voice, and Alyssa wanted to do nothing more than grab her daughter up and promise her everything would be all right.

  Instead, she was honest.

  ‘Physically? I hope so. Emotionally? It depends on the support and therapy they receive. I guess only time will tell.’