by Lisa Harris
That was the problem, though. Everybody had jumped to the same conclusion. And, over the years, they’d become more and more convinced of their rightness, doggedly hanging onto an idea that simply wasn’t true.
To argue a different opinion, even one based on fact, made you the enemy. Even to listen to a different opinion, to consider it, was a betrayal. Even though James’s sister had been the first victim of this kidnapper, by considering that Cassidy might not be guilty, he wasn’t only betraying the idea, he was betraying all who held that idea close.
Vince propped on the arm of the sofa. Based on the look on his face, he saw James as a betrayer too.
James prayed for wisdom. For justice for Hallie and Addison. For rescue for Ella. He prayed for freedom for Cassidy. Jumbled, incomplete prayers he trusted God understood.
“Talk.”
“She didn’t do it, Vince. She doesn’t have Ella. She didn’t take Addison. She didn’t kill Hallie.”
Vince sucked in a breath through his teeth as if barely holding himself together. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Best guess.”
James swallowed the lie that wanted to come out. Best guess—back at the cabin she’d rented. But he couldn’t tell Vince that. He needed to give her time to…
Would she run away again? Would she disappear forever?
New, jumbled prayers bounced around his brain. He couldn’t lose Cassidy now, not when he’d just gotten her back.
“Where. Is. She.” Vince’s hands clenched into fists. His whole face took on the color of a ripe autumn apple.
“She didn’t do it.”
“I trusted you. You know that? Cote wanted to swarm your place with cops, but I talked him out of it. Told him you’d tell us if she contacted you. Told him there was no way you’d harbor the fugitive suspected of killing your own sister.”
“She didn’t—”
“We’re going to find her.” Vince seemed to force a deep breath in, then blew it out through his teeth. “It’d be better for her if I found her, not one of the guys in uniform. Emotions are running high right now. I’d hate for your girlfriend to get hurt.”
Was Vince serious, or was that a threat? The anger that infused Vince’s every word told James that Cassidy wouldn’t be any safer with him than with any other cop that got his hands on her. Even Detective Cote, Ella’s uncle, would display more restraint than Vince was showing right now.
Vince’s phone rang, and he grabbed it. “House is clear. Search the forest, the campground, and the trails. And canvas the campers and hikers, see if anybody saw her.”
He waited through a response, said, “I’m working on that.”
When he hung up, he leaned forward, perched his elbows on his knees, and held his phone between his hands. “Fine. She didn’t do it. Not that I believe you, but if you’re right and she’s telling the truth, then it won’t hurt her to come in and answer questions.”
“You guys all think she’s guilty. No way she’ll be treated fairly.”
“That’s her excuse for not turning herself in? Come on, James. You’re smarter than this.”
“How did you know to look for her here?”
Vince rubbed his lips together, then settled onto the sofa and sat back. “Somebody saw you two on the mountain. I got a call early this morning. We’ve been keeping an eye out for you. Cote wanted to station someone here, but I convinced him you’d call us when you came in. Told him you’d do the right thing.” He shook his head, disappointment clear in the set of his lips.
“Who saw us?”
Vince gave James a cop-stare that was probably supposed to intimidate.
“Somebody followed us last night,” James said. “Somebody stole our food. And somebody—”
“Stole your food? Gee, lemme write up a report.” Vince launched himself to his feet. “A child is missing, James. Your best friend’s daughter! She’s going to be dead if we don’t find her fast. Dead. Do you get that? And you’re worried that somebody stole your food?”
James resisted the urge to stand toe-to-toe with Vince. Friend or not, Vince was a cop. He deserved James’s respect. “If you’d please let me finish.”
Vince crossed his arms. “Finish.”
“Somebody shot Cassidy this morning.” He tapped his head where the wound was. “Grazed her right here. An inch to the right, and she’d be dead. Cassidy, the only person who survived this guy. The only person who knows what really happened to my sister, and the only person who can shed light on what’s going on right now. Who do you think would have done that, if not the real killer?”
Vince practically fell in the chair, his breath coming out in a huff. “Why didn’t you call it in?”
“No service. But we’d considered calling the police. I was just cleaning her wound.” Nearly true. “We found the place, Vince.”
“The cave?” Some of the anger leached from his face. “You found it?”
“I can tell you the coordinates, and you can check it out.”
Vince sat back, focused on the floor. His hands were pressed to his knees.
James prayed Vince would see reason, quit focusing on finding Cassidy and start looking for the real kidnapper.
But Vince’s expression was all hard lines and anger again. “Where’s Ella then? Didn’t you rescue her? That was the point, right?”
“You told me there were no caves. Everybody told me there were no caves, but I saw it. Cassidy was—”
“Blowing smoke. And you were sucking it up like a pothead. So, your girlfriend found a cave on the mountain.”
“But there were clear signs of a fire. Someone had been there.”
“So what? Ella wasn’t there.”
“But that’s just it. If the kidnapper saw us the night before—”
“Wasn’t the kidnapper. It was Eugene Cage. I guess him and his dad got in a fight the night before last about some woman prowling around. Wilson said Eugene’s been known to follow women hikers. He’s gotten some complaints.”
Had Eugene followed Cassidy the day she’d stumbled into James’s yard? That would make sense.
Vince continued. “Wilson didn’t realize it was Cassidy, only that Eugene had creeped someone else out. He saw a woman running away from him who looked afraid. Said the woman ran into you. Eugene got mad at his father, took off onto the mountain the next day, and saw you guys. Didn’t have a phone, but when he came down, he told his dad. Wilson realized who it had to be and called it in.”
Eugene. Had Eugene stolen their food? Had Eugene shot at Cassidy?
Had Eugene kidnapped and murdered Hallie?
James had never wanted to suspect his neighbors, but it looked like a possibility. Carefully, he asked, “What did Eugene tell you?”
“I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t him.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“What were you doing over there yesterday? Wilson said you went to talk to him about his alibi back when Hallie was taken, but were you really there to check on her?”
“I had no idea she’d be there. I just saw her running—from Eugene.”
“Why was Cassidy there?”
“The guy who kidnapped her wore a mask the whole time, so she never got a look at his face. But she thought, if she could hear his voice, she’d recognize it. She went to the campground to try to get close enough to hear Eugene’s voice. And Wilson’s.”
“And?” Vince’s eyebrows rose as if he already knew what James was going to say.
“Eugene’s voice didn’t sound familiar, but—”
“It couldn’t have been him.”
“His only alibi was fellow gamers online. That can’t really pass for an alibi.”
“Eugene isn’t clever enough to pull this off and get away with it. Cote checked with a few online gamers. They confirmed he’d been playing online the whole time. He was satisfied with the alibi, and so am I.”
Of course they were. They’d decided Cassidy was
guilty from the get-go.
And Eugene… was that some kind of discrimination or reverse discrimination? People suspected him because of the severe learning disability, and they discarded him for the same reason. But being learning disabled didn’t make a person good or bad.
“What did Eugene tell you yesterday?”
“He saw you two and followed you for a while.”
“Why didn’t he call it in the day before?”
Vince blew out a long-suffering breath. “You’re here to answer my questions, not the other way around.”
“I’m just trying to put it together.”
“I didn’t interview him, but my understanding is that he didn’t realize it was her at the time. He and his father had the fight, and he took off.”
That made sense. But… “I thought you were heading the investigation. Why didn’t you interview him?”
“Had a lead elsewhere. Turned out to be nothing.”
“And you won’t consider, after everything, that Eugene is guilty?”
Vince lifted one shoulder. “It’s possible, I suppose, that Eugene is our guy. Hard to believe, considering how busy the campground is in the summertime. If he was going to do something like this, you’d think he’d do it when he was bored, not busy. What time were you shot at today?”
“It was about… one o’clock. It took us some time…”
Vince was already shaking his head. “Eugene was at the police station about then. I’ll call ’em, and we’ll confirm it, but, seriously… you really think he could pull off three kidnappings and two murders?”
“Four kidnappings. Cassidy was kidnapped, too. Where was Wilson when Eugene was at the police station?”
“At the campground, I assume.” Vince’s lips pressed together until they turned white. “I’ll look into it, see if anybody can put Wilson at the campground this afternoon.”
“And find out if he stole our food. I think it’s worth digging into. Eugene’s got a learning disability, but he’s not stupid. And he can shoot. Wilson and Eugene go hunting every fall. Have ever since they bought the campground from Dad when I was a kid. We used to keep an eye on things when they were out of town.”
“None of that changes what I have to do right now.”
The gnawing feeling in the pit of James’s stomach that had been growing ever since the first loud knock expanded. “Which is what?”
“Cassidy Leblanc is a fugitive from justice. There’s a warrant out for her arrest. I warned you to tell me if she got in touch with you. You didn’t do that.”
“She’s not guilty, Vince. She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s not for me to decide, and it’s not for you to decide. You had a responsibility to report it when she contacted you. You’ve left me no choice. Stand up.”
James stood, and Vince clamped a hand on his shoulder. “You have the right to remain silent…”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ella was asleep, back in the cave, when the man returned. It was dark again. He shook her shoulder. “Maryann, wake up. I wanna show you something.”
She wanted to tell him to go away, but she sat up, blinking in the light. One of her braids had come loose, and her hair was scratchy on her face. She brushed it away as he brought the lantern closer. He sat beside her on her blankets and pulled a bunch of papers from his pocket and handed them to her. “We’re all set.”
On the first paper was just a bunch of letters and numbers she didn’t understand. “What’s this?”
“That’s the information for our flight. It leaves in less than twenty-four hours. Isn’t that exciting? We’ll have a long drive before we get to the airport, though, so we have to leave later today. I just have a few things I have to take care of first.”
Today? They were leaving today?
“Remember how we used to dream of going on an airplane, flying far away to somewhere Mommy could never find us? We’re finally gonna do it.”
Daddy had taken her to California once to visit her mother. She’d loved looking out the windows at the clouds below. And, when they were landing, the cars looked like ants at a picnic.
The man tapped the paper in her lap. “I got us IDs, so we’ll have no trouble getting into Canada and on the plane. And guess what?” He looked at her like he was waiting for her to guess.
She shrugged.
“Sleepy girl.” He bumped her shoulder. “Mommy won’t have any idea where we went. Isn’t that awesome?” He took the papers from her, flipped through them, and found another one. “And this is where we’re going.” His voice was filled with joy, as if he’d just presented a strawberry birthday cake, not another flat piece of paper.
She looked at the picture. A beach with palm trees and a pretty building beside it. It was hard to make out much in the dark cave, and she didn’t care. She didn’t want to go to his beach anyway.
That’s our new house. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
She popped her thumb in her mouth.
“Admit it, Maryann. It’s beautiful.” His voice suddenly wasn’t joyful but scary, like he was about to get really mad. “I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to do this for us.”
She took her thumb from her mouth, thinking that if she did what he asked, he might do her a favor. “It’s very pretty, and I can’t wait to play in the waves.”
“And body surf! That’s the best.”
“Uh-huh. First, can you take me to see my… the man who isn’t really my daddy? I just wanna tell him good-bye.”
He snatched the papers from her hand and shoved them back in his pocket. “He doesn’t want to see you, Maryann. He’s forgotten all about you.”
She sucked her thumb again, but he yanked it out of her mouth. “Don’t do that. You’re not a baby.”
Daddy’d told her the same thing, only he’d said it nicer. Let’s quit doing that, precious girl. You’re getting so big.
Daddy was nice. Not like this man.
The man blew out a long breath. “Time to sleep. I’m gonna have to leave really early and take care of those bears so they don’t scare any other little girls. You need to be very quiet while I’m gone. Bears are attracted to noise, and you don’t want them coming back. You need to be quiet, no matter what happens, okay?”
She nodded, imagining bears all around her little cave. “Are you gonna kill them?”
His lips pressed together, and his eyes got all squinty. After a moment, he said, “If they come back around here, I’m gonna have to.” He kissed her forehead. “Hang in there, little sister. It’s almost over.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
This couldn’t be happening again.
At the grocery store in Plymouth where the Lyft driver had dropped Cassidy off, she’d ordered an Uber.
While she waited for the car, she’d purchased food for the road, enough for a few meals. A prepared sandwich for dinner, plus protein bars, crackers, a few fresh apples, and a bag of individually wrapped mozzarella cheese sticks that should last until the next day. She’d also bought another burner phone.
On the ride from Plymouth to her cabin, she’d removed the battery from her old one so it couldn’t be tracked.
Had James been arrested?
She didn’t want to think about how much trouble she’d caused him.
When she stepped into the rented cabin, all she wanted to do was fall into bed. But that wasn’t an option. She had to figure out what to do next. And she couldn’t do that until she had time to process all that had happened. Until she ate a decent meal and got some sleep and managed the headache that had been building in intensity ever since she’d jumped out James’s window, she couldn’t do anything but keep putting one foot in front of another. She wouldn’t think about the fact that she’d been shot in the head. She wouldn’t think about how close to death she’d come, once again, on that mountain.
No. She had to focus.
And she couldn’t stay here. James had picked her up here. He’d have to tell the police about this place. J
ames wasn’t accustomed to being on the wrong side of the law, and he’d said the detective working the case was his friend. She only hoped he’d give her enough time to gather her things and leave.
She was a fugitive and, by asking for his help, she’d put him in a terrible position. It would have been one thing if they’d found Ella, but they hadn’t.
She wouldn’t think about that yet. Not yet.
After packing her belongings, she threw the suitcase in her trunk and left. She drove toward Laconia, following road signs to an airport. She needed to park in a place where her car wouldn’t stand out—so in a parking lot—but also in a place where nobody would notice her sleeping in the backseat. Or, if they did, where she could come up with a good reason why she was there.
The regional airport seemed like a good bet. It was quiet. No commercial flights, as far as she could tell, only private aircraft. If anybody questioned her, she could claim to have come to pick someone up but found they’d been delayed. Made sense, as long as nobody dug too deep.
Better still would be if nobody noticed her at all.
By the time she parked between two SUVs, the sun had gone down over nearby Lake Winnipesaukee. She ate the sandwich, washed it down with a bottle of water, and then hunkered in the backseat to sleep. She wished she’d thought to buy a blanket and pillow, but neither had crossed her mind. No matter. If nothing else, being a foster kid and then a runaway had taught her how to be resourceful. She pulled enough clothes from her suitcase to keep her warm and use as a pillow. With the lump between the seats and no bedding, Cassidy wasn’t sure she’d sleep. Still, she closed her eyes and prayed that God would shield her from discovery. That He would tell her what to do next. That He would give James wisdom as he dealt with the mess she’d gotten him into.
Mostly, that God would protect little Ella, who was still out there, somewhere. Ella, who desperately needed a rescuer. Lead them to her, Lord. Or lead me. Keep her safe until she’s returned to her father.