by Dianna Love
“He was hanging on to that ragged bear for dear life. I asked him what his bear’s name was. He buried his face in it and giggled. When I asked him how old he was, he showed me on his fingers. I guess he’s three or four. Not sure.”
Kasey laughed. “I know. He has trouble negotiating all those tiny fingers. He’s four now.”
Billy nodded. “Cute kid. I had a bear like that when I was young. I guess that’s why I remembered him. Mine was named Brown Bear. It was a pitiful-lookin’ thing, but my mom hung on to it for years. She probably still has it.”
“He loves that bear,” Kasey said, her voice quiet and steady. “Calls him Bubba Bear.”
“Cute,” Billy said. “He looked fine. I mean, I didn’t think he looked dirty or mistreated or anything. Trust me, I see some bad stuff come through there sometimes. Nothing stood out as unusual.”
Kasey dabbed her tears with a tissue. “Thank you.”
Von continued taking notes. “And they were in every week?”
“Yeah. I can’t be sure, but I think I saw them when I was working my afternoon shifts, so it would have been either Tuesdays or Thursdays. It’s been about a week since I last saw them.”
Kasey handed Billy the photo album she’d brought along. “Do you mind taking a look at these other pictures to see if you still think it’s him?”
Billy slid the album in front of him. “Yeah. Yeah, that looks like him.”
Kasey relaxed. Her lips quivered as she smiled.
Von stood. “I don’t have any other questions. I know you have to get to work. Thanks for giving us your time, and more than that, thanks for going to the police with this information.” Von shook his hand.
“I told the police chief I’d call him if I see them come in again,” Billy said, then turned to Kasey. “I’ll do everything I can to help.”
Von handed him a card. “Here’s my direct number. If you think of anything else, just give me a call.”
Von walked Billy out to his car. When he came back, Kasey asked, “What do we do now?”
“Wait.”
Kasey grunted. “I would hate your job. It has to be the worst job in the world. Is it always like this? Every time you get one answer it leads to two more questions.”
“That’s pretty much it, but when the puzzle comes together, it’s worth it.”
“Well, it’s killing me,” Kasey said. “I’m going to call Scott and fill him in.”
Kasey dialed Scott, who answered on the first ring. She gave him the update and he gave her just the pep talk she needed. She was glad she’d called him. When she hung up the phone, Von called out to her: “Hey, Kasey. I’m going to take a ride. You want to go?”
Kasey jumped to her feet and appeared in the doorway. “Absolutely. Anything is better than sitting here.”
“Where are we going to go in this little town?” asked Riley.
Von shrugged. “We’ll just cruise around. Who knows, we might stumble onto another clue.”
“In that case,” Riley said, picking up her purse, “I’d like to go, too. If there’s any chance in a million that it might help us bring home Jake faster, I’m in.”
They piled into the SUV, and Von cruised the streets. It was a small town, with a typical main street and a grid of numbered and named streets. Several of the storefronts on Main Street were empty. The economy was tough on these small towns and family-owned shops.
They drove through neighborhoods, not really sure what they were looking for. After they’d driven every street in the grid around the town’s center, Von headed back toward the interstate. Traffic got heavier as they neared the strip mall. Von turned into the parking lot of the small shopping center.
“What are we doing?” Riley asked.
“Surveillance,” Von said. “There’s a pizza joint, an ice cream store, and a grocery store. All places someone with a kid might go.” He pulled his money from the front pocket of his jeans and peeled off a twenty. “Why don’t y’all get us some milkshakes?”
Riley snagged the cash from his hands. “You don’t have to ask me twice. Chocolate for you, right?”
“You know it.” He pushed his seat back from the steering wheel and got comfortable.
Riley and Kasey came back with the milkshakes.
When Kasey got into the back seat, she leaned forward and said to Von, “Okay. This might not be the worst job in the world. I could get used to sitting around drinking milkshakes for a living.”
They watched for a while. Not long after the lights in the parking lot came on, Von’s cell phone rang.
Seven-thirty.
“Yeah, Von here.”
Kasey and Riley strained to listen.
Von nodded. “Yeah. Okay...When?...Right.” Von tucked the phone between his cheek and neck and turned the key in the engine. “What color?...Thanks. We’re on our way.” He let the phone drop from his chin to his lap as he threw one arm over the back of the passenger seat and whirled the SUV out of the parking spot.
“What?” Kasey and Riley asked in unison.
Von sped back out to the main road.
“What’s going on?” Riley fumbled for her seat belt, steadying herself by grabbing for the dash as Von squealed around the next corner.
“She just left the Walmart.” Von’s jaw tensed, his attention laser-focused on the road.
“Who?” asked Riley.
Kasey reached over the seat and grabbed Riley’s arm. “With Jake? The woman and Jake.” She slapped the seat like a jockey urging a racehorse. “Go!”
Von got to the main highway and turned right.
“Where are you going?” Kasey yelled. “Walmart is the other way.”
Von weaved in and out of traffic. “Keep your eyes open for a black Nissan sedan.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Von navigated through three traffic lights on green and hit the accelerator to catch up to the cars ahead of them on an open stretch of road.
“Be careful, honey,” Riley said.
They came up behind the first vehicle. A white Volkswagen. Von maneuvered around it and floored the accelerator to catch up to the next cars: two SUVs, and the last a battered blue pickup truck. The road ahead was dark. No taillights in sight. Von smacked the steering wheel and swerved to the side of the road. “Damn.”
“What the hell was that all about?” Riley hung on to the door and console. “Why are we stopping?”
Von squealed tires back onto the road in the other direction, then slowed to the speed limit.
“When Billy Goodwin came back from his break, he saw the woman leaving Walmart with Jake. He got the car description and a partial plate number.” Von’s lips pulled into a tight line. “I thought we might catch up to them. He said they went left out of the parking lot.”
“Could we have beaten her to the light?” Kasey asked.
“Possibly. I’m still looking. Keep your eyes peeled.”
Kasey leaned against the window. Her breath fogged the glass as she focused on each passing car.
“He called the police. They should be at the Walmart by now. We’ll go see what they’ve got.”
When Von pulled into the Walmart parking lot, four police cruisers were already there, blue lights still flashing. Billy Goodwin stood out front. Von, Kasey and Riley bailed out of the truck and headed toward the crowd. Billy walked over to meet Von. He looked upset.
“I’m sorry. When I came off break, there she was. She’d just checked out—pushing her cart out the automatic doors. I dialed the police and then ran to the lot. I saw her get in the car, but by the time I got close, she was driving off. I’m so sorry.” Billy looked defeated. “So close.”
Chief Phipps strode over and patted Billy Goodwin on his shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. You did the right thing.” The chief turned his attention to Von and Kasey. “He did get us a partial tag and the make of the car. We’re working that now.”
“That’s good, right?” Kasey rubbed her hands up and down her arms,
trying to chase away the chill.
“Yes.” The police chief nodded. “I’ve also got two men upstairs reviewing the security tapes. They’ve closed that register. We’re trying to match the sequence at the register and tape. With any luck she used a debit or credit card.”
“Please. Please. Please.” Kasey paced back and forth, clenching her jaw to stifle the sob in her throat.
Riley put her arms around Kasey while the officer updated Von. “I’ve already called to get a warrant for the information off the card, if she used one.”
“Good. We don’t want to waste any time.” Von crossed his arms. “Did she see Billy running toward her?”
“I don’t think so. Sounds like he was a few steps behind her. She didn’t seem to be spooked, from what I gather from the other cashiers. I talked to the employee working the lot collecting carts. He seemed clueless as to what was going on, if that’s any indicator.”
“That’s good.”
The police chief nodded.
A young officer walked up to Chief Phipps. “Bingo, sir.”
Kasey tensed. Riley hugged her close.
“She used a credit card. Here’s her name.” He handed the chief the information.
“Libby Braddock.” Chief Phipps’s gaze settled on Kasey. “Ring any bells?”
Kasey and Riley shook their heads. “Never heard of her,” Kasey said.
“Stay right here.” Chief Phipps stepped away. He called in to Dispatch on his radio and spoke to someone else on his cell phone.
Kasey squatted to stop the dizziness that consumed her and to steady her breathing.
Von shook his keys toward Riley. “Here. Why don’t you take Kasey back to the room?”
Kasey jumped to her feet. “I’m good. I’m fine. No. I want to be here.”
Von started to say something, but stuffed his keys back in his pocket instead.
Two police cars drove out of the lot. Chief Phipps hurried over to Von. “Good news. She doesn’t have a record, and we have the address. We’re heading out there now. Y’all can ride with me.”
Von rode shotgun. Kasey and Riley jumped into the back seat of the cruiser.
Kasey shivered. Even her teeth chattered. The neighborhood was well-lit. They’d been on this street earlier today.
So close.
Judging by the size of the yards and the large trees that lined the streets, it appeared to be an older, well-established neighborhood. The homes weren’t cookie-cutter replicas of one another. They turned a corner and slowed to a stop behind the other police cars that lined the curb, one behind the other.
The house was small, but under the light of the moon and the streetlights, it looked very well-maintained. Garden lights lined the flowerbeds. A flag with a snowflake pictured on it hung from the front porch. A swing set took up most of the side yard.
Jake loves to swing.
“I didn’t expect the house to look like this,” Riley said.
“I know. Normal,” Kasey said. “But thank goodness. I had visions of something terrifying.”
Riley nodded. “I know. I’m surprised, too.”
“Nothing surprises me anymore,” Chief Phipps said as he watched his men approach the front door. One peeled away and went around back. Chief Phipps stayed in the car, but he had one hand on the door handle.
An officer rapped on the front door with the end of his flashlight.
No answer.
A neighbor wearing a bathrobe stepped out onto her porch and leaned over the railing to see what was going on.
The chief opened the car door. “Wait here.” He grabbed his hat from the dashboard, then walked toward the woman.
“Excuse me. Ma’am?” Chief Phipps said.
The woman on the porch spun around, clutching her chest. “Lord, son. You could scare an old woman to death.”
He smiled. Serves her right, being nosy like that. “Sorry about that. I’m Chief Phipps.”
“My goodness.” She tugged her robe tighter, then ran her hand through her hair, fluffing it. “I voted for you in the last election. Ex-military man and all. I knew you’d keep us safe. What’s going on over at Libby’s place?”
“You know the woman that lives in that house?”
“Yes. Libby Braddock. Dear woman. Nothing has happened to her, has it?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Thank goodness. Widowed and all. That would be terrible.”
“Has she been here today?”
“Yes. She’s not there now. She just left about an hour ago. Seemed in a hurry. Her and her nephew. She said it was some kind of family emergency.”
“I didn’t catch your name, ma’am,” Phipps said.
“Doris Moon. Call me Doris, please.”
“Thanks, Doris. Her nephew? How old is he?” Phipps pulled a notepad from his pocket.
The old woman shrugged. “Four, I think.”
“Do you know his name?”
“Of course. I babysit when she has doctor appointments and such. That little Jake is the sweetest child.”
Phipps scribbled JAKE across the page. “Know where they were going?”
“No. She asked me to pick up her mail and paper. Said she’d be back in a couple weeks.” The old woman studied him. “She was in a hurry. I didn’t want to pry,” she explained.
Probably a first.
“I understand. Does she hold a job?” Phipps asked.
“No. I don’t like to talk about people, but I think she’s on some kind of disability. I’ve noticed her checks when I get the mail sometimes.”
Phipps laughed to himself. This nosy neighbor was probably the queen of gossip. “The child. You said Jake, right?”
She nodded.
“Is he in good health?”
“He’s fine. So many questions. Are you sure something hasn’t happened to them?”
“Just following some leads, ma’am.” She didn’t look convinced, but he had a few more questions, and she seemed to have a lot of answers. “How long has the boy been staying with her? Do you remember when she first brought him here?”
“No.” She shook her head, and then her eyes lit up. “Yes I do. It was right around Sally Mae’s birthday. We met at Shoney’s for lunch. That was...well, wait.” She held up her finger and headed to the door. The screen door slammed behind her. “I have it on my calendar.”
She stopped and opened the door. “Come on in.”
He followed her inside. She waddled into the kitchen and took a calendar down from the tack on the wall. “Can I get you some lemonade? Coffee?”
“Nothing, thank you.”
“Oh. Here it is.” She folded the calendar back and laid it on the table. “Yes...that would have been September seventh.” She ran a finger around the entry on the calendar. “See.”
“Yes. Thank you.” He jotted down the information. “Why is he staying with her? Did she say?”
“Awful custody battle. Her poor brother. Divorce is tough on a man with children, you know.” She reshuffled the calendar and tacked it back on the wall. “He travels a lot, and the mother is just an awful person. She left him. No warning.”
“Thank you.” Phipps turned to the door. “I’ll just let myself out.”
When the chief walked out of the neighbor’s house he gave Von a nod, and Von met him in the street. They walked, talking as they joined the other officers in front of the house.
Kasey and Riley clung to one another.
A moment later, Von jogged back to the car.
“Well?” Kasey asked.
Von leaned into the open passenger door.
Riley scooted to the edge of the bench seat. “What’s going on?”
Von blew out a breath. “She’s not here. They left about an hour ago. The neighbor says it was a family emergency.”
“Where? Let’s go get them,” Kasey said, her voice filled with frustration. “Why are we still here?”
“She doesn’t know where they went. But Kasey, the neighbor said the l
ittle boy’s name is Jake. He’s been here since September. It’s him. It’s got to be him.”
“Oh, Kasey,” Riley whispered.
Kasey tried to force her confused emotions to cooperate. A million questions floated through her head, but none of them made it to her lips. She covered her face with her hands.
“She said he’s healthy,” Von told them. “He’s fine.”
“It’s him. It’s really him?” Riley asked.
“He’s safe. He’s alive, and she said he’s okay? I’ve prayed for this moment.” Kasey wiped tears from her face. “I want my son back. Why did she take him?” Sobbing, she choked on the words.
Riley shook her head. “There are some nut-job people in this world.”
“I don’t want my son with a nut-job!” Kasey squeezed her eyes tight.
“I didn’t mean that,” Riley said. “I’m sorry.”
While Von updated Kasey and Riley, Phipps went back to ask Doris Moon about a few more details.
“Sorry to bother you again, Mrs. Moon—I mean, Doris. Do you have a key to Ms. Braddock’s house?”
“Why, yes, I do have a key. We have each other’s. You know, just in case.”
“Would you mind letting us in? I can get a warrant if you’re uncomfortable giving me access without one.”
She hesitated, but only for a moment. “I suppose it wouldn’t be a problem—if I went with you.”
“Thank you.”
The woman slipped her feet into a pair of bright green gardening clogs that were on the floor next to the front door, then led the way next door. Her steps were short and swift, leaving a trail in the dewy grass. She slipped the key into the door and opened it, stepping aside to let them in.
Four police officers spread out into different rooms of the tidy house. Especially tidy for a house with a four-year-old boy living in it. Doris stayed by the door as the officers opened drawers and checked trashcans for any hint as to where the woman had gone. Phipps hit the caller ID list on the telephone and wrote the last ten numbers on his notepad. The last call was from UNKNOWN CALLER. He hit *69 to see if the number would replay. No luck. No address left behind, and no notes next to the phone.