Cut & Run

by Traci Hohenstein

  When they got back inside the lobby, Rachel told Matt what she had been keeping from him. “Of course, we don’t know for sure if your kids are in the house…”

  “I need to be there in case it’s them,” Matt implored Krapek. “Please?”

  CHAPTER 46

  Within the hour, Rachel, Red, and Matt were situated at the end of Terre Belle anxiously waiting for Krapek and her team to investigate the lake house. It had taken some convincing, but Rachel eventually coaxed Krapek into letting them come along, explaining that she and Red would help Matt stay put while they waited to find out if his kids were in the house. Fifteen, thirty, and then forty-five minutes went by. Just as Matt was about to lose it, Agent Krapek drove down the street in her unmarked dark-blue car.

  “Hop in,” she instructed Matt. “I’m going to take you to see your kids.”

  Rachel and Red got into their vehicle and followed Agent Krapek’s car up to the lake house. Rachel watched Matt jump out and run into the house. By the time she’d caught up to him, Matt was sitting on the couch with Mary Kate and Patrick in his lap. The kids looked a little out of it. Rachel wasn’t sure if it was the stress of being kidnapped or if they’d been drugged. Both kids had their arms wrapped firmly around their father, quietly crying.

  Rachel stepped back outside to give them some privacy. Agent Krapek walked up to her.

  “I guess you want me to give a statement?” Rachel asked.

  Agent Krapek tucked a stray blond hair behind her ear. “That can wait until we get back to New Orleans. You can come to the field office.”

  “Bittersweet ending. How are the kids holding up?”

  “Good as can be expected. They don’t know about their mother yet.”

  “Is Melinda talking? I mean, do we know why she did this?”

  Krapek shook her head. “We’ll get her and Moses transferred to New Orleans in the next day or two. Matt and his kids are free to go home after we get a chance to interview them.”

  “What about Adam?”

  “We have a BOLO on his vehicle. So far, Melinda isn’t cooperating, so we don’t know where Adam is or what his involvement is.”

  “I can have Red…” Rachel started to say before Krapek cut her off.

  “I don’t want you or Red doing anything else to compromise this investigation. You’ll be expected at our office tomorrow to give your statements.”

  Rachel told Krapek they would be there and then left to find her partner. She told herself that finding the kids unharmed was the important thing. Everything else would work itself out.

  CHAPTER 47

  “Tell me more about your hunch,” said Krapek. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I want to know why I didn’t get to Donnelly’s lake house before you did.”

  “Okay, here it goes,” said Rachel. She looked across the conference table at her team—Red, Stacy, Peter, and Rankin. All of them were seated around a shiny wooden conference table at the FBI’s field office in New Orleans, gathered together to discuss the O’Malley case with Agents Krapek and Phipps along with Detective Jones.

  “From what we discovered, it seems Melinda O’Malley was jealous of Erin and her relationship with her husband and kids,” said Rachel. “Melinda wanted the things that Erin and Matt had. She was mad at her husband Chris for giving the family home in the Garden District to Matt. She was also envious of Erin for having two kids so easily. Melinda went through a painful miscarriage only to have her uterus taken out afterward, destroying any chance of having children. Melinda felt that she was living in Erin’s shadow.”

  “It sounds like a high school vendetta gone bad,” said Krapek. “I find it hard to believe that jealousy was the sole motive for her actions.”

  “There’s more,” said Rachel. “Melinda knew that Erin was having an affair with a local art dealer, Gavin Beckwith. We are speculating that Melinda plotted to have Erin killed and possibly frame Matt for the murder. She figured that exposing Erin’s affair to me would point the finger at Matt. Her plan was to get both parents out of the way so that she and Chris could take over guardianship of the children and the lofty trust fund that goes along with that responsibility. That’s why she kidnapped the children. To keep them out of view, she held them at her brother’s lake house, a place that no one knew about, and had Moses babysit them. What we can’t figure out is how she planned on explaining to the children what happened to their parents.”

  Krapek cleared her throat. “I think I can clear that up for you,” she said.

  “Okay, great,” said Rachel. “Does that mean so far our suspicions have been right?”

  “Somewhat. Melinda was plotting to kill Erin and have Matt framed for the murder. But the murder didn’t go as planned. What she didn’t count on was Erin asphyxiating on her own vomit after she was drugged and her mouth was taped shut. Also, she didn’t count on it being such a long and difficult process to frame Matt for Erin’s murder. One mistake she made early on was to decide she could trust her convict brother Adam and his friend Moses to carry out the ridiculous plan.”

  “What was their plan?” Red asked.

  “The plan was for the kidnapping to take place at the O’Malley home prior to soccer practice. Adam’s friend, Moses, was dressed as a homeless person and was supposed to distract Matt while Adam broke into the house and subdued the wife and kids. But there was a problem. Apparently Adam got nervous and didn’t go through with it. So they decided to do it after soccer practice. While the O’Malleys were on the field, Adam slashed one of the tires, hoping they’d have a flat by the time practice was over. But he didn’t plan for the tire not to go flat right away. Another wrinkle in the plans.” Agent Krapek paused and took a sip of her coffee.

  Agent Phipps picked up where she left off. “They followed the O’Malleys from the soccer field to the gas station. As you guys found out,” Phipps said, nodding to Red, “Adam was caught on tape buying snacks while Matt was pumping gas. After the O’Malleys left the gas station, the tire finally gave out. Adam approached Matt while he was inspecting the tire and clubbed him over the head. Moses grabbed Erin and the kids and injected them with a sedative. The two men dragged the kids and Erin into the car and threw Matt in the trunk, then drove back to Adam’s house. There, they moved the kids and Erin to another car. Adam turned around, drove Matt to Baton Rouge, and dumped him, still unconscious, behind the Dumpster near the truck stop.

  “Meanwhile, Moses was supposed to drive Erin and the kids to the lake house. But Erin aspirated on her own vomit while her mouth was taped shut. Thankfully, we don’t think the kids witnessed their mom’s demise, since they were heavily drugged. After dropping off the kids at the lake house, Moses waited for Adam. When Adam arrived, he told him about Erin’s death. Moses drove Erin’s body to Houma, where his dad has a fishing cabin. He got a boat and then dumped her body near a fish camp that his father owned, hoping the gators would take care of her body, which is what happened—well, except for the fact that they didn’t finish off her arm. Anyway, the other thing that Moses didn’t count on was being confronted by that local fisherman.” Phipps paused to consult his notes. “Um, Aaron Boudreaux. The details he gave us led to us finding a cabin owned by Moses’s father, which is what we were investigating when we got the call from you guys about the house in Lake Charles.”

  Agent Krapek chimed in. “After Melinda reported to Rachel about Erin’s affair, she was waiting to see how it played out, hoping that Matt would be arrested for the murder of his wife. While she waited on that news, she returned to Lake Charles to check on the kids. She didn’t want them to see her, so she had Moses keep them drugged and locked away upstairs while she was there. We found bottles of Valium in the house. Her big idea was that she’d have Moses take them to a gas station and leave them, then call in an anonymous tip to the police. Melinda wanted to be the hero and ‘rescue’ the children. She didn’t foresee that Matt wouldn’t be picked up as a suspect in Erin’s murder, or that he would trail her instead—and ruin
her plans.”

  “So, the whole time, Melinda was hoping that you would take a hard look at Matt for Erin’s death and put him away?” Rachel asked.

  Krapek nodded. “She’s now being held in Orleans Parish Prison without bond pending her hearing. Melinda has been maintaining her innocence despite her brother’s collaboration with the police. He took a deal to turn on his sister and Moses.”

  Rachel was amazed at the lengths some people would go to to get what they wanted. Melinda had hoped that with Erin and Matt out of the picture, she and Chris would move into the Garden District mansion and have the life and the huge bank accounts she so desperately wanted. Who knows, maybe she’d even planned to try to parent Erin’s kids, and make them her own. Rachel grimly wondered how Melinda and her gang had planned to murder Erin and whether they’d been worried when they’d had to deal with her accidental death by asphyxiation instead. Not that it mattered now. The key thing was that the children had been found.

  After her meeting with the feds, Rachel went back to the hotel to pack. She was ready to get back to Miami first thing in the morning and start fresh on the leads to find Mallory. A knock at the door caught her attention. She was surprised to find Matt standing there with his kids and his brother Chris.

  Matt hugged Rachel. “How can I ever thank you?”

  “Seeing you with your kids is thanks enough.”

  “Seriously. If you ever need anything, I’m forever indebted to you.”

  Chris stood to the side, his hands in his jean pockets. “Can we talk in private?”

  “Sure.” Rachel walked with him out to the hallway.

  “I just wanted to say thank you as well. As you can tell, I’m still in a bit of shock over all this. Melinda would be the last person I’d ever expect to pull off something like this. She adored those kids in there. Melinda spoiled them more than Erin and Matt did. I just can’t believe she did this.”

  “We were surprised ourselves. Hopefully now you’ll be able to move past it and help your brother with the children.”

  Matt and his kids came out and joined them in the hallway.

  “Thanks again, Rachel.”

  “Well, you’re very welcome,” Rachel squeezed his hands. “Good luck with everything.”

  CHAPTER 48

  Bright and early the next morning, Rachel dragged her luggage down to the lobby and waited as Red pulled the rental car around to pick her up.

  “Ready for our flight home?” he asked.

  “Yes. It’ll be good to see Mags and get back in the groove of things. Tracking down Scotty Jensen is high on my list of things to do.”

  “You haven’t heard from him again?” Red asked.

  “No, he hasn’t called. I don’t know whether I should be thankful or worried.”

  “He’s a nut job, that’s for sure,” Red said as he drove them to the airport.

  The drive took about twenty minutes. The airport was busy, and they had just a few minutes to check in and get to their gate.

  “Want me to return the car while you check us in?” Rachel offered.

  “Yeah. Drop me off here.” Red grabbed their bags and headed inside.

  As Rachel continued to the car rental drop-off, her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. Unknown number. A chill ran up her spine. Was it Scotty again?

  “Rachel Scott,” she answered.

  “I know where Mallory is.”

  Rachel slammed on her brakes and pulled the car over in front of the car rental return.

  “What? Who is this?” Rachel asked her caller.

  A woman’s voice answered her. “I only have a minute so listen carefully because I’m only saying this once. Mallory’s in Atlanta. I have the address.”

  Rachel scrambled for a pen and piece of paper, her heart hammering against her chest.

  “Give it to me,” she said, her hands shaking.

  As she wrote the address down and repeated it back, she realized that this could be just a crank call. Scotty’s way of messing with her and throwing her off the track. Then suddenly she remembered Verdene’s advice. “Go with your gut,” she’d told Rachel.

  “You have to come alone and you only have a few hours before Mallory is taken away again, so you have to hurry. No police, no FBI, or you will never find her. Understand?”

  “Yes,” Rachel said. As the caller clicked off, Rachel realized she had an important decision to make. Red was inside the airport terminal waiting for her.

  Without stopping to think, Rachel plugged the Atlanta address into the car’s GPS unit. It would take her about eight hours to drive there. She quickly used her cell phone to check the flights to Atlanta from the New Orleans airport. The next flight wasn’t for another four hours, and that was if she could get on. And if she went into the airport terminal, she would have to explain to Red that she was catching a different flight to a different city, and he would demand an explanation. He would talk her out of going or insist on going with her. The woman said to go alone. She had to wonder if this was a ploy of Scotty’s. Did he put someone up to calling her? Sending Rachel on a wild-goose chase? Rachel shook those thoughts from her mind. She remembered Verdene’s advice about trusting her instincts. And her instincts said to go for it.

  The rental car attendant was approaching her car. The young man looked confused as she closed the door and started up the engine. Rachel quickly tore off another piece of paper and hastily wrote a note, folding a fifty-dollar bill around it. Rolling down her window, she handed it to the attendant.

  Reading his name tag, she addressed him by name. “Shelton, change of plans. I’ve got to drive to Atlanta. I’ll drop the car off at the airport there instead. I need you to give this note to my associate, who will be waiting for me at the Delta check-in terminal. His name is Red Cooper.” She gave the attendant a description of Red. She knew Red would be pissed. Rachel hoped he would forgive her once she called him later and explained.

  With a deep breath, she rolled up the window and sped off toward Atlanta. This she had to do alone.

  CHAPTER 49

  Rachel felt anxious as she willed the car to go faster. She’d just passed a state welcome sign: Welcome. We’re Glad Georgia’s on Your Mind. The blue sign had a peach on it. Rachel held her breath as she realized that on her last visit with Verdene, the voodoo queen had mentioned peaches. Mallory could be found near peaches. Rachel pushed her foot firmly down on the gas.

  Traffic was starting to get heavy just south of downtown. By the GPS calculations, she was thirty-five miles away from Alpharetta. A mere thirty or forty minutes away from her baby. Her baby that was stolen from her. Once she had Mallory back, she would never let her daughter leave her sight again. She wondered about the family that had Mallory. Were they good to her? Did they provide her with everything she needed? A lump formed in her throat when she thought of Mallory calling someone else Mommy. Then she had an even scarier thought hit her, one that she had never even conceived: Would Mallory want to leave the family she was with now? She would be almost nine years old now. What if she had grown attached to them? Did she have brothers and sisters? Would Mallory even remember her? Rachel thought of the one picture she carried everywhere, of her and Mallory at the beach. It was hardly a strong case for the past. Rachel wondered if she should call Janine and ask her to send the photo album she kept in her office. It was filled with pictures of her, Mallory, and Rick. Baby pictures, first-step pictures, birthday party pictures. It would be proof for Mallory that she already had a mother. A mother who had never stopped looking for her since the day of her disappearance.

  Rachel’s thoughts turned back to the conversation she’d had with Red after she left him stranded at the airport. She was right. He was pissed. But after explaining the situation, Rachel got him to promise not to involve the police until she got to Atlanta and had a chance to find out what was going on. Rachel gave Red the address she was going to. He started a background check on the people who owned the house. The property records indicat
ed it belonged to a couple named Jason and Sherri Trovare.

  According to the background search, Jason was in pharmaceutical sales and traveled frequently. Sherri was an elementary schoolteacher. How in the world did they afford to pay for an exorbitant illegal adoption? Rachel wondered. Even if they had a combined six-figure income, which was unlikely, it seemed impossible. Legal adoption fees can run up to a hundred grand. She couldn’t imagine how much an illegal adoption would cost. Maybe the Trovares had family money or an inheritance. Red told her that they lived in a nice area north of Atlanta. Good school district, fancy neighborhoods, upscale shopping and dining. She checked her GPS unit again. The nerves in her stomach were fluttering out of control. Fifteen miles to her exit. Traffic was slowing down considerably, and she had to force herself to slow down and pay attention to the crazy drivers weaving in and out of traffic.

  Her cell phone rang, and she pushed the talk button without looking to check the caller ID.

  “Hey, Rach. It’s Red. Where are you?”

  “I’m a few miles away from the Alpharetta exit.”

  “I can have the police meet you there, Rachel. It’s probably…”

  Rachel cut him off. “I’ve already told you I need to go alone, Red. I don’t want the police to scare them off. I want the opportunity to talk to them before we involve the police.”

  “Okay. I just wish you had someone with you. I hate to imagine you walking into this alone.”

  “I’m hoping the husband will be at work and I can talk one-on-one with the wife. I want to know that Mallory is safe, first and foremost.”

  “Then call me when you get to the house. I’ll give you fifteen minutes to talk to Mrs. Trovare before I call the cops.”

  “Make it thirty. I’m not going to leave that house without my daughter.” She heard Red sigh on the other end.

  “Okay. But you call me as soon as you are in front of their house.”