by Liz Bradford
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about the ceremony part of the whole deal. I just want you to be my husband and live with Callie and me day in and day out.”
“How long do you think we’ll need to pull a nice ceremony together?”
“I have no idea. I know some people are engaged for over a year before they get married.” The horrified look that came across Jared’s face was comical. Becca wished that she could snap a photo of it, but she just laughed. “But I think we could pull something off by Christmas if you don’t think that’s too soon.”
“Christmas would be nice.”
“But you have to ask me first!”
“I will.”
“Well, go get in the shower while I lie here for a little bit longer. Let’s catch this guy so we can start planning our wedding.”
“What, I have to take the first shower while you sleep more and then sit around bored while you, in all your girly ways, take forever to get ready?”
“You got it!” she said and closed her eyes as she pulled the sheets up over her head.
“Ridiculous.” He threw a pillow at her.
From under the covers she said, “I love you, Jared.”
“Uh huh, I love you, too, sleepyhead.”
She dozed off a little as she heard him get into the shower, but then finally decided to get up and get her things together so she could get in once he was done. She was just finishing brushing her teeth when Jared came out of the bathroom in nothing but his boxers and a towel in his hands.
“Seriously, Jared, that does not help curtail the situation we just averted a few minutes ago.” She tried to keep from looking, but she couldn’t peel her eyes off his chest and abs.
“Sorry, figured you had fallen back to sleep.” He quickly went over and grabbed his clothes and put on his jeans and casual button-up. She watched him shamelessly. “Becca!” He threw the towel he was holding at her, “Go take a shower! I’ll call the guys and tell them to make their way over. I’ll go grab us some breakfast once they get here.”
“Sounds good.”
While Becca showered and after calling the guys, Jared sat down at the small table near the window with his Bible. But rather than open it he sat with it in his hands and hung his head as he prayed.
Father God, I come before you this morning with a very heavy heart. I have such a pit in my stomach about this case. You say not to fear for you are with us, but I can’t shake the feeling that something is amiss. Father, please keep Becca safe. Help us find this man that wants to hurt her. Guide us to where he is, so we can bring him to justice. I have prayed for years that I would find her again, and now there is a possibility I could lose her… I just can’t handle that. Please keep Callie safe as well. Help us resolve this quickly so we can move forward as a family.
He continued to pray and seek the Lord as he heard Becca getting out of the shower. He didn’t look up until he felt Becca’s hand on his shoulder. She ran her hand through his hair as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“You okay, Jared?”
“Yeah, I was just praying.” Her smile warmed his heart.
A knock on the door caused them both to jump and stiffen. Silently Jared stood and swept Becca behind him as pulled back the edge of the curtain. “It’s Jamison.” They both sighed and dropped their shoulders.
“Hey, Jamison,” Jared said as he opened the door.
“Good morning, folks. I come bearing breakfast.”
“Awesome!” he replied.
“Thanks, Adam,” Becca added. Miller arrived before Jamison could close the door behind himself. And as Jared and Becca devoured their bagels the Captain arrived with Benson. Becca had perched herself up on the dresser while she ate her bagel and Jared leaned back against it next to her.
“So where shall we start today?” Jared asked popping the last bit of his bagel in his mouth.
Captain Baker answered, “Well, we are waiting on one more.” Another knock sounded on the door. “And there he is now.” The Captain went to the door and opened it revealing a short, stocky Hispanic man that Jared had never met.
“Doug!” Becca exclaimed and jumped down from the dresser and went to give him a brief hug. “How are you doing? How’s the knee?”
“Doing better. Still recovering from surgery, but at least I’m off the crutches now. Ready to hear what progress you all have made with this case. And what is this I hear about you getting yourself tangled up in the middle of it? Seriously, Palmer, I know you’re dedicated to the job, but this is taking it a bit far.”
She playfully smacked his arm. “Doug, I’d like you to meet Jared.”
“Ah, my replacement… Hope he’s treating you well.”
Jared watched as Becca blushed and said, “He is.”
“Better than well, I see,” and then extending his had to Jared he said, “Nice to meet you. Doug Ramirez.”
“Nice to meet you as well. Thanks for your timely injury that enabled me to be put back with the best partner I ever had.”
“Think nothing of it. You can thank, Jamison over there too, though, it’s all his fault.”
“No, it is not! It’s not my fault you are getting old and don’t know how to step around someone effectively.”
“Boys, boys, boys,” Becca took a motherly tone, “We have work to do. Let’s say we wrap this case up today, so I can go home and be with my daughter.”
“Dreaming big today, huh, Rebe- I mean, Becca?” Jamison said.
“You better believe it! Determination is the name of the game today.”
And so, they got to work. They started from scratch. They pulled out a fresh map of the city and put it up on the wall. They all had laptops out and worked furiously researching every angle they could think of. Initially dialog between the detectives was sporadic, but as the day progressed they began discussing their ideas more especially as they got into mapping out their thoughts.
They knew he had to be hiding out in a fairly remote location since no one had reported seeing him coming and going nor heard anything like screaming. They went over the map with a Sharpie marking off the areas they knew he couldn’t be hiding out, like densely populated areas.
“Okay, now that we have the map reduced to fifty percent, let’s brainstorm further what ways he could have gained his current residence and pursue those leads,” Becca instructed as she finished the last couple fries from their fast food lunch.
“Well, is it possible that he’s just squatting somewhere?” Miller asked.
“Sure,” Jamison replied. “Or maybe he bought a place with cash. We know that he took a ton of money out of the bank a year ago. And then used a fake name.”
“Good thoughts, let’s pursue them. Jamison, Miller, and Captain, you guys take the squatting angle. Find every piece of property that has been abandoned since at least last April. That’s the earliest we know for sure he was in the area. Look for houses and warehouses, anything that fits the bill. The rest of us will look into the cash purchases.”
Two hours later both groups had lists of possibilities that needed to be further investigated. The Captain got on the phone and had officers sent out to all the possible squatting locations. Jamison and Miller took half the list of cash properties and Baker and Benson took the other half, and they went to investigate further.
Jared could tell Becca was getting antsy, but there was no way anyone was going to let her out of this hotel room anytime soon. He watched as she paced back and forth across the room in her jeans and teal colored blouse that tied just below her collarbone. She was beautiful. The way her top clung to her thin frame and the way her long chestnut hair flowed down her back were wreaking havoc with his hormones. If Doug hadn’t been in the room still he would take her in his arms and kiss her restlessness away. But Doug was still there, and they needed to keep working.
“Okay, Becks, what angle should we investigate while they are out following up on the leads?” he asked.
“Let’s revisit his co
nnection to this area.”
“What do you have so far on that?” Doug asked.
“So far, we have… nothing, right, Jared?”
“Correct,” he answered.
“Well, maybe between the three of us we can find it. Should we start with family?” Doug suggested.
“Sure,” Becca said, “Let’s map out his family tree and see if we come up with anything.”
Three hours later, after searching through family ancestries and birth records and at least a dozen phone calls, they had a fairly detailed family tree for Stuart and even a bit for his wife.
“Ah-ha!” Becca said.
Jared jumped.
She gestured grandly at her computer and exclaimed, “Guys, I got it! His wife’s maternal grandmother was born in North Carolina.”
“Wow! Talk about well removed. No wonder we hadn’t figured that out yet,” Jared said.
But before they could move forward with this line of investigation the other four showed up. “Well, that was a total bust,” Jamison said as he entered the room.
“I figured since you never called for us to come and help you take him down,” Jared said.
Captain Baker spoke, “I wanted us all to touch base again before we called it a night. Did you guys make any exciting discoveries while we were out on our wild goose chase?”
“We discovered that his wife’s grandmother was born in Greensboro. Not sure how that helps yet, but it’s a lead at least.”
“Good work. Let’s pursue it more tomorrow.” Everyone was happy to hear that. “Palmer, you stay put for now.”
“Yes, sir. Oh no!” Her eyes were as wide as saucers and her mouth hung agape as her hands pressed against the side of her face.
“What?” They all said.
“Tomorrow is when the children’s choir is preforming at church. I promised Callie we would be there, no matter what.”
Jamison’s brow furrowed. “How could you possibly want to go to church after working on this case? This guy seems bent on inflicting ‘God’s’ punishment.”
Becca looked him in the eyes and said, “Because Adam, this man’s so-called faith is not the same as mine. The God I worship is one who offers grace and forgiveness for our sins. My God is one who offers redemption not condemnation.”
Silence hung in the room for a moment before the Captain said, “Rebecca, I don’t know that going to church is the wisest thing. We don’t have the manpower to send officers there to protect you.”
“Jared will be with her, Captain,” Jamison spoke up. “And I’ll volunteer.” Jared was surprised that Adam volunteered, especially after his question.
“Yeah, I’ll go, too,” Miller said.
“Thanks, guys,” Becca said warmly.
“Think nothing of it. I know Callie has been really excited about this, and I understand how important things like this are. But we have to keep you safe,” Miller said.
Baker conceded, “Okay, but be careful. And no other stops, church and then right back here.”
“Yes, sir,” Becca was grinning ear to ear. Jared was sure that at least half of her excitement had to do with not being stuck in the hotel room for at least a couple of hours.
As everyone left, Jared’s phone rang. It was Caleb. He was bringing dinner over for them, plus a little surprise. He would be there in about ten minutes. They hung up.
Now that everyone was gone Jared walked over to where Becca was sitting on her bed. He stopped when he got to the bed and stared down at her until she looked up. He reached down, picked up her laptop, closed it, and set it in on the bedside table. He reached down for her hands and pulled her to her feet. He simply looked her in the face for a few moments. Then said, “Caleb is bringing us dinner, but won’t be here for another ten minutes.”
“Okay,” she said slowly with confusion, “And I could have kept working for another ten minutes if you hadn’t so rudely taken away my computer.”
“I have a better idea of how to use the now nine minutes we have. Something I’ve wanted to do all day. And since someone is coming and will give me a cut off, I figure it’s safe to do.”
“Jared, what are you talking about?” she asked, but he knew she was just playing coy.
He answered her, but not with words. He leaned down the nine inches to meet her lips with his own. Her lips responded to every movement his made. As the passion of their kisses increased, Jared eased her back, laying her down on the bed where they continued to kiss and hold one another. He resisted the urge to do more than kiss, determined to not cross the line that they wouldn’t be able to return from.
Looking deep into her eyes as he propped himself up on his elbow, he said, “Becca, you are beautiful.” She blushed and bit her lip shyly in response. She then reached up and played with his hair. He loved the way she did that. Caleb had better get here soon…
Finally, he knocked at the door. Jared glanced at his watch, exactly ten minutes after he had called, impeccable timing. Jared glanced out the window to confirm it was Caleb before he opened it and instantly saw what his surprise was.
“It’s Caleb,” he said, and Becca opened the door.
“Callie!” Becca shouted and hugged the little girl who flew into her arms.
“Hey,” Jared said to Caleb, “Thank you so much for bringing Callie!”
“You are welcome. Amy called and said that she was having a rough time this afternoon and asked if I knew if you guys would be able to see her soon, so I suggested this. Hope it’s okay.”
“Absolutely.” Callie and Becca released each other, and Callie turned towards Jared. “Hey, Princess!”
“Daddy!” she said and flew into his arms. He lifted her and swung her around. When he put her down she immediately asked, “Are you and Mommy going to be able to come see me sing at church tomorrow?”
“We sure are. We’ll meet you there though; you will go with Aunt Amy.”
“Yippee!” She danced around with excitement.
The four of them enjoyed their dinner and time together. Caleb had even brought a few games for them to play. It was after eight before Caleb and Callie went to leave.
“Callie, you need to get back to Aunt Amy’s house, so you can get your sleep. You need to get your rest before your big performance tomorrow,” Becca said. “Daddy and I will come to second service tomorrow. I can’t wait to see you up on stage singing your heart out to Jesus.”
After hugs were exchanged and more gratitude was expressed to Caleb, the two left and Jared and Becca were alone once again in the hotel room. “Want to watch a movie?” Becca asked.
“Sounds good. But no romantic movies. We need action or comedy.”
Becca laughed. “Agreed, I vote for comedy. I think we’ve had enough action in real life.”
“So true! Let’s see what we can find.”
They both changed into their sleepwear and settled on Becca’s bed leaning up against the headboard to watch the only comedy they could find on pay-per-view. They held hands during the movie, and Becca eventually lay her head on his shoulder. As the movie ended Jared looked down and realized that Becca had fallen asleep. He eased her down into the bed and covered her with the sheet and blanket. He debated where to sleep. Part of him knew it would be wisest to sleep as far from her as possible, but he was so afraid she would have more nightmares. He also felt a strong need to be near her in a nonsexual way. He needed to protect her, but he also feared losing her. His wisdom lost the battle, and he settled down into the bed right beside Becca and quickly fell asleep. Wisdom won in the morning, though, when he made the wise decision to just get out of bed while Becca was still asleep.
Stuart was angry. He rubbed his arm near where the bullet had grazed him. It was crudely stitched with thread, but he hadn’t had a choice but to do it himself. They would have asked questions at the emergency room. He was mad that she had bested him the other night, but what made him most upset was his plan was messed up. She was supposed to be dead by tomorrow morning. He needed time
to teach her the lesson she needed to learn. He needed time to cleanse her of her sin and prepare her for death. But today was the day she was supposed to die. He needed to get her back to the basement as soon as possible so he could start her instruction and purification. He repeatedly clenched his hands and slowly released them in attempt to gain control over his anger. He needed to be calm for his plan to work.
As he relaxed he was able to return to waiting calmly. He leaned flush against the wall in a little used hallway of the church next to the double doors that lead to the lobby. He had been here for quite a while waiting for the right time. She had not come to see her daughter sing during the first service, but she was here now. Her partner was still by her side and probably had been instructed not to leave it for any reason. But Stuart was prepared. She wouldn’t have to leave his side for Stuart to fulfill his plan.
He had decked himself out in a costume he had not yet used. So far, no one that had seen him recognized him as the man the police were searching for. One, his full beard was not part of the image people had in their minds, and secondly, the fact that he had dyed his hair including his beard made him look like a different person. His attire helped him fit right in. This church was not your suit and tie kind of place. People were wearing anything from jeans to suit jackets, so he blended right in with his khaki pants and dress shirt with his nondescript London Fog jacket. He had even managed to have a conversation with her sister, even got close enough that he could have taken anything from her purse.
Everything was ready and waiting. He had arrived early enough that he had been able to park his car right next to the side door off the hallway where he was waiting. And since he sat through the first service he knew exactly the time to make his move. He would wait until the service had started. She and her moose-like side kick would never see it coming.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Jared and Becca settled into their seats in the same row as Tom and Caleb about halfway up to the front. Becca glanced over her shoulder and saw Miller and Jamison both standing at the back of the sanctuary. She was so glad she was able to come. She needed the opportunity to worship with her brothers and sisters in Christ, and she couldn’t wait to see Callie come out and sing. The girl was full of enthusiasm and loved to sing so much.