He had his hard-to-read expression firmly in place, and even a smile from her wouldn’t budge it.
“So, Jarrett…” Kellan pointed at the chair across from his desk—a silent order to park it. “Tell me about this article.”
Jarrett’s face lit with the excitement of a story unfolding. He couldn’t help himself. “Okay, so I spoke to the guy who wrote it about forty minutes ago. Basically, last summer, two campgrounds about four and five hours north of here were hit over the course of two weeks. A spate of robberies. It was just little things that people didn’t immediately notice were gone, like rings that people had taken off to go swimming, wallets tucked into shoes, watches hidden under pillows. All stuff that was tucked away for safety, then not discovered missing until hours later. Reports kept flooding in of things being taken but no evidence that anything else was disturbed. It wasn’t until he got up there and started asking the right questions that he started to piece together a thread. Kids. Unsuspicious, innocent kids were picking pockets and sneaking into tents.”
“How did he figure that?”
“When he dove deep with his questioning, people started to mention a church group that had been staying on-site. A pastor with a group of underprivileged kids. He was mentoring them over the summer, teaching them how to fish and swim, taking them hiking in the woods—that kind of stuff. But this reporter thinks it was just a front.”
Melina’s lips parted as she crossed one leg over the other. “It’s like Fagan’s gang from Oliver Twist. You know that story? A bunch of street kids working together to steal for survival.”
She looked between the men and they all nodded.
“It’s kind of ballsy, though. To hit a campground seems risky to me,” Nate commented.
Jarrett agreed with a nod. “This reporter followed the story back to the Twin Cities. He was in the process of looking for pawn shops that might have been buying the kinds of stuff these kids were stealing, but he just kept hitting dead ends.” Jarrett’s lips twitched with a grin. “Me, on the other hand? I want all over this. I bet I can find something he missed. Jess and I are going to head out of town for a few days, visit the campgrounds, then maybe head to the cities and start hunting for likely pawn shops.”
“You don’t have much to go on,” Kellan muttered. “And the case is pretty old by now. No pawn shop is still going to have those goods sitting around.”
Jarrett shrugged, obviously not put off by his skepticism. “You never know if you don’t look. Melina gave me a pretty good description of this Leah girl, and the camp owners will no doubt have some more information. Jess and I can find something out of nothing.” Jarrett’s confident smile made Melina grin.
Nate frowned, obviously unconvinced. “Terry is okay with you just taking off? Seems like bad timing.”
“He’s already OK’d it. Max and Rochelle are working other angles on the attack on the station. Terry’s as intrigued by this theory as I am. He’s giving me until Monday to find something.”
“I guess you better get on with it, then,” Nate muttered.
Melina had to wonder if Nate’s scowl had anything to do with the fact that Jess would be going with Jarrett. She’d been a fine cop, and Nate had taken her leaving the force pretty hard. Jarrett speculated that his best bud blamed him a little, but it had been Jess’s decision.
They were working through it, but Nate wasn’t shy about letting his disapproval show.
In true Jarrett style, he ignored Nate’s expression and stood with a laugh, slapping his buddy on the shoulder. Nate hissed and scored himself a quick apology from Melina’s careless brother.
Jarrett caught her eye as he walked backward to the door. “Call me if you need anything.”
“I will.” He opened his mouth to say more, but she raised her hand to stop him. “I’ll check in on Mom, don’t worry.”
He gave her a grateful smile before bolting out the door, looking like an excited kid about to start a treasure hunt. Melina couldn’t help a soft laugh, but it quickly died as she glanced at the two serious men still in the room.
Sitting up straighter in her chair, she looked between them. “Thoughts?”
Kellan sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Knowing they’re a crew of kids. It’s… I mean, I guess it’s helpful, and this campground story could lead to something, but I want more. We need something solid we can chase up now, not just a bunch of theories.”
“We can still come up with good conclusions based on theories.” Melina spread her hands wide. “Let’s unpack this. Kids stealing to survive. If this youth pastor story is true, then they’re obviously working under some kind of leader. I’m guessing it was the guy wearing the police uniform yesterday, the one who knocked Mick out.”
Mention of the officer who was still in a coma brought a certain tension into the room.
Nate huffed and spat out, “We can’t see his face on any of the video feeds, which shows he knew what he was doing.”
“His build and stature was that of a man. So let’s assume it’s a well-trained guy who is leading these kids.” She pointed at Kellan. “You said the job at your parents’ house looked professional, so these kids are being trained by this man. Turned into professional criminals.” Melina tapped her chin while she thought. “So I think our big question should be where is he getting these kids from? Is he taking in waifs and strays? Or is he trolling the streets and grabbing anyone who shows potential? What about these children’s families?”
“I guess we have to assume they’re all homeless…or runaways,” Nate said. “Otherwise, we’d have a slew of missing kids being reported.”
Melina agreed with a nod. “If that’s true, then they most likely look up to this man. Think of him as their savior. He’s rescued them from a life on the streets.”
“But he’s making them steal.” Nate frowned.
“Maybe they don’t know that’s wrong. It’s all in the way you sell it, the lies you tell. If he’s providing them with shelter, warmth, food, then they’ll be loyal to him.”
“But she was scared,” Kellan pointed out. “You could see the fear in that girl’s eyes. She didn’t want to tell us anything.”
“Because she was afraid of us? Or him?”
Kellan shrugged, obviously annoyed by her questions. Sitting back in his seat, he ran a hand over his short hair. “I was nice to her. I gave her pizza. I could tell she wanted to talk to me, but when she gave me her name, she clammed up immediately. She was scared of the consequences of her actions.”
“And then they broke her out,” Nate added. “She’s obviously of great value to them.”
“Or they work like a family. It’s a love-based relationship.” Melina threaded her fingers together. “If that’s the case, I’m guessing they see him as their rescuer. So he must be picking the kids up off the streets, providing for them, and in return they help him get rich.”
Kellan shook his head. Melina studied him, trying to decipher the meaning of his scowl. Once again, she was struck by that yearning to dive inside his mind and discover what thoughts lay hidden behind those protective layers of his.
What was he thinking? Feeling?
He shot out of his chair, making Melina flinch. Striding to the door without a word, he raced away from them. Nate shot her a confused glance before bolting from his seat and chasing after his boss.
33
Thursday, September 27th
11:05am
“I just remembered something,” Kellan said over his shoulder when he heard the scuffling of feet behind him. Glancing back, he noted Nate and Melina’s confusion and quickly added, “Leah got spooked. When we were walking her to her cell, she was petrified.”
“She’d just assaulted me. Of course she was scared of the backlash,” Nate spat.
“No, it was more than that.” Kellan jerked to a stop outside the interview room, then did a slow spin before heading toward the cells. “She tripped,” he murmured, slowing to a stop where he thought he remem
bered it happening. “It was around here. Something spooked her.” His eyes darted to the wall and he spotted it instantly.
The bulletin board.
She must have seen something on it. He stepped up close and started scanning the contents.
Nate moved in beside him, his tall frame making Kellan feel momentarily small. Pointing at the wanted posters, he theorized, “Do you think one of these guys is the one who has her? Who came in to get her back?” He sounded skeptical and rightfully so. It was a stretch.
Kellan shook his head, his eyes locking onto the picture of Arnold Watson—a cute little black kid with big eyes and dimples. He’d been missing for months, and Kellan had pinned the poster up as soon as it’d come into the station. He’d struggled to get the pins into the board; his fingers had been shaking as the old, dark feelings tried to attack him.
Straightening his spine, he tapped his finger on the boy’s chin. “It was him.”
“Why do you say that?” Melina stepped forward, resting her hand on his elbow.
The sweet touch unnerved him. He was talking about a missing kid. At his most vulnerable. And her touch could disintegrate him.
He turned so he’d have an excuse to ease away from her gentle fingers. “Nate just mentioned missing children bulletins. That’s got to be it. That’s what freaked her out. She knows this kid.”
Nate grimaced beside him while Kellan’s insides churned. He needed to read up again on the Arnold Watson case. There had been a nationwide alert for the kid, and Kellan had followed the story closely when it first hit, but things had died down in recent months as the tips and leads dried up.
Kellan recalled that Arnold had gone missing from a playground. He’d been with a group of kids, and they’d accidentally left without him. His poor mother hadn’t even known he’d disappeared until she came to collect him after work. Arnold’s caregivers had completely screwed up and were lucky the mother wasn’t suing. She was too focused on trying to find her kid to bother.
Arnold’s face was probably pinned up in 90 percent of the police stations in the country. Kellan was sure he’d been taken from a town in Minnesota, though. He just couldn’t recall which one.
But Leah had recognized his photo.
Which meant she knew him.
Which meant…
He clenched his jaw, gritting out the words, “She wasn’t afraid of me. I mean, yeah, she was skittish, but she took that pizza. She let me sit with her. She wanted to tell me more, I could see it in her eyes.” He huffed in frustration. “But she wouldn’t, because she was afraid of the damn guys who came in here and broke her out.” Rage spurted inside of him and he paced away from the board. “What if we’re not talking about a crew of runaways and homeless kids? What if they were taken? Stolen.” He spun to face Nate and Melina. His chest was heaving and he quickly checked himself, clearing his throat so his voice would come out steady. “We need to start checking missing children databases. I want to cross-reference whatever information Jarrett digs up for us and see if we can’t find a connection.”
“Uh…” Nate scratched the back of his neck, looking awkward.
“What?” Kellan snapped and instantly regretted it. But he was fighting for control. Something inside of him was churning. An ugly, black soil spun in his stomach, making him feel ill.
“Well, it’s kind of a stretch, boss.” Nate looked to Melina as if seeking backup. “I mean, she could have seen something else. She could have just randomly tripped. Her fear was most likely due to the fact that you were walking her to a cell.”
Kellan glared at Nate’s logical thinking. He didn’t want to hear it.
“I mean…” Nate cringed. “You’re not just thinking all of this because, well it’s…kind of a sensitive subject for you?”
It took everything in Kellan not to shout at, spit on, or punch one of his best detectives. Instead, he placed his hands on his hips and squeezed until he could feel the pinch.
Yes, missing children cases always got to him, because he’d lived through one before. He’d sat through hours of questioning when the FBI took over the case. He’d worked through each scenario, spent hours scouring the forest for Rae. His mind had tortured him with every theory possible and in the end he’d had to accept that his little girl was dead.
He’d had to.
Because he had to believe she’d died quickly, without fear or pain. That she was tucked safely away in heaven where he’d one day see her again.
He couldn’t go down the black hole. The one that housed a plethora of nightmares.
Nightmares of his daughter being taken, hurt, abused, raped, tortured by some sick psycho.
How badly would she have suffered?
He squeezed his eyes shut, cutting off the images that had tried to destroy his soul years ago.
His logical brain knew there was a chance Rae had survived, that she was still alive somewhere. A body had never been found. Her yellow ribbon with blood and animal saliva was hardly irrefutable proof. Killed by an animal was only a theory.
But he’d quickly learned that he couldn’t face any other option.
Even if there was a chance that she lived and he might see her again, how was she suffering? What were her captors doing to her?
The possible answers to those questions became more and more harrowing if he let his mind wander that path.
And so he didn’t.
Rae was dead.
The little girl he once knew was no longer, and the easiest fix for his tortured mind was to imagine she was in heaven, blissfully happy and free.
He quickly secured his defensive walls, resurrecting his fortress and barked, “We have to find that kid.” His finger shook as he pointed at the bulletin board. “Contact the FBI and get every scrap of information they’ll give you on Arnold Watson. I want to know this case inside out.”
Sensing Melina’s penetrating gaze, he glanced at her and then immediately wished he hadn’t.
Her eyes were swimming with pain and sympathy, like she had a direct camera feed to his soul and could see the storm raging within.
He didn’t want her seeing that. Knowing the pain.
This was why he couldn’t fall in love. Not with her. Not with anyone.
It hurt too much. It made him too vulnerable.
“We’re done here for the day.” His tone was soft but curt. “Thanks for your help. You should head back to your own work now.” He couldn’t look her in the eye as he spoke.
It was cowardly, but somehow essential to his survival.
Turning his back on her, he clipped to his office and shut the door behind him. His legs could barely hold him as he stumbled to his desk and slumped into his chair.
Images of Rae laughing and giggling swirled through his brain, turning into a tornado that soon howled and screamed. Rae’s laughter morphed to tears, her cries of terror slashing his wounded heart to shreds.
34
Tuesday, October 2nd
11:20am
Melina dropped her phone on the desk, then cringed as it slid across her notepad and landed on the floor.
With a huff, she stood and retrieved it, relieved the screen hadn’t cracked. It was stupid to feel so irritated, but it was better than sadness, which was what she’d been fighting all weekend.
Her house had felt cavernous and icy. Tasha hadn’t been free to hang out and she’d had to fill the void by herself. She’d tried to read, watch a movie, play with Mr. Pickles. She’d even baked a cake and taken it to her mother. That had been nice, but it hadn’t changed the fact that she’d returned to a quiet house after dark. She’d toyed with the idea of going to Shorty’s, but a hot shower and her pajamas were calling, so she played the old grandma card and snuggled up to watch a movie in bed.
It’d been a depressing weekend.
A lonely one.
“He spent one night, you stupid woman,” she muttered, hating how much of an effect one man could have on her.
It didn’t help that Kellan hadn’
t spoken to her since he quietly told her to piss off. He’d said it politely, of course; Kellan Marks wouldn’t know how to do it any other way.
But when she’d called on Friday offering to help him review any files on Arnold Watson, his quiet “Thanks for the offer, but it’s probably best if you stick with your work and I stick with mine” couldn’t have been any clearer. And the lack of communication that followed only drove the point home.
The guy wanted to be left alone to drown in work and routine so he didn’t have to face the fact that this Leah girl and this missing Arnold kid were rattling him senseless.
Melina knew there wasn’t much she could do about it. Reaching out to people like that only pushed them further away. He had to come to her on his own terms, and all she could do was wait.
Wait and stew.
She rolled her eyes, once again annoyed at her complete lack of control. All she could do now was focus on her work. Plunking into her chair, she pulled the files from her bag and slapped them onto her desk.
Sebastian Moore’s name stood out and she sighed.
Her visit the day before had confirmed that the boy would definitely need removing until his mother could get help for her depression. Melina had already lined up a foster family, and she was due to collect Sebastian after school and deliver him to his temporary home. It was going to be a horrible afternoon, but at least she could encourage his mother by telling her that it was temporary. She’d located a clinic that offered free counseling sessions, and she’d already started looking into arrangements to provide the mother with reliable transportation to and from each appointment.
The sadness she was trying to avoid started to bloom in her chest again. She scratched her collarbone, wishing the simple act would diminish the feeling, but it only grew.
Closing her eyes, she flipped the file shut and made sure her phone alarm was set so she wouldn’t miss picking up Sebastian on time. It was for the best, no matter how it made her feel.
She pushed her chair back and stood, pacing to the window for a quick breather. The street outside was quiet and friendly. A mother was power walking past, buds in her ears and a toddler swinging his little legs in the stroller. Melina smiled at the image, wondering what it’d be like to have children of her own. She wasn’t sure she ever would. Working with other people’s children took so much of her emotional energy, she wasn’t sure she’d have much left for her own.
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