Floyd’s frown deepened and he shook his head. “I can imagine. Andy and Penny seem to be getting pretty close.”
* * *
Floyd continued to look down at the woman he loved, his fiancée. But he was so worried about Penny that he couldn’t really think about all that right now. Later.
He reached down and ran his fingers through her beautiful silky hair. Somehow, it was so very soothing to him just then, not only her hair, but also her presence here with him and the fact that she was so stubborn about not leaving him. That made him feel good in spite of everything else that was going on around him right then.
She looked up at him then and said, “I love you Floyd Ray McCracken.”
He tried to smile down at her. “And I love you too Sue Ann Curtis.”
He thought she was going to correct him but instead she said, “I think I like Sue Ann McCracken better than either one of the other two don’t you?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I surely do.”
Just then, his secure cell phone rang. He grabbed it and looked at the display. He got excited when he saw the number ten.
“Yeah, what you got?”
Mike Bates didn’t waste time with greetings either. “I’ve heard that Hennesey is holed up with your daughter in an old abandoned cabin at the back of one of the farms around here. And before you get too excited, I heard about where you caught him last time and they said it was a different place.”
“Any idea where?”
“Sorry. That’s the best I’ve been able to come up with so far but I think I’m getting close. Everyone is afraid to talk. They say that Hennesey was mean before but now he’s crazy. I’ll let you know when I find out the rest. Oh by the way, when this is all over, I might be able to help you clear up a couple of drug related murders from five or six years ago.”
With that, he disconnected and Floyd placed his cell phone back in its case on his belt. Bates didn’t have to say that about Hennesey being crazy now or the implication that he’d killed before. That made him even more afraid for Penny’s life.
He tried to hid his reaction from Sue Ann but wasn’t sure he was very successful.
Sue Ann touched his arm. “Was that good news?”
He frowned and shook his head slightly. “I don’t know for sure. At least it’s not bad news and it might turn into something good before too long though.”
He touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “I need to run this past Norton. Will you be all right here?”
“Sure. Don’t let me keep you from doing anything you need to do to find Penny, okay?”
He nodded and stepped into the next room. No one was there but he heard voices in the conference room, which had been turned into a command center with several temporary phone lines added.
When he paused in the doorway, he heard Norton talking to one of his agents.
“You go ahead and check it out and take Barnes with you.”
When Norton finished, the agent rushed out of the room and Floyd stepped up to him.
“You got anything new?”
Norton ran a hand across his face. It was the first show of emotion of any kind he’d seen the man show. He must be getting tired too.
“I’m not sure. We got a report of someone seeing a skinny man and a little redheaded girl in a pickup going south on County C about five miles south of town at about the right time this morning. They said they thought it turned off on a dirt road down there somewhere but they didn’t notice which one.”
He held up a hand to stop Floyd’s tirade. “And before you blow up, I was going in there to tell you as soon as my agent left.”
When Floyd let the air out of his lungs, Norton continued, “I’ve sent people out to check all the dirt roads up and down both sides of the highway for several miles in both directions.”
Floyd still didn’t say anything.
“I don’t know how much good that’s going to do but we’ve got to check it out. We don’t have anything else right now. I hate to send so many people out there in case something comes down somewhere else, but I guess we can pull them quick enough if we need to.”
He was obviously still waiting for Floyd to say something so he did. “That’s good. Keep me posted.”
Floyd went back into his office to tell Sue Ann but she seemed to be dozing again. So he went back into Crystal’s office and sat behind her desk with his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands.
He just sat there trying to organize his thoughts. What should he do next? What could he do next? That was when he had a strange sensation come over him. He hadn’t thought too much about God since Penny had been taken. If he had, it had mostly been to question God as to why He would let something like this happen to an innocent little girl like Penny. His Penny.
Now, as he thought about his new relationship with God, he started to get a warm feeling and he knew what he needed to do.
He pulled out his cell phone. He didn’t want to tie up any of the landlines since they were all being used by the agents in the command center.
When Gil answered, Floyd simply said, “Pray with me.”
Gil didn’t question anything. He immediately began praying over the phone with Floyd. He prayed for Penny’s safety. He prayed for all the law enforcement personnel to be safe and have the wisdom to find Penny. Last, he prayed for Floyd and Sue Ann as they struggled with this catastrophe.
When Gil finished, Floyd simply said, “Thanks” and disconnected. He knew Gil well enough by now to know that Gil would understand that Floyd couldn’t say any more right then. Gil was a good man, that was for sure and Floyd treasured his friendship.
Floyd sat there with his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands for a few minutes until he heard a rustling sound from the direction of his office. He looked up to see Sue Ann standing in the doorway with her arms crossed across her chest and tears streaming down her face.
He jumped up and rushed over to gather her into his arms.
“Are you okay, Hon?”
She shook her head and said, “Wrong question Floyd. I’m not okay and I won’t be okay until we find Penny safe and unharmed.”
She swiped at her tears with the back of her hand and said, “I heard you talking to Gil.”
He looked down into her adoring eyes.
“That was the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen you do Floyd. I’m so proud of you for going to God in prayer.”
He started to protest but she stopped him with her fingertips on his lips. “No don’t say anything. Even though it was Gil praying, I know you’re not familiar enough with prayer to say your own but the fact that you asked Gil to pray was simply fantastic.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Floyd opened his eyes, it took him a little while to clear the fog from his mind. He realized he was on a cot in his office. That much he remembered from last night. He looked over and sure enough, Sue Ann was on an identical cot next to him.
Now he remembered everything and it hit him like a ton of bricks. Hennesey had Penny and he had to find her before that crazy man did something to her. She’d been missing over twenty hours already. The FBI always said that the first twenty-four hours were crucial to getting the victim back safely. He wouldn’t even think about any other possibility right now.
Sue Ann stirred slightly causing him to realize that her arm was stretched out across his chest. He looked over and smiled. Her arm looked so natural there that it caused a warm feeling to spread through his body. Then reality came crashing down on him again.
Sue Ann rolled onto her side, leaned up on her elbow, and looked over at him with sleepy eyes.
She spoke so softly that he had to strain to hear her. “Hi. Did you sleep any? You weren’t there when I fell asleep.”
“Yeah, I must have slept a little. All I can think about is Penny and what that monster could be doing to her.”
She sat up and swung her legs down so her feet were on the floor and so did he. When they were facing each
other, she grabbed both of his hands and said, “You can’t think about any of that right now Floyd. You’ve got to trust in God to pull all of us through this safely. Okay? If we trust in Him and listen to Him, He will give us the solution.”
He nodded then stood and stretched his sore muscles. He sat back down beside her on her cot and pulled her into his arms. She just laid her head on his shoulder, so he laid his head on hers.
They stayed that way for several minutes before they were interrupted by SAC Norton who came into the room looking like he was ready for a day at his office back in Springfield. Floyd knew the guy had stayed in a motel in town and had probably just come from there.
“Good morning Ms. Vickers, Floyd.” He turned his attention on Floyd. Anything new?”
Sometime during the long day and night before, Floyd and the FBI agent had progressed to first names. But he didn’t care what the guy called him as long as he helped him find Penny.
Floyd let Sue Ann go and stood up to face Norton. “No. At least not that I’ve heard. You?”
“No, but I’m just about to check in with all the people coming in off the night shift.”
They had placed every available officer and detective on twelve hour shifts so they could cover more ground and time with the personnel they had available to them.
Floyd looked at his watch. The shifts had just changed and he needed to go with Norton to the briefing.
He looked down at Sue Ann. “I’m going in there too. Then I’m going out to drive around a little to see what I come up with. Want to come along?”
She tried to smile up at him and said, “Sure. Let me go freshen up a bit and I’ll be ready.”
Floyd followed Norton as he led the way from his office to the conference room.
It didn’t take them long to learn that nothing much had happened overnight. So Floyd went back to his office to get Sue Ann and they headed outside to his vehicle.
As soon as they were sitting in Floyd’s Tahoe, Sue Ann turned to him and said, “Floyd, let’s say a prayer right now for Penny.”
He nodded and she prayed for both of them asking God to protect Penny and bring her back to them safely.
They drove around the county for the next hour checking all the roadblocks that the uniformed deputies and officers from other agencies had setup. No one had seen or heard anything.
When Floyd turned the car back toward the station, he said, “Well, I think I’ll try one more time to get Hershel to tell me something then I’m going to have to let him go.”
“Do you think he’ll tell you anything?”
“No. He knows that I can’t hold him any longer without charging him with something. But it’s worth one more try anyway.”
When they were approaching the station, Sue Ann said, “Floyd, why don’t you let me out at my car. I think I’ll go home and clean up then go in to the shop for a little while. But I’ll be back here in a few hours okay?”
“Sure, Hon. You need to take care of yourself. Take all the time you need.”
“Floyd Ray McCracken. You’re not going to get rid of me that easy, at least not for the next fifty or sixty years.”
He grinned at her. “I sure do like the sound of that Sugar.”
He let her out by her car and waited until she started it and drove away before he headed around back to park.
When he entered his office, again it sounded like everyone was in the conference room so he stepped in there.
Norton was on the phone so he waited for him to finish.
When he did, the federal agent reached around behind him and picked something up off the table. When he turned back around, Floyd could see that he was holding Penny’s pink coat and his heart almost stopped.
“They found this down one of the dirt roads they were searching south of here. But they searched it all the way to where it ended about a mile farther on and didn’t see anything.”
Floyd snorted. “That’s just like what Hennesey did to us the last time. He kept planting false leads all over the place. It took us a long time to chase them all down.”
Norton shook his head. “I was afraid you were going to say something like that.” He blew out a breath. “That just proves that we’re not dealing with a normal kidnapper here. This guy is only using your daughter to get to you. You might say his ransom is you.”
Floyd was suddenly so overwhelmed that he had to sit down fast. When he did, Norton was instantly hovering over him.
“You okay Floyd?”
He looked up at Norton. “Yeah, but I’ll be a lot better when we get Penny back.”
“We’re doing everything we can to make that happen Floyd.”
“Yeah, I know and don’t think I don’t appreciate it James.”
* * *
As Sue Ann drove away from the sheriff’s station, she looked in her rearview mirror. Floyd was still standing where he’d been when they said their goodbyes. She could see him watching her car until she turned the corner several blocks away.
She had to pull over and stop then for the tears were flooding her eyes again making it difficult to see well enough to drive.
Once she’d composed herself enough to drive again, she stopped to pray for Penny and Floyd again. She felt a little better afterwards.
When she stepped into her kitchen, she was surprised to see Andy sitting at the table dipping a spoon into a bowl of cereal while reading the back of the cereal box.
When she greeted him, he only stared at her and softly said, “Hi.” She realized that Andy didn’t want to talk when he turned back to the cereal box and continued to read it. She could take a hint.
She went into the living room where she found her mom sitting on the sofa with her knitting spread out on her lap but just staring out the window.
She looked around at Sue Ann and said, “Before you ask, Andy begged me to let him stay home today. He said he wants to be here when we hear anything about Penny.”
Sue Ann slowly sat down next to her mother. “Thank you Mom. I hadn’t thought about that. Poor guy really likes Penny.”
She looked toward the kitchen. “How is he handling it?”
Wanda shook her head. “I’m not sure. I can’t get him to talk about it. It’s as if he thinks that if we talk about it we might cause something bad to happen to Penny.”
Sue Ann started to get up but her mother stopped her. “I need to straighten him out.”
“No Dear, let him be. Remember he’s only seven years old. He doesn’t think the way we adults do.”
“Yeah. I know you’re right. I just can’t stand to see him so upset this way.” She blew out a breath and leaned back.
After a few minutes, when Sue Ann realized that she was beginning to relax too much and was about to fall asleep, she got up.
“I’m going to go take a shower then I think I’ll go down to the shop for a little while before I go back to the sheriff’s station.”
Wanda nodded and Sue Ann headed for her bedroom.
When Sue Ann finished dressing after her shower, she felt only marginally better. As she came out of her room, she noticed that Andy was now in the living room watching TV. As she prepared to talk to her son, she tried to decide on the best approach to take.
He took the decision out of her hands when he looked up at her with tears in his eyes and said, “Is Penny going to be okay Mom?”
She dropped to her knees next to his chair and pulled him into an embrace. “I sure hope so Honey. But you know the best thing we can do in the meantime is to pray for her.”
They stayed that way for a few minutes with her just holding her son. She wished there was something that she could do to reassure him, but there was nothing and she needed reassuring as much as he did. Since there wasn’t anything she could think of to say she just held him.
She finally said, “You know that Floyd is doing everything he possibly can to find Penny don’t you?” When he nodded she continued, “And he has almost two hundred others helping him find her. The
y’ll find her soon.”
She stood with the words ‘I hope’ flying around in her head.
When she walked into the shop, the breakfast rush was over and Jo and the twins were in the kitchen sitting at the little table. They’d brought two more chairs in from the dining room.
They all jumped up when they saw her and rushed over to her. Jo pulled her into a tight embrace and she could feel other hands patting her back.
When Jo pulled back, she said, “Anything new?”
Sue Ann shook her head. “No.”
They all sat there for a few minutes drinking their coffee and not saying anything.
When the bell over the front door rang, Jo looked around at the others and said, “I’ll go get that.”
Before anyone could protest, she was gone into the dining room. Sue Ann looked at the two precious older ladies whom she had grown so fond of over the last six months. She knew now how Gil had turned out the way he had. These two sweet ladies had raised him from a little boy and there was only goodness in both of them. How else could Gil have turned out?”
Jo ran into the kitchen. “Mable from next door said she just heard that they found Penny.”
Sue Ann jumped up so fast she almost upended both the table and her chair. “I’ve got to go down there.”
As she was running out into the dining room, she called back over her shoulder. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything out.”
Again, on her way down to the station, Sue Ann drove as fast as she could, hoping she wouldn’t wind up with a police escort down to the station. That was when she noticed that it had started to snow. It was only just a few flurries now but the forecast was for several inches this evening. She didn’t like the sound of that.
When she rushed into Floyd’s office, no one was in there but Penny’s pink coat was lying on his desk. Her hopes sored as she ran into the conference room, which she found almost overflowing with people.
A Better Solution (Crowley County Series Book 2) Page 20