Apprehended (Amber Alert Series Book 3)

by Sara Schoen

  "I think of myself because that's how you get out of these situations," I said, meaning the kidnapping case not the co-worker argument we were having. "You have to think of yourself to escape and anyone you get out besides yourself is a bonus."

  "Do you think that's how Anna felt when she saved you all those years ago?" Callum asked with a smirk.

  "No, it's just—”

  "Do you think that's what Audrey was thinking when she saved her own mother from the same person that took her all those years ago?" Callum asked condescendingly as he interrupted my explanation.

  "No, of course not," I stuttered before he interrupted me again.

  "So is it really about being selfish and thinking about only yourself? I see it the other way around and it looks like Anna and Audrey would agree. They both put others before themselves so that the other could escape, sometimes while leaving themselves in harm's way. Audrey stayed with Steve for almost an extra week to let her mother escape, and Anna took you with her when you were six even though you would just slow her down. Now why would they do that if the only way to get out of that situation was to take care of themselves? Audrey would have needed to leave her own mother behind, and Anna would have had to leave a defenseless young girl behind. To me that looks more like a team mentality than a solo one."

  I was about to speak up and defend myself when Jason raced into the room. His eyes were bulging out of his head as he raced into the room, and his breath was shallow as if he ran a marathon before coming in here.

  "What's wrong, Jason? Are you okay?"

  "We've got a body," he blurted out before racing off again to get the rest of the team. Callum and I turned to each other before forcing ourselves out of our seats and following after Jason. Who was dead and how did she die? Did we somehow end up with a body count higher than the number of girls that had already been kidnapped?

  I shivered. Things were escalating quicker than I was comfortable with.

  Chapter 5

  The team filed into one car and waited patiently, and wordlessly, as we traveled toward the airport. I wanted to break the silence, but the serious expressions on their faces told me that I was better off staying quiet. We had caught a flight to Colorado, the sight of the last kidnapping and where the body had been dumped. From the police reports it was the girl he had just taken from campus, but she was in a different girl's clothes.

  I felt a shiver run up my spine as I remembered the photos. They were enough to make me sick, while Callum’s team seemed completely unaffected. They talked about them so easily, as if the photos were family pictures taken at a reunion. They didn't even stutter over the one that a cop had taken to show us the note left on her body. "I grabbed the wrong girl, but I will find her. There's nothing you can do about it." There wasn't a single moment of hesitation as they looked them over, or even a moment of silence.

  "Looks like he dropped her off on a blind curve in the road," Jason stated as he looked at an aerial of the area Audrey Thompson had been disposed at.

  "So that way no one could see him while he dropped her body off and to anyone who passed it would look like his car was just stuck or broken down," Callum added as he handed me the photo of the 'U' shaped turn. The turn was tight, it had to be taken at a slow speed, with a focused driver so that no one would get injured—it was one of those turns that caused young teens and adults alike to lose their lives.

  It made me wonder, how many people passed by before someone noticed her body? How many people could have intervened or seen something that would have helped?

  "Looks like he plans efficiently, he's probably pretty organized," Abby added as she looked over the aerial photo. "He picked a spot that few go to unless they have to and would be hard to be noticed at."

  "He also knew that while few would pay attention to him, eventually someone would notice and call it in. He wanted us to see this, but not until he was out of the area," Kate stated as she handed the photo to Darrell.

  "He would have to be organized and thoughtful in order to keep the girls under control," Darrell added. "He has at least twelve that we know of, if not more. He had older girls from past years and could’ve planned more efficiently for the next one."

  "Or he's taking them and keeping them," I retorted, remembering Jason's suggestion back in Virginia.

  "What makes you say that? Steve Bennett never kept the girls he took together," Callum challenged. I knew this was going to be coming eventually. He was going to test my knowledge to see if bringing me was what they actually needed. It made me wish that Anna and Audrey had said yes and then I wouldn't be here. There was no way that I could help out with this the way they wanted me to.

  "Steve Bennett kept the girls he took various increments of time, he only got rid of them after they broke a rule, but you've said that our copycat never got rid of any of the girls he took until recently."

  "Unless we didn't know, the last time we had help bodies of young girls started to pile up," Darrell stated. "We don't know if they were taken by him or just killed. We only really know of a few girls that were taken by him. The girls we found were all high risk individuals."

  I must have made a very confused expression because Jason quickly answered my unasked question, "a high risk individual is a person that's susceptible to becoming a victim of a crime. Think of a prostitute, due to their profession they are constantly exposed to a large number of strangers, are out late at night and sometimes alone, could have contact with drugs or drug users, and would be a low priority to police if they were attacked or killed. Meaning that they will usually not be missed until long after the attack, because no one is going to notice if a prostitute goes missing because a week later there will just be another one there. There is at times no report of the attack or killing and so there is no way to keep track of them. Whereas, a low risk victim may be someone with a steady job, friends and family that would notice if they went missing, and they may have a home with security. Since the low risk victim is more likely to be noticed, attackers will typically go after high risk individuals instead, unless they are after something."

  I stared at him dumbfounded for a moment. He had said that at a lightning-fast pace with very few breaths in between. It was as if the information streamed into his head and he had to say it as fast as he could so that he wouldn't lose the words. He was rather smart, but it was off-putting to be next to him because it was scary at how much he could know. He studied behavior and could know more about any person within a few minutes than I would know in months. He could know anything about anyone, and they would never know.

  "Right," I said hesitantly as I turned back to the rest of the team. "If the girls he originally took were high risk then he was practicing. Steve had always said that all the girls leading up to Anna were practice, and that she was the 'one'. That's why he was so focused on her, so maybe this guy is looking for one particular girl who represents everything he desires. He only wants her and all these others could have been just practice."

  "That's a great theory, but we can't be sure yet. What we do know is that he knows what Audrey looked like, but didn't get the name right. He dumped the other girl, telling us that he figured out that he grabbed the wrong one and will likely try again. Until we are sure on the rest of it you are going to be with Audrey and Damien. Since she seems to be the one he was after, don't give too much away." Callum got out of his seat after the plane came to a stop. His team got up and followed after him as the plane door was opened allowing them out. I didn't move until I heard the police sirens, my curiosity got the better of me as I stepped off the plane to see Audrey and Damien pulled out of the cop car.

  As I stepped off the plane Audrey ran to me without a second thought. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she swung her arms around my neck in a hug.

  "I'm here to see you," I stated vaguely as I hugged her back and glanced toward Damien, who was giving me a knowing look. He knew there was more to this story, and wanted to know what it was. I had never come to v
isit them since they moved to Colorado and with the panicked phone call a few days ago Damien knew that my visit wasn't for a reunion.

  "I'm glad to see you, Jessi, but seriously, why are you here? It can't be just to see us, since you haven't come for the last two years I've been here," Audrey said, clearly picking up on what Damien had been about to ask.

  "We think this copycat, or unknown subject as they call him," I stated, gesturing to Callum’s team behind me. "Is after you. For some reason he wants you and we haven't figured out why yet. We aren't sure what he's planning or doing to these girls, but there's a note he left that points to you as the next victim. We're here to make sure that nothing happens to you."

  "Aw, man. Not again," Audrey whined as she turned to glare at Damien. "I honestly blame you."

  "How can you blame me?" he asked with shock in his voice as he furrowed his eyebrows in complete disbelief.

  "If you hadn't dragged me into the last round of Steve Bennett’s crazy plan then this copycat wouldn't be after me. I never would have had to meet that awful man, and my mother wouldn't have had to be in the same room with him again. Let's not forget that you left me with him when you escaped, and I almost died. Now it's happening all over again."

  "That's ridiculous, Audrey." Damien shook his head and rolled his eyes at her comment. He couldn't believe that she was trying to find a way to blame him for this instead of the man that actually caused it—Steve Bennett.

  "It's not ridiculous, and now it's happening again. I don't know if I can go through that again," she said honestly. There was a fear in her voice that made my stomach clench. She had done this once before, Anna had been through it twice, and now it was up to me to keep them from reliving it again. This time it was my turn, and it was my job to keep them safe. I just wasn't sure if I was able to do it or not, but I had to try.

  "Don't worry, Audrey, this time I'm in the game and this is something I'm good at," I said with a smile trying to sound confident. "This time you and your mom won't be a part of this, I promise." I should have known that promise would be impossible to keep, but I meant it, and now we would all suffer for it.

  Chapter 6

  The team, including Audrey and Damien, had been moved from the airstrip to the Boulder County Justice Center, home of the Boulder Sheriff's office. I watched as the team got out first before letting Audrey and Damien out of the car. It was for their protection, if this man was after Audrey, then we had to protect her. Although, if this man hated having help brought in then I was curious on how he would handle us giving protection to the person he wanted. If he had started dropping bodies in retaliation to the help, I was scared to see what he would do to get to Audrey.

  As we walked into the police station, I tried to get a good look around. Ever since I was little I was cautious of local law enforcement officers after so many of them in my hometown were found to be working with Steve Bennett in order to keep their own families safe. People in my town were angered by their actions but few understood how ruthless Steve Bennett was. These officers knew, they had somehow found him and were given a choice, life or death? They made their choice, and I'm sure a few officers were killed because they refused to help him.

  Their job was to prevent others from finding him, and in exchange he would pay them, and ensure their wives and daughters never became one of his victims. All they had to do was agree to keep the girls he was with in the chase and look the other way. By doing that, the officers rationalized that it was one girl—if she left then another would just be taken. What's wrong with one girl compared to the dozens it could be?

  Everything. Everything was wrong with that. I knew why the officers did what they did, it was a natural human instinct to protect loved ones, but I couldn't rationalize their choice.

  Those officers should have stopped him, and they knew it, but passing up the choice could have meant death for them and their families. If it had been my dad, he would have said no, but then he would have died, and Steve would have come after me anyway. At that point, it wouldn't be as a friend for Anna, but as a replacement. I shivered that thought away as I followed Callum toward the office the officers had set up for us, but as I got closer he shut the doors behind his team and turned to face me.

  "Stay out here," he ordered.

  "Why?"

  "You warned them, you brief them. I don't want them getting in the way, like you have so far." He swiped his fingers through his hair with a heavy sigh as his phone started to ring.

  "Excuse me?" I asked, insulted by his words. "You called me in on this, how can you say that I'm getting in the way?"

  "I don't have time for this right now, Jessi. I have to take this phone call," he said as he lifted the phone to his ear and walked away from me.

  I felt an anger boiling inside of me as I replayed his words in my mind. He had done nothing but insult me and berate me for my choices since I'd gotten here. He asked me to come, he seemed so nice before, demanding, but polite. He wanted my help, correction, he wanted Anna's help. I was sure that was the only reason I was even here; a last choice. This time I wasn't going to stand by while he insulted me I took a few steps toward him I was going to rip that phone out of his hand and give him a piece of my mind when Audrey grabbed a hold on my arm.

  "It's not worth it," she stated. She had probably figured out what I was about to do without any problems. I was one of those people that you could read easily just by looking at my facial expressions. No matter how hard I tried, my true thoughts would be put on display for everyone to see. Audrey had once asked how a dressed looked on her, I knew she loved it, but it looked awful on her. Let's just say she didn't get the dress.

  "I didn't think you joined the FBI for kidnapping cases," Audrey stated as she lead me to a table away from Callum and his team.

  "I didn't, but of course that's what I get labeled with a lot. They call it an expertise, but really it's just inside knowledge that isn't really useful since I was so young. That's why I go to you guys a lot, you were older and remember a lot more than I do. I wish I was more help, but they know more than I ever will."

  "Looks like Callum gives you a hard time," Audrey said as she gestured toward the dark haired man who was busy talking into the phone.

  "Only all the time," I sighed. "Everything I say around him is wrong because he won't share information with me. I don't know why they asked me in on this. I wasn't even their first choice, Anna said no, which is understandable because she has been through enough, but she would answer any questions they had. You said no, because you wanted to finish school without that over your head, I was a last resort."

  "I'm sure you're better than a last option. Just relax and it will all come to you. Trust me," Audrey said with a smile. She had told me that while she was with Steve her mind connected the dots from everything about the case she had heard growing up. She learned from the girls that went before her and, according to her, it helped her escape.

  "And what if it doesn't? What if I never remember and I just make a fool out of myself during the investigation? I don't know this man, I barely knew Steve Bennett and I almost got your mother killed because I was there."

  "But you didn't, Jessi. You were a child, and there was no way that you could know what was going on," Audrey pointed out. "Jessi, there's no need to worry. You've worked for years to get here and make a difference, maybe you're meant to do this. Yes, Anna and I were asked before you, but it's exactly what you said, you were too young to register what was happening. If you think about it and take some time to yourself I'm sure it will come to you."

  "He's just going to keep it up, I can't just keep acting like I'm okay with how he treats me," I said as I watched him stalk off around the corner toward the restrooms.

  "He's just stressed, Jessi. Wouldn't you be with girls going missing?"

  "I was worried when we thought it was you, but he just yelled at me for calling you and Damien. I didn't know what else I could do. The video went down, there wasn't a positive identific
ation on the person taken, and I had to know if you were okay or not. There was nothing else I could do," I cried. My hands were in my hair, starting to pull at the small threads of blonde color.

  "Now you know how he feels," Audrey said quietly.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Think about it, Jessi. How you felt when it could have been me? That worry, the angst, and the fear. All of those emotions you had when you thought it could have been me, you also felt for the girl that was actually taken. Yes you were relieved it wasn't me, but you also felt it for the other girl right?" I nodded my head as an answer and waited for her to continue. "He's been feeling that since the first girl was taken. Kidnappings of young kids gets everyone like that, and he's been dealing with this for a while now. We have no idea how long these girls have been missing, when they were taken or anything from what I heard the team talking about in the car ride. They are focused on this case, and only this because of the severity of it."

  "That doesn't give him the right to treat me like this."

  "It's not about you, Jessi. It's about how he feels about this. They know nothing about this guy, and you have made some rash choices. You're thinking of yourself instead of those around you and while I thank you for worrying about me, it could have caused more problems by telling me. You need to start thinking about the team, and not just yourself. I understand that you don't trust them because you don't know them or you feel like you have to watch out for just yourself, but now you're on a team and you have to start acting like it."

  I felt my insides clench as Audrey talked about how I was thinking only of myself. Callum had said the same thing to me, and I hadn't believed it because I thought he was just trying to get a reaction out of me. Now, hearing it come from Audrey I knew that I was really too focused on myself and not enough on the team. I had been rushing through trying to solve the case to prove myself, but I hadn't been a part of the team. I didn't have the information that his team did, because I wasn't acting like a part of the team. I had started to, but we had yet to share information. It was time I started acting like a part of Callum’s team.