by Debra Webb
Shaking his head, he chuckled. “Well,” he said cruelly, “you should’ve thought of that before you killed his kid.”
Behind her, tires squealed.
Johnny Ray looked past Presley to see William’s truck skid to a stop next to her car. The soldier boy jumped out, leaving the door open.
“Johnny Ray,” William snarled, “you’re a dead man.”
“Call my uncle,” Johnny Ray said to Presley as he walked past her. To William he taunted, “Bring it on, soldier boy. Let’s see if the military made a man out of you after all.”
Saturday, May 29th, 1:02 a.m.
MELISSA SHOOK LOOSE from the dream. It was the same one she had whenever Jonathan was on her mind. They were still together. He hadn’t left, and they had children of their own.
A howl shattered the final remnants of sleep.
Melissa sat up. A curse hissed through the air.
Jonathan.
She threw back the covers and jumped up. When she reached the door to William’s room her brain had only just conjured up the idea that she shouldn’t go to Jonathan like this. It was too late.
He sat on the side of the bed, his hands braced on either side of him.
“You okay?” she asked him.
“Yes.”
That was his stock answer. She crossed the room, using the moonlight filtering in between the curtains to avoid the clothing littering the floor, and sat down beside him.
“The same old nightmares?”
He nodded.
“I don’t suppose you want to talk about it.” He never had. Three years apart likely hadn’t changed his mind about sharing with her.
“I led my team behind enemy lines.”
Shock radiated through Melissa. He was going to tell her? Now? Fear of shattering the moment kept her from speaking.
“We were captured. As soon as I was identified, the interrogation started. They knew I had information that would help their cause.”
She wanted to touch him, to put her arms around him and hold him close but she didn’t dare move. The pain in his voice tore at her heart.
“When I wouldn’t break, they moved on to another technique.”
The ability to breathe eluded her.
“They tortured and killed my men, one at a time, in an attempt to make me talk.”
Dear God. How could anyone hope to recover from that kind of trauma?
“I didn’t break. I couldn’t let my country down.”
He fell silent for so long Melissa thought he’d finished. She reached out to him, but he flinched.
“They all died for nothing. The mission was aborted after our capture. But I didn’t know.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know.”
Melissa put her arms around him. He tried to draw away but she held on tight. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You did your duty. That’s all you could do.”
He pressed his cheek to hers. “They died for nothing.”
The agony in his voice had tears welling in her eyes. “They died for their country,” she murmured. “It was all any of you could do.” Though she didn’t understand exactly what had happened, she knew full well if his men had been anything like Jonathan, any one of them would have done the same thing he had.
He turned his mouth around to hers. “I swore I wouldn’t do this again.”
“You don’t have to,” she whispered, her lips brushing his. “I’ll do it.”
A ringing sound made her hesitate. The phone.
For a moment she couldn’t move. She could only breathe the same air as him.
The phone rang again.
“I have to get that.” She forced her body to draw away from his and stood, then she practically ran. All the way back to her room. She snatched the phone from the nightstand. “Hello.”
“Melissa.”
“What’s wrong, Uncle Harry? Have they found Polly?” Fear lodged in her throat. The sweet sensual heat Jonathan had stirred vanished in a heartbeat.
The overhead light came on and Jonathan stood in her doorway.
“It’s William,” Harry said, his voice haunted.
Melissa looked around for her clothes. “Is he okay?”
“He and Johnny Ray had a fight. Johnny Ray’s beat up pretty bad. The chief’s holding William until we come pick him up.”
Melissa closed her eyes and scrubbed at them. Why in God’s name didn’t Johnny Ray admit defeat? Presley had chosen William. “I’ll be right there.”
“I’m on my way to city hall to pick up William. You stay put. I’ll bring him back to the house and we’ll try to talk some sense into him.”
“Okay. Be careful.” It was the middle of the night and Harry wasn’t so young anymore. Melissa hung up the phone and met Jonathan’s questioning gaze. “William and Johnny Ray got into a fight. Johnny Ray’s in the hospital. Uncle Harry’s going to pick up William from city hall.”
“Has he been charged?”
Melissa sighed. “I don’t know.” She combed her fingers through her hair. How could any of them do this with Polly missing? It was insane.
“Where’s his wife?”
Melissa shook her head. “I didn’t think to ask.”
For the first time since he walked in, she noticed Jonathan was staring at her. Heat rushed into her cheeks as she realized the state of her dress.
“Sorry.” She wrapped her arms around her middle, covering her breasts. The nightgown was thin and from the look in Jonathan’s eyes, he saw right through the fabric.
Jonathan took a step into the room. “I’ve seen every inch of you, Melissa.”
The heat that had infused her cheeks started anew deep in her belly. “I know, but that was before.” She pulled in a much needed breath. “I didn’t mean to come into your room like that.” What had she been thinking? If that phone hadn’t rung, God knows what would have happened.
“I’m glad you did.”
Their gazes collided and held. He’d dragged on his jeans but hadn’t taken the time to fasten them. He was as lean and strong as she remembered and the need to touch him, every part of him, made her knees weak. But she couldn’t go there, not and survive. Losing him had been too hard. That he’d shared his nightmare with her only made being together more difficult. Bruises, maybe a few days old, were scattered on his torso. She frowned. She hadn’t asked what kind of work he did now.
As if he sensed the war going on inside her and the questions the bruises raised, he nodded. “I’ll be waiting in the living room.”
Melissa held her breath until he’d walked away.
By the time she’d gotten dressed and pulled herself together, Uncle Harry had arrived with William and Presley in tow. William had a black eye, a swollen lip and a few scratches. Johnny Ray on the other hand had a mild concussion and two cracked ribs.
“The chief isn’t pressing charges considering,” Harry explained.
“Considering what?” Jonathan asked.
William, she noticed, didn’t say a word. Neither did Presley. She sat on the sofa next to her husband, her legs crossed and her foot tapping a hundred miles an hour.
Taking a breath, Melissa sat down next to Presley. “You okay?”
Presley wouldn’t meet her gaze, just shook her head.
“You want me to tell them?”
Melissa looked up at her uncle who’d asked the question. Harry starred at William who sat there, unblinking.
“William?” Melissa said softly. “We can talk later, if you’d prefer.” She turned to Harry. “They’re both exhausted. This has been—”
“She wasn’t home when Polly disappeared,” William said abruptly.
Melissa’s heart bumped hard against her sternum.
“She was with him.”
Presley stared at the floor where her foot tapped faster and faster.
“Dear God,” Harry groaned. “How could you do that to William?” Harry demanded. “He deserves better.”
The silence that held the room captive for the next f
ew seconds weighed several tons.
Presley nodded. “He made me.”
“Who made you?” Jonathan prompted. Melissa greatly appreciated the sympathy in his voice. “Johnny Ray.”
William’s face tightened. Melissa wished she could protect him from this.
“How so?”
Jonathan nudged.
Harry stood. “I can’t listen to any more of this.” He gestured to the door. “I’ll be on the porch.”
Presley glanced at Melissa, then at Jonathan. “He blackmailed me. He said if I didn’t meet him whenever he asked, he’d tell Will my secret.”
Before Melissa could launch into a rant about what she’d like to do to Johnny Ray, Jonathan asked in that same gentle voice, “Can you share that secret with us now?”
Presley nodded. She stole a look at William. “After Will deployed to Afghanistan, I found out I was pregnant again.” She made a keening sound and her lips trembled. “You know I couldn’t handle another kid.” This she said to Melissa. “I can barely take care of Polly.”
“Dear God.” Melissa knew where this was going.
“So I got Johnny Ray to take me to Birmingham and I had an abortion.”
William lunged to his feet and walked out onto the porch with Harry.
Presley broke down, dropped her face into her hands. “I should’ve been home that night. But he made me meet him. I wasn’t gone long. I thought Polly was in her room when I got back but I was really drunk.”
Melissa wanted to hate her for what she’d done, but she couldn’t. She set aside the fact that Presley had just admitted terminating a baby she had conceived with Will. Presley had been abused her whole life. She wasn’t equipped to deal with snakes like Johnny Ray.
Melissa pulled the younger woman into her arms. “You should’ve told me. I would’ve made sure he never bothered you again.” Will had trusted Melissa to watch over Polly and Presley. But she couldn’t do that if Presley wasn’t honest with her.
Presley sobbed harder. “I didn’t want you to hate me. Now look what I’ve done.”
It no longer mattered that Melissa was right— Presley had been holding something back. But her revelation changed nothing.
Polly was still missing.
Chapter Ten
8:30 a.m.
Jonathan followed the chief and his deputies around the perimeter that had been cordoned off as a crime scene.
Stevie Price’s body had been discovered early that morning by two teenagers. The young men had insisted they’d come to the shack for a weekend of fishing in the nearby river. Judging by what the police had found in their vehicle, fishing hadn’t been on the agenda. More like partying. Lots of beer and chips, and no sign of any fishing gear.
Stevie Price had been shot in the chest once. The coroner had concluded that Price had died within seconds of being hit. An autopsy would likely show the round had ripped through his heart.
Inside the shack, considerable evidence indicated that Polly Shepherd had been held there. But there was no sign of the child now.
More frightening was the blood trail that led from the floor of the shack, across the porch and deep into the woods. The blood had run out but the evidence that a body had been dragged had not.
Chief Talbot lifted his hand. “Hold up.”
Jonathan studied the ground in front of the chief. A broken clump of small tree limbs indicated that perhaps whoever had been dragged wasn’t quite dead at that point.
Talbot crouched down and inspected the ragged brush. “Those forensics techs here yet?”
“Ten minutes out, Chief,” one of the deputies reported.
Talbot shook his head. “We need them now.”
Jonathan scanned the woods in front of them. The hum of the river was louder now. They were close. His instincts warned that the body—whoever it belonged to—had been dumped in the river. Perhaps while the victim was still alive.
Jonathan crouched down near the chief. “This trail appears to be too large for a child’s body. The perp would simply have carried the child.” That was the only good thing about this day so far.
He glanced back toward the shack. Melissa and her uncle were being detained at the road. They didn’t need to see any of this…not until they knew something conclusive about the victim.
“I’d say you’re right.” The chief pushed to his feet. “Looks like we’re headed to the river.”
The chief’s face had paled. He took out a handkerchief and dabbed at his forehead.
The two deputies trailing their steps stared at the ground. Jonathan was clearly missing something here. As the chief moved forward, Jonathan hung back, falling into step with the deputies.
“Man, this sucks,” the deputy to Jonathan’s right mumbled.
“It does,” Jonathan agreed.
The deputy shook his head. “More than you know.”
The other deputy cleared his throat and exchanged a look with his colleague.
Jonathan slowed his step, hoping to slow the progress of the other two men. “What does that mean?” he asked when the chief was several meters ahead.
“This is the river where his daughter drowned.” The one who’d spoken nodded toward the chief.
“He and his family used to come here in the summer and fish and swim,” the other deputy said. He shook his head. “This place has been deserted since that little girl died.”
Jonathan processed the information. Why would someone keep Polly Shepherd hidden away here of all places? The better question at the moment was who killed Stevie Price? And who else had been murdered in this place? Judging by the amount of blood the victim who’d been dragged had lost, it was unlikely he or she would’ve survived in or out of the water.
Why had Stevie bought a bus ticket for Nashville and then hidden away out here? From what Melissa had told him, Stevie lacked the mental capacity to formulate such a complex plan. Jonathan looked up and around at the thick canopy of trees that almost completely blocked the morning sun.
The tree line broke as the land disappeared into the murky water. Chief Talbot was moving faster now. Jonathan quickened his pace to catch up to him.
When they reached the water’s edge, the chief staggered a bit. Jonathan moved up behind him, covertly steadying him. The chief glanced at him, a glimmer of gratitude amid the agony in his eyes.
The deputies scoured the shoreline. Jonathan studied the rocks protruding in the shallower sections of the water. “There.” He pointed to a cluster of rocks down river. Barely visible was something light green or bluish.
Chief Talbot waded into the water.
“Chief, wait,” one of the deputies called after him. “I can do that.”
The chief kept going, trudging through the hip deep water toward what appeared to be a body trapped between two large boulders.
Jonathan was right behind him. He consoled him self with the fact that the body—if it was a body—was far too large to be Polly’s.
The chief stumbled. Jonathan helped him up then plunged forward to reach what was indeed a body, face down, caught between the rocks. He touched the carotid artery. Definitely dead.
“This one didn’t make it, either,” Jonathan said as the chief approached.
Talbot steadied himself and nodded to the body. “Turn it over,” he said to his deputies. “Let’s see who this is and get ’em out of this damned river.”
The two deputies wrestled the bloated body free of the rocks and turned the man face up.
Scott Rayburn.
“Holy Moses,” the chief muttered.
“We’ll get him to the bank,” one of the deputies said. He looked almost as pale as the chief.
Talbot motioned for the two to get on with it. He plowed through the water, stopped midway to the bank and surveyed the area.
Jonathan stayed close by. The man had the look of one about to keel over.
“This just doesn’t make sense,” the chief said more to himself than to Jonathan. “Why would Stevie and Rayburn
do something like this?”
Jonathan didn’t have to point out the obvious. A third party was involved. He understood what the chief meant. Why would either man be involved in abducting Polly Shepherd?
“I guess this explains why Harper is dead.”
Chief Talbot shot Jonathan a look. “I’d say so.”
Harper had lied, it would seem, about seeing Price get on the bus. Whoever had prompted him to do so had obviously gotten nervous and tied up that loose end. But why? What did Harper and Price have in common? And what did that have to do with Rayburn’s accusations against Harry Shepherd, if anything? Was there bad blood between the elder Shepherd and Rayburn?
Not according to Melissa.
“Oh, Lord, have mercy.”
The chief fell against Jonathan. “I’ve got you.” As soon as the man was steadied, he lunged through the water. “Wait, Chief…”
Then Jonathan saw what had captured the chief’s attention, what had taken him to his knees.
Amid the thick growth lining the shore a dozen or so meters away a small blond head bobbed in the water.
Jonathan bounded forward, the water pulling at his legs. His heart rocketed into his throat.
No. No. No. Don’t let it end like this.
He reached the bushes before the chief. Jonathan reached through the limbs and closed his fingers around the…doll.
Jonathan’s knees gave out under him. He sank into the water, its murkiness lapping at his neck. The chief practically fell on top of him.
“Let me see. For God’s sake, let me see.”
Jonathan held the doll up for his inspection.
A sob tore from the chief’s throat.
It was a while before either of them could walk back to shore. By the time they reached Rayburn’s body and the two deputies, the forensics techs had arrived.
Chief Talbot sat down on the ground and held his head in his hands.
The deputies worked with the techs to attempt recovering any trace evidence. At some point the coroner arrived to examine the body.
Jonathan watched, unable to speak or act. When he’d seen the blond head in the water all he’d been able to think about, besides the tragic loss of a child, was what this would do to Melissa, and to her family.