Vanishing Point

by Lisa Harris

  She had no idea where she was, but God had to be here somewhere. Wasn’t he? Wasn’t he the one who’d told her to run?

  The cloud cover had broken, allowing the moonlight to filter through the trees, but it still wasn’t enough for her to see more than a few feet ahead. Everything began to look the same as she skirted a fallen tree. Was she just going in circles?

  Her ankle twisted when she stepped into a hole. Searing pain shot up her leg. She stumbled to the ground, twisting and falling flat on her tailbone. The panic engulfing her turned into terror. It was as if she were in some sort of nightmare and couldn’t wake up. She lay still for a moment, listening to see if Rose was still following her. A branch snapped. Leaves crackled. Rose was behind her, not even trying to mask the noise. Which meant she had to keep running. She tried to push herself up, but the pain in her ankle was excruciating. She had run out of options.

  The only thing she could do now was hide.

  She could still hear the dogs, but their barks seemed fainter. Had they lost her scent?

  No, the dogs would find her. And so would her abductor. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying the dogs were search dogs. If they were, she wondered what her parents would have given the police so the dogs could track her. Maybe her favorite baseball shirt, or the Keep Calm one she’d worn yesterday.

  But what if Rose found her first and killed her? The wind blew across her face. She wished she had the coat her mom had bought her for her birthday. The one with the furry hood and zipper. She shivered as she lay as still as she could, biting her lip against the pain in her ankle.

  Her mom never would have let her go to Trina’s house last night. If she hadn’t been out, her car wouldn’t have broken down, and Rose wouldn’t have offered to help her.

  She held her breath and tried not to cry. Strange noises surrounded her. Some she recognized, like crickets and the wind blowing through the trees. Other sounds were foreign, upping her fear level.

  “I know you’re out here.”

  She froze. Rose was getting closer. It was almost over. She couldn’t run anymore. Couldn’t fight.

  “You won’t be able to hide from me, can’t you see that? No one is coming for you. No one.”

  Rose was almost there. Kelsey could see the woman’s shadow in the moonlight as she passed Kelsey’s hiding place. She hadn’t found her. Not yet.

  “I told you not to run, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”

  Something crawled across Kelsey’s face. She fought to stay still. Wind blew through the treetops above her.

  Someone shouted. The dogs’ barking was getting louder again. They were coming for her. But who would find her first?

  31

  11:17 p.m.

  Property east of Nashville

  They were running out of time. Garrett followed the grid line he’d been assigned to in the wooded area of the property. His lungs were burning from the cold, and yet he couldn’t stop. Kelsey was out here somewhere. Neither could he think about Jordan. Not now. They needed to find Kelsey, for himself as much as Jordan.

  The darkened forest whispered around him. Shadows danced as he moved forward, his bright light catching the uneven terrain around him. Tree limbs swayed and creaked in the darkness. He could hear the search dogs barking periodically to his left. Their eerie howls pierced through the cold. The underbrush crunched under his feet.

  I know you’re here, God. In spite of everything that’s happened. That has never changed. Even when I don’t understand.

  Over the past decade, Garrett had come to realize more and more that his faith couldn’t rely on what was happening around him, or whether or not he understood how God worked. His faith had to rely on God himself—who never changed—even when he didn’t understand what God was doing.

  But faith sure was easier when miracles happened. And tonight they were going to need a miracle if he was going to bring Kelsey home.

  His radio crackled. “We found a grave. No body.”

  Garrett let out a sigh of relief. Maybe there was still a chance to bring her home alive.

  He caught something moving to his right out of the corner of his eye.

  He swung his light around.

  The beam pierced the darkness, catching something red. Kelsey cowered beneath the heavy limbs of a tree. She was crying. Shaking, he was sure, both from fear and the cold. He glanced around as he called in the news, but so far there was no sign of Rose.

  Garrett knelt down beside her. “My name’s Garrett Addison, and I’ve been working with law enforcement to find you. You’re going to be okay now. You’re safe.”

  She looked up at him as if she wanted to disappear. He could see the lingering terror in her eyes, unsure if she should trust him or not.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked.

  She pressed her lips together and nodded. “It’s not bad, but I twisted my ankle.”

  “Okay. Can you tell me who took you?”

  “It was a woman. Her name is Rose. She took my picture and told me she was going to kill me, but I ran.”

  “She can’t hurt you now.” He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Do you think you can walk if I help you?”

  “I think so.”

  “Then let’s get you out of here so you can go home.”

  Garrett wrapped his arm around Kelsey’s waist and started walking her back toward the house. He kept his flashlight trained on the terrain in front of him, his senses on high alert. This wasn’t over yet. They still had to find Rose and put an end to this once and for all.

  A branch snapped behind them as he grabbed his radio. Garrett turned around. Rose Winter stood in the middle of the trail with a gun pointed at them.

  “Garrett Addison. Thanks for finding her for me. She turned out to be a feisty one.”

  He felt for the distress button on his radio and pushed it, while motioning Kelsey behind him, thankful when she quickly complied. “It’s over, Rose. I need you to put the gun down.”

  “Why would I do that? You killed my brother, and now it’s up to me to make things right again.”

  “By targeting more girls and my team? By killing more people?” Garrett wondered if it were even possible to reason with someone like her. “We had nothing to do with his death. Your brother died because he was drunk and got killed fighting someone in a back alley.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I promised Bobby I’d keep him safe. That I’d help him.”

  “Is that why you killed Marissa?”

  She frowned. “I killed Marissa because he needed an alibi so he could stay out of prison. I had to give him that.”

  Once they got the distress signal, it wouldn’t take Sam and the others long to figure out what was going on, but he needed them to proceed with caution. The last thing they needed was more bloodshed.

  “Keep your hands where I can see them,” Rose said, “and toss that radio over here.”

  “Okay.” Garrett lobbed the radio to the ground about two feet from Rose. “But this is over, Rose. There are over a dozen officers in these woods looking for you, and they’re on their way here right now. There’s nowhere for you to run anymore.”

  Her demeanor had changed from the first time they’d met her. No longer was she the sweet, sickly woman she’d portrayed at her house. Instead, she possessed an air of confidence and a deep bitterness edged her tone. Everything they’d seen had been nothing but an act.

  “You’re wrong. It’s not over. Not yet. You put Bobby in prison. Made him go into hiding.” She shook her head. “No one understood him except for me. Bobby was special, and I owed him so much. He took care of me all these years with the money he made. Bought me a house and gave me someone to take care of me. I would have liked to see him more often, but I always knew he had important things to take care of. He was so smart.”

  “He killed innocent girls.”

  “He didn’t mean to. He couldn’t help himself. It was like a game he had to win.”<
br />
  “It was never a game,” Garrett said, “It was people’s lives. Those girls had families. Mothers and fathers. Brothers and sisters. They all lost someone just like you lost Bobby.”

  “You don’t understand.” Her hands were starting to shake. “He told me that I owed him. Told me exactly what I needed to do to help him, and I did. I did everything he told me to do.”

  Garrett stopped talking. There was no use arguing with her. Somehow she’d rationalized what Bobby had done and put the blame on his team. Michaels was dead, Chloe Middleton was dead, and Jordan was fighting for her life. All because of some sort of twisted sense of revenge.

  He saw them before he realized how close they were. Six armed members of the search and rescue team quickly moved into position, making a semicircle that flanked both sides of him and Kelsey, with their weapons pointed at Rose.

  “I need you to put your gun down now, Rose,” Garrett said. “It’s over, and I don’t think you want to die this way.”

  She looked around at the half-dozen weapons aimed at her.

  “Rose, put your gun down and drop to your knees,” he repeated.

  She hesitated another few seconds before finally complying. Seconds later, they were disarming her and cuffing her hands behind her back.

  “Kelsey?” Garrett turned around. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, still shaking, but it was finally over.

  Thank you, Jesus. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  Someone had called Kelsey’s parents. They were waiting next to a patrol car near the house when Garrett and Kelsey stepped into the clearing. The moment they saw their daughter, they started running toward her.

  “Mom . . . Dad . . .”

  Garrett felt a swell of emotion rise in his chest as they pulled her into their arms, all three of them crying. They might not have been able to save the other girls, but this family wouldn’t have to go through the nightmare the others had.

  “What about you?” Sam asked, walking up to him. “You okay?”

  Garrett nodded. “Just relieved this is finally over.”

  “So am I. We found two more graves on the property during the search,” Sam said. “They matched photos found at Winter’s house. We’re pretty sure they’ll turn out to hold Becky and Sarah’s bodies.”

  It wasn’t going to be the ending those families had wanted, but at least they’d finally have the closure they’d searched for all these years.

  “What about Jordan?” Garrett asked. “Have you heard anything about her?”

  “Not yet.”

  Garrett pulled out his phone. There was a voice message from Jordan’s dad he’d missed.

  “Garrett, this is Daniel Lambert. I was told you were out searching for another girl. I wanted to let you know that Jordan has just gone into surgery. I promise I’ll call as soon as I know something, but we need to pray.” There was a long pause on the line. “The doctors aren’t sure she’s going to make it.”

  32

  December 16

  9:26 a.m.

  Nashville General Hospital

  Garrett stepped off the elevator and walked up to the nurses’ station, his adrenaline still pumping. He hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours, but he didn’t care. He’d just gotten the message that Jordan was out of recovery and could see visitors. And he knew that until he saw her in person, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

  “I’m looking for Jordan Lambert?” he said to the dark-haired nurse behind the desk.

  The woman looked at her computer screen. “She’s in room 417.”

  “Thanks.”

  A moment later, Garrett stepped inside the room. Jordan was lying on the bed, hooked up to an IV and a couple monitors, while her father sat next to her in a metal-framed chair.

  “Garrett . . . hey.” Jordan shot him a sleepy smile.

  “Hey, yourself,” he said. A wave of relief washed over him. This could have ended so differently.

  “It’s good to see you.” Daniel Lambert stood up and shook Garrett’s hand. “My girl’s been asking about you.”

  “I had to come see for myself that she was going to make it.” He turned back to Jordan. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better, now that I know you’re okay, though you look terrible. Have you slept at all?”

  “Forget about me,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not the one everyone’s worried about.”

  Daniel looked at his daughter. “We got our miracle, but now that you’re here, I’m going to grab some coffee.”

  “Please, don’t leave on my account.”

  “Don’t worry. I could use a few minutes to stretch my legs.”

  Her father leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. “I’ll be back.”

  Garrett waited until her father left the room before sitting down beside her in the chair. “How are you really feeling?”

  “Like I never want to get shot again.” She gave him a weak smile. “But the doctor told me that despite a scare early on, the surgery went well. They’re expecting a full recovery.”

  “You’ve got bragging rights now, you know, with your first gunshot.”

  “Don’t even try to make me laugh.” She grinned, but her smile quickly faded. “Please tell me you found Kelsey.”

  “We did. She’s shaken up, but already back with her family.”

  “It almost happened again, Garrett. If you hadn’t been able to stop Rose, another girl would have died.”

  “It’s finally over. The Angel Abductor is dead, and Rose can’t ever hurt anyone again.”

  “I thought I was going to die, Garrett.” The fear she must have felt still lingered in her eyes. “I’ve faced death before, but this time . . . there was no light in Rose’s eyes when she shot me. And at that moment, I knew I was going to die. Just like the girls she’d killed.”

  “But you didn’t. You’re safe. And so is Kelsey.”

  He took her hand and laced their fingers together. There was so much he’d realized about her—about himself—over the past twenty-four hours. So much he needed to tell her. He’d come so close to losing her for good. It had put his own life into perspective and made him realize how much he needed her in his life.

  “Do you remember when Dana Kerrigan asked me where God was when her daughter was killed?” she asked, breaking into his thoughts.

  “Yes.” That day seemed like forever ago.

  “I’ve never completely stopped struggling with that question. If I close my eyes, I can still see the heartbreak on her face and hear the desperation in her voice. But do you know what still bothers me the most about that situation?”

  Garrett shook his head.

  “I didn’t know how to answer her. It made me realize that I had my own questions about God. Like how he could have let someone get away with killing all those girls. And more personal questions, like why didn’t he heal my mother?”

  He understood the questions completely. He’d met with grieving parents desperate to find their daughters. And later, he’d watched those same parents forced to come to grips with the horrifying reality that their daughters weren’t coming home. Those encounters had left him with his own battle deep within his soul. To question God’s presence somehow seemed sacrilegious, but at the same time, how could he not?

  “Every time a tragic case came across my desk,” Jordan continued, “it left me with unanswered questions. Julia’s mom spoke out loud what I’d always been afraid to ask.”

  “And have you found any answers?” he asked.

  “Maybe. I think I’ve found that asking where God is when something bad happened is the wrong question.”

  Her statement surprised him. “What do you mean?”

  “We ask that question as if we’re surprised when evil surfaces. But in reality, I think we’ve forgotten we live in a fallen world. We’ve forgotten that God gives us the freedom to make choices And while he gives us free will, that freedom doesn’t mean he stands over us
and fixes everything. There are consequences that too often hit innocent people. Does that make sense?”

  “It does,” Garrett said.

  “And what I’m realizing is that when he doesn’t intervene, it doesn’t mean he isn’t there. I think it means just the opposite. He decided not to just sweep down and fix our problems every time something goes wrong. Instead he chose to redeem us eternally by sending his Son.”

  Tragedies like the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and Sandy Hook flipped through Garrett’s mind. The reality of a fallen world was clear. And yet like Jordan said, wasn’t God’s plan really a plan of redemption? Yes, he believed that God was capable of fixing our problems, but he chose instead to rescue and redeem humankind permanently.

  “Maybe,” he said, trying to put his thoughts into words, “there isn’t necessarily a particular ‘reason’ for something to happen. Maybe the truth is that things happen because we live in a world where pain, death, and loss are all naturally a part of life. No one is immune.”

  Jordan nodded. “Jesus told us that in this world we’d have many troubles. Sometimes we do experience God’s blessings, but he never promised us that everything would be perfect in this world.”

  “Only in the redeemed world to come,” Garrett agreed.

  “What he does promise is to walk with us through the bad times. As crazy as it seems, somehow, when bad things happen, we start to see God’s grace. We start to dig deeper. Sometimes it takes trauma to get someone searching for God. And hard times give us compassion toward others, deeper love, and more courage.”

  He looked down at their entwined fingers. Everything she was saying reminded him of one of the reasons he’d fallen in love with her. She never gave up searching for God and his truth, even in a career where she was surrounded by so much evil.

  “So what happens next?” Jordan asked. “Even though we can finally put this case behind us, I can’t forget that the families who lost their daughters will always be surrounded by reminders of what happened to them.”

  “I’ve thought a lot about that as well, but there is something you need to know.” He took a deep breath, still reveling in the fact that he was here with her and that she was going to be okay. “I’ve never been so scared I was going to lose you, Jordan, and I can’t let you walk away again without telling you how I feel.”