“Why did Luke pick her up like that?”
Shaking her head, Vannie flipped open the phone to call Aggie, but their van turned onto the street before she could do it. Suddenly, she realized what must have happened. “I bet he took her to get her drawing framed. She probably just forgot to tell us. I bet we were supposed to take longer in the library or ride to the park or something until they got back.”
“Why not just take us with him?”
“No room. He doesn’t have a car—just the truck.”
Laird looked skeptical. “That doesn’t make sense. Aunt Tina would have taken her. Why would she ask Luke? It’s partly his present!”
The van brakes screeched as Aggie slammed on them. The engine was still running when she jumped from the van and ran to where they stood. “You didn’t find her?”
“Not exactly, but we think Luke took her somewhere. Maybe it’s some kind of wedding surprise or something.”
“Luke? What?”
“A couple of people said they saw her get into Luke’s truck. Luke got out, put her bike in the back, and drove off with her. We think it’s probably some kind of surprise and Ellie forgot to mention that she was supposed to wait for him.”
Already, Aggie had her phone open, the number sending. She glanced around them, unwilling to meet the children’s eyes as she waited impatiently for him to answer. “Luke, I need you to call me immediately. This is an emergency. Call.”
Her eyes hardly left the phone while she waited for him to pull over or finish whatever was keeping him from answering. Laird and Vannie exchanged confused and somewhat worried glances. “Aunt—”
“Get your bikes in the van. Let’s get home. No, we’ll stay here, but… yes, put them in the van anyway.”
“Are—”
“Just do it, Vannie!” Aggie’s eyes closed slowly and she swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. That was wrong.”
Vannie didn’t answer but threw her arms around Aggie instead. Laird, however, made the highly helpful comment of, “That’s ok, Aunt Aggie. Everyone gets snappy when they’re scared.”
“Laird!”
“What! They do.”
The cell phone rang before Aggie could interject any kind of response. “Luke? Do you have Ellie with you? I don’t care what surprise is ruined; I need you to be absolutely truthful with me. I’m about to call William.”
The answer was evident before Aggie said another word. Vannie had read often in books of people “going white” upon receiving bad news, but until she saw the pallor of her aunt’s face as Luke obviously told her he did not have Ellie with him, Vannie had imagined it was merely a literary device. Now she knew it was real. Too real.
Tears welled in Aggie’s eyes, and she fought to gain control of herself. She stared at Vannie for several seconds before whispering. “The bikes. Get the bikes.” Her fixation on bicycles made no sense to Vannie, but she hurried to help Laird anyway.
As they closed the van doors, Laird and Vannie watched as Aggie punched just three numbers into her phone. “Why isn’t it on speed dial?”
“After she thought Ian called a million times with the house speed dial, do you think she’d risk it on there? It’s just three numbers. Should we go over there or stay here?”
Vannie slid her eyes sideways to see the expression on her brother’s face. When had he started thinking like a man? It was evident from his stance, his eyes, even the way his fingers twitched, that he was anxious to do something to fix the situation. “Let’s go. She can send us back if—no, she probably had us take the bikes so we wouldn’t hear the conversation.”
The hesitation ended as Aggie shoved her phone in her pocket, her shoulders shaking. The two young Stuarts rushed to see what she’d heard and try to offer some encouragement. It didn’t quite seem possible that it could be anything too serious. “Aunt Aggie?”
“It’ll be ok. They’ll find her. They will.” Aggie sounded as though she was trying to convince herself rather than them.
Laird listened for a moment, and then steered both of them toward the van. “It’s cold out here. We can wait in the van until Luke and Deputy Markenson get here. They’ll take care of it. You know they will. Why do you think God brought both of them to us?”
Aggie’s voice choked as she said, “Laird? When did you get so wise?”
~*~*~*~
“Ok, let’s go over this one more time. How long was it after Ellie left the library until you got outside?”
“I told you! Just long enough for the librarian to do both our books and the lady between us—five minutes? Maybe? I don’t think it even took that long.” Vannie sounded angry, but the cause was evident when she added, “Why are you wasting time sitting here asking us the same questions over and over instead of out there finding Ellie?”
“This is how it works, Vannie. Just let William do his job.”
William seemed unfazed. He continued with the same questions he’d already asked twice as if there had been no interruption. “Ok, and you are sure that she didn’t mention going anywhere with Luke today?”
“No! Ask Luke!”
“Stop, Vannie. Stop.”
The air seemed to crackle with tension as the girl glared at Aggie and then sighed. “I’m sorry.”
William turned to join Megan in questioning Luke, but something on the girl’s face stopped him. He laid a hand on Vannie’s head and whispered. “I know it’s frustrating, but trust me. It works or we wouldn’t do it.”
“Luke didn’t take her. He would have told you if he did.”
“I know.”
The truth of his words hit him as he crossed the road to Luke’s truck and Megan’s side. Luke didn’t have the girl and they’d have to waste precious time interviewing him because people thought they saw what they couldn’t have seen. He just prayed Luke had an alibi.
“What do we know?” he asked Megan as he reached the side of Luke’s truck—the very one in which witnesses swore he picked up Ellie from the Library not much more than an hour ago.
“Not much. He was at a house in Brunswick from about nine until Aggie called. No one was with him, but he says there are a few people who should have seen his truck there until he left to come here.”
“Ok, you take those people, I’ll finish with him.”
Megan hesitated—waiting to see something in him before she left. “I’ll call you when I have something.”
He waited for Megan’s car to pull away from the curb before he looked Luke in the eyes and said, “You tell me now exactly what you know about this.”
Luke didn’t hesitate. “Nothing. I’ve been racking my brains to think of anything that might explain it. I’ve got nothing.”
“It’ll kill Aggie.”
As if summoned by the sound of her name, Aggie raced toward them, shoving her phone in William’s hands. “Tina’s dad says that Ellie is under twelve, so we should call the FBI. Should I?”
William’s jaw worked as he read the text. Before he could answer, Luke took the phone from him and passed it back to Aggie. “I think that puts William in an awkward position. Call.”
She didn’t hesitate. Turning away, Aggie punched in the numbers that Tina had provided. Luke gave William an apologetic look. “I know it’s probably early, but it fits the criteria and it’ll give her something to do. They can decide if it warrants it. Has anyone gone to talk to Geraldine yet?”
“The grandmother?”
Luke nodded. “I doubt she took Ellie home, but maybe there’s a maid or a gardener or some kind of house help around. I understand they’re quite wealthy.”
“And what would this house help tell us?”
“Where to find them?”
“You think she has Ellie?” William’s voice grew tense as he slipped back into interrogator mode.
“You have another suspect?”
“Luke, what did Megan tell you?”
“That Ellie was gone. She asked where I’ve been all day, what Ellie had talked about recently, if I
knew any reason the girl would run away. That kind of thing. Why?”
“Did she tell you,” William asked quietly, “what witnesses saw?”
“No. There were witnesses? That’s good, right?”
William kept a tight rein on his expression as he said. “Well, it’s good for us, but it’s not quite as good for you.”
“Me, why?”
“Luke, two independent witnesses from opposite sides of the street saw you drive up in your truck, speak to Ellie, and while she climbed in your truck, you got out and put her bicycle in the back.”
“I—what? How—that’s not possible. My truck was never gone from the house in Brunswick. I was out there unloading stuff when they called. I’ve been unloading for the last hour. Before that, I was ripping stuff out of the basement so I could bring in the flooring. No one could have taken my truck. I would have noticed.”
“You didn’t hear me,” William insisted. “They saw you get out of your truck. You.”
The sheriff pulled up before Luke could respond. While William caught Sheriff Forbes up on the information they had, Luke ran to Aggie, wrapping his arms around her. “I just heard,” he whispered somewhere in the vicinity of her ear.
“Heard what.”
“That she left in a truck that looked like mine.” He steeled himself for any kind of hesitation or rejection. It would only be natural, even if she knew deep down he couldn’t do such a thing.
“It has to be preplanned, right? Someone who knows where she lives, what we drive—the works.”
“Getting a truck like mine isn’t easy. Why not get a white van? There are hundreds of vans like yours in this area.”
“The guy looks enough like you that he thought’d be easier to do it that way maybe?” Her voice broke. “My little girl is alone with a strange man who has been stalking her or us or both. Luke!”
“I didn’t know until a minute ago. I thought it was the grandmother.”
“I wish it was. At least the GIL wouldn’t hurt her.” Fresh tears overtook her. “She’s with a strange man!”
“Don’t think about that now. Not now. Think about—what’s he doing?”
Aggie turned to look where Luke pointed and shook her head. “Looks like he’s going through your truck.” Her face blanched. “When was the last time Ellie was in your truck?”
“Has she ever been in the truck?” A new idea occurred to him. “I’ll be right back.”
Vannie and Laird stood huddled next to the van, both visibly shaken, Vannie crying. “Shh, it’ll be ok, sweetheart. We’ll find her. We will. I need you to think about something. Think very carefully. Did Ellie have on gloves or mittens when she left the library?”
“No. She couldn’t find them today so she went without them.”
Luke’s heart leapt. “You’re sure.”
“Totally.”
“Go tell William. Make sure you tell him exactly what I asked and what you said. Don’t leave anything out. Don’t add any commentary. Just tell him.”
While the kids went to talk to William, Luke returned to Aggie. “Ellie wasn’t wearing anything on her hands.”
“Oh! That’s right!” A smile flashed at him, the first one he’d seen all day and likely the last he’d see until Ellie was home safe. “She couldn’t find them, and I didn’t let her take Tavish’s.”
William’s eyes met his from across the street, and he nodded. Confirmation that Luke’s hunch was correct. If Ellie had been in his truck, they’d find fingerprints, but since she hadn’t, he’d be cleared. His relief was cut short when the sheriff emerged holding a knitted hat by a pair of tweezers.
“What’s that?”
Luke sighed. “That’s Ellie’s hat—the one Mom made her for Christmas.”
“Why is it in your truck? She hasn’t been able to find it—oh. She left it at Corinne’s, didn’t she?”
“Yep.”
She shrugged. “At least this way, you have witnesses. I can’t believe they’re doing this! No one could believe you could—”
“They do it routinely, Aggie. They’ll question you too. Get your alibi. They’ll do it because most kidnappings involve immediate family or the mom’s boyfriend.”
“Well, this doesn’t involve either.” She gripped his jacket, leaning her forehead on his chest. “I wish it did! I wish it was just the GIL being her usual nasty self. I’d kiss her, right now. I swear I would.”
~*~*~*~
The room buzzed with conversation, hushed but tense. People milled in and out of the room, and the children huddled in the library, as if using it like a barrier from the reality outside the door. Aggie sat on the couch, Luke on one side of her, Tina on the other, answering question after question, while deputies examined every inch of the property and her home.
“And why were the children at the library during school hours?”
The weary expression on Aggie’s face seemed to bring out the protective side of Luke. “As she has said several times, the children were done with their work for the day, so they went to the library to get the next books on their reading lists.”
“I asked Ms. Milliken.”
Aggie’s eyes rose to meet those of the agent questioning her. “What was my answer last time?”
“Um, ma’am, I need you to answer the question.”
“Ellie got her work done first today. She even finished the book that she didn’t have to finish until Friday and did the book report for it. My lesson plans are in the desk in the library, along with her turned in assignments, if you’d like to verify that statement. She isn’t allowed to go to the library by herself, so she had to wait until Vannie got done. Laird finished first and decided to go too. At one-thirty, Vannie finished and put her things away. They got their books and started to go outside, but Ellie couldn’t find her gloves. They looked everywhere. It’s pretty cold out there, so I suggested she stay home. She pleaded.” Aggie choked, unable to continue.
“Oh, Mibs.” Luke’s eyes met the questioning ones of Agent Sheridan. “Ellie doesn’t ask for much. If you say no, it’s no and she moves along. She really wanted to go.”
Nodding, Aggie forced herself to continue. “Tavish offered his, but Ellie has been getting careless with things lately, so I decided not to let her borrow them. I told her she’d have to go without gloves. I knew she’d be able to ride one handed and alternate stuffing one hand in her pocket.” Her hands covered her face as she wailed, “Why didn’t I just let her take the stupid gloves? She’s just a kid. All kids lose stuff!”
“With gloves, she couldn’t leave fingerprints. Maybe it’s best that she didn’t have them. Now, if she’s been somewhere and they find that “somewhere” they can prove she was there.”
Luke’s reasoning sounded desperate to Aggie, but the Agent nodded. “Unless the abductor thinks to put gloves on her himself, yes that would be correct.” Another agent whispered something into Sheridan’s ear, which made him sit up. “Ok, I see that you have a significant amount of money, Ms. Milliken.”
“Well, it’s not really mine. It’s just in my name. Life insurance, 401K, stuff like that. It was my sister’s and her husband’s.”
“It’s enough that money just topped the motive options. We’re going to get you set up to record incoming calls in case of a ransom demand.”
“Ransom? Who would know about the money? It’s not like we’re listed in some who’s who list.”
Luke disagreed with her. “But Geraldine isn’t exactly discreet. She’s proud of her position and money, and she thinks you’re an idiot. All she’d have to do is make some comment at that place where her husband is living and some custodian or even family member of a resident could decide it’s easy money.”
“We’ll need the name of that residential home and any other place you think this woman might frequent.”
Another agent, one of the ones searching Ellie and Kenzie’s room upstairs, came downstairs carrying a picture. “Is there a reason this is hidden under her bed?”
> Aggie stared at the lines, circles, and shadows that created highlights—all combining into a remarkably good sketch of her and Luke. Somehow, she’d combined them into a natural pose as if in a photograph—but no such photo existed. “That’s what she’s been hiding. I was worried over nothing.”
“It’s supposed to be a wedding gift,” Laird said.
Her brain buzzed until Aggie felt as if she had a beehive in her head. While the agents talked, the deputies searched, and Murphy came in and out while she got drinks for the children, reassured them, took them to the bathroom or to get a toy, Luke answered questions and rubbed her back. None of it made sense to her.
Ian screamed. Without thinking, Aggie stood to retrieve her son mid question from the agent. The room spun wildly as if the house was on a large merry-go-round. She clutched at the air for something to stabilize her, but crashed to the ground, striking her back on the coffee table. She didn’t stir.
~*~*~*~
Only a tiny glow of light from the hallway illuminated the otherwise black house. Aggie’s eyes tried to adjust, but she closed them again, fighting to remember why a deep sense of dread hovered over her. As she shifted to be more comfortable, a hand rested on her head, lightly stroking her hair. “Shh. Rest.”
The voice was familiar. Comforting. Opening her eyes once more, she focused on where she was—the knees— She blinked. Knees? Luke. She was using him for a pillow. Her eyes widened. Luke didn’t wear tan pants except to church. It wasn’t Sunday. Was it? No, she’d graded schoolwork that morning. Then Ellie—
She bolted upright, her eyes meeting William’s. “I’m glad you got a little sleep. You’ll need it.”
“Where’s Luke?”
“Upstairs with the kids. They’re having trouble settling down.”
She flushed as she realized how close she’d been to another man. He stood, stretching. “You’ve been out for quite a bit. My legs were getting numb.”
“How did I end up with my head in your lap?”
Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) Page 19