The Innocent

by Amanda Stevens

  “Sounds like a good plan.” Sam let a little admiration creep into his tone. First rule when interviewing even the most brutal killer. Don’t let him see your disgust. Don’t let him think you’re passing judgment. You’re his friend, his confidant, his best buddy. “What went wrong?”

  “They were planning a little double cross, that’s what went wrong. The bitch lied to me. She and Hatcher were planning to skip town with the money. I caught on after Sergeant Cross over there told me Luanne was married to Hatcher. I drove to the house where Hatcher was staying that night, and found them together. So I made a phone call, got Hatcher out of the house, and then I went in and had a little talk with Luanne.”

  “But you didn’t do much talking, did you?” Sam said. “Did you plant Sara Beth’s barrette in the house after you killed Luanne?”

  “A stroke of genius, if I do say so myself,” Curtis bragged. “But don’t feel too sorry for Luanne. She had it coming. They all do. I wouldn’t have minded seeing Hatcher blow away that nosy little detective over there, but I couldn’t afford the luxury. I didn’t want him talking. But enough of this. It’s time to get what I came for.” He jammed the gun to the base of Karen’s neck. “Where is she? Where’s my daughter?”

  “Just leave her alone,” Karen whispered. “Please. You don’t love her. You don’t love anyone but yourself.”

  “I sure as hell don’t love you.” He wrapped his arm around her neck and drew her to him. The gun barrel flicked toward Vickie Wilder, cowering in the corner. “All these years, I thought you were another cold fish, but maybe it was just that I didn’t have the right kind of equipment to excite you. Is that it?”

  Karen’s hands curled around his arm. “It’s not like that. Vickie’s just a friend.”

  “A friend who helped you kidnap my daughter. How’d you talk her into that?”

  “She saw the way Sara Beth acted with you. How frightened she was. She knew something was wrong, so she came to talk to me about it. I told her we were divorcing, and that I was trying to get full custody of Sara Beth. But I knew you’d never let her go. You would use her to hurt me any way you could.”

  “So you took my daughter.” He said this to Vickie, and for the first time, she seemed to come alive.

  “I would do anything to protect an innocent child from a monster like you.” She spat the words, and for a moment, Curtis actually seemed taken aback by her vehemence.

  Then his eyes narrowed. His expression grew rigid. “You had it all figured out, didn’t you? Even got your brother to come down here to make sure the cops were looking in all the wrong places.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw Abby move, very slightly. Her left hand balled into a fist.

  She thought the same thing, that he’d betrayed her, but at the moment, all Sam could think was that, thank God, she was alive.

  “Sara Beth!” Curtis called. “Come out here to Daddy. I want to talk to you.”

  No answer. No movement.

  Sam imagined the child curling more deeply into the shadows underneath her bed.

  “Sara Beth,” Curtis said more sternly. “If you don’t do as I say, I’m going to have to punish your mother. You don’t want that, do you?”

  “No!” Karen screamed. “Don’t come out, Sara Beth.”

  But the child was already scrambling from beneath the bed. Curtis flung Karen aside. “Come over here, Sara Beth. You and Daddy are going to take a little trip together.”

  “Please, no,” Karen pleaded. “She’s just a baby.”

  “She’s my daughter. Do you think I’d let someone like you raise her?”

  Sara Beth stood looking up at him with solemn little eyes. “Don’t hurt Mama.”

  “I won’t. Not if you do as I say. Now, come here.”

  She started toward him. A distant sound echoed through the darkness. So faint Sam couldn’t be sure he wasn’t imagining it. But it sounded like a siren….

  Had Abby managed to call for backup before Curtis spotted her?

  “Come on,” Curtis coaxed Sara Beth. “Daddy’s got a boat waiting at the dock. You like boat rides.”

  The child started to cry, obliterating the sound of the siren. Sam didn’t think Curtis had heard it yet. If Sam could just keep him talking…

  Directly behind Curtis, the glass in the window exploded. Curtis, caught off guard, spun toward the sound, then whirled back around. But in that split second, Sam had pulled his weapon. He fired just as Abby lunged for Sara Beth. She knocked the child to the floor, shielding Sara Beth’s body with hers.

  But it was all over. Curtis Brodie, a man very much like Sam’s father, lay dead on the cabin floor.

  ABBY SAT in the same emergency room cubicle she’d been in earlier that day, but now instead of getting her wrist set she was having the gash in her head stitched.

  “This is getting to be a regular habit with you,” the doctor said sternly. He’d given her a local, but it still hurt like hell.

  Naomi hovered nearby, reluctant to leave Abby’s side. As it turned out, she hadn’t waited ten minutes to call Sheriff Mooney. She’d barely waited ten seconds, and then she’d followed Abby into the woods. When she’d seen the cabin, heard what was going on inside, she’d thrown a rock through the window to create a diversion. She might actually have saved all of their lives, but she’d shrugged off the notion when Abby suggested it.

  “I didn’t think, I just reacted,” Naomi said. “It could have gone the other way. He could have just started shooting. Oh, my God, when I think what could have happened—”

  “But it didn’t,” Abby said. “We’re all safe. And Sara Beth is back with her mother, in no small part thanks to you.”

  And at that, tears had filled Naomi’s eyes.

  After the doctor finished and left the room, Naomi came to stand beside Abby. “Have you talked to Sam yet?”

  “No. I’m not sure I want to.”

  “I think you’re being a little hard on him, Abby. Are you ticked because he figured out everything before you did?”

  Abby drew back, hurt. “No! Of course, not. I’m angry because he must have had suspicions all along about his sister. He’s a profiler, Naomi. He knows how to read people. You think he didn’t know?”

  “Maybe he did have suspicions. But he didn’t have proof. He did exactly what you would have done in his shoes,” Naomi insisted. “He looked at other suspects. He left no stone unturned. And to tell you the truth, I’m not so sure I wouldn’t have done what Karen did if I were in her place. If I’d ever thought Sadie was threatened…if I’d been given a chance to save her…” She glanced away, her eyes filling again.

  “I know. But don’t you see?” Tears welled in Abby’s eyes, too. “If I hadn’t found that cabin, if Curtis hadn’t shown up when he did, I don’t know what would have happened, and I can’t help wondering what the outcome would have been. Did Sam go there to convince Karen to turn herself in, or did he go there with the intent of helping her to get away?”

  “I don’t know, Abby. All I know is that I don’t think I’m in any position to judge either one of them.”

  Maybe not, but for most of her life, Abby had always been so sure she knew right from wrong. That life was all black and white with no shades of gray in between. But now everything had been turned upside down, and she knew that for her there would always be doubts. There would always be lingering suspicions about Sam’s actions this night.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Monday

  Sam was waiting for her outside the sheriff’s station the next morning. Abby got out of her car and walked slowly toward him.

  “How’s Sara Beth doing?” she asked him.

  “Amazingly well, considering. She’s going to have some rough times ahead of her, but she’ll be all right. We’ll make sure she is.”

  “What about Karen?”

  His gaze clouded a little. “She’s in for some rough times, too. We still don’t know if she, Vickie Wilder and Greta Henley are all going to b
e charged with kidnapping. At any rate, Greta Henley will have to stand trial in Memphis for the outstanding charges against her.”

  Both Karen and Vickie had given statements last night. Emily’s abduction had given them the idea to ‘kidnap’ Sara Beth in order to get her away from Curtis. Vickie had stayed in touch all these years with her old roommate, and she’d enlisted Greta’s help. Greta had followed Sara Beth and Luanne Plimpton from school that day, hoping for a chance to grab her. The drugstore stop had provided the perfect opportunity. She’d taken Sara Beth to the cabin where she was to stay with her until Vickie could help Karen make the necessary arrangements for new identities for her and Sara Beth. But Greta had gotten cold feet and fled. That’s why Vickie had disappeared. She’d been forced to tip her hand because someone had to stay with Sara Beth.

  “If the feds charge them, won’t you have some pull?” Abby asked.

  “No. Not under the circumstances. But even if they have to stand trial, I think a judge and jury will be lenient, considering Curtis’s actions. Karen had good reason for fearing for her child’s safety.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Abby said. “I think the best thing for Sara Beth is to be with her mother. Although what she did was very reckless.”

  “I know.”

  “She had us all fooled, you know. She was so upset after the ransom demand. It’s hard to believe she could be that good of an actress.”

  “It wasn’t an act,” Sam said. “You can imagine how terrified and confused she must have been when she got the call. She thought she had Sara Beth tucked away all safe and sound—and then someone calls demanding a ransom. She knew Curtis was behind it somehow, but she couldn’t call Vickie and alert her because her telephone calls were being monitored. Karen was afraid that Curtis had figured out where she’d taken Sara Beth, and that he’d do something to her before Karen could get out there to stop him.”

  “If only she’d told us the truth,” Abby murmured.

  “It’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback,” Sam said.

  “I guess.”

  Their gazes met and held for just a moment before Sam glanced away. “About last night…” He paused, then started again. “I know you think I had it all figured out from the first, but I didn’t. It all came together for me just about the same time it did for you.”

  “But you must have had suspicions, Sam. You had to have had doubts.”

  “Maybe. Maybe it was like you said the other night. I was afraid of the truth. But I never misled you, Abby. I promise you that.”

  “I guess I can’t help wondering if you would have turned Karen in if I hadn’t shown up, or if you would have helped her escape with Sara Beth.”

  “I guess I’m wondering that myself,” Sam murmured. “The truth is, I don’t know the answer.”

  Abby wasn’t certain she could live with that. “How did you figure it out?”

  “Remember when I told you that Vickie Wilder seemed familiar to me that day we interviewed her? But I knew I’d never met her. Last night I finally figured out why. I saw her the day I first got to town. She was driving down the street, away from Karen’s house, just as I was arriving. I barely glanced at her, and I didn’t even know then that she’d been to see Karen. But there was something about the way she stared at me, as if she were frightened of me, that made me remember her, at least vaguely. Now, I realize Karen must have told her that I was coming, and Vickie was afraid I’d find out what happened.”

  “How did you find out about the cabin?”

  “I caught up with Karen after she’d stepped out of the house, and I followed her just the way Curtis did.”

  They stood silently for a moment, and then Sam said tentatively, “I’m going back to Quantico, Abby. I’m going to try and salvage what’s left of my career. And while I’m there, I’d like to write a letter of recommendation to the Academy on your behalf.”

  Abby gazed at him in shock. “I can’t leave. We found Sara Beth, but Emily is still missing.”

  “I understand that. But once she’s found—”

  “Sadie will still be missing.”

  His gaze on her deepened. “It’s been ten years. You can’t keep searching forever.”

  “I know that. But if there’s a chance, no matter how slim…” Abby trailed off, knowing that after all this time, Sadie was probably lost to them.

  “You can’t keep using Sadie as an excuse,” Sam said softly.

  Abby’s gaze flew to his. “That’s not what I’m doing!”

  “Isn’t it? I’ve seen the way your eyes light up when you talk about the FBI. I know how fascinated you are by profiling. But you’ve let Sadie’s disappearance keep you here in Eden because you’re afraid. You’re scared you can’t cut it out there in the real world.”

  A wave of anger rolled over Abby, even though she knew there was some truth in what he said. “Maybe you’re right,” she said coolly. “But when all is said and done, this is where I belong.”

  “Then I guess there’s nothing else left to say except good-bye.”

  THE STATION WAS abuzz when Abby walked in. Dave was in with Sheriff Mooney, and when they saw her, they both motioned her inside.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Close the door, Abby.”

  Her heart sank. What was this, an ambush?

  Sheriff Mooney was somber as usual, but there was an air of excitement about Dave Conyers. She glanced from one to the other. “What is it?”

  “We got a break in the Campbell case, “ Dave said. “At long last.”

  Abby felt the familiar jump start of adrenaline in her bloodstream. “What is it? What happened?”

  “Your sister was just in here,” Dave told her. “She’d been to see Tess Campbell this morning. When she came outside, a note had been left on her windshield.”

  Abby’s heart skidded against her chest. “A ransom note?”

  “No. A note from a child. We think it’s from Emily.” Sheriff Mooney handed her a plastic evidence bag.

  Abby scanned the note inside. It was painstakingly written in crude block letters: I com hom soon, mama.

  “Oh, my God.” She glanced up. “It was found on my sister’s car?”

  “Yes, but we think there’s a reason for that,” Dave said. “Her SUV is similar to Tess Campbell’s. Same color, same body style. But Tess’s SUV was parked in the garage, out of sight. The kidnapper must have mistaken Naomi’s vehicle for Tess’s.”

  “The lab will check for fingerprints,” Sheriff Mooney said. “The paper and ink will have to be analyzed, as well as the handwriting. This could turn out to be nothing more than hoax.”

  “Or it could be a sign that Emily is still alive,” Abby said.

  “That’s what we all want to believe,” the sheriff said quietly. And it seemed to Abby that for the first time since she’d known him, Fred Mooney was almost moved to tears.

  NAOMI WAS WAITING for Abby in the cubicle that was her office.

  “They told you about the note?” When Abby nodded, Naomi sat down in a chair across from Abby’s desk. “Oh, Abby, I can’t tell you what I first thought when I saw it. For a moment, I thought it was from—” She broke off, glancing away.

  “I know,” Abby said softly. “But it’s been ten years, Naomi.”

  She nodded. “I’ve been reminding myself of that all morning. And I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About Sadie. About my life. About you and Sam.”

  “There is no Sam and me, Naomi. He’s on his way back to Quantico.”

  “And you’re letting him go, just like that?” Abby gazed helplessly at her sister. “He lives in Virginia. My home is here in Eden.”

  “But it doesn’t have to be.” Naomi leaned forward, her gaze earnest. Troubled. “I’ve always wondered if the reason you stayed here was because of me. Because of Sadie. I’ve kept you looking for her all these years, haven’t I? I’ve been so selfish.”

  Abby took her sister’s hand. “I’ve stayed because I wanted to. I’
ve wanted so badly to find her, Naomi.”

  “I know. But maybe it’s time we both faced reality. Maybe it’s time we both let go.”

  “Naomi—”

  “Don’t throw away a chance for happiness, Abby. Don’t keep your life on hold any longer. It’s time to move on.”

  Abby swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat. “I don’t know if I can. What if it doesn’t work out?”

  Naomi smiled. “And what if it turns out to be something quite wonderful?”

  AFTER ALL THIS TIME, he would already be gone, Abby thought as she rushed through the station, oblivious to the curious gazes that followed her. He’d already be on his way out of town, and then Abby would have to get in a squad car and chase him down. How embarrassing would that be? Especially if he chose not to stop—

  He was still in the parking lot, leaning against his car. Standing in virtually the same position he’d been in when Abby had left him thirty minutes ago.

  She slowed her steps as she approached him. “You didn’t get far.”

  “No, I didn’t. I kept hoping you’d change your mind.”

  “About the Academy?”

  Something flickered in his eyes. “For one thing.”

  Abby drew a long breath. “I can’t leave yet, Sam. There’s been a break in Emily’s case.”

  “Yes, I know. I just talked to Dave Conyers. And I understand that even though it’s not your case, you can’t go until it’s resolved. But when Emily’s found?”

  He was right, Abby thought. Not if, but when. “I’d like to take you up on your offer. I’d like to see if I can cut it at Quantico.”

  “It won’t be easy,” Sam warned. “I can write you a letter of recommendation, but that’s all I can do. You’ll have to make it on your own merits.”

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

  He nodded. “When you get through training, you’ll be assigned to a field office somewhere. There’s nothing I can do about that, either.”

  “I understand.”

  “But after you’ve paid your dues, I’ll see that you get a shot at profiling. I do still have clout at the Investigative Support Unit, but I don’t think you’ll need my help. You’re a natural, Abby.”