Girl in Trouble

by Stacy Claflin

  "Exactly."

  "I thought you were the one in charge of the case—that they're only there to help you."

  "True, but they're not going to waste any time or resources looking into anything they don't believe to be valuable. Especially not the ones they sent this time. If it's not airtight, they don't want to hear about it."

  Alex groaned. "They're idiots."

  "No comment."

  Alex laughed, nearly snorting his beer out his nose. "So, you agree with me?"

  "Of course I do. Like I said, show me what you've got."

  "Gladly." He brought the laptop to his knees and opened up his notes file. "It's a lot more than just lakes with an island. They're all small and have a dock."

  Nick arched a brow.

  "They're not usually located all that close to where the girls were taken. And here's something interesting." Alex pulled up the map he'd been working on. "If you draw a line from each lake, they're all about equal distance from this town."

  "Let me see that." Nick grabbed the laptop and zoomed in on the picture. It showed one of the richer parts of town. He swore.

  "What?" Alex exclaimed.

  "That's Flynn's neighborhood. Actually, that's almost right on top of his house."

  They stared at each other, both wide-eyed.

  "Is that enough to convince the FBI to look into it? I'm starting to run out of ideas, actually."

  "I don't know, but it's enough for me to at least try. How did you think to try that?"

  Alex shrugged. "I was measuring the distances between the lakes, and accidentally figured it out."

  Nick swore again. "Show me everything. Don't leave out a detail."

  They spent the next two hours going over everything Alex and Macy had found. Finally, neither one of them could keep their eyes open.

  "Want to crash on the couch?"

  Alex could feel the bottom of the couch through the cushion. "No, but thanks. I'll just head back to my parents' house."

  "At least let me get you an energy drink. Email all that to me real quick."

  "Sure." Alex send him everything as an attachment. As soon as he was done, Nick handed him a black and orange can.

  "This'll keep you awake."

  Alex glanced at the ingredient list. "Sure it won't give me a heart attack, too?"

  "It's not supposed to."

  "Great." Alex opened it and drank it down as fast as he could. His body started to vibrate almost immediately. "This stuff is crazy."

  "Tell me about it. I'm going to the station with this first thing in the morning."

  "Not now?"

  Nick shook his head. "The FBI agents aren't there now, anyway, and this isn't something urgent enough that I can wake them."

  "It's not? It gives more reason to suspect the kidnapper actually did it."

  "Trust me. Get some sleep."

  After the energy drink? Right. "Okay. See ya." Alex made his way back to his car and started it. At least Nick was now willing to show everything to the FBI. If they actually looked into it, they would probably put the guy behind bars and then find Ariana. At least there was still time before Halloween—the day he killed his victims.

  Alex's blood ran cold.

  Just as he was about to pull out of the spot, his phone buzzed.

  Had he left something in the condo? Or had Nick figured something else out?

  It was a text from a blocked number.

  I told you to leave it alone. You didn't listen.

  Stress

  Kellen helped Zoey onto her couch and covered her with a blanket. She hadn't said a word since speaking at the conference. He'd ended up turning up the music just to distract himself as he drove.

  "Can I get you something, Zoey?"

  She barely shook her head and continued staring at a blank wall.

  He sat next to her and pulled some of the blanket over himself. "You did really well tonight."

  Zoey shook her head again.

  "That was a really moving speech. I'll bet people will do more to help find Ariana."

  She sighed, still staring ahead.

  Sharp pains started at Kellen's temples and ran to the base of his skull. He took a deep breath and rubbed his neck.

  "If I'm bothering you, you don't have to stay."

  "It's not that. I have a headache."

  "Isn't that supposed to be my line?" Her voice was flat, but she'd managed a joke. The Zoey he loved and adored was fighting to come out.

  Kellen put his arm around her. "We're going to get through this."

  "How do you know?"

  "Because you're strong and so is Ari. She's going to fight, and you're going to make sure we find her."

  Zoey leaned her head against his arm. "I hope you're right. I completely blew it out there."

  "No, you were real. Everyone could feel your pain."

  "I never have trouble talking in front of a crowd. I thought I was going to die up there."

  "Give yourself a break. You're living every parent's worst nightmare."

  She turned to him. "What if we don't find her?"

  "We will."

  "What if we don't?" Zoey repeated, starting at him with an intensity that made him want to back away.

  "Keep looking. Never give up. Isn't that what you did when Macy was gone so long?"

  "What if we find her, but she's dead or seriously maimed?"

  "First of all, you can't think like that."

  Zoey's brows came together. "You can't tell me what to think."

  Kellen sucked in a deep breath and counted to ten. Then twenty. "Well, it won't do you any good."

  "And thinking fluffy thoughts will if she's in a ditch somewhere?"

  "You can't—it will make it hard for you to get through each day if that's what you're imagining."

  "But if it's the truth, what does it matter?"

  Kellen counted again. This was good practice in case he ever ended up on trial. "What do you think Ari would want you to be doing?"

  She gave him a double-take. "What?"

  "Ariana loves you. Do you think she wants you to be miserable and negative?"

  "Do you think she wants me to throw a party?" Zoey snapped.

  Kellen took another deep breath. He was running out of methods to calm himself. "That's not what I said, and you know it. She's a positive, upbeat kid. She'd want you to hold out hope."

  "We're almost at the forty-eight hour mark."

  "It's barely been twenty-four hours."

  "And we're no closer to finding her than we were last night!"

  "We don't know that," Kellen said. "You may have planted a seed of doubt in the kidnapper's mind. Maybe right now he's thinking about the possibility of returning her?"

  Zoey opened her mouth, but then closed it.

  "Maybe we should get some sleep."

  "You think I'm going to be able to sleep?" she exclaimed.

  "Yes. You're exhausted, and we'll be able to do more tomorrow if we're rested."

  The corners of her mouth curved down. She seemed to be trying to figure out a good comeback. "Do you want her living with us after we get married?"

  Kellen's headache intensified. "Why are you bringing this up now?"

  "Do you want her to live with us?" Zoey sat up straight.

  "Can we talk about this after she's back safe and sound?" Kellen removed his arm from around her shoulders.

  "You said we need to think positively, right? When she comes back and we get married, do you want her living with us?"

  "Why are you doing this, Zo?"

  "Because you need to explain that expression on your face when I brought it up."

  "I was surprised because it was the first I'd heard anything about it! You didn't give me the respect of even giving me a heads up, much less asking my opinion."

  "So, you don't want her to live with us?" Zoey accused.

  "Why the hell are you trying to trap me? I never said that."

  "Then say you want her to live with us. It's not t
hat hard."

  "You could have at least given me a warning that you were thinking about it, you know? When we first got together, you told me you had a daughter, but that you'd given up all rights. It quickly became clear how much she means to you and that you two are close, and that's great. I'm sure you both need it. But never once have you mentioned even the possibility of splitting custody—which by the way, if you want to discuss shocked faces, your parents seemed just as taken aback as I was."

  "So, you don't want her living with us."

  Kellen jumped up from the couch. "Give me some time to let the idea sink in! It's common decency. You're changing everything and not giving me two seconds to digest the idea. You couldn't even give me the courtesy of talking to me privately first."

  She folded her arms. "At least I know how you feel."

  "You have no idea! I don't even know what I want. I'm sure I'd be excited by the idea if you'd have given me ten minutes to let it sink in first."

  "You think you'd be excited?" Zoey arched a brow.

  "At this point, I'd be thrilled just to have her back safely. I'd raise her all by myself if it came down to that. But, honestly, it's our relationship that I have to question."

  Her mouth dropped.

  "That's right. How can I trust you after pulling that stunt? What makes me think you won't blindside me with something else equally important? It's obvious how poorly you actually think of me."

  "Now you're turning me into the bad guy?"

  "Did I say that?" Kellen exclaimed.

  "That's what it sounds like."

  He threw his arms in the air. "I can't take this. I've been questioned by the FBI—interrogated, really—and I've always done everything to support your relationship with Ari. And now when everything hits the fan, this is the thanks I get?"

  "Hold on." Zoey rose from the couch, too. "It's not like that."

  "It's exactly like that. And another thing, I saw the way you were looking at Alex at the party. I tried to ignore it. Deny it, actually. But now I can't."

  "What are you talking about?" she exclaimed. "I wasn't looking at Alex any way, besides irritated."

  Kellen snorted. "Believe what you want, but for a moment it seemed like you were having second thoughts about him."

  "Him? Never! I can't forgive him for what he did to me."

  "Whatever. Just remember—he's the one who was too busy texting to watch Ariana. Now there's even evidence of him putting her in the van!"

  Zoey shook her head. "Have you heard of Photoshop?"

  "You said he was jealous when you showed him the engagement ring. Did you ever stop to think that he took Ariana to make sure he didn't lose you?"

  "He wouldn't do that."

  "Why not?" Kellen countered. "You've always said how all he thinks about is himself, right? Maybe he's scared he'll lose you or Ariana once we get married."

  "That's ridiculous!"

  "Is it?"

  Her eyes shone with tears. "Yes!"

  "Why?"

  "Because he's had all this time to do something, but he hasn't."

  "And yet suddenly, he wants a daddy-daughter date. Right after seeing your ring."

  She shook her head. "It's not like that. He wouldn't kidnap Ariana."

  "How can you defend him?" Kellen exploded.

  "Because I know him! I've known the Mercers longer than I've known anyone."

  "Really? You've hardly said two words to him since you graduated high school."

  "Yeah, he's thrown his own life away, but he wouldn't do anything to hurt Ari. Deep down, he's still the same person he always was."

  Kellen wanted to punch the wall. He took a deep breath. "Even if Alex didn't put her in the van, he still wasn't watching her. Someone drove off with Ari."

  "That place is huge. It could've happened to anyone."

  He couldn't take any more. "Look, if you need me, I'll be at my place."

  Her eyes widened. "You're going to leave me? Now?"

  "Leave you?" he yelled. "No, Zoey. I'm giving you space. Clearly, you need it. I know I do. I have a lot to think about."

  She shook her head. "Unbelievable."

  He gritted his teeth. "My sentiments exactly."

  Dismissed

  Nick hit snooze. He felt like he'd been hit by a bus, but then he remembered what Alex had shown him the night before. Although he had his doubts about the FBI taking him seriously, he was excited to show them what he had. He didn't know how Alex had managed to connect some of the dots he had—it was some decent detective work, especially from a civilian.

  The alarm blared again. He stretched and turned it off before getting up. With any luck, between all the new calls to the hotline and these new clues from the cold cases, they would find the abductor. The all-important forty-eight hour deadline was rapidly approaching. After that, their chances of finding the girl alive would rapidly diminish with each passing hour.

  Sure, there were cases like Alex's sister, but those were the rare ones. Definitely not anything they could count on.

  Time was not on their side. But if they were right about this being connected to the other cases, at least they had a little more time—however Halloween was also approaching too quickly.

  He got ready, his mind racing, and grabbed an energy drink on the way out. He made his way to the Mustang, safe in one of the few garage spots in the parking lot, and hurried to the station.

  The entire place was buzzing when he got there. He put his coat in his office, recycled the can, and headed for the room. The white boards were filled with at least twice the notes, more papers lay scattered around the tables, and conversation was more lively.

  Nick grabbed a donut from the box next to the door and stood by Williams, the head FBI agent, who was speaking with three others. She turned to him once she was done talking and pulled her light hair into a bun. "Did you get any sleep?"

  "Some. Was there any good info from the hotline overnight?"

  "Hard to say. There are a lot of leads to look into, but so far none of them are panning out. False sightings, mostly. Do you know how many eleven-year-old girls are out there with dark hair halfway down their backs?" She sighed and took a swig of her coffee.

  "I'm sure thousands at least."

  She nodded. "I've got teams checking out leads in other states. More AMBER Alerts are going out and I've got an entire social media team on it in Washington."

  "This is Washington."

  "Washington State. I'm talking about DC."

  "Okay. I have something I want to go over with you. I found some new possibilities."

  "It's not those cold cases again, is it?" A look of irritation crossed her face.

  "I found some connections, and they're too similar to this case to keep ignoring." He stared her down.

  "Fine. You've got five minutes."

  That was five minutes more than Nick'd had last time he tried talking to her about the previous cases. "Come to my office."

  She tapped another agent on the shoulder. "I'll be right back."

  They went to his office and he turned on his computer and pulled up everything relevant from the cloud server.

  "You do realize that hot leads are almost always better than the cold ones?"

  "Almost always," Nick said. "Given the fact that there's a serial killer out there, we need to pay attention to these."

  "We don't know the cases are related."

  "Look at this." He showed her everything Alex had found, and for a change, she didn't cut him off and dismiss him. She listened, but didn't give any indication of what she thought. When he was done, he asked, "What do you think?"

  "You could be on to something."

  "Could be?"

  "That map leading to Myer's house is a bit of a stretch though. Isn't that a new neighborhood?"

  "It's been there for decades."

  Williams looked deep in thought. "I'm not going to allocate any of my resources toward this, but if you feel strongly about it, keep looking into it. Tak
e Anderson and question Myer again, but it's not a lead I'd put much stock into. If nothing comes of this, drop it."

  At least this was better than nothing. "What would it take for you to take it seriously?"

  "Something more convincing than this. Better leads. That's what we need to focus on."

  "Like what?"

  "The stepdad."

  "She doesn't have—wait. You mean Zoey's fiancé?"

  "Kellen McKay. He has no alibi for the time of the kidnapping."

  "But Alex was there. He saw the abductor. If it was Kellen, he would've known."

  "It was dark and he was upset. Distracted."

  "Distracted? He'd already put his text away. He gave us a description of the man—and it looks just like Myer."

  "Like I said, look into it if you want. I don't put much stock into what the bio dad says."

  "Why on earth not?"

  "He's only involved with the girl a few times a year and from what I've gathered, spends his free time drinking. We have a missing child, Fleshman. I can't spare a single resource for every off-the-wall idea that comes my way. Especially not from an unreliable witness."

  It was a good thing he hadn't told her that Alex had helped him dig into the cold cases. "I realize this is about a missing girl. You think I don't know that? Why do you think I'm hardly sleeping? This is the niece of a missing girl I worked tirelessly on about twelve years ago."

  A knowing expression covered her face. "I get it now."

  "Get what?"

  "You're personally invested."

  "I—"

  "You have to step back. You know that—you didn't get to be captain by accident. I can tell by the way your men respect you that you're a good cop. Everyone allows something to get personal once in a while, but you have to be impartial. That's how these cases are solved. Understand?"

  He gritted his teeth. "Yes."

  "If you look into Myer, let me know."

  "Of course." There was no way he was going to drop this. In fact, her unwillingness to consider it a valid lead only made him more determined.

  Frantic

  Ariana picked up a book from the shelf, looked at the cover, and put it back. It had been hours since breakfast and she hadn't heard anything from Lloyd. Despite her fear of never seeing her family again, she was growing bored. She spent so much time in the bedroom. He pretty much only let her out to eat three times a day.