The mist turned into rain once again. As they crept closer to the house, she saw two window wells, indicating that there was a basement. Her heart nearly exploded out of her chest.
There was no light at either window, but that didn’t staunch the flood of hopeful expectation that rushed through her.
The only thing that worried her was the possibility that Chad might be in that darkness with her son. Would he be armed in any way? Did Chad have a gun?
They had surprise on their side, but it wouldn’t be easy for Knox to get through one of the small windows, and if Chad heard or saw them, what would he do?
Was he really so unhinged he would hurt a little boy? She could only pray that wasn’t the case. When they reached the back of the house, Knox got down on his belly in the wet grass in an attempt to look into one of the small windows.
He put his hands up around his eyes, and despite the cold wetness of the night a bead of sweat trickled down her back. He motioned for her to hand him the flashlight. In one quick motion, he smashed out the window and slid inside like an eel.
She shoved a fist against her mouth as she waited. She wanted to scream to release the tension that had every muscle in her body knotted.
And then his face was in the opening where the window had been. “Nobody’s down here. I’m going upstairs to check it out. I’ll sneak out the back door. Just wait for me.”
This time when she pressed her hand against her mouth, it was to staunch the banshee scream of mourning that threatened to erupt from her. Nobody’s down here. The words replayed in her head in painful whispers.
Seconds ticked by...minutes as the rain continued to fall and she waited for Knox. She had no hope that Cody was in the upstairs of the house. This had been yet another wild-goose chase, and she didn’t know how many more she could handle before she truly lost her mind.
It seemed like an eternity before Knox finally appeared. He threw an arm over her shoulder and silently they made the long walk back to the car.
Once again, she was empty inside and lost in a desolation that was close to shattering her. They finally reached the car and as he started the engine she began to shiver.
“The basement was nothing but a graveyard for empty booze bottles,” he said. “And the upstairs was a hoarder’s play land. I don’t know what happened to Chad, but there’s no way I believe he has Cody.”
She didn’t speak. She couldn’t with her teeth chattering. She wrapped her arms around herself, but that didn’t ease the chill that had swept over her.
Knox glanced at her and then stepped down on the gas to get them home faster. “We’re almost home. I’ll get you warmed up when we get there,” he said.
When they reached the house, he parked and then hurried around the car to help her out. She was grateful because her legs felt like two icicles. She was so achingly cold. She couldn’t remember ever being this cold in her entire life.
He grabbed her under the elbow to steady her as they went into the house. Wendall greeted them, a frown etched across his forehead. “I thought you two were taking a drive, not a walk in the rain, and what did you do, walk on your chest?”
Allison looked at Knox. He was soaking wet and the front of his shirt and jeans held mud and grass stains. No wonder Wendall was looking at them with such suspicion.
“We need to get out of these wet clothes,” Knox said. He kept his hand still on her elbow and guided her up the stairs and into the bathroom, where he let go of her and started the water in the shower.
He yanked his wet shirt over his head and threw it on the floor and then turned to her. “Come on, Ally, we need to get you out of those things and warm again.”
Like a docile child, she allowed him to undress her and when they were both naked he pulled her beneath the warm spray of water.
She closed her eyes and leaned against him as the water played over them. He took the bar of soap and rubbed it across her back and then turned her around and soaped her breasts as, slowly, the chill began to leave her.
As she got warmed up again, an overwhelming exhaustion hit her like a brick wall. She grabbed the bottle of shampoo, but Knox took it from her.
“Let me,” he said softly. He squirted the apple-scented shampoo into his hand and then worked it into her hair.
Once again, she closed her eyes as his fingers massaged her scalp and eased some of the tension that had been a constant companion since Cody had disappeared.
Tired. She was so very tired. As she raised her head to the water to rinse away the shampoo, he washed himself and then shut off the shower.
He led her out and grabbed a fluffy towel from the linen closet and then tenderly dried her off from head to toe. He picked up the brush from the counter and gently brushed her hair.
When he was finished, he grabbed her nightgown from a hook on the back of the door and pulled it on over her head.
With just a towel wrapped around his waist, he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the side of the bed, where he set her back on her feet. He untucked the sheet and blanket and held them up so she could slide into the bed.
When she did, he pulled the sheet back up to cover her and gently kissed her on the forehead. “Get some sleep, Ally.”
“I don’t want to go on these wild-goose chases anymore, Knox.” She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t have hope only to have it destroyed over and over again.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Now go to sleep and we’ll talk about things in the morning.” He turned and left her room.
She drew in a tremulous sigh. She couldn’t remember when she’d been so tired. Her son was missing and her emotions where Knox was concerned were in turmoil and all she wanted to do was sleep.
And she did.
* * *
“The calls came from two separate burner phones,” Dalton said to Knox. He and Brett had shown up back at Allison’s house at seven the next morning.
“And we’re still trying to trace the particulars on the web page. Whoever is behind this is pretty sophisticated when it comes to hiding their tracks.”
“There’s no way this is Chad,” Knox said flatly. “It’s got to be my mother.” His stomach clenched. “She would have the kind of skills you’re talking about.”
“According to the authorities, they haven’t been able to find out where she is. They still believe she’s in Mexico,” Dalton replied.
“She’s here. I swear she’s got to be here in Shadow Creek,” he said.
“There’s been no sightings of her here,” Wendall said. “I know Sheriff Jeffries has told all the patrol officers to be on the lookout for both her and Chad.”
Knox walked over to pour himself a fresh cup of coffee. He was grateful that Allison was still asleep. She didn’t need to feel the negativity that was in the air.
They had three days left to try to figure out where Cody was being held and other than the fact that they all thought it was a basement, they had nothing more to go on. He’d spoken to Jeffries about the basements in town and the lawman had said he had no idea who had a basement and who didn’t.
Hopefully at some point today, Myna Turner would return Allison’s phone call and give them the addresses of everyone who had a basement in town. If she didn’t, then Knox would be driving around and checking on each and every house...which would take up too much precious time.
For now, all they could do was wait...wait as they’d been doing for what seemed like forever.
Allison had hit her breaking point the night before. Finding out Chad’s basement was empty had been the last disappointment she could take.
As he’d bathed her, as he’d washed her hair with that delicious apple-scented shampoo, the last thing he’d had on his mind had been sex. All he’d wanted to do was get her warm and into bed for some much-neede
d sleep.
It was just after eight when she came into the kitchen. She looked more rested than she had throughout this ordeal. There was color back in her cheeks and she offered everyone a genuine smile.
“What’s going on?” She made a beeline for the coffeemaker.
“Nothing. We’re all just hoping that Myna will get in touch with you sometime today,” he replied.
“I’m sure she’ll call me as soon as she gets my messages.” She poured herself a cup of coffee and then carried it into the living room. He trailed after her and when she curled up on the sofa he sat in the chair facing her.
“You look much better this morning than you did last night,” he said.
She smiled. “Thank you for taking care of me. I hit a brick wall, but I feel strong again this morning. Cody would want me to stay strong.”
“That’s what you have to remember.” He watched her sip her coffee and once again remembered the shower they’d taken together the night before.
Her skin had been so soft and she was so achingly beautiful. But he had known she hadn’t needed him. What she’d needed was sleep, a respite from everything bad that was happening in her life, and he’d understood that.
She caught his gaze over the rim of her cup. “Stop it,” she said.
He sat back in the chair. “Stop what?”
“Stop looking at me like I’m naked and you want to take me to bed.”
He couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped him. “Sorry, I wasn’t aware I was doing that.” He sobered. “But I guess no matter what happens in our lives I’ll always want you in my bed.”
A knock on the door stopped any further conversation. Knox got up to answer. It was Sheriff Jeffries. “We found Chad,” he said.
Allison sat up straighter and set her cup on the coffee table. “Where?” she asked.
“In a motel room in Dallas. Apparently, he met some woman passing through town and hooked up with her. A police officer there saw him walking to a nearby liquor store and stopped him.” Bud shook his head. “There was no sign of Cody in their motel room, so officially he’s off the suspect list.”
“Dammit,” Knox exclaimed. He hadn’t realized until that very moment that he’d half hoped the drunk was guilty. This left him with the horrifying certainty that his mother was behind the kidnapping.
“Wendall told me you believe your mother might be responsible. We’ve had no indication that she’s anyplace in town,” Bud said.
“That doesn’t mean she isn’t here. It’s past time for you to do a door-to-door search. You need to be checking any house that has a basement. We all believe he’s someplace here in town. You should be tearing the town apart to find him.” Knox hadn’t realized he had reached a point of explosion until now. In the back of his mind, he realized he was yelling at the sheriff.
He drew a deep breath to steady himself and at the same time Allison got up and grabbed him by the forearm. He knew she didn’t want him to alienate the man with his anger. “We have all day today and tomorrow and all day Tuesday. We’ve got to find him before the time of the exchange.”
“I’m keeping busy chasing down all the calls from the tip line. I’m also holding another news conference down in front of city hall at noon today. Hopefully, another plea to the public will yield some results,” Bud replied.
“Hopefully,” Allison replied without conviction.
Knox turned on his heels and headed upstairs. He couldn’t talk to that man another minute. He went into Cody’s room and sat down on the floor next to the bookcase holding the prancing horses.
Cody had told him the names of the horses, but he couldn’t remember them. Why hadn’t he listened more closely? And why wasn’t Sheriff Jeffries doing door-to-door searches? What in the hell was the man really doing to find Cody?
He didn’t know how long he sat there when Allison came into the room. She sank down next to him on the carpeting. “Do I need to throw you into a cold shower to cool you off?”
“I can’t stand that man,” he said. “I had to walk away before I did something stupid.” He drew in a deep breath and released it slowly.
“I hit my brick wall last night, and I think you just hit yours,” she said. “Come on, Knox. Let’s go back downstairs and I’ll make some breakfast for everyone. Bacon and eggs and maybe that cinnamon toast you used to love.” She got back up to her feet.
He nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll be down in just a few minutes.”
She left the room and Knox picked up a dark horse from the shelf.
Spirit. Yes, that was it. The dark horse was named Spirit, like the horse on Allison’s nightshirt. He set it back on the shelf and picked up another one. He gripped it tightly in his hand, unable to remember what name Cody had given the little animal.
Finally, he set it down and picked up a white horse from the shelf. He wanted to be a knight on a white horse for Allison and Cody. His anger at Bud Jeffries wasn’t just because he thought the man was ineffectual as a lawman, but it was also bred of a deep fear that he was afraid to acknowledge.
What if they didn’t get Cody back? The horrible question hung in his head. He clutched the little horse more tightly. Oh, God, what if Cody never came home?
How did parents ever survive the death of a child? Just the thought alone squeezed his heart so tight he could scarcely draw a breath.
He had worried about Allison going over the edge, but at the moment he knew he was flirting with drowning in black despair.
He couldn’t go there. He couldn’t allow it. He had to be strong for the woman he loved and the little boy he was determined to find and bring back.
Placing the horse back on the shelf, he rose from the floor. He’d eat breakfast and he’d keep going...working to find his son and planning what life would be like when Cody came home.
In the meantime, he had to find Fort Knox once again, the man who had no emotion, because the feelings he had now were too great to bear.
It was just after noon when Myna Turner returned Allison’s phone call and agreed to meet Knox and Allison at city hall to get the information they needed. Sheriff Jeffries was there, having just finished his news conference.
Myna Turner had to be close to seventy years old and although she gave Knox a curt nod, she greeted Allison with genuine warmth. “Come on inside, honey. I’m so sorry it took me so long to get back to you,” she said as she unlocked her office door. “I was visiting my son in Austin and didn’t get back in town until about an hour ago and finally listened to my answering machine.”
She opened the door and they all followed her into her private office. “Now, you said you want to know about any basements in town.”
“That’s right,” Allison said.
Knox and Bud stood against the wall as Allison sank down in the chair opposite Myna’s desk. Myna patted her gray hair, pulled a pair of reading glasses from her purse and then turned on her computer.
“You’re lucky that last year we digitized everything. Otherwise I would be digging through file boxes to try to find what you want.” She put on her glasses and then her fingers flew across the computer keys.
Finally, Knox thought. Finally, they were going to get some information they could use. With addresses, he could check each and every basement, and he prayed that Cody was in one of them. He had no idea where his mother played into this, but he was still certain that she did.
If there was anyone in town who could be bought to help her do her dirty work, she would find them. That’s what Livia did; she manipulated and used people to her advantage.
“Let’s see here...ah, there,” Myna said in satisfaction. She typed some more and then a printer on a nearby table began to work, spitting out several pieces of paper.
All of Knox’s nerves sizzled as Myna got up from the desk and walked over to the printer
. She picked up the papers and held them out to Allison. “There are six houses in town that have basements. Here are the addresses.”
“I’ll just take that,” Bud said and grabbed the papers from Myna’s hand. “This is official business.”
“And I want to be at each of those addresses while you check them out,” Knox replied. “We can start at the first one right now.” He held Bud’s gaze intently.
Bud puffed up his chest with self-importance. “You can ride along with me and my men as long as you don’t get in our way and obey any orders I give you.”
Knox bit the side of his cheek. “Of course,” he replied. “Myna, thank you so much.”
“It was my pleasure. I just hope you find your boy,” she replied.
“Allison, you go on back to the house. I’ll go with Sheriff Jeffries and I’ll call you if we find anything,” he said.
She got up from the chair, and Knox doubted that anyone else in the room could discern the body language tells that let him know how stressed she was. Her shoulders were rigid and she rocked on the balls of her feet. At first glance, her eyes appeared calm, but Knox could see beyond, into the turbulence of her soul. He knew she was probably torn between wanting to come with them and afraid of futile searches that chipped away at her heart.
“Go home and wait for me, Ally,” he repeated softly. “I’ll let you know what we find.”
She nodded and within minutes she was in his car to drive home, and he climbed into the passenger side of Bud’s patrol car. Bud radioed for another patrol car to join them and once they were in place, they left city hall.
Five houses...five basements, and if Cody wasn’t in one of them, then Knox feared he would slip over the edge into madness.
Chapter 14
It was almost midnight when Knox came through the front door. The look on his face told her everything she needed to know. He was utterly beaten, his eyes filled with a pain she well recognized.
“Nothing,” he said as he flopped down on the sofa. “We checked every basement and there was nothing.”
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