by Anne Patrick
She entered the building and her cell phone rang. "Detective Jamison."
"The paperwork is done; we just need a signature from the prosecutor’s office," Judge Larkin informed. "Both Curry and the assistant DA are in court today so it’ll be a couple of hours at least."
"I'll swing by and pick up the papers and wait for them to get out of court."
"I've got this. You just stay with the girl. I'll see you in a little while.”
"Thank you." Gwen breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the reception desk.
Moments later, Erica Wentworth waved to her from a doorway. She led Gwen to her office and closed the door. "I know this didn't end the way you wanted it to, but—"
"I have a home lined up for Mandy and a judge will be here shortly with the paperwork necessary to release her into their custody."
"While I appreciate you trying to help Mandy, I'm her caseworker. I can't just turn her over to complete strangers. They have to be vetted and they must be licensed through the state."
"My brother and his wife will be taking Mandy. They'll be here later and you can talk to them yourself. They're licensed foster parents." Gwen went on to tell her about the deferment Judge Larkin had approved. "All Mandy has to do is agree to the terms and sign the papers."
"You've been a busy woman."
"Yeah, I just wish I'd brought you into the loop sooner so none of this would've happened today. I have a bad tendency to leap when I shouldn't. May I see her?"
"Of course." Erica led Gwen to another room at the end of the corridor. "I'm afraid I must be present." She unlocked the door. "We hate to do it, but she is a flight risk."
"Tell me about it."
Mandy looked up as they walked into the room. She sat on a sofa with her legs drawn up against her chest. Gwen's gut twisted at the sight of her tear-streaked face.
Gwen sat beside her. "I'm sorry this happened, Mandy, but I promise nothing's changed. Everything I told you at the library is true."
"Then can I leave?"
"Not yet, I've talked to the judge and he's expediting the paperwork. As soon as everything is in order, Erica will meet Tony and Kara, and we'll go from there."
"But I can leave tonight?"
"Yes. Judge Larkin is a man of his word. He'll be here."
"All right."
"While we're waiting for everyone to arrive, will you give me a statement? I just need you to write out everything you told me at the library and then sign it."
"Can I type it instead?" Mandy asked with a welcomed smile. "My penmanship isn't the greatest."
Gwen looked up at Erica.
"She can use my laptop." Erica pushed an intercom button and asked someone to fetch the computer from her office.
For the next hour, Mandy sat at the round oak table and typed out her official statement. She had just signed her name when the intercom buzzed.
"Mr. & Mrs. Greer are here to see Detective Jamison."
"Send them back." Erica looked at Gwen. "Tony is your brother?"
"Yes. You know him?"
"I'm the one who did their home study." She placed her hand on Mandy's shoulder. "You're a very lucky young lady, Mandy."
Gwen stayed long enough for the introductions. Once she was comfortable that the three were getting along, she told Mandy she would see her later tonight.
"I thought you were going to stay with me when I talked to the judge?"
"I need to drop your statement off at the station. You'll be fine. Just remember what I told you about him. Erica will be with you. I'll see you later this evening. We can have pizza. My treat."
Mandy hugged Gwen and whispered in her ear. "Thank you."
"You're going to be fine, Mandy. I promise."
*****
No one was in the squad room when Gwen entered. She laid Mandy's statement on Ian's desk. She then wrote him a note telling him she wouldn’t be in the rest of the week. His mistrust of her earlier still stung deeply. Gwen knew today was partially her fault. She should have told him her plans. She had meant to Saturday before his daughter showed up. Gwen was afraid if she told him, though, they would argue, and it would ruin the good time they were having. Then, when he placed her on desk duty, she had no choice but to keep it from him. She had to be the one to talk to Mandy.
Gwen left the squad room and headed to the elevator. The doors opened just as she was about to hit the button. She braced herself incase it was Ian. Fortunately, it was Nick who stepped out.
"Where have you been? Everyone has been looking for you."
She figured they would, that's why she turned her phone to vibrate after she talked to Judge Larkin.
"Kris feels terrible, Gwen. You know she had no choice."
"You would've covered for me."
"Well, yeah, but I'm not Kris. I don't mind lying for a friend. It's who she is, though, Gwen. You knew that when you asked her to cover for you."
"I know." And they had been friends for a very long time. Gwen rubbed her tired eyes. The day wasn't even close to being over and she was exhausted. "I've gotta go. If you see her, tell her I'll call her tomorrow."
"What, you're not coming to work?"
"I'm taking a few personal days."
"But are you coming back?"
"Of course I am. You guys are my family. I wouldn't desert you."
He smiled as he slapped her on the shoulder. "Behave yourself, Jamison."
Before leaving, she stopped off at CSU.
Coop spotted her and walked over shaking his head. "We just got the medallion an hour ago, Gwen. I can't tell you anything."
"Because you haven't gotten to it yet or because you were ordered not to talk to me?"
"Both. Sorry, Gwen."
"Just get to it as quick as you can."
"We will. I promise. And I'm sure the lieutenant will brief you on what we find."
There was an insinuation there, but Gwen ignored it. She had more important things on her mind than whether or not she and Ian had become the topic of conversation around the station. "Thanks, Coop."
*****
Ian saw the note first. "Harris. Come in here." While he waited, he scanned over the signed statement from Amanda Kingsley. "Well I'll be."
"Yes, sir?"
"When was Jamison here?"
"About twenty minutes ago."
"She say where she was headed?"
"No."
"Would you tell me if she had?"
Nick hesitated.
"Never mind. Have you found Vivian Bartlett yet?" Again, Nick didn't answer, and Ian had to threaten the detective with two more weeks of desk duty to get him to confess to what he and Gwen had discussed when Ian came into the squad room on Friday.
"No, sir. There are over twenty nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Winslow. So far, the ones I've called won't say whether or not she's a patient because of the HIPAA law."
"Know any judges?"
"None that I'm on friendly terms with, but Jamison knows one."
The one she got her search warrants from when she first suspected Bartlett had killed his family, and most likely the same one who helped her as a kid. "That'll be all, Harris."
Ian placed the witness statement in his desk drawer. It wouldn't do them any good unless CSU came up with a legible print.
On his way home, he drove by the gym. Gwen's SUV was in the parking lot. Ian sat in his car for almost a half hour, debating whether or not to go inside. They both needed time to cool off. On the other hand, if he waited until she came back to work next week, he might blow any chance of salvaging their relationship. Surely she had to realize he wasn't the only one at fault over what happened today. Ian had Gwen's best interest at heart, as well as the girl's safety. He should have trusted her to do the right thing, though.
Pushing his wounded ego aside, he went in search of her. He found her on an exercise bike, the front of her tank top drenched in sweat. So much for no strenuous activity.
She looked at him. Ian couldn't
tell if her red face was from anger or exertion.
"I don't want to talk to you right now," Gwen warned through labored breaths as she continued to peddle like she raced to a finish line.
He moved in front of the bike. Had it not been stationary, she would have run right over him. "You were so obsessed with the girl, Gwen, I didn't think you'd bring her in."
She lowered her head, refusing to even look at him.
"I'm sorry. I should've trusted you."
She stopped peddling and glared at him. "You know why I was so obsessed with Mandy? I used to be her, Ian…some days I feel like I still am." She got off the bike, grabbed her towel from the bar and walked toward the locker rooms.
*****
Gwen exited the locker room, half expecting to see Ian. She was relieved when she didn't. The workout had done little to ease the hurt and disappointment of his betrayal. Eventually she would get past it, or at least she hoped she would. In spite of what he did, Gwen still loved him. The ability to forgive had never been one of her strong suits, though. It was a trait she least liked about herself.
Her cell phone rang as she got into her SUV.
"Detective Jamison, it's Erica Wentworth. I'm afraid I have some bad news."
"Didn't Judge Larkin show up?"
"He did, but during transport to your brother's house, Mandy took off."
Gwen started the engine. "Where are you? I'm on my way."
"I'm back at the DCS facility. I called your brother to let him know what happened."
Gwen shoved her phone back in her pocket. Her mind swirled with a thousand thoughts. Everything was going so well when Gwen left. What could have happened to change Mandy's mind? She had seemed so comfortable with Tony and Kara. Had she changed her mind about the deferment program?
Erica was standing outside the building, next to a newer model Ford Taurus, when Gwen pulled up. "What happened? Why'd she run?"
"I have no idea. We were on our way to your brother's house. I was in the backseat with her and a co-worker was driving. We stopped at a red light, and before I knew it, she bolted from the car and took off down the street. We looked for her, so did a police unit…but we couldn't find her."
"This doesn't make any sense, Ms. Wentworth. Mandy was fine when I left." Had the kid put on an act? Knowing once she was free of the place she could take off? No, Gwen didn't think so. Mandy seemed genuinely relieved that she had a chance for a new start.
"Everything was going great. Tony and Kara had gone on ahead when Judge Larkin got here, and I was going to take her to their house once we were done here. The judge talked to Mandy for about an hour. She agreed to all the terms, signed the paperwork and everything."
Something must have happened. Gwen thought of Bartlett's visit to the station this morning. Her gut told her it wasn't a coincidence. If that were the case, Gwen had led him right to Mandy. "Okay, start from the very beginning, when you were bringing Mandy out to the car."
"We were talking. Mandy said she hoped Tony and Kara would let her get a dog. Her other one, she said, got hit by a car. Just as we were getting ready to get into my car, she stopped abruptly. I thought she was going to take off then. I was right next to her so I was able to take hold of her arm. Several seconds passed and she seemed fine. We drove for a about a mile and got caught at a red light, that's when she jumped out of the car and took off running."
"Did you notice anyone standing around or maybe sitting in their car in the parking lot?"
"To be honest, I wasn't really paying that much attention to my surroundings. My focus was on Mandy."
Gwen looked at the front of the building and then spun around and scanned the parking lot. "You don't have any security cameras?"
"Our funding is limited, and there's never been cause to need them."
"And you drove south on Lexington?"
She nodded. "Are you thinking she was spooked because she saw someone? Like the man Lieutenant McKean mentioned."
"Yeah. He showed up at the station this morning, playing games with us. I'll check for cameras along your route and hopefully come up with something. I think she only took off because she was frightened."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Maybe not to you…but to her it was pure instinct."
The woman smiled. "I wish there were more people like you out there who cared about these kids. If there were, maybe there wouldn't be so many in our system."
Gwen searched along Lexington. The three businesses that had cameras were closed. She would have to wait until morning to get any footage they recorded. Hopefully Mandy had found a safe place to hide and had called Levi to come and get her.
Instead of heading home, she drove over to Tony's house. Both he and Kara met her on the porch. Tony wrapped his arms around Gwen. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah." Gwen forced a smile. It surprised her how attached she had become to the kid. Maybe it was because she saw so much of herself in Mandy.
Kara put her hand on Gwen's shoulder. "God will look after her, Gwen."
"You mean like he did me." Gwen wished she could take back the accusation but it was too late. It wasn't pain she saw reflected in Kara's expression, more like sympathy.
"God didn't do too bad by you when He sent you here to live."
The smirk on Tony's face prompted a smile. "That was Judge Larkin's doing. Not God."
"That's how He works, Gwen, through people. If you'd paid attention in church, you would know that."
"I didn't come here for a religious debate, Tony."
Still smiling, he opened the door and waved Gwen inside. "Coffee's on, and Kara baked an apple pie."
"I can't stay long."
"Of course you can't," Kara teased.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The next morning Gwen drove out to Levi's and parked in front of the gate. The same man who stood watch yesterday appeared before she got out of her SUV. He radioed ahead as she joined him. "I'm here to see Levi."
"He's on his way."
"So what are you, the lookout?"
"Yep."
"Get a lot of trespassers, do ya?"
"A few. They don't stick around long."
Levi came through the brush. "What now, Detective?"
"Mandy isn't here?"
"No. Haven't seen her since I dropped her off at the library yesterday. I thought you'd taken her in." He chuckled. "What'd she do, run on you again?"
"This isn't funny, Levi. I need to find her."
"She isn't here, Detective. I swear. You can come have a look if you want."
"All right." Since she didn't know what she was walking into, Gwen kept her hand on her weapon as she followed Levi. Thick brush grew on both sides of the narrow path for fifty or sixty yards till they came to an open area. To her right was a fence line with an open field beyond it and directly in front of her were half a dozen tents and two shanty shacks. A hundred or so yards to her left was the river.
"How long have you lived here, Levi?"
"A little over a year. The land belongs to my cousin. He lets us stay here in return for helping him on his farm. Several of the men help him tend to the fences, feed his cattle, and other odd jobs. Once a week Bobby pays them what he can."
Gwen noticed several children; some appeared school age, a few were toddlers. They played happily throughout the campsite, a couple sat outside their tents reading books. Two women sat nearby in lawn chairs. They both looked at Gwen.
"That's Martha and Ginger. We all take turns keeping an eye on the children. Go ahead, have a look around."
Gwen walked through the campsite. Most of the tents were open, so she peered inside. All she saw were sleeping bags and clothing, most of which were neatly folded and stacked in one area. She moved on to the metal shanty shacks. The first one contained shelves of canned food along two walls, large jugs of water, and boxes of what looked to be toiletry items. As she neared the smaller shack, the odor emitting from it warned her it was their outhouse. She knocked on the shee
t metal door and then opened it as she held her breath. It wasn't as bad as she expected. No different than a restroom you would find at a crude campground. Further ahead, was a small stone cabin with a tin roof.
"What's in there?" Gwen looked over her shoulder at Levi.
"It's where my family lives."
He moved ahead of her and held the door open for her to enter. Centered in the middle was an old square table with five wooden chairs. Against the far wall was a stone fireplace. Plastic curtains sectioned off the rest of the cabin. Inside each makeshift room was a bed and clothing of various sizes stacked in plastic crates.
"Satisfied?" Levi pulled out a chair and sat down.
Gwen joined him at the table. "Where are Hayley and the boys?"
"Eric had a doctor's appointment." He picked up an apple from the bowl in the middle of the table and offered it to Gwen.
"No thanks. Are you sure Mandy hasn't called you?"
"She hasn't, Detective." He took a big bite from the apple and quickly chewed. "I would've told you if she had. I don't want to bring trouble to the others."
It wasn't the kind of life most people would choose but they were on private property, not hurting anyone, and aside from dirty clothes, everyone seemed healthy and content. It sure beat some of the places she lived while on the streets. "Any news on the motel job?"
"They're still accepting applications. The owner said it'd be another week or two before he made up his mind."
"Be sure to call me if Mandy shows up, or if you hear anything."
*****
As soon as Ian got to work, he called DCS to check on Amanda Kingsley. Erica wasn't in, but according to the woman he spoke to, Amanda was released yesterday by a court order from Judge Perry Larkin. It was the only detail he could get from her. He thought of the last words Gwen had spoken to him at the library yesterday. She said she and the girl were on their way to the courthouse. "As soon as Ms. Wentworth comes in, please have her call me."