The Christmas Bell Tolls

by Robin Caroll

  Darren stood and straightened his jacket over his holster. Nick wasn’t the type of man to summon anyone to his office without a legitimate purpose. Darren strode down the hall behind his boss, his mind racing through potential reasons he’d been called in. Surely the agency wasn’t cutting jobs again. He loved his job, but he also needed it for the insurance. With Savannah’s pre-existing medical condition, he couldn’t afford to have to get new insurance.

  He turned the corner, nodding to a couple of fellow agents who acknowledged him. Maybe there was something missing from his report of his last case. He’d concluded all the paperwork day before yesterday and turned in everything. At least, he thought he had.

  “Shut the door behind you.” Nick didn’t sit in his chair behind his desk. He stood to the side, arms crossed over his chest.

  Darren’s mouth went dry as his knees locked. “Yes, sir?”

  “I think you’d better sit down.” Nick sat on the edge of his desk.

  Not really wanting to sit, but not daring to disobey his boss, Darren dropped into the chair. “Sir, what’s going on?”

  “First, I want you to sit there and hear me out. Do you understand? No bolting out of here without hearing everything first.”

  The muscles in Darren’s biceps tightened. This had to be personal. He nodded.

  “No, I need you to respond to me.” No mistaking Nick’s commanding tone.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll sit here and hear you out.”

  “Good.” Nick let out a long breath. “There’s a situation over at the community center.”

  Savannah! Sweet, Jesus. Every muscle in Darren’s body went rigid and he shifted.

  Nick held up his hand. “I’m not going to lie to you, it’s Savannah.”

  Darren couldn’t breathe. A rock the size and shape of the Memphis pyramid lodged in the back of his throat. Good thing he hadn’t stood because he didn’t think his legs could support his weight right now.

  “She’s missing.”

  Those two words ripped apart his very soul.

  “Missing?” He managed to shove the word out past the boulder blocking his ability to breathe.

  “At this point, we believe she was taken.”

  Taken. Gone. Abducted. A million scenarios sped through Darren’s mind, not a one of them good. Dear God…not my Savy!

  He moved to stand.

  Nick gripped Darren’s shoulder and eased him back into the chair. “Just listen.” He shook his shoulder. “Listen to me, Darren.”

  He looked up, focusing on his boss. He needed to concentrate on what Nick said, but all that filled his mind was his daughter.

  “Here’s what we know. There were a lot of people at the community center: choir people, florists, bakers, and many others. Savannah was picking out flowers with one of the local florists in the kitchen area where the flower samples were being kept.”

  It was supposed to be a fun time for Savannah. Enjoying the Baxter family prenuptial party. Girl time.

  “A person or persons entered the kitchen from the back door and knocked out the florist. Minutes later, at least that’s what we assume at this point, someone found the florist unconscious on the floor.”

  Darren tried to process what Nick said, but he could only visualize his daughter’s tear-streaked face. How scared and horrified she had to be. Did it trigger an asthma attack? Did she have her inhaler? Dear God, please—keep her safe. Protect her. Oh, sweet Jesus Christ, please protect my baby!

  “The police were called while everyone searched for Savannah. Some thought she might be hiding, scared, but after turning the community center upside down, they couldn’t find a trace of her.”

  Gone.

  No, he couldn’t accept that. Wouldn’t. Not Savannah.

  She was all he had left.

  Nick continued with the details he knew. “Maddie went outside and searched the parking lot. She found Savannah’s bow on the ground, far away from where she’d parked when they’d arrived.”

  Definitely taken. Someone took his daughter. Darren couldn’t think.

  “The police are on the scene. Maddie called her forensics team. I’m about to head that way myself. I’ll oversee the investigation unless otherwise directed by the Executive Assistant Director.”

  “Why wouldn’t you oversee the case?” Darren’s mind wasn’t wrapping around the facts properly.

  “Because the victim is the child of a senior agent in my unit.”

  He hadn’t considered that. Then again, he really couldn’t consider anything.

  “If you’re ready, let’s go.”

  Darren jumped to his feet and followed as Nick led the way out of the office and down the hall.

  Images swarmed Darren’s mind, clenching his jaw as he strode behind his boss. Savannah smiling as a newborn. After her first heart surgery. As she slept. Crawling. Her first steps. So proud of herself for saying dada. Her first day of preschool.

  “We’re going to find her,” Nick said as he slid in behind the steering wheel.

  Darren didn’t trust himself to speak. He clicked his seatbelt automatically. He couldn’t hold a coherent thought in his mind. Savannah was gone. Lord, please…help her. Help me. He didn’t even know what to pray.

  The siren screeched as Nick peeled out of the parking lot. Loose gravel skidded across the asphalt.

  “I’ve put a call in to the state office and requested they send in a couple of outside agents to assist.”

  “I don’t understand. How was she taken?” Darren’s mind finally opened to allow more into his brain than just that Savannah was gone. “Someone came in and knocked out the florist and took Savannah? So she was definitely a target?”

  Nick nodded as the cruiser sped toward the community center. “That’s the premise we’re working off of at the moment. No one else was bothered and preliminary report is nothing was disturbed.”

  Waves of nausea rocked Darren’s tightened stomach. His daughter had been kidnapped. The enormity stole his breath.

  “Darren, you know we’re going to have to ask. Go ahead and start building a list of any enemies you might have. I’ve already requested an update on any of the recently released from prison cases you’ve worked on. Can you think of anyone else?”

  His mind went blank. All he could think about was his daughter was gone. Like Georgia.

  No! Not like Georgia. Missing, not dead. Please, God, let her be okay.

  “Timmons?”

  Darren shook his head. “Not that I can think of right now, sir.” As an FBI agent, sure, he made enemies, but none stood out to him at the moment. The only thing he could think of right now was his daughter had been taken. “Sir, what’s the timeline?” Time was of the essence. The first minutes after a child was abducted was critical.

  Abducted. Savannah. His baby girl. Jesus!

  Nick glanced at the clock on the dashboard as he whipped into the parking lot of the community center. “About forty-five minutes since the incident was reported.”

  Forty-five minutes.

  Darren swallowed against his still-dry-mouth. Nick hadn’t even turned off the car’s engine before Darren bolted from the car. Already, yellow police tape cordoned off the back parking lot of the community center.

  He strode forward, whipping out his badge, but was stopped by a plainclothes officer. “Sir, please go around to the front door.”

  Nick took hold of his elbow and led him to the front door. “Timmons, I’m allowing you onsite—at the scene, but remember to stay out of the actual investigation.”

  Darren nodded, but he’d already made it to the front steps.

  “Darren!”

  He halted, staring up at Maddie’s pale face.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  He wanted to be mad. Wanted to be furious. Wanted to scream at her that it was her fault his baby girl was missing. That Savannah had been in her care and she’d let his daughter get taken. Why hadn’t she been watching his baby?

  Darren wanted to hate her, but he
couldn’t. He loved Maddie like the sister he’d never had, and he knew she would have taken a bullet before allowing something to happen to Savy. He grabbed her into a hug and held her tight. He could feel her pounding heart and her hiccups. “It’s not your fault,” he whispered into her hair before pulling away. Any longer and he wouldn’t be able to control his emotions.

  He had to stay in control.

  “What happened?” Nick pulled Maddie against him as he led the way inside the community center. He and Darren stopped log enough to sign in on the crime scene log, then entered the building’s main room.

  “We’d just finished listening to the first bell choir’s piece and the florist had set up the bouquet samples in the kitchen. We were starting with the smallest bouquets first, so Savannah went with the florist to pick out the flowers she wanted in her arrangement.” Maddie perched on the edge of a table as various law enforcement officers milled around.

  Nick nodded. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to talk to the Detective in charge.”

  “Then what happened?” Darren asked.

  Maddie chewed her bottom lip. “The second bell choir played their piece and the third was setting up when I realized Savannah hadn’t come back yet. I thought she might be having trouble picking flowers, so Riley went to go check on her. She found the florist on the floor and no sign of Savannah.”

  Darren looked over the room. Riley Baxter Simpson sat on a chair in the corner of the room, two uniforms and a detective taking her statement.

  “At first, we thought the florist had fainted or had a seizure and passed out or hit her head or something, but we soon realized that was incorrect. When we got her up, she confirmed that she’d been hit while talking with Savannah. Everyone began looking for Savannah.”

  Darren spied a woman who was most likely the florist talking with several police officers, both in uniforms and cheap suits.

  “When we didn’t find her after calling, I ran out the back door.” Maddie’s eyes filled with moisture. “I found her bow in the back, so immediately called the police, Nick, and my team.”

  “Why didn’t you call me, Maddie?” Darren struggled to keep the accusations out of his tone.

  Maddie swiped at her eyes. “You know why I couldn’t. If I’d called you first, you would’ve come right over. You’d have been distraught and driving, might have caused an accident. You know protocol.”

  Yes, he knew protocols, policies, and procedures well. They were the backbone of his work ethic. But he’d never had his daughter abducted before, where he felt like everything worked against him.

  Nick returned. “Darren, I just got off the phone with the Executive Assistant Director. Officers are going to drive you home and wait until the unit the EAD has sent arrives.”

  “I don’t need to go home, sir. I won’t get in the way here, I promise—”

  “Timmons, this isn’t up for discussion. The EAD wants to run this investigation by the book of a kidnapping. You know that means the parent goes home and waits for contact from the kidnapper. The agency has already dispatched a unit to set up at your house.”

  Right. He was the parent, not the agent working the case.

  Maddie hugged him. “We’ll keep you updated.”

  He turned to face his boss again. Nick shook his head as two uniformed officers approached. No sense arguing. He let out a long breath. “Update me when you can.” That single sentence was one of the hardest to say.

  Everyone nodded. Nick squeezed his shoulder. Darren turned and followed the two officers out the front door. He’d just made it down the stairs when the CSI van whipped into the parking lot.

  Darren paused at the bottom of the stairs and watched as Eva jumped out of the driver’s seat and headed toward him. He’d just assumed Maddie would head up the CSI team, but now he realized she couldn’t. She was a material witness, even if she didn’t really see anything. That left her partner and best friend, Eva, to actually work the field.

  Eva Langston stood about five-six, had a pair of long legs, and shoulder-length blond hair. It was soft and silky to the touch, Darren remembered that. He shook his head to clear the memories. He shouldn’t think about that now. Funny how the mind went to something safe when it couldn’t process the harsh reality.

  She led the others in her team to the building. The way she moved, how she carried herself…people could feel the confidence oozing from her. Eva was one of the best in her field, maybe even better than Maddie at times. She’d do a good job. No, she’d do a great job. She was professional like that. At that moment, Eva caught his stare and her step faltered.

  For just a split second, Darren felt the urge to run to her and let her wrap him in her arms. To have her hold him and tell him it was going to be okay. To let her comfort him.

  But he couldn’t do that.

  He followed the police officers to the cruiser parked in front of Nick’s and ducked into the backseat.

  Alone.

  Three

  “Savannah Timmons is the victim?” Eva ground out the question to Maddie just inside the community center. She’d stopped just long enough to scrawl her information on the crime scene log, then stepped over the threshold and donned shoe protectors. “Couldn’t you have given me a heads up on the phone?” In full evidence collection mode, she glared at Maddie as she pulled gloves over her hands.

  Kidnappings were horrid scenes to work. No forensics team ever wanted to work any crime scene with kids, but kidnappings were better than…well, Eva just thought they weren’t as bad as some others. But to know the victim and her father…to care about them. . .

  Eva forced herself to not think about the little blond-haired girl who made her laugh. The little girl who wrapped her arms around Eva and squeezed her, making her feel things she’d never thought herself capable of feeling. The little girl who loved God in such a way that Eva’s heart cried out.

  “I’m sorry. You know I couldn’t.” Maddie’s eyeliner was smudged.

  “I’ve got this, Eva.” Peter Helm, TBI Special Agent Investigator, cleared his throat. “Who’s in charge?” He posed the question to no one in particular.

  Nick, Maddie’s fiancé, gave a curt nod. “For the moment, I am. My supervisor is sending in an outside team. They should be here within the hour.”

  “Then take us through the walk-through.” All business, Eva ignored Maddie’s apologetic look and followed Peter’s lead. She had to. She would have to push aside all personal thoughts and connections to Savannah and Darren in order to do her job to the best of her abilities. Especially since Maddie wouldn’t be able to assist. Thank goodness she hadn’t had to bring Sarah along. That would have just been the icing on the cake.

  She and Ivan followed behind Peter and Nick, with Kurt behind her, snapping pictures almost continuously. Heads turned as they entered. She could understand some of the looks—they did make a bit of a motley crew. Especially Ivan. Sweet as sugar, but he stood almost six-feet tall. It wasn’t just his height, but was more the bleached ends of his long, black hair sticking out from under the navy cap that raised brows. Not to mention his array of tattoos and body piercings.

  Nick led them into the community center’s kitchen. Several floral bouquets lined the length of the butcher-block top island. One in the center had been knocked from its position, and the one just to the right of it sat a little further back than the rest in the line.

  On the cracked tile floor in front of the island, a small circle of blood pooled. A smear was on the side of the island, probably from where she pulled herself up after being hit.

  “Here’s where the abduction occurred. At approximately ten-twenty, an assailant or assailants entered through that door,” Nick pointed at the back entrance, “and hit the adult over the head. She went down, and from there, we surmise he left quickly with Savannah the same way he entered. Savannah’s hair bow was found on the back parking lot.”

  Eva’s heart hammered angrily. Savannah had to have been terrified. Eva could imagine he
r big blue eyes growing wider. The paleness of her little face. The— Eva looked over the space. “Has anything been touched?”

  “Of course not. As soon as everyone realized what had happened, Maddie secured the scene and called it in.” Nick stared at Eva. “We didn’t find any sign of chloroform or other such drugs, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  That was good because certain drugs could affect Savannah’s asthma, but bad because that meant Savannah was totally aware of what was happening to her.

  Eva swallowed as Peter pulled out the sketch pad, already ignoring Nick and forging ahead into the job at hand. “This is a kid of one of our own. Nothing gets missed, got that? We bag anything, test everything, and let the results speak for themselves. Any questions?”

  No one said a word.

  “Then let’s do it.”

  Pushing aside everything but the task in front of her, Eva set the case on the counter. She pulled out her extraction tools and swabbed from the small circle of blood on the floor against the click, click, click of Kurt’s camera. The adult’s blood, no doubt from the hit on the head, but sometimes—okay, a lot of the time, assailants’ DNA was transferred during the crime. She tagged the specimen and listed it on the evidence log.

  Ivan hummed under his breath as he dusted the counters to search for fingerprints. If the person who took Savannah touched anything, Ivan would find it. Eva knew there was no one better in the business.

  Peter finished sketching, the reached for the tape measurer from his kit. Eva squatted and studied the vicinity, searching for splatters. She found several, took samples, tagged and stored them.

  “Eva, look at this.” Ivan stood over the counter closest to where the flower arrangements had been displayed. He pointed at a particular spot in his dust. “There’s been a drop of moisture there.”

  She nodded. “Could be a water drop from the flowers.” But she grabbed a swab anyway. “Or it could be a drop of sweat from the assailant.” She gathered from the site and secured it. Eva smiled at Ivan. “Good catch.”

  Almost two hours and twenty-three evidence specimens later, the team moved out to the parking lot where Savannah’s bow still laid on the ground where Maddie had found it.