by Robin Caroll
“The FBI is on their way right now,” Maddie said.
“But they might be going to the wrong address.” Eva was sure. She nodded to Riley. “Find her.” Darren would understand if it meant finding Savannah.
Riley didn’t wait for her sister to agree. The tapping almost echoed off the walls.
“I wonder if I should call Nick and Rafe.” Maddie paced the living room floor.
“And tell them what? That I’m letting Riley hack into goodness only knows what in hopes of finding the crazy lady who has Savannah? They think they’re on the right track.”
“And what if they are?” Maddie twisted her engagement ring around her finger.
“I hope they are. I’m praying they are and that they find Savannah and all is well.” Eva stared out the window at the snow coming down so hard visibility was nearly impossible. “But I have a sinking feeling that they aren’t. I can’t bear to think we didn’t do everything we could as soon as we could.”
Maddie plopped down onto the couch. “They’re going to be furious with us.”
Eva sat beside her. “Probably, but I don’t think we have a choice.”
“Okay, I have something.” Riley sat up, set her computer on the coffee table, and hunched over the keyboard.
Maddie and Eva both sat on the edge of the couch.
“Her credit card billing address is the garage apartment, but she ordered a dollhouse two weeks ago and had it delivered to a drop shipment address.”
A dollhouse? She was setting up Savannah a room. Eva’s stomach acid burned.
“It’s a post office up near the Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park.”
Eva thought she might be sick. If that crazy woman had taken Savannah and hidden in the State Park…that place was over thirteen thousand acres.
“Hmm.” Riley’s eyebrows scrunched.
“What?” Maddie asked.
“Well, I did some cross referencing to the zip code and some, uh, creative queries and found that Margaret Lane Brewster’s late father, Grayson Brewster, had a cabin in the area. I didn’t find it on my searches before because upon his death, it was transferred into the name of his wife, Patricia Lane. There’s still a land deed in her name, even though Patricia Lane has been dead for seven year. Interestingly enough, however, the property taxes are paid every year, right on time.”
This was it—Eva could feel it in her gut.
“The cabin, as best I can tell since there aren’t 911 addresses up there, is about forty-five minutes from here. Give or take. It’s the opposite direction of the garage apartment where the guys are heading. I’m trying to get the satellite imaging to come up, but it’s being difficult.”
“We need to call the guys and let them know.” Maddie reached for her phone.
“Wait a minute.” Eva tried to process her thoughts. “What if we’re wrong? Then we’ll be sending them off on a wild goose chase, not to mention we’d get Riley in trouble unnecessarily.”
“Let’s not get Riley in trouble if we can help it.” Riley smiled, but her tone was serious.
“So what do you suggest we do?” Maddie asked Eva.
She couldn’t think. Not clearly. But she knew they had to do something. “Why don’t we go and check it out? If it’s nothing, then we’ve only just wasted our own time. If there is something, then we can call in the guys, and they’ll be able to GPS locate us through our phones.”
“Us? We’re crime scene techs, Eva, not agents.”
“We carry guns and badges. We’re trained.” Eva wasn’t sure where this confidence was coming from, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.
“Hey, I’m an investigative reporter. I’m used to going where I shouldn’t.” Riley stared at Maddie. “Come on, Mads. We can do this.”
“Or we can get into big trouble.”
“Think about why we’re doing this.” Eva knew she was playing the trump card by using Savannah, but she didn’t care. Not anymore. She felt sure this was the right thing to do.
“But the weather…”
“Oh my gosh, it’s snow. What happened to my feisty sister who wasn’t afraid of anything?” Riley shook her head. “Count me in, Eva. I’m going to put on jeans.” She left the room, but not without closing her laptop first.
“Maddie?” Eva was sure, but she wanted her best friend to be okay with the decision. Especially since this was her family on the line.
“Y’all are right. We need to find out. If we see that she’s there, we call in the guys.”
Eva smiled. “We call them immediately.”
“Then I’m in.”
“Good. Can I borrow a hat? The snow is really coming down.”
A bust. The garage apartment had been emptied out. The landlord said Mags hadn’t left a forwarding address.
Darren had tried to call Eva, but the call had gone straight to voice mail. Nick had tried Maddie and got the same response. Rafe figured they’d let their batteries die. They would fill them in when they got back.
Disappointment choked him. He couldn’t breathe. Images of Savannah filled his mind. Then mental pictures of Mags.
“I’m sorry, Timmons, but we’ll find her.” From the front seat, Wilson nodded at him.
“Yes, sir.”
“I know it’s hard to keep up morale, but she’ll make a mistake and we’ll be ready.”
“Yes, sir.” Darren didn’t want her to make a mistake. That mistake could cost Savannah. He wanted his baby girl. God, please.
“Agent Lacey called in. She’s tracing Margaret’s financials. The bank account was closed two days ago.”
So she’d planned the day she’d take his baby. Her schedule wasn’t a secret. She’d told her entire class about the party. Darren closed his eyes. He was an FBI agent for pity’s sake—he knew how important it was to keep personal information out of the public eye.
“The doctor who treated her at Lakeside Behavioral will see us as soon as we get there. We should be there in about fifteen minutes.” Wilson turned back to the front. Apparently he’d given up on keeping Darren, Rafe and Nick out of the investigation.
Or maybe he was desperate enough to want any and all the help he could get.
Darren struggled not to groan aloud. How had he not known he was being followed for days…weeks? That his baby was being targeted? All because of him?
And that’s what hit him hard. The guilt. Savannah had been taken because he’d gone out with a crazy woman a couple of times years ago. He must not have handled the breakup as he should have. Sure, Mags was certifiably crazy, yes, but had he contributed to her mental illness?
Fifteen
“I’m sure you clearly understand the warrant, Dr. Weaver.” Wilson stood formidable over the man’s desk in his office.
Darren, Rafe, and Nick sat in the chairs facing the doctor’s desk. Wilson had instructed them all to remain silent, but especially Darren and Rafe.
The doctor laid the warrant on the desk. “I do. What can I help the FBI with in regards to Margaret?”
“Her illness. Her treatment. Her prognosis.”
Dr. Weaver opened her file and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Margaret suffers from a severe case of psychosis. While hospitalized, we worked on her coping skills, as well as worked out a medication plan. She has adjusted well to her regimen of Clozapine dosage. While psychosis can’t ever be cured, Margaret has learned to adapt to the world around her.”
“Adapt to the world around her? What kind of psycho mumbo-jumbo is that?” Wilson rapped his knuckles across the desk’s polished finish.
The good doctor didn’t appear fazed. “Psychosis refers to a loss of contact with reality, in which people have trouble distinguishing between what is real and what is not. In Margaret’s case, she teeters back and forth between reality and fantasy.”
“And you let her out?” Wilson sounded as incredulous as Darren felt.
“I saw nothing in her treatment that made me believe she would be a danger.”
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sp; Darren fisted his hands.
Wilson leaned over the desk. “Yet, she kidnapped a child. A five-year-old little girl.”
“I understand your frustration, sir, and I’m trying to help you. Attempts to intimidate me won’t help you or me in this cause.”
“Please. It’s my little girl.” Darren couldn’t keep quiet. “Anything you can tell us that might help us. My daughter has asthma and a congenital heart defect.”
Dr. Weaver took off his glasses. “What is your name, sir?”
“Darren. Darren Timmons.” He shifted uncomfortably in the chair as Wilson narrowed his eyes.
The doctor’s eyes widened. “Did you know Margaret? Date her?”
Darren quickly explained the situation.
“Oh, my. This is indeed fascinating.” Dr. Weaver closed the file. “I’m sorry, it’s just that it’s extremely rare for a doctor to get to meet a patient’s hallucination.”
“Excuse me?”
“Forgive me. When Margaret talked about her past, she couldn’t supply consistent details about the first man she’d loved and lost. Because of that, we—I assumed you were a hallucination. Margaret’s first episode, so to speak.” He leaned back in his chair. “It’s fascinating for me to be proven wrong and meet you in person.”
“Doctor, can you give me any clue what she’s doing with my little girl?”
“I can’t say for certain, but based upon my time of having Margaret in my care, it would be my medical opinion she has transferred the fantasy of the child she believed she had onto your daughter.”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying she thinks Savannah is her child?” Darren couldn’t even grasp such a notion, yet it made sense. Taking into consideration Mags’ mental illness.
“That is my professional opinion, yes. She believes that your daughter is her daughter.”
“What happens when she realizes that isn’t so?” Rafe asked.
The doctor lifted his glasses. “It’s hard to say. When a patient is confronted with their lack of reality, they become confused and disoriented. Margaret could become more delusional, and resist anything that would suggest what she believes isn’t the truth.”
“So if my daughter was adamant of who she is, it could set Mags off?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Would she harm the child?” Wilson asked.
“If she believes the child is hers, no. She would go to any lengths to protect it.”
“And if she realizes the child isn’t hers?” Nick asked.
Dr. Weaver took off his glasses and tapped them against the file folder sitting on the desk in front of him. “That could make Margaret realize she’d done something very wrong and frighten her to the point where she could become destructive.”
All Darren could think of were slit tires and blood on a doorstep.
God, please keep Savannah safe from this woman.
“One final question, Doctor,” Wilson said. “Do you have any idea where she might would have taken the child?”
“I’m afraid she left no forwarding address.”
Wilson nodded while Darren’s hopes freefell to his toes.
“I’m assuming you’ve already checked at her father’s cabin?” Dr. Weaver asked.
“I can barely see anything.” Eva hunched close to the windshield. The defroster ran at full blast, but that wasn’t the problem. The snow coming down like a suffocating blanket was the problem.
“I keep trying Nick and it goes straight to voice mail.” Maddie had been trying to return her fiancé’s call for the last thirty minutes to no avail. “The service here is horrible.”
“Could be the weather blocking the towers, too.” Riley kept the laptop open. “At least the GPS coordinates are still online.”
“I’d still feel better if we could get in touch with the guys before we just show up here. What are we going to do if she’s here?” Maddie peered out the windshield into the driving snow.
“We’ll save Savannah, of course.” Eva smiled to herself. She liked any scenario that meant safely reuniting Darren and his daughter. “I have my gun and you have yours. We’ll be fine.”
“Against a crazy woman?”
Eva laughed. “Well, yeah.”
Riley chuckled. “I feel safe with you two packing heat.”
Even Maddie laughed. “Okay, okay. You two are quite the comedians.” Under her breath, she hummed the opening bars to Jailhouse Rock. She always hummed or sang Elvis songs when she was stressed.
Eva was surprised she hadn’t been singing at the top of her lungs the entire ride.
“Haven’t we passed the road before?” Eva asked.
Maddie leaned forward. “No. Not this one. This is Kentucky Way.”
“Wait! You need to turn on this one,” Riley piped up from the backseat.
Eva eased on the brakes. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. GPS shows you take a right on Kentucky Way and the cabin should be about seven hundred yards on your left.”
“Then right we go.” For the first time on the trip, the knots in Eva’s stomach threatened to reverse the biscuit she’d had for breakfast.
“Remember, we’re just going to look at the cabin. If we see lights or a car, we’re going to figure out a way to get in touch with the guys.” Maddie hummed another Elvis song.
Maybe Eva should sing along.
“Slow down. If anyone’s there, we don’t want them to see the headlights,” Riley said.
Eva wanted to laugh. “Like anyone could see anything more than a foot from in front of their face in this mess?” Driving had been treacherous at best, but she’d been determined to follow up on this lead.
“Is that a light?” Riley reached between Eva and Maddie, pointing out to the front of the car, left side. “Is that a house?”
Maddie squinted. “I can’t tell—wait, it is. See, there’s a chimney with smoke coming out. Eva, pull off the road. We need to try the guys again.” She dialed her cell.
Eva inched to what she hoped was the shoulder. She turned off the car’s lights and stared at the cabin about two hundred yards off the road.
Was Savannah only two hundred yards away?
“Nick, please call me back. It’s urgent.” Maddie disconnected the call and immediately dialed Rafe’s number. She groaned. “It’s gone to voice mail, too.”
“I have an idea.” Riley typed away on her laptop. “The cell towers might be blocked, but I can text them through their network.”
“Good. Tell them where we are and to come immediately,” Maddie said.
Riley chuckled. “Already done, Mads.” She looked up from her computer. “You’ve gotten squeamish in your old age, sis.”
“I’m just cautious is all. I intend to have a long and happy life.”
“I’m not planning a short and miserable one, if that’s what you’re referring.”
“Well, if the—”
“Hey, did y’all see that?” Eva pointed at the house. “Do you see a flashlight bobbing back there?”
All three of them pressed closer to the glass.
“I can’t tell what, but it’s definitely something.” Maddie took off her glasses and wiped them against the bottom of her flannel shirt sticking out from under her coat.
“Rafe just answered. They already had this address and are almost here.”
“Oh, good.” No mistaking the relief in Maddie’s voice.
Eva just stared at what she was sure was a flashlight behind the cabin.
“The guys will check out whatever that is as soon as they get here.”
But what if it was Savannah? What if she’d gotten the opportunity to escape and ran out the back? What if she didn’t have a coat? Or proper shoes? She could die out here before Darren got here.
Eva couldn’t take that chance.
She reached over to the console, opened it, and pulled out a flashlight.
“What are you doing?” Maddie asked.
“I’m just going to get a closer look.”
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“Oh, no, you aren’t. Remember our plan. We said we were just going to see if there was anything here and if there was, we were waiting on the guys. They’re on their way.” Maddie’s expression was grim.
“They should be here any minute,” Riley added.
“Good, but I’m going to go check it out.” Eva couldn’t explain why she felt so strongly, just that she had to go. Now. She opened the door.
“Eva, no.”
She didn’t know which one had spoken because she’d already stepped out of the car into the blinding and freezing snow. As some found its way down the back of her neck, Eva wondered if maybe she should’ve waited in the car.
No.
Pushing aside any reservations, Eva trudged toward the cabin. She kept her head bent low so she could see, but even then, she could only make out about two feet in front of her. The flashlight was no help. Still, she felt in her bones this was what she was supposed to do.
Um, God, if You’re listening, I know I haven’t been too good about praying and talking to You. I’m sorry about that, but right now, I could really use Your help. I mean, really use Your help. Not for me, for Savannah. She’s been through so much already…she’s just a little girl. Please, God. I can’t do this without You.
Eva took two more steps, then her shin made contact with wood. She cried out as she fell, the flashlight rolling from her grip.
A door opened and a woman peered down at her. “Well, who are you? Come on, get up. I can’t see you in all that snow.”
The back of Eva’s throat burned.
“Come on, get up, I said.”
Eva managed to stand on one leg, the other throbbed where she’d hit the stairs.
“Come on up.” The woman held out her arm to her.
Eva had no choice but to take it. That or fall on her face. She stepped inside and dusted the snow off her shoulders.
“I’m Mags Timmons. Who are you?”
Timmons? Nausea rode waves inside of Eva. Her tongue felt four sizes too big. Words wouldn’t form.
“Can’t you speak? I asked who you are and what are you doing here?”
Before Eva could master speaking, Savannah ran into her, wrapping her arms around Eva’s legs. “Aunt Eva! You found me and Mommy.”