by Joseph Lewis
“You need to leave before someone gets hurt,” Mark said.
“I want to know what you did to me!” Mike said defiantly.
Frechet focused on him and said, “You enjoyed it.”
Mike started forward, but Tim held out his arm preventing him from doing so.
Gavin and Garrett stood at the end of the driveway looking in both directions, not seeing anyone.
“Garrett, go that way. Look in every car. I’ll go this way. If you see someone, a cop or somebody, tell them what’s happening.”
As the boys turned to leave, a red-haired, freckle-faced man walked up to them.
“Where are you boys going?”
Graff rounded the corner and pulled diagonally to the curb, cut the engine and jogged out of the car in time to hear Gavin say, “There’s a man inside with a gun.”
“Where inside?” Graff said.
“By the front door,” Gavin answered.
“Where did you come from?”
Garrett pointed and said, “Back door. It goes to the kitchen.”
“You’re the one that had Stephen and me kidnapped!” Mike spat.
Frechet licked his lips. It was taking too much time. He wanted- needed- Stephen, and he wanted him now.
“Stephen! Come out here!”
“I already told you . . . he’s outside looking for the cop,” Tim lied. “You need to leave before he gets here.”
“You’re a sick fucker!” Mike yelled.
Eiselmann said, “I’ll take the back door. Give me fifteen seconds on my mark. Go!” And he took off.
Graff looked over his shoulder, and then said, “You two, get across the street and around the side of that house. I want you face down in the grass and don’t raise your head. Got it?”
The two boys took off on a sprint.
“Stephen wants me. I came for him.”
“You sick sonofabitch,” Mark said quietly.
“There’s no fucking way Stephen wants you, Asshole!” Mike shouted.
This angered Frechet.
This was the Erickson boy’s fault. If it weren’t for him, he’d be with Stephen now.
He extended his arm and took aim.
Tim knew that Mike’s father would step in front of Mike to take the bullet. Tim couldn’t let that happen. He shoved Mike and took a step forward in front of Mark as the gun went off.
Eiselmann burst through the door to the living room too late to stop Frechet from firing, but he hit Frechet center-mass with four shots at the same time Graff fired three shots at an angle through a side window hitting the doctor in the chest just below the neck.
Frechet flew back into the closed front door, dead before he hit the floor.
Tim fell on top of Mike, and the two of them lay in a pile behind Mark.
“You okay?” Tim said thickly.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Mike answered.
Tim didn’t move.
He lay on top of Mike, eyes shut and said, “I need to catch my breath.”
“Tim? Tim?”
Mike lifted his hand, saw blood. “God! Tim! Dad, help!”
CHAPTER NINTY-FIVE
Eureka, Missouri
George grabbed his stomach and fell to his knees. Jeremy went to the floor to help him, and Randy and Billy flew over the bed to help. The two detectives didn’t know what to make of it, so they stood well back watching intently.
“George! What’s wrong? What happened?”
George recovered slowly, reaching out to Jeremy for support, looking at him with tears in his eyes.
“What, George? Tell me?”
“My dream,” George stammered. “It wasn’t me. It was Tim and Mike.”
“What happened?” Billy asked.
“Mike and his dad are safe. Stephen, too. My grandfather was with them.”
“What happened to Tim?” Randy asked.
George looked up at him, shook his head, and wept.
Author’s Notes
Like Taking Lives and Stolen Lives, Shattered Lives is a work of fiction, but it is based in fact. One just has to read headlines or watch the news to find our children caught up in the most heinous crime of Human Trafficking. It is my belief that to force a child to engage in sexual activity is unconscionable. This should not, must not, happen. Ever.
I began to research the topic of child abduction, child sexual abuse, child safety, prevention, and education because of the case of a missing boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota, Jacob Wetterling, who at age 11, was taken at gunpoint by a masked man in front of his younger brother, Trevor, and his best friend, Aaron. I began speaking to parent groups, student groups, teachers, and faculty about the topic and how we can keep kids safe. It wasn’t much, certainly not nearly enough, but I did what I could.
Taking Lives, which is the prequel of my Lives Trilogy, was released in August, 2014. The first book of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives, was released in November, 2014. As I stated above, these are works of fiction, yet based upon years of research, as well as the stories that kids and parents shared with me over the years. But it is a work of fiction, first and foremost. The statistics quoted in the stories are true, taken from the National Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children website. And while kids are abducted, some for a long time, kids do make it back home. We’ve read news reports about kids who do, and we rejoice. Sadly, some kids don’t make it back home. Some kids are found dead.
Taking Lives and each book of the trilogy, Stolen Lives, Shattered Lives and Splintered Lives are meant to be stories of hope, a story of survival. Each of these books pays homage to law enforcement and other caring individuals who work to bring kids home safely.
I want to thank Jamie Graff, Earl Coffey, Bryan Mabry, and Jim Ammons for their expertise in police, FBI, and SWAT procedure; James Dahlke for sharing his forensic science work with me; Jay Cooke, Dave Mirra and Bill Osborne for their IT expertise; and Sharon King for patience with all my medical questions. I also want to thank the folks at Sage and Sweetgrass, Robert Johnson, and various personnel at the Navajo Museum for taking the time to answer my questions about Navajo culture, tradition and language.
I want to thank Winona Siegmund for her patience and her editing skills on each of the books. I want to thank Stacey Donaghy of Donaghy Literary Group for guiding my writing career, and of course, Natissha Hayden and the folks at True Visions Publications for giving me the opportunity to see my books in print.
Lastly, I can’t tell you how supportive and encouraging my family has been. My wife, Kim, and my kids Wil, Hannah, and Emily have been so understanding and encouraging, never letting me give up and pack it in after each rejection. They stood by my side and supported me and whatever great or little success I might have as a writer. I am truly blessed for having been a husband to Kim and dad to my kids. I love you guys.
To you, the reader, thanks for taking a chance on an unknown writer, a guy who loves putting words on paper and seeing what might be made from them. I hope you enjoyed the prequel, Taking Lives, and the first book of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives, and I thank you for your willingness to continue the journey with me through the trilogy and beyond, and I hope I never disappoint you.
Happy and Thoughtful Reading,
Joe
True Visions Publications
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Table of Contents
PART ONE A NOT QUITE SAFE HAVEN
CHAPTER ONE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER TWO Indianapolis, Indiana
CHAPTER THREE Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER FOUR Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FIVE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER SIX Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER SEVEN Between Indianapolis and Chicago
CHAPTER EIGHT Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER NINE Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER NINE Northern Suburb of Indianapolis
CHAPTER ELEVEN Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER TWELVE Suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Indianapolis, Indiana
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER NINETEEN Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER TWENTY Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Brookfield, Wisconsin
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Northern Suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER THIRTY Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Chicago, Illinois
PART TWO RE-ENTRY INTO THE WORLD
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX Indianapolis, Indiana
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT Indianapolis, Indiana
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FORTY On I-72 Between Springfield, IL and Hannibal, MO
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO West Bend, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE Hannibal, Missouri
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR Hannibal, Missouri
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN Hannibal, Missouri
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER FIFTY Waukesha, Wisconsin
PART THREE DANCING WITH THE DEMONS
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE West Bend, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX Wentzville, Missouri
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT Wentzville, Missouri
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER SIXTY Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO Chicago, Illinois
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER SEVENTY Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE West Bend, Wisconsin
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX Fishers, Indiana
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER EIGHTY Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER NINTY Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER NINTY-ONE Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER NINTY-TWO Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER NINTY-THREE Eureka, Missouri
CHAPTER NINTY-FOUR Waukesha, Wisconsin
CHAPTER NINTY-FIVE Eureka, Missouri