Hide and Seek

by Velvet Vaughn

  He stopped typing and looked up from the screen. “Her mother remarried when she was a teenager but the marriage didn’t last long. I can’t find any records that suggest Lois kept in touch with the step-father over the years. Any guesses as to his name?”

  Dante’s shoulders stiffened. “Morris Milburn?”

  “Right in one.”

  Dante glanced around the room “Hell of a coincidence.”

  “I’ll see what I can find on Milburn,” Peter said.

  Sawyer rolled his chair over to his computer. “I’ll check the federal databases.”

  “I’ll keep digging, too,” Dan said.

  “Let’s go over what we know so far about Lois Quinlen,” Luke said. “She attended Sweeney’s trial every day and visited him three times in prison, more than any other groupie.”

  “She’s currently on an extended vacation, but didn’t tell anyone where she was going,” Dorian added.

  “We also know she’s a real estate agent and if she’s helping Sweeney, there would be virtually no way to know where they’re holed up right now,” Logan pointed out. “She’d have an inside track to vacant and abandoned properties across the South.”

  Any hope Taylor felt a few minutes ago fled at Logan’s statement. How would they ever find their children?

  The room grew quiet, only the sound of Peter, Dan and Sawyer typing away broke the silence. Taylor felt a panic attack hovering.

  “Got something,” Peter announced. “Morris Milburn purchased an Airstream earlier this year. Put it on his credit card. That could be something.”

  “Maybe he just likes to travel,” Luke stated.

  “I don’t think so.” Dan looked up. “Morris is eighty-five years old and has resided in Shady Grove Nursing Home for the last five years.”

  Logan paced in front of the desk. “Okay, Morris has a trailer…where would he keep it? Does he own property where he could park a camper?”

  “Damn,” Sawyer muttered. “He sure does…try over two dozen parcels spread across Alabama.”

  “Are you kidding?” Luke gaped. “Any of the plots look promising?”

  Sawyer wiped a hand down his face. “No way to tell. Some are simply listed as GPS coordinates.”

  “Dan, what about Morris?” Dante asked. “Is he cognizant?”

  “Let’s find out.” He pulled out his cell and dialed the nursing home.

  While he charmed the woman who answered the phone, Logan addressed the rest of the group. “If he’s able to talk to us, I want to do it in person. It’s easier to lie when you don’t have to look the person in the eye.”

  “I’m going this time.” Taylor’s voice was fierce, uncompromising. Surprisingly, no one argued.

  Dante nodded. “I’m taking Midas, too. If Kai is around, he’ll find him.”

  Dan disconnected and stood. “I just spoke with the very pleasant Sasha who answered the phone. She said that Mr. Milburn is sharp as a tack, but he’s confined to a wheel chair.”

  “He’s definitely not using the camper to commune with nature.” Logan pointed to Dorian. “Get Wyatt on the phone and gas up the plane.”

  “This is it,” Dante whispered in her ear. “I can feel it.”

  #

  Dante’s stomach had been in knots the entire flight to Montgomery. There were too many coincidences surrounding Lois Quinlen. This was the break he’d been praying for.

  They were crammed in a rented SUV heading for the nursing home. On the flight, they put together a plan and decided they didn’t want to go storming into Milburn’s room and confront him. If he was still in contact with his ex-step-daughter, he would try to protect her. Dante and Taylor would go in and ask questions. They would start off posing as a married couple who were looking to locate their dear friend Lois. They would play the rest by ear.

  That made his stomach lurch, too. He liked the idea of being a married couple too much.

  They pulled into the lot and Logan parked in the back, away from the windows of the facility. They didn’t want anyone calling the police on a bunch of strange men sitting in a vehicle. Dante donned his communications equipment and helped Taylor fit hers. Before he activated the mike, he leaned down and whispered, “Are you sure you want to do this? I can go alone.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’ve got this.”

  He activated the units, did a quick sound check to make sure they worked and guided her out of the SUV and across the lot. He grabbed her hand as they entered the facility and stopped at the registration desk. It smelled of industrial cleaner and lunch cooking in the dining hall. Fried chicken he’d guess.

  “Howdy and welcome to Shady Grove. How may I help you?” A woman sitting behind the counter flashed a bright smile.

  “We’d like to visit with Mr. Milburn.”

  The woman looked shocked. “Morris? Huh, that’s strange. He never has visitors and then two people ask about him in the same day.”

  “Sasha?” Dante guessed. She nodded.

  Dan’s voice cracked through the com in his ear. “What’s she look like? She sounded hot on the phone.”

  Dante ignored him. “That was my lawyer calling earlier.”

  “Lawyer,” Dan choked. “You just called me an ambulance-chasing shyster. Oops, sorry, Taylor.” Dante glanced at her to see her reaction to the diss. Her lips twisted in a self-deprecating smile. She was obviously used to the derision.

  Dante focused his attention back to Sasha. “Is it possible for us to visit with Mr. Milburn?”

  “Let me call a nurse to take you to his room.”

  They stood off to the side to wait. An elderly woman in a ratty blue housecoat shuffled by pushing a walker. Down the hall, an aide was wheeling a food cart into a room.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Costa? If you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to see Morris.” They followed the woman down the tile hallway. She stopped in front of an open door and knocked once before sticking her head inside. “Morris? There are people here to see you.”

  “Who would be here to see me?” he asked, his voice gruff. “I don’t get visitors.”

  Taylor stepped forward. “Mr. Milburn? My name’s Taylor and this is my husband, Dante. We’re sorry to bother you, but we’ve been trying to locate your former step-daughter Lois. We were hoping you could help us.”

  Morris’s bushy brows puckered. “Why in the hell would you think I’d know how to contact that crazy lunatic? She’s worse than her mama and that woman was nuttier than a fruitcake.”

  Dante glanced at Taylor and then turned back to the old man. “So you don’t keep in touch?”

  “Hell, no. Hadn’t spoken to her in years and she shows up here a few months ago. Says she wanted to renew our relationship, said I was the daddy she never had.” He sneered. “She couldn’t stand me when I was married to her mama. She made my life a living hell. Wrecked my car, set my house on fire, you name it. Best decision I ever made was the day I divorced her mother.” He shook his head. “The girl was a head case, even back then.”

  “Why do you think she wanted to reconnect with you?” Dante asked.

  Morris opened his hands wide. “Ain’t it obvious? I don’t have much time left on this earth and I don’t have children of my own. She wanted my inheritance.”

  “Did you give it to her?”

  Morris scoffed. “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t give her squat. I left it all to my church.” He winked at Taylor. “Figure it might impress the big guy upstairs, maybe ease my path into the pearly gates.”

  “I’m sure it will.” Taylor said. “Mr. Milburn—”

  “Morris. Makes my heart skip a beat to hear my name from a pretty little thing like you.”

  Taylor smiled. “Morris. Did you purchase an Airstream camper earlier this year?”

  “Honey, you might be easy on the eyes,” he tapped his head, “but you haven’t got much upstairs if you think I look like I own a camper.”

  “Morris? I’m—”

  “Hey,” he pointed a gnarled finger at Da
nte. “I said she could call me that, not you.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Milburn.”

  “Kidding. I’m kidding.” His laugh was rusty. “I don’t get many visitors so I gotta keep ‘em entertained. Maybe they’ll come back.”

  Dante felt a wave of sadness for the old man. He was spending the last days of his life confined to an eight foot by eight foot room with a crappy view of the air conditioning unit. Would anyone even miss him when he was gone?”

  Taylor squeezed his hand and it surprised him that he could read her mind. He knew what she wanted to do. He nodded.

  “Morris, we haven’t been completely honest with you.”

  Morris jerked a thumb in Dante’s direction. “Tell me you aren’t married to him so you can run away with me.” He wagged his eyebrows and flashed his pearly white dentures.

  She smiled but tears flooded her eyes.

  Morris’s eyes widened. “Oh, shoot, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  Taylor waved his apology away and patted the old man’s hand. “You didn’t, and you’re right, Dante and I aren’t married. The reason we’re here is that my daughter and his son are missing and we think your former step-daughter might be involved.”

  “What?” Morris barked the question so loudly, a nurse stuck her head in the door. “Is everything okay in here?”

  Dante nodded and waved a hand.

  “What the hell has Lois done now?” His voice was resigned.

  “We think she might be assisting a man named Patrick Sweeney,” Dante told him. “He’s an escaped felon.”

  “Sweeney, I remember him. He murdered a bunch of women a few years ago.”

  Taylor nodded. “I prosecuted him and now he’s paying me back for sending him to prison.”

  “How is Lois involved?”

  “She attended his trial and visited him in jail. She took a vacation the same time he escaped and now we can’t locate her.”

  Morris narrowed his eyes. “Why did you want to know if I bought a camping trailer?”

  “Because someone used your credit card to purchase one.”

  His head thumped against his pillow. “Oh, hell. Can you look in the top drawer of that dresser over there?” He indicated the oak chest against the wall. “Bring me my wallet.”

  Dante opened the drawer and extracted the leather case. He handed it to Morris, who flipped it open and cursed. “My American Express Centurion card is gone. She must’ve pinched it when she was here.” He sighed. “It has no spending limit.”

  “I’ll have Peter check the charges,” Logan said through the earpiece.

  “Did you report a gun stolen a few years ago?”

  Morris nodded slowly. “I did, but that was years ago. I always thought Lois took it but she denied it and her mother stood up for her. Why? Did she shoot someone with it?”

  “We’re not positive she pulled the trigger, but it was used in a murder.”

  The old man slumped against the pillows. “What can I do to help?”

  “You own several pieces of property around the state. Is there a particular place Lois might have parked the camper? She’d need access to water and electricity.”

  He pursed his lips in thought. “There are a half-dozen places where she’d have utilities.”

  “Is there one particular site that might be special to her?” Taylor asked. “Maybe you took her there when you were married to her mother.”

  Morris shook his head. “Not that I recall.”

  Dante covered his ear to hear Luke clearly. “Ask him about Pineville. There are several charges to his card in that area.”

  “What about a piece of property close to Pineville?”

  Morris narrowed his gaze. “What’d you do? Pull that name out of your head?”

  Dante tapped his earpiece. “I work for a security company. My colleagues are listening in.”

  “So you’re like James Bond or something?”

  “Or something,” Dante agreed.

  “Yeah, I have a plot of land about an hour away from Pineville. It’s near Lake Winston.” His brows creased in thought. “I’m pretty sure that one has water and electricity.”

  Dante’s heart skipped a beat. This was it.

  “Can you give us directions?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Pineville boasted a small grassy field that passed for a landing strip. They had just enough room to touch down and roll to a stop before plowing into a dense patch of trees. Wyatt turned the plane around, clipped a branch or two, and taxied to a metal building that served as the terminal.

  Finding transportation was a problem in a small town, but Sawyer made some calls and a fleet of state trooper vehicles met them when they deplaned. A man stepped forward and introduced himself as Captain Bud Estes. “It’s too much of a coincidence not to be related to your case, but we had a murder here yesterday. First one in over a decade.”

  The word murder made Dante’s heart pound. “Who?”

  Bud planted his hands on his hips above his tool belt. “Not sure yet. Female, approximately thirty to thirty-five years of age.”

  Not Kai. Thank you, God.

  “What happened?” Logan asked.

  “A group of teenagers out joyriding spotted the tail end of her car sticking out of the lake right before it sank. It was almost fully submerged when we arrived. When we brought it up, we found her inside. She’d been shot.”

  “She hadn’t been there long?” Sawyer said.

  “No. We canvassed the area, conducted door to door searches, but no leads. The VIN and plates were missing from the car.”

  Sawyer punched a few buttons on his phone and held the screen up to Captain Estes. “Is this the woman from the car?”

  Bud withdrew a pair of bifocals from his pocket and slipped them on. He squinted at the picture and nodded slowly. “I’d say that’s her.” He tucked the glasses back in his pocket. “Course a good chunk of her face was missing from the gunshot, but I’d say it’s a match.”

  Sawyer flashed the picture around to the group. “Lois Quinlen,” he said unnecessarily.

  “Sweeney’s sticking to his pattern of using them and killing them.”

  Dante, Taylor, Sawyer and Dorian rode in one SUV with Midas in the back. Luke, Logan, Dan and Wyatt rode in the other. Three cop cars brought up the rear.

  “This should be it,” Bud announced as he flipped on his blinker and turned down a rutted drive. A silver Airstream sat in a clearing. “It looks abandoned.”

  Dante turned to Taylor. The vein in her neck was pounding rapidly with her heartbeat. His felt the same way. “Promise me you’ll stay in the car until we give the all clear.”

  “I promise,” she repeated as they pulled up to the trailer.

  Dante wasn’t waiting for the local police. He was out the door before the cop shifted to park, Dorian on his heels. He stuck his hands to the glass door and peered inside. Empty. He twisted the handle, and pushed inside, leading with his gun.

  “Dante.”

  He turned at Dorian’s voice and then followed the other man’s gaze to the sawed-off piece of rope attached to a bolt anchored to the floor. Dante saw red. The monster had tied Grace up.

  They made quick work of the space, checking cabinets and behind closed doors. The place was a wreck, like someone had been searching for something or packing in a hurry. They found nothing. Disappointment punched him hard in the gut.

  He descended the metal steps, his posture defeated. He was so sure this was it, that they would find Kai and Grace. Taylor stepped out of the SUV. “Dante?”

  He shook his head and her hands flew to her mouth.

  Midas bounded out the open door and leaped to the ground, making a beeline for a tree to hike his leg. When he was finished, he stopped dead in his tracks and sniffed the air. He twisted his head one way, then the other. All of a sudden, he charged behind a rock, barking his head off. He pawed the ground, sending clumps of dirt flying through the air.

  Ev
ery muscle in Dante’s body tightened in fear. Spots swam in front of his eyes. He realized it was because he’d stopped breathing. Did Sweeney find Kai after all? Did he…bury him? He choked back a sob as he tore off after his dog.

  #

  Kai and Grace spent the morning hiking the woods, looking for any signs of life. Kai tried not to let it show, but he was seriously starting to panic. There didn’t seem to be anyone around for miles and no way out. It’s like they were in the middle of Siberia or something. If he could find a rowboat, they could paddle to the middle of the lake. He could take one of the extra t-shirts the man left and make a flag to wave. Maybe someone would see them and rescue them. He scrounged around in the bushes and along the shore but he couldn’t find as much as a broken oar. He was tired and cranky and he missed his dad so much he wanted to sit down on the path and cry like a baby. But then Grace would look up at him like he was her hero and he knew he couldn’t give up until he got her home safely.

  “Are you hungry, Gracie? Gracie?” Panic flared when he glanced down and she wasn’t there. He spun in a circle, his gaze darted around the area, stopping on the lake before dismissing it. He would’ve heard a splash if she fell in the water. He dashed back along the path and almost wept with relief when he spotted her squatting down to pick a small purple flower.

  She held her treasure aloft. “Look, isn’t it pretty? I’m going to give it to my mommy.”

  “She’ll love it,” he gasped, bending over to rest his hands on his knees. He was too young to have a heart attack, wasn’t he? Grace skipped over to him, blissfully unaware of his impending coronary.

  “Here, I picked one for you, too.” She held out the bloom to him.

  He stood and accepted it from her, his breath returning to normal. “Thanks, Gracie. It’s beautiful.” She smiled widely.

  “Come-on, let’s go get something to eat. We can explore more this afternoon.”

  They retraced their steps back to the rock that was sadly becoming home. He made her wait before they approached to make sure the man hadn’t returned. When all remained quiet, he guided her forward. He shifted the plank so Grace could slide inside and then followed her down the rabbit hole.