11
Clay was thankful for his family. At least most of the time. But after Toni’s shocks, he appreciated his brothers seated on the large sectional in the living room even more. As he was thankful for Toni. He didn’t know if it was seeing her vulnerability or just admitting to himself that he cared for her, but he needed to make sure she didn’t walk away when this investigation was over.
She sat in his mother’s favorite chair, a swivel rocker his mom had bought to curl up in and read whatever bestselling novel she could get her hands on at the library. Until now, this space had only held fond memories for Clay, but Toni’s pain was his pain, and he could hardly look at her without marching across the room to sweep her into his arms.
And hold her. Just hold her until her pain receded.
Erik looked up from his computer. Pong, sitting at his feet, lifted his head too. “I have information.” He turned his focus to Toni. “Sorry. It’s about Lisa, and it’s not good news. I’ll hook my computer to the TV and you can see it there.”
Pong whimpered and sat up as if he knew something bad was about to go down. He was likely picking up on the tension in Erik’s announcement.
“How about just cutting to the chase and giving us the details,” Drake said.
“I think it’s better if you read it.” His computer desktop image was mirrored on the screen, revealing a large photo of Pong. “This story I found is from 1987, long before the internet, but this newspaper scanned their files into their archive.” He clicked on his internet browser, and an article opened with the title, Virginia Girl Goes Missing on Lost Creek Vacation.
Toni gasped. “My sister?”
Clay tore his eyes from her face to read the article. Lisa disappeared from her grandparents’ home in a beach town not far from where they sat right now. Only twelve years old, she’d traveled with Andrew Martin from Virginia to Oregon to stay with her grandparents."
“I wonder why my mom and dad didn’t bring her here,” Toni muttered.
“The article doesn’t say that. But it does say on the third night of her visit she’d gone to bed, and in the morning, her grandparents found the bedroom empty, the window open, and no sign of forced entry.
The story contained a photo of Lisa, one of the grandparents, and one of Toni’s parents too.
Toni knelt on the floor by the TV and touched Lisa’s face on the screen. “She looks like me when I was younger, doesn’t she? Like the picture Dad had in his office of me and Mom.”
“Yes,” Clay said.
Toni moved her long slender fingers to her grandparents’ faces. “I’ve never even seen a picture of them. They died before I was born.”
“And look at my mom and dad,” she said. “They’re so young, but the pain in their eyes is excruciating.”
“Maybe they never told you about Lisa because they blamed your grandparents and didn’t want you to know that.”
“Maybe.” Her word was whispery soft, as if imagining how they’d made the decision to withhold something so very big from her. Or maybe she was wondering what life might’ve been like if her sister hadn’t disappeared.
“You should know,” Erik said as he continued to type. “Your grandparents are still alive.”
“They what?” She fired him a shocked look. “My parents lied about that too. Do you have an address for them?”
“Not yet, but I found additional articles,” Erik said. “They say Lisa was never found. The sheriff’s office uncovered very few leads and feared she’d gone out to the beach and drowned. But your parents never had her legally declared dead.”
Another gasp from Toni, and Clay wanted to slug his brother for being so matter-of-fact when she was so distraught. But then, there probably wasn’t a better way to give her such horrible news.
She looked at Erik, the pain in her eyes mirroring her parents anguish on the screen. “I want to read all the articles. Can you print them for me?”
“After I finish looking up your grandparents and set up our portable printer.”
“Thank you.” She turned back to the TV. Touched the faces again—one by one as if memorizing them. Clay couldn’t stand by any longer and do nothing to help her. He dropped down next to her. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Just be here with me,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “That’s all you can do.”
“Your grandparents still live in the same house as when Lisa disappeared,” Erik announced.
Toni grabbed Clay’s arm. “We have to go there. To see them. Question them.”
He took her hands and made strong eye contact to break through her sudden elation. “We’ll go. For sure. But it would be better if we got a complete picture of this abduction before meeting them.”
“But I want to see them.”
“I know you do, and I want that for you. I really do.” He squeezed her hands. “But I have to think of this from an investigative standpoint too. It wouldn’t be good to go over there just yet. You’re too emotional to see that now, so I need you to trust me and trust that I have your best interest at heart.”
Trust? Clay wanted Toni to trust him. But could she trust anyone with something so important? She’d learned over the years that trusting people involved a measure of risk. Just like trusting God did. She’d trusted her parents, and look where that had gotten her. And God? He knew about Lisa. Knew Toni didn’t have a clue, and so many years had passed.
Why didn’t you let me find out sooner? Why?
Everyone was watching her, so she slipped back into the chair, her emotions on the biggest rollercoaster ride of her life. She had no idea what to feel. First shock. Then grief. Then hope and joy. She wasn’t alone in this world. She had grandparents. Two people who were her blood relatives. Maybe there were more. The family tree at the ancestry site could tell her. She needed to finish it. But not now. Not with so many sets of eyes looking at her and so much up in the air. Tonight. She’d do it tonight. And she’d follow Clay’s suggestion for now, but if anything happened to show her that she’d been wrong to trust him, she would go see her grandparents.
At the moment, she needed to stow her feelings. Remember she was an agent working an investigation with these men, not a woman following her family tree. She was on the hunt for a vicious man who not only trafficked young women but tried to kill her and Clay. Finding him. Finding the girls. That had to be her priority.
She swallowed a few times and balled her hands into fists, then looked up. As expected, the guys were still watching. She gave them the best smile she could muster. “So where do we go from here?”
Clay had stood, and he seemed relieved that she hadn’t tried to race out the door. He grabbed a marker from the tray of a portable whiteboard. “This investigation is getting complicated, and we need to organize the leads.”
He turned to the board and divided it into four sections. On the top right side he wrote: High School. Under that, he added fire, beds, body, bedpost/Hibbard.
He turned to look at Toni. “Since everyone knows about the school, why don’t you update them on what we learned about Jason and Fritz Rader while I add all the items to the board.”
“I hate to ask this.” Drake scratched his neck in a moment of uncertainty she found odd for his straightforward personality. “But could the body at the school be Lisa?”
Toni gasped.
“I know that’s tough to hear, especially on top of everything else you’ve been through,” Drake said. “But I thought the question needed to be asked.”
“Without access to the reports, there’s no way we can answer that,” Clay said. “We might be able to collect Lisa’s DNA from her grandparents’ to have it processed at Veritas. Or we can simply collect yours, as you’re sisters. This will let Kelsey compare it to the remains. Trent might allow Kelsey to tell us if it’s Lisa or not.”
“Yes,” Toni said emphatically. “Let’s do that.”
“Unless anyone else has something to say.” Clay eyed Drake, who shrugged. “Toni
will update you on the Raders.”
Toni launched into the details of what they’d learned but watched as Clay wrote Fritz Rader as a heading on the top right and listed below, picture of Toni and outfit, girls’ pictures, female items/clothing, and Bird blood sample.
As she spoke, she made sure to cover each point. “We took pictures of everything we found, including the photos of the girls, some going back to the eighties.”
Clay looked at Erik. “I’ll put them on our server so you can search the internet for matches.”
Erik nodded. “I’ll start with the database for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. However, older records might not be there or anywhere on the internet, for that matter. We might need to ask Trent to give us a list from his database.”
“I’m sure he’ll be doing his own search,” Clay said. “Give me a list of girls you find, and I’ll compare notes with him.”
“I’ll get started the minute we’re done here. I’ll also check in with Nick to see if he has any suggestions for doing a thorough search for the girls.”
“Good thinking.” Clay released an appreciative sigh.
Toni liked seeing the look of respect flash between the brothers. These guys really were an amazing team, and she was thankful they were helping her find her dad’s killer, and now digging into what happened to Lisa too.
On the bottom right of the board, Clay wrote Toni’s grandparents and parents. And finally on the left, he added Hibbard Investigation Files.
“Did I get everything?” His gaze traveled from person to person, pausing on Drake.
“We have the pictures Sierra took at the school,” Drake said.
“Right.” Clay marked it down.
“And I noticed twine in the photos of the woman in the wall.” Drake continued to look at Clay. “Looks white, though it’s yellowed some. In reviewing your old case files, I saw twine was recovered when a woman was found murdered at one of Hibbard’s places.”
“Her name was Heidi,” Toni said, the pain from losing the girl still in Toni’s heart. “When we found her, she had a plastic bag around her head, twine holding it in place. Her wrists were bound with twine too, and the rest of her body was wrapped in green trash bags and more twine. Forensics said the twine was common poly sisal often used for commercial packaging and shipping, so it didn’t lead anywhere. The other evidence didn’t, either, and we were never able to connect Hibbard to her murder.”
Drake shifted to look at her. “Common or not, the twine could match the evidence found with the skeletal remains at the school and be a link between them.”
Clay wrote twine on the board. “I’ll ask Sierra to act as a go-between for the forensics techs who worked Heidi’s murder investigation and the techs working the high school to compare the samples.”
“And you wanted to find and visit the beach house Jason Rader rented,” Toni said.
“Erik,” Clay said, “can you find the address of the property where he was arrested?”
“Should be able to.” Erik started typing. “FYI, I ran the financials for Fritz Rader. Nothing odd other than he didn’t have much money. Was living off social security.”
Toni wished she had a team at her disposal who jumped at the drop of a hat like these guys did. Sure, the Bureau provided incredible resources, but she often had to wait her turn to access them. “We need to go see Sheriff Ziegler about Lisa’s investigation, and we can also ask him about the disappearance of Rader’s wife.”
“Blake should be able to arrange an appointment with the guy.” Clay added it on the board and dug out his phone from one of the deep cargo pockets on his leg. “Let’s call him right now to get the ball rolling.”
The call connected after two rings.
“Blake Jenkins.” Blake’s confident tone came over the speaker.
“It’s Clay,” he said. “I’ve got you on speaker. All the guys and Toni Long are here.”
“I hear you’re still in my old stomping grounds,” Blake said.
“That’s why I’m calling.” Clay succinctly brought Blake up to speed on the investigation and told him about Toni’s connection to Lisa.
“Wow, Toni! I had no idea you linked to that investigation. I mean, I knew your last name was Long, but I never made the connection.”
He sounded nearly as shocked as Toni had been. “I had no idea either until just now.”
“Sheriff Ziegler talks about the investigation from time to time. It was his first case as a detective, and it doesn’t sit well with him that he didn’t solve it.”
“He have a theory?” Clay asked.
“He really didn’t have any solid leads. No forensics at all, and the investigation went cold almost immediately. They’d found one of Lisa’s shoes near the ocean. With no sign of forced entry, they eventually concluded that she’d gone out there at night and was swept away in an undercurrent.”
“And did you buy his theory?” Drake asked.
“I never had enough info to weigh in. I know Ziegler would’ve run a solid investigation. Still, he was new to the detective job, and there could be something there that can be reworked.”
“I was hoping to pick Ziegler’s brain about it,” Clay said. “Could you arrange a visit for us like you did with Trent?”
“Ziegler’s turned into kind of a hermit and doesn’t see just anyone,” Blake said. “Best if I come with you.”
Clay frowned. “Do you have the time?”
“I’ll make the time.”
“If you can leave now, Kelsey’s soon heading this way on Gage’s chopper.”
“I’ll check in with Emory and let you know.”
“You can stay with us if you want,” Clay offered. “Kelsey will be staying here.”
“Appreciate it. I’ll let you know right away.”
“I’ll also want to talk about when Fritz Rader’s wife took off when you get here. We found him dead today.” Clay shared their story.
“I remember her leaving. Was the first year I was on the force. It was never reported as a missing persons case, but Ziegler might know more.”
“Okay, if you can’t make it, we can discuss it on the phone.” Clay ended the call and stowed his phone.
“Got the address for Jason’s beach house rental.” Erik shared the location, and a map appeared on the TV. “Not more than fifteen miles away.”
Clay dug out his phone and dialed Trent’s office. “Hi, Lorraine. It’s Clay Byrd.”
He listened. “Oh, man, I was hoping Trent would be in and could tell me if he released the beach house where Jason was arrested or if it was still sealed.”
A satisfied smile lit Clay’s face. “Oh, good. Good. Thanks. I won’t have to bother Trent then. Have a good day.” He lowered his phone. “Scene was just released. We need Sierra here so she can process the place.”
He made the call and explained to Sierra about the scene and the helicopter that afternoon, then arranged for her to coordinate the twine forensics between the two teams. He smiled and lowered his phone. “Sierra’s coming and will handle the twine comparison if we get buy-in from the other teams.”
His phone dinged in his hand, and he looked at it. “Blake’s a go too.”
“We’ll have a full house,” Brendan said.
“Not any more people than when the whole family is here.” Erik touched his index finger to his nose. “Not it. I’m not sleeping with any of you in Mom and Dad’s bedroom.”
Toni watched in amusement as they all tried to beat each other to touch their noses and claim “not it.” Drake was lightning fast, Brendan next. Clay flashed his finger to his nose, but Aiden took his time.
“No way I’m listening to you snore,” Clay said. “I’ll take the couch.”
“Was my plan all along.” A smug smile crossed Aiden’s face.
Clay groaned. “Just for that, I should change my mind.” He glanced at his watch. “Erik, get started on those photos. If you have downtime while waiting for things to process, keep
digging for info on Lisa and her grandparents.”
“Understood,” Erik said.
Clay shifted to face Aiden. “Call the owner of the beach house Jason rented. Offer to pay them whatever it takes to keep them from cleaning the place and reserve it for us. The rest of us can divvy up the items on the board and work on it until I run to Gage’s place to pick everyone up.”
Toni didn’t even bother asking to go with Clay. She needed some time alone to regroup before everyone got here. She wasn’t used to a big, boisterous family like his. Add more people when she was already stressed, and she might lose the sanity she was barely hanging onto.
12
Several hours later, Clay drove through the security gate at Blackwell Tactical and pulled up to Gage’s house. Clay slid out and walked through the foggy night to the brightly lit ranch house. He knocked on a vibrant yellow door and stood back. A young boy with fiery red hair cracked it open.
“Come in,” he said and fled back into the house.
“David.” Hannah’s voice sounded from the room on the right. “That’s not the proper way to welcome a guest.”
David slunk back to the door. “Sorry. We’re playing Mario.”
“Hey, I get it. I was young once and loved Mario when I was your age.”
He stared open-mouthed at Clay. “They had Mario back then? That musta been a long time ago.”
“David!” Shaking her head, Hannah came into the entry, an adorable little girl with the same hair color toddling after her.
Clay laughed.
“What, Mom?” David protested as he turned back to the family room. “He doesn’t care. See. He’s laughing.”
Hannah swung the girl onto her hip and eyed Clay. “Don’t encourage him.”
“Sorry, but it doesn’t seem like that long ago when my mom was in your place.” Clay smiled.
Sierra joined them. “What are you saying? With five brothers, I can tell you our mom still does it.”
“True that.” Clay grinned.
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