by David Archer
"Crying?” she asked. “What about?"
"She said she couldn't explain it and just told me to leave her alone, so I did. I didn’t find out what it was all about until the next day."
"And what was it?"
Max looked her in the eye. "It was the day we found out Annabelle was dead. Gabriella had gotten some kind of premonition about it."
Carol shivered. "Are you saying that you saw the same kind of thing at dinner last night? That she was acting the same way she did back then?"
Max held his thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart and shrugged. "Maybe? I'm worried, though, Carol. My baby sister is missing and hurt, and now I can’t help wondering if she knew something was gonna happen."
"I'm worried, too, but I know how strong your sister is. Don’t give up on her, Max. Gabriella is a survivor."
"You don’t have to tell me that,” he said. “Believe me, I know. I’ve been through it with her.” Max kissed Carol's temple, but then her phone rang and she answered it quickly.
"Carol Musgrave," she said.
"This is Agent Sherilyn Roberts, from earlier. I’m with Pete and Chance, and just thought I would check in with you."
"How is Chance holding up?"
Roberts sighed. "He’s ready to go full-on Rambo on somebody,” she said. “Can’t say as I blame him. If I were in his position, I’d be going nuts."
"You and me both,” Carol said. “I can’t imagine what he must be going through. Have we heard anything else yet?"
"Nothing so far. I'm working with the police and the sheriff on this case, but I left my partner to deal with them while I stick with Pete and Chance."
“I appreciate it,” Carol said. “They probably need a level head around them right now.”
“At least until we figure out what’s going on. I don’t suppose you’ve thought of anything that might help?”
“No, but I’ve been talking with my boyfriend, who happens to be Gabriella’s brother. They went out to dinner last night and talked. Max says Gabriella was moody, and the last time he saw anything like this was back when their sister died. He said she had some kind of premonition before it happened back then, and the way she was acting last night reminded him of that time.”
“Premonition? Chance has never mentioned any kind of premonitions. Is this something that happens to her often?”
“Not that I know of. I’ve never heard of it either, but Max says that’s the way she was acting.”
“Like, maybe she knew something was coming? That wouldn’t sound good, right now.”
“I know, but I don’t have anything more than that to go on. And who knows, maybe she was just stressing out over the kids. There could be a lot of reasons she might have been moody last night.”
“Of course,” Roberts said. “I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything, and you do the same.”
Carol agreed, then ended the call and pocketed her phone as she stood.
"I can call one of the other guys to cover the desk for the rest of the day," Max said as he also stood. "What can I do to help?"
"That was Chance's favorite FBI agent, Sherilyn Roberts. She's working with him and Pete, trying to keep anybody from going off half cocked."
"Got it. Has anyone told Mama and Papa? I can do that, if you want."
"That wouldn’t break my heart." Carol stowed her notepad and pen in her jacket pocket and got ready to go back out into the street. "Call somebody to take over first, then you can do that from the car. We need to go and pick up the boys and take them home, to make sure they’re safe."
“Okay.” He stood and pulled Carol into a hug, then let go as he went to make the call.
* * *
The school secretary proved very helpful when Carol and Max arrived to pick up the boys. "I'm Connie Myers, the secretary. Mr. Reddick called and told us what’s going on. I'm terribly sorry about all this."
"Yes." Carol nodded. "I'm Carol Musgrave, I work with their dad. I'm sure you can understand that he wants to keep them safe, under the circumstances."
"Of course. Can I see some identification?"
Carol nodded and handed over her ID. "Certainly,” she said. “I'm glad you’re cautious about who you hand kids over to.”
“We have to be,” Connie said. “There have been too many children abducted by people claiming to be sent by the family, so schools can’t take any chances anymore.” She motioned toward some chairs. “Both of you have a seat, and I’ll have the boys brought up.”
Tommy came into the office first, weighed down by his backpack. He was grinning, because the sudden interruption had gotten him out of a math test he didn’t really want to take, anyway.
"Sorry I took so long. I—"
As he caught the sight of Carol’s face, he stopped short and suddenly looked worried.
"What's going on? Where’s my mom and dad?"
Andy came walking in at that moment, and Carol squatted down so she could look them both in the eye. Softly, she told them that Chance had sent her to pick them up because something had happened to their mother. She assured them that Chance and Pete and the rest were doing everything they could to bring Gabriella home, but that Chance wanted to keep them where he knew they would be safe in the meantime.
"What about Robin?" Tommy asked. "Is she safe?"
"She’s fine," Carol told him. "If you guys are ready, let’s go to your place. I'm sure your dad will feel a lot better when we get you home safe.”
* * *
Carol knew the way to Chance’s house because Chance and Gabriella had hosted get-togethers at their house for the entire crew. Gabriella enjoyed them, and referred to them as “family dinners.”
Grandma Reddick opened the door with a smile when she knocked.
"Why, hello, Carol. What brings you here?"
Carol gave her a sad smile as Max got the boys out of the car and walked them up to the door. "I'm afraid it’s to bring some bad news. May I come in?"
Grandma, her eyes suddenly filled with concern, said, “Yes, certainly, come on in,” and motioned for Carol to follow her. "We are all in the kitchen. Marianna is here, also, she’s feeding the baby."
The two women headed into the kitchen, and Marianna looked up with a smile of her own.
“Hello, Carol,” she said.
“Hello, Mama,” Carol said, using the nickname she’d been invited to use when she and Max moved in together. “I'm afraid I’ve come to bring you some news, and I need you to try to stay calm.”
Marianna’s eyes narrowed, and she looked at her son before turning back to Carol. “Is it bad news?”
Carol nodded. “I'm afraid so. I need to ask if you’ve heard anything from Gabriella this morning?”
“Well, no,” Mariana said, and there was a nervousness that suddenly appeared on her face. “I’ve been trying to call her, but she doesn’t answer. Has something happened to her?”
Grandma had taken a seat at the table, and Carol quickly brought the two women up to speed. By the time she was finished, both of them were wearing expressions of shock.
"What can we do to help?" Grandma asked.
"Can you tell me how Gabriella was acting this morning? Did she seem okay when she left?"
“Yes, she seemed fine. She was cutting up with me before she left, and was joking around with the boys as they were getting ready for school.” She shook her head. “She seemed perfectly normal.”
“She was leaving as I arrived,” Marianna said, “but she gave me a hug and a kiss as she came out the door. I didn’t see any sign that she was nervous or anything. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes, I…”
Carol was cut off by a text from Roberts, and after reading through it quickly, she turned back to the women again.
"That was Special Agent Roberts—she's with Chance, and is working with Pete and Chance at the moment, trying to come up with any leads. Max and I went to pick up the boys and bring them home, because Chance wanted to be sure you are all safe. T
he only thing we have so far is a single witness who saw somebody force Gabriella off the road, and then drag her into another car."
Max spoke up. “Mama, I already called Papa and told him. He will be here shortly.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Marianna said. “Who would do something like this?”
“We don’t know. All we have so far is that the kidnapper seems to be a woman, and she said Gabriella will be safe as long as none of us try to interfere. Can you think of anyone who might have any sort of grudge against Gabriella?”
“Of course not,” Grandma said. “Gabriella is a sweetheart. I can’t imagine her having any enemies.”
Mariana was nodding. “I agree,” she said, tears on her cheeks. “I can’t think of anyone who might ever want to hurt her.”
“Neither can I, of course,” Carol said. “I just have to ask these questions, there’s nothing intended by them.”
“I just don’t know what to think about this,” Marianna said. “Is Chance okay?”
“I'm sure he’s a wreck, but you all know Chance. He doesn’t really let things show on his face. I'm just glad he’s got Pete with him. I'm supposed to stay here with you until we know more about what’s going on,” Carol said. “Just to be safe, you know?”
“Of course,” Grandma said. “Would you care for a cup of coffee?”
Carol started to agree, but then her phone rang again. She glanced and saw that it was Chance calling and answered quickly. “Chance? Is there something new?”
“No,” Chance said. “Everything okay at the house?”
“Yes,” Carol said. “We just got here with the boys a few minutes ago.”
“Well, that’s why I'm calling,” Chance said. “I need to see the boys. Can you bring them up here, please?”
Chapter 10
Gabriella was once again strapped into the chair she'd woken in that morning, but she knew there was no hope of escape, this time. She was beaten, broken, and bleeding—after the woman had returned from disposing of her things, she had yelled at Gabriella and abused her for more than an hour, for no reason other than to hurt and frighten her.
* * *
The drive back to the PDI office didn’t take long, and the boys rushed inside as soon as Carol had parked the car. Chance was in the office with Pete, and stepped out as soon as he heard their voices.
“Chance,” Tommy yelled. “Did you find Mom yet?”
“Not just yet,” Chance said. “We’re working on it, though. I just needed to know you boys were safe.” He held out his arms, and both boys rushed in for a hug.
"It’ll be okay,” he said. “Are you scared?"
Tommy nodded, his face pressed against Chance’s chest. "Yeah. I just want Mom back."
"So do I, but you know, Tommy, your mama is a very strong woman. I think she’ll be okay, and we are going to find her."
Tommy nodded. "She's a private eye, just like you."
"Exactly. We don’t know who has her right now, but she'll find a way out, just like she always does."
"And Uncle Pete and everyone are going to help?" Andy asked.
"Right again. You guys are going to hang out here for today, while we try to work this out."
"Okay, Chance," Tommy said, and Andy echoed him.
"I love you guys, and so does your mom. Everything is going to work out, just the way it always does."
Tommy and Andy smiled up at him. "We love you, too, Chance," Tommy said.
Carol stepped forward and laid a hand on each of the boys’ shoulders. "Come on, guys. I'm pretty sure there’s some hot cocoa back at the break room."
Tommy and Andy followed her, trying to look confident, to convince themselves that everything was going to be fine.
Chance wished he were that sure.
* * *
Chance and Pete were frustrated. The sketch the artist had produced from the witness’ description had been circulated to all of the law enforcement officers in the area, but no one seemed to recognize the woman it depicted. Roberts had sent it back to the FBI to be run through facial recognition, but they weren’t coming up with any answers, either.
“Okay,” Josie said as they entered her office. “We managed to turn Gabriella's phone on remotely, but it turned out to be at an abandoned gas station, of all places. Roberts got police officers to go and check it out, and they found it right where the ping said it would be.”
Tina turned from where she was sitting beside Josie to look up at Chance. “Not only that, but the kidnapper also left Gabriella's purse, coat, clothing, shoes, and gun in a trash can there, as well.”
“Geez, her clothes?” Chance asked. “Does any of this help us at all?”
“The only thing this gives us is a slightly smaller radius,” Josie said. “It took us about thirty minutes to get the phone turned on, and the kidnapper had to have dumped this stuff after catching Gabriella using the phone. That means she couldn’t have driven more than about twenty miles even if she floored it, so Gabriella is somewhere within a twenty mile radius of that old station.”
“Where is it located?” Pete asked. “Can we get some kind of satellite pictures of the area?”
“I'm already ahead of you,” Josie said. “The old gas station is out off of Blue Diamond Road, pretty close to Arroyo Road.” She hit a key on her keyboard and a Google Earth satellite view appeared on the big monitor she had hung on the wall. “I’ve got that scaled to show the approximate radius we’re talking about. Blue Diamond, Mountain Springs and Red Rock Canyon are all within that radius, but so is part of the southwestern edge of Las Vegas.” She looked at them over her shoulder. “This is going to be like hunting for a very tiny needle in a very big haystack.”
Carol stepped into the office with them.
"Any news?" she asked.
Pete gave a sigh of dejection. "Zilch."
"How are you holding up, Chance?"
“Well as can be expected, I guess. I just want to know where my wife is.” He was chewing the inside of his cheek, nervously, but his eyes held a menace that was almost frightening.
Carol looked around the room. "Where is Roberts?"
Nearby, Jake checked his watch. "She's gone to the crime lab,” he said. “Ought to be back sometime soon."
“Okay. Anything we can do in the meantime?”
Pete sighed. "The police have crawled all over the crime scene and claim they can’t find anything to give us any more leads. Gabriella was taken on a lonely stretch of road, which means no other witnesses than the one we already have. The only thing we can do is wait, and pray that another lead comes up."
Chance let out a sigh. “Let me see that picture again,” he said. Pete, standing nearby, handed him a copy of the composite sketch the forensic artist had done. The woman it depicted looked to be in her late forties or early fifties, but there was no way to accurately judge how old she really could be. He stared at it, but then shook his head. “It looks familiar, but I just can’t place it. I keep thinking that if I could only figure out where I’ve seen this face before, it might tell me how to find Gabriella.”
“A lot of faces look familiar,” Pete said, “when you’re just looking at a sketch. Unfortunately, witnesses working from memory have a tendency to garble details. That may not look anything at all like the woman he actually saw dragging Gabriella into her vehicle, but it’s all we’ve got to go on at the moment. Don’t beat yourself up because you can’t snap your fingers and come up with an answer.”
Chance shook his head. “I know,” he said, “but it’s Gabriella we’re talking about.” He looked into Pete’s eyes. “I live with violence a lot, Pete, but I never intended for any of it to come home to my family.”
Pete turned so his back was to everyone else and spoke softly. “And when we find out who did this,” he whispered, “then they get a visit from an angel. For now, you just have to hold it together while we do everything we can to find her before it’s too late.”
“I know that. Don’t worry, I'm keep
ing everything in check for right now.”
The day passed with no further leads, and Chance finally decided it was time to go home. Carol had come earlier to pick up the boys and take them back to the house, and Chance figured his family needed him to come home and reassure them. He had gotten to bed late the night before, and exhaustion was beginning to take its toll. When five o’clock rolled around, he told Pete that he would keep his phone on and started toward the door.
“Chance,” Roberts said, catching him before he got outside. “If there’s anything I can do…”
“I'm sure you’re already doing all you can,” he said. “Same applies to you as it does to Pete. If you hear anything, I want you to call me. Don’t worry about what time it is, I’ll answer.”
He walked out the door and got into his car, started it up and headed for home. As he drove, he let his thoughts wander to Gabriella. He wondered what she was going through, and for a brief moment even wondered if she was still alive.
Don’t think that way. She’s alive, she has to be.
The only possible motive he could think of for someone kidnapping her would be to get revenge against him for something he had done in the past. He had already looked at every case he had dealt with since joining PDI, and none of them seemed to be connected in any way. He had called Manuel Baldizon back in Kentucky, the cartel general whose son had been killed with Chance’s little sister, but the old man insisted he knew nothing about anyone who might want to hurt Gabriella. The only person who ever had reason to hurt her was dead, a victim of Chance’s own form of justice.
Other than that, Chance had only delivered justice in a few cases, and none of them had ever been connected to him or his family. Since he had never even been suspected in any of them, he couldn’t see how anybody could have traced them back to him. None of this was making any sense, or at least none that he could put his finger on.
He pulled up at the house and parked beside his old pickup truck, then went inside. Grandma was sitting in the rocker in the living room, holding little baby Robin, while Marianna and Eduardo Vasquez were in the kitchen with the boys. Marianna was keeping them occupied by helping her with dinner, but they both came running when Chance walked into the house.