Wild Blue Mysteries Boxed Set

by Diane Bator

  “No.” Her shoulders tightened again. Was Roger running to Canada? Were the kids already dead? “Yes. Is there any sign of them yet?”

  He remained quiet for a moment. “I’m in Packham. I’m heading to Roger’s family cottage soon and I hope to pick up their trail from there.”

  Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. “Please tell me you know where they are.”

  “I have a couple leads.” Another brief silence. “Does one of your kids love Mars bars?”

  “Parker.” She whispered as her stomach flipped.

  Leo cleared his throat. “Does the younger boy carry a stuffed dog and suck his thumb?”

  “Shawn hasn’t sucked his thumb in years.” She frowned and wiped tears away with the back of her hand. “How did you know that?”

  “The guy at a gas station outside of town thought he’d seen them and kept footage from the security camera on a hunch.”

  “A hunch?” Lucy gnawed on her thumbnail. “Based on what?”

  Silence. It bothered her when he refused to elaborate. Had Roger hurt her kids in front of someone at the gas station or had one of the kids asked for help or made an off-hand comment?

  “They were fine.” He assured her. “I’ve gotta go. You can trust Danny. He’ll do whatever he can for you.”

  They were fine. She blinked away tears. “Can I trust you?”

  “Normally? Probably not, but you can trust me with this.” Leo paused. “For the record, when did you figure out Roger was...a murderer?”

  “I didn’t really until Bobby said they were searching for him.” Lucy’s eyes watered, glad he hadn’t said serial killer. “When I found the jewelry, I did a lot of research because that’s what I do, but…” She hesitated. “He’s the father of my kids. Who wants to think they married someone so evil?”

  “No one wants to think they person they chose to spent their life with is a piece of crap.” At least he was trying to make her feel better. “Don’t blame yourself for his problems, Lucy. This guy was damaged long before he met you.”

  She gazed out the window. “I know, but I was dumb and naïve and looked the other way for so long. We have three kids. We moved here from Seattle for Roger’s job opportunity and to be closer to his family even though I didn’t know anyone here.”

  So he could isolate her. Lucy shuddered. Back in Seattle, she’d had a support system and lots of babysitters. She could have gone to charity events with him. In Packham, she was alone and had no one, which apparently was exactly the way Roger planned things.

  Leo blew out a breath. “We should check with Seattle police for more victims.”

  Her breath stuck in her throat. “You didn’t say that for my benefit, did you?”

  “No, sorry, just thinking out loud. I need to call Danny. Sit tight. Call one of us right away if you hear from the kids.” He rattled off his cell number.

  Lucy closed her eyes. Sit tight again. Didn’t they understand? Her husband was a killer. Her kids were in danger. Her sanity was a fine, silver thread growing thinner with each passing second.

  When she hung up, she went back to the Wild Blue website and ignored everything except information about Leo Blue. A third-degree karate black belt and former prize fighter who’d served in the military, nearly died in action, then was discharged with honor. Until he’d snapped and killed a man. She pictured him standing near Clancy’s house looking like a copper-haired vampire made of marble.

  She finished her tea then rubbed her eyes and turned off the computer. Her gaze fell onto a stack of papers. Copies she’d kept of everything despite Clancy’s warnings. Buried in the stack were photos of dead women, newspaper articles of their deaths, and Lucy’s notes about how each related to Roger. Enough fodder to give anyone nightmares.

  Up until she’d met Clancy and Danny, she was convinced no one would believe her. Roger was a hard-working man who hobnobbed with the wealthy and donated money to charity. How much money, she still hadn’t uncovered, which brought her back to the staggering stash of cash in the backyard.

  She grabbed a notepad and flopped onto the bed. Instead of writing, she coiled around her pillow and cried. Drained of emotion, sleep overtook her and she plunged headlong into an alternate world of nightmares.

  Chapter 24 ~ Danny

  “We’ve got a bigger problem than we thought,” Leo spoke before Danny even said hello. “When’s the last time you talked to Bobby? Has he checked Seattle for unsolved murders connected to Roger?”

  Despite the heat in the Honda, prickles of ice made a trail down Danny’s spine. He rifled through Bobby’s paperwork with his phone stuck to the side of his face. He had a ton of work to do at the house, but a deep, gut feeling made him reluctant to let Lucy out of his sight.

  “What are you talking about? I don’t see anything before when Roger moved to Packham. There’s a blurb about his former employment, but…” A single word caught his eye. Questioned. Danny wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Oh, crap. He and Lucy got married nearly twelve years ago. Right before they left for Europe on their honeymoon, he was questioned about two women murdered in the Seattle area. Both were acquaintances through work. One was found in Salem, Oregon and the other near Seattle.”

  “Hm.” Leo sounded deep in thought. “Any jewelry missing from either of them?”

  “I’ll find out. There’s no details, just that he was questioned right before he left on his honeymoon.” Danny frowned. “His girlfriend’s in serious danger.”

  “Any woman he knows is in serious danger. Including Lucy.” Leo admitted. “I’m heading to the cottage. See if you can dig into his past and find the hidden dragons. We need to figure out what sets him off and makes him want to kill. So far, Lucy hasn’t found the secret formula, but she might now that they’ve split up. You and I have to keep that from happening.”

  Danny narrowed his eyes. “You already talked to her, didn’t you?”

  “Damn straight.” Leo snorted. “You’re right. She’s falling apart.”

  “We need to find those kids. Meet me at Lucy’s, I’ll come with you to the cottage. We can take my car.” He hung up then reached for his laptop and hesitated. Rather than dig right into the research, Danny called Bobby to ask about the Seattle and Salem murders.

  Bobby stuttered and stammered. “How the hell did you find out about that?”

  Danny glanced at Lucy’s folder on the passenger’s seat. “Quid pro quo. I have something to share with you, if you’ll share what you know with me.”

  “Fine, but this is the last time.” Bobby snorted. “Until you’re back on the force, no more favors. Where are you now?”

  “Leo and I are heading for the cottage.” Danny checked his inbox. “Now that Lucy’s put things together on her own, she’s scared for her kids’ lives. You have to help me find Roger and get her kids back alive.”

  “I don’t have to do anything.” Bobby growled. “I’m still a cop and I’ll get my ass handed to me on a silver platter if I get caught leaking information.”

  Nothing new in the inbox yet. “Come on. Like we’ve never used a snitch before.”

  “Not like this.” Bobby sighed. “You’re taking her side against her husband, who happens to be your client. Does her husband know that you’re talking to her about him? You know you could get her killed.”

  Danny frowned. “Not unless he has a snitch in the neighborhood. No one can get in touch with him.”

  “Then how do you plan to find them.”

  “Leo’s tracking them.”

  “Then you should find him in no time.” Bobby chuckled. “That dude’s scary.”

  Danny grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to be in on the action when he does?”

  “Oh hell yeah.”

  “Then you and I need to make a deal.” A new message appeared in the inbox, but not from Bobby. Likely misdirected junk mail. The email address made Danny’s stomach lurch. LadyKiller99. “I’ll give you Lucy’s information that details all the links between Roger Stephen and all
the victims. She was thorough.”

  “And in return?” Bobby slurped what Danny assumed was coffee.

  LadyKiller99 had the majority of his attention. He stared at the screen, hesitant to open the file. It had to be a joke. Someone with a warped sense of humor. On the other hand...

  Danny had to get Bobby off the phone. “Get a confession from Roger and spare her and the kids from having to testify. I don’t care if you have to beat it out of him, just don’t put them through any more crap than they’ve already been through.”

  “I’ll do what I can.” Bobby promised. “Keep me in the loop.”

  “Will do.” Danny hung up. He sucked in a sharp breath and opened the email.

  Keep out of my business or she’ll never see them again.

  Roger had attached a photo of Lucy’s three kids standing near the lake. Rather than appearing happy and relaxed, the kids looked pale. Frightened. This was no joke. Roger knew they were onto him.

  Danny’s stomach churned. He forwarded the email to Bobby at the same time Bobby e-mailed him regarding unsolved murders in Salem and Seattle. One in Seattle. Two in Salem. All three with links to Roger’s real estate office. All three times police had interviewed and released Roger Stephen.

  Leo pulled his motorcycle onto Clancy’s driveway then parked inside the garage. He grabbed a duffle bag and headed toward the Honda. “You ready to go?”

  “Yeah.” Danny blew out a frustrated breath. He climbed out of the car and stretched his back. “You okay to drive? I’ve got some reading to do.”

  “Sure.” Leo raised both eyebrows. “What’s up?”

  “I’ll tell you once we’re on the road.” Once buckled into the passenger seat, Danny called Clancy about the change of plans. As they left Packham, he told Leo about the email from Roger and the murders on the West Coast. “I don’t think we’ll find them at the cottage. I think he’s long gone and wants to toy with us.”

  Leo bobbed his head. “If they were there, it’s still the best place to start. He might have left a clue.”

  “True. It’s not far, right? An hour or so. that’ll give me time to read the stuff Bobby sent.” Danny sat back and scanned through the info for each of the three women.

  “Then you’d better read aloud to save me some time.”

  Rebecca Lang, a real estate agent who worked with Roger, was found in a seedy motel in Salem strangled, raped, and missing a sterling silver locket.

  Amanda Caravelli, one of Roger’s clients, was married to a CEO in Seattle. A jogger found her body in a car abandoned in a park. Someone had strangled and raped her. Not only was her one-of-a-kind antique ring missing, so were her ten thousand dollar wedding rings, which looked an awful lot like the rings Lucy wore on her left hand. The ones she might be tempted to pawn soon.

  Danny studied the picture. He’d have to get close to Lucy again to compare. She’d be devastated to learn Roger had wooed her with a dead woman’s rings. He texted Clancy the news and sat back.

  “What’s the number again?” Leo drove through the last town before the shore then cruised along winding roads where the lake peeked through a thick band of trees.

  Danny recited the lot number from memory then shoved the paperwork aside.

  Leo eased the car onto the shoulder and parked along the road. The cottage sat a few hundred yards off the road, nestled behind rows of old trees. “You ready for this?”

  “Yeah.” He opened the glove box and took out his gun. “I just hope they’re still here.”

  “Are we going in through the front door or circling toward the lake?” Leo refused to carry a gun. His fists were lethal enough.

  Danny hesitated. If Roger was as smart as he thought, he’d be prepared for them no matter which direction they came from. “Let’s walk up the driveway and see what happens.”

  “Fifty bucks says he’s long gone.” Leo closed the car door.

  “A hundred says he left us a clue.” Danny glanced up the gravel road. “Or a body.”

  They walked side by side up the driveway toward a wooden house that looked more like a millionaire’s playhouse than a little log cabin, which was Danny’s concept of a cottage. While the front was impressive enough with large double doors and a sweeping veranda, the back was probably a wall of glass with staggered decks that led down to the lake.

  “Somebody has good taste.” Leo kept his voice low. “Looks like Mommy and Daddy gave our guy everything he wanted. Dude was probably spoiled rotten from the day he was born.”

  “From everything I’ve heard, I’d say you were right.” Danny scanned every window, every door, every corner of the building. The yard was empty of vehicles and nothing moved but the trees in the wind. No lights except flicker of the sunshine through tree branches. Two security cameras on the front of the house, one on a shed in the corner and probably more around the sides and back. Probably Roger’s idea of a safe house.

  “That’s a lot of cameras for a quiet retreat. I’ll go around back. Whistle if you see anything.” Leo slipped into the woods.

  Standing alone in front of the cottage with security camera eyes on him, Danny cringed. Under normal circumstances, he’d knock on the door. Roger Stephen wouldn’t ask questions, however, he’d shoot first. By now he had to know the police were after him and would do anything to keep the kids from Lucy. He’d do even more to get the cash and jewelry back, even with his freedom at stake.

  Chapter 25 ~ Lucy

  The next call came around two in the morning, just in time to rescue Lucy from yet another bad dream. Restless from a string of nightmares, she’d fallen asleep only minutes ago, but already lay twisted in the sheets like a peppermint candy.

  The caller’s words were a jumble of childish sobs and mumbles until an unmistakable cry stole her breath. “Mommy? Can you come and get us? I miss you.”

  “Gina?” Her throat tightened. The laminate floor was cold beneath her feet, yet she didn’t recall jumping out of bed.

  “Mommy!” Her daughter sobbed. “Oh, Mommy, I miss you so much. No, Daddy, I want to talk to her. Please, don’t take the phone. Please!”

  “Hello, Lucy.”

  “Roger.” Her heart thudded and the surge of blood made her dizzy. “Where are you? What’s going on?”

  He snorted then growled. “You know what’s going on. You’ve already talked to the police, haven’t you? What did you tell them?”

  “Why would I talk to the police?” She glanced out the window. No sign of Danny or Clancy when she needed them most. She rummaged in her closet, pulling out the first clothes she touched. “Are the kids all right? I got worried when no one called.”

  Muffled sounds filled the other end. Roger argued with someone, probably one of the kids. He must have won the disagreement since a child began to cry and confidence filled Roger’s voice when he spoke. “They’re fine. For now.”

  “What do you mean for now?” Her throat ached from both the lack of sleep and emotion. Her voice rasped as badly as Leo’s had.

  “Not yet.” A door slammed. “Not until you do what I ask.”

  She swallowed hard, her mouth dry. “Anything. What do you want?”

  “My shaving kit. The one you found in the suitcase.” Roger’s voice dropped so low she barely heard what he said. “I also want you to dig up some stuff I buried in the backyard. Two packages, one in our yard and one in Mitch’s.”

  The cash. Her hands shook as a hundred nasty names flew through her head. Roger had been the dark figure in both yards in the middle of the night before he’d taken the kids. She cupped a hand over her eyes and took a deep breath. “What if I can’t find them?”

  “Then I guess you’ll never see your precious little babies again, which would really be too bad.” He mocked her. “They miss you.”

  A chill ran down her arms as tears filled her eyes. “You’d hurt your own children just to get back at me?”

  Roger chuckled. “You are so naive, Lucy. This has nothing to do with you or those brats. None of you
have ever been anything more than my smoke screen. The magic mirror I hid behind while I got away with murder.”

  “What do you mean?” If only she could record his every word. Grabbing a paper and pen, she wrote down everything he said.

  “Who’d suspect a doting father of three of committing heinous crimes? I’m a pillar of society. A man of principle.” he asked. “As far as the outside world knows, I was either at home every night taking care of my family or contributing time and energy to various charities.”

  “The money.” She could scarcely breathe. “You stole the money from the same charities you donated to.”

  Roger groaned then swore for nearly a minute. “You already found the bags. You better not have spent a dime or turned them over to the police. If I find out you did either, your children will die.”

  “They’re your children too.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you anymore?”

  After a long pause, he replied, “Nope.”

  Her stomach seemed to plunge toward her toes. She clutched the phone long after he’d hung up, not sure what to do or who to call first. Finally, she dialed Leo’s cell number. “Please pick up. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.”

  No answer. When Danny didn’t answer either, she was left with one last option. She grabbed her purse, shrugged on a coat. Although the air was hot and humid, a nasty chill had grabbed hold of her entire body. She slid on her flip-flops and ran up the street, praying Clancy was home and wouldn’t slam the door in her face. She jabbed the doorbell until her fingernail broke.

  Clancy opened the door wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. He narrowed his eyes then scowled. “Is this how you plan to kill me off? You’ll disrupt my sleep until I’m so tired I slit my throat shaving? Honey, I expected better from you.”

  Her lips quivered and when she tried to speak, the shivers turned into full-fledged shaking. Uncontrollable tears rolled down her cheeks. “The kids.”