by Rick Mofina
“Okay, okay, Karen, um, listen, listen.” Bill was thinking fast. “I’m going to call Parcell at home. We’ll alert all the staff on duty and off and get people over to your house ASAP to help you look for her, okay? Okay?”
“Yes, thank you, Bill. I have to go.”
“Karen, you hang in there. We’ll help you!”
“Thank you.”
Karen covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
Ryan moved to comfort her. Greer and Porter watched them closely and updated their notes.
* * *
After the call, Porter brought Tyler back from the Coopers to the Lane house. Karen hugged him long and hard before the officers took him to his bedroom and shut the door.
Tyler sat on his bed. Porter joined him, pen poised over her pad. Greer perched on Tyler’s desk chair, dwarfing it.
“Just tell us in your own words about last night, son,” Greer said. “Start from when your parents left you and Maddison with the babysitter.”
Tyler’s eyes darted to their utility belts, their guns, handcuffs, radios, thinking how small his room had become, thinking that this was so freaking serious it scared him.
“It’s all right son, we know you’re nervous but we need you to help us.”
For the next several minutes Tyler related the history of the last hours as best he could, detailing playing video games, getting the pizza, watching a Jurassic Park movie with Maddie and Crystal, going to bed, then coming to the most critical time.
“I was thirsty and got up in the night to get water from the bathroom, and when I was outside Maddie’s door, I heard voices.”
“Was one of the voices hers?” Greer asked.
“I’m pretty sure she was talking to somebody.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was the voice that was not your sister’s familiar to you?”
“I couldn’t hear it that well.”
“Was it a male or female voice?”
“I couldn’t tell. They were talking low, like in whispers and I was still pretty sleepy.”
“What were they saying?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe she was watching a video or something.”
“Could you tell anything by the tone, like if someone was scared or threatening, that kind of thing?”
Tyler thought for a moment then shook his head. “Not really.”
“Does your sister ever climb in and out of her window, even just kidding around?” Greer asked.
Tyler shook his head.
“Have you ever known anyone, any friends to come to your sister’s window, maybe talk to her from there, or try to come in?”
“No.”
“Do you know what time this was when you heard the voices?”
“I don’t know. I was pretty sleepy, but I think it was late in the night.”
“Could it have been your mom or dad talking to Maddie?”
“Maybe, but Maddie’s door was closed, and I really couldn’t tell about the voices because they were whispery. I also thought maybe she was talking to someone on her phone.”
Greer nodded, thinking, his eyes going around Tyler’s room and noticing the skull and other items.
“That’s quite a collection of knives you have there.”
“I like knives.”
“Tell us, son, what do you think happened to your sister?”
Tears filled Tyler’s eyes. “Someone came in our house and took her, and it’s my fault.”
“Your fault?” Porter looked to Greer then Tyler. “Why do you say that, Tyler?”
“I should’ve told Mom and Dad when I heard voices. I’m her big brother. I should’ve got one of my knives to scare off whoever was in there. If I did that, maybe she wouldn’t be gone.”
* * *
Having secured initial statements, Greer and Porter requested Ryan, Karen and Tyler to wait in the driveway while the officers tugged on latex gloves and again examined every room of the house, this time with greater scrutiny.
Beginning with Maddie’s room, they studied her bed, the sheets, night table, her closet and dresser. They video recorded it all, including the mud traces and noting that the window was ajar. Then they looked closely in every other room before moving to the basement.
They searched every corner of the rec room then the furnace room, moving to a storage room, looking through a closet filled with old clothes then a shelf unit jammed with boxes of board games, old lamps, radios, computer keyboards, extension cords, cables and spare bulbs for the Christmas tree. The unit was also crammed with rows of old books, stacks of ancient magazines and a row of photo albums.
In one corner they found a nook with a sewing machine on a table adjacent to a cutting table, fabric stored neatly on shelves, and an ironing board standing next to a dress form.
The heavy fragrance of powdered soap filled the damp air when they came to the laundry room. Sheets, towels and clothes were piled on a large folding table. Greer looked at the washer and dryer and stopped.
Three years ago he’d been part of an investigation where a missing boy had been murdered. The parents had lied to investigators from the get-go, claiming their son was kidnapped. Greer was the one who’d found the child’s body stuffed in a dryer. The boy had been horribly abused.
Now, Greer braced himself before opening the doors to both machines and probing the insides with his flashlight.
Empty.
The officers moved outside, checked the garage and vehicles again before walking the perimeter of the house, looking for anything out of place, ending in the back at Maddie’s bedroom window and the ladder.
After recording it they turned and walked along the Lanes’ neatly trimmed lawn to the edge of the backyard. Their lot was large with aging, flimsy chain link fencing lining the property that backed onto dense woods.
“Lucifer’s Green,” Greer said, taking in the forest wall.
“What?” Porter asked.
“It’s the nickname for the woods. The property used to belong to a farmer who grew food for the Union Army. Then bootleggers ran an operation in there during Prohibition. That’s how it got its name, for people using it to do the devil’s work for money. Now it’s municipal property. It’s not really a park. It’s webbed with overgrown paths. Nature groups sometimes use it. So do young people who want to party, or whatever.”
“Well, thank you for the history lesson, Professor.” Porter turned back to the house. “So what do you think happened here?”
“I don’t know. We’ve got to get the tape from our car, seal the place, protect this as a potential crime scene, get more help and turn this over to Criminal Investigations.”
“Right.”
“And I’ll tell you what you never do at this stage in cases like this, Eve.” Greer turned to look at the Lane house.
Porter followed his gaze to the driveway. They could see between the house and garage and glimpsed Ryan, Karen and Tyler Lane huddled in the driveway, talking and checking their phones.
“Never ever rule out anything or anybody.”
5
Ryan stared at the yellow crime scene tape stretched around their house, watching it quiver in the morning breeze.
His phone was pressed to his ear. He was on hold with a tech supervisor with his service provider, attempting to locate Maddie’s phone. The hold music was Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” and Ryan had heard most of it when the supervisor came back on the line.
“I’m sorry, sir, we’re unable to locate the phone.”
“I don’t understand. I’ve got map locater and phone finder features for all of our phones—we’re damn well paying for them!”
“Sir, I understand your situation, but for those features to work, a phone must be on a data network and right now your d
aughter’s does not have a connection, and that could be for any number of reasons. We’ll keep working on things here.”
“What about giving us the numbers or names of the people she last communicated with?”
A long silence passed between them.
“Hello? Are you there?” Ryan said.
“Sir, we can’t provide that information due to privacy restrictions.”
“What? Our daughter is a minor—she’s missing, and your priority is to protect the people who may know where she is?”
“I’m sorry, sir, my hands are tied.”
“Un-freaking-believable!”
“Again, my apologies, perhaps you could work with police and—”
Ryan hung up and dragged his hand over his face, his heart sinking with every passing second.
A few hours ago they were living their lives, doing the best they could like any other family before their world was ripped apart.
This can’t be happening! Maddie can’t be gone!
But each moment that passed made it more real. Ryan’s stomach tightened as if clamped in the jaws of a bench vise, and questions burned through his mind.
Who could’ve taken her? Why Maddie?
For an instant he considered Crystal and her boyfriend, Zach. Ryan didn’t know Zach’s last name but had seen him a few times, most recently when he and Karen had bumped into them at the mall. He recalled Zach had a lot of tattoos and piercings, earrings, eyebrow ring, lip loops and a nose stud, and that he had trouble making eye contact when you spoke to him. Ryan got a bad vibe from the guy.
And I can’t shake the feeling Crystal snuck him into the house last night against our rules. But the kids were in bed after Crystal left with him. Maybe Zach came back? Maybe he got the ladder and—
Ryan stopped himself.
I can’t point fingers at people with no proof. Wait. Wrong. I sure as hell can! Our little girl’s gone. They should question that tattooed little—Stop, think. We’ve gotta search for her. I know who I should call but—
More people had converged on their home.
Jeff and Jean Cooper, their neighbors who’d briefly watched over Tyler, were among the first.
“We’re here to help,” said Jeff, a retired firefighter.
Then a dog barked, and Ryan’s thoughts shifted as he, Karen and Officer Porter were joined by Officer DeDe Cook and her partner, Hitch, a male Belgian shepherd dog.
“We’ll need something your daughter wore or kept close to her,” Cook said, stroking Hitch, who was panting as she fixed a tracking line to his collar.
Porter was still wearing latex gloves. She reentered the house and returned with Maddie’s pillowcase. Cook ran it under Hitch’s nose. He yipped, acknowledging he’d registered Maddie’s scent, then led Cook to the back of the house.
Hitch kept his snout to the ground under Maddie’s window. His tail wagging as he worked, the dog soon pulled his partner across the yard until they disappeared into the dense woods of Lucifer’s Green.
* * *
As Karen watched the police dog pursue a trail into the woods, a measure of hope rippled in her heart.
Maybe Maddie called a friend and ran off because she’s mad at me? Maybe it’s a stunt and they’re hiding in there?
Karen turned to Porter, standing beside her and Tyler on the street at a spot from where they saw the K-9 team disappear among the trees. Ryan had stepped away to talk to Greer and other arriving officers.
“The dog’s picked up Maddie’s scent, right?” Karen said. “We should run after them and help search.”
“We’ll let them work alone first. We’re setting things up for a search here now, and we’ve put the advisory out.”
“See, Mom?” Tyler showed her his phone. “It’s posted everywhere online.”
Maddie smiled back at Karen from the notice.
Missing Person—Possible Abduction
Maddison Lane. Age: 12 years old. Gender: Female. Height: 4' 11". Weight: 87 lbs. Hair: Brown. Eyes: Brown. Scars/Marks: Half-moon shaped birthmark above right ankle, Clothes/Wearing: Pajamas, two piece, black long-sleeved top w/ matching pants. Top has multicolored hearts spelling “Time To Chill.” Pants have matching hearts pattern. Also wearing yellow hoodie and white sneakers with pink polka-dot laces. In possession of a pink cell phone with a glitter butterfly pattern case with name “Maddie.” From: Syracuse, NY USA. Anyone with information please call your local police.
Karen stared hard at her daughter’s face, at her pretty smile, at how her eyes sparkled as she crushed Ice Baby to her. Here she was just yesterday, your average twelve-year-old girl before she’d tried to convince Karen, yet again, that she was on the cusp of womanhood and should be able to bring boys home.
Not on your life, young lady. Not till you’re older. That’s what I told her.
Emotions surged in Karen, and she covered her mouth with her hand. Then her phone rang. It was Lauren Webb, the mother of Maddie’s friend Nicole.
“Karen, I was in the shower when I got your message! Oh my God, is Maddie really missing?”
“Yes! Did she go to your house? Does Nicole know anything?”
“No, Maddie’s not here. Hang on, I’ll get Nicole.”
“Mom.” Tyler had been texting friends nonstop since Ryan had called police. “I asked Nicole already. I’m asking everybody, and so far nobody knows anything.”
A few seconds passed and Lauren came back.
“No, Karen, we don’t know anything. What happened?”
“We think someone took her from her bedroom last night.”
“Oh my God!” Lauren shouted to someone in her house then came back to Karen. “Where are you? Are you home?”
“Yes, with the police. They’ve got a dog looking for her in the woods.”
“Okay, we’re coming over to help.”
Karen ended the call and her phone rang again. This time it was Valerie Morber, the mother of Maddie’s friend Amanda.
“Karen, I just heard from Amanda. She’s been talking to friends asking around about Maddie. Are you home? We want to help.”
As word spread, Karen received more calls, then suddenly she and Tyler were hugged by Mary Ling and Sarah Ramirez, her coworkers.
“We came as soon as we heard from Bill at the store,” Sarah said.
“More people are coming,” Mary said. “Sidra and Latonya are at the copy shop. They’re downloading the missing notice to make posters. We’ll put them up everywhere in the neighborhood. We’ll do whatever it takes to find her.”
Karen thanked them and through her tears she now counted six police cars parked on the street in front of their house. Ryan was nearby huddled with police officers, neighbors and people Karen didn’t recognize.
I hope he called his brother. Maddie’s life is at stake. We need help.
* * *
“You’re not listening to me Officer Greer.” Ryan struggled to keep himself together. “You have to work with our carrier to track Maddie’s phone, find out who she talked to last. And you’ve got to talk to our babysitter, Crystal Hedrick. I’m certain she had her boyfriend over here last night, and I don’t trust that guy. He may have come back. His name is Zach somebody. Why aren’t you questioning him? We’re losing time here!”
Police radios crackled.
The eyes of the officers who encircled Ryan went to him, then to Greer. Greer reached for the microphone clipped to his shoulder, confirmed a message to his dispatcher, then nodded to Ryan.
“Mr. Lane, we’re bringing in more expertise and resources to help us on all fronts.” Greer was calm, respectful. “And I can assure you, we’ve sent officers to Crystal Hedrick’s residence to obtain a statement from her.”
“What about Zach?”
“We’ll confirm his whereabouts as part of the investigation.”
�
�Okay, that’s good.” Ryan indicated the woods behind their house. “Did the dog pick up anything yet? Shouldn’t you have more people in there?”
“We have to let the K-9 team do their work first. We’re requesting the county’s helicopter, and we’ll get drones up.”
Ryan was nodding as Greer continued.
“We’ve circulated our missing person alert online for Maddison, we’re about to launch a canvass here and we’re preparing to issue an Amber Alert.” Greer raised his chin beyond the half-dozen officers. “Excuse me, and you are?”
“Chuck Field,” the first man said. “This is Red Baldwin and Phil Demarco. We work with Ryan.”
Ryan was happy to see them. Chuck was his right-hand man.
“We came as soon as we could. We’re here to help,” Chuck said. “And don’t worry about the job we’re on, or the business. We’ll help you here and take care of work, so don’t worry.”
Ryan nodded his thanks, then Greer’s attention shifted to the five other men from the neighborhood who’d joined the group. Two stepped forward to make introductions. The first was Ryan’s neighbor Judd Salter, a retired armored car driver who headed the local neighborhood crime watch group. The other man, Angelo Darnado, who Ryan didn’t know, was from the neighborhood association. Salter and Darnado identified the others as members of neighborhood groups.
“Ryan, we just heard and our prayers are with you and Karen.” Salter gripped Ryan’s shoulder then turned to Greer. “Sir, we’ve been alerted about Maddison’s disappearance and we’re standing by to activate our call out and help.”
“Thank you. Here’s what’s going to happen,” Greer said. “Our people will knock on doors in a canvass and check for residential security cameras. Mr. Salter, can you get your people to get neighbors in the surrounding area to check their property for anything that might help. Do you have forms?”
“We do.”
“All right, all of this must be logged and recorded with names, times, dates and turned over to us. Remember to show your crime watch identification.”
“We’ll get on it.”