Abduction (34 page)

Matt nodded
and hurried out of the room.

Charles
McCaine cleared his throat. “If Mrs. Matthews goes to jail for murder, is there
any chance that we might be able to keep Kaitlyn? I mean, Jessica? I mean,
she’s going to need a home. . . .”

“I wish I
could tell you one way or the other, but the truth is, Karen Matthews has
family: a brother who is married with two little girls. He would probably take
custody of Jessica.”

“Oh.”

The man
sounded so forlorn and his wife looked so miserable that JJ’s heart went out to
them. They’d gone to an attorney in hopes of adopting a child of their own.
After paying over twenty-five thousand dollars in fees, they’d taken home whom
they thought was going to be their daughter.

The door
opened again and Karen Matthews entered, led by Matt and Tripp. Nora McCaine
rose to her feet and slowly, with great hesitation, pulled back the blanket so
Karen could see the child’s face.

Karen stared
at the child, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at Nora, who was
also crying, and then over at Charles McCaine, who looked like he’d just lost
his best friend.

“That’s not
Jessica. Could you take me back to my cell now?”

JJ looked from
her to the child. “Mrs. Matthews, are. . .”

“I said I want
to go back to my cell!” She turned her back on him and walked stiffly to the
door.

#

He crept
closer to the house, staying in the shadows as he moved silently through the
yard. He saw her move past the window in the dining room and stopped. Watched.
He smiled. She didn’t know he was there.

Zoe
Shefford thought she’d outwitted him, but she was so very wrong. He knew all
about the taps on the phone. Expected it, really. He knew about the FBI. Knew
about the bodyguard. Knew she felt relatively safe as long as she stayed in her
house.

She thought
he couldn’t get to her.

She was
wrong.

He eased
along the side of the house until he came to the power lines. Then he pulled a
pair of cutters from under his black sweater and deftly cut the power to the
house.

Instantly
the house plunged into darkness.

He smiled
again.

Fools. They
were all fools. They thought they could outsmart him.

They were
about to find out how wrong they were.

#

“Excuse me.”
JJ jumped up from his chair and strode purposefully toward the door. He looked
over his shoulder at the McCaines. “Stay here just a minute, please.”

He pulled the
door closed behind him and rushed down the hall, catching up to Karen Matthews
as she was being escorted back
to her
holding cell. He grabbed her arm and spun her around. “What
do you think
you’re doing?” he demanded.

The misery in
her eyes was palpable. And it nearly stole JJ’s breath. “I should think it’s
obvious.”

“Well, it’s
not obvious to me. That was your daughter in there, and you just handed your
child over to strangers and walked away.”

“They’re not
strangers to Jessica.”

Her shoulders
slumped, and he realized she’d given up.

“I’m about to
go to prison for a murder I didn’t commit. I have no idea how long I’ll be in
prison, but I imagine it will be a long time. What will happen to my daughter,
Detective?”

“There’s no
guarantee that you’re going to prison. And even if you did, what about your brother?
Why give her to the first people that come along?”

“Those people love Jessica. They’re good people;
bringing Jessica back must have been incredibly difficult for them, but they
did the right thing. That tells me something about them. Jessica has bonded
with them. Should I rip her from the second family she’s bonded with and shove
her into a third?”

JJ didn’t know why it mattered. He’d just spent
weeks looking forward to putting her in jail, and now that the time was here,
he was trying to make her fight back. “I never thought of you as a quitter.”

Karen’s laugh
was brittle and raspy with emotion. “You thought I killed my baby, and then you
thought I killed my husband. No, you didn’t think of me as a quitter. You
thought of me as a murderer and a liar and a despicable human being.”

She turned to
Tripp. “Can we go now?”

JJ stared at
her retreating figure. Then he strode back into the interview room. The three
people sitting around the table lifted their heads and stared at him as he shut
the door.

“For the record, Mrs. Matthews has confirmed that
the child in question is her daughter, Jessica. While she’s straightening out
this mess her husband has gotten her into, she’d like to know if you would be
willing to continue caring for Jessica. She trusts you and believes it would be
best for the child not to be taken away from you at this time.”

Nora closed her eyes and began crying as she
nodded. Her husband stumbled to his feet. “That would not be a problem. We love
Kait. . .Jessica. Anyway, tell Mrs. Matthews that it won’t be a problem.”

Whitlow stood up and began to gather his papers
and shove them back in his briefcase. “On the off chance that Mrs. Matthews is
convicted of this crime, does she intend to stay with this arrangement?”

“I believe she
does.”

Nora looked up
at JJ. “A woman who cares more for the well-being of her child than she does
for her own is not the type of woman who would do the things you’ve accused her
of.”

JJ frowned. “I
know. And for the record, I have my doubts about her guilt.”

#

“She did
what?” Ray stumbled backwards and dropped into one of the vinyl chairs in the
police station’s reception area. He stared at his sister’s attorney. “Why would
she do that? Jess is her life!”

“She said it
would be best for the child not to be moved to another family until all this is
settled.”

Suddenly Ray
understood. “She’s given up. She thinks she’s lost and Ted has won.”

Benson nodded,
his blue eyes unusually dim.

“I want to see
her. I need to talk to her.”

The attorney
shook his head. “It’s too late to see her today. I’ll arrange for you to see
her tomorrow. Go home, and if you’re a praying man, pray for her. First thing
tomorrow morning, I’m going to go talk to the forensic pathologist. I know
they’re backed up down at the morgue because of the serial killer, but maybe we
can push for a positive ID before Karen is formally charged and arraigned.”

“And then she
won’t be. They’ll find out that’s not Ted.”

“If
that’s not Ted, then you’re right. The charges will be dropped unless they have
some reason to believe she killed our John Doe.”

Ray slapped
his thighs and came to his feet. Fatigue cloaked him like a wool blanket, heavy
and thick. “I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Benson.”

“
That’s because you haven’t seen my bill yet.” He
winked, and the
twinkle returned briefly in those deep blue eyes. He
placed a hand on Ray’s shoulder. “Go home, have dinner, get some sleep. Tomorrow
is going to be a long day.”

#

On the way
home, JJ decided to drive by his parents’ house. He had an overwhelming desire
to see them, even if they did drive him crazy. It was almost dinnertime, and no
one could cook like his mother. If he was lucky, she’d be making pot roast with
those little onions and baby carrots.

His mouth
started to water.

He wasn’t
stopping by for that reason though. It was something Zoe had said to him about
his father actually caring, actually loving him. JJ found it hard to believe or
accept. But he had begun to realize that Zoe was right more than she was wrong.
He was learning to take her seriously.

He parked in
the driveway behind his father’s sedan and got out. Music was blaring from a
radio somewhere behind the house, and the front door was wide open.

JJ stepped
into the living room. He could smell chicken baking in the oven, and mixed with
that warm aroma was the distinct scent of cinnamon and apples.
She made
apple dumplings.

“Mom?”

There was no response, but he could hear the sound
of the vacuum from somewhere down the hall. He passed his old bedroom and
stopped to look in. It hadn’t changed a bit since he’d moved out years ago
except that it looked a shade cleaner. His old posters still hung on the wall,
his baseball still sat on the dresser, and his comic books were still stacked
on the bookshelf in the corner. He’d have to go through those one day.
Might
be something of value in that stack.

He continued
down the hall and glanced into his parents’ room. It was empty. He passed the
bathroom and the linen closet, stopping in the doorway of the third bedroom,
which had been his parents’ TV room for as long as he could remember.

This is where they all came to relax after dinner.
His father would watch the news and then
Bonanza
or
Marcus Welby,
M.D.,
while his mother darned socks, embroidered pillows, or crocheted
afghans for every room in the house. JJ would stretch out on that carpet and do
his homework, page through his comics, or read a mystery novel.

“I didn’t hear
you come in, dear.” His mother lifted her cheek for a kiss as she dragged the
vacuum out of the room. A dust cloth was stuffed in the front pocket of her
apron. He wondered if anyone else in the world still wore those bibbed aprons
like his mother.

“Just dropping
by. Where’s Dad?”

“Up on the roof of the garage. Replacing shingles
or something.”

“He should
have called me.”

She whipped
out her dust rag and wiped off the top of the television. “Oh, you know he
won’t bother you with such things. He doesn’t like to take you away from your
work.”

“Or doesn’t
want my help.”

She stopped
wiping and lifted her face to stare at him. “What in heaven’s name would make
you think such a thing, Josiah?”

“He never. . .
Oh, never mind.”

“No, don’t
give me that never mind hogwash. You tell me what has crawled into your mind
and taken root.”

He started to
slip out of the room, only to feel the playful snap of his mother’s dust rag.
“Don’t you go thinking you can ignore me when I’m talking to you. Get in here
and sit down.”

JJ groaned inwardly as he stepped back into the
room. But he didn’t sit down. “Do you realize Dad has never told me that he
loves me?”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Is that all that’s got
you tied in knots?” His mother resumed dusting. “Heavens, he hasn’t told me he
loves me since our wedding day. That’s just the way he is. Emotions don’t come
easy to him. He shows his love. Like when you wanted that bike. Timmy Osborn
got one, and after that, you just had to have one, too.”

She stopped
and looked up at him, hands on her hips. “Your daddy had been saving up for a
new fishing rig. Had his heart set on this fancy rod and reel set. Then one day
he comes home with that bike for you. He never mentioned the rod and reel
again. Do you understand what I’m saying here, Josiah?”

“Yes, ma’am. I
think I do.”

She nodded
with satisfaction. “He’s a good man. A kind man. And he loves you more than
himself. You are his pride and joy, Josiah. Don’t ever doubt that. He busted
two buttons on his shirt the day you made Detective. Pride, Josiah. He’s got
pride in you.”

“I got it,
Mom.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek again.

“Roast chicken
for dinner. And I made apple dumplings. You staying?”

JJ laughed.
“Have you ever known me to turn down your cooking?”

He was almost
out of the room when the dust rag snapped him on the back. He laughed and
continued through the kitchen door to the backyard. A ladder was propped up
against the rear of the garage. JJ shrugged off his suit coat and climbed it.

He found his
father hammering shingles while the radio blasted jazz. His father looked up,
squinting. “Didn’t expect to see you. Got that big case going, don’t you?”

JJ held his
tongue, trying to see beyond the words. “I do and it’s
a tough one. Needed a break. Came by for some of Mom’s cook
ing.”

His father
nodded and set the hammer down. He reached over to lower the volume on the
radio. “Can’t say as I blame you on your momma’s cooking.” He leaned back, one
hand draped over his raised knee. “How’s the case going?”

“Not good.
This guy is slick.”

“You’ll get
him, Son. He’ll make a mistake and you’ll get him. They all do.”

JJ wasn’t sure
what made him decide to test the waters, but he figured it couldn’t make things
worse. “I don’t know, Dad. This is a real hard one. The guy seems to be playing
with us.”

Josiah Sr.,
nodded as he fingered a tear in his old work pants. “Some are right smart, but
don’t underestimate yourself, Josiah. I know what you got in here.” He tapped
his finger on the side of his head. “You’ll figure him out and you’ll get him.”

JJ felt the
words seep into him like warm oil.

“Well, Dad, if
I do catch him, it’s because you taught me well.”

JJ could have
sworn his old man blushed. His dad turned his head and reached for a shingle.
“I gotta get this done. Gonna get dark soon.”

“I’ll give you
a hand.”

“Not in that
fancy suit, you’re not. You go help your momma. I’ll be down shortly.”

JJ was going
to ask what in the world he was supposed to help his mother do but decided to
let it slide.
One step at a time.