Abduction (41 page)

Zoe nodded,
finding it easier than trying to talk. Her throat still felt raw, and it hurt
even to think about speaking. It was worse when she tried to swallow.

“I just wanted
to check in on you. Every time I’ve been in to see you, you’ve been asleep. I
brought you some flowers.”

Zoe squeezed
his hand in acknowledgment. “Go. Mom. . . needs you.”

Keyes nodded
and stood up. “She wants to come in today and see for herself that you’re on
the mend.” He reached over and kissed her on the forehead. “I love you, kiddo.”

She nodded,
swallowing gently and flinching at the pain. Closing her eyes, she heard her
father slip out of the room and the door click shut. Her mom was safe.
Unharmed. That news made everything else worthwhile. So what if she couldn’t
swallow without flinching? So what if she sounded like a frog when she talked?
Her mom was alive. That was all that mattered.

Zoe couldn’t
remember anything after the rope had tightened around her neck except for a few
faint echoes of voices around her, urgent and authoritative.

There was a
light. . . .

Suddenly it
was a vibrant memory. Her heart soared as she recalled the sensation. He’d been
there with her. God had been right there, holding her through the whole thing.
And oh, how He loved her! Even as Ted Matthews was trying to kill her, God had
been right there holding her in His arms.

Ted
Matthews.
The name sent shivers down her back. She couldn’t believe it when
she saw his face. He looked nothing like the police sketch her mother had
helped with. Either he’d been wearing a disguise, or he hadn’t been the man who
was in the store that day, spooking her mother.

She’d met him
just once as she was leaving Rene’s house. He was coming back from work and
Rene had introduced them. Her only impression of him had been that of an
arrogant, rude man. She’d never suspected the evil that lurked beneath the
surface.

Did he get
away? Did they kill him? Will he live to terrorize again?

“You’re
supposed to be resting, but from the look on your face, you’re too busy
worrying about something.”

Zoe’s eyes
opened as JJ walked over to her bed. He shoved his hands in his pockets and
looked at everything but her. “Matthews?” she rasped harshly.

He glanced at
her quickly and then away. “He’s alive. Paralyzed. He’ll spend the rest of his
life in a wheelchair. In prison.”

Relief came
cool and sweet. “Thank. . .you.”

“You don’t
have to thank me,” he replied. “If I’d been any kind of detective, he never
would have gotten that close to you.”

She shook her
head, reaching for his hand. He ignored her attempt, keeping his hands safely
in his pockets. Her hand dropped and she frowned. “Not. . .your. . .fault.”

“And pigs fly
with purple wings.” He snorted with derision. “He played me like a child,
running me all over creation, chasing one lead after another, and he was right
there under my nose the whole time, laughing at me.”

“Mom. . .me. .
.alive. You did. . .that. You won.”

JJ yanked his
hand out of his pocket, grabbed a chair, and slid it over close to the bed. He
dropped down in it like a sack of flour. “I didn’t find Jessica Matthews. I
didn’t figure out the truth about Ted Matthews. What kind of cop does that make
me?”

“Human.” She
reached out again. He was too close to avoid her touch this time. Her fingers
curled around his wrist. “You didn’t. . . give up.”

“No. I
couldn’t do that.”

“How. . .did
you. . .find me?”

JJ rolled his eyes. “Of all the questions in the
world, why that one?”

The corners of
her mouth lifted in a smile as she waited for his answer.

“Okay. Believe
it or not. God. I know—sounds crazy. But I was at the end of my rope. I told
Him if He’d help me find you, then I would never deny Him again. He kept His
promise, so I’m keeping mine, even though it sounds about as wacky as it can
get.”

“Not. .
.wacky.” She swallowed carefully. “How?”

JJ gazed at
his hands. “I was looking at a map and thinking about what Matthews told you.
About where Gina was buried. I made everyone turn around. On the way back past
the cabin, I saw the storm cellar door open. I knew it wasn’t that way
earlier.”

Zoe closed her
eyes.
Thank You, Lord.

“It wasn’t
like with Macy. I mean, you weren’t.”

She opened her
eyes and gazed at him, watching the emotions war in his eyes.

“You were
right. Macy did look at me like I was some superhero. I needed her to. You said
something to Matt that first day I met you—about how he needed women to stroke
his ego. Macy did that for me.

“I didn’t take her instincts seriously. She kept
telling me that she felt like she was being stalked, and I blew off her fears
as nonsense.”

“Because a
superhero. . .would have known. . .before she did.”

JJ glanced
over at her, a wry smile twisting his lips. “Something like that.” He took a
deep breath. “And then there you were, defying me at every turn, turning my ego
inside out and upside down, and laughing at me all at the same time.”

“Not. . .at
you.”

“
At
me.
I was making a fool out of myself with all that macho garbage and you knew it.
Then suddenly you were being stalked and it wasn’t your imagination and I
couldn’t blow it off. And you wouldn’t look at me like a superhero. You turned
around and taunted Matthews and I wanted to strangle you.”

“Because you.
. .didn’t know. . .if you could. . .protect me.”

He nodded.
“Yeah.”

“But. . .you
did. You’re a. . .good cop, JJ. Just have to. . .be you.”

“I’m not sure
I know who I am.”

“When you
figure it. . .out, let me know.”

He smiled
again. “Somehow I think you already know and I’m the only one who doesn’t.”

Zoe closed her
eyes as his voice drifted over her. Her throat hurt worse. She’d talked too
much.

The sound of
chair legs scraping against the floor made her open her eyes again. JJ was
standing up.

“I’ve stayed
too long. You need your rest. I just wanted to check in and see that you were
okay.”

“I’m. . .okay.
Thanks to. . .you.”

He frowned at
her again and she smiled up at him.
Typical male. If he doesn’t control the
situation, he pouts like a child. Get used to it, JJ. I think God’s getting
ready to take over your life.

“I’d best be
going. I’ll. . .um. . .check in on you again.”

She nodded.
“You’d. . .better.”

She saw it
then—just a glimmer of a smile in his eyes as he turned and walked toward the
door. He pulled the door open, stopped, and looked at her. “I think I like you
this way.”

Rather than
asking, she tilted her head and let her eyes ask.

He grinned at
her. “Unable to talk.” Then he hurried out the door, letting it close behind
him before she could retort. Or find something to throw at him.

#

Donnie Bevere
stepped off the plane at Dulles International Airport and walked with Fleming
to the baggage claim. After picking up their bags, they separated with few
words and grabbed their respective cabs home.

Donnie didn’t
talk much about his private life with Fleming or anyone else at work. He
preferred not to bring his work home, and his home wasn’t something he wanted
to share at work. Keeping them separate kept him sane.

Somewhere
along the line, he had given his coworkers the impression that he dated a
different woman every night and never took any of them seriously. He didn’t
know how or why they’d gotten that impression, but they had him tagged as a
womanizer.

He never
bothered to dispel that notion. It amused him.

The cab pulled
up in front of the little cookie-cutter house, and he climbed out after paying the
driver. Lugging his suitcase up the front walk, Donnie Bevere smiled. The grass
needed to be mowed, the hedges needed to be trimmed, and the kid next door had
left his football in the front yard again.

Donnie set
down his suitcase, picked up the football, and tossed it back over the fence.
It was good to be home.

He pulled out
his keys and opened the front door.

“Daddy!”

A blond
dervish came at him full bore. He dropped his suitcase, grabbed the whirlwind,
and tossed her high into the air. “Hey, darlin’. Miss me?”

“Yep!” She
nodded vigorously, her blond curls bobbing around her face.

“Where’s your
mom?”

“Right here.”
Her voice was soft and warm and wrapped itself around him. He turned, setting
his daughter on his hip while reaching for his wife.

“I missed you
like crazy.” He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. “And how is my
son?”

She rubbed a
hand over her swollen belly and laughed. “Kicking up a storm. Mandy was never
this active.”

“She waited
until she was here to raise a ruckus.”

“Truth.”

He set Mandy
down and the three-year-old went running off. He wrapped both arms around
Lisbeth and brought his nose down to hers. “Guess what I did.”

“Uh-oh,” she
replied with a cautious laugh. “There’s no telling when it comes to you. What
did you do?”

“Helped a guy
get engaged.”

Lisbeth tossed
back her head and laughed brightly. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me there’s another
woman out there who got the full-page ad and silver platter routine!”

chapter
35

Monday, May 15

K
a
ren hesitated at the polished oak door, wanting to
be anywhere but here. Cold sweat trickled down her sides as she clutched her
purse in her hands and tried to take deep, calming breaths.

“It’ll be
okay,” Rene assured her, reaching out to squeeze Karen’s hand.

“I’m not so
sure, Rene. How do I look him in the face?”

“You don’t
have to. Look at the judge. At the district attorney. At me. You don’t have to
look at him. Karen, you don’t even have to be here.”

“Yes, I do.”

Someone
brushed past them, opening the door and hurrying inside. Rene pushed her
forward. “Come on. It’s almost time.”

Karen felt
like she was dragging concrete blocks by her ankles as she entered the
courtroom and followed Rene to a front-row seat. She wanted to scream at Rene
to take her to the back row. Or back home.

Suddenly she
was sitting and a guard was rolling Ted into the courtroom. She slowly lifted
her eyes to look at him, holding her breath. His hands were cuffed and lying in
his lap. He was thinner, almost gaunt, his hair curling wildly. He wore an
orange county prison jumpsuit but held his head high, as if he were entering
the courtroom wearing one of his Brooks Brothers’ suits.

His eyes
caught hers, and she felt her breath leave her in a rush, as if he’d reached
out and punched her in the chest. His lips curled in a sneer, and then he
looked back at the guard.

“All stand.”

All but Ted came to their feet in a rustle of
movement and hushed whispers. “The Honorable Willard T. Hooper, now presiding.”

Out of the
corner of her eye, Karen studied Ted sitting next to his attorney. He seemed so
confident. So assured. A condescending
smile
on his face, he seemed amused to be playing yet another round
of his
sick game.

Suddenly the
district attorney was standing and addressing the judge. Karen pulled her eyes
away to listen to him.

“Yes, your
Honor. An agreement was reached.”

Agreement? Karen felt a cold chill. She reached
for Rene’s hand.

The judge
fiddled with his glasses as he shuffled the papers in front of him. Then he
looked down at Ted. “Does your client understand the terms of this plea
bargain, Mr. Trump?”

Ted’s attorney
stood up. “He does, your Honor.”

“And he’s in
total agreement?”

“Yes, your
Honor.”

Karen’s eyes
darted from one man to another, trying to understand what was happening. He was
supposed to go to trial. He was supposed to be found guilty. He was supposed to
be sent to prison for the rest of his life. What was going on?

The judge nodded to the district attorney. “Let’s
get on with it,
then.”

The district
attorney lifted a document in his hands. “The
County
of Monroe hereby charges the defendant, Theodore
Matthew
Bateman, also known as
Edward Matthews, with twenty-seven counts of the kidnapping of a minor and
premeditated murder.”

“How does your client plead?” The judge turned to
Ted’s attorney.

“Guilty, your
Honor.”

Karen felt her
heart lurch in her throat. He was pleading guilty?
He was admitting it? What had she expected? That he would some-how
manage to convince everyone that it was a big mistake? That he hadn’t really
done all those terrible things? Maybe that’s exactly what she wanted him to
say. Perhaps, somewhere deep in her heart, she wanted to hear him say that he
hadn’t done all those things. Hadn’t killed. Hadn’t lied.

“Mr. Matthews,
in exchange for a life sentence with no chance of parole, you have agreed to
plead guilty and to answer certain questions put to you by this court. Do you
understand this?”

Ted looked
almost bored as he replied, “Yes, your Honor.”

“You may
proceed, Counselor.”

The district
attorney turned to Ted. “Did you conspire with one Maryanne Bubeck to kidnap
and sell your daughter, Jessica Matthews, to an adoption attorney for the
purpose of putting the child up for adoption without the knowledge or consent
of the mother of said child, Karen Matthews?”