Abduction (9 page)

She shook her head. “No. She was a strange one.
Kept to herself. Didn’t have much to do with the neighbors. Rarely had anyone
over.”

Suddenly the
name hit JJ between the eyes. “Wait. Did you say Mary? Not Alice?”

“Mary. Mary
Deere. Leastways that’s the name she gave me. Nervous thing, she was. And rude.
I called to her one afternoon and she just ignored me. Went right on in the
house like I didn’t say a word to her.”

Or because
she didn’t recognize the name.
“Could you tell me what she looked like?”

The woman started pulling off her garden gloves.
“Red hair. Not like Irish red or anything. More dark brown with a lot of red in
it. Don’t know if it was natural or not. Didn’t look it. Tall, real thin.
Skinny almost. Like she didn’t half eat at all. All bones and angles.”

“How old would
you say she was?”

The woman
shrugged. “Mid to late thirties maybe.”

“What about a
husband? Boyfriend? Children?”

She shook her
head. “Nope. Saw one man come and go from time to time, but nothing steady. No
kids. Don’t know that she was ever married. If she was, she didn’t want anyone
to know.”

“Why do you
say that?”

“Got all
uptight when I asked her if she was married. Nervous-like. Snapped at me that
her past was none of my business.”

“Did you ever
see her with a child? Maybe an infant?”

The woman
paused as she twisted the gloves in her hands. “No. Can’t say that I ever did.
Wait. The day before she left, I saw her putting an infant car seat in her car.
But never saw an infant.”

“What about the man who owns this house? Do you know
him?”

“Oh,” she
waved one hand airily. “Harry? Sure I know him. He rents it now that he lives
with his daughter and her husband.”

“Do you know
where that is? I’d like to talk to him.”

“Sure. Let me
get that number for you.”

JJ left Gerry
to collect the information while he and Matt strolled around the house. Looking
through the window, it appeared as if she’d left in a hurry. Good old Harry
would have to clean up the mess she left behind.

Gerry met up
with JJ and Matt in the backyard. “Man, this just does not add up.”

“What
doesn’t?” Matt asked.

“Mrs. Marsh
told me the Matthews’ housekeeper didn’t have a car. She always saw the woman
coming on foot. This woman says that this Mary woman was driving a nice
burgundy Concorde. The descriptions of the woman match. . .”

“But the names
don’t,” JJ interjected. “Gerry, you go talk to the landlord. See what you can
find out and see if he’ll give you the keys. I’d like to take a look inside.
Maybe she left something behind that will give us a clue as to where she went
in such a hurry.”

Nothing in the
house told them where the woman had gone, and one envelope found in the bottom
of the trash can muddied the waters even more. “It’s addressed to a Nancy
Darrington, but at a
different address.
That’s three names now. Will the real name please
stand up?” Gerry
tossed the envelope into a plastic bag and marked it for evidence.

Matt walked
into the room, disgust written all over his face. “Nothing in the bedrooms.”

JJ leaned
against the kitchen counter. Here was a woman who used three different names,
had a key to the Matthews’ home, quit a few days before the child disappeared
from the home, and left no trace of evidence to say where she was headed. She
was described by the neighbor as withdrawn, cautious, nervous, secretive. And
she was seen with a child’s car seat even though she didn’t have a child. It
all added up to one very strong suspect.

JJ pushed off
the counter. “Find this woman.”

“I’ll get
right on it,” Matt assured him.

“And, Matt?
Find her fast.”

Matt nodded.
“I hear ya.”

#

Karen twisted
the tissue in her hands, her head bowed, as Reverend Pollack continued to talk.
His words flitted in and out of her mind, barely registering. It had been a
mistake to come here and impose on his time. She should have realized that he
was a busy man. But he’d been honest with her. He could give her twenty minutes
just before choir practice.

Suddenly his
words hit a chord and she lifted her head.

“They were
already printed before we heard the tragic news, but we will have it in next
week’s bulletin.”

Karen shook
her head as if to clear it. “In the bulletin?”

“For prayer
requests,” he repeated slowly, as if he suddenly realized she wasn’t “all
there.” He lifted his hands with a shrug. “I had hoped to get it in this week,
but. . .”

“Next week,” she parroted. “I can’t let myself
think that Jess might still be missing another week or more. I want her home
now.”

“I’m sure you
do, Mrs. Matthews, but you have to understand the ways of the world. Most
abducted children are never found. That’s just the way it is.”

The anger
she’d been suppressing for days erupted. She jumped to her feet. “I don’t want
to hear about the way it is or statistics or anything except that Jessica will
be returned to me. Alive and whole and in my arms. And I can’t believe I’ve
been attending this church all my life and not one person has bothered to call
and offer help! It took a neighbor that I barely know to show up with prayers
and support! Do you have any idea how sad that is?”

Reverend
Pollack slapped his hands on his desk and used them to push himself to his
feet, his round face turning a bright red that crept right across his bald
head. “I’m sure you’re just upset, but. . .”

Karen snatched
up her purse and rushed out of the office, not stopping until she was out in
the parking lot, ignoring the sideways glances of choir members making their
way into the church. Leaning against the car, she let herself sob.

I’m sorry,
God. I don’t understand where You are in any of this. Where is my daughter? Why
did You take her away?

“Like are you
okay, Mrs. Matthews?”

Karen snapped
her head up to find herself looking at one of the teens who sang in the choir.
“I’m fine, Carolyn. Thanks.”

“I heard about
your little girl. I’m so sorry. I want you to know you’re in my prayers.”

The words pierced her heart with all the accuracy
of a Bowie knife. “Thanks, Carolyn. That means more to me than you could know.”

“I wanted to
call, but. . .I just didn’t know if you’d appreciate strangers calling at a
time like this.”

“You’re not a
stranger, sweetheart. But I appreciate your consideration.”

“If there’s
anything I can do, like. . .will you let me know? I’ve been going to this youth
group meeting over at that new church on Ridley Street, and we were talking
about maybe putting together posters and hanging them up all over town.”

“Jeff and
Rene’s church?”

Carolyn nodded
then looked around cautiously. “Just don’t tell anyone, okay? You know my
family’s been in this church for generations and my mom isn’t thrilled that I
like another church better. Considers it like treason or something.”

Karen smiled
as Carolyn shuffled her feet. “I won’t say a word. I’ve been thinking about
checking out that church myself. Maybe I’ll see you there sometime.”

Carolyn
grinned, her braces flashing with red and black bands. “Great! I gotta go.
Bye.”

“Good-bye,
Carolyn.” Karen turned back to see a news van pull up next to her car. A few
seconds later, a reporter jumped out of the van and ran over.

“Mrs.
Matthews. Can I have a moment of your time?”

#

John
Darrington was at the station less than two hours after Gerry called him. He
was a big man, standing a shade over six feet and weighing at least 260 pounds.
Wearing jeans, work boots, and a light flannel shirt over a T-shirt, he looked
every inch a lumberjack. He said he was a trucker.
Close enough,
JJ
figured.

“She’d been
acting a little strange for awhile,” he told JJ. “But I didn’t figure she’d
just up and run off like that. No telling what could happen to her. She ain’t
capable of taking care of herself.”

She’s been
taking care of herself for the better part of a year,
JJ thought.
And
quite expertly, from the look of things.

“Anyway, I’m
just worried for her. You got any idea which way she went?”

JJ shook his
head. “I’m sorry. She didn’t leave any trail at all. We are trying to find
her.”

“You really
think she took that woman’s baby?”

“We don’t
know, but we do need to find her and talk to her.”

“And you’ll
call me the minute you find her?”

JJ nodded.
“Yes. Of course we will.”

John
Darrington was barely out of the building before Matt asked JJ, “Are you really
going to let him know when we find her?”

“I doubt it. His story of a perfect little
marriage doesn’t ring true. And she seems awfully determined to make sure he
doesn’t find her.”

“You thinking
what I’m thinking?”

“If you’re
thinking abuse, yep.”

“Where does
that take us on the Matthews case?”

“
She’s still our prime suspect. The fact that she’s
hiding from her husband doesn’t mean anything. She still may have taken
Jessica.”

“Miss Shefford
said that the kidnappers were a man
and
a woman. So if this Darrington
woman is our kidnapper, who’s helping her?”

“I don’t know.
Maybe her new boyfriend. Maybe that’s why she left her hubby.”

Matt nodded.
“Good thought.”

JJ stood up
and grabbed his jacket. “Then again, Miss Shefford doesn’t know everything,
does she?”

#

“Mommy! Can
I have a toy?”

He stopped
as the sweet, lilting voice curled through his mind. She was a tiny thing with
light brown hair and big eyes. And those chubby cheeks! How precious she was.

The need,
the hunger, crawled through him, digging into his soul. Not now. This wasn’t a
good place. Too many people.

The need
argued back, arrogant against caution, taunting him with the promise of peace,
contentment. She was so good. So precious. So perfect. To have her was to have
that goodness. To hold that perfection in his hands. In his soul.

“Not today,
Emily.” The mother, pumping gas into her minivan one aisle over, smiled at the
child leaning out the driver’s window. “Saturday we can go to the toy store and
buy you a doll. Okay?”

“How many
days is that?” The child tilted her head up, her eyes narrowed, her face
scrunched tight.

“Two days,
honey. Today is Thursday. Tomorrow is Friday. And the day after that is
Saturday.”

The child dipped her head, staring at her tiny
little hands gripping the edge of the window. Finally, she lifted her head with
a wide smile. “Okay.”

Perfection.

“Now, let’s
hurry, sweetheart. We need to stop at the grocery store on the way home.”

Slowly he
replaced the gas pump and pulled his receipt from the pump. With any luck, the
sweet Emily would be his. The grocery store. He just remembered he needed a few
things. What a coincidence. Obviously, she was meant to be his.

Forever.

Emily.

Can you
hear me coming for you?

#

Zoe looked up from her needlework and stared out
the front window of her living room. There was little to see—a neighbor
clipping hedges along his front walk, a child racing down a driveway on his
tricycle, a gray tabby cat stalking a squirrel in a nearby tree. But her eyes
didn’t see any of those things. They were turned inward. Inward where she could
see Karen Matthews, nervous and distraught, telling her she couldn’t accept
Zoe’s help because it was not of God.

Not of God? Of
course it was. How utterly foolish of the woman. Desperate to find her child
and slapping down the best chance she had of accomplishing that.

Not that Zoe
considered herself infallible, but she knew in her heart that the baby was
still alive, and she was confident that given the opportunity, she could have found
little Jessica.

But she wasn’t given the chance. Zoe sighed.
Suddenly a cold shiver ran down her back. She stiffened as dark shadows began
to swirl in her mind, blocking out all thoughts of Karen Matthews and her
infant daughter. She saw another little girl, laughing at someone. The child
showed no fear, but Zoe felt her heart lurch, desperately wanting to scream
out. To warn the child. Run! Don’t trust him!

Thrusting her
needlework aside, Zoe jumped to her feet and began to pace. He was stalking
another little girl! But this was impossible. She never knew of a child’s
abduction
before
it happened! What was going on? Why was she seeing
this?

#

“I like
cookies. Can I have cookies?”

He felt her
sweet little voice roll through him like warm honey, touching all the black
places in him and making them light. Need curled in his gut, hungry and
demanding. An urge too strong to deny. Too forceful to ignore.

“Just
hurry, Em.” The mother gazed down at her shopping list and then back up at the
shelves, distracted by her price comparisons. Emily skipped off with a wide
smile, her doll tucked under her arm.

He glanced
back at the mother. She was oblivious.

His eyes
took in everything. Stock boy, one customer, two. Then he found what he was
looking for and smiled. So easy. It would be so easy.

And Emily
would be his.

#