Blood Stained (20 page)

She kicked at the door, her hands too cold to rap on it with bare knuckles again. She'd spotted a Walmart in Huntingdon, was half tempted to run over and grab gloves and a warmer coat. Especially as neither the janitor nor the principal were anywhere in sight.

Just as she was trudging back to her car, she spotted someone peering through the windows of the school. From their height, a teenager or short adult. She couldn't tell if they were male or female, not at this distance.

One way to find out. Jenna approached them from the side, staying in the shadows cast by the spotlights arranged around the roof. A girl. Moving from one classroom to the next, shining a flashlight inside as if looking for something.

Or someone. 

Jenna got close enough to grab her. "Mind if I ask what you're looking for?"

The girl yanked her arm free but didn't bolt, although her feet were turned away from Jenna as if she wanted to. "My brother. I thought he might be hiding in there."

"Your brother?"

"He didn't come home from school today. But after what my dad did last night. Well, he loves school, is always saying he wished he could live here…" She trailed off, her gaze locked onto Jenna's badge. "Oh my God! Has something happened to Darrin? Do you know where he is? Please tell me he's okay."

"Come with me." Jenna led the girl back to the Taurus. "What's your brother's name?"

"Darrin. Darrin Harding."

Harding? She knew that name. From the case files. "How old's your brother?"

"Six. He's in second grade."

"Does he know Marty Brady?"

"Yeah. Marty's his best friend." She hesitated as if caught telling a fib. "Actually, Marty's his only friend. Why?"

"Get in the car and give me a minute." Jenna pulled out her phone. Seemed like this end of the valley had the only cell reception. Two bars. Which was good because she sure as hell didn't want to drive around searching for a signal and delay things even more. "Lucy? It's me. I'm at the school. No, haven't had a chance to search it yet. But there's a girl here. Looking for her brother who never came home from school. Marty Brady's best friend. We have two kids missing, not one."

"Who’s the other boy?" Lucy asked.

"Wasn't the whole reason you came to New Hope four years ago was to interview Karen Harding? And her asshole husband threw you out of town? It's her kid. Darrin Harding."

Jenna smiled at Lucy's silence. Nice to know even the superstar FBI agent could be caught by surprise.

"Sonofabitch," Lucy finally said. "I'm on my way."

<><><>

Shadows danced around Darrin down in the pit. Worse than being the target in dodge ball. The light from the little round heater only made them worse. He held his breath and pulled his knees in, not sure which direction the attack would come from.

Marty sat down on Darrin's sleeping bag. "Here. My dad's watch." He pressed his treasure into Darrin's hands. "Look. It glows in the dark."

"Thanks." But that didn't help stop the shadows. "I'm sorry."

"I don't like your big brother," Marty said. "He's mean." He stood and shouted once more into the black, "I want my mommy!"

The echoes rang back down on them like a rain shower, distorting Marty's words into "Iowa salami."

Darrin laughed. "Let me try." He stood beside Marty. "Daffy Duck stinks!"

"Taffy yuck ink," the cave answered back. 

Darrin sat back down on top of something hard and plastic. He grabbed it. The cool crank-it-up flashlight Adam gave him. Soon the pit filled with light. And they saw the other flashlights Adam bought them. The colored LED ones they played tag with earlier, a pink one with a tiny grip that fit Sally's hand, and big ones for Darrin and Marty.

"Maybe he wanted us to figure out we don't need to be afraid of the dark," Darrin said. He handed Marty back his watch.

"I think he's just mean. We need to find a way out of here." Marty explored the pit even though they'd already run around the entire area when they were playing.

Darrin experimented with his light. A shadow lunged from the other side of the ring of stones they'd built the fire in. A bear or a monster? His breath caught. He aimed both lights at it.

Then he laughed. Just Sally rolling over in her sleep. No monsters here.

<><><>

Sheriff Zeller was walking a tightrope that just caught on fire. Lucy felt bad for him, but that was the lot of politicians. He wanted her help—although truth be told, he was doing a fine job with the limited resources he had—but also he needed to keep her name quiet for now, keep the press and public focused on today’s situation, not the one that happened four years ago.

If things went well, he'd be a hero. If they went wrong, he’d let Lucy take the blame.

Lucy understood all of this. It was the way of the world. The path an elected official needed to tread.

She told Zeller about Darrin Harding, knowing she'd just made his already complicated job worse.

"I'll go to the school, review the video tapes and interview the sister," she offered. "But sooner or later, Kurt Harding is going to know I'm here. You remember what happened last time."

Harding had gone over the local officials and used his Washington connections to reach Lucy's boss. He ordered her immediate return to Quantico, despite the fact she used personal leave pursue her theory in New Hope. Harding kicked up such a fuss, the previous sheriff sent a deputy to escort her out of the county.

Until they stumbled upon Adam Caine.

"I remember," Zeller said with a sigh. "Doesn't change the fact that two boys' lives are at stake and we can use all the help we can get. Besides, Karen is going to be devastated and she's a fragile lady to start with. I seem to recall you were the only person able to calm her down last time—Lord knows Kurt can't. We'll just tell him his son's disappearance is so important we called the big guns in right away."

"Good idea. Make it all about him and how important he is. He'll probably enjoy the chance to order me around again."

"I'd like to see him try." Zeller glanced through the window where the snow fell heavier than ever. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was: what were the odds of two six year olds surviving a night in the cold?

"I'll send a deputy with you to the school. Get started there while I head to Harding's and pave the way. Meet you there when you're ready."

"Thanks, Sheriff."

"I'm the one who should be thanking you. If this goes wrong, Harding will have your badge."

<><><>

When Lucy and the deputy arrived at New Hope Elementary, the single-story building was a blaze with lights. The janitor and principal bustled about inside, obviously upset by the sudden turn of events.

"We've never had anything like this happen," the principal kept repeating. 

Lucy sent the deputy and janitor to search the premises while she had the principal check attendance records and gather the security footage.

"My assistant usually takes care of all this," the principal, a forty-ish man named Culpepper, muttered as he leafed through sheets of attendance records. "It will take me a minute."

Lucy resisted the urge to dive into the records herself. "Call your assistant in to help. There are two boys' lives at risk here."

He reached for the phone, grumbling about budget and overtime. Lucy left him to check on Jenna and the girl.

She'd only met Olivia Harding briefly during her last visit to New Hope. Even then the girl's delicate beauty had struck her. Like her mother she had pale skin, dark hair, and large eyes that ranged from blue to violet, depending on the light. Now at sixteen, Olivia hid her good looks beneath layers of black leather, flannel, a bulky hoodie, and clumps of dark eye shadow and mascara. All she accomplished was making herself stand out even more.

Lucy had a sudden sense of
deja vu
. Ashley, the girl she'd saved in September, also tried to hide in plain sight. And failed. Instead attracting the attention of a predator.

Who was Olivia trying so desperately to hide from?

"Do you remember me?" Lucy asked. Jenna sat on a teacher's desk, feet propped up on the desk chair, while Olivia paced.

"Did you find him? Is Darrin okay?"

Lucy shook her head. "We're looking. Searching the school. The security tapes—" She nodded at Jenna, who took the hint and left to cover that angle. "But," Lucy wheeled the teacher's chair for Olivia to sit in before taking a seat beside her in a student's chair, "I'd really like to hear what happened. Tell me everything."

Olivia plopped into the chair, an exhalation escaping from her, and Lucy thought of Megan. Hoped she was still awake by the time Lucy got a moment to call home again. While Olivia adjusted her quilted leather jacket, then twisted the silver rings on each of her ten fingers, she assessed Lucy with a sidelong glance.

"I remember you. You made my mother cry."

"I'm sorry."

"No. It's a good thing. First time I'd ever seen her cry. She hasn't since." Another sigh. "Kinda sleepwalks through life. Pops the pills the shrinks give her and she's gone. I mean, she's there, she's just not there. Know what I mean?"

"I have an idea. Not uncommon after the kind of trauma your mother suffered." Although Karen Harding seemed to be taking it to the extreme. Lucy wondered what else was going on to prevent Karen from healing. "It must be hard on you kids. Especially with your dad away so much of the time."

Now a resentful sniff. "He's gone even when he's here. Sleeping with a girl over in Juniata. A college freshman who was an intern in his office last summer. Gives him an excuse to come home more often, otherwise he'd just stay in DC. Except when he wants to torment us. You'd think a guy who controls millions of dollars and thousands of votes and all those powerful politicians in DC wouldn't need to bully his wife and kids to feel good about himself, wouldn't you?"

"When you say bully—"

"I mean nothing you or the law can do anything about." Disdain colored her tone black. "No marks left for you to photograph or enter into your precious evidence. Nothing you could prove in a court of law." 

"I'm not talking about proof. I'm talking about your little brother. What happened that made you think he ran away from home?" Lucy had a thousand more questions—like why had no adult reported Darrin's absence?—but she let Olivia set the pace.

Olivia shifted in her seat and stared at the far corner of the room where the exit sign glowed bright red. "Sometimes Darrin wets the bed. Only happens when Dad's home. I think he just gets so nervous; he can't stop it. Doesn't help that Dad checks on him before he goes to bed. Says it's to get Darrin up to pee so he won't wet the bed, but I think he wants to find Darrin's already had an accident. Usually I try to sneak in before Dad gets there, just in case, but last night I fell asleep." Her gaze shifted down to her feet. She knocked the heel of one boot against the toe of the other.

"So your dad found Darrin had an accident?"

Olivia nodded, a tight jerk of her chin all the way down to her collar and back again. "Made him get up, take the sheets off the bed, then marched him downstairs. Yelled at him, sent him to the basement. Darrin hates the basement. Scares the crap out of him, all dark and spooky. Then locked him in."

It felt like Olivia had more to say. But before she could, Jenna ran into the room. "Got them!"

"You found him?" Olivia bounded to her feet.

"No. But I know when they left and where they were headed." Jenna led them back to the office where she had the security footage up on a computer monitor. "He and Marty. They left together, see here." She pointed to two small boys on the screen. They were out at the bus pickup point, then both turned together and ran off the screen. 

"That's 2:47. Then you can see them again here at 2:52." Now the camera caught the backs of the two boys on the edge of the screen as they ran through a snow-covered field.

"Where's that second camera?" Lucy asked the principal who'd joined them.

"The teacher's parking lot. They're headed across the playing field."

"And where does that lead?"

"Into the woods," Olivia said. She collapsed into a kneeling position, hands clutching the corner of the desk, as she stared at the last sighting of her little brother. "Those woods go on for miles. There's no way we'll ever find them. Not in this weather. Not alive."

Chapter 21

Lucy left Jenna coordinating search and rescue efforts at the school while she drove Olivia home. Now that they knew the two boys left of their own accord, their high-risk missing persons response moved into a whole new direction. One that required boots on the ground as fast as possible.

They still needed to interview the boys' teacher and classmates, see if they gave any hint of their destination. Lucy would start with Darrin's family, then work her way down the list the principal provided. It was going to be a long night, but hopefully the boys left enough of a trail.

Lucy was relieved. Usually her job meant racing to expose a predator, her wits deciding a child's fate. This time she was just a grunt doing legwork while the local SAR experts battled the weather. And time, their constant enemy.

"You think he'll be okay, right?" Olivia asked as they navigated the long, winding drive up to the Harding house. "I mean, he's with Marty. Marty's real smart. His dad was in the Army, took him camping and stuff."

"We're doing everything we can. Sounds like Darrin and Marty make a good team."

"Yeah. They watch out for each other. Darrin's kinda quiet and shy, but he's a good kid. Doesn't say a lot, but pays attention to everything. And reads. He'll read anything he can get his hands on. But sometimes he lives too much in a fantasy world. Like he's trying to escape reality." She blew out her breath. "Like Mom. He even made up a new imaginary friend. A big brother to take care of him. Guess that doesn't say too much about me. I should've stuck up for him more."

"You did the best you could." Lucy wanted to say that it was the adults who should have protected Darrin, but since it sounded like they were the problem, she kept quiet. "After this is over, is there anyone you could stay with? Maybe give your mom and dad some time?"