Forgotten Secrets (22 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY

The sheriff’s department buzzed with activity. Thayne could almost feel the anticipation from the investigation team on the other side of his father’s office door while he stared at the phone, willing it to ring. Riley paced the floor, every so often stopping at the shuttered window to peer through the blinds at the sun disappearing below the horizon. Only a small line of bright orange kept the night at bay.

She couldn’t seem to settle anywhere. Thayne’s father had decided to make coffee for the third time since they’d raced into the building with Gram’s sketch pad, Riley’s files, and an unproven theory.

His father opened the door. “Did he call?”

Thayne shook his head. “Not yet.”

“You think there will be a match, though?”

Riley sat on the hard wooden chair across from his father’s desk, her leg bouncing with nerves.

“I always believed the man who took Gina, Madison, and the others fit the profile of a sexual predator. Textbook. They have a type. They abduct, abuse, then murder their victims when they no longer satisfy the urges.” She rubbed her temple. “Now I don’t know what to think.”

Thayne held up the phone with Brian’s photo. “Brian Anderson has a similar look as the girls. He fits.”

She shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. Sexual predators don’t cross genders with their victims. Not ever.”

“I hate to suggest it, but maybe he’s the exception.” Either way, Thayne would love to get the bastard who’d abducted these children alone in a room . . . not for a minute, or even an hour, but long enough so the SOB felt just enough pain he’d regret what he’d done to those kids for the rest of a very short life.

“Maybe,” Riley conceded. “But if Tom gets a hit, it means I’ve been wrong in my profile this entire time.” She gripped Thayne’s arm, her fingernails digging into his flesh. “I’ve been working under a false premise, searching for the wrong guy for years, and these kids paid for it.”

His father, in full sheriff mode, took a seat in the leather chair behind his desk. “How does Cheyenne’s disappearance fit in? Not to mention Brett Riverton?”

The look of distaste on his father’s face at the Riverton name made Thayne grimace. When they found Cheyenne, she had some explaining to do.

“All we’re certain of is that Brian Anderson is the key,” Riley said. “He tried to reach out to us, and we have to be ready when he tries again. Whoever leaked the information about the fingerprint put Brian in real danger, and he may not even know it.”

“So, if your theory is right, somehow we have to find the person who abducted Gina, your sister, and Brian, and then we’ll find Cheyenne?” The sheriff took a long sip of coffee. “I could use a shot of whiskey in this. That guy has been avoiding law enforcement for fifteen years.”

In other words, how the hell were they going to find him now? “But this time, we have an informant,” Thayne said. “This is the first chink in the guy’s armor.”

“Which makes me wonder why,” Riley said softly. “What’s different now?”

The phone’s ringing exploded like a hand grenade on his father’s desk. Thayne punched the speakerphone.

“Deputy Blackwood,” he said, his voice clipped.

“This is SSA Tom Hickok. You requested a search on boys kidnapped matching the general physical description and MO of Madison Lambert?”

“That’s right. Did you find anything?”

“Is Special Agent Lambert with you, Deputy Blackwood?”

“I’m here, Tom,” Riley answered, kneading her pants in a show of nerves.

“I don’t know what made you ask this question, Riley, but I pulled six files. And damn. You’re on to something.”

Riley met Thayne’s gaze and nodded. “We have a thumbprint at a robbery and murder scene belonging to a missing child, Brian Anderson. Is he on your—”

Tom let out a low whistle. “He’s on my list.”

“We also have a witness who placed Brian at the scene of my sister’s abduction,” Thayne added.

“Then why are we just now learning this? Riley, we could’ve run a sketch comparison and probably hit on the identity already. What have you been doing out there, Lambert?”

“Back off, Hickok,” Thayne snapped. He’d had enough of this guy attacking Riley, even if he was her boss. “The witness is my grandmother. She has Alzheimer’s.”

There was silence over the phone.

“Could your grandmother have seen the image somewhere else? A milk carton maybe? Brian’s photo was rotated about a month ago.”

“We have the fingerprint, Tom,” Riley countered. “Brian is AB positive, which matches what was found at the crime scene. And my boss taught me never to believe in coincidences.”

And Riley Lambert for a touchdown.

“I’m not reinstating you,” Tom said, “but you have the support of the unit. We’re on the next plane out if you need us.”

OK, so maybe her boss wasn’t all bad.

“SSA Hickok, this is Sheriff Blackwood. We’d appreciate all the help we can get. And you can consider this an official request.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Tom said. “And Riley, good job.”

Thayne ended the call. Riley stood up. “I guess we have work to do.”

Clutching the thick evidence folder, she strode out of the office, but before Thayne could join her, his father delayed him.

“If we solve this, she may finally learn what happened to her sister, and Carol may finally have closure on Gina,” his father said. “That’s a lot for anyone to handle. Her emotions could get the better of her. Can she do it?”

“She’s stronger than anyone I know,” Thayne said. “She won’t let us down. Besides, we all know failure isn’t an option.”

Riley opened the conference room door and strode in, her mind whirling with terrifying possibilities. Not only for Cheyenne, but for everyone on a list that had nearly doubled from Tom’s phone call.

Deputy Pendergrass acknowledged her with a nod of his head. “We’ve added a panel to the investigation board as requested.”

The door opened, and Thayne walked in with his father.

The room went silent. “We just received word from Special Agent Lambert’s colleagues at the FBI that my daughter’s disappearance is almost certainly connected to a series of abductions going back fifteen years. Including Gina Wallace’s.”

All the local deputies gasped. “Special Agent Lambert and Deputy Blackwood will take point. Riley?”

She opened the file and tacked up a ten-year-old boy’s face along with the official age-progressed rendering. Carefully, Thayne pulled the sketch of Cheyenne’s abduction and Brian from his grandmother’s book. “Gram drew this,” he said.

A low whistle escaped Pendergrass’s lips. “Uncanny. If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it. No offense, Sheriff.”

“We all forget how much she remembers,” Thayne said.

“Who’s the girl?” Underhill asked.

“We think she may be the young woman found on the Rivertons’ property, but we can’t be sure. If you’ll wait a few minutes, I think you’ll understand why,” Thayne said.

Over the next few minutes, Riley and Thayne posted the photos of the abduction victims on the wall-size board, one after the other. The string of images melded together. Side by side, they resembled one another in an uncanny way.

The room went silent.

“It’s creepy how they all look alike,” Pendergrass said.

“And why you can’t identify the girl without DNA,” Underhill said.

Riley nodded.

“Damn,” Agent Nolan said. He passed Thayne another four photos. “These are the boys’ photos that SSA Hickok e-mailed. His unit has gone to interview Brian Anderson’s parents. They’ll head here after they finish.”

Riley faced the room of investigators. “One of Cheyenne Blackwood’s abductors—Brian Anderson—was kidnapped six years ago when he was ten years old. This boy was alive two days ago, which gives us hope we’ll find Cheyenne Blackwood, and maybe some of these other children alive as well.”

“Assuming the same perp kidnapped all of them, why is Brian still alive?” Pendergrass asked.

“Most predators who are attracted to children want to control those who are smaller and weaker than themselves,” Riley said. “Maybe he forced Brian to help lure the others, but now he’s getting too old. Whatever the reason, Brian has reached out to us by leaving that fingerprint. He may know his time is running out.”

Thayne grabbed Post-its, string, and markers. “OK, everybody, we’re putting up a timeline.”

An hour later, a fifteen-year time span emerged.

“Son of a bitch.” Thayne’s father walked over to the image of his first big case. Gina Wallace. He touched her photo. “She really was the first one?”

Riley set down her folder and faced the sheriff. “Agent Nolan searched back another decade from Gina’s abduction. No girls or boys matched the MO. Gina Wallace was from Singing River. Cheyenne’s abduction can’t be a coincidence.”

“Madison Lambert, Riley’s sister, was second,” Thayne said, “less than a month later.”

“I need a map of the United States,” Riley demanded. “To plot the abductions.”

While Deputy Pendergrass gathered the supplies, Thayne motioned to Riley. “I’m calling for a status report on the signs near the Riverton waterfall. Interested?”

“Absolutely.” They slipped out of the room and into the sheriff’s private office. Thayne dialed his brother’s satphone.

A crackling connection buzzed. “What’s up, bro?” Jackson asked.

“I called to ask
you
the same question. Where did the trail lead?”

“It didn’t. I found a few subtle signs, but all traces vanished within a mile. Whoever killed that girl knows these woods better than I do.” Jackson’s voice snapped with obvious frustration. “It’s almost dark now, but I can expand the search in the morning.”

Riley hadn’t expected a trail of bread crumbs, but she couldn’t deny being disappointed. A lot of criminal activity seemed to be centered at the Riverton waterfall.

Thayne met her gaze. “Do it,” they said at the same time.

Jackson chuckled. “Hi, Riley. Glad to see you’re in agreement with my brother. You may want to mark the date in the calendar.”

Thayne spent a few minutes bringing Jackson up to date on the latest news. All in all, a frustrating conversation for everyone. “Before you go, how’s Kade?” Thayne asked.

“Poor guy couldn’t take being inside. Said something about searching for Cheyenne because he owed her. He gave Hudson the slip and disappeared from Fannie’s B and B. I’m keeping an eye out for him, but no telling where he’s headed.”

“If he goes into flashback mode . . .” Thayne frowned. “The last thing we need during our search-and-rescue operations is an unpredictable army ranger in combat mode.”

“Believe me, I’m well aware. He almost turned me into Swiss cheese. I hope a bed opens up at the VA soon.”

“I’m sorry about your friend,” Riley said after Thayne hung up.

“Me, too. I just hope he doesn’t put himself in the middle of something worse. I have to wonder if we won’t end up back in those mountains searching for my sister.”

They left the office and crossed the main room of the sheriff’s department.

“Let me out of here!” Ed shouted through the open door leading to the jail cells. “I see Gina’s picture in there. I know you’ve found something!” He shook the bars, his eyes wild.

Riley paused, her gaze speculative. “Mr. Zalinsky.” She tugged out her notebook. “You knew Gina.”

“Yeah. So. I ain’t changing my story. You ain’t pinning that on me.”

“I understand.” Riley crossed to less than a foot from the bars. “I’ve been reading Gina’s file. You dated Carol around the time of the abduction? Isn’t that correct?”

He flushed. “I kept an eye on her . . . Carol was my girl, before that guy knocked her up.”

“You were stalking her. You have been since you were both in high school. Isn’t that right?”

Ed’s face had turned the color of cooked beets. She’d hit a nerve.

“Stalking implies she didn’t want it,” Ed sneered. “She did then. She still does.”

“She kicked you out. Stay away from her, Ed,” Thayne bit out.

“Ask her,
Deputy.
She’s coming over to bail me out. Should be here any minute.”

Riley grabbed Thayne’s arm. “Let me.” She moved closer to Ed’s cell. “What do you think happened to Carol’s daughter?”

“I bet that drifter who got Carol pregnant took her.”

Riley leaned in closer. “Carol told me last year she didn’t know the father’s identity.”

“Oh, she knew all right. Just didn’t want to say because he up and abandoned her. He met her in Casper, then dropped her off like the slut she is. But he came through town when she was about to pop the kid out. Came back a few years later, too. By then she was too drunk to remember. But I did. I saw him checking her out, checking his kid out. Drove a Cadillac, had real money. Talked to the brat, gave her a stuffed animal or something, then hightailed it out of here.”

“That was years before she was taken.”

“Maybe, but every so often, I’d see a brand-new Caddy drive by her place, hang out on the street.”

“How often would you say he visited?” Riley asked.

“Every year or so, around the girl’s birthday.”

“Did you notice the Cadillac again after Gina disappeared?” she asked, betting she knew the answer.