Profile of Fear: Book Four of the Profile Series (Volume 4) (24 page)

“Of course. I’ll help any way I can. You have to find my girl,” she pleaded. “I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happens to her.”

Though he didn’t answer, Cameron’s expression spoke for him. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to bring Hailey home safely. Nothing.

“There are some things that you can do, Mollie,” said Robynn. “Call and email everyone you know and tell them Hailey is missing. Create missing flyers with her photo and get them posted in the windows of all the local businesses, and use social media to get help finding Hailey. Keep your cell with you at all times, in case Hailey tries to reach you.”

“Thank you. I’ll get started right away.”

“On our end,” Cameron interjected. “We’re issuing a BOLO so that deputies can be on the lookout for the SUV, and for Hailey’s car. We’ll find out if this case meets the criteria for an Amber Alert. I believe it does.”

Robynn and Cameron were heading toward their car when Bryan pulled Cameron aside.

“Are you thinking that the guy who kidnapped Hailey is the same one who abducted Lea Essick and Brandy Murphy?”

“I can’t be sure of that.”

“Bullshit. It’s the same M.O. Both girls were abducted from Sycamore Mall. Brandy Murphy had been missing six months when her body was found, and I performed her autopsy.”

“And Lea is still missing. There’s a good chance she’s still alive. Same goes for Hailey and Niki. It’s too early to play these kinds of guessing games.” Bryan looked so disconsolate that Cameron felt he had to give him some hope, even if it was just a sliver.

“Hailey may not have much time. You have to find her.”

“Doing my best.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Mollie and me,” Bryan began.

“Not my business. Mollie and I were over a long time ago.”

“I love her, Cam. I want to marry her and adopt Hailey.”

“That’s serious.”

“I’ve never been more serious of anything. I want to build a life with them. Hailey has to come home, Cam. She has to.”

Chapter Fifty-two

Three in the morning was Sgt. Cameron Chase’s favorite time for serving a warrant or arresting a subject. Most people were asleep in bed at that hour. Great time for a surprise visit. Unpleasant surprise, but a surprise just the same. It served law enforcement well, and undoubtedly saved many lives. He was banking on the early hour to help them successfully hide his little girl from a maniac.

Standing outside, Cameron could see Kaitlyn with Becca inside the house through a window. Becca was stroking Godiva’s soft fur as Kaitlyn tucked her hair into a baseball cap, and dressed her like a little boy. Kaitlyn decided that Godiva would accompany Becca and stay with her in the safe house. Any precaution, no matter how small, would be taken to ensure the safety of his child. What would he do if anything happened to Becca? It was a question he didn’t even want to consider.

With high-beam flashlights, deputies searched the construction site and the dark wooded areas surrounding the house, their squad cars lining the entry roads on both sides of the property.

The Chase property was blazing with lights, the glittering rotating beacons on top of county deputy cars, and beams from the sheriff’s helicopter looming overhead. Gabe piloted the copter and was using heat-seeking technology. With the thermal imager, his brother had the ability to see a suspect’s body heat, which made it very difficult for a suspect to conceal his position, whether he was hiding inside a structure or outdoors. The circumstances surrounding the break-in convinced them that the perp was watching the house. If they got lucky, they’d find him before he could harm Becca. They were taking no chances.

Four cars were parked in the driveway. The plan was to load three of the cars with toddler-sized dolls, wrapped in blankets, each with an amazing resemblance to Becca. The fourth car would carry Becca to her safe place. Only immediate family members knew which car would contain a small child who had just begun referring to Cameron as ‘Daddy.’

Cameron had accepted offers from both Bryan Pittman and Prosecutor Michael Brandt to use their lake houses as places to hide Becca. Michael and Anne Brandt owned a beautiful A-frame home across the lake from Bryan. With one of her armed family members, Becca would alternate living between the two homes, making her location that much more difficult to find. Gabe had called to report he’d already flown over the two lake homes twice and discovered no activity around either house, other than Bryan’s van parked in his driveway. He was stocking the refrigerator with food and was waiting for them.

Cameron’s cell sounded with a text from Robynn. It was time to move. He sent a text to all the deputies working the property to alert them. After a moment, Brody emerged from the house carrying one of the toddler-sized dolls. He opened the back door of his vehicle and strapped it in a baby car seat. Cameron was amazed at how well his older brother cared for the “baby”. He guessed that caring for two younger brothers gave him some good experience. Brody slipped into the driver seat and drove off the property heading for Tippecanoe County, far from the safe houses. A deputy fell in line behind him.

Next Kaitlyn appeared dragging a small suitcase and holding a doll in her arms, and like Brody, strapped the doll into the back seat. Her destination was a friend’s house in Lebanon where she would spend the day. A deputy would watch the home to see if she’d been followed. Smiling at Cameron, she waved as she started her descent to the highway.

Once Kaitlyn’s car disappeared, Carly came out of the house holding a doll and carrying a diaper bag. Once she had the doll situated in the back seat and had left the property, Cameron went inside the house.

What he saw first made quick tears come to his eyes. Robynn, looking gentle, serene, and beautiful, sat in the family rocking chair holding Becca, who was peacefully asleep on her shoulder. It was a vision of which he had dreamed. The woman he loved holding his child. Cameron was in love with Robynn. It was high time he admitted it to himself. He’d loved her since the first moment he looked into her hunter-green eyes. A man could get lost in those eyes. He had.

“Children absorb the stress around them,” Robynn began. “I think all the activity tonight tuckered this little sweetheart out.”

Cameron crossed the room to Robynn and lightly kissed her on the forehead. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your helping with this.” Kneeling down beside the chair, he softly placed his hand on her arm.

“If it were Ellie in this situation, I have no doubt you’d do the same for me. My little girl is sleeping peacefully in her room at her grandparent’s home. This darling child needs to be in her safe house, tucked in her crib, fast asleep. And I want to be there to help you keep her safe. I’m ready to leave when you are.” Robynn wrapped a soft blue blanket around the little girl and handed her to Cameron. Together they made their way to the car.

Chapter Fifty-three

Carlos was eating breakfast when Juan Ortiz burst through the back door and slammed a newspaper on the table, sloshing hot coffee all over him.

“What the hell?” Carlos leaped to his feet and grabbed a kitchen towel to blot the hot liquid from his shirt and chest.

Glaring at him, Juan barked, “Look at the front page. We’ve got trouble.”

Carlos smoothed out the front page of the newspaper. A photo of the two young girls he held captive in the basement was under the headline: ‘Two More Missing Girls.’ He looked up at Ortiz, who hovered over him with his hands on his hips. “Okay, it’s not the best thing that could happen, but I can handle it.”

“You’re a moron. You couldn’t stick to runaways or new releases from the women’s prison, you had to focus on young women who would be missed. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Now you’ve got every cop in the state looking for these two girls. Everything we’ve built is at risk because of you. I should slit your throat and watch you bleed out on the floor right now.”

“I said I’d handle it.”

“You’ll handle it all right. You’ll kill both of them and leave their bodies where they won’t soon be found. If you draw any suspicion to our businesses, I will personally end your pitiful life. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly.”

The minute Juan Ortiz left, Carlos headed for the stairs to the basement. Lying barely conscious on old mattresses with their legs handcuffed to the floor were Hailey Adams and Niki Smith. They were still sleeping off the latest dose of Rohypnol. It would be hours before they were conscious again.

He shook his head with disappointment. He’d had plans for both girls. Once she was broken in, Niki would be answering ads for escorts that he’d place on Backpage. Hailey was another matter. Carlos had thoughts of keeping Hailey for himself. He didn’t know if it was her close resemblance to his ex, Britta, or her natural wholesomeness, but he’d never met anyone like her. He experienced a protectiveness, foreign to him, about the girl with the long auburn hair and beautiful face. He wanted her for himself, sharing her with no one. He wouldn’t let drugs destroy her as they had Britta.

But things had changed. Ortiz wanted them dead.

Chapter Fifty-four

Robynn sat next to Cameron in the sheriff’s conference room, both working on their laptops. “No activity on Hailey’s credit cards after a couple of small purchases at the mall on Saturday before closing time. Same for Niki.”

Cameron nodded with disappointment as if the information was what he expected. “Just got the girls’ cell phone history, as well as the cell tower report. The last ping from both of their phones was to a cell tower near the Brownsburg Exit on I-74. It looks like one of them or their abductor turned off their cells at that point. They were heading toward Indianapolis.”

“I’ll issue a BOLO to our troopers in Marion County with our girls’ photos.”

Cameron’s cell phone sounded, the display indicated the call was from Carly. “Hey, Carly. Are you and Brody still in Florida?”

“Yes, we’re working on the damage the vandals did to my house down here. Brody and I are so sorry to hear about Hailey. But I have news on that surveillance image that Gabe emailed me.”

“Good news, I hope.”

“I think so. A friend at the Bureau ran it through facial recognition software and got a hit. He’s a low-level criminal named Carlos Rodriguez. He’s served time for meth possession and battery. He also had a prior for promoting prostitution. He was caught selling girls at a truck stop off the I-74 exit in Crawfordsville. Did six months and paid a fine.”

“Nice guy.”

“Oh, it gets better. He’s a known associate of Juan Ortiz. My intelligence is that he runs a con to recruit young girls for Juan’s escort services.”

Cameron shook his head with genuine concern. “That’s what he was doing at the mall. I’d bet anything that the pink flyer he was showing the girls was part of his con to abduct them.”

“I think you’re right, which makes it even more important that we move fast to find them. Get Mr. Rodriguez’s photo to the media. When we find him, we find Hailey and Niki.”

Chapter Fifty-five

Hailey had been awake for at least an hour, but the room spun each time she moved her head. Her mind was fuzzy, and her attempts to move were met with an overpowering weakness in her limbs. Something metallic rubbed against her ankle and trapped her left leg in place. Panic seized her brain like a vise. Where was she?

The only light in the room flickered through a small dirty window from a street light outside. The clammy chill of the air made her shiver. A moldy mustiness in the air turned her stomach. The odor was familiar. The last time she’d smelled it was when she’d helped her mom clean her grandmother’s basement. But this was not her grandmother’s basement.

Pinching her eyelids shut, she struggled to remember how she got to this dark place. She and Niki were at the mall. They were talking with a man who promised them modeling jobs. So exciting. The girls were giggling. They could earn enough money to buy splashy cars, gorgeous clothes, and new houses. They’d fly to exciting new places, far away from their boring hometown. All they had to do…

Her mind flashed ahead. She and Niki were entering the back seat of a new SUV. The man named Carlos, who promised them modeling jobs, was in the driver’s seat, and offered them cold bottles of water. They were both so thirsty. As if hitting a wall, the memories stopped. Where was she?

Hailey heard faint breathing next to her. She turned her head, waited for the room to stop spinning, and then focused on the person beside her. Niki! Hailey tried to call her name, but the words came out slurred. Willing her arm to move, she touched Niki’s hand and tried to speak to her again. But Niki didn’t budge.

The floor creaked with footsteps from the floor above. Soon a door opened and footfalls sounded on the wooden steps. Someone was coming. Angling her head toward the sound, Hailey saw a blurry shadow of a man, but had difficulty focusing. The room was still spinning as the man moved closer to the girls. Hailey bit off the urge to scream. Her arms and legs still too weak to fight, she pretended to sleep. Maybe he would go away if he thought the girls were sleeping.

But he didn’t. He moved so close to her, she could feel his body heat. Her heart froze when he bent down to her.

Slowly, he stroked her hair. “My beautiful Britta. Don’t be afraid. This will soon be over.”

Chapter Fifty-six

Carlos waited until 2:00 a.m. to carry Hailey into the garage and slide her body onto the back seat of his car, next to her friend. Niki was slumped over in the seat, unconscious. Her breathing was so shallow, Hailey had to strain to hear it. Hailey was still pretending to be asleep.

“I know you’re awake, Hailey. Cut the act.” Carlos slammed the back door, rounded the car, and got into the driver’s seat, placing a duffle bag and his handgun in the console. Pressing a button clipped onto the visor, he opened the garage door and backed into the empty street.