The First Victim (17 page)

As Bailey sped toward the Cartridges’ house, his mind raced faster than his car. Anna didn’t fit The Baby Doll Strangler’s preferred victim. Her pink hair and multiple piercings would make her transformation into a doll a challenge. Maybe that would work in the spunky kid’s favor. Maybe he’d wait longer to kill her. Bailey was hopeful there would be enough time to save Anna.

Kicking up a spray of dust and gravel, Bailey squealed to a halt in the driveway of the dilapidated cottage. Had it only been a couple of days since he’d dropped her off from the Wrights’ house, waiting to make sure she’d gotten inside safely before he’d driven away?

Kitty Cartridge stumbled through the front door wearing nothing but a silk robe, her near nakedness reminding him of how Emily had voiced her long-held jealousy the night before.

For a moment the memory of Emily writhing beneath him distracted him from the job at hand. Forcing away the image, he attempted to tamp down his physical reaction as he climbed out of his car. He was here to find out what had happened to Anna, not relive his night of passion with Emily.

Reeking of stale beer and fresh cigarette smoke, Kitty was no help when it came to discerning what had happened to her only child. All she contributed was that she and Anna had had a fight the night before. She was clinging to the hope that the argument had resulted in her daughter running away. Bailey hoped she was right, but sincerely doubted it.

He hadn’t gotten much out of her before he got the call that another teenager, Amanda Pinsky, had been reported missing.

“Does Anna know an Amanda?” Bailey asked.

Kitty shook her head.

“You’re sure?”

The distraught woman nodded. “She does know a Mandy though.”

Not for the first time Bailey wondered how smart-as-a-whip Anna could have sprung from the likes of Kitty Cartridge’s gene pool. Long ago he’d decided that she’d inherited her brains from her father…whoever he was. “Amanda Pinsky is missing too.”

That bit of information pushed the hysterical mother over the edge. She let out a scream and then fainted, crumpling to the ground.

After barking orders to the deputy on scene at the Pinsky residence, Bailey picked up Kitty. As he strode toward her house, the woman draped limply in his arms, he heard a vehicle approaching. He turned in time to see it was Chase.

Sliding out of the vehicle the FBI agent looked relieved to see that the deputy wasn’t holding Anna’s lifeless body.

“Kitty Cartridge, Anna’s mom,” Bailey said. “She passed out. Can you get the door for me?” He tilted his head in the direction of the house.

“Sure.” He hurried ahead to open the door.

They walked into a cluttered living room. Celebrity magazines littered every flat surface in the room except the floor. Chase swept the pile on the couch out of the way so that the unconscious woman could be laid down.

“Where is everybody?”

“We’re only a five-person department, Chase. Well, five, plus the dispatcher Williams. With my dad dead, we’re down to four. I sent Deputy Rodriguez to the Pinsky girl’s place and I came here. I called the off-duty officers and they’re on their way. I’ve got calls in to a couple local towns, asking to borrow some of their manpower. Sebastian went to the other house?”

“Uh huh.”

“Has he ever done this before? Taken two at once?”

“No. Did you know all three girls sit with Laurie Wright at lunch?”

Bailey spiked a hand through his hair, signaling his frustration. “The other times, the other girls, did you ever find a connection between them?”

“Besides they lived in the same town? Never.”

“Christ. What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know. Mind if I take a look around?”

“Please. Kitty said that she and Anna had a fight last night, and Anna went to bed early. When she didn’t show up at the breakfast table her mother went to wake her, that’s when she found out she hadn’t slept in her bed.”

“So we have no idea when she disappeared?”

“It’s an awfully big window. Sometime between eight last night and seven this morning.”

Glancing down at the woman on the couch, Chase asked, “She say what they fought about?”

“Nope.”

The two men explored the small house, trying to get a sense of what had happened. While it was messy, there was no evidence a struggle had taken place. The last room they entered was the girl’s room.

As he’d witnessed many times over the years, it was a direct contrast to the rest of the house. Teenagers’ rooms usually were. But this one was different. It was, by far, the neatest space. Everything had its place. He wouldn’t have been surprised to find that a girl with strange hair and piercings had a black bedroom, but he was shocked to find that this one was pink. Not the shocking pink of her hair, but a pretty pastel. Not outrageous, not little-girl, just…classy. The whole room was classy. Soft pink walls, all the furniture painted white and a collection of framed nature photographs, mostly orchids and butterflies, lining the walls.

“Does Anna have a sister?” Chase asked.

“No. Only child.” Looking around, he let out a low whistle. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Me neither.”

Chase looked at a certificate pinned to the bulletin board over the desk. “Says here she’s an honor student. I don’t get it. She’s a smart girl, savvy too from the little I saw of her at the Wright house, she wouldn’t have been lured away easily. Is there a dad in the picture?”

“Never.”

“Anna!” Her mother’s distressed cry echoed through the house.

Bailey spun on his heel, heading toward her. Chase followed.

Bailey was speaking before Chase even entered the room. “Kitty, we need to know what you and Anna fought about last night.”

Tears rolling down her cheeks, she asked, “Who’s he?”

“Special Agent Chase Morgan, ma’am. I’m with the FBI.” Handing her a box of tissues he’d picked up on the way through the house, he gave her his best reassuring smile. “Can you please tell us what you and your daughter argued about?”

“Emily Wright.”

Her answer caught both men off guard. They exchanged a quick look. Chase nodded at Bailey, indicating he should be the one to continue questioning the mother.

“I don’t understand. Why did you argue about Emily?”

“She’s been all Anna’s talked about since she got back to town. Laurie’s sister this and Laurie’s sister that. Blah. Blah. Blah.”

“And that bothered you?”

“Of course it bothered me!”

Bailey sat down on the couch beside the woman. “You know I can be as thick as a brick sometimes, Kitty. Spell it out for me.”

Kitty looked away as she began to systematically shred the tissue she held. “It’s nothing. Just a stupid mother-daughter fight.”

Bailey didn’t believe that for a second. It made no sense that this woman would be jealous of Emily Wright. Something deeper was going on.

“Why aren’t you out looking for my baby girl? Isn’t that what you get paid for?” She poked at his chest to illustrate her point.

The change in the woman’s attitude, from distraught to aggressive, definitely signaled that she was hiding something, but he didn’t know what. Hopefully Emily herself might be able to shed some light on this particular mystery.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chase jerk his head to the side, indicating that Bailey should meet him outside.

As he walked out of the messy house, he promised, “I’ll be right back, Kitty.”

Once they were outside, Chase headed for his borrowed vehicle. Bailey fell into step beside him. “Is she always like that?”

“Hysterical or hungover?” Having done a good job appearing empathetic moments earlier, Bailey now didn’t bother to disguise his disdain for Anna’s mother. “She’s been known to close the town bar, and has always had a flair for the dramatic.”

“Do you mind staying here for a while to see if you can get anything else out of her?”

Shrugging, Bailey muttered, “It’s my job.”

“Something bothering you?”

“I’m worried about Emily…about the Wright sisters.”

Opening the vehicle’s door, Chase eyed him thoughtfully. “They’re fine. I left them at The Garden Gate with Mark Castle. He promised to keep an eye on them. Anything you can find out that will help us find Anna will help us protect the Wright girls. We’ve been trying to find the files from Emily’s abduction, but so far, no luck.”

“I’ll have Sheila, the department’s administrative assistant, track them down…oh crap! It won’t help, the old station burned to the ground ten years ago. Everything was lost.” He glanced over at the pink curtain fluttering out of Anna’s room. “But my dad kept personal journals. He wrote in them every night when he got home from work. There might be something in them that would help. With everything that’s going on, I won’t have time to go through them, but I can dig them up.”

“That would be great.”

A beat-up sedan pulled into the driveway. The sun bouncing off the dirty windshield prevented them from seeing the driver.

“That’s Kitty’s car,” Bailey said. “Maybe Anna took it for a joy ride?”

That brief spark of hope fizzled as a man got out from behind the steering wheel. “Morning, Bailey!”

Bailey waved a greeting at the newcomer, while whispering to Chase, “Evan Swann.”

“The kid who found Emily when she was trying to escape from her kidnapper?”

Bailey nodded curtly. “One and the same.”

“Everything okay?” Concern creased Evan Swann’s forehead. “How’s Emily holding up?”

The question seemed to come out of nowhere. Bailey tensed, suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to grab Evan by the collar and shake him. Come to think of it, Evan had been asking about Emily ever since he’d returned to town. “She’s fine. Why do you ask?”

“This whole thing’s gotta be tough on her. Traumatic for anyone, but for her…being back here…”

A tension-laden silence hung heavy in the air in the wake of his unspoken words.

Bailey tried to decide whether his suspicious reaction to Evan Swann’s question was justified. After all, he was officially investigating a crime, but on the other hand he’d spent the night with Emily in his arms.

He knew from his training that it wasn’t uncommon for a perpetrator to try to insert himself into an investigation. As far as he knew, Evan hadn’t been involved with the other cases, but it certainly seemed suspicious that he’d shown up now.

“What are you doing here, Evan?”

Hearing the suspicion in the deputy’s voice, Swann’s eyes narrowed. “Kitty had a little too much to drink at The Golden Goose last night, so I took her keys, and gave her a lift home. Figured I’d drop her car off.” As he spoke, he switched his attention to Chase, staring at him with undisguised curiosity. He extended his hand. “Evan Swann.”

“Special Agent Chase Morgan.”

“Ah, from the FBI? I’d heard you were in town.”

“Kitty’s daughter, Anna is missing.”

Bailey knew that Chase intentionally delivered the news swiftly and without preface so that they could observe Evan’s reaction.

Swallowing convulsively, the other man rocked back on his heels as though the news was a physical blow. He looked to Bailey for confirmation. The deputy nodded.

“Oh God, that’s awful.” A tremulous note snaked its way through his words, revealing the depth of his reaction. “Anna…”

“Did you see her last night?” Chase asked.

“Kitty?”

“Anna.”

Swann shook his head. “No. It was late. Very late. Last call’s at eleven, so it was probably almost midnight by the time I brought Kitty home.”

“Did anything seem out of sorts?”

“Nothing that I noticed. I mean, it was dark. There wasn’t too much to see. You don’t think…oh God, you don’t think whoever killed that poor girl… Do you think he’s got Anna?”

“I’m going to head out,” Chase interrupted. “If you can drop off that information…”

“Will do,” Bailey pledged.

Evan broke the silence as they watched the FBI agent drive away. “Do you have any leads? Any idea where Anna might be?”

There was no mistaking the panic in his voice. Something about it put Bailey further on edge.

“Do you know Anna?”

Evan nodded.

“I didn’t know you and Kitty are…close.”

The other man cast a furtive glance in the direction of the Cartridge house and seemed to choose his next words carefully. “Kitty hates my guts, but…”

“But you’re still driving her car home for her?”

Evan looked away. “It’s not what you think, Bailey.”

“Tell me what I think, Evan.”

“Bailey?” Kitty called from the doorway of her home. “I thought of something!”

Both men hurried toward her, Bailey offering a silent prayer that what she was about to tell them would be a real break in the case.

Emily sat in Mark Castle’s private living room at the rear of The Garden Gate. Unlike the Wright house, very little about these living quarters had changed over the years. She found the familiar surroundings comforting. A lifetime’s worth of photographs of Ginny lined the walls.

Laurie wandered around the room examining them. Pointing to one she asked, “Is this you?”

Emily glanced up from the laptop she had balanced on her lap. She’d been trying to get some work done on the Armstrong account while waiting to hear from Agent Morgan or Bailey about Anna’s abduction. She hadn’t accomplished anything, but the fact that she appeared to be busy had seemed to calm both Laurie and Mark Castle. Both of them had hovered at first, driving her crazy, so she’d muttered something about having work to do.

Emily squinted at the image Laurie was studying. “Yes. That’s us at The Strawberry Festival.”

“And that’s Mom?”

“Uh huh.”

“She looks so young.”

“She was. I’m only nine or ten there, so in that picture she’s probably the same age I am now.”

Laurie swiveled her head in Emily’s direction. “You look older.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Either ignoring, or ignorant of her sister’s sarcasm, Laurie looked back at the photograph. “She looks happy.” There was no mistaking the wonder in the girl’s tone, like she’d never before seen her mother happy.

“It was a good day,” Emily said quietly. She closed her eyes to better recall the day. The Strawberry Festival was held every June. She remembered the sun beating down on them as they bent in the strawberry field, picking the sweet and juicy fruit off the plants. More of the berries had been popped into their mouths than plopped into their baskets. She smiled as she remembered both her mother and Mark Castle warning her and Ginny that they were going to make themselves sick.

They hadn’t gotten sick, not even when Mark had bought them cotton candy, not even when they’d gone on the tilt-a-whirl, screaming and giggling their delight. The picture had been taken at the end of the day, just after Mark had won the blue ribbon for Best Pie and her mother had claimed first runner-up.

It had been a great day for everyone, but that wasn’t why Val Wright looked so happy in the picture. She wasn’t smiling for the camera. She was smiling at the man holding it, the man she’d loved, Mark Castle.

Funny how Emily had never realized that until now. Maybe she hadn’t been able to recognize someone in love until she was in love herself. That idea startled her. Was she in love with Bailey? Sure she’d had a girlhood crush on him, and yes, she still found him to be the sexiest man she’d ever known, but could it be she was in love with him? Long ago she’d decided that love wasn’t in the cards for her. It was the reason she was so married to her career.

The idea that a man could be as important to her as her company was surprising to say the least, but the idea that the man was Bailey made perfect sense.

Mark Castle cleared his throat from where he stood in the doorway, jolting Emily out of her newfound awareness. He smiled at her kindly. “You look so much like her.”

Emily blinked. “Really?”

“Absolutely.”

“What about me?” Laurie asked curiously.

“You’re prettier,” Mark replied without hesitation.

The young girl blushed. “Really?”

Mark looked to Emily to back him up.

“Absolutely, Laurie. Your smile is open, inviting the whole world in. Mom was always more…reserved.”

“Even before you were kidnapped?”

The guileless question caught Emily off guard. She blinked, unsure of how to answer.

Mark beat a polite but hasty retreat, leaving the sisters alone.

“You know about that?”

“You’re kind of an urban legend around here,” Laurie confessed. “Or as Anna calls it, a suburban legend.”

Emily smiled. Of course Anna would make that distinction.
Please, God, let Bailey find her unharmed.
“Did Mom ever talk to you about it?”

“She said that’s why you never come home. She always said it wasn’t because of m-me.” The younger girl’s breath hitched. Her whole body shuddered.

Emily squeezed her tight. “She was right. I’ve avoided this place because of the memories, but you should know that
you
are the reason I came back.”

“R-really?” The doubt in her sister’s voice was enough to break her heart.

“Shhh…shhh…” Emily soothed. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”

She hated how easily the lie rolled off her tongue.

A knock on the door startled them both. Mark Castle stuck his head in. “Sorry to interrupt. Agent Morgan is back. He’d like to talk to you.”

Jumping to her feet, Laurie asked, “Did he find Anna?”

The hopeful note in her voice grated against Emily’s nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard.

“I’m afraid not, sweetheart.”

Deflated, Laurie sank back down on the couch.

Mark looked to Emily. “Okay if I send him in?”

She nodded, wrapping an arm around her sister’s shoulders, and hugging her tightly. Not wanting to offer the poor girl any more false hope, she stayed silent.

Both girls watched the doorway as Chase Morgan limped in. “Hi. I was hoping to ask you a few questions if that would be okay.”

Mark, hovering behind him, nodded his encouragement.

“Of course.” Emily did her best to sound as though she wanted to be helpful. In reality it was taking a great deal of self-control to even stay in the room.

Chase focused on Laurie and smiled kindly. “Anna’s mother says that she and Anna had a fight last night. Do you have any idea what it was about?”

Shaking her head, Laurie said, “She and her mom are
always
fighting. That’s why she spends so much time at my house.”

Emily wondered why Kitty hadn’t told the FBI agent what the subject of their argument had been. Morgan’s gaze slid to her, and she stiffened reflexively. His eyes narrowed as he registered her reaction. He returned his attention to her sister.

“I need to talk to Emily alone for a little while, Laurie.”

All too eager to escape, the teenager bolted from the room. Mark followed more sedately.

“I know this is going to be difficult for you, Emily.” Chase spoke quietly as though he was afraid of spooking her.

Calm, cool and collected. Calm, cool and collected.
“Whatever it takes to help find Anna.” She sounded a lot more convincing than she felt.

His gaze slid over Emily’s shoulder. He nodded a greeting to whoever stood behind her in the doorway.

Twisting in her seat she found Bailey sticking his head in. Just the sight of him sent her heartbeat into overdrive. Tension coiled in her gut the moment he smiled at her. After all, it was the first time she’d seen him since he’d stolen out of her bed like a thief in the night.
Calm, cool and collected. Calm, cool and collected.

“Can I interrupt for a minute?” He looked to Emily for permission.

“Come in.” Despite the fact she was royally pissed at Bailey for his little love-’em-and-leave-’em act, any distraction from her conversation with the FBI agent would be a relief.

“Can I talk to you for a sec, Em?” Bailey asked.

Before she could answer, Chase was getting to his feet. “I’ve got to move around and stretch this hip of mine.” He limped toward the door. “I’m going to head outside and get some fresh air.”

The pressure in Emily’s chest increased as she realized she was about to be alone with Bailey. She hadn’t truly acknowledged how much his middle-of-the-night desertion had hurt until now.

He waited until Chase was out of sight before saying, “Are you alright?”

She didn’t even think about it. She just lashed out. “Gee, Deputy, are you asking me as someone involved in a crime you’re investigating, or as the easy lay you couldn’t bother to have the Morning After talk with?”

Bailey jerked his head back as though he’d been slapped. “That’s not fair.”

She shrugged. Life wasn’t fair.

“Em.” The hurt in his voice grated on her raw nerves.

She flinched, as he closed the distance between them with a few steps, not because she was afraid he’d hurt her, but because she was afraid he’d get too close.

“You were sleeping so soundly—”

“You didn’t even leave a note!” Shoving at his chest, she whirled away, not trusting herself to look him in the eye and not lose her mind. “And you left us defenseless. My door wasn’t locked. You turned off the alarm.”

Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her lightly. “You really think I’d do that?”

She leaned forward to pull free of his grasp. “Let me go.”

“Not until you listen to some sense. I was going to leave you a note. I left the room to look for paper, but then I ran into Laurie. I’m guessing she forgot to mention that little detail.”

She stopped trying to pull away.

“I made sure that she armed the alarm as I left. I didn’t leave you vulnerable, Em. I would never do that.”

“I thought…”

“You thought what? That you’re just an easy lay?”

It was her turn to recoil as her words boomeranged back at her.

Tugging gently he pulled her so that her head flopped back against his chest. “Last night meant everything to me, Em. You mean everything.”

Closing her eyes, she let his words drift over her like healing balm.

“Always jumping to crazy conclusions.” His voice rumbled deep in his chest, the vibration traveling through her back.

“It sorta made sense.” Even to her, the defense sounded weak.

“Only because you tend to believe the worst about people.” His breath ruffled the top of her head, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine. “Lucky for you, I’m the forgiving sort.”

“Lucky for me.”

Funny, she hadn’t felt lucky these past few days. Even now she wasn’t feeling particularly fortunate. It would be a hell of a lot easier to leave Lakeside Acres believing that Bailey O’Neil was an inconsiderate ass. Now she knew last night hadn’t been a tawdry one-night stand. It had been special.

“I’ve got to go. I’ve got work to do.” Gently he spun her around, and cupped her face in his hands. Leaning forward he brushed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss. He nuzzled his way up her cheek to her ear. “You were amazing last night.”

“Made you some lunch, Bail—” Mark Castle stopped short as he caught the two of them in the intimate pose.

They sprang apart like guilty teenagers. Emily’s cheeks burned.

“Whoops, sorry!” Mark didn’t look contrite. His wide smile indicated he was pleased as punch. “Anyway, I know you’re busy, running around like crazy, but you’ve got to keep up your strength. Here you go.” He offered a paper bag.

“Thanks, Mark.” Taking the meal sack, Bailey glanced back at Emily. “I’ll be back to check on you later. Stay out of trouble.”

She watched him leave, wishing he didn’t have to.

“You’re nothing like her.”

She swung her attention to Ginny’s dad. “Excuse me?”

“You look so much like your mother that I assumed you were just like her, but you’re not. You are so much stronger and braver. Willing to take risks…”

Emily felt a pang of sympathy for the man she’d always loved like a father.

He shook his head as though to rid himself of his what-could-have-been thoughts. “I am so proud of you, Emily.”

The simple words of praise, a sentiment her own father had never expressed, squeezed her heart. A painful lump rose in her chest and she was helpless to stop the waterworks. Tears streaming down her face, she threw herself at Mark.

“Shh…” he soothed, hugging her tightly. “Shh…you’ll scare Laurie.”

Recognizing the wisdom in his words, her breath caught on a hiccupping sob. “S-sorry.”

Keeping one arm wrapped around her shoulders as support, he used his other hand to stroke her hair. “No need to apologize, sweetheart. Any other time I’d tell you to let it all out, but I don’t think I could handle a pair of weeping sisters.”

“Why didn’t she leave him?” Why hadn’t her mother just divorced her father and made a happy life with this man who’d loved her so?

She felt Mark tense, and she worried she’d overstepped her bounds. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”

She pulled away, out of the safe cocoon of his embrace. Looking up, she was surprised to find that his face was as wet as her own. Simultaneously they both moved to dash away their tears.

“No, you have the right to know. I asked your mother to leave him. I begged her, but she refused.”

“Why?”

“He had too much leverage against her.”

“What kind of leverage?”

His smile, while sad, was kind. “You.”

She blinked. “Me?”

“He threatened to take you from her. Said he had all kinds of professional friends who’d testify at the drop of a hat that she was an unfit mother.”

“But—” But what? It sounded exactly like the kind of manipulative power play her father would engage in. “I’m sorry.”

Mark shook his head. Using his thumbs, he wiped away her tears in a gesture so tender, she started to cry again. “You were the light of your mother’s life.”

“It didn’t feel that way,” she whispered, ashamed to voice the petty sentiment.

“I know. As much as your mother loved you, she had a hard time showing it. I think it was because she was so afraid he’d steal you from her at any moment.”

Emily nodded. It made a certain, twisted kind of sense. She didn’t agree with the choices her mother had made, but hadn’t she done the same thing with her sister? Hadn’t she been guilty of failing to establish a close relationship with Laurie because she was afraid of what Donald Wright would do? “Then why did she have another kid? Why have Laurie and be tied to him all over again for another eighteen or more years?”

Mark opened his mouth to answer her, but suddenly turned away. He walked over to the bisque doll sitting on the shelf, as though it held the answer. Reaching out with a shaking hand, he straightened her, despite the fact she wasn’t crooked.

Standing behind him, fists clenched at her sides, Emily glared at his back, fed up with being left out of the loop. She clenched her hands tighter and tighter, her fingernails digging into her palms. She barely recognized her own voice when she ground out, “What aren’t you telling me?”