The Summit (21 page)

Ben studied her with his tawny dark eyes. “There's something going on between us, Autumn. You must feel it, too. I don't want you to run from me again.”

Her heart was pounding. She had never known sex could be the way it was with Ben. But there was a lot more to consider than the incredible physical attraction the two of them seemed to share. Ben was beginning to sound like he wanted a relationship and that was never going to happen. They were completely unsuited. She could never be enough for a man like Ben and she didn't even want to try. She opened her mouth to tell him that when his cell phone started to ring.

Ben flipped it open. “McKenzie.”

She couldn't hear the conversation on the other end of the line, but Ben was nodding and he seemed relieved.

“We'll be there in twenty minutes.” He slipped the phone closed and looked at her.

“Riker?”

“Yeah. There's a coffee shop downtown. He'll meet us there in twenty minutes.”

Autumn was on her feet in an instant, grabbing their near-empty coffee cups and heading down to the galley, picking up her purse and making her way to the big glass salon door leading out to the deck. They left the boat, hurried along the dock, then climbed the stairway leading up to where the shiny red Jeep was parked. Twenty minutes later, they walked into the Seaside Café near the ferry boat landing.

It was eleven o'clock. Most of the breakfast traffic was gone and it was still too early for the lunch crowd, so it wasn't too busy. In a booth at the rear of the café, Autumn spotted a dark-haired man, slightly balding, wearing a navy-blue windbreaker and a pair of khaki slacks. He was sitting by himself and there was something in the set of his jaw, the way he seemed to notice everything and everyone around him, that made him stand out from the other few patrons in the café.

“Riker?” Ben asked as they approached.

He stood up from his seat in the pink vinyl booth. “Burt Riker. I take it you're Ben McKenzie.”

“That's right and this is Autumn Sommers.”

One of his dark eyebrows went up at the name and Autumn smiled. “That's
Sommers
with an
O,
” she said.

She slid into the opposite side of the booth, leaving room for Ben, who slid in beside her. Riker sat back down and Ben pushed the two manila folders he was carrying across the table. Riker pulled a pair of reading glasses out of his jacket pocket and slipped them on, then began to peruse the information in the files. When the waitress arrived to refill Riker's cup, Ben ordered coffee for himself and Autumn.

It was nearly twenty minutes later when the profiler finally looked up. While he read, neither Autumn or Ben had said a word.

Riker fixed his attention on Ben. “Your friend, Lee Walker, asked me to talk to you as a personal favor. He didn't say much, just that you have information you can't verify but you believe may be valid. He said I probably didn't want to know where you got the leads you're following, so I won't ask.”

Autumn felt a faint jolt of relief. No questions about the dreams. One less problem they would have to deal with.

“Assuming the data we've collected is correct,” Ben said, “what can you tell us?”

Riker tapped the file. “According to the information in your folder, the UnSub—that's the term we use for an unknown subject—is blond, fair, late thirties to mid-forties, weight one-hundred sixty to one-hundred eighty pounds.”

“That's right.”

“From the first sketch and your notes, he seems to be a harmless-looking fellow, fairly average. The later sketch gives him a harder appearance, but for the most part his ability to blend in is part of his protection. On the other hand, from the way you believe the abducted child was lured into his car, we can assume the man can be charming. He was able to win the child's trust in a very short time—though there is a chance he had already started to develop that trust at an earlier point in time. Maybe he spoke to her at school or somewhere else.”

“Recently my ex-wife remembered him approaching her and Molly in front of the sporting-goods store before Molly was taken.”

Riker nodded. “He may have talked to her at other times as well. Molly was abducted on a weekday after school. The UnSub likely knew her schedule. He had been stalking her, figuring out the best time to take her without getting caught.”

“So he did his homework.”

The profiler gave a nod. “This is not an impulsive individual.” He sipped his coffee, set the mug back down on the table. “You believe the girl is currently living with two other women, both of them blond like Molly, so the UnSub's choice wasn't random. He wanted a child with his own fair coloring. It's possible he wanted a girl who appeared to be a child of his own blood, but odds are he is also somewhat of a racist.”

“You mean he's some kind of white supremist?” Ben asked.

“Not necessarily a member of an organization but a person of that mentality. There's an encounter described in your notes where the UnSub interacts with the women in his familial group. It says they seemed frightened of him. That's because he's extremely controlling, particularly with women.”

“A male chauvinist,” Autumn said.

“Carried to the extreme,” said Riker. “He doesn't like losing control and he doesn't like disobedience—real or imagined. He will likely become angry or sullen, determined to retaliate by punishing the offender. He rules with an iron hand, but not unfairly. These women are afraid of him, but they are also in awe of him. Women in general are probably attracted to him.”

Autumn glanced at Ben. His eyes were hard, his jaw clenched.

“From the plain sort of clothes the women were wearing in the encounter, I'd say he's socially avoidant, an introvert. He keeps pretty much to himself and he expects his family to do the same. Whatever work he does probably involves cash payments and is something he can do on his own, perhaps in his own home.”

“What else can you tell us?” Ben asked.

“We know the UnSub has three women in his familial group. The oldest is close enough to his own age that we can assume she was wooed into joining him, not forced. There's a chance he took the fifteen-year-old and got away with it. He took Molly and got away with it. He's arrogant—thinks he's smarter than everyone else. Molly's six years older now, close to her teens, heading into womanhood. There's a chance he'll try to abduct another young child to add to the family unit.”

Autumn glanced at Ben. There was a look of controlled fury on his face unlike anything she had seen.

Riker tapped the file. “That is, assuming the information in this file is correct,” he added.

“You've left out one piece of pertinent information,”

Ben said softly. “Do you think Molly and the other girl are being sexually abused?”

Riker leaned back in his seat. “It might seem the obvious conclusion, but I don't think there's enough information in these files to say for sure. It appears the UnSub has some kind of Godfather complex. I think he wants this family he's constructed to see him that way. Whether that involves sex with the younger girls is difficult to say.”

Riker closed the file and shoved it back to Ben. “Whatever's going on here, I wish you luck. In the meantime, if I can keep a copy of the latest sketch, I'll have it run through the National Pedophile Registry. If we get a match, I'll let you know.”

“Thank you.”

Riker slid out of the booth and so did Autumn and Ben.

“I appreciate your time,” Ben said.

Riker looked him straight in the face. “Walker told me the girl is your daughter. I know how hard it must be for you to be objective but you need to do your best.”

It was a subtle warning for Ben not to let his hopes get too high, especially since the information he was using might be completely erroneous. He was right and it made Autumn's stomach tighten.

Ben stretched out a hand. “Thanks again.”

Riker completed the handshake. “You come up with some kind of tangible proof, you call me.”

“I'll do that,” Ben said. Autumn heard the bell chime as Riker walked out and the door closed behind him.

Standing next to her, Ben blew out a breath. “That was even worse than I thought.”

Autumn swallowed against the lump beginning to build in her throat. Everything Riker had said seemed to hold a kernel of truth. If the blond man was anything like the man the profiler described, he was a monster.

And they were no closer to finding him than they had been before.

T
hey got back to Seattle early in the afternoon. Ben returned to his apartment to change then went down to his office while Autumn went to work at the gym.

She had phoned Josh last night and asked him to take her morning session, then moved a couple of private lessons to later in the day. She walked into the climbing gym and headed straight for Josh, who was working with Ned, Autumn's first private lesson of the day. She reminded herself to stay focused, that she was being paid to do a job.

It wasn't that easy to do. She knew the toll the profiler's words had taken on Ben. He'd been worried before. Now that he knew the sort of man they were dealing with, he was hanging on to his control by a thread.

“I swear if we find this guy,” he had said on the trip home, “I'm going to tear him to pieces.”

“We're making progress, Ben. You have to believe that. You've got to stay focused on finding Molly.”

His jaw tightened. “I know.”

But again, they were running out of leads. Flyers and e-mails containing the blond man's sketch had been sent to classic car clubs across the country. A number of calls had come in describing men who looked like the man in the sketch, but Pete Rossi's follow-up had led nowhere. Maybe Riker's search of the pedophile registry would turn up something. As Autumn watched Ned skillfully climbing the wall, she said a silent prayer that it would be so.

“He's getting really good, isn't he?” Josh stood next to her on the mat in front of the wall. He was belaying Ned, since the guy was so big. Autumn could do it, but Josh was heavier, more Ned's weight, which made it far easier and he was already there working out on the wall.

“He's got incredible talent.” Autumn admired Ned's grace of movement as he reached the top of the wall. His red tank top stuck to his broad back, which glistened with persperation. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, then made his way carefully back down the wall.

“You did great,” Autumn said when he reached the bottom. “Now take that bundle of rope, loop it over your shoulder and do it again.”

Ned just grinned. The bundle weighed twenty-five pounds. For traditional climbing, the total weight of rope and equipment could weigh as much as fifty. Since she was so small Autumn used the very lightest gear, which for some reason always seemed to cost the most.

She watched Ned start his assent, silver earrings glittering, dark, muscular legs moving with dancer-like rhythm, using hand and finger jams in the man-made cracks in the pseudo-granite face of the wall. He hauled his big, lean-muscled body upward, clinging to the wall like a fly on a window pane, and she found herself thinking of Ben, who was also amazingly good for an inexperienced climber.

“Ned and I are going up to the mountains this weekend,” Josh said, breaking into her thoughts, his legs braced apart in case Ned lost his footing. “Courtney too. Why don't you come along?”

Autumn cocked an eyebrow in his direction. “I heard you and Courtney were dating. I like her. She's a great girl, Josh.”

He smiled in a way that made him appear almost shy. “Yeah, Court's a lot of fun. Good climber too.”

Ned reached the top of the wall and started back down, taking his time, making each step count. He was determined to learn. No shortcuts for Ned.

Autumn understood. She had been that way herself.

“So you want to come along?” Josh repeated.

“I wish I could, Josh. I really do, but I'm kind of busy right now.”

“Yeah…You know, I didn't think I was going to like him…Ben, I mean. But I do.”

Autumn had felt the same way. “I like him, too,” she said, trying to keep erotic images of last night out of her head.

Josh continued, “But he's still Ben McKenzie. When he's working out in the gym, women come up with all kinds of excuses just to talk to him. He runs in the fast lane, Autumn. You're not like that. I'm afraid you're gonna get hurt.”

Her stomach started churning. She was rarely in the gym at the same time as Ben, but she could still remember Terri drooling over him, calling him
the hunk.

“I know you're right. It's just…”

“Yeah, I know. Sometimes we're just attracted to the wrong people.”

He was talking about Terri. He was dating Courtney Roland but Terri was the one he truly wanted. Or at least believed he did.

She thought of Ben. She hadn't been up to his office since the day she'd been firmly escorted out. She wasn't sure she would be welcome there and even if she was, she didn't really want to see him.

Josh's words had crystallized the thoughts rolling round in her mind. She needed to keep her head where Ben McKenzie was concerned. Still, she wasn't ready to give him up—not yet.

As Terri had said, she deserved a little fun. Why not have it with Ben?

Autumn ignored the little voice that called her ten kinds of a fool and went back to working on the wall with Ned.

 

By the time Ben finished at the office, it was dark. Jenn and the rest of his staff had gone home at least two hours ago. He'd had a lot of catching up to do after being away nearly two days and he still wasn't quite done. Because he was staying with Autumn, before he'd gone to work he had stopped at his apartment to change and pick up clean clothes. Now it was getting late and he didn't want Autumn to have to wait up for him.

Autumn.
Ben almost smiled. She was the best thing that had happened to him in years. And the worst. The pain and heartbreak her dreams had forced to the surface made each day more difficult than the last. She had given him hope that Molly was alive, that his little girl was out there waiting for him to find her.

But what if she wasn't? What if all of this was for nothing? What if she was alive and they couldn't find her? She would remain as lost to him as she had been since the day she disappeared.

Just thinking of what Molly might be suffering made his insides clench into a knot.

He took a deep breath and pictured Autumn's face in his mind. Whenever he felt the lowest, he would see her sweet smile and beautiful tilted cat-eyes.

He was falling for her, he knew. It was the worst thing that could possibly happen, but he couldn't seem to help himself. Christ, he had no idea where her dreams might lead. Molly might be long dead, just as the police believed, and all of this just a series of crazy coincidences.

But Ben no longer believed that. Somewhere along the way, he had become convinced that his little girl was alive and he was desperate to find her. Molly had to come first. He didn't have time for a woman in his life right now.

And yet there she was, irrevocably in the middle,
Autumn,
the only person who could help him find his daughter.

Ben sighed as he walked along the sidewalk in the darkness on his way to Autumn's apartment. It was Friday night and Seattle was coming to life. He could hear the faint notes of jazz coming from one of the clubs. Laughter bubbled from a group of young women in very short skirts standing outside the neon-lit doorway. As he crossed the street, he caught a glimpse of a departing ferry's lights on the water in the bay.

On a normal Friday before all of this had begun, he would be out till late with whichever woman he was seeing that night. Afterward, he would take her back to his penthouse where they would probably have sex, then he would take her home.

He didn't like to wake up with a woman in the morning. There was nothing to say that hadn't been said the night before and he had too much work to do.

At least he had felt that way until he'd met Autumn. In the past few weeks, he had come to realize how much he missed the pleasures of an evening at home and the joy of waking up with a woman you cared about snuggled in your arms.

He had been that kind of man once. He had loved being married, loved being a husband and father. After losing Molly, all of that had changed.

Maybe thinking of his daughter had stirred old memories. Or maybe it was just Autumn. Whatever it was, it was frightening and wonderful at the same time. If only he had time to explore his feelings, to find out if there was something there they could build on.

He couldn't. Not until they found Molly.

If
they found her, he thought darkly and pushed the buzzer in the lobby of Autumn's apartment building.

 

Autumn was sitting at the table in the small dining area when the doorbell rang. Ben had called earlier, so she knew he was going to be late. He was always thoughtful that way.

“Hey, baby,” he said as she pulled open the door. Leaning down, he pressed a soft kiss on her lips and a charge of sexual heat went through her.

It was insane. It was only a simple kiss.

“Tough day?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Ben set his overnight bag on the floor. “Mostly I worked on getting that A-1 lease deal stopped.” Ben reached out and caught her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed her palm. A sizzle of electricity zipped through her. “How about you?”

She tried to pull her hand away but he wouldn't let go so she gave in and let him lead her back over to the dining table. Several pages out of her yellow legal pad were spread across the top.

“I spent the evening going over the lists of places I might have seen the blond man.”

“Since you didn't call, I gather it didn't work.”

“No, but…” Autumn grinned. “I came up with this fabulous idea.”

One of his eyebrows arched. “Which is..?”

“We hire a hypnotist. We get someone to put me in a hypnotic trance and maybe I'll remember where I saw him. I've seen it done on the cop shows on TV and it works like a charm.”

“Unfortunately, this isn't TV.”

“I know, but it's worth a try, don't you think?”

Ben pondered the notion. “Might just be. I'll put Jennifer to work on it Monday.”

“Too late. I've got a guy lined up to come over at eleven in the morning. Tomorrow's Saturday. You don't have to go to work. I was thinking you could be here to listen in case I said something important.”

“I was planning to go into the office…”

“It might work, Ben.”

He smiled. “I suppose work can wait. If you're game, we'll see what you come up with.”

They talked a bit about the idea of using hypnotism as a memory stimulus, but as time passed the conversation grew more and more stilted and the looks that passed between them, more and more heated.

Ben stood up. “I think it's time we went to bed.” He reached out, caught her hand and urged her to her feet. Autumn made a funny little squeak as he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

They made love as passionately as they had on the boat and after the second time, Autumn drifted into a deep, trouble-free sleep.

 

Autumn's eyes popped open and she snapped bolt upright, her heart hammering madly from the shock of her latest dream. The clock on the nightstand read two forty-five a.m.

“Oh, God, Ben!”

He reached over and clicked on the lamp next to the bed. They were using a small tape recorder now and it sat on the nightstand. The morning after, they transcribed whatever new information, if any, Autumn had received.

Ben reached for the palm-sized machine and turned it on. “Slow down. Tell me what you saw.”

“I—I can't believe it. It was just…just like Riker said.” She looked up at him. “There's another little girl, Ben. She's there in the house with the others.”

Ben frowned. “It's pretty coincidental, don't you think, that you would dream about another little girl right after you talked to Riker. Are you sure this didn't happen because he mentioned it, put the thought into your mind? The power of suggestion can be extremely strong.”

She raked back her heavy auburn curls with a shaky hand. “I don't know, I…I don't think so, but maybe…” She looked up at him. “Until the very end, it was just like the other dreams. The women were in the kitchen cooking supper. Then the blond man walked in. The conversation was exactly the same until they started to sit down at the table and the man asked where Mary was.”

“Mary? That was the little girl's name?”

She nodded. “He was talking to the older woman—the one he calls Rachael. Then he said, ‘Rachael, where's Mary?'”

“What did Rachael say?” Ben asked softly, the tape whirring quietly in the background.

“Rachael said Mary was being punished, she wasn't going to get any supper until she learned to answer to the name she had been given.”

“So Mary's not her real name, just like with Molly. How old was she?”

“I think…somewhere between five and seven. She looks just like Molly when she was that same age.”

“What happened next?”

Autumn closed her eyes and allowed the dream to resurface in her mind. “The little girl walked from the other room to the kitchen door. She stopped and the blond man stood up. He said he would deal with Mary. That she was old enough for a visit to his workshop in the garage. That's when I woke up.”