Authors: Alexa Grace
"Where are we? What are you doing?" she whispered.
Lane shushed her and pulled a credit card out of his wallet. He slid it against the inside of the doorframe and the door opened. Pulling her inside, he shut the door and turned on a small lamp.
"I don't believe what you just did. Talk about not following the rules."
"Not now."
Curious she watched him move around the room lifting sofa cushions, fanning magazines and thumbing through what looked like textbooks. "Lane, now would be a good time to tell me where we are and why."
He took her by the hand and led her to the sofa. He sat down beside her. "Will you promise me you'll stay calm and professional?"
"Yes, I promise."
"This is Ally Black's apartment. She shared it with a roommate. When I came here the other day, I bumped into a pregnant girl on the stairs who appeared to be in a hurry. One of the neighbors said the girl was Ally's roommate and she left in a blue Honda Civic like your uncle said Jennifer drives. The girl looked like Jennifer. I've never met her so I can't be sure. I thought I might find something here that identifies Jennifer as the woman living here with Ally."
"But you said Ally Black lived in the apartments where all the other pregnant girls live who are giving their babies up for adoptions — the apartment house that Dr. Caine owns." Then it hit her. Jennifer is pregnant. If she lives here, she must be involved with the adoption agency. No, she can't be thinking of giving her baby to him. "Lane, if it's Jennifer who lives here and has done something to cross Dr. Caine, he or David Chambers will kill her."
"We don't know for sure Jennifer lives here. Help me find something that we know belongs to her."
Frankie jumped to her feet. "I'll take her bedroom."
"Down the hall. It's the first room on the right."
Frankie entered her room and turned on a small lamp near the bed. She opened the first drawer of the dresser. It was filled with bikini panties and bras. The next drawer contained folded sweaters and shirts. There was nothing but clothing in the remaining drawers. Frankie hadn't seen Jennifer for months. She wouldn't be able to identify her clothing, especially since she probably was wearing maternity clothes.
She slid the closet door open and peered inside. The closet was filled with not only pregnancy clothing but regular clothes too. She spied something on the closet floor that made a chill slide up her spine. She lifted a pink leather jewelry case and carried it to the bed where she held it on her lap. She ran her hand over the top where there was scrollwork on the leather in gold. What were the chances this belonged to someone else? On Christmas day when she was sixteen, her grandmother had given as gifts a pink leather jewelry case to each of her granddaughters, including Jennifer. It was identical to this one. She slowly pushed open the lid. Inside a tiny plastic ballerina sprang to life and twirled as the song played. Lying on the top shelf was an engraved silver bracelet that bore Jennifer's name. Frankie had a matching bracelet.
With a heavy heart she carried the case to the kitchen where she found Lane. "Jennifer Brennan lives here."
For the fifth time, Jennifer jumped as high as she could but she could not reach the basement windows in her room. The glass was frosted with a swirly design that kept her from seeing the outside. If only she could find something to stand on. She looked at the bed and realized it was bolted to the floor.
Why on earth had Dr. Caine done this? How could she have so badly misjudged the man? And why in the hell was he keeping her captive? It made no sense. She hadn't done anything to him except tell him that one of his employees may have harmed his patient. Why wouldn't he want to know?
She sat back down on the bed. Maybe that was a very stupid question. Could he
and
David have done something to Ally Black? She leaned back on her pillow as she considered the question and heard a crackle as she moved. She patted her jean pocket then pulled out the piece of newspaper on which she'd written the directions to the doctor's house. She opened the paper to the directions. Then she turned it over. In the center of the piece of paper was a photograph of Ally Black. Under the photo were the words "Girl's Body Found in Woods".
Lane found Jennifer's laptop under a pile of books on a chair in the living room. He put it on the kitchen counter next to the jewelry case Frankie found. After they scoured Jennifer's apartment looking for clues for another hour, they drove home. Lane glanced at Frankie who sat frozen staring out the windshield. She was holding the jewelry case. They were almost home and she hadn't said a word the entire drive.
"You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking." He worried that Frankie's out-of-the-box ideas and attitude would one day get her into trouble.
"And what's that?"
He glanced at her, and said, "That you want to kick Eric Caine's ass and search his house looking for Jennifer."
"What's wrong with that idea?"
"For one thing it would land us both in jail."
"I can see why it would land
me
in jail, but why you?"
"Because if he laid a hand on you, I'd have to rip his head off."
"Well, don't call a bail bondsman. I don't plan on doing anything tonight that will land us in jail. I'm going to concentrate on what I do best."
"Really?" Lane asked as he ran his hand up her thigh.
"I don't mean
that
." She playfully slapped his arm. "I'm going to make some calls, pull some strings and then do some Internet research. I'll find Jennifer. I have to."
"Sounds like a plan. I can't check apartment and house rental agencies or check on campus surveillance cameras until morning, so I'll help."
"Actually, Lane, there is a little something I'd like you to do."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Would you bake some of those insanely good chocolate chunk cookies? All this stress has me craving them."
Jennifer heard a knock on the door; then someone slid a tray of food in the room through a small slot at the bottom of the door. Next came a bottle of water and a bottle of prenatal vitamins. She just stared at the food. Did he actually expect her to have an appetite?
She gazed at the basement windows. There had to be a way for her to reach them and escape.
David Chambers killed Ally Black with Dr. Caine's approval. She knew it. It was no accident that Dr. Caine imprisoned her shortly after she asked him to talk to the police. What a fool she'd been. She'd actually asked him to go to the police about a crime she was sure he helped commit. Why kill Ally? Was it the money he'd have to return to the adoptive parents if she backed out of the adoption? Was it so much money that he felt he had to take a life to prevent losing it?
What a horrible mess she was in, and she could see no way out of it. It was useless, but she thought about how things could have turned out so differently if Paul had really loved her. She replayed in her head the last night she'd seen him. Only this time when Paul heard about the baby, he cried out with joy. He threw his arms around her and said they'd have to look for a new place that was big enough for the three of them.
But that certainly was only a fantasy and not the reality. Paul had accused her of getting pregnant to trap him and then wanted her to kill their baby. Now that version of the story had no happy ending. Biting her lip, she cried as tears streamed down her cheeks and neck until she fell asleep.
Lane and Frankie sat behind their laptops, facing each other at the kitchen table.
"We can't review her banking documents until tomorrow, so I'll see if she's visited any of the social networks," said Lane.
"While you do that, I'll make a call outside on the patio."
He watched her pace back and forth on the patio through the window. He knew she was calling one of her contacts to get Jennifer's cell phone records. Did she really think he didn't know? He'd seen her face when Tim mentioned he was applying for a warrant.
He went back to his laptop and Googled Jennifer's name. He got hits on both Facebook and Twitter. On her Facebook page, the photo of Jennifer's smiling face haunted him. She looked incredibly happy. He went into her photo albums and discovered many of the photos included Jennifer and Paul Vance at various campus activities. There was one that looked like it was taken after a football game, with Paul still in his uniform, hugging Jennifer and laughing.
He was eager to question Paul. He wasn't as certain as his boss that Paul was involved with her disappearance. The guy looked frantic at the hotel earlier. He clearly wanted to find her.
Frankie slid open the glass door and came in from the patio. "Those cookies smell amazing."
"What did you find out? Spill it."
"My contact needs some time to get the call record and tower history. It shouldn't be long. Ted is calling his bank contact to get Jennifer's debit and credit records. How about you?”
"I'm on Jennifer's Facebook page and it looks to me like she and Paul Vance were crazy about each other. I'm not convinced he was involved. She hasn't communicated on Facebook since last month."
The oven timer went off and Lane pulled out the baking tray of cookies. He laid it on top of the stove and pulled a couple of dessert plates from the cabinet along with two glasses. He filled the glasses with milk from the refrigerator and used a spatula to place two warm cookies on each plate.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone that I was baking cookies in the middle of two murder investigations and a missing person case. I don't want to think about the ribbing I'd get, along with the blow to my reputation."
"My lips are sealed." She smiled at him as he pushed the plate of cookies and glass of milk in front of her. "At the moment, I'm thinking you're pretty darn amazing."
David Chambers sat in the Lincoln Town Car on the street where Frankie and Lane were living. He'd been watching their house for hours but no activity. Earlier, he'd crept around the house through the side yard and watched Frankie talking on her cell phone on the patio. He couldn't hear what she was saying but couldn't move any closer for fear of being discovered.
He'd noticed her early on and had decided he disliked her. She seemed like one of those women who thought she had the world by the balls with her hot body and good looks. Those were the type of women he liked the least. His wife was like that before he'd broken her in. All it took was a couple of beatings and the promise there'd be more. Then when the kids arrived, it was even easier to control her. All he had to do was threaten to beat one of them and his wish was her command.
He still couldn't believe she'd left him and taken his kids. He'd look for her when things calmed down and when he found her, she'd regret it. And heaven help them, if he discovered anyone had helped her escape. They'd pay big time.