Diana Anderson - Entering Southern Country 01 - Famous in a Small Town (38 page)

“Where’s Emma?” She looked at him and the solemn look on his face. “Cal?”

“We’re looking for her now.”

“What do you mean? Wasn’t she at the Inn?”

“She’d been there. But by the time we got there, she was gone.”

“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Panic seized her.

“They took her. They’re gone, but we’re still looking.”

“Oh no!” Raven’s knees went weak.

He wrapped an arm around her and looked at Ted. “Come get her.”

Ted hurried over and helped Raven back to the sofa.

“Did anyone call?” Cal looked at each one.

“Yes,” Ted said. After Raven was seated, he turned. “Four million in one hundred dollar bills and in a duffle bag. They said to have it ready by the time they called back.”

“Who took the call?”

Ted nodded at Raven.

“Raven?” Cal stepped closer.

Through tears, she looked up at him.

“Was it Callie?”

A creased formed between her brows. “Callie? No. Why?”

“The description the night manager gave sounded like Callie.”

She shook her head. “It was a man. I didn’t recognize his voice.”

Porter stepped in the doorway. “Sir, we got a call.”

He turned toward her and waited.

“A missing person,” Porter said.

“We don’t have time for that.” He placed his hand on his forehead and looked down. “Tell dispatch to get one of the night deputies on it.”

“Sir?” Porter didn’t move.

Cal looked at her again.

“It’s Mrs. Wallace’s attorney who’s missing.”

He took a deep breath. “Well, looks like she’s hooked herself another victim. Who called it in?”

“His wife. Said he’s always home in time for supper. He’s not answering his cell or his office phone. She called an associate, and they said he’d left the same time as usual.”

“Find out what kind of car he drives. Get a tag number.”

Cal stepped outside the house and looked at the recent calls on his cell phone. He called Rebecca. After she answered, he explained who he was and gave a quick explanation. She looked on her phone and located Raven’s phone again.

“It’s moving east on Highway Three Fifteen.”

“How close to Sardis Lake?”

“Hmmm, I can’t tell that. This thing doesn’t give distance. It’s more like a perimeter. But it doesn’t look like it’s very far away from the lake though.”

“Sir, Feds are here,” Porter said.

He nodded at her and said into the phone. “Keep track. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.” He disconnected and walked on out to speak with the special agent in charge.

Several agents walked past him with equipment and entered the house.

SAC Thomas Norfield was a few inches taller than Cal. His gray hair said he was older too.

Cal had just finished updating the SAC when Porter hurried over.

“His wife said it’s a dark green Honda SUV. She didn’t know off hand the tag number.”

He motioned his deputies over. He filled them in on what Rebecca had told him.

“Sir,” Porter said. “There was a report over the wire just a few minutes ago. Shots were fired at Packer’s Pit Stop. That’s out by the lake. Could be related.”

“It’ll take at least forty-five minutes to get a SWAT team from Southaven to the lake,” Norfield said.

“We don’t have forty-five minutes.” He looked at his deputies. “Let’s go.”

 They all got into their squad cars and headed for Sardis Lake.

Cal called Rebecca back. She told him that the cell phone was no longer on the move and on which side of the lake it had stopped. There were cabins located all around the lake. He’d been to the lake many times to fish and knew where most of them were. He was certain he knew where these were.

He’d called the Panola County Sheriff’s Department to let them know about the situation at the lake since it was in their jurisdiction and to find out more on the shooting at Packer’s Pit Stop. Five people, other than the shooter, had been in the store at the time of the shooting—the shooter, three customers, and the store owner. The store owner had been shot but was in non-critical condition. He’d said that the shooter had opened fire when a little girl came running in through the door, screaming. The owner had stepped out from behind the cash register to help her. Her wrists were bound, and she had duct tape hanging from her cheek. They’d found Thaddeus Kingston huddled behind a dumpster not far from where the assailant’s car had been parked. Cal asked about the little girl. He was told that witnesses had said the little girl was last seen kicking and screaming all the way to the man’s SUV. They also saw a woman in the parking lot. She’d gotten into his vehicle, and they’d driven off toward the lake.

Cal’s eyes stung with tears, but he forced himself to stay focused.

They ran silent as they sped down the interstate with their emergency lights on and made the turn onto Highway Three Fifteen. When they made the final turn onto the blacktop road that lead around to the cabins, they killed the emergency lights.

The cabins were located near the lake in John W. Kyle State Park. They were surrounded by the forest and sat just off the side of the road.

They drove slow as they made their way around the winding road. A few floodlights shone near the front of the cabins. Cal observed each vehicle parked in front of each cabin as he drove down the road. He stopped and eyed a dark colored SUV. He called dispatch from the car radio with the tag number, and then pulled on up the road, and made a U-turn. When he got in viewing distance, he pulled off the side of the road, cut the headlights off, and waited. The deputies followed his lead.

“Lima Alpha Romeo 856 registered to a Thaddeus Kingston, 492 West Hickory, Cypress, Mississippi.”

Cal radioed his deputies. “We got ‘em. Let’s go.”

92

“Who’s going to make the call now, dumbass?” Callie asked, perched in a chair at the small kitchen table. She took a drink of water from a glass and then made a face. “This water is nasty.”

Emma sat on the cool linoleum floor in a corner with a look of confusion on her face.

“It’s probably well water.” Angus took the bread and lunchmeat out of the plastic grocery bag and set it on the kitchen table. “I’ll disguise my voice.”

“Doesn’t taste like the well water at the trailer where Virgil and I used to live.”

“Different area.” He slapped a piece of bologna on a slice of bread and then covered it with another slice of bread.

She pushed her glass aside. “This whole idea of yours has gone to hell, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t hear anybody asking you. You want out … ,” He nodded toward the door, “there’s the door.” He took a bite of his sandwich and eyed the little girl. He chewed and then swallowed. “You want a sandwich?”

She glared at him.

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“I told you that I don’t like lunchmeat.”

“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to the kid.”

“Your grand-daughter.”

“That doesn’t do a thing for me. Never wanted kids and sure don’t care anything about grandkids. They just take up space.”

Emma looked around the room. Her gaze landed on a spider web in the window, but she didn’t see the spider. She glanced around the floor and then looked at the dark paneled walls. She had decided not to sit on the green plaid sofa because it was too close to them. She had gotten as far away from them as she possibly could. She had her back pressed against the wall.

“How long do you think it will take for her to get the money together?” Callie asked.

“As soon as the banks open in the morning. I’m sure Suzanne will fork it over for her grand-daughter. She’s always had a soft spot for kids and animals.”

“You really are pissed at her, aren’t you?”

“You damned right I am. As many years as I put up with her only to get the boot just isn’t right. I deserve that money Lupe stole from me, and I aim to get it back.”

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Emma said.

Callie looked across the room at her. “There it is.” She motioned with her head toward the small hallway.

Emma got on her knees and pushed herself up from the floor. She stood and held out her hands. Her purse dangled by its strap at her elbow.

Callie looked at Angus. “She needs her hands untied.”

“Untie them.”

“I’m not getting within three feet of her.”

He tossed his sandwich down on the table, reached in his pocket, and felt around for his pocketknife. He turned toward Callie and held out his hand. “Give me my knife.”

“What knife?”

“I don’t have time for this. You had it last. Now give it to me.”

She huffed out a breath, reached into her front pocket, and pulled out the knife. She dropped it in his hand.

He stepped over in front of Emma, opened the knife, and sliced through the rope. He nodded toward the bathroom. “Hurry up.”

She slid the strap of her purse back onto her shoulder, walked into the bathroom, and closed the door. She eased the lock in place and then looked around the room. Her eyes landed on the window between the toilet and the sink. She stepped over and tried to push up the window. It wouldn’t budge. She examined it and noticed it was latched at the top. She climbed onto the toilet lid, reached over, and flipped the latches. She pushed up on the window. It moved an inch. She got down off the toilet and put her strength into it. It slid up. She climbed up on the toilet again, leaned over as she held onto the window sill, and pushed her upper body through the opening. She forced her left leg up and then pushed off the sill with her foot. She fell out of the window into a pile of rocks and rolled down the hill at the back of the cabin. When she stopped, she muffled a cry from the pain of the fall. She grabbed her wrist and winced. Blood oozed from the scrape on her right knee cap. She let go of her wrist and reached for her purse. It wasn’t there. She looked back up the hill. The light shone from the bathroom window onto the ground. Her purse was on the pile of rocks. She tried to push herself up, but the pain in her right wrist caused her to cry out. She clamped a hand over her mouth.

She heard voices. She used her left arm, scrambled to her feet, and hurried up the hill. She knelt down to grab her purse. The cell phone had fallen out along with some of her play makeup. She picked up the phone and stuffed it into her purse. She reached for her makeup scattered about on the rocks.

A loud crash came from the bathroom. She looked up at the window at the same time Angus poked his head out.

“Don’t you go anywhere, you little shit.” he said through clenched teeth and then yelled over his shoulder. “Callie, she’s behind the cabin. Get your ass out there and get her before she runs off.”

Emma looked back down, scanned the rocks, and found one the size of a baseball. She grabbed it, stood up, and threw it at the window. Angus turned back. It hit him between the eyes.

“Son-of-a-bitch!” he squealed and tried to push away from the window sill, but the back of his head hit the window frame. He blurted out a stream of obscenities.

She left her play makeup and took off back down the hill and into the woods.

93

A minute later, Callie rounded the corner. She tried to tiptoe in her spiked heels.

“I can’t see shit back here.” She held her arms out to balance herself as her ankles kept turning. “Angus? Angus?”

“What?” He yelled back as he rounded the other side of the house.

“I can’t see anything. Did you bring a flashlight?”

“No, I don’t have a flashlight.”

“Well, how are we supposed to find her in the dark?”

He cursed under his breath.

“Are you cursing me?”

They met where the bathroom light shone through the window on the ground.

Callie bent down and picked up a plastic lipstick.

“What’s that?” Angus asked.

“Toy makeup.” She straightened up, tossed it down, and looked at him.

The light from the window shone on his face.

She reached out to touch the pump knot on his forehead. What happened—”

He slapped her hand away. “She beaned me with a rock.”

Her hand stung. She rubbed it and squinted towards the woods. “Which way did she go?”

“She took off that way.” He pointed toward the bottom of the hill.

She fisted her hands on her hips. “Well, have fun. I’m not setting foot in there. If I can’t see out here, I sure as hell can’t see a blasted thing in there.”

“She can’t either, so she didn’t go far.” He motioned with his hand. “Come on.”

“I said I am not going into those woods. I lived in a wooded area before. There are ticks, snakes, and all kinds of nasty creatures in there.”

“You want to split that money or not?”

She dropped her arms to her sides, drew her brows together, and whined, “Ah, crap.”

She followed him. He walked sideways down the slope. When he got half way to the bottom, he turned and looked up at her. She had her arms out for balance as she inched her way down.

“Would you hurry up?”

“I can’t in these shoes.”

“Take them off. I don’t know why you wore those blasted things anyway.”

“I can’t take them off, I’ll ruin my pedicure and besides, there maybe stickers out here.”

He gave his head a slow shake. She was a quarter of the way down when her ankle turned. She flung her arms in circles, leaned too far one way, and fell to the ground. She rolled and then tumbled head over heels. He stepped aside and watched her tumble by all the way to the bottom.

“If this ain’t some shit,” he said. He made his way to the bottom of the hill.

She lay motionless and moaned.

“Are you all right?” Angus asked.

“No, I think I broke something.” She looked up at him.

He pulled his gun out of his pants pocket.

Her eyes grew wide. “What are you doing?”

“If you can’t get up and help me find that kid. I’m going to put you out of my misery.”

“Angus?”

“Get your ass up.”

“Okay!” She pushed herself up on all fours and then onto her feet. “I’m up.” She brushed grass and dirt off of her pants and then her top.