Obsessed (5 page)

The doorbell rang when Tom ended the call, and shortly after he left the room to answer it, she heard him say, “Mark. Thank God you’re here. Lisa took the baby.”

Chapter Eight

Lisa watched Tom go upstairs, and knew once Mike arrived, she wouldn’t get another chance. She couldn’t let Mike’s survival of the crash stop her. She had to leave
now
. She knew if they searched her belongings they’d find Nikki’s phone and the Oxytocin. Lisa used it to help induce Jess’s early labor and the spray she used for her own purpose. She’d worked as a neo-natal nurse before becoming a mid-wife. She knew oxytocin had been linked to induce labor but the postcard at the door could have easily triggered Jess’s water to break. Lisa had been using the spray because the hormone could play a pivotal role in the successful bonding between newborn babies and their mothers. Lisa believed Thomas was her baby.

She wrapped Thomas in his blanket and reached for the diaper bag which she’d already packed with diapers and formula, then left quietly through the patio doors at the back. Her original plan to leave at night when everyone slept had changed. She figured the upsetting news of the crash that was supposed to have taken all lives, would give her the control to take care of the baby while Tom took care of Jess. She’d planned to offer to take the baby upstairs with her for the night and sneak out later. Now she had no choice. Mike would soon arrive.

The car she had arranged to arrive at the end of the driveway would not be there until the middle of the night. She knew she couldn’t go far on foot with a newborn in this weather. Lisa walked down to the beach and turned toward the Roberts’ house. She remembered Jess told her it was only a few hundred yards up the beach.

“Lisa? What on earth are you doing out in this weather with the baby?”

Henry Roberts opened the patio door.

“They’re dead! All of them!” Lisa stumbled over her words through tears. Mrs. Roberts gasped and went to reach for the baby but Lisa turned quickly to prevent her.

“What do you mean, they are all dead?” Henry wrapped a blanket around Lisa. Her drenched body shivered. She removed the blanket and wrapped it around the baby. She sat down in the chair beside and placed the diaper bag beside her. She unzipped the bag and she pulled out the gun she’d hidden inside it.

Marilyn Roberts gasped and brought her hands to her face.

“What the hell?” Henry stepped in front of his wife.

Lisa smiled. She pointed the gun at them. “A little cooperation here will be appreciated.”

“Did you hurt Jess and her family?” Marilyn’s words were shaky.

“No more questions. I just want your cooperation,” Lisa demanded as the Roberts stood there with looks of horror in silence. Lisa told them to get in the car and Henry would drive.

“Where do you want to go?” Henry asked.

“I said no more questions.” Lisa waved the gun at Mrs. Roberts. “Now move.” She wasn’t sure herself. She’d originally planned to have a car drive her and the baby to the airport at three o’clock in the morning. She had booked a flight out of country. Her flight wasn’t scheduled until six o’clock. Now she had too many hours in between and she’d have too many people searching for her and the baby. Desperate enough to keep Thomas with her, she knew she’d have to kill the Roberts once they were safely out of Vineyard Haven.

Lisa heard sirens in the distance as Henry drove down the road. “If you stop this car or warn them in any way, I will pull the trigger.” Lisa pointed the gun at Marilyn’s head.

Henry nodded in agreement.

Lisa slouched down in the back seat as the headlights came closer to them. The darkened night and rain helped, but she wanted to be certain she wouldn’t be seen in the back seat. She warned Henry once more as the headlights from the oncoming car passed them. She raised herself in the seat again and turned to watch the police cars move in the opposite direction. She breathed in a sigh of relief but knew her time was running out. Lisa reached for her phone in the diaper bag.

“Change of plans. I have the baby, but need another way out of Martha’s Vineyards. I definitely can’t take the chance on the six o’clock flight.” Lisa agreed and she ended her call. “Take me to Oak Bluffs, to the docks at the harbor front. One false move and I will pull the trigger,” Lisa threatened Henry as she pointed the gun at Marilyn.

Henry nodded again.

Chapter Nine

“What the hell?”

Mike jumped out before the car completely stopped. Gina raced after him. Mike passed the cop cars parked in front of the beach home. Gina stopped to talk to an officer beside the cars.

“Mike!” Jess raced up and embraced Mike. He held her tight. “She took the baby.” Jess’s words were shaky. She trembled in Mike’s arms. He released his hold on Jess. Her eyes filled with fear.

“Who took the baby, Jess?”

Jess spoke so fast that Mike found it hard to understand. All he heard was Lisa’s name. He hadn’t met her, but Jess spoke highly of the woman hired to be their mid-wife. Jess looked as completely out of control as he would expect her to be. He looked over Jess’s shoulder at Tom.

“Why would Lisa take the baby?” Mike asked him. He held Jess as she cried against his shoulder.

Tom shook his head.

“We have no idea why, Mike. We just know she’s gone and so is the baby.”

Mark walked up to Mike and patted him on the arm. “Good to see you’re okay. We need to find this woman and fast.”

Mike pulled Jess from their embrace.

“Jess, I need you to try to calm down a bit. We need to go through the minutes before Lisa took the baby. Can you do this with me?”

Jess nodded and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

Mike put his arm around Jess and led her to the family room.

Tom placed his hand on Mike’s back. “I’m happy to see you.”

Mike forced a smile. He knew Tom meant he was happy he and Gina survived the crash. He also knew the baby’s disappearance was all anyone could think about.

“Jess!” Gina hollered out.

Jess turned and ran into Gina’s arms.

“Thank God you’re okay.” Jess hugged her and then turned to Mike. “I’m sorry. I forgot about the plane crash. What the hell is going on today? And Eric and Malcolm…” Jess couldn’t continue. She broke down into tears again. Tom had to help her to the couch.

“Don’t worry about anything else now, Jess. Let’s go through those last few minutes before Lisa took off.” Mike sat beside Jess. He held her hand and began to talk in a soft tone. “Close your eyes and relax. Let’s go back to when you last saw Lisa. Where were you? What were you doing?” Mike gave her hand a squeeze to remind her of his presence and to comfort her.

“She stood at the end of my bed. She’d just put Thomas back in the bassinet. I asked her to watch him for a bit. I just heard the news of the crash and I needed a few minutes.” Jess opened her eyes in horror. “This is my fault. My selfishness for a few minutes alone allowed her to take him.” Tears rolled off her cheeks one after another.

Mike swallowed hard. The look in her eyes, her tears, made him feel like someone just sucked the life out of him. He took a deep breath. He knew he had to keep Jess calm. He left his emotions behind and focused on the task at hand—finding the baby quickly.

“This isn’t your fault, Jess. Lisa had a reason for taking Thomas. Try to remain calm so we can figure this out and find him. I promise you I will.” Mike may not have known where Lisa or the baby were but one thing for certain he knew: he’d do anything right now to find them. He squeezed her hand and told her to close her eyes.

Jess took a deep breath and followed Mike’s advice.

“You left the bedroom and went where Jess?” Mike continued.

“I went upstairs to sit at my dad’s desk. It gives me comfort and helps clear my thoughts.” Mike then asked if there had been anyone else there with her. She replied that Tom had joined her and he called Nikki’s cell. Jess opened her eyes. “Mike, Lisa had Nikki’s phone and that’s when it hit me that Lisa was somehow involved. That’s when I raced downstairs and discovered she was gone with the baby.” Jess rushed into Tom’s arms in tears.

Mike sat on the couch for a moment. He’d been trying Nikki’s phone endlessly on his way to the beach house. Her office couldn’t locate her or her car. He reached into his pocket for his phone and called Nikki’s supervisor.

“Nikki’s phone has been located here. We believe a Lisa”—Mike moved his phone away from his mouth and asked Tom what Lisa’s last name was and her address in San Francisco. Mike returned to his call to inform him to check Lisa’s apartment for Nikki.

“Why is Lisa doing this, Mike? Do you think she hurt Nikki too?” Jess frantically drilled Mike without a breath.

“I don’t know Jess, but I’m going to find out.” He asked her if Lisa’s belongings were upstairs in the den.

Tom stayed with Jess. Gina and Mark followed Mike upstairs.

“Who the hell is this Lisa?” Gina asked once they were upstairs.

“All I know is that Jess and Tom hired her as their mid-wife. I’m sure those two did a thorough check. Whatever she’s hiding, she’s hid it well from the two best profilers I’ve ever known.”

Mike saw the phone on the desk and knew in an instant it was Nikki’s.

He searched the phone records of missed calls—mostly all his. Then he searched the text messages. The ones Mike received on the plane were sent from Nikki’s phone but at the times it had been in Lisa’s possession.
Where the hell is Nikki?
He prayed she wasn’t hurt—or worse.

He handed the phone to Gina.

“Looks like Lisa sent those messages I received on the plane.”

“The question is why. Well I guess we now know why the plane crashed. She wanted us out of her way to take the baby. She must have had this planned all along but why?” Gina glanced at Mike and then Mark.

Mark looked at the laptop on the desk. “Is this hers? Let’s find out what she’s been up to.” Mark took a seat at the desk and opened the laptop. “We need to know who she is and if she is the hacker. Let me see if I can trace her whereabouts. Do we have a picture of her?”

Gina offered to see if Tom or Jess had one.

Mark took a seat at the desk and opened the laptop. “I’ll run a check on Lisa with the basic information I overheard Tom give the police officer. If indeed that is her real name.”

Mike picked up the vile he noticed on the desk and read the label, “Oxytocin”. He looked at Mark, “She induced Jess’s labor?”

Mark picked up the spray bottle on the desk, “She had this planned Mike. She’s been using this spray with that hormone. Studies also suggest it helps bond relationships. She thinks this baby is hers.”

Mike noticed the backpack under the desk and grabbed it. He opened it and shook everything out on the sofa beside the desk. A blank postcard of San Francisco lay on the sofa. Mike remembered the postcard left at Jess and Tom’s the other night. This one was the same. It had the same historic pictures on it. Mike remembered he’d wondered what the orphanage meant.

“Mark, run a check on the old orphanage downtown San Francisco. I’m not sure of its name.” Mike showed him the postcard.

“It’s no longer an orphanage, Mike. It closed about ten years ago. Do you think there’s a connection with Lisa?” Mark asked.

“Not sure, but this was the same postcard left the other night at Jess and Tom’s. The other historical pictures tell me there’s a Marshall connection. The old Mercy hospital where Tom was taken after he stabbed him, the warehouse district where Kyle Davidson held Jess and Tiffany but this orphanage makes me wonder if it has something to do with Jess and Tiffany becoming orphans because of Marshall. Maybe it has something to do with Lisa.”

Mike heard a clearing of the throat and turned to find Jess standing there.

“Don’t tell me she’s connected to Trevor Marshall. That man continues to haunt me even after I shot him dead in my kitchen.” Jess sighed heavily.

“I’m not sure yet Jess, but it’s possible.” Mike’s heart went out to Jess. She couldn’t seem to get away from this monster and now her baby was involved. Mike’s phone rang.

“Anything?” Mike hoped they’d found Nikki and unhurt. His free hand roamed through his hair with anticipation of good news. He smiled then turned to Jess and Mark. “She’s okay, just a little shaken up. The FBI is going through Lisa’s apartment as we speak. They’ve put out a nationwide alert for her and the baby.” He said nothing more to Jess and Mark when he heard Nikki’s voice come over the phone.

“Nikki, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

Mike walked away to have a private conversation. He made it a quick. He wanted to apologize for thinking she’d been behind all of this after he briefly mentioned the messages from her phone. Nikki reassured him that she would have suspected the same. She told him she’d already been briefed by the agents who found her and was okay to help.

“We’ll talk about it later.” He ended the call and informed Jess and Mark that Nikki was fine and ready to help find the baby. “Jess, she also said to send her love and to let you know we will find Thomas.” He kissed Jess on the cheek. “Why don’t you try to rest? I will keep you updated with everything we find.”

The look she gave him told him exactly what he already knew about Jess and her work ethic. Now that her own child was involved, she was ready to work.

Mike said no more and pulled up a chair beside Mark. Jess sat next to him on the sofa. He needed to know as much about Lisa as they could find and quickly too. Time was of the essence.