She entered the house from the garage to find Katie sitting with two of the triplets.
“Hello, family,” Rainey said, as she came through the door.
She dropped her overnight bag on the floor and hung up her coat. Rainey had no weapons to put away this time because she had not carried them to the airport.
“Hey, honey,” Katie said.
Weather mimicked her mother, “Hey, honey.”
Timothy charged from his chair to wrap his arms around Rainey’s legs, shouting, “Nee Nee is home.”
“Hey, buddy,” Rainey said, reaching down to lift him into her arms.
Weather was not to be left out of the hugs and was soon standing in front of Rainey, arms raised.
“I don’t know if I can still hold two of you. You’re getting so big. Here, let me try.”
Rainey faked trying to lift Weather into her arms while still holding Timothy. She crumbled to the floor in a pile of toddlers and laughter. She tickled them and kissed them and relished the moment. It always amazed her when the mere joy of loving her kids overwhelmed her.
“Okay, let me up, guys. I need to give Mommy a hug, too.”
“Tickle Mommy,” Weather suggested.
Katie put her hands up to stop the approaching Rainey. “Honey, you don’t want to hug me. I need a shower.”
Rainey brushed right through Katie’s warning and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Good morning, beautiful. I’m glad you feel better. You look better than when I last saw you.”
“I think I’ve turned the corner, but we’ll see. I just ate two crackers, so the jury is still out. I’m a bit wary considering how many times the kids relapsed last week.”
Rainey looked around. “Where is your mom? Is Mack with her? I didn’t see Wendy’s car either. Did she leave?”
“Mom went home this morning. I told her to. She needs some time off. She’s been here nearly every moment for almost two weeks. Wendy said she needed to get something from her house that she wanted you to read. She said it could break the case wide open. I don’t think she slept at all last night. I found her this morning, still pouring over your files.” Katie smiled. “She’s so much like you. Anyway, Mack was being a bit of a brat before the sun made it over the horizon, so she took him with her. They should be back by now, though. That was over an hour ago.”
“I’ll give her a call, see what’s up.” Rainey chuckled to hide her apprehension. “Maybe he hid from her again.”
Rainey had reason to be concerned. Katie knew about Aaron Engel’s threats to Wendy. She didn’t know about the other cases into which Wendy foolishly probed. Rainey pulled out her phone and dialed her sister’s number. The call went immediately to Wendy’s voicemail.
“Damn,” Rainey said.
“Damn,” Weather repeated.
“Not a nice word,” Rainey admonished her. “I’m sorry I said it. I’ll do timeout later.”
Weather seemed pleased someone else was going to be in timeout today.
She responded, “Okay,” and climbed back into her chair.
Rainey turned to Katie, expecting her to be smiling at Weather’s correction, but instead saw a look of pure dread on her wife’s face. Katie’s brow was lined with worry, her skin going paler than it already was. She stared in disbelief at Rainey and then began shaking her head from side to side very slowly.
“Katie?”
“Go find Mack, Rainey. Something is wrong, bad wrong.”
“Wendy probably let her battery die. She’ll be here in a minute.”
Katie stood quickly. Her hand was shaking when she pointed a finger at Rainey.
“Go get our son, Rainey Bell. Now!”
As much as Rainey believed in her own gut feelings, she believed in Katie’s motherly instincts. She went straight to the gun safe and punched in the code, noticing immediately Wendy had left her service weapon behind. Rainey removed her Glock and holster, but did not stop to put it on. She carried it and her coat out the door, calling over her shoulder, “Don’t worry, honey. It’s probably nothing.”
“Bring Mack home, Rainey.”
#
7:30 AM, Friday, March 6, 2015
Wendy King’s Residence
Chatham County, NC
Rainey pulled into Wendy’s driveway. She felt the queasiness of Katie’s dread in the pit of her stomach. She slipped into the shoulder holster, snapped the Glock into place, and exited the car—taking the time to put on her coat to conceal her weapon, but not soon enough. Rainey saw the look of bewilderment on the face of the gray-haired woman standing beside a running car in the driveway next door. The air was cold and growing colder, as an arctic front barreled south into the Carolinas. It appeared the weather had not deteriorated enough to dissuade the inquisitive neighbor's need to stop and stare.
Rainey approached the garage door and took a quick look-see through the window. Wendy’s car sat under the glowing fluorescent light, indicating it was dark when Wendy and Mack arrived. Rainey moved to the front door, knocked a few times, and received no answer. She knocked harder.
“Wendy, it’s Rainey. Open the door.”
With still no response, Rainey began banging on the door and shouting for Wendy loud enough to prompt the neighbor to become involved.
The woman asked, “Is there something I can help you with?”
Rainey spoke in a commanding tone, “Yes, call 9-1-1.”
She pulled out the Glock, stepped up to the window next to the door, and smashed the butt of the pistol into the glass. No alarm sounded. Either Wendy turned it off and did not re-arm it right away or it was disabled before Wendy went in. That thought made Rainey angry. If Wendy took Mack into the house with a non-functioning alarm, there was going to be hell to pay. How many times did she have to remind her the diligence necessary to survive being Rainey Bell’s little sister?
“Never let your guard down, ever,” she told Wendy repeatedly.
Rainey turned back to the stunned neighbor and yelled again, “Call 9-1-1. Now!”
She cleared the glass with the barrel of the pistol and called out to Wendy. Once she’d poked her head inside, she knew Katie had been right. Something was bad wrong. There was no time to fear what had happened as Rainey's adrenaline kicked into overdrive. She looked back at the neighbor, who was now speaking rapidly into her cell phone.
“I’m Wendy’s sister. She has my three-year-old son with her. Something is very wrong. Let the police know I’m going in.”
The house was silent. Rainey climbed through the window. She stopped calling out for Wendy because what she saw sped her breathing and heart rate to panic mode. The coffee table lay splintered into pieces. Furniture had been overturned or forcefully pushed aside. Bloody fingerprints smeared on the doorframe suggested the fight continued down the hallway toward the back of the house. Wendy had been in a struggle for her life.
Her heart pounded in her ears, as Rainey cleared each room and prayed she wouldn’t discover her son or her sister in a pool of blood. After making it through the rest of the house and finding nothing, she approached the back bedroom Wendy used as an office. The door was closed.
“Not my child. Please God, not my child,” she prayed in a whisper.
Rainey pushed the door open slowly. Unlike the rest of the house, the office appeared undisturbed. Rainey pointed her weapon in every corner and then approached the closet, the last place in the house she had not searched.
The sound of movement from inside drew Rainey’s shout of, “Let me see your hands.” Her law enforcement training and muscle memory took over. She commanded, “Open the door slowly and let me see your hands. Now!”
The first little whimper eliminated any training. Rainey rushed to the closet and threw open the door.
Mack stood there, tears streaming down his face, holding his hands out for her to see. Rainey dropped to her knees and placed the weapon on the floor.
“Oh, thank God. Come here, baby boy. Come here.”
He took one slow step forward, then rushed into her waiting arms and sobbed.
“You’re okay, little man. You’re okay,” Rainey said, hugging him close.
“I scared, Nee Nee. The man hurt Endy.”
“Did you see the man?” Rainey asked.
“No,” he said, still sobbing. “Endy say, ‘Hide, Mack. Be quiet. Wait for Nee Nee. She come.’ I hide Nee Nee. I quiet.”
“You did great, buddy.” She looked him over. He wasn’t injured. She hugged him tight, fighting back the tears of relief. “I love you, Mack. You’re all right, now. You’re safe. Nee Nee’s got you.”
Rainey put the Glock back in the holster and picked up Mack, who now cried softly against her neck. She walked out of the house, a hand shielding his eyes from the blood smears and chaos from the fight. The neighbor's mouth gaped open with surprise. She appeared to still be on the phone with the emergency operator. Rainey pulled out her own phone and hit Katie’s number on speed dial.
Katie answered with a frantic, “Did you find him?”
“I have him, Katie. He’s okay. A little shaken up, but he’s okay.”
“Why is he crying?”
Rainey took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline rush still cycling through her body.
“Wendy’s gone. She’s not in the house and there was a horrendous fight in the front room.”
Katie gasped. “Oh my, God. Is Mack hurt?”
“No,” Rainey replied. She looked down at her son. “He was a brave boy. He hid when Wendy told him to. He’s a smart little man.”
“Bring him home,” Katie demanded.
“I can’t yet, honey. I need to wait for the police. They’ll want to talk to him and me. I had to break into the house.”
Rainey heard Katie sniffle. She was crying now, with the relief of knowing their son was safe.
“Call Mackie and Ernie. They’ll know what to do. I’ll be home as soon as I can. He’s okay, Katie. We’ll be there soon.”
“Don’t let them scare him,” Katie warned.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anybody scare him. They’d have a hard time removing him from my shoulder at the moment.”
“Who took Wendy?” Katie asked.
“I don’t know, but I have a few ideas.”
“Not that fetish guy, Rainey. Not him.”
“I hope so,” Rainey said. “He’s our best hope that she’s still alive. Don’t give up on her, Katie. She’s a Bell. We don’t go down easy.”
#
Five minutes later, two patrol cars pulled in front of the house. The officers got out and proceeded to speak to the excited neighbor. They then drew their weapons and pointed them at Rainey.
“Show me your hands,” they shouted in unison.
Rainey held Mack under her coat. She said as calmly as she could. “I need to put my son down. I’m a former FBI agent. I am armed, which I’m sure this lady told you. Do not shoot me. I’m a consultant for your department. My name is Rainey Bell. Call your supervisor, now.”
“Get on the ground,” the younger one yelled, his adrenaline pumping off the charts high.
Mack started to scream.
Rainey glared at the young officer. She shouted over Mack’s shrieks. “This child has been traumatized. You are not helping.”
An unmarked car jerked to a stop, blocking the driveway. Rex King jumped from the car. The man Wendy had called father all her life was not a fan of Rainey’s, but she was happy to see him.
“Stand down! Stand down, I said,” Rex shouted at the officers, flashing his badge and his command presence.
The officers lowered their weapons, as Rex charged past them to where Rainey stood calming Mack as best she could.
“What happened? Where’s Wendy?” Rex demanded, red-faced and breathing hard.
“Don’t go in the house, Detective King.” Rainey used his title in an attempt to speak to the officer and not the father. “Wendy isn’t there. She’s been abducted. I found Mack in the office closet. There’s no one else in the house.”
“What?” Rex’s hand flew to the back of his head and rubbed his neck. His stress peaked, as a parent’s worst nightmare came true for him.
Mack had reburied his face in Rainey’s neck. He clutched her tighter at the sound of his name. The ordinarily inquisitive toddler wanted nothing to do with anyone at the moment. His body jerked with diaphragm spasms. She couldn’t explain in detail what she saw with her devastated child in her arms.
“Detective, I’ll answer all of your questions, but first I need to attend to my son. I can tell you Wendy has been gone less than an hour. We have time to find her. Call it in. And Rex, alert the taskforce.”
#
Rainey had been sitting in her car for fifteen minutes with the engine running, keeping Mack warm under her coat. Officers, crime scene technicians, and members of the task force swarmed Wendy’s little house.
Did he come here because she’s my sister?
The thought rattled around in her mind. Had being part of Rainey Bell’s life again put someone she cared about in danger?
Mack mostly clung to her and fought off the rib shaking spasms while his body attempted to regain its normal breathing pattern.
After a long period of quiet reflection, he said, “Nee Nee, are you gonna find Endy?”
“See all those people out there. They are looking for Wendy.”
Mack raised his head to look. He spontaneously said, “Why are you in my house? Go home!”
“Did Wendy say that?”
Mack nodded and then became highly animated, relaying what he remembered in a burst, “Get da fuck out! Are you crazy?” Mack worked himself up to a loud, “Get da fuck out my house!”
“Okay, little man.” She patted his back and spoke quietly, “It’s okay now. You are safe.”
“Nee Nee?”
“What, bud?”
“Is Endy safe?”
“Not yet, Mack, not yet.”
He placed his head down on Rainey’s shoulder and returned to quiet meditation. She finally detached him from her neck, when the neighbor knocked on the car window offering two chocolate chip cookies, a juice box, and an apology.
“I’m so sorry they scared him. I wasn’t sure you were who you said you were, but I see the resemblance now.”
“Thank you,” Rainey said to her, and then to Mack, “Hey, buddy. Do you think you could eat a cookie? You haven’t had your breakfast. Aren’t you hungry?”
Mack nodded his head slowly.
“Okay, sit over here in the seat.”
Mack climbed over the console and silently took the cookie from Rainey’s hand. She slid the juice box into the cup holder.