Vanished (18 page)

Her words soothed some of the pain. He wanted to care for her freely, but he might never be able to. Even if the kidnapper was caught, how could he ask her to give up her FBI job, her dream, and live in Crystal Springs? He knew he could never live in Chicago again. There were too many bad memories to build a new relationship there.

“I'm glad we had this evening,” he whispered right before claiming her lips in a gentle kiss meant to communicate.

Her arms wound about him, her body pressed against his as though chilled and seeking warmth. She had been by his side every step of the way, supporting him through a nightmare he hoped never to relive.

When he tugged away and put a few feet between them, his ragged breathing sounded in the quiet, match
ing hers. He couldn't see her expression, but he sensed the profound effect their kiss had on both of them.

“Good night, J.T.”

She spun around and hastened down the steps. She climbed into her car and pulled away from the curb in front of his house. He watched her drive away until she turned the corner and her taillights disappeared in the dark.

J.T. started to go back into his home when that sensation of being observed deluged him as if someone had thrown a icy bucket of water, freezing him solid. Tremor after tremor rippled through him.

 

The watcher, filled with hate, zeroed in on J.T. standing on his porch searching the dark shadows.

Soon, J.T. An eye for an eye.

Day nine, 1:00 p.m.: Ashley found one hundred and one hours ago

A
fter church on Sunday, Madison entered J.T.'s office with her notes on the case. Paul came in right behind her, pulling the door closed. J.T. looked up from reading a paper and motioned for them to sit in the two chairs in front of his desk.

“I'd like us to meet every day until we solve this. Go over anything we've discovered even if we think it's not important.” J.T. straightened the stack in front of him, then took the first stapled sheets from the top. “Rachel finished compiling the list of white cars in the area. As you'll see the list is long.” He cocked a grin. “I knew white was a common color but not this common.”

Madison grabbed the papers that J.T. handed her across his desk. “There are thousands of names on here.” She gave Paul his own list.

“It includes Central City since it's less than an hour
away. Rachel's name as well as Ted's is on the list. She has an old white Cougar. Ted has a Ford Focus.” J.T. flipped through his copy. “At this point I'll have Rachel mark anyone on here that she knows or has seen on one of our other lists. Otherwise we'll use it as a reference when a new name pops up.”

“Sounds good.” Madison placed the stapled papers at the bottom of her stack. “You know what we've found out about Howard Wright. He didn't come up on the sex offender list because he was never convicted of anything, but he definitely needs to be watched.”

“And interviewed.” J.T.'s jaw clenched, his hand balling into a fist on the desk. “I want to do that. He's my son's baseball coach. I'll pay him a visit this afternoon after our meeting.”

“I'd like to come along.” Madison peered down at the next name on her paper. “Paul just verified this. Susan Winn has holes in her history.”

J.T. leaned forward, his eyes wide. “She does?”

“She doesn't match the age she should be according to her Social Security number.”

J.T. swung his gaze to Paul. “I want to be here when you talk to her. Any other red flags so far?”

“All your deputies check out. But Elizabeth's husband was in prison,” the male FBI agent said.

“Did I put him away?”

“Not that I can tell, but he was in the same prison with some of those names on your list.”

“Is he out?”

“Yeah, and living in Chicago.”

“I wonder why they aren't together if they are still married.

“It's worth checking into.” J.T. massaged the back of his neck. “I can't imagine what her reason for kidnapping Ashley would be, but we can't overlook anything.”

“I haven't found anything else on Ross Morgan except the information about his juvenile record. But there is something else interesting. His wife isn't where she's supposed to be. Jill isn't at her parents. They haven't heard from her and aren't expecting her. Ross keeps insisting that's where she said she was going. He wants to fill out a missing person report on her.” Madison shifted in her chair, crossing her legs.

“The concerned husband now?” J.T. picked up his pen and scribbled something on a notepad.

“He's coming in later.” Madison rose.

Paul stood, too. “I'll take his statement.”

J.T. withdrew his car keys from his pocket. “Call him and have him come in now. We're going to see Howard. Then after Ross leaves, bring Elizabeth in then Susan. We should be back by then for those two interviews.”

Out in the main room J.T. scanned the area as though seeing it for the first time. With a deep sigh, he headed toward the front door. Outside he stopped by his Jeep and said. “It's hard to believe someone I know is responsible for what's happening. I want these people ruled out first.”

Madison slipped into the passenger seat at the same time J.T. got into the car. “Suspecting your neighbors makes this case doubly hard, but we have to look into everything.”

He sent her a grim look. “I know. Elizabeth, Susan, the Morgans, the Goldsmiths and even Rachel because of her car. I'm glad we can at least rule Ted out since he's on vacation. It's hard to believe any of them capable of kidnapping.” J.T. threw his Jeep in Reverse and backed out of the parking space. “But Howard is another story. To think he was involved in porn.”

“He never went to trial. We need to hear his side.”

“Right now what I'm feeling isn't very nice.”

“So you're gonna be the bad cop in this interview.”

He chuckled. “Definitely.”

Ten minutes later J.T. parked in front of a large redbrick, two-story house on an acre piece of property. Madison walked beside J.T. up the stairs to the porch.

“His house is kind of isolated from his neighbors.” She pressed the button and heard chimes sounding.

“Yeah, but he doesn't drive a white car.”

“The car could have been stolen or a false lead.”

“Or what the kidnapper drove.”

The door opened as Madison said, “True. It's hard to tell what the truth is anymore.”

Howard's gaze skipped from J.T. to her then back to J.T. A frown wiped his greeting from his face. “What's happened?”

J.T. stepped forward. “We need to talk to you. Can we come in?”

Howard's forehead wrinkled. “What is this about?” Then suddenly a light dawned in his eyes. “You found out about Houston.”

“We can discuss it here on your front porch, down at the station or in your living room. Which will it be?”
The firmness in J.T.'s voice hinted at his tightly reined control.

Howard pushed the door open and backed away for them to enter. “It isn't what you think.”

“And what do I think?”

Howard didn't budge from the foyer. “That I sold pornography. I didn't.”

“Then why were you charged?”

At J.T.'s query Howard transferred his weight from one foot to the other. “My ex-wife's brother used my computer—” his eyes moved up and to the right of J.T. “—and downloaded some pictures from a porn site. What he did with them I don't know. I was never convicted.”

Tension poured off J.T., and Madison moved slightly in front of him. “May we take a look around? Check out your computer.”

Howard stared at her. “No, not unless you have a warrant.”

“What do you have to hide?” J.T. came forward, his hand opening and closing at his sides.

Howard backed up, blinking. “Nothing. I am a law-abiding citizen who has a right to privacy.”

Silence ruled for a long moment.

Howard skirted around J.T. and opened his front door. “I think it's time for you two to leave. Don't come back unless you have a warrant. This is the United States. A person is innocent until proven guilty. Not the other way around.”

“You're correct, Mr. Wright. I just thought you would
want to make this easy on everyone.” Madison strode toward the door and paused at the entrance.

J.T. glared at Howard, his hands flexing. “A word of advice. Don't have anything to do with children or teens in this county.” He stalked toward the door. “You haven't seen the last of me.”

Out on the porch at the top of the steps, J.T. halted and inhaled deep breaths. “Did you see him shifting, blinking, looking up and to the right? He was lying. I'll say it again. I'm glad you were with me. To think he coached my son's baseball team.” He shook with anger.

Madison clasped his arm and felt the tightly bunched muscles beneath her palm. “I'm not sure if we have enough to get a warrant, but we need to find a judge who will issue one on what evidence we have and with children at stake.”

“You and I both know any porn he has will be gone by then.”

“But that's not all we're looking for.”

Another deep inhalation and J.T. relaxed. “We need to see if he has a basement with a doggy door in the door leading down to it.”

“Let's go see a judge.”

Day nine, 3:00 p.m.: Ashley found one hundred and three hours ago

“I was hoping that Howard had a basement with a doggy door, then this nightmare would be over.” J.T. climbed from his Jeep in front of the sheriff's office.

“And he didn't have a computer at his house.” Madison made her way to the sidewalk.

J.T. faced her, the sun starting its descent in the west behind him. “Which is strange. He's a real estate agent who works a lot from his home. I know he had a computer. What did he do with it?”

“Good question.”

“And one I intend to pursue. If he's moved here and is continuing something illegal, I'll get to the bottom of it even if he isn't Ashley's kidnapper.”

The force behind his words highlighted his determination to make his county as safe as possible. The people of Crystal Springs were blessed to have someone like J.T. as their sheriff, and she hoped the abductor wasn't one of them.

Madison looked into his gray eyes, a silver gleam glittering in their depths. A lock of black hair fell onto his forehead. She stuffed her hands into her pant pockets to keep from brushing the stray strands back into place. A thought about the case nibbled at her, but for the life of her she couldn't think straight with J.T.'s gaze riveted to hers.

He moved closer, chewing up the little space between them. He lifted his hand to her hair and hooked a strand behind her ear. “We make a good team.”

Yes, she felt the same way, but the idea of them teaming up on a more permanent basis wasn't likely.
Remember Brent. You thought he was the right man for you and look what happened. And worse, although J.T. is a recovering alcoholic, he had a drinking problem at one time. Do you want to relive your childhood with your father?

J.T. curled his fingers around her nape, the gray in his eyes softening. “I enjoyed going to church with you this morning.”

The husky tone to his words melted any resistance she had managed to conjure. She leaned closer, slipping her hands from her pockets. “A perfect morning.”

One corner of his mouth tilted up. “To be topped off with a lousy afternoon.”

Not lousy. I'm with you.
“We still have Elizabeth and Susan to interview. Maybe something will turn up.”

A shadow darkened his features. “I hope not.”

His mouth inched nearer. Her eyelids began to close when the sound of the door opening parted them. Ross came barreling out of the station and halted when he spied them.

The man regarded them. “Neither Jill nor I had anything to do with Ashley's kidnapping. How can you think we are suspects?”

J.T. pivoted toward Ross. “Do you know where your wife is?”

“No.” J.T.'s neighbor's gaze didn't waver from him. “I'm worried something happened to her. She told me she was going to her parents to think. That's all I know and the last I heard from her. We may be having problems, but she isn't a kidnapper.” He stormed past them to his car.

“He sounds convincing.” J.T. shoved his hand through his hair, smoothing the stray lock back into place.

“Yes, but we still need to find Jill. What if something did happen to her?”

“Another disappearance? I hope not. Let's see what
Elizabeth has to say. She should be here by now.” J.T. opened the door and held it for Madison, who moved inside.

She saw Elizabeth sitting near the break room, her black purse in her lap, her hands clenched around its straps. She chewed her bottom lip. “She looks nervous.”

“Let's find out why.” J.T. headed for the woman who cleaned the station. “Elizabeth, I'm glad you could come down here.”

“Agent Kendall didn't give me a choice. What's this all about?” Her worried gaze swept from J.T.'s to Madison's.

“Please, let's go in here. We just have a few questions for you.” J.T. pointed toward the interview room.

Elizabeth's eyes grew round when she noticed where he wanted to talk to her. “You think I did something wrong?”

Madison came to J.T.'s side. “We would rather not discuss it where everyone can hear.”

The cleaning lady scanned the large, open area, her eyes widening even more as they lit upon Derek at the counter and Paul at a computer. She struggled to her feet, her hands quaking as they held her purse clutched in front of her. She hurried into the interview room.

Inside, Madison sat across from Elizabeth and clicked on a recorder. After identifying the people involved, the day and time, she asked, “Was your husband convicted of armed robbery and did he serve seven years in the state penitentiary?”

She nodded once.

“Please speak your answer for the record.”

“Yes.”

“His name is Lance Billingston?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you going by Elizabeth Haney?”

“Because I left him. I don't want my sons to grow up with his name. Haney is my maiden name.”