Vanished (6 page)

Her gaze fixed on the doggy-sized door in the bigger one, she waited for her tray of food to be delivered. When it appeared on the top stair, a dim overhead light flicked on. The opening banged shut.

Hunger twisted her stomach. Thirst dried her mouth. She only had a little while to eat before the dark returned. She raced across the small room and flew up the stairs to grab the tray. She stuffed the peanut butter sandwich into her mouth and gulped down the lukewarm water. She didn't want to be on the steps when the light went out like the time before when she was given some food by a stranger.

With her last bite, she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth as she finished chewing. She studied the small opening and wondered if she could fit through it and escape. She started to investigate it then remembered the dark. Not enough time.

She hurried down the steps. As the lights blinked off, her feet connected with the ice-cold cement. Blackness engulfed her.

“No! Don't! I'll be good.”

Tears sprang to her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She wanted to curl into a ball on the floor and pray this was all a bad dream. But the cold from the floor made her teeth chatter. This wasn't a nightmare. This was real.

With arms stretched out, she slowly crossed the remaining distance to her cot. Her safe haven. She sat again with her legs pulled up on the bed and brought the scratchy blanket around her to keep the cold at bay.

“Please, Jesus, help my daddy find me,” she whispered over and over while rocking back and forth.

Day two, 6:30 p.m.: Ashley missing twenty-four hours

M
adison looked up from studying the interviews she'd finally been able to conduct during the afternoon and early evening. The nearly empty sheriff's station greeted her visual sweep. Rachel worked at her computer while Deputy Nelson stood at the counter, manning the phones, taking care of any other law enforcement business that occurred.

Madison's gaze zeroed in on J.T.'s office, the blinds on the large picture window that afforded him a view of the whole work area, open. He cradled his chin in his right hand as his stare drilled into his desktop. Even from this distance halfway across the cavernous room she could see the dark circles ringing his eyes and the tired lines that made him look ten years older.

The sound of the front door opening drew Madison's attention reluctantly away from J.T. Emma entered the building with a picnic basket and headed straight for her.

Madison smiled at the reverend's wife. “Is that what I think it is?”

“If you think it's dinner, then yes. Colin called me and said J.T. isn't eating. Do you think you can get him to have something? There's enough for the two of you.” Emma glanced over her shoulder. “And you, too, Derek and Rachel.”

While Deputy Nelson perked up, straightening away from the counter, Madison shoved her chair back and rose. “I'll do my best. Most of the others are across the street at the café.”

Emma flipped the top open. The aromas of warm, freshly baked bread and fried chicken flowed from the basket. “Grace, Kim and I have been busy.”

“Kim?”

“Yeah, she helped us. It gave her something to do after we finished with the posters and put them up. She made the coleslaw. She said her dad loves it.”

“Good.” Madison peeked into the basket, her stomach rumbling. “Your food won't go to waste.”

“How's it coming? Anything?” Emma took two hefty-sized paper plates and prepared them for Rachel and Derek.

“I'm sure Colin told you the cadaver search dog didn't find anything.”

“Yes. He said something about a K-9 dog finding the other black shoe at Eric Carlton's cabin. Does that mean he took her?”

“I don't think so. I think it's just a little too easy.” While Emma lavished another two plates with generous helpings of coleslaw, baked beans, bread and fried
chicken, Madison licked her lips in anticipation, not realizing until Colin's wife had shown up how hungry she really was. “After the cadaver search dog scoured the lake area, he went to Carlton's cabin and checked it out. Nothing.”

Rachel approached them. “Thankfully some criminals aren't too smart. I never thought of Eric as very bright. He may have Ashley with him.”

“True, or someone planted the shoe there.” Madison picked up hers and J.T.'s meal. “Hopefully we'll find him soon.”

“He may not be far. He grew up here and knows the area well. I could see him hiding in some cave or somthing like that.” Rachel lifted her plate and drew in a deep breath of the tantalizing scents. “Mmm, this smells wonderful. Thank you and tell Kim and Grace thanks, too.”

“Will do. I'll leave the basket in case you all want seconds.”

Derek sauntered over to the desk where the food was. “I'll bring it by later. I promise you there won't be anything left.”

Madison made her way toward J.T.'s office. “I second that.”

She put one plate down on the top of the file cabinet so she could open his door.

When she stepped inside, he raised his head. He tried to hide the anguish in his gaze, but he couldn't quite wipe the desperation from his look.

“It's okay. You don't have to keep up a front for me.” Madison laid the food in front of him, then sat in the
chair at his side and scooted up so she could place her plate on his desk. “Emma brought this for us.” She wasn't sure how much he was aware of what was going on in the outer office.

“I saw her. I just didn't…” His words came to a shaky halt and he dropped his gaze to the dinner before him. After a long moment, he continued, “I hadn't thought about eating.”

“Well, think about it. You've got to eat. Kim helped fix this for you.” Madison pulled off a piece of the bread, then popped it into her mouth. “You know I can pass up a slice of pie or cake, but wave bread under my nose and I'm doomed.”

A corner of his mouth quirked ever so slightly. “Not me. Sweets any day over breads. I bet Kim made this coleslaw.”

“She told Emma you love it.”

J.T. stuck his fork in the pile of slaw and brought some to his mouth. “She's right.” He slid the utensil between his parted lips.

Madison tore her attention away from him and started on her piece of fried chicken, golden brown, crisp and delicious. She waited until J.T. had taken several bites of his food before asking, “Where do you think we should go next in the investigation?”

He chewed, his forehead wrinkled in thought. “I think the trail that stopped abruptly on the gravel road is where Ashley was taken away. She's not in the woods behind my house or, for that matter, in the lake. She was driven away which means someone might have seen the car and doesn't even know it.”

“The car Mrs. Goldsmith saw?”

“A definite possibility. Anything on it?”

The urge to brush a crumb of the fried chicken from the corner of his mouth riveted her attention to his lips. With an effort she remained seated and touched the same area on her face, saying, “You've got something there.” While he used his white paper napkin, she shifted her gaze to her food, forcing herself to concentrate on it rather than his mouth. “Not anything yet, but it shouldn't be long with the partial plate number and color.”

“By the time we got that it had been half a day. In twelve hours they could be six or seven hundred miles away.”

She again looked across the desk at him. “Then I'll make sure the information goes out across the country. So you think we should assume she's been removed from the vicinity?”

“If it's an ex-con I crossed, I can't see him staying around here. If it's Eric, he may still be near. However, Eric doesn't drive a metallic blue car.”

“It could be stolen.”

“Nothing's been reported stolen.”

“Not here but what about somewhere around here like Central City?”

Interest sparked in his eyes. “Yes. We've had a few kids from Central City take cars then ride around before dumping them here at the lake.”

“I'll do some checking on stolen cars in the surrounding counties. Maybe Eric drove to Central City, or somewhere like that, took a car and came back and kidnapped Ashley.”

J.T. shook his head. “That seems too elaborate for
Eric. It would be more likely he would use his own car and hide somewhere nearby.”

“That's what Rachel thinks. She said he could be holed up in some cave around here. How extensive is the cave system in the area?”

“The K-9 dogs from Central City will be back tomorrow to do some checking of places like that where someone can hide. But I don't think that search will yield anything.” J.T. finished his coleslaw and put his fork on his plate. “I know Eric is a sex offender, but his victim was a nineteen-year-old female. He was peeping into her house and watching her. Then he went the next step and tried to force himself on her.”

“Maybe he's progressed to little girls.”

Jaws clenched, J.T. crushed his paper napkin into a tight ball, then tossed it into the trash can by her feet. “I don't think so, but we have to check everything out. Frankly, though, I think this kidnapping is too complicated for someone like Eric.”

“Still, until we find him, we won't know anything for sure.”

“I've been wrong in the past. With this case I can't be wrong and I can't ignore anything.”

The fervent way he said that last sentence reaffirmed her own determination to make sure he was right. Silence fell between them while he folded his paper plate and it followed the napkin into the trash. His jerky movements highlighted the exhaustion she saw in his face.

Glad to see he'd eaten almost half of the chicken and all the slaw and bread, she also threw her empty plate away. “You're convinced it's someone from your past?”

He stabbed her with his sharp gaze. “Yes. A gut feeling, you could say.”

Somehow she had to get him to rest and possibly sleep some or she would see him fall apart before her eyes. That thought pierced her heart. “I can start on the list Rachel's drawing up. Why don't you go see your kids and get some rest?”

Anger slashed deep lines into his face. “No. You think I can sleep knowing that Ashley is out there somewhere wondering where I…”

The force of his words died as his sentence came to a halt. She'd known he wasn't ready to admit he needed sleep, but she had to ask. “At least go see Kim and Neil. Kim wanted me to talk to you about assisting with the search. She needs to do something to help. She'shurting.”

His eyes narrowed. “I don't need you to tell me that.”

“Then go talk to her. Let her help do something.”

The fierceness in his expression crumbled. He scrubbed his hands down his face. “I could have lost her, too, yesterday. She was in the house, the back door unlocked. If it is an ex-con, he could go after my whole family before this is over with.”

“Not if he's long gone. You, yourself, said it wouldn't be smart for him to hang around here. You're too familiar with the people in your county. It would be hard for him to hide for long.”

“But Rachel's right. There are places a person could hide for a while. There's a lot of rough terrain around part of the lake.”

“Let Kim breathe, J.T. Let her be a part of finding Ashley. She needs that right now.” She didn't normally
suggest a fourteen-year-old help with an investigation, but she'd seen the guilt and pain in his daughter's eyes when they had talked earlier that day. “At least keep her informed of what's going on. Maybe she could come down here and answer the phones. It's important that she's around you right now.”

After dragging his hands down his face again, he rubbed his eyes. “I know. There needs to be two of me.”

“The parent and the sheriff?”

“Yep.” He stared out his window into the large outer room. “I feel so torn. What if I can't do it all?”

Surprised at the confession, Madison sat forward in her chair to close some of the space between them. His question, one he would never have uttered in the past, emphasized the exhaustion clinging to him. “I'll be here to help you any way I can. If that means telling you to slow down and take care of yourself, then I'll do that. Whatever it takes.”

The corner of his mouth tilted up. “So I'd better not mess with you?”

She gave him one curt nod. “Right.”

“Okay, I'll go see Kim and Neil, but I won't be gone long. When we get back, I'd like to go over the list of criminals I've put away who are out of prison. Actually, the list should include everyone I sent to prison whether they are out or not.”

“I'll work with Rachel to make sure it's a complete list. She still has a few she's tracking down.” Madison rose. “You know you put away quite a lot of criminals in your days on the Chicago police force.”

He came to his feet. “Yes, and I believe one's decided
to even the score.” He opened the door and stepped to the side to allow her to go first.

When Madison entered the outer room, she saw Ross and Jill Morgan coming into the station. The frowns on the couple's faces alerted her that something was wrong. Although they headed toward Derek behind the counter, Madison made her way toward them while J.T. stopped to talk to Rachel at her computer.

“I wasn't gonna come down here and say anything with all that you're dealing with, but then I got to thinking this might pertain to your case.” Ross leaned into the counter, his voice pitched low as though he hated to disturb J.T.

Madison positioned herself next to Derek and faced the young couple who were in their early thirties. “What happened?”

“We found our dog dead this evening. The vet said the dog's been dead probably since early this morning after we left the house.” Jill brought a perfectly manicured hand up to smooth her long blond hair behind her left ear. “I don't think it means anything but Ross does.”

The dog Kim had heard barking around the time Ashley went missing was dead. Was there a connection between the animal's death and Ashley's kidnapping or was it just a coincidence? “How did he die?” Madison spied J.T. winding his way toward them.

Ross shot his wife a look. “Jill, it could mean something. The vet said he'd been poisoned. I found a half-eaten steak by the fence that I hadn't given Buddy.” Dressed still in his business suit, Ross loosened his tie with a frustrated jerk.

“Where's the steak?” J.T. came up to the other side of Madison.

“I left it on the ground while I took my dog to the vet. I'm sorry to bother you with this—” Ross peered again at his wife “—but we remembered you asking if we were home around six yesterday when Buddy was heard barking. There probably isn't any connection to Buddy's death and Ashley's kidnapping, but I didn't want to be the judge of that.” Ross's gaze skimmed from J.T. to Madison. “I mean what if our dog saw the kidnapper?”