Weep In The Night (25 page)

Bowen thrust his briefcase under his arm and yanked off his tie. Snippets of scriptures he'd read ministered to his soul as he threaded his way through the parking garage to his car. Come Sunday, with or without Sadie, he'd attend the community church.

His phone hummed—a text from Smitty. What did the Golden Boy want to brag about now?

However, the words Bowen read twisted a dagger into his gut.
We found Evelyn. No Hannah. Trouble. Kyle here and problem with WITSEC.

Bowen's heart dropped even as he replied. How had they gotten in so much trouble in so short a time? His phone beeped.

Sadie's with me. Safe.

“Of all the lame brained, stu—” Bowen roared out of the parking garage. He had to see for himself that Sadie was safe. Although a good operative, Smitty sometimes allowed his bravado to cloud his judgment. Bowen slowed his racing thoughts, trying to work out how they could recover the situation.

Smitty had located Evelyn. Good. Where was Hannah? Unknown. Kyle was in Santa Clarita? Bad. What about WITSEC? Not good. Not good at all.

“God, please keep Sadie and Hannah safe.” Unfamiliar words came out of Bowen's mouth. Did one little sentence constitute a prayer? A spark of heat flared in the center of his chest. He liked the sensation.

Vehicles clogged the freeway. It would take over an hour to reach Santa Clarita, but to keep Sadie safe, he'd endure all the traffic on the continent.

Another text. He couldn't afford to stop again. Knowing it was against the law, he read the message, anyway.

Evelyn returned. Going to confront her.

 

 

 

 

31

 

“Evelyn's back in her room.” Sadie lowered the binoculars.

“Let me handle her.”

Smitty popped the glove box and pulled out a holster with a long strap. He wound it over one shoulder, adjusting it so the gun fit snuggly under his left arm. Next, he slipped into a windbreaker and opened his door. “Let's roll.”

He knocked on the door and waited, his right hand under the left side of his jacket.

The door creaked open and Evelyn wavered into view. Thin gray skin covered her haggard face. Her eyes were dark caverns.

“Evelyn Adams?” Smitty lowered his arm.

The small woman raised her head in the direction of his voice but focused on a point in the distance.

“Ms. Adams, are you all right? Where's Penny?”

“I don't know.” A shiver raked her slender frame, almost knocking her over.

“What do you mean you don't know?” Hysteria cranked Sadie's tone up a notch. “Was she here with you?”

“He took her.”

Sadie clutched the doorjamb for support. Icy fear gripped her heart. She brushed past the woman and entered the room.

Evelyn sank onto one of the unmade beds.

Smitty closed the door. He pulled up a chair. “Who took the child?”

“Who are you?” Evelyn stuck her hand into the pocket of her dark brown skirt.

Smitty moved his hand to his holster and then dropped it when Evelyn extracted a rumpled tissue.

“I don't have a child. What are you talking about?”

Sadie yanked a coloring book off the dresser. “Then why do you have this? Come on, Evelyn. We know a child was here.” Sadie pointed to a box in the corner and opened the closet. “We see her toys, and these are probably her clothes.” Anxious and angry, she stormed back to the bed. Grabbing the frail shoulders, she yelled, “Where is my child?”

Evelyn crumpled. Sobbing hard, words stammered out. “The man took her. The man with…with the moustache took her.”

“When? We were watching all afternoon? When did he have the chance?”

Smitty held up his hand. “Ms. Adams, when did he take her?'

“At…at noon.”

“Noon? That was before we arrived.” Smitty stood and paced in the small room. “Then why did he come back?”

Evelyn did not answer.

Unable to keep her lunch down, Sadie dashed to the bathroom and threw up. No. No. Kyle could not have Hannah. She wiped her mouth and slumped to the cold tile floor. The distorted words of Smitty's questions and Evelyn's answers reached her ears as roaring static. Would she ever see Hannah again? Gray mist clouded her vision. She longed for oblivion.

“Come on, Sadie. Up you get.” Smitty took her hands and helped her stand.

“Why did Kyle take her?”

Evelyn's hand trembled as she stuck it into her other pocket and withdrew a slip of yellow paper. “Earlier today I got a ransom call.”

Blood whooshed out of Sadie's head. Little dots of light floated. She swayed and landed on the bed.

“How much do they want?” Smitty asked, his voice hard.

“He didn't ask for money. A garbled voice told me to go to Creekview Park and wait on a bench next to the big tree at the south end.”

“And?” Sadie's voice sounded hoarse even to her own ears.

Evelyn stood and turned to Sadie. “Penny has your eyes.”

Shards of pain pierced Sadie's heart. “You know who I am?” She shook off the implications of Evelyn's words. “What happened at the park?”

Evelyn shuffled towards the door. “I found a note there.”

A quick step and Smitty reached the door first, barring her way. “What did the note say?”

Evelyn threw the little square of paper at Sadie. It landed on the olive green spread. Her words sliced through the stuffy air. “Read it for yourself.”

Sadie snatched the paper scrap. She struggled with the folds and finally, dark scrawled words snaked across the wrinkled yellow square.

I don't want money. Go home. I'll contact you at 7. I want the child's real mother.

 

 

 

 

32

 

Sadie fumed with rage and collapsed onto the bed.

Evelyn withered and shrank into the shadows.

Still guarding the door, Smitty tapped keys on his phone. “I've reported this latest development to the office. Now we need to call the local police.”

Sadie catapulted off the bed and grappled for Smitty's phone. “No. They'll find out who I am and notify WITSEC.”

“We must report the kidnapping. And WITSEC already knows you're here somewhere. Boudine and I can't handle this alone.”

Contact the police and give up her freedom? Risk calling WITSEC again and hope she reached Valdez instead of Quillian? Kyle's note said he'd contact Evelyn at seven, ninety minutes away. Would she be safe here until then?

“Please don't call the police until Kyle contacts Evelyn. Can you give me that much time?”

“OK, Sadie. I understand your reluctance to involve the authorities, but I'll have to call, eventually.”

Turning back to Evelyn, Sadie's voice took on a new authority. “Since you know who I am, please tell me how you found Hannah.”

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Your fate's not in my hands. Tell me what I need to know. Please.”

“I found her beside the Santa Ana River. I was walking my old dog and saw a little bundle on the embankment, a piece of wood near the child's hand. She must have used it to stay afloat.”

Sadie covered her mouth.

“She was battered and bruised but alive. I took her home. At first, she had no memory of the accident or who she was. I called her Penny and after a while she stopped asking about you and her daddy.”

“You knew about the accident?”

“It was in the papers the next day.”

What kind of sick person would keep a child from her mother? “Why didn't you contact the authorities?”

Evelyn raised her eyes to the ceiling, her lips quivering. “I read about the trial and saw you on TV. That man threatened you. I thought he would kill Penny. I wanted to help her and keep her safe.” She sniffed and dabbed at a tear. “I've treated her right and I wasn't lonely anymore.”

Sadie stumbled into the bathroom where she tore off the wig, and threw cold water over her face. Slamming the door shut, she swiped at her wet face with a wad of tissues. Her baby had been in that cold, dark water all alone. Had she suffered? She must have been so scared. But Evelyn had taken care of her, kept her safe. Sadie's anger and grief were tempered with the knowledge that this woman had saved her child. Like Moses and the Egyptian princess, her baby lived because someone saved her. Still, Sadie wanted to wail, to cry to heaven at the loss of those precious years in Hannah's life. Alone in WITSEC, Aaron dead, Hannah would have eased those long, lonely years.

A phone rang in the bedroom. Sadie checked her watch. Five forty-five. She picked up the wig and opened the door.

Evelyn mumbled into the phone. She turned and covered the mouthpiece, eyes widening at Sadie's changed appearance. “Your name is Sadie Malone, isn't it?”

“Yes.”

Evelyn held the phone out to Sadie. “It's for you.”

She couldn't move.

Smitty placed his hand on her back and whispered, “Hold the phone so I can hear what he has to say.”

Sadie took the receiver, her hand and voice shaking. “Hello.”

“Sadie?”

“Yes.”

“It's been a long time.” Lonnie Levasseur's voice hadn't changed.

“What do you want?”

“It's not what I want that matters. It's what you want.” He let the words sink in before adding, “I have something, no sorry, someone you want.”

Smitty caught her when her knees buckled.

“Tell me, Lonnie.”

“Ha. So you know it's me. I'm flattered.”

“Just say it.”

“I have your daughter, and if you want to see her alive again, you'll meet me in L.A.”

 

 

 

 

33

 

Until he could see Sadie, hold her, and know she was safe, Bowen would have to trust Smitty. He glanced at his phone when it buzzed in the dashboard holder.

Smitty sent another text.

Bowen squinted at the words.

Returning to L.A. Call me.

Bowen eased over and took the first exit. A quick turn, and he parked in an empty lot where he punched in Smitty's speed-dial number. He answered right away.

“We'll be there in less than an hour.”

“What happened? Do you have Hannah?”

Smitty gave him the scant details of Hannah's abduction, outlined their confrontation with Evelyn, and Sadie's conversation with Lonnie.

“Lonnie has the child. How—?”

“We don't know how he found Hannah. Kyle's the one who took her.”

Rage blackened Bowen's vision.

“Boudine. You still there?”

“Yeah. What exactly did Lonnie say?”

“Not much, but I assume he'll trade Hannah for Sadie. He gave her a phone number and wants her to call at nine, tonight.”

“That'll give us time to make plans. How is she? Can I talk to her?”

Muted voices traveled through the airwaves.

“Hi, Bowen.” A hitch in her voice ripped a chasm in his chest.

“Sadie, how are you holding up?” He wanted to comfort her.

“I'm numb, but I know you guys will help me survive this.”

“We will. Let me talk to Smitty again. And Sadie, I…I prayed that God will keep Hannah safe.”

Smitty returned to the line, and the job took precedence. “We need to muster the troops.”

“I've already alerted the boss.”

Bowen drove to the safe house and called Ginger.

“Erik and Lela are on their way, with operatives on standby.” A crisp, take-charge tone infused Ginger's voice.

“This could get ugly. Is Lela bringing the gear?”

“Yes, she is. Vests, night vision scopes, listening devices. Everything you'll need. I'll take over Erik's case for now, so use him as much as necessary.”

“Thanks.”

Smitty's vehicle roared into the driveway.

Bowen bolted to the car and helped Sadie out.

Her wan complexion matched the color of her wig. She managed a ghost of a smile and held onto his arm as they entered the house.

Bowen had not expected his heart to somersault at the sight of her. He led her to the sofa.

“Boudine, when will Erik and Lela arrive?” Smitty asked.

“Smitty and I need to talk.” Bowen touched Sadie's arm. He signaled Smitty to follow as he marched down the hall. “They're on the way. You relayed everything that happened in Santa Clarita?”

“Seems there's a problem at WITSEC. The guy Sadie spoke to knew she was in Santa Clarita.”

“So my decision not to contact them right away was sound.”

“One more thing. It looked like Evelyn planned to run. I notified the local cops—”

“You did what?”

“Don't worry. I kept Sadie's name out of it. Evelyn was in no hurry to talk so that should buy us some time before she implicates us.”

“Go on.”

“I asked how Kyle found her. She said the day after she vacated her house, she returned to pick up a few items. Before she left she checked her e-mail. There was a message from a high school acquaintance asking for her address and phone number. Evelyn remembered the person and sent the information. She has since discovered that the woman she knew passed away last year. She figures whoever sent the message used the information to locate her.”

“Sounds logical.” Bowen peeked through the blinds. “Someone's here. Probably Erik, by the sound of the vehicle.”

They returned to the living room where Bowen sat next to Sadie. “Erik's arrived. When the other operatives get here we'll strategize.” He glanced at his watch. “We still have thirty minutes before you need to call Lonnie. Can I get you anything?”

“Please. Hot tea.”

“Coming right up.” Bowen entered the kitchen as Erik opened the back door. They shook hands. “Good to have you here.”

“You couldn't keep me away.” Erik gave Smitty a slap on the back and then shrugged out of his jacket. Entering the living room, he spread his arms wide. “Sadie, girl. I've come to save the day.”