Abduction (38 page)

After a few
more minutes, Karen walked out of the church with Ray at her side and Jessica
in her arms. She looked back. “Why aren’t Nora and Charles coming?”

“They’re
talking to Rene.” Ray grinned down at her. “It seems a young girl came to Rene
and Jeff a few days ago. She got pregnant and she’s just sixteen. She wants to
give her baby up for adoption to someone special.”

Karen smiled.
“They don’t come much more special than Nora and Charles McCaine. I hope it
works out for them.”

“Somehow I
think the Lord has this all worked out.”

Karen laughed
as he opened the car door for her. “For once, I am not going to disagree with
you.”

“Good. Now I’m going to take you and my niece out
for breakfast.”

#

JJ was leaning so far over the seat that he was
almost in Donnie’s lap as Fleming drove and Donnie studied the screen. “Take a
right here.”

Donnie glared
over his shoulder at JJ. “Do you mind?”

“No.” Ignoring Donnie’s hint, JJ studied the screen
for himself. It wasn’t all that hard to figure out. The little dot that was
stationary, and had been for the past fifteen minutes, was Zoe. That the little
point of light kept blinking was no indication, however, that her heart was
still beating or that her lungs were still drawing air.

And it was
driving him crazy.

Thirty minutes
after the discovery of the murdered agent, Fleming and his forces were already
tracking Zoe. They figured the killer had about an hour’s lead on them. Every
minute counted.

They had
wasted almost five minutes trying to calm Keyes and convince him to stay behind.

“Left! Left!” Donnie jumped in his seat and JJ
jumped with him, startled by the sudden high-pitched emotion in the agent’s
voice.

JJ was thrown
sideways against the door as Fleming hit the brakes and turned the wheel
sharply. The car bounced as it slid onto a dirt road with more ruts than a
railroad crossing.

They were
heading south-southwest, deeper into land covered with dairy farms, soybean
fields, and trees.

The dirt road
curled and wove through thick patches of foliage that nearly obliterated any
sunlight. JJ had no idea where they were, and sweat trickled down his back.
They could, at any moment, break out of the trees and be right on top of where
Zoe was, losing all element of surprise. They could, even now, be close enough
for the killer to hear the car engines.

JJ turned and
looked out the back window. It was hard to see clearly through the dust kicked
up by the tires, but the other cars were still behind them.

“Slow down,”
Donnie instructed Fleming. “We’re close.”

JJ felt his
lungs empty in a sudden rush of adrenalin. He reached down and pulled his
weapon out of its holster. With one practiced movement, he dropped the clip,
checked to make sure it was full, and then popped it back into the handle. He
pulled back the slide and felt the nervous anticipation that always came with
the sound of a bullet being chambered.

Fleming slowed
the car to a stop. JJ tugged the blue cap he’d been given lower over his eyes
and climbed out of the car. White FBI letters were emblazoned on the front of
the cap for immediate identification in the heat of battle.

JJ wouldn’t be
keeping the hat as a souvenir. The FBI weren’t earning any brownie points with
him.

Within
moments, a crowd of blue uniforms, black suits, and Kevlar vests congregated
around Donnie. He spoke quietly, making eye contact with as many as he could as
his gaze swept the group. “Directly west, maybe a hundred and fifty to two
hundred yards. We have no idea what we’re facing, so be cautious, keep your
eyes open, and be ready for anything. We have two women in danger, and we want
them both coming out of this alive.”

JJ tuned him
out as Donnie formed groups and fanned them out in a sweep to surround the
target area. His mind was already tuning into the path he was assigned.
Anything could be waiting for them. One wrong move and this whole thing could
go wrong. Terribly wrong.

Donnie nodded
at him. “Let’s go.”

Somewhere along the way, JJ had learned to trust
Bevere. When
the rubber hit the road, Donnie was a solid, no-nonsense,
confident FBI agent with more sense than age and enough training to make him
dangerous to the wrong people.

And in less
than three minutes, JJ found out something else about Donnie Bevere: The man
was no stranger to moving through the woods like a hunter. He was an expert. JJ
suspected Bevere had spent years learning to move silently upon his prey,
blending in with the brush and all but disappearing into the foliage.

“You were
raised in the country,” JJ whispered.

Donnie smiled.
“Shh. Don’t tell anyone. You’ll ruin my big-city image.”

They continued
in silence for another few minutes—Donnie leading with JJ just behind and to
his right. Suddenly Donnie stopped, held up two fingers, and then pointed to
his left. JJ nodded, palmed his weapon, and slipped away to Donnie’s left.

#

Zoe stumbled
and nearly fell as he pushed her from behind. He grabbed her arm and yanked her
around. “Don’t play with me! I’ll kill her right now in front of you!”

Zoe’s eyes
flashed with rage as she straightened, jerking her arm away from him. “You may
have already killed her for all I know! Where is she?”

He shoved her through the door. Bare light bulbs
hung from the ceiling. The light blinded her for a second. She blinked. There
was another cot, another chair, but her mother wasn’t in either of them. She
was sitting on the cold concrete floor, chained to the wall.

“Mom!” Her
mother didn’t move—didn’t appear to hear her.

Zoe tried to
run forward, but he yanked her back. “You animal! How could you do that to
her?”

“You wanted to
see her; now you’ve seen her.” He shoved her down on the bed, picked up a roll
of duct tape from under the cot, and tore a piece off, sticking it across her
mouth.

“That should
keep you quiet.”

#

JJ eased his
head around the tree and studied the small cabin. It was small—maybe two or
three rooms—and in desperate need of attention. Windows were boarded up, the
porch sagged precariously, and the roof looked like one good wind could send it
toppling.

He felt his
heart lurch. Then he shook off the fear. He had a job to do.
Stay focused.
Breathe. In. Out. Steady. Pay attention.

A soft whistle to his right brought his attention
to Donnie. The agent nodded and then waved JJ toward the front porch. JJ
acknowledged him with a quick nod of his own and then held up three fingers.

On three.
One.
Two.
Three.

JJ spun out
from behind the tree and ran, zigzagging, tucked low, toward the porch. He
dived behind the woodpile and took another deep breath. Then he cautiously
raised his head toward Donnie and nodded. Seconds later, Donnie came darting
across the same way JJ had. He disappeared on the other side of the porch.

Then he stuck
his head up. JJ watched Donnie as he keyed the microphone to his headset and
quietly checked in with the rest of the team surrounding the house.

Donnie looked
at JJ and pointed to the front door. JJ nodded and slowly moved out from behind
the woodpile in a low crouch. He stepped carefully onto the porch, wincing when
a board creaked softly. He backed up against the building and moved sideways
toward the door.

Donnie came up
on the other side. He nodded and, with one swift kick, knocked down the door.
JJ went in low—Donnie high. Their guns swept the room as fast as their eyes
did.

JJ saw it
first. He slowly straightened, feeling the blood rush to his feet.

“Donnie?”

Donnie looked
at JJ and then followed JJ’s gaze. “That smart son of a swamp rat.” Donnie
reached out and picked up the ankle bracelet Zoe had been wearing.

JJ picked up
the note that lay next to it.

“You lose.”

#

Zoe watched as he tied her to the cot. He pulled
the knot tight. She
winced.

He gazed down
at her, smiling with confidence or arrogance or perhaps both. “If you’re
depending on that little tracking device they put around your ankle, forget it.
It came in handy though. Gives me more time while they chase their tails.”

Rocking back
on his haunches, he laughed. “Did you really expect those Feds to come running
to your rescue? Or maybe you were expecting Detective Josiah Johnson to be your
hero.” He spit on the ground between his feet in disdain. “The man couldn’t
find a criminal if he was locked in the same room with him.”

#

Furious, JJ
stalked out of the cabin.

“We’re going
to get him.”

“And pigs fly.
. .” JJ whirled around and glared at Donnie. “When? After he kills her or
before?”

“He has to be
close by.”

“How do you
figure that? Did he leave you some obscure message I missed?”

“There was no
time.” Donnie explained in a quiet voice.

“He has all
the time in the world! He could be anywhere. He could be over the state border.
He could be holed up on the other side of the county.”

“Vince found
tire tracks out back. The ground was soft. He left us a trail, and I don’t
think he knows it.”

JJ rolled his
eyes. “How long do you think that trail is going to last? Let me give you a
hint. Until he hits pavement—and then you’re chasing your tails again.”

“It’s an old
logging road,” Vince explained. “It’s on the map. It goes deeper into the woods
and then up into the mountains.”

JJ knew his
temper was reaching the boiling point. He clenched his fists. “Do you really
think he’s stupid enough to leave us a trail?”

“We can stand
here and argue about it or we can follow his trail and see where it takes us.”
Donnie tossed the anklet at Fleming, demonstrating his own form of disgust.

JJ climbed
into the back seat of the sedan, his temper still simmering just below the
boiling point. “Where’s that map?”

Donnie tossed
it to him. Fleming drove, not saying a word.

JJ spread the
map out on his lap and looked at it. His finger followed the logging trail as
it wound its way up the mountain.
Zoe, I swear, if we can get you out alive,
I will never yell at you again.

He stared at
the map.
Come on. Come on.
There had to be something. Anything.
God,
if You’re real, I could really use Your help right about now. Show me where she
is and I’ll never deny You again.

Desperation
clung to his mind. Fear held on to his heart. Dread slid up his spine.

#

Zoe held her
breath as he came back into the room with a rope in one hand and a glistening
knife in the other. How long had he been gone? Twenty minutes? Thirty?

After cutting
the ropes around her hands and feet, he pulled her up off the cot. “We’re going
for a walk.”

“What about my
mom?”

“Someone will
find her eventually.”

Zoe stopped.
He pushed. She stumbled. “You can’t just leave her here.”

“Well, I could take her with us and let her watch
you die. Do you want her to watch, Zoe? Is that it? Or are you afraid of dying
alone?”

“You’re sick.”

“I’ve been
called worse. But you’re wrong. I’m just very clever.”

“It isn’t
cleverness that drives you to kill innocent children.”

“No. That’s
hunger. You people don’t understand. You think life and death are something
special. Something to be grieved over and coveted like precious jewels. You
build monuments to a pile of bones. You spend fortunes to engrave names in
marble and granite. Why? To ease your troubled little minds that you weren’t as
nice to them while they were alive as you should have been? And you call me
sick? You hide behind elaborate funerals and line the pockets of greedy funeral
homes and florists, and for what?”

He shook his
head as if pitying her. “Death is death. People live, people die—so what.
Hearts stop and they’re gone.”

“People who
die leave behind people who loved them!”

“Loved them!”
He spat the words with distaste. “Don’t give me that mindless garbage! A father
loves his children, but he has no problem leaving them when a pretty woman
crosses his path. So much for love when lust comes calling.”

“What about the mothers you leave grieving for
their children?”

“Mothers?” His
eyes narrowed with a violent hatred, and she could only wonder what his own
mother had done to him to make him hate them so much. “Don’t talk to me about
those feckless creatures.”

Denise
Shefford moaned and Zoe started to move toward her. He yanked her back. “Oh,
no, you don’t.”

“Mom!”

Her mom moved
her head a fraction of an inch and moaned softly again.

He pulled Zoe
out of the room and slammed the door shut.

#

JJ stared at
the map. Something nagged at him. He squinted, staring harder at the area all
around the logging road.
And there! Son of a swamp rat! The guy had led them
in circles!

He shoved the
map over the seat at Donnie. “Look. Right there. That’s where we found Gina.”
He pointed and then dragged his finger across the squiggly lines. “And that’s
where we found Lisa Brandt. And this is where we are now.”

Donnie’s eyes darted from one point to another. He
looked up at JJ and then at the map. “Do you think it could have been that
simple?”

“Yes.”

“So do I.” He
looked over at Fleming. “Turn around.”