Broken Road (43 page)

He saw his phone on the passenger seat and decided he should call Angel’s parents and tell them what he was doing. They in turn could contact Detective Lieutenant Roberts and inform him as well. That was one call he didn’t want to make. He knew he had been wrong to go out on his own without informing anyone, and he just didn’t want to hear or deal with their diatribes. He picked up his phone and soon realized the battery was dead, not having been charged in days.

“Son of a bitch. What now? How much more do you want me to take?” he screamed toward heaven. “I can’t handle much more!”

He was starting to feel sorry for himself. Why did everything have to be so damn hard? What did he ever do in his young life to deserve so much pain and sorrow? He was a good person. He always followed the rules, never hurt anyone intentionally, and treated everyone with respect. Why then? Why did his best friend have to die? Why did he have to be so badly injured in the same damn accident that claimed Dante’s life that he was left not knowing if he’d ever be able to achieve the only goal he had ever set for himself?

And if he isn’t able to play ball, what then? What was he supposed to do with his life? All he ever wanted was to play ball professionally. He worked his ass off all his life to attain that dream. For what? What was the point of all that hard work? So he can become a gym teacher in some blasted grammar school in New Jersey and watch kids play dodgeball all day long? And now the absolute worse had occurred. The only woman he had ever loved needed him desperately and here he sat, alone in a beaten-up car with a cell phone that was dead and useless. What more?

He repeatedly banged his head against the steering wheel in frustration and let the pent-up tears flow. He cried hard, releasing all the anger and bitterness and letting it flow out of his body until he was exhausted.

When he finally felt in control again, he leaned back and took a deep breath saying one last prayer before he tried starting the car again.

“Please, God, I’m begging you. Please let the car start and let me get to Angel in time. I love her. I need her…and she needs me right now. I have to get to her soon. Please don’t take her away from me too. I can’t handle anymore loss. Please.”

He closed his eyes tightly, turned the key slowly, and whispered again, “Please. Please.” The car started without a hitch. No shaking, no hesitation, no noise, nothing. The gentle roar of the engine was music to Jarrod’s ears. He smiled serenely, looked up toward the heavens, and simply said, “Thank you.”

He contemplated using a pay phone or going back into the convenience store and asking if he could use their phone to call Angel’s parents, but he just didn’t have the time to deal with that or the hassle of using his credit card to make the call. Besides, he was afraid he would be pushing his luck by turning off the car and risking the possibility he wouldn’t be able to start it again. He needed to get to Angel as quickly as possible. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do once he got to the cabin, but he’d figure something out. He drove out of the lot, continuing to pray they would be at the cabin when he reached it and that Angel was alright.

He made it to Thomasville in record time, reaching it in just a little over two hours. He drove the entire time with all the windows open and the radio blasting in hopes of that keeping him awake and alert. His back, neck, and shoulders ached from the long, stressful drive, but it didn’t matter. He knew in his heart he was close to Angel now. Nothing could stop him from getting to her. He wondered if that bastard had fed her. Was she cold? He could just imagine how frightened she must be. It tore at his heart to imagine the terror she must be enduring.

He quickly glanced down at the directions again and continued on the winding road he was on. The first thing he was going to do once Angel and he were back home safe and sound was invest in a GPS, he thought. He was forced to slow his speed down to only ten miles over the speed limit on this curving, dark road that had absolutely no street lighting. He could barely see two feet in front of him, and the fog that was unfolding was only making it worse. Based on the directions Nick Scott had given him, a narrow, hidden driveway that he would need to turn on to would soon be approaching. Supposedly the driveway was close to a quarter mile long. Jarrod would have to leave the car toward the bottom of the drive to avoid being seen.

“I’m coming, Angel,” he whispered to himself. “Just hang on a little longer, baby.”

Chapter Forty-One

M
organ sat patiently in the interview room again. She was informed that Detective Lieutenant Roberts would join her in a few minutes, but that had been close to half an hour ago. She looked toward the two-way mirror and wondered who was sitting in the room behind it, watching her squirm.

In the meantime Detective Lieutenant Roberts and Detective Anderson of the UFPD stood motionless, staring back at her.

“Do you think she’ll cooperate?” asked Anderson.

“Yeah, I do,” Roberts said. “I was with her for only a few minutes earlier today, and she immediately supplied me with the hideout location.”

“Too damn bad they had already left.”

“Yeah. Well, then it would have been too easy and we both know from experience it’s never easy. Alright, let me get in there and do my job.”

“Let me know if I can be of any help,” Anderson said. “By the way I don’t know if you’ve been informed yet, but her two other roommates, John Masterson and Nathan Daniels, are here and are currently giving their statements.”

“Yeah, I know. Can you stick around a bit, or do you have to get back to your department right away?”

“You couldn’t pry me away. I’m interested in knowing what the hell she has to say,” responded Anderson solemnly. Detective Lieutenant Roberts nodded in acquiescence as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Upon entering the interview room, the detective motioned for the officer who was standing guard to leave them alone, as he had done earlier in the day. In fact, his entire routine was executed exactly as before. After sitting down across from Morgan, he pulled out his notebook and pen and pressed the Record button on the tape recorder.

“Sorry about the interruption earlier today, but I had a defenseless, terrified girl to rescue. You may have heard of her. Angelise Skyler. Sound familiar?”

“Is she alright?”

“She wasn’t there. The motel room was empty,” said Roberts matter-of-factly.

Morgan looked truly shocked. “I swear I didn’t lie. I booked a room there for them until Tuesday—”

The detective held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence. “Tuesday? Why Tuesday?”

Morgan drew in a deep breath. “The plan was for him to release her on the side of the road, any road, on Tuesday. I never wanted her to be hurt. I just wanted her to be scared enough to leave Gainesville and Jarrod. I figured a couple of days of being held hostage would do the trick.”

“Jarrod? As in Jarrod Wentworth?”

“Yes. Jarrod is, I mean
was
, my boyfriend. He’s now Angelise’s boyfriend.”

“Cousins sharing boyfriends? Now I’ve heard everything.”

“Not by choice. He and I had broken up a few months ago, and when Angelise came to visit my mother and me in New Jersey, they met at a party and somehow hooked up here in Florida. Detective, I didn’t lie to you about the motel. That’s where they were supposed to be.”

“I believe you. A note was left behind.”

“What did it say?” she asked.

“Something to the effect that she would be killed if we were to pursue them.”

Morgan let out an anguished sob. “I’m so sorry. If I could take everything back, I would. I don’t know what to do…”

“You can supply us with as much information as you can. Make it easier for us to find them.”

Wiping her nose with her sleeve, she said, “I’ll tell you everything I know.”

“Based on what little you’ve told me so far, I’m assuming you were the brainpower behind the whole abduction. Who took her? Give me a name,” he boldly stated. He sat up straighter as he glared at her, making her wince.

“My roommate. Benjamin Langdon. But, Detective, I swear I didn’t think he would hurt her. He might not. I just don’t know anymore…””

Just answer the questions. Why did you plan your cousin’s abduction?” he asked.

She began to sob hard while gasping for breath. He remained silent, allowing her time to calm down. It was taking a supreme force of will on his part not to grab her by the shoulders and shake her hard until she gave him all the information they needed. When he became a cop over twenty years ago, he felt as though he had hit the lottery—decent salary, great benefits, excellent pension plan, and early retirement. Little did he know that over the years he would become a hardened man from being exposed to and having to deal with such deep-seated malice and acerbity on a daily basis.

Between sobs she uttered, “I…I was blinded…I just wanted Jarrod. I just wanted to be with him so badly. I hated her for having…having him. I didn’t know…what else…to do.”

“So you approached your roommate with plans for him to kidnap her?” he asked.

“Not at first. I told him that…that she was a customer in the store where I work. I told him I had overheard her telling her friend that she liked him. I knew he…he wanted someone to like him. So bad that he would…he would do anything. He believed me.”

“Because he wanted to believe you.”

“I suppose,” she said as she wiped her nose again.

“Then what?” Roberts asked.

“I took a picture of Angelise and showed it to him. He thought she was beautiful, so he kept asking for more.”

“And you kept supplying them to him, ultimately feeding his hunger. How did you get the pictures?”

“I took them,” she said quietly.

“You were following her?”

“Yes,” she said, remorseful and shamefaced.

“Were you the one calling and sending her pictures, or was it him?” he asked sharply.

“I did everything,” she admitted regretfully. “In the beginning he did nothing. As I brought him more pictures, he would just stay locked up in his room for hours on end staring at them.”

“What about the flowers that were sent to Ms. Skyler?”

“Me.”

“Was Langdon the man who approached her in the park? The man said his name was Benjamin, but gave a different last name.”

“It was him,” she said. At least they now had a name to go with the face, a face that Ms. Ileana Mendez would be able to identify.

“Do you have any idea where he may have taken Ms. Skyler?” he asked.

“No.

“Do you have any idea what car he’s driving?” he asked.

“I would assume his,” Morgan replied.

“Wrong assumption. His car is sitting idle in the driveway at your house.”

Once again, she was stunned. Who would have thought Benjamin would ever be capable of thinking on his own? He obviously had his own personal agenda and had gone on to make plans and arrangements in furthering his involvement in the scheme.

“I don’t know. I had John’s car, so I know he wasn’t able to use his. John is my other—”

“I know who John is. He’s here.”

“Why?” she asked. “Detective Roberts, John had absolutely nothing to do with any of this. Neither did Nate. It was just me and Benjamin, I swear. Why is John here?”

“It’s not your time to ask questions. It’s mine. So just answer whatever questions I throw at you, got it? Why and how did you convince him to kidnap her?”

“Things weren’t moving fast enough for me. I kept trying to convince him to go up to her, but he wouldn’t. I figured if she met him and saw how weird he is, she would put two and two together, and realize he was the one sending flowers and making the phone calls. He was her stalker. I thought maybe then she would be afraid and leave. But it didn’t work out that way. Then he told me he finally followed her to the park one day and went right up to her and asked her all these questions, but nothing came of it. I got desperate so I lied and told him that her boyfriend was physically abusing her. I told him she needed his help and the only way he could do that was to take her away from him. I convinced him that if he took her and then released her in a day or so, she would be too afraid to stick around and would return home, far away from her boyfriend.”