Missing Child (29 page)

She landed against the closet door with a thud, her cheek and shoulder smashed against the wood.

‘What was that?’ the man said, and she knew the voice.

Noah, she tried to gurgle. I’m here.

‘I didn’t hear anything,’ said Paula.

‘I could have sworn,’ he said.

‘Look, Noah, I’m just exhausted. I’ll tell Westy you were here. What do you want with him anyway?’

Noah did not reply.

‘I’m sorry there was a misunderstanding about Dan. But you couldn’t blame us for thinking you were responsible.’

Noah murmured something that Caitlin could not understand. The angle that she was now at was causing the wire around her throat to tighten. She could feel black spots popping up in her consciousness. Almost as if she were about to fall asleep.

Was that how death felt? she wondered absently. Like falling asleep. The thought was almost soothing and then it jolted her awake. Her heart was beating wildly and it seemed like it would burst from the lack of oxygen. Noah, she thought.

She heard the door to the workshop close. They were gone.

They were gone, and all her hope was gone.

She tried to take a deep breath and the plastic bag filled her mouth and cut off all her air. She thought of Geordie’s face and began to let go.

Haley was dozing in a chair beside Dan’s bed, having repetitious dreams of someone chasing her through the hospital corridors, calling out for her to wake up. Finally, she felt the hand shaking her, and opened her eyes. She had a headache and her eyelids felt gritty. She looked up at Sam Mathis, trying to place him. And then she remembered. She felt a little surge of fear.

‘Detective, what’s the matter?’ she said.

‘I didn’t mean to startle you,’ he said.

‘That’s all right,’ she said.

‘How’s he doing?’ Sam asked, frowning at the inert figure on the bed. Dan’s complexion remained a yellowish ivory color. He was still attached to several monitors.

Haley looked at him sadly and pressed her lips together. ‘We’re still waiting for him to come around. He opened his eyes a while ago, but he didn’t seem to understand anything I said to him. Then he fell back asleep.’

‘Have you been here for a long time?’

Haley rubbed her eyes and nodded. She shifted in the chair and arranged her rumpled clothing. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Caitlin told me not to leave him. I decided to . . . take her advice.’

‘She thinks Dan knows where Geordie is,’ said Sam. ‘She’s terrified that he won’t be able to tell us in time to find the boy unharmed. I have to agree with her.’

‘You blame Dan too?’ Haley asked. ‘Dan would never hurt that boy.’

‘I don’t know about that. But we are pretty certain that Geordie was with him. And Dan had no way of knowing he would end up unconscious in the hospital. So, what happened to the boy? That’s the question.’

Haley sighed and studied her ex-husband’s features. ‘The doctor came by this morning. He said that even if Dan wakes up soon he may have some amnesia. It’s not uncommon with a head injury.’

Sam walked around to the side of the bed and bent down. ‘Dan,’ he said. ‘Dan, can you hear me? This is Detective Mathis.’

Dan’s eyelids fluttered.

‘Dan, you have to wake up. You need to tell us where Geordie is. We have to find the boy before it’s too late. Can you do that, Dan? Can you tell us?’

Dan’s eyes opened and he looked at Detective Mathis with a puzzled expression on his face. Haley jumped up and joined Sam at Dan’s bedside.

‘Dan. Honey, are you all right? What happened to you? Who did this to you?’

Dan frowned at Haley, and his monitors reacted to his agitation, their crooked lines jumping up and down. Sam spoke quietly to Haley.

‘Miss Jordan. Right now the question we need answered the most is about Geordie Eckhart. We have to get Mr Bergen here to tell us.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Haley.

Sam leaned down again so that Dan could see him clearly. ‘Mr Eckhart. Dan. Did you take Geordie from his school?’

Dan licked his lips and stared at the detective. Then, slowly, almost imperceptibly, he nodded.

Haley let out a cry. ‘No!’

Sam straightened up and glared at her. ‘Get out of here. Right now,’ he said.

‘No, please, let me stay,’ said Haley.

‘Absolutely not,’ said Sam. ‘Go.’

‘You’re trying to pin this crime on a helpless, injured man,’ she protested. ‘He’s not even responsible for what he’s saying right now.’

‘I’m not trying to build a case against Dan. I’m trying to find a six-year-old child who is missing,’ Sam reminded her through gritted teeth. ‘That’s all that matters at this moment. I have two parents desperate to see their child again. If this man has information, I’m going to question him and I’ll hash it out with the attorneys later. Now go. Go wash your face. Go get something to eat in the cafeteria. You look terrible.’

Tears welled in Haley’s eyes. ‘I’m afraid to leave him.’

‘Nothing’s going to happen to him. I’m here with him. Officer Wheatley is just outside the door. Now do as I say and get out of here.’

Reluctantly, Haley left the room, stopping several times to look back at her ex-husband.

Sam leaned over the bed again and gazed at Dan. There was a dull, confused expression in Dan’s eyes. Then Dan closed his eyes for a moment and Sam feared that he was losing him to another round of unconsciousness.

‘Dan,’ he said, shaking him gently. ‘Don’t go back to sleep. Talk to me.’

Haley stumbled out into the hallway and turned in the direction of the elevators. She almost collided with Westy, who was getting off on that floor.

‘How’s he doing?’ Westy asked her.

Haley sighed. ‘Detective Mathis is in there with him now. He seemed to be coming around but the detective wouldn’t let me stay. He thinks that Dan knows where Geordie is and he is trying to wrest it out of him, even though Dan is still somewhere in outer space.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ said Westy. He raced down the hallway to Dan’s room and rushed inside.

‘Hey, that’s enough. Leave my son alone,’ Westy insisted as he entered the room.

Sam Mathis looked up at him. ‘Your son knows where Geordie is,’ he said.

Westy shook his head. ‘Look at him. Where do you get an idea like that?’

‘He’s trying to tell me,’ said Sam patiently.

‘NO,’ said Westy. ‘He’s not in his right mind. I won’t allow you to try to interrogate him while he’s in this condition.’

‘Don’t you care where your grandson is?’ Sam asked suspiciously.

‘What kind of a question is that?’ Westy demanded indignantly. ‘Of course I do. But Dan doesn’t know anything about Geordie. He doesn’t know what he’s saying. You can’t question him any further without an attorney present. He may be barely conscious but he still has rights. And while he’s in this condition, it’s up to me to protect those rights, which is what I’m doing. Not one more question till we speak to an attorney.’

Sam raised his hands in a gesture meant to lower the temperature in the room. ‘All right. All right. I’ll take a break. But I want you to get that attorney here right away. I’m coming back. He’s the only one who can lead us to Geordie. I’m going to try again.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ said Westy angrily. ‘Just get out.’

Sam walked out of Dan’s room and went down to the elevator. As he stepped into the elevator he tried Caitlin’s number again, but there was no answer. He thought about what he had just learned. Dan had admitted to taking Geordie. Only with a nod, but it was good enough. That meant that he knew where Geordie was. Obviously Dan’s plan had never been to end up incapacitated in the hospital. He could have left Geordie alone somewhere, or with some impatient co-conspirator. The child might have only limited food or water. That meant that Geordie’s life could be in immediate peril. Attorney or no attorney, Sam meant to find out where that boy was being held.

Haley, meanwhile, got halfway to the cafeteria before she realized that she had forgotten to bring her purse. It was still in Dan’s hospital room. For a moment she thought she might forget about eating. Her stomach was in such a knot that she couldn’t imagine putting anything into it. But she needed something to drink. Something with caffeine. So she turned around and went back up to Dan’s floor.

She got off the elevator and walked down to Dan’s room. Officer Wheatley was talking to someone on his cell phone, but he nodded to her as she started back into the room. She walked in and stopped dead in her tracks.

‘What are you doing?’ she cried. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

THIRTY-ONE

W
esty looked up at her indignantly. ‘I’m rearranging his pillows,’ he said. ‘I’m trying to make him more comfortable.’

‘No, you’re not,’ said Haley. ‘You had that pillow over his face.’

‘Haley, how could you even say such a thing? This is my son.’

Haley shook her head. ‘NO, I saw you. Just now, when I walked in. You were holding it over his face.’

Westy replaced the pillow on the bed and came over to where Haley stood. He put a hand gently on her forearm. ‘Haley, you have been a wonderful friend to Dan through this whole ordeal,’ said Westy. ‘I know how much you care for him. Why, if Paula and I had had anything to do with it, you two never would have broken up. I think of you like my own daughter. But now, I think you need to go home and rest. You’re suffering from exhaustion. Your mind is playing tricks on you.’

‘I saw you,’ she insisted.

‘You saw me fixing his pillows. I worry that he’s uncomfortable. And he can’t do it for himself.’

Haley frowned and peered at him. ‘Caitlin told me not to trust anyone.’

‘Well, consider the source,’ said Westy. ‘Look, you go home and have a rest. You can trust me and Dan’s mother to look after him.’

‘Where is Paula?’ Haley asked.

‘She needed a break, too. But I’m sure she’ll be back here soon,’ said Westy.

‘What about Detective Mathis?’

‘He walked out of here just a minute ago. I’m surprised you didn’t run into him coming out the door. But there’s another fellow guarding Dan out there. Officer Wheatley. Dan’s in good hands. He’s safe.’

‘Maybe you’re right,’ Haley sighed. ‘I’m sorry. That was a terrible thing to accuse you of.’

‘We’re all on edge,’ said Westy.

‘I suppose I could use a rest.’ Haley walked around to the other side of the bed and leaned down to pick up her purse. She slung her purse over her shoulder and straightened up, gazing down at Dan. His eyes were closed again, as if he had drifted back into the netherworld he had been inhabiting these last few days.

She ran a hand over his hair and then bent down to kiss his cheek. ‘I’ll be back, Dan,’ she said gently.

‘Help me,’ he whispered in her ear.

The door to the closet opened abruptly and the chair toppled over, crashing out onto the floor of the workshop.

‘Jesus,’ Noah cried.

Caitlin tried to speak but everything went black.

‘Don’t move,’ said Noah. He found a utility knife on the workbench and used it to slice open the back of the bag, to let in some air. Then he began to twist open the wires which held the bag tight around her neck. He untangled them to the point where he could pull off the plastic bag off her head.

Caitlin gasped for air, drinking it in like water in a desert. Noah continued to free her from the wires, twisting them free and trying not to dig them any further into her skin as he worked. His hands shook and he was infuriated by the slowness of the task.

‘You came back,’ she croaked. ‘Thank you.’

‘Travis told me you were coming here. I needed to think so I took a walk down the road and saw your car in the cul-de-sac. Then I knew you were here.’

‘I hid it there when I arrived so Westy wouldn’t see it. Thank you for not giving up on me,’ she said.

‘There,’ said Noah. ‘You’re free.’ He began to pat his pockets for his phone. ‘I’m going to call an ambulance.’

‘No,’ Caitlin insisted. ‘We can’t wait for an ambulance. I’m all right.’

‘You’re bleeding all over the place,’ Noah said, looking at the spots where the wire had sawed into her ankles and wrists.

‘Call Naomi. Make sure that Travis is safe. And call Sam. He needs to get to the hospital. I’m afraid for Dan. I’m afraid Westy is going to try to silence him.’

‘His own son?’ Noah cried.

‘Call them,’ said Caitlin. She got up and went to the first aid kit with a red cross on the box which was sitting on a nearby shelf. ‘Call them right away.’

‘What about Westy?’

Caitlin and Noah looked up and saw Paula, standing in the workshop doorway. They looked at one another and then back at her.

‘I saw your car was still here, Noah. I came down to see why you hadn’t left. What were you were saying, Caitlin? About my husband? What’s going on here? You’re bleeding,’ Paula exclaimed.

‘He tied her up with wire and left her in the closet,’ said Noah. ‘Left her for dead. I’m afraid it was Westy who tried to kill Dan as well.’

Paula shook her head. ‘No. That’s impossible.’

Noah opened his mouth to speak and then reconsidered. ‘There’s no time to argue about this,’ he said. He turned his back on her and dialed Naomi’s number on his speed dial.

‘Naomi, it’s me. Are you and Travis OK? And Champ.’

‘We’re OK,’ said Naomi. ‘Ed’s here at the bookstore playing cards with Travis. Travis thinks cards are stupid but . . .’

‘Good. Just keep him there. Stay with Ed. Don’t move. I’ll explain it all to you later.’

‘Travis wants to know if you found Caitlin.’

Noah glanced over at Caitlin, who was wrapping gauze bandage around her wrists. ‘Yeah, tell Travis that Caitlin’s OK, thanks to him.’

‘Put that phone away and answer me,’ Paula demanded.

Caitlin tied off the bandage and looked up at her. ‘I’ll answer you. Your husband is a child molester and a would-be killer. And somehow he is involved in Geordie’s disappearance.’

‘That’s completely ridiculous,’ said Paula. ‘Westy would never hurt a child. He loves children.’

‘Yeah, way too much,’ said Caitlin.

‘That’s disgusting. You have a filthy mind. Why would anybody believe you?’ said Paula coldly. ‘We know what a liar you are.’