Shadows from the Grave (37 page)

“So tell us about this person you suspect. Who is it?” Stacy asked. She closed the door and moved to sit at the table opposite Rafe. Gordon followed suit, but Ethan remained standing.

“It’s my boss,” Rafe said, and like a dam had burst, the words started flowing. Ethan let him talk, not wanting to risk interrupting.

“He called in sick on Monday and then, Tuesday, he called in with a family emergency. Thing is, I’m friends with his ex-wife on Facebook—long story, don’t ask—and she didn’t say anything about any emergency. Her and their kids? That’s the only family he has in this country.” He paused for a second, then continued. “So I sent her a message, told her I hoped everything was okay. See, he doesn’t know I know her, and my Facebook account isn’t in my name. Anyhow, when she asked me what I was talking about, I started getting suspicious. Not about this… these killings, but just thinking maybe he was taking a little time off to get with somebody or something. No big deal if he was. None of my business.”

When he stopped, staring down at his hands, Ethan prodded gently. “What made you think he might be the guy we’re looking for?” His cell phone vibrated on his hip, but he ignored it.

Rafe shrugged. “I dunno. I guess the timing of the whole thing. It just didn’t feel right. And when I tried to call him, when several of us tried to call him, he wouldn’t answer our calls. Man, he runs a huge company. Even if his whole family died, he wouldn’t be incommunicado like that. So I went to his house and… well, I broke in.” He looked up to see if he was in trouble for that, but when no one condemned him, he continued.

“So I get in his house, his truck’s missing from the garage, and there are bloody bandages and towels all over his bathroom.”

Ethan cursed as his phone buzzed again. Looking at the readout, he saw that it was Beth. “I’m sorry, I have to take this,” he said, excusing himself. He went into the hall and took a deep breath before he answered. For Beth to call twice, it had to be something important.

When she explained that Lauren was in labor, Ethan leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He was happy for their friends, but at the same time, watching that very specific happiness hurt. He concluded the call as quickly as he could and went back inside the room.

“Sorry about that,” he said.

“Everything okay?” Gordon asked.

“Yeah, just a personal thing. What did I miss?”

Gordon looked at Rafe, who was looking very drained. “Well, it looks like Mr. Lewis might be on to something, Detective. Turns out his boss has been in or near the areas we’re interested in throughout the years, and roughly at the same time. Ten years ago next week, he got married in Lexington, Kentucky, as a matter of fact. What do you think about that?” Ethan could see the excitement in Gordon and Stacy’s eyes, and he knew he probably had a similar look in his.

“I think that’s very interesting news,” Gordon replied. “What’s your boss’s name, Mr. Lewis?”

When Rafe told him, it was like the world had suddenly been jerked off its axis for a few seconds. He had to ask him to repeat himself, but the name didn’t change. Gordon and Stacy, both seeing the shock on his face, stood up.

“What’s wrong?” Stacy asked.

“Travis Tyler is your boss? The same Travis Tyler who’s handling the reconstruction across the street?” Ethan asked, needing to confirm it one last time. When Rafe nodded, Ethan cursed. “Annie. Annie’s meeting him right now!”

Annie showed up a couple minutes early at the empty lot where her flower shop had stood, using the time to sit in the car and study the bare lot. Although she had driven down there several times over the last week, it was still a jolt to see nothing where her life had once stood. The construction was scheduled to start any day, as soon as the work permits cleared the courthouse but, until then, it was just an empty lot. She let out a frustrated groan when Chase’s cell phone rang again; pulling it out of her bag, she turned off the ringer. She dropped it back in her bag and pulled her own out to check for messages. When she saw Travis’s truck pull up behind her, she got out to meet him with a smile.

“Hey, Travis. How are you?” she asked.

“I’m doing wonderfully. How about you?” They made small talk as they walked between their vehicles toward the sidewalk.

Annie stopped when Travis put his hand on her arm. When she felt a sharp prick just below her shoulder blade, she jerked, staring down at his hand in astonishment and confusion. “What are you doing?” The world suddenly tilted, and she watched as he dropped an empty syringe on the ground. Her vision started to blur as her legs turned to water underneath her.

Travis escorted her to the passenger side of his truck and roughly pushed her inside. Annie wanted to protest, but her limbs and mind were sluggish. She fought with her remaining strength, but it wasn’t enough.

“Oh, I thought we might go for a little ride, just you and me,” he said as he got her feet inside the vehicle. He took the cell phone from her hand and tossed it onto the bare lot behind him. “You won’t be needing that where we’re going.” As he closed the truck door, Annie felt a scream building in the back of her throat, but before she could let it out, everything faded to black.

Travis got in his truck and carefully pulled into the street. Until he was clear of town, he didn’t want to attract any undue attention.

“That went exceptionally well, don’t you think?” he asked Annie. Even though she was unconscious, he kept up a steady stream of conversation as he drove. “It’s nice being able to talk to someone about this.” It took him about forty-five minutes to get to his destination, his own property near Madison. Somehow, it was fitting that it all ended there. He was taking from Chase Hudson, for the second time, something that had been denied him many years ago.

“It isn’t fair, you see, that Chase should get two chances at love in one lifetime,” he told Annie, who moaned. Travis smiled. “That’s right. You’ll be awake before you know it, and then we can have some real fun.”

He pulled the truck into his garage and turned off the engine. “I had to get a new truck, you know. Wrecked the old one down in Tennessee, in the hills. It’s so far down in a ravine, they’ll never find it. I made sure it burned, too, when it went over.” Going around to the passenger side, he slid Annie out and tossed her over his shoulder. “So you’ll understand if we don’t do this in my new truck. I really don’t want to have to destroy this one. It’s a lot prettier than my old one.”

He carried Annie into the house and to his bedroom. He tossed her down on the bed and went to his closet, where he grabbed a couple of neckties. Holding her hands together over her head, he tied them to the headboard with one, then sat down at her hip. He used the other as a gag, fastening it loosely around her mouth. Her eyes were open, but still unfocused.

He smiled down at her. “When you wake up a little more, I’ll take that off so we can talk. Right now, though, I need some peace and quiet. I need to prepare, you see. You’re so special, Annie. I’ll bet Chase tells you that all the time.”

He stood. “I’m going to go take care of some things. Plastic bags, towels, you understand. Otherwise, this could get messy.” He stopped at the door and turned around with a grin. “Don’t go anywhere now, you hear me?”

After Travis left the bedroom, Annie remained immobile, listening to him clanging about in the rest of the house. She wasn’t as out of it as he seemed to have thought, and she hoped to use that to her advantage. When she had miscarried, she had learned that her body metabolized sedatives very quickly, and what would knock most people out and keep them out for an hour, only knocked her out for a fraction of that time.

When she was certain he was in another, distant part of the house, she tried to sit up and pull her hands loose. Taking care to not make too much noise, she managed to flip over onto her stomach and get up on her knees. With her hands in front of her, she was able to make relatively quick work of the knots.

“Stupid man,” she muttered underneath the tie he’d gagged her with. “Where’d you learn how to tie knots? You sure as hell weren’t ever a boy scout.” Once she was free, she looked around the bedroom, sliding the drawer of the nightstand open as quietly as she could. When she saw the silver revolver lying in the bottom, she had to choke back a sob of pure gratitude. It looked identical to the one she’d learned to shoot with as a young girl, before she’d come to loathe guns. Her hands were shaking so hard she didn’t know if she could pick it up. When she heard Travis coming back to the bedroom, she forced herself to take a deep, calming breath. Picking the gun up, she didn’t have time to check whether it was loaded or not, as she turned to face the door just as Travis came around the corner.

He stopped dead when he saw the gun. She saw the quick flash of shock, then fury that crossed his face an instant before he charged. Taking a chance and praying to God the gun was loaded, she pulled the trigger.

As soon as Ethan told Stacy and Gordon that Annie was meeting Travis, they turned and ran out of the room. Ethan told Rafe to stay put and followed them. Stacy poked her head in the bullpen and told Robbie Bailey what was going on.

“Call Wyatt! Get him down here now,” she ordered, as close to panicked as Ethan had ever seen her. He hurried after Gordon, who was heading for the door that opened onto the street across from Lauren’s café. Stacy caught up, and the three of them dashed out the door. They waited until it was safe to cross the street, and then made a run for it. Ethan stopped the other two when they reached the sidewalk.