The Girl Who Disappeared Twice

CHAPTER THIRTY

Krissy. You need me here.

I’m so sorry I have to leave you alone.

It’s just for a little while. Today’s just an exception. It’s an emergency.

I’m worried. I’ve seen things on the news. Maybe they’re true. Maybe they’re not. I have to find out. But if they are, then photographs are being shown around. To doctors. Drugstores. They haven’t reached here.

But have they reached Sunny Gardens? Have they put the pieces together? I have to know. If they’re figuring things out, we’ll have to go.

We’ll find somewhere safe.

No one will find us. I won’t let them.

You belong with me.

Nothing and no one will take you away.

The construction crew was in full swing when Ryan climbed out of the van. He was still wearing his company work shirt, and he was carrying a toolbox. Gecko was tucked safely at the bottom of that box.

With all that was going on-cranes lifting building supplies, backhoes traveling back and forth across the construction site, and dozens of workmen, hammering, drilling and calling out to each other-Ryan was pretty sure he wouldn’t be noticed even without a disguise. But he wasn’t taking any chances. Looking like a harried serviceman, he stalked over to the requisite garden and squatted down, opening his toolbox and removing various tools.

Linda Turner was sitting ten feet away from him. It took all his control not to look her in the eye and demand to know where Krissy was. But that would destroy their entire plan and kill any chance of pulling things off without being found out and arrested. Not to mention that he had no idea if Linda was coherent enough to even know where Krissy was.

So he kept up the charade.

“Ma’am,” he greeted her when she turned her head his way.

“Hello.” She gazed at him with a vague expression in her eyes, and without the slightest hint of wondering who he was or what he was doing there.

“I won’t disturb you,” he provided, nonetheless. “I’ve got a few wires to check out here. Then I’ll be out of your way.”

“My daughter will be here later,” she replied, as if she either knew Ryan or thought she should. “It’s so noisy here, it’s hard for us to talk. That’s why she comes in the afternoon, when all those builders are going away. I hope you’ll be finished by then.”

“No problem. I’ll be long gone.”

Ryan squatted down, making sure his back was facing the main building and his side was blocking Linda’s view. Then, he began rummaging through his toolbox, flinging tools to the ground in increased agitation. To any onlooker, it would seem as if he were trying to fix something but to no avail.

Amid his flurry of activity, he pulled out the top tray of his toolbox with one hand and grabbed Gecko with the other. Quickly, he turned the little critter on, and placed him just inside the raised, circular bed of shrubs surrounding the garden.

With a few muttered curses, he tossed his tools back into the box, snapped the clasp, rose and turned to Linda.

“I can’t find the tool I need. So I’ll be heading back to the main building. Enjoy your visit with your daughter.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “Thank you.”

With that, Ryan strode back to the building, a look of sheer irritation on his face.

He marched inside and straight to the head nurse’s station.

Jeri Koehler was back at her post.

“Hello.” She looked puzzled. “I thought you’d left.”

“I did. I was halfway down the drive when I realized I’d left my tone generator somewhere in here. Would it be a big problem if I looked for it?”

“Of course not.” Nurse Koehler made a wide sweep with her arm. “I’d just ask that you not interfere with our work.”

Ryan flashed her a smile. “Without my tone generator, I’m screwed.” He walked over to the panel of video monitors, pretending to search for about five minutes. Then, he looked under the panel, reached up and retrieved the missing tool.

“Here we go.” He looked and sounded utterly relieved. “You’re a gem. I can’t thank you enough.” He popped the tool into his toolbox. “I’ll get out of your hair now. See you in a few days when I have the part I need.”

With a friendly wave, Ryan made his exit.

Ruse complete. Time for Gecko to do his job.

Ryan climbed behind the wheel of the van and drove out of the parking lot. He steered diagonally across the street, returned to the alcove behind the trees and maneuvered the van into it. With Marc’s eagle eye, he and Casey would find him when they drove up, no problem.

Scrambling into the back of the van, Ryan fired up his laptop and Gecko came to life. Ryan carefully repositioned him, focusing his camera and microphone directly on Linda. If she sat either a little to the left or right this afternoon, he’d readjust the little critter accordingly. But, for now, the video and audio were perfect.

He put Gecko into sleep mode to conserve power for later, when it was needed.

Then, he called Casey and asked her to detour through the nearest Mickey D’s and pick up a couple of Big Macs and fries. He never ate junk food. But he’d been up since before dawn. And all this activity had made the power bar and coffee he’d downed earlier a distant memory. And, hey, a guy had to eat. So it was time to break a few rules. They weren’t the first ones he’d broken today.

The SOS call to Casey done, he sat back and waited.

Krissy heard her leave.

As always, she wriggled off the bed and searched the room, wishing with all her might that the woman had forgotten her laptop or her cell phone. Krissy knew how to use both. Her mommy had showed her. She even had a very simple cell phone with big numbers on it that she brought to school. Mommy had programmed it with emergency phone numbers. She knew which button was which. And she knew her own phone number. She could call it, even with somebody else’s cell phone.

But whenever the woman left Krissy alone, she always made sure to take everything with her. This time was the same. There was nothing down here. Nothing Krissy could use to call for help.

She scrambled up the long flight of steps and tried the door, pulling and pulling on the handle with every ounce of strength she possessed. But the door wouldn’t budge.

Huge tears filled Krissy’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

At the beginning, she’d known her mommy would come for her, no matter how many times the woman told her she wouldn’t. The woman said that her mommy had moved on without her, that her job kept her much too busy to be with Krissy. And she’d told her over and over again that she was her mommy, and that she’d love her forever.

Krissy hadn’t believed her. But lots of days had gone by. And there was still no sign of her mommy.

Could she really have wanted to send Krissy away? Was even Ashley too busy to play with her? She knew her daddy was.

What if they’d stopped looking?

No. No. No!

She ran down the steps, jumped on the bed and grabbed Oreo, clutching him with all her might.

Then she soaked him with her tears.

Marc eased his foot off the accelerator, pulling slowly up to the spot where Ryan’s van was parked. He and Casey had taken Marc’s Subaru Outback because it was black and would blend in better with the wooded area. Casey’s red Mazda Miata would stand out like a sore thumb.

The sounds of construction pounded through the air. It was midafternoon. Clearly, the crew was making as much progress as they could before quitting time. By three o’clock, they’d be jumping out of their machinery, packing up their tools and taking off for home.

As Marc and Casey exited the car, Hero’s leash wrapped around Casey’s hand, the large diesel engine of a construction crane roared to life. The noise was deafening. Hero made a braying sound.

“Not now, boy,” Casey told him. “I know the noise hurts your ears. Let’s get into Ryan’s van.”

They hurried over, and Marc pounded on the back of the van. “It’s us,” he yelled over the tumult.

Ryan opened the double doors. “Come on in.”

Hero needed no second invitation. He sniffed the air once, scanned the woods and then sprang into the van and away from construction hell. Casey released his leash to give him the freedom he needed, and followed suit, with Marc right behind her. By the time Marc slammed the doors and plunked down next to Casey, Hero was sprawled out on Ryan’s sweatshirt, panting and waiting for some water. He got it ASAP, from the Hero “supplies” Ryan had started keeping in the van.

“Big Macs and fries?” Marc couldn’t help ribbing him. “That’s more fat and calories than a full day at the gym could burn. And you skipped this morning’s workout. Careful. Lose your six-pack and you’ll lose your women.”

“It’s a one-shot deal,” Ryan retorted, taking the McDonald’s bag from Casey. “And I’ve seen you scarf down two or three chili dogs when you’re desperate enough. So cram it.”

“Cut it out, you two,” Casey said impatiently. “We’re not here to discuss your high-protein diets. Linda’s guest isn’t here yet, is she?”

“Nope.” Ryan shook his head. “The patients just finished lunch. Linda will be on her way out to the garden within the hour. Her daughter should be showing up soon after. Apparently, they try to avoid the construction chaos. And, since the crew breaks up between three and four o’clock, I’m expecting our accomplice around then.”

Marc arched a brow. “You found all this out from the nurses you charmed at the front desk?”

“Some of it, yes. The rest, I found out from Linda herself.”

“You spoke to her?”

“Yup.” Ryan munched on a Big Mac while he spoke. “She was right there when I planted Gecko. She’s pretty out of it. And the only thing on her mind was seeing her daughter and getting us workmen out of the way in time for her visit.”

Hero was eyeing Ryan’s burger and smacking his lips.

Casey gave him a chew toy to distract him and thoughtfully scratched his ears. “If she’s that out of touch with the world around her, it means her accomplice is actively running the show-just as we suspected. And she’s keeping Krissy around for a reason. I’m just not sure what it is.”

“Unless Linda has cash reserves we don’t know about,” Marc proposed. “If that’s the case, it would be a sweet deal for this woman. All she has to do is feed and house a five-year-old in some secret location, probably bring Linda some photos here and there, and, at the same time, masquerade as her older daughter. Maybe she got Linda to give her power of attorney, in which case, she can do whatever she wants with Linda’s assets.”

“I did a pretty thorough job of checking out Linda Turner’s bank records-both her real and assumed names,” Ryan replied. “Nothing impressive there. But that doesn’t account for jewelry, antiques or anything else of value she might have. So, yeah, Marc, your theory is definitely possible.” With that, he switched Gecko out of sleep mode and into active mode. “We’re about to find out.”

Ten minutes ticked by.

Abruptly, Casey peered over Ryan’s shoulder at the laptop monitor. “Here she comes.”

A nurse was wheeling Linda Turner over to her usual spot, chatting pleasantly with her as they went. She settled her patient comfortably, promising “Lorna” that she’d send her daughter over the instant she arrived. Then, she turned and retraced her steps back to the main building.

Linda gazed peacefully around, and began to murmur the names of the various flowers surrounding her. Some she got right, some were so far-off that she might as well be speaking a foreign language. But she was happy and very excited.

Casey’s cell phone rang. She frowned, staring down at it. The caller ID said “Private.”

“I’d better see who this is,” she said reluctantly. “If it’s Peg, and I ignore her again, I’ll be in deep shit.” She put the phone to her ear. “Casey Woods.”

“It’s me,” Patrick said without preamble. “Just a heads-up. Peg is pissed as hell that you’re nowhere to be found, since she knows very well what that means. Meanwhile, she put the pieces together. She spoke to the woman in human resources who interviewed Claudia Mitchell. She explained the urgency of the situation and Sunny Gardens is willing to cooperate without a warrant, and with only Peg’s promise to keep the information they share with her in the strictest of confidence. So it looks like your time is up.”

“Dammit.” Casey dragged a hand through her hair. “Is the task force on their way to Sunny Gardens?”

“Not yet. Getting the information is one thing. Questioning the suspect is another. The North Castle cops are going for a warrant. The FBI is going to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. But between Krissy Willis’s kidnapping and Claudia Mitchell’s murder, I doubt they’ll have trouble getting what they need. Not with time being of the essence. So whatever you’re doing, do it fast.”

“Thank you, Patrick.” Casey was truly grateful for his cooperation. “I owe you one.”

“You owe me more than that,” he retorted. “Peg asked me where you were. I told her you were pursuing a lead, but that you’d refused to give me the details.”

“That’s true.”

“Yeah, but I left out a hell of a lot.”

“You won’t be sorry. We’re a few steps ahead of the task force-and closer to finding Krissy Willis.”

“That better be true. Oh, and by the way, your boyfriend is ripping mad. I wouldn’t count on a candlelight dinner anytime soon.”

Casey winced. She knew exactly how pissed Hutch must be. And she wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation.

“No surprise,” she told Patrick. “But I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll be sure to polish up my suit of armor for the firing squad. In the meantime, I have to go now. Thanks again.”

She disconnected the call, her gaze glued to the computer screen as she waited for the telltale moment.

Abruptly, the video feed from Gecko began to stutter. On its heels, the audio started to break up. Like an attack dog, Ryan leaped into action, promptly checking the wireless connection.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered. “The connection speed has dropped by seventy percent.”

“What does that mean?” Casey asked.

“It means that, at that rate, audio and video streaming is impossible.” He was already moving toward the door, crouched down so he didn’t whack his head. “I’ve got to find out what the problem is or we’re screwed.”

He pushed open the van doors and climbed out, peering in the direction of the Sunny Gardens grounds.

“Shit,” he exclaimed, seeing that the huge crane had moved directly between his van and Gecko, its large steel boom interfering with his wireless signal.

Without a clear line of sight, there was no way to accomplish their goal. The crane was showing no signs of moving and they couldn’t risk revealing their presence in any way.

He’d have to improvise.

“Bad news,” he told Casey and Marc as he boosted himself back into the van. He filled them in on the problem.

“What’s the solution?” Marc asked. “We’ve come way too far to give up. And the FBI task force is climbing up our asses.”

“There’s nothing I can do about the timing. But I can do something about the problem. I have to turn off the streaming and have Gecko internally record the audio and video, which we can play back at a later time.” As Ryan explained, he sent the instructions to Gecko. Gecko acknowledged, and the streaming video went blank, the audio silent.

“Later when?” Marc demanded.

“When you come back here tonight and retrieve my little critter. At that point, we can watch and listen to the events of the afternoon. And, with any luck, we’ll have what we need.”