Chapter 35

Author's Note - for great news on my writing please check out my other blog: Two Kids Plus Trips!! Rather then repeat myself I'll just have you link back there :) Although the bottom line is that my writing is good but I have to do more of it. Good news for you - hopefully the chapters will come quicker now.

For the next chapter:

Michael Fleming had a problem.
Make that two problems. One was Ashley Parks. The other was not being able to get to his daughter. This wasn’t part of the plan. None of this was. And Ashley Parks was making it worse. While the woman intrigued him with her beauty and child-likeness she infuriated him with her inability to keep to herself.
The fact that she was here with Kyle wasn’t a good sign. It meant that she believed Kyle knew more then he was telling and that was a bad thing. Michael had no way to know how much junk Gina had filled Kyle’s mind with. That woman was worse then Ashley with all her talk of God and love. How he had stayed married to her for more then ten years he had yet to figure out.
But appearances are everything and Michael was all about those. No one knew his secret and if Michael did what he was told no one would ever find it out. Michael took a sip from his glass the set it down on the counter. He was running out of time and ideas.
Giggling tickled at his ears. Looking out the kitchen window he saw Kyle resting on a swing and Ashley gently pushing him. She watched his arm as she pushed and he was going back and forth so slowly but Kyle didn’t seem to mind. No, he was smiling. More than that, he was laughing.
Michael took another drink; the hard liquid burning his lip. What is going on with this woman? His attempts at wooing her had not been successful. Not that she was his type. But she could’ve been. Despite her age she looked much younger. Time had not aged her.
One thing Michael knew, Ashley was hiding something. This morning she had passed him in the hall without looking him in the eye. Last night she cringed at his touch.
There was one way to find out.
This was his house and he had every right to search every room in it. Something had happened after she talked with Kyle, but what?
Michael opened the door to Ashley’s room and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The bed was neatly made with the floral comforter Gina had chosen. Ashley had one bag sitting beside her bed. Michael opened it and rummaged through.
Finding nothing he stood and scanned the room again.
The closet. Nothing.
He couldn’t see the backyard from where he was. Ashley could come in at any time.
He opened the nightstand and again came up empty.
“Think, Michael, think.” He cursed under his breath. How could nothing be going his way?
Wait. Last night when he was talking to Ashley her eyes had wandered towards her pillow. It had meant nothing to him then but now it meant everything. He felt the sheets and found nothing. But when he moved the pillow he found what he was looking for. A small envelope. Picking it up he recognized Gina’s writing on a small slip of paper. A website.
Michael cursed again. How did Gina find this? How did Ashley get it?
It wasn’t enough to convict him of anything but if they searched the site he knew it wouldn’t look good.
A glint caught his eye and he looked further into the envelope. A small gold key was stuck in the bottom corner. It wasn’t something Michael recognized nor did he know what it went in.
He slipped the key in his pocket, turned on his heel and headed back to the kitchen. He smiled as Ashley came through the patio door. This is why Michael hated women. They all lied. As soon as he could he would find out what else Gina had hid from him and if Kyle knew anything… Well, he would deal with that later.

It had been six hours since Eric found the video feed of Kayla. From all they could tell the girl with her was Julia and there had been no sign of Lizzie. The door had opened thirteen times but no one ever stepped into the line of view of the camera which meant they probably knew they were being filmed.
At one point Julia had been removed from the room kicking and screaming. With no sound Nate could only watch her tiny face contorting in pain. When Julia slipped out of her abductor’s grasp he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the floor. She didn’t stop fighting. The young girl began kicking with her free legs connecting at least once with the man’s leg.
Not once did Julia’s abductor look up at the camera. Instead Nate could only sit at his desk, staring at the back of the man’s head watching him drag a young girl out of a room to do only God knows what with her.
“Anything?” Eric handed Nate a Styrofoam cup of coffee and rolled his chair up beside Nate’s. He also began staring at the green screen.
“Their abductor has dark brown hair. From the color of the back of his neck I’m guessing he’s Hispanic but it could be Asian. The green tint doesn’t help. Not a single one looks at the camera. They must know it’s there. What I can’t understand is why this feed is live.”
“Maybe other people are paying to watch.”
“Paying to watch what? All we see is two girls sitting on mattresses rocking. Who would want to see this?” Nate took a sip of coffee and leaned back in his chair. “I completely understand wanting to watch them, make sure they don’t go anywhere but why are they broadcasting?”
“Sicker things have happened. Maybe they’re hoping the girls will perform for them.”
“With no provocation I doubt it.” Eric leaned into the monitor and stared more closely at the screen. “Wait, look.” He pointed at Kayla.
“What do you see?”
“Who would you say the camera is focused on?” Eric said.
“Kayla. We hardly even see Julia’s face at all except when she was removed from the room. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking someone is watching Kayla. Has anyone moved Kayla all day?”
“No, she hasn’t left the mattress except for a few times and I’m assuming that was to relieve herself in a corner off camera. She may have eaten there too, I can’t tell,” Nate said then took another sip of coffee. He set the empty cup on his desk and leaned closer to the monitor.
“What about Julia?”
“She’s been moved at least three times. Every time someone has thrown her back in. I haven’t seen anyone’s face.”
“And did Kayla react?”
“Some. She stops rocking and sits up every time Julia comes back. She reaches out to Julia but Julia will not move towards her. With no sound I can’t tell if they’re talking,” Nate said.
“Someone has to be watching them. The feed was hidden but not well enough for someone to be an expert hacker to find it. It’s almost like someone is paying to watch just this.” Eric pointed to the green screen and to Kayla who had once again retreated to her corner. But now she was lying on her side facing the wall. Nate assumed she was probably trying to sleep. With no sun light in the room neither girl could know it wasn’t even lunch time.
“Eric, how do we find out where these girls are? How do we track down the men responsible and stop this. It’s killing me to watch these guys take these girls and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Internet crimes is on it. They’ll find something Nate. We have to think positively.”
“But how long will that take? It could take them years to crack this. You and I both know that the porn industry has the toughest internet security.” Nate shook his head. “We have to know where this feed is coming from!” Nate smacked his hand on the table. Eric remained silent beside his partner knowing how personally Nate was taking this case. In all his years he had only been on a missing child case once before and it wasn’t this high profile. That case had turned out to be a parental kidnapping and custody case. This was nothing like that.
“Something’s gotta give, Nate. No one can take this many girls and not be tracked down. There are too many people involved in this for them to be in hiding for too long. We will get these guys.”
Nate closed his eyes and said a quiet prayer to God. He knew the day ahead would hold many challenges. They had few leads and it could come down to an interview of someone yet unknown that could open the doors on the investigation. He knew it was out of his control so he prayed to the God he trusted to point him in the right direction.
Before he could finish his prayer her heard his cell phone ringing.
“Zimmerman.” Nate spoke into his phone.
“Nate, it’s not here. It’s not here.”
“Wait, what? Ashley?”
“Yes, it’s me. It was here a few hours ago and now it’s gone. I can’t find it. I don’t know where it is.”
“Where what is Ashley?”
“The key.”
Something wasn’t registering. “What key?”
“The key Kyle gave me, it’s gone.”
“Where was it?”
“I had it in the envelope Kyle gave me and it was under my pillow with my cell phone. I know it was there when I got up this morning. It was there before I went outside with Kyle but when I came back in it wasn’t.”
“Who else is in the house with you?”
“It’s just me, Michael and Kyle. No one else.”
Michael? “Ashley, did you tell Michael about the key?”
“No, I swear. Kyle asked me not to say anything and I didn’t. Especially not to Michael.” Ashley paused and all Nate could hear was her breathing. Nate felt like she wanted to tell him something but didn’t know how.
“What is it Ashley?”
“I don’t know how to say it Nate but I feel like something is off with Michael. I heard him talking to someone last night. He was yelling about paying someone and not touching someone. And then he came in to my room…”
“I heard that. I heard him talking to you. I didn’t listen to the whole thing; I assumed you wanted your privacy.” In truth Nate had been angry that Michael was in a room alone with Ashley. He had repeated to himself over and over that they weren’t alone. That Kyle was with them, that Ashley knew better but as he hung up the phone he hadn’t been so sure.
“It wasn’t like that, Nate. It’s not like that between us. I admit I had felt something for him but that was because of Kyle. Now, now, I don’t know what to think about him. Kyle is scared of this man. You know I counsel children but I also talk to their parents. If I had to make a determination as to where Kyle should’ve been placed if this were a custody case I would recommend to the judge that Kyle not be placed with his father.”
Nate attempted to process the information. Michael Fleming was a district attorney. He was planning to run for public office. He was a man who had sworn to uphold the law. Was it possible that he could have something to do with his daughter’s disappearance and his wife’s murder?
“Ashley, do you think Michael could’ve taken the key?”
“Nate, I don’t know who else could’ve done it,” Ashley said. “I hate to think he’s involved but truly I have no idea how anyone else could’ve gotten the key or known where it was or even have known that I had it.”
“I agree, Ashley. I promise I’ll look into it.” As Nate hung up the phone he said another prayer. This time a prayer of thanks that Ashley Parks may have just given them the lead and direction they needed to find these girls and close this case.