Chapter 36

Ashley paced the living room while Kyle rested. Michael had left the house to run errands and had yet to return. Ashley wondered if it had something to do with the key she was sure he’d taken. Not that she had solid proof but she didn’t know who else could be responsible.
She had to find him. Not that she had any idea where to look but she had to do something other then sit around and wait. The problem was Kyle. She couldn’t leave him alone and she couldn’t take him with her.
But she could take him on a drive.
Checking on Kyle she found him sitting in up in bed reading. “Hey bud, how are you doing?”
“Fine. I slept a little but not a lot. I was thinking about mom and Kayla. I miss them a lot.”
“I know, buddy. It’s really hard.”
“Did you look at what I gave you?” Kyle used his good hand to finger the sling on his bad arm.
“I did.”
“Did you give it to Mr. Nate?”
“Some of it.” Ashley took a deep breath and looked at Kyle carefully. “Kyle, I can’t find the key you gave me. You didn’t pick it up did you?”
“No, I didn’t look at it Miss Ashley. Mom gave me the envelope and I kept it safe. Did I do a good job?”
“Yea, bud, you did a good job. But Miss Ashley didn’t. I can’t find it. It was there and then it wasn’t.”
“Maybe my dad stole it.” Kyle’s eyes looked down at his bandaged arm as his fingers continued to pick at a string he’d pulled off of his sling. His small legs were criss-crossed on the bed. Ashley could just see the tips of his toes sticking out from underneath his legs. She grabbed a chair and stood on it so she was almost eye level with Kyle.
“What makes you say that?” Ashley tickled Kyle’s knee to illicit a smile out of the boy. It worked. He giggled and moved his leg out of Ashley’s reach.
“I know him. He’s mean sometimes…”
“When is he mean?”
“He hit mom sometimes.” Kyle wrapped the string around his finger. And unwrapped it. “She didn’t protect herself. She was worried about me and Kayla but dad would never hit Kayla, he really loves her best. She’s special.”
“Kyle, does your daddy ever have special time with Kayla?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did Kayla ever tell you what they did?”
“She would only tell me that they looked at pictures.”
“Was she sad after she looked at the pictures?”
Kyle nodded his head. For such a young boy he had a great understanding of human behavior. Ashley didn’t want to consider what this little boy had been through. Even though it may not have happened to him he was by no means immune. Why did this happen? Why does God allow such evil things?
“Kyle, do you know what the key was for?”
“I think it goes to a box at a bank. My mom got the box but my dad doesn’t know about it.”
“How do you know about it?”
“Kayla knew. She gave mom the pictures to put in it.”
Then Gina knew what Michael was doing. Gina knew her daughter was in danger and didn’t do anything? “Kyle, this is important. It could have something to do with Kayla. Does your dad know what Kayla gave your mom?”
“No. My mom just found out a few weeks ago. Kayla told her some things.”
“Why didn’t she leave?”
“She couldn’t. We couldn’t. Dad would find us. He would hurt mom. He would hurt Kayla.”
“What about you?”
“He doesn’t care about me.”
Ashley squeezed Kyle’s good arm and held it until Kyle looked her in the eye. “That’s not true. He loves you.”
“No, he doesn’t care. I’m too scared of things. I’m not like him. He doesn’t like me.”
Ashley wanted to contradict his statements. To tell him that it couldn’t possibly be true. What father wouldn’t want Kyle for a son? There was no way that Michael couldn’t love Kyle. But something in his face. Something in his eyes and she knew he wasn’t exaggerating. She knew he was telling her the truth. Her heart ached for Kyle. She wanted to scoop him up and steal him away. If it weren’t for Kayla she would have. Would have taken him where Michael could never find him.
“Kyle, do you know what bank your mom uses?” Ashley tried to keep her tone light. It was one thing to discuss such matters with Kyle. It was another to have him dwell on them.
“Suntrust I think. It’s got a blue sign with a yellow design. They give lollipops. Kayla and I like that.”
“Would you come with me if I went to visit your bank?”
“Okay.” Kyle moved slowly to the end of the bed and twisted himself carefully on to the ladder. Ashley resisted the urge to pick him up and lift him off. She stopped short only because she knew Kyle needed to do it for himself not only for his physical recovery but for his mental recovery. She watched him wince and carry his arm close as he climbed down.
The doctor had said the bullet had missed his heart by mere centimeters. The second bullet went through left arm. Either could have bled out. Neither did. Either could have kept him in the hospital for weeks and yet here he was, at home, climbing down the ladder that led to his bed. Despite his circumstances Ashley couldn’t help but wonder if maybe God was looking out for him. And as she watched him put his toes on the carpet and smile at his accomplishment she wondered if maybe, just maybe, God was looking out for her too.

Nate was struggling. He had a lead, he didn’t have a lead. He knew something and then he didn’t. Nothing was falling into place. Nothing was easy.
And now his evidence was missing. Evidence he hadn’t even been able to see yet. How could Ashley be so stupid? No, it wasn’t her fault. But how could she have hid it where she did? Who couldn’t have found it?
Nate was snapping his fingers as he walked by other agents and technicians. He needed things and he needed them now. Nate snapped at Jose Martinez, “I need a background check on Michael Fleming.”
“The DA?” Jose looked at Nate with wide brown eyes.
“Yes, the DA. I have a reason. I need everything. Bank, credit, everything and I don’t want him to know about it.”
“Won’t be easy.”
“But you can get it done.” Nate walked away without another word leaving Jose to mumble something to himself in Spanish.
Nate knocked on the door to Annabeth Porter’s office. She looked up from her desk, phone to her ear and waved him in with her free hand. Nate shut the door behind him and waited.
“I need those DNA results and I need them now.” Annabeth slammed the phone down and looked up at Nate and indicated with her hand to take a seat in the leather chair opposite her desk. Nate sat. Annabeth came across the desk and sat on the edge of her mahogany desk. Her gray pantsuit had lavender stripes through out and she wore a matching lavender silk shirt. Her scuffed black heels rested beside her desk on the floor. She crossed her stockinged feet in front of her and looked down at Nate with a sigh. “Do they not know what kind of case this is? I’ve requested a rush at the lab on the DNA from under Daisy’s fingernails that Dr. Folek found and I’m getting nothing. No help at all.”
“I need those results,” Nate said.
“Believe me, I know.” Annabeth sighed again. Nate knew Annabeth deserved her title as Supervisory Special Agent putting her in charge of Nate and the other Special Agents in the Field Office. However, there was quite a bit of opposition to a woman being promoted to the position a year ago and Annabeth has felt the brunt of the prejudice ever since. Due to the high profile aspect of this case Nate could only hope that the lab and the other agents would put their prejudice aside and find the missing girls.
“What do you need?” Annabeth said.
“Why do you always think I need something when I come into your office?”
“Because you’ve never come into my office just to chat. And I know that look on your face. That look says ‘I have to ask you something and you’re not going to like it.’”
Nate chuckled. “And I guess that’s the reason why you’re the boss.”
Annabeth swung her legs and then hit the desk with her palm. “So, what do you need?”
Nate held his breath and then let it out slowly. “I need to put surveillance on Michael Fleming.”
Annabeth jumped off her desk to her feet. “Oh no, no, no! You can’t seriously be telling me you want to put surveillance on Pinellas County’s District Attorney especially when that attorney also happens to be the father of one of the missing children?”
Nate held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I can’t help it. This is where the evidence is taking us. Michael’s son, Kyle, gave Ashley Parks some information which she hid in her room.” He paused when a quizzical look crossed Annabeth’s face. “Ashley’s been staying at his house for the past two days to help with Kyle and keep her out of sight…”
“Unless he’s actually involved, then she might be right in harm’s way.”
Nate hadn’t thought of that.
“Finish your story.”
“This morning Ashley called to say that the key Kyle gave her is missing.”
“Key to what?”
“We’re not sure yet. If I had to guess probably a bank box or safe of some kind. I have Martinez doing a background check. I’m hoping we can come up with some banking information. Give us an idea where to start.”
“All of this I understand. What I don’t know is why this means you need to keep tabs on Michael?” Annabeth said.
“Ashley believes Michael is the one that stole the key.” Nate cleared his throat and swallowed. There was a possibility that Ashley was wrong. Nate knew he was putting a lot of trust in Ashley’s instincts.
“Ashley? We’re trusting this woman who can’t even get information out of the witness we brought her in to talk to? She hardly even knows Michael. What makes her think he’s guilty?”
“There was no one else in the house.”
“That’s not enough Nate and you know it. Anyone could have snuck into Michael’s house and stolen the key.”
“How would they have known it was there?”
“How did you know it was there?”
“She told me,” Nate said.
“How do you know she didn’t tell anyone else?”
Nate started to reply but thought better of it. Truth was he was afraid to commit to Ashley’s claims but with no evidence to contradict it what choice did he have? As he watched Annabeth pace he knew she was thinking the same thing. Her dark hair, usually back in a ponytail hung in a bob at her shoulders. Nate knew Annabeth was much closer to sixty then she appeared. She had aged well but this case was beginning to wear on her. Wrinkles were forming around her forehead and dark circles clung to the bottoms of her eyelids. Her eyes were actually a dark purple. Whether it was her real color or contacts Nate didn’t know but he assumed if they were real it would explain her lavender wardrobe.
After what felt like an hour Annabeth looked hard at Nate. Her purple eyes zeroing in on Nate’s face. “I’ll grant your request to have agents tail Fleming but you’d better not be wrong. I do not want to regret this.”