Chapter 18

Ashley’s head throbbed. Her neck ached. She reached up to touch her neck and found herself feeling gauze instead of an open wound. Ashley felt her head and tried to sit up. The world began swimming and she laid back. She tried to focus her eyes and found herself staring at a white ceiling with a ceiling fan and odd light fixture. Where was she?
She tried to remember what had happened but had trouble. Did she get admitted to the hospital? Feeling underneath her, she realized she wasn’t in a hospital bed. Instead she was lying on a couch. A leather couch at that.
“Oh hey, you’re awake.” A male voice floated into her ears from behind her.
Ashley tried to sit up but everything began to spin again. The voice now had an arm and that arm was on her shoulder pushing her back. Her immediate urge was to resist but realizing she was too exhausted to fight, she lay back on the couch.
“Don’t try to sit up. You hit your head when you fell in the elevator.” Now she recognized the voice as belonging to Michael. It helped that his face had finally come in to view. His blue eyes held clear concern and his dark, black hair was smoothed back from his face as though plastered back with water or sweat. Had it been like that before? She didn’t remember it.
“What happened?” Ashley asked as she carefully pushed herself to a sitting position. By moving up very slowly she had been able to avoid another vertigo experience.
“Do you remember anything?” Michael asked.
“I remember a man in the elevator. He had a knife. He cut me.” Ashley grabbed at her neck again and pain shot through her. She had certainly touched a sore spot.
“He hurt you pretty bad…”
“Did you take me to the ER?”
“No, I figured I could take care of you here.” Michael flashed a large white smile which she was sure was supposed to make her feel better. Somehow it wasn’t working.
“Where is here?” Ashley’s heart began to pound even though she couldn’t explain why.
“This is my house. The cut didn’t look too deep and you were only out for a bit so I brought you home to fix you up.”
A bit? Then why didn’t she remember anything until now?
“Did you call the police?”
“No, I think you just need some rest. Maybe you can talk to Nate later,” Michael said and without waiting for a reply he disappeared back to wherever he had come from. Ashley’s head swirled again and she laid flat on the couch. Slowly, she turned on to her side and faced the coffee table. It was a large upholstered ottoman similar in style to the couch she was on but instead of chocolate brown like the couch it was a cream color. On top of the ottoman sat a tray with handles and vases. Flowers were arranged neatly in the vase. Ashley figured this was how Gina had left the house.
Michael reappeared in front of Ashley and this time he had a cup of tea in his hand. Gently he helped her sit up and then handed her the tea. She cupped her hand around the mug and breathed in the warmth and smell of cinnamon. Michael nudged back the tray on the ottoman and sat down across from Ashley. He looked at her intently and Ashley could feel the concern. He laid his hands on her knees and she felt shudders run up her legs and into her spine. The warmth on her knees was rivaling what came out of the mug.
“I’m concerned about you,” Michael said.
“I have no idea why.” Ashley sighed. She knew why but didn’t want to vocalize it or face it. Ten years ago Jimmy Livingston was put in prison for the murder of Donnie and Aidan. Ashley had hoped that that would be the end of him. But she knew that it wasn’t. Deep down she knew that there was more to it then an angry lover. Why wouldn’t he have just killed Ashley? Why take it out on Aidan?
“You know why.” Michael massaged her knee while Ashley started into her tea. Michael nudged Ashley’s chin up to meet his eyes. Reluctantly she looked up into Michael’s deep blue eyes. What she saw there gave her hope to cling to. Hope that she may possibly get out of this mess alive. But then a small turn of her neck brought more pain and she wasn’t so sure.
“I shouldn’t have come. I shouldn’t be here. I need to get back to Maryland.” Ashley frantically patted around her with her one free hand for her purse. She couldn’t turn her head for fear of pain but she had the need to flee. Michael was getting too close.
Michael grabbed her wandering arm and held it while removing the mug from her other hand. He brought her arms together in front of her. She tried to resist but he held firm, stroking her forearms as he did. “Ashley, you need to be here. What you’re doing is helping. Kyle seems to like you. I kind of like you.”
Ashley felt herself blush and averted her eyes. If Michael could see his eyes he would’ve seen that she liked him too. But what was she thinking? The man’s wife had just been murdered.
As if reading her mind, Michael added, “Look, you probably think this is odd and forward since I just lost Gina. But the truth is we weren’t much of a couple for a long time.”
“Because of the affair?”
A strange look crossed Michael’s face and then was gone. He nodded. “Right, I told you earlier. Yes, partly because of that but, well, Gina was getting into this religious stuff and I didn’t want to go along. She would get angry at me. We would fight about it.” Michael squeezed her hands again and then let go. “I’m not trying to be forward. This is a strange time but I like having you here. You get along with Kyle. When we find Kayla you’ll get along with her too…”
“We may not find Kayla alive…”
“No! We will find her. There is no other option. They promised…” Michael clamped his mouth shut but Ashley didn’t miss the slip.
“They promised what?”
“The police promised they would bring her back alive. They have to.”
His answer sounded plausible but something about his actions made Ashley wonder if that’s what he really meant.
“At least stay for dinner. You’re too weak to go back to the hospital and talk with Kyle and after your attack I’d hate for you to be alone.”
“Don’t you need to be somewhere else?” Ashley asked. Surely the district attorney had something better to do, somewhere better to be. Like asking for warrants to suspects homes. Suspects who attack women in elevators.
“For tonight, I’ll make time for you. And if you need a place to stay, please stay here tonight. Tomorrow is Saturday. You shouldn’t have to work but if you want to talk to Kyle then I’ll take you over to him.” Michael smiled and flashed his perfect teeth. “You stay here on the couch for a few minutes, I’ll get dinner on the table and then help you get there.”
Ashley only nodded her response. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Wasn’t sure how she felt. Michael took that as an affirmative and left Ashley on the couch once again to return to the kitchen which Ashley assumed to be behind her since in front of her was a beige wall which she could see continued down a hallway into what looked like a bed room.
Ashley maneuvered herself closer to the ottoman and picked up her mug of tea again. She sipped the now warm liquid and let it slide down her throat soothing away her fears. A strange sound filled the air. It took a moment before it registered to Ashley that it was her cell phone.
“Michael, where did you put my purse?” Ashley called. No answer. The phone kept ringing. Ashley sighed. “Michael?”
When no reply came Ashley knew she would have to get the phone herself. She took another swallow of her tea as though she were drinking in her strength. She pushed herself to stand and only fell back once from dizziness. The ringing had stopped but Ashley knew she needed to find the phone. It could be Nate with information. Or Trish wondering when she was coming back.
Ashley looked around the couch but found no purse. The sound hadn’t been that far away. Where would Michael leave her purse? Ashley looked behind her and found the kitchen as she expected. It was a large kitchen with light maple cabinets and an expansive island. All the appliances appeared to be new and professional grade. Gina Fleming must have been a good cook. A lighter beige covered the kitchen walls which appeared to be a similar color to the granite countertops. All the decorating looked professional. Why not? Michael probably had the money.
She made her way to the kitchen and searched the countertops. Where was Michael? She thought he said he was going to be making dinner. The faint sound of the phone ringing hit her ears again. The sound came from further down the hall then the kitchen. She made her way down the darker beige hallway; Ashley was sensing a theme. Opening doors as she went she found the laundry room and then the garage. Obviously she was heading the wrong way. But where was the phone?
Groping the wall she made her way back to the kitchen. Her throat hurt and her head hurt. Things were swimming and she felt very alone. What had happened to Michael? Her heart began to pound. Had he come back for her? Had she been followed to Michael’s home? Did something happen to Michael?
“Michael?” Ashley knew she sounded desperate but it didn’t matter. Surely something had happened to him. He was making dinner. Then he was gone. Where was the phone?
The ringing had stopped again. Maybe the call wasn’t that important.
Ashley passed the kitchen and found herself back in the family room. She stopped at the leather couch to catch her breath. Was that movement behind her?
She stood still. Not daring to move. Not daring to breathe. He had found her. She was sure of it. Whoever “he” was. Did he have a knife again? Did he bring a gun this time? Where was Michael? Where was Nate? Didn’t he know she needed him? They’d had a connection once. Could they have one again?
A hand touched her back.
Ashley screamed.
“Are you okay?” It was Michael’s voice. She turned to face him and without thinking threw her arms around him and held on. “Are you okay?” He repeated his question as he patted her back.
“My phone. My phone was ringing and you weren’t here. I called you but you didn’t answer. I couldn’t find the phone. I thought something happened to you.” The words all ran together and were probably being muffled by Michael’s shirt. She looked up at him, ignoring the pain in her neck, to see if he caught any of it.
“Your phone? Oh, in your purse. I’m sorry; I set your purse in the guest bedroom. Sit back down and I’ll get it for you.”
Ashley did as Michael suggested and waited for him to return. This time he wasn’t gone long and reappeared with her red handbag in tow. Unzipping it she found her phone on top next to her car keys. Flipping open her phone she saw she had one missed call. She hit the send button and her phone automatically dialed the number.
“Zimmerman.”
“Nate, is that you?”
“Ashley! Where have you been? I tried calling you and got no answer. I was worried.”
“I’m sorry, something came up. What’s up?”
“I’m here with Kyle. You need to get back here right away.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No, Ashley, nothing is okay.”

Chapter 17

Nate stared at the clock. Was the whole day almost over? What had he even accomplished? Nothing. His search for Jonathan Gardner had turned up nothing. The press conference had gone as planned. Nate had been unable to stop it and Michael Fleming had not changed his mind no matter the strength of Nate’s arguments. A fact that was getting under Nate’s skin. That man had been in the legal field for at least ten years. He knew what it took to track down a suspect.
They had been unable to find Jonathan at his prior location and had been informed that the owners at the address they had had lived there for eleven years and they did not know a Jonathan Gardner and no, he had never lived with them. Nate wasn’t surprised that Jonathan would list a false address. What surprised him was the fact that he had used his real name to rent the house where they found Emma. Did he fail to cover his tracks that poorly? Was someone setting them all up and Jonathan wasn’t involved at all?
But Kyle had said the name Jonathan and it couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Any luck?” Eric asked Nate as Eric sat down at his desk. He had been in the restroom for a long time. Nate checked the clock. No, it had only been a few minutes, it just felt like a long time. How is it that some days feel like they fly by in a second and others drag on forever?
“Nothing. Where could this guy have gone?”
“Did you check Goodyear again?”
“Yes, they still haven’t heard from him. Short of searching the place myself with a search warrant I don’t think we stand a chance of finding anything about him there. No one seems to care one way or another,” Nate said.
“Five girls missing and no one there cares to help? How did we get so callous?”
“I don’t know but we have a conference in two minutes and we have nothing to share. We’re no closer to finding these girls alive then we were at the last meeting four days ago.”
Eric nodded and they headed to the conference room preparing to be eaten alive by Commander Walter Herndon. As Nate and Eric entered the conference room they noted that Herndon was already there along with their lieutenant, Annabeth Porter and two other officers Nate knew, Cole Easton and Jack Williams. Cole was a young officer, directly out of the police academy. He was a few inches higher than Nate’s six foot frame and his body looked as though he worked out three times a day. The girls would be all over him in dispatch. Jack Williams was much older in comparison which is why the two were paired as partners. Jack had a wife and at least three children that Nate knew of but if he remembered correctly they were trying for more. Jack and his family attended Nate’s church.
Randy Greenwood and Jin Yu-na entered a few minutes later and Commander Herndon drew everyone’s attention to the situation board that had been set up in the corner of the room. Nate looked at the board and was saddened to see so many pictures of such young girls taped up. Below Daisy and Emma were crime scene photos. Below the other three girls was the word “missing” and pictures of their immediate family. While it did appear that they had a serial kidnapper or killer on the loose no person could be ruled out as knowing something. It was Nate’s job to rule each of them out.
“Do we have anything new?” Commander Herndon’s eyes bore into Nate’s skull. Nate already felt the weight of the case and this wasn’t making it any better.
“We have an APB out on Jonathan Gardner but so far no one has seen or heard from him in days. He’s like a ghost since we found Emma’s body at his house. It’s possible he’s dumping these girls on his way out of town but it doesn’t explain why he would take another girl. I truly believe there are more people involved…”
“Do you have evidence of this?” Lieutenant Porter interrupted. Her cropped black hair swished as she wagged her finger at Nate. Her glasses slid further down her nose. Nate knew the Lieutenant’s detective skills were second to none but her fashion sense left much to be desired.
“Not yet…”
“We might,” now it was Randy Greenwood speaking. Last Nate had seen him was at Jonathan Gardner’s house the day before. They hadn’t spoken since.
“Let’s hear it,” Marybeth said.
“Jin and I did a background check on Jonathan and came up with some known associates. With a little legwork today we came up with another name, Todd Purcell. Todd was in prison with Jonathan for a few months and they got to know each other. Jonathan was released before Todd because Jonathan’s conviction was minor but the two kept in touch. Even visited Todd a few times. Todd was released about three months ago which is just before all of this started happening.” A smug look crossed Randy’s dark face. Where had that information come from? Nate shot a look to Eric that read, “how come you didn’t come up with that?” Eric just shrugged his response. Mr. Researcher comes up dry. Nate found that hard to believe. Randy probably paid off an informant for that piece of information. No way had Eric missed that in his computer search.
“Do we know anything about this Todd Purcell?” Marybeth again.
“He’s been in more trouble than Jonathan. Most recently he was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. A young woman claimed he was trying to kill her for her money. He claims it was a misunderstanding but the police arrested him and found a 9mm on him. The jury saw it the woman’s way and he spent eight years in lock-up. Now he’s out on parole and I think he’s back to his old ways. This time he’s bringing Jonathan in on it,” Randy said.
“Is there any record in either of their pasts about child abuse or child pornography or any crime related to children?” Nate asked. While Jonathan and Todd together seemed like more likely suspects than Jonathan alone, Nate still wasn’t convinced this was all of it. He was missing something. He felt like the answer was right in front of him but he couldn’t see it. It was Ashley’s feeling that Kyle knew more than what he was saying.
“Todd has an older record of peeping in girl’s windows and harassing young girls,” Jin inserted himself into the conversation.
“How young?” Nate asked.
“Mostly teenagers but these girls aren’t far from that and they’d be easier to transport and manipulate,” Jin replied.
“I can see that,” Nate scratched his chin and tapped his foot. Energy to get to work was surging through him despite the late hour. “But it’s a huge stretch from peeping tom to murdering women and stealing their daughters.”
“Maybe not as big as you think. It’s also possible there are things in both their histories we don’t know enough about,” Randy said. His eyes once again bore into Nate as if challenging him to continue with the disagreement.
“I agree with Randy,” Marybeth said. “Let’s dig deeper into Todd and Jonathan’s background. Let’s find them both and when we do I have a lot of questions for them. This case is a very big deal. I have higher-ups breathing down my neck constantly.” She pointed to Commander Herndon who was sitting to her left at the table. “I want this case solved. I don’t want any more girls missing or any more dead bodies turning up on my watch, young or otherwise.”
With that the subject was closed and Marybeth turned her attention to Jack and Cole who were working on every other case the department had so that the rest of the agents could focus exclusively on the missing girls. While Nate knew the enormity of his case he would rather focus on just the one then take care of all the other departments’ daily work.
The meeting ended and Nate had no idea where to begin. They had scoured two crime scenes to come up with very little forensic evidence. All Nate knew for sure was that the same vehicle was involved in both crimes. There was a possibility of getting some DNA from Daisy’s body but that was still a few weeks away. Even with a rush DNA took time. And time was something they didn’t have.
How can a house have no fingerprints? No usable ones anyway. Everything they found matched either Jonathan Gardner or Emma Sykes. No prints of Daisy’s anywhere. Had she been in the house? Was she killed before she got there?
Nate sat down in his chair in front of his desk and rested his forehead on his palms. This case was now almost eight weeks old. No sign of the girls in weeks and now two bodies this week and two other girls missing. What was going on? Nate had heard of guys accelerating but this didn’t make sense. Why hold a girl for a while then kill her?
A prayer ran through Nate’s mind. He’d neglected to seek God in any of the previous weeks. He hadn’t been to church in at least two Sundays. Sure he had been busy but that was just his excuse. Truth was he wanted to solve this case himself. He wanted to impress Ashley. Now he had nothing left so he began to pray. “Just anything, Lord. We need something. These girls need to be found.”
As if in immediate answer to his prayer, Nate’s phone rang and he picked it up without looking, “Zimmerman.”
“Nate, you’re not going to believe this but we have another body,” Nate’s heart sunk as he listened to Jane Brumagim words on the other end of the line. Another girl?
“Who?” Nate groaned.
“It’s not what you think. It’s not a girl. Some joggers found a male with one gun shot wound to the head. We think it might be Jonathan Gardner.”
“How?”
“Matches his description. We also found some things in his trunk. Looks like our killer may have taken a little girl from him though. We found some hairs and scratches in the trunk. Whoever she was, she’s still alive.”
“What color are the hairs?” Nate made a mental run through of the girls. Kayla had dark brown hair like her brother and her father. Jessica had light brown hair and Julia had blond hair. Nate was thankful for the difference.
“They are blonde. We think its Julia.”
“Could mean she’s still alive.”
“There’s a very good possibility that Jonathan was transferring her to somebody. Must’ve been a misunderstanding or something,” Jane said.
“Or his name was too much all over the news,” Nate said. Anger shot through him. He knew Michael’s press conference was a bad idea. Now whatever lead Nate had could be gone. “Anything else?”
“We do have footprints. We’ll have the techs take a mold.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a great start. Eric and I will be there shortly.” Nate stood and grabbed his suit jacket which always hung at the ready on Nate’s chair. Despite the heat it was standard issue for detectives to wear sports jackets or a suit. Always look professional. Nate tried.
Nate relayed the information to Eric and the two of them headed for Nate’s cruiser. Nate couldn’t help but smile all the way to the scene. Even though they had found Jonathan Gardner in the least ideal way, Nate felt like they had made a breath through in the case. And for that he thanked God. Should’ve prayed sooner.

Chapter 16

“Oh! You beat me again!” It had been six hours since Ashley had called Nate with the new information. Since then she had heard that Kyle’s dad had put on a news conference looking for a Jonathan Gardner. His face had been all over the TV at the nurse’s station. Ashley had been out to check ever hour or so. She didn’t want the TV disturbing Kyle but she wanted to find out about the case. It’s possible that with the information she had gained from Kyle she might not be needed any more. If Jonathan was the guy this could all be over. All she could pray was that they could find him, get the answers they needed and find the other girls alive.
As dinner approached, Michael made an appearance and Kyle’s relaxed demeanor disappeared. “Hey bud, how’s your day been?”
“Okay. Me and Miss Ashley have been playing cards. Do you want to play?” Kyle smiled at his father. But Ashley wondered if it was forced. Michael returned the smile easy enough and Ashley could see the fatherly love in his eyes. When he turned those eyes on Ashley she felt herself blush.
“I think I can join you for a few hands.” Michael pulled up a free chair and pulled it on the opposite side of Kyle’s bed. Even though Kyle did not have a private room he was alone in his room at his father’s request. It had made Nate happier as well; it was easier to control the visitors when Kyle didn’t have a roommate.
“How was your day?” Ashley asked.
“It was good. We had a press conference and we might have a lead on the man that took Kayla. The police are after him.”
“Are they going to get him?” Kyle asked.
“I think so, buddy.” Michael ruffled Kyle’s hair and smiled. It had been a week since his wife’s murder. He already seemed relaxed and if she read him right he was already flirting with her.
“How are you doing, Michael?” Ashley asked.
“I’m exhausted. I wish Gina were here to give direction. She was so good at that.”
“I miss mom,” Kyle said. “Do you miss her daddy?”
“I miss her a lot,” Michael said
“Even though you fought all the time?” Kyle asked and then waited for an answer but Michael said nothing. Ashley couldn’t decipher whether or not Kyle’s was an innocent question about parental banter or if he had witnessed something more severe.
“Kyle, your mom and I had our differences but I still loved her and I’ll always miss her…”
“Who was she?” The question came out of nowhere that at first Ashley didn’t believe it was Kyle that had asked it.
“Who was who?” Michael was attempting to act shocked but Ashley could tell there was a lot of truth to what Kyle asked.
“You know who! The woman you talk to all the time.” Kyle was yelling now and his monitors began buzzing and alarming. Two nurses rushed in to check.
“I think you both need to leave and let the patient rest,” one of the nurses said looking down her glasses at both Michael and Ashley. Michael began to argue but was cut off when the nurse glared at him again.
Ashley and Michael obeyed the nurse’s request and stepped outside of the room. Ashley leaned against the wall and looked up at Michael. She felt she should’ve bit her tongue but she just couldn’t, “What are you doing? Every time you enter the room Kyle gets upset. What is really going on?” She held her breath as she waited for his answer.
“Ashley, the truth is that Gina and I were having trouble. She, we weren’t getting along.”
“Were you seeing someone else?” Ashley had heard lots of things in her life and wasn’t surprised at much but her heart hurt all the worse for Kyle the more she knew about his father.
“For a brief time but I broke it off. We weren’t seeing each other anymore. Gina and I were trying to make amends.”
“Did Gina know about the affair?”
“Does it matter?”
“Michael, this may be relevant to the case…”
“No way, Kayla was taken by a psycho pedophile.”
“How do you know that?”
“I did a press conference this morning to that effect. Everyone knows that this Jonathan guy is guilty. It’s just some creep who likes little girls.”
“What if it’s not? What if Kayla’s case isn’t related and Gina died because of your mistakes?” Ashley had no idea why she asked him that. Maybe frustration at his narrow sightedness. Even Nate wasn’t ready to put all his money on Jonathan working alone yet Michael was so ready to throw all the guilt and blame on this one man. Would he not take responsibility for anything? He had obviously caused Kyle pain yet he wouldn’t admit to that either. While part of Ashley wanted to reach out to the man who had lost his wife and who should understand her pain her head warned her not to. Fortunately, Ashley never followed her heart.
“You’re right. Maybe he has a partner but if we find him we can find that out and then we can find Kayla.”
“You’ve got to tell Nate about your problems with Gina. You have no idea what kind of pattern he or anybody else is going after. What if he’s attacking girls whose parents are having problems so someone can point the finger at the husband? Every detail is important Michael. Just because you’re the DA doesn’t mean you get away with not telling the truth.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. Wow! Do you do this to all your patients? No wonder kids talk to you; you don’t give them any other choice.” Michael softened his comment with a laugh and Ashley saw why she had been attracted to him.
“I’m good at talking and usually I’m good at listening. I don’t mean to badger you but I can tell that Kyle is hurting. You’re the only family he has left. He needs you to be as open and honest with him as you can.”
Michael smiled and shook is head. Leaning against the wall next to her he gently rubbed his hand against her arm. A shiver ran up her spine but not the bad one that she had expected. No, this was a more excited shiver. One that wanted her to move closer to him.
“You’re right. I’m trying to be his father but I’ve gone into DA mode. Find out who did it, find the facts, prosecute and put the person in jail. It’s what I know.”
“But right now, your son needs you.” Ashley wanted to add “It’s not all about you!” but she didn’t. Her head and her heart were once again at war. What was the attraction to this man? What was the drawback? She couldn’t decide.
“Do you need to talk to him anymore tonight?”
“No, I think he’s had enough. We’ve been talking all day.” Ashley smiled at the thought of their conversation most of which revolved around Kayla and school. Ashley wanted to ask more about the case but when she watched Kyle laughing she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. This was so unlike her. She was known for getting the truth from a child quickly. Was one parent abusive? Was mommy mean? Who would you rather live with? Questions asked and answered without a second thought. But yet, something was different with Kyle. Maybe he just reminded her too much of Aidan.
“Has he told you anything?” Michael asked.
“Nothing new. He remembers the incident for the most part now which we’ve relayed to Nate but I want to talk to him about things before that. See if he remembers anything.”
“Is that important? I mean is it related?”
“Nate seems to think so.”
“But why him? You’re not talking to any other siblings.”
“Not right now. Michael, Kyle is special. This happened to him and he survived. I think he knows something but I don’t know what yet. I’d like to keep talking to him.”
“Don’t you need my permission?” Ashley searched Michael’s face for anger but the question was more of a resigned sigh. Like “does he have to go through this?” not “I don’t want you doing this.” Once again Ashley found herself being drawn to him.
“Not really. You’ve given me permission to talk with him already. If you want me to stop I can but we can probably get a judge’s order and make him talk to me which would just make matters worse.”
“I understand. I think it’s good for him. Gives him someone to talk to and if he does know something then maybe we can learn more.”
“I think so. I think he knows something but he’s not saying what yet.”
Michael didn’t respond except to nod. It seemed pointless to argue. Michael believed that Jonathan was guilty and nothing else. He wouldn’t understand the need to keep talking to Kyle. Not really, anyway. But Ashley knew different. She had been threatened. Threatened to back off from Kyle. That only made her more suspicious especially after his account of the events only led them to Jonathan Gardner. Was it Jonathan Gardner threatening her? If so, how did he find out about Jimmy? It didn’t make sense.
“Are you going to stay for a while or head back to the hotel?” Michael asked.
“I think I’m going to head back to the hotel.” Ashley’s body hurt. Every part of her ached for a bed to crawl into and sleep for hours. Being November, the sun was already gone at just 6 in the evening. Ashley’s energy had gone with it.
“Can I give you a ride?”
“I can call a taxi. I’ll be fine.” Ashley lied. She knew Nate would not approve of her going out on her own, not with a killer on the loose especially one that might have threatened her very life.
“No, I insist. I’ll just tell Kyle that I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’m sure the nurses are through with him by now.”
Ashley nodded and walked towards the elevators. She surveyed the hospital floor while waiting for Michael to return. So many rooms full of little people in need of constant care. She recalled the hospital where Aidan had spent his last moments and her arms ached to hold him again. He hadn’t been lucky enough to make it into an actual room instead he had died in the emergency room unable to resuscitate his tiny body.
She heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see Michael coming towards her, “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. They’re going to feed him dinner while I’m gone. I promised him I’d be right back,” Michael said and hit the down elevator button. Ashley stood with her hands in her pockets while she waited rocking back and forth from her stiletto heels to her toes. The doors opened, Michael and Ashley stepped in.
As they waited for the doors to close Ashley noticed a man race up to the elevator. “Hold please.”
“Sure,” Michael said and pushed back the closing doors.
The man stepped into the elevator. Ashley noticed his blue scrubs including surgical hat and assumed him to be a doctor or a nurse. Her first inkling that something wasn’t right was when the man moved behind her and she noticed that he was still wearing a surgical mask covering his face. While doctor’s often wore them in situations outside of a patient’s room she had never recalled one that wore them in the elevator.
Ashley’s heart began to race and she wants the numbers tick away very slowly. They were only on the fourth floor but the first floor felt miles away. As the number changed to the second floor the man reached out and smashed the stop button.
Without warning he had a knife to Ashley’s neck. He pulled her with him to the corner of the elevator and waved the knife at Michael and then pressed it back into Ashley’s neck. She felt the trickle of blood dripping down her neck.
“I warned you!” Her attacker yelled. “I warned you to stay away from him and yet here you are.”
“Please. Please don’t do this,” Ashley said but even while she said it she wasn’t sure why she did. Did she believe it? Did she even care if she lived or died? After all, she would be with Donnie and Aidan again. She didn’t have much to live for again. But then, as quickly as that thought came it was replaced by Kyle’s face, by Nate’s face, by Michael’s and the desire to live took its place again.
“I told you to leave it alone. Why didn’t you listen?” The man’s hand shook at her neck and she felt another sting and more blood falling down her neck.
Training took over. Ashley didn’t plead for her life. She purposefully slowed her breathing down. She would only get out of this if everyone remained calm. She glanced at Michael who appeared pasted to the elevator wall, his face almost the same color of paste.
Ashley’s mind whirled with the right line to say but nothing came out of her mouth. Trained to talk and yet she wasn’t talking.
“This is your last chance. Talk to Kyle again and I will kill you.” The man cut deeper into Ashley’s neck before pulling her to the elevator doors where he pushed the button to continue the elevator’s descent. When the doors opened he made his quick escape.
Ashley dropped to the floor and her world went black.

Chapter 15

Nate sat at his desk and stared at the reports in front of him. Yesterday he stood at two more crime scenes. He barely remembered the five hours of sleep he had been able to get last night. Ashley’s phone call and information from Kyle confirmed the direction they were heading. Jonathan Gardner knew something but yet his gut felt that he just wasn’t “the” guy.
With an extra push from Michael and the DA’s office Emma’s autopsy had been rushed and the medical examiner had stayed late to finish up. Nate had been there with him fighting fatigue and feeding the adrenaline with caffeine.
Different girl, same results. She was also strangled and had the remains of multiples donors. They had no actual DNA from Emma though. DNA results were still pending on Daisy. With what they were able to scrape together Nate doubted it would matter.
All they did know was that girls were being kidnapped after their mothers were killed and now those same girls were turning up dead. They were still missing three girls but time was running out on them. Two girls just two days apart meant little time for the remaining girls.
“How’s it going?” Eric asked as he came up to Nate’s desk. “Did you even leave last night?”
“Barely.”
“We’re getting calls like crazy around here about this case. Parents are worried about their daughters.”
“I know but I’ve got nothing new. What are your thoughts, Eric? I don’t think Jonathan is our guy.”
“Michael Fleming believes that he is and he’s putting everything he has in to tracking this guy down. He set up a press conference for this morning and he’s going to plaster Jonathan’s picture all over the news.”
“That’s a bad idea. If he is our guy he’ll probably kill the girls he has left and run. If he isn’t our guy then he becomes high profile and expendable. Either way we’ve got to stop this press conference.”
Nate could understand why Michael would be upset and why he would want Jonathan found but this way was unacceptable. Surely Michael would know this. Nate picked up the phone and dialed Michael’s office. After what seemed like an entire morning on hold, Michael’s secretary transferred him to Michael.
“Mr. Fleming, this is Agent Zimmerman. I’d like to ask you not to hold your press conference this morning…”
“Not going to happen Zimmerman. I’m holding this conference. This man has my daughter and I want her back.”
“But you could get her killed.”
“She may already be dead and she may not but while there’s a chance she’s still alive I want this Jonathan Gardner brought in for questioning. I thought you’d be happy about me doing you this favor.”
“I don’t need your favors Mr. Fleming. This is my case and I need to run it as I see fit. Having a press conference that may jeopardize the well being of a victim and possibly three victims is not acceptable. You may also get Jonathan killed…”
“How is that possible? If this sick man is kidnapping and murdering girls why do we care if he gets killed anyway?”
“Mr. Fleming, if Jonathan is not acting alone announcing this may make him expendable to someone else. If he is acting alone you may be giving him reason to kill the remaining girls and flee the country.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. This man may have my daughter. If he doesn’t he may know who does and I want her back. Neither you or anyone else will be able to stop me.” Michael was gone. Silence greeted Nate’s ear. Nate hit the desk with his fist. He’d never had much of a relationship with this particular DA and usually any contact was buffered by his lieutenant. Nate decided that this was a good thing.
“Will he back down?” Eric asked after Nate hung up the phone.
“Not a chance. Even if it means getting his daughter killed. We’ve got to find Jonathan before this press conference. What time did he set it up for?”
“Noon so he can make the news live. That gives us three hours to find Jonathan and question him.”
“We have just three hours to keep these girls alive. It’s not enough time. We know that Jonathan only rented this property for a short time. What do we have on him before that?”
Eric began work on his computer typing faster then Nate had seen him type before. Eric had always been as hard a worker as Nate. Partners for almost five years they had learned how to work together. Learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses. While Nate did well interrogating suspects and running crime scenes, Eric had background information in minutes. He knew who to ask, how to ask and when. He tracked down information in ways Nate didn’t understand and he was always happy to have Eric’s help.
“Here,” Eric pointed to something on his computer. Nate walked around their desks which faced each other and took a look at where Eric was pointing. What he saw looked like Jonathan Gardner’s life history including his time in prison. “Looks like he spent two years in prison before getting out last year. He lists one prior address to the DMV after getting out of prison. This one is in Orlando. After that he turns up in his rental here in New Port Richey.”
“It’s highly unlikely that he’s still there nor could we make it there and back in time. We have to find someone who knows him and track him down.”
Eric once again pointed to the computer screen. “Says he is employed at a local Goodyear Auto.”
“Let’s check it out. Even if he’s not there someone may know where he hangs out or who he hangs out with.”
“Let’s go.” Eric and Nate left the building and jumped into Nate’s cruiser. Within twenty minutes they were at the Goodyear Auto. After a five minute wait at the counter, staring at the dark paneled walls and the bubble gum machine they were greeted by a technician.
“What can I do for you?” The man asked. He had a good twenty years on Nate as well as a good fifty pounds. His face was wrinkled and his nose had grown larger with age. His name tag read Harper.
“We’re looking for Jonathan Gardner.”
“He hasn’t been in for three days.” Harper turned back to his work.
“Where does he live?” Nate asked.
With a huff Harper grabbed a book, slammed it on the table and opened to Jonathan’s name and address. Rather then recite it to Nate he tore the page out and handed it to him. “I don’t expect him to be back.”
“And why is that?”
“The man was strange. Worked on cars okay but he seemed to want something else.”
“Like what?” Nate was getting frustrated. They had a limited amount of time and he needed the information. Why was it always like pulling teeth?
“He just seemed to like kids a lot.”
“Doesn’t sound like a big deal,” Eric said.
“Well the way he liked them it was.”
Nate knew what he meant. “Thanks for your help.” Nate tapped the counter and headed back out the way they had come. Eric followed.
“Think he’s there?” Eric asked.
“No, but it’s a start. This address is different from the one we found Emma.” Eric nodded and they were back on the road again. Nate felt that while each mile should be taking him closer to a killer, each mile was taking him further away. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still very, very wrong.

“Get in the trunk.” The tall, ugly man was talking to her but she was having trouble focusing. Her arms were loosely tied together as were her feet. She stumbled forward. “Move it.” The tall man pushed her. She hadn’t ever seen this man before and she had no idea what he wanted with her. She’d been taught not to talk to strangers since she was five but no one warned her about this.
“Please, please don’t do this,” the words stumbled out of her mouth but they didn’t sound like her. Instead it felt like she was eating chalk.
“Get in.” The man pushed her into the back of a car. She stumbled in and he closed the trunk with a curse. They drove for what seemed like forever. A small amount of light and air filtered through the trunk lid and she tried to look through it but could see nothing. She felt around her for some way to open the trunk but found nothing. She was stuck.
The car stopped.
Footsteps approached the trunk. With a flick light blinded her eyes and a long hand reached in to her. Was this help? With a quick jerk she knew it wasn’t.
“Out.” It was the same man. He pulled her by her hair and she felt out of the trunk with a thud. Something awful tasted in her mouth and her eye throbbed. “Get up!”
“What are you doing?” Another man’s voice yelled from somewhere she couldn’t place.
“I brought new merchandise. How much do I get for her?”
“Same price as last time. Think you can keep this one alive?”
“You know that was an accident.”
“I’m not so sure it was.” The new man pulled out a gun from behind his back. She trembled. Was he going to kill her? Was this some kind of weird game? She knew her mom was dead; did he want to kill her too? Where was her dad?
“Hey, man, what are you doing? I had to cut my losses.”
“Your losses? Since when are they yours?” The man didn’t point the gun at her but at the ugly man instead. He didn’t seem to be there to help her but he wasn’t yet hurting her either. She said nothing. Sometimes people talked in front of kids because they thought they were to young or stupid to listen.
“I’m sorry about those girls. But that one got out of the van. She was running away. I had to stop her.”
“But now, Jonathan, your name is all over the news. I’ve even heard there’s going to be a press conference to alert people about you. Before you know it the police will be all over us.”
“No man, I took care of everything. No traces at all.”
“How did they get your name?”
“Look, I’m sure it’s just a mistake. I’ll take care of it. I won’t talk, I swear.”
“No, you won’t.” The bullet took Julia by surprise as much as it did Jonathan. He had no time to react or protect himself. Julia felt him fall more than saw him since she had been looking down. Jonathan fell beside her and blood oozed from his forehead. His eyes were open and staring at the sky.
Julia took one look at his body and let out a scream. “Quiet girl. You’re still coming with me.” The other man grabbed her and pulled her to a different car leaving Jonathan behind her. “Let’s go meet some new playmates.”

Chapter 14

“What did he say?” Ashley asked as soon as Nate stepped within ear shot.
“Not much. I don’t think you should worry about him.” Nate could tell his comment had do effect on Ashley’s demeanor. At least not in a positive way. She might have been more upset but he couldn’t tell.
“I want to talk to Kyle again,” Ashley said.
“Maybe that’s not a good idea. I was wrong to call you here and you should head home. I did promise Trish that I wouldn’t keep you here too long and it’s been almost four days. Surely you have something more pressing in Maryland.” Nate was trying to sound casual, trying to brush her off. The truth was he was scared to death for her and he didn’t want anything to happen to her. At least nothing more then had already happened.
“I’m in this, Nate whether you like it or not. You called me to help and I’m here. And I’m staying till it’s over. Someone has threatened me and that means I’m pushing someone’s buttons.”
“Fine. I’ll get you a ride back to the hospital. I want an officer with you at all times. I can’t afford to be looking for your dead body.” He didn’t want to fight her. In fact, he was glad that she had some fight left. He could only wonder why she hadn’t used any of that spunk to her advantage over the past eleven years.
With Ashley safely secured with yet another officer Nate turned back to the scene he actually had come for. Another dead woman. Another crashed car. It didn’t make sense. Why would someone choose to do this? Was someone so desperate to take a child that they’d stoop to this?
Crime scene investigators were dusting the car for fingerprints and looking for bullets. The coroner was arriving shortly and then investigators would look over the body. Nate expected little difference between this woman’s body and the last four they had found. What he prayed he didn’t find was this little girl’s body in another week or so.
“Are you finding anything?” Nate asked.
“I can’t be 100% sure without further analysis but the tire tracks here appear to be the same tire tracks we found leaving Daisy’s body. I’d bet they are connected.” Leslie Rawlings flipped her blonde ponytail behind her as she glanced back at Nate.
“I’d have to agree but we need more proof. Find it for me please.”
“You know I’m looking.” Leslie smiled and showed off her perfectly straight and very white teeth. Her red lipstick didn’t get past Nate either. Nate shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to focus on the case not on the women around him as tempting and distracting as they might be.
“Nate, phone call for you.” The same Asian officer Nate had talked to before approached. His nameplate said “Yu-na” but they had not made formal introductions.
“Who is it?” Yu-na didn’t answer but returned to his work after handing Nate the phone. “Zimmerman.”
“Nate, I tried your cell but you didn’t answer.”
“Sorry, it’s been really busy here. Ashley’s been threatened.”
“What?”
“I don’t know if it’s related or not. I’ve sent her back to talk to Kyle.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” Eric asked.
“She wanted to go. I need her there more than here,” Nate said.
Accepting his explanation Eric replied, “I have more information on Jonathan Gardner.”
“Tell me.”
“Seems our boy did time for selling child pornography over the internet. He was charged with assault on a minor but nothing was ever proved. But, in issuing the warrant officers found child porn on his computer. At least that charge stuck.”
“How long was he in?”
“A little under two years, got out on good behavior,” Eric said.
“Any other charges?”
“Some petty things, theft, auto theft, nothing else that concerns us.”
“Let’s bring him in. I want to talk to him,” Nate said.
“We’re working on it.” Nate cut the connection and handed the phone back to Yu-na. Nate wouldn’t be surprised if Jonathan had something to do with the murders but he knew that Jonathan wasn’t the mastermind. Someone else was putting him up to it and it was Nate’s job to figure out who.

Ashley said nothing to the officer that gave her a ride to the hospital. Over and over she recalled the words of the note left for her. What in the world did Jimmy Livingston have to do with this? Ashley’s only impression of him was that he was a love-sick, abusive man who killed only because he missed his wife. Donnie and Aidan were casualties of an unplanned war.
The officer dropped Ashley off at the hospital door. She made her way up to Kyle’s room, showed her credentials to the officer standing guard, made her way to the chair next to Kyle’s bed and sat down next to him.
“How are you doing buddy?”
Kyle made little attempt to answer. He was sitting up or at least his bed was tilted up so that he was no longer lying flat. His color was back but he didn’t look normal. His face was drawn and his eyes looked sunken in. His arm was lying beside him like a wooden appendage. She could detect slight movements in this other limbs but not that one. She was sure it would take weeks of physical therapy before he would regain some use of the arm.
“How has your day been? Mine has been very busy. I’ve been following Nate around on his job.” Ashley made her voice sound loud and upbeat even though her heart didn’t feel it.
“Do you miss him?” Kyle’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Do I miss Nate? Not really. I just saw him…”
“Do you miss Aidan?”
Ashley’s heart caught in her throat. “Every day.”
“I miss my mom like that. I miss Kayla too but not like I miss my mom. I think Kayla is still okay.”
Ashley didn’t respond to Kyle’s statement. Surely he’d heard by now that Daisy was found dead. It wouldn’t be long before the news would be talking about Emma.
“She’s not dead you know.” Kyle’s voice cut into her thoughts.
“I didn’t say that she was.”
“But you were thinking it. I may only be nine but I’m not stupid. I know about Daisy and even Emma but it’s not Kayla and it’s not going to be.”
“How did you hear about Emma? That hasn’t even been on the news yet.”
“Yes it was and the nurses were talking about it. They were whispering about it like I couldn’t hear but I could. I knew what they were saying.”
Thoughts of the news conference ran through Ashley’s mind. She vaguely remembered that part of her day but was still surprised that it had already aired. Was this case already big enough to interrupt regular broadcasting? She hadn’t expected to see anything until the evening news and even then she had hoped for a side story not a “we-interrupt-this-broadcast” story. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe parents would be more cautious about mothers and daughters going out together. She doubted it. Ashley knew most people filed that under “news that could never happen to them”. And Ashley had been among them until it did happen to her. Until her husband and son were mowed down in cold blood.
“Then good for you for having a positive attitude, Kyle. I’m proud of you.” Ashley took Kyle’s hand and forced a smile to her face. She hoped a nurse would not come in. Surely an adult would notice that it was just an upturn of her muscles plastered to her cheeks and not an actual smile.
If Kyle noticed, he didn’t let on, “It’s not about my attitude. I know she’s alive but I also know she’s in danger.”
“How do you know? Have you heard something? Do you remember something?”
“Not really. The whole day is a blur. My dad has come in a bunch of times to try to get me to remember but I don’t remember much.”
“Anything at all is helpful, Kyle.” Ashley moved her hand to Kyle’s forehead and stroked his head and his hair. She wanted to lean down and give him a kiss on his head but she didn’t dare. This wasn’t her son. She wasn’t his mother. “Why don’t you close your eyes and think. Try to remember what happened before the shots.”
Kyle shrugged and at first Ashley thought he would protest but then he closed his eyes and settled further back into his mattress if that was possible. “We were fighting over going to school. Kayla had a dentist appointment and I begged to go along. I hate going to school without her. We were driving and talking. Someone was cutting us off. Mom was trying to go around them but they wouldn’t let her and when they stopped short she hit them.” Kyle’s eyes flew open, wide with terror and shock. “I can’t…”
“I know how hard this is. I really do but you are the only one who has seen anything and we need your help. Kayla needs your help.”
“I’m scared, Miss Ashley. What if they come back for me?”
“Kyle, do you see that officer out there by your door? Before I came in here I had to show him my ID. He wouldn’t have let me in if he didn’t trust me. He won’t let anyone in that isn’t allowed to be in here.”
“It’s not the people not allowed in that I’m worried about…” Kyle clamped his mouth shut and looked past Ashley and out his window.
“What? Who are you worried about?” But Ashley could tell it wouldn’t do any good. “Okay, Kyle. Let’s remember what you did see. Forget about this room right now and let’s think back three days ago.”
Kyle swallowed hard and nodded. He was a brave kid and Ashley had a feeling she didn’t know the half of it. Whatever Kyle had been through hadn’t started just three days ago. “I remember mom trying to get out of the car to talk to the driver of the car we hit. She had hit her head and had trouble standing. Then she fell down. I don’t know what happened. I heard a pop and then I couldn’t see her anymore. Kayla reached for me. We were hugging when someone reached in the back for her. He looked surprised to see me.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m not sure. He was reaching for Kayla and when he saw me he said bad things. Another guy had to come around to help him. They pulled Kayla out. She was screaming and kicking and yelling for me. One of the men hit her and the other shot me.” Kyle opened his eyes. They weren’t as wide or terrified as they were. It was as if saying what happened released some of his fear. Ashley wasn’t surprised. Talking about things often made them less frightening.
“Do you remember what either man looked like? Or how they sounded? Even what they said would be helpful.”
“They were yelling at each other.”
“Do you remember any names?”
“No. They were cursing at each other and at someone else that wasn’t there.”
“How do you know?”
“One of them said, ‘we don’t get paid enough for this’. I think one of them said something about how they were told that it would just be my mom and Kayla and that I wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“What about how they looked?”
“They were both tall. Um, I don’t remember. I’m sorry, Miss Ashley.”
“Don’t worry sweetie. You did great. You’ve given me so much to work with. Do you mind if step out and call Mr. Nate? He’s going to want to know all the stuff you just told me. Then maybe we could hang out and play cards. Would you like that?”
“Sure.” Kyle smiled and Ashley recognized it as more real then her own. How could he be so happy just days after his tragedy when Ashley couldn’t let go of her own pain from eleven years ago?
Ashley reached the door and pulled out her cell phone. While she was at it she should probably call Trish and give her an update. Even though Kyle was opening up there was still so much more that he wasn’t saying. Not to mention she was in this case deep and she wasn’t ready to quit threats or not. Trish would need to make more schedule changes.
“Hey Miss Ashley?”
“Yes, Kyle.”
“I think one of them was named Jonathan.”

Chapter 13

Nate took one glance at the note and knew it was worse then the phone call. He grabbed it out of Ashley’s hands before she could read it a second time. “Officer Greenwood,” Nate called the officer back who had handed him the note. The overly tall African American turned around to look down at Nate. “Who gave this to you?”
“It was a guy in the crowd.” Greenwood scanned some of the bystanders and then pointed to a small man with glasses, “There, that’s him.”
Nate didn’t wait for a second confirmation. Instead he walked over to the small man and grabbed his shirt. “Where did you get that note? Why did you give it to Ashley?”
“Hey, man, I’m just a bystander.” The man threw up his hands and backed away from Nate. Something in the way he shrugged away his shoulders made Nate nervous.
“Did you give a note to the officer over there?” Nate grabbed the man by the collar. Tight but not too tight.
“Alright, I passed the girl a note. You gotta admit she’s hot. Some guy asked me to give it to her. Figured it was a love note. I woulda written one too.” The short man adjusted his glasses and smoothed back what little hair he had left on his head.
“What’s your name?”
“Craig Porter.”
“And Mr. Porter what did this man look like?”
“I don’t know. About your height but he had blonde hair and blue eyes. Looked military like. He certainly worked out a lot. I was afraid he would beat me up if I didn’t do what he asked.”
Nate listened but wrote nothing down. The man was lying through his teeth. It was the most bland description he had ever heard. Not to mention if this man had actually been there any one of Nate’s officers would have noticed. A man like that would have stood out.
“I think we need to talk more at my office. Take your statement. Maybe you can talk to a sketch artist.”
“No, man, I don’t want to get involved.” Craig was slowly backing away from Nate, his eyes searching for an exit. “I lied. There wasn’t a man. I just found the note.”
“You found the note? And you decided to just hand it to someone you don’t know?”
“Yea, had her name on it. Thought it would be fun.”
“Well, Mr. Craig Porter you are under arrest.”
“For what?”
“For starters lying to the police.”
“That’s not a real crime.”
“It is now.”
Nate put cuffs on Craig and read him his rights. At the very least he had the guy on harassment. A misdemeanor but enough to hold him and talk to him. The man was lying. That much was obvious but the question was why. Nor did Nate understand all the references to Jimmy or what any of this had to do with him.
Ten years ago Nate had attended James Livingston’s trial. Eleven years ago Nate had just finished his first week as a police officer and was sitting in his Bachelor pad or so it had been called by many a date when the phone call came.
“Nate.” It was a woman’s voice and all she could get out was his name followed by hard and loud sobs. He hadn’t had a date in over three months and they had broken up without a fight. Surely she was over him?
“Hello?” Nate asked when the sobbing quieted down.
“Nate, its Ashley…” Ashley Voigt. No, now it was Ashley Parks. Of course Nate remembered her. She had stolen his heart the moment he laid eyes on her. The perfect girl. Seriously. Perfect. Never a hair out of place. Always in the latest fashion. A new wardrobe every year. The girl all the guys on campus wanted to date; including Nate. And he’d had a shot too until Donnie Parks showed up. Ashley had been his friend but never more. They had dreamed together and talked but as far as he knew Ashley didn’t know how he felt. He was gathering up his courage. He was going to tell her. But Donnie told her first.
Donnie was everything a man should be to a woman. If there had been even the slightest reason for Nate to protest the relationship he would have but Donnie had been nothing shy of perfect. And Ashley deserved perfect so Nate said nothing. He even stood in their wedding. And per Ashley’s request he had brought a date. Did he love his date? Not even close. He was still in love with Ashley.
“Ashley, what is it?” Nate finally realized that she had become quiet and he had said nothing. He was still working through the fact that he was talking to Ashley again.
“He’s dead.”
“What? Who’s dead?” Nate’s heart pounded. He’d been a cop for a week but already he had a sense for when something wasn’t right. Okay, so the sobbing made it easier to tell.
“Nate, Donnie is dead.”
“Oh my goodness, what happened? Was he even sick?”
“There’s more. Aidan is dead too.”
Oh God, no! How could this happen? Was she serious? She certainly sounded serious. “Ashley, what happened?”
“They were shot.” Ashley sobbed and then hiccupped with the effort to stop more tears. Nate said nothing but waited. “Last night I was cooking and I heard a sound. I went out and they were both lying in the driveway. Donnie was declared dead on the scene but Aidan lived for a few hours. He died in my arms in the hospital.”
“Oh, Ashley. What happened? Who did this?” Nate fumbled over his words.
“They have someone in custody. A witness saw the car and got the license plate. They found the gun in his car…” Ashley sniffled.
“Who was he? Why did he do it?”
“We’re not sure. His name is Jimmy Livingston. I counseled a Heather Livingston and the officers are pretty sure that this is her boyfriend. I remember telling her to go to a woman’s shelter but I hadn’t seen her in a while. I assumed she went. They think that Jimmy couldn’t find her so he found me instead.”
Nate couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t sure how this could be real. In all his thoughts and fantasies of getting together with Ashley this was never among them. He had moved on after all. Had tried to date other girls. Had sent Ashley and Donnie a baby gift when Aidan was born. Had laughed and cried at the baby pictures, then at Aidan’s first steps. This, no, not this. “Did he confess?”
“No. Not that I know of. They’re still processing him. They just found him this morning sleeping in his car.”
“And he still had the gun on him?”
“Yes.” She said no more and Nate didn’t push. She was emotional and scared and sad. She needed support not Nate’s questions. But Nate wanted answers. How could this have happened?
“What can I do?” Nate asked.
“Would you come here? Would you stay here a while?”
“Of course. Absolutely.”
Nate packed his things immediately and left Orlando to head to Tampa. While Ashley and Donnie had moved away from the University of Central Florida after graduation, Nate had not. He worked as a uniformed officer for the Orlando P.D. Donnie had opened his own business as an IT Analyst, whatever that was and Ashley had begun her Master’s in Counseling stopping her studies after she gave birth to Aidan. It was how Nate pictured her, a wife and mother.
Nate stayed for a two weeks and helped with the funeral. He became involved in the investigation as best as he could but everyone seemed satisfied that Jimmy Livingston was the guy even though he never confessed.
The trial dragged on for months with postponements and delays. Nate came when he could but Ashley drew further and further away and she wasn’t the girl he had known. Jimmy was eventually convicted of two counts of first degree murder and sentenced to two life sentences to run consecutively. He would not be eligible for parole for fifty years.
Nate had heard of the flowers. Ashley told him in the beginning that she had received a single rose in a vase every month on the 17th and a dozen roses on June 17th, the anniversary of Donnie and Aidan’s death. There was no note or markings as far as Nate knew. What he didn’t know is whether or not the flowers continued. By Ashley’s demeanor he assumed they were.
And now Ashley was in pain again. An old wound had been ripped open and Ashley’s heart was laid raw again. Her one saving grace in everything was that Jimmy was behind bars. But if the bars couldn’t hold him then what did it matter?
Nate let his “witness” be removed from the scene by Officer Greenwood and returned to Ashley. “Are you okay?”
“How does he know? Nate, he’s behind bars isn’t he?” Ashley’s face was twisted. Her lips curled up and her eyes were wider then saucers. Her agony was written on her face. But he couldn’t save her. He couldn’t tell her what she wanted to hear.
“I don’t know Ashley. I really don’t.”
“What did he say?” Ashley grabbed Nate’s shirt and pulled.
“He said it wasn’t him and he doesn’t know.”
“He’s lying.”
“What?”
“He’s lying, Nate.”
“How do you know Ashley?”
“Nate, he’s lying and I’m scared.”

Chapter 12

****Sorry for the delay! Thank you Misty for the nudge :) ******

Ashley watched the coroner load Emma’s body in to a black body bag and then be laid on a black gurney. Black was probably the best color for body bags and coroner’s gurney’s. When they thought about what color to use they picked correctly. Thoughts of Aidan flashed through her head. He had left on a paramedic’s gurney which had been white and so full of hope. She wished it had been the black one. Wished she’d had warning.
“Have we looked into Emma’s father? We know that Daisy’s father wasn’t involved but maybe Emma’s was. Maybe the girls knew each other?” Nate was thinking out loud.
“We’ve checked every angle. They were taken two hours apart. They did not attend school together now or at any other time. They don’t go to the same church and we can’t find anyone who knew them both.” Eric’s said and Ashley watched his eyes follow the gurney out the front door.
“But we’re missing something. They are related somehow. And where are they now? Where are they keeping the other girls? They killed these two girls but took two others? Doesn’t make sense.” Nate’s phone rang. “Zimmerman.”
Ashley watched Nate’s face change from sorrow to anguish. Ashley couldn’t imagine Nate hurting worse for these people then he already did and yet there it was. Written in the lines of his face. She knew something was even more wrong.
Nate slapped his cell phone up. “Eric, we have to go.”
“What’s going on?” Eric and Ashley asked at the same time.
“I’ll tell you on the way,” Nate said.
Ashley walked toward the door until Nate held up his hand. “I’m coming too.”
“No, you don’t need to be anymore involved then you already are. You’ve been here; you’ve been at the other scene. You don’t need this.”
“Nate, I can help…”
“Ashley, it’s not about help. This can give you nightmares.”
“They can’t be any worse then the ones that are already in my head.”
“Then what about Kyle?”
“I’m going later. Michael will take me.” Ashley pointed to Michael who was in the kitchen yelling orders about collecting proper evidence and the something about finding the home’s owner.
Something flashed across Nate’s face. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it and then said, “Fine, come with me now. I’ll have Eric stay and babysit Michael.”
Ashley wasn’t sure why Michael needed babysitting but she didn’t say anything. She followed Nate out the front door and into his cruiser. If she stayed any longer she would have to rent a vehicle. Relying on two bull-headed men for transportation was becoming more and more difficult and she was tired of arguing with Nate as to whether or not she could go with him wherever it was he was going. She was in this case whether he liked it or not. He asked her here and she was determined to get as much information as she could before she talked to Kyle. She knew Kyle knew something but she needed more to find out what it was. Maybe if he thought she knew something he would tell her the truth.
“We have another dead body and another missing girl,” Nate’s words broke into Ashley’s thoughts.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“We’re going to another murder scene. Why is it that you want to go? What do you want to prove? That you can see more death and live? Haven’t you seen enough?”
Ashley wanted to say something. The sharp words were on the tip of her tongue but for some reason she swallowed them back. Nate didn’t need her anger, he needed the truth. “I think Kyle knows something…”
“We know that, that’s why you’re here.”
“I know. What I mean is, he knows something else. I don’t know how he knows but it’s important and he’s not talking. I’m trying to understand. I keep hoping that if I get enough information and talk to him about it he’ll open up to me.” Ashley sighed and ran her hand through her hair. Nate said nothing. “I can’t figure him out. He’s completely shut off. Lots of kids are like him but I have more time with them. Weeks, months. This you’re asking me to do in just a few days. I need to see what he’s seen. Even if I don’t like it.”
“Okay.” Ashley figured that was all she was going to get. They rode on in silence.
“How are you doing?” Ashley’s voice cut through the silence.
“What do you mean?”
“Have you slept at all? Taken any time to eat? I’ve been here for three days but you’ve been on this case longer. What are you doing to make sure that you’re okay?”
“Ever the psychologist.”
“Nate, it’s not that. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine.” A ringing tone stopped Nate from saying anything more. The ringing continued. “Aren’t you going to get that?”
Ashley looked for her purse. Picking it up off the floor board she searched through it until she found her small phone. Without checking the number she answered, “Hello.”
“The girls are mine.” A low, male voice came through the phone. Ashley didn’t recognize the voice at all.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You heard me Ashley Parks. All the girls are mine. You won’t get any of them back alive.”
“Who is this?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m warning you to stay away from Kyle.”
“What? Why are you calling me?”
“I think I made myself clear, Ms. Parks. Failure to follow my instructions will result in dire consequences.”
“Like what?” Ashley put her finger in her free ear to block out the noise coming from Nate and outside the car. Who was this man?
“If you Daisy and Emma aren’t good enough lessons then you are dumber than I’ve heard.”
“No, no! Don’t hurt anyone! Don’t hurt any more girls. What is it that you want?”
“You will see.” The voice laughed. “By the way, Jimmy says “hi”.”
Ashley’s heart pounded. She dropped the phone with a gasp. When she recovered and brought the phone back to her ear he was gone. Only strange silence remained. That and an angry looking Nate. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“Ashley, don’t be ridiculous, you know what I mean.”
“Nate, it was someone threatening the girls. They threatened me not to see Kyle anymore…”
“What number did they call from?”
Ashley flipped over her phone and checked the record of received calls. “I have a number here but I don’t recognize it. It’s a 727 area code. Where’s that?”
“That would be Pasco County I believe. I’ll get a trace on that right away.” Nate picked up his radio and called the information in. Ten minutes later they were turning on to Chestnut Street and Nate was receiving a call that the number was a pay phone off of County Road.
“It’s a pay phone but we’re sending a team out to lift fingerprints. I doubt they’ll find anything but it’s worth a shot,” Nate said. Ashley nodded as Nate put the car in park. “What else did he say?”
“What?”
“Ashley, what else did he say?” Ashley grabbed for the door handle but Nate grabbed her arm and gently pulled her to stay in the car. “Don’t think I don’t know. I can see it in the way you move. What else did he say?”
“He said “Jimmy says “hi”.” Ashley felt the tears brimming but she swallowed them back. She wasn’t strong enough to let herself cry. She certainly wasn’t strong enough to have Nate see her cry.
“Where’s Jimmy now?”
“Last I knew Florida State Prison in Starke. He was given the death penalty. They told me he was never getting out.” She couldn’t stop the tears. “They told me he was never getting out.”
Nate rubbed her back. Stroked her hair. He didn’t say anything but his presence said everything. Another officer knocked on the hood of the car and motioned for Nate to come out to the scene. With a finger Nate told him to wait. Ashley pushed the tears off of her face and smoothed her hair out. This wasn’t the time for this.
“We’ll check into it Ashley. I’ll make sure he’s still there.”
“Thank you.”
“Maybe you should go back to your hotel for a while.”
“No, I’m here. I need to see this. I need to talk to Kyle.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
“Nate, I’m not leaving Kyle. I really don’t care who this person thinks he is. I care about Kyle. I’m here to talk to him. I think he knows more then he’s saying, Nate and this call just proves it.” The tears were gone replaced by anger. She had made it through a lot. She could make it through a bit more.
“I think you should stay in the car…”
“Stop, Nate, I’m coming with you.” This time Ashley made it successfully out of the car with Nate right behind her. The scene in front of her was more then Ashley had expected. There were spectators and yellow tape everywhere. A red BMW sat abandoned on the road, the front door was open, a woman lay on the ground next to it. Blood pooled around her head and chest. Her eyes were open as if searching for something. Was her last view that of her daughter being kidnapped?
I know how you feel! The words screamed through Ashley’s head. Her heart could not understand the pain in the world. Maybe it was better for this mother. Better for her not to know what it’s like to live without a child. Better not to know the pain her daughter was going through even know; the pain she would know forever if she survived.
“Fill me in.” Nate was back in uniform. His words came out crisply and with authority.
“From what we can tell she was boxed in by two vehicles. Notice the damage here and here.” The Asian officer pointed to the front and rear of the BMW. “It also appears that at least six bullets hit the car in the back. We don’t see any blood in the backseat so it’s unlikely that the girl was hit. We also think that the mother was grabbed and pulled out of the front seat. She was shot twice, once in the chest, once in the head. I’m pretty sure the head was the money shot.”
“How did we get here so quick?” Nate asked.
“The girl managed to call 9-1-1 from the backseat. She told the 9-1-1 responder that they were being chased and shot at and that she was scared. By the time the paramedics and officers arrived the girl was gone and the mom was DOA.”
“Do we have anything? Anything new?”
“The tire tracks that leave here appear to be the same as the one we found around Daisy’s body.”
“Ford SUV?” Nate asked.
“From what we can tell,” the Asian officer replied.
“It’s not much.”
“Agent Zimmerman, this just came.” Another uniformed officer walked up to Nate and handed him a note. Nate took the note. “It’s not for you. It’s for her.” The officer pointed to Ashley. Nate rubbed the note in his hand and looked at Ashley. She could tell he was debating as to whether or not to turn it over to her.
Ashley held out her hand. Nate sighed and gave it to her. Even before she read it her hands were shaking. “I know it’s not the 14th but I thought I’d send you a note and say hello anyway. Glad to see you back in Florida, Ashley. Love always, Jimmy.”