31. Daisy
Chapter thirty-one
Daisy
“How is a phone the key to finding Genevieve? It can’t be hers because she told me that none of the girls were allowed to bring their phones on the field trip.” I walk over and reach for the phone, but Owen rears his gloved hand back to keep it from my grasp.
Angel looks at me and then shifts his chin toward Owen. I take the hint and ask my brother, “How long will it take to decrypt the phone?”
“It’s a dumb phone, but it’s the only one on the market that allows for encrypted texts via Signal.
The good news is that it can be broken far easier with the physical phone than when it needs to be done remotely.
Instead of days, weeks, or possibly even years, we’re talking only a few hours, a day at most.”
Not sure how to best broach the topic, I end up blurting out the words. “I know who took me.”
That stops Owen in his tracks; his fingers no longer flying across the keyboard. He looks at me, saying nothing as he waits for me to continue. I tell him everything.
Even when I’m done, my brother just sits there. He doesn’t flinch or blink. He doesn’t fly off the handle like I expected him to. He simply takes the time to digest what I’ve told him.
When he finally snaps out of his trance-like state, he says, “I can’t make an arrest on a vision, Daisy. I need to follow the evidence.”
Roger places a comforting hand on my shoulder while he asks Owen, “Besides the phone, what evidence were you and your agents able to find?”
Owen leans back in the chair, hands clasped and relaxed at his waist. Though he’s doing his best not to show his anger by pretending to be calm, his pulsating jaw muscles give him away.
My brother is beyond mad and barely holding it in.
I’m impressed by his restraint, and like Jack said, I should have had more faith in my brother.
“Let’s start with Brad. We know that his plan was at least a year in preparation based on the donation to the school from his offshore account.
He departed the area just prior to Genevieve’s abduction, ensuring his RV is located near the Rogue River in Grants Pass along with the NPS truck he was towing behind him.
That truck has a GPS in it, giving him an alibi. ”
“We already know that,” I tell him.
Owen grits his teeth. “Yes, and we also know that Brad had an ATV that he parked three miles north of the Stillwaters Campground anywhere from four to eight hours prior to the events unfolding. What we didn’t know is that there was a secondary ATV stashed near the campground meant to be the getaway vehicle. ”
“We would have heard an ATV if it approached,” Jack says. “Jeremy and I were patrolling the campground all night while Faith and Jaxon got some sleep.”
Jaxon cuts in. “The same goes for Faith and me. Once we were awake, we also would have heard it. Even if Brad had pre-positioned the ATV, all of us would have heard it when he left the scene.”
Owen shakes his head. “Not if it was electric. Based on the tread patterns we found near where Daisy was shot, the ATV was a DRR EV Adventure. It’s virtually silent with a regenerative braking system, meaning that on a descent, power is fed back into the battery.
With an extended range, it can travel 65 miles or more without a peep.
While I’m not a fan of electric vehicles because you can’t just gas up and go, this one is worth its weight in gold. ”
Vinny grunts. “That’s how he escaped quickly and undetected. I had the drone patrolling the area within two minutes of Daisy going down.”
“That drone should have been in the air long before it actually was,” Jeremy says in an almost accusatory tone.
Roger reminds him that the tree cover in the area would have rendered the drone practically useless.
Even with the thermal imaging, there would have been too many heat signatures to identify anyone in particular.
“This would be the first abduction made in broad daylight, and we couldn’t have known that he would change his modus operandi.
This is clearly a coordinated effort that’s been in the works for quite some time.
I feel as though the change directly results from us getting close. Now we need to tighten the noose.”
Jack asks, “Owen, where did you find the phone?”
“When we lost the getaway trail at Crater Lake Highway, we noticed that the mud from the tires of the secondary ATV pointed westward. There are a bazillion places he could have gone off trail in those few short miles. Or he could have purposely done that to throw us off and then turned northward toward the rim. He’s smart enough to do something like that.
Once the scene was secured, I left Jordan to work with two federal agents while I went back to the spot where Brad left his first ATV under the brush and bushes to start at the beginning.
That’s where I found the phone. Brad must have dropped it. Bad news for him, great news for us.”
“We don’t even know what’s on it,” Jaxon says. “Nor do we know where he is.”
I understand my brother’s excitement and why he believes the phone will lead us to Genevieve’s location, especially once I told him who the mastermind is behind the abductions, the big fish, so to speak. Brad is somehow involved, but Logan Bloom is running the show.
“With the FBI combing the area, locals rallying to form a search party, and campers leaving the area after posting on social media, there’s too much heat and visibility to make the transfer. I was held captive for a week, specifically as a waiting period for all of that to die down.”
“Then we have some time,” Faith says with hope in her eyes.
Owen cracks his knuckles and gets back to work. “That is the one thing we don’t have this time. We need to find Brad before Logan Bloom gets to him first.”
Hours pass as the ten of us formulate a plan that, though risky, gives us the greatest chance of success. As we’re wrapping things up, Scott’s wife, Grace, shows up with Dottie, carrying enough bags of home cooking to feed an army.
“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!” I exclaim as I nab one of the bags. “Thank you!”
Owen looks at Angel. “Make a note. Never get between Daisy and a meal. Your life may depend on it.”
I open the container; the smell of fried chicken, biscuits, and garlic mashed potatoes assaulting my senses in the best way possible. My stomach rumbles and grumbles while my mouth waters with anticipation.
While Dottie passes out the rest of the meals, Grace sits down next to me. “How are you holding up?”
“Honestly, I feel okay,” I tell her. “For the first time since I was taken, I feel hope. That is because you didn’t give up on a story all those years ago and because you still believed I was alive.
You didn’t even know me then. I was just some girl who the news said ran away and then froze to death in the wilderness.
But because something kept niggling away at your heart, you didn’t relent in your search.
Thanks to you, I’m finally in a place where I see an end in sight. ”
Grace rests her hand on my arm, careful to avoid my greasy fingers. “Not your end, right? You’ve had some close calls.”
I shrug one shoulder in an attempt to dispel the nervousness I feel about our plan.
There’s so much that could go wrong. “I pray that my time has not yet come, but I may not have a choice.” Glancing over at Angel scooping mashed potatoes into his mouth, I smile.
“I pray that when this is over, I still may have a purpose and a reason for living beyond the moment.”
Her eyes follow my line of sight, then she gestures to everyone in the room.
“You’ve always had a reason to live beyond the moment, Daisy.
It just took you this long to realize it.
Love, whether romantic, friendship, or family, makes everything worth it.
Do you know what I see when I look at all of you? ”
“A family,” I say, figuring that’s where she’s headed with this.
“Well, yes, there’s certainly that. But it’s more than being a part of a chosen family.
I see God’s hand on the Southern Knights, and I can see His artistry as He’s turned you all into a beautiful work of art.
You’re each a piece of stained glass that, when put together, forms a colorful and perfect picture.
If one piece were missing, the whole thing falls apart. ”
I can’t help but smile. “You have a way with words.”
Grace chuckles. “I’m an investigative reporter. It comes with the territory. So does seeing the small details that often get overlooked. Each of you brings something unique to the table, and your lives were entwined long before any of you knew it.”
She points her finger at Jaxon first, then goes around the room.
“Jaxon is connected to Faith from his time in the DEA, then connected to Roger from his time with the Shining Knights. Roger is connected to you and Owen from helping your family after you were abducted. So is Director Finnegan at the FBI, a very powerful ally, I might add. Angel is connected to Faith, and now to you.”
“But he’s not a Southern Knight,” I tell her.
“We’ll see. Vinny is connected to Angel and Faith through their father. I’m connected to you, Daisy, because 20 years ago I was assigned a story of a missing girl in Glacier National Park. I’m also connected to Scott, first from our childhood and now by marriage.”
A light goes off over my head as understanding dawns on me. I finish her game by pointing at Jeremy and Jack. “Those two are connected to Scott from working together as bodyguards before joining the Southern Knights.”
“Exactly. One could chalk it up to the theory that everyone on this planet is connected by no more than five intermediaries….”
“The theory of six degrees of separation.”
Grace smiles. “That’s the one. But how do you explain ten people in a room with no more than one degree of separation? Two at most. That’s not a coincidence, Daisy. That’s God’s hand, pure and simple.”