Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
Very early Monday morning. Knoxville Downtown Precinct
It’s always darkest before the dawn. Who said that?
It was like waiting to go into battle. Everything ready but you had to wait for the signal. The KPD crew had been up all night, looking at every possibility, IT surfing the Internet like no one ever had with Kristopher lending his expertise, calling his dad for information on cults. It was looking more and more like Soli Deo Gloria had a hand in this, but they were well hidden, and it was driving Patrick to the breaking point.
Close. We’re so close to finding Danni and Sara and Robin and who knew how many other little girls are still out there. Please God. I lost my niece to that scumbag father, and I couldn’t stop it. Please, help me help make this right.
“Do you need some coffee?” Kristopher’s soft voice asked. “There’s a fresh pot of Blue Mountain.”
“If you ever tell anyone I said this, I’ll hang you up by your thumbs,” Patrick threatened. “But no thank you.”
“Dear Heaven, it’s a sign of the second coming,” Kristopher murmured. “I think I’ll go to the chapel.”
He drifted away and Patrick went to brace his head on the window and stare out at the faintly approaching dawn.
Please Lord , he prayed again, hoping no one would notice the tear tracks on the glass. Please bring them home.
Then he went to find Grant Miller and Captain Haggerty to see if they could find him something useful to do.
Later that morning. Knoxville Downtown Precinct.
“Can I help you, little ladies?” The white-haired police man smiled at them from behind a big desk. Then he frowned and asked, “You girls sure are a mess. Do your parents let you go to school looking like that?”
“We need to see the person in charge!” Sara shouted. “We just escaped from being kidnapped and now Sir has got Danni!”
“Danni?” A tall blond man with a beard who looked awfully tired came charging over. “Sweet merciful Savoir!” he said, squatting down to their level. He was so tall he had to. “Are you Sara Turner?”
“Yeah.” Sara pointed at her friends. “This is Robin Masters, and Elsa Jones and Alice Peters. We just escaped in a vegetable truck and we wanna go home. But we’ve got to save Danni.”
She started to cry, even though she’d told herself she wouldn’t, but she was so tired after riding all morning in the truck. The others started to cry too and suddenly there were a whole lot of men and women in police uniforms hurrying toward them.
“Folks, let’s get these young ladies into the private command room.” A tall, pretty, black lady had joined the blond guy, who was now standing and holding Sara. “Miss Turner, I’m Captain Haggerty and I’m in charge here. We are very glad to see you. Would you follow me?”
“I’m tired,” Sara whimpered. “You’re not gonna arrest us, are you?”
“They’ll probably give you a medal.” A man with black hair, not as tall as the blond man but still nice-looking was here now too. “No jail.”
“You bet your tuchus on that.” The tall blond man swept her up and followed the captain and Mr. Black-hair to a big room full of people. Everyone started cheering when they saw them, and Sara stopped crying. When she and the girls were inside another room and the door was closed, the blond man took her aside and said, “Sara, my name is Patrick and I’m Danni’s friend. We’ve been looking for you, but you found us first.”
“Danni always told me, when I needed help, if she wasn’t around to find a cop,” Sara told him. “Her dad was one of the best cops ever , so she should know.”
“You got that right,” Patrick agreed. “How do you know someone has Danni? Did you see them do it?”
“I heard them talking about it last night,” Sara said. “Sir and my-my–”
Her voice wobbled and she was really afraid she was going to cry again when Patrick guessed, “Your grandfather?”
“How’d you know that?” Sara gulped back a really big sob.
“‘Cause Danni is smart, and she figured it out,” Patrick said, and for a moment, Sara thought he was going to cry too. “Do you know where Danni might be?”
“I know where she is,” Sara said proudly. “She’s in Sir’s morgue. Is that weird to have your own morgue?”
“Maybe,” Patrick said as if he was trying to figure it out. “What does Sir look like? Can you describe him?”
“Here.” Sara dug in her dress pocket and pulled out Elsa’s drawing. “Elsa’s a good artist. It looks just like Sir.”
Patrick nodded and unfolded the paper. Staring back at him was Duncan Freidman in all his bald-headed glory.”
“Holy Sainted Mother of God,” he whispered. “Sara, can you sit right here for a bit and wait for me to go get Danni and bring her back to you?”
“Yeah, but can you hurry?” Sara asked. “I’ve missed her, and I really love her a lot.”
“Me too, darling,” Patrick gulped. “Me too. Can I get you some water or a soda before I go?”
“Soda would be nice.”
“Okay,” Patrick agreed. “Officer Johnson? Would you get this young lady a soda please? Miller! Kristopher! We’ve got the son-of-a-bitch! He held the drawing up like a recovered battlefield flag. “He’s got Danni and Mrs. M. at Excelsior!
“Aren’t you a little late?” Danni taunted. Her arms and legs ached from being bound all night. At least Freidman had sent someone to take them to the tiny bathroom in the corner. “I thought you’d want to kill us at first light.”
“Shut up,” Freidman barked. “The package got here late. But don’t worry. The syringes are being prepared even as we speak. I suppose I should offer you a last meal but I don’t think you’ll have the stomach for it.”
Mrs. M. uttered a string of profanity that startled Danni, but she had to laugh. Never go down without a fight, her dad always said. She might be tied up but maybe she could manage to get a couple of good kicks in before–” She swallowed hard and bit the inside of her mouth. She’d be blessed if she’d let Duncan Freidman see her cry.
A soft scuffle sounded on the other side of the door and Freidman smiled. “Ah, the syringes. Get ready to meet your maker, ladies.”
His stroll to the door was casual and arrogant. He stopped long enough to blow them a kiss, opened the door and came face-to-face with Grant Miller, holding a very lethal looking weapon.
“Duncan Freidman,” he announced, backing the man into the room. “I’m arresting you for the kidnapping of Danni Blake and Fiona McGillicuddy. Anything you say will and can be used–”
“Danni!” Patrick’s hoarse cry drowned out Miller’s words to a protesting Freidman. A quickly produced knife cut Danni’s bonds while Kristopher did the same for Mrs. M. and Danni was in Patrick’s arms.
“We’ve got the girls,” he whispered, holding her like he would never let her go. “And two others.”
“How did you find us?” Danni gasped. His fierce hold on her was making it hard to breathe. As if she cared.”
“I’m going to let Sara tell you that.” He grinned and Danni was glad he was holding her up otherwise she’d be a puddle at his feet. He released her to go embrace Mrs. M. “We meet at last, Mrs. M.,” he greeted.
“We’re stopping with this ‘Mrs. M.’ nonsense right now,” the housekeeper declared, affecting an Irish accent that would make Mac proud, even if he were Scottish. “It’s Fiona from this moment on, got it?”
“Yes ma’am,” they chorused. Then Danni was back in Patrick’s arm.
“I must look a fright,” she murmured.
“A bit,” he teased, eyes twinkling.
She reached up to touch his beloved face. “I could hurt your nose again,” she warned.
“Nah, you won’t,” he challenged. “You won’t ‘cause you love me madly. Just like I love you.”
“And how do I know that to be a fact?” Danni challenged back.
“Because I told Sara I did,” Patrick said simply. “Even if I did find you in a newspaper morgue. C’mon, Danni-girl. Sara’s waiting for us.”
Christmas Eve
“This is the best kind of way to spend Christmas Eve,” Family Court Judge Peter Hastings announced. “I’ve reviewed all the paperwork, and it seems in order. Shall we proceed?”
It had truly been a roller-coaster ride since Sara and the other girls were rescued. La Belle Monde was under investigation by the FBI, IRS and a whole bunch of “alphabet soups” as Sara named them. Duncan Freidman, Ed Turner, Mr. Masters and the good Lord only knew how many of the Soli Deo Gloria cronies KPD was still rounding up. Grant Miller was having a field day. Even “Suzy the Snitch” was blabbing when she found out that her uncle Duncan wasn’t going to help her out of his mess. Freidman and his army of attorneys–who hadn’t been able to get him out of jail no matter how much he was paying them–blamed it all on The Cadre. Surprisingly, a tape had arrived at KPD of Freidman’s conversation with a suspected member of The Cadre about finding girls to purchase. The voice, obviously altered, stated Freidman was known as “The Man” to The Cadre and they were glad to hand him over to the authorities. He was more trouble than he was worth, they said.
And Danni had returned to her home. Some nights Sara was with her, sleeping in the guest room, other nights in her own bed at her old home with Fiona McGillicuddy to watch over her. Ed Turner wouldn’t be coming back to the house for a long, long time. The only decent thing he’d done in all this time was to admit to having someone at LBM forge Sara’s handwriting for that note. He was, as Kristopher put it, “a real piece of work.”
And best of all, Patrick had been by Danni’s side every night.
“OK, I’ll make this quick as I understand Miss Turner is singing at Midnight Mass around the corner,” Judge Hastings said. “Ms. Danni Blake, you’ve been vetted by Families United that your home is a safe place for Sara Turner to stay. Sara, do you want to stay with Danni Blake?”
“Yes, your Honor,” Sara said solemnly, her fingers curling around Danni’s.”
“And Ms. Blake, you want this as well? No need for legal mumbo-jumbo.”
“Yes, Your Honor.” Danni could barely get the words out.
“And this rather formidable man standing behind you two is–?”
“That’s Lieutenant Patrick Danton, Danni’s boyfriend,” Sara announced. “He’s a veteran and is the best cook ever.”
“Humph.” Judge Hastings pulled his reading glasses further down his nose. “And you’re a party to all this, Lieutenant?”
“Yes sir,” and Danni could hear the tears in his voice.
“Very well. By the power given to me by the sovereign state of Tennessee, I award temporary custody of Sara Turner to Danni Blake, looking to lead to adoption. Happy birthday, Miss Turner and Merry Christmas to you all. Court is adjourned.”
He banged his gavel, and a three-way hug was exchanged. Then Sara ran to hug Fiona McGillicuddy who was laughing and crying at the same time.
“Are you sure about this?” Danni asked, enjoying the now familiar feel of his arms around her.
“Yeah. I told Hank Patterson I liked it here in Tennessee and he said he was sure he could find something for me to do here while working for BP.
“Good.” Danni hugged him again.
“I did tell him there was one condition, though,” Patrick warned.
“Oh yeah? What was that?”
“That I would be home in time to cook dinner every night,” Patrick said. “I’ve seen the state of your home kitchen and if I’m not here to cook dinner for Sara, she’s gonna starve to death and then where would we be?”
In the distance, church bells tolled, and Danni laughed, leaning in to kiss the love of her heart, she said, “Then let’s go home, Lieutenant. Let’s go home.”