CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Jack
Nia, Jelly, and I were in the sheriff’s large office. Reynolds and Nadine were, too, as was Old Man Dinardo. It was the middle of the night now, pushing towards the next morning.
“I’m telling you, Ivan came to work just like normal today. He did his shift, then left to do the catering event. Nothing was unusual at all about the way he acted or anything.”
I couldn’t believe that. He had to have given off some clue that he was about to kidnap someone. I paced the floor.
We’d gone to Ivan’s apartment a couple of hours ago. No one had been there. Ivan’s car had been there, but that wasn’t a shock considering I’d seen that he was still driving the deli’s catering van.
Reynolds looked distraught because Nadine was distraught. He and Jelly, who’d grown up with Nadine, were taking turns comforting her while Nia sat looking numbly out the window. She seemed like she might be in shock to me, and I was a little worried about her.
The sheriff kept looking Nia’s way, too. “Are you alright, miss?”
Nia turned to look at him but didn’t say anything.
The sheriff went over to her, kneeled down in front of her, and began saying comforting things to her.
I just stood there while the mayor and Jelly comforted Nadine, and the sheriff comforted Nia.
Nothing was being done to save Daisy, and I wanted to yell at everyone to focus but didn’t want to be a total dick. I turned to Old Man Dinardo, who was staring at his phone. “Do you know anything else about Ivan? Anything at all that might give us a clue as to where he could’ve taken her?”
“Hold on. My HR guy sent me an email that lists all of Ivan’s details. I’m going through it now.”
I wanted to snatch the phone from his hands. But I forced myself to remain somewhat calm. My anxiety was horrible. I was doing box breathing like crazy, but it wasn’t working its normal magic.
“Hey,” he said leaping up from his chair, “I have something. It’s his mother’s address. I know the area. I’m pretty sure she lives way out in the country.” He paused, reading more on his screen. “Well, lived. It seems she passed away a few years ago.”
The sheriff was already standing up. He called for a couple of deputies and looked as if he was about to leave us in his office. He walked out the door.
Fuck that. I was going with him. I ran after him. “Sheriff, let me ride with you.”
He shook his head. “Not going to happen. I’m not even taking the mayor. I’m definitely not taking the victim’s boyfriend. Sorry, man.”
Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He was a big, well-built guy, but I was, too, and adrenaline was on my side. “What does your department need?” I asked.
“What the hell are you talking about? Let go of me!” He jerked himself out of my grip and motioned for his officers to take care of me. They each grabbed one of my arms and started trying to pull me back to his office.
I fought them, desperate. “Do you need new cars?” I hollered out. “A new K-9 unit? A new building?”
He stopped walking and turned to stare at me. “Are you serious?”
“I’ll give you anything your department needs,” I said frantically. “Just take me with you.”
He scratched his head, eyes narrowed on me. “We could use an upgrade of our computer system.”
“Done. That’s my specialty, anyway. I’ll have a state-of-the-art system installed.”
“Let him ride,” Sheriff Richards said to his deputies. They released me immediately. “But don’t get in our way,” he said to me, his brown eyes piercing.
I nodded. He was clueless. Of course I’d get in their way. As soon as they parked their car, I’d break down the doors to get to Daisy. I didn’t have to wait for a fucking search warrant like they did. Nothing would hold me back.
***
We pulled up to an old farmhouse with a dirt driveway and no neighbors around for miles. It had taken us a while to get here, and the sun had been up for a while now. On the way, we’d gotten a call from Old Man Dinardo that Ivan had shown up for work like everything was normal.
An officer intercepted him, and we listened while he was questioned in case he gave any clues as to where Daisy was.
He insisted he didn’t know what they were talking about. He said he’d dropped Daisy off at her mother’s house the night before and hadn’t heard from her since.
The sheriff had his phone on speaker while we listened to some of the questioning.
Sheriff Richards held a finger to his lips, gave me a pointed look, and then took the phone off mute.
It was probably good he had, because everything in me wanted to scream he was a liar and beg him to tell us where Daisy was.
“You’re telling me,” the officer’s voice came through loud and clear, “that you drove that girl hours out of town on a night where you knew you had to work in the morning?”
“Fuck, yeah,” a deep voice responded. Ivan. “Have you seen that girl? I’d do about anything she asked for a blowjob like the one she gave me when I got her to her mom’s place. Girl can suck cock like a fucking pro,” he said in a smug voice.
I felt my face turning red with anger. I wanted to find this guy and beat his face in. If he’d made Daisy do anything, anything at all, I would kill him. Yep. For the first time in my life, I felt sure I could kill a man with no regrets.
“Her mother says she hasn’t seen Daisy in months,” the officer said, ignoring the words coming out of Ivan’s filthy mouth. “And she’s out of town, anyway. She wasn’t even at home last night. We talked to her sisters, who are at her house in Crosston, and they haven’t seen her, either.”
“Uh, that’s strange.” Ivan sounded nervous for the first time. “That’s where I dropped her off.”
“Nope. She’s not there. You want to tell me the truth now?”
Ivan asked for a lawyer and clammed up.
We rode the rest of the way in grim silence.
Now, as the police car rolled to a stop outside what looked to be a dilapidated old farmhouse, I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. He’d taken Daisy here. I could feel it in my bones. But had he hurt her? Did he rape her? Kill her?
I couldn’t let my mind go through all the horrible scenarios, or I wouldn’t be any good at helping find her.
I watched as the sheriff and the three officers he’d brought with him knocked on the door and waited. I looked out the window at the seemingly endless fields that stretched out from both sides of the house. They’d been left to go fallow; dead and decaying stalks blew in the gentle fall breeze.
I lurched from the car and ran around the side of the house. If I found another door, I was kicking it in. I didn’t have to follow any rules.
I ran down a small hill and came to a door around the back of the house. It was eerily quiet outside, as if nature knew bad things happened in that house. I knocked on the door.
“Daisy?”
At first, I didn’t hear anything, and I started to walk around to find another door. But then I heard a faint voice say something. I frowned and ran in the direction I’d heard it. I saw a broken window on the side of the house. It was up high, too high for me to reach.
“Daisy?” I called again.
“Help,” the voice croaked, coming as if from a long distance.
I ran back around to the door and started throwing myself against it with all my might. Finally, it broke, and I hurried into the dank, dark room. I looked around, but I couldn’t see much, my eyes adjusting to the dim light.
“Help,” the voice croaked, and I looked down.
That’s when I saw her. She was lying in a heap on the floor, covered in dust, grime, and blood.
“Oh my God,” I breathed as I ran towards her and picked her up. “I thought he’d taken you away from me. I thought he’d hurt you. God, Daisy. I love you. I love you so much,” I whispered as she rested her head against my chest.
She hissed in pain as I cradled her in my arms. “She’s down here,” I yelled, so thankful she was alive I was getting tears in my eyes. “And she’s hurt,” I added.
In no time at all the police had broken down the other door to the basement and hurried down the stairs.
We’d found her. We’d found my Daisy.