Chapter 18
David’s head swam. If only the throbbing headache would go away so he could think straight. His body screamed at him to relax, but with Zoey missing, how could he? He’d messed up. He prayed his mistake didn’t cost the young girl her life.
“Who is doing this?” Brandon leaned forward, elbows on his knees and fingers steepled under his chin.
“I honestly don’t know.” It pained him to know he’d failed Zoey and Jennie.
“It’s my fault. I was the one who made bad choices and put her in danger.” Tears trickled down Jennie’s cheeks.
A knock on the door had all three of them shifting their attention to the entry.
“That should be Randy. It’s time to put the pity parties away and focus on finding Zoey.” Brandon rose and answered the door.
Officer Hanes strode in, his arms loaded with files and laptops. “Hey y’all. Where do you want this stuff?”
“On the table’s fine.” David stood and the room spun. He grabbed the back of the couch and steadied himself.
Jennie clutched his arm. “You sure you should be up and working?”
“I can rest after we find Zoey.” He’d lost his heart to that little girl the moment she’d called him about the texting mix-up. He made his way to the table. “What do we have?”
“Rick and Sandy from your team will be here soon.” Hanes spread the information out and booted up two laptops. “Mags is running down the information you asked for on Levi, Adam, and Kenny’s girlfriend. She said she’s throwing in a profile on Kenny as well.”
“Good. Hopefully, she’ll have it soon. And as for Rick and Sandy, we need all the brain power we can get.” Brandon sat and gestured to the empty chair. “Sit down before you fall down.”
David obliged. He prayed he’d last long enough to point in a direction to investigate.
“I know we put out an Amber Alert, but I want to make sure we didn’t miss anything. The stress level was high, and we might have missed a detail.” Brandon grabbed a pen and paper. “Go over the events one more time.”
David and Jennie took turns filling the two officers in on the details.
“Nothing new there.” Brandon tapped his pen.
Officer Hanes looked up from the computer screen. “What was Zoey wearing?”
“Jeans and a purple sweatshirt.” Jennie added.
Hanes typed without looking at the keyboard. “What about under the sweatshirt?”
Jennie shook her head. Her voice rose to panic levels. “I don’t remember.”
David stared at the vase in the middle of the table. “It was a light blue t-shirt with paw prints on it.”
Jennie gasped. “Yes, that’s it.”
David straightened and wince at the pain shooting down his side. Why hadn’t he remembered earlier? “She’s wearing a dark purple rubber bracelet that I gave her before we left the house.”
“The one you had me put the tracker in?” Brandon asked.
“You gave her a tracker?” Hurt filled Jennie’s eyes.
“Yes. Before we left your house.” David cringed as he remembered Jennie’s words about secrets. “I’m sorry. I told Zoey, and I promise I planned on telling you as well, but things moved fast after that.”
Jennie stiffened. “Fine. Then find her and arrest the guy responsible for taking her so we can go home.”
A woman saying ‘fine’ was never a good thing.
And in this case, he’d royally messed up.
His intent was good, but with her background…
He pulled up the app on his phone and checked Zoey’s location.
He came up empty. “It’s not that easy, Jennie.
We have to be within five miles of her. And according to my phone, she’s not within the radius. ”
“Then what good is your spying on my daughter?” Her voice rose with each word.
“David was only trying to help.” Brandon stood up for him.
“I get that. And I’m grateful we might have a way to find Zoey.” She spun and leveled him with a glare. “But you had no right to stalk her.”
David lowered his head. He’d thought he’d found the woman of his dreams only for his actions to turn it into a nightmare. “We’ll find her and bring her home to you.”
She raised an eyebrow then faced Brandon, ignoring him. “I need a moment to calm down. If you need me, I’m going to find a bedroom.” Jennie disappeared down the hall.
The click of the keyboards and the whoosh of air through the air conditioning vents filled the otherwise quiet space.
Brandon broke the silence. “She’ll come around.”
David placed a hand on his aching side. “I don’t think so.” His heart shattered. Zoey was missing, and Jennie…he’d let her down in a big way.
He gritted his teeth and lowered himself onto his seat. All his aches and pains were punishment for not protecting this woman and her daughter.
“Mags emailed the info on our suspects. She’s continuing to dig, but she has the preliminary report.”
The door opened. Rick and Sandy greeted everyone and joined them at the table.
“Thanks for coming.”
“Of course.” “No problem.” The pair spoke over each other.
“Now that we’re all here, tell us what Mags said about Kenny and his friends.”
Brandon concentrated on his laptop. “We are all aware of how Kenny ended up in prison. Apparently, he learned his abusive ways from his father. His parole officer has accounted for his whereabouts over the past week.”
Rick waltzed in from the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a water bottle. After handing David the mug of bold brew, Rick plopped onto a chair. “He’s still on my list. He could have paid off his P.O. to alibi for him.”
“True. The man has the biggest motive to terrorize Jennie.” David hadn’t wanted to consider that option, but it made sense.
“All right, door number two. Levi Benson. Typical bad boy. In trouble as a teen, but nothing major. Oh wait, it says here that fifteen years ago he was arrested for assault. He hauled off and punched a man at a bar for talking to his girlfriend. Nice guy.” Brandon rolled his eyes. “Nothing since then though.”
Sandy propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. “Seems like the jealous type. He could have fixated on Jennie after her husband died.”
“Two names, two suspects. I was hoping to narrow things down.” David rubbed his eyes. “What about Adam?”
Brandon drummed his fingers on the table. “Adam King had a normal family life growing up. From what Mags discovered, he was a quiet kid and a loner. The only odd thing is a sealed juvenile record. Could be anything. We’d need a warrant to open it.”
“That won’t happen unless we have evidence to justify it.
” David eased back in his chair. The bruises from the accident screamed at him.
“Jennie said he was quiet, but he helped her with Zoey when he came to visit Kenny. Sounds like the only one out of the three men that seemed to care about Jennie.”
“Let’s look at motive for a minute.” Sandy had them switching gears
Brandon crossed his arms over his chest. “Whoever is responsible is obsessed with Jennie.”
“That makes the most sense. Which leads us back to Kenny, who has an alibi.” Frustration set in. David wanted to throw his coffee mug across the room.
“True. But whether it’s him or one of the others, why take Zoey?” Rick asked.
Sandy stared at the ceiling, her eyes darted back and forth, seeking an answer. “To get back at Jennie. She’d do anything for that little girl.”
“I get that. But there has to be more to it.” David’s brain refused to function. If they didn’t figure out who had Zoey soon, he’d be a puddle of sludge on the floor, unable to contribute to the discussion.
Brandon’s gaze drifted from one person to the next. “If you ask me, this guy thinks Jennie is his property and anything that belongs to her is his too.”
Hanes flipped open a file he’d tossed aside earlier and typed frantically on the computer.
What had triggered Randy’s sudden interest?
“Whatcha got?” Rick asked.
Randy held up a finger then went back to typing.
David’s heart rate increased at the possibility that Randy was on to something.
***
Jennie sat on the bed. Her face in her hands.
Hiccupping sobs shook her body. How had she let herself get into this mess?
She’d been desperate for love, that’s how.
But Aunt Emily had taught her better than to jump at the first man to show her attention.
Not that most men were abusive like Kenny, but still.
If she’d come home to her aunt, things would have turned out differently for her and Zoey.
“Oh, Zoey, where are you?” Jennie pulled her phone from her pocket and found a photo of her daughter. Her bright blue eyes glimmered with mischief.
She inhaled. She’d do anything to get her baby back.
The phone vibrated, startling her.
She glanced at the Caller ID. Unknown.
Could it be the person that took Zoey? She punched the button. “Hello?”
“I imagine you want this pretty little girl back,” A slimy voice oozed over the line. She tried to place it but couldn’t.
“Don’t touch her.” Bile rose in Jennie’s throat.
“Demanding, aren’t we?” he hissed. “Time you figure out who you belong to.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m disappointed, Jennie. You haven’t figured out who I am?”
The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. “Let Zoey go. It’s me you want.”
“You’re right.”
“Tell me what to do?”
“There ya go, that’s my girl. Always wanting to please.”
Her skin crawled at the memories of Kenny’s touch. This man wasn’t Kenny. She knew that much, but she’d do what it took to free Zoey.
The sickening sweet voice sounded over the line. “I’ll make a trade. You for your daughter.”
“You won’t hurt her?”
“I guess you’ll have to trust me.” He cackled.
Not likely. “Where?”
“There’s a car at the gas station on Highway 1. Keys are under the seat and the directions are in the glovebox.”
“It’ll take me a while to get there.” She needed to buy time for the police to get there first.
“Don’t lie to me! You have thirty minutes to get here. If you don’t, I’ll kill her.”
Jennie whimpered. “Please don’t hurt her.”
“And no cops. I see a cop and you both die.”
“Fine.”
“Remember, thirty minutes. No cops.” The man hung up.