Lyle Crowder called to his dog and the pair sauntered back across the street, leaving Jake alone in the heat to ponder their conversation. As he waited for the man to disappear into his house, a strange feeling of being watched came over him. That wasn’t unusual for Jake. He’d always had a heightened sensitivity to his surroundings that went beyond his training. He’d never put a name to his perception and had no interest in digging deep enough to figure it out. Suffice it to say, he’d learned early on in foster care to trust his instincts. That keen situational awareness had saved him more times than he cared to remember.
Slowly, he trailed his gaze along the row of aging houses as the hair at the back of his neck lifted. Could be nothing more than another nosy neighbor staring out a window. People were curious when something like this happened. They watched from the safety of their homes, telling themselves that something so terrible could never happen to their family. But sometimes the kidnapper also watched.
For all Jake knew, Kylie Buchanan’s abductor could still be in the neighborhood, monitoring police activity from behind closed blinds, reveling in the chaos he’d created and smug in the certainty that he’d outsmarted the authorities.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Jake searched for the twitch of a curtain or the subtle shift of a shadow. Then his eyes moved to Crowder’s house. Despite the man’s chattiness, Jake sensed Reggie’s neighbor hadn’t been entirely forthcoming. Reading between the lines, he wondered if Lyle Crowder had had romantic feelings for Reggie in the past. His opinion of her had seemed to vacillate between condemnation and respect, and Jake had detected a flicker of something unpleasant when he spoke about being left out of her parties. Unrequited feelings could sometimes fester into resentment, but thirty years was a long time to carry a grudge or a torch. One thing Jake knew for certain: Lyle Crowder had done everything in his power to focus the FBI’s attention on Derrick Sway.
Moving out of view of the street, Jake pulled his phone and called the local police chief to verify that Crowder’s brother had corroborated their weekend fishing trip. He then related Lyle’s concern about Derrick Sway and requested that an officer be sent to the mother’s home to check on Sway’s whereabouts. Statistically speaking, Sway was a long shot. Stranger abductions were more rare than most people realized, and Sway had no apparent connection to the Buchanans. He did, however, have a past with Reggie Lamb and, at this point, no lead could be ignored. No one could be ruled out, and that included Reggie herself.
Jake had spoken with her twice since his arrival in town. The first time here at her home. The second time at the command center when she’d come in with Taryn Buchanan. His initial impression was of a hard-boiled woman who spoke her mind regardless of the consequences. Jake had liked her at once and had to remind himself that she was the common denominator in two child abductions. He couldn’t afford to cut her any slack because she happened to be Thea’s mother.
Still, he’d been at this for a long time and he knew how to read people. He didn’t think Reggie was responsible for Kylie Buchanan’s disappearance, but he couldn’t shake the notion that she was hiding something, too.
So here he was.
Instinct was one thing, but Jake didn’t believe in premonitions, second sights or any of that nonsense. He’d never put faith in psychics. Yet something inexplicable had drawn him back to Reggie Lamb’s house.
Slipping on his sunglasses, he moved from the shade and dragged his gaze along the edge of the woods. He imagined the kidnapper creeping silently through the trees on the night of the abduction, then hunkering in the shadows until the lights in Reggie’s house had gone out. Cloud coverage would have obscured the moon. Even if someone had been passing by at that hour, whoever took four-year-old Kylie Buchanan would have gone undetected as he eased across the yard and peered through the glass before sliding up the window.
The peal of Jake’s ringtone shattered the heavy silence. He took the call and ended it quickly. Guided by the prickles at the base of his neck, he let himself in through the gate in the chain-link fence then moved across the backyard to where the woods edged up against Reggie’s property line.
A latticework potting shed had been erected behind a detached single-car garage. Both structures looked freshly painted in the same color as the trim on the house. Jake could hear birds trilling in the oak trees and the steady click-click-click of an ornamental windmill rotating in the breeze. The yard was like a peaceful oasis, fragrant and sleepy, and yet he felt the heaviness of a strange oppression as he unlatched the back gate and stepped through.
He followed a footpath into the trees. He didn’t know what he expected to find. The local police had used K-9 tracking to search the area early Monday morning, and a small army of law enforcement personnel and civilian volunteers walking at arm’s length of one another had combed the woods later that same day. Every square inch had been covered. Nothing of importance would have been missed. Jake told himself his time would be better spent at the command center assisting the local PD, yet he couldn’t bring himself to turn back. He couldn’t assuage the compulsion that drove him deeper into the woods.
A few hundred yards from the house, he halted abruptly, searching the shadowy underbrush and then swinging his scrutiny up into the treetops. A sound had come to him.
Maybe it was that subtle intrusion that had been guiding him through the woods all along rather than any premonition. Maybe, in the back of his mind, he’d conflated the hollow clatter he heard now with the distant tick of the windmill so that his subconscious had dismissed the sound.
He tipped his head, searching for the source. Almost hidden by leaves, two primitive stick figures swung from a tree branch about five feet above his head. Twig arms and legs had been attached to the bodies with coils of raffia. Red fabric hearts had been glued to the torsos and tufts of blond hair to the heads.
Jake watched, mesmerized as the dolls clacked together in the breeze, creating an eerie, hollow melody that reminded him of a bamboo wind chime.
THEA RECLINED HER head against the back of the seat and tried to relax as Reggie exited the freeway onto the state highway that would take them straight into Black Creek. But the closer they drew to their destination, the more anxious she became.
She kept the window open, pulling the damp, verdant smell of the countryside deep into her lungs. The scent stirred something powerful inside her. The memories that stole out of her subconscious were as thick and pervasive as the kudzu that snaked up abandoned utility poles and curled around old phone lines. There was something almost mystical about that lush perfume, something evocative and sinister about the shadowy landscape.
She gave her mother a sidelong glance. Did she feel it, too?
Seemingly oblivious, Reggie gripped the wheel and stared straight ahead. They’d both fallen silent miles ago. Thea didn’t try to initiate further conversation. She welcomed a few minutes of quiet introspection to analyze her feelings. It was so disconcerting, this homecoming. She hadn’t been in the same room with her mother in years, let alone in the close confines of a vehicle. Now here they were with all the old doubts and resentments crowding into the same narrow space.
How long had it been since she’d been back anyway? Four years? Five? Surely not six? Where had all that time gone?
The odd thing was, she and Reggie had never had a real falling out. The distancing had been gradual. Phone calls had tapered off, visits had never come to fruition. It was just plain easier being apart. Easier to ignore the ghost that had always haunted the space between them.
Maya’s abduction had defined their relationship in so many ways, yet even the mention of her name had at times been taboo. Thea had learned early on to keep any questions about her sister’s disappearance to herself if she didn’t want Reggie to shut down. Those long silences had taken a toll.
You freeze a kid out enough times and she’ll put up her own defenses. She’ll find all kinds of ways to act out and then she’ll leave home as soon as she’s able, rarely to return until another child goes missing.
Thea didn’t want to dwell on all those old doubts. She didn’t want to resurrect her obsession over her twin sister’s abduction, but how could she not when another child had gone missing from the same room? When little Kylie Buchanan might still be out there somewhere, tormented and terrified and crying for her mother as Maya had undoubtedly done before she died?
She took a long, tremulous breath and allowed her mind to drift back in time.
On the night of Maya’s disappearance, Reggie had put them to bed early. Twilight had just fallen, but already music and laughter drifted in from the front porch where some of her friends had gathered. Thea didn’t like it when her mother had people over. She and Maya were always sent to bed early and Thea had a hard time sleeping through all that noise. Bored and fretful, she’d lie awake for hours while Maya slept peacefully in the next bed.
Their room had been exceptionally hot and sticky that night. The AC unit in the front part of the house did nothing to cool the bedrooms. Thea lay on top of the covers, hot and miserable as she tossed and turned. Sometime later, Reggie came into the room to raise the window that looked out on the backyard.
“Read me a story, Mama.”
“Not tonight, baby. Your sister’s already asleep and I don’t want to wake her up. Besides, Mama has friends over.”
“I don’t like them.” Thea pouted. “They smell bad.”
“That’s just cigarette smoke. The breeze will blow it away. Now settle down and go to sleep. It’ll be morning before you know it.”
Thea pretended to do as she was told. She nestled under the covers and watched her mother through half-closed eyes as she stood at the open window staring out into the night. After a moment, Reggie came over to the bed and kissed Thea’s cheek, then tiptoed from the room and pulled the door closed behind her.
At the sound of the clicking door, her sister sat up in bed and whimpered. “I’m scared, Sissy.”
“Why?” Thea asked her.
“I heard something.”
Thea listened to the night. “It’s just a coonhound out in the woods. See? Mama opened the window.”
“It’s not a coonhound.” Kicking off the covers, Maya slid to the floor and padded the short distance between their beds. Clutching her favorite doll, she crawled beneath the cotton sheets and snuggled close. “Somebody’s out there, Sissy.”
“Nobody’s out there. Stop being a fraidy-cat and go back to sleep.” Thea patted her sister’s shoulder until Maya finally rolled over and drifted off. Thea remained wide awake. Despite the breeze, she was still too hot with her sister’s clammy little body pressed up against hers. The open window allowed in dozens of night sounds. Not just the eerie baying of a neighbor’s dog, but also the closer serenades of crickets and bullfrogs and the occasional hoot of an owl. Sounds that stirred Thea’s blood and tingled her scalp.
She slipped out of bed and dragged a chair to the window so that she could stand and stare out the way her mother had done. For the longest time, she watched shadows dance across the yard as tree limbs thrashed in the breeze. When she grew drowsy, she climbed into Maya’s empty bed and pulled the covers to her chin, and when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed the outside shadows had crept into their room and stood whispering between their beds.
The next thing she knew, it was morning and her mother’s best friend, Gail, was shaking her awake. “Where’s your sister? Thea, wake up! Where’s Maya?”
They searched the house and all up and down the street. The police came and later the FBI. Search parties were formed and dogs were brought in.
A week after Maya went missing, a wooden box had been found in the woods containing her doll and a bloodstained blanket that matched her DNA. The police reasoned but couldn’t prove that Maya had been buried in the box and her body later dug up and moved to a more remote location.
They’d dragged Reggie back in for questioning, along with her boyfriend, Derrick Sway. Eventually, they’d both been released, but suspicions lingered in Black Creek. Those dark whispers had dogged Thea all through school, at times poking at the doubts that dwelled at the fringes of her memory.
She’d managed to put her misgivings aside when she left her hometown for college. Those four years had been the most peaceful time of her young life. But then, as a federal agent, she’d been able to access Maya’s file. In Reggie’s official statement, she’d neglected to mention her second trip into the bedroom to raise the window. Maybe the oversight had been an honest mistake. In the shock and horror of her daughter’s disappearance, she could have easily forgotten the sequence of events. It was a small thing, really. Hardly worth thinking about in the scheme of things.
Yet Thea knew only too well that what went unspoken was often far more important than the information revealed in any interview or statement.
And that seemingly insignificant omission had started to niggle at her again.
“WHY ARE YOU staring at me?” Reggie demanded.
Her voice jolted Thea from her deep reverie and she physically started. “What? I’m sorry. I was lost in thought. I didn’t realize I was staring.”
Reggie gave her a quizzical look. “What were you thinking about so hard?”
Thea answered without hesitation. “The abduction. You were going to tell me how Taryn and Kylie Buchanan came to be living with you.”
Her mother turned her eyes back to the road. “Like I said, it’s a long story. I hardly know where to start.”
“How did you meet?” Thea prompted.
“They started attending my church a few weeks ago. We have a new preacher and a lot of folks have been coming to check him out. The kids adore him. I think even you would approve of Brother Eldon. He’s already done a lot for the community and he’s been a godsend to Taryn.”
That got Thea’s attention. “How so?”
“He’s counseled her all through the separation with her husband. Been there for her every step of the way. I don’t know if she could have handled the stress without him. He got her a job at the church so that she could keep Kylie with her all day, and he even helped her find a little apartment in town. She and Taryn were supposed to move in at the end of the week. Since the police are treating my house as a crime scene, the landlord let her stay there last night. Brother Eldon has barely left her side since Kylie went missing.”
“Are they romantically involved?” Thea asked bluntly.
The question seemed to rub Reggie the wrong way. “Now why would you ask a thing like that? Don’t turn a good deed into something dirty.”
Thea put up a hand. “Sorry. No need to get defensive. I’m not accusing or judging, just trying to get the full picture. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves anyway. Let’s go back. You met Taryn and Kylie at church...”
Reggie nodded. “They started coming on Wednesday nights, which I thought a little odd. We typically have a short service on that night followed by church business. We hardly ever have visitors. Nonmembers almost always come for Sunday morning service.”
“Why did she come on Wednesday nights?”
“She told me later her husband frequently stayed overnight in Tallahassee on Wednesday nights. Anyway, Taryn would sit at the very back, clutching little Kylie’s hand and glancing over her shoulder as if she were afraid someone would burst through the door and snatch the child away from her.” Reggie paused as reality sank in. “I could tell she needed a friend, so I made a point of speaking to her after every service.”
“What happened then?”
“She and Kylie came into the diner one day. She asked if we could talk. I took my break and we walked across the street to the park where we could speak in private. She was shy at first, and maybe a little embarrassed about her situation. Then everything just came pouring out of her. She told me that she’d only been nineteen when she and Russ Buchanan first got together. Her mother had died when she was a kid and her father had passed at the end of her senior year. She used the little dab of money left after his burial to move to Tallahassee where she could find steady work. Russ was older, handsome and charming, and already a successful lawyer. He saw her in the lobby of his office building one day and swept her off her feet. They were married two months later.”
“Let me guess,” Thea said. “Things didn’t work out as she’d hoped.”
“Same old story,” Reggie said with a heavy sigh. “Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth until he had her under his spell. She was exactly the type of vulnerable young woman men like him prey on. He moved her into a house he bought in Black Creek, away from everyone she knew in Tallahassee. He started asking her to dress a certain way, wear her hair a certain way, cook his meals and clean his house a certain way. Then he stopped asking.
“By the time Taryn realized the kind of man she’d married, she was pregnant and had nowhere else to go. Everything was in Russ’s name, of course. The house, the cars, the bank accounts. He gave her an allowance, but she had to justify every penny she spent. When he stayed overnight in Tallahassee, he’d check the mileage on her car when he got home. Things only got worse after the baby came. He threatened to take Kylie away from her if she ever tried to leave him.”
“Was he physically abusive?”
“I’m sure he was, though she claims he only grabbed her arm and pushed her around a bit.”
“Only?” Thea looked at her mother. “You think she downplayed the level of violence?”
Reggie’s expression tightened. “That’s my suspicion. She was clearly terrified of him. I told her things would only get worse if she stayed. She needed to go home, pack her bags and get Kylie out of that situation before something truly bad happened. I offered them a place to stay for as long as they needed it.”
“You weren’t afraid a man like that would try to retaliate against you?” Thea asked.
Her mother lifted a hand from the steering wheel. “What was he going to do to me that hadn’t already been done?”
Thea felt a little tremor go through her. “Go on.”
“A few nights later, Taryn and Kylie showed up on my doorstep with their suitcases,” Reggie said. “I put Kylie in your old room and Taryn slept on the couch. I don’t know how Russ found out where they were so quickly. Maybe he had someone watching her or maybe he planted some kind of tracker on her car. When I saw him pull up the next morning, I called the cops and then met him on the front porch. He pushed me aside and kicked open the door. He grabbed Taryn and tried to drag her outside with poor little Kylie screaming bloody murder in the corner. It was a horrible scene. Thank God a patrol car was nearby. I don’t know what would have happened if the cops hadn’t come when they had.”
“Did they take him into custody?”
“No. You know how that goes. A guy like Russ Buchanan has pull even in a place like Black Creek. One of his golfing buddies is a state senator. The cops finally managed to calm him down and got him to leave. Chief Bowden advised Taryn to take out a restraining order, but she was afraid that would only trigger his anger. Things quieted down for a bit. Russ didn’t give her any more trouble. He even called ahead the one time he wanted to see Kylie. Taryn was hopeful for a peaceful divorce. And then Kylie went missing. Now Russ blames her for everything.”
“Of course he does. Tell me everything you can remember about the day Kylie disappeared.”
Reggie nodded. “I had to work. Normally, I have Sundays off, but one of the other girls called in sick and I agreed to take her shift. By the time I got home that evening, I was bone-tired. Taryn was getting ready to go to the evening service and I told her Kylie could stay home with me. Both of them had been through so much, I thought Taryn might enjoy some time to herself. But she said Brother Eldon had a surprise for Kylie that night.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“He and some of the other members of the congregation had erected new playground equipment behind the church and he promised Kylie she could be the first one down the slide. After they left, I took a bath and went straight to bed. I was so tired, I didn’t even hear them come home. The next thing I knew, Taryn was standing over my bed screaming that Kylie was gone. I got up and ran into the bedroom. When I saw the open window—” She stopped short and drew a sharp breath. “I knew what had happened. I knew it was just like before.”
Thea’s pulse thudded as her mind went back to that night. “Was the window open when Taryn put Kylie to bed?”
“That window is kept closed and locked at all times.”
“Are you certain Taryn didn’t go in sometime later and open it to let in some fresh air?” Thea turned to stare at her mother as she waited for her response.
“There’s no reason why she would have. I had central AC installed in the house years ago. The bedrooms stay plenty cool.”
“Had the lock been jimmied?” Thea asked.
“The police said there was no sign of a forced entry anywhere in the house.”
“Who has a key besides you?”
“No one. Taryn has been using the spare I keep in a flowerpot on my front porch.”
“Would she put it back after each use?”
Reggie glanced at her. “The police checked. It was still there on Monday morning. Why?”
“If someone was watching your house, they would have seen her take the key out of the flowerpot and return it. They could have waited until you were both out of the house, let themselves in and unlocked the bedroom window.”
Reggie returned her attention to the road. “Someone like Russ Buchanan, you mean.”
“Considering his previous threats and behavior, I’m sure the police are giving him a hard look.”
Her mother scoffed at the suggestion. “For all the good it will do. I told you he has pull. If he took Kylie, they’ll never be able to pin it on him.”
“What makes you so sure?”
A bitter edge crept into Reggie’s voice. “Because bad men do bad things and get away with it all the time.”
“Not all the time,” Thea said. “The prisons are full of bad men who did bad things and got caught.”
“Not men like Russ Buchanan.”
They both fell silent after that. Thea shifted her attention to the outside mirror where she could watch the road behind them. A black pickup had been following them ever since they’d exited the freeway. She hadn’t given much thought to it earlier, but now she realized that the vehicle had been maintaining the same distance between them.
“Check out the vehicle behind us,” she said.
Reggie glanced in the rearview mirror. “The black pickup? What about it?”
“I’m wondering if it’s the same vehicle that cut you off at the airport.”
Reggie took another perusal. “I doubt it. Trucks are a dime a dozen in this part of the state. Be a pretty big coincidence if that truck was headed in our direction.”
Thea kept her gaze on the mirror. “Normally, I would agree, but the driver has been keeping pace with us for several miles. Just seems odd to me.”
“Why? We’re both doing the speed limit.”
“Give it a little gas,” Thea said. “I want to see if he falls behind.”
“Are you going to pay my speeding ticket?” Reggie demanded.
“I said a little gas. No need to floor it.”
Reggie mumbled something under her breath as she pressed down on the pedal.
After a moment, the truck faded.
“See there? Nothing to worry about. Your job is making you paranoid.”
“I prefer to think of it as cautious.” Thea turned to glance over her shoulder. “Do you happen to know if Russ Buchanan owns a black truck?”
“He’s not the pickup truck type. He drove a silver Mercedes when he came to the house.” She flashed Thea an uneasy glance. “What are you getting at? You think Russ is having us tailed? Why would he do that?”
“Could be an intimidation thing. You took in his wife and child. It’s possible he blames you for Taryn leaving him.” Or maybe Russ Buchanan had heard the rumors about Reggie and suspected her of harming his daughter.
No sooner had the thought occurred to Thea than the vehicle appeared once more in the outside mirror. It was coming up fast behind them.
“Reggie—”
“I see him. What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing. Maintain your current speed. If he tries to pass, let him.”
Reggie frowned. “What if he tries to ram us?”
“That would be pretty brazen in broad daylight.”
“Brazen or not, he’s coming up behind us hell-bent for leather.” Reggie gripped the wheel as she flicked another glance in the rearview mirror.
Thea turned to track the pickup through the back window. The vehicle was close enough now she could see that the grille and front bumper were splattered with mud, partially concealing the license plate number. She hadn’t noticed any mud on the truck at the airport, but then, she’d been distracted by the awkward reunion with her mother. Still, an obscured license plate would have surely caught her attention.
“I keep a .38 in the glove box,” Reggie said.
Thea turned at that. “I hope you’re not suggesting I open fire.”
Her mother met her gaze. “I’m just saying, it’s there if we need it.”
Thea leaned back against the seat and checked the vehicle in the outside mirror. The driver continued to gain ground. Reggie reflexively sped up.
“Don’t try to outrun him,” Thea warned. “Let him go around.”
The driver edged up as close to Reggie’s bumper as he dared without making contact. Then he whipped the truck into the left lane and drew up beside her. For a moment, they were dead even on the two-lane highway. Thea tried to get a look at the driver, but he wore a cap and sunglasses and kept his head turned so that she could make out little more than his silhouette.
“Ease up on the gas,” she told Reggie.
Before the pickup could pass, another vehicle came barreling around a curve in front of them. Reggie hit the brakes to allow the truck room to merge into the right lane, but the driver swerved too early, sideswiping Reggie’s car and sending them careening onto the shoulder. The rear end fishtailed as the tires whirled in loose gravel.
Reggie fought to maneuver the car back onto pavement, but the momentum of the spin plunged them down the embankment toward a line of trees. Everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. Thea caught a glimpse of her mother’s tense face a split second before they hit a rock and the car went airborne. She tried to brace herself, leaning deep into the seat and folding her arms over her chest. She would later remember a strange feeling of weightlessness. Then the car bounced off the ground and rolled.
When the world finally stopped spinning, she was still buckled into her seat in the upside-down vehicle.
Dazed, she sat quietly for a moment, trying to recalibrate her nervous system as the airbags deflated. Then she ran her hands over her head to check for blood and broken glass. You’re okay. You’re okay.
She glanced at Reggie and her heart almost stopped. Her mother was slumped sideways, motionless. Thea touched her shoulder. “Reggie? You okay?”
No answer.
Don’t panic.
As if in slow motion, Thea reached over and shut off the engine while simultaneously searching for the cross-body bag containing her phone. Bracing one hand on the ceiling and her feet against the floor, she snapped off her seat belt and crawled through the open window. By the time she managed to stagger to her feet, a man was running down the embankment toward her. She checked the side of the road and saw a dark blue SUV. The black pickup was nowhere in sight.
“Hey!” he called out. “Everybody okay?”
Thea fumbled in her bag for her phone. “My mother’s unconscious inside the vehicle.”
“I called 9-1-1 as soon as I saw the collision. An ambulance is on the way,” he said.
Thea hurried around the car and dropped to the ground beside the window, keeping the newcomer in her line of sight while trying to take stock of Reggie’s injuries. She had a deep cut on her upper arm that bled profusely. Thea reached for her mother’s wrist to check for a pulse.
“I work for the fire department,” the man told her as he hunkered down beside her and glanced through the window. “We shouldn’t try to move her until the EMTs get here. Spinal chord injuries are always a danger in this type of accident.”
“Her pulse is thready,” Thea said. “Her skin feels clammy.”
“She may be in shock from blood loss.” The man whipped off his shirt and pressed the folded fabric to Reggie’s arm. “Can you keep up the pressure? I’ve got a first aid kit and a blanket in my truck.”
Thea nodded and took over. She glanced up as the man stood. “What happened to the vehicle that hit us?”
“Kept going and never looked back.” He gazed down at her. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, but please hurry.”
After he left, Thea adjusted her position so she had better access through the window. She talked to her mother as she applied pressure to the wound. “You’re going to be fine. Help is on the way.”
Blood soaked through the stranger’s shirt onto Thea’s hands. “The ambulance will be here any minute now. Just stay with me, okay?”
She tried to bite back her panic, but Reggie was so pale, and her lips were turning blue. Oh, please don’t die. Please, please, please don’t die. “You hear me, Mama? Don’t you die on me.”