Mason finally got Daniel on the phone. Just as Daniel answered, he heard the call-waiting signal. Lacey. She would have to wait. To Daniel, he said, “We need to talk, Ackerman.” It was all he could do to keep the fury out of his voice. This man had lied to him all these years, terrorized Lacey and kidnapped Bethany.
“Sorry, I was working an accident out on the highway, then just now finished questioning a suspect in Bethany’s kidnapping. Billy Rose admitted that someone paid him to watch for her and inject her.”
Was this guy for real?
“Did he happen to say who that someone was?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Of course not.”
“Look—” Daniel cleared his throat “—we need to talk. Where are you?”
“About ten minutes away from the station. Catelyn’s with me.”
“Meet me in the parking lot at the corner of Henry and Pine.”
“I’m on the way and you’d better be there.”
Mason hung up and looked at Catelyn. He said, “I’m confused. Your partner is not acting like a guilty man.”
“He wants to meet?”
“Yeah, he said we needed to talk.”
“What if it’s a trap? Should I call for backup?”
Mason nodded. “It sure wouldn’t hurt. But tell them to stay out of sight unless we need them.”
A few minutes later, Mason pulled into the parking lot specified by Daniel and saw the man’s unmarked car parked in the corner. Rolling to a stop beside him, Mason rolled down his window. “Where’s Bethany?”
Confusion and a small flicker of fear crossed Daniel’s face. “I don’t know, but I’m afraid I might know who does.”
Mason tensed and Catelyn shifted beside him. “What do you mean, Daniel?”
“I, uh, found some evidence that points to—” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath “—Janice.”
“What?” Catelyn exclaimed. “Why would you say that?”
“Does this have anything to do with the scarf you found?”
A flush covered the man’s cheeks. “How did you know about that?”
“Lacey saw you put it in a bag. She wanted to check out the evidence for some reason and it wasn’t listed on the evidence log.”
A muscle jumped in his cheek. “I know. I was wrong. I should have logged it, but it caught me completely by surprise. I honestly convinced myself that it was a fluke.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Billy’s testimony.”
“Which was?”
“He said a woman paid him five hundred dollars to inject that fluid into a girl.” He paused and cleared his throat. “He also said the woman drove off in a white Buick.”
“Let me guess, Janice drives a white Buick.”
Misery on his face, Daniel nodded. “Sometimes. It’s her father’s car. For some reason she likes to drive it and will go trade her car out for it.”
She likes to drive it so no one can connect her to anything she’s doing, Mason thought. He looked at Catelyn, “Excuse me for a minute.”
He motioned Daniel to talk in private. With a resigned look, he followed Daniel to the other side of the car so they could talk without being overheard.
Mason got right to it. “Just tell me. You lied to me about Lacey, didn’t you?”
Shame flashed across Daniel’s face and then his jaw hardened. “Yeah. I did.”
The words punched the breath from his lungs. “Why?” he finally managed.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed and something close to hate entered them. “Because it was always so easy for you. Everything you touched turned to gold. I was sick of it.”
“So you wrecked three people’s lives as a result?”
The man shook his head. “I can’t explain it, Mason. I’m not proud of it, but I did it.”
Before he could come back with a response, Mason’s cell buzzed, indicating he’d missed a call. He looked at the number. Lacey.
Dialing his voice mail, he indicated to Catelyn he needed to listen. She nodded.
Lacey’s voice came on the line. “I think I know who helped Bethany. That scarf is Janice’s. I think Daniel was in the closet that night because her perfume is so strong, it was on his clothes. That’s why it lingered. I’m going to see if I can find Janice. I have my cell phone.”
Mason felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. Lacey was walking into the hands of a possible killer.
* * *
Lacey gaped at the woman standing before her. Janice looked—ruffled. Her hair stood on end and sweat dripped from her chin.
“Janice! Are you all right?”
Janice pulled a tissue from her pocket and swiped at her forehead, smearing the makeup and leaving a white streak behind. She tossed it into the trashcan beside the door. “No, not really.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything.” Frustrated tears appeared in Janice’s eyes and Lacey’s heart went out to her. But first things first.
“Is Bethany here with you?”
Janice blinked in confusion. “Bethany? No.”
Lacey groaned. “Then you weren’t the woman who helped her?”
She broke off as Janice turned mid-question to head to the back of the store. “I need to clean that up,” she muttered.
“Janice…”
“Sorry, can you help me? It’s in the back room.”
“What is?”
“What I need help with.”
The sudden calm in Janice’s voice disturbed Lacey. When Lacey turned to look at her, the woman slipped around her and disappeared into the back.
The hair on the back of Lacey’s neck stood at attention. Something didn’t feel right.
But she had to warn Janice about Daniel. And ask Janice about Bethany again.
As she stepped through the door to follow Janice, the darkness hit her. “Janice, do you have some light back here?”
“Yes, sorry,” Janice called. “I’m looking for the switch.”
But then Lacey saw a sliver of light just ahead and made a beeline for it. She blamed her jumpiness on the darkness.
And then her phone vibrated.
She snatched it from her purse and looked at the caller ID.
Mason. She owed it to him to answer and let him know she’d found Bethany.
She pressed the button to answer the call when she felt something press into the middle of her back. “What…?”
“Just stay right there,” a voice hissed into her ear.
She froze. “Janice? What are you doing?”
“What needed to be done years ago.”
Was that a gun the woman had jammed into her spine? Chills shivered over her and she felt a wave of sickness claim her.
Shaking it off, she stood still. “Janice?”
“Shut up and move straight ahead.”
Swallowing, Lacey placed the phone into her purse praying Mason was on the other end.
* * *
Terror invaded Mason as he listened to the menace in Janice’s voice. She wasn’t playing around. He motioned for Catelyn to be quiet as she drove, not wanting to miss one detail as to what was going on with Lacey and Janice. Where were they?
Come on, honey, give me a clue.
Twisting, he looked at Daniel in the backseat and whispered, “Where would Janice be this time of day?”
Daniel threw his hands up and shrugged. “I don’t know. The hospital maybe.” He grimaced. “No, that’s on Friday. The clothes closet at the church? Um…no! Try the store.”
Mason glared at the man. “Give her directions.”
While Daniel leaned forward to whisper in Catelyn’s left ear, Mason listened.
“Why are you doing this?” Lacey’s fear came through loud and clear in her shaky voice. Mason wanted to reach through the phone line and wrap his hands around Janice’s neck.
But he couldn’t. All he could do was pray.
* * *
Lacey walked into the lighted area and her gaze landed on a thin figure stretched out on a flimsy cot in the corner of the room.
“Bethany!” With a small cry, Lacey launched herself at her child.
Bethany lay on a cot, hands bound behind her, duct tape covering her mouth. Her eyes opened and closed as though trying to wake up.
“Bethany,” Lacey whispered.
At her name, Bethany’s eyes flickered again.
Lacey placed her palms on her daughter’s cheeks and felt her warmth, her life. Thank you, Jesus. She ripped the tape from Bethany’s mouth and the girl gasped, opened her eyes. “Mom,” she whispered.
“Okay, enough of that,” Janice ordered. “Move over there and sit down.”
“No, I’m not leaving her.” Lacey took in every detail of her precious child. She was dressed in the clothes that Lacey had discovered missing from Bethany’s closet. Reddish-blond hair that looked more brown than it ever had lay in a hunk over one shoulder. Her foggy blue eyes wouldn’t focus and her light dusting of freckles stood out in 3-D against pale white cheeks. “What did you give her?”
“A fast-acting narcotic. Nothing she won’t recover from. Although—” Janice’s eyes narrowed “—she’ll only recover long enough for you to watch her die.”
Terror slid through Lacey once more as she stared at the woman who used to be her best friend. “Why, Janice? What did I do to you to make you hate me? Hate my child? To want us dead?”
“Why?” Janice screamed at her. “What did you do? Everything! It’s all your fault! All of it!” Lacey watched Janice gather herself with an effort. The woman pulled in a deep breath and waved the gun at Bethany. “You don’t deserve her. You should never have been allowed to have her and watch her grow up.” Evil stared back at Lacey and she shivered at the cold emptiness that had seemed to have invaded Janice’s soul.
Lacey held up a hand, beseeching her, “I don’t understand. We were friends. Best friends. We did everything together. And now you hate me? It doesn’t make sense.”
In slow, measured words, Janice spat, “Because Daniel always loved you. It was always about you.”
“What? That’s not true. He married you!”
“But he never loved me! Not like he loved you! Even after we were married, he would get this faraway look on his face and I’d ask him what he was thinking about and he’d shrug and say ‘Old times.’” She snarled, “Well, we all know who was in those old times, don’t we?”
“Janice, I can’t…I don’t…” What could she say? What should she say to convince Janice to let them go? “I was gone! I wasn’t here. How can you hold me responsible for that?”
It didn’t seem possible, but Janice’s eyes grew harder and the gun jabbed at Lacey. “Because you killed my baby.”
Bethany whimpered and shrank back against the wall, but didn’t say a word.
Shock made her Lacey gasp. “What? How is that possible? You said you lost the baby when you fell down the steps.” Was the woman completely insane?
Looking into those eyes, Lacey had a feeling she had her answer. And it terrified her.
“You want to know why I lost the baby? Do you?” Janice hissed as she waved the gun in a wild gesture. “Because you exist!”
Bethany’s eyes, looking a lot less foggy now that some of the medication was wearing off, shot back and forth between her kidnapper and her mother.
Janice screamed again. “And then you had the nerve to come back!”
With a sinking heart, Lacey realized she wasn’t going to be able to reason with the woman, and focused on trying to figure out how to disarm her.
But Janice said, “I found him looking at your pictures. The ones in the yearbook.”
Confused, Lacey just kept her mouth shut.
“Oh, yes,” Janice continued. “I found him. Six years ago, sitting on the sofa around Christmastime. He was looking at the yearbook. I asked him what he was doing and he just shrugged and snapped the book shut. I sat down next to him for a trip down memory lane, but—” she wagged a finger “—memory lane didn’t have anything to do with me. It was all about you!” The finger jabbed in Lacey’s direction and spittle flew from her mouth.
Lacey felt compassion mix with her fear.
Janice paced the floor, the pain on her face horrible to see. “I was so mad, hurt. Here I was, finally pregnant with his child and he was looking at pictures of you.”
“Oh, Janice, I’m so sorry.”
“You should be!” The gun waved wildly and Lacey cringed.
“But I wasn’t there,” she stated softly. “I didn’t have anything to do with that. I didn’t have any control over that.”
“You weren’t there?” Janice gave a laugh filled with disbelief. “Oh you were there, all right. You were everywhere. In the church, in the grocery store, in my own house!” She mocked, “Those are pretty flowers. I think they were Lacey’s favorite.”
Oh, Daniel, what did you do? Lord, please…
“I was never interested in Daniel, Janice. You know that! How many times did I say how much I wished he’d just leave me alone?”
“That’s what you said.” Janice sneered. “But you never did anything to discourage him. You just kept letting him hang around you. And you loved it. All the attention you were getting from two of the best-looking guys in school. Don’t deny you ate it up.”
“I did not!” Lacey protested, but for a brief moment, a little piece of her mind questioned whether or not Janice was right. She sputtered, “But he was Mason’s best friend and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”
Skepticism twisted Janice’s features. “Right.” She stepped closer and shoved the gun at Bethany who flinched and gave a cry. Lacey held up a hand in supplication. “Don’t! She’s never done anything to you.”
“No, she didn’t,” Janice said, her suddenly calm tone sending darts of terror through Lacey. “She didn’t, but her mother did. Because of you, I ran out of the house seven months pregnant, intending to get in the car and go to a motel. But do you know what happened? Do you?”
Lacey refused to cringe. She had a pretty good idea of what Janice was getting ready to say and wanted to tell her to stop. She didn’t want to hear it.
But she couldn’t. Janice had to say it. And if she stopped talking, she might start shooting. “What?” Lacey whispered.
“I fell. I slipped on the stupid ice my husband didn’t scrape off the steps and I nearly bled to death at the bottom of my front porch.” Janice ended the sentence on a whisper. She raised the gun and pointed it at Bethany’s head. “And it’s all your fault. You, who had a perfect little girl after killing mine.”
“No, Janice, don’t do this, please.”