Day three, 5:30 a.m.: Ashley missing fifty-nine hours
J.T. paused at the entrance into Colin’s living room and peered back at Madison on her cell. She stiffened, her mouth curved into a frown.
“Where was it found?”
Her question to the person on her phone alerted J.T. He swung around and waited.
“We’ll be there right away. I’m sure J.T. knows where it is.” Madison snapped her cell closed.
“What was found?” He stepped toward her, not wanting anyone to hear if it was bad news.
“The speedboat.” She lowered her voice. “And a burned body.”
All energy siphoned from his legs. He clutched the edge of a table nearby. “Burned? Ashley?”
“No!” Madison moved close. “It was an adult.”
His eyelids slid shut while he dragged in a deep breath.
“The boat was on fire when it was spotted. Paul managed to put it out, but it was scorched pretty badly. Another five or ten minutes and there would have been little left. The body was in the boat.”
Tension zipped through him. “Let’s go.”
Madison stayed put. “You need to tell your kids something.”
He glanced toward the kitchen. “What? How much?” He rolled his shoulders to ease the ache in his muscles. “You’re right. Thank goodness you’re here to keep me focused.” All he had thought about was discovering whose boat it was and who the body in it was. A lead. They had so few real ones. But his children needed reassurances, more now than ever.
J.T. headed for the kitchen, Madison right behind him. Inside he found Neil and Kim sitting at the large table with Grace between them. Colin and his twin girls were across from Grace. Emma placed a platter of scrambled eggs and thick ham slices in the center, then took her chair.
Two empty seats beckoned. The aromas—coffee, ham, biscuits—teased him. His stomach churned with hunger, but he couldn’t afford to eat. Not if this new development led to finding Ashley.
J.T. forced a half smile to his face. “That looks tempting, but Madison and I have to leave. She received a call. The speedboat that we thought we saw coming to pick up the ransom was found. Burned. How bad, I don’t know.”
Neil leaped to his feet. “Where? Can I come?”
J.T. shook his head.
“At Eagle’s Cove,” Madison said behind him.
“We need to process the scene. The fewer people involved the better it is. I’ll let you know something when I know it.”
“I take it the ransom wasn’t picked up.” Emma stood and walked to the counter.
“No, it wasn’t. All that happened was this speedboat approached. The man driving must have seen something that spooked him and he made a U-turn.” Madison came to J.T.’s side.
“Here, take these.” Emma brought two steaming mugs of coffee to J.T. and Madison.
J.T. took a sip. “I’ll call when I have news.” He walked to the table and kissed Kim on the top of her head. “Things may be looking up, honey. Eat my share of breakfast.”
“Can’t you stay and have some before you go to Eagle’s Cove?” Grace picked up the platter and spooned some eggs onto her plate. “The boat isn’t going anywhere now that you have it.”
Always in the back of his mind he felt the clock ticking down. The longer Ashley was gone, the harder it would be to find her. A memory of kissing Ashley good-night the evening before she’d vanished sprang into his thoughts, producing a constriction in his chest. He began to walk toward the exit. “Not now. Thanks.”
“J. T. Logan, you need to take care of yourself. You need to eat.” Grace’s hands rested on her waist.
“I’ll grab something later. Promise.” He hurried from the room before they convinced him to take the time to sit down and eat something. How could he when Ashley might be out there somewhere—hungry, thirsty, alone?
Madison caught up with him on the porch. She handed him two slices of ham sandwiched between two sections of a large biscuit. “Here. We can eat this and walk at the same time.”
He bit into the buttered biscuit. “Hmm. Grace makes the best ones in town.” He descended the steps and started for the sheriff’s office.
When he approached his Jeep outside the office, he slipped behind the steering wheel. “Eagle’s Cove is a secluded spot on the other side of the lake. It’s about twenty minutes away from here.”
“Do you think the person burned in the boat is the kidnapper?”
“I doubt it. If so, who set fire to the boat? Mostly likely the kidnapper, covering his tracks.”
“What if he set the fire and fell before he could get away?”
“I suppose that is possible, but not likely.”
Day three, 6:30 a.m.: Ashley missing sixty hours
The stench of the charred remains of the boat and body filled the cove. As J.T. descended the hill to the shore, he spied the body, burned beyond recognition, propped up in the driver’s seat as though he’d steered the hull up onto the beach. The reeking odor of scorched flesh overpowered every other smell. His stomach gurgled its protest. Bile rose into his throat.
“What do we have?” J.T. stepped to one side of the craft to inspect the crime scene.
“One of our patrol boats saw the fire and investigated. Paul used an extinguisher to try and put the fire out.” Matthew Hendricks gestured toward what little was left. “As you can see, they didn’t reach the scene in time. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get much. I guess we’re lucky to have this. If Paul hadn’t seen the smoke, there would be little left to process.”
Madison leaned toward the victim and examined the hands. “Doesn’t look like we’ll be able to get any fingerprints.”
“Maybe dental records will help us identify him.” The lead agent removed his FBI ball cap and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “The medical examiner should be here shortly.”
“Do we know whose boat this is?” Madison circled it, being careful not to disturb any evidence. She squatted and studied it. “J.T., do you know anyone with a boat that has a name that starts with F-a.”
He came around to where she was. The back was black with most of it burned, except for the partial letters that looked like an F and an A.
She slanted a glance toward him. “Any boats reported missing?”
“You know now that I think about it my neighbor, Ross Morgan, has a speedboat about this size and the name of his is Fanfare.” J.T. flipped open his cell and punched in a number. This could be the lead they were looking for, the kidnapper’s first mistake. “Derek, has anyone reported a boat missing?”
“The Lakeshore Marina called about a half hour ago, when the man who owns the marina came to work. Ross Morgan’s boat has been stolen. I was gonna head out there when Susan came in to answer the phones.”
“Anyone spoken to Ross?”
“No one answered at his house.”
J.T. straightened and moved toward the body in the driver’s seat. He tried not to breathe too deeply as he bent over the remains to see if he could tell if it was his neighbor. “I’ll handle the theft.”
He closed his phone and continued his inspection. The body was about the same height as Ross, but that was about all he could tell. He stepped back, the thought making his stomach roil.
“Does this belong to Ross Morgan?”
He looked at Madison. “I believe so. It was reported stolen about a half hour ago.”
“Is this him?” Madison pointed toward the body.
“I don’t know, but my neighbor isn’t home and usually he is at this time of day.”
“Let’s check it out while the crime scene is being processed.”
“We’re on the same page. We can stop by the marina first and see if anyone saw anything. Then we need to pay Ross a visit even if I have to go all the way to Central City to his work.”
Day three, 7:30 a.m.: Ashley missing sixty-one hours
We’re on the same page. Madison couldn’t get those words out of her head as J.T. pulled up in front of Ross Morgan’s house, just two doors down from J.T.’s. The same place where the barking dog had been poisoned two days before. Coincidence? She didn’t trust coincidences.
“Let’s hope this gives us more information than the marina.” J.T. climbed from his Jeep and pocketed his keys. “No wonder the boat was stolen. There’s no security to speak of.” Madison walked beside him up to the Morgans’ house.
J.T. grinned. “Fred watches the place at night until the owner shows up in the morning.”
“And Fred promptly falls asleep.”
“In his defense, we don’t have much crime—that is—” J.T. massaged the back of his neck. “Forget I said that. Crime has hit this little town big-time.”
J.T. rang the doorbell and waited for a good minute before trying it again, pressing his finger on it for ten seconds. He frowned, his eyebrows knitting together.
“Didn’t Derek say earlier he couldn’t get anyone on the phone? Obviously Ross and Jill have gone to work.”
J.T. shot her a skeptical look. “Before seven in the morning? That’s a bit early for them to go to work. What if something happened to them?”
While he opened the screen door and pounded on the wooden one, she peered into the large, living room window. “Everything looks like it’s in place. No signs of a struggle or anything. Maybe we should check out the garage. See if a car is in there.”
After another minute J.T. backed away, letting the screen slam closed. A perplexed expression narrowed his gaze, glued to the entrance. “How do you feel about taking a ride to—”
The door swung open. Ross stood there, his hair messy, his eyes sleepy. He was barefoot in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. “J.T.? What are you doing here? What time is it? Six?”
“Seven-thirty, and we’ve been trying to get you for over an hour. Derek Nelson called you several times. You’ve been here the whole time?”
Ross nodded slowly, pushing his fingers through his unruly hair. “Yes, I’ve been here all night. I guess I didn’t hear the phone.” He rubbed his forehead, then his eyes. “I never sleep hard. I don’t understand why I didn’t hear the phone ringing.”
The last sentence was almost spoken as though she and J.T. weren’t on his front porch. Ross pivoted and left the foyer. J.T. entered, watching the man retreat into his living room. Madison came up beside J.T.
“What’s going on?”
J.T. leaned in so he could see into the room. “He’s checking his phone messages.”
A minute later Ross returned. “I thought maybe Jill might have called.”
“She isn’t here with you?” J.T. scanned the hallway that led to the back of the house.
“No.” The man’s face reddened, and he lowered his gaze.
“Where is she?”
“She’s visiting—her mother.” Ross reestablished eye contact. “There was an emergency and she had to go see her mother for a few days. I was just checking to make sure she made it all right. It’s about ten hours by car so she must still be driving. She had to leave in the middle of the night.”
As the man rambled on, giving them more information than they needed, Madison could tell he was lying. He had crossed his arms and his gaze kept sliding away. She would definitely be checking into Ross Morgan, in depth.
“Why was Deputy Nelson trying to call me?” Ross finally asked, uncrossing his arms and letting them fall limply to his sides.
“Your speedboat was stolen last night. We found it this morning on fire with someone still sitting in the driver’s seat, charred beyond recognition.”
Ross’s jaw dropped. “My boat! There was a burned body in it?”
“Yes. What remains of it is beached at Eagle’s Cove.”
“Why would anyone want my boat? There were a lot nicer ones at the marina. How in the world did it catch on fire? Who is the dead man?”
“Good questions. If one of the patrols hadn’t seen the smoke, the boat would have been burned so badly, that we wouldn’t have known it was yours.” Madison walked a few paces toward the living room, her gaze sweeping the room for any sign of something not quite right.
“We don’t know who the man is. The boat was involved in the ransom drop for Ashley.” The tight edge to J.T.’s voice conveyed the fragile control he had on himself.
Madison peered over her shoulder at him, seeing his mouth pinched into a tight line. She wanted to lessen his pain.
The color drained from Ross’s face. “J.T., I’m so sorry. I didn’t even know there had been a ransom demand. What happened?”
“It was botched.”
Ross’s shoulders sagged. He swiped his hand across his forehead. “I can’t believe the kidnapper used my boat.” He paused, tilted his head. “So the dead body is the kidnapper?”
“I don’t think so, but if it is, we still don’t know where Ashley is.”
Suppressed emotions laced J.T.’s voice. Madison wound her way back to J.T.’s side. She wanted to take his hand and hold it for moral support, but she didn’t. Frustration gripped her. It was becoming more difficult to keep a professional distance.
Ross straightened. “If I can help in any way, please let me know.” He strode toward the front door and grasped its handle, ushering them toward it.
Time to leave. Something wasn’t right here. J.T.’s neighbor was hiding something. What? And was it connected to Ashley’s kidnapping?
J.T. and Madison thanked Ross for his time and left.
J.T. stopped halfway down the sidewalk and surveyed the neighborhood. “He’s lying.”
“I think so, too. I’ll start checking him out when we get back to the station.”
An elderly lady in a flowery dress came out of the house next to the Morgans’ and shuffled down the driveway to get her newspaper. J.T.’s grim expression melted some as his gaze lit upon the woman. She saw him and waved.
He made a beeline for her. “Marge knows everything that goes on around here.” He nodded toward Marge. “How are you doing?”
“My hip is giving me some problems, but that’s for another day. The more important question is, how are you doing?”
“Not good until I get my little girl back.”
“I’m praying every day and night for her return.”
“As the whole church is, and I appreciate those prayers.” J.T. turned toward Madison. “Have you met FBI agent Madison Spencer?”
Madison smiled at the older woman. “I interviewed you the other day. You were most helpful. She told me about a car that she had seen on the street the day before, parked a few doors down from your house.”
J.T. tensed and started to say something.
“But it turned out,” Madison hurried on, “to be a teenager named Kyle waiting for his girlfriend to get home.”
“Kyle and Neil are friends. His mother and his older brother clean the station.” J.T.’s anxiety seeped from him. “Marge, can you think of anything else strange that has occurred in the past few days? Sometimes small things turn out to be big leads.”
The older lady scrunched up her mouth and tapped her finger against her chin. “I see you were coming from Ross and Jill’s. You know, she left him early yesterday evening.”
“She did?” J.T. shifted his attention back to the Morgans’ house, his gaze narrowed.
“They had a big fight. I was out in my backyard watering my roses when I heard them shouting. I think she poisoned their dog.” Marge leaned close to J.T. “You know she hated that dog. Once she told Ross all his pet was good for was yelping and driving her crazy.”
J.T. picked up Marge’s newspaper and handed it to her. “If you think of anything else, please let me know.”
“I’ll think on it. I want Ashley back.”
He touched her arm. “Me, too.”
After the older woman went back into her house, Madison walked with J.T. to his Jeep. She opened the passenger door and climbed in. “Why did Ross lie about when Jill left? Do you think she is capable of poisoning their dog?”
When J.T. situated himself behind the wheel, he twisted toward her. “I don’t have an answer to those questions, but then the Morgans have only lived here for a year. Jill never seemed the type to poison a dog. She was always nice to my kids.” J.T.’s mouth tightened in a scowl.
“Did she go out of her way to be friendly?”
J.T. gripped the steering wheel. “I don’t think so, but truthfully I never thought about it. People in Crystal Springs are friendly. I never questioned the motives behind that friendliness.”
“I know you think it’s someone from your past, but we can’t rule out other possibilities.”
“Like it might be someone from Crystal Springs?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to ignore anything. The Morgans are definitely worth checking out and keeping an eye on. Ross is hiding something.”
“Some people are very good at erecting a false facade. With that in mind, I would like to start looking into people who moved to Crystal Springs in the past year, especially people connected to you in any way.”
“For the record I still think it’s someone from my past in Chicago.” J.T. turned the key and the engine roared to life. “But you’re right. Everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise.” He pulled away from the curb and glanced toward her. “But I feel instead of ruling people out, we are just adding more and more to the list of suspects.”
“I’ll do it quietly and utilize Paul so no one in your office will know.”
“That’s probably best. I have to live with these people when you leave.”
Day four, 7:30 p.m.: Ashley missing seventy-three hours
At an evening prayer service for Ashley, Madison sat sandwiched between Emma and J.T. Kim and Neil were on his other side. Madison peered around her—not one seat was empty. People even stood in the back and along the side aisles.
Colin rose to offer one last prayer. Madison bowed her head, her gaze gliding down the row. The haggard lines in J.T.’s face had deepened over the course of each day. She wanted to take him into her arms and hold him until his daughter was found alive.
The main reason J.T. had stopped long enough to come to the prayer vigil for Ashley was because Kim had asked. She wasn’t doing well, either. Her eyes held a bruised expression and even her hair was unkempt. Kim’s growing silence worried Madison.
“Lord, we ask You to bring Ashley home and to protect her. Please keep her safe and in Your hands. Be with J.T. and his family in their time of need. Touch them with Your bountiful love and mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.”
Madison had always liked how Colin communicated with God: simple and to the point. The power of hundreds of prayers gave her an added boost of energy. She had only begun her search into the background of the people who had recently moved to the town. So far she had discovered Jill Morgan had indeed left her husband the day before in the late afternoon, not evening and the vet had been suspicious the last time their dog had been brought in for an injury. But if Jill had poisoned her dog, then why did she report it to the police unless she did it to keep Ross from finding out the truth? And why had Ross lied about when Jill had left? What else had they been lying about? So many questions and not nearly enough answers.
Madison rose as J.T. did. He’d waited until most of the people had filed out of the church.
“Daddy, do you think the prayers helped?”
That was the first full sentence Kim had spoken since J.T. and she had picked up the children to come to the prayer vigil.
J.T. wound his arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “Definitely. That’s one thing you can do to help your sister.”
“Then I’ll keep them up. I just didn’t know if they were helping.”
“Always. We have to practice patience. God works in His time, not ours.” He hugged her against his side.
“Are we going home tonight?” Neil sidestepped toward the center aisle.
Kim followed her brother from the pew. “Yeah, can we?”
“Yes.”
“Now?” An eager gleam pushed the dull flatness from Kim’s eyes for a few seconds.
“I’ve got some things to wrap up down at the station, then we can go home.”
Neil saw a friend and headed toward him while Kim continued to cling to J.T. Short of prying her loose, he wasn’t going to get away easily.
At the back of the sanctuary he stopped in front of Colin. “Thank you for putting this together. I should be by to pick Neil and Kim up in a couple of hours.”
“We’ll take care of them until you can. Don’t worry.”
Madison hung back while J.T. talked with Colin. She studied the people left in the church. Living most of her life in a big city, she missed the feeling of family in a small town. No wonder J.T. had come home to Crystal Springs. She hoped no one from here was involved in the kidnapping. She didn’t like the fact that Ross Morgan had a sealed juvenile record. What was the man hiding? Even though he wasn’t really from Crystal Springs, he was J.T.’s neighbor.
“Ready to leave?” J.T. approached her.
She glimpsed Emma taking Neil and Kim into the foyer. “Go with your children. I can take care of the few loose ends. If anything breaks, I’ll call.”
“We should be getting the medical examiner’s report soon on the body in the boat. I want to be there for that.”
She stopped him moving toward the double wooden doors. “You need some sleep.”
He peered back at her, his gaze slipping to her hand on his arm. “And you don’t?”
“Yes, and I plan to get some or I won’t be able to put two words together to form a coherent sentence.”
“I’ll only stay a few hours. Besides, who would take you to the station?”
She grinned, releasing her hold on him. “You, on your way to pick up your kids at the Fitzpatricks’. I can call you about the medical examiner’s report.”
He turned toward her. “I want to know who that man was.”
“We may never know who he was.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “I know. Why can’t it be easy? The man was the kidnapper, or his best friend. I hope we’ll discover who he was, raid his home and find Ashley alive and well.”
“We’ll get a break.” She walked beside J.T. as they left the church.
At his Jeep she scanned the parking lot. Cars streamed out of it. She noticed that Emma, Grace and Colin had already taken Kim and Neil to their house. For a moment the sensation that someone was watching crawled up her spine, leaving a chilled film of perspiration in its wake.
Inside the confines of the car Madison tried to relax her taut muscles, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.
J.T.’s gaze riveted to hers. “You feel it, too.”
She nodded.
He made a slow sweep of the area, his eyes narrowed as though that would help him see into the dark shadows. “He’s out there somewhere close. I can feel him.”
“This does seem personal.”
His grip on the steering showed white knuckles. “It’s a criminal I’ve put in jail who wants revenge. I’d call that pretty personal.”
“What if it isn’t? I’ve discovered Ross Morgan isn’t the upstanding citizen he’s led everyone to believe. What other secrets are there in Crystal Springs?”
J.T. opened his mouth to say something when his cell phone rang. He answered it. His frown deepened as he listened. When he ended the call, a storm brewed in the depths of his eyes. “That was Kirk. No positive identification on our burned corpse. He was dead before he was set on fire. There wasn’t any smoke in his lungs. He was shot, up close and personal.”
“How about the bullet?”
“Too damaged to get ballistics on it.”
“So there’s nothing we can use?”
“Not exactly. Central City police did phone to say there was a missing person report filed this evening. He’s a short-order cook at a grill on this side of the city. He’s about the size of the man in the boat.”
“Who is it? Can we confirm it with dental records?”
“Max Dillard, and the police are checking about dental records, but they aren’t too hopeful.”
Madison sat forward, angling around to face J.T. “The name isn’t familiar?”
“No, but they’re going to fax a picture if they can find a photo of the man or have an artist draw one from his coworkers’ description. He’s been working at the grill for about a year.” J.T. started his Jeep and backed out of the parking space.
“Maybe he’s moved on and is not really missing.”
“The owner insisted something was wrong. Max was all excited about a chance to earn some extra money. He was sweet on a waitress at the grill and had a date with her tonight after their shift. He never showed up for work today.”
Could this be the break they were looking for? Father, please let it be.
When J.T. pulled up in front of the station, he switched off the Jeep and started to get out.
“Where are you going?”
He glanced over his shoulder, then pivoted around to face her. “Inside.”
“So you can sit by the fax machine and wait for a picture that might not come for hours or until tomorrow. We have pictures of each of the felons on your list. We can compare them. Go home. Your children need to see you. You need to see your children. Be the parent, J.T.”
He scowled. “I am. I’m being Ashley’s father.”
“How about Kim and Neil’s?”
He flinched. “That’s low. They aren’t in trouble. Ashley is.”
She needed to shake some common sense into him and make him slow down before he collapsed. “In case you haven’t noticed, both of your other children are in trouble, especially Kim. They may be trying to hide their pain from you, but it’s there for anyone to see if you stand still long enough to look.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “You certainly know how to make a guy feel bad.”
She took his hand nearest her, trying to ignore the quickening of her heartbeat at the touch of his skin against hers. “For the next twelve hours be the parent. Forget you’re the sheriff. Let us do our job. We’re good at it. I promise if there’s anything important I’ll call you immediately even if it’s in the wee hours of the morning.”
“You aren’t going to your motel to get some sleep?”
“Not if it will keep you at home. I’ll catch some shuteye in the back room. That cot of yours isn’t too bad.” She smiled. “Is it a deal? I’ll hold down the fort while you get some rest. Will you trust me to see to everything?”
He turned his hand within hers and grasped it. The connection sent her heart beating even faster. The intensity in his eyes nearly unraveled her composure.
“I do trust you.”
Those words made her soar. Trust didn’t come lightly for J.T. and for him to say that meant a lot.
“You’ll call even if you aren’t sure it’s important.”
“Nope.”
He blinked.
“The idea is for you to get some rest so you can function tomorrow. You will have to trust my judgment on what is important and what isn’t. Can you?”
He looked long and hard at her. Seconds ticked into a full minute. Normally his expression would be closed to an observer, but because of his exhaustion, she saw the war of emotions flitting across his features. Finally resignation won.
“Okay. I’ll be back at the station first thing tomorrow morning.”
Madison checked the clock on the dashboard. “Not before eight. Twelve hours.”
He gave her a nod, released her hand and grasped the steering wheel. For an irrational moment she longed to touch the taut arm near her and massage the tension from it. She averted her head, closed her eyes, inhaling deeply the air laced with his fresh, woodsy scent and fumbled for the handle.
“See you tomorrow morning.” She hurried toward the station, aware that J.T. hadn’t left yet.
Inside, she heard his vehicle’s engine roar to life and leaned back against the closed door. What was happening to her? She never had trouble keeping her professional life separate. J.T. was changing all that, but even after Ashley came home and the case was resolved, there were too many reasons why a relationship with J.T. would never work.