Swallowing hard, Joshua held up his hands. “Okay . . . okay . . . just take it easy because I’m really confused what in the hell it is you’re talking about.”
“Joshua? Is everything okay in here?”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Mr. Black standing there. “Yeah, everything is . . . um . . . it’s fine. I’ve got it under control, Dad.”
Shooting me a dirty look, Mr. Black took two steps back. “I’ll be right out here if you need anything, son.”
Joshua ran his hand through his hair and nodded.
When the door shut, I walked up and got in his face. “What did you have to do with the murders?”
His mouth dropped open. “W-what? Nothing!”
“Why were you so interested in them then?” Derrick asked as he walked around Black’s office.
“Wait. Someone please just tell me what is going on. You mentioned Meagan, is she okay?”
My heart jumped to my throat as I fought to say the words. “She’s missing.”
Joshua’s eyes widened in shock as he closed them and shook his head. “Oh God.”
“I’m not going to lie and tell you that I wasn’t planning on finding you sitting in your office playing around with your girlfriend.”
Pulling his head back, he asked, “You think I had something to do with this?”
“I think you have a lot to do with a lot of things, Black.”
With a shake of his head, Joshua walked around his desk and pushed a button on his phone. “Yes, Mr. Black.”
“Lacy, get me Bob Freeman on the phone please.”
Taking a quick peek over in Derrick’s direction, I noticed him writing something down; I was guessing the name Joshua just used.
I was running out of time. The longer we stood around and played games, the more dangerous it was for Meagan. “Who is Bob Freeman?” I asked.
Joshua took in a deep breath and pushed it out. “Let me start from the beginning.”
“I don’t have fucking time for you to start from the beginning. My fiancée is missing and the longer we stand here the more of a chance that whoever took her his going to hurt her.”
My cell phone rang as I pulled it out, praying to God it would be Meagan.
It was Meagan’s parents. I hated doing it, but I sent them to voicemail. I needed more information before I talked to them.
“Listen, I understand, detective, but please let me talk.”
Anger was beginning to mix with the fear and I knew that was a bad combination for me.
With my hand, I motioned for him to go on.
“Bob Freeman is a client of mine. He’s been in and out of jail for the last two years for different reasons. Usually being hauled in for public intoxication. I started to get suspicious of him several months ago.”
“What do you mean?” Derrick asked.
Joshua shrugged. “He made a few comments that bothered me. They were always about the girls who were found raped or murdered. I started trying to piece information together, get as much information on the cases as I could.”
Pinching my eyes together, I asked, “Is that why you always asked us all those questions?”
Joshua nodded. “Yeah, I was trying to see if you guys had any leads, anything that might confirm my suspicion.”
“Why didn’t you just tell us about this Bob Freeman?” I asked with frustration lacing my voice.
“Well, this might come as a surprise to you, but my job is to defend people until proven guilty, plus he’s still my client.”
Derrick walked up next to Joshua’s desk. “But if you thought this guy might have been connected, you could have given us some kind of clue.”
His eyes fell to the floor and he nodded his head. “Hindsight, I see I was wrong.” Looking up into my eyes, Joshua frowned. “Maybe I wanted to try to figure it out myself. A small piece of me trying to play—”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Detective?”
Joshua’s eyes turned sad. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”
“Anyway, one day I saw him walking behind Meagan as she walked into a Starbucks. I didn’t like the way it seemed like he was following her, so I walked into Starbucks and started talking to Meagan. I was hoping it would throw Bob off if he truly was following her.”
I rolled my eyes and huffed. “Instead dude, you freaked Meagan out and caused more suspicion to be thrown on you!”
Derrick sighed. “So, all the following, and jack-assing around with Gray was because you wanted to play cop?”
Joshua sunk down in his seat.
“When was the last time you heard from this Bob?” I asked.
Joshua took a few seconds to think about it. “Oh hell, I don’t know. He seems to be pulling himself out of the pits and turning his life around. He got a job, hooked back up with a previous girlfriend and I believe moved in with her.”
Joshua’s phone buzzed. “Yes?”
“Mr. Black, Mr. Freeman’s boss said that he hasn’t shown up for work the last week. I’ve tried calling his cell phone number and it goes right to voicemail.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Joshua said, “Call his parole officer and see when the last time was he checked in with him.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr. Black, was Mr. Freeman in town during all the murders?”
Joshua swallowed hard. “Ah . . . as far as I know . . . yes.”
“Do you have any reason to believe he could be behind Meagan’s disappearance?”
“Speaking as his lawyer, I would tell you no. Speaking as one guy to another, I think he had a thing for Meagan and to tell you the truth, the guy gave me the creeps. He talked about those girls as if he . . . knew them. So to answer your question, yes, I could see that happening.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
Joshua turned and pulled open a cabinet and took out a file. “Yeah, I got his girlfriend Susan’s address.”
My heart stopped as I felt my knees shake. “What did you just say?” I asked slowly.
“Ah, I think I said I had Susan’s address.”
I turned and looked at Derrick as he pulled out his ringing cell phone.
Joshua pulled out a piece of paper and handed to me. “That’s her and her daughter. I believe her name is, Kate.”
I had to reach out and hold onto one of the chairs in front of me with one hand as I took the paper in the other.
Susan’s address was written down on the paper and a black-and-white photo of her and a girl about sixteen was stapled to the paper.
“Holy fuck,” I whispered.
Derrick hung up and hit me in the arm to snap me out of it. “We had a patrol officer head to Durango High. There is a Kate Freeman registered there, her mother is listed as Susan Powell. When she questioned Kate, she said the girl was scared to death. Mentioned something about her deadbeat father was back living with them and how he abused her mom. Her mother told her a week ago to leave and go stay with friends and she hasn’t heard from the mom since.”
I turned to Joshua. “Thanks, Mr. Black; you’ve been a huge help, but next time you have information like this, you better fucking come clean and let us know.”
Joshua stood and nodded his head. “I hope Meagan is just out shopping somewhere and none of this is really happening.”
With a somber look, I nodded and headed out the door.
Derrick was already on the phone with central giving them all of Susan Powell and Bob Freeman’s information.
I climbed into the passenger seat of the car and pulled out my cell and called Brad back.
“Grayson! Please tell me you’ve found her. Please!”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook my head. “Not yet, sir, but I promise you I’m doing everything I can to find her.”
“You don’t think this is connected to those . . . to those other . . .”
My stomach felt sick as I pushed the door open. “No. I’m going to find her and bring her home safely; as God as my witness I will not let her down. I
made a promise to protect her and I’ll chase her to the ends of the Earth if I have to.”
The silence over the phone was almost deafening. “Call us when you find something out.”
I quietly said, “I will.”
I hit End and turned to Derrick. “I’ve got an APB out on Susan Powell’s car. Looks like she hasn’t shown up for work in the last three days. No one has heard from her or seen her at her job.”
“Her plates?”
“I’ve got Mandy running it through now. If she’s been through any intersections we will find out soon.”
My hands slammed against my face as I scrubbed them up and down. “Not soon enough.”
“Derrick, if Black’s suspicions are true, and this guy is our rapist murderer, he has Meagan. He has my girl.”
“We’ll find her.”
I turned and looked out the window and I prayed I’d find her in time.
Meagan
I STOOD AT the window and watched the snow silently fall to the ground. Susan had been back in once to bring me something to eat. I could see another light in the distance and wondered if that was where Susan was staying.
I’d thought about breaking a window and trying to run, but I had no jacket, no shoes and was only wearing a pair of dress pants and a dress shirt. I’d freeze to death before I made it a few miles.
Closing my eyes, I wondered where my cell phone had gone. Or my purse. I’d give anything to have something to put on my dry cracked lips.
The door wiggled and I turned to stare at it. When it opened and saw the same man I had seen in the hallway, I instantly walked away from him.
He walked slowly into the room and shut the door as he stared at me. “You’re so much prettier than the others.”
“The o-others?” I asked as I pinned myself up against the wall.
His eyes looked my body over. “Yeah. The other’s. None of them were like you though. The moment I first saw you I knew I had to have you. Then you had to go off and start fucking around with that cop.”
“Gray,” I whispered.
The look in his eyes turned and anger quickly washed over his face. “Do not say his name. You’re mine now and I’m going to take my time with you for a little while.”
My body shook as I looked over his shoulder to see Susan standing there.
“She’s pregnant.”
The guy stopped dead in his tracks as I silently cursed her for telling him. How could she let slip that I was pregnant?
Balling up his fists, he walked faster and stopped right in front of me as my chest rose and fell with each breath I took. “You let him get you pregnant?”
Tears streamed down my face as I turned my head away from him. His cold fingers grabbed my face and forced me to look back at him. The smile that moved over his face made me so sick, bile moved up in my throat as a whimper escaped from my lips.
“I can fix that.”
“No, please don’t. I’ll do whatever you want me to do, just please don’t hurt my baby.”
His head tilted as he looked at me. As quickly as he grabbed my face he let me go and took a step back. I could hear Susan let out a relieved sigh when it looked like he was going to turn and leave. I relaxed my body some so when he turned I wasn’t expecting him to punch me in the stomach.
Screaming, I fell to the floor and wrapped my arms around my stomach as I heard Susan call out his name. “Bob! No!”
I lay on the floor and watched him grab Susan by the hair and yank her over to the bed as she kicked and screamed. Pushing her down, he quickly undid his pants as he pushed her dress up and ripped her panties off.
“No please, Bob don’t do this! Don’t do this!”
The pain in my stomach now matched the pain in my head as I cried. I made a vow that if this man did anything to hurt my child I was going to kill him.
Through my tears all I could see was him push Susan’s legs apart as he slammed himself into her body while she screamed out. Closing my eyes, I slammed my hands over my ears to drown out her cries.
Before I knew it, I felt a sharp pain in my back followed by an excruciating pain in my head. Bob had kicked my back and then grabbed a handful of hair as he dragged me across the room. Susan was lying on the bed crying as he dropped down and held my chin with his hand.
“Next time it will be you, sweet girl. I’ve been wanting to feel you for a long time now.” His hot breath on my neck caused me to jerk my head from his hand as he laughed.
I couldn’t even feel my body anymore. I was either in too much pain, or too scared to feel anything. Susan turned and looked into my eyes. I could see her fear and it did something to me. It gave me a strange energy and willpower that for one moment I thought I had lost.
Pushing my body away from him, Bob let go of me and grabbed onto Susan’s arm and pulled her off the bed and out the door.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat on the floor just staring out the window. My tears had long since stopped and the only thing I knew to do now was pray that Grayson would find me or I found a way out of there before it was too late.
The door opened and I flew out of the bed. It had been freezing in the cabin and I had used the pillowcases to put over my feet in an attempt to keep them warm. Susan walked in and set a tray of food on the bed.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She looked stunned at my question as she said, “How could you even care how I am? I helped that monster bring you here.”
I knew Susan had been filled with guilt, especially because she knew about the baby. I needed to think of how to use that to my advantage. Time was quickly running out. There was no way of knowing how long it would be before he came after me.
“He makes the girls watch.”
Swallowing hard, I asked, “What did you say?”
Chewing on her lip, she said, “He makes them watch a few times as he fucks me. Then, once he gets tired of them crying, he fucks them over and over again until they pretty much pass out. Then he brings them back to Durango.”
Oh. My. God. Does she not see what is wrong with this? How could she help this man?
“He kills them after he rapes them?”
Susan’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh no! He told me he let’s them go.”
Dear God, this woman is delusional. “How . . . how many have there been, Susan?”
“Four, not including you.”
My hand went to my mouth to keep myself from throwing up. There had been four rape/murders in Durango that Grayson and his partner had investigated.
My stomach was feeling sick and my body ached from where Bob had kicked and punched me. “Why are you telling me this?” I asked her.
She shrugged and said, “I like you. When you came and talked at my daughter’s school I felt like I had connected to you. So when I had told Bob about you and he said he knew you, I knew it was all my fault.”
“What was all your fault?”
Susan walked back to the door and looked back at me. “I’m not sure if I will be able to talk to you again. Bob will be coming back with the items he needs for when he takes you as his.”
My stomach cramped as thoughts of what he was going to do to me raced through my mind.
Panic set in as Susan went to leave. I called out her name trying not to sound desperate. “Susan! Do you still have my purse?”
“Oh, he threw out your cell phone on the drive up to the mountains, so if that is what you think you’ll find I’m sorry.”
Fuck. Please don’t have emptied my whole purse.
“No, I really need something for my lips. I’m pretty sure I have some lip moisturizer in my purse.”
With a slight smile, she looked at me as my heartbeat drummed in my ears. Please don’t catch on to what I’m doing. Please. It felt as if time stood still while Susan stared at me lost in thought. Each breath I took was forced to seem normal as I tried to make it appear as if I only needed this one simple thing.
“Can I have your purse after he brings you back t
o Durango?”
Holy shit. This lady is just as crazy as he is.
I smiled sweetly. “Of course you can.”
Susan clapped and walked over to the side table and pulled it open. I was stunned to see her pull out my purse.
The room felt like it was going to spin as I watched her toss it onto the bed. “Bob already looked through it and said to keep it in here with you.”
Fighting to keep myself from running over and grabbing it, I gave her another weak smile as I watched her turn and leave the room. The moment I heard her lock the door, I counted to sixty and then rushed over to get my purse. Dumping everything out, I frantically looked for the tube of lipstick. When I saw it, I cried out in relief.
“Please work,” I whispered as I turned the tube until I heard it click. I thought Grayson was insane when he told me the lipstick tube was a tracker. Now I was praying to God it would be the one thing that saved me from this nightmare.
Throwing the lipstick back into my purse, I took out my ChapStick and ran it over my lips, sighing at the instant relief.
My eyes caught a glimpse of the bottled water, the two pieces of bread and the small container of peanut butter.
I hated peanut butter, but I needed my energy. Opening the water bottle, I drank half of it and then ate the two pieces of bread with the peanut butter. Once I was done with that, I finished the water. A light shined from outside as I jumped up and saw a truck driving up.
My body trembled as I prayed Bob didn’t make his way to see me.
Grayson
AS I STOOD before the grid map, I blew out a frustrated sigh. I stared at the pin that marked where they had found Meagan’s cell phone. After it had been printed for fingers prints, it pulled up what just what we had all thought.
The prints of Bob Freeman.
After searching in this guy’s file for a few hours last night, I finally found his mother and father’s name. I sent it off to be cross-referenced with any property north of Durango that might be in their names.
My phone had been blowing up with messages and calls from my mother, Grace, Noah, Brad and Amanda, and even Melissa, trying to find out what was going on.
I hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours and the only thing I ate was a taco that Derrick insisted I eat.