Page 20 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge (Rescue Ridge #5)

O wen wouldn’t normally answer the buzzing cell in his hand. The call from Travis meant an update. “What did you find?”

“We have a name now along with an address,” Travis said. Owen didn’t like the tension in his brother-in-law’s voice. This news could have been sent via text. “This is a case of fixation that runs deep.”

Owen didn’t like the sound of that. “Do you have an arrest?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“In pursuit?”

“We’re at a standstill with the investigation.”

“How is Evie holding up?”

“That’s the reason for the standstill. Evie’s gone.”

Those words gutted Owen. They couldn’t be right.

“She was abducted right underneath my nose.” Travis heaved a sigh. “This is my fault, Owen. I’m sorry.”

All of those words bounced around somewhere outside of Owen’s skull, unable to break through bone.

“The sonofabitch caught Joann Garza off guard when she tracked him. He tied her up and locked her inside a shed. And then he strapped what we all believed to be a bomb to her chest. By the time we figured out it was an internet-bought fake, Evie had disappeared.”

“You said abducted before.” Owen finally managed to find his voice.

“She was right behind me. Here, one minute, gone the next. There was no way she would have willingly walked away or disappeared to investigate on her own. The bastard has been killing animals deep in his grandmother’s yard.

They were around the shed where we found Joann.

The stench made it seem like she might already be dead, so I asked Evie to stand back a distance to protect her from seeing a dead body when I broke into the shed.

Like I said, I take full responsibility. ”

“Anyone can be caught off guard.” Owen should know. “Doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.” He needed Travis to know that. Guilt and shame could consume you if you didn’t give yourself a break when you made a mistake. Owen knew firsthand.

His grip on Evie’s cell was enough to cause his knuckles to turn white. He pressed the phone to his forehead and shut his eyes for a second. “I was just about to call you,” he said. “Give me the address. I got a ride and I’m heading your way.”

“Meet me at Evie’s house instead. He wouldn’t keep her on the property here. We’ll finalize a plan once we meet.”

“On my way.”

The timing of animal control showing up couldn’t have been more perfect. It was the only thing that had gone right today. “I’m in need of a ride. Can you drop me off somewhere?”

Angie, based on her nametag, nodded after putting the Rotty in the back of her vehicle with Owen’s help.

“Thank you,” he said before claiming the passenger seat. He held onto Evie’s phone like a lifeline. The thought of losing her a second time, permanently, was a hot poker to his chest. He shook his head and clamped his lips down, making a silent vow to find her before it was too late.

Ms. Bart’s number was on the phone in the contact list. She deserved to know what was happening so she could keep her eyes peeled.

He tapped on the name and put the phone to his ear.

She answered on the first ring. He could hear the Dino Doo Doo cartoon playing in the background.

He thought about how content the children had been while watching the show yesterday.

Despite everything that happened to them, kids were resilient.

He held onto the thought as he gave a quick update.

“What can I do to help?” Ms. Bart asked.

He had a new respect for her after finding out how supportive she’d been of Simone.

Based on her tone, the loyalty had just shifted to Evie.

Good. Evie was going to need all the help she could get raising the kids.

Ms. Bart’s support was worth more than gold.

“Exactly what you’re doing. Take care of the kids until we bring her back safely.”

“You can count on it.” Ms. Bart’s tone left no room for doubt. “This may sound woo-woo, but I believe in speaking things into existence. Evie will be home tonight.”

He hoped like hell she was right.

“If I have anything to say about it, she will.”

“Thank you, Owen. She’s been lost these past few days after losing Simone and having to step into her sister’s shoes.

I’ve been too hard on her because I misunderstood her.

I thought she was coming back to value the farmhouse and land, so she could sell it and cut bait.

We didn’t get off on the right foot.” Ms. Bart’s hiccup said she was getting emotional.

She paused. “Bring our girl home, all right?”

“Will do, ma’am.”

Owen ended the call before he made more promises he couldn’t guarantee that he could keep.

The rest of the drive seemed like it took forever but wasn’t more than half an hour. Diablo, his Jeep, sat next to the house beside Evie’s sedan. Her sister’s sport utility was parked on the opposite side, by itself.

He thanked Angie for the ride before saying, “Take good care of the guy in back, okay?”

“I will,” she promised. At least one promise might not be broken today.

Travis was already in the farmhouse. The door was unlocked, so Owen opened it and walked inside. Travis glanced up at Owen the second he walked in the door.

“I’ve blasted a Missing Persons Report on Evie.

” He put a hand up. “Before you say anything, I was clear about the person she was with being considered armed and dangerous with a Do Not Approach caution. I also issued a BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for Lawrence Diebold. Based on the images in his bedroom and the information found on his computer, he has created a fantasy he fully intends to live out.”

“Is he aware that he has the wrong person?”

Travis shook his head. “I doubt it would matter to him at this point. He has built this up in his mind so much that he isn’t going to let a detail like that get in the way.

He’s likely to refuse to believe Evie isn’t actually Simone.

If she insists she’s not, he might become agitated and…

” Travis glanced down at the table where he’d been scribbling notes on a yellow legal pad. “You get the drift.”

Owen joined Travis at the table.

Travis lifted his gaze. “Your sister texted to see if someone could check on you at the lake. Said you’re on a solo fishing trip.”

“I was supposed to be.”

“As soon as she heard about the BOLO, she texted. Said she tried to text you with no response.”

“That reminds me.” Owen fished out his cell and then walked over to the bar-height counter to plug it in. “Evie gave me her phone.” Meaning she was stuck out in the woods somewhere or in a vehicle with no way to reach out or be tracked via her phone’s GPS.

“I realize that, but he would have taken it away from her anyway and most likely sent us on a wild goose chase in the process. It doesn’t make a difference in finding her.”

Owen should be relieved, but this wasn’t exactly good news. It fell into the category of not exactly bad news . Either way, Evie was still in the clutches of a deranged asshole.

Taking a deep breath, he checked his phone’s screen as it lit up with message notices. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.

The family group chat was lighting up with messages checking in on Owen. He couldn’t ask Travis to lie for him, so he made a decision. “I’ll give them a quick update and let them know that I’m fine. I’ll text my sister first.”

“She would appreciate hearing from you,” Travis said.

It still shocked Owen that his baby sister was all grown up now with a child of her own. She’d been a kid when he’d taken off, and weirdly, he was still getting used to the fact she wasn’t still a child like when he’d left.

The idea of her worrying about him instead of the other way around struck him, too.

The text was short. It basically said he was fine and helping Travis in the search for Evie. The dots, the telltale sign of a response, appeared and then disappeared. Chloe had started typing, then stopped.

Her response came back: Just be careful. Please.

He responded with: You know I will.

Travis gave an approving nod when Owen returned to the table.

“This guy is obsessed.”

Travis nodded. “Does he have a criminal record?”

“No,” Travis said. “He’s twenty-six years old and has spent much of his young life in his room playing video games.

He listens to hate-rap and seems to have been spinning out in recent months based on long rants on his social media, where he posts under the name, hotgamerman .

He has increasingly become disrespectful and belligerent with his posts about how women should learn their place. ”

“Why aren’t people’s posts tracked to head something like this off?”

“We don’t have the kind of resources in law enforcement to keep track of every social media account. Unless someone comes up as part of a bigger investigation, we have no reason to monitor their account, let alone know it exists.”

“Understood.” Law enforcement resources were stretched thin. He got it. They couldn’t be everywhere.

With so little to go on, how in the hell were they ever going to find Evie?

If Evie was destined to die by the hands of this asshole, she had no plans to go down without a fight.

She’d failed to escape Lawrence’s clutches.

She’d had to do everything he’d said or risk him tapping the screen that would blow Joann to bits.

He’d ensured she would be complicit with the threat of killing the game warden.

Evie had failed to figure out how to get away without risking Joann.

Now, she was living an abductee’s nightmare. She’d been taken to a secondary location that was even more secure. Lawrence had had time to convert this barn into a torture chamber where he seemed intent on playing out his degraded sexual fantasies.

A red corset with stockings were laid out on top of the comforter. A wooden post at the head of the bed was fitted with chains and a pair of metal handcuffs. There were whips and feathers and other adult fantasy toys scattered on top of the bed.

The barn was empty save for a dirty mattress on the ground and a couple of battery-powered lanterns that looked like torches.

“I know who you really are,” she said to him as he cuffed her. “And so does the law.”

He turned his back to her as he set a scene.

“Those aren’t candles, and I’m not here willingly.”

He didn’t budge.

Was there anything she could say to make him break down? Crack? Anger him enough to make him refuse to touch her? Or momentarily forget about the bomb on Joann?

Lawrence was short by this area’s standards, shy of five-feet-nine-inches if she had to guess.

He had pockmarks on his face, mousy-brown hair, and mud-colored eyes.

There wasn’t anything remarkable about him.

She could walk past him on the street and not take notice, which was most likely the reason he engaged in internet entertainment for his adult needs.

“I’ve paid you too much money not to get anything out of it,” he said to her. “You can’t cut me out. I won’t allow it.”

“You have the wrong person.”

“Don’t toy with me, Simone,” he said, his voice a little hysterical as he turned on half a dozen fake candles like he was setting a mood. “I’ve waited a long time for us to be alone together.”

Ice water ran down her spine at the thought of him touching her.

“Take off your clothes,” he demanded.

“I’m not who you think I am.” Would he believe her? “You know what my body looks like. Check my foot. There’s no birthmark.”

He set the candle down. For a moment, he was completely still. “You’re playing games with me again, aren’t you?”

She was at a loss as to what her sister might have said to him in order to get him to volunteer money.

Simone could have promised him the world, thinking she was safe behind her computer.

What was the harm in putting up a few photos?

She hadn’t shown her face. No one would recognize her if they stood in line behind her at the grocery store.

The private chats had brought in more money and, again, she must have felt insulated from the person on the other side.

Knowing Simone, she would’ve convinced herself that she was talking to a bored husband who then spiced it up in the bedroom with his wife instead of a psycho who would stalk her and then kidnap her to play out his strange fantasies.

Simone really was a good person who was trying to figure out a way to support her babies.

As shocked as Evie might be, she couldn’t fault her sister.

“I told you to take your clothes off. Do it now.” Lawrence’s voice became high-pitched by the end of his sentence.

“What if I don’t want to, Lawrence?”

The fact she knew his name caused him to spin around, eyes wide.

“That’s right. I know who you really are. You live with your grandmother, too, don’t you? What’s the matter? You think you’re the only one who can track someone down?”

“Leave her out of this,” he seethed. Evie had hit a sore spot.

“What’s wrong, Larry?” She needed to find more buttons to push as she slowly tried to work her hands free from the tight cuffs.

“That’s not my name.” Bingo. He didn’t like to be called Larry. She searched her brain for more ammunition. What kind of person would abduct another human being to force them into sex acts? Force them to be in complete submission without their consent?

Someone who needed to exercise power over someone else. Someone who’d been bullied as a kid. Or mistreated by a parent. Someone who was unlucky with the opposite sex, causing them to resent women.

What could she say to push him over the edge and cause him to have a mental break? How could she distract him from what he was about to do to her?

“Strip!” he demanded this time.

“What if I don’t do what you say, asshole?”

“I can force you.” His gaze narrowed, and the sheer amount of hate sent a chill down her spine.

“Wasn’t your mother nice to you when you were a kid?” She was grasping at straws but had to find something that worked. She needed to buy time so she could figure a way out of this mess and back to her new life.

“Don’t talk about her.”

Bingo. Sore spot.

“I heard what she did to you,” she lied. “Over and over again. I also heard that you secretly liked it. Didn’t you? Yes, you liked it when she beat you, and you liked it even more when she—”

His hands came up over his ears to cover them. “Stop talking. Now!”

Push too far, and he might punish her even more. Don’t push enough, and he might do unspeakable things to her before killing her.

What the hell should she do now? They were in a remote location. An abandoned barn. No one knew where she was.

Facing facts, she had to face the reality that no cavalry would arrive.