Deadly Intent (11 page)

Lara shook her head, crawling closer to the cage to her son. “It wouldn’t do any good. Even if I got out of the basement, I wouldn’t be able to get to the other part of the house. I’d just be stuck in the parlor. That’s what Reuben calls his room. There’s no windows and no door out except the one way.”

“Are you sure?” Maven asked.

“I am. I tried before Joshua was born. He left me up there one time, but I couldn’t get out.” Her voice was sad. “That’s when he shot Melissa. He’d been filming me the whole time.”

“It’s impossible to get out,” Tricia said.

Maven countered with a favorite Bible verse. “’With God, all things are possible.’”

“Well then, God needs to show us the way out. We’ve tried and tried to break the basement door down. It won’t budge.” Tricia’s voice was bitter.

“We have to find another way out. Lara, you need to turn on the lights so we can see.”

“I can’t do that. Reuben would get very angry if I did that. If he shuts off the lights, we have to wait until he turns them back on. It’s the rule whether we’re chained or not.”

Moses’s arms tightened around Maven’s neck. She didn’t want to scare him, but there was no way to avoid it. “Didn’t you hear what he said last night? We might not have another chance.”

“I don’t care. I’m not going to make him angry. I have to keep Joshua safe. That’s all that matters to me.” Lara crawled over.

Joshua slipped off Maven’s lap and ran to his mother. They touched fingers through the chain link.

“Yeah, if we’re all good, he might forget what he said. And everything will be OK,” Denise said.

Tricia shook her head. “I don’t think so. He was really angry. It’s been a while since I saw him that mad.”

Maven moved closer to Lara. “Lara, don’t do it for us. Do it for Joshua. He deserves a normal life and the only way that will happen is if we get out of here.”

Lara stared at her and then nodded. “You’re right. We can’t just sit here and wait for him to come back to…” Her gaze landed on Joshua. “Well, you know what.” Lara pulled the string on the light. The dark basement brightened.

“Oh, Lara.” Maven’s heart broke. It had been her fault he’d beaten her.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Lara walked back towards them, but suddenly she stopped. “Look, I dropped the key when he grabbed me by the hair. He must’ve forgotten about it.”

God was intervening.

“With God, all things are possible,” Maven said.

“It must be God. Reuben’s never done that before.” Denise’s voice was full of wonder. She looked at Maven. “He must love you.”

“He loves you, too, Denise. All of you.”

Lara had access to the key to freedom.

31

Paul and Donald Decker walked into the news station escorted by a security guard.

Paul’s cell phone buzzed. “I need to take this.” He hit the talk button. “Hi, Lizzie.”

“Paul, this is Trent Snoddy.”

He shouldn’t have been surprised.

Lizzie had been adamant in her opposition to his plan.

“What can I do for you, Agent Snoddy?”

“Don’t do this. It will put Maven in more danger than she’s already in.”

“It’s our only lead. I’m taking it.” He paused. “Unless you have a better idea?”

“We’ve already discussed this. The profiler doesn’t believe Cedar Street, Road, or Avenue has anything to do with Moses. And she also doesn’t believe that Maven being missing is connected to Moses or his disappearance.”

“If the profiler’s right, then I won’t be putting Maven in any more danger. We’re not even going to mention her name. Only show the picture of the house. But I happen to think she’s wrong. If I were you, I’d have her fired. She’s not very good at her job.” He clicked off.

Donald Decker and the security guard were both staring at him.

He took a deep breath. “OK. Let’s do this.”

~*~

“Pick up the key, Lara.” Maven’s voice was quiet, but firm.

Denise shook her head. “Don’t do it. It could be a test. He’s probably watching us from his little spy room,” her voice was filled with panic.

Tricia spoke up. “Well, if he is, then he already knows we’ve broken the rules. Hurry, pick up the key, Lara, and unlock us. If nothing else, we can all jump on him. Maybe one of us can get away to get help.”

“Haven’t you all been unchained at the same time before?”

“Never.”

“Only one at a time. That’s the rule.”

Lara looked at the women, her face filled with fear.

Please, God give her the courage she needs.

Lara slid the lock into the padlock of the gate, then unlocked each of the cages. As a group, they turned to Maven.

Maven was still in the handcuffs connected to the chain so she wasn’t free. “Don’t worry about me right now. Everyone needs to find a weapon of some sort.”

“There’s nothing like that down here,” Tricia said.

Denise pointed back towards the bathroom. “How about the toilet seat?”

“Great idea.” Tricia ran to the toilet.

“What’s behind that door?” Maven pointed to a door beyond the caged area.

“That’s the utility room,” Lara answered her. “It has the hot water heater and the furnace in it.”

“And probably the fuse boxes.” Maven wondered if there wasn’t something they could do with the fuse box. She hadn’t a clue about such things.

“I went in there once, but it’s small. No way to get out there,” Lara said.

“In all the time you’ve all been here, he never had to replace anything in there or have it repaired?”

“A few times, but he just chained us upstairs.” Tricia was struggling to get the toilet seat off.

“And then drugged us for good measure so we couldn’t make any noise,” Lara said as she tried the door. “It’s locked.”

“I wonder why he keeps it locked?” Maven asked. “There has to be something in there he doesn’t want you to know about. Something that could help us.”

Tricia walked out with the toilet seat in her hand. “Let’s find out.”

Lara, Tricia, and Denise stood shoulder to shoulder at the door.

“I help.” Joshua ran over to the women.

“Not right now, baby. Let’s see if Mommy and your aunties can do it first. You keep hugging Maven. She’s scared.”

The little boy ran over and plopped himself on her lap, his arms around her neck.

“Thanks, Moses,” Maven whispered.

“One. Two. Three,” Lara huffed.

“I felt it move. Let’s try again,” Denise’s voice was excited.

The third time, the door splintered.

32

Donald shook the attorney’s hand. “Susan, this is Paul Jordon. Paul, Susan Layton, my attorney.”

“Anything yet?”

“Nothing credible. But we’re getting calls so that’s good.”

Her secretary had the phone to her ear. “Hey, Sue. There’s a young boy on the line. He says he lives in Erieview Village and Cedar Lane is close to where he lives. He says he knows of a house like that. He and his friend were at the park last night when they thought they heard a woman yelling. They biked around the park but couldn’t find her.”

“What about the house?” Paul asked. “Where is it? Get an address.”

The secretary spoke into the phone, listened for a moment, and then looked at him. “A Victorian house on the other side of the park from where the boy lives, but it’s not gray. It’s purple.”

Donald looked at Paul. “Close enough for me.”

“Me, too. We’re on our way. Tell the boy not to go to the house or talk to the owner at all. It could be dangerous. Get his address and send it to me.”

Once in the limo, Paul called Lizzie. “Is Trent with you?”

“I’m sorry I went behind your—”

“It doesn’t matter, Lizzie. I understand why you did it. Is Trent with you or not?”

“No. Why?”

“We have a lead. Can you call him and give him an address?”

“Of course.”

Paul gave her the address two times and had her repeat it back to him. He started to hang up, but Lizzie said, “And I’ll keep praying, Paul.”

“You do that, Lizzie.”

“Keep safe and bring Maven back home.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Godspeed, Paul.”

Two minutes later, his phone rang again. He looked at Donald. “What can I say? I’m a popular guy.” He clicked answer. “Hi, Snoddy. What can I do for you now?”

“You can wait to approach until I get there. You have no authority to get inside the house.”

“That may be technically true, but I am a policeman in search of a missing woman. As far as I’m concerned, that’s enough for me. I’ll do what I need to do.”

“Look, we’re on the same side, Paul. I want to find Maven, too. Now, let me help. Just wait until I get there.”

“How long?”

“Twenty. Thirty minutes, tops. I’m already on my way up there.”

Paul looked at his watch. “OK. I’ll give you forty minutes, and then I’m going in. With or without you.”

The limo pulled into the tiny parking lot of Cedar Lane Park.

Paul hopped out on one side while Donald did the same on the other side.

“What do you see?” Donald asked.

“Not much. The boy said the house was on the other—”

“Hey.” A young boy ran up to them. “You’re the guys I saw on TV. I’m Aaron. Aaron Bidwell. I called the number.”

Paul held out his hand to shake.

The boy held out his own hand with a smile.

“Good job. I’m Paul, and this is Donald. Thanks a lot for calling. Where are your parents?”

“At work. Do I get my money now?”

Paul shook his head. “Not yet. We have to make sure it’s the house we’re looking for.”

“Then why aren’t you over there?” Aaron pointed across the park.

“All in good time, son. Don’t worry. If it’s the house, you’ll get the money.”

“Who lives in the big house?” Donald Decker knelt down beside the boy.

“I don’t know. Never seen anyone there. What’s going on?”

“To be truthful, probably nothing.”

The boy’s shoulders sagged. “Oh.”

Paul held up his drawing. “But it doesn’t matter. As long as that house matches this drawing, you’ll get your money. I promise.”

A black SUV pulled in beside the limo. Trent stepped out. “You ready?”

“We are.” Donald answered, and then looked at the limo driver. “Are you all right with staying here and waiting?”

“I’m on the clock, boss. I’m here until you tell me to go home. Of course, overtime starts at 4 PM, sharp.”

Donald laughed. “Got it.” He turned to Aaron. “And you need to go in your house and stay there until you see one of us come back. No going in the park. Period.”

The boy nodded.

“I mean it. If you go in that park before I say you can, you lose your money. Got it?”

The boy nodded. “Got it.”

They all piled in the SUV. Trent backed up. “OK, we ran this location and the house belongs to a Reuben Moore. He’s owned the house for almost fifteen years.”

“And what does Mr. Moore do for a living?”

“He’s an architect. From the looks of all the housing permits on record, he’s renovated this house by himself. A little bit at a time over the years.”

“Any priors?”

“A few. Mostly domestic from when he was married, but that was years ago. He’s been divorced for fifteen years. Probably why he bought the house. And never had a problem since.”

Trent made a left turn into the lane.

“Wow. This place is pretty isolated considering it’s only minutes from Cleveland,” Donald said.

Paul looked down at the drawing. “Well other than the color, it pretty much looks like the house. Has the same shape and scroll work. Looks like we owe Aaron some money.” He held it up for Donald to see.

“Maybe the kid was experimenting with colors the day he drew that.”

“Or maybe…” Trent spoke slowly. “Or maybe, he only saw the house at night. Purple can look like gray in the dark.”

“How do you know that?”

“I do a little painting in my spare time.”

“Or the kid’s color blind. Boys are much more likely to be color blind than girls.” Donald Decker said from the back seat of the SUV. “Both my boys are.”

After they were all out of the car, Trent looked at them. “Let me do the talking. I’m the one with a badge.”

“I have a badge, too.” Paul reminded him.

Trent gave him a look.

Paul retreated. “I’m just saying.”

“Ready?”

The men walked up the steps to the wrap-around porch. Trent pushed the doorbell. They all waited. No one answered.

Paul looked at his watch. “Well, it is kind of early. I have no idea what kind of hours architects work. The man’s probably at work.”

“So, now what?” Donald Decker paced the porch, peering into the windows.

“We wait. We have no reason to enter the premises without his permission.”

“Unless I can find a reason.” Paul leaned down and peered in a window. He saw nothing but a hallway. And nothing that could give him a reason to enter. He moved to the next window. A living room.

Trent put a hand on his shoulder. “We’re not going to play that game. It won’t work that way, Paul. We have…” He stopped talking as a car drove down the drive. “See, he’s here now. No problem.”

“That remains to be seen.”

The car pulled up beside Snoddy’s SUV and stopped. A man in his mid-forties stepped out. “Can I help you?”

Trent showed his badge. “I’m Agent Trent Snoddy. FBI.” He made a motion towards them. “These are my associates.”

The man’s face paled. “Is there a problem, Agent?”

“I’m not sure. We’d like to come in the house and take a look around.”

“Why?”

“We had a report of domestic violence here.”

“Here? Impossible. I live alone. And even if I didn’t there’s no one around to report hearing such a thing.” His arm motioned at the trees surrounding his property.

The man was smart—too smart. Paul wanted to yank open the screen door and push his way past the guy to search for Maven.

Donald placed a hand on his arm and gave a slight shake to his head. He was right, of course.

Paul took a deep breath. “OK, you got me. You’re absolutely right. Here’s the thing. A house very similar to yours could be involved in an abduction. And we’d like to check it out to make sure you weren’t involved in that. We’re checking out all the houses that match the description.”