Rules of Crime (2 page)

The car raced forward, away from the rehab building and student housing. Renee struggled, but the alcohol made her weak and the man shoved her to the floor. Strong, thick fingers dug into her flesh and quickly bound her hands and mouth with duct tape. A knife was suddenly in his hand and her heart missed a beat. She screamed into the duct tape but only made a gurgling sound. The man cut her purse strap from her shoulder, then rummaged through her pockets until he found her cell phone. He shoved
her last little hope into his jacket pocket, then taped her ankles together and tied a blindfold around her head.
Oh god, what did they want with her?
Panic exploded in painful shards in her lungs and she couldn’t think straight.

A few minutes later, the car stopped, and the men dragged her from the floor of the backseat and shoved her into the trunk. They slammed down the lid and left her alone in the small dark space, trussed like an animal on its way to slaughter.

Heart pounding, all she could think was,
I wish I’d finished the thermos.

CHAPTER 2

Sunday, January 8, 11:48 a.m.

Wade Jackson stepped off the boat, relieved that the trip was over. He turned back and offered his hand to Kera as she climbed down after him, looking radiant. Her sun-kissed skin glowed and her bronze hair shimmered in the bright sunlight. The sight of her made him smile, despite the seasickness that had plagued him all morning. Their snorkeling adventure had been great at moments, but he was glad to move on to something else. A flash of guilt joined the nausea in his stomach. Kera loved every minute of their time in Maui, and he was trying to be a good vacation partner. But his mind was restless and he looked forward to an afternoon of getting caught up on the stack of hot-rod magazines he’d brought with him.

“Are you okay?” Kera asked, as they entered their hotel room twenty minutes later. “You’re awfully quiet.”

“I felt a little queasy the whole time we were out there,” Jackson admitted. “But it’s going away now.”

“I’m sorry. We should have bought some Dramamine.”

“Meds are for wussies.” Jackson laughed. He took his share. “I’m fine. Hungry though.”

His phone, which he’d left in the hotel room, rang for the first time in two days. A strange anticipation came over him. He’d missed the urgency and adrenaline that came with most of his calls. He looked at the screen. Why was his daughter calling him?

“It’s Katie,” he told Kera before answering.

“Dad, I’m sorry to bug you on your vacation, but Mom is missing.”

The word
missing
triggered a wave of emotions: fear, anger, relief. “What do you mean by
missing
?”

“She didn’t come home last night and she’s not answering her cell phone.”

Jackson had one thought:
Renee had started drinking again and landed in jail or in the hospital.
But he had to be diplomatic with his daughter. “Have you called her friends? Or possibly the hospital?”

“Ivan and I have called everyone. He even called the jail.” Katie was on the verge of tears. “I know what you’re thinking and you’re probably right. But she’s never disappeared before.”

His daughter had a point. In all the years of marriage to Renee, despite her daily consumption of vodka, she’d never gone AWOL. She preferred to drink at home, where it was safe. “Don’t worry, Katie. We’ll find her. I’ll call the department and put out an attempt-to-locate. And I’ll get the next flight home.” Jackson glanced at Kera, who was raptly listening to his end of the conversation. She looked worried but not upset.

“I’m so sorry, Dad. I hate ruining your vacation. You never take time off.” His fifteen-year-old daughter burst into sobs and it
tore his heart. Katie was mature beyond her years—from having an alcoholic mother and a workaholic father—and rarely cried. But her grief was not about his ruined trip to Hawaii. She was coming to terms with the fact that her mother had relapsed again, and possibly done herself irreparable harm.

“Let me talk to Ivan for a minute.” Jackson felt surprisingly neutral about Renee’s fiancé, even though she’d moved in with him after only a few months of dating.

Ivan Anderson came on the phone, sounding calmer than Katie but still with an edge to his voice. “Hello, Jackson. I’ve called the department about filing a missing-person report, but they said it was too soon.”

“Twenty-four hours is the policy for adults, but I’ll work around that and get patrol officers looking for her car.” After twenty years in the department, he was a senior detective and carried a little clout. “She was in her car, correct?”

“Yes. She left the house around three yesterday afternoon to go shopping and never came home. I’ve called her friends, her sister, the hospitals, and the jail. I don’t know what else to do.”

“It sounds like you’ve covered it, but I need her license plate number. She was driving her Acura?”

“Yes. I’ll be right back.”

After a minute, Anderson came back with the information and Jackson jotted it down. He hesitated, then said, “I hate to ask this, but how has Renee been acting lately? Any sign that she’s been drinking?”

“The other night she seemed a little slow to react to something and I wondered if she’d been drinking. But she has the Ativan prescription and it has that effect sometimes.”

Memories of his ex-wife and her intoxicated behavior flooded Jackson’s head. Renee tended to get horny and needy when she drank, but he couldn’t ask Anderson about it. He couldn’t even
believe they were having this conversation and suspected his discomfort would get worse before Renee surfaced. “Sometimes when she first starts drinking again after a dry spell, she calls her mother. Have you talked to Betty?”

“No. Renee never talks about her mother.”

“You should call her just to see if she’s heard from Renee.” Jackson started to look for his return ticket. “I have to call the airline and the department. With any luck, I’ll be home tonight.”

“Thanks, Jackson. Sorry to interrupt your vacation.”

“It’s okay.” And it was. His brain was clicking and his adrenaline flowing. He’d missed the feeling. They said good-bye and hung up. Jackson turned to Kera, careful to hide his feelings. “I’m sorry about this, but I feel like I have to go back. Katie is distraught.”

“Of course. I understand.” The fine lines on her forehead scrunched up as she studied his face. “I think you’re relieved. You were getting bored here, I could tell.”

“No. It’s been great to have so much time with you.” He pulled Kera in for a hug.

She hugged him back, then lightly punched his arm. “Don’t bullshit me, Wade. You’re a workaholic, and you look engaged for the first time in days.” Kera laughed, a melodic hearty sound that always made him smile. “Don’t worry. I’m okay. We had three great days together, and getting this much sun in the middle of winter was a lifesaver. Make the calls.” She smiled, shook her head, and started for the shower.

Three hours later, after securing some last-minute tickets by mentioning he was a detective investigating a missing person, they were on a flight to Eugene, Oregon.

CHAPTER 3

Monday, January 9, 6:01 a.m.

Jackson’s cell phone beeped and he forced himself to get up. Staggering toward the bathroom, he nearly tripped on the suitcase he’d dumped on the floor when he got in around three that morning. He still wasn’t used to this house after fifteen years in the previous one he’d shared with Renee. He’d grown up in this home, but the master bedroom had belonged to his parents, who’d been murdered in the living room on the other side of the wall. Thinking about it made him uneasy. Had moving in here with his brother been a mistake? It was temporary, he reminded himself. They planned to renovate, sell, and split the equity. But Derrick, now a long-haul truck driver, was never home. Jackson was glad for the privacy, but it meant he would be stuck with all the work.

In the shower he alternated between hot and cool water until he felt awake, then took his prednisone and dressed for work. The
steroid was supposed to keep the fibrosis around his aorta from growing. He brewed a half pot of coffee, filled his tall travel mug, and headed out. He had to pick up Katie from Ivan’s house and get her settled back in. He would make his daughter breakfast, reassure her that Renee would be found, then take her to school. With her mother missing, Katie might not want to go to classes, but staying home would just make her worry more.

Twenty minutes later he pulled into Ivan Anderson’s driveway, looked up at the high-end home, and experienced a flash of envy. No wonder Renee had moved in with the guy. Would Katie get spoiled on her weekend stays and start to resent the modest older house they shared with his brother? He hoped not. His daughter wasn’t materialistic compared to other kids her age, but she was going through a phase of rapid physical and mental change and it worried him.

He knocked on the door, self-conscious about arriving so early, but decided that Renee’s fiancé probably hadn’t slept much either.

Anderson responded almost immediately. He was shorter, thicker, and older than Jackson, but he dressed well and looked like he took good care of himself. “Thanks for coming.” He gestured for Jackson to come in. “Katie said she’d be out in a minute. I know I’m not much comfort to her and she’s anxious to go home.”

“Anything new?” Jackson looked around the foyer—noting the marble floor and the one-of-a-kind chest of drawers—and realized how shabby his place was in comparison. He forced himself to stop thinking about it. He was never home anyway.

“No. Renee’s mother hasn’t heard from her and the police haven’t called.”

“I’ll head to the department and fill out a report. Give me her creditcard and cellphone information, so I can start making calls.”

Anderson scowled. “What will that tell you?”

“We need to know if she’s using the credit card and where. Same with the cell phone.”

“You think she might have walked away from us on purpose?”

Jackson wanted to say,
If Renee is drinking, anything is possible
. But he chose to be diplomatic. “I have no idea. I just know that this is how we find people.”

“Her cell phone is on my T-Mobile plan, and I’ll see if I can find her creditcard statement.”

As Anderson walked away, Jackson’s daughter ran up the hall, her overnight bag bouncing against her side. In the last year, she’d grown four inches and lost her baby fat. And now with her hair pulled back, he missed the wild curls.

“Dad!” She threw herself into his arms with an intensity he hadn’t seen since she was ten and got lost at the fair for a few minutes.

Jackson held Katie tight, his love for her threatening to overwhelm him. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find her.” He almost said,
I promise
, then bit it back. Renee’s disappearance baffled him and might not turn out well. After twenty-two years as a police officer, it was hard to be optimistic.

Anderson came into the room and his cell phone beeped somewhere inside his jacket pocket. Jackson and Katie both turned at the sound.
Let it be Renee
, Jackson prayed,
for Katie’s sake
.

“It’s a text,” Anderson said, surprised. He clicked open the text, and his face went slack as he read. “Oh god. Someone has kidnapped Renee. He wants a hundred thousand dollars.”

His daughter let out a yelp, then covered her mouth with her hand, while the news sucked the air out of Jackson’s chest and left him speechless. It took a moment to process a response. He’d
never handled a ransom kidnapping and didn’t think his department had either. “Let me see the text.”

“He wants the money in cash by three o’clock today or he’ll start cutting off her fingers.” Anderson’s voice broke at the end, and his hand trembled as he passed Jackson the phone.

Katie burst into tears, and Jackson wanted to smack Anderson for saying that out loud. The guy was so stressed out he was oblivious that Katie was even there. He touched Katie’s shoulder. “Please go wait in the car, sweetheart. There’s no need for you to hear this.”

“No! She’s my mother.” His daughter struggled to get control. “I’m not a little kid anymore. I have a right to know what’s going on.”