Tempestuous Taurus Page 21

  Once they were seated at a dark brown table in the small well-lit room, Palmer said, “You were seen leaving the area where the victim is presumed to be located this evening. Is there a reason you were there?”

  Jared’s stomach clenched. “You guys don’t miss much, do you?”

  “We are aware of your past history, Mr. White, and—”

  “Then you’ll know I was fully exonerated,” Jared snapped.

  “We know there was no evidence to support the theory that you committed the double murder that took place on these premises,” Gonzalez said. “What were you doing in that region today?”

  Jared sighed. “I was searching for Tara—my girlfriend. Okay? You guys took your time getting here and the kidnapper could be in a hurry to murder her. When are you gonna go out there and start searching?”

  “We have agents out there already and will be sending a drone up at first light. Did you find anything?”

  “No. But I eliminated one abandoned cabin. I could point it out on a map. I also dropped my phone someplace and I’d like to go back and get it. It’s turned on, so there should be a signal for GPS to locate.”

  Gonzalez stood up and placed an aerial map in front of Jared. He studied it, and then traced his movements and showed them the abandoned cabin. He gave them his cell phone number.

  “Please stay away from that area while the search is being conducted. You would be putting yourself in danger. We understand you provided the name of a potential suspect, Roderick Passmore. Could you tell us why you believe he is the kidnapper?”

  Jared explained how he had gone through the files in the office and seen the yearbook, and how Passmore had reacted to Tara’s rejection of his invitation to the prom. “But listen to me, please, there’s a little girl gone missing. Her name’s Kaitlyn Boone. Her foster mom is beside herself.”

  “You think this could be linked to the kidnapping?”

  “I honestly don’t know what to think. She has a habit of running away, but . . . I have to go search, so can we carry on with this later?”

  “If there’s a possibility that her disappearance could be linked to the kidnapping, we need details,” Palmer said. “Has a missing persons report been filed? We haven’t seen one.”

  “I can’t speak for her foster parents, but I can give you their contact information, and as long it’s not in your hands, I’ll be searching for her.”

  Chapter 62

  Tara’s throat hurt so bad from the jerks on the leash, she could hardly breathe. Her breaths came in loud, harsh gasps. The flimsy slip-on slippers had fallen off a while back, and she was glad she spent a lot of her time barefoot, as it seemed to have toughened up the soles of her feet.

  “How much further?” she rasped.

  “Keep moving.” He jerked the rope for good measure and she wished for the hundredth time that her hands were free to hold onto the collar and mitigate the damage. She staggered and fell to one knee, and coughed, feeling the sting from the rocks she landed on.

  She braced herself for the tug on her neck but instead, he grabbed her arm and yanked her up.

  They trudged on. Thorny bushes and low branches of trees grabbed at her and pulled her. She stumbled and tried to right herself but lost her balance. With no hands to help break her fall, she fell on her face. She groaned and lay there for a few seconds, spat out the dirt that had stuck to her tongue, and rolled over to look up at her captor. Under her hand, she felt something hard and warm. She thought she knew what it was immediately. A cell phone.

  Roderick kicked her hard in the ribs, making her gasp out loud.

  “Get up.”

  She held on to the item, sure now that it was a phone, and made sure she kept her back to him as he dragged her up onto her feet by her arm. She blew out a long breath. She had to hide it, but where and how? She slid the stupid night dress up and slipped the phone into her panties, thankful that the panties were tight. It sank down to the gusset. If it rang or buzzed, she’d be busted, and if the battery had died, it would be useless. She had to believe it would work out.

  Roderick dragged her out of the bushes and onto a dirt trail, and she welcomed the smooth earth under her feet. She hoped the phone was still functional, although she knew it could have been lying there for months or even years. As the time dragged on, she began to doubt that it would work. It hadn’t made any sound of any sort. If it did work, and she was able to get away from him, who would she call? She had never memorized Jared’s phone number. The only number she knew was the landline in her house, and who would check that? The home number also rang in the office, so Jules could pick up if she was there, or Cassie, maybe, if Roderick was right and she had made it to safety.

  They walked on and Tara tried not to think about how desperate for a drink she was feeling. Her throat was dry and raw from him tugging at the leash around her neck, and she knew she was dehydrated. She tried not to think about it and turned her thoughts to Cassie. Would she know how to get back here? “Why do you think Cassie made it out of here?” she rasped.

  “None of your business,” he grunted.

  After what seemed an age, he pushed his way through a thick barrier of young pines and a cabin hidden from the trail, stood in front of them.

  “Wait here,” he said. He had left her unattended. She had to run. This was her chance. He had left her alone. She sucked in a deep breath and turned to run blindly, unaware of the direction. She had to get away.

  His footsteps came up behind her and he pushed her down hard. She landed face down again and almost lost the phone. “Stupid bitch. You don’t really think I would let you leave.” He lifted her almost off her feet by the arm and dragged her to the cabin. He held on to her while he pushed the door open.

  Smaller than the other cabin, it smelled dank and dusty.

  As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw it was open-plan with a crude pole bunk bed against the wall on the far left side. There were only two windows—both toward the front end of the cabin. A dirty plastic pail stood on the floor, and she surmised it was there to catch the rainwater from the leaky roof.

  He jerked the leash and she made a strangling, gurgling sound as she fought to catch her breath. “You’re lucky I didn’t break your fucking neck,” he growled. “Don’t you ever dare try to run away again. If I didn’t have a purpose for you, I would have killed you right there.”

  She coughed and coughed. Her heart was still pumping hard, her breath coming in labored gasps. Her throat burned. Her mouth was so dry she could hardly swallow. He threw her onto the bed, which had a thin mattress and a sleeping bag on it. It smelled of old sweat and cigarettes.

  “Turn over.”

  He cut the ties on her wrists, sending shooting pains through her arms and hands as the blood rushed in. He rolled her over so she was lying on her back again.

  “Give me your hand,” he said, holding up more of the dreaded cable ties.

  “Please don’t make it too tight.”

  He tied each hand to the sides of the bed and smiled as he pulled them tight, disregarding her request and enjoying her pain. She clenched her fists and tried to make her wrists thicker than they would normally be, but she knew it didn’t make much difference.

  He left her on the bed and went to examine the scattered cans of food on the shelves lining the wall opposite her, which was part of a crude kitchen, with a wood-burning stove beside a rough work table. The only other furniture was made up of four metal folding chairs and an old rusted metal folding table.

  She maneuvered her hips close to her hand and managed to slide the phone out and down the side of the mattress, safe from his prying eyes.

  Night had fallen and he had lit one candle, but it didn’t give much light. The only sounds were the creaking of the old roof in the wind. A cricket chirped from somewhere in the cabin.r />
  She could see his outline, sitting at the window, tense, with the rifle pointing outward.

  As long as he was this strung-out she wouldn’t have a hope in hell of getting away.

  She wondered at his purpose. He said he still needed her. She wet her lips. “Why are you doing this?” Her voice came out as a croak. If only she could have a drink of water.

  “Shut the fuck up,” he said. “Or I’ll shut you up permanently.”

  Were they still looking for her, or had they given up? Cassie must be safe with Jared. They would worry about her, though, and she hated that.

  She had to do something. It was beginning to look like the cops weren’t going to come and rescue her any time soon. And how would they find this place? It was surrounded by trees and bushes. Cassie had to have reported the other place to them by now, but she didn’t know about this cabin. It was obvious it hadn’t been occupied for a long time. She wondered again if Cassie was okay. What if he was right about the mountain lion?

  Maybe I can work the ties loose if I keep moving my hands like this. Wish he would give me a drink. Throat hurts. The phone was still tucked in the side of the mattress, and she longed to find out if it worked. If only her hands were tied together and not to each side of the bed.

  Time passed with agonizing stillness. The cricket had given up its chirping, and only a few night insects buzzed outside. Were the ties getting looser? She kept working on them, moving her wrists back and forth, back and forth. She strained her ears, desperate to hear a car’s engine, but nothing stirred. Occasionally, she heard him shift in the chair, and that made her jump. He had not offered her any food or water. She wondered how long they would be staying.

  “I need to pee,” she said, her voice echoing in the quiet.

  “Shut up.”

  “But I need . . .”

  She heard him get up and cross the room with angry strides. He slapped her hard across her face. “Pee in the fucking bed. I’m not letting you off there.”

  The blow stung, but when she jerked to try to avoid being hit, she felt the cable on her left hand loosen. Her face stung and her heart raced—but not from the pain. She waited for him to stalk back to the window and saw his silhouette, dark against the moonlit sky. She remembered watching a movie in which the captive, who was a woman, escaped because cable ties were plastic and they could stretch.

  And then what? If she managed to get free, what could she do to get past him?

  Her only hope was that he would fall asleep, but how would she be able to tell for sure?

  Could Cassie ever live a normal life after everything she had been through? If she escaped with her life, Tara vowed to get her the best therapy money could buy. If only she had told Jared that she loved him. She had always loved him, but when he was convicted of murdering her parents, she had done everything she could to shut him out of her life.

  She had to escape. She needed to have the chance to make things right. To tell him she would never move away and leave him. Her place was with him. Hardship was her home, and she wanted the chance to make the Taurus Center better than ever, better even than it was when her mom was alive, and when Aunt Lacey first took over.

  She moved her wrist back and forth, back and forth. The tie was definitely getting looser, but would her hand ever be able to fit through it? She had to move slowly and carefully so she didn’t make a noise.

  Oh, God, it hurt, but she had to do it. She had seen it in him. In Jared—the love he felt for her. It was a tangible thing that shone inside him. Why had she denied him for so long? How could she have believed he could kill her parents?

  Did Roderick really do all of these horrible things because of her? Could she ever learn to live with that? It was her fault all of this happened.

  Chapter 63

  Jared opened the back door and looked out into the pre-dawn darkness. He had spent a couple of hours driving around searching for Kaitlyn in the dark the previous night. Fog blanketed everything and dripped off the trees. He couldn’t shake the picture of her alone and cold and wet in the dark somewhere. When he got back to the Center, he had called Lou. She was understandably beside herself, and he asked to speak with her husband, whom he had always known as Skunk.

  “Listen, man,” he’d said, “you have to report Kaitlyn’s disappearance. The Feds are here, but they can’t do anything unless you file a missing persons report. I’ll keep trying to find her, but if Lou doesn’t want to do it, you’ll have to go around her.”

  He crouched down and ruffled the dogs’ warm fur and let them lick his face.

  He was thankful he’d gotten some sleep. Being in Tara’s bed, with the smell of her on the sheets had made him restless, but he had managed a little shuteye. “Hey, about that phone you lost,” Shawn said from behind him.

  Jared turned around.

  Shawn’s red, curly hair stood on end and he scratched the stubble on his chin.

  “Yeah, what about it?” Clad only in his boxers, Jared stretched, followed Shawn back into the kitchen, and sank onto one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table.

  “If it’s still working, you can find it remotely.” Shawn handed him a cup of steaming hot coffee and took the seat opposite Jared at the table.

  Merrick snorted and groaned in his sleep, where he lay on the sofa.

  “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to, but so much has happened.” He left the coffee on the table and hurried to the office, where he powered on the computer, tapping the desk with a pen while he waited. He found Samsung’s site and entered the phone number. Shawn stood behind him, peering over his shoulder at the screen.

  Nothing happened. He looked back and held both palms out.

  “Just wait,” Shawn said.

  The computer beeped. “There. Those are the co-ords.” Jared wrote down the coordinates and stared at the map. “Wait a minute. I wasn’t there yesterday." He squinted and leaned forward to study it. “I can read a map, and I know where I went, and it wasn’t there. Let me look at the aerial map.” He waited for it to load. “See this little brown thing here? That’s the cabin I found yesterday. I followed this track and stopped and got out there.” He pointed. “I figure that has to be where I lost the phone. It’s at least three miles from where the phone is now.”

  “So someone has it?”

  “And how many people are out there in those woods? I didn’t see a single soul while I was there. How could someone have found the phone already? It’s not even light yet.” He looked out the window as if to confirm what he had just said.

  “Hey, I found the tattoo artist and made contact with him. He said the dude’s name was Roderick Passmore. So it looks like you were right on the nose.”

  “Thanks. I’ll tell the Feds, and then I’m going out to see if I can find the kid again.”

  “I also found something about Mrs. P—did you know she owns property out there where they think Tara’s being held? She was married to a Tom Vandenburg. After her divorce, she took her old name back. The ex, Vandenburg, passed away and left her the cabin.”

  Jared raised an eyebrow. “So—you think that’s where she is? Why would she close everything up and go out there?”

  “Maybe she’s met someone and they’re having a dirty weekend together out there?”

  Shawn laughed.

  The FBI unit was a buzz of activity, and Jared knew it wouldn’t be long before the reporters started showing up. He had to leave before that, but first, he knocked on the door, not sure if anyone would be up and about yet.

  Palmer opened the door. Jared didn’t know where he had slept—or if he had slept—but he hadn’t combed his hair yet.

  “You got a minute?” Jared said.

  Palmer let him in and picked up a mug of coffee from a table nearby. He led Jared to the small interrogation room and they both sat.<
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  “Did you have any luck looking for the little girl?” Palmer rubbed the stubble on his chin and yawned.

  “No. I’m going out again. I guess you didn’t get to meet with her parents.”

  “Tara Ericson is our priority. We’re here to try to recover her. When the parents file a missing persons report, we will get involved. You said she often runs away, so it doesn’t sound like she’s been kidnapped.” He sipped his coffee.

  “I just wish I could go with you guys to search for Tara. I’m here because I tracked my phone this morning and it’s moved a couple of miles from where I was yesterday. Someone has it.”

  Palmer leaned forward. “Can you point its location out on the map?”

  “Sure,” Jared said.

  Palmer brought the same aerial map Jared had marked the previous evening. “Here’s where I went, as you know, and this is where it was this morning.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “I know the area well enough.” Jared wanted to hold on to him and look into his eyes. “Please find Tara. I’m counting on you, and thank you.’ Jared’s voice almost broke. They had to find her. She was tough. He knew she could handle a lot, but sometimes the odds were just stacked against you.

  He ducked into his truck as the first TV van arrived and headed toward Kaitlyn’s home. The fog had closed in even more, making visibility difficult. He drove slowly and scanned the sides of the roads.

  “Kaitlyn!” he called out of the open window. “Kaitlyn, come on. We’re all worried about you.”

  He reached Lou’s place and realized he couldn’t call because he had no phone. He thought of knocking on her door but decided against it. It was only just after six in the morning, and he didn’t need her crying on his shoulder again. Kaitlyn’s whereabouts had to be his focus, but he didn’t have a clue where to look.