“Panic setting in?” Sam said, more a statement than question.
“That started more than two weeks ago, when the judge disappeared. It’s been growing worse and worse. The only happy people in town—though they do try hard to hide it—are the owners of our one electronics store.”
“A run on security systems?”
“Yeah. On complete systems and on various components to enhance and strengthen existing security systems. And locksmiths are installing new door locks at a pace I’ve never seen before. I don’t think there’s a house or condo in town that doesn’t have an extra dead bolt on every exterior door.” Jonah knew he looked tired and grim; he just hoped he didn’t look as grateful as he felt at the arrival of these agents. He was not too proud to yell for help, especially when he didn’t have a clue what was going on in his town, but no man wanted to look like he felt totally helpless, after all.
Luke, clearly the lead agent, exchanged looks with the others, then said, “It’ll be dark in a few hours. All the sites of the disappearances were within a mile radius of downtown, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Well, we brought some equipment with us, but we can unload that and get set up later. I assume you’ve stepped up patrols in Serenity?”
“Doubled during the day; after dark they’re doubled again, and I have officers on foot, in teams, covering as much as possible of the downtown area. The town council told me to forget the budget and get whatever and whoever I need, but there just aren’t many trained auxiliary deputies, and I don’t like using jumpy volunteers. So I’ve done what I could. Stretching resources as far as they’ll stretch.”
“It’s all you can do until we find some kind of pattern in all this,” Luke said.
Jonah nodded and said, “Your hotel is just a couple of blocks away. And they’ll hold the rooms till whenever you’re ready to check in.”
It was Luke’s turn to nod. “Good enough. Normally, we’d split up and take different sites, but in this case, I think we should all probably see the site of each disappearance at the same time. And in order.”
“That could be important?”
“At this stage, there’s no telling what may or may not be important,” Luke said, matter-of-fact. “Sometimes we start with the most recent case and work backward, mostly because the freshest crime scene is the most likely to hold some important information or detail. But in this case . . . we can’t really call them crime scenes. According to your reports, nothing was disturbed at any of the scenes, no blood, nothing suspicious. Just missing people. Might as well start with the first scene and work up to Vanessa Tyler’s disappearance last night.”
“Her parents are basket cases,” Jonah said. “My second’s been with them all day, as well as their pastor, with various relatives and friends coming and going. I had to follow the missing-child protocols and put out the Amber Alert for surrounding areas, and I have people manning the tip line.”
Robbie tilted her head slightly as she looked at him. “But you don’t believe either will help find Vanessa.”
“Nessa,” he said in a rather automatic tone. “They call her Nessa. And, no, I don’t expect either to help. If this was a child abduction, just simply that . . . But it isn’t. It’s the sixth disappearance in less than a month, and even though they were all different, they all have . . . things . . . in common. Whatever happened to Nessa, it’s happened to five other people. I don’t want us to focus on just the disappearance of a child, as difficult as that may be. They’re all gone. They all need to be found.”
Luke nodded. “Understood. And agreed. When did you put out the Amber Alert on Nessa?”
“I waited as long as I could,” Jonah said frankly. “It’s a second marriage for Caroline; Matt is Nessa’s stepfather—though he adopted her legally. Her biological father, Curtis Hutchins, hasn’t been part of her life since she was a toddler. He was abusive; Caroline left him with the baby and came here, where she had family. Filed for divorce, uncontested, and got full custody. She and Matt were married a bit over a year later.”
“Hutchins was a suspect?”
“To Caroline he was. Probably still is. She’s convinced even after nearly nine years that he got in somehow and abducted Nessa.”
Luke said, “You’re sure he didn’t. Because her disappearance matches these others in certain . . . details?”
“That. And the fact that shortly after noon today we tracked down Curtis Hutchins. He’s doing life in a Nebraska prison. Aggravated murder, nothing to do with a child.”
“I’d call that an alibi,” Dante murmured.
“Yeah. Once I more or less persuaded Caroline he couldn’t possibly have taken Nessa, of course she and Matt both wanted the Amber Alert. But I kept it low-key.”
“To delay the media descending on us,” Sam said.
Jonah nodded. “It gives us a little breathing room. But if I’m wrong, if Nessa’s disappearance isn’t connected to the others and somebody did simply abduct that little girl . . . I know the odds on stranger abductions of children. Delaying the Amber Alert could have signed her death warrant.”
—
SINCE IT WAS quicker to drive than walk to the spot where Amy Grimes and Simon Church had vanished, Jonah led the way in his Jeep, with three of the feds following in their SUV.
Lucas Jordan rode with the chief.
Almost as soon as they pulled out onto Main Street, Luke said, “You seem very sure Nessa’s abduction wasn’t someone local.”
It wasn’t exactly a question, but Jonah answered anyway.
“No registered sex offenders in Serenity. I know those monsters can hide in plain sight and often do, but I also know my town. I grew up here. Look, we went through the paces. We questioned neighbors, friends of the family, and Nessa’s friends, asked all the right questions of all the right people. I believe a stranger who watched Nessa long enough to be able to get into that house, take Nessa, and get out without leaving so much as a fucking hair behind, even assuming that was possible, would have been noticed.
“That leaves a stranger abduction—and I have the same reservations for that, for the same reasons plus one more. Because her disappearance was too similar to five other disappearances this month for me to be able to ignore that.”
“How do the parents feel now that the biological father has been eliminated from suspicion?” Luke asked, looking around as they drove.
“The whole town knows about the disappearances; even though I tried to keep details quiet, once others were nearby—girlfriends, husbands, parents—most of those details got out quickly. The Tylers believe Nessa’s abduction is connected. They want answers, naturally. And the sooner the better. They’ve also scared themselves more than necessary by going onto the Internet and reading stats on abductions, especially child abductions. Why do people do that?”
“They think they want to be informed, to understand.” Luke shrugged. “Though it usually just scares them more, as you said.”
“I get it. I just don’t like it. People still believe every word they read on the Internet is true, the way they used to be able to trust newspapers. It’s hard as hell to convince them to read critically and check sources. It also wastes my time,” he added.
Calmly, Luke asked, “Have you managed to keep the real oddities of the disappearances under wraps?”
“The oddities of people disappearing into thin air, no,” Jonah said after a moment. “Conspiracy theories are popping up like weeds.”
“And the rest?” Luke smiled faintly when Jonah shot him a quick look. “You asked for the SCU. For us, specifically. We’re all assuming there are details you didn’t put in your reports or tell Bishop. Details you’ve been keeping to yourself. Details that make you certain these disappearances are connected.”
“My second knows,” Jonah said finally. “Sarah Waters, lead detective. She discovered the kids’ car abandoned at the first site, where we’re going now, and was the first to reach the stream where the judge disappeared. She knows all the . . . oddities.”