Faces of Evil [4] Rage (18 page)

“Let’s not worry about that right now.” Jess tapped her pencil on her pad. “Did he remember the time when he heard the baby crying?”

Leslie shook her head. “Time is irrelevant to him except for the things he knows should happen at a certain time. Like breakfast by ten. The sun rising or setting around a certain time frame. He’s very schedule oriented when it comes to the routine of his day, but when he’s doing something or watching something he’s totally oblivious to the passage of time.”

“Where does he go to school, Leslie?”

“Our mother tried several different schools but he seemed to do best at the Gateway Academy. It’s really expensive. By the time our mother died she had used up her savings. But the school let me keep bringing him this last year. They’re looking for scholarship money for next term. I’m hoping he’ll still be able to go.”

“I know this is hard,” Jess said carefully, “but where is your father?”

Leslie shrugged. “He left after Devon was diagnosed. He didn’t want to deal with it.”

That kind of cowardice was all too common. Made Jess want to hunt the guy down and kick him right in the…
focus, Jess
. “Your mother died nearly a year ago and you haven’t asked for any assistance?” Good grief, this poor girl was working herself into the ground. “You’re entitled to numerous benefits, Leslie. Social Security benefits for your brother. Probably food assistance and help with your utilities.”

“I was afraid they’d take him away from me if they found out I was trying to take care of him alone. I promised my mother that I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“So you’ve been working nights at this factory while he stays here by himself? And while you’re at school three days a week?”

She nodded, her expression one of shame. “He’s done really well. This is the first time anything like this has happened.”

Jess suppressed the urge to lecture the girl. Now wasn’t the time. “First, we’re going to find your brother. Then we’re going to make sure the two of you get all the help you’re entitled to. And no one,” she promised, “is going to take your brother away from you.” Jess would never forget those first few days when she and Lil went into foster care. They weren’t sure if anyone would take the both of them or if they would have to be split up. “You have my word on that.”

“Thank you.” Leslie swiped at her tears.

“So.” Jess readied to take notes. “Let’s go over this again. Devon climbed down the trellis.”

“He checked on Mrs. Grayson first. He recognized that she was dead. Then he went to see about the baby. The baby wouldn’t stop crying, so he filled his bottle with milk and that made the baby happy. Once the baby was happy, he was coming back here to watch from his window until Mr. Grayson came home.” She licked her dry lips. “I’ve drilled it into his head for so long that he shouldn’t let anyone find out he’s staying here alone while I work that he was afraid to call the police. And he knows Mr. Grayson is a policeman and that he would take care of everything when he got home.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “But that’s no excuse. This is my fault.”

“There was nothing anyone could have done for Mrs. Grayson,” Jess reminded her. “The fact that he didn’t call the police didn’t cause further harm.” She could see how it made sense to the boy to wait for the father to come home.

“But,” Leslie said with obvious hesitation, “someone was still in the house.”

The news interrupted the rhythm of Jess’s heart. “Did Devon see this person?”

Leslie shook her head. “It was too dark. He just kept saying it was probably the angel who takes the dead people to heaven. One of his teachers tried to explain about angels and heaven after our mother died. Whatever he heard that night, I don’t think he knew whether it was a man or woman even. Or real, for that matter. He swore to me that he didn’t see anyone. He heard a noise and thought it was the angel coming for Mrs. Grayson and he ran home.” Her lips started to tremble again. “I should have asked him more questions.”

Jess reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “We’ll find him.” Now for the most important question. “Is there any chance that Devon would leave out part of the story? That maybe he did see someone and that someone saw him?” Jess found herself holding her breath in anticipation of the answer.

Leslie shrugged her slumped shoulders. “He said no but he might not tell me that part if he thought it would make me worry. He worries about me as much as I worry about him.” Her face furrowed with worry. “But he had scratches on one arm. Like someone grabbed him and their nails dug into his skin as he pulled away. I asked him about the scratches and he said it was from when he plays under the house. He calls it his secret hiding place.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “But I’m scared to death that the angel he thinks he saw may have been a person… the killer, and maybe the killer saw Devon and he barely escaped being murdered.”

That was exactly what Jess feared as well. “We can’t rule out that possibility,” she confessed. “But Devon could be hiding because he thinks he’s in trouble. He sounds like a very bright and resilient young man. What about his school or your work? Would he know how to get to either one from here?”

Leslie shook her head. “He’s never been to my work and his school is in Mountain Brook. I don’t think he would remember all the turns.”

Leslie had already confirmed the boy wasn’t on any medication. That was one worry they wouldn’t have to deal with. Depending on the health issue, missed medication could create a deadly scenario. Beyond being taken by the killer or some other sick bastard, the next big worry was water. There were no bodies of water nearby other than a few pools, all of which had been checked already.

The most likely scenario was that the killer had seen him and had returned to tie up that loose end. Jess hoped that wasn’t the case but, based on what she had just learned, the odds were not in the child’s favor.

“Has Devon ever run away before?” The sister had said nothing like this had ever happened before but it never hurt to rephrase the question.

“Never.”

“When you came home did anything look out of place? Was the door locked? Anything unusual at all?”

“The door was locked and everything was exactly as it always is except Devon wasn’t here.” Tears welled in her eyes. “This is my fault.”

The front door didn’t have a dead bolt and like the old one on Jess’s apartment the lock would be simple to pick. That safety issue needed to be addressed immediately. She made a mental note to have her locksmith change the locks on the house and add dead bolts. What was a couple more hundred on her already hefty credit card balance?

“You can’t blame yourself, Leslie,” Jess urged. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Considered that the girl probably needed a hug or something. She reached across the table once more and patted her arm. “You’ve been doing the best you could. Now, until we find Devon, I’m sure you want to stay here in case he comes back, and I think that’s wise.”

Leslie nodded adamantly. “I don’t want to leave. This is the only place he really knows.”

“I’m assigning surveillance, so you’ll see an officer in an unmarked car parked in the street in front of your house. I’ll just feel better knowing you’re safe until we get Devon home.” On the slim chance Devon had wandered off on his own or decided to run away for some reason, there was still the risk that Gabrielle Grayson’s killer had seen him and would be looking for him here.

Leslie nodded her understanding. “What happens now?”

“Let’s make a list of anyone he might try to contact or places he might try to go. Is there a favorite toy store or bookstore? A doctor he’s visited enough times to remember the location?”

Leslie gave the name and address of his physicians. The name of the mall they usually shopped at, though those occasions were rare. The names of their few friends, all of whom they hadn’t seen in ages. Leslie had no time for a social life.

When they had exhausted the young woman’s ideas on the subject, Jess moved on to the one other detail she needed to cover. “One last question, Leslie.” Jess dreaded asking but, until they knew more, no rock could be left uncovered. Every possibility had to be explored.

Leslie waited expectantly.

“Did anything happen between the two of you that might make Devon want to run away?” More tears spilled down the girl’s cheeks. Jess felt like a wicked old witch for making her feel worse.

“I complain every day about how much trouble he is. Every single day. Yesterday was no different. So, yeah, he had every reason to want to run away. But he never did. He always stayed right here as if he were the one protecting me instead of the other way around.”

Urgency welled in Jess. She wondered if Leslie understood that she had just made the situation crystal clear.

Devon Chambers hadn’t left his sister because he was angry or afraid or for any other reason. He would never leave Leslie willingly. Devon was victim number two in this grisly case.

Dear God, would they be able to find him before it was too late?

7:00 p.m.

J
ess stood next to her Audi in the city’s parking garage. Burnett had promised it was waiting for her, keys under the mat, and here it was. She should get in the car and start the engine so the air-conditioning could begin the struggle of cooling down the interior. Or at least she should turn around and thank Burnett. Somehow she just couldn’t work up the enthusiasm. Instead, she stood here melting in the heat.

A woman was dead and the one possible witness to her murder, a child who’d already seen more than his fair share of pain and loss, was missing. Vanished. No one had seen him. No one had reported a small boy wandering around.

He was just gone. And his sister was terrified.

Jess was terrified.

She had to find that child… alive. If anything happened to him, his sister would never forgive herself.

Jess knew a little something about that. She had ignored Lil a million times. Like the voice mail she had left two hours ago. Jess had been busy, that was true. But she hadn’t wanted to talk to her sister just then. She’d wanted to hear the latest update from a distance… via voice mail. It was easier that way.

Lil’s personal physician, Dr. Collins, was concerned with her test results. He had mentioned potential problems ranging from clinical depression to various forms of cancer. There were numerous other possibilities in between and lots more testing to be done. He agreed with last night’s ER physician, that relevant family history would be helpful.

That was one problem Jess wasn’t looking forward to solving. It wasn’t that she minded going to see their one known living relative and demanding answers. She didn’t. Jess would do anything for her sister. It was the idea that two doctors had insisted on the importance of this step. Made Jess wonder if both men were leaning toward the worst and just didn’t want to suggest as much until they had evidence. Jess did that all the time in her work.

She didn’t want her sister to be that sick.

“We can do this another time.”

Jess shook off the disturbing worries and turned to Burnett—Dan, they were off duty now. She’d almost forgotten he was right behind her. “I need to do it now. I might not have time later.” With the Grayson case and little Devon missing… she really didn’t have time now. But she had to do this for her sister.

Dan moved up beside her. “Let me take care of this. I can do this for you and Lil.”

She wished he wouldn’t get so close. Especially right now. She was weak. Really weak. And that deep, familiar voice made her want to lean into him and squall her eyes out. “This is something
I
have to do.” She took a breath and reached for the car door but then hesitated. “I’m glad you’re going with me.”

“You’re exhausted. Why don’t you let me drive you?”

Before she could argue he was guiding her toward his SUV. He hit the remote and the vehicle started well ahead of their arrival at his reserved parking slot.

“Your fancy Mercedes is going to stick out like a rose in a patch of weeds.”

He opened her door and motioned for her to climb in. “I don’t think this will be the first high-end vehicle they’ve seen in that neighborhood considering what the pimps and drug dealers are driving these days.”

He had a point there. Jess settled into the passenger seat. The air-conditioning vents were already blowing out cool air. Now there was a good reason to have keyless start. She’d have to think about that when she got around to buying a new ride. In about ten more years.

Rush hour was over. Rush hour… what a misleading concept. Both the morning and the evening rush hour traffic issues lasted two hours at least. That didn’t even include road construction. As far back as she could remember one street or the other in Birmingham was always under construction, causing bottlenecks or detours.

Dan slowed for a turn and Jess dragged her thoughts back to their destination. Wanda Newsom lived in the Druid Hills neighborhood—the same one where much of the city’s gang troubles were taking place. Jess hadn’t discussed her drive-by of her aunt’s home the other day with Dan or anyone else. Last week’s case had drawn her to the neighborhood and she’d ended up going by Wanda’s house. Jess had no idea why she’d bothered. Temporary insanity maybe. Morbid curiosity mostly.