Furious (12 page)

T
WENTY
-T
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It was Sunday. The vigil was in full force at the local high school. Twinkling lights had been wrapped around multiple tree trunks. An enormous Christmas tree, decorated with cards and prayers for Lara and Hudson, shot up a good twenty feet in the middle of the main area outside where hundreds of people had gathered to show support for Faith and her family.

Pushed against the main building were long, rectangular tables loaded with stacks of pamphlets on how best to help in cases like this. Faith’s family members were making the rounds, talking to people and thanking them for coming and mostly for caring. A high school teacher stood on a podium and talked about how the community needed to do everything they could to help keep Lara and Hudson in the forefront of their minds, reminding everyone to be vigilant and keep both eyes open. “Faith and her children are a part of our family, our community,” she said. “And we need to show our support by doing everything we can to bring Lara and Hudson home.”

Faith stood off to the side and talked to a long line of people who’d been waiting to have their say. Teachers and students, some stoic, some tearful, approached her and offered condolences. Amanda Higgins from Lara’s class told Faith she missed Lara and had been saving her allowance. She handed Faith a pink envelope before rushing back to where her parents stood nearby. The outpouring of love and support was uplifting and did her heart well.

Across the way, over a sea of people holding flickering candles, Faith was surprised to see Beast and Rage heading her way.

“Faith McMann?” someone called from behind.

Turning toward the voice, she found herself looking into the lens of a camera.

“Hi. I’m Tammi Clark with Channel 10 News.”

Tammi Clark, tall and slender with fiery red hair and flawless skin, had been doing the local news for decades. “We’ve been looking all over for you,” Tammi said as she reached out to shake Faith’s hand. “Quite a crowd you have here. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions.”

“That would be fine,” Faith said.

Tammi quickly gestured for the cameraman to start shooting. Lights flashed on. “This is Tammi Clark, live in Granite Bay. I’m here with Faith McMann, an elementary school teacher who survived a brutal home invasion that resulted in the kidnapping of her two children and the vicious murder of her beloved husband.”

Faith squinted into the bright lights.

“I am sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

“Members of the community want to know—how are you holding up?” Tammi asked.

“I’m OK. All of my focus has been on finding my children,” Faith said. “That’s why I’m here. That’s why we’re all here.”

“And how is the investigation going?”

“My investigation or the police investigation?”

Tammi raised a brow. “Are they not one and the same?”

“The detectives have many more resources, but we’re both working hard to keep the public aware and on the lookout for Lara and Hudson.”

“Do I detect bitterness?”

“Not at all.”

Faith’s mom approached and said, “The Placer County Sheriff’s Department is doing all they can. Everyone knows layoffs were avoided last year, but budget problems continue to hurt the department.”

“Not everyone who loses a child has this much support, financial or otherwise,” Tammi said. “What do you say to them?”

“I send my prayers to all families of missing children,” Faith said. “I share their grief. I plan to do all I can to raise awareness and funds for the Missing and Exploited Children Foundation. I’ve also set up a website, and I’m offering a reward of twenty thousand dollars to anyone whose tip might lead to finding my children.”

Jana held up a poster showing blown-up pictures of Faith’s children. The camera zeroed in on their faces. “If you’ve heard or seen anything at all that you think might help us to find Lara and Hudson McMann,” Jana said, “please call the number posted at www.FaithMcMann.com.”

“We all sympathize, of course,” Tammi said. “And yet I was wondering if you could explain your sudden violence against Detective Yuhasz, an officer of the law?”

Caught off guard by the question, Faith didn’t know what to say.

“Many people found what you did to be inexcusable.”

“I would have to agree,” Faith said.

“It’s my understanding you broke the detective’s nose and then bit another officer as he tried to pull you away.”

Rage appeared suddenly and stepped in front of Faith and jabbed her finger at the reporter. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Look around you. All these people gathered here tonight are here to help Faith McMann find her kids. She had her throat slit and then was forced to watch her husband die as her small children were crying and dragged from their home. And yet you’re here to talk about her outburst?” She turned and pointed to Faith’s neck. “Look at the scar zigzagging across her face, lady! I think you would be angry, too, if everything you loved was taken from you in an instant.”

Tammi’s mouth fell open. She looked at the cameraman, who merely shrugged and kept on filming. Tammi, it appeared, was losing control of the interview and didn’t like it one bit. Her face reddened as she stepped around Rage and shoved the microphone back toward Faith. “I wanted to give you a chance to apologize to the detective.”

The reporter was obviously trying to bait her. Faith counted to three before she looked into the camera and said, “I would like to offer Detective Yuhasz my sincerest apology.”

Disappointment flashed across Tammi’s face. Clearly she’d hoped for something more explosive, something to give her ratings a boost. “I have one last question.”

Rage crossed her arms.

“Go ahead,” Faith said, refusing to let the woman get to her.

“It’s come to my attention that you were pregnant and lost the baby during the attack. Did your husband know you were pregnant?”

Faith paled.

Rage took a hold of Faith’s elbow and ushered her away. Faith could hear her sister giving the reporter hell. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Mom, Dad, and Colton trying to get Jana to calm down.

Once they found a bit of privacy at the far side of the school, away from the media frenzy and out of the public eye, Faith doubled over, wrapping her arms around her middle.

“That woman is a bitch,” Rage told Beast when he joined them.

“I need to get out of here,” Faith said as she straightened.

“Are you OK to drive?”

Faith sighed as she remembered arriving at the school with her parents. “I don’t have my car.” She peeked around the corner of the building and saw Tammi Clark leaving the area as the cameraman rushed to put away his gear. Mom and Dad hadn’t allowed the scene to disrupt what they were there to do. They continued to work the crowd, passing out flyers and pamphlets.

“We’ll take you home,” Beast offered.

“Are you sure?”

“Not a problem. Come on. My truck is parked on the street.”

Faith used her cell phone to call Dad and let him know she was getting a ride home and would meet them there. The night air was brisk. She tightened the belt on her coat as they walked. Beast’s truck was an old Ford F-100. Faith climbed into the backseat and gave him directions to her parents’ house. The only noise was the rumble of the engine.

Faith felt restless. She wasn’t ready to go back to her parents’ home. She wanted to go to the house she shared with Craig and the children, had a strong desire to gather some of her children’s things to bring home with her. She closed her eyes, tried to sense them, breathe them in. In her mind’s eye, Lara reached out for her and Hudson smiled. They were alive. She had to believe they were alive. Leaning forward, Faith said to Beast, “Would you mind taking the next right on Barton instead? If you could drop me at my house I can grab my mail and check on a few things.”

Rage looked over her shoulder at her. “I thought we
were
taking you home.”

“I’m living with my parents—court ordered after hitting the detective over the head with a keyboard.”

“I wish I could have been there for that,” Rage said. “I’m sure he deserved it.”

Beast took the next right without any questions, and for the next few minutes Faith simply breathed and felt a sense of camaraderie with Beast and Rage. It didn’t matter that they had known one another for only a short time. They had all suffered through terrible tragedy and had the anger to show for it.

Faith gathered her mail at the box at the end of the street. “I can walk the rest of the way and then have Mom and Dad pick me up on their way home.”

“We’re good,” Rage assured her. “We’re not leaving you here alone.”

Beast parked in front of the garage. They followed Faith down the front walkway and into the house. She turned on the lights. Beast stared at the painted wall. “So these are the guys, huh?”

“Yeah.” She stood next to him and stared right along with him. She had memorized every feature. In fact, every time she saw someone with the same wide-set eyes or thin, straight nose, her palms would sweat and her heart would race.

A swoosh of water sprayed against the sliding door. They all turned that way.

Rage reached for her inside coat pocket.

“It’s the pool cleaner,” Faith said. “Sometimes it gets stuck and then sprays the house.” She headed for the sliding glass door leading to the backyard. Beast and Rage followed behind in a single line. The moon was full and bright. Just as she’d thought, the pool cleaner had gotten stuck on the stairs inside the pool.

There was another sound too—a noise she didn’t recognize—a swishing followed by a creak and a grind.

Faith unlatched the gate surrounding the pool and then made her way to the stairs leading into the shallow end of the pool. A toy basketball hoop, blown over by recent winds, was lodged underneath the diving board.

“Mom! Look at me!”

Lara jumped off the diving board, doing her best imitation of a swan dive.

Faith clapped.

Hudson liked to do everything his sister did. Craig and Faith watched him run to the diving board. Instead of his usual pencil dive, he went for it. His stomach hit the water with a smack.

Faith jumped up, ready to help him, but when his little head popped out of the water, he had a grin on his face as he dog-paddled to the edge of the pool, ready to try it again.

Faith’s chest tightened as the image passed through her mind. She missed her family so much it hurt.

“What’s that noise?” Rage asked, bringing Faith back to the present moment.

“It sounds like your pool filter,” Beast said. “Mind if I go have a look?”

“Be my guest.”

Faith untangled the cleaner while Beast walked back through the gate and disappeared around the corner of the house. It wasn’t long before he called out for Faith to come have a look at something. She and Rage found him kneeling down next to the pool equipment. He had unclamped and removed the casing around the filter. From the looks of it, something had been crammed inside. “What is it?”

“It looks like a plastic bag, hard to tell. I wanted you to see this before I touched anything.” He grabbed a handful of thick plastic and tugged until the bag came loose. Duct tape had been wrapped around the bag. He used his pocketknife to cut it open. The floodlight on the corner of the house made it easy to see what was inside—cash. Stacks of money bound by paper bands. Faith gasped at the sight of it.

“Holy shit!” Rage said.

Beast fingered through one of the stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

Rage moved around him and tapped on a rusty metal door. “What’s this?”

“The heater,” Faith told her.

Rage borrowed Beast’s pocketknife and used it to pry open the rusty door to the heater. Another bag. Faith looked over her shoulder, peering past the pool into the dark field of tall grass. “If they’re watching us, we’re dead.”

They both looked at her. “If who’s watching us?” Rage asked.

“The men painted on her walls,” Beast said.

Rage pulled the bag from the heater unit and carried it toward the house.

“What are you doing?” Faith wanted to know.

“We need to bring this inside and see what we’re dealing with here.”

Beast put the pool equipment back the way it should be. Faith grabbed the other bag, and they all headed inside. No sooner had Faith locked the sliding glass door and closed the curtains than a knock sounded on the front door.
They’re here,
she thought. It was over. They were all dead.

Rage pulled something from her pocket as she headed for the door.

“Is that a gun?” Faith asked.

“Yes. But don’t worry. I have a right to conceal permit.” She snapped her fingers. “You should get one. All I had to do was prove that I was of good moral character.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Rage looked at Beast, as if she wanted confirmation that it would be OK to punch Faith in the nose.

Beast shook his head.

“Why would I be kidding?”

“Nothing,” Faith said. “Never mind.”

Another knock sounded.

Rage looked through the peephole and said, “It’s a woman. Stocky build with short, dark hair.”

Faith looked through the peephole. “My neighbor. Beth Tanner.”

Faith opened the door.

A rifle pointed skyward was strapped to Beth’s shoulder. She looked like a soldier making her nightly rounds. Everyone seemed to have a gun except Faith.

“Is everything OK?” Beth asked. “I was about to call nine-one-one.” She slid her phone into her pocket. “I saw your outside lights go on, and I didn’t recognize the truck in the driveway. Have you been away?”

“I’m staying with my parents for a while. I wanted to grab the mail and check on the house, so a couple of friends brought me by to take a look around. Sorry if we disturbed you.”

Beth didn’t move. She wasn’t convinced, which made sense considering everything that had happened. “It’s OK,” Faith said again. “Would you feel better if I introduced you?”

“Yes, I would,” Beth said flatly.