Hometown Love
, Copyright 2015 by Christina Tetreault
Published by Christina Tetreault
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author at [email protected]. This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
For more information on the author and her works, please see
www.christinatetreault.com
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DIGITAL ISBN: 9780990651123
PRINT ISBN: 9780990651130
*The Teacher’s Billionaire
*The Billionaire Playboy
*The Billionaire Princess
*The Billionaire’s Best Friend
*Redeeming The Billionaire
*More Than A Billionaire
*Loving The Billionaire, a novella
+The Courage To Love
* The Sherbrookes of Newport Series
+ Love on The North Shore Series
The distinct ringtone he’d set for work calls bounced off the walls of the stairwell. Without pausing, Mack Ellsbury pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Hello.”
“Acker called a squad briefing regarding that Amber Alert,” Special Agent Dakota Smith said in lieu of a proper greeting.
He’d gotten the message about the Amber Alert while standing in line at the deli. Rather than stick around to enjoy his late lunch, he’d had them wrap it and headed back to the office. “On my way now.” Mack pulled open the door, then headed straight for the squad area where several other agents and the squad supervisor were already gathered.
“Okay, here’s what we know. Daniela Batista, age twelve, left North Salem Middle School yesterday with a friend. She has not been seen since. However, her mother Maria Batista didn’t report her missing until this afternoon.” Duncan Acker, the squad supervisor, said to the other special agents and task force officers around him. “Evidently, she has run away before after an argument, stayed with a friend for the night and come home the next day. According to the mother, they argued Wednesday night about Daniela moving in with her father. Maria and José Batista divorced nine months ago. Mother and daughter moved to North Salem while the ex-husband stayed in Fall River.”
Mack’s gaze remained focused on the missing girl’s school picture. Of all the cases he worked, a child abduction got to him the most. To make matters worse, this one hit so close to home. He’d grown up in North Salem. His family lived there. He had friends there. Kidnappings just didn’t happen in North Salem.
“Mrs. Batista called town police and reported Daniela missing this afternoon after her daughter didn’t come home from school and all her friends claimed not to know where she is.”
“Amber Alert mentions a white sedan,” Dakota said.
Duncan nodded. “Daniela’s friend told the mom that she saw Daniela get into a white car as they walked home from school.”
“Friend give any other details?” Oliver asked.
“She said the car had four doors, but didn’t remember anything else about it. She did say the car picked Daniela up on Pleasant Street.”
Mack knew every inch of the town. Several stores, the bank, and a restaurant were located on Pleasant Street. “There’s a few store fronts on that road. Some may have security cameras that caught something.”
“Excellent. You head into town and pull any surveillance video you can,” Duncan instructed. “Dakota and Oliver, interview the girl’s friends. They may have kept something from the mother.” Duncan turned toward Bruce another agent on the squad. “Track down the father. So far local LEOS have not had any luck, and Mrs. Batista believes her ex-husband might be involved. It was an ugly divorce and custody battle.”
Duncan continued with instructions as Mack pulled out his cell phone. It was already past two o’clock. And he knew this was going to be a long day, which meant he wouldn’t be able to pick up Grace before the daycare center closed tonight. He dialed his mother.
After several rings, his mother answered. “Hi, Mack. Everything okay?”
While he spoke with his mother on a regular basis, he never called in the middle of the day unless something was up.
“Missing girl case. I expect it to be a long day. Can you pick Grace up after work for me?” He hated asking. It would take his mom a good forty-five minutes to reach Boston and at least another forty-five to get home depending on traffic. He had few options, though because he might not be calling it a day until midnight or later.
“Of course. I’ll head over as soon as my meeting with the principal ends. I didn’t plan to stay late today anyway. Grace can spend the night, and you can pick her up tomorrow.”
Thank God for his family. He didn’t know what he’d do without them. He just wished when things like this happened they didn’t have to go so far out of their way. “Thanks, Mom.” Mack ended the call with his mom, and then phoned the day care center downstairs. Once he let them know about the change in Grace’s day, he grabbed his gear and headed out.
Located on the North Shore, North Salem remained a picturesque New England town, a place that didn’t change. In fact, with only a few exceptions, it was the same as when he’d lived there.
Mack turned onto Union Street and past the church, the For Sale sign on the old Kerry house catching his attention. He’d always liked that house. Unlike the cookie-cutter homes built today, it had character. Hopefully, whoever bought the place wouldn’t make too many changes.
After passing through the intersection, Mack turned onto Pleasant Street, all thoughts of the Kerry house gone. If the car had picked Daniela up on this street, hopefully at least one camera had caught it. Despite being a safe town, he assumed at least some of the businesses had security cameras outside. Since the bank would definitely have some, he made that his first stop.
After the bank’s video angles proved useless because the cameras only covered the ATM machine and the front door, Mack headed for Quinn’s Hardware. A family-owned business, he guessed there was a fifty-fifty chance they had cameras outside.
Giant green shamrocks and a leprechaun near a pot of gold decorated the front window. Pushing open the door, he wondered who had done the artwork. He couldn’t picture Robert Quinn, the store’s owner, taking the time to draw shamrocks. Perhaps his granddaughter, Jessie, had done it. According to his father, Jessie more or less ran the store these days.
Inside the store, Mack headed for the front registers where Patti rang up a customer. About ten years older than him, Patti had grown up in the house next door. When the customer left, Mack stepped forward. “Hi Patti. Is Mr. Quinn or Jessie around?”
“Jessie is in her office. Do you want me to call her up for you?”
He’d spent two years working here in high school so he knew where the office was located. “I can find her, thanks.”
The office was at the far end of the building, and it had a large window that looked into the store. Through the open door, he spotted Jessie seated at the desk, focused on the computer. Knocking on the door, he said, “Jessie, can I come in?”
Jessie glanced at him, the movement causing her long dark ponytail to slip off her shoulder. Behind her wire-rimmed glasses, she blinked then nodded. “Hi Mack. Of Course. How are you?”
“Good but I’m hoping you can help me. A twelve-year old girl named Daniela Batista is missing. She was last seen getting into a car on this street. Does the store have any security cameras outside?”
Jessie nodded again. “I saw the Amber Alert on the news. I can’t believe something like that could happen here.”
Part of him felt the same way. “Unfortunately, it can happen anywhere.”
“Gramps had five cameras installed a few years ago. Three are out front and two cover the back parking lot. Do you want to see everything?” She pushed the sleeves of her bulky sweater up to her elbows and pushed her chair back.
“Just the video from out front.”
“Anything to help. The girl’s mom must be worried sick.” She rolled her chair to the back desk where a television sat next to the surveillance equipment. “Why is the Boston police department involved in this? Shouldn’t our police department be handling it?”
Mack pulled a chair next to her. “I’m here on behalf of the FBI, but the town police are involved, too.”
Jessie stared at him. “You’re not with the Boston police anymore?”
“Yes and no,” he answered, surprised that Jessie didn’t already know about his change in jobs. It was no secret—not to mention, his mom and her grandmother were in a quilting club together. “I’m a task force officer with the FBI now, so I’m still employed with the city, but I report to the FBI’s Boston field office almost every day and assist them.”
“That must be interesting.” She looked back at the screen. “This is the view from camera one.”
For the most part, the camera only covered the entrance into the store.
“What about the other ones?”
Jessie switched to camera two.
Mounted on the corner of the building, the angle of the camera allowed it to capture a good portion of the street.
“Excellent. Let’s see what we got.”
“School gets out at two-fifteen. Do you want me to go back to that point in the video?”
“Yeah. I don’t know exactly when the girls came by here.”
Jessie scrolled through the data. “Do you want coffee or anything? I can ask Patti to get you one.”
“I’m good. Thanks.”
Next to him, Jessie fell silent again until she reached the desired spot on the video. Cars drove up and down the street, but none stopped.
After five minutes of tape, they had nothing.
“So how long have you been working with the FBI?”
“Three years now.” Mack cracked his knuckles as he continued to watch the screen. “What about you? Has your grandfather handed the reins over to you finally?”
“More or less. He stops in a couple times a week, but he spends his time in the store with the customers.” Jessie played with the cuff of her sweater as she spoke. “What kind of car are you looking for?”
“A white sedan with four doors. That was all Daniela’s friend remembered.”
“I don’t think I’ve met Daniela or her mom.”
“They moved to town nine months ago.”
Jessie leaned closer to the screen. She must have seen the same thing he had. A white Honda Accord had stopped at the curb.
“Do you think that’s it?”
He hoped so. “Could be.”
Another four minutes passed before the camera picked up Daniela and her friend. Both girls appeared engrossed in their conversation as they walked. When they approached the car, Daniela stopped, said something to her friend, then got into the passenger seat of the car. As the vehicle pulled away, Daniela’s friend headed in the opposite direction—the way they’d been headed before they’d stopped.
“Oh, my God.” Jessie’s hand flew to her mouth “Did I really just see that?”
Mack pulled out his phone and dialed the squad supervisor. Now that they had a license plate, they had a solid lead. “I’ve got video of Daniela getting into a white Honda with New Hampshire license plate 532 RZC. I’ll grab a copy of the video and head back in.” Mack disconnected the call and then looked at Jessie who’d gone pale. “You okay?”
Jessie shook her head. “I… I just can’t believe I saw that. Not here in town anyway.”
He understood how she felt. “But now we have a lead to go on. With this, we have a good chance of finding her.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll need a copy of this video.”
Jessie made him a copy. “Good luck. I hope you find her soon.”
“You and me both. Thanks for your help.”
Mack returned to the office with the video and soon they tracked down the owner of the car, José Batista’s brother. When they questioned him, he’d been so nervous that he slipped up and mentioned that he was meeting José later that night at a motel in Manchester.
Now several hours later, Mack, along with other members of the squad and local police department, prepared to descend upon Batista’s room. A quick check with the woman working the front desk verified which room he was in and that he planned to check out on Saturday. Not that he’d get the chance.
Mack gripped his holstered Glock as they approached the door. José Batista had no criminal record and no weapons registered to him, but one never knew what might be on the other side of the door. The guy felt desperate enough to kidnap his daughter and book plane tickets to Texas; who knew what else he might be willing to do?
Next to him, Dakota stopped and pounded on the door.
Perhaps assuming it was his brother, Batista opened the door. Dakota restrained him before the guy could even blink. While the other agents secured the room, Mack approached the girl seated on the bed. “Daniela?”
The girl nodded and gripped the remote control she held. “Please don’t hurt my dad.” Tears slipped down her face.
Tired but relieved, Mack sat down next to her. “We won’t.”