The Advocate's Conviction (10 page)

“Karen, there are programs in which you can live and work through all this. That’s what the social worker is recommending, and it would be very helpful for your criminal case if you were already enrolled prior to your sentencing.”

She put the cigarette in her mouth, holding it between her index and middle fingers, simulating her habit. She pulled it out and held it as if it were lit. “Yeah.” She nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll do that. And I’ll dump Scott, too. Whatever it takes.”

Bob thought her voice held little sincerity. She was patronizing him now, just as she would do with the Department of Social Services. He stood up. He was done. “I know you will,” he said.

They walked down the steps together while he explained what she needed to do to enroll in a program. He also encouraged her to call if she heard from Bailey but knew full well she wouldn’t do either. They walked outside and Bob took out his cigarettes and lighter. He lit her cigarette for her, then his own, and watched her leave.

Bob was about halfway through his cigarette when Sabre pulled up to the courthouse and drove past him. While talking on the phone, she pulled into an empty parking spot and then backed out, driving toward him again. He stepped into the street. She stopped when she saw him. “Hey, you’re in Department Four this afternoon, right?” Sabre asked.

“Yeah, do you need me to do something?”

“Could you cover this case for me?” She handed him a file. “We’re submitting on the recommendations. If there’s a problem, they’ll just have to wait for me. I’ll be back. JP just called and I need to meet him at the school. A teacher thinks she saw Cole.”

“No problem. Keep me posted,” Bob said as she drove off.

15

The school secretary directed Sabre into the vice-principal’s office where JP sat with an attractive, thin, brunette woman. She didn’t look more than twenty years old. JP stood up when Sabre walked in. “This is Miss Adrienne DeLozier. She’s the teacher who saw Cole.”

Sabre reached her hand out to shake hers. “Hi, Ms. DeLozier. I’m Sabre Brown, Cole’s attorney.”

“Adrienne, please,” she said, her voice sounding even younger than she looked.

“Adrienne. Are you sure it was Cole?”

“I’m quite certain. I was so concerned when I heard he was missing that I studied his photo carefully. I do that whenever I see a picture of a missing child. I try to plant it in my mind, just in case I see one in a grocery store or something.”

JP said, “Tell us what you saw exactly.”

“I was on yard duty for recess. While walking around the playground, I saw Hayden talking with an older boy. I teach kindergarten and we did an art project with the other kindergarten classes last Friday. Hayden was new to another class and he needed some art supplies. I remembered him because he was so charming when he asked.” She paused. “Anyway, I was kind of keeping an eye on Hayden since we were told Cole might try to see him. Although seeing an older boy on the playground was suspicious anyway because there should only be kindergarten students on the playground at that time.”

“Did you approach them?” JP asked.

“I did. They were walking toward the side of the building. Cole was holding Hayden by the hand, but I could see that Hayden was going willingly. He wasn’t fighting him or anything. I hurried because I didn’t want to lose sight of them.”

“Did you talk to him?” Sabre asked.

“No. Cole saw me come around the corner. He leaned down to Hayden and said something in his ear and then took off running.”

Sabre shook her head. “That poor kid. If he just knew how much we want to help him.” She looked at JP and then the teacher. “Have the police been notified?”

“Yes, the principal called them. They’re on their way,” Adrienne said.

“Good. Is Hayden still at school?”

JP said, “Yes. They have him in the office waiting to talk to us.”

“I’ll bring him in for you, if you’d like,” Adrienne offered.

The teacher returned with Hayden. JP and Sabre each gave her a card and thanked her for her help. Hayden sat down in one of the big, stuffed chairs. He looked so small sitting there, and his wide eyes looked like he might cry at any moment. JP tried to engage him while Sabre walked the teacher to the door, but Hayden didn’t seem too responsive.

Sabre knelt down by Hayden so his eyes would be slightly above hers, hoping to give him a feeling of some power. He was a frightened little boy and she didn’t want to make it worse for him. “Hi, Hayden. You know me, right?”

He nodded.

“We really need your help,” she began, speaking softly. He just looked at her. “We need you to help Cole so he doesn’t get hurt.”

“He won’t get hurt. He’s big.” Hayden said.

“Is that what he told you?” Sabre asked. Hayden didn’t respond. “Yes, Cole is bigger than you, but he’s still pretty young and he needs our help. Do you know where he is?”

Hayden shook his head back and forth.

“We know Cole came to see you today. Did he tell you where he was going?”

“Nope.”

“What did he tell you?”

“I can’t tell.”

“We just want to keep Cole safe and we want him to be able to visit with you and your brothers and sister. You want that, don’t you?”

“Mm … hmm,” Hayden muttered.

“Good, then it’s real important that you tell us everything he told you.”

“He said not to tell anyone he was here.”

“What else did he say?”

“He said he ran away and he came to get me, but then the teacher came, and he said he’d come back and get me.”

“Did he say when he would be back?”

“Nope.”

Sabre looked him straight in the eye. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“What else did he say?”

“He said he was kinda hungry again.”

Sabre took a deep breath. “Did he say anything else?”

Hayden shrugged his shoulders. “Nah …”

Sabre and JP discussed what had just happened as they walked to their cars. “He’s right under our noses. He’s eight years old, and we can’t find him. The police can’t find him. Why is that?” Sabre asked.

“He’s smarter’n a tree full of owls, that one.”

“He is smart and seems to be pretty street wise, but every minute he’s out there alone he’s at risk. And how is he eating?”

“That’s it.” JP looked at Sabre. “If I was a kid out on the streets and I was hungry, I’d find a way to get food.”

“But how?”

“I’d steal it. I’m not going to go fetch it out of trash cans like Mama T. I’d steal it before I’d do that.”

“Since you put it that way, I guess I would, too.”

“And he has to be hiding somewhere fairly close, so he’s going to take the food from local stores. I’m guessing he’s somewhere between the school, the park, and the bridge. He plans to come back here after Hayden, so he’s not going far. I’ll hit all the stores around here and see if anyone has seen him.”

Bob was walking out of the courthouse when Sabre returned. She pulled into a parking space under a tree almost directly across from the door of the courthouse. Bob met her at her car and opened her door.

“Am I too late?” Sabre asked, as she exited the car.

“You’re right on time. I just finished the case.” Bob closed the door behind her. “Did you find Cole?”

“No, but he was at the school to see Hayden. So, he’s alive and hasn’t been abducted.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“Well, at least he was alive an hour or so ago.” Sabre jerked her head up. “Oh, no!”

“What?”

“What if he was abducted and someone is making him steal other kids, too? There are so many creeps out there.” Sabre’s voice escalated.

“How would someone have that kind of control over him? He hasn’t been gone long enough to be loyal to someone.”

“His abductor could have threatened to kill him, or his mother, or his siblings.”

“Or maybe it’s someone he knows, someone who would already have influence over him,” Bob suggested.

“You mean like someone in the cult?” They walked over to a concrete planter that surrounded a small tree and served as a bench and sat down.

“I don’t think there is a cult. I don’t think Cole’s mother is involved with satanic rituals. She just doesn’t strike me as the type.” Bob paused. He took a deep breath. “Do you think Cole could be involved in something like that? Could someone have him under some spell? He’s young and impressionable.” Bob removed a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and took one out.

“I doubt it. I don’t really know him that well, but he’s like the ‘little man of the house’ and very determined to take care of his family.”

“Which makes him that much more impressionable. Sabre, I’m not suggesting he’s a bad kid. I’m just saying he could be under someone else’s control.” Bob put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

Sabre gave him her “I don’t approve” scowl. “That’s it. Maybe the abductor is not after just any kids, maybe he’s just after the Johnson kids?”

“Their father,” Bob stated. “That could explain why Cole would listen to him.”

Sabre sighed. “I’d rather think that he was with his father than that he’s out there all alone. It would have to be a better scenario. You’d think, right?”

“You’d think.” Bob took a drag off the cigarette and then placed it down low to his right so the smoke wouldn’t go in Sabre’s direction.

Sabre thought Bob must know more about the father than had been reported, but she didn’t really want to know that right now. “Can you talk to your client and see if she has seen anything strange that might indicate Cole has some involvement with a cult? I don’t think he does, but we better check it out. He’d be in as much or more danger if it’s an outside influence on him. And what about those chicken feet and goat blood?”

“It’s just food,” Bob replied, emphasizing the word food. “She got it from the guy up the street with the chicken farm. They were hungry. I don’t think it has anything to do with satanic rituals.” Bob raised his hand in dismissal. “That social worker is nuts. She’s seeing Satan everywhere. Just because the police uncovered that house doesn’t mean every juvenile case is involved.”

“But the house was discovered after this case was filed,” Sabre reminded him.

“I still think she’s nuts. She hasn’t found anything else that indicates any abuse, and absolutely nothing ritualistic.”

“That’s true, unless they have a hand in this … this abduction.”

Bob shook his head.

Sabre said, “I’m just saying we need to look at all possibilities. And in that vein, what else do you know about the father?”

“Not a lot. He was abusive to his wife, but Leanne says he never got real physical with the kids. He’s an alcoholic and his abusive behavior had been escalating toward her and the children. She kicked him out before he could start hurting the kids.”

“Where did he go?”

“She doesn’t know. She says she hasn’t seen or heard from him since.” Bob put his cigarette out.

“Please find me anything you can on him and I’ll have JP try to track him down. If he’s behind this, who knows what he’s into.”

“Have you heard anything on Bailey?”

“Not a word,” Sabre said. “How did the meeting go with her mother?”

“Fine. I told her to call if she hears from Bailey.”

“Do you think she will?”

“Probably not.”

“What happened with her case downtown?”

“She entered a plea to a misdemeanor. It’s her first offense. She expects to get probation.”

“That’s good. If she cleans herself up, it’ll be better for Bailey.”

Bob didn’t respond, but looked pensive.

“What is it? What are you thinking?”

“Do you know an attorney named Barry Betts?”

“That name sounds familiar.” Sabre closed her lips tightly, moving them from left to right. “Hmm, I just heard that name recently, but I don’t know where. Why?”

“He’s Karen’s attorney on the criminal case. He’s in private practice and somehow he volunteered to take her case pro bono.”

“That happens.” Sabre stood up. “You ready?” She turned around and suddenly looked wide eyed at Bob. “I know where it was.”

“Where what was?”

“The name … Barry Betts. I know where I heard the name. It was in court the other day on Collicott’s case. She knows him from adoptions. That’s his specialty. He was here representing the mother.”

“What does he look like?”

“Kind of a sleaze. Tall, skinny guy, greasy hair. He was so thin his cheeks sunk in. You saw him come out of the courtroom. Remember? You called him Ichabod Crane.”

“That was an attorney? I thought he was a parent. That guy was weird. I talked with him a few minutes out front that day. I went outside to get a little fresh air and …”

“You mean pollute the air.”

Bob ignored her and finished his sentence. “… he starting talking to me.”