The Christmas Bell Tolls (10 page)

“There was never a
baby?” Maddie’s eyes grew rounder as she slid a cup of coffee to Eva.

Eva reached for a
spoon.
“Never.
She faked the whole pregnancy.”

“And when she
showed up at the hospital, claiming to be in labor, they took her to the psych
ward. When Jackson showed up, she claimed they took her baby and Jackson
wouldn’t let her see it. He said he didn’t feel like he had a choice so he
signed the paperwork to have her admitted.” Darren still had a hard time
grasping the enormity of Margaret Brewster’s mental state.

And she had
Savannah!

“That’s actually
kind of sad.” Maddie passed Eva the cream and sugar.

“It is when you
think about it.” Eva poured cream and dumped four spoons of sugar into the
coffee.

“I guess it was
too much for Jackson Kent to handle, huh?” Maddie made a tsking noise under her
breath. “So many people can’t deal with the mentally ill.”

Rafe snorted. “It
wasn’t that, Mads. She not only lied to him, but she gave him a STD, one that
left them both sterile. She wouldn’t have been able to get pregnant had she
been trying. He’ll never get to have children.”

“Oh, that’s
horrible.” Maddie took a sip of her coffee.

He was such a mess
of emotions. Angry at Mags one minute, feeling sorry for her, then worrying she
was so unstable that she’d hurt Savannah.

Eva put her hand
over his and squeezed. The warmth tingled all the way up his arm. “But she was
discharged. Doctors have an obligation not to release someone who is a danger
to themselves or others, so she must have been improved.”

“Or faking it
really well, which we already know she’s more than qualified to do.” He still
couldn’t imagine how she’d managed to fake a pregnancy. When Georgia had been
pregnant with Savannah, there was no question there was an active baby. Her
belly moved all the time during the last trimester. And now Savy was in the
hands of Margaret Brewster. “And she is a danger. She’s taken my daughter.”

His cell rang. He
checked the caller-ID,
then
answered.
“Agent Lacey?”

“Warrant came
through. SAC Wilson sent a unit to the store to be there as soon as they open.
Warrant covers financial records as well as video. We’re hoping to get an
address.”

“That’s great
news.” He hesitated in telling her about Jackson Kent and Mags’ mental health.
She would most likely be compelled to tell Wilson, which would get them in
trouble. He couldn’t risk putting Rafe, Maddie and Eva’s jobs in jeopardy for
helping him.

“SAC Wilson was
more than a little upset you were gone before he arrived this morning.
Especially since he got here before seven thirty.”

“I need to be with
people who know my daughter. Know me. Love us.” Which wasn’t a lie, but it
wasn’t the whole truth either.
Lord, forgive me.

“I understand. I
just wanted to keep you up to date. I’ll let you know something as soon as I
hear.”

“Thanks, Agent
Lacey. I appreciate it.” He hung up,
then
let the rest
of the group about the warrant.

“We already know
it’s her. This is almost a waste of time,” Maddie said.

“But maybe we’ll
get an address from the financial records,” Eva offered.

“That would be a
miracle,” Darren mumbled. All he wanted was to have his daughter safely home.
He didn’t care if Mags was punished or not, he just wanted Savy back.
Please,
God. Please give her back to me.

Riley snorted as
she plopped down on the couch, her laptop open in her hands.
“Maybe
not.
Let me try.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard. “I’m still not
finding any address on her. I’m starting to take it personally. I can usually
find someone.”

“It’s possible
that she’s hidden her tracks well. She did plan this abduction,” Rafe said.
“She’s crazy, but she’s also wily in a way.”

Eva’s cell rang.
She quickly answered. “Ivan, what’s going on?”

A pause while Eva
waved Maddie over. “Yes, I’m here with Maddie. What’s the news?”

Everyone in the
living room went silent.

“You’re positive?
Dr. Sebrowski confirmed?”

Eva let out a long
breath,
then
smiled. “Thank you, Ivan. I know you put
a lot on the line to call us. I won’t forget this.” She hung up the phone and
stared at Darren. “We’ve got a match. One of the samples I got from the
community center matched DNA to a Margaret Kent. That’s why her name didn’t pop
up in my search. It was under her married name.”

“Maybe that’s why
I can’t find her,” Riley mumbled, going back to her computer.

“Ivan said Peter
already had a call in to Leo Wilson. This will definitely get things in motion.
Arrest warrant as soon as the bureau can track her address.”

Thank You,
Jesus!
Darren blinked against burning eyes. The people in this room had put
their careers on the line for him and Savannah. Was it too much to hope it was
about to be over?

“I can’t find an
address even under her married name,” Riley said.

“The bureau will
find it,” Nick said as he grabbed his keys. “Protocol aside, we need to see Wilson.
Come on, Rafe.
You, too.”
He bent and kissed Maddie.
“I’ll let you know what we find out.”

Eva paused in
front of Darren. He could understand what she felt. He wanted to hug her, kiss
her like Nick had kissed Maddie, but knew he couldn’t.

She took the
decision off his plate when she stood on tiptoe and hugged him.
Hard.
He breathed
in,
drawing in
the unique spicy smell of the perfume she always wore. “I’m praying,” she
whispered before letting him go.

He didn’t have
time to reply as Nick already had the front door open and Rafe handed him his
coat. Darren followed them out the door and into the snow.

Snow…The ground
was covered already. It hadn’t even begun to fall when they’d come back from
talking with Jackson Kent, and now, the ground crunched as they made their way
to the car. He prayed that wherever crazy Mags had Savannah, his daughter was
warm and safe.

Nick and Rafe kept
up conversation on the drive to Darren’s, but his mind alternated between
Savannah and Eva. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking romantic thoughts, his
logical mind screamed, but his emotional side demanded that he accept what he
was feeling for Eva. She had to feel it, too.

Didn’t she?

What if he’d blown
his chance? What if it was too late for them? But that hug…

Was Savannah using
the inhaler every six hours like she was supposed to? Would Mags know? Would
she make sure his baby kept to her medical plan? Did she even know about
Savannah’s heart condition?

Eva had held him
so
tight,
surely she had feelings for him, too.

“I can’t believe
I’m not finding anything.” Riley sat the laptop on the coffee table and grabbed
her coffee. “I’m better than this.”

Maddie chuckled
and pulled the throw blanket over her legs. “Face it,
Ril,
there are some things even you can’t uncover.”

Riley stuck her
tongue out at her sister.

Eva chewed her
bottom lip.

“What?” Maddie
asked.

“There’s one thing
we haven’t asked ourselves about the situation.” Eva set her empty cup on the
table.

“What’s that?”
Riley asked.

“Well, it can’t be
a coincidence that Mags saw—dated—whatever Darren six years ago and now
abducted Savannah. She had to have targeted Savannah.”

Maddie nodded.
“I’m sure. I mean, she’s in the hospital for five years, finally released to
what? Jackson divorced her. She doesn’t have anybody. She can’t have children.
So she plans to take Savannah.”

Eva nodded slowly.
“Does she hope to entice Darren to her so she can have a family? Is that her
end game? Take Savannah, which will draw Darren out? She thought herself in
love with him before. Does she think she can have the happily ever after now?”

“Maybe.
Probably.”
Maddie shrugged. “In her mind, it’s
logical. She and Darren had a great love affair until Georgia came along. After
Jackson divorced her, I’m sure she became fixated on a happier time in her
life. Darren. If she has his daughter, he’ll come back to her and they’ll live
happily ever after.”

“That’s so sick.”
Riley finished her coffee.

“But how did she
know about Savannah? Know that it was just Darren and Savannah?” Eva couldn’t
believe they hadn’t gone down her motive before. They’d been so focused on
finding
Mags,
they hadn’t really considered why she
took Savannah. Now that they figured out the connection, they were missing the bigger
questions to ask.

“Maybe she saw
them in a store and recognized them.” Riley yanked the blanket from Maddie and
covered her feet, then pulled the computer back onto her lap.

Maddie nodded.
“And started stalking them.
We know she followed them to the
shoe store last weekend. She probably started following them weeks ago.
Planning.”

“Right.
So that means…” Eva smiled.

Riley snapped her
fingers. “That means she’s local. FBI agents don’t have their personal
information available to the public. There had to be a chance sighting, which
means she had to be in the area.” She started typing. “That might help me
locate her.”

“We’ve got her
home address. A garage apartment less than thirty minutes away.” No mistaking
the excitement in Darren’s voice. “Wilson’s relented and letting us go with the
team.”

“That’s as it
should be. Be careful. The news says the roads are horrible.” Eva was both
excited for Darren, and worried at the same time.

“Tell Maddie that
Nick said he’d call as soon as we have Savannah.”

“Good luck. We’ll
be waiting to hear the good news.” She disconnected the call and told Maddie
and Riley. “I guess it’ll be over with soon.”

Riley stood and
looked at her cellphone. She’d had Darren send photos of the maps and such from
his house. “I don’t know.”

“What?” Maddie
stared out the window into the snow pelting down.

“The
sightings…they were going away from town.”

“Maybe she planned
to leave, but once the Amber alert hit, she realized she wouldn’t be able to
get out.” Even as Eva said it, she didn’t believe it. Mags Brewster might be
crazy, but she’d managed to pull off the abduction and not get caught for over
twenty-four hours.

She had a plan.

“Something else is
bothering me,” Riley said.

“What?” Maddie
joined them in the living room.

“She didn’t try to
hide her address.”

“Why would she? I
doubt she thought she’d get caught,” Maddie said.

“No, I see where
Riley’s going here.” Eva sucked on her bottom lip as she thought. “If she
really planned to have a life with Darren and Savannah, she would think bigger.
She wouldn’t risk taking Savannah to a garage apartment where someone could see
her. Even when she pretended she was pregnant, on some level she knew it wasn’t
real because she wouldn’t let Jackson Kent see her naked or touch her stomach.”

Riley nodded. “And
she’s been careful to hide her appearance at the gas station and drug store.”
She typed on the computer. “She might have bought something online that I can
track.” She looked over the laptop. “You two might not want to be in here.”

“Why?” Eva asked.

“The way I’m about
to try and find out some information isn’t, well, it isn’t exactly legal.”

“Riley Baxter
Simpson, are you going to hack into something again?” Maddie sounded more
exasperated than angry.

“Again?”
Eva didn’t know Riley all that well, but she’d never heard Maddie mention
hacking before.

Riley shrugged. “A
couple of times, to get a story, I’ve had to be…uh…creative in how I obtained
information.”

“Creative in that
her husband almost had to arrest her.” Maddie crossed her arms over her chest.
“You said you didn’t have those types of contacts anymore.”

“I don’t. They
taught me how to do it myself.” Riley had the decency to blush. “Do you want me
to try and find this woman and possibly Savannah or not?”

“The FBI is on
their way right now,” Maddie said.

“But they might be
going to the wrong address.” Eva was sure. She nodded to Riley. “Find her.”
Darren would understand if it meant finding Savannah.

Riley didn’t wait
for her sister to agree. The tapping almost echoed off the walls.

“I wonder if I
should call Nick and Rafe.” Maddie paced the living room floor.

“And tell them
what? That I’m letting Riley hack into goodness only knows what in hopes of
finding the crazy lady who has Savannah? They think they’re on the right
track.”

“And what if they
are?” Maddie twisted her engagement ring around her finger.

“I hope they are.
I’m praying they are and that they find Savannah and all is well.” Eva stared
out the window at the snow coming down so hard visibility was nearly
impossible. “But I have a sinking feeling that they aren’t. I can’t bear to
think we didn’t do everything we could as soon as we could.”

Maddie plopped
down onto the couch. “They’re going to be furious with us.”

Eva sat beside
her. “Probably, but I don’t think we have a choice.”

“Okay, I have
something.” Riley sat up, set her computer on the coffee table, and hunched
over the keyboard.

Maddie and Eva
both sat on the edge of the couch.

“Her credit card
billing address is the garage apartment, but she ordered a dollhouse two weeks
ago and had it delivered to a drop shipment address.”

A
dollhouse?
She was setting up Savannah a room. Eva’s stomach acid
burned.

“It’s a post
office up near the Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park.”

Eva thought she
might be sick. If that crazy woman had taken Savannah and hidden in the State
Park…that place was over thirteen thousand acres.

“Hmm.”
Riley’s eyebrows scrunched.

“What?” Maddie
asked.

“Well, I did some
cross referencing to the zip code and some, uh, creative queries and found that
Margaret Lane Brewster’s late father, Grayson Brewster, had a cabin in the
area. I didn’t find it on my searches before because upon his death, it was
transferred into the name of his wife, Patricia Lane. There’s still a land deed
in her name, even though Patricia Lane has been dead for seven year.
Interestingly enough, however, the property taxes are paid every year, right on
time.”

This was it—Eva
could feel it in her gut.

“The cabin, as
best I can tell since there aren’t 911 addresses up there, is about forty-five
minutes from here. Give or take. It’s the opposite direction of the garage
apartment where the guys are heading. I’m trying to get the satellite imaging
to come up, but it’s being difficult.”

“We need to call
the guys and let them know.” Maddie reached for her phone.

“Wait a minute.”
Eva tried to process her thoughts. “What if we’re wrong? Then we’ll be sending
them off on a wild goose chase, not to mention we’d get Riley in trouble
unnecessarily.”

“Let’s not get
Riley in trouble if we can help it.” Riley smiled, but her tone was serious.

“So what do you
suggest we do?” Maddie asked Eva.

She couldn’t
think. Not clearly. But she knew they had to do something. “Why don’t we go and
check it out? If it’s nothing, then we’ve only just wasted our own time. If
there is something, then we can call in the guys, and they’ll be able to GPS
locate us through our phones.”

“Us?
We’re crime scene techs, Eva, not agents.”

“We carry guns and
badges. We’re trained.” Eva wasn’t sure where this confidence was coming from,
but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“Hey, I’m an
investigative reporter. I’m used to going where I shouldn’t.” Riley stared at
Maddie. “Come on, Mads. We can do this.”

“Or we can get
into big trouble.”

“Think about why
we’re doing this.” Eva knew she was playing the trump card by using Savannah,
but she didn’t care. Not anymore. She felt sure this was the right thing to do.

“But the weather…”

“Oh
my gosh
, it’s snow. What happened to my feisty sister who
wasn’t afraid of anything?” Riley shook her head. “Count me in, Eva. I’m going
to put on jeans.” She left the room, but not without closing her laptop first.

“Maddie?”
Eva was sure, but she wanted her best friend to be okay with the decision.
Especially since this was her family on the line.

“Y’all are right.
We need to find out. If we see that she’s there, we call in the guys.”

Eva smiled. “We
call them immediately.”

“Then I’m in.”

“Good. Can I
borrow a hat? The snow is really coming down.”

A
bust.
The garage apartment had been emptied out. The landlord said Mags
hadn’t left a forwarding address.

Darren had tried
to call Eva, but the call had gone straight to voice mail. Nick had tried Maddie
and got the same response. Rafe figured they’d let their batteries die. They
would fill them in when they got back.

Disappointment
choked him. He couldn’t breathe. Images of Savannah filled his mind.
Then mental pictures of Mags.

“I’m
sorry,
Timmons, but we’ll find her.” From the front seat,
Wilson nodded at him.

“Yes,
sir.”

“I know it’s hard
to keep up morale, but she’ll make a mistake and we’ll be ready.”

“Yes,
sir.”
Darren didn’t want her to make a mistake. That mistake could cost
Savannah. He wanted his baby girl.
God, please.

“Agent Lacey
called in. She’s tracing Margaret’s financials. The bank account was closed two
days ago.”

So she’d planned
the day she’d take his baby. Her schedule wasn’t a secret. She’d told her
entire class about the party. Darren closed his eyes. He was an FBI agent for
pity’s sake—he knew how important it was to keep personal information out of
the public eye.

“The doctor who
treated her at Lakeside Behavioral will see us as soon as we get there. We
should be there in about fifteen minutes.” Wilson turned back to the front.
Apparently he’d given up on keeping Darren, Rafe and Nick out of the
investigation.

Or maybe he was
desperate enough to want any and all the help he could get.

Darren struggled
not to groan aloud. How had he not known he was being followed for days…weeks?
That his baby was being targeted?
All because of him?

And that’s what
hit him hard.
The guilt.
Savannah had been taken
because he’d gone out with a crazy woman a couple of times years ago. He must
not have handled the breakup as he should have. Sure, Mags was certifiably
crazy, yes, but had he contributed to her mental illness?