The Christmas Bell Tolls (6 page)

Lacey smiled. “I
know this is all hard, especially when you’re a private person, but you know
why we have to ask. So, why did you break it off with her?”

Bolts of red heat
shot up the back of his neck. “Because I thought she wasn’t ready to get to a
more serious stage. I couldn’t risk Savannah getting too attached to her and
she not
be
able to commit.”

The smile slipped
off Lacey’s face. “Did you tell her that?”

“Not in so many
words, but basically. I don’t play games in dating, so I try to be honest.”
Darren’s stomach tightened into a knot. “But she would not do anything to
Savannah. She’s in law enforcement, too.”

Lacey shook her
head. “What you’ve just told me is pure motive, and focused on Savannah even.”

“I know she’s not
involved.”

Wilson cleared his
throat.
“Her name, Agent Timmons.”

“We can at least
clear her,” Lacey offered.

“Eva. Eva
Langston.” Just saying her name to go on a suspect list burnt Darren’s tongue.

“She’s in law
enforcement?” Wilson asked.

“She’s Maddie
Baxter’s partner.”

Wilson nearly
dropped his pencil.
“The TBI technician who collected all the
evidence onsite today?
The woman who might be at
either the gas station or the drug store collecting evidence right now?”

Darren nodded, a
sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. Eva would never do a thing
to hurt Savannah.
Ever.
He knew that. She might not be
ready to get serious enough to consider being a step-mother, but she cared
about Savannah.

“She could’ve
tampered with the evidence?” Lacey asked.

“She would never
do that!”

“But she could
have.” Wilson shot to his feet, mumbling under his breath about jeopardizing
the case as he stormed into the kitchen.

Darren looked at
Lacey, who wore an unreadable expression. “Eva Langston had nothing to do with
this and she would never, ever not do her job to the best of her abilities.
She’s one of the most professional people I’ve ever worked with.”

“You don’t have to
convince me, Agent Timmons.”

Darren stood and
paced. He should probably call Eva and give her a heads-up. No telling what
Wilson would do. Who he’d call or what kind of stink he’d make. Then again, if
Darren called her, Wilson would be sure he was tipping her off.

He ran his hands
through his hair as he paced.
God, I don’t know what to do. I just want
Savannah back home safe and sound. And I don’t want to tarnish Eva’s reputation
at all.

“Black dye,” the
drug store clerk told the FBI agent questioning her. “Two boxes of the wash out
kind.”

Eva eavesdropped
on the FBI interview as Ivan pulled prints off the counter.
Lots
and lots of fingerprints.
Finding one specific to the kidnapper would be
like looking for a needle in a haystack, but the hope was they would get a
match to a print pulled at one of the other confirmed locations.

“Are you sure?”
the agent asked.

The female clerk
looked down her nose at the agent. “Of course I’m sure. It was our store brand,
color 47—raven black, washes out in ten shampoos.” She crossed her arms over
her chest and leaned back against the pharmacy waiting chair. “She bought two
boxes, gave me a twenty, took her change of six dollars and eighty-two cents,
snatched the bag,
then
hauled outta here. She never
let go of the kid’s hand. Not once.”

The agent
scribbled in his notebook as the clerk continued.

“It caught my
attention because I thought to myself that the little girl’s blonde curls were
too beautiful to color.”

Eva swallowed.
Savannah’s hair
was
beautiful. It made Eva sick to think of the
emotional and physiological damage being inflicted on the sweetest little girl.
They had to find her.
Immediately.
She took two more
evidence bags from Ivan and applied the identifier sticker.

“You never saw her
lean across the counter and grab the medication bags?” the agent asked.

The clerk shook
her head. “We always get the inhalers shipment from this pharmaceutical company
on Fridays and always set them on that counter for the clerks to stock on
Saturday. Never had asthma medication stolen before.”

Stealing was
wrong, Eva admitted that, but she was relieved to know that Savannah had her
breathing medicine.

“We still wouldn’t
have known the woman took the two inhalers if you FBI guys hadn’t pulled the
video.” The clerk crossed her arms over her chest.

Eva had heard the
shock from the drug store manager when they’d watched the surveillance video.
The woman who had Savannah had hardly looked over her shoulder before leaning
across the counter and grabbing two inhalers and shoving them into the pocket
of the oversized coat. No one had suspected a thing until it was seen on the
video.

The FBI agent
continued his questioning.
“And the woman?
The video
doesn’t allow any shots of her face.”

“The cap she wore
covered all her hair. She didn’t even have any stragglers sticking out, if you
know what I mean.”

The agent wore a
blank stare. Eva resisted the impulse to shake her head. She didn’t recognize
the agent. Maybe he was one of the new ones sent in to help on the case. Did
they have to send the most clueless agents on something so important?

“The cap put
shadows on her face, but I could see she had dark eyebrows,” the store clerk
offered. “Well groomed.
Arched.”

That was a good
detail, right? Eva studied the agent from the corner of her eye even as she
logged more evidence from Ivan.

“We have a sketch
artist on the way.” The agent flipped a page in his notebook. “In the
surveillance video the woman wore gloves. Did she ever take them off?
Even to pay?”

The clerk shook
her head. “I never saw her take them off.”

“How did the child
seem to you?”

Eva turned her
head slightly to catch the other agent who had been hovering near the edge of
the counter take a step toward the clerk. He’d been so quiet that she’d almost
forgotten he stood there. He moved in silence, yet he looked familiar to Eva.
Maybe he was one of the agents who worked with Darren all the time.

The clerk tilted
her head. “She wasn’t screaming or crying, if that’s what you mean. That’s why
my warning bells didn’t go off immediately. Looked like a normal mother and
daughter, even if the little girl was quite subdued. Most kids that age who
come in with their moms are squawking or trying to run off.”

“The woman’s
appearance didn’t make you cautious?” the first agent interrupted to ask.

The clerk
shrugged. “Well, I’m used to oddities, if you catch my drift. We get all kinds
of people in here. Some of them…well, we’re just thankful when they leave, if
you know what I mean.” She shrugged again. “It’s cold out, so we’re seeing a
lot of people in here who are wearing caps and gloves.”

“Anything else you
can remember?
Anything at all?”

“No.” The clerk
shook her head, slowly, as if still replaying the episode back in her mind.
“They came to the counter with the two boxes of hair color, I rang her up,
smiled at the little girl and that’s when I noticed the little girl’s blonde
curls. I didn’t say anything, but took the woman’s cash, gave her change and
her receipt, and they were out the door. It was only when they were walking
away that I realized the child was the same one in the picture I’d seen on the
news.”

The quiet agent
leaned forward and spoke so softly, Eva had to shift to be able to hear him.
“What was it that you noticed when they were leaving that triggered an alert?”

“I don’t know what
you mean.”

“You said it was
only when they were walking away that you realized the child was the one you’d
seen on the news. What made you realize that?”

“I don’t—I mean, I
didn’t—”

“It’s okay.” The
agent’s voice sounded as soothing as it was soft.
Almost seductive.
Hypnotic.
“Close your eyes. Go ahead, close them.”

Eva couldn’t help
herself,
she had to turn to see the clerk fully. The woman
closed her eyes. The agent sat in front of her. “Good. Now I want you to see
the woman. See the child. You just handed over the change and receipt. The
woman took it, what did she do with the change and receipt?”

“She put it in the
plastic bag with the hair color.”

“And then what?”

Eva pressed her
lips together. This agent was good.

“She turned the
little girl around without letting go of her hand and they walked away.”

“Think carefully.
What did you see that was out of place as they walked away? Hand-in-hand,
they’re moving down the aisle—”

“Her
shoes!”
The clerk’s eyes popped open. “The little girl was wearing
dress-up shoes, the kind you wear to a party. They clearly didn’t go with the
sweatpants she was wearing. It made me stop and think, and that’s when I
remembered her picture on the news. I called immediately.”

“Excellent. Thank
you.” The agent stood and moved away from the clerk, closer to where Eva and
Ivan stood.

Eva turned so her
back was to the agent. Usually she was kept in the loop about an investigation,
but from what she knew about this new Special Agent in Charge, she’d eavesdrop
to get info if she had no other choice.

“Get the
surveillance video back up. Focus in on the child, a full body shot if you can
get it. Send a copy to Timmons, the father. Maybe he’ll see something that will
give us another clue as well.” The second agent took off toward security while
the first agent turned back to the clerk. “The sketch artist should be here
soon. Thank you so much for assisting.”

Eva finished
logging all of the evidence they’d collected. Itching to get back to the lab
and start testing, she pulled off her gloves and put them in her pockets. Her
phone rang, and she fumbled in her pocket to grab it. She took note of the
caller-ID and drew in a deep breath before answering.

“Darren?” She
turned away from the FBI agents and Ivan, taking a few steps toward the main
aisle that had been closed off.

“Eva, I’m really
sorry.”

“What’s wrong?”
Whatever was he apologizing to her for?

“I didn’t want to
give your name. I know you had nothing to do with this.” His voice held a world
of stress in its tone.

She felt all the
blood drain down to her toes. Eva leaned against the edge of a display rack.
“Of course I didn’t. Why are you telling me this?”

“Eva.”

She stepped into
the aisle to see who’d called her name. Peter strode toward her.
“Hey, Eva.”

“I’m truly sorry,”
Darren said before the call disconnected.

She pocketed the
phone, straightened her shoulders, and met Peter. “I thought you were heading
back to the lab?”

Peter sighed. “I
need to talk to you.” His face flushed.

“I was about to
start loading the truck to head back to the lab. Can it wait?” Although she was
pretty sure it couldn’t since her supervisor had made it a point to come to
her.

He shook his head.
“Walk out with me.”

Eva forced the
smile she didn’t feel. “But what about loading the truck?”

From out of
nowhere, Ivan appeared. His tattoos seemed more vibrant than ever under the
drug store’s weak lighting as he held out his hand. “I’ll load up the truck.”

Eva opened her
mouth to argue,
then
realized it was moot. She dug in
her pocket for the keys.

Ivan winked at
her, took the keys and then left.

Eva let out a long
sigh before falling into step beside Peter. “Just shoot it to me straight,
Peter. What’s going on?”

“I have to remove
you from the case.”

They’d reached the
front door of the drug store. She stopped just short of stepping outside into
the biting cold and turned to face Peter.
“You what?”

“I’ve been
instructed to remove you from the case.” The tips of Peter’s ears were fire
engine red. “I didn’t want to, I don’t think it’s necessary, but I have no
choice, Eva.”

Her pulse echoed
inside her head. “I don’t understand.”

Peter leaned
against the block wall.
“Because you dated Darren.
That FBI guy Wilson demanded you be removed.”

“Since when does
the FBI tell us how to run our program?” She fisted her hands into tight balls.

“Since he called
the Director and raised all sorts of questions. The Director was quick to call
me. There’s no wiggle room here, Eva. I’m sorry.”

This was
unbelievable.
“All because I dated Darren?”
She jabbed
her fists into her jacket pockets as the enormity of the accusation slapped
her. “Do they think I’m involved in Savannah’s abduction? That’s ridiculous!”

“I know you
aren’t. I told the Director as much.”

Eva shook her
head. “They think because I dated Darren but we aren’t dating anymore, that
makes me a suspect.
Except I was at work today.
All
day, which anyone can easily verify so I don’t see why they want to pull me and
keep from doing my job of finding
Savannah.
”

“I know, and I
agree with you, but Wilson reminded the Director that your job affords you
access to key case components.”

“Now they’re
accusing me of tampering evidence?” Despite the frigid temperatures of the
December night, Eva’s face burned.
“That I would jeopardize
my career, my life’s work, for what?
To get back at a
guy who broke up with me?”
She swallowed and held up her hand.
“Apparently they missed the fact that Darren and I are friends. We were before
we dated and we are after.” Her voice rose and quivered and she hated how that
sounded weak, but she just couldn’t help it. “For such accusations—”

“I understand how
you feel, Eva. I do. I don’t agree with this at all. I just don’t have a
choice.”

Eva went rigid.
“Maddie can’t work the case either, so who is going to run the tests, Peter?”

“Luckily, Sarah’s
agreed to step in and help.”

She wanted to hit
something—hard.  Sarah Newton … in
her
lab
…
doing
her
job. “I can’t even.” Eva turned and stepped outside.
The blast of cold air barely registered against her flaming face.

For the briefest
of moments, Eva wondered if she should call someone.
Maybe an
attorney?
She disregarded the idea almost as quickly as she processed
it. She had nothing to hide.

Maddie’s
observation flashed through Eva’s mind: 
You were falling in love with
him.

Maybe she did have
something to hide after all.