Deadly Holidays (5 page)

"There's a red Firebird about thirty feet down.  Couldn't see if there was anyone in the car," Lance reported.

Blake retrieved his cell phone from his pants pocket and called Chris Hannon, who was waiting in his tow truck on shore.  "Got a submerged car.  Let's get it out of the water."

Blake's stomach clenched.  Eve Isaac drove a red Firebird.  Her cell, as well as her husband's, had pinged the cell tower near this river . He prayed for a miracle that Shawn Isaac had not lost both his parents in the submerged car.

Blake couldn't spare the two or three hours it would take to pull the car to shore, so he left his diving team in charge, along with a deputy.  They would notify him if there had been any occupants in the car.

He headed back to town.  Once he reached Michael Brandt's office, he parked his SUV and retraced the walk he and Shawn had taken that morning to the courthouse.  Blake entered each shop or cafe to show the owners and patrons Shawn's photo.  He struck out each time.  No one had seen the boy.  He entered the toy shop where Shawn had spent time peering in the large front window.  The owner recognized Shawn immediately.  "Sure I noticed him looking in the window this morning.  You two reminded me of my son and me when he was that age."

"Shawn's not my son.  I'm a detective who is looking for him."

"Could have fooled me this morning.  That kid sure looked at you like a son looks at his father."

Blake's heart sank, and an overpowering sense of dread knotted his insides as he walked away.  Once he found Shawn, he might have the unenviable job of telling the five-year-old that his mom and dad were no longer alive.  He hadn't been notified yet, so there was still a chance neither Eve nor John was in the car when it went over the bridge into the water.  He pulled his coat collar up as he walked against the biting wind toward his car.  Shawn's grandmother was about to have a visitor.  It was 6:00 p.m., and Shawn Isaac had been missing for six and a half hours.  The temperature was dropping, and the snow continued to fall as evening approached.

Eve's mother lived on Murphy Street, just past the elementary school, in a gray house with white shutters that looked like it had been built in the thirties.  The home was overdue for a fresh coat of paint and a new roof.  He knocked on the front door several times before Mrs. Bennett answered.

"I'm Blake Stone with the sheriff's office.  We met this morning before the hearing.  I'd like to ask you some questions about Shawn."  For a second, Blake thought the older woman was going to back her wheelchair up and slam the door in his face.

Instead, she glared at him and said, "I've already given all the information I have to the cops at the courthouse."

"Mrs. Bennett, I hope you will talk with me.  Sometimes, it's the tiniest detail that helps us find a missing child," Blake responded.  Hell, if he had to plead with her to talk to him he would, if it meant he could find Shawn.

"Come in," she said begrudgingly, as she backed her wheelchair to make room for him to pass.  She closed the door against the cold behind him.  "In there."  She used her index finger to point to a small room filled to the brink with overstuffed furniture.

Blake sat on the sofa and the older woman wheeled her chair to sit across from him.  The first thing he noticed about the room was that there were Beanie Babies on every table surface, and they lined a tall bookcase near the window.  There must have been a hundred of them in this room alone.  Something he didn't see were any toys that would appeal to a small boy.  According to his information, Shawn was her only grandchild.

"What do you want to know?"  Mrs. Bennett used a tone that indicated the faster she got him out of the house, the better she'd like it. 

"I have the notes from the deputies who talked to you in the courthouse, so I'll ask some questions that came to me."  Blake pulled a small notepad out of his jacket pocket along with a pen.  "Does Shawn spend much time with you?"

"Not until Eve lost her job.  Now every time she goes out drinking, she leaves the kid with me."

"I noticed how close your house is to the elementary school Shawn attends.  Were you Shawn's sitter when Eve worked?"

"No!  I told Eve long ago I didn't want to be a sitter for anybody's kids.  Do I look like I'm in any kind of condition to chase after a small boy?  My health's not good. Lost my leg, thanks to diabetes.  Eve usually does her drinking after dark, so when she leaves him here, I just put Shawn in the guest bedroom and tell him to go to sleep."

Blake clenched his teeth and looked down at his notepad, pretending to focus on writing a note so she wouldn't see the contempt he was feeling right now toward her.  How could a grandmother talk like that about her own grandchild? 

"Who are Shawn's friends?  It would be helpful if I could talk to them."

"Don't know.  Never asked him," she replied.

Deciding the discussion was a dead-end, Blake prepared to leave.  But before he did, he said, "Sometimes children will return and hide in familiar places.  Do you mind if I look around your home before I leave?"

"Knock yourself out."

From the living room, he entered a dining room that housed a round table and chairs.  In the lighted china hutch, there were more Beanie Babies of every color filling the shelves.  In the kitchen, dirty dishes filled the sink and more were stacked on the old electric stove.  There was a pantry in the room, but it was not large enough for a small boy to hide. 

Moving into the guest room, Blake noted a full-sized bed and a mirrored chest.  There were heavy draperies covering the only window, which made the room quite dark.  What he didn't see was any sign that a small boy stayed overnight there.  There were no toys for a little boy anywhere in the room, nor was there an extra set of clothing. Only more Beanie Babies, which lined the surface of the chest.  He headed for the living room.  He'd seen enough and felt a little sick.  With a mother who was a drunk, an abusive father, and a grandmother who didn't care about him, he could see why Shawn may have run away.

Mrs. Bennett was watching television when he returned to the living room. 

"I have one last question.  If you weren't Shawn's babysitter when Eve worked, who took care of him?"

"I believe he stayed with Cheryl Collins over on Elm Street.  She's got a kid the same age as Shawn."

<><><> 

Jennifer reclined on her living room sofa with her laptop precariously balanced on her baby bump.  It was seven o'clock, and Blake hadn't come home for dinner yet.   The local news website featured the Amber Alert about Shawn.  She looked at his grade school photo and blinked away a tear.  He was so young and innocent.  One glance out her window told her the snow was falling heavily. The crystalline flakes glittered in the moonlight, frosting windows and collecting on the tree branches.  How was Shawn faring wherever he was?  Was he exposed to the weather?  She bit her lip and closed her eyes.

She'd kept Eve's promise and told no one, not even Blake, about her visit weeks ago.  The pounding on the front door had awakened Jennifer from an afternoon nap.  She opened the door to find Eve Isaac on her front porch.  Jennifer ushered Eve in from the cold, took her coat, and asked her to sit down.

"I'm so sorry to disturb you, Jennifer.  But I remembered you saying that I could talk to you anytime," Eve began.  "And right now, you're the only one I can talk to."

"What's wrong?  Is it John?  Is he bothering you?"

"Nothing more than the usual.  I need to talk to you about something very important."

"Eve, you can talk to me about anything," said Jennifer in a soothing voice.  The young woman looked like she hadn't slept in days. 

"It's the hearing that's coming up in a few weeks."

"What about the hearing?  You're going through with it, right?  You can't let the abuse continue, Eve.  You let the legal process protect you and Shawn."

"Yeah, I guess I know that."

"So you're still planning on testifying against John?"  Jennifer asked.

"Yes, I'll testify," Eve said as she nervously clenched and unclenched her hands.

"Then what is it?" 

"Call it intuition, but I know as well as I know anything, that I will not live through this hearing."

"What are you talking about?" Jennifer interrupted.

"Please, Jennifer.  Just let me get this out," Eve pleaded.  "I've never been much of a planner for the future.  Never saw the need for it until now."  Eve withdrew an envelope and laid it on the end table next to Jennifer.

"What's that?" asked Jennifer.

Instead of answering her directly, Eve said, "I had no business having a kid.  Ever.  I knew early on in my marriage what kind of a monster I'd hooked up with.  But I got knocked up and couldn't find the money to get an abortion.  Thus Shawn was born.  Poor kid.  Motherhood just isn't in my genes.  If it was, I wouldn't think of my little boy as an anchor tied around my neck.  What kind of a mother feels like that?"  She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater, then continued.  "And no one in his right mind would nominate John for father of the year.  My poor, poor little boy has seen things that would turn a grown man's stomach.  He's watched his daddy beat his mommy until her face was unrecognizable to him or anyone else."

Jennifer stretched out her hand and touched Eve's arm.

"Shawn deserves better.  And after I'm gone, I'm asking you to save him."  As Eve ran her fingers through her hair, her eyes bore a silent plea.

"Eve, what are you talking about?  I don't understand." 

"I had my attorney draw up the papers so everything is taken care of.  If anything should happen to me, I want you to save my son and give him a life he deserves."  Eve paused, tears streaming down her face.  "Jennifer, you'll be the kind of mother to Shawn that I could never be.  I know that.  There is nothing I am more certain of.  This is a lot to ask, considering you're pregnant with your first child, but I'm begging you to do this."

"Oh, Eve, I don't know what to say."

"Just say 'Yes.'  Please tell me that you and your husband will surround Shawn with all the love you have.  Please pull him into your wonderful family.  He loves you and Blake already.  I'm begging you, Jennifer." 

Jennifer pulled Eve into her arms to comfort her.  "Yes, I will care for Shawn.  But I don't believe it will come to that.  I know you don't believe it, but the law will protect you.  Nothing is going to happen to you."

"Thank you.  Promise you will tell no one until the time comes.  Then, with these legal papers, you will take custody of Shawn."

"Promise."

 <><><>

Dispatch gave him Cheryl Collins' address.  Blake was punching it into his GPS when his cell phone sounded.  It was Lance Brody.

"Hey, Blake.  I'm afraid I've got some bad news.  There was a man and a woman in the car in the river.  They both had identification on them.  John and Eve Isaac."