The Christmas Bell Tolls (4 page)

“I’m Special Agent
in Charge, Leo Wilson. May I come in?”

Darren waved him
in and led him to the living room. Wilson stopped short as Nick held out his
hand to shake.

“What are you
doing here, Agent Hagar?” Wilson ignored the hand, continuing before Nick could
reply. “You were told I had the case.”

“I understand
that, but Agent Timmons is also a longtime family friend of my fiancé’s. We
came by to check on him.”

“You’re a material
witness as well as an employee of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Lab,
correct?” Wilson stared at Maddie.

She stood a little
straighter, a defense posture. “I am.”

Wilson sighed.
“You people can
not
be here. You are bordering on interfering in my
investigation.”

“We’re here merely
as friends,” Maddie defended.

“But you are a
material witness. And you,” he turned to Nick, “are an agent and his boss. You
know better.”

Nick’s jaw
tightened. He took Maddie’s hand. “I’m sorry, Agent Wilson. We’ll leave
immediately.”

“But—” Maddie
opened her mouth to argue.

Darren reached out
and hugged her. “It’s okay,” he whispered before letting her go.

Nick and Maddie
grabbed their coats and were gone.

Agent Wilson
motioned toward the couch. “May I?”

“Of
course.”
Darren sat across from him.

“I don’t mean to
be harsh. I know they’re your friends and want to be here for you, but I must
make sure this investigation is executed without incident. I’m sure you
understand.”

Darren nodded. “I
just want my daughter back.”

“I’m going to do
my job to the best of my ability to make that happen.” No promises…could be
taken straight out of the FBI manual. “I wanted to update you. The crime scene
unit has completed their scene work.”

“Did they find
anything?”

“They’ve taken the
samples back to their lab to test. As soon as they get results, they’ll notify
me immediately.”

At least Eva was
on the case. She was good. If there was anything to be found, she’d find it.
Darren nodded.

“I have agents
looking into your list of recent cases. So far, nothing has triggered a deeper
look.”

He didn’t think
there would be. This didn’t feel like someone he’d sent to prison. “Is it
possible someone else is the target?
Abduction but to hurt
not just me, but someone else?
Maybe someone I’m close with?”

Wilson flipped
open a small steno notebook. “Yes, there is quite the list from targets to
choose from. Aside from you there is Maddie Baxter, DNA/serology technician
with the TBI.
Nick Hagar, her fiancé and your boss, FBI SAC.
Riley Baxter Simpson, an investigative reporter whose husband is the police
commissioner in Hopewell, Louisiana. Remington Wyatt Baxter is a freelance
criminal psychologist who consults for the FBI and her husband, Rafe Baxter,
FBI agent who just happens to be your former partner. Quite the incestuous
little group, wouldn’t you say?”

Darren fisted and
unfisted his hands. “Look, I’m not real sure what you’re trying to imply, but—”

“I’m not implying
anything. I’m confirming that there are, in fact, quite a few possible targets
that were at the community center today. I assure you, I have people looking
into each and every one of those angles.”

He let his hands
fall slack over his knees. “Is there anything promising you can tell me?”

“We have Amber
alerts out.
BOLOs.
We’ve saturated the media and
social media with your daughter’s picture and our hotline.”

All
standard procedures.

“We’ve got alerts
at the airports, bus stations, and train station. Even the taxi companies are
on the watch.”

Standard
operating procedures from the agency manual.
Kidnapping
101.

“I’m going to ask
for some items now that you probably wouldn’t think about. Please understand
,
I’m just doing my best to find your daughter.”

“Go for it.”

“Have you noticed
anyone following you over the past weeks?”

“No.”

“Seen any strange
vehicles in your neighborhood the last several days?”

“No.”

“Agent Timmons,
think harder. I know most agents are aware of their surroundings and like to
think they would automatically notice something amiss, but consider possible
unimportant details.
Little things.”
Wilson snapped at
one of the new agents hovering in the corner. “This is Agent Cobb. I need you
to walk him through your last week.
Every little detail.
It might seem trivial, but we’re not going to miss anything. I can assure you
of that.”

Darren nodded, but
inside, little pieces of him were crumbling. He was missing one crucial thing:
his daughter.

And he wanted her
back more than he wanted to take his next breath.

“We have a hit!”

Everyone in
Darren’s house froze for a nanosecond,
then
rushed
into a flurry of action, until Wilson whistled and stopped everyone again. He
stared at the agent who’d made the announcement. “What’s the hit?”

“A
gas station attendant reports seeing a child matching Savannah’s description.”

Finally!

“Where?”
Wilson bellowed before even Darren could ask.
“When?”

“Ten minutes ago.
Thomas Street, north of US 51, right by the Interstate 40
connection.”

“You two,” Wilson
pointed at the two field agents closest to the door. “Get there now. Interview,
but priority is security footage if they have it. I want to verify identity and
work from there.”

Darren grabbed his
coat from the peg behind the door.

“Whoa,
Timmons.
You can’t go.” Wilson hovered behind him.

“Yes, I can.”

“No, you can’t.”

“I can immediately
identify.”

“As you can when
they take a picture of it with their phone and send to us.”

“I can do onsite
and then assist in the interview.”

Wilson blocked the
doorway with his fullness. “You know policy. The parent stays here.”

Darren took a
step,
then
stopped. “Come on, I can’t just sit here
and do nothing.”

“But you know
you’d only get in the way.” Wilson’s tone had softened by several degrees.
“Look, I know how hard this must be. I’m going to stay here at ground zero with
you. You’ll get the information immediately. Why don’t you get the area map set
up on the easel there? As soon as identity is confirmed, we can start building
our lock-down areas.”

Slowly, Darren
hung up his jacket,
then
headed to help the agents
setting up the map. He took note of the time: 7:20. She was seen at 7:10. Even
racing, it would take the agents a good twenty minutes to get there. That gave
the abductor a good thirty minutes head start.
In that time,
no telling where Savannah could be.

“Call the TBI to
meet them at the gas station to gather any evidence they can,” Wilson told
another agent, who nodded and put a phone to his ear.

“Sir, I’ve got
something.
Maybe.”
One of the agents manning the
phones in the corner stood. He frowned as Wilson approached. “Or maybe it’s
nothing.”

“Go ahead, agent.”
Wilson crossed his arms over his chest.

“Someone Agent
Timmons and Agent Baxter put away was paroled. SAC Hagar oversaw the
investigation. Perp was released two and a half weeks ago.”

“Who?”
Darren asked.

“Sanford
Barbor.”

Darren’s blood
went cold. “Barbor is a child pornographer. How is he out?”

“He was
incarcerated almost ten years ago, sir.” The agent looked at Wilson.

“What else?” Leo
Wilson asked.

“He registered as
a sex offender.”

“That’s a
condition of his release, not because he’s rehabilitated, I can guarantee you
that.” Darren gave an inward shudder. Barbor was vile. He’d filmed little
girls, no more than ten years old, undressing.
Naked.
The man was pond scum.

“Yes, but what
might be relatable is where he registered.” The agent glanced at the scrap of
paper in his hand.
“6756 Rabbit Tail Lane in Arlington.”

Darren balled his
hands. “That’s only ten minutes from here.”
A sex
offender…this close to his home.
To his daughter.

Barbor was out.
He’d been furious with Darren and Nick and Rafe. More than just hated being
caught, he’d been out of control.
Vowed vengeance and
retribution.

If Barbor had
taken Savannah…waves of nausea rode over Darren like a tsunami.
Lord,
please, no.

“Call his probation
officer and see when he last reported in. Verify his home address with the PO,
then
send someone over to interview him. I want eyes on
him.” Wilson faced Darren. “Take a deep breath, agent. Don’t go suspecting the
worst until we know.”

Darren nodded, but
still felt sick to his stomach.

A soft rap sounded
at the front door. The agent closest answered it, and a woman wearing grey
slacks with jacket entered.
Yet another agent.

“Agent Timmons,
this is Agent Lacey. She’s a profiler, one of the best at these types of
cases,” Wilson said as a way of introduction.

Just
what he needed, more agents but still no answers.
Still, Darren nodded
at the short brunette who looked more like an aerobics instructor than an FBI
agent.

“Sorry to meet
under these circumstances, Agent Timmons.” She had a roughness to her voice
that didn’t quite match her appearance. “If you would take me to your
daughter’s room, please, I’ll get started.”

Darren cocked his
head and met Wilson’s stare. Agent Cobb had looked over Savannah’s room after
grabbing answers to his redundant questions. Had he seen something he wanted a
second opinion on?

The SAC gave a
brief smile in response to Darren’s raising of a single eyebrow. “Agent Lacey
is known for seeing what the rest of us miss.”

“Savannah wasn’t
taken from here.” Had they found something? Was there a link to Savannah
herself? What had he missed?

“Yet there could
be some clue. Some hint.” The roughness of her voice rubbed Darren wrong.

“A clue to someone
abducting her might be in her room?” He’d been in the FBI all his adult life
and he’d never heard of taking such an angle in an abduction investigation.

“Agent Timmons,
I’m sure you’re aware of data that proves in most cases,
a
child
abduction isn’t a spur of a moment crime. It’s been carefully
planned and plotted.”

He nodded, not
sure where she was going with this, but he paid attention.

“In recent cases,
we’ve found where the abductor actually made contact with the victim prior to
the abduction.
In a store.
At
school.
Even on buses or subway.
Something that would
be a connection of some small way that the child would recognize.
It
makes the abduction a much easier crime.”

He hadn’t heard
that, but it made perfectly logical sense.

“So, with your
permission, I’d like to look at your daughter’s room to see if something sticks
out to me so I can begin to build a profile of her abductor.”

“Savannah,” Darren
croaked. “Her name is Savannah.”

Agent Lacey
smiled.
“Beautiful name.
May I please see Savannah’s
room?”

He nodded and led
the way down the hall.
Anything to help find his baby girl
and bring her home.

He opened the door
to her room and stepped inside. A wall of emotion slammed against him. It felt
wrong to be here without her. No giggles coming from her hiding in the closet.
No begging to be read one more chapter in their bedtime story. No laughter as
she jumped on the bed before snuggling under the covers.

A vise held his
breath tight.
Lord, please keep her safe until I find her.

“A
lovely room.”
Agent Lacey broke him free from the emotional grip.

He swallowed.
Hard.
“Is there something specific you’re looking for?”

“No. It’s more of
an impression for me.” She pushed open the closet door. “I see she loves pretty
clothes.”

He chuckled. “She
loves anything frilly and sparkly, that’s for sure.”

“Agent Timmons,”
SAC Wilson called out from the living room.

“Go ahead. I won’t
mess anything up,” Lacey said with a smile.

Darren rushed down
the hall.

“We have another
possible sighting,” an agent on the phone relayed. “Five minutes ago a drug
store worker says a child matching Savannah’s description was in the store with
a female, buying hair dye.”

“Sounds like a
live one!” Wilson snapped at two agents hovering in the dining room.
“Location?”

“Sylvan
Road in Millington.”

Darren rushed to
the map where he’d put a temporary dot on the gas station’s address. He
searched for and found the address for the drug store on Sylvan Road. After a
quick glance at the clock, he did a mental calculation. “That’d just about fit
the timeline perfectly from the gas station to the drug store.”

“If both sightings
are truly her,” Wilson said before nodding at the agents standing at the ready
by the front door. “Interview, surveillance videos, send photo immediately for
identification confirmation. Call the TBI and ask them to get there as well.
Go.”

Darren put a dot
on the map.

“SAC Wilson, it’s
the team at the gas station. They’re sending a photo of a still shot from the
video to your phone right now,” an agent called out.

Wilson pulled out
his phone and moved beside Darren, who held his breath as the picture loaded.

Savannah’s profile
filled the smartphone screen. She wasn’t wearing the dress she’d been wearing
when abducted, but it was her. Someone wearing a glove held her hand and looked
to be leading her toward the restroom.

“Is that her?”
Wilson asked softly.

Darren nodded.
“That’s Savannah.”

“I can’t stand it
anymore—I’m calling him.” Eva plopped onto Maddie’s couch and pulled out her
cell phone. “At least I can let him know that we’ve got all the evidence logged
into the system and the preliminary testing started.” Even though it hurt like
the dickens to leave the lab, Dr. Sebrowski had been insistent, and she was,
after all, Eva’s supervisor.

“Wait a second,”
Nick intervened. “That might not be the best idea.”

“Why
not?
I want to know what’s happening and it seems like neither of you
have any idea.” Eva still couldn’t believe that they’d been shut out of the
investigation. “And Darren will want to know we’re doing our best.”

“Darren knows
you’re doing your best, and it’s not the best idea to call because any call
coming in will be recorded. I’m pretty sure SAC Leo Wilson would frown upon a
key member of the TBI calling the victim’s father.”

“I can’t stand
just not letting him know I’m thinking of him.” She actually wanted to go see
him. To grab him into a hug and tell him everything was going to be okay, even
though she didn’t know that to be true.

And that was
probably the hardest part.

“That little
girl…” Eva blinked against the tears threatening again. “Savannah’s a
sweetheart and I just adore her.”

Maddie squeezed
her hand. “He knows.”

“Does he?” Eva
stood and paced again. “We didn’t exactly leave things on the most positive
note.”

“What did happen,
if you don’t mind my asking?” Maddie’s sister, Riley, sat down on the couch
beside Maddie.

“That sounds like
my cue to leave.” Nick stood, but not before planting a kiss on Maddie’s cheek.
“If I hear anything tonight, I’ll call. Otherwise, I’ll see what I can find out
in the morning.”

Eva watched him
leave,
then
realized Riley was still waiting for an
answer. “Well, we’d gone out several times and had a really great time. I
thought we were doing well.
Moving forward and all that.”
She shrugged, trying to ignore the hurt from the past. “We were on another
date, this time without Savannah, because we sometimes took her with us.” Just
saying her name now put a ping of pain in Eva’s chest. “We’d finished eating
and had gone dancing and I thought we’d had a good time.”

“But?”
Riley probed. It wasn’t out of rudeness, Eva knew, but just Riley’s inquisitive
personality. That was one of the reasons she was such a good reporter.

“But when we left,
I could tell he seemed quieter.
More pensive.
When we
got to my house, he declined my offer to come in for a cup of coffee, saying he
needed to get back home. He said that while he liked me and had a good time
with me, he felt like we weren’t going in the same direction. That he felt like
I hadn’t enjoyed the single life enough.” She swallowed. “He said that I would
always be special to him and that if only for Savannah’s sake, he hoped we
would always be friends.”

Maddie’s living
room got very quiet.

“Wait a minute.
That’s it?” Riley asked.

Eva nodded.

“You didn’t tell
me all that. You just told me he said he wanted to be friends,” Maddie said.

“Well, that’s
true. I didn’t feel like going into all the details just then.” Eva blinked
hard to stop the tears. “I mean, it hurt my feelings.”

“I bet it did.
Especially because that’s lame.”
Riley shook her head. “I
know he’s going through a nightmare right now, I do, but his excuse for not
dating anymore is lame.”

Maddie nodded. “I
have to agree. I can’t believe you accepted that, Eva. It’s not like you.”

The tears burned, but
she wouldn’t let them escape. “I was shocked, to be honest. And really hurt.”

“Oh. My. Gosh. You
were falling in love with him!” Maddie’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“Shut up.” But
Eva’s heart rebelled and raced.

Riley nodded. “I
don’t know you as well as Mads, but I know that look. You had real feelings for
him.” She tilted her head. “Still do.”

“Look, that’s not
important right now.” A good offense was the best defense, right? Eva licked
her lips. “Would it be awful if I texted him? I want him to know that I’m
thinking of him. It was really awkward at the center.”

Maddie shook her
head. “That Leo Wilson…I think he’d take it the wrong way. The worst thing that
could happen is for him to throw a fit to have you taken off the case. Who
would Dr. Sebrowski get to oversee the lab if you and I are both out of the
picture?”