Kidnapping cold case, p.13
Kidnapping Cold Case, page 13
That, and how they all looked similar to the way she had ten years ago.
Maybe she needed to think more about every guy she’d turned down for a date. As insane as it sounded, her rejection may have been enough to send this person off the deep end. Yet even as the thought entered her mind, she couldn’t fathom it. For one thing, she was hardly a guy magnet. During her sophomore year, there was only one boy she’d turned down for a date, and Jacob Harding had ended up seeing one of her classmates, Julie, on a regular basis after that. It didn’t make sense that he would have cared enough about her rejection to do something as awful as this.
In truth, she couldn’t recall anyone asking her out and being upset about her declining his offer. She’d had more guys who were simply good friends, rather than guys who were interested in being her boyfriend. She began culling her memory for boys in her circle.
Both Robbie White and James Carmichael had been good friends of hers.
She’d dated Steve Crane for a few months, but even that relationship had simply fizzled out, without any drama or fanfare. They’d both been busy in their respective lives with after-school activities and hadn’t cared enough about each other to keep things going. No reason for Steve to have gotten upset over it.
Massaging her temple, Jacy trudged along the side of the road, walking to keep warm. It was difficult to make sense of these crimes and how they were tied to her abduction ten years ago.
In the distance, the rumbling sound of a train reverberated around her. Upon hearing a footstep behind her, she turned, expecting to see Cash. She opened her mouth to scream when she saw a man with a dark coat and ski mask standing behind her.
Before she could move or call out, something sharp pierced her chest. Looking down at the V opening in her coat, she was horrified to see two tiny barbs embedded in her sweater. Instantly her entire body spasmed with the force of an electric jolt.
Helpless, she fell to the ground, unable to move or shout for help. The dark eyes peering down at her from the openings in the mask appeared full of wicked satisfaction.
The stranger picked her up and turned, carrying her to the truck. The same black truck with tinted windows she and Cash had noticed earlier. She’d been so lost in thoughts of who might be behind this that she hadn’t heard the vehicle behind her. The train may have masked the sound, too.
The killer dumped her in the back seat, then quickly got in behind the wheel. Seconds later, they were driving away.
No! This couldn’t be happening! Jacy was shocked to realize this guy had been brazen enough to stake out his own crime scene just to get to her.
And she’d unwittingly walked right into his trap. With all the officers down at the creek bed, standing beneath the bridge, the road had been left wide open for anyone to drive by.
She wanted to cry and scream in frustration. Had Cash seen her go down? Maybe overheard the sound of the Taser shooting barbs into her?
Or was she on her own?
Panic threatened to overwhelm her. Then she abruptly realized she wasn’t alone. Cash had reminded her that God was always with her. A strange sense of calmness washed over her.
God was with her. And maybe this was all part of God’s plan. Hadn’t she asked Cash to set her up in a motel as bait?
Using her to draw the killer out of hiding hadn’t been done intentionally, but she was right about the fact that doing so had worked.
Her being in the back seat of the truck was proof of that.
Okay, then. She swallowed hard against the ball of fear lodged in her throat. Her muscles were starting to loosen up and she opened and closed her fingers, still feeling weak. Overpowering the masked man probably wasn’t an option.
No, what she needed to do was to keep this guy occupied until Cash and the other police officers involved in the case could find them.
It didn’t matter if she died at this man’s hands, as long as Cash and Detective Vargas found and arrested him.
The last thing she wanted was for this killer to continue going after young girls.
This nightmare had to end with her. No matter what.
* * *
“Where’s Jacy?” Cash abruptly turned, scanning the ridge above. The creek bed was low enough that he couldn’t see the entire road. The sound of a train grew louder as it approached. A wave of fear washed over him as he scrambled up the embankment.
The brief flash of taillights in the distance ramped up his terror. They were high enough to belong to a truck. Maybe even the same truck with the tinted windows they’d seen earlier that day.
“Jacy!” He whirled toward his SUV, intending to follow, when he saw a tiny metal barb lying on the ground.
Every cop had a Taser, something they used only in dire circumstances. He was sure this barb hadn’t been here earlier; he’d have noticed it.
As would the other officers.
“Vargas! Jacy’s been kidnapped! She was tased—get someone to grab the barb as evidence!” He shouted at the top of his lungs to be heard over the train. Without waiting for a response, he ran to the SUV. Only once he had the engine running and had hit the road did he reach for his phone to call his boss.
“What’s up, Rawson?”
“I need a police chopper in the air, ASAP. We’re looking for a black Ford truck with tinted windows heading west on Highway 21. Hurry, the killer has Jacy Urban.”
“License plate?” Timmons asked.
“Negative. A temporary plate in the back window. I was too far away to get a number. Black Ford truck, with a crew cab, meaning it has a back seat. Tinted windows,” he repeated.
“Understood. I’ll get a police chopper in the air and alert the state patrol.”
“Hurry!” Cash hit the gas hard, speeding as fast as possible while mentally kicking himself for allowing Jacy out of his sight. At the time, he’d thought it best that Jacy didn’t listen as they’d discussed bringing cadaver dogs in to search the area under the bridge and along the frozen creek for Claire Simmons.
But now, the killer had her! And if he didn’t find them soon, Jacy would end up just like Suzanna Perry.
Dead.
No, please, Lord Jesus, don’t take Jacy! The prayer reverberated through his mind as he desperately searched for the black truck.
His phone rang and he quickly grabbed it. “Rawson.”
“This is FBI agent Kyle Boyd. I understand Jacy Urban is missing.”
“Yes.” Oddly, working through the case helped keep Cash’s panic at bay. “We found Suzanna Perry’s body beneath a bridge outside the small unincorporated town of Bakersville. She had been buried under a pile of rocks.”
“I heard. What can I do to help?” Boyd asked.
“I need resources to find the black Ford truck with tinted windows.” He glanced at the overcast sky, wishing the chopper was there already. “And it wouldn’t hurt to set up a couple dozen roadblocks.”
“I can assist with that. But what about information on our unsub? Did you or Jacy come up with anything on this guy?”
“Only the possibility that he’s someone from her high school. Either a substitute teacher or a classmate. We started going through her yearbook, but didn’t get to finish.” An abrupt thought hit him. “Wait a minute, what about cross-referencing male students that shared a chemistry class with Jacy and who were also in the choir?”
“Why chemistry?” Boyd asked.
“The pepper spray and smoke bomb.” It wasn’t much of a connection, but it was all he could come up with. “Start there. If you don’t find a connection, we’ll have to broaden our search. But it seems like this guy knows how to use chemicals to his advantage, like the tranquilizer dart. I never heard back on the fingerprints or what drug was used but he fired tranq darts at us, twice. Plus, Jacy was taken on her way home from choir practice. I spoke to George Voight, the neighbor living in the house along her route. He mentioned that Jacy had stopped in front of his house and turned to look behind her. As if someone had called her name. It would make sense that the person was someone she knew.”
There was a moment of silence as the FBI agent pondered the additional information. “Okay, I’ll see what we can come up with. I’ll follow up on the tranq dart, too. That’s some good detective work there, Rawson. Stay in touch.”
“Yeah, you, too.” Cash dropped the phone in the cup holder, knowing he would not hesitate to use every possible resource at his disposal. He wanted hundreds of cops to swarm the highways, searching for the black truck.
Where was that chopper? They were roughly thirty minutes out of Madison, and it should be up in the sky by now.
What if they missed this guy? No, he couldn’t let his thoughts go down that path. He couldn’t bear the idea of losing Jacy.
He swallowed hard, sweeping the road for the truck. He’d known getting emotionally involved with Jacy wasn’t smart. But he hadn’t realized how far gone he was.
How much he truly cared.
His phone rang again and he snatched it from the cup holder. “Rawson.”
“Where are you? Which direction did you want me to take?” Vargas’s voice was all business.
“The truck headed west. That’s the way I took, too. But for all I know, he’s turned around by now.” It made Cash feel sick to know he was stumbling around in the dark. “I’m waiting for a police chopper to head this way. That should help.”
As if on cue, the faint whomp, whomp of a helicopter reached his ears. The bird was small in the distance, but as he watched, it grew larger. “It’s in the air now. Black Ford truck with a crew cab, tinted windows and no plates.”
“Got it, I’ll head the other way. I’ve left a deputy in charge of the crime scene so we can free up everyone else to search.”
“Thank you.” He knew Vargas was taking a risk in leaving before the coroner got there, but a live victim always took priority over a dead one.
And he was determined to make sure Jacy survived this ordeal. She had to!
“Keep me updated,” Vargas said before disconnecting from the call.
Cash wished they had something to go on. He told himself the police chopper would have the best chance of spotting the truck, but that was primarily if the killer stayed on the highways.
Even a chopper couldn’t follow every backcountry road stretching across the state.
Or even across state lines.
The knot in his gut tightened at the thought of Jacy ending up in Minnesota, which would mean notifying their state police and possibly slowing things down as more officers became involved. As much as he liked the idea of extra searchers, he didn’t want anything delaying him. Minnesota was the closest border, with Lake Michigan to the east. Illinois several hundred miles south.
Glancing at the dashboard clock, he assured himself there hadn’t been time for this guy to get Jacy out of the state. Small comfort at this point.
Every truck he saw made his heart leap in his chest, only to crash when he realized it wasn’t the black Ford.
Where were they? Where had the killer taken Jacy?
Ten years ago, Jacy had escaped, running across the highway only to end up at the bottom of a ravine. It occurred to him now that the killer may have a hiding spot somewhere nearby. Much like he must have had ten years ago.
And if that was the case? A chopper might not find the vehicle in time. If the black truck was well hidden, they wouldn’t find this guy before he killed Jacy.
Cash grabbed his phone, desperate for an update. Thankfully, his lieutenant answered right away. “The chopper is in the air.”
“I see it. But have you heard anything? They should have the truck in their sights by now.”
“Not yet.” Cash heard the murmur of voices from somewhere behind his boss. It made him think of the killer having access to a police radio. If that was the case, the driver of the black truck would have known about the chopper long before it arrived in the area.
“He may have gone into hiding somewhere close by.” Cash tried not to sound as panicked as he felt. “I need officers to canvass the area within a fifty-mile radius.”
“Fifty miles? That will take some time,” Timmons warned. “I’ve freed up as many officers as possible and have alerted the state patrol.”
“Please, get them spread out through the area.” Cash wasn’t above begging. “Our working theory is this guy has access to a police radio. If he knew about the chopper heading out to search for the truck, he’d find a place to take cover.” There were so many acres of woods, small towns, and other possibilities for this guy to hide in. And the fact that this perp had left Suzanna’s body here meant he was familiar with the area.
By far, more familiar with this neck of the woods than he was.
“Listen, Lieutenant, the truck is large, with a crew cab. Maybe too big to fit in some garages. But we might be able to find the vehicle if this perp simply parked off along the side of the road somewhere. We need to try.”
“Understood. I’ll see what we can do,” Timmons promised.
The exchange with his boss had not been reassuring. Quite the opposite. They had no name to use as a reference point. Just a description of a vehicle that could already be well hidden off the road.
Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Cash estimated he’d gone about fifteen miles. He was uncharacteristically frozen by indecision. Should he keep going? Or leave the rest of the highway to the chopper? Maybe it was time to turn around and head down some of the side roads.
What should he do? Please, Lord Jesus, guide me! Give me the strength and knowledge I need to find Jacy!
An intersection up ahead helped make up his mind. He’d turn off there to see if he could find any clues. If not, he’d retrace his path heading back toward the crime scene.
Driving around and hoping for the best didn’t seem to be much of a plan. But he couldn’t come up with another viable option. Not without more information to go on.
Cash slowed at the intersection, glancing in both directions. Which way should he go? North or south?
He decided to head north. There were miles of woods in that direction and fewer people living in the area, too. During the warm summer months there were plenty of city dwellers that would drive up from Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago to enjoy the rustic life in cabins or trailers near lakes and rivers. But in January? Not so much.
It would make sense that their unsub would take his victims somewhere isolated.
Where no one could hear their screams.
He slowed his pace so that he could look more closely for signs of a truck in the area. If the killer had been in a hurry, he may not have taken the time to mask his tracks the way Cash had when they’d hidden in the trees to escape the truck.
But he didn’t find anything.
Don’t give up hope. The silent lecture reverberated through his mind. Don’t give up hope!
When his phone rang, he pounced on it. “Rawson.”
“Agent Boyd. Does the name Robert White mean anything to you?”
Cash’s pulse spiked. “No, should it? Is he our possible unsub?”
“Maybe, but it’s thin. The guy was in Jacy’s chemistry class and in the choir. He’s a year older than her, making him a junior at the time she was a sophomore. I’m not sure they had many other classes together.” Boyd paused before adding, “I can’t lie, I’m having trouble imagining a seventeen-year-old perp grabbing young women and killing them.”
“You’re a fed, you know some serial killers begin early, killing their pets before moving on to people.” Cash hated the thought of this Robert White having Jacy. “Maybe this guy was on an expedited track.”
“It’s possible. I’m searching the databases now to see if this guy has any property in the area.”
“Hurry,” Cash urged. “The chopper hasn’t found the black truck yet, and I’m worried he’s already fallen off-grid.”
“Will do.” Boyd ended the call.
Having a possible name to work with was great, but only if they had identified the right guy and there was some way the name would lead them to Jacy.
Before it was too late!
THIRTEEN
When the truck bounced over deep ruts nearly sending her rolling off the back seat and onto the floor, Jacy realized they’d left the road. Her spirits sank, knowing that this would make it so much harder for Cash to find her.
As if that wouldn’t be a nearly impossible task, anyway.
There wasn’t a doubt in her mind Cash would try to locate them; he was dedicated and determined. Yet her abductor seemed to have a plan. She wondered if he’d left Suzanna’s body in such an obvious place solely to draw her and Cash to the area.
The jostling continued for several long minutes. Being tased had left her weak and shaky. She’d considered trying to overpower the killer while he was driving, but then had thought it better to wait.
At some point, they’d reach their destination. Jacy took several deep calming breaths, silently praying for strength. Once her abductor stopped the truck, she’d use the opportunity to escape.
She hoped.
Doing her best to act like a rag doll, she allowed herself to be bounced around as if she couldn’t control herself. Whoever this guy was, she wanted—no, needed him to believe she was no threat.
She didn’t have any weapons of any kind. The only thing working in her favor was the element of surprise. If that didn’t work? She swallowed hard against the lump in the back of her throat.
If she didn’t escape him, she knew he’d strangle her to death.
Just like he’d killed Suzanna Perry, and probably the other missing girls, too.
She prayed as they continued bouncing over the uneven turf. Her biggest fear was that this guy would succeed in killing her while avoiding being caught.
