Maximum Guilt (Hidden Guilt Book 2) (14 page)

We paddled for about ten minutes. My arms were dead; I haven’t canoed since the girls and I had did it together.

We paddled for a few minutes longer, and then a house came into view.

It was a large wood cabin-type house with a wraparound porch. Smoke was spewing from the chimney. I was already looking for entries and exits from the house. There appeared to be a cellar door on the side closest to us. I found that strange, as the soil this far south typically wasn’t firm enough to support such a structure. And typically the water concentration was too high. Obviously that wasn’t an issue here.

“You got some supercop way you wanna do this? I’m ready for a little action.”

“Yes, and first thing is, you have to stay here. I can’t take a civilian with me. Could be dangerous. If she’s here, she won’t go down without a fight. You can bet on that.”

We made landfall. I took my glock from its holster and headed for the house on foot. I was running as quickly as I could, but I had to be careful. God knows there was a little bit of everything in this place—hogs, snakes, gators—and I didn’t have enough rounds to waste any.

When I got within two hundred yards of the house, I noticed three cars in the driveway.
No way the old lady needed three vehicles
. I’d been right all along; Stacy was here. I made my way closer to the house using the trees as cover. My heart was racing. If anything went wrong here, I’d probably never see my daughter alive again.

I finally got close enough to the cars to make out the plates. Two of them were from Texas. Stacy and Brittany?

All I hoped for now was a pet-free home. A barking dog would be a disaster. I did a once around the perimeter, but I didn’t see a soul inside or out. They had to be here. I tiptoed onto the porch and turned the doorknob. Locked. I took a lock pick out of my vest and quickly gained access.

I slipped inside, gun in hand. I scanned the room but again saw no one. I cleared the room and made my way through the house.

I heard something, but I wasn’t sure what it was or where it was coming from. It sounded like muffled music or some sort of chanting. I cleared two more rooms but still saw no one.

I moved deeper into the house. The sound was coming from below me somehow. A basement? And then it hit me. Oh God! If it was a chant, they had to be performing some godforsaken ritual! What the hell were they doing to Karen?

I kicked the door open and charged down the stairs, my gun leading the way. The room was bathed in candlelight. It took my eyes a second to adjust. And then I saw her. Karen lay motionless in the middle of the room. The floor was covered with white markings. I had no idea what any of them meant but I was certain it was nothing good. My heart dropped to my stomach and rage flooded my body.

Stacy noticed me first and made a beeline for a door in the back of the room. The music and chanting was so loud that none of them had heard me kick my way inside. Stacy’s grandmother had her eyes closed and was fully into her sickening voodoo madness. The third woman—Brittany, I presumed—followed Stacy in a full-out sprint. I thought about giving chase, but the only thing on my mind was Karen.

“Freeze!” I shouted, but it was no use.

Stacy’s grandmother looked up at me in shock. She turned like she was reaching for something, and I fired a warning shot near her feet.

“Don’t make me shoot you, because I will. Lay down face-first, and put your hands behind your back. I’m placing you under arrest.”

The old lady complied. I cuffed her and dialed 911 as I ran over to check on Karen. I was angrier than I’d ever been in my life. Karen’s eyes fluttered, opened, and then closed again. Her little body was cold and limp. She was soaked in blood. Had she been cut? I searched all over her body but I didn’t see any cuts right off. Some sort of tape still covered her mouth. I did my best not to hurt her as I peeled the tape off her mouth.

“My name is Detective David Porter, HPD. I’m at thirty-two fifteen LaCrouix Street. I need an ambulance and police backup immediately. Two murder suspects fled on foot.”

I figured either one or both cars would be gone, so I gave the operator both makes and models along with the plate numbers which I’d memorized.

Karen’s breathing was shallow, and she was totally unresponsive. It was shallow enough that I felt CPR was needed, so I began compressions.

“It’s too late; she gone now. We take her to da other side,” Stacy’s grandmother said.

“Shut up! You shut up now!”

I couldn’t be too late. I just couldn’t be. I continued with the compressions, and it seemed like her breathing was slowly improving.

“Karen, it’s me, dad,” I pleaded with her. “Wake up, Karen! Talk to me.”

This couldn’t be happening. Not like this.

“I tell you already; she gone. She be free now.”

“You evil bitch!” I yelled, shoving my gun in her face. “What did you do to her?”

“No matter now; you’s too late,” she said.

I turned back to Karen. As I knelt down beside her, she opened her eyes and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

I hugged her tight and tried to calm her. I doubted she could hear my voice over the screaming.

“Police! Freeze!” a cop yelled from the top of the basement staircase.

“I’m HPD. Here’s my badge,” I said, pointing inside my jacket. “I have the one you want handcuffed over here.”

The ambulance arrived, and I ushered the EMTs over to Karen.

“Daddy!” Karen had opened her eyes again and finally saw me—
really
saw me.

“Karen! Hey, baby. Daddy’s here.”

Karen was still crying. It was a deep, hard cry and I could tell she was still trying to figure it all out. “How did you find me? I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Don’t worry about that right now, sweetie. Just relax and let these good people take care of you.”

Chapter 28

I piled into the ambulance with Karen and held her hand as tight as I could for the duration of the trip to the hospital. I don’t think I’ll ever let go of her again. Stacy’s grandmother was being taken in for booking. For now, the only thing I could pin on her was endangerment of a child. I was hoping to add aiding and abetting to that list, too.

The one thing I needed to do more than anything was to call Miranda. I was eager to tell her and frightened at the same time. I worried that Karen might never be able to get those horrifying images out of her young mind.

I punched in her number. The phone couldn’t connect fast enough. Before Miranda could even finish saying hello, I interrupted her. “Miranda, I found her!” I wanted to get the words out before she had a chance to say anything else.

I heard a clatter as Miranda’s phone dropped to the floor. Then I listened, helpless, to my wife’s anguished wailing. It overwhelmed me, and I found myself crying along with her.

“Don’t cry, Daddy. I’m okay now. You saved me!”

“I know, baby. I know. Daddy’s just really happy.”

I stayed on the line until Miranda returned to the phone.

“Is she okay, David?”

“I think she’s going to be fine, yes.”

“Put her on the phone. I want to hear her voice.”

I hit the speaker button and laid my phone down between us.

“Hi, Mommy!”

“Oh baby!” Miranda said, choking back tears.

“Don’t worry about me, Mommy. I’m okay. Daddy found me!”

“Your dad is the best. He loves you so much. We both love you so much, baby.”

“I gotta go now, Mommy. I love you, too.”

“Okay, sweetie. Mommy will see you real soon.”

When Miranda hung up, I called De Luca. I needed their report on the Carl Blake murder. I also wanted to let everyone in Houston know the latest.

“Porter, Lafitte and I were just about to call you. We just finished up the Carl Blake crime scene investigation.”

“Good. I want to hear every detail, but it’ll have to wait a few hours.”

“Why? Is everything okay?”

“Everything is better than okay.” I felt the tears well up again as I looked into Karen’s eyes.

“Porter?”

“I’m here. I found Karen. She’s with me now.”

“Wait, what? When?”

“Within the last hour. That’s what I was calling to tell you.”

“Porter, that’s amazing! I guess your hunch was right all along. What about Stacy?”

“I’ll do you one better. Both Stacy and Brittany are here in Louisiana. I stormed into the basement and found both of them. They escaped out a back door before I could apprehend them. I was more concerned with tending to Karen.”

“You made the right move.”

“I did get her grandmother. She’s in custody now. I’ll call you and Lafitte in a few hours for a debriefing on the Carl Blake crime scene. We’re getting Karen a once-over, and then I’ll get her on a plane back home.”

“Wait. So, you aren’t coming back to Houston with her?”

“No. Call you soon.”

I could do my job and handle this case, even if it involved my little girl. I’d found her, and after I got her safely back to Houston, I would track down the other two I came for. I’d come too far, and I’d never be able to rest knowing Stacy and Brittany were still out there. They’d surely come for me if I didn’t find them first.

Chapter 29

Stacy and Brittany were both traveling east on I-10, moving quickly but not so fast that they would be stopped. They needed to ditch their cars and get new ones in case Porter had given their plate numbers to the cops.

Stacy got in the right lane and exited the freeway. She saw a Walmart up ahead and figured it would be a good place to make a car exchange. Brittany followed a few car lengths behind.

Stacy drove around the parking lot in search of an easy mark. It had to be toward the outer edge of the parking lot. She came to a stop and waived Brittany to pull up beside her.

“There’s one security guard making rounds. Go to the other side of the parking lot, get out, and raise your hood. Disconnect your battery. Be sure to park so he’ll have his back to this side of the parking lot when he gets under your hood. I’m going to take this white Maxima to my left. Be sure to flag him down when he comes near you. After he reconnects your battery, drive around to the back of the store. That’s where we’ll leave your car. I’ll be waiting for you back there.”

“Got it.”

“It’ll take some time for them to realize we’ve ditched these cars and hopefully an hour or so before this one is reported stolen. I noticed the stickers on the back window of the Maxima—soccer mom with three kids. She also had a huge grocery list in her hand as she walked into the store, so she’ll be awhile.”

Brittany did as she’d been instructed, and, just like clockwork, the security guard drove over to help the damsel in distress.
Pathetic
, Stacy thought.
Go time!

Stacy got out and jimmied the door. Within no time, she had the car hot-wired.

She drove the Maxima to the back of the store, pulled into a parking spot, and waited for Brittany.

“What the hell is she doing? Come on, Brittany, damn it.”

One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Four. Finally, Stacy could see Brittany’s car coming around the corner.

“Get in! Let’s go,” Stacy yelled as Brittany jumped out of her car.

In less than a minute they were back on the Interstate.

“What was that all about?” Stacy said.

“You mean, what took me so long?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” Stacy said, giving her sister a hard stare.

Brittany grinned. “Well, I didn’t want it to seem too obvious that I didn’t really need his help. And he was kinda cute.”

Stacy rolled her eyes and focused on the road. “Jiminy Cricket.”

“So where to?”

“Mississippi and Florida are next. I’m quite certain those incest breeding grounds will have plenty of bad boys to choose from.”

Chapter 30

Stacy and Brittany drove straight through Louisiana to Mississippi. Brittany wanted to talk about their grandmother, but she was afraid Stacy would come unglued. They both knew the odds of ever seeing her again were slim to none. And much closer to the none side. But they both knew she wouldn’t talk. Not to a cop. Ever. She’d rot in jail for the rest of her life before she’d say a word.

But now that Porter had searched her out, what else would he find back at her house? Would he even go back and look? She was afraid he would.