A knock on the screen door drew his attention.
A young woman stood on the other side. She smiled. “Hey.”
“Ella, what are you doing here?” Paul asked.
Maven had treated Ella Decker several months earlier as she recovered from a traumatic brain injury. Her grateful and wealthy parents had offered Maven help if she ever needed it.
“Lizzie called me. I got worried. Is Maven OK?”
Paul exchanged a warning glance with Lizzie.
Maven wouldn’t want Ella to be upset. Though much improved from her own ordeal, she was still fragile.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about, Ella. She went to the doctor in Cleveland today, and she’s a bit overdue getting home. We’re probably worried for no reason.”
Ella twisted a strand of blonde hair around her finger and gave Paul a hard stare. “Are you sure? Because Lizzie sounded frantic.”
“You know Lizzie. She’s a bit of a drama queen.”
“Hey, I can hear you.” Lizzie laughed as she put an arm around Ella. “Maybe I did exaggerate. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Ella looked from one to the other. “You know what not being able to communicate all those months taught me?” When no one answered her, she continued. “It taught me to read body language. And both of your bodies are telling me something very different than your lips. I’m not as fragile as Maven thinks. Look, my dad has a lot of resources. If Maven’s in trouble, he can help.”
“You’re right, Ella.” Paul nodded. “We’re just not sure of anything at the moment. We could be overreacting for no reason.”
“But…”
“She called me about two this afternoon and told me she was on her way home.” He gestured around the living room. “But as you can see, she’s not here. She’s not answering her phone either.”
“What should we do?”
“We aren’t doing anything. I’m going to drive up to the mall and then back down the highway to see if she had a breakdown of some sort and her phone’s on the fritz. Things like that do happen.”
Ella nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.” She held up a finger. “Hold on a minute.” Ella spent the next five minutes arranging for a helicopter for him. She really wasn’t as fragile as everyone thought.
25
His knees were still pressed against Maven’s back. “That’s what I said. Everyone. I have a rule that I always follow. If one person causes a problem, everyone pays. So you should remember that if you want to cause me a problem.“ He grabbed one of her hands, twisted it around her back, and then did the same with the second one.
Everyone? What did he mean? Closing her eyes, Maven fought back tears as cold metal surrounded her wrists and the cuffs snapped together. They sounded as loud as prison doors clanging shut.
God, I don’t know what’s happening here, but keep me safe. And Moses—Joshua…
He lifted her by the back of her arms. “Good. Now things are back under control. Just the way I like them.” He turned her toward the house.
The Victorian house she and Paul had searched for so long.
Her captor guided her to the front door. “As long as you don’t cause me problems, we’ll get along just fine.” He half-dragged her up the steps to the porch.
All her adrenaline seeped out. Exhausted and defeated, she was taken into the house. She had no more energy to fight.
He’d won—for now. He led her into what looked to be a man cave of some sort. A huge flat screen TV in a huge unit took up the length of the wall. Across from it sat a large, dark brown, leather sofa and a matching recliner. His fingers dug into her arms as he guided her to the wall unit.
She bit her lips and blinked back tears. This man enjoyed inflicting pain on others, and she had no intention of satisfying him.
He turned and smiled at her, and then reached through the wall unit and pressed a button. One section of the wooden unit slid open. He shrugged. “Imagine that.”
She wasn’t going in there. She summoned all her strength and energy as she pulled her arm away from his, but he held on tight. Digging her heels into the floor, she struggled against his pushing.
“You aren’t going to start being a problem again, are you?” His tone sounded reasonable—bizarre considering what was happening. “It’s getting a bit tiresome. I have a few things I need to do since I have a new guest.”
Maven took a few steps backwards, but then he shoved her past the wall unit and into the waiting room. Losing her balance, she stumbled and fell to the floor.
He stepped in and quickly closed the opening.
The room was a perfect replica of a parlor room of the Victorian Age.
Sick to her stomach, she felt a chill travel up her back.
“Now, I hate to be rude, but as I said, there are things I need to get done. So, I’m going to have to lock you up for now, but I’ll be back as soon as I can to give you a proper welcome.” His bizarre, friendly tone had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. He dragged her across the room to another door.
They passed another small room with several computer monitors. A security system. That’s how he’d seen her, Maven assumed. When he opened the door, all she saw was darkness, but the coolness whispered against her skin. A basement. She couldn’t let her put him in there. She struggled, but the handcuffs kept her unbalanced, and she couldn’t really fight him.
A small light came on.
He began pushing her down the steps.
It took all her energy to keep from falling into the black abyss. At the bottom of the steps, another bare light bulb lit up the area, just barely.
Her mind rebelled, refused to believe what she was seeing. This couldn’t be happening. She struggled, but he was stronger.
He pushed her toward the chain link fence that went from the dirt floor almost to the ceiling. Beyond the gate was other chain link fencing forming cages. He unlocked the padlock and pushed her through the smaller gate.
She fell onto the damp dirt floor.
He leaned over her and a moment later, her handcuffs were chained to the gate he’d just pushed her through.
“You told me Joshua was here. Where’s Joshua?”
“All in good time. For now, you can meet your new roommates.”
26
Paul walked back into Maven’s condo.
Lizzie was alone, sitting on the couch with an open Bible on her lap. Taking off her reading glasses, she set the Bible and the glasses on the coffee table. Her eyes were red. “Anything?
“Nothing. The helicopter took me over the area Maven should have been. When we didn’t find her there, we flew over the whole city and the other highways that lead back here. And still nothing.”
Tears leaked from Lizzie’s eyes.
Paul wanted to cry, too.
Time was of the essence when it came to missing persons investigations.
“How can someone just disappear?” Lizzie asked as she reached for another tissue.
“Unfortunately, it happens all the time. Do you know how many missing people there are in Ohio right now?”
She shook her head. “Do you?”
“Well, I don’t have an exact number, but I know it’s much bigger than it should be. More than people realize.”
“And apparently there’s one more added to that number as of now.” The last part of her words came out as a sob.
“We’re not giving up, Lizzie. We’ll find her.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure that’s what all the other missing people’s families say, too.”
“It’s not like you to give up.”
“I know.” She wiped more tears. “But I have a really bad feeling.”
“Keep praying and keep your faith. Remember Jesus couldn’t do many miracles in his home town because of their lack of faith.”
She nodded, but looked utterly defeated. “Where’s Ella?”
“After the helicopter ride, I talked her into going home with the promise I would call her if there were any new developments.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“I’m calling Trent Snoddy and we’ll have her picture on the eleven o’clock news if I have anything to say about it.” He pulled out his cell phone and stabbed at the numbers. “Trent, this is Paul Jordon. I’ve got a problem.” After explaining the situation, he continued. “I know it’s unusual to put a missing persons report out for an adult, but I really think we need to.”
“It’s not only unusual, but almost unheard of. We don’t really have any type of confirmation that she’s missing. The woman could be at a movie, for all we know.”
Paul’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone in an effort to maintain his composure and his patience. “I know that, but when you factor in that she’s the foster mother of a missing child, that has to change things.” There was a pause at the other end of the phone. Paul counted to ten, not wanting to interrupt Trent’s thinking process. “Well?”
The agent finally answered. “I agree—”
“Great. Let’s get the report going while we contact some of the Cleveland TV stations.”
“Hold on. I said I agree, but that doesn’t mean my bosses will.”
“Whatever. You work it from your angle, and I’ll contact the county sheriff to get things moving here. I want the information on the eleven o’clock news tonight.” As he hung up, there was another knock on the screen door. “Come on in, Mr. Decker.”
A tall, impeccably dressed man walked in. “Just call me Donald. Ella told me the search didn’t go well.”
“It didn’t. She was pretty upset, but I’m glad she went home.”
Lizzie walked over and hugged Donald. “I can’t tell you how thankful we are for the use of the helicopter. That was so nice of you.”
“But you didn’t actually find her?”
“No,” Lizzie replied.
“Sandra and I will do anything we can to help. She gave us back our daughter. We can never repay her for what she did to help Ella.”
“Are you a praying man?” Paul looked at Donald Decker.
“I most certainly am.”
“Good, let’s join hands and ask for God to help us find Maven.”
“Before it’s too late.” Lizzie added.
27
When she heard the snap of the lock, Maven slumped against the damp basement wall.
The black silhouette walked up the steps and disappeared.
As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, her mind refused to process what she was looking at. She stared through the chain link as three other women stared back at her. Maven found her voice. “Oh, my goodness.”
One woman had long, unkempt blonde hair. Was she the mystery lady from Moses’s drawing? Beyond the woman, there was a mattress and another gate. Where did that gate lead?
“Are you OK? Did he hurt you? Why are you here?” the woman asked.
“Who are you? What is going on here? I don’t understand.” Maven had her own questions.
“He kidnapped us,” one of the women said.
“All of you?” Maven looked closer at the women. They looked like the women from Moses’s—Joshua’s —drawing. It hadn’t been a cartoon, it was Joshua’s reality. “How long have you been here?”
“I’ve been here nine years.” The brunette in the cage next to Maven’s spoke up. She was painfully thin and her brown hair was shaggy. “My name is Tricia Bell.”
Nine years? Her name was familiar. Maven had heard it only a few weeks ago on the anniversary of her going missing. Her family had held a candlelight vigil. Her mother had sobbed as she told the newscaster she didn’t believe her daughter was dead. “Your mother’s still looking for you, Tricia. You are not forgotten.”
Tricia stared at Maven, but said nothing.
“What about my family?” The woman looked so young. “I’m Denise Turner. I’ve been here about a year and a half.”
Maven looked at her. “How old are you?”
“I’ll be fifteen on my next birthday.”
“I’ve seen your family on the news. They love you.”
Maven looked at the blonde, still crouched in the corner. “And you?”
“I’ve been here seven years. My name is Lara. Lara Holt.”
Maven saw glimpses of Joshua in her face. She must be his mother.
The names sent a shockwave through Maven. How had these women survived for so long? Maven couldn’t imagine the horrors they’d endured.
These were names she’d heard for years. The families often held vigils for these missing women begging the public not to forget their loved one and asking for leads on their disappearances.
Maven always took a moment to pray when she saw something on the TV about them, but she’d assumed the worst, that they were dead and buried in a hidden grave somewhere.
Never had she thought they were all still alive. And together. And now she sat across from them. “This can’t be real.”
From the corner of her cage, Lara whispered, “Shh. He doesn’t like us to talk to each other, but if we talk very quietly he can’t hear us.”
“She’s right, and it is very real.” Tricia whispered, but the bitterness seeped through. “Believe me, we all thought the same thing at first. Why are you here? Not to be rude, but you’re way too old for his tastes. He likes young girls. That’s why he took Denise. We were getting to old for him.”
“I was Joshua’s foster mother. Is he here? He told me he was here.”
The blonde woman started sobbing.
“Lara is Joshua’s mother, but we all love him. He took Joshua away. We haven’t seen him since.” Tricia explained. “That was about a month ago, but Reuben claimed he brought him back home. We haven’t been allowed to see him yet.”
Reuben? So that was the monster’s name.
“Why not?”
“Who knows? He does what he wants and we can’t stop him.” Denise said, but her voice held no emotion.
Maven’s stomach soured as she understood the meaning of those words.
“But he did show us a picture of Joshua and it has a date. We think he’s somewhere in the house, but we don’t know that for sure.”
At least Joshua was still alive—probably.
“He was with me, but he was kidnapped from my home.” Maven went through her story three times before the women stopped asking questions. She looked over at Joshua’s mother. “Lara, you don’t look as if you’re chained.”
The other two women had chains around their legs in spite of being in a cage.