The Way to Yesterday (21 page)

"Well hell, Killian, is there no woman safe from you in the city of
Savannah
?"

Bobby Joe grinned. "I have yet to hear a complaint."

Ignoring the byplay between Williams and Killian, Reese turned to Daniel.

"Look, friend, I understand where you're coming from, but trust me, it
won't make you feel a damn bit better to see it. We're not even sure the man
we've got on film is the same one who took Mary." Before Daniel could
answer, another detective yelled from across the room.

"Hey, Williams.
There's a woman here named
Carol Shane who says you're expecting her."

They all turned to look at the young blonde who was waiting in the doorway.
Williams got up to go meet her, but Bobby Joe beat him to it. In seconds, he
was at the door and kissing the woman on the cheek.

Williams snorted beneath his breath. "He's a real piece of work, isn't
he?"

"He's a friend," Daniel said. "He came when I called."

Williams looked taken aback. "I didn't mean anything by it. It's just-”

"Never mind," Daniel said. "It doesn't matter. Nothing
matters but getting Mary back."

"And those two little girls," Reese added. "If they're still
alive," a detective remarked. Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets and
then looked at the floor. When he spoke it was so low, Reese had to lean
forward to hear him.

"According to Mary, they're still alive," Daniel muttered.

Reese jerked as if he'd been hit.

"What the hell do you mean? Have you talked to her? Did you get a
ransom call?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Daniel said. "I shouldn't have
said anything. Forget it."

"Damn it, Daniel, talk to me."

"Look, I dreamed it, okay?"

"What do you mean, you dreamed it?"

"Last night ...I saw Mary. She was telling me she was okay and that the
girls were alive. She said Justine and Amy Anne. Are those their names?"

Reese paled.
"Yeah.
But you could have heard
that on the news and forgotten it until last night in your sleep."

Daniel nodded. "I know. It was just so real." Williams yelled at
Bobby Joe.
"Hey, Killian.
Save the Romeo stuff
for later and escort Ms. Shane to the front row-seat we've saved for her."

Bobby Joe cupped a hand underneath the woman's elbow and walked her across
the room. "Detectives... this is Carol Shane. Be nice. She's nervous,
okay?"

Williams glared at Bobby Joe and then helped the woman to a chair in front
of the TV and VCR. "Ms. Shane, we appreciate you coming in like this.
There's no reason to be afraid, and the tape we want you to see is very brief.
There's nothing violent on it.
Just a man going in and then
leaving a room.

“What I want you to do is look at his face and
tell
us if he's the same man who abducted Mary O'Rourke yesterday."

She glanced nervously at each of the men and then nodded before fixing her
gaze on the blank television screen. Williams hit the remote and immediately, the
screen was filled with images from the robbery.

Daniel tensed as Carol Shane leaned forward, and like before, they replayed
the same bit of footage several times before they asked for her answer.
"Well, Ms. Shane, what do you think?" Reese asked.

Carol looked up. "I can't be sure, but it certainly looked like him.
Not many people wear their hair like that, and although there wasn't a real
good shot of his face, I'd say it was him."

"Are you sure?" Williams asked. "Remember, you only got a
brief look at him yesterday at the supermarket."

Bobby Joe stepped forward and laid a hand on Carol's back.

"Oh no, that's not exactly true, is it, honey?"

"What do you mean?" Reese asked.

Carol was fidgeting with the hem of her T-shirt as she looked up at the men
ringed around her. "Well, it's like I told Bobby Joe last night...the man
who took that woman ... uh ... he's a regular in the store."

Reese cursed beneath his breath. "Why don't we know this?"

Carol Shane looked like she was going to cry. "I told the first officer
on the scene that I'd seen him before, but that I didn't know his name."

"Tell him what else you told me, honey," Bobby

Joe urged. "You know... about what he's been buying."

"Oh! That!" Carol said. "I've been working at Vinter's for
almost a year and I've seen him off and on from the start. Only he used to buy
stuff like a single man buys. You know ... frozen dinners, Ham burger Helper,
stuff
like that. Only lately he's started buying stuff like
people buy when they have kids."

"Like what?" Reese asked.

"Like fun cereal with marshmallows in it and different juices and lots
of milk. Oh...and frozen chicken nuggets, wieners, little individual kid
snacks."

"Did he ever say anything to you?"

Carol shook her head. "No. He doesn't even look at me. Just looks down,
digs the money out of his wallet and leaves."

"Can you remember him ever paying by check?"

"Not to me."

"How can you be sure?" Daniel asked.

"Because I know a lot of my regulars and he's the only one I used to
see fairly often that I didn't know by name."

Reese stood, and then helped Carol Shane to her feet.

"Okay, Ms. Shane. Thank you so much for coming in. If you remember
anything else, please give me a call." He handed her his card and then
nodded at Bobby Joe.

Bobby Joe winked at Daniel. "Be right back," he said, and walked
her out of the office.

Daniel turned to Reese. "So what do you think?"

"I think we're probably looking at the same man."

"And..."

Reese frowned. "Without a name, we're right back where we were this
morning. We're looking for a man who drives a white van. The fact that he's
buying kid food at a supermarket and stealing antibiotics that one would
ordinarily administer to children only tells me that the girls are probably
alive. The fact that he's stealing medicine isn't a good sign that the girls
are well, but at least they're still breathing. That's more than we knew two
days ago."

Daniel shoved a hand through his hair in frustration.

"How many names on the DMV list?"

"You don't want to know," Reese muttered. "Actually, yes I
do," Daniel said. "I'm dying here."

Reese put a hand on his friend's shoulder, wishing there was something he
could say that would help, but there was not.

Then Daniel looked up, unashamed of the tears blurring his vision.

"Find her, Reese. Please."

"I'm doing my best, Daniel."

Daniel's mouth twisted into something between a grimace and a smile.

"Last night... in my dream..."

“Yeah, what about it?"
Reese asked.

"Mary called the man Howard Lee." Reese's eyes widened.
"Hell. You dreamed that, too?"

Daniel shrugged. "I didn't dream it. It's what she said. Howard
Lee."

"Yeah, right," Reese said,
then
he added.
"There's one other thing Carol Shane said that should help us eliminate
some more names on the DMV list."

“What's that?" Daniel asked.

“If he shops in that supermarket regularly, then he must live in the general
area. We'll keep that in mind when we're going through the list."

Bobby Joe Killian walked into the room. Daniel knew about his bad-boy image.
but
he didn't care.

He was also relentless.

"Let us help." Daniel begged.

Reese frowned. "No. Absolutely not, this is a police matter."

"Fine."
Daniel said. "Just know that
we're going to be looking anyway, whether you like it or not."

"Damn it. Daniel.
you're
making my job
harder."

"Then don't shut me out." Daniel said. "Bobby

Joe is a licensed private investigator. He's already got the same list from
the DMV that you have. We can
either work together and
maybe find Mary and those girls before it's too late, or you can keep stalling
me and make everything take twice as long."

"He's right, you know," Bobby Joe said. Reese turned. "You're
back already? Surely you weren't gone long enough to get her phone number and
address?"

"Already been there, done that," he said. "So are you going
to let us help or do we go
maverick
on you?"

"I should lock you both up," Reese said. "No, let's find the
bastard and lock him up, instead," Bobby Joe said.

Reese threw his hands up in disgust.

"Okay, fine," Reese said. "We'll divide up the list. If you
find someone suspicious, you call it in. You don't play cowboy and go after him
on your own."

Daniel shook his head. "No deal. If we find him, we'll call it in, but
if he has Mary, he's mine."

Howard Lee's phone began to ring just as he was putting bacon in the frying
pan. He looked at the caller ID as he wiped his hands and then frowned.

Savannah
Memorial.
Someone from work was calling him. This wasn't
good. Not once in his entire time with the hospital had anyone ever called before.
He let the phone ring as he went back to breakfast. Time was precious. If he
did what instinct told him to do, he'd already be gone. But the girls had been
sick and he'd been afraid to yank them out of their beds without rest and food.

He turned the fire down under the skillet and then took some eggs from the
fridge and began breaking them into a bowl. Normally, he would have served the
girls cereal, but there was no telling how long it would be before he could
take a chance and stop to feed them. They needed a good, solid meal before the
journey began.

As he popped bread into the toaster, he thought of Sophie and frowned. If
she'd been a good wife, she would be the one making breakfast. But he couldn't
trust her. Instead, he had to keep her shut up with the girls.

He turned the bacon and then took glasses from the cabinet and filled them
with milk. He started to put sedatives in the milk so that the girls would be
complacent on the trip, and then realized that Sophie probably wouldn't let
them drink it. She'd obviously tossed their drinks the night before. He
discarded the thought, reminding himself that he could easily give it to them
later in a soft drink before they left. As for Sophie, he didn't know exactly
what he was going to do with her, but he damned sure wasn't taking her along.

A short while later he started down the stairs with their food on a tray,
taking care not to spill as he maneuvered the narrow opening. As he got to the
bottom step, he saw the beds were empty. He started to frown and then noticed
the bathroom door was shut.

"Breakfast," he called out.

The bathroom door opened almost instantly and Mary looked out.

"We'll be there in a minute."

He set the food down on the table and then started toward the bathroom.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"No. The girls are getting out of the tub. They're just not dressed
yet."

"I can help," he said, and started to push the door wider when
Mary put a hand in the middle of his chest and pushed him backward.

"You don't touch these girls again," she said. "God only
knows what you've already done to them."

Howard Lee paled. The idea that he would be improper with his daughters was
appalling.

"I've done nothing wrong!" he cried, and then yanked Mary out of
the doorway, shaking her roughly as he shouted in her face. "You're evil
for even thinking such a thing."

Mary flinched. His features had twisted into an angry grimace and the grip
he had on her arms was beginning to hurt, but couldn't let him see her fear.

She tore out of his grasp and then put herself between him and bathroom,
where the girls were still dressing.

"You're the one who's evil," she snapped. "How can you stand
there and tell me you've done nothing wrong? You stole these children! You
locked them up in this ... this ... dungeon, and then you drugged them
senseless. My God! Have you no shame? Have you no conscience? Don't you care
that they weep for their parents? They're not your
daughters,
they're your captives ... just like I am."

Howard Lee was livid. He didn't want to hear this. He wouldn't listen to the
lies anymore. "You're wrong!" he shouted. "They're mine. But you
can quit worrying about yourself. I don't want you around them anymore. We're
leaving... but you're not. Do you hear me, woman?" Then he pointed to the
table. "Get the children out here and make sure they eat a proper meal.
And please see that they drink their milk. I did not put any medicine in it,
although when I come back, I will have to administer another shot of antibiotic
to each of them."

"I don't want
no
shot."

They both turned. Justine was standing in the doorway, holding Amy Anne's
hand. "Neither does Amy Anne."

Howard Lee's mood darkened even more. He did not like dissension.

"Shut up! All of you!" he yelled. "I've got things to do and
clothes to pack. Sit down and eat your food. I'll be back in a while to help
you pack your things. Then we're going on a trip."

"I don't want to go on a trip, either," Justine said. "I want
to stay with Mary."

Mary moved to the children and then pulled them close. It angered Howard Lee
to see how they clung to her.

"Do as I say!" he ordered, and then stalked back up the stairs,
slamming the door shut with a ferocious thud.

"He's good and mad," Justine said.

Mary shuddered. "Yes, he is," she said, and then made herself
smile. "Come on girls,
lets
eat some breakfast.
We've got to keep our strength up. And while we eat, we need to make a plan.
Okay?" They nodded and then followed her to the table. It did Mary good to
see both girls tuck into the food. While she wasn't so sure about their future,
hers looked even worse.
If he didn't plan to take her with
him, then what?
Would he just leave her locked up in here, or would he
kill her?