Vendetta (13 page)

Gwen handed Nikki a stack of clothes she'd managed to come up with. Her third set for the day. “Compliments of Anderson's wife.”

“I need to meet her. She's a lifesaver.”

“She's about your size. Even the shoes should fit,” Gwen said, shooting her a sympathetic gaze. “Which is good because yours are going to take awhile to dry out. Do you need anything else?”

“Another mug of hot coffee?” Nikki asked. Medics had checked her out and deemed her fit to go back to work despite Tyler's clear, yet unspoken, objections. “Never imagined the water would be so cold this time of year.”

“You got it.” Gwen walked with her down the short hallway. “You can change here in the staff bathroom. That will give you a bit more privacy. As soon as you're ready, we'll head to the station to meet with Miller. Jack has already left.”

“Thanks.”

Nikki locked the bathroom door behind her, then started peeling off her wet clothes. She pulled on the gray T-shirt and jeans that looked to be about her size. The coral zippered fleece
might not be classified under professional attire, but it would help warm her up. At this point she wasn't sure she was ever going to thaw out again.

She studied her pale reflection in the mirror, knowing that what she was feeling wasn't simply about what had happened out there in the river. She'd been scared, but she'd get over being held at knifepoint. It was the possibility she'd looked into the eyes of her sister's abductor that had chilled her more than the icy waters.

Which was why she was second-guessing her ability to control her emotions. What if she
had
made a mistake in taking this job? Her first time to take the lead on a case and she was falling apart. That couldn't happen. She'd allowed everything about this case to become personal, which in turn had left her struggling to function. Memories swept through her like she was back in the river. Pulling her under, out of control, and she didn't know how to fight back. Wasn't sure she knew how to come up for air.

Nikki took in a deep breath, tugged down the bottom of her shirt, then glanced back into the mirror. She ignored her bloodshot eyes as she tried to do something with her damp hair. Not that it mattered.

She needed answers from Miller, but that wasn't all she needed. She needed to talk to her mom. To hear that everything was okay. Everything was going to be okay. That Jamie and the baby were fine. That they'd find Bridget. And in the process, they'd find Sarah's abductor.

She pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed her mom's number, about to leave another message when she finally answered.

“Mom?”

“Nikki. Are you okay?”

She hesitated. “Yeah. I just . . . I just wanted to check in.”
And hear your voice
.
“I hadn't heard from you for a while. I left a voice message earlier.”

“The cell phone use is limited where I am. But what about you? I've been worried about the girl you're looking for. Have you found her yet?”

The question hovered between them like a heavy weight. Nikki had taken on a job she couldn't afford to fail, because if she did . . . Bridget would become yet another statistic.

“No. Not yet.” Nikki pressed her back against the bathroom wall and stared at the white tiles. She could hear the worry in her mother's voice. She didn't have to talk about her cases to know that her mother followed every news update on missing children. Always a reminder of what she'd lost.

“We think she was abducted and taken into the park. I'm going to interview a suspect right now, but I wanted to find out about Jamie and the baby. I've been worried.”

There was a long pause, on her mother's end this time. Nikki's stomach churned.

“I was waiting for some news before I called you,” her mother finally said. “We still don't know anything.”

Oh, God, please . . . please . . . don't let anything
happen to either of them.

“I'm scared, Nikki,” her mom continued. “This baby means so much to both of them. And Matt. For him to lose them both . . .”

“She's going to make it, Mom.” She had to. “Jamie's strong, and this baby . . .”

This baby was a gift. God wouldn't take their baby away from them. They'd waited so long . . . Except sometimes God didn't save those they loved. Sometimes he allowed horrible things to happen.

“They're going to be okay, Mom. Just promise you'll call me with an update as soon as you know something. Please.”

“I will, sweetie. I promise.”

Nikki hung up, still trying to press in emotions that refused to stay locked up. All the potential problems she'd been warned about when she took this job. Fear that the emotional impact of the cases would get under her skin. That there was no way she'd be able to separate the past from what she had to do. That she'd end up running on feelings and not just the facts.

Had she already gotten to that point? The point where she was so desperate to find Bridget and her abductor that she was grasping at straws and seeing things that weren't really there?

A knock on the door pulled her back to the present.

“Nikki? You okay?”

Nikki wiped away the tears under her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and opened the door. Tyler stood outside.

“I just wanted to check on you,” he said.

“I'm fine.” She sucked in another deep breath of air. “All I need is the coffee Gwen promised, and I'll be ready to go.”

She smiled, hoping to convince him she was telling the truth. Because she wasn't going to tell him that while her hands might not be shaking anymore, her insides still felt like Jell-O. Didn't want him to know that all she really wanted to do was run.

He leaned against the wall beside her. “You know, we could leave for Nashville now and be there in a few hours. Your family needs you. And even with that photo of Bridget, your team can handle this.”

She shook her head. “No, I have to do this. I have to find her.”

“Why? Because of guilt over Sarah?”

“No, because . . .” She stopped and turned to face him, reminding herself that Tyler had nothing to do with the anger simmering in her gut. “I have to do this because this is my job.”

She started back toward the parking lot. Maybe her job
had
become an unconscious act of trying to redeem herself. So that
every time she saved someone, it managed to chip away at the mountain of guilt she carried in her heart.

Except even she knew that saving Bridget wouldn't bring back Sarah. Or erase the layer of guilt she carried with her.

“Nikki . . .” Tyler reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her in the middle of the hallway. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

She looked up at him, her eyes rimmed with tears, and caught the pain in his expression. “You didn't lose me. You're not going to lose me.”

“I know.” He ran his thumb across the back of her hand and pulled it against his chest. “It's just that seeing you in the water . . . It reminded me of the day I lost Katie. I watched Miller grab you—”

“It's okay,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and feeling him pull her against him. “I'm okay.”

Or at least she would be.

He held her tightly as memories swirled around both of them. He made her feel safe. Made her feel certain that nothing bad could happen to her as long as he held her. And made her wish he'd never let go.

“I need to talk to Miller,” she said, finally pulling back.

“I know.”

He walked with her down the hall, holding her hand as he matched her strides. “Do you think he's the Angel Abductor?”

“It's possible. He fits the description.”

“I just want you to be careful. Please. I know too well how emotions can tangle up your ability to see straight.”

She stepped out into the fading afternoon sunshine, knowing he was right. And at the same time, hating that he was right. Her emotions
were
affecting her ability to look completely objectively at the situation. But she also couldn't forget that she was good at what she did. And while she trusted
Jack and Gwen completely, they needed what she knew in this situation.

A minute later, Anderson drove her and Gwen to the Gatlinburg police station, where they'd booked Miller for driving under the influence as well as kidnapping and threatening the life of an officer. Nikki hoped to add kidnapping of Bridget to the charges.

Jack met her outside the interrogation room. “So far, he's refusing to cooperate.”

“Has he asked for a lawyer?”

“No. He just keeps insisting he knows nothing about an abduction.”

“He knows something. We just have to figure out what.”

She'd seen his eyes. He was hiding something.

She stepped into the small interrogation room and studied his profile as he sat at the rectangular table. The cockiness she'd seen earlier had gone, replaced by a hint of fear in his eyes. So much for not believing he had anything to lose.

“I'm Special Agent Boyd. I'm part of the Tennessee Missing Persons Task Force.” She sat down across from him. “What were you doing in the park?”

“What do you think I was doing?” He sat across from her, arms folded against his chest, jaw stuck out defiantly. “I was there like everyone else. I needed some time away. Normally, it's quiet and peaceful up here . . . until my brakes go out and a bunch of cops wrestle me out of my car.”

“Your blood alcohol level was above the legal limit, which by itself could mean up to a year in jail and the loss of your license,” Nikki said.

“So I had a couple of drinks.”

“Did you see the flyer about the missing girl when you entered the park?”

“Yeah, along with every other person. And I saw the sketch of the man who took her, but that isn't me.”

“Really?” Nikki held the sketch in front of her. “If you ask me, it looks a lot like you.”

“I already told you I drank a few too many, but I didn't abduct the girl.”

Nikki shoved a photo of Bridget in front of him. “So you're telling me you've never seen this girl.”

“No. If I had seen her, I would have called it in.”

“Here's the problem. We have a witness who saw someone matching your description this morning outside of Wartburg, where Bridget Ellison got in a car with you.”

“Wartburg? That's two hours away. I spent the night in the park last night.” Miller steepled his hands in front of him. “And I'll say this one more time. I don't know anything about the girl.”

“If you weren't guilty, then why didn't you stop? And why did you grab me?”

Miller's gaze dropped. “I panicked, but I didn't take some girl.”

Nikki slapped her hands against the table, then scooted her chair back before signaling Jack to join her outside the room.

“We're not getting anywhere,” she said, closing the door behind them.

“You think he's telling the truth?” Jack asked.

“About Bridget? I don't know. Maybe, but I still think he's hiding something.”

“Listen, Nikki,” Jack said. “I know you want to find Bridget's abductor, and trust me, so do I, but the evidence we've got is still too vague. What if he's telling the truth? What if we have the wrong person?”

“Then what do we do next?”

“We keep looking.”

Gwen made her way down the hallway toward them. “I think I might have something. I've been going through Miller's file.
Besides his other run-ins with the law, he was arrested three years ago as a part of an illegal poaching ring.”

Nikki frowned. “That doesn't prove he didn't have something to do with Bridget's abduction.”

“Not in itself, but there's more. Officers at the scene of the crash not only found the hunting supplies you saw in the trunk but an illegal cache of bear parts in the ice chest, and bear bait.”

“You've got to be kidding me,” Nikki said. “He almost drowned me over bear parts.”

“I know you wanted it to be him, but so far they haven't found any evidence that Bridget was in his car.”

Nikki frowned, realizing her best lead had more than likely just evaporated. Poaching explained the gun and hunting supplies. He'd go down for DUI, illegal hunting, and the attempted kidnapping of an officer.

But not for kidnapping Bridget.

“It doesn't surprise me,” Jack said. “I had a buddy involved in an undercover job. They infiltrated the poachers' social circles and illegal hunting parties and took down dozens of them. Hunters will pay up to a thousand dollars for guaranteed kills.”

“I've heard of this, but how do they get away with it?”

“They're good at evading the rangers and game wardens. They're not out there hunting in front of people. It's done on the side, at night.”