Читать книгу New Year Heroes: The Sheriff's Secretary / Veiled Intentions / Juror No. 7 - Carla Cassidy, Delores Fossen - Страница 17

Electricity sizzled through Mariah. “You think he’s calling back?”

“We won’t know unless we answer.” He punched the record and the speaker button. “Jamison,” he said.

“Lucas, it’s me, Jackson.” It was obvious from the background noise that Jackson Burdeaux was in his car.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Listen, I was on my way home from a meeting and heading down Baker’s Street south of town when I saw a little boy walking along the street. I’ve got him in my car now, but he’s having trouble breathing so we’re on our way to the hospital. I’m just hoping I get him there in time.”

“My God. It’s Billy,” she said. She pushed away from the dishwasher, and a wave of dizziness struck her. She drew a deep, steadying breath. Her heart beat so fast she thought she might be having a heart attack. Billy! He was having trouble breathing, but that meant he was alive!

Lucas ended the call. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice.

“It’s got to be him, right?” she asked a moment later when they were in Lucas’s car. “There can’t be another little boy walking along a street at midnight who has breathing problems.” Hope filled her and brought tears to her eyes, yet she was afraid to believe. She was afraid the hope that now rose inside her would be smashed, and she didn’t think she could survive that.

“It sounds like it’s him,” Lucas replied. He cast her a sideways glance. “You might want to prepare yourself. We don’t know what’s happened to him, where he’s been. We know he’s obviously suffering an asthma attack, but we don’t know what else he might be suffering from.”

“But surely if there’s been other injuries Jackson would have mentioned them,” she protested. He had to be all right. He just had to be.

“I’m not talking about physical injuries. We don’t know what he’s been through mentally, emotionally. He may be very fragile.”

“But he’s alive,” she replied. Surely with enough love and time they could heal whatever might be wrong. Her mind raced with possibilities. “You mentioned that one of your college buddies is a psychiatrist.”

He nodded. “Clay Jefferson. Why?”

“Does he see children? If Billy needs help, I’d want to take him to see somebody professionally.” She was a jittery mess, her brain shooting in a million different directions as she mentally urged him to go faster … faster.

“One step at a time,” Lucas replied as he pulled into the hospital parking lot. She was out of the car and running toward the entrance before he’d brought the car to a full halt.

Conja Creek Memorial Hospital was a small facility, mostly used for emergency situations. Most people with real health issues drove to Shreveport or were transported there.

The first person she saw as she flew through the emergency-room door was a tall, dark-haired man with slate-gray eyes. She knew in an instant this was Lucas’s friend, Jackson Burdeaux. Although she wanted to thank him, her most urgent need was to see if Billy really existed behind the closed doors just ahead. She started toward the doors.

“Wait! You can’t go back there.” A nurse stepped in front of her, blocking her forward progress.

“Please, the little boy who was just brought in. He’s my son. You have to let me through.”

The nurse’s implacable expression softened. “If you’re his mother then we need you to sign some forms.”

“Gina,” Lucas’s voice rang from behind them. “Let her through. The forms can wait until later.”

Nurse Gina stepped aside and Mariah flew through the doors. The first person she saw sitting up on an examining table was her son.

He was being given a breathing treatment, but when he saw her he pulled the nozzle from his mouth. “Mommy,” he cried as she rushed to him.

Never again would she feel the way she did at that moment, so filled with joy it nearly brought her to her knees. He was filthy and sweaty, but she wrapped her arms around him and wept with the joy of holding him.

She cried only a moment, then aware of his labored breathing she let him go and guided the nozzle of the nebulizer back to his mouth. “Breathe, honey. Just breathe.”

He did as she told him, and Mariah straightened and saw Dr. Ralph Dell standing nearby. Dr. Dell was Billy’s regular doctor and she hurried to where he stood.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, his wrinkled face offering her a smile. “He’s going to be all right, Mariah. Other than the fact that he was scarcely breathing when Jackson brought him in, I don’t see any other physical issues.”

“Thank God,” she replied.

“I’d like to keep him here overnight for observation. Just to be on the safe side.”

“Of course. As long as I can stay with him.”

Dr. Dell smiled once again. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ll finish up his breathing treatment, then get him cleaned up and into a room.”

“Did he say anything to you? About who took him?”

“He didn’t offer anything and I didn’t ask. My main concern was getting him treatment. He was in pretty bad shape when he was brought in. His main concern was that you were going to be mad at him.”

“Mad? Why on earth would I be mad?”

“He told me he got into a stranger’s car to come here and you’d always warned him never to get into a stranger’s car.”

Mariah’s heart squeezed tight, and she left the doctor’s side to return to her son. As he breathed in the medicated air that would ease his suffering, she pulled up a chair and sat next to him, then took his hand in hers.

As she held his hand she was aware of Lucas coming to stand just behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s going to be fine.” She smiled at her son. “They’re going to keep him overnight. Did you hear that, Billy? You and I are going to stay here in the hospital for the night.” He nodded.

“I’d like to have a little talk with him,” Lucas said in a low voice. “I’ll come back once I’ve spoken with Jackson,” he added, as if realizing Billy would need a little time with his mother.

She didn’t even notice when he drifted away, so focused was she on the sight of her son, alive and well before her.

The next half hour passed in a haze. Billy was given a second breathing treatment then washed and dressed in a gown and put in a private room.

As they arrived at the room, Mariah was surprised to see Wally seated in a chair just outside. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I’ll be here until you and Billy get home safe and sound,” he replied.

She realized Wally was a guard. Even though Billy was here, it wasn’t over yet. Jenny still wasn’t home, and it wouldn’t be over until the guilty person was behind bars.

Finally Billy was tucked into bed, and mother and son were alone for a moment. She leaned over him and kissed his forehead, savoring the taste of his warm skin, the scent of hospital soap and precious little boy.

“I was so scared when you were gone,” she said softly.

Billy gazed at his mother with big eyes. “I was scared, too, but Jenny helped. She told me not to be afraid, that her brother would find us. Has he found Jenny?”

“Not yet,” Lucas said from the doorway. “I’m kind of hoping you can help me find her.” He approached Billy with a smile. “I’m Lucas, Jenny’s brother. Can I ask you some questions, Billy?”

“Okay,” he agreed after looking at Mariah. Mariah scooted her chair closer and took his little hand in hers. She had no idea how traumatic Lucas’s questioning might be, and if it became too intense she’d stop it. She’d do what was necessary to protect her son.

Lucas grabbed one of the other chairs in the room and pulled it up on the opposite side of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay now,” Billy replied.

Lucas pulled a small notepad and a pen from his pocket. “Can you tell me what happened last Friday, Billy? The day you stayed home from the babysitter’s because you had a sore throat?”

Billy tightened his grip on Mariah’s hand, and she wanted to grab him in her arms and shield him from the trauma, from the stress of remembering. But she also knew she couldn’t do that, for Jenny was still missing and their biggest lead to her now was Billy.

“Mom went to work, and me and Jenny decided to watch a movie.” He looked at Mariah. “It was that new Disney movie you got me. Anyway, we’d been watching for a little while and then I had to go to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom Jenny was asleep on the sofa and there was a man there.”

“A man? What did he look like?” Lucas leaned forward.

“I dunno. He had on a mask. You know, the kind you wear in the wintertime with just the eyes not covered. I tried to run but he caught me and he held something over my nose and mouth and I guess I fell asleep, too.”

So, they now knew the kidnapping had taken place at Mariah’s house, in her living room. How had he gotten in? Had the front door been unlocked? So many questions.

“And the masked man. Was he tall or short? Thin or heavy?” Lucas continued.

Billy frowned, obviously trying hard to please. “I dunno, kind of medium.”

“Did you see his eyes?”

Billy hesitated, then nodded. “I’m pretty sure they were brown.”

“Good, Billy. You’re doing a terrific job,” Lucas said. “What happened next? After you went to sleep.”

“I woke up and me and Jenny were in a place.” Billy’s voice trembled slightly. “It was dark and I was scared, but Jenny told me not to be afraid, that you’d find us.”

Lucas looked haunted by the words. “Tell me more about the place where you woke up.”

“When the sun came up we could see it. It was all boarded up so we couldn’t get out and there was food on a table and bottles of water. We screamed for help, but I guess nobody heard us.”

“Was the man there with you?”

“No, it was just us in the little room.”

“Was it a room in a house?” Lucas asked.

Billy shook his head. “Not like our house, and we could hear things at night.”

“What kind of things?”

“Like big splashes and a noise that Jenny said was alligators calling to each other,” Billy replied.

Mariah looked at Lucas. Once again he looked haunted, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. If Jenny was being held someplace deep in the swamp, they might never find her.

BILLY’S WORDS filled Lucas with a new kind of horror, because they confirmed his deepest fear—that Jenny was being held someplace in the swamp.

Conja Creek was nearly surrounded by swampland, with overgrown passages and areas where men hadn’t been for years. It would take a hundred men days, or even weeks, to explore every inch of the swamps in search of his sister. And he knew in his gut that she didn’t have days or weeks. The fact that the kidnapper had released Billy didn’t bode well for Jenny.

“Billy, what happened tonight? How did you get out on the street where Mr. Burdeaux picked you up?” he asked.

“Somebody came.” Billy’s eyes darkened and he swallowed several times before continuing. “We heard the boat coming. I could hardly breathe, and Jenny screamed that he’d better let me go, that I was going to die if he didn’t get me out of there. She told him she’d do whatever he wanted if he let me come home.” Tears filled Billy’s eyes. “He unlocked the door and came in. He hit Jenny. He hit her in her face, and she fell down on the floor, then he yanked me out of the room.”

“And he had the mask on?” Lucas concentrated on the facts and tried to keep his emotions out of things. But the thought of Jenny being hurt sent shards of pain slicing through him.

“Yeah, and he put me in a boat, then he covered my eyes with a blindfold. We rode for a long time in the boat then he put me into a car and we rode for a little while, then he made me get out of the car on the side of the road.”

For the next hour Lucas questioned Billy, trying to get something from the boy that might lead him to his sister. It was only when Billy could no longer keep his eyes open that Lucas called a halt to the questioning.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he told Mariah as she walked him to the door. “When the doctor releases him I’ll drive you both back to your place.”

She nodded, her exhaustion evident in the bruiselike darkness beneath her eyes. “I’m sorry, Lucas.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Sorry for what?”

“I’m sorry he didn’t let them both go. I’m sorry that I have my son back and you don’t have your sister. I’m sorry he couldn’t tell you anything that might help you.”

“But he did,” Lucas replied. He drew a deep breath as he realized his emotions were precariously close to the surface. For a moment he couldn’t speak as his chest filled and his throat closed with the depth of his feelings. “I thought she might already be dead. I feared they both were. What Billy told me was that she was still alive a couple of hours ago.”

Mariah moved into his arms, and he grabbed onto her, surprised to find comfort in the embrace. “I’m going to find her, Mariah. I’m going to find her.”

She held him for several long moments, then released him. “I know you will. Maybe after a good night’s sleep Billy will remember something that will help.”