tell him she's not here Read online

  “Mr. Stewart, my name is Sheriff Butler of the Lawrence County Police Department. I’m sorry to be calling you so late.”

  Fear clutched his throat, making it almost impossible to breathe. Hearing the bedroom door burst open, he looked up to see Emma standing in the doorway anxiety and terror written all over her face.

  He dug strength from the bottom of his soul and relaxed his grip on the phone.

  “I’m sorry; did you say Sheriff Butler from Lawrence County Police Department?”

  “Yes sir, I did. Do you have a sixteen-year-old daughter named Kerry?”

  He motioned for Emma to come in. “Yes, we do. She’s been missing since the second of October.”

  “Well, sir, I called to tell you that we have her. She was identified at eleven-thirty last night.”

  Jason grabbed Sherry’s hand and took a deep breath. “Is my daughter alive?”

  “Yes she is, sir. I’m happy to report that she is alive. She’s in the hospital.”

  “Oh thank God, Sherry. She’s alive, she’s in the hospital but she’s alive.” Jason had barely gotten the words out, before Emma tackled him, her tears mixing with his own.

  He lifted Emma up to sit beside her mother, and then clutched the phone. “You said she is in the hospital. What’s wrong with her, will she be okay? Can I talk to her?”

  Andrew Butler took a moment to gather his thoughts and wondered how much to say on the phone. It would be better not to say too much, better to let them see her before they were told what she’d gone though. “I’m not sure of all the particulars, Mr. Stewart, but you can come down to see her.”

  Jason frowned. “Come down?, Where are you are calling from?”

  “Lepanto, Arkansas.”

  “Arkansas? What’s she doing down there?”

  “Again, I don’t have all the answers, but I give you my word I’m working hard to find out what happened to your daughter.”

  “Please, don’t apologize, Sheriff. You’ll never know how happy and relieved you just made us. Just tell us where and we’ll catch the next flight out.”

  “The nearest town with an airport is Jonesboro. I believe they have regular flights out of Chicago. Let me give you my number and when you catch a flight, call and I’ll meet you at the airport.”

  “That’s very kind of you, Sheriff.”

  “No problem, Mr. Stewart. This is the one part of my job that makes the other parts easier to live with.”

  Jason grabbed a pencil off his nightstand, wrote the number down. “Thank you, Sheriff.”

  Turning, he reached for his wife and daughter, hugging them hard. “Let’s go get Kerry.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Emma gazed at the blue skies from the window of the plane. She couldn’t ever remember feeling so happy and relieved. Kerry was alive. Kerry would come home. Emma smiled to herself She couldn’t wait to see her sister.

  Her dad had told them the sheriff hadn’t explained why Kerry was in the hospital, but she was alive and Emma believed everything else would fall into place.

  She glanced over at her parents and was relieved to see them holding hands. Their faces wore the first optimistic expressions since Kerry’s disappearance.

  She dug in her purse and pulled out her compact. Flipping it open, she noticed a change in her own face. Tired yes, but that awful look of anxiety was gone.

  Emma caught her dad’s eye and smiled. It was good to see him happy again. She snapped the compact closed and dropped it into her purse.

  Glancing at her watch, she counted the minutes. They’d be arriving in Arkansas within the hour.

  ***

  Casey twisted his shoulders to get the kinks out, and then leaned back against the wall in the airport waiting room. Yawning, he thought about Cindy. She was probably just climbing out of bed. He had no doubt she’d be furious with him for not calling. Cindy always liked people to think she was up on all the police business that happened in Lepanto. Normally, he obliged; Casey didn’t think it hurt for her to know who was caught for drinking or who got into a fight. After all, it was public record and was usually in the papers the next day. However, this case was different. This little girl had been abused physically and sexually in the most horrendous way. And it made him disgusted and sick at his stomach. There was no way he’d tell Cindy so she could brag how she’d known first. No way.

  He glanced over at the sheriff and sighed. Telling the parents what happened to their daughter was going to be tough, but tough came with the job, and you do what you have to do, the sheriff had explained.

  The two of them had driven their own cars to the airport. The sheriff said he wanted to talk to the parents alone. So it fell to Casey to drive the other child back to town. The sheriff figured that what he had to tell the parents would be hard enough, without the other sibling listening.

  Casey understood, but he was concerned about the long drive back to Lepanto. It had taken them two hours to get there last night. With the early morning traffic, it would probably take a lot longer to get home. What was he supposed to talk to this kid about? If he got lucky, maybe the child would be a boy. That way, at least they could talk about sports.

  Casey could hardly believe it had only been eleven hours since Kerry had walked into Walmart. He and the sheriff hadn’t slept all night and he needed a cup of strong coffee. Shaking his head to wake himself up, he briefly wondered about Jimmy Joe Walters. If Jimmy Joe was the one responsible for what happened to Kerry, he hoped he would be locked away for the rest of his life. By the time, Casey and the sheriff had located Jimmy Joe’s trailer, it had already burned to its axle. The crime unit had been called out again. They should know soon if Jimmy Joe was dead.

  He took a deep breath and frowned, sniffing. Something smelled bad. Was it him? Of course, he hadn’t taken a shower since he’d left for work seventeen hours ago. He checked his uniform and realized there was blood smeared across the front and along the sleeve, probably from Jimmy Joe’s truck. He wished someone had said something before he’d left for the airport. No wonder the airport security had put him and the sheriff in this private room. The smell and the blood had probably demanded it.

  Casey glanced at the deep comfortable looking armchair the sheriff was sitting in and wondered if should risk sitting down too. He was afraid that if he did, he’d fall asleep and that wouldn’t be very professional. Although the sheriff’s eyes were closed, Casey would be willing to bet he wasn’t asleep.

  He was lucky to be working with Sheriff Butler. He was a good cop and well respected in the state of Arkansas. If Casey decided to go back to school, he’d miss the sheriff. He had already learned a great deal from him. Mostly he’d come to understand how important it was to keep a sense of humor under duress. He had found it to be good advice, many times.

  Idly, he wondered how old the sheriff was, somewhere in his fifties he imagined. The sheriff’s body was compact. Five foot nine, not much body fat, if he had any at all. He had a lot of gray hair and his nose was just a little too large for his face. His eyes were intelligent and kind. Casey would certainly miss him if he decided to move on.

  He glanced again at the comfortable chair next to the sheriff, and gave in. To hell with it, he would sit down, he just wouldn’t fall asleep.

  ***

  The sheriff opened one eye and watched Casey lower himself on to the chair. He had known Casey wouldn’t last long propped up against the wall. The boy didn’t realize how tired he was. Of course, he was young and young men lasted longer, but the last few hours had been rough on the body and the mind. He certainly felt it. Glancing over at Casey he couldn’t help but smile. The boy was fast asleep.

  Letting his mind drift, the sheriff wondered if the crime boys had found Jimmy Joe’s body. He hoped so, It would be better for everyone if he had died in the fire.

  The sheriff thought about Jimmy Joe Walters. Who would have suspected him? Quiet guy, good worker, kept himself out of trouble.

  Nevertheless, the girl had i
dentified him by his driver’s license picture when she had come to. He was glad he and Casey had gone back to the hospital last night. When she woke up, she’d been scared at first, but she’d identified him before the nurse had rushed in and shooed them out.

  The sheriff sighed and wondered how a human being could treat a little girl like that. He certainly wasn’t looking forward to telling her parents about what their daughter had been through. The injuries on her wrist and ankles told their own story though. For the girl’s sake, it would be better for them to be prepared.

  Stretching stiffly, he leaned his head back against the back of the chair. Closing his eyes, he forced his body to relax. At least the girl had survived, he thought, some didn’t.

  He yawned and drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  Before he opened his eyes, the sheriff ran his tongue across his teeth and noted how dry his mouth was. A cold beer would be perfect. He became aware of other people in the room. Taking a moment, he studied the small group standing just inside the door. They must be the Stewarts. Reaching over, he shook Casey awake. “Come on boy, we’re up.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Casey’s first impression of the Stewarts was how incredibly tired they all looked. He was drawn to the younger woman. For reasons he couldn’t understand or explain later, his heart beat faster and his throat tightened.

  Yea, she was beautiful, but she looked exhausted and rumpled from the flight. Her hair was pulled back in a blonde ponytail. Her dark gray eyes looked dull as if she hadn’t slept in many nights. Even though her face was a creamy tan, it had the look of someone who’d been ill for quite some time.

  The sheriff walked over to shake Mr. Stewart’s hand. “I hope you people had a good flight.”

  “It seemed a lot longer than it was,” Mr. Stewart answered, reaching over to shake his hand. “We appreciate you coming for us. This is my wife Sherry and our eldest daughter, Emma.”

  “We were happy to come,” the sheriff answered, turning to frown at Casey who was still sitting in his chair.

  Casey felt his face flush with embarrassment and jumped up.

  “This is Deputy Casey Anderson, my assistant in this case.”

  Casey shook hands with the father, said pleased to meet you, and raised his hand to Emma and Mrs. Stewart, not wanting to get too close on account of the soiled uniform and what he suspected was a bad smell.

  “Do you have any more bags?” The sheriff asked, as he glanced at his watch.

  “No we packed light,” Mr. Stewart answered, putting an arm around both women.

  “Then we need to get a move on. I know you’re anxious to see your daughter,” he said. “We brought two cars. I thought you and your wife could ride with me and your daughter can ride with Deputy Anderson.”

  Jason Stewart caught the sheriff’s look and instantly agreed. “Of course, however you prefer, it’s fine with us.”

  Aware that Emma was watching him, Casey blushed again. What the hell? He hadn’t blushed since high school. Angry with himself and inexplicably at Emma, Casey jerked his head in the direction of the door. Well, if she thought he was a backward hillbilly, there wasn’t a lot he could do about it now.

  They walked out of the airport without saying a word. He took Emma’s suitcase from her hand, “I’ll carry that for you,” she gave him a tired smile, then thanked him and continued walking behind the sheriff and her parents.

  The three had their heads together talking in low tones.

  Emma glanced at the nice looking deputy and frowned. Something was wrong. The optimistic expression of her parents had been replaced with concern and fear. She could tell by the way her mother clung to her dad’s arm that they were talking about something bad, concerning Kerry.

  She decided to wait until they were in the car before she tackled the young police officer about Kerry’s condition.

  Casey pulled out behind the sheriff’s patrol car. He leaned over and adjusted the heat. “It doesn’t normally take long to warm up,” he said conversationally, settling back into his seat.

  “It doesn’t matter; we just appreciate your coming for us.” Biting her lip, Emma stared out the front windshield for a few moments. “I’m not trying to put you on the spot and I realize the sheriff arranged for me to ride with you to protect me from what he’s telling my folks, but I need to know about my sister.”

  Casey glanced at her. “What do you want to know?”

  “Well, for a start, is that my sister’s blood on your uniform?”

  Casey felt bad for her, he knew how he‘d feel if something ever happened to one of his brothers. He briefly wondered how much to say.

  “Some of it is, but we think most of it came from the person who abducted her.”

  “Is he dead?”

  “We don’t know yet.”

  “Is she… did he stab her?”

  “No, she wasn’t stabbed.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  Casey shrugged and glanced over at her again. “Last night, I got a call around seven-thirty, about a young girl who walked into Walmart wearing only a T-shirt and panties. She was covered in blood. The few clothes she had on were bloody. When I got there, Mrs. Crabtree, she’s a local woman, was helping the victim, your sister,” he said correcting himself.

  “She was taken to the hospital where the doctor on call told me that although she was in bad shape, she would survive,” he ended.

  “I see,” Emma stared out the window a few minutes. “I’m twenty, old enough to be told the truth. Was she beaten?”

  Casey gave her question some thought and made a decision. “Yes.”

  “Raped?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does she look awful?”

  Memories of how Kerry looked flooded his mind. Remembering what the doctor said, Casey answered, “She’s not as bad as she could be.”

  “Look, quit beating around the bush, and please tell me what he did to her,” Emma demanded, staring at him.

  “Okay.,” Casey’s eyes found hers for a brief moment. “Your sister looks pretty bad. He chained and handcuffed her legs and hands so she has serious injuries from that. He also brutally raped and beat her many times. So, beside what’s going on in her mind, she has bruises and contusions. She looks like he might have starved her; she’s pretty thin. Her eyes look funny, probably from being kept in a dark closet for the last thirty-six days. There’s nothing physically wrong that won’t heal. Mentally, it’s another matter.” He looked at her again and saw her face was wet with tears. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

  “No, I’m grateful that you told me. It’s just that over the days and nights since she disappeared I kept telling myself she’d be fine, that she was smart and would find a way to get home. Now I know all my nightmares were real, that she wasn’t all right and God only knows if she ever will be.”

  Casey gave her arm an awkward pat. Not knowing what else to say, he concentrated on the road. After a while, he glanced over and noticed her eyes were closed. Good, she’d need her strength, they all would.

  ***

  Emma turned away from Casey and closed her eyes. She thought about what he had told her. Raped, beaten, handcuffed, and tortured. How was a person supposed to get over something like that?

  She struggled to hold back the tears and felt the first wave of hatred wash over her. In all of her twenty years, she had never hated anyone. She had disliked some people but she’d never actually hated anyone, until now.

  The fury and violence she felt was overwhelming. She had never wished for someone’s death and never prayed for someone to suffer, but she did now. She hated the unknown Jimmy Joe Walters.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Andrew Butler propped an elbow up on his desk and sighed. God, he was tired. Normally he enjoyed his job but the last two days had been hard on him. He hoped Casey had gone home and to bed as he’d been told to do.

  Absently, Andrew stared at Carol, the police officer who was manning the
front desk and who was fielding calls about the girl. The presses had gotten wind of the story and were already arriving in town. He hoped the Stewarts could cope. He knew the press would be brutal.

  Andrew felt sorry for the Stewarts, especially when they’d seen their daughter for the first time. It had hit them hard, particularly the mother. She had gasped and would have slid to the floor if the husband and the sister hadn’t caught her. Strong people, the husband and the daughter. They were rich too, he had heard. The father was some kind of genius at business. Well, he felt bad for them, but in another way, he thought they had been lucky. She’d been found alive, a lot of them weren’t.

  He flipped his phone book open and looked up the number of forensics. Hopefully they would have something on Jimmy Joe. He personally hoped Jimmy Joe was dead. Save a lot of heartache for everyone, especially Jimmy Joe’s mom. She was really the only decent one in the family. The father was a drunk, so were Jimmy Joe’s brothers and sister.

  In the past he and his officers had been summoned to their house countless times, on domestic disturbance calls. They’d find the husband drunk, and the wife bruised and bleeding. They’d haul the guy in, but she always bailed him out again.

  When he had run into Jimmy Joe’s mom in town, she’d been so proud of him. Always bragging about what a good boy he was. How hard he worked, never missing a day of work, even when he was sick.

  He shook his head and sighed at the misery everyone was going through. Reaching for the phone, he cradled the handset against his head, tapping his pencil lightly on his desk. He punched in the number and waited for someone to answer. When he heard the clear light voice of Marie, he smiled into the phone. “Hi gorgeous, how are things down at forensics?”

  “One of these days, I’m going to have to call Darlene and tell her what a flirt you are.”

  “Go ahead love. She’d enjoy having a nice long gossip with you. I was calling to see if you got anything in on Jimmy Joe Walters.”