Page 41 of Rescuing Sara

“Hey sweetie, wake up.”Patrick gently shook Danni’s shoulder. “You need to get up and eat something.” She looked so peaceful, he hated to wake her. But Kristopher had figured something out and wanted to share with them as soon as possible.

“Mmmph,” Danni murmured. “What time is it?”

“Almost five,” Patrick told her. “You’ve been asleep almost since you finished giving Sergeant Miller your statement.”

He had brought her back to the Safehouse after leaving the museum and they’d done a Facetime meet with Miller so she could give her statement about what happened, and then insisted she take a nap. In the time Patrick had known Danni Blake, he’d seen her worried, cross and relaxed, but never terrified.

But this time the killer nearly succeeded. Terrified made sense. And Grant Miller was adamant about Danni staying at the Safehouse.

“I don’t know if I would go anywhere this weekend, Danni,” he advised. “I don’t mean to scare you, any more than you already have been, but three attacks in one week? Someone is damn serious about putting you out of commission.”

“I am scared,” Danni had retorted. “But I’m angry too at not being able to move about to find Sara. It’s not that I want to go anywhere, but that I can’t.”

Now she opened sleep heavy eyes and gave him an equally sleepy smile. “What’s for dinner?”

“Beef stew, cornbread and a green salad. C’mon.”

He helped her to sit up and then to stand. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he led her to the dining table already set with their meal. Kristopher kept them entertained with stories about a set of dogs he’d had growing up–he’d seen some similar ones today–named Holmes and Watson. Sweetest dogs ever but not terribly smart. Patrick watched some of the tension and weariness vanish from Danni’s face and was relieved to hear her laugh. Maybe she would get through the night without too much trouble.

After dinner, they went to the living room and waited while Kristopher briefly excused himself to return with a giant rolling whiteboard, filled with large, neat printing.

“While you two have been rushing to and fro, I’ve been doing some research,” he said, pointing at the board. “I’ve been trying to put all this together in a logical way and using a fine point marker helps me sort things out instead of tapping at a keyboard.”

“Eye-hand movement helps learning,” Danni said. “Or so I’ve been told.”

“Exactly,” Kristopher agreed. “So, these are the facts as we know them. He went to the board, marker in hand and began.

“Danni begins writing Where Are the Childrentwo weeks before Sara Turner vanishes. Sara vanished the Monday after Thanksgiving, last seen by the now deceased Mrs. Everett, who may or may not have died from fall related injuries. We know she was the last person to see Sara and that was getting into a black four door Honda Accord. Robin Masters was also seengetting into the same kind of car by a neighbor. We can ask Miller if that neighbor has been cleared of suspicion or in danger like Mrs. Everett.”

“You’ve been busy,” Danni said.

“Danni starts getting threatening e-mails after the second article is published,” Kristopher continued. “Leo Anderson gets them as well. IT at KPD is still trying to figure out the source as it came to Leo’s e-mail address at work. Danni, your e-mail address at Excelsior is publicly known. Did you ever get any at UT?”

“No,” Danni said. “And I’ve checked every day because I would have to let them know.”

“OK,” Kristopher acknowledged. “On Monday of this week–hard to believe it’s only been six days–Leo Anderson is killed in Danni’s place. Sorry, Danni, but you told me that’s Captain Haggerty’s theory. But that attack outside St. Nicholas and the one earlier today were definitely for you. Another little girl, Robin Masters has gone missing and like Robin is ten years old, both of them about to turn eleven. A known assassin was murdered and his body left at Talbot Park earlier this week as well. Connection? No proof but my gut tells me they’re all connected.

“This is getting weirder by the minute,” Patrick pronounced.

“Maybe,” Kristopher said. “But Danni, I think you’re the key. Someone thinks you know something important enough to kill you. The question is, what do you think you know and when did you know it? And it’s got to be something recent because none of this had started until you wrote those articles. What’s the connection?”

“I have no idea,” Danni admitted. “But I like the way you’ve laid it out. It’s been like so many loose threads we’re trying to gather.”

Kristopher made a short bow. “Thanks. Another point. Both Sara and Robin have family members who work at La Belle Monde. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

“As of this minute, neither do I.” Patrick frowned and pointed at the board. “All this time, we’ve been thinking it had to be The Cadre who snatched the girls, but what if it’s not?”

A recent memory occurred to him, and dread shot up his spine. “Danni,” he said slowly. “That day in the captain’s office, you started to say something when you were talking about Ed Turner. Were you thinking he had Sara snatched?”

“I d-did,” Danni stammered. “But why in the world.”

“To sell her?” Kristopher offered.

“Sell?” Patrick choked out. “His ten-year-old-granddaughter?”

“Think of your last case,” Kristopher urged. “Trafficked teens for sex. What if The Cadre wants younger ones this time? With all the pedophile websites hiding on the Dark Web, there are all kinds of opportunities to buy and sell kids. Maybe Ed Turner reached to someone like The Cadre to sell Sara? I don’t want to know why but I can think of a reason.”

“Hank Patterson told me you were good,” Patrick praised. “He just didn’t tell me at what. Is there a reason other than sex to sell girls that age?”

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