Chapter Fifteen ~
"Let's go back to the house and
see what clues we can find," Jackson said woodenly.
"Jackson, you need to ease up on
yourself," Jude told him with a friendly slap on the back. “She had
Justy's key card, man. There's no way your security could've compensated for
that."
"I should've had the retinal
scanners installed. That would've stopped this from happening. What if she
kills my wife, Jude?" Jackson broke down. He hugged Jude tightly and wept
like a child for the loss of his love. Jude awkwardly patted him on the back.
When it was all over Jackson stood up, unzipped his suit and grabbed a
handkerchief to dry his face, returned it, zipped back up and without another
word or a backward glance, got on his four-wheeler and zoomed away.
Jude looked at Amos, and then Scott. "Let's
follow the leader." They all mounted-up and took off after their boss.
They had to find a clue to lead them back to the killer. We can’t let her keep Amy, he thought.
***
Amy rode in the helicopter, trying
not to throw-up. Riding in a helicopter for the first time and being terrified was not helping. She was much calmer now after
praying to God, but she couldn't say she was comfortable and relaxed.
"Are you gonna tell me who you
are? I know your precious pride is dying to tell me," Amy said cajolingly.
"Just shut-up and enjoy the
ride, Amy," She sneered
hatefully.
"Well you know my name, so that
means you know at least a little about me. You should even those odds, unless
you think you need the
advantage."
"Don't flatter yourself you
rich, spoiled brat."
"It's very hard to listen to
your voice. You sound like Justy, but look like Lauren, and I don't think
you're either. At least I know my judgment isn't totally skewed. I liked Justy
Sanders from the minute I met her, but I don't like you," Amy told the
woman. She was trying to give her the silent treatment, but Amy was already
wearing her down.
"It wasn't my idea, you twit," The woman returned in a resentful, yet
regretful tone.
"So who's behind all this if it
isn't you?" Amy asked, not expecting an answer.
She was surprised when the woman
said, "Max Sanders."
"Max Sanders is behind all this?
Why, what purpose is it serving him?" Amy asked in surprise. She'd heard
Jude talking about Justy's 'cousin.'
"He gets his jollies from
hurting others, why else?" She answered in obvious resentment now.
"You know, he tricked me just like he did the others. He told me if I did
what he told me to he would let me go and I could go back to my family, but he
lied."
"What others are you talking
about?" Amy asked. "Who are you? What's your real name?"
"My name is Lydia. I met Max a
long time ago, when we were in school. We were supposed to get married, but he
ran out on me before that happened. Several years later I met someone and we
got married. I'd been with Ernie for almost ten years, and then he showed back up. He told my husband I
was a former spy for the CIA. At first Anton didn't believe it, but after a while
he started to be suspicious, and he had me checked out. He threw me out when he
learned the truth. He wouldn't let me see my kids. I haven't seen them for over
three years..." A lone tear slipped out of the eye that looked so much
like Lauren's.
"How do you sound like Justy,
but look just like Lauren?" If she was gonna be killed, she might as well
know the truth...
"The face is easy. I had
reconstructive surgery. The voice was a little harder." As she talked her
voice went through several different transformations until it was a high,
squeaky soprano voice that didn't sound a thing like Justy's husky timber.
"I listened to hours and hours of her talking so I could fake it."
"How long has he been planning
all this?" Amy asked in alarm.
"He started this plan when we
were all still back in high school, I just didn't know it. We went to school
with Jude. I always had a crush on him, but he never had serious eyes for me.” Her
voice returned to its former bitterness.
"I don't think you know Jude at
all. He isn't anything like you think. He may have been that way in school, but
Jude the man is someone entirely different than you are describing."
"What Jude did to Justy wasn't half
as bad as what he did to me. He pretended to like me just so he could get me
into bed, and then he dumped me. I was nothing but a used-up rag to him. I
loved him and he used me. And she has the gall to go to him all these years
later and fall in love with him? She deserves the torment she'll go through."
Amy jumped on the future tense of the
woman's words. "You mean Justy is still alive?" Hope soared in her
and she couldn't help putting a hand out to plea with the woman. "You
don't have to kill her..." Amy was saying. Right before it happened...
The pilot turned around and shot the
woman dead right in front of Amy. Blood spattered everywhere and she screamed
in horror and anguish.
"You should learn not to talk so
much," The man said in a joyful voice. He pulled something out of his
pocket and blew it at Amy. She felt a tiny prick in her neck, and then nothing.
***
Jude and the rest of the team went
back to the cabin to look for any clues the woman may have left. They didn't
find much. She was thorough, for sure. He was convinced she was a trained
professional. It was obvious at least two women had been held hostage here, but
there were no clues as to their identity. There was red and gold glitter
sprinkled all over the house and the porch outside, as if the real killer
wanted them to know she'd been here.
They were on their way to the barn
when something on the ground caught Jude's eye. He bent over and picked it up.
It was a powder mirror. Why would it be out here?
"Hey Jackson, this isn't Amy's
mirror, by chance?" He held up the old-fashioned silver mirror and Jack
shook his head in the negative. Maybe it was hers. Jude was ecstatic. "Maybe it belongs to the killer."
"It might belong to our killer,"
Jackson said at the same time Jude spoke. Great minds did think alike.
Jude tried not to touch it too much.
He didn't want to ruin any fingerprints he might be able to get, if she'd been
careless enough to leave any, that is. "That's what I was thinking. We
need to find out where they took Amy.”
"I know. I ache because she's
not here," Jackson said. His voice cracked and Jude couldn't believe the
change that had come over his friend since his wife’s abduction.
He stopped near a snow-covered tree
stump and sat down. He didn't care if he got wet. He proceeded to take out what
he would need to lift any prints. Miraculously, there was a perfect print,
almost as if it had been placed there on purpose. He lifted it and sent it into
the station. He put a rush on it, hoping they would have it back before they
finished here. If they knew who she was, they could find out where she lived.
From there they could find out where she hung out, who her friends were, and
what her mental state was.
"Do you think it'll take them
long to get a match?" Jackson asked.
"It won't take them as long as
it would the local police, but I don't know how much faster it'll be,"
Jude answered.
They were just getting ready to enter
the barn when Jude spotted a book lying on the ground. He picked it up and
tried to clean it off as best he could. There was mud and snow caked all over
it. "Look Jackson, it's a book." He held it out to show his friend.
"I'm beginning to think she's purposely leading us somewhere. Do you wanna
go back? She could be setting a trap and using Amy as bait."
"I don't care if that is what she's doing. I have to find my
wife. If I get killed trying to save her it'll be my own fault," Jackson
said. "I love her, and I have to find her."
Jude flipped through the book, not expecting
to find much, but gasped when he found a crude, hand-drawn map. It led to the
southwestern corner of the property. He showed it to Jackson and asked, "What
if it's a trick, man?"
"I told you I don't care, I have
to find her.” Jackson said as he began to run the way the map pointed, Jude and
the rest of the men on his heels.
When they got to the old, dilapidated
red and white building he saw a padlock on the door. Jude pulled out his gun
and smashed the lock off with the butt and pulled it away with shaky fingers,
hopeful of what might be behind the door.
***
As soon as the light hit her face,
Justy Sanders screamed from the pole she was tied to. Jude raced into the room
right behind Jackson, lightly shoving him out of the way.
"Justy, you're alive!" Jude
yelled. He untied her as Scott and Amos made it to the room. There was another
woman tied up on a pole beside her, but her head was down, and Jude was pre-occupied
cutting Justy loose.
Jackson went over and lifted up the
other woman's head. "Jude, it's your partner!”
Jude was hugging Justy, checking
every inch of her body for cuts and bruises for a second time, but there were
few. She hadn't struggled because the kidnapper had drugged her as soon as
she'd been snatched. It seemed so long ago now...
"Lauren, are you okay?"
Amos asked. "How is it you two are still alive?"
"He wanted to make sure his
clones could fool everyone first. He knew if he killed us and his clones
weren't convincing his plan would backfire," Lauren responded weakly.
"What was his plan?" Jude came over and cut the straps holding his
partner's wrists.
"I'm not sure exactly. He hates
you, I know that. He said he went to school with you and you teased him
mercilessly every year," Lauren said.
"What does he look like?"
Jackson bent down and cut the straps around her ankles.
"He has red hair, and lots of freckles," Justy Sue said
with a crack in her voice. They were hungry and cold and Jude wanted to get
them back to the cabin as soon as possible, or at least on the road back to the
city, if that's the step Jackson wanted to take.
Lauren rubbed her wrists. Jude
watched in interest. He'd never noticed how small she was. There were tears
falling down her pixie-like face and she was trying to duck her head to hide
them. He rubbed her cheeks gently and asked, "Did he hurt you?"
"No, he didn't hurt me physically,
at least not today. The man you're looking for has been my boyfriend for the
last six months. I can't believe I let him trick me like this. I'm supposed to
be a special agent in the FBI and I let some little weasel con me." Fresh
tears of hurt and embarrassment flooded her cheeks.
"We’ve got you back now. I'm
gonna make sure nothing else happens to you," Jude said firmly.
He rushed back over to Justy and
whispered something in her ear before telling her, "I won't ever let
anything happen to you again as long as I live. I love you Justy.”
Scott walked over with a puzzled look
on his face. "Justy, I know when you were abducted, but what about you,
Lauren? When did he get you?"
"He got me the other day when I
became suspicious of his behavior. I was astounded at the change in him. When
we got to the cabin and there was someone there that looked just like me, I
freaked out. He hit me with his fist, and that's the last time I saw him until
today."
"Isn't Max Sanders your
cousin?" Jackson asked.
"I don't know anyone named Max
Sanders," She said with a wrinkled brow.
"Has either one of you seen
Amy?" Jackson asked hopefully.
"Yes, they brought her to the
house a while ago, but they knew you were coming so they took her around to the
west side of the property. That's how they work, these murderers," Lauren
said resentfully. It would take a long time to live this one down in her
friends' eyes; she didn't know how she would ever manage to live it down in her
own. She would do her best to help them catch him, it was the only thing she could do. The personal moments she'd
shared with him wisped through her mind, but she shoved them away. He was a
monster.
"You mean they didn't leave
property?" Jackson asked.
"No, Max said this property was
big enough to hide an army," Justy said.
The women wore only jeans and tee
shirts and they shivered uncontrollably while they waited on the men to decide
what they were gonna do.
"Are we gonna try to catch
him?" Lauren asked.
"We're gonna try to catch him, I think it best you two go back to
the city and wait for us to return," Jackson said in a commanding tone.
"I want to stay and help put him
away. He lied to me, and now I'm ashamed to call myself an agent," Lauren said.
"It wasn't your fault. It isn’t like
he had a sign on his back that told you who he really was," Jude said
defensively.
"I know, but I should've known
something was up. A man that looks and acts like that, and has all that money?
It's a dream come true, dream being
the operative word. Girls like me don't get guys like that."
"That's not true, Lauren. You
just haven't met the right one yet. Give it time," Justy said sweetly.
Jude couldn't help thinking this was
the girl he fell in love with. He should've trusted in his ability to discern character
more than he had. Maybe they would've been onto the fake Justy a lot faster. When
all of his friends were suspicious of her, he should've believed them.
"Okay, do either of you know
exactly where he was taking her?" Jackson cut-in.
"He said he was taking her to
the west side of the property, like I said. He'll come back in a few hours,
after you leave," Justy told him.
"Why does he think we'll
leave?" Jackson asked.
"I don't think he knows for sure,
but he probably assumes once you get here and find us and you can't find him
anywhere close by you'll go looking elsewhere." Justy said.
Jackson bobbed his head as he
listened. "Lauren, I know it's a sore point, but is there anything about
Max you can tell us that might help us get him?"
"He's headstrong and
egotistical. If you play along and pretend like you agree he's the next best
thing after homemade bread, he'll be caught off guard. He loves adoration, even
to the point of making mistakes," Lauren relayed.
"That's why he hasn't made any
mistakes. We haven't given him any adoration. I guess we can pour some on
really quick. Let me call a mate of mine who runs a radio station,"
Jackson told them. He pulled his phone out and made a call. When he was done he
said, "Let's get back to the cabin as quickly as we can and get you women
some blankets. We have to go back out, but if you want you can stay there until
we get done. We've got plenty of guns and ammo."
"I don't even know how to shoot
a gun, Jude," Justy tried to appeal to the man she loved. She had scarcely
taken her eyes off of him since he'd walked in the door. Her parents' deaths
were tragic, but since being kidnapped it was so surreal, almost like a
nightmare...
***
Jude had also been taking in the
sight of Justy's slight frame. He didn't want to leave her either, but he knew
if they wanted to catch the killer they would have to go. "We can leave
Scott or Amos here if it would make you feel better."
Jackson shook his head. "That'll
be okay. That’ll give you added protection."
"Okay, I guess." Justy
said.
"I can go with you guys if you
need an extra gun," Lauren replied eagerly as they made it back to the
'cabin' in the woods.
"Okay Lauren, we'll take you and
leave Amos here with Justy. Are you sure you're up to it? If you're too weak or
tired we can do it alone."
"I want to go," She said in exasperation.
"Okay, calm down, you can go.
Amos, watch that woman like she was your own wife," Jude said as he pulled
Justy to him and kissed her on the forehead. Her chestnut hair still smelled of
coconuts and strawberries and he breathed in deeply before pushing her gently
to arms' length. He couldn't be that close to her, he didn't trust himself.
Jude, Jackson and Scott left the
cabin and headed for the western portion of the land. Their plan was simple.
They would go in shooting and ask questions later. They knew Amy's chances of
living were nil, no matter which course of action they chose. Even if they were
to give themselves up, Jude knew they would kill her.
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