Paranormal II: The Summit Part 34

"I'll be waiting in the lobby." She hung up before he could say more. He should have known she would want to go. It just wasn't her way to sit on the sidelines.

For the first time that day, Ben actually smiled. That incredible grit of hers was only one of the reasons he had fallen crazy in love with her.

Ben was late. Since he was always on time, Autumn began to worry. Pacing back and forth across the narrow, tile-floored lobby of her apartment building, she looked out at the street. She didn't see Ben's truck and checked her watch for the umpteenth time. She was reaching for her cell phone to see where he was when it started to ring.

She recognized his number and flipped open the phone. "What's happened, Ben?"

"d.a.m.n truck won't start. I think I may have left the inside light on last night. Triple A's on the way but I don't have time to wait. We can take the Mercedes, but-"

"Let's take my car. Like you said, it's a lot less conspicuous. I'll pick you up in five minutes."

She headed down to the parking garage, unlocked the car and tossed her overnight bag into the back, on top of the bag of climbing gear she always carried. A few minutes later, she pulled up in front of the ritzy Bay Towers, spotted Ben on the sidewalk and pulled over to the curb.

He leaned into the window on the pa.s.senger side. "Want me to drive?"

"It isn't that far. You can take over once we get there."

Amazingly, he didn't argue, just got in and leaned back in the seat. The set of his shoulders and the tight line of his jaw betrayed the tension humming through him.

"I didn't think it would go down this way," he said.

She pulled the car up onto the freeway. "You figured the law would cover for them."

"After meeting Sheriff Crawford, I figured it could happen."

She flicked him a glance. "I wonder if one of the brothers is the blond man."

Ben sighed. "In a way I hope he is. In another way..."

"In another way, you don't want to wish that on Molly."

He didn't answer, but she knew it was what he was thinking.

She merged her little SUV in with the traffic and headed north, out of the city.

"That last dream you had..." Ben said. "I've been thinking a lot about it."

"So have I."

"Sarah was pregnant."

"That's right."

"She was young, you said. No more than fifteen."

"That would be my guess."

"So he's sleeping with her and she's only a kid."

"We don't know for certain the baby is his."

"But you believe that's the way it is. You figure he's sleeping with Rachael, too."

Autumn didn't reply. She thought exactly that. "There's something else, something that's been nagging me. Rachael said they only had a little time left. She said, You want to look pretty for him, don't you? You want to please him?'"

"So?"

"I keep seeing the dress Molly was wearing." She chanced a quick look at Ben. "You told me her birthday is August first. That's only a couple of days away."

Ben straightened in his seat. "Go on."

"Molly is going to be twelve years old. In some places that's old enough to be married." She didn't want to say the rest out loud. She knew what it would do to Ben. But time was running out. "It looked like a wedding dress, Ben."

"What?"

"Not the modern kind, but an old-fashioned dress like women wore in the past...like a lot of women in the church seem to wear."

Ben's face went bone white. "Jesus," he said. "Jesus."

"If he's planning to marry her on her birthday, we've still got time to stop it. All we have to do is get his name and then we can find him. And I think the Beecher brothers may very well know the answers to both of those questions."

Ben made no reply but his features looked etched in stone. Autumn drove a little too fast all the way to the off-ramp then pulled onto the two-lane road heading east. The Warren County seat was in the small town of Warren, a ways south of Route 20, about fifteen miles east off Interstate 5.

As they pulled into town, she spotted the county courthouse, one of those old-fashioned buildings with a rotunda, sitting in the middle of a nice gra.s.sy square. The police station was next door, a modern structure that seemed out of place in the quaint old logging community.

Autumn pulled up in front of the station and turned off the engine. "Well, did you figure out how to convince the police to let us talk to the men?"

Ben's mouth barely curved. "No, I didn't. I cheated. I called someone who could convince them for me."

One of her eyebrows arched up. "Who's that?"

"Burt Riker at the FBI. I told him our sources had led us to the kidnapping of a young girl in Idaho, which led us to the scene of the Vreeland murder. I told him we needed to talk to the brothers who had been arrested for the crime, that we believe they have knowledge that might prove useful in finding my daughter."

"And he went for it?"

"I think he's intrigued. He made the call to Warren, at any rate. Since kidnapping's a federal offense, if we come up with anything, the feds will jump in. The police are letting us speak to Jed Beecher. Apparently, he's confessed to the murder and willing to talk about it. His brother, Joseph, has lawyered up."

The police station hummed with activity, though the brothers' arrest for the murder had not yet been released. It soon would be. Autumn hoped she and Ben were long gone by the time the little town was overrun by the media.

Ben checked in with the stocky sergeant behind the front desk, who steered them to a police lieutenant named Frazier. It was obvious the man wasn't happy the FBI was sticking its nose into his investigation.

"Apparently you've got friends in high places, McKenzie," said Frazier. He was tall, dark and not the least bit handsome. "Follow me and make it brief. You've got fifteen minutes."

Autumn followed the lieutenant, Ben right behind her, toward the rear of the station into a building adjoining the main structure, through a barred entrance that slid open to admit them then closed with an unnerving clang. Lieutenant Frazier led them into a grim room furnished only with a table and chairs. There was a mirror on one wall, one-way gla.s.s, Autumn was sure.

"Like I said, fifteen minutes."

Frazier left and Ben and Autumn sat down on one side of the table. A few minutes later, the door opened again and a young man-shackled hand and foot, thin with very short blond hair-made his way into the chamber.

Ben rose as Jed Beecher slowly dragged himself over to the table.

"Cops said you wanted to see me."

"That's right." Ben cast a sharp look at Autumn, who studied Jed Beecher and slowly shook her head.

Ben sat back down, barely masking his disappointment. "We're looking for someone," he said. "I think you may know him. I'm hoping you might be able to help us find him."

"Why should I?" Beecher moved a shackled foot, making a rattling sound beneath the table.

"Because your life is pretty much over. Maybe if you help us, G.o.d will cut you some slack for the crime you committed."

"I didn't commit a crime. I just did G.o.d's will. He spoke to me and Joseph, told us exactly what to do."

"G.o.d told you to kill Priscilla Vreeland?"

"That's right."

"Seems to me it was G.o.d who said Thou shalt not kill.'"

"He's the Almighty. He doesn't have to explain himself. He commands and we follow. Besides, she was warned-more than once. She just wouldn't listen. She was trouble from the day Isaac married her. He and my father argued over her all the time."

"Your father argued with Isaac Vreeland?"

Beecher nodded. "He's my cousin."

Ben reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the sketch of the blond man. "Your cousin looks a lot like this man. Is this your brother, Joseph?"

Beecher made a quick perusal and shook his head. "No."

"Take another look. I think maybe you know him."

Vreeland studied the sketch. In a blink, recognition dawned and his features turned guarded.

"It's not Joseph," Ben continued. "But you know who he is."

Beecher's shoulders stiffened. "What do you want with him?"

"Who is he?" Ben pressed.

Jed Beecher shrugged. It was clear he knew and equally clear he wasn't going to say.

Ben's jaw clenched. Reaching across the table, he grabbed the front of Jed's orange prison shirt and jerked him out of his chair. "This man abducted my daughter. Tell me who he is!"

Beecher's lips curled. "She belongs to him now. Her life with you is over."

Ben shook Beecher hard. "Tell me his name, G.o.ddammit!"

The door slammed open and two police officers rushed it. "You're finished in here, McKenzie. Get out before you wind up in a cell next to his."

Ben let go of Beecher's shirt. For an instant, his hand fisted so hard it shook. He took a deep breath and Autumn could tell he was fighting for control. "We need to find out who this man is," he said to one of the officers.

Both officers glanced at the sketch. "Don't know him. Now, like we said, you're through in here. Get out before we haul you out."

Ben reached toward Autumn, who linked her fingers with his and gently squeezed. Her heart ached for him. They were close and yet still so far away. Ben led her out of the room, down the hall and out of the building.

"We won't get any more help from the local police," he said darkly.

"It doesn't matter. We'll find him some other way. We know he's one of them. We know he lives somewhere up in those mountains."

"She's not even twelve years old, still just a little girl. I can't stand to think of him hurting her."

"We'll find him, Ben, I swear it."

Ben looked down at her, his eyes haunted. "The question is, will it be too late?"

Twenty-Eight.

"We've got to go back up there." Adrenaline still pumped through Ben's veins. "Up to Ash Grove. We've got to find someone who knows who this man is and make them talk."

Walking next to him toward the car, Autumn just nodded. If she was afraid of what might happen once they got there, Ben couldn't see it.

Nothing's going to happen, he vowed. Not this time. His Springfield was tucked away in his canvas duffle and if he had to, he would use it.

"Let's talk to Isaac Vreeland," Autumn suggested as they reached her SUV, Ben making his way to the driver's side this time. "Beecher said Isaac and Samuel fought over Priscilla all the time. By now he's been told about the Beecher brothers' arrest. Now that he knows who murdered his wife, maybe he'll be willing to talk."

Ben slid behind the wheel, adjusting the seat to fit his tall frame. "Good idea. Let's go."

They were halfway down Highway 20 on their way back to Ash Grove when Ben's cell phone rang. He picked it up from the center console and answered it. Pete Rossi's voice resonated from the other end of the line.

"How'd it go?" Pete asked. "You find the blond man?"

"Jed wouldn't talk but it was clear he recognized the guy in the sketch."

"Yeah, well, guess what? Jed and Joe aren't the only Beecher brothers. The older brother's name is Eli. He lives in a wide spot in the road called Shadow Point. It's a few miles north of Ash Grove. I'm trying to come up with a photo as we speak."

His pulse was leaping. "Call me if you get a match."

"Will do. Where are you?"

"Heading back up to Ash Grove."

"Be careful. These boys play rough."