New Year Heroes: The Sheriff's Secretary / Veiled Intentions / Juror No. 7

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.”