Inside there were three cots, two unoccupied, and a pair of weeping young women in the other, clenched in each other’s arms, their wrists handcuffed and, each with a lengthy chain, fastened to the floor; giving them just enough movement so they could lie down or sit together. Frank was so relieved to see them he could have shouted out in joy. The girls blinked in the light. Their faces were bruised and their eyes were like trapped animals until they realized they were being rescued instead of further abused. And their smiles came out like the sun.

  One of them cried, “It’s the police. We’ve been saved! Thank God.” While the other girl kept crying, her shoulders heaving, her body shuddering.

  Glinda went to the girls, comforting them. Her arms gathering them to her. “It’s all right. You’re safe now. The police are here. You’re safe.”

  One of the officers came in and handed Sam the keys to unlock the girls’ chains. “I got them off the man we shot,” he stated flatly.

  “When you go out call in another ambulance for these girls, Officer Macy, they need to be transported to the hospital immediately,” Sam addressed the officer. “Then go and bring back one of the squad cars so our victims can have a place to wait for it in. We’re getting them out of here.”

  Officer Macy nodded, bowed his head to get out the low height door, and left the shed.

  Sam used the key to free the girls and they were helped outside. Even in the fading light, the two victims were pitiful. Their clothes and faces were dirty. They shivered and jerked at every noise and refused to meet anyone’s eyes. Which made sense because of what they’d probably been through. Glinda produced a bottle of water from a pouch hanging on her shoulder and gave it to the girls, who’d said they were thirsty and starving. Sam gave them each a candy bar and a box of raisins he’d had in his pocket. They’d be driven to the hospital and when they were ready their statements would be taken.

  Frank didn’t want to know what they’d been through. It was here where he and Glinda would be bowing out. Their jobs were done. He’d leave the follow up to the proper authorities. He’d only helped because of what Glinda had seen and because Laura had been endangered. The whole experience had only reminded him of how happy he was to be retired and out of the old detective and crime rat race. How happy he was in Spookie. It was much more satisfying to write about crime than to be out in the field actually fighting it.

  Once the ambulances had come and gone, the perps in one and the victims in another, Frank told Sam, “Glinda and I are going now. We’ve done what we came here to do. We helped you find the girls. We’re leaving the rest of this case up to you and the department. I’m retired, remember? We’re going home.”

  Sam didn’t argue with him. He’d known they were only temporary assistants. There wasn’t anything else they could do. It was up to the justice system now. “I remember. And I want to thank both of you for all your help.”

  Sam was looking at Glinda. “And I want to thank you. The Chicago Police Department and the families of the girls you helped us save thank you. Could we call on you one day again if we ever need your, er, special abilities?”

  “Call me,” she answered with a tired smile, “and I’ll let you know if I will or can help. If the cards and the universe agree.”

  “Good enough.”

  Frank and Glinda were chauffeured to the police station and after giving their statements they drove in the dark to Kyle’s apartment. It’d been a very long day and they were both exhausted.

  They were surprised to see Kyle waiting for them. “Dad, I was working last time you were here. So I traded shifts tonight with another doctor. I wanted to be here when you two returned. I see you so rarely I thought it’d be nice to spend some quality time with you.”

  And spend time with Glinda, Frank mused. But it was good, as always, to see and spend time with his son so he didn’t question anything.

  After he talked to Abby on the phone and caught her up on what had happened that day, told her they’d be home tomorrow, he called Sam and got an update.

  Sam had been solemn as he’d apprised Frank on the surviving girls’ conditions. “Their parents have been notified and are on their way to the hospital to be with their daughters. The girls have been through so much. The doctors say they’re still in shock. But physically, aside from bruises, cuts, and one of the girls has a broken arm, they will recover. Not sure how if ever they will recover from the experience, though. The two kidnappers, brothers Arthur and Wesley Addy, hadn’t fed the girls since they’d abducted them. They are shiftless, lowlifes who we now suspect have been moving from one state to another the last decade, hiding in abandoned houses, stealing whatever they could get their hands on, mugging people or robbing gas stations and abducting young girls to torture and kill.

  “The brothers had been exceptionally cruel, taunting and beating the girls if they gave them any trouble. The way they treated them was inhuman. They are inhuman. Monsters. Thank God we now have them in custody so they can’t kill any more young women. We’ve contacted other police departments in other states connecting the dots. It seems they’ve left a long string of murders behind them.”

  “Why did they kill the third girl and how did she die? Who was she?”

  “She was Alice Wood. We rescued Thandie Harris and Odette Benoist. As far as I can deduce Alice was murdered for the same reason they’ve killed all their victims over the years. It was how they got their kicks. They were vicious, evil-minded brutes who for some demented reason hated women. Who knows why? Killing made they feel powerful. We don’t have a medical report on exactly how the dead girl died. Not yet anyway. When we find out something more I’ll let you know when I know. We’ve only begun interrogating Wesley Addy–boy, is he one messed up nut case–at the station. His wound was only superficial and a paramedic took care of it in the ambulance on the way to the jail. His brother is in the hospital right now having bullets dug out of him.” Sam had chuckled. “Somehow the man got all shot up.”

  “Ah, too bad.” Frank didn’t care that Arthur Addy was having bullets dug out of him. He wished he could have put more in the creep.

  “Frank, I’ll let you know how things progress here with the case and what else we find out about these two animals. It looks like it’ll be quite a story. They’ve been murdering girls for a long time. Catching them is a massive win for the good guys. Please tell Glinda we couldn’t have found and stopped them without her help. We’re deeply indebted to her.”

  “I’ll tell her.”

  “And I want to thank you as well, old friend, for your help. I owe you.”

  “No, you don’t.” Frank had been watching his son flirting with Glinda across the room and he smiled at them. “I was protecting Laura.”

  “And all the other vulnerable female students at the college.”

  “That, too.”

  Frank and Sam spoke for a little longer, then said goodnight and hung up. He put in a final call to his daughter Laura. “It’s over, Laura. We got the two men who have been kidnapping your classmates. They’re in custody right now.”

  “The girls?”

  He hated telling her but he did. “Odette is all right. She’s been through a lot and has some injuries, mainly a broken arm. Thandie Harris is alive, too. They’re both at the hospital getting treatment. I’m sorry, Alice Wood didn’t make it. We didn’t get there in time.”

  “Oh, no.” Laura moaned. “I didn’t know Alice very well. She wasn’t in any of my classes, but I feel so bad for her and her parents. I’m happy, though, you saved the others and Odette is alive. I’ll have to see her as soon as the hospital releases her. I imagine she won’t be coming back to her dorm room for a while.”

  “Probably not right away. She’ll most likely go home to her family.”

  “I’ll wait until tomorrow and try calling her.”

  Frank could tell by the graveness in her voice she’d been deeply affected by the kidnappings and the one girl’s death. “You can sleep peacefully now, sweetheart. Thanks to Glinda and everyone on the Chicago police force the criminals are now behind bars or will be soon and two of their victims are now safe. Their crime spree is over.”

  “And thanks to you,” Laura added softly. “You were the connection between Glinda and the abductions. Is she going to help fight the bad guys from now on?”

  “When she’s asked, I believe. Goodnight, Laura.”

  “Goodnight, Frank. I’ll see you on Friday evening.” The cell phone on her end clicked off.

  He’d never asked her to call him father, though he called her his daughter as did Abby. But he’d known her father before the man had been murdered five years before, he’d been a good man and father, so he didn’t hold it against her not to give him that title; perhaps one day she would. He knew she loved him and Abby and that was all that mattered.

  With all the phone calls done, Frank returned to his real life. He spent the evening watching Kyle fall over himself trying to impress Glinda and he tried to forget the shell-shocked and abused looks he’d seen on those two poor girls’ battered faces. And he tried, in vain, to forget the blood-soaked body in the shallow grave. He couldn’t. And with what Sam had divulged about the killers’ cross-country across decades murdering spree he knew he’d have nightmares for a while. How many more victims and shallow graves would be uncovered as the investigation into the two men, their history, and their serial killings went forward? He felt weary just thinking about it.

  Oh, yes, he was glad his police career was behind him. He liked his life the way it was, simple and good, with Abby, his books, his town, the children and consulting with the local sheriff’s department when he felt like it. He’d leave the job of finding the really bad guys up to Sam and younger hungrier men. He’d served his time. Now his life was in Spookie.

  He and Glinda spent the night and had breakfast with Kyle before they got in the truck and drove home. Frank was glad to see the town come into view. He was home.

  Chapter 13

  ABIGAIL WAS AT THE Delicious Circle visiting with Kate, sipping coffee and eating a crème horn. She’d already consumed a chicken salad on a sesame bun sandwich. It’d been delicious as all the sandwiches were that Kate made. As far as Abigail was concerned, the new lunch menu was a hit. It was nice to be able to eat something substantial before she began gobbling down pastries.

  After Kate had had the surgery for her melanoma, a small but growing spot found on her back, a medical problem she said Glinda had warned her of when she’d read her cards, she’d moved quickly to return to work and expand her menu. Abigail was just happy her friend was okay. They’d caught the melanoma early and Kate’s chances of survival were high.

  “I’m okay thanks to Glinda,” Kate avowed. “She advised me to see my doctor. That it was important and she was right on the money. That girl is a marvel.”

  “Isn’t she, though?” Abigail had replied with a knowing smile.

  Frank had telephoned her earlier that morning and said after he and Glinda made a stop at the Chicago Police Station for a final wrap-up they’d be heading home to Spookie. She was happy the abducted college girls’ case was solved and over, the culprits now behind bars, for many reasons. Her husband and friend were coming home–and Laura, and all the other young women at the art school, were now safe. She said she was proud of him and Glinda for helping to apprehend the two serial killers and get them off the streets forever. Because of her husband and Glinda now many women would not be terrorized, tortured and lose their lives. They were heroes. But there’d been danger and she’d worried, it was over, and she wanted them home. She wanted their lives back to normal. Well, as normal as living in the same town with Myrtle and Glinda could be.

  Peering out through the glass windows Abigail observed the curtain of rain outside, the fog swirling around the streets and buildings. The fog had been exceptionally thick all morning, though the temperature had risen to sixty-three degrees. Safe and dry in the donut shop Abigail continued gossiping with her friend, Kate.

  “I hear Norman popped the question,” Abigail grilled her. “Did you say yes?”

  Kate laughed. “He did pop the question...the night before my surgery.”

  “That was a while ago. What answer did you give him?”

  “At the time I told him to ask me again next month. After the surgery.”

  “Has he?”

  “He did yesterday.”

  Abigail stared at her. “And?”

  “I said I would marry him in June. June twentieth. It’s my late mother’s birthday. A perfect day for our wedding. You and your family are of course invited. I think we’ll have a small wedding at St. Paul’s with a party here afterwards.”

  Abigail exhaled and the joy on her face was genuine. “Congratulations. What are your plans for after the wedding? I sure hope you’re going to stay here in Spookie and keep this shop open. I’ve become addicted to your donuts. Please don’t leave.”

  “Of course. I’d never give up this shop. It’s my life and Norman knows it. Truth is, he’s offered to quit his job at the flour mill and help me run and expand it. I’d have a working partner which would give me more time to bake and more free time for us to enjoy life. Last night Norman and I also discussed living arrangements. In the beginning he’ll move in upstairs with me and then we’ll start looking for a house in town nearby, purchase it and move in. He says his mother, who he lives with and helps, understands and is happy for him, for us. Of course, he’ll continue helping her, we both will, but he’ll be living somewhere else with me.”

  Kate had a blissful contentment about her Abigail had never seen before. “I’m so happy for both of you. Frank and I will have to give a party for you two real soon so we can meet him.”

  “Any time. We’ll be there. Norman loves barbeque by the way and I know how Frank loves to grill steaks.”

  “I’ll remember that and with warm weather coming it might be an option.”

  “So...has Samantha had her baby yet?” Kate was swiping off the counter with a wet washcloth. She couldn’t tolerate crumbs on it.

  “No, not until the end of May. She has about three more weeks to go. But she keeps saying the baby could come early because the women in her family, her mother and grandmother, all had early deliveries.”

  “She get that nursery done yet?”

  “Almost. Crib’s ready. They figured out how to put it together. I think they only have to complete the finishing touches like pictures on the wall and put in a supply of baby necessities, onesies, diapers and such. I know Samantha and Kent are eager for the baby to arrive.”

  Kate hung the washcloth on a hook behind the counter. “Is Samantha really going to run for mayor in November?”

  “Oh, she’s in a hundred and ten percent. I’m getting ready to start producing her campaign brochures, posters and online ads. I never thought I’d work at a newspaper again creating and uploading ads, in this case political ads, but for Samantha I will. She’ll make an excellent mayor.”

  “You think she’s got any chance to win?”

  “I know she will. She’s got the smarts, the ambition and the plans. She wants to keep the small town ambience in Spookie but still make it more convenient, modern, for its people. And she’s got so many excellent ideas on how to do it.”

  “I’d vote for her,” Kate declared. “It’s time we get new blood in the old town’s politics. Out with the old, in with the new, I say. A woman mayor. And it’s about time.

  “Switching subjects, friend. How’s the treasure hunt going?”

  “Uh, what treasure hunt?” Abigail was more than surprised Kate knew about it.

  “Oh, the secret Masterson’s treasure hunt Myrtle traded me information about for a bag of free donuts last week and I told her, and later Glinda when I was having a reading done, that my family had an old friend when I was a child who was Masterson’s personal housekeeper for a short while at the very end of his wretched life and she swore he confessed one day in a fever there was never any treasure left, he’d spent it all, and he only started the rumors about burying the last of it to spite the townspeople; so they’d go crazy after his demise searching for something which didn’t exist. He was an unhappy human being our family friend always said. He had had a miserable life and despised everyone. Lying about a non-existent treasure was his revenge on the townspeople. It worked real well, too, I’d say. It did drive the townspeople bonkers searching for it.”

  Abigail couldn’t help it, she laughed out loud. “And you told this to Myrtle?”

  “I did. But I don’t think she believed me.”

  “Nope.” Abigail sighed. “She did not. Don’t spread any of this around, besides the ones who already know, which are Frank, Glinda, Myrtle and myself, but Myrtle has been searching for that buried treasure for days now out at Glinda’s with a very expensive metal detector. She swears she’s going to find it.”

  Now it was Kate’s turn to laugh. “Well, good luck to her then. She’s going to need it. I believed what my old family friend told us. There is no treasure. Nada. Zippo.”

  As if talking about the old woman suddenly materialized her, Myrtle came barging into the shop, closing her umbrella as she came through the door.

  “Hi Kate. Hi Abigail.” Myrtle found a stool beside Abigail and plopped herself down. “Give me a cup of your coffee, Kate, and one of those crème horns like Abigail here has. Please.”

  “Coming up,” Kate told her.

  And aside to Abigail Myrtle whispered, “Hunting for buried treasure all morning sure makes a person hungry, but I can’t do any more searching today because of the rain. Darn it.”

  “Any luck?” Abigail whispered in response, playing along, trying not to show her amusement since she knew they were whispering for no reason. Kate knew all about the treasure because Myrtle had told her.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24