Don't Cry Part 23

He'd have to tell Hart, but not tonight. Tomorrow would be soon enough. He had to find a way to help the boy, to prevent him from going off the deep end. He had spent years trying to keep his nephew clean and sober, but now he wondered if maybe...if getting drunk and staying drunk or getting high was the only way Hart could cope...

What about the other Baby Blue toddlers? How would their parents deal with the truth? Two families would soon learn the fate of their missing children. And once the information became public knowledge, what then?

If they didn't find the Rocking Chair Killer and stop him, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it, before the bodies of the other missing toddlers showed up?

Keith Lawson's parents would have to be told. A quick search had revealed that the couple had divorced years ago; each had remarried and had children with their new mates. He still lived in the Chattanooga area. She lived in Knoxville.

Chase Wilc.o.x's mother had died three years ago. His father now lived with his daughter in Nashville. She had been born after Chase had disappeared. Chase's brother, Blaine, five years older, was a detective with the Nashville PD.

As soon as Willie told Wayne about the DNA results, his former brother-in-law would go straight to Grace Douglas, was probably with her now. Wayne thought Garth didn't know about Grace. And Garth had never said any different. He figured Wayne's relations.h.i.+p with Shane Douglas's mother was a private matter between the two of them. h.e.l.l, he didn't give a rat's a.s.s who Wayne was s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g. It wasn't as if he was being unfaithful to Enid.

Garth breathed in the night air as he left the station and walked across the road to the parking lot. The arthritis in his knees ached something awful tonight. d.a.m.n, getting old was the pits.

As he headed for his car, he thought about Audrey. Tam had told her by now. She knew about the DNA results. Knew the skeletons belonged to the first two Baby Blue toddlers. But Garth didn't have to worry about Audrey. Wayne's daughter was strong. She always had been, even as a little kid.

She'd be okay.

As long as she didn't remember. As long as the old nightmares didn't return.

Why was Enid screaming? Why was Hart crying? What was Uncle Garth doing here?

"Hart? Hart, what's wrong?" Audrey asked her stepbrother.

He didn't answer. His tear-filled eyes stared straight ahead as he continued sobbing softly.

"Where's Daddy? I want my daddy." Audrey ran out of the house and into the backyard.

Something was wrong. Horribly wrong.

Enid cried a lot, but not like that, not screaming her head off. And Hart. Why did he look so funny, his eyes all blank and spooky, as if he was scared to death?

Something had happened to Blake.

Something terrible.

Poor Daddy. He loved Blake so very, very much.

Audrey felt strong hands grip her shoulders. "Daddy?" But the hands that turned her around did not belong to her father.

"Uncle Garth?"

He smoothed the flyaway tendrils of her waist-length hair out of her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his fingertips. "It's all right, Audrey. Don't be afraid."

"What happened to Blake?"

"Blake's gone," Uncle Garth said. "Do you hear me, Audrey, he's gone. Somebody came into the house while you and Hart were playing outside and Enid was asleep, and that person stole him. Your brother has been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?"

"Yeah, sweetie, that's what happened."

"Daddy?"

"I've called your father. He's on his way home now." Uncle Garth squeezed her shoulders. "I need for you to be a big girl and not bother anybody. Your daddy doesn't need you bothering him. I'll look after you and Hart. I'm not going to let anybody ask you and Hart a lot of questions that will upset y'all. I'll protect you, both of you. Just do what I tell you to do. Do you understand?"

She nodded. "Yes, Uncle Garth."

"And if you need to talk to somebody about what happened today, you talk to me, okay?" He searched her eyes as if trying to decide whether or not she understood. "Losing Blake...it's going to kill your daddy and Enid." The last sentence he'd said almost as an afterthought.

Enid's anguished screams and mournful weeping replayed itself over and over again in Audrey's mind as she huddled near the fence in the backyard. The sirens wailed as police cars surrounded the house and an ambulance pulled into the driveway right behind Uncle Garth's car. Curious neighbors lined the street and peered over the fence. Audrey squatted on her knees and curled up as small and tight as humanly possible, hoping no one could see her.

Blake was gone.

Uncle Garth said someone had stolen her baby brother.

Audrey woke with a start and realized she'd been dreaming.

She didn't turn on a light, didn't get out of bed, didn't even glance at the bedside clock. For years after Blake's disappearance, she had been plagued with terrifying nightmares that often made no sense whatsoever. Occasionally, she simply relived that day or part of it, remembering bits and pieces. But the feelings were always the same. A strange mixture of sadness and fear. Even now, she still wasn't sure why memories of that day evoked a sense of fear deep inside her. The only reasonable explanation was that being a child herself, she had been afraid that she, too, might be abducted, that Blake's fate might become her fate.

If only her father had allowed her and Hart to stay in therapy longer than a few weeks. If they could have received, at the very least, some type of ongoing grief counseling, perhaps their lives would be different now. Of course, hindsight was twenty/twenty.

But Daddy and Uncle Garth had done what they thought was best at the time. Big, strong He-Men types sucked it up and went on. They didn't want or need some "headshrinker" asking them about their feelings. Neither of them made allowances for the fact that she and Hart were children who had been traumatized by the abduction of their baby brother. An abduction that took place while they were supposed to be taking care of their brother.

J.D. Ca.s.s was the same kind of man, cut from the same cloth as her father and uncle. He alternated between bulldozing over his daughter and neglecting her. He didn't know the first thing about being a good parent.

She believed Zoe had been right when she'd said, "My father doesn't love me and he sure doesn't want me."

Didn't J.D. have any idea how lucky he was to have a beautiful, smart, amazing daughter like Zoe? How many parents who had lost a child would gladly swap places with J.D.? Charlie and Mary Nell Scott would. Debra Gregory's mother would.

And what about Keith Lawson's parents? And Chase Wilc.o.x's?

"And Daddy," she said aloud. Her father would give up anything and everything if he could have Blake back. He'd swap her for his son in a heartbeat.

d.a.m.n, Audrey, let it go. What is, is.

She had to stop comparing J.D. to her father. It wasn't fair to J.D. to make him pay for her father's sins.

J.D. had apologized to Zoe. And he had apologized to her.

Her father had never apologized to her for anything he'd ever said or done. Not even when he had accused her of wis.h.i.+ng Blake dead, all the while knowing it wasn't true.

And J.D. had agreed to family counseling, hadn't he? That alone should prove he was different.

Audrey groaned. Monday she would have to refer J.D. and Zoe to one of her colleagues for family counseling now that she was personally involved with Zoe. And heaven help her, she was involved with J.D., too.

Chapter 18

J.D. had immersed himself in work, leaving the situation with Zoe as it was. He had apologized to her and she had accepted his apology, but nothing had really changed between them. Things weren't any better, but thank G.o.d, they didn't seem to be any worse. His job was something he understood and could for the most part control, unlike his daughter. It seemed that the harder he tried to be a good father, the more he screwed up. Why was it that Audrey Sherrod, unmarried and childless, seemed to instantly connect with Zoe, where he, her own father, had no idea how to deal with a teenage girl? Maybe that was it-Zoe was a girl and Audrey was a girl. Girls understood one another. Or it could be as simple as Audrey's knowledge and experience as a mental health therapist giving her an edge. Or could the fact that Audrey had lost her own mother when she was just a kid be the reason she had been able to form an instant bond with Zoe?

Audrey had phoned him on Monday to tell him that she had set up a five o'clock Friday afternoon appointment with Dr. Sally Woodruff.

"I've known Sally for years and I respect her as a person and as a therapist," Audrey had said. "She and her husband Jim are friends as well as colleagues. I've always thought of Sally as my professional mentor."

J.D. had felt relieved that he wouldn't have to sit through counseling sessions week after week and have Audrey judge him as a father and as a human being and find him lacking on both counts. "I'm okay with the switch in counselors, but how do you think Zoe will take this news?"

"Actually, I spoke to Zoe first, and after I explained my reasons for handing y'all over to another counselor, she understood. She says that she's fine with having Sally as her counselor."

"She is? I'm amazed."

"Why? Because your daughter reacted in a rational manner and didn't throw a hissy fit?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Perhaps if you would explain things to her first, before issuing orders, you might get a more positive reaction."

He had come close to losing his temper and telling Dr. Sherrod exactly what she could do with her advice. Instead, he had grunted and said, "Anything else you want to say to me?"

"Only one other thing-Zoe and I would like your permission for me to become an unofficial big sister to her. I've worked with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization in the past and I've been a big sister to several young girls. But this time I wouldn't be going through the regular channels, just doing this on my own. Zoe needs a strong female role model in her life. I think it would help her tremendously. And it's something both Zoe and I-"

"You have my permission."

He had replied instantly. After all, how could he possibly object? Zoe did need a strong female role model, someone she could admire and emulate, someone who really cared about her, someone who understood her. And Dr. Audrey Sherrod was the ideal person, seemingly the only person who fulfilled all the requirements. Besides that, apparently she was eager to take on the problems of an unhappy, often angry and rebellious teenager.

During the past four days since Audrey's phone call, she had eaten lunch with Zoe at school on Tuesday and again today. Zoe was supposed to spend the evening with Audrey tonight so that she could help Zoe with a cla.s.s project. J.D. had no idea what the project was because his daughter had not bothered to share that information with him. But then, he could have asked her about it, which he hadn't done.

As he zipped in and out of heavy traffic, trying not to be late for his morning meeting with Tamara Lovelady, J.D. turned his thoughts from his personal life to his professional life. But before he'd had a chance to focus on the crossover cases-Baby Blue kidnappings and Rocking Chair Murders-his phone rang.

He answered on the second ring. "Special Agent Ca.s.s."

"Well, h.e.l.lo, Special Agent Ca.s.s." Holly Johnston's sultry voice held a tinge of amus.e.m.e.nt. "I haven't heard from you in a while."

"I've been busy. You know what's been going on."

"I know what the DA knows. The Rocking Chair Murders have become even more bizarre now that we know those skeletons belong to a couple of the little boys kidnapped all those years ago. It's just plain weird."

"That it is."

"I didn't call to talk business," she admitted. "I thought you might be free tonight. I could sure use some of your special brand of TLC." Her s.e.xy sigh told him just how much she wanted him.

"Tonight's not good for me." Why the h.e.l.l not? Why the h.e.l.l not? Zoe would be at Audrey's house until ten. That would give him plenty of time for some R&R with the gorgeous ADA. Zoe would be at Audrey's house until ten. That would give him plenty of time for some R&R with the gorgeous ADA.

"Tomorrow night, then?"

"Maybe. Let me get back to you first thing in the morning."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you've found yourself another playmate," Holly said. "If you have, just say so and don't waste my time."

"At present, you're my one and only playmate," he a.s.sured her.

Holly laughed. "Then call me in the morning, but if you think I'll wait around for you, think again. If you're too busy tomorrow night..."

Did she think it would bother him if she had s.e.x with another guy? He didn't give a d.a.m.n if she screwed a dozen other guys. "I understand. You're a popular girl, and if I prefer not to come running when you snap your fingers, you'll find someone else who will."

"Is that what you think I'm doing, snapping my fingers?"

"Maybe."

"Sorry. I guess I forgot who I was talking to, didn't I? If you're free tomorrow night, call me in the morning, and if I don't hear from you by noon, I'll consider our mutually satisfying relations.h.i.+p over. How's that?"

Did she just issue him an ultimatum? "Sounds about right to me."

"G.o.d, I'm glad I didn't fall in love with you," Holly told him, an angry edge to her voice. "But I hope I'm around when you finally fall, and you will. One of these days, you'll fall hard, and some woman will have you eating out of the palm of her hand."

The idea of him being p.u.s.s.y-whipped by some unknown woman out there somewhere amused J.D. He hadn't meant to laugh, knowing it would only p.i.s.s Holly off more than she already was, but he did.

"Don't hold your breath," he told her. "Not even my ex had that kind of power over me."

"Maybe that's why your marriage imploded."

"Maybe. Or maybe it was because she found somebody else." Some guy who had been able to give her what he couldn't. Erin had wanted a man who would wors.h.i.+p at her feet, a guy who'd sit around adoring her from daylight to dark. He wasn't that type of guy. Never had been. Never would be.

Holly reversed gears and, breathing heavily, proceeded to remind him of all of the little bedroom tricks that she knew he enjoyed.

Her vivid descriptions aroused him. A man would have to be dead not to respond to such erotic promises. But oddly enough, he wasn't thinking about Holly, about her big t.i.ts, her rounded b.u.t.t, or her talented mouth. No, d.a.m.n it to h.e.l.l, the woman who came to mind was the tall, slender, aloof Dr. Sherrod.

J.D. grimaced. How stupid was he? He wasn't interested in Audrey Sherrod, not in that way. h.e.l.l, he didn't even like the woman, and she certainly didn't like him. That was one road he would never travel. No way.

"My father thinks that Garth and I should consider handing over the Rocking Chair Killer cases to another team," Tam explained to J.D. shortly after he entered the office she shared with Garth. "He believes that all of us, him included, are too personally connected to the Baby Blue kidnappings to remain objective."