Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

the nice guy up?’
    ‘Yeah. Because your brother had Pam. I brought Ford to that alley where Doug was just supposed to talk. Instead Doug goes all Rambo with a taser in each hand and kills Ford’s bodyguard. Why does he call himself Doug if his name is Mitch?’
    ‘Our aunt’s last name was Douglas. This was her house.’ Oh God . Cole felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. ‘Mitch killed a bodyguard? In an alley? A big black guy?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Oh my God. That was on the news. That guy was a cop.’
    ‘That’s what Doug said. Look, Cole, you seem like a decent kid. I need to get out of here. He’s got my sister. She could be dead.’
    Cole thought of the new padlock on the door in the basement. It hadn’t been there three days ago. ‘When did he take her?’
    ‘Monday night. You know where she is, don’t you? Don’t you? ’
    ‘Maybe.’ He looked up to the door that led to the garage. Matthew would tell him when it was safe to leave. He didn’t want her sister to die, but he didn’t want to go to jail for taking a gun to school, either. ‘We’ll wait a little longer.’
    ‘Why?’ She struggled to sit up. ‘ Why? ’
    ‘Because I said so. Shut up,’ he snapped when she started to yell. ‘If you want, I can tape your mouth. But we don’t leave until the coast is clear.’
    ‘I’m going to kill you,’ she muttered. ‘If my sister dies, you’re dead.’
    ‘Good to know,’ he said grimly.
    Wheeling, West Virginia, Wednesday, December 4, 9.45 P.M.
    There was a collective gasp and looks of shock from everyone but the local detective, McManus, who looked grim. He’d known the story, Daphne realized, but had let her tell it her own way. Whether out of pity or suspicion, she wasn’t sure.
    ‘Beckett was in your house ?’ Novak demanded.
    ‘In my house. I couldn’t believe that he was there. In my house . I didn’t understand at all how he could be. I remember cowering behind the sheriff’s legs and him lifting me up, to give me to my father. Then Beckett drew his finger across his throat. I started to scream and my parents didn’t know what to do. Vivien was screaming too. “Where is my daughter?” Then Beckett went to her, put his arms around her, soothed her, called her “sweetheart” and “dear”. And that’s when I figured it out.’
    ‘He was Vivien’s new husband,’ Ford said softly. ‘Oh my God, Mom.’
    ‘Yeah. Then my mother told me that he was my Uncle Wilson. Beckett just smiled at me. My parents brought me here to this hospital to do an exam. That just made everything worse. They were relieved to find out I hadn’t been assaulted but I couldn’t say a word. I didn’t speak a word for almost eight months, I was so traumatized.’
    ‘Did you ever tell them?’ Agent Kerr asked.
    ‘No. My folks brought me home from the hospital and Aunt Vivien was there, waiting for me. She screamed at me again, but I couldn’t speak. My dad told me that I had to talk. We had to get Kelly back. Aunt Vivien shook me so hard my teeth rattled. The whole time Beckett stood where no one could see him and then he drew a line across his throat. My father dragged Vivien away and he and my mother had a huge fight with her. And while they were screaming, Beckett made it look like he was helping me, but he whispered in my ear, “Did you miss me?”’
    ‘Bastard,’ Ford whispered.
    ‘The next morning there was a commotion downstairs. I crept down, peeking through the rail. My cat had been hit by a car and my parents and Vivien were arguing over whether to tell me. Beckett saw me watching, drew the line across his throat. Then he winked and I knew he’d done it. Three days later they found Kelly’s body about twenty miles from the rest stop in Dayton where I’d been found. Her throat had been slit.’
    ‘And the investigation moved north,’ McManus said. ‘They assumed you’d both been held in the Ohio area. Nobody looked around here anymore.’
    ‘What happened then, Daphne?’ Hector asked.
    Joseph had been quiet for a while, she realized. His fists were clenched, the muscle in his taut cheek twitching. He was angry, for her. That helped. A lot.
    ‘We had Kelly’s funeral. Beckett delivered the sermon. I . . . threw up.’
    ‘Your parents made you go to the funeral?’ Novak asked disbelievingly.
    ‘My dad thought it might shake me out of my “hysteria”, but it just made it worse. Then my mother compounded it by a million when she invited Vivien to stay