Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

she get there? Who’s with her now?’
    ‘Paige is with her until the EMTs we called arrive. Kimberly’s not giving her any trouble at all. She got here in the black van. It’s here, in Daphne’s parking place. In the back under some blankets we found Cole Lynch, tied and gagged. He says Doug had been holding Kimberly hostage in their house. Apparently it’s got a damn bomb shelter. He discovered Kimberly, but she hit him with a shovel and stole the van. He calls Doug “Mitch”.’
    ‘Doug’s given name is Mitchell Douglas Roberts,’ Joseph told him.
    ‘Cole says the property belonged to their great-aunt Betty Douglas, so that makes sense.’
    ‘How’d she get in Daphne’s condo?’
    ‘She had Ford’s key. Kimberly told Paige she was sleeping so that she could go back and look for her sister.’
    ‘Did she eat her porridge and break her chair, too?’ Joseph asked bitterly.
    ‘No, but she had Daphne’s safe open and emptied. Alec found one of Doug’s cameras in the A/C vent and Paige found cash and jewelry in Kimberly’s purse.’
    ‘I wonder if that’s how Doug got his hands on Ford’s Rolex.’
    ‘Wouldn’t be surprised. We called the EMTs to pick her up. She’s got a high fever and the stab wound on her leg is really infected. I called JD to let him know she was here, thinking he’d want to do the arrest, but he was on his way somewhere else, so he’s sending one of the other homicide guys.’
    ‘Somewhere else, like where? Like the hospital for his wife’s delivery?’
    ‘He wishes. No, he’s on his way to Doug’s house as we speak.’
    ‘How?’ Joseph exploded. ‘Why didn’t he tell me he found it?’
    ‘Because you’d already found Doug. He didn’t want to distract you from the Daphne situation. As for how, you remember the list of stolen property Doug got from the cops? One of the guns was used in a robbery last night. Punk carrying it said he got it from a kid at his school – Cole Lynch. Cole found Doug’s stash. The sheriff got Cole’s address from the school and JD’s meeting them there now. But this is important – Cole says he thinks he knows where Pamela is being hidden inside Doug’s house. He says there’s a hidden room in the basement which was padlocked in the last few days. He’s going to show us, so as soon as the EMTs come for Kimberly, we’ll head out there too.’
    ‘That’s good news. But that you found Cole . . . that I might be able to leverage.’
    ‘Kim did,’ Clay said. ‘Once she had Cole tied up, she sent a text to Doug with a photo attachment – just like Doug had sent to her about Pamela. She had Cole’s phone in her purse. Doug hasn’t seen the message yet or he hasn’t responded for whatever reason.’
    ‘Okay.’ Joseph’s head was spinning with the possible ways he could use that information. ‘Do me a favor and have the kid ready to talk to his brother. It might make a difference. And, Clay, good job. Thank you.’

Chapter Twenty-Seven
    Thursday, December 5, 3.15 P.M.
    ‘ S o, Doug,’ Daphne said, unable to take another second of the silence. ‘We really need to talk about your mother.’
    ‘ Shut up . You don’t get to talk about my mother .’ He twisted his fingers in her hair and threw her to the floor.
    She groaned when her head hit the concrete, pain bouncing around inside her skull. ‘Your mother misconstrued a few things.’
    ‘Shut. Up.’
    ‘I never had an affair with Hal.’
    ‘You laughed at her,’ Doug said fiercely. ‘Rubbed her face in your affair with her husband. You drove her to kill herself.’
    ‘If I had, you’d have a right to hate me.’
    Doug’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re screwing with my brain.’
    ‘No, I’m trying to tell you the truth.’
    ‘Why would I believe your “truth”? You’d say anything to escape me.’
    ‘That’s true.’ She sat up, pressing her fingers to her temples. ‘But I think either you misunderstood your mother, or your mother misunderstood the situation. I suspect it’s a bit of both.’
    He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a bound leather book. ‘This is the only truth I need,’ he said. He handed her the book, opened to the second to last entry. ‘Read that page and if you so much as make a smudge, I’ll gut you.’
    She read the pages he’d told her to read, her heart heavy for Jane Lynch, but more for the boy who’d read these words and believed them true.
    She closed the diary with a sigh. ‘I need you