“You got the wrong guy, didn’t you?” he continued. “Ten years ago. Mike Odell wasn’t the right guy, was he, Agent Thomas?”
I stared into Fischer’s eyes.
“I mean, you can’t tell me you’re not thinking what we all are,” he continued. “That sort of thing doesn’t happen twice to the same people, am I right? Not without us all wondering if they…”
“I’m gonna stop you right there, Mr. Fischer,” I said. “There is absolutely nothing that points toward the parents having anything to do with this. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find a child.”
The voices grew loud and rowdy as they all yelled their questions at me at once. Brad was a tall guy, and he protected me while he helped me get to the door.
“Thanks,” I said as we got into the lobby and walked toward the elevators. “Not that I needed it. I can take care of myself.”
He answered with a smile as the elevator arrived, and we jumped inside. I showed my badge at the door to the hotel room on the third floor, then rushed inside.
“Mary? Peter?”
Mary was lying on the yellow couch. Peter stood by the window and turned as soon as he heard my voice.
“Agent Wilson,” he said. I saw a glint of hope in his worried eyes. “I am so glad you came.”
Fighting my tears was harder than expected. I had been standing like this with them ten years ago, exactly the same way, but this time, it felt more personal. I knew these people. I had walked through their worst nightmare with them. We had been through hell and back together. The worst thing that can ever happen to a parent, losing not one, but two children at once. I had never thought I would stand like this with them again in the same situation.
“It’s Thomas now,” I said, my voice cracking. “I’ve been through a divorce. But you can call me Eva Rae if you like.”
“Eva Rae?”
The voice was Mary’s. She had opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Peter rushed to her, and I followed.
“Careful when you try to sit up,” Peter said as he sat by her side, holding her. Then he looked up at me. “The doctor gave her a sedative so she could relax and get some rest.”
“I told them I don’t want to rest,” she said, looking up at me with her big eyes reminding me of those big-eyed toy animals that my daughters loved so much when they were younger, the Beanie Boos.
“I want to find my son.”
She hugged a pillow as her jaw clenched.
“I just want him back.”
I knelt in front of her and placed my hand in hers.
“That’s why I’ve come.”
She squeezed my hand in hers. We were still in a world of social distancing after the virus, but in a situation like this, there was no way I could refrain from touching her. I couldn’t imagine the terror that had to be going through her mind right now.
“It’s him again; isn’t it?” she asked with a strained voice. “He’s back, and he’s taken another child from us.”
“We don’t know that,” I said.
“But I know. I know it’s him. I just do. I can feel it. But how is this possible, Eva Rae? We got him. You got him and put him away?”
“I did, and he remains behind bars,” I said with a deep sigh. “He’s scheduled to be executed this coming Friday. Personally, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this guy chose this exact week to kidnap your other son. I think there’s a message here somewhere, a message to me, actually—to tell me I got the wrong guy. To taunt me. He’s laughing at all of us. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the same guy. It could also be someone copying him, someone wanting to be as famous as Odell became back then. Like a tribute to him, and a way for us to question whether or not we got the right guy. It wouldn’t be the first time in history someone did something like that. Guys like Odell become heroes to a certain group of people who look up to them and dream of doing something similar.”
Mary gasped lightly. “What are you saying? That he’ll kill Cole too? Just like…Maggie and Blake?”
I bit my lip, thinking I had to be careful how much I told her. Brad had briefed me on the case while driving there, and we had gone over all the possible theories. Brad seemed to like the conclusion that this was someone trying to become famous, whereas I believed this was more about me than what he assumed. This guy was making me doubt myself and the conclusions we made back then. We had gone through so much trouble to get Odell convicted, but the fact was, he claimed his innocence through it all, and it tormented me. This time, it felt personal to me.
“We don’t know that, Mary,” I said, trying to hide that was exactly what I feared right now, that this guy had already killed Cole, drowned him like he did to Blake and Maggie. Or that he would do it soon if we didn’t get to him first.
Chapter 14
“I don’t understand how this could have happened,” Mary said.
I had someone bring her some water, then sat down in a chair next to her and asked her to tell me everything. Brad had told me the broad strokes, but I needed the details from her own mouth. I needed to know precisely how Cole disappeared in order for me to be able to create a picture of this kidnapper. I especially needed to know how much was the same as last time in order to understand this guy. How well did he know what happened ten years ago? If God forbid, it was the same guy, and we had convicted the wrong one, then he’d have to know details that weren’t made accessible to the public back then.
“I was being so careful,” Mary said, writhing in despair while still hugging the turquoise throw pillow. “Ever since…last time…I never leave my kid alone. I wouldn’t dream of it. Just ask Peter; I have been driving him crazy about it.”
“How did it happen?” I asked and looked toward the windows. Last time, Maggie and Blake were taken from their beds. We assumed the kidnapper came in through the sliding doors leading to the balcony while the parents were having dinner downstairs, then carried them down from there. The sliding doors had been left open, and they showed signs of forced entry; the lock was broken open with what we assumed was a crowbar. If he had carried one child at a time, he could have taken them down that way, but we never knew exactly how he got them out of the room. But back then, the Marshalls had been on the second floor; now, they were on the third floor in a room with no sliding doors or even windows that could open. I had to assume he had used another way of getting to the child.
“When did you realize Cole was gone?”
“We were in the pool area. Cole was swimming, and I sat in a lounge chair, reading my book. But I was still keeping a close eye on him; you hear of so many kids drowning in pools like these because no one is watching, and even though Cole was an excellent swimmer, I kept a close eye on him as always. He kept swimming further and further away, toward the lazy river. He asked me if he could go around to the waterfall, and I kept saying no. He had been asking this ever since we got here and told me he would come right back. Finally, I agreed to let him go, and he swam around the area; there are these rocks and palm trees that would only cover him for a few seconds before he’d be in my sight again. He went the trip around once, then twice, and then a third time without anything happening. Then, he asked if he could go a fourth time, and I said we had to get out of the pool soon because it was time to go up to get ready for dinner. He begged and pleaded with me, and I gave in. Silly me, huh? I waited for him to come around the bend, and every time I saw a little face peek out behind the artificial rocks, I was so certain it was him, but it wasn’t. He never came back out. At first, I thought he’d gotten stuck in a game back there or maybe stayed by the waterfall or something, or maybe he was trying to scare me; he liked to do that from time to time because he knew how easy I was freaked out. But as I ran around the pool area toward the lazy river, he was nowhere to be seen. There were tons of other little kids, but not my boy. Frantically, I ran around, calling his name, asking everyone if they had seen him, but people just shrugged. There were so many children. How could they possibly separate one from another? They all wore wings and trunks. Did someone approach him? No one would have noticed. That’s when I alerted the lifeguards, and they helped me search the area and the water to see if he had drowned. Then they called for the security guards who started the search. After about an hour, they called the sheriff’s office, and soon, the place was crawling with police and the next thing, reporters.” Mary shook her head. Her gaze had grown distant as she went through the day’s events once more—telling me what she had probably said so many times before over the evening. I couldn’t help feeling this eerie feeling of déjà vu through all this. It was the same look she had in her eyes ten years ago.