The Girl Who Disappeared Twice

About eight or ten patients were being settled in each of the garden clusters. He scanned the monitors quickly. Not yet.

He continued reassembling. Come on, come on, he thought, glancing repeatedly at the screens. How many patients could there be going to the gardens? He couldn’t stand here forever, flirting with nurses, drinking water, and looking like a moron who couldn’t put a monitor back together. The minutes-and his opportunity-were slipping away.

There. Ryan’s gaze snapped to the screen. Linda Turner was just arriving, via wheelchair, at the eastern garden. She was talking animatedly with the nurse wheeling her out.

There was a red string tied around Linda’s finger.

“Well, that patient certainly looks happy,” Ryan noted aloud. “If all your patients start their days in that kind of mood, I just might check myself in.”

The nurse’s aide peered over his shoulder. “Oh, that’s Lorna Werner. She loves that spot, and insists on sitting there every day. She’s normally subdued. Today, she’s excited because she’s having a visitor this afternoon.” The aide pointed at the screen. “See the red string? That’s to remind her when her daughter is coming. She tells the entire place when that’s happening.”

Daughter? Ryan’s mind was racing. So that’s what they were calling kidnapping accomplices these days. He had to admit it was a clever twist on the accomplice’s part. Preying on Linda’s need for a child would make her all the more open to manipulation.

He paused long enough to see exactly where the nurse was positioning Linda before she headed off to tend to the other patients. Then, he quickly finished his reassembly.

With one modification. He was careful to leave his tone generator inside the panel. It was the perfect excuse for him to make an immediate return visit.

He said goodbye to all the nurses, promised to be the technician who came back with the necessary part in a couple of days and headed out. He went straight to his van, climbed inside and shut the door. He whipped out his BlackBerry and called Casey.

“Hey, we’re at the edge of our seats,” she greeted him. “What’s going on?”

“You can now access Sunny Gardens’ closed-circuit video right there in our office,” he replied. “So feel free to take a look.” He proceeded to give Casey the necessary instructions. “Linda Turner is in the garden on the east side of the grounds,” he continued. “I want to plant Gecko right near there. Evidently, Linda is having a visitor later today. She’s wearing a red string around her finger to remind her.”

“Like the red string we found at her house.”

“Exactly. And guess who her visitor is? Her daughter.”

“Daughter?” Casey echoed, momentarily stunned. “Are you telling me that Linda’s accomplice is masquerading as her daughter?”

“Makes sense, doesn’t it? If this woman successfully posed as Linda’s grown daughter, she could get away with anything-admitting Linda to Sunny Gardens, managing her entire stay there-you name it.”

“Not just managing her stay. Managing Linda, too.” Casey was over her surprise and on to her analysis. “Manipulating her, getting and feeding her information, and using it all to her advantage. Remember, having a daughter is Linda’s greatest desire. She could view this person as Anna grown up, and Krissy as Anna when she was a little girl. There are so many potential psychological factors here, we could go on all day. But they’ll wait. What’s your plan?”

“Like I said, I want to plant Gecko in the garden where Linda sits. When her visitor arrives, Gecko can pick up their conversation, both audio and video. It’s well within his range to broadcast from there to my van. I’ll listen in and monitor the entire interaction. We’ll learn who this accomplice is. At that point, we’ll find a way to tip off Peg and the task force, so they can grab her. And we’ll find out where she’s keeping Krissy.”

“You sure as hell won’t do this alone,” Casey stated emphatically. “Marc and I are driving up there. And we’re bringing Hero with us. Since this daughter isn’t showing up until afternoon, we have more than enough time to get there and join you for the show.”

“I expected as much.” Ryan was already gathering up what he needed. “Okay, I’m going to set Gecko up now. I’ll put him in sleep mode to save power. I left one of my tools behind to justify a return trip across the grounds. I’ll make a quick stop in the garden. After I’m done, I’m pulling the van out of the main parking lot and holing up in the wooded alcove diagonally across the street from the facility. Meet me there, and you can hop on in, and take in the performance with me.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

Krissy. You need me here.

I’m so sorry I have to leave you alone.

It’s just for a little while. Today’s just an exception. It’s an emergency.

I’m worried. I’ve seen things on the news. Maybe they’re true. Maybe they’re not. I have to find out. But if they are, then photographs are being shown around. To doctors. Drugstores. They haven’t reached here.

But have they reached Sunny Gardens? Have they put the pieces together? I have to know. If they’re figuring things out, we’ll have to go.

We’ll find somewhere safe.

No one will find us. I won’t let them.

You belong with me.

Nothing and no one will take you away.

The construction crew was in full swing when Ryan climbed out of the van. He was still wearing his company work shirt, and he was carrying a toolbox. Gecko was tucked safely at the bottom of that box.

With all that was going on-cranes lifting building supplies, backhoes traveling back and forth across the construction site, and dozens of workmen, hammering, drilling and calling out to each other-Ryan was pretty sure he wouldn’t be noticed even without a disguise. But he wasn’t taking any chances. Looking like a harried serviceman, he stalked over to the requisite garden and squatted down, opening his toolbox and removing various tools.

Linda Turner was sitting ten feet away from him. It took all his control not to look her in the eye and demand to know where Krissy was. But that would destroy their entire plan and kill any chance of pulling things off without being found out and arrested. Not to mention that he had no idea if Linda was coherent enough to even know where Krissy was.

So he kept up the charade.

“Ma’am,” he greeted her when she turned her head his way.

“Hello.” She gazed at him with a vague expression in her eyes, and without the slightest hint of wondering who he was or what he was doing there.

“I won’t disturb you,” he provided, nonetheless. “I’ve got a few wires to check out here. Then I’ll be out of your way.”

“My daughter will be here later,” she replied, as if she either knew Ryan or thought she should. “It’s so noisy here, it’s hard for us to talk. That’s why she comes in the afternoon, when all those builders are going away. I hope you’ll be finished by then.”

“No problem. I’ll be long gone.”

Ryan squatted down, making sure his back was facing the main building and his side was blocking Linda’s view. Then, he began rummaging through his toolbox, flinging tools to the ground in increased agitation. To any onlooker, it would seem as if he were trying to fix something but to no avail.

Amid his flurry of activity, he pulled out the top tray of his toolbox with one hand and grabbed Gecko with the other. Quickly, he turned the little critter on, and placed him just inside the raised, circular bed of shrubs surrounding the garden.

With a few muttered curses, he tossed his tools back into the box, snapped the clasp, rose and turned to