Trapped (A Jenny Watkins Mystery Book 5) Read online

  “Yes, I was able to get a reading,” he told her, “and I think you’ll find the news to be good. The child is definitely happy. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on over there, but that young man is pleased by whatever it is.”

  Jenny didn’t need a DNA analysis; this provided her with all the confirmation she needed. “We found his remains, and now he can be buried with the rest of his family.”

  “That’s fantastic,” Rod said genuinely. “No child deserves to be all alone.”

  “Agreed. Now I’d just like to find out about the young woman we rescued. I certainly hope she finds her way home to her family and her life takes a turn for the better.”

  “I imagine it would,” Rod replied. “Something like this should be quite an eye-opener.”

  For a moment, Jenny considered the thirteen women who didn’t have the chance to learn from their experience—as well as the six others that Tate claimed to have victimized. With a shudder she hoped he was just bluffing and the death toll would remain at thirteen.

  She eventually concluded her phone call with her father and informed the others of Samuel’s newfound happiness. As expected, they all rejoiced in the news.

  Zack excused himself so he could bring the dog to the vet; Jenny and Amma decided they needed to start packing up for the trip home. Jenny made sure she packed up everything that wasn’t on the floor; the clothes that littered the ground would need to be cleaned by the creator of that mess. She resolved to have a conversation with him about that once he returned from the Baxter’s appointment.

  Jenny tapped the pin of the hinge into place while Zack held the door steady. Once she was finished with the third hinge Zack let go; the door behaved like it should. He stood back and admired it for a moment. “Good,” he eventually concluded. “Now Baxter can go outside whenever he needs.”

  She also smiled at the new door to the fenced-in yard, complete with a flap large enough for the dog to fit through. “That’ll definitely help if we need to leave quickly.”

  Her phone rang as soon as the words came out of her mouth. “Ooh,” she said, “it’s Howell. I wonder what he has to say.” She answered eagerly.

  “We were able to talk to Tate today,” Howell said after the typical pleasantries.

  “So I guess that means he’s doing okay,” Jenny replied with a touch of relief.

  “Yeah, he’ll be fine. He’s still in the hospital, but he’s going straight to a jail cell when he gets out.”

  That notion made Jenny smile.

  “He still insists he has six other victims, and unfortunately he may be speaking the truth. With the way he obtained his victims, who knows how many he’s taken?”

  The smile faded from her lips.

  “He’s trying to strike a deal. While he can’t tell us the names of his other victims, he’s saying he’ll disclose the whereabouts of their remains if he doesn’t get the death penalty.”

  Jenny was disgusted. “For a man who was so quick to impose death on other people, he’s awfully afraid to face it himself.”

  “I’m pretty sure he knows he’s going to hell,” Howell grumbled. “I’m sure he wants to postpone that as long as possible.”

  For a brief moment Jenny wondered if all spirits went to the same place after this life. Would she end up seeing Tate again once they’d both passed? Would his victims see him again? How cruel that would have been for those girls.

  Howell continued, distancing Jenny from her thoughts. “We’re most likely going to take the deal. I’m sure the missing girls’ families want answers, and this is probably the only way we will get them.”

  She closed her eyes and silently prayed for strength for the families who were about to receive the worst news imaginable.

  “Anyway,” Howell went on, “I just wanted to let you know that so you can understand the magnitude of your accomplishment. If it wasn’t for you, who knows how many women he would have killed?”

  A compliment. Jenny felt the need to change the subject. “What about Erin? How is she doing?”

  “She’s going to be released from the hospital tomorrow. Her parents are there, and she has agreed to go home with them. Not only that, but her friend—the prostitute who had reported her missing—agreed to go with them, too. It seems this was a rude awakening for both girls.”

  “That’s good,” Jenny said with a genuine smile.

  “But there is another matter I should make you aware of. I doubt it will become an issue, but Tate is asking to press charges against the three of you for breaking and entering and you, specifically, for aggravated assault.”

  Jenny placed her hand on her pregnant belly as panic started to set in. “Do you think I can go to jail for that?”

  “Under the circumstances I don’t think the charges will stick,” Howell explained. “Based on what you said on the 9-1-1 tape, you went into the house because you heard screams.”

  “Well, I didn’t hear screams, per se. I felt the nervous energy.”

  Howell spoke firmly and loudly. “I said, you went into the house because you heard screams.”

  Suddenly his message clicked into place. “Oh, yes, I did hear the screams. We never would have gone into the house if we hadn’t heard them.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Howell said. “And under those circumstances, it wouldn’t be considered breaking and entering.”

  Jenny felt relieved as she ended the conversation with Howell and informed Zack of the latest developments. He agreed that the likelihood of Jenny facing jail time was slim.

  Returning to the matter at hand, Zack remarked, “Okay, all we need to do is find a dog door for the basement and Baxter will be all set.”

  “Are all basement doors the same size?” Jenny asked.

  “Most doors are a standard size,” Zack noted, looking at Jenny with curiosity. “Why? Do you know of someone who is looking to get rid of an interior door with a dog flap?”

  “No,” she said as she approached him, sliding her arm around his waist and kissing him on the cheek. “I was just thinking my mother’s basement door—you know, the one with all the kids’ heights on it—could be installed there instead.”

  Zack furrowed his brow. “I think I might know what you’re saying, but then again I may not.”

  With a giggle Jenny replied, “What I’m saying is that my mother will probably want to take the sentimental door with her when she moves here.” She hugged him tighter. “And I’m saying that, yes, I will marry you.”

  To be continued in Vindicated.