Journey to Redemption Excerpt

8/4/2019 Journey to Redemption Excerpt

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Chase stopped the car. Morgan leaped from the passenger side and ran up the small slope to

her front door.

“Jared,” she called out as she entered the foyer. After dropping her purse on the bottom step,

she ran up the stairs to his room.

He wasn’t there.

She crossed the room to the unmade bed and searched for any sign that he’d been there sincethat morning, but his backpack was nowhere in sight. Glancing out the window, she spotted

Cosmo lounging next to his doghouse.

Please, God…please let him be at one of his friends’ . Please let him be safe!

Morgan fought off the threatening tears as she searched her bedroom, the guest bedroom, and

the bathrooms before heading back downstairs.

“Afternoon, Sergeant.” Morgan froze at the familiar voice coming from her answeringmachine. She stepped into the living room and stared at the black box next to the phone. “Not to

worry, you’re little boy is safe and sound. He’ll stay that way as long as you don’t contact your buddies down at the police station. I’ll be in touch soon.” She looked at Chase.

“Sorry. I thought maybe he’d left you a message,” he said.

“Oh no.” Her worst fear confirmed, Morgan sank onto the couch and wrapped her armsaround her midsection. She struggled to fight off the nausea that threatened to consume her.

“Get me the captain.” Morgan looked up and saw Chase on the phone. She rushed to his side, grabbed the receiver

from his hand, and slammed it down on its cradle then glared at him. “What are doing?”

“Following procedure. The faster we act, the better the chances…”

“You heard what he said, no cops.”

“Come on, Morgan, be realistic. We have to follow protocol.”

“Forget protocol. We’re talking about my son here. I’m not going to do anything that will

endanger his life.”

“I know he’s your son, and I know what’s at stake. You’re a cop, Morgan. You know the first

twelve hours are the most crucial. We have to call the captain and ge t the FBI in here.”

She shook her head. “No. No cops, and no FBI.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “I’ve

already lost my husband. I can’t lose Jared too. Please, Chase…please just trust me on this.”

“Okay, just calm down. How do you want to handle it?”

“He said he’d contact me soon, so we wait.”

“Then what? You don’t honestly think we can handle this on our own?”

“We can with Russo’s help. I called him from the restaurant, he’s checking with Jared’sfriends and the school to see if anyone saw anything,” she said, thankful that she was finally able

to get through to her partner, and wishing he was there now.

If only she’d been at the school when it let out.

That had been her intention, but with everything going on, she’d forgotten that school let outearly today.

She went back to the couch and sat down, drawing a throw pillow to her stomach. Why didn’t

I listen to the captain? I should have taken Jared out of school and got away from here the

moment I heard he’d escaped.

She was barely aware of Chase as he sat down beside her on the couch. “Can I get you

anything?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Can I call someone for you, a friend maybe, to come and sit with you?”



She looked at him. “Why, are you going somewhere?”

“No, of course not. I just thought…I mean…are you sure I can’t call someone?”

“No one else must know.”

“How about I make us some coffee then?” he offered.She rose from the couch and began to pace around the room. “I can’t believe this is

happening, that I could be so careless.”“This isn’t your fault Morgan.”

She turned sharply at his words. “I thought you were going to make coffee?”

He rose silently and went into the kitchen.

Regretting her outburst, she followed. “I’m sorry, Chase.”“Don’t worry about it.”

Cosmo began to bark. He must have heard them in the house and knew something was wrong

because Jared hadn’t come out to play with him yet. “I’m going to go feed the dog,” she said,hoping to pacify him with a full tummy.

“How do you take your coffee?”

“Black.”

She grabbed the bag of dog food from the laundry room and stepped outside. She filled thebowl next to his water dish and glanced down at him. Cosmo stared past her to the house. “Come

on you stupid mutt.” She pushed the bowl closer.He continued to ignore her, though. His eyes still fixed on the house, he began to whine.

“Don’t do this to me, okay? He’s not here. I don’t know where he is,” she said as tears filledher eyes again.

Visions of the two bodies found on the beach drifted into her mind. The man who brutallymurdered them now had her son. Though tall for his age, Jared had little meat on his bones. He

wouldn’t have a chance at fighting off a man as large as Tate. A sob escaped her lips at the

thought and she clamped down hard on her bottom lip, her teeth slicing through the skin. Thesalty taste of her own blood, added to the visions dancing around in her head, brought on another

round of nausea. She swallowed hard and shook the disturbing thoughts from her mind.

Morgan looked down at the dog. He still hadn’t budged. Wiping the tears from her cheeks,

she noticed the red ball Jared had been playing with that morning. It seemed like a lifetime ago.She picked it up as memories of that morning came flooding back to her. He’d been so happy,throwing the ball for Cosmo to fetch.

“Come on, Cosmo, if you don’t want to eat for me, do it for Jared.”

At the mention of her son’s name, the dog looked up at her, his head tilted slightly. His

action prompted her to move the bowl closer, but again, he turned and glanced toward the house.

“Fine, don’t eat,” she said, and walked off. She’d only managed a few steps before the dogstarted barking.

He continued to bark until she walked back to him. He then started whining again.

Tears of sadness turned to tears of frustration. She sat down on the ground next to him,

crisscrossing her legs. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. She placed her hand along the

dog’s back and ran it along his golden, silky coat of hair. Several minutes passed before he lay

down beside her, resting his chin on her lap. “See, I’m not such a bad person. I’m no mother of the year by a long shot, but I’m doing the best I can. Okay, so maybe it is my fault this happened,

but I promise you, I’m going to bring him home.” She peered down at his sad eyes. “He’s goingto be okay, Cosmo. He has to be.”



***

Chase watched out the glass door as Morgan sat with the dog. She’d been out there forever , it

seemed, her behavior quite disturbing. Twice, he’d been tempted to phone the captain, knowingthey had little chance of getting her son back alive without reinforcement, but the haunting look

in her eyes and the desperation in her voice earlier continued to plague him. It was as if she knewsomething he didn’t.He’d never felt so helpless, wanting to do something, anything, to ease her fear, but not

knowing what to do or say. Lord, guide me in wisdom to do what I can to help bring her little

boy home safely. Watch over him and protect him from those who wish to do him harm.

He looked up at the clock above the sink and saw it was almost 5:00. The steak they had

earlier was starting to wear off and Russo would be here soon. He stuck his head out the doorand hollered at her. “Mind if I take the cruiser and go grab us something to eat?”

“No, go ahead.”“Will you be all right?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“What can I get for you?” “Nothing. I’m not hungry.”

“Morgan, you have to eat.”

“I will, later.”

***

Chase stared past the half eaten cheeseburger to the cell phone lying on the seat next to him,

still debating whether or not to phone the captain. Ten years of experience warned him to make

the call, that a young boys life was hanging in the balance. But his intuition warned him that

things weren’t as they appeared, and that such a call could place the boy’s life in more danger.He thought back over the course of the day as he and Morgan had tracked down leads on the

murders. He’d suspected early on she was being vague with him, that she knew more of what

was going on than she let on. It made him wonder if the murders and her son’s disappearancewere somehow connected. The woman had been frantic from the moment she learned he hadn’tcome home from school. It was almost as if she had known something had happened to him

before she knew he’d been kidnapped. Chase recalled her tearful plea to trust her. Not only had he sensed desperation, but fear as

well. Though she’d given no indication that she recognized the voice, he couldn’t help but

wonder if she had some idea as to who took her son. She was an experienced law enforcementofficer. Surely she’d handled abductions before and knew how vital it was to get the informationout to the public or to bring in the FBI. The only reason he could come up with as to why she’drisk the safe return of her son was that she knew the kidnapper and what he was capable of if she

didn’t follow his instructions. That seemingly being the case, he decided a little background check on the sergeant was in

order. He tossed the half eaten burger back into the sack then pulled out of the parking lot and

headed toward the police station.

***



Chase entered his office, pulled the blinds, and settled at his desk. He switched on his

computer, entered the password the captain had given him, gaining him entrance into the

personnel records, and clicked on Morgan’s file.

A few minutes later, he was staring at a leave of absence request filed by Captain Giesen

dated August 31st

the previous year. “ Due to the death of Sergeant Reynolds’ husband and the

consequential trial of the suspect charged in her spouse’s death, Sergeant Reynolds is hereby placed on an undetermined leave of absence, and both she and her child are to be placed in

protective custody until further notice.”

Clicking on another extension in her file, he found a police report filed the night of August30th by the first officer on the scene, Danny Ortez. “ According to Sergeant Morgan Reynolds,

she arrived at her residence, 4611 Crestview, at approximately 11:15 PM, entered through the

front door and proceeded to the second floor. After checking on her sleeping son, she entered the

master bedroom at which time she found her husband lying face down in a pool of blood near the

bed. Checking his wrist and finding no pulse, she turned him over and found his throat had been

slashed. After dialing 911 to report his death, she phoned her partner, Detective John Russo, and

Captain Giesen. She then took her son to a neighbor’s house, returning to her own residence a

few minutes later.“Upon my arrival, I found Sergeant Reynolds in the master bedroom, on the floor next to the

bed, cradling the body of her husband. Her partner, Detective John Russo, arrived shortly

afterwards and had to physically remove her from the room in order to begin the initial

investigation of the crime scene. Upon the arrival of Captain Giesen, Sergeant Reynolds was

then transported to Aurora Memorial Hospital where she was mildly sedated.”

Chase closed the file and debated whether or not to read the other extensions in her folder.He glanced up at the clock. It was after six. She’d probably be wondering what was taking him

so long. Torn between curiosity and common decency, he chose to give up the search and exited

the file. He turned off the computer and stared at the black screen, piecing together what he hadmanaged to find out. Her husband was brutally murdered in their bedroom and she and her son

had been placed in protective custody immediately afterward. So whoever killed her husband,

there had to have been some indication that person posed a threat to them both.

A knock sounded at his door and he suddenly realized he’d forgotten to lock the door. “It’s

the janitor.”

“Come on in.”

The door opened and a gray-headed man in overalls stepped into the room. “I can come back

later if you want.”

“No. I’m done,” he said, determined to get the rest of the answers from Morgan.

“You must be the new guy.” He pulled off one glove and stuck his hand out. “I’m Sid.”

Chase shook his hand. “Chase McAdams. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You fellas sure do put in some long hours around here.”

“No rest for the wicked.”

Sid snickered. “Ain’t that the truth?”

***

Morgan was almost to the bottom of the stairs when she heard a knock at the front door. “It’s

me, Russo, open up.”



She barely got the door open before he stepped inside and took her into his arms. “You

okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She stepped from his arms. “Did you find out anything?”

“None of his friends saw him after school, but one of his teachers did remember seeing himleaving the playground heading toward home.”

“So he was waiting for him.” “You’ve heard something?”

She nodded. “There was a message on my answering machine. Tate has him.”

“Tate, are you sure?”

“I’d know that voice anywhere.”

“So it was him who killed those women?”

“And now he’s got Jared.”

“I don’t get it, Morgan, why would he risk coming back here?”

“Because he intends to make good on his threat,” she said softly. Morgan stepped past himand made her way into the kitchen. After taking two cups from the cabinet, she filled them with

the freshly made coffee.

“You still think he’s innocent, don’t you?” She handed him a cup. “I, without a doubt, think he killed those women, but you and I both

know the evidence that sent him to prison was planted.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Morgan.”

“No, I don’t think he killed Kevin.”“Well, if he didn’t kill Kevin, why did he kidnap Jared?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense, but I know he’s got him. Those two young women andthe sudden disappearance of my son, that isn’t a coincidence, Russo. He wants something.”

“I think he’s messing with your head, just like he did for the year we tracked him, just like

he’s been doing ever since. This idea of yours, that someone else killed Kevin, he’s organized itas well. He planted that seed of doubt in your head that day in the court room when he said he’ddestroy you.”

“Only because it made sense when nothing else did,” she snapped. “The whole time we

tracked him, he never once messed up. He was meticulous. He didn’t take chances. The man wetracked would not have come into a well populated neighborhood, break into the backdoor, and

murder a man in his own bedroom while a young boy lay sleeping just down the hall.”

“Yet you think he slipped into the same well populated neighborhood in broad daylight and

kidnapped your son?”“Because he has a different agenda. He’s willing to take risks now because he knows he has

nothing to lose. He knows when we do catch him, he’s either going back to prison or to the

morgue.”

“Which will make him all the more dangerous.” They both turned to find Chase standing in

the doorway. He stepped forward, a book grasped in his outstretched hand. “I’m guessing this

belongs to your son.”

Morgan hesitated momentarily, recognizing the book immediately as Jared’s favorite. Then

taking the book into her trembling hands, she brought it up to her chest. “Where did you find it?”she asked softly.

“It was lying on the porch.” She turned to Russo.

“He must have placed it there after I came in or I would have seen it.”



“Seeing as how you two seem to already know who the kidnapper is, I don’t guess it’d do

much good to run this for prints.” He reached inside his jacket, withdrew a plastic baggie andhanded it to her.

She took it. Through the plastic, she could clearly make out the crudely put together note of

different-colored letters cut out of magazines. IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR SON AGAIN,

YOU HAVE 72 HOURS TO FIND THE ANSWERS.“Speaking of answers, if you two don’t start giving me some straight ones real quick , I’mcalling the captain,” Chase threatened.

“Please, Chase, you can’t do that.”

“I can, and I will if you don’t tell me what is going on here.”

This inspirational romantic suspense can be purchased in eBook or print at Amazon.com, Barnes

and Noble and most online distributors. Print copies can be ordered from your favorite

bookstore.

About the Author

Anne Patrick is the author of more than a dozen novels of Romance, Mayhem & Faith, includingthe award winning and best selling Fire and Ash, Lethal Dreams and Sabotage. Her heroines are

usually strong willed, witty, and often very opinionated…combinations that usually land them in

situations where death seems imminent. When she's not working on her next novel she enjoysspending time with family and friends. Born an Okie and proud of it, she now makes her homein Kansas.

To learn more about Anne, please visit her website: http://annepatrick.weebly.com/index.html orblog: www.suspensebyanne.blogspot.com . She loves to hear from here readers!

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Journey to Redemption Excerpt