New Year Heroes: The Sheriff's Secretary / Veiled Intentions / Juror No. 7

“Billy, what happened tonight? How did you get out on the street where Mr. Burdeaux picked you up?” he asked.

“Somebody came.” Billy’s eyes darkened and he swallowed several times before continuing. “We heard the boat coming. I could hardly breathe, and Jenny screamed that he’d better let me go, that I was going to die if he didn’t get me out of there. She told him she’d do whatever he wanted if he let me come home.” Tears filled Billy’s eyes. “He unlocked the door and came in. He hit Jenny. He hit her in her face, and she fell down on the floor, then he yanked me out of the room.”

“And he had the mask on?” Lucas concentrated on the facts and tried to keep his emotions out of things. But the thought of Jenny being hurt sent shards of pain slicing through him.

“Yeah, and he put me in a boat, then he covered my eyes with a blindfold. We rode for a long time in the boat then he put me into a car and we rode for a little while, then he made me get out of the car on the side of the road.”

For the next hour Lucas questioned Billy, trying to get something from the boy that might lead him to his sister. It was only when Billy could no longer keep his eyes open that Lucas called a halt to the questioning.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he told Mariah as she walked him to the door. “When the doctor releases him I’ll drive you both back to your place.”

She nodded, her exhaustion evident in the bruiselike darkness beneath her eyes. “I’m sorry, Lucas.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Sorry for what?”

“I’m sorry he didn’t let them both go. I’m sorry that I have my son back and you don’t have your sister. I’m sorry he couldn’t tell you anything that might help you.”

“But he did,” Lucas replied. He drew a deep breath as he realized his emotions were precariously close to the surface. For a moment he couldn’t speak as his chest filled and his throat closed with the depth of his feelings. “I thought she might already be dead. I feared they both were. What Billy told me was that she was still alive a couple of hours ago.”

Mariah moved into his arms, and he grabbed onto her, surprised to find comfort in the embrace. “I’m going to find her, Mariah. I’m going to find her.”

She held him for several long moments, then released him. “I know you will. Maybe after a good night’s sleep Billy will remember something that will help.”