Snatched, page 11
Blayze knocked on the door to the old mans quarters he had been in earlier. He heard the words ‘Come in’ and let himself in. He found the old man sitting with the parents of the missing girl, along with a police officer who was in the middle of taking a statement. Blayze stood at the side and waited for the officer to finish, listening to the questions asked and the parents’ responses. Once the officer had finished, Blayze went over to the couple.
“This is Special Agent Carlson, from the FBI,” the old man said.
“Please, just call me Blayze. I’m so sorry this has happened to you. We will do everything we can to find your daughter, Lynsey, is it?” Blayze asked.
“Just find our daughter, please,” the man begged, clasping his wife’s hand. “She only turned six yesterday, and this was part of her birthday present.”
“The officer has probably asked you this already, but which room were you in when you last saw Lynsey?”
“We were in ‘The Forest’ room.”
“On the second floor, towards the rear of the house,” the old man added to help Blayze get there quicker.
“Thank you,” Blayze said to everyone in the room before heading towards the stairs.
UPON REACHING THE FOREST, Blayze was astounded by what the owners had achieved in the space. It lived up to its name. They had created an indoor forest with living trees and plants for children to play among. He could hear the chirping of birds, but could not see any. Upon further inspection of the room, he noticed mini-speakers in the tops of the trees, which were giving the ambient noise of being outside. Even the walls had painted trees on, which made the forest look even bigger. There were drawings of distant mountains, and a copy of Snow White’s Castle, which gave the children the illusion of being outside.
Although he admired what they had accomplished with the place, it didn’t stop Blayze blaming them for yet another child going missing. He searched around the forest for more potential exits, as there only seemed to be one main door in and out. As he looked around the edge of the wall, he remembered what the old man had said a few days earlier, about the servants’ stairwells running throughout the house. It was hard to tell if there were any other doorways in this room, as the walls were all painted from floor to ceiling.
He walked around with his hand against the wall, feeling for any changes. There it was. A gap. Not noticeable to the naked eye, he had found a doorway which had been cleverly painted over. Blayze noticed, after feeling around, that there was no handle. He gave it a little push, and the door popped open towards him. As he opened it, he saw a small handle on the opposite side.
‘This has to be the way,’ he thought, and made his way through to the stairwell.
Blayze crept down the flight of stairs, not knowing if the kidnapper and Lynsey could still be in the building. He reached what he thought must be the first floor. It was dark and musty and rather narrow. There was a passage to his right and another to his left. Turning right, he headed to the end, where there was a door. He opened it and sitting there in front of him were the old man and Lynsey’s parents.
“You found the stairwell, then, I see,” the old man said, startled by the door opening behind him.
“Yes, I did. I’ll be back.”
Blayze closed the door and went back to where he had come from, this time carrying on straight ahead. He was met with a door at the end, with a staircase going up to his right, and with one going down to his left. “I could be here for hours searching this place,” he muttered to himself. He called for backup and told them how to get through from the old man’s quarters so that they would reach him sooner.
Rebecca had shown up with a couple more officers. “We have searched outside and spoken to everyone inside and they saw nothing,” Rebecca said as she met Blayze. “It’s like she disappeared into thin air or something,”
“I doubt it. Look around. This place is a maze. We need to split up and search everywhere. You come with me,” he said to Rebecca, gesturing towards the staircase which led downwards. The officers dispersed as they made their way further into the depths of the house.
“Fucking creepy this, I ain’t gonna lie,” Rebecca said, following Blayze’s steps.
The old wooden floorboards creaked with every step they took. The sound of footsteps from the floor above echoed throughout the narrow space around them. They couldn’t hear the exact words, but muffled voices were coming through the walls on either side.
“Someone must know this house inside and out to use this so quickly.”
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, there seemed to be only one way to go, which was to their right. The corridor led them to a row of doors on either side.
“This must be the staff quarters that were used many, many years ago,” Blayze noted. “I looked up the history of the place and it was owned by a wealthy banker and his family. All enormous properties owned by the rich had servants.”
“Wow,” Rebecca said sarcastically. “A history lesson at the same time.”
Blayze ignored her comment and continued forward. “We need to check them, but be careful. He may still be here, hiding.”
They both slowly checked each room, one by one. As they reached the last door, nothing. No one. They turned to each other, shaking their heads. Blayze looked in the direction they had walked in. “Let’s move on.”
“Where the hell does this lead to?”
“Not a clue,” he replied, moving ahead. “We’ll soon find out.”
The corridor seemed to go on for ages with nothing but the odd light on the wall. Suddenly, they reached a set of stairs leading upwards. They climbed it to the top and found another door.
“Are we still in the house?” Rebecca asked. “We seemed to have walked for ages in one direction.”
Blayze opened the door and found himself outside, on the edge of the park grounds, by the main road. They both exited and looked around.
“The servants’ entrance to the house itself,” Blayze said, focusing now on the large house in the background. “They wouldn’t have been allowed up the main driveway and would have had to enter through this door only. This must be how our man got out with Lynsey, with no one seeing them.”
“Fuck!” screamed Rebecca.
“Not everyone could know about these tunnels. We need to head back in and get names of everyone with access. They are now our primary suspects.”
Chapter 13
Blayze and Rebecca reached the entrance of the FBI parking lot and noticed a gathering of people outside. As they got closer, it became apparent that it was the families of all of the missing children. They were pacing around the pedestrian entrance by the security gates with placards and were chanting. Blayze lowered his window slightly to hear what they were shouting.
“Save our kids! Save our kids!”
Some placards had that exact chant written on them, and some had pictures of the missing children and their names on. Alongside the families were several media reporters. This had obviously drawn a lot of attention, as more and more people who had been passing had stopped to join in.
“Just keep driving,” Blayze said, closing his window. He knew that, with another child going missing, their recent hopes had turned into despair.
They drove closer, and the families spotted them, rushing towards them and banging on every part of the car. Rebecca didn’t stop. She kept the car moving, making them get out of the way as best she could. They eventually got through and into the parking lot.
“How is all this going to help?” Rebecca asked, getting out of the car.
“They’ve done what you did, invited the press to hear their side. It is just their way of collectively showing, and sharing, their emotions.”
“This is not what we need right now!” Her car door slammed shut.
“It’s only going to get worse before it gets better.”
“Something else I don’t need.”
They headed up in the elevator and, as the door opened, Assistant Director Stone was waiting with her arms folded and a stern look on her face.
“Have you seen what’s going on down there? This is a mess! A complete and utter mess, which you two are going to have to sort out. Either get them to move on, or invite them in peacefully for an update. Either way, I want them away from this building, along with the press.”
She had said her piece, so stormed off, leaving Blayze and Rebecca looking at one another, both wondering what the best option would be.
“What do you think is best?” Rebecca asked.
“If we bring them in, they will think we have nothing better to do, and we should be outside catching this man. If we shun them away, they will think we are ignoring them and they could come back in droves. Either way, we lose.”
“Well, that’s just great. I’ll let you decide. I need to sort out Mr Sparrowhawk and have him released.”
She walked away, leaving Blayze by the elevator doors, contemplating the best option. Then his phone rang.
GARRET HAD BEEN SITTING in the interview room for several hours now, stewing all this time, not knowing what was going on. As Rebecca entered, she was met with a bombardment of questions from his attorney, Mr Carter, while Garret paced the room, not happy at all.
“Sit down, now!” Rebecca shouted, clearly losing her patience. She waited behind her chair until Garret and Mr Carter finally sat. “Now listen here. You are not being charged with the kidnapping of Maddix Dyer or any other child.”
“Finally you believe me,” Garret said, looking at Rebecca, then at his attorney.
“It’s not that I believe you. It’s because you couldn’t have done it. While you have been in here, another little girl has gone missing from yet another theme park.”
“So my client is free to go, then?” Mr Carter asked, packing up his briefcase.
“Not so fast,” Rebecca said, holding out her hand to stop Mr Carter. She then directed her attention straight back to Garret, who had looked a little smug, thinking he was about to walk straight out scot-free. “There is still the matter of lying to a federal officer in your statement. For that alone, you are looking at prison time.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I can’t go to jail! I’m sorry I lied, okay? Please. I just can’t go to jail,” he begged. “I would lose everything.”
Rebecca took a seat, not saying anything for a couple of seconds, just staring at the pleading man in front of her. She was trying to figure out if he was worth it. Should she just lock him up because he has pissed her off, or give him a second chance? “Listen to me carefully, Mr Sparrowhawk, as I’m only going to say this to you one time. I am going to let you go so you can live your life. If I hear you have been in any trouble at all, in any kind of capacity, I will pull back out this false statement and lock you up myself. Got it?”
Garret glanced over at his attorney, who just nodded, and then back at Rebecca. “Of course, I’ll take it. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Just watch your back, because I’ll be there waiting. Now get out of my sight.”
She sat and waited for them both to leave the room before getting up to watch them get into the nearby elevator. Walking over to the window, she could see the parents below, still chanting away, but knew that as soon as Garret walked out, the press would be on him like vultures on a piece of meat. Her mistakes would now be known by the masses.
Across the office was a television playing the news live, a way to monitor what was being said, with none of them having to be outside. Rebecca walked over, ready for the show. There it was, live on TV, Garret’s attorney saying that his client had been treated unfairly by the FBI, especially by Special Agent Rebecca Scott. He continued to say that his client had nothing to do with any of the investigation, and that it was an enormous waste of time. Rebecca could tell that his statement was something that Assistant Director Stone agreed with as she was making her way towards her. She didn’t know what was about to be said, but by the look on Stone’s face, it would not be good.
“My office, now.”
BLAYZE HAD GONE INTO a quiet side room to take his call. It was from his brother Matthew, who everyone just called Matty. He had not heard from him for over two years, since he had been the best man at Matty’s wedding back in January 2018.
Growing up, they had been very close, and Blayze, being the youngest, used to look up to him all the time. That was, until Blayze joined the police force straight after college. Matty had turned into a bit of a troublemaker in his late teens and had gotten himself arrested a few times for vandalism and petty theft. They had had a major fight about it all, and, for some time afterwards, hardly ever spoke.
Blayze had thought his brother had turned his life around after meeting his wife, Leah. She was a few years older than him and already had two young kids of her own. They had been dating for three years before he popped the question and Blayze had agreed to be his best man.
“Hey, Matty, what’s up?”
“Man, I need your help.”
“Is everything okay with Leah and the kids?” Blayze asked, hoping he hadn’t done something stupid.
“Yeah, yeah, they are fine. It’s me.”
“Okay. You’re worrying me a little here.”
“How soon can you get to Vegas?”
“What? Are you kidding? I haven’t got time to take a vacation now, I’m in the middle of a case. I haven’t heard from you, or seen you in over two years, and now you want me to go to Vegas with you?”
Matty’s voice became more persistent. “No, bro, I need you here now. It’s urgent.”
“Dude, I’m sorry, but it will have to wait until I’ve closed this case. I’ve got missing children to find, which is more important than a sight-seeing trip.”
“Forget it, then. I thought I could count on you.”
The phone suddenly went dead. Blayze tried to call back, but there was no answer.
Wondering what his brother was on about, Blayze put his phone back in his pocket and left the room to see Rebecca in Stone’s office, getting a right good yelling at. Not wanting to be a part of that, Blayze knew he had to go down and see to the families below. But what he would do with them, he still didn’t know.
“SAVE OUR KIDS! SAVE our kids! Save our kids!”
The chant got louder and louder as Blayze exited the front door to the FBI building and made his way to the front gate where the families, media, and now many bystanders were. He had initially gone down to make a statement in front of the press but had decided to invite all of the parents inside for a chat about what was happening instead. Local police had been called in and were standing outside the gates, making sure no one could enter. As the gates opened to let Blayze out, people tried to push past the police to get in. In a split second, Blayze changed his mind and realized that the only way to calm the crowd down was to make a statement.
“Can I get everyone’s attention, please?” Blayze shouted over the crowd. “I’m here to make a brief statement, so please just listen.”
He had to repeat himself three times before the crowd in front of him calmed and stopped chanting. The media moved in much closer, so that they could get an excellent shot of Blayze for their cameras.
Usually Blayze was very confident in front of the cameras, but right now he was feeling the pressure. This speech wasn’t planned, and he was having to make excuses for a mistake that he didn’t make.
“Ladies and gentlemen. My name is Special Agent Blayze Carlson, and I have been brought in to help with this case. As you have just seen, the man we had in for questioning over the disappearance of —— now, eight —— young children here in Orlando, has been released. This is because he was here being questioned at the time of the latest kidnapping. Therefore, the perpetrator is still at large. We ask that all families, should they still wish to visit any theme parks, stay vigilant at all times, and that they keep a close eye on their children.”
“Hadn’t you just reopened the park that Lynsey was taken from?” a journalist shouted.
“That is correct. Yet we did not make that decision.”
“Who made it?” The same journalist asked.
“That is something we are looking into right now. We are doing everything we can to find this man and bring your children home safely.”
“Standing here, giving us all this bullshit, is not being out there looking for our daughter,” came from a man’s voice from within the crowd. There were so many people around him that Blayze couldn’t tell who it was.
The chanting started up again. “Save our kids! Save our kids!”
Blayze knew then that attempting to bring the families inside would not be wise.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please. We need to focus our entire task force on finding your children and the man who did this. We can’t spare officers to be here, stopping you from entering the building. I ask you all to go home and let us do our job. Thank you.”
As Blayze walked away, he heard a commotion behind him. Suddenly, he was grabbed by his suit and pulled down to the ground. Officers rushed in to cover him, but Lynsey’s father, Trevor, had him pinned down. Officers grabbed hold of Trevor from both sides, prizing him off Blayze.
“If anything has happened to my daughter, I’m holding you personally responsible,” Trevor shouted. “Do your job and find my girl, or I’ll find you.”
Blayze just looked at the anger in Trevor’s face as the police pulled him away. He quickly got up and brushed down his suit. The pressure was on now. His own life could be on the line.
Chapter 14
Not wanting to be around the office, Blayze had decided to revisit the two parks that ‘The Holiday Snatcher’ had targeted recently in case he had missed anything, so he had made his way first to Elf City.
While standing by himself on the very spot from where Dion had been taken, he noticed that, as families walked by him, they were giving him a strange look. People had become more vigilant of the random person in the park by themselves and were making it known, gripping their children’s hands as they passed him. He knew by watching this that his statement to the press was working.
