***
Denise knocked on the wooden screen door. The paint was peeling, exposing the years of neglect that the old house had gone through. A dog came running to the door barking in excitement, and they could hear the sounds of the occupants stirring. “Hold on I am coming.”
The door opened to reveal a woman in her fifties with wrinkles that aged her far more than her true years. The smell of cheap cigarettes and a musty basement smell arrived a few seconds ahead of her. Her gray hair was pulled back in a pony tail, she was not a woman who spent a lot of time or money on her appearance. When she smiled, Denise had to stop herself from pulling back, it revealed her yellowed crooked teeth that had not been well cared for in life.
She took one look at the two agents dressed in their black business suits and expelled an irritated and drawn out sigh of frustration. “What do you want?”
“Are you Mrs. Bonnie Hall?”
“Yes.” She replied hesitantly, not trusting either of the two agents.
“We are here to ask you a few questions about your son, ma’am. May we come in?” Agent Bryant was quick to take control of the interview.
The woman was hesitant, but stepped aside holding the door wide for them to enter. “Come on in. I will make you some coffee if you like.”
“No thank you.” Agent Jeff replied curtly.
“I just had something but thank you for offering. Have you heard from your son lately?” Denise tried to break the ice by using a non-threatening voice.
“No and my son didn’t do anything, and I really don’t want to talk about him.”
“We think he has been involved with a kidnapping.”
“He didn’t do it.” Bonnie was shaking her head adamantly refusing to listen to the possibility, “I think the police are mistaken.”
Denise opened her folder and skimmed down to Brock Hall’s criminal record. It was a lengthy one. The man had been arrested and convicted for multiple crimes, possession of drugs, petty theft, including physical assault on his mother. Denise had to shake her head at that. The man was obviously going down a dark road and with each crime was getting more violent.
“Has your son ever shown an interest in young girls, Mrs. Hall?”
Mrs. Hall looked down, and her nervousness was showing with the impulsive twisting of her hands into her shirt. “No. Never.”
Agent Bryant’s expression did not change to show that he registered the lie.
She was lying, her body language said she was lying, Denise thought. Why would she be lying to protect him? One of his previous arrests was for assaulting his mother. Surely the mother knew he was getting more violent and not better? That by protecting him she was allowing him to continue? She turned her back on the interview to walk over to the window and look out the back window. A fist clenched around her chest as Denise realized why the suspect’s mother was lying to them. A black car parked in the yard had been hastily covered up by a blue tarp, but the plastic cover was too small to cover the car all the way, revealing a potentially damning piece of evidence.
Denise turned back to face Agent Bryant and Mrs. Hall. Neither of them were paying her much attention, until she interrupted their conversation. “Mrs. Hall, I know you are concerned about your son as a mother. But any information you give us can help us to possibly save the life of a little girl.”
Denise pulled out the school photo of the eleven year old child that had been kidnapped. She was pretty with long brown hair and green eyes, but her personality and happy spirit really came out in her smile. She should have her whole life ahead of her. Instead her life was in jeopardy, and it had been two days, with no sign of ransom. Things did not look good for the child. Statistically her chances of survival were very low at this point.
Bonnie held the photo in her hands and just stared at the picture, her hands began shaking. Denise took that as a sign of weakness and moved in for the kill with a direct question. “I know your son has been here. This child could die because of you. Now tell me honestly, did he have her with him, Bonnie?”
Bonnie Hall paled considerably. Suddenly she drew in a troubled breath and let out a choked cry. “I didn’t know.” When Bonnie looked back up at Denise, there were tears in her eyes. “I had no idea. He told me was watching her for the weekend. That it was for a friend of his.”
“Is he here now?”
Bonnie shook her head silently, and wiped at her nose, sniffling before answering. “No he took my car. Said something about his car having trouble and he promised to take her camping.”
“So he was here and you saw him with this girl?” Agent Bryant’s wispy eyebrows furrowed over his icy blue eyes, he looked surprised and yet perturbed at Denise. His tight lipped smile, suggested he was resentful of her.
“She was so quiet and sweet. I had no idea. Why didn’t she say something?” Bonnie went on babbling almost incoherently through her sobbing.
Denise thought about what he probably threatened to do to the little girl if she said something, and didn’t doubt that the child was silent for one moment. The child had no idea whether the Bonnie would help or hurt her, or if she was a friend or someone who would protect her son. From what little Denise could guess about the woman, Denise would lay bets that she would not have helped the child anyway. She would have protected her idiot son first. Denise didn’t blame the child at all for being silent about her precarious situation. She may have done the same if the situation were reversed.
“Bonnie what kind of car did you give him?” Agent Bryant asked controlling the tone of his voice, to not share the excitement he was feeling. This was a big break in the case.
“A Chevy Mini Van.”
“What year is it?”
“1998.”
“And the color?”
“Navy Blue.”
“Did he happen to say where they would be going camping?”
“Yes actually. He told me they were going to Big Pine National Forest.”
“Does he have any other favorite places to go, or places that he talks about a lot?”
Actually there is that place the locals call the Devil’s Punchbowl in the Rocky Mountains.”
Agent Bryant continued to question Bonnie about miscellaneous details, from what Brock hall was wearing down to what he packed with him and when he left, carefully writing every detail down in his report.
Denise opened up her cell phone to call her boss Victor with the good news and to get an evidence recovery team to check out Brock Hall’s car. They might have a half a chance at getting the little girl Elizabeth back alive.