“Seven. Anyway, I kind of shifted through a few foster homes. When I was eleven, I was adopted by an incredible couple. I went to a good school, and they involved themselves in my activities. I’m grateful to think my football career in high school and college made them happy and proud. But they always knew I was set on law enforcement. I started with the United States Marshals Service, but never forgot the special agent who had helped me. And when I was in the academy, I learned about the Krewe of Hunters. Luckily, they had their eyes on me.”
“I am so sorry about your mom,” Colleen said.
He shrugged with a small, twisted smile on his lips.
“In truth, I was lucky. Not many kids get a second chance with a couple like Beth and Larry Flannigan. They were amazing.”
“Were?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know how they managed it, but Larry was almost seventy when they adopted me, and Beth was sixty-seven. We lost Larry five years ago, and Beth followed two years after. They saw me through school, they applauded when I became a marshal, and they got to see me join the FBI. I didn’t become a football hero in the NFL, but that was okay with them. They wanted to see me achieve my dream, and they were...wonderful.”
“I’m so sorry you lost them,” Colleen said softly. “And so glad you had them.”
He grimaced at her. “Me too,” he assured her. “It’s a sad story, and an oddly good one too. Anyway, we’re getting close. Back to the case. Sally was taken and held for several days, abused, kept prisoner for hours on end in a basement where Carver visited at his whim or when he wasn’t busy trying to look like the best man in the neighborhood. Dierdre was kidnapped and put in a pine box almost immediately. Supposedly, Gary Boynton is a pillar of society. Liked by Dierdre’s parents. In a solid relationship with Dierdre. She had just seen him before she was taken.”
“And what do we know about him? I’m not sure I like him already,” Colleen said.
“Oh?”
“Well, at least Brant Pickering was at the hospital, anxious to see Sally, though not sure he’d be able to. Gary...is at home.”
“Well, I don’t think we can convict him on that. And when she was found, they were told absolutely no visitors until further notice.”
“All right.”
“People work out stress and fear in different ways,” Mark reminded her.
“What do we know about him?” she asked.
“He’s twenty-nine, grew up in the area, and has a degree in finance. He owns his own company—Boynton Acquisitions. His biggest clients are construction companies.”
“Hmm. Construction.”
“Meaning?”
“He’d know how to build a pine box—a coffin.”
“I don’t think it takes a degree to build a pine box.”
“So, you don’t think it’s him?” Colleen asked.
“I didn’t say that at all. I’m playing devil’s advocate. And there’s nothing to say Brant Pickering making a return doesn’t mean he isn’t a fine actor.”
“Or that Jim Carver didn’t have one woman in his basement when he kidnapped and buried another.”
“No, that’s why it’s so handy that there are cameras and paper trails, and hopefully, something or someone somewhere who will get us to the truth.”
“What else do we know about Gary Boynton?”
“Goes to work. Posts pics of himself and Dierdre on social media. Seems like an all-around good guy.”
“And he could be.”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
Mark let out a sigh and shook his head.
“He could be great. He could be playing a game well. Both he and Sally’s guy might be the real deal, and someone else is out there. It’s all up for grabs at this moment.”
He glanced at Colleen briefly as he turned the corner. She was looking out the window.
Virginia was beautiful, especially with summer on the way; the trees were rich with fresh green leaves, and the landscape was dotted with flowers as they approached the upper-middle-class neighborhood Gary Boynton called home.
Mark spoke quickly and said, “It could be someone we know nothing about, but we have to go with what we can first. The thing is this—I seriously don’t believe Carver is guilty of kidnapping Dierdre. He was too stunned to hear about it. I do believe that if Carver is The Embracer, he has fans. Or acolytes. Someone out there is trying to be him or trying to impress him. Carver may or may not know who it is, but I honestly believe he had no idea another woman had been taken until you told him. And at this point, he’s busy planning his defense.”
“How can he defend against the fact you found a woman in his basement? No jury is going to fall for that!”
“You’d be surprised what a defense lawyer can do,” Mark said.
“Actually, no.”
“Of course, they’re going to try and say Ragnar and I entered his premise illegally. But I don’t believe he’ll get away with it.”
“You kind of did, didn’t you?”
“No,” he said stubbornly. “We were just there to talk. He let Ragnar in. And there was the screaming.”
“Is this car bugged?” she asked.
He looked at her again. She was grinning.
“What?”
“You simply knew Sally was there,” she said.
He shook his head again. “We always need to be careful. There’s an excellent reason our justice system is what it is. Back in Salem, back in the days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they let in ‘spectral’ evidence. Innocent people were executed. Evidence needs to be solid. I believe that with my whole heart.”
“But you knew Sally was down in the basement.”
He nodded. “But we don’t have dead men that only a small percentage of people can see or hear testify in court.”
Colleen pursed her lips. “They won’t let him out on bond, will they?”
“I sincerely doubt it. And I think him trying to defend himself by saying Sally was kinky and wanted him is laughable; I can’t imagine a judge or jury anywhere will buy it. There’s nothing in Sally’s history to suggest she would be willing to go with such a man. Well, we’re here, and I believe that’s Gary Boynton.”