Page 11 of Closer Than You Know

She imagined the idea had crossed Bent’s mind without her having to say as much. It was no secret she was not a fan of Elizabeth or her offspring. No matter the training and experience under her belt, Vera was only human.

“Bottom line,” she went on before he could respond, “what we have are three seemingly uneventful abductions that resulted in nothing more than worry for the families, the community, and the sheriff’s department. Then suddenly we have a deviation. A reporter is abducted. There’s a notesent to him to set up a meeting—a note you have not seen. None of the others received notes. There’s a witness to the abduction—a witness who actually heard and saw nothing. There were no witnesses of any sort to the other abductions.”

He nodded. “I’m with you so far.”

“Whether,” she said in conclusion, “this is some guy out to make you look bad, or an extraterrestrial enthusiast hoping to gain support—ora desperate reporter out to gain a spot in the limelight, my gut tells me this is not just an escalation but a setup to some sort of finale.” She pointed a finger at Bent. “And just in time to avoid involvement from an outside agency. If this one resolves in the usual forty-eight hours like the others, the TBI will scarcely have arrived, and the whole thing will be over.”

“I can see merit in what you’re saying,” Bent said slowly. “With that in mind, I say we take a close look at each scenario. See where each one takes us.”

Vera laughed—a dry, surprised sound. “You know that a scenario where Nolan is involved in any way with illegal activities will not sit well with the Bakers.”

Elizabeth’s husband, Carl, owned the biggest bank in the county. The man had inherited well via his marriage and invested even better. He would not appreciate any negative light cast on his only son.

“I guess we’ll have to be careful, then, and make sure they don’t find out until we have concrete evidence one way or the other.” He stood, grabbed their breakfast remains, and tossed them back into the postal tray.

“I could talk to some of his colleagues at theElk Valley Times,” Vera suggested.

Bent pushed the tray aside. “Carl has given me permission for a more detailed search of his son’s home.”

“That tops colleague interviews anytime.” Vera slid off the stool. “What’re we waiting for?” Having a look into the intimate space of avictim could provide important details as to why that person may have been victimized.

Or why he was victimizing others.

“The TBI will be picking up Baker’s laptop and going through it.”

“You heard from them, then.” Vera reached for her coat.

“Got a call while I was preparing breakfast. Oh, and I also scanned that episode ofGhost Adventures. There was only one window with a blind intact at the time the show was filmed. Not in the room where Joel and Nolan encountered the bad guy though. So our perp probably did relocate the one working blind. Good catch.”

“It was a joint effort.” They worked well together. Maybe that was what they were destined to do.

He considered her a moment. “You sure you want to go to Baker’s place? He lives over the garage at his parents’ house. Elizabeth could be there.”

Vera grimaced. “Can one of your deputies call her into the office to look at mug shots or something? This will go a lot more quickly and smoothly without her asking questions.”

Bent raised his eyebrows in question.

“It’s a logical step. Nolan could have a new friend. Maybe Elizabeth has seen someone new hanging out at his place?”

Bent crooked an eyebrow. “I guess we can make that work.” He retrieved his phone from his back pocket and called the office. “Myra, I need a favor.”

While Bent explained how he wanted Deputy Boyd Fowler to bring in Elizabeth Baker to review mug shots, Vera wandered back to the case board. She studied the diagrams again, noting once more the primitiveness as well as the similarities to other ones she had reviewed on the internet.

Was the Time Thief nothing more than a copycat out for notoriety?

There was the possibility the whole thing was a bizarre hoax of some sort. The abduction of Nolan Baker in a way added to that idea.Granted, going straight to the hoax theory without further consideration of other possibilities would be a bad move.

Still, Vera couldn’t get past the idea that Nolan was a reporter looking for his fifteen minutes of fame. What better way than becoming the next victim?

He was just as likely to be involved as not, in her opinion. But she would keep an open mind—however hard that proved. It was too early to assume anything. Whatever the case, she really needed to find him unharmed. Living in the same zip code as Elizabeth Baker was bad enough. Failing to save her only son from himself or some other nutcase out for a little of the limelight would be unbearable.

5

Baker ResidenceMulberry Avenue, Fayetteville, 10:00 a.m.

Carl, Elizabeth’s husband, came home to let them into Nolan’s apartment before going to the sheriff’s department to review mug shots with his wife.

Vera should have felt guilty, but she didn’t. This was the best way to proceed. Elizabeth would only get in the way and cloud the investigation if she were home during their search.

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