Page 68 of Little Child Gone

Nikki took the envelope of printed stills, sickness rolling through her at the sight of the fear on Rebecca’s young face. In the last enlarged photo, Nikki could make out Jared’s distorted form in the mirror, standing in front of the bed, leering at Rebecca.

“Did you tell anyone what you found?” Miller asked.

Taylor shook his head. “I spent the next month trying to figure out what I should do. Jared’s my dad… I didn’t think he could do something like that.” Anger flashed in his eyes. “The last night of winter break, my sister told me she felt like someone was in the room, watching, even when they weren’t. She hadn’t found a camera, but I knew then he was going to do the same thing to my sister. I used the school computers to run an image search of the school photo, and the missing persons page for Bianca and her family was the first result. So I contacted Elena and arranged for her to pick me up.”

“Near Culver’s,” Nikki confirmed. “Why didn’t you go to the police?”

Taylor flushed. “I started thinking about the last few years differently. Little things that he said and did, and how Mom changed.” He looked down at the table. “I told the police I saw her hit Jared, but I didn’t. She kept telling the police he’d done it to himself to make her look bad. They acted like she was crazy. I should have believed her.”

“It’s not your fault,” Elena said. “Jared is a master manipulator. He’s got a gift that makes people trust him so much it’s easy for him to gaslight any situation.”

Nikki picked up the school photo of Rebecca and studied her features. “How old was she here?” she asked Elena.

“Thirteen, I think. The same age Bailey is now.”

Nikki’s head shot up, her eyes locking with Elena. “Caden?”

“Yes,” she answered.

Nikki’s mind raced. She grabbed the envelope still in clingwrap out of her bag. Liam tossed her a pair of latex gloves. Nikki carefully removed all four birth certificates, placing them in front of Elena.

She closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her right hand, whispering the Lord’s Prayer. “Where did you find these?”

“Your cousin worked for a man named Karl Hendrickson that summer. The third weekend in August, Karl went on a fishing trip. He was gone all weekend. When he came home, Bianca and the kids were gone. No note left. No sign of foul play, but he and his grandson only did a cursory walk-through of the apartment that’s attached to the house. All her personal items were gone, along with a couple of family antiques she might have taken to pawn.”

Nikki chose her words carefully so she didn’t give Elena false hope. “Karl was devastated and had his grandson board up the apartment. The home has sat empty since he went into a nursing home and subsequently passed a few years ago. It sold in November and the new owner started remodeling this week. He started with the back apartment.”

Fear shined in Elena’s eyes. “What did he find?”

“Remains inside the closet. Karl and his grandson noticed the beds had been standing up against the closet door after the family disappeared, which is how they’d had them when Bianca and her kids moved in. They assumed she left things the way she found them.”

“I want to know exactly what happened to them.” Elena’s chin trembled.

“We don’t know cause of death because of the amount of time that’s passed.” Nikki avoided the word “decomposition” for Elena’s sake. “But the medical examiner confirmed an adult female and a male between twelve and twenty-five. We learned a few hours ago the remains were matched to a Jane Doe from that same weekend. She died in a hit-and-run.”

Elena brushed the tears off her cheeks. “I knew they were gone. It’s been too long. He must have found them. They had a plan for Rebecca to run and get help.”

“That’s why Caden has nightmares.” Taylor had been crying as well. “He’s had them for years. He’s running in the dark and people are screaming. Then it all goes quiet. It’s the same nightmare every time.”

“Bailey—I mean Caden—was his own flesh and blood,” Elena said. “Bianca endured the abuse and hid it from the children. Rebecca initially said she didn’t know who the father was, but she eventually told her mother. Bianca had no idea Jared was molesting Rebecca. She said it started in seventh grade, not long after the school picture was taken.”

Nikki glanced at Liam and knew he was thinking the same thing: that’s why Jared had kept that specific photo. It was a souvenir of sorts.

“Now he’s done the same thing to my family,” Taylor said. “We have to find my sisters and brother.”

“The entire tri-state area has Jared’s photo, along with your siblings’,” Miller said. “The Minnesota and Wisconsin State Troopers are doing traffic stops. Jared abandoned the Tahoe. His Chevy Suburban was still in the driveway. Do you know of any other vehicles he owns?”

Taylor shook his head. “His phone has GPS.”

“He destroyed his phone and left it,” Liam said. “You and Jared are close?—”

“It’s not my fault,” Taylor sobbed. “He was so nice, and he made it seem like Mom was the one ruining our lives. I was so mean to her!”

Nikki leaned over the table to grab his hands. “Look at me.” She waited until Taylor made eye contact. “None of this is your fault. You’re still a kid. He manipulated you because he’s done this before. And frankly, without you, he would have continued doing it. I’m not sure your mom would have been able to confront Jared without your actions. And for you to track down Elena… it’s impressive. We wouldn’t have been able to find out what happened to Elena’s family without you.”

Liam pushed a box of tissues toward Taylor. “Did Jared ever mention any kind of place he liked to go to get away, relax?”

Taylor shook his head. “He said work relaxed him.”

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