Page 53 of Bring Them Home

“Your earlier theory that this was all about convincing Valerie to change her mind about the loan might stick. It could explain why, when Valerie didn’t concede, they killed Paul.”

She nodded. “As a clear message about what would happen if she didn’t do as they wanted.”

“And we can assume she still hasn’t complied. She hasn’t been in to the bank since Friday. Even if she accessed the system remotely, Emmerson McCormick would have seen if the loan had gone through when he had Johnson’s file up.”

Amanda didn’t want to give too much thought to what that meant. Were Valerie and Brooke even alive? “Do either of the Johnsons or his company have a black Transit cargo van?”

“One second…” Trent looked in the system, and a few beats later he said, “There are three registered to the company. One of them is black.”

“We need to get over to Down the Drain, and get officers over to his house and his wife’s immediately.”

Trent got the car moving while Amanda made the call to get the officers sent out.

TWENTY-FIVE

Amanda updated Malone on their latest lead and told him she and Trent were on the way to the plumbing company’s office while officers were headed to Bill’s and Peggy’s homes. Malone gave clear directions to limit their search to what they could see and keep him posted. She shared this with Trent. “We don’t have enough for search warrants, so we’ll need to make do for now. Build up our case against the Johnsons.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised by his response.”

Trent drove past the bowling alley, and less than a minute later, was parking in the lot for Down the Drain near two Ford Transits. Both were registered to the company, though neither of them was decaled. There was no sign of the black one, or any other vehicles in the lot.

The business itself looked closed up. It stood as a lone industrial structure on the property. Single story, cinder block.

“The place is a ghost town,” Trent said.

“Seems to be. What concerns me more is there’s no sign of the black cargo van. My gut’s telling me that Bill isn’t on a job.” She got out of the car.

“Mine’s in agreement. But just because the van isn’t here, that doesn’t mean Valerie and Brooke aren’t being held inside.”

A closed sign hung in the window of the main door. It didn’t stop her from twisting the handle. Locked. She banged on the glass. “Prince William County PD.”

Nothing.

“If Valerie and Brooke are in there, they can’t respond,” Trent reasoned.

My fear exactly… She smacked on the glass again. Met with more silence. “All right, I’m with you. No one’s coming. I’m going to walk around the place.” She did just that, peeking in any window she came across. Unfortunately, by the time she finished the circuit of the building, she relented. Their first impression held true. “No one’s here. If he has them, he must be holding them somewhere else.”

“Where though? This place and a house are all that’s attached to Bill Johnson. And only one residence is tied to Peggy.”

“Officers should be getting back to us soon about what they’ve found.” It was hard to be content with that when the clock was ticking. It was already frustrating they didn’t have enough to justify search warrants. What if Valerie and Brooke were being held deep inside this building?

Trent led them back to the car, and Amanda’s phone rang on the way.

“Detective Steele.” She listened while Officer Jensen told her no one was at Bill Johnson’s house. She thanked him and hung up. “No eyes on Johnson at his—” Her phone rang again, and she answered.

“Amanda, you and Trent need to get back to Central. Right now.” It was Malone, and his tone held no room for negotiation.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s a deputy here from the US Marshals Service, and he wants to talk with you.”

Amanda glanced over at Trent, and he mouthed, “Really?”

He must have overheard Malone. “We’ll be there in ten minutes or less.”

“See that you are. This guy doesn’t strike me as the patient type.” He ended the call.

Somehow the deputy had gotten under Malone’s skin. It was rare when people did.