Page 68 of Bring Them Home

“Uh-huh, I’m not much of a merciful man.”

All talk, little bite… At least with her, since she was the daughter of one of his oldest friends.

“When should it be here?” Malone asked her.

“Any minute.”

“While you’re waiting, you want to talk to Johnson? His lawyer’s here.” He nudged his head toward his office door.

“You bet I do,” she said. “I’d like to hear what he has to say about his stalker photos.”

“He’s in Interview Room Two.”

Amanda left the room ahead of Trent, but he soon caught up. She flung the door open, and Bill Johnson flinched when they burst in. There was a man beside him with the face of a grandfather. Not that Amanda was letting that deceive her. There was hardened experience in his gray eyes, and he showed no reaction to their abrupt entry as he took them in with his gaze.

“Robert Skinner, Mr. Johnson’s attorney,” the man said.

“Detective Steele, and this is Detective Stenson.” With the introductions out of the way, Amanda wanted to get right to the point. “So we had a look at your phone, Mr. Johnson.”

“For which I assume you had a warrant?” Robert said, not wasting a beat.

“You assume correctly. There’s also a legal search being conducted of your client’s house and his van. My partner and I conducted a legal search of his shop for ourselves.” She laid out a copy of all the warrants to back them up.

The lawyer picked them up and glanced them over. “And what do you expect to find, Detective?”

“It’s stipulated in the paperwork, but it authorizes the collection of items that provide evidence your client abducted Valerie, Brooke, and Paul Archer. Mr. Johnson is also suspected of Paul Archer’s murder.”

“Sounds like a violation of the US Constitution if you ask me. A witch hunt.” The lawyer dropped the warrants back to the table.

“I wouldn’t say that. The warrants were signed off by a judge. They must have seen enough probable cause. What your client may not have told you is…” She filled him in on the van used in the abductions, Johnson’s harassing phone calls, and what they saw as his motive. “And then there are these.” She set out copies of the photographs they had found on the table. “These were on Mr. Johnson’s phone. They show your client was stalking Valerie and her family. He tracked her down to her home, cataloged their comings and goings.”

Bill looked down at them and paled. Wisely said nothing.

“We haven’t found Valerie or her daughter yet, Mr. Johnson. Why don’t you do yourself a favor and save us some trouble? Tell us where they are, and things will go smoother for you.” There was no way she was promising a deal, but this might be enough to bait the hook.

“I don’t know where they⁠—”

Robert put his hand on his client’s forearm and shook his head. “You don’t have to say a word.”

“He’s right, you don’t, but it would be in your best interest if you spoke up.” Amanda held the silence, letting it stretch out. When it was clear Bill wasn’t going to volunteer anything, she continued. “Let me be clear, so I’m not misunderstood. We have enough to lay charges against you, Mr. Johnson.”

Bill looked at his lawyer, who nodded. “I wasn’t stalking her, but I was angry. I thought if she knew I was serious, she’d…”

Amanda could argue the proof he was a stalker was in black and white, but why bother? “Don’t stop talking now. That she’d what?”

“I wanted to make her see the mistake she’d made by denying my loan. I wanted to change her mind.”

The lawyer sighed but said nothing.

“How did you plan to make her? With violence?”

“No, I’d never hurt her.” Bill wasn’t meeting her eye. “Or her husband to get to her.”

“People don’t stalk others with gracious intent, Mr. Johnson. Did you abduct her and her family to make her see?”

“No, I swear, I didn’t. I was just going to send her some pictures I took, let her know⁠—”

“That you could get to her?”