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“He does love you, and he understood you were afraid of things changing. He never held it against you.”
“He’s kind of like Jesus, isn’t he? He was willing to die for me.”
Tears clogged Annie’s throat and made speaking even harder. “He’s not perfect like Jesus, but he’s always had a big love in his heart for his people.”
“And I’m one of his people now.”
“You’re one of his main people.”
Kylie nodded and leaned closer to kiss him on the cheek. “You can’t die, Jon. I want to learn to make your mom’s pie. She was my grandma, right? And Mr.Daniel is my grandpa.”
She sounded pleased, and Annie knew she’d longed for grandparents who paid attention to her. Daniel would gladly fill that void Kylie had always experienced.
She pressed her lips close to his ears. “Come back to me, Jon. You promised you’d never leave me again. Don’t break your promise.”
Did his hand move? She straightened and looked down his arm to his fingers. They curled around hers, and there was a light pressure. “Jon?”
His eyelids fluttered, and she turned and ran for the door. “Ben, I think he’s waking up!”
Thirty-Nine
Bree had taken Kylie to get some rest. Though Annie had been reluctant to let her daughter out of her sight, she knew Kylie wouldn’t get any sleep in Jon’s hospital room with the nurses and doctors in and out since he’d started to come out of his coma.
She’d driven to meet him at the Houghton hospital after they’d taken him by chopper, and he’d been restless for a while until he fell into what the doctor called a natural sleep.
His brain was waking up, but he hadn’t clearly seen her or called her by name. Annie couldn’t wait until his wonderful green eyes smiled at her. His dad had come to check on him before Jon had been transferred, but Daniel had gone back to the Blue Bonnet after Annie promised to call if there was the slightest change.
She yawned and stretched out her legs. She looked up as the door opened around midnight, and Siela Cheng stepped into the room. She wore the same gray suit and every hair was in place. Her dark eyes were alert, and she carried a printer-paper box.
The FBI agent glanced at Jon. “I thought I’d find you awake. How is he?”
“Out of the coma according to the doctors.” Annie’s gaze went to the folder. “What do you have there?”
“Mason sent this box of items up for you. They have to do withanother case you’re working, a Michelle Fraser. He discovered her campsite and retrieved her belongings. And he’s unlocked her phone. It was late enough he knew no one was in the office to examine them, so he thought it would give you something to do.”
“He’s a good man.”
“And you’re a good mom. You trusted your instincts and you were right. You found your little girl. I’d like to interview her tomorrow, to see what all she noticed and how your sister was able to entice her to leave with her. It will help with future abduction cases.”
She must have seen the objection building in Annie’s eyes because she held up her hand. “I’m experienced with this. I’ll be very circumspect and kind. I won’t upset her.”
“Okay. Can I be there?”
“Of course. It will be at your convenience.” She set her slim fingers on Annie’s shoulder. “And again, good job, Annie.”
“Thank you.”
Once the FBI agent left, Annie dove into the box. Inside was the cell phone and a file folder. She started with the phone. There weren’t any recent text messages, so she went to the pictures, where she hit pay dirt. The last picture taken was clearly of Grace Mitchell. The young woman appeared ill. She was very pale and had dark circles under her eyes. Her lips were twisted like she was crying.
The next picture back was of trees and cat scat. Many more pictures came of the woods, then she got to one of a desk with a page from a logbook. There were passwords and login information to several websites, including what appeared to be an accounting program.
This must be what Idoya was so desperate to get back. Anniewould have to text her the information in the morning. Lifting out the file folder, Annie riffled through the pages. The top set looked like a dissertation on mountain lions. Lots of research there. She checked every page, and it all flowed perfectly until she got to the last page.
It had a list of withdrawals. The total was nearly a million dollars. What did that mean? Nothing jumped out at her, but her curiosity was piqued. She grabbed Michelle’s phone again and scrolled back to look at the page of logins.
After grabbing her computer, she went to the online site and logged in with the password on the page. She got in immediately. It appeared to be the books for the women’s shelter. She’d taken a course or two on forensic accounting, so she decided to look at the last year of the books. Jon still slept, and she had a lot of hours before morning. She began to see large sums of money deposited into the bank account. And large amounts withdrawn.
The recipient was none other than Glenn Hussert, who was running for state senator. What did that mean? Fraud, graft? Was Sarah mixed up in it, too, through Sean? Had Glenn taken Michelle to hide his crime?
