12. Code of Silence

Chapter Two

John Stedman had never hated his job more than at this exact moment. He paced the length of the living room, which looked so much like his grandmother’s house in New Jersey that it gave him the willies. The same lace doilies, the same cutesy little figurines on the mantel. He found himself waiting, to hear her frail voice hollering from upstairs, demanding her tea or to see him since he hadn’t been to see her in weeks. 

Jessica, his partner, was tolerating it just a bit better than he was. She’d tried to update the furnishings, new pillows, new welcome mat at the door but that was it. They lived on frozen TV dinners and snacks. He undid the top button of his shirt and loosened the tie. The visit earlier had bothered him, more than it should, or so Jessica thought. She’d told him twice already that it was what close-knit communities did.

He looked over at Jessica Waterson and sighed. She was smart, could handle herself in hand to hand or a firefight, had even served two tours overseas. But to look at her, she looked like a fancy lawyer. She was watching the news at five no matter how many times he told her they wouldn’t know anything, they had to be prepared and that the fate of a fourteen-year-old girl hung in the balance. He glanced at the stairs leading to the second floor. An angry, pouting, emotional fourteen-year-old girl that would drive him crazier before the boredom did.

“John.” She was leaning forward, remote control in her hand, raising the volume. It was dark now and that actually made his worry worse. The house wasn’t equipped with high tech security. Just two guys at the entrance of the road and a secure satellite phone for emergencies. 

“What?”

“Stop your pacing, you’re driving me crazy. Come here.”

John slipped out of his jacket, revealing a slim shoulder holster that held his Hech & Kochler gun. “What?”

“Look.” 

When he’d learned they’d be here in this small seaside town, he’d scoured every map he could find, with his memory, he could get around Marblehead like he’d lived here all his life. “It’s the causeway that connects Marblehead Neck with the rest of the town.”

“Do you recognize the truck?

He narrowed his eyes. “Yellow Ford F150, full double cab, should —?” He didn’t finish the question because he already knew the answer. “Those two kids who came to check on India.”

Jessica nodded. “According to witnesses, a black van shoved them off the causeway.”

John took a deep breath. “Are they alive?”

“Yes, both were pulled from the truck unconscious, but alive.” 

“Why?” 

Jessica turned to him but she knew he wasn’t talking to her. She watched him pace the length of the living room for a second. “Maybe someone else wants to isolate her too. Keep anyone and everyone away from her.”

John frowned. “But all they were doing was checking on her, like you said, close-knit communities. That…” He gestured to the TV. “That’s overkill.”

“Yes, it is.” She turned the TV off as the announcer said both boys sustained concussions and contusions and were at the hospital. “We should call this in.”

John looked at her and shook his head. “Get your weapon, I’m going out.”

Jessica stood up. She’d kicked off her heels hours ago and she no longer matched him for height. “John, no.”

“Black van, Jess. Who has a black van?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Waltman and Parker. That’s how we got here from Boston. John, they’re good, they wouldn’t go overboard like that.”