Deadly Intent by Lillian Duncan Read Free Book Online

she would stick close to Him. Without God, she couldn’t make it.
    But it was still hard .
    A single tear trickled down her cheek. I don’t understand why I keep losing things—my husband, a great career, Moses. Oh, Moses. I’m so afraid for him. She had no power to stop the tears as they fell. As the storm subsided, her pain still raw, but bearable, a glimmer of hope glowed. With God, she could—no, she would manage.
    Her life wasn’t over. She was still breathing and that meant there were things God wanted her to do. On the edge of the bed, she lost track of how long she sat there. Her mind focused on one word—Jesus. Finally, she found the energy to face the day. First coffee, then a shower.
    She stood at the doorway staring at her little boy’s room. It was a mess thanks to the police and the FBI. Neither group had found evidence to aid in the search.
    She let out a deep sigh filled with sadness. Time to face reality. Whatever had happened, Moses was gone. He wouldn’t be needing the room again. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the room. When she looked at the circle of toys he’d left and placed them in the bright yellow and red toy box, she almost changed her mind.
    She never had figured out why the circle represented safety and security for him. At the bed, she stripped off the blanket, the sheets, and then the mattress pad. Her heart thumped as she stared. The mattress wasn’t bare.
    There were pages and pages of drawings. Moses had hidden them for some reason. Picture after picture depicted his favorite comic book heroes.
    There was one of the same woman he’d drawn just a few short weeks before. And there were two other women. They didn’t resemble each other in the least, but something seemed familiar. The next was a picture of a man. Black hair with angry black eyes. In fact everything about the picture screamed anger.
    Was this the man from the park?
    Maven peered, hoping for some glimmer of recognition. But she hadn’t been close enough to see any details of the man. She prayed this man had nothing to do with Moses in his previous life. Just staring at the picture gave her a sick feeling. This was not a man she wanted her dear, sweet Moses to be around.
    Another picture showed a house. It was an old Victorian-style house all done in shades of gray. It was pretty, but there had to be tons of houses like that in a thousand towns on thousands of streets. Nothing that could help the investigators.
    She picked up another picture. Her heart skipped a beat.
    It couldn’t be real. Moses must have seen a horror movie or maybe a comic book depicting the scene. Three women surrounded him and they were in chains. They formed a circle around the boy. The boy looked a lot like Moses.
    A circle? Could that be why Moses always arranged his toys in circles?
     
    ~*~
     
    Paul sat at Maven’s dining room table looking at the drawings. He held one. “This could be the break we need.”
    It was a simple drawing with the word CEDAR written on it.
    “I hope you’re right, Paul. But there’s probably a lot of streets named Cedar in the country. It doesn’t really narrow it down that much.”
    “True, but it’s better than nothing.” He pulled a business card from his pocket. “Let me give Trent Snoddy a call. This is just the type of thing the FBI guys are good at.” After hitting the numbers, he waited. “Hey, Trent. This is Paul Jordon. Maven found some drawings the boy made. I think there could be some clues in them.”
     
     
     
     

16
     
    Maven opened the door.
    Trent Snoddy stood there, not looking terribly happy. “Good morning, Mrs. Morris.”
    “Come in, Agent Snoddy.” She opened the door wider.
    “Just call me Trent.” His smile seemed genuine. Maybe he didn’t have bad news.
    Paul shook hands with him. “So, what’s the news, Trent?”
    “Nothing like getting right to the point.”
    “Well, I don’t want to prolong the agony for Maven. Do you think there’s anything in the