Shattered Lives by Joseph Lewis Read Free Book Online Page A

because they had never talked about it past that first year.  In fact, they didn’t talk much at all anymore.  Period.  Like the laughter, the sex, the time spent together- everything had stopped, including the talking.  Talking always seemed to be the first to go, but all of it had pretty much stopped about the same time as when she, perhaps they, had given up hope.
                  Around the one year anniversary mark, Victoria had begun taking on extra shifts at St. Vincent Heart Center.  Being an RN, it was easy because the other nurses were always looking to take a three day weekend or a night off.  Thomas hadn’t seemed to notice, and if he had, he didn’t seem to care.  He was an English professor at Butler University in Indianapolis who had written a thesis as a doctoral student comparing Poe to Hawthorne and parlayed that into a fairly successful book with even more successful reviews.  He had also written a textbook on Early American Authors, which was also very successful.  Thomas had taken on extra classes or just stayed on campus to grade papers.  The time he and Victoria had actually spent together was, well, missing, just like their oldest son, Brett.
                  Both of them had an unstated rule, however, that one or the other would be home for Bobby, their youngest.  Bobby, eighteen months younger than Brett, spent a lot of his time at friends’ houses or with his cousins.  He was more bookish like his father and not as athletic like Brett.  Until fairly recently.
    They looked alike.  It was often said that Bobby was a smaller Xeroxed version of Brett.   Friends and family teased them that they looked like miniature Tom Bradys, obviously shorter and younger and without the cleft chin.  This didn’t sit well with either of them, particularly Brett, because they were rabid Colts fans, and Brett’s favorite football player was Brady’s archrival, Peyton Manning. 
    Victoria wasn’t exactly athletic, but she had always figured Brett’s athleticism came from her side of the family, the Dominico side.  Her younger brother, Tony, excelled in everything he did.  Like his Uncle Tony, Brett was a natural.  Whatever Brett did, he did well, especially football, basketball and track.  The one trait that she and her husband shared and seemed to have passed onto both boys was stubborn determination. 
    Detective Anthony Dominico, or Uncle Tony, was on the Indianapolis Police force and specialized in narcotics.  Before Brett was abducted, Tony had spent time with Brett- Colts games, Pacers games, or at the river shooting.  It was only recently that Tony had begun spending time with Bobby.
    Uncle Tony had never missed one of Brett’s games, and when Brett went missing, the detective had spent hours- on and off the clock- running down every lead he could to find him.  He spent weekends away, telling Vicki and Tom that he had gone underground among perverts and pedophiles looking for Brett.  He had come up empty each time, but swore that he’d never quit until Brett came home. 
    And now, Brett was coming home.
    Bobby had spent the evening before at a friend’s house while Thomas had worked late at the university, and Victoria had worked late at the hospital.  No one was at the house when the call came telling them that Brett was found, alive, and was at a hospital in Chicago recovering from a gunshot wound.  Neither had checked the answering machine that evening, and it wasn’t until the following morning after Victoria had gone off to work at the hospital that Thomas had seen the blinking light and played the message.
    At first, he thought it was a hoax. 
    The voice identified herself as Agent Summer Storm with the Crimes Against the Children Task Force of the FBI.  Who would possibly have a name like ‘Summer Storm’? He thought.
    Then he replayed the message, listened again, took down the number and dialed it. 
    Less than an hour later, after making sure