Sins of the mother (Chapter-28)

Lukas started to bend over to offer a word of comfort, but Brooke recovered quickly, stood, and made a dash for the door. Lukas was right behind her. It was obvious she wasn’t thinking clearly. She still didn’t have a vehicle.

They made it to Lukas’s car at the same time. Lukas jumped into the driver’s seat, and seconds later they were on their way to Brooke’s house. Lukas called Captain Hunter and told him what had happened.

“I’ll call Chief McConnell in Kingsport and the sheriff. I’m sure they’ll get there in a hurry. A BOLO has already been issued for a green Ford truck, but we’ll also get an Amber Alert out as soon as we can.”

“Thanks, Captain.”

“Watch her closely, Lukas. She needs a compass right now. And get that little girl back.”

“I will. Listen, could you do me one more favor? Could you call Special Agent Daniel Smart at the FBI and let him know what’s going on?”

“I know Smart,” the captain said. “Will do. Stay in touch.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lukas disconnected the call and glanced at Brooke. She had to be in shock. Her face was pale, but there were no tears. She looked like she was trying to process what was happening, but things were coming at her too fast. Lukas wished there was something he could say to offer some comfort or hope, but he knew there was nothing. There would be no comfort until Sierra was safely recovered. 

They pulled up to Brooke’s house among a large group of marked and unmarked police cars. An ambulance was pulling out of the driveway, siren blasting. Another ambulance sat in the yard. Brooke bolted from the car as though there was still time to keep Dolan from taking Sierra. She ran through the front door with Lukas on her heels and was met by a slightly overweight officer who was wearing captain’s bars.

“Any news on my daughter?” Brooke said.

“Nothing yet. I’m sorry.”

“My mother?”

“We found her in one of the bedrooms.”

“Oh, please God, no,” Brooke said. “Is she dead?”

“She’d been strangled, but she’s alive. She’s already on her way to the hospital.”

“Is she going to stay alive?”

The captain put his hand on her right shoulder.

“The paramedics didn’t say. They intubated her and got her into the ambulance. We’ve notified your father. He’s going to meet them at the hospital.”

Lukas’s phone rang. He looked at it. Danny Smart.

“Danny, thank God. How far out are you?”

“We have a full team headed to Detective Stevens’s house. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. I just got off the phone with your captain. Has anything changed?”

Lukas stepped outside. “I’m at her place right now, and it’s not good. Dolan didn’t just kidnap Brooke’s daughter. He also strangled her mother. Whether she lives is hit or miss. Dolan left in a green Ford pickup, but we don’t know where he is. Did the captain tell you about yesterday? About Gabriele?

“He did, and I’m sorry.”

“Did he tell you he killed another woman earlier today?”

“Yes. You guys have busted a hornet’s nest wide open.”

“You guys are the kidnapping experts. What can we do to get her daughter back? What should I be doing?”

“Not much you can do other than try to stay calm until we find him. The alerts have already gone out. We’ll help you all we can. Be there soon.”

Lukas went back inside. He saw Brooke talking to the Kingsport police chief, David McConnell. Lukas wanted to find out what else if anything, the folks in his department had found in Dolan’s apartment, so he walked through the house and onto the back deck for some privacy. He called Rafe Carrizales, who had just arrived at Dolan’s when Lukas and Brooke left earlier. 

“Hey, Lukas,” Rafe said. “How’s she holding up?”

“Not good. Are you still at Dolan’s?”

“Yeah, along with the majority of CSU. We’re going over the whole place.”

“Have you found anything yet?”

“We’re still working. I’m not sure what all we have.”

“What about the computer?”

“We shut it down right after he took the girl. Forensics will analyze it, but that will take a while.”

“Come up with something we can use to find the guy, Rafe.”

“We’re trying.”

Lukas turned around to walk back into the house and nearly ran over Brooke, who was coming out the door.

“Sorry, Brooke. I was just seeing if anything had turned up at Dolan’s.”

“And?”

“Nothing yet, but they’re still in the early stages.”

“Lukas, we have to get her back.” Her eyes filled with tears and Lukas reached out for her. She fell into his arms, and he gave her a gentle hug.

“We will. I’ll do whatever it takes. What’s the plan with your department and the FBI?”

Brooke took a step back and composed herself.

“The chief said they’re setting up a small detail here at the house until we find her. The FBI is on the way with a team who’ll set up a command post here.”

“Yeah, I talked to Danny Smart. He’s coming with them.”

“What could this possibly be about? First, he takes Gabriele, and now Sierra. Why would he take my child?”

“He’s deranged, Brooke. A psychopath. Who knows what’s motivating him? At this point, though, I don’t really care about his motivations. I just want to get Sierra back and remove him from the gene pool in the process. Listen, I’m not doing anyone any good here, so I’m going back to Johnson City in case they find something at Dolan’s. I’ll check back in with you later.”

“I can’t just sit here. I need to be out there looking for her. I need to do something.” She wrung her hands. “Anything. I can’t let my baby down.”

“You won’t. We won’t. But we need some kind of lead first. Once we get it, we’ll go find her. I promise.”

Thirty minutes later, Lukas walked into his squad room and was immediately reminded of an assembly line at an automobile factory. The room was full of people, and each one was busy. The mood was serious, almost ominous.

Lukas was angry. They’d seized the momentum from Dolan, only to let him get it back. It was frustrating to be waiting again. Lukas made his way through the crowd to his desk and sat down. The murder files were still there. A familiar voice came from behind.

“Has anything turned up?” It was Rafe. He looked worried. Everyone looked worried. A cop’s child had been taken by a serial killer.

Lukas shook his head slowly. “Nothing new. What about at Dolan’s?”

The detective hung his head. “I’m sorry, man. I just left there. Our people are still going through everything, but it doesn’t look promising. I brought that scrapbook you found with me. You want to look through it again?”

Lukas went to Rafe’s desk and picked up the book. He took it to a conference room, sat down, and fished out the article about the Atkins woman. Who was this woman, and what did she mean to Dolan? He turned on a computer and entered his password. Once he was in the system, he completed a search for the name Marjorie Atkins. He found the case involving the suicide from 1995 and wrote the case number down on a legal pad.

Lukas walked up the hall to the evidence custodian, signed out the key to the case file archive room, then took the elevator downstairs. He unlocked the door and walked into the climate-controlled room. He located the 1995 section and started the painstaking task of locating the file.

Twenty minutes later, he found the case file on the suicide of Marjorie Atkins. He flipped through the crime scene photos. It appeared she died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. The news article mentioned that it was a suspicious death that was ultimately ruled a suicide. He came to the report that was written by the initial responding officer; a patrolman named Lockner.

Lockner wrote that he was able to determine from the victim’s son, Paul Dolan, that the victim was right-handed. The gunshot wound was on the left side of her skull. The boy also told the officer that he had moved the gun when he found his mother.

“Damn,” Lukas said aloud. “She was his first victim, and he got away with it.”

He continued through the file and came to the statement taken from Dolan. It said he was in his room watching TV and heard a loud pop. He ran into the living room and found his mother dead. He picked up the gun and moved it away from her body, placing it on a table nearby. Lukas continued through the file to the forensic records. There was no mention of gunshot residue tests on either the victim or her son, who was 13 at the time. The medical examiner’s report noted that the wound wasn’t a contact wound but was instead a close proximity wound. Big difference there. He looked through the notes and reports in the file from the investigating detective. There was no mention of a canvass or statements from neighbors or family members other than the son.

Lukas closed the file and placed it back in the box. Paul Dolan had killed his mother by shooting her in the head, and then he set the gun on the table. The fact that she was a prostitute probably caused the detectives to be a little less aggressive than they might have been. And because the detectives who worked the case didn’t do their jobs, the community was now littered with bodies and a five-year-old girl had been kidnapped.

Lukas felt sick to his stomach as he walked out of the room and came to a realization.

Dolan was killing his mother.

Over and over again.