Like You Can't Even Imagine

On July sixteenth 2008 Jess's daughter Madison Toni Massey was born. She was an eight pound baby with chestnut brown hair. Six days later on the twenty-second of July Nicole and Antonio's son Zachary Scott Cortez was born. He had black hair and his skin was a perfect blend of his mixed heritage—a shade darker than his father and a couple shades lighter than his mother. Nicole was especially proud of how well her husband handled her going into labor and how he stood by her without fainting as she had Zachary. Those birthing classes they took together really helped prepare him.

xxxxxx

The six weeks of maternity leave was the longest time Nicole had ever gone without working since she was a teenager. In early September she was able to go back to work. She would miss seeing her baby all day, but she couldn't get out that door fast enough.

xxxxxx

"Did you see the news this morning? They found another body," Jess said as she poured coffee.

"I saw it," Nicole replied.

They were talking about a serial killer that had been terrorizing Maryland for eight months.

"I hope they don't call me into this."

"I have something that will brighten your day. I've been following Maureen and Samuel Cohen's trial. The wheels of the system move slowly, but a verdict was finally rendered yesterday. They were found guilty of obstruction of justice, but they were let go on killing Elijah. They got probation. They won't do any jail time."

"I needed that. Thank you." She was happy to hear that.

"Is your family coming here for Joe and Toby's birthdays?"

"No. When they came to see Madison we had a celebration for all three of them."

"How is Sylvia doing with the new baby?"

"She's adjusting. That's one of the reasons I wanted the family to stay in Indiana. She needs all the help she can get. Sylvia's not exactly the maternal type."

"Welcome back," Kemyss said. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back, Sir," Nicole replied.

"Your timing is perfect. A five-year-old boy just disappeared from the Baptist Children's Home on Kendall."

Nicole and Jess made a u-turn back to the elevator and went to the home.

xxxxxx

"Stephen was at breakfast and then he went to his room to get his back pack. When Ms. Betty went to check on him his window was open and he was gone."

"Was anything missing from his room?" Jess asked.

"No. The only thing he took was the back pack."

"Do you have a picture of Stephen?"

"No."

"Nothing?"

"His mother never took any photos of him and neither did we."

"What does he look like?" Nicole asked.

"He's about forty inches tall. He weighs fifty pounds. He has blond hair and brown eyes."

"What was he wearing?"

"A yellow tee shirt with a truck on it…that yellow bull dozer from Bob The Builder."

"Scoop," Jess said. Three children made her very familiar with those characters.

"Yeah. And blue shorts."

"What is his mother's name?"

"Cyndi."

"And the father?"

"As far as I know they don't know who he is."

"What brought Stephen here in the first place?"

"A long history of physical abuse. She lost him three times actually. I don't know the whole story, but I know Cyndi complied with the judge's orders and she was getting him back tomorrow."

xxxxxx

"Stephen was first taken from his mother at age two when he hospitalized for a skull fracture. He was removed from Cyndi again at age three for a broken arm," Agent Ricardo read. "And this last time was three months ago when she backhanded him in a grocery store. Onlookers called the police when his nose started bleeding. She's on her way in."

"I don't know what we're going to get from her. She was getting him back tomorrow, so I doubt she kidnapped him."

"We don't know anyone kidnapped him just yet," Jess said. "It hasn't even been forty-five minutes. He could have wandered off. It wouldn't be the first time."

xxxxxx

"Where is Nicole?" Kemyss asked Jess.

"Talking to Cyndi Lewis."

"How are your visions?"

"I don't think I will have one. I've only once had visions about someone whose picture I haven't seen."

"Keep at it. If this is a stranger abduction the perp will likely kill Stephen three to four hours after he grabbed him…" He looked at his watch. "…That give us only two hours."

xxxxxx

Jess and Nicole were looking at the information they had on the missing boy.

"The finger prints on and around the window look like Stephen went out on his own," Nicole said. "He was meeting someone or someone called him…Vision?"

"Yeah. I think it was Stephen. He was with a group of other kids. About five or ten. They looked about ten years old. I think they were jumping him."

"What's he doing with such older kids?"

Before Jess could answer Devin came over and did it for her. "Some cameras at a gas station filmed this." He put the tape in.

They saw six boys and one girl—all about age ten—walk down the sidewalk with Stephen in the midst of them. He was dirty, his nose was bleeding, and he was crying.

"He was taken by children?" Jess said incredulously.

"They either took him or they found him. It doesn't matter which because they have him now."

"And your vision doesn't sound like they want to help him."

"The police are out trying to track them down."

"Let's get out there," Jess said.

xxxxxx

Jess pulled her car on the side of the road to talk to a cop in the area where the kids were last seen. The officer had just been talking to a witness.

"What did she say?" Nicole asked.

"They were headed that way. And that the little boy was crying for his mother. My captain just told me seven kids were seen coming out of a remote area about half a mile away from here. When the kids saw the cops they fled.

Jess and Nicole drove to the area and helped the police search for Stephen.

xxxxxx

"Do you think there's any chance we find this boy alive?" Nicole asked.

"There's always a chance…Not that good of one though. Look."

Nicole looked down. It was a piece of Stephen's shirt. There were drops of blood on it.

xxxxxx

"Thanks for your help," Jess told the cop.

"I wish we'd had a better outcome."

"It's hard to believe a bunch of kids could do something like that."

"It happens all the time."

"You've seen this before?"

"I've seen much worse."

"Worse?"

"Like you can't even imagine. There's some evil stuff out there."

"I suppose. Thanks again."

"No problem."

"Are you ready?" Jess asked Nicole who was waiting by the car.

"Yes."

xxxxxx

During the long drive back to the office Nicole was silent.

"It gets easier you know," Jess said.

"What?"

"Dealing with a kid being the victim after you have a baby. It gets easier."

"How much easier?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, it's always going to be harder than it was before Zachary was born, but it won't always be this bad."

"Why did they do it? When it's one kid you can say he or she was probably abused, but what when it's more than one kid from different families? What then?"

"I don't know, Nicole. I guess kids get influenced by other kids. The one or ones who were abused coerced the others."

"Who's to say our kids won't grow up to be like that?"

"They won't."

"How can you know? If kids can just be influenced like that. How do you know that?"

"Our kids are loved and will go to a school and live in a neighborhood where they will only be around other kids who are loved. That's how I know that."

xxxxxxx

Nicole came home early that day, but not before Antonio.

"How was your day?"

"First days back are always rough. It's going to take me while to get back into the swing of things." She held out her arms and he gave her their baby. "Hello, Zachary. How was he?"

"Teresa said he was happy all day. I fed him when I got here. He ate like a horse. Finished almost the entire bottle."

"He is getting so big. He's come a long way from that tiny little six pound baby he used to be…Is it hot in here?"

"No. Are you okay?"

"Turn on the air."

"Okay."

She sat on the couch. She was sweating and was losing her breath. "Antonio!"

He was only half way to the thermostat when he heard her yell. He came running back to her.

"Take him."

Antonio took back the baby. "What is going on with you?"

As soon as she handed Zachary back to Antonio her breathing came easy again and she felt calmer. "I think I'm all right now. I don't know what that was."

"When you went for your six-week check up did the doctor really say you were ready to be working again?"

"Yes."

"And she knows what you do?"

"Yes, Antonio. She said I was all right."

"Maybe you still need some time off."

"I'm okay now. Really."

xxxxxx

"The body of Ernesto Gomez was found this morning. The twenty-nine-year-old man was missing for five days. Detectives are now telling us that they believe this kidnapping and murder is linked to the January kidnapping and murder of Reagan Adams, the February kidnapping and murder of Ava Lynn Porter, and the other February kidnapping of Sean Knight, based on similarities in each crime. You may remember six-year-old Sean escaped from his captor. The child is now working with police to help them track down this alleged serial killer.

Although police are not telling us why they believe the incidents are related, we know that in all cases the bodies were found in or near a lake. Detectives say there are more similarities, but they are not releasing that information to the media at this time."

Jess turned off the news after she heard more coverage on the serial killer.

"This is going to be Earl Pevney all over again."

"Who is Earl Pevney?" Nathan asked getting into bed.

"He was a serial killer that I found before I became an agent. I know the agents working this will—if they don't already know—find out about it and try to get me to help with this one. I don't know if I can handle it with everything I have going on now."

"Then you shouldn't do it."