Not by Sight A Novel

CHAPTER 23

Virgil glanced out his office window at the Raleigh County Courthouse and, through the maple branches, saw that dawn had turned the Friday morning sky a simmering shade of hot pink. Why hadn’t Abby Cummings contacted Kate? Was she playing games? Or was she in trouble?

There was a knock at his open door. Virgil looked up just as Kevin walked in.

“Still haven’t found the Rogers kid’s mother,” Kevin said. “We’ve got the Vegas PD checking out hotels for Mr. and Mrs. Richie Stump.”

“You need to go home and get some shut-eye,” Virgil said. “I appreciate that you were so willing to pull a double shift. I wanted my best man on this.”

“Just wish I had a clue where to go with it,” Kevin said. “Abby’s SIM card records didn’t raise any red flags. The last time she used her cell phone was yesterday morning, when she sent Jay a text. We compared her day-to-day calls and texts over the past month, and most of them were between her and Jay. Also a few with her family members. There were two calls, both under a minute long, from a prepaid cell, the last one day before yesterday. That could be significant—or simply the wrong number. There’s no way to know. I hate to say it, but it’s almost as if Abby and her friend vanished, same as her dad and sis. Raises serious questions about whether the same person or persons is at it again.”

“But why wait five years?”

“I dunno, Sheriff. Maybe this Ella’s the real deal and someone didn’t want Abby getting any closer.”

Virgil rubbed his chin. “But what are the odds? Abby’s got a pattern of doing this. And if someone had Riley Jo, why would they stay in the area? Seems far-fetched. ”

“I’m not convinced that’s what happened. But Abby and Jay are nowhere to be found. And since they seem to be responsible kids, I think we have to consider everything.”

A knock on the door caused Virgil to turn.

Billy Gene stood in the doorway. “Sir, we found Mrs. Cummings’s Odyssey. It was parked on Perkins, a block over from the Sycamore Apartments, where the Rogers kid and his mom live. It was parallel parked, nice and neat. Left unlocked. Nothin’ looks fishy. We’re gonna start collectin’ evidence. You wanna tell Mrs. Cummings, or should I?”

“I’ll do it,” Virgil said.

“Looks like I’m gonna have to wait on that shut-eye,” Kevin said. “I’ll head over to Perkins Street and make sure we don’t miss a beat.”

Virgil nodded his approval. “Thanks. I’ll call Kate and meet you over there in a few minutes. Keep looking for Jay’s truck, and try the apartment again. It’s possible those two kids have been in there all night and didn’t want to be discovered.”



Abby sat nestled between Ella and Jay, her arm around her sister. The only sound she heard was the rumbling hunger of their stomachs.

Lord, we need wisdom to get out of here. But if Jay and I don’t make it out, please get Riley Jo home to Mama. Don’t let me die for nothing. Don’t let Mama lose both of us. It’ll break her heart all over again.

“What are you thinking?” Jay whispered. “I can feel the wheels turning.”

“I’m praying,” Abby said. “We need wisdom on how to get out of here.”

“I wish Custos would come git us out,” Ella said. “He’s humongous. And strong.”

Abby’s gaze collided with Jay’s. “Who is he?” she said.

“My angel. I seen him once.”

“Oh.” Abby’s hope of being rescued rose and fell in an instant. “When?”

Ella looked up at Abby. “When I fell outta the weepin’ willer tree and landed in the pond. I swallered a big gulp o’ water and was coughin’ and coughin’ and couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t touch bottom neither.” A pretty smile lit up Ella’s face, and Abby’s heart melted. “All of a sudden, I was standin’ up on the bank. Custos wiped the mud off me with his wing, and I wasn’t coughin’ no more. He promised he was always watchin’ out for me. And then he was gone. I didn’t even see him go.”

“When I was your age,” Jay said, “I had an imaginary friend named Ko-Ko. He was a dragon. He had wings too.”

Ella’s eyes grew wide. “Did real fire come outta his mouth?”

Abby looked over at Jay and ever so subtly shook her head, hoping he would get the hint not to encourage this line of conversation. “Ella, what is this room used for?”

“Pa said it was a storm cellar, but we ain’t never used it.”

Except to dump our daddy’s body, Abby thought. “Jay, what time is it?”

Jay pushed the button on his watch, and the face lit up green. “Eight twenty-two. What I wouldn’t give for a plate of eggs and bacon and hash browns.”

“You must be so hungry,” Abby said to Ella.

“I’m used to it. When Pa gits mad, he sends me to bed with no supper. And Pa’s mad a lot.” Ella linked arms with Abby and nestled closer. “He’s gonna kill us like he said. He ain’t makin’ that up just to git us afraid.”

“You seem awfully sure about that,” Jay said. “Has he killed someone before?”

Ella clutched more tightly to Abby and didn’t answer.

“It’s okay, sweetie.” Abby stroked her sister’s cheek. “You can tell us.”

Ella shook her head. “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’.”



Virgil watched investigators go through Kate Cummings’s Odyssey, and an ominous sense of déjà vu came over him. He blinked it away. He could not allow himself to fall into the trap of assuming that Abby’s situation was related to Micah and Riley Jo’s disappearance. But neither could he ignore it.

He saw Billy Gene pull up and walked toward him, arriving at the squad car just as the deputy was getting out.

“Any luck at the apartment?” Virgil said.

Billy Gene shook his head. “No, sir. The maintenance supervisor went in under the guise of needin’ to change the furnace filter. The place was empty. Beds hadn’t been slept in. No dirty dishes. We still haven’t spotted Jay’s truck.”

“Have you talked to any of the neighbors?”

“Everyone in the building. The last one to see him was the lady across the hall.”

Virgil’s cell phone buzzed, and he glanced at the screen. It was his administrative assistant. “April, please tell me you have good news.”

“I do,” April Cox said. “I’ve got Jay’s mother, Sue Ann Stump, on the line. Should I patch her through?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

Virgil waited for the beep. “Mrs. Stump? Sheriff Granger here.”

“Thank heavens,” she said. “The Las Vegas Police came to our hotel room and told us what’s going on. Jay can’t be missing. It’s just not possible. My boy’s very capable and responsible, or I would never’ve left him by himself. There has to be another explanation.”

“We’re certainly hoping so. But right now, we can’t think of any. Can you remember the last time you talked to your son?”

“I know exactly when it was,” Sue Ann said. “Tuesday morning, the day after we arrived in Vegas. I called Jay to tell him Richie and I had tied the knot and were fixin’ to stay all week and fly back next Monday. I said I’d check in with him this weekend. But he knows my cell number.”

“Did Jay hint that he might be going somewhere?”

“Absolutely not. He was gonna follow his normal routine. He goes to work at Tutty’s at four and works until ten. When he’s not working or sleeping, he’s usually with Abby Cummings, which I’m sure you know.”

“What’s his relationship with Abby?”

“She’s a doll, but Jay says they’re just friends. Abby’s been to the apartment a few times. I’ve played Scrabble with them and watched a few movies. I didn’t see any sparks flying.”

“Is Jay dating anyone?”

“Not lately. He’s shy with girls. It’s just as well, or he might could end up like me. I had Jay when I was barely eighteen. I’m only thirty-five, and it’s taken me four tries to find my soul mate.” Sue Ann sighed. “I’ve finally found him. And before I can even get home from my honeymoon, there’s already a crisis.”

“I’m not sure whether this is a crisis,” Virgil said. “But you need to be aware that Kate Cummings thinks it is and has filed a missing-person report. Is there any other family member who might know where your son is?”

“Not really,” Sue Ann said. “Jay’s grandparents’ve passed on, and he isn’t really close to any of his kin, not even his dad. He would’ve sent me a text message if he was fixin’ to go somewhere overnight. I guess it’s possible that Jay and Abby are sexually active and he lied about it. But even if that’s true, why wouldn’t they just use the apartment to be together? He knows Reggie and I won’t be home until Monday. He’s got the place all to himself.”

Virgil leaned on the squad car and noticed that a group of curious onlookers was beginning to gather. “Mrs. Stump, are you aware that Jay and Abby have been looking for a girl that Abby thinks could be her missing sister?”

“No … this is the first I’m hearing about it. Tell me more.”

Virgil told her everything he knew about Abby and Jay’s search for a little girl named Ella.

“We haven’t been able to locate this child yet,” Virgil said. “We’re doing everything we can to track her down.”

“And you think she’s the reason Jay and Abby are missing?”

“We think there might be a connection, ma’am. We just don’t know yet. But I assure you, we’re doing everything in our power to find out.”

“Should I be concerned enough to cut my honeymoon short?”

“That’s your call,” Virgil said. “Jay and Abby could surface at any time with a logical explanation. But right now, we’re acting on the missing-person report that Mrs. Cummings filed on Abby. And we think it’s likely that Jay’s with her.”

There was a long moment of dead air.

“Mrs. Stump, are you there?” Virgil said.

“Of course I’m here. I need a minute, okay? I’m about to go tell Richie the honeymoon’s over. I can tell you right now, that’s not gonna sit well.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not as sorry as I am,” Sue Ann said. “We’ll catch the next flight home. But if Jay went somewhere and didn’t tell me, I’m gonna wring his fool neck.”

“Call us when you get here. In the meantime, we know how to reach you.”

Virgil disconnected the call. He probably should have given Jay’s mother a heads-up about the mass grave they found. But why worry her when there was no indication that discovery was related in any way to Jay and Abby’s disappearance?

;

Abby held her sister’s face and looked into her eyes. “Did Isaiah kill someone?”

A tear trickled down Ella’s cheek. “I ain’t supposed to talk about it.”

“He won’t know,” Abby said. “It might make you feel better to tell someone.”

“No, it won’t!” Ella buried her face in Abby’s chest. “I swore I wouldn’t.”

“Doesn’t matter what he did before,” Jay said. “He’s not about to go to prison for kidnapping, and the only way to cover his tracks is to get rid of the three of us. We need to find a way out of here.”

Abby wondered what her sister had seen in her young life to make her so afraid. In the long stretch of silence that followed, Abby figured everyone’s mind was reeling with the realization that they had no options.

Finally Ella’s voice broke the quiet. “Abby … was my real ma and pa mean?”

“No. They loved you very much. Mama still does. She just doesn’t know where you are. She’s been very, very sad about that.”

“How did my real pa die?”

Abby glanced over at Jay. “A shooting accident. Isaiah knew about it and must’ve taken you home with him. Raised you as his. But you’re not his.”

“I ain’t Otha’s neither.”

Abby kissed the top of her sister’s head and stroked her musty, tangled hair, remembering when it was soft as silk and smelled like baby shampoo. “You’re ours. You’re a Cummings. It must be confusing right now. The one important thing to remember is that there are lots of people who love you.”

“Tell me agin my real name.”

“Riley Jo Cummings.”

“I like Ella Tutt better.”

Abby wet her finger and wiped the smudges off her sister’s cheek. “That’s okay. Maybe your real name will grow on you after you get used to hearing it.”

“How am I gonna get used to it if we’re all dead?”

“Shhh, don’t say that.” Abby pulled her sister closer so she wouldn’t have to look into her eyes. “We’re still here, aren’t we? And as long as we’re here, there’s hope. Father, You know where we are. Please send someone to find us.”

Ella pushed back and looked up at Abby, her eyebrows scrunched. “Who’re you talkin’ to?”

“God.”

“Granny Faye says He lives way up in the sky—in heaven—where Grandpa Clyde is. Only time Pa talks about Him is when he’s hollerin’ and sayin’ bad words.”

“Well,” Abby said, “God is good. He never takes His eyes off us—not for a second.”

“That’s what Custos said, but he ain’t doin’ nothin’ to help us.”

“I believe God will,” Abby said. “He’s here with us. We can’t see Him with our eyes. But I feel Him in my heart. And He’s listening to my prayers. I know He is.” I’m trusting He is. If I’m wrong, we’re dead.