Searching For Jenna novel Chapter 7

The fact that both girls had been from Evansville, both had been arrested by Michael Matthews, and Matthews had been seen with both girls not long before they disappeared made him a very good suspect in their murders. He'd been questioned regarding his involvement with the girls, but Matthews had been able to prove he was working during the time that both girls had been killed, according to the original times of death. Once the thought had been planted that the girls had been frozen for a time was added to the picture, it created new questions about when the girls were killed.

The initial investigation revealed that Matthews, and the local drug dealer the girls had been involved with, did not have a storage facility outside of their home. A few more girls went missing, both of which had been arrested at one point by Matthews. The Bureau decided it was time to get someone close to him to see if he was involved in the girls' disappearance.

In the two years, Defoe had been working with Matthews the other undercover agent had been working with the drug dealers. That agent found out that the dealer picked the girls based on what the traffickers were looking for and how much family they had. All four girls who had disappeared from this area, including the two murdered girls, had drug addict parents, had been in foster care and had drug use issues of their own. These girls were the perfect victims for these crimes. There was little chance their family would be concerned enough about their disappearance to push the police to try to find them. Plus, the people taking the girls had a local sheriff's deputy on their payroll to make sure the investigations went cold.

The Bureau had another man infiltrating the traffickers. He'd found out that the girls were being taken on party yachts. They lured the girls in with drugs and then took them to Cincinnati to be tattooed and vetted by the bosses. They would then be circulated among clients unless one took a liking to the girl, or boy, and bought them for their private sex slave.

Once Defoe got close to Matthews and found out about the locked monster freezer in his garage, he knew where the bodies were being frozen. The agent working the drug end had the drug dealer in his pocket. The agent working with the traffickers had names and connections. It was all falling into place. And then Jenna called the FBI and told them her father had a dead body in his freezer. It was perfect! Defoe was so thankful that Jenna had not trusted the local authorities because of her father's connections.

The operation should have been smooth. Defoe's job was to get to the Matthews' house, confirm the body was there, and get Jenna and Darlene out of the way. He knew Darlene would be at work. All he had to do was get Jenna out of the house. Then, all hell broke loose. Defoe arrived at the house and heard Matthews screaming at Jenna. When he walked in that room and saw Matthews brutally beating Jenna, everything changed. Saving Jenna's life became his priority.

Defoe still couldn't believe Matthews used his wife's car to move a body. It was too risky. Something had to have changed. Defoe had the sick feeling that Matthews knew Jenna found the body and that was why he was beating her so severely. He had to shut her up so she couldn't tell anyone about it.

He dropped his head in his hands as he sent off his text. Defoe prayed he had not been too late for Jenna. She was in pretty bad shape when he took her out of her room. His team would have to take her to a different town, probably Louisville unless the medical team deemed her injuries critical. In that case, they would take her to Owensboro. Damn! If only he'd gotten there ten minutes earlier.

Darren followed her gaze to the parking area close to a block away. "If you don't mind."

Darlene got behind the wheel of the beige Ford Taurus and buckled her seatbelt. Darren got in the passenger seat but didn't bother to buckle up since he was getting out before they left the parking lot. Darlene pulled up behind Darren's car and then turned to him. "What do you think really happened?"

"You and I both know that if Michael walked in on Jenna and Cara kissing, he would have gone nuts," Darren said. "According to Cara, he was punching Jenna pretty hard. I don't know if she could have gotten away from him, or if Cara came back and hit him with the chair. Who knows? I think she got away from him, hit him with her desk chair, and ran away."

"I hope you're right," Darlene said. "If she did run away, she won't show her face around the house again for a long time. I need to find a way to get a message to her and let her know that I'm leaving."