Stolen Four Minutes

By Dr. Sandra Tanner

The year is 2005. The setting is Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Stolen Four Minutes tells the gripping story of the discovery of what happened to five-year-old Semmy Barrels after she was abducted twenty-nine years ago.

Semmy's mother, Teasy, not knowing the whereabouts of her daughter suffers grievous pain year after year. She finally collapses into a coma and communicates telepathically to her twin sister, Mia, that the only way she will come out of the coma is by hearing of Semmy's whereabouts. If she doesn't hear in thirteen days, she will succumb to death.

To prevent her sister from surrendering to death, Mia hires amateur investigator Vett Brayborn to find Semmy within the thirteen day window. Vett is hindered by many obstacles and her investigation leads into an almost deadly confrontation with the criminal, but she perseveres finding truth.

This tragedy will cause your soul to weep.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796059052

Dr. Sandra Tanner

Dr. Sandra Tanner, author of murder mysteries Sundrenched Water, Secrets of Salmer Tawgg, Sacks of Murder, and Stolen Four Minutes was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. She is a graduate of Cappella University and the University of Richmond. At an early age, she developed a love of mystery, suspense, and thriller stories from reading Sherlock Holmes and Ellery Queen. She directed her love into writing her first mystery—Sundrenched Water. She loves to watch popular detective shows in order to solve the crime ahead of the detectives. She considers herself to be an amateur sleuth and delights in her keen eye for the unseen. She has written several short stories. Her story Oh, My Dear God! won 3rd place in The Writers Weekly 24 Hour Short Story Contest. Dr. Tanner lives with her husband in Richmond, Virginia. She is currently working on her fifth novel, Six Good Ones.

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Copyright © 2019 by Dr. Sandra Tanner.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 07/07/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

801541

For my husband Curtis and my daughters Crystal and Daphne

with all my love.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

—Ephesians 3:20 (King James Version)

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Wednesday Day 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Thursday Day 2

Chapter 6

Friday Day 3

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Saturday Day 4

Chapter 9

Sunday Day 5

Chapter 10

Monday Day 6

Chapter 11

Tuesday Day 7

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Wednesday Day 8

Chapter 14

Thursday Day 9

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Friday Day 10

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Saturday Day 11

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Epilogue

Acknowledgment

About the Author

Stolen

Four

Minutes

Chapter 1

When a two-car collision caused Teasy Barrels to be four minutes late picking up her five-year-old daughter, Semmy, from her bus stop in rural Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Teasy’s life changed forever. Her daughter, her only child, was abducted.

Twenty-nine years later, after the authorities and three private investigators had declared the whereabouts of Semmy as unknown, I was brought onto the case. I have no formal investigative training, but I do have an uncanny gift for solving crimes others cannot. I say uncanny gift versus gift of sight because there are people in my community that are unreceptive to the words gift of sight.

The case that brought my gift to prominence happened a year and a half ago and involved my deceased great-aunt Hannah. I was instrumental in helping the authorities uncover the identity of the person who murdered a man and then buried him on her farm. Not only did this person murder a man and bury him on her farm but also murdered another man and buried that man close by. Both murders occurred forty-nine years ago from the date the remains were discovered on my great-aunt’s farm. Since all of this was talked about in the media and how my gift allowed me to see clues the authorities could not, I have received hundreds of requests from people asking for my help and advice to solve unsolved cases in their family or hometown.

None of those cases plagued me with daily doses of passion and determination to solve the case like the Semmy Barrels child abduction case. I learned of five-year-old Semmy’s fate from her aunt who walked up to me in my restaurant and quietly asked if she could speak with me. After telling me Semmy’s story, she offered to pay for my help. This offer shocked me because this was the first time anyone had offered to pay me. I had never wanted or asked for payment, but her offer indicated to me how desperate she was.

My name is Vett Brayborn. I am an amateur investigator, female, age fifty-two. I was married and divorced in my early twenties. I am now a newlywed, marrying on Christmas day last year Gammon Ellison, the man I had been wishing for all my life. I have no children but look forward to one day having Gam’s two grown sons provide us with grandchildren. I own a southern food restaurant called Vett’s Place, and I am the president of the Purple Calla Lily Investment Group, which meets once a month.

It was after the Purple Calla Lily’s January Tuesday meeting that I met Semmy’s aunt Mia. Since it was my turn to host the meeting, I held the meeting in a corner of my restaurant. Tuesday nights are my slowest nights, so I had enough room to comfortably seat fifteen members to conduct business. The Purples had just ended the meeting at eight when Mia approached me. All the other members had left the restaurant except for my best friend Dimma Kirkland. Dimma and I were just about to go into my office to talk about the Southwest trip the Purples were planning to take in May when I noticed an attractive, petite, brown-skinned woman approaching our table. She was no more than five feet tall, weighing no more than 125 pounds, and dressed in black dress pants, a stunning vivid red top, and black flat shoes.

Excuse me, Ms. Brayborn. My name is Mia Paisley Littleton. May I speak to you for a moment? she softly asked.

Sure, you can. Please call me Vett. How can I help you? I asked, extending my hand and admiring her red blouse.

Embracing my hand warmly, Mia answered, It’s about my identical twin sister Tia Barrels. Everyone calls her Teasy. She needs help, and I was hoping you would help me help her.

I’ll try. What does she need help with? I was thinking she had a quick question I could answer, and then Dimma and I would be on our way to my office.

Vett, it is going to take some time to explain. May I sit down and explain it to you?

How long do you think it will take? I asked.

About thirty minutes. You’re my last hope. My sister and I have not received the answer we were hoping for from the investigators we’ve hired. Please let me tell you my sister’s story to see if you can help us.

Mia’s eyes had teared up. I immediately became concerned for her. I looked at Dimma to read her face. She knew what I was about ask.

Vett, we can talk tomorrow, Dimma spoke before I asked the question.

Though Mia looked nonthreatening, I was uncomfortable meeting with her alone. Additionally, the restaurant was closing at nine; we needed to be out of the way of the cleanup crew. The cleanup crew was on my mind as well. I was their employer and always made sure they were in a safe environment. I decided to take Mia to my office and to ask Dimma to join us.

Mia, this is my best friend Dimma Kirkland. Is it okay for Dimma to listen to what you have to say? Dimma, will you stay?

Both nodded yes.

It’s nice to meet you, Mia, Dimma expressed, extending her hand.

It’s nice to meet you too, Mia replied, gently shaking Dimma’s hand.

Mia, we should talk in my office because my cleanup crew is ready to begin cleaning.

The three of us walked the short hallway to my office. After we were all seated at my small round table and the exchanging of a few pleasantries, Mia began. Teasy and I are fifty-two years old and will be fifty-three at the end of next week on the twenty-eighth of January. We both are in good physical health. Teasy was in a car accident on New Year’s Eve. She was driving by herself on Route 29 and was hit head-on by another car full of revelers when she accidentally swerved into the other car’s lane. The only person who sustained any long-term damage is Teasy. The four people in the other car are fine with no known physical damage from the accident. Teasy is in a coma and has been since the night of the accident. The doctors don’t know why she is still in a coma. They say there is no reason for her to be that way. She did hit her head on the steering wheel, but according to the doctors, it was not hard enough to induce a long-term coma such as what she is experiencing. There is no swelling or bleeding in her brain. She has not had a stroke. She is not a diabetic. Therefore, she has not had a diabetic shock. No oxygen deprivation is going on. The doctors just don’t know why she is still in a coma.

Has she ever been in a coma before? I asked warily.

No. Never.

So her doctors have been baffled about her condition since New Year’s Eve? That’s nineteen days ago. Seems like a long time to not know what is going on with her.

I know it is. Yes, they’re still baffled, but I know what the problem is. She has surrendered her will to live. She has given up her spirit. She slowly began surrendering it years ago, and now she has completely surrendered it.

Why would she completely surrender it? Dimma asked.

Mia’s bottom lip quivered, she began shaking and twisting her hands together, and her eyes pooled with tears. She softly voiced, Because she can’t face one more day alive or one more birthday or one more Christmas without her daughter and only child.

Where is her daughter? I softly probed, putting my hand on Mia’s twisting hands to comfort her. Dimma took the box of tissues from the top of my file cabinet and sat it on the table in front of Mia.

We don’t know. Her five-year-old daughter was snatched on December 5, 1975 between 12:25 p.m. and 12:29 p.m. She has never been found.

Oh my goodness! What happened? Dimma and I spoke simultaneously. I glanced from Dimma to Mia with my mouth wide open. Dimma’s mouth was locked in the same position. Silence then engulfed us for a few moments. The silence stopped the shock wave and moved Dimma and me out of our brief paralytic state. We began talking impetuous at the same time. We stopped and then gave each other that look that said neither one of us is being understood. We each took hold of one of Mia’s hands. Dimma then gave me the nod to speak first.

Mia, can you tell us what happened from the beginning? I asked solicitously.

Mia was quivering, her face was wet from tears, and her foot gently tapped the floor. Nevertheless, I sensed that she was prepared to tell her sister’s story at any cost to her current emotional state. Why else would she have sought me out?

Yeah, I can.

She began with, "On Friday morning, December 5, 1975, Teasy’s husband, Colosse, left their apartment for work as normal at six-thirty. He worked for Watson C. Koslow Construction Company.

"At this time, they lived in the Red Rock Village Apartments Complex off Route 360 in Pittsylvania County, just outside the Danville City limits.

"At 7:25 a.m., Teasy walked their five-year-old daughter, Semmy, who was in half-day kindergarten, to the bus stop like she did every school day morning since Semmy began kindergarten. Semmy’s real name is Temple Seminole. Family and friends called her Semmy. Teasy’s apartment was close to the beginning of the apartment complex, and it only took seventy-five steps to reach the bus stop. The bus stop was at the entrance to the apartment complex.

Besides Teasy, there were six other mothers at the bus stop with their children. Each of them had one child waiting to get on the school bus. Besides Semmy, there were three other children who were in half-day kindergarten—all girls. The other three children went to school for a full day: two were in first grade, one was in third grade. The bus arrived like clockwork at seven-thirty. After all the children entered the bus, the seven mothers said goodbye to each other and walked back to their apartments.

Would you like a glass of water before continuing? I interrupted. Mia was clearly worked up. By offering water, I was hoping it would give her a few moments to become relaxed.

I’m fine. I really am.

Let me know if you change your mind.

"I will. Ah . . . at eight-thirty, Teasy’s closest friend, Cathy Caneley, picked her up at her apartment and drove fifteen minutes to the Gorgeous Hair Salon. They both had 9:00 a.m. appointments. The hairdressers assured Teasy and Cathy that they would be done with their hair before noon. Teasy knew she had to pick up Semmy at the bus stop at twelve-thirty. Reliably, the bus always dropped the children off at twelve-thirty or a few minutes later. And since it only took fifteen minutes to get home, Teasy knew she could get home before the bus arrived.

"Teasy had made an arrangement with Laura Lisby, who lived in the basement of her apartment building, that if ever she was not at the bus stop to get Semmy, Laura was to take Semmy with her. The arrangement was reciprocal. If ever Laura was not at the bus stop to get her kindergartner, Becky, Teasy was to take Becky with her.

"Teasy and Cathy both got perms and sat under the hair dryer for an hour. The hairdressers styled their hair, and they left the salon at 11:55 a.m. Their payment receipts had the time of payment on it.

"However, despite carefully made plans, things can go wrong. There was a car accident on the road they had to take to get back to Teasy’s apartment. Cathy said Teasy was sporadically shouting, ‘Move,’ at the traffic the whole time they were stuck in traffic. And she did not sit still in her seat, moving from side to side in frustration at the thwarting situation. Several times, she hung her head out of the window to see if there was any movement up ahead. She even smacked the dashboard clock several times because the time kept ticking by. Knowing that Laura was her backup didn’t calm her down. At one point, Teasy was about to get out of the car and run the rest of the way to the apartment, but then the traffic started slowly moving. They arrived at the apartment at 12:29 p.m.

As they pulled into the parking lot, one of the morning kindergartners entered her own apartment, which was six buildings down from Teasy’s apartment building. This told Teasy that the bus had already dropped off the kindergartners. She immediately went to Laura’s basement apartment to get Semmy. No one answered the door. She would later learn that Laura and her mother had picked up Becky from school to have lunch at the Yellow Daffodil restaurant. Teasy and Cathy then ran up the stairs to Teasy’s third-floor apartment. Semmy was not sitting by the door as Teasy had taught her to do just in case Laura or Teasy were a few minutes late in getting her.

I’m just confirming, Dimma interrupted, Laura hasn’t told Teasy that she was picking up Becky from school, correct?

"That’s correct. Ah . . . Teasy and Cathy then ran to the apartments of the two other kindergartners. Both mothers confirmed that Semmy got off the bus with their girls. Semmy running toward her apartment building was the last the mothers saw of her.

After leaving the mothers, Teasy ran to the playground, calling for Semmy. She then ran back to her apartment, with Cathy following her. She slammed open her apartment door, screaming for Semmy, knowing full well that she would not be there because Semmy did not have a key. Cathy quieted her down for a moment and told her to call the sheriff office. The sheriffs arrived, and we have been searching for Semmy ever since.

Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry, Mia, Dimma sobbed when Mia stopped talking for a moment. They both grabbed tissues to wipe tears from their faces.

Mia then continued with, "We would later learn that the bus driver dropped the kindergartners off at 12:25 p.m. Her logbook showed that Friday, December 5, 1975, was the only day she had arrived at the bus stop at 12:25 p.m. All the other days had a drop-off time of twelve-thirty or a few minutes beyond. She never dropped them off before twelve-thirty before that Friday. The driver explained there was no reason for the early arrival, except that the traffic from the school appeared to be a little lighter that day.

Since Semmy was abducted twenty-nine years ago, her case is now a cold case with the authorities. All leads have been exhausted, and there is no trail to follow. The authorities did a wonderful job in trying to find her. They were extraordinary. There’s no new information coming forth for them to follow up on. Teasy and I still call into the sheriff office every few months. Although the office doesn’t have any new information for us, the people there are just as kind, compassionate, and understanding as the first day it happened. Through the years, we have hired three private investigators to find Semmy. One in 1987, one in 1995, and one last November. They all had the same results—they could neither find her nor any information on what happened to her.

After Mia finished telling her story, she remained quiet for a few moments while wiping the tears from her eyes with more tissues. As I reached for another tissue, I noticed the pile of used tissues in front of each of us. I rose from the table and walked to my desk to get my trash can. With my hand, I brushed the used tissues into the trash can.

I purposely took the trash can back to my desk because I needed a minute to ponder, away from Mia and Dimma. How did Teasy manage to survive all those years without her daughter? I did not have any biological children, but I had a husband, goddaughter, stepsons, and parents that I loved. If anything happened to any of them, I don’t know what I would do. How did she get through Christmases and Semmy’s birthdays not knowing her whereabouts? A ripple of chills came over me as if I had walked outside on a snowy and icy morning in January without a coat. The chills were accompanied with an eye-opener that squinted in like the sun squinting through a gray sky. The eye-opener revealed that it was a glimmer of hope that kept her going. Now, she believed that glimmer of hope was gone, and she had surrendered her spirit—her will to live.

I was shivering as I walked back to the table and sat down. Dimma noticed.

Vett, are you okay? she inquired, with her eyebrows furrowed.

I nodded twice. Mia’s sad and pleading eyes stared at me. I heard my raised heartbeat beating in my ears. I spoke quickly, trying to hold at bay the plethora of sorrows boiling inside of me that were fighting to be released.

Mia, I am so sorry this happened to your sister, you, and your family. What is it that you want me to do that the private investigators didn’t do?

Vett, I know your story of how you helped identify the human remains found on your great-aunt’s farm. You have an investigative mind. Would you look into Semmy’s case to see if there is anything we have missed? People keep telling Teasy and me that the longer a case remains unsolved, the harder it is to solve. This may be true, but somebody knows what happened to my niece. I am willing to pay you for your service. Just name a price. If you don’t help me, I am afraid I am going to lose my sister.

At one point during Mia’s telling of her sister’s story and Dimma and I questioning her, the night crew had knocked on my office door to announce that they were locking up and leaving. I asked them to leave the dining room lights on and told them I would turn them off when I left.

It was after Mia finished telling her story that I looked at my watch and saw that it was ten. I called my husband Gam to let him know what was going on and to let him know I would be home within the hour. Dimma placed a call to her husband, Simon, as well.

After we had placed the phone calls, Dimma asked to no one in particular, No one disappears without a trace. Do they?

Mia responded with, Back then before Semmy disappeared, I would have agreed with you. But to this day, we have not found a trace of her. She will have been missing for thirty years this coming December. I know somebody knows something. However, no one has come forward. The authorities talked to everyone living in the Red Rock Village Apartments at the time. No one saw anyone snatch Semmy. No one has said they saw Semmy after she got off the bus and ran toward her apartment building. Vett, will you help me?

Mia, why now? Why would Teasy, as you say, keep herself in a coma now?

Teasy has always blamed herself for Semmy’s abduction. She always claimed that if she had waited until Saturday to get her hair done while Colosse took care of Semmy, Semmy would be with us today. But we don’t know if this is true. Teasy and her friend Cathy—who at that time was a stay-at-home mother of nine-year-old twin boys—did things together many times while Semmy was in half-day kindergarten. But they were always back at Teasy’s apartment in time to pick up Semmy. I just think someone was planning to snatch Semmy or somebody’s child, and the opportunity presented itself.

So you think more along the line that someone all along had been planning to take Semmy and had been watching Semmy and your sister, I asked to be absolutely sure I knew what I was dealing with.

No, not Semmy specifically, but watching to snatch any young child. However, the authorities are not one hundred percent sure that this is the case because they have no evidence of this. They think more along the line of a random thing. Someone saw a little girl alone and decided to take her.

I see. Ah . . . Mia, is there a specific reason that led to your sister keeping herself in a coma?

"When we received the final investigative report from the last private investigator on December 1 last year, which contained no new information, Teasy went into what I named her black hole and stayed there. Teasy had received two written weekly reports from the investigator prior to receiving the final report. She knew the investigator was not having any luck in finding Semmy. However, for Teasy, this ending report that concluded the investigator’s work contained a sense of finality. She saw irrevocableness, doneness, and three strikes, you are