by Sommer Smith
Romine shrugged. “I doubt it. But he’s out cold and we’ll be long gone before he wakes. Now. You’re going to get in my pretty little car and we’re going to take a drive. If you behave yourself, I might let you live so I can use you to get my kid before the marshal and the senator do something stupid. See, your marshal thought he could outsmart me, but it didn’t work.”
“What do you mean?” Lauren wondered if she could buy enough time for Cole to wake up.
“I’ll explain in the car. But for now, put your glass down so I can get these zip ties on your wrists.”
Apparently not. “Is that really necessary? I’m not going to fight a dangerous man with a gun.”
“Just think of it as a precaution. You seem like the sensible type.” He gave a mirthless laugh.
All the fight had gone out of her when Grayson and Shayla had left with Lily. Now she was just tired. She held out her wrists. “I don’t know what makes you think Grayson would give up the baby for me. It’s his job to protect Lily, not me. And Senator Reid doesn’t even know me. So, you see, I’m pretty useless as far as bargaining chips go.”
He frowned. “You’d better hope you’re wrong. If that’s the case, I’ll just kill you and the marshal.”
Lauren didn’t doubt his words for a second.
He wasn’t exaggerating about the car, either. She stepped outside to see a shiny new sports car sitting in the driveway, albeit a good distance from the house. She shook her head.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” A rueful laugh escaped her lips. What kind of sick joke was this?
“What?” His gruff question sounded almost like a bark. “It’s a McLaren GT. Isn’t it sweet?”
“I’m being kidnapped in a McLaren? Ridiculous. I always thought it would be one of those beat-up white vans with no back windows.”
If he thought her humor was odd, he didn’t say so. “It’s got white leather seats. Don’t get anything on them.”
“I’ll do my best, but I’m a little clumsy in zip ties. No experience.” Her rueful remark hit home this time and he frowned. Apparently, he was through with her jokes.
“Take extra care or I’ll find some horrible ways to torture you before I dispose of you.” He said it in a low, threatening voice.
Any further attempt at humor to keep herself sane was lost. Lauren shuddered, but didn’t reply. The gravity of the situation hit her full-force. Cole was out cold. Grayson and Shayla had no idea Romine had taken her. He was a good three times her weight, so overpowering him was out of the question, even if she could get past the gun.
Her blood froze. She was at the mercy of one of the most wanted criminals in the country. This was worse than bad.
* * *
They were almost to the park chosen as a rendezvous point with Senator Reid, and unease snaked up Grayson’s spine like an unwelcome guest. Why hadn’t he encountered any trouble yet? Where were Romine’s men? Things weren’t going as he’d expected at all.
He tried Cole. He was unsettled but not exactly surprised when it went to voice mail. Maybe he just didn’t make it to the phone in time. He decided to try a second time.
Voice mail again.
Something wasn’t right.
He thought about calling Shayla. She should have made it to the new safe house with Lily by now. Maybe she had heard from Cole and knew why he wasn’t answering.
But he’d already made a snap decision. Pulling onto the nearest crossroad, he turned around before he could even confirm his suspicions.
He called Shayla to make sure.
“I’ll try, too.” She seemed as concerned as he was about not being able to reach Cole. He should have called one of them back, at least.
After a few minutes, Shayla called Grayson. “He still isn’t answering.”
“Call Senator Reid. I have to go back.”
“What should I tell him?” Shayla sounded shaken.
“I don’t know. Tell him we’ve had a change of plans. Or we’ll meet him later. I don’t really care. Just tell him something.” Grayson’s mind was full of too many other thoughts to worry about Senator Reid at the moment.
“He isn’t going to be happy.” Shayla didn’t disagree, though.
“Aren’t you at all worried about Lauren and Cole?” His voice had risen a notch.
Her voice jumped an octave. “Of course, but...you don’t think...”
His lips pressed together, Grayson accelerated, passing a jacked-up truck in a no-passing zone. “I wouldn’t put anything past Romine.”
She disconnected.
A few minutes later, Grayson’s phone rang again.
“I’ve dispatched local police to the house,” Shayla said. “There can only be one reason Cole isn’t calling back by now.”
Grayson nodded, though he knew she couldn’t see him. “You’re right. I hate to think the worst, but the way things are looking, it makes sense. Why else hasn’t Romine tried something by now?”
Shayla was silent on the line for a second before she said anything else. “Romine thinks he’s outsmarting us. So what is he doing?” She paused briefly before asking another question. “What could he stand to gain?”
Grayson considered her words. “Not much. Unless he has acted and we just don’t know it yet.”
“You don’t think he has one or both of them held hostage.” Shayla’s voice shook slightly.
“Yeah, I’m afraid so. At least Lauren, anyway. He stands more to gain that way. And I have no idea where he would take her. But I can’t think of any other plan he might have.”
At almost that second, Grayson’s phone rang in another call. He asked Shayla to hold on and then studied the unfamiliar number before answering.
He was disappointed that it wasn’t Romine. A female voice answered through the Bluetooth speaker system, but it wasn’t Lauren’s voice.
“Marshal Grayson Thorpe?” The woman sounded slightly out of breath.
“Yes. Who is this?” He had no patience for niceties right now.
“My name is Savannah Reid. I believe you have my baby. Her name is Lily.”
ELEVEN
Grayson glanced at his SUV’s display screen in surprise and saw a strange number displayed there. “Yes. I have Lily. Where are you?”
“That isn’t important. But I do need you to listen carefully.” Her smooth voice held a threatening edge. It wasn’t at all what he’d expected from her.
“Go on.” Grayson didn’t offer her any room to hedge.
“Your lady friend is on her way to being locked in a safe place until you can get Lily to me. I wanted to take her with me, but you had to make things difficult, so now we are going to have to do this another way. But if my father gets his hands on my baby before I do, I promise your friend will pay.”
Grayson felt his throat close and all the air left his lungs. It was Savannah. She was behind this.
He’d had an idea it might be her all along, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it. For Lily’s sake.
“What do you mean you wanted to take her with you?” Grayson needed to keep her on the line. However she had gotten his number, he felt it had something to do with what she was talking about now.
“It was Peter’s idea. He said if we faked my kidnapping, no one would suspect anything. He was right. No one knew it was me. But now we can’t get the money from my father because we don’t have the baby. Arnie said it would be easy to get her, but he lied.” Savannah sounded as if she was discussing the latest gossip rather than the fate of her child.
“Peter? Do you mean Peter Finney, US marshal?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. He was originally assigned to protect me. It wasn’t difficult to sway him over to our side. He likes money. A lot.” Savannah gave a little laugh.
He felt sick to his stomach but didn’t say anything at first. He took a deep b
reath.
“What do you want me to do?” Grayson shook his head. He should have planned for this. Savannah wasn’t just with Arnie Romine; she was spearheading the effort to get Lily and hold her for ransom from Senator Reid. She had been behind the attempted kidnappings the whole time.
“There is an address coming through your cell phone right now. It will take you to an old abandoned barn a long way out of town. Come alone with Lily. If you cooperate, you can have the woman back in one piece in exchange for Lily. If you try anything stupid, you’ll all have more holes in you than those fools we sent to the airport.”
“You sent all of them?”
“No, just half of them. They were supposed to just surround you and take the baby, but those idiots with the Harmon gang saw an opportunity to double-cross us. They thought if they could get Lily first, they would get a cut of the money. I should have known better than to trust Angelina. It serves them all right.”
The coldness in her voice sent shivers through Grayson. How was he going to make her think he had Lily?
“I have the address.” He didn’t say anything for a moment. He didn’t want her to know Shayla was on the other line. “I’m on my way.”
“Good. Now, I know you don’t actually have Lily with you at the moment. Finney knows all about your plan. So go get her from Marshal McKenzie and get to that address. You have twenty minutes before we start cutting.” Her cold voice came through just before the harsh click that indicated she had disconnected.
Cutting?
The idea of Romine taking a blade to Lauren’s smooth skin chilled his blood.
“That’s not gonna happen.” Grayson couldn’t even begin to let that image take hold. He was talking to himself but didn’t care.
He reconnected with Shayla’s call and explained the latest development and the new plan. She protested as soon as he said he was taking Lily alone, though.
“No. Absolutely not. You need backup.”
“I can’t take the risk. If I show up with another marshal, they could kill Lauren.” Grayson couldn’t take that risk.
“Not if they don’t know I’m there. Hide me. Either you are picking me up or I will find you.” She seemed to be taking this situation as a challenge. “This will work. They’ll never know I’m there.”
“Shouldn’t you see about Cole?” Grayson still wasn’t sure it would work.
“I think this is more important right now. While you were on the other line, I heard from headquarters. The police found Cole with a large goose egg on his head. Disoriented, but he will be fine. You need me more right now.”
Shayla sounded more serious than he had ever heard her sound. He should still probably argue. But he knew she was right. He needed backup. Who knew what could go wrong with these situations?
“Okay, fine, you can go with me. But we have to get there fast.” Grayson could just see her grinning in victory.
Only a couple of minutes later, he had Shayla and Lily and they were on the way to the address. She picked up his phone and checked out the GPS to see where he had to go. “Ugh.”
“Am I gonna make it in time?” he asked, fully aware of what she was doing.
“It’s going to be close. Are you sure we should take Lily?” Shayla eyed him.
“Have a little faith.” He grinned.
“Oh, I’ll be exercising my faith-praying.” Shayla nodded at him.
“What is the GPS saying on the distance?”
She spouted their expected arrival time.
He had about twelve minutes left to get to the barn. And, according to his GPS, the destination was about eleven minutes away.
* * *
Lauren fought against the helpless feeling attempting to swallow her whole. The fear was trying to overwhelm her. The thought of Lily, though, renewed her strength.
Romine had taken her to an old, run-down abandoned farm and tied her up in the back of a tumbledown barn among dusty stacks of discarded farm equipment. Then he had left. She wasn’t sure if he’d left completely, or if he had just left her alone in the barn. She never heard the McLaren start up, so she thought he was still outside somewhere.
Inside, however, her mind was racing. For one, she was glad she wasn’t afraid of rats and spiders, because there was no doubt this place was full of them. Besides that, she had plenty to be afraid of without considering what might crawl all over her unhindered with her limbs bound.
She spent most of her time praying and asking God to protect Lily and Grayson. She also prayed that Grayson would just let Romine kill her and keep Lily safe, if that was the only way to protect the baby.
But she knew Grayson too well to believe he would do that. He might not care for her the way she cared for him, but he had too much honor to let anything happen to her. It was just one of the little things she loved about him.
The minutes stretched on and a noise outside caught her attention. Another car? No way could it be Grayson, so she suppressed the surge of hope that tried to well up. The sound of a slamming car door and arguing voices confirmed her suspicion. Whoever had just arrived was definitely not here to rescue her.
And who was she to just sit there and wait on a knight to come and rescue her, anyway? No, it had to be up to her. If she could find a way to escape, maybe Lily would be safe.
The zip ties held her wrists securely, but her feet were loosely bound. She wiggled them a bit and found the restraints loosened the more she kicked. If she could get her feet free, she could at least run. It would be tough with her hands bound, but not impossible.
While she kicked and worked at her bound ankles, she scanned the barn for the most likely means of escape. A window to her right was cracked open slightly and she decided the odds were good that she could somehow wedge it wide enough to slide through. She was looking for any tools she might use to help prod it open with her hands tied when a noise alerted her to someone coming in.
“Well, look at that. The little mouse is still right where you left her.” Savannah Reid made the remark with a flip of her long golden hair.
Lauren couldn’t have been more surprised when she saw Savannah walk in. She didn’t much look like she had just had a baby. She didn’t look very motherly, either, in her tight-fitting, expensive leather skirt and cashmere sweater. “Savannah? You’re working with Romine? Shouldn’t you be trying to protect Lily from him?” Then she shook her head. “Grayson was right.”
“Working with him?” Savannah snorted. “He’d have been arrested and received the death penalty by now if not for me.”
Lauren had no idea what these two had planned for her, but she knew the longer she could keep them talking, the better her chances of survival would be. “So you kept him from getting arrested? How did you do that?”
Savannah looked self-satisfied but didn’t really answer. “I have my ways. You’re certainly nosy.”
“I guess so. But I thought he was in charge of the gang. Did you take over? I’ve always heard women have better leadership skills. And your friend Angelina? Is she with your gang?” Lauren tried to use Savannah’s assumption to her advantage. If she thought she was just curious, maybe she would continue to talk.
“Angelina and Harmon work for us now, if you must know. Some of their people are still angry over things that have happened in the past and they’re trying to break away and start their own...business. It’s causing some friction, but we’ll get them straightened out. Most of the rebels were killed at the airport, anyway. Unfortunately, though, so were some of our best people.”
Lauren shivered to think of how cold her attitude was toward those causing tension between the two groups.
Romine just watched the two of them, expression bored, as Savannah sashayed back and forth in front of Lauren. Her expensive shoes were getting dusty, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“And what about your father? He doesn’t wan
t to overlook your, um, boyfriend’s criminal activities?” Lauren paused. “Or doesn’t he know he’s your boyfriend?”
Savannah sighed. “He cut me off when he first found out about Arnie. But I’ve been pretty convincing. He thinks I broke up with him when I supposedly just found out about Arnie’s business dealings. That’s why I planned to let him think someone else kidnapped Lily. But the hospital wanted to keep her since they thought she was premature, and Arnie was getting impatient to get out of the country. See, I gave a false due date. Lily isn’t a preemie, just small. We were going to get ransom money from my father so we could leave. But your boyfriend showed up too soon and ruined the whole plan.”
“So all you really wanted was money? Doesn’t your gang have money?”
“Not enough, and it’s tied up in the organization. Arnie’s people would have something to say about us taking a huge chunk of the business’s money to go on a permanent vacation, and he has to have help getting a hold on it. It was set up that way to protect him, but the plan backfired when he needed money to leave quickly. The marshals are ready to arrest him at any moment. As it is, we can’t get out of the country for any reason, not even to travel. We would be arrested before we could ever board a plane, unless we can bribe my father’s man to fly us out on a private jet. But we need lots of money to do that.” Savannah gestured at Romine angrily. “I don’t know why we can’t just buy one.” She mumbled this last statement. It seemed his wanted status was hampering her luxe lifestyle.
“Well, what about Lily? Do you plan to raise her somewhere else? In another country somewhere?”
Romine snorted. “Vannah’s no mother. If she can’t afford to hire a nanny, she’s up a creek.”
Savannah shot him a hateful look. “This was your idea. I didn’t want to be a mother. You knew that. I should have never listened to you. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“I didn’t see you coming up with a better plan,” he practically growled. “So we’ll just see about that, princess. You don’t like getting your hands dirty.”