Never Surrender

by Stacy Claflin

  Alex’s phone went straight to voicemail.

  Nick told him to call back immediately. He paced his office, watching the flurry of activity in the main part of the precinct.

  The ring hadn’t killed many of the kids they’d taken—not that Nick was aware of. The fact that two had been found dead in such a short time didn’t bode well for little Zander.

  Nothing about this current case fell into the ring’s typical MO. They tended to focus on smaller cases that on the surface appeared disconnected from any of the others. Only with digging had it become clear they were tied together, even cases separated by country borders and years.

  The ringleaders had to be sweating bullets at this point. They’d just lost another of their group.

  Could that be why the two kids had been killed? Not a sign of Zander’s impending doom? But because they were worried about their own fates?

  Not that the reasoning mattered much when there were so many children’s lives on the line. Including the son of his best friend and possibly even his own daughter since the man in the trench coat had been watching her.

  He didn’t have a moment to waste.

  Chapter 29

  The final bell of the day rang.

  Ariana scrambled out of her seat and raced from the classroom to find Damon. Somehow, though it had only been a half-day, it felt twice as long as any other day. Probably because of everything else going on. Ari could hardly focus on anything the teachers said—not when she was worried about sweet little Zander.

  She’d asked everyone she saw if they knew about Zander’s disappearance. Nobody did. Not that she had expected anyone would, but it was crushing disappointment nonetheless.

  It made her sick to think about someone mistreating him. Even if the person who took him wasn’t being cruel, Zander would be terrified being without his family. He and Laney were always together. Whenever he was being babysat by friends or relatives, she was always there. At home, too.

  Laney was probably stressed out, even though she at least had Mom. She had never spent so much time away from Dad and Ari, and now Zander.

  It broke her heart to think about how separated their family was.

  If only Mom had never run off to Idaho, then none of this would’ve ever happened. In her selfish quest to keep everyone safe, she’d put Zander in danger.

  There was no forgiving that.

  Damon appeared around the corner, his expression lighting up. He wrapped his arms around her, and she practically melted into him, letting him absorb some of her anxiety.

  “You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.” He kissed the top of her head.

  “I do.”

  “I know. Let’s get out of here.”

  “After I get some books from my locker.”

  He squeezed her before letting go. “Someone gave you homework?”

  “Of course.”

  “You should ask for an extension. I’m sure your teacher would understand.”

  Ari groaned. “I’m sick of asking for favors.”

  “It’s not like you’re being lazy. Your brother has been kidnapped.”

  Tears stung her eyes. She looked away. “I need the distraction, anyway.”

  They gathered their things and followed the crowd of kids to the parking lot.

  Damon held the passenger door for her. “Where do you want to go for lunch?”

  “I’m not hungry.” Her stomach was in such tight knots, there was no way she could eat.

  “You might change your mind once we have some food.”

  “Maybe. You pick a place.”

  “You sure?” He threw her a questioning look before starting the car.

  Sighing, she nodded. She wanted to pull her hoodie over her face and disappear for a few minutes, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw images of Zander being tortured. Or Mom and Dad signing divorce papers. Or Laney growing up without her twin.

  It was all too much.

  At least she had Damon and Emily. They were her rocks, though she was relying on Damon much more than her best friend.

  “We’re here.”

  Ariana looked outside and realized they’d gone from the school to the bowling alley, and she hadn’t even realized they’d left. “The bowling alley?”

  “I’m craving their cheese fries. Plus, you wanted a distraction. I’m going to kick your butt this time.”

  She tried to glare at him, but the corners of her mouth curved up. “You’ve never beat me at bowling.”

  “I have so. Just not very often, and not by much.”

  “You’re making that up.”

  He shook his head. “No. I’ve definitely beat you. Twice. And today will make three times. But like I said, today will involve a butt kicking.”

  “Not a chance. I could beat you with a broken arm.”

  Damon chuckled. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

  “And a broken leg.”

  “Want to make it a wager?” He lifted a brow.

  “For what?”

  He looked deep in thought. “You beat me, and I’ll give you a driving lesson.”

  She gave him a double-take. “In this car? Your baby?”

  “Yeah. We’ll start in an empty field not far from my house. That’s where I first learned. Nothing but dirt for about an acre.”

  “Nothing I could bump into. Smart.”

  “That’s why my dad started me there.” A look of sadness crossed his eyes for a brief moment.

  She squeezed his hand.

  “Do we have a deal?”

  “You’re on. Last chance to back out.”

  He shook his head with a crooked grin. “I’m not worried. I’ll definitely win today. You’re way too distracted.”

  “Pride comes before the fall.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Inside, they ordered the food then picked up their shoes. The whole time, she stretched her arms and legs. Even though she knew what Damon was doing, she was determined to beat him. All she’d have to do was concentrate on her game. It wouldn’t be hard, assuming she could keep her focus for half an hour—something she hadn’t been able to do at school all morning. But this would be a lot more interesting than a lecture.

  They teased each other as they ate. Once the food was gone, Damon gestured toward the lane. “Ladies first.”

  “You sound like such a gentleman, but really you just want to watch my technique so you can try to get the upper hand.”

  His mouth dropped open in mock surprise. “How could you say such a thing?”

  “Because it’s true. I don’t mind going first. There will be a butt kicking today, but it won’t be done by you.”

  “You don’t think so?”

  “I know so.” She picked up the ball she’d chosen, held it in the right position, and studied the pins at the end of the lane, imagining herself hitting the perfect strike.

  “You going to start sometime today?” Damon teased.

  She ignored him, concentrating even harder. Once ready, she released the ball. It traveled down the center of the lane, not swerving at all. Her breath hitched as it continued on. Then just before it reached the pins, it pivoted slightly. They flew out in all directions, but when the ball disappeared two of them remained upright in the third row, on opposite ends.

  Damon wrapped an around her shoulders. “Tough break. Didn’t get your strike.” He kissed her cheek.

  “I’ll get my spare, don’t you worry.”

  “That’s what you think.”

  “It’s what I know.” She marched over to the ball return. When the machine spit hers out, she grabbed it. “Watch and learn.”

  He just smirked playfully.

  Ariana held her ball in position and stared down the remaining pins, thinking through her options. She decided to aim for the right one—if she hit it with the right spin, it would fly left and knock out the other one. Narrowing her eyes, she readied herself then let the ball go. It sailed down the lane,
creeping slightly away from the center ever so slowly as it neared the pins.

  Exactly as she needed it to.

  The ball hit the one on the right as planned. The pin flew up and to the left. It knocked the other one over as it went down.

  She’d done it. Gotten her spare.

  Damon spun her in a circle and kissed her. “I knew you’d do it!”

  “No, you didn’t!”

  “I did. My plan was to rile you up so you’d focus even harder.” He set her down. “Now watch me make you look even better than you already do.”

  She chuckled and took her seat.

  Damon grabbed his ball and marched over to the lane with a humorous gait. No way was he going to get a strike acting like that, but she guessed that was the point. He wanted to get her mind off everything for a little while.

  His plan was working, and she loved him for it.

  Chapter 30

  Alex settled at the kitchen table with his laptop and a snack, though he wasn’t interested in the food. He was still full from lunch but thought he might want the distraction while digging around the chief’s past.

  He may have been put on leave, but that wouldn’t keep him from looking into Crawford. It might actually make it easier without his boss breathing down his neck.

  First, he checked his blog comments for any possible leads on Zander. People always had theories and potential sightings, so he knew better than to get his hopes up. His readers wanted to help and meant well, but many of the so-called leads didn’t end up leading anywhere.

  That was just the way it went. But he’d gladly sift through the comments if it meant one or two might lead to something that would eventually bring his son home.

  His post had more replies than normal—mostly people expressing their sympathies and well wishes. There were a few trolls saying he’d deserved it by bringing all this attention to himself through the blog. He deleted and banned those, trying to ignore the voice saying they were right. But they weren’t. Sure, his blog pissed off the kidnapping ring, but it also helped bring home so many people.

  And that was the point. The ringleaders already had it out for Alex since they were always so focused on their town. He was naturally working against them to begin with, but even more so as he’d experienced too many kidnappings in his own life.

  After he’d gone through the comments and taken a few notes from possible good leads, he texted them to Nick then turned his attention to Crawford. They were already connected on social media, but Alex hadn’t paid him much attention before, and as a result, the algorithms had basically stopped showing the chief’s posts.

  It didn’t take long to find his profile page and start scrolling through his posts. Pretty basic stuff—links to the latest Night Out on Crime, a picture of him receiving some award, that type of thing. Nothing personal. Either he had no social life or he didn’t post about it so people at work didn’t see what he did with his free time.

  Neither option would surprise him.

  Alex scrolled down, skimming more of the chief’s posts and not finding anything interesting. Then he studied Crawford’s friends list. Not surprisingly, they had a lot of mutual friends—officers from their precinct and other local ones.

  By the time he had gone through everything possible on Crawford’s page, Alex’s eyes were growing heavy. The man was either clean as a whistle or knew how to hide every speck of dust he had.

  That meant it was time to get creative. Alex searched for different variations of Crawford’s first name, looking for a secret personal profile. Nothing came up. He was either boring or extremely creative.

  He was about to try the search engines when a noise outside caught his attention.

  Alex froze in place, listening.

  Sounded like footsteps out front.

  Had he ordered a package? Not that he could recall, but it didn’t mean Zoey hadn’t. Or that her work hadn’t sent her more clothes to review or feature in her blog or an article.

  Something scratched on the door.

  No, not a scratch.

  It was the keyhole in the knob.

  Alex’s heart leaped into his throat. Ariana wasn’t due home until dinner. His in-laws were still in Japan. Anyone else would knock or ring the bell.

  Nobody should be trying to get inside.

  The grinding in the keyhole continued.

  Heart thundering, he checked that his gun was still in his holster—since he was home alone, he hadn’t bothered locking it—and he crept to the front door, taking measured breaths as he neared.

  The knob jiggled.

  Hand on his weapon, he closed one eye and checked the peephole.

  Whoever was outside was hunched over the lock, out of view. He should’ve checked the doorbell camera while at his computer. Why hadn’t it alerted him that someone was at the door? Or had it, and he’d blocked it out in his distraction?

  No time to check now.

  “I have a gun!” he bellowed.

  “Alex, it’s me!”

  “Zoey?” His knees turned to rubber.

  “Yes! My key isn’t working.”

  He drew in a deep breath and opened the door.

  Zoey stood in front of him, her hair in a messy bun and no makeup on. Tears shone in her eyes. “Why isn’t the key working? Did you change the locks?”

  “No!” He took her keychain. “You’re using the wrong key. This one is for the shed out back.”

  She gave him a deer-in-headlights expression. “It is?”

  “Yes.” He helped her inside, looking around for their youngest daughter. “Is Laney in the car?”

  “She’s next door with your parents.”

  “Why didn’t you let me know you were coming home?” He brought in her luggage and locked the door. “You scared me.”

  She frowned. “I didn’t want you to leave before I got here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s not like we’ve been getting along lately, Alex.”

  “I thought we were when I was in Idaho.”

  Zoey nodded then collapsed onto the couch.

  “Why did you come here? What if they find Zander, and you’re here?”

  “I told the detective where to reach me.” She patted the cushion next to her.

  He sat and put his arm around her.

  She snuggled against him, fitting like a glove as she always had. “I needed to be with you.”

  “You did?” He wasn’t sure he’d heard right.

  Zoey nodded and sniffled. “What are we going to do if Zander isn’t found?”

  “He will be.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “We have to believe it.”

  “But what if he isn’t?” She nestled closer, if that were possible.

  He cleared his throat. “Then we’ll have to find a way to deal with it. But I don’t want to think about it. My focus is on finding him.”

  “I can’t believe he was taken. Why would someone break into that house? It couldn’t have been targeted, could it have been?”

  “It’s impossible to say at this point. But like I’ve pointed out before, it doesn’t matter where we go. And this could be precisely to prove that point.”

  She gasped and pulled away from him, her eyes full of accusation.

  “What?” he demanded.

  “Was Zander taken to prove a point?”

  “How would I know? I haven’t seen a ransom note, have you?”

  “Of course not. And that’s not what I meant, anyway.”

  Alex sat up straighter. “What exactly did you mean?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “I hope you’re not pointing fingers.”

  Her mouth formed a straight line.

  Acid churned in his gut. “If you’re insinuating what I think you are, there’s no turning back from that. If you really think I’d be behind this …” He drew in a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say from there. Did his wife really believe it possible that he coul
d have planned and carried out his own son’s kidnapping? To prove a point?

  He leaped up and clenched his fists, anger building in his chest and spreading all throughout his body.

  “Alex.” Her eyes widened.

  “Are you accusing me of plotting our child’s abduction?” His tone came out eerily calm.

  “I … no.”

  “You don’t sound very sure! What exactly were you saying?”

  “I … I was just asking if you, um, thought it might be a message.”

  “Really? Because that’s not how it sounded to me. And now it sounds like you’re backpedaling. What is it? Did you come here to accuse me or because, like you first said, you needed me?”

  “I do need you!”

  He backed up, his heart hammering. “Why did you come home, Zoey?”

  “Because I can’t get through this without you!”

  “Do you think I’m capable of abducting my own child?” He clenched his jaw.

  Her mouth gaped slightly, and she took a step toward him.

  “Do you?” he shouted.

  She froze in place. “I don’t w-want to.”

  The air in his lungs dissipated. He stared at her, unable to find his voice.

  Zoey tugged on a lock of her hair.

  “You think I could fake our son’s kidnapping?” His voice sounded foreign. “Or worse, that I could actually be behind it in reality?”

  “I said, I don’t want to.”

  “But you do?” Everything took on a red hue. “Think hard before you answer because if you say yes, this is the end of us. Full stop. We can never turn back from this. You’ve known me my entire life. Am I capable?”

  She licked her lips and looked away.

  “Am I?” Spittle flew from his mouth.

  Zoey glanced back at him, clutching the hem of her shirt.

  “If you don’t answer, that is an answer.”

  His mouth dried. His breath hitched as he waited for her response.

  Chapter 31

  Time seemed to stand still as Alex waited for Zoey to say something. Anything. He could hardly breathe. Whatever came out of her mouth would change everything. Either they would end up walking their separate ways, never to come back together, or they would have the chance to reconcile.