Code of Valor

by Lynette Eason

  He started toward Emily’s room when his phone vibrated.

  A glance showed he had a text from David:

  I’m on it. Stay tuned.

  Thanks.

  Brady walk-limped to Emily’s room and pushed open the door. “Emily, I’ve got—” The bed was empty. Her coat and shoes were gone.

  He checked the bathroom. Also empty.

  Doing a one-eighty on his good leg, he headed for the door but stopped when he caught sight of a paper on the bed. He grabbed it. “He called. Threatened Mom and Sophia if I didn’t obey. Disregard previous instructions. Knew you were here. Told me an Uber would be waiting. Don’t know destination. Find me, please.”

  Heart thumping, Brady crumpled the note and called Linc. “I need your help again.”

  He limped out of the room as fast as his knee would let him and headed straight for hospital security. When the woman answered his knock on the door, he flashed his badge and nodded to her monitors. “I need you to find someone for me.”

  Within seconds, he was watching Emily leave her room and head for the elevator. Another camera picked her up exiting the hospital and climbing into a cab. “Thank you for not being an Uber,” he whispered.

  “Why?” the woman asked.

  “There’s no GPS system on an Uber, but there is on a taxi. Can you get that license plate number?”

  “Sure.”

  Would they really be that stupid? They’d know he could trace a cab. Emily’s note had said Uber. She’d taken a risk so he could follow her. “Good girl, Emily,” he whispered.

  The frame zoomed in and he got a clear view of the plate. Brady called the company. “I need to know where he dropped the passenger he picked up at Providence Health approximately eight minutes ago.”

  Once he had the address, he sent it in a text to Linc, then called him. “Meet me there with the cavalry.”

  “Don’t go in all gangbusters. Wait for us.”

  “Then move fast.” He hung up and turned to the security officer. “Thanks.”

  “Anything I can do?” she asked.

  He paused. “Yes. Can you get a plate off the car behind the cab? The driver got out when the cab drove off. His gesture indicated he wasn’t happy.” It might have been the Uber she was supposed to take. “Also,” Brady said, “can you get a shot of every person on that hall and send me the pictures? I want to put the faces through a facial recognition software and see if we get a hit.” He paused one more time. “And if you pray, you can pray.” Ignoring the fire coursing through his knee, he ran from the office. Bolting down the hall and the stairs, he burst through the exit door to jump into his truck, thanking Linc for his thoughtfulness. He was sure he hadn’t known Brady would need his truck this fast.

  Emily stood still, ignoring the fact that the cab was gone and she was all alone. And unarmed. Using the coping skills she’d learned from her year of living on the streets, she shoved her terror to the back of her mind and focused on the fact that her mother and sister were probably being held somewhere in the building in front of her.

  With a glance behind her, she slid her hand into her coat pocket and curled her fingers around the phone the kidnappers had left for her. In her other pocket, she had the phone Brady had gotten for her. She’d thought about calling Brady from the cab, but the voice’s order to keep the phone in her pocket or her family would die had kept her still. If someone had seen her get in the taxi instead of the Uber, he could be following, watching. She’d left the phone alone, hoping the fact she’d taken the taxi instead of the Uber would allow Brady to follow. She’d just have to play dumb if those giving her orders were angry she’d gotten in the cab.

  Now she found herself at the back of an office building that looked deserted in the midafternoon sun. It sat away from the main road, set apart and lonely on the block of warehouses. Hidden in plain sight.

  She shivered.

  Snowflakes started to fall and a lump formed in her throat. She loved the snow, and it so rarely happened in Columbia that she always took a moment to enjoy it when she could.

  But now she found herself hoping it would stop. She needed her mother and sister safe without the possibility of the weather making that more difficult than it was already going to be.

  The phone she’d found in her mother’s home buzzed. She looked at the text.

  Restricted

  That was a dumb move getting in the taxi. No more mistakes or they’ll suffer, you understand?

  Yes. Sorry. Uber, cab, I’m not thinking clearly. Sorry.

  Just get in the car and drive.

  A second delay, then—

  Now.

  She spotted the lone vehicle in the parking lot. She hurried over to it, climbed into the driver’s seat, and slammed the door. In the cab, she’d received a text for the address to give to the cab driver. Obviously, they’d given her one to throw off anyone who might be trying to track her. She texted back,

  Drive where?

  An address popped up on her screen.

  Can I use the GPS?

  Yes.

  She tapped the address in, her mind whirling, trying to figure out how to leave Brady an idea of what was happening.

  The phone buzzed again.

  Drive!

  They had to be watching. But how close? Could they see inside the car? She started the engine and put her seat belt on and lowered her head to the wheel, holding the phone in front of her.

  IT’S TIME TO DRIVE, NOT SLEEP!

  The all caps shouted at her. She typed back.

  Dizzy. Hold on.

  With her body still doubled over and hopefully blocking any cameras or high-powered binoculars aimed at her, she removed the phone Brady had gotten her from her pocket and pulled up his number. It was awkward holding the two phones, but she managed to type the address into the other phone along with the words,

  Find me here.

  Did she dare? What if they were somehow monitoring the text messages? No, there was no way.

  A text flashed.

  Restricted

  If you’re not driving in five seconds, I’m going to hurt the little girl.

  A picture of Sophia followed, her eyes wide, tears hovering on her lashes.

  With shaking fingers, Emily hit send, then erased the text. On the other phone, she texted,

  I’m driving. Don’t hurt her.

  She left the phones on the passenger seat beside her, then drove, following the GPS directions that led her to the front door of a building that was almost identical to the one where the cab had dropped her. The drive took all of three minutes. At a stoplight, she had immediately disabled location services on both phones just in case someone checked. And she had no doubt they would. Then she’d slipped her phone into her pocket.

  The burner phone vibrated.

  Restricted

  Come inside.

  With a deep breath, she climbed out of the car and forced her legs to carry her to the door while she took in the surroundings. More office buildings lined the street. If she didn’t know better, she’d never suspect anything dangerous about the one she was approaching.

  Tremors shook her and she wiped her palms on her jeans. She could do this. But what if Brady couldn’t find her? What if these people knew she’d sent the text?

  She’d have to cross that bridge when she came to it. At the door, she turned the knob and pulled it open.

  A hard hand clamped down on her arm and yanked her inside. She let out a scream before she could stop it, then clamped her lips together.

  Her captor stood slightly over six feet tall, had hard green eyes, a goatee, and dark brown hair. “Give me the phone,” he said. She did. Without releasing her, he checked it, then dropped the device to the cement floor and stomped on it. Then he turned back to her. “Stand still.”

  Hard hands patted her down and she flushed at the violation, resisting the almost overwhelming desire to slam a knee into his face. Instead, she endured it, taking comfort in the fact that the act
was impersonal and he was simply looking for a weapon.

  Or her other phone. When he found the second one, her heart dropped, but she kept her fear to herself when he scanned through it, then crunched it under his boot. Finally satisfied she had nothing else on her, he pointed to the back corner of the warehouse. “That way.”

  She hesitated. “Where are my mother and sister?”

  “Still alive since you followed instructions relatively well. Keep up the good work and move it.”

  Emily obeyed. Her eyes roamed the space, looking for anything that could be used as a potential weapon—or escape route. The building had been opened up so that it had one central area. Metal support posts interrupted the open flow. There were several closed doors that lined the back wall that could be additional offices or storage space. She noted the back door in the right corner with the EXIT sign above it.

  “In there.” She was yanked to a stop at the first door, and she hissed at the arc of pain in her bicep but bit her tongue as she entered. Computers and monitors dominated the area, and the lone man seated in front of them watched surveillance video of the perimeter of the building. Video that showed no sign of rescue. Her spirits plummeted and despair gripped her.

  The man behind her gave her another shove and she stumbled forward. The one facing the monitors spun to face her, eyes hard, a blue vein pulsing in his bald head. A large snake tattoo slithered down his left cheek, over the side of his neck, and disappeared beneath the collar of his long-sleeved T-shirt, only to emerge on the back of his hand, mouth wide, fangs exposed.

  Two other men with various snake tattoos stood against the wall, arms crossed, eyes hard and watchful.

  She shuddered and took a tight hold on her nerves. The tats said they were gang members. Just like when she’d been living on the streets, when the terror had threatened to engulf her, she straightened her shoulders and stared her fear in the face. “Where are they?”

  “I see you’re pretty smart and followed my clues.”

  “You left the pictures and trashed my place and Heather’s?”

  “Of course.”

  “What were you looking for?”

  “Information, but since you weren’t very accommodating in leaving anything useful for me to find, we’re now forced to do this the hard way.”

  “What kind of information?”

  He studied her as though trying to decide if she really didn’t know or was playing ignorant. “The information you received Wednesday night.”

  “I didn’t get any information Wednesday night. Look, where are my mom and sister? Did you kill Heather?”

  “Your mother and sister are safe. For now.”

  “And Heather?”

  His jaw tightened and eyes narrowed. The slight flare of his nostrils said she’d touched a sore spot. “I had nothing to do with her.”

  “But you know who she is.”

  “I know, but since she can’t help me—or your family—looks like it’s up to you.”

  “Fine. I’m here. Let them go. Please.”

  “That’s the plan.” Snake Man crossed his arms and his biceps bulged, straining the material of the shirt. “And as soon as you give me what I want, they’ll be released.”

  Emily frowned. “What is it you want?”

  “I need to know the location of the Lady Marie.”

  “What is the Lady Marie?”

  “The houseboat that went down! I want to know which lake and where on that lake it sank.”

  “Why would you think I know anything about that? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He slammed a fist on the desk and Emily jumped back. “Then I have no reason to keep you alive, do I?”

  Brady pulled to a stop in the parking lot next door to the warehouse where the cab driver had said he’d dropped Emily. Linc and the others were right behind him, being careful to stay out of sight of the windows in the building.

  With no time to get set up with COMMS, he had to use his phone. Linc was on the other end. “Note the cameras on the front,” Brady said.

  “Noted,” Linc said. “Probably some on the back too. I’ve got the blueprints on my phone. Forwarding to you. We’ve got a command truck on the way and a drone in the air. I’m sending you the link so you can watch it as well.”

  His phone buzzed. He glanced at it expecting to see the text from Linc. Instead, Emily’s number popped up.

  With an address and the words Find me here.

  “Hold on, hold on!” His heart thudded. “We’re at the wrong place.”

  “What?”

  “She managed to text me. We need to move out. Head for this address.” He sent it to Linc. “Send the drone there. Get new blueprints. Fast!”

  His phone buzzed again and he ignored the useless prints and pulled up the link so he could see what the drone saw. Two sedans, a Jeep, and a black Honda sat in front of another warehouse. With orders to move out, they took off for the second address Emily had provided, coming in slow and sleek into the next-door parking lot while hidden from the other building. His nerves itched with the impatience to get to Emily. He didn’t know how she’d managed to send the text, but he’d find that out when he located her. And he would locate her.

  11

  Where’s the Lady Marie?” Snake Man growled.

  Emily’s insides shook. He’d asked her the same question three times and the fact that she didn’t change her answer infuriated him. “I’m telling you I don’t know! I don’t know anything about a houseboat sinking on any lake, and you repeating the question isn’t going to make me know it.” When his hand hovered over the weapon resting on the desk, she drew in a deep breath. “But I . . . I can try to find out for you.”

  Snake Man reached for her and she stumbled backward into a hard chest. The man behind her shoved her forward and her thighs hit the edge of the desk. Snake Man picked up his weapon and aimed it at her head. Emily shut her eyes and wondered if her heart would explode from the frantic beat. Was she going to die for information she had no way of giving even if she wanted to?

  Another man entered the office. “Boss? Got something you need to see.”

  Emily opened her eyes to see Snake Man stiffen. “What?”

  “Not sure. Looks like some movement next door. Might not be anything, but I think we need to check it out.”

  Snake Man jabbed a finger at Emily. “We’re not done.”

  “I want to see my mother and sister.”

  He jerked his head at the man with the goatee who’d met her at the door. “Lock her in with them. The rest of you check the area.” Goatee gripped her bicep in a bruising grip. At least it wasn’t the wounded arm.

  “You don’t have to hurt me,” she said, keeping the tremble from her voice through sheer effort. “I’ll go where you want me to go.” Especially if it meant her mother and sister were there.

  He didn’t bother to acknowledge her—or loosen his grip. Instead, he drew to a stop at the room next to the office, pulled a key from his pocket, and unlocked the door. He shoved Emily inside, and her ears registered the dead bolt clicking into place even as her eyes landed on the woman and child huddling on a wooden bench in the far corner.

  “Emily?” the woman asked.

  “Mom?”

  Emily’s mother held a young girl against her. Sophia. Eleven years had passed since she’d been in the same room with her mother. Eleven long years.

  “What’s going on? What do they want?” her mother whispered.

  “I’m not exactly sure.” Emily answered automatically, but for a moment, she was suspended in time. Her gaze never left the two on the bench. Her mother’s never left her.

  “You look good,” her mother said.

  “Still on the heavy side, though, right?” She snapped her tongue with her teeth. Keep your mouth shut and the past in the past.

  With a flinch, her mother pushed her gray-flecked brown hair from her narrowed eyes. She still wore it in the same style Emily remembered from her teens. �
��They kept telling us not to be afraid, that they were going to let us go.”

  Shocked—yet relieved—that her mother didn’t acknowledge the jab, Emily crossed her arms. “Let you go?” She wasn’t sure she believed that. Neither her mother nor Sophia wore any kind of blindfolds and their captors hadn’t worn masks.

  In fact, she was quite sure that as soon as the men got what they wanted, they were all three going to die. “Of course they’ll let you go,” she said. “And as soon as they tell me what they want, I’ll give it to them and then we’ll all go home.”

  “I know you,” Sophia said.

  Emily smiled and walked over to squat in front of the girl. “I’m Emily.”

  “I’ve seen your picture.”

  “And I’ve seen yours.”

  “Mom said you’re my sister. Why don’t you ever come to visit?”

  Her mother stiffened and Emily swallowed. “It’s a long story. Right now, I need to focus on getting us out of here, okay?”

  Sophia gave a nod. “Okay. Please. I really want to go home.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Emily stood and examined the room. As far as she could tell, it was 10ʹ × 10ʹ with Sheetrock walls and tile drop-ceiling panels. Further investigation revealed a bathroom and another small office attached on the other side. “We’re trapped,” she murmured.

  “I know. I’ve already checked,” her mother said.

  Of course she had. Emily closed her eyes and pictured the office building and the surroundings. Located at the edge of Columbia, the building was one of many separated by alleyways and streets, and it blended well with the others. Even the bars on the windows wouldn’t be suspect in this area of town.

  She walked back into the room where her mother still sat holding Sophia’s hand and studied the girl. Sophia had been just barely four weeks old when Emily had left after that horrible night.

  “Get out! Get out! This is your fault! You killed him!”

  So she’d run and never looked back. Much.