Logan bolted from the car and swooped toward her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Dale McGowan’s been kidnapped.” She leaned toward Logan. “How’d you know about this?”
“I was in the lobby bar of my hotel and word spread like wildfire that there was trouble at the McGowan ranch.” He took both of her hands. “I’m sorry for Mrs. McGowan, but I’m glad it’s not you.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
Logan squeezed her hands. “What does that mean?”
“Stop! Don’t come any closer.” The officer’s voice cut through their conversation.
Lana spun around to see the ranch hands, Humberto and Leggy, frozen in the white spotlight from the squad car, the kids clamped in front of them.
She disentangled her hands from Logan’s. “These two men are with the ranch. I left them with the McGowan children at my house.”
Both officers approached the ranch hands and when they’d determined the men knew nothing beyond what she’d told them, they dismissed them.
Jacobs cupped his hand and gestured toward her. “Lana, take the kids into the house and sit with them while we question them. Someone was able to reach their father, and he’s on his way.”
Taking a step back, she grabbed Logan’s sleeve. “I need my friend with me, too.”
As she and Logan followed the officers and the kids to the McGowan house, Logan dipped his head to hers and whispered in her ear, “What’s going on? Do you have something more to tell me?”
“Daniel, the boy, said the kidnappers were asking his mother about a journal.”
Logan cursed softly. “Do the police know any of this yet?”
“Not yet, but I’m gonna give ’em an earful.”
The officers gently led Carla and Daniel through an account of what they heard and saw.
Lana gave the kids encouraging smiles as her attention bounced between them and Logan as he wandered around the living room. He sauntered to the grand piano and picked up a framed photograph of Dale McGowan.
He slowly turned toward her, clutching the picture in his hands. He pointed at her and then pointed to the picture of Dale, who could’ve been her sister.
Lana nodded. Her resemblance to Dale had come in handy more than once.
When Daniel got to his part of the story, correcting Carla about the word the kidnappers were repeating, Lana cleared her throat.
Officer Jacobs glanced up. “Do you have something to add, Lana?”
“I—I think I know what might have happened.” She twisted her fingers in front of her. How crazy was this going to sound? “I’m expecting a journal from my brother. H-he died overseas recently. If you know Dale McGowan, you know we look alike. I’m thinking this is a case of mistaken identity and Dale’s kidnappers were really after me...and my brother’s journal.”
Jacobs blinked. “Why would anyone want your brother’s journal to the point of kidnapping and violence?”
“I think it contains some classified information, or information certain people don’t want released.”
Officer Zander, the female officer, pointed at Lana. “I saw you on the news tonight outside of Congressman Cordova’s office. You think this kidnapping is related to what you were talking about on TV?”
Jacobs put a hand to his head as if she’d just ruined his case. “Lana...”
The front door burst open and Bruce charged across the threshold. “Kids? Kids, are you okay?”
Carla and Daniel broke away from the officers and ran at their father, who gathered both of them in his arms. Tears stung Lana’s nose and she rubbed the tip.
Bruce pinned Jacobs with a hard stare over the top of Carla’s head. “They’re not hurt, are they? My wife’s scumbag associates didn’t hurt my children, did they?”
“Your kids are fine, Bruce, shaken up.” Lana stood up, hands on her hips. “Where were you?”
“Who are you, the detective on the case?” Bruce glared at her and shifted his gaze to Logan, his glare turning even icier.
Jacobs stood up, nervously tapping his pencil against a notebook. “The kids ran to Lana’s house, Mr. McGowan. She called 911 and made sure they were safe. Are you saying your wife had...associates who would kidnap her?”
“It could all be a ruse.” Bruce sliced one hand through the air. “Maybe Dale thought this would be a good way to spend a few days away from her home and children.”
“Are you done with the kids, Officer Jacobs? Maybe they should go to bed.” Lana shot Bruce a hard look and ran her finger across her throat.
Carla and Daniel didn’t need to hear their father attacking their mother’s character, although they’d probably heard it all before.
Officer Zander asked, “Kids, do you have anything else you want to add?”
They shook their heads and clung to their father. Of course they’d cling to their father. He provided them with everything they desired—except maybe a happy, peaceful home.
Bruce hoisted up Daniel with one arm and put his other hand on Carla’s head. “I’ll tuck them in, and then I can give you the lowdown.”
When Bruce had disappeared up the long curving staircase, Lana turned back to Jacobs. “I don’t know what Bruce thinks this is all about, but I’m telling you if the kidnappers were asking Dale about a journal, they thought she was me.”
Jacobs exchanged a look with Zander and blew out a breath. “If they were after you and this journal, why didn’t they go to your house instead of this one? Yours is just back behind the trees, isn’t it?”
“You can’t see my house from the drive, even if you know it’s there. They probably just know I live at the McG Ranch, saw the house, saw Dale, who looks an awful lot like me, and started questioning her.”
“Why the kidnapping?” Officer Zander got up and joined Logan by the piano. She plucked up the framed photo of Dale and studied it. “There is a strong resemblance.”
Logan, who’d been trying to blend in with the furniture, cleared his throat. “If Dale was insisting she didn’t have the journal and didn’t know what they were talking about, they’d want to interrogate her further, pressure her—without interruption. They didn’t want to be surprised by a husband or children or anyone else on the ranch.”
Lana shoved her hand in her pocket, tracing the butt of the gun with her fingertip. Pressure? Interrogate? She didn’t like the sound of those words at all. Poor Dale. Lana felt a stab of guilt for involving Dale in her life yet again.
Jacobs shook his head. “I don’t know, Lana. That sounds crazy, but we won’t discount it as a motive. We’ll need to talk to Bruce more. It sounds like Dale is in over her head with some shady individuals.”
“And Lana isn’t?” Logan drove his finger into the top of the piano. “If the boy, Daniel, is right, the men who abducted his mother were demanding answers about a journal. Lana knows about a journal. Dale doesn’t.”
“That’s if Daniel heard them correctly. The kid was scared.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “So, he just happened to hear the word journal?”
Officer Jacobs turned his head toward Lana. “Did you maybe ask the kids if the men said anything about a journal?”
“No.”
“I don’t know what stories Lana’s been telling, Jacobs, but I’ll tell you all about my wife.” Bruce lumbered down the stairs brushing his hands together.
“Are the children okay?” Officer Zander walked away from the piano, taking the framed picture of Dale with her.
“The kids are fine. Daniel’s already asleep and Carla’s in bed. It might take her longer to fall asleep after what she witnessed.”
Lana took a step forward. “Should I...?”
“No.” Bruce sliced a hand through the air. “She’ll be fine. I’ll check on her after I talk to the police.”
Zander held up the phot
o of Dale. “Do you want us to use this picture of your wife?”
“That’ll work...if she wants to be found.” Bruce stationed himself in front of the wet bar and lifted the lid from a crystal decanter. “Drink, anyone?”
“C’mon, Bruce.” Jacobs jerked his finger between his chest and Zander’s. “You know we’re on duty.”
“Then I guess it’s just me because I don’t think Lana and her...friend need to be here anymore, do they?”
“Unless you can tell me anything more about who might want this journal of yours, Lana, I think we’re done.”
Logan crossed his arms and widened his stance in the middle of the room. “Isn’t it enough that she’s in danger from these people? If they brazenly snatched Mrs. McGowan out of her own home with her children upstairs, don’t you think they’d do the same to Lana once they realize their mistake?”
Jacobs twitched at Bruce’s snort from across the room and said, “We don’t know for sure what happened here tonight. I’m going to call in the crime scene investigators to look at any prints in the house or tire tracks out front.”
“Except our prints are all over the crime scene now, aren’t they?” Logan held his hands in front of him, spreading his fingers. “And our tire tracks.”
Bruce lifted his drink and swirled the amber liquid in the glass. “You two can leave now while I tell the officers the real reason for this so-called kidnapping.”
Lana stood up and put her hand on Logan’s forearm, corded with tension. “Let’s go. Hopefully they won’t hurt Dale once they realize she’s not me. I’m glad the kids are okay.”
When they got outside, Lana puffed out a breath, watching it take shape in the frosty air. “It was scary enough when Carla and Daniel showed up on my doorstep and told me their mother had been forcibly removed from their home in a kidnapping, but when Daniel said they’d been badgering her about a journal, I knew. I knew they’d come for me.”
She grabbed the front of Logan’s shirt. “I’m not crazy, am I? You thought the same thing.”
“Of course, especially once I saw a photo of Dale McGowan. The two men who snatched Dale must’ve had a picture of you or had seen you on the news and had the address of the McG Ranch in Greenvale and went from there. They probably didn’t pay any attention to Dale’s disclaimers about the journal because why would you admit to having it?”
Lana’s boots crunched the gravel as she made her way back to her house, tucked safely behind the trees. And Logan’s boots crunched right beside hers. “Will they hurt Dale once they discover their mistake? Will they discover their mistake?”
“If Dale can’t convince them they have the wrong woman, the news will. I’m sure the kidnapping of Bruce McGowan’s wife is going to be splashed all over town tomorrow.”
“I-if they keep their ski masks on and Dale can’t identify them, there’s no reason for them to kill her or even harm her, right?”
Logan rubbed a circle on her back and it shouldn’t have given her so much comfort, but he had that effect on her.
“I know you’re worried about Dale and I am, too, but I’m more concerned about you. They must really want Gil’s journal to go to these extremes to get their hands on it.” He paused on the porch step below her, which still wasn’t enough to put them eye-to-eye. “Who did you tell about the journal? Have you mentioned it in any of your interviews or news conferences?”
“I might have mentioned it once or twice.” She dropped her head and kicked the side of the porch with the toe of her boot. “Pretty stupid, huh?”
He wedged a finger beneath her chin, tilting up her head. “If I didn’t realize the lengths someone was willing to travel to get that journal, how could you possibly know? Don’t beat yourself up about it. Your safety is of greater concern right now.”
“I have that covered.” Lana patted her pocket.
Logan grabbed the outside of her jacket pocket, juggling the heft of her gun with his palm. “When did you arm yourself?”
“Before I went to the big house.”
“Good idea.” Taking a step down, he tilted back his head. “Do you have any security here? Cameras? Light sensors?”
“No. Bruce doesn’t even have cameras at the big house. I don’t know why, since he’s always worried about the ranch hands stealing from him.” She pressed her lips together.
“That’s no way to run a ranch. Does he have reason to worry?”
“Absolutely not. You saw Humberto and Leggy. They’d do anything for Bruce’s family, anything for this ranch.”
“He’s generally a miserable person who makes everyone else miserable. Like I said, no way to run a ranch.”
“That’s Bruce.”
A pair of footsteps crunched in the darkness and Lana shoved her hand back in her pocket as Logan turned and blocked her body with his.
“Lana, you okay?”
Her shoulders slumped and she put a hand on Logan’s arm. “It’s Humberto. I’m fine, Humberto.”
The ranch hand stepped forward, Leggy behind him. “Do the police know who took Mrs. McGowan?”
“Not yet. Bruce is with the police now, giving them all kinds of reasons why his wife might’ve been kidnapped—all her fault, I’m sure.”
Leggy pointed at Logan. “Is this guy staying with you tonight, Lana?”
She sucked in a quick breath. She wished. “This is Logan Hess. Logan, this is Humberto Garcia and Larry Kroger, otherwise known as Leggy.”
Logan jumped from the porch and shook the men’s hands. “I wasn’t invited to spend the night, but I’d be okay with you two standing guard.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. They’re not going to come back tonight after we called the police. I can protect myself.”
Humberto shrugged. “Mr. McGowan already ordered his man Jaeger to stand watch at the front gate. The least Leggy and me can do is keep a lookout over your place.”
“I agree.” Logan smacked Humberto on the back. “Excellent idea.”
“You guys need your sleep, and you—” she jabbed her finger in Logan’s direction “—don’t need to encourage them.”
“We don’t need no encouragement, Lana.” Leggy lifted his rifle from his side. “We’re doin’ it.”
Logan twisted his head over his shoulder. “I guess it’s settled. You’ve got yourself a couple of bodyguards.”
Before Lana could object any further, Humberto and Leggy unfolded the chairs they had slung over their backs, shook out a couple of blankets and made themselves comfortable in front of her house—or as comfortable as they could be with rifles across their laps.
Logan jogged up the steps. “And I’m going to have a look around your house before I leave.”
She unlocked her door and pushed it open. “I guess you guys don’t think a woman can protect herself.”
“The more layers of defense, the better.” Logan left her standing by the front door as he checked out all her windows and the sliding door that led from her kitchen to a small patio in the back. He jiggled the handle. “I don’t like this.”
“It’s a sliding glass door with a lock. What’s not to like?”
“Someone could cut the glass by the handle and unlock it. Wouldn’t even have to smash the window.” He crouched down and ran a finger along the track. “Do you have a long piece of wood like a yardstick or something I can wedge in here?”
Her gaze lit on the fireplace tools by the hearth. “I have something better.”
She selected a poker from the rack and brought it to Logan. “Will this work?”
“That’ll do it.” He took the poker from her and inserted it in the door’s track, wedging shut the slider. “This way if someone unlocks the door, he still won’t be able to slide it open.”
“Do you want to check out the bedroom and bathroom, too?”
“Lead the way.”
She took him to the short hallway and pointed out the bathroom. “There’s just a small window in there. I don’t think a grown man or woman could fit through.”
Sticking his head into the room, he flicked the light. “That should be okay.”
He followed her into the bedroom and checked out the two windows. “Not bad.”
“Humberto and Leggy know there’s a door and windows in the back, so I’m sure their sentry duty will include a reconnaissance around back.”
“I’ll remind them on my way out.” He squeezed past her, his hand brushing the bedspread on her queen-size bed that would be too small for the two of them. “Are you going to be okay? Helluva day.”
She blinked and tossed her hair over one shoulder. “A worse one for Dale...and the kids.”
He walked to the front door and she trailed after him, dragging her feet. She’d have to show him out now, even though she’d prefer his company to Humberto’s and Leggy’s.
As he stepped onto the porch, Logan paused. “One silver lining to all this?”
“Do tell.”
“They don’t have Gil’s journal or they wouldn’t be looking for it.”
Fifteen minutes later with her guards out front, Lana peeled back the covers on her bed and crawled between the sheets. She mumbled a prayer for Dale’s safety, and then curled one arm beneath her head.
She lay staring at the ceiling. Her phone, charging on her nightstand, buzzed once. Her heart fluttered for a second. Maybe Logan couldn’t get her out of his head, either, and had texted her a good-night.
She reached for the phone and turned it over. Tapping the message icon, she brought the glowing phone close to her face. A message from Dale popped up, and Lana swallowed against her dry throat as she touched the screen with her fingertip.
The words screamed at her:
Give them the journal or they’re going to kill me...and you.
Chapter Five
Logan stretched out across the bed, his boots dangling off the edge, and folded his hands on his stomach as he watched the blinking red light on the smoke detector in the corner of the room.
The men who’d kidnapped Dale McGowan had made a fatal error. They’d lost their element of surprise by snatching the wrong woman. Now Lana, and the people close to her, had a heads-up. Not that he considered himself one of the people close to Lana—although he wanted to be.
Enemy Infiltration Page 5