“Yeah, I just saw Brad, um, Warden Jericho upstairs. He told me where to find you. It looks like he’s going to be a while. There’s an issue with the guard situation with Ramsey. I offered to handle it, but I’m sure I don’t have to tell you why Brad wanted to handle it himself.”
“No, you don’t. Would you like to sit down, have a cup of bad coffee with me?”
He waved away the invite. “Actually, Brad asked me to take you back to his house and stay with you until he gets there. There’s no sense in you staying here when you could at least be pretending to get some sleep in a bed.”
This had Brad Jericho written all over it even though she’d only known the man three days now. Just like him to engineer her departure from the hospital. A part of her wanted to refuse but another snore from Aaron reminded her she’d kept him up half of the night. If he was going to be any good at the office today, he needed to catch a few hours of decent sleep.
Downing held up one hand. “I told Brad you weren’t going to be happy about this.”
Kate shook her head. “No, it’s okay. He’s probably right.” Although she’d never admit it to him. She shook Aaron’s shoulder and his eyes popped open wide.
“Wha…? What is it?” He sat up, scratched his face.
“It’s already three, Aaron. I’m going back to Brad’s house. You should go home and sleep some before you go into the office.” She could only imagine how much damage he’d do to the interns if he didn’t get at least four hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Aaron blinked away the last remnants of sleep. “You sure? I can stay with you, or you can come home with me.” He got to his feet, stretched and yawned. “I don’t mind.”
“No, it’s fine. Go home.” She kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t really do anything.” He smiled in response to her affection. “You call me after you get some sleep, you hear?”
“Yes, sir.” Kate watched him walk away to make sure he was right on his feet before she favored Deputy Downing with a smile. “Well, I guess Brad’s planned both of our mornings, then, hasn’t he?”
“I don’t mind.” He took hold of her elbow as they walked toward the double exit doors.
“So who’s manning the prison?”
“We have a couple of captains, and we all take shifts. Otherwise Brad and I would both work twelve-hour days. Although, honestly, sometimes he does anyway.” Once they were out in the early-morning darkness, Downing pressed his key fob and a shiny white Mercedes beeped in response.
“He does strike me as the workaholic type, although I can’t really say much about that as most of my awake hours are spent working.”
He opened the door for her. “I hear you.”
Kate shifted in the seat and buckled the belt. Once Downing slid in beside her she resumed the conversation. “I imagine your wife doesn’t appreciate your long work hours.”
Downing gave her a questioning look, then his gaze dropped to his wedding ring. “You don’t miss much, do you?”
“It’s kind of my business to notice things, but that was an easy one.”
He started the engine. “Right now my wife and kids are out of town, so my schedule’s a little flexible. The second they’re back, the ship gets a new captain.”
Kate laughed. It was nice to be able to talk to someone about something other than John Ramsey or how safe she was going to be that hour. Forever had passed since she last felt like anything but a victim. This little glimpse was beyond welcome, especially since she didn’t know when her life would return to normal.
Brad left Ramsey’s room and took the stairs to the waiting room on the first floor. Except for a man sleeping on one of the uncomfortable couches, it was empty. He checked his watch, irritation building. He’d only been gone an hour and a half. Where in the hell had Kate gone now? And why did she have such a hard time listening?
He checked with the desk attendant, who hadn’t seen Kate leave. His cell was in his hand before he realized he hadn’t gotten Aaron Kendrick’s phone number. Frustration swelled to a higher level.
“Dammit, Kate.” Hoping she’d had Aaron take her back to his house, he called her cell. No answer.
Next he called The Chronicle, but the answering service couldn’t give out Aaron’s home or cell number. He left a message, but the telephone operator couldn’t tell him what time Aaron would get to work.
His body protesting at the lack of sleep and brutal pace, he drove home with more speed than finesse only to find it empty. Not even a sign that Kate had been back, and no note. He’d given her a key, so there was no reason why she couldn’t have returned if she’d been that tired. Of course, there was no reason why she couldn’t have left word at the hospital, called him or found him before she’d left either.
Once he found her, they were going to have to come to an understanding about her departures without notification. He’d been in the hospital with her and she couldn’t take two minutes to tell him where she was going?
She wanted to regain control but she was going about it the wrong way. Ramsey in the hospital was a hell of a lot more dangerous than the man in prison, and the last thing Kate needed to be was off on her own.
So why in the hell couldn’t he make her see that?
“You just missed the exit to Brad’s house.” Kate pointed over her right shoulder.
Downing looked at her before returning his attention to the road ahead. “I’m sorry, Kate, but I’m not taking you to Brad’s house.”
Panic bubbled up inside her, but she fought it back. Kate turned her head to look at him. “Then where are you taking me?” She kept her voice calm, neutral, but inside her heart jumped frantically.
His hands gripped the steering wheel so tight she saw the blood restriction. “I didn’t want to do this.”
The oxygen inside the car seemed to dissipate, making it difficult to breathe. “You’re working with Ramsey?” Just asking the question aloud doused her in horror. How could she not have seen this? No, that wasn’t right. She couldn’t blame herself. There hadn’t been any signs. Not even Brad had seen this one coming.
Downing shook his head violently. “No. No. I’m not working with him. I’m not even working for him, but I have to do this.”
“Why?” She inched her hand up, tried the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. “If you’re not Ramsey’s student, why are you doing this?”
The car veered to the right sharply and Downing accelerated off the highway, taking the exit ramp to an area of North Charleston she’d visited a few times on assignment. “He has my wife and kids.” The moment he said the words he began to cry. “He’s taken my family, and if I don’t do what he wants me to do, he’ll kill them.”
“How do you even know they’re still alive, David? Ramsey is a liar, a killer. He can’t be trusted and you’re helping him get to me. Do you know what he’ll do to me?” Though her aim was to reason with the deputy warden, fear forced her to push him. “How could you help a man like that?”
“Weren’t you listening?” All trace of tears gone, Downing shouted at her. “He had one of his former cellmates kidnap my family! I’ve seen the pictures. They’re so scared. I have to protect them. Can’t you understand that?”
“Can’t you understand they might not even be alive? What makes you think you can trust a killer to keep his word?” She shouted in return and, taking her chances, leaned over and yanked the wheel hard to the right.
Downing smacked her back against the seat, righting the wheel before he could lose control. “Don’t do that again.” His voice sounded dull, as though he was resigned to his fate.
Kate touched her stinging lip with her fingertips. She wanted desperately to believe this was all a nightmare but the pain told the truth. She had no idea where Downing was taking her, no way to get in touch with Brad, and he didn’t even know she was missing.
Chapter Ten
Three hours later, after calling half of the staff on The Chronicle’s masthead, Brad finally
managed to get Aaron Kendrick on the phone. He didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “Where’s Kate?”
“What? Who in the hell is this?” the gruff voice barked back.
“Brad Jericho. Is Kate with you?”
“No, she isn’t with me. She went to your house to get some sleep.”
Brad’s stomach sank. “When? When did she leave the hospital?”
“I guess it was about three.” Silence descended a second before Kendrick asked, “Kate’s not there, is she?”
“No. She’s not. How did she leave?”
“Hell. I don’t know. I’d fallen asleep on the couch in the waiting room. She woke me up and told me to go home.” His voice was edged with panic. “Wait. There was a guy there. Someone with her, but Kate didn’t act scared. She was fine.”
“Can you describe the guy?”
“Yes. No. I had just woken up. I should have paid better attention.” Kendrick berated himself. “But she acted like she knew him.”
“Which means she probably did.” So who did Kate trust well enough to leave the hospital with?
“So that’s a good thing, right, if she knew him?” Aaron blew out a breath. “I’ll start calling her—”
“No,” Brad interrupted. “We don’t want to worry anyone unnecessarily. It’s possible she’s fine.” Though his gut told him differently. “Do you think you’d recognize the guy again if you saw him?”
“I wish I could say yes but…” Aaron’s words trailed off.
Brad’s hands clenched. While a part of him wanted to snap, to ask the guy what he’d been thinking to let Kate just walk out of the hospital, he didn’t want to add to Kendrick’s burden. From the sound of it the editor would beat himself up enough without Brad’s help.
“That’s okay. Look, we’ll find her. Just give me your cell phone number and as soon as I hear anything I’ll give you a call.” Brad jotted down the number and relayed his own.
After ending the conversation with Kendrick, he lowered his cell to his desk and tried to remember how to breathe. He’d been a detective far too long not to trust his instincts, and right now everything within him was telling him Kate wasn’t fine.
He raked one hand through his hair, considered what to do next. Without sufficient proof that she was actually missing, the police wouldn’t do a damn thing. But maybe he still had enough leverage with his former captain. He needed more resources than he had if he was going to find her.
When he picked up the phone to make the call, his hand shook. Deep breaths didn’t really help. Besides that, he needed the pure adrenaline racing through his veins. He’d relied on it many times in the past when sleep hadn’t been an option.
Now there was no way he was closing his eyes until he found Kate.
The abandoned house didn’t have electricity, and David Downing apologized for that as he tied Kate’s hands to a chair inside what used to be a bedroom. “I know it’ll be hot but you shouldn’t have to stay here long.”
“Before what? You pass me over to Ramsey? That is your plan, isn’t it? To help Ramsey escape from the hospital and bring him here? Or maybe you’re just going to give him the address, let him enjoy the hunt a bit more.” Bitterness dripped from every syllable but, in truth, Kate used the emotion as a tool.
She needed to keep David off guard, sequester him in guilt mode, so maybe she’d stand a fighting chance. He wasn’t a bad guy but if she couldn’t make him see he couldn’t trust Ramsey, then her only other option would be to help him make a mistake.
“Stop it.” His teeth were clenched. “I don’t want to do this.”
“You have other choices.” As he tightened the rope around her hands, she searched the room for an exposed nail, a broken board, anything that would be able to slice through the thick strands.
David straightened and fisted his hands in his hair. “What choices? Were you not listening when I said Ramsey has my family? You tell me you wouldn’t do whatever it took to save someone you love?”
Spying a row of rusty nails sticking out from a weather-beaten piece of wood in the corner of the dingy room, she straightened in the chair, trying to turn his attention back to her face. “I wouldn’t hurt someone else.” She prayed he wouldn’t scope out the room before he left. He had to leave her alone. Her heart thumped wildly. But would he? Did he have someone else helping him? Ramsey’s cellmate, maybe? The thought dried up all the saliva in her mouth.
His lips curving into a twisted smile, David faced her. “Is that right? Well, let me tell you something, Miss Elliott. If you truly love someone, you will do whatever it takes to ensure their safety. The consequences don’t matter. Just seeing their face again, knowing you did everything you could do to protect them. That’s what matters.”
“You don’t even have proof of life besides a few pictures that could have been taken right before they were killed.” Kate pushed another button, hoping to goad him enough to get him out of the room. Even if he didn’t intend to leave her alone, maybe she could push him out, force him to get some air, anything to enable her to get to that piece of wood.
“Will you stop saying things like that?” He screamed at her, his face as red as a maraschino cherry. He backed away from her, waving a hand. “You don’t know anything about my family. They are alive. I would know if they weren’t.” His palm covered his heart. “I’d feel it inside. You don’t understand that because you don’t have someone in your life, someone who means everything to you.”
Kate shut out his words. They meant nothing. The only way he could hurt her was by turning her over to Ramsey. Before that happened, she would be free. She wasn’t going down without a fight.
Downing’s cell phone rang. He answered it with a trembling voice, then immediately apologized to his caller. “Sorry. My allergies are acting up. Sure. I can be there in twenty minutes. No problem.”
He’s leaving. Hope took root. Once he was gone she could work her way over to that piece of wood. Her mind focused on each step, she mapped out her escape plan.
Instead of leaving right away, he walked to one of the boarded windows, pressed his hand against the wood. “I really am sorry that I have to do this. I never thought I’d ever be capable of hurting anyone, especially a woman, but I’ve discovered that it doesn’t matter what you want to do. What you have to do is more important.”
“Once Brad finds out, none of this will matter, David. You’ll end up in a cell in the same prison with Ramsey because Brad won’t care about why you’re doing this.”
He nodded. “I know. You might think I’m heartless, Kate, but it’s killing me to think about what this will do to my life. It doesn’t matter, though. As long as my wife and kids get back home safely, I’ll deal with the rest as it happens.”
“You make it sound so easy.” Kate shook her head. “I don’t know you, David, but I believe this isn’t who you are. Go to Brad. Talk to him. Let him help you. The police can find your family.”
Downing turned his cell phone over in his hands, staring at the display screen. “I used to think so, but the longer I went without involving anyone else, the harder it became to believe. Ramsey’s cellmate is watching me. I haven’t seen him, but I know he’s there. If I make one wrong move, my family is dead. It’s not worth the risk.”
He turned his back to her and walked toward the door of bedroom. “I don’t care what happens to me anyway.”
“Don’t you think your family will care?” If they’re still alive. Kate wasn’t so sure. Ramsey tied up loose ends, and to him Downing’s family would be a loose end that might be tracked back to him.
“I guess we’ll see.”
She listened to his footsteps as he walked out of the room and toward the front door of the house. They echoed across rotting floorboards, and the door creaked when he opened it.
Outside, very little traffic passed, which told Kate they were in a more deserted area of town. That lessened her chances of being found, which only doubled her determination to free herself.
“Even if she is officially missing, you can’t be involved in a police search.” Captain Roddingham had never been one to sugarcoat anything.
“I’m already involved, Captain.” Brad closed the door of Kate’s house behind him as he walked out onto the porch. “It’s been six hours without any sign of her. After what’s happened the last couple of days, you know as well as I do she didn’t just go for a drive on her own.”
“I’ll admit it sounds suspicious, and I’ll do what I can from this end. But we don’t have a lot to go on, Jericho. And Ramsey is still in the hospital. We have no reason to believe he’s behind this or that she’s even been abducted.”
“What about the guy who took her?”
“Kendrick said she knew him.”
Brad wanted to hit something. “That doesn’t mean he’s one of the good guys.”
Roddingham muttered an agreement. “Have you talked to her family?”
“No. She wouldn’t want them to worry.”
“I thought you just met this woman.”
“Trust me on this one, Captain.”
“Fine. I’ll authorize an unofficial search, but let me stress again you can’t be involved. You’re not on the job anymore, Jericho. Don’t make me have to arrest you.”
Brad turned the key in the ignition. “You do what you have to do and I’ll do the same. But I’m not going to sit on the sidelines. I made Kate my responsibility when I told her I would protect her.”
“I know all about that ego of yours. Just don’t let it get you killed.” Roddingham hung up before Brad could respond. Not that there was anything left to say.
At least the captain would get a search started. They could cover the ground he couldn’t. A beep from his cell phone reminded him he had to get back to the prison. The thought irritated him. Right now his job meant damn little to him.
Now You See Me Page 10