Trumped Up Charges

by Joanna Wayne

  She couldn’t have counted on Hadley leaving her purse, but she could have taken advantage of it. More likely she’d planned to leave it in Janice’s hospital room but then hadn’t gotten the chance when they’d arrived.

  The meeting she’d had on Monday with her brother could have been a strategy session or maybe just the opportunity he needed to enlist her. Or maybe Quinton wasn’t involved at all. No one saw her with him on Monday. She could have carried out the abduction all by herself. The girls would have gone with her without crying, especially if she’d convinced them they were playing a trick on their mother.

  Lane was savvy and experienced. He’d come to the same conclusions. Matilda was already on his radar.

  Adam examined the envelope more carefully. “This feels like a phone and maybe a video case. Do you want to call Lane?”

  “No. Not until I know what’s in it. He made it clear today that he considers me a suspect. He might decide I shouldn’t be privy to the contents.”

  He ripped the tab and reached inside. As suspected, he pulled out a DVD in an unmarked plastic cover and a disposable phone that could’ve been picked up at any truck stop or convenience store.

  “My laptop’s in my truck. We can go down and play the video there. But once you’ve seen it, I think you should call Lane. There’s a chance that the kidnapper was caught on a hospital security camera and Lane has the authority to confiscate the film.”

  “I didn’t even think of that,” she admitted. “I’ll call the detective as soon as we’ve watched the video. Is that all that’s in the envelope? No note to explain the phone?”

  Adam checked again. “No note. Whatever he wants you to know must be on the disk.”

  He put a hand to the small of her back. His instinct was to put his arms around her, but the rules that defined their new relationship were vague and tenuous. He didn’t want to do anything that she would misread and cause her to be uneasy with him.

  She needed someone to trust. He needed to be that man. Semper Fi.

  “I need to make a quick stop by Mother’s room and let her know that I’ll be staying at your father’s ranch.”

  “She won’t like it. She doesn’t like much of anything about me.”

  “I know, but I need to keep her in the loop. I don’t want her to hear from Lane that I’ve disappeared. I guess I should tell him where I’m staying, as well, although he has no trouble getting in touch with me by phone. Plus all my calls are monitored—which obviously the kidnapper realizes.”

  “Hold off on telling Lane where you’re staying until Fred Casey arrives. I’m not sure how he handles working with the police.”

  “I’d rather not say anything to Mother about the video yet. I’ll call her after we see it—if it’s good news.”

  The last of the words were only a whisper. More like a prayer, Adam thought. A prayer that echoed in his mind.

  Dr. Gates approached them just outside her mother’s door. “I was hoping I’d catch you before you left the hospital,” he said. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting downstairs. The surgery took longer than expected.”

  “I understand. And then something came up and I had to rush off. Mother mentioned an infection. Is it serious?”

  “Not if she stays on the infusion of antibiotics we’re shooting into her bloodstream. But she keeps insisting that you need her and that she’s leaving the hospital whether I release her or not. She’s a very headstrong woman and you and her granddaughters mean the world to her.”

  “I know. I do need her, but I need her well and healthy again. I’ll talk to her.”

  “I appreciate that. How are you holding up?”

  “One minute I think I’m doing well, the next I think I’m losing my mind.”

  “I can prescribe something to help with the anxiety if you’d like.”

  “Maybe later, but not yet.”

  “My wife said to tell you that the members of her Bible Study group are all praying for you.”

  “Thank her for me. That means a lot.”

  The doctor left and Adam waited outside while she talked to her mother. He knew the visit would be brief this time. The video with the kidnapper’s next message was calling.

  There were dozens of hideous possibilities for what the video might reveal, scenarios that would destroy Hadley.

  But there was a better chance they’d get directions for how the ransom was to be handled. He was counting on a nice, direct description of how he—or she—wanted the ransom handled. After that, Fred Casey would be put to the test.

  * * *

  HADLEY BARELY DARED to breathe as they took the elevator to the second floor of the hospital parking garage. Dread and anticipation battled inside her.

  She so desperately needed this to be a plan of action for getting her girls back. Yet she could never escape the fact that as long as Lacy and Lila were in the kidnapper’s hands, a million things could go wrong.

  “Wait here,” Adam said when they reached his truck. “I’ll set the computer on the hood. That way we can both get a good viewing angle.”

  Once the computer was in place and up and running, Adam took the DVD from its case. “Are you ready?”

  She took a deep breath hoping that would slow the rapid drumming of her heart. “I’m ready.”

  A haunting lullaby played in the background as the screen went from black to a shot of water drops falling on the camera lens.

  The music stopped, replaced by laughing and the squeal of high-pitched voices. Lacy’s and Lila’s voices. Hadley’s fingernails dug into the palms of her hands.

  Then suddenly the close-up of water drops changed to a grassy square of land and a squirting water hose. Lacy and Lila were dancing in the spray. They were dressed only in training panties that Hadley didn’t recognize.

  But they were safe and laughing.

  Tears of relief burned the back of Hadley’s eyelids and then escaped to roll down her cheeks. The screen went black. The message followed.

  “Your daughters are adorable, Hadley. It would be a shame for them to have to die. But that’s up to you.”

  The chilling words were delivered in a disguised voice. A male voice, she thought, though she couldn’t be sure.

  Adam slipped an arm around her waist as the message continued.

  “I will call you on the phone when I’m ready to exchange them for the five million dollars. Have the money ready. Any sign of cops or deceit and you will never see Lila and Lacy again. They send their love.”

  Adam called the messenger a few choice names. She agreed with them, but nothing could steal the respite that seeing the girls alive and happy had given her.

  “They’re alive, Adam. I can deal with anything knowing that.”

  The tears flowed like a summer rain, soft and warm on her cheeks. Adam’s arms tightened around her. Her head fell to his shoulders and she gave into the need to be wrapped in his embrace.

  Her girls were alive. She and Adam would get them back. They were in this together now and they’d let nothing stand in their way.

  * * *

  ADAM HATED THE EMOTIONS that erupted inside him. Feeling anything except empathy for Hadley was dangerous and would lead to complications neither of them were ready for.

  Even if she wanted him back in her life, the reasons he’d walked out on her hadn’t changed. If anything the chance of any kind of meaningful relationship had grown slimmer. Now they had the added strain of more than three years of distrust and resentment.

  But it was useless to lie to himself. In spite of what he’d told himself time and time again, he’d never gotten over her. He doubted that any man could.

  And yet her ex hadn’t come running to her rescue the way Adam had.

  The tears subsided and Hadley pulled away. His arms felt empty. The rest of him felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. With all they had to deal with, he was crazy to let her nearness get to him.

  “I’d like to look at the video again,” he said. “I’d like to study
the more subtle details, see if there’s any background or sounds that might suggest a location.”

  “I thought it looked like the kind of patio-size yard you have with a condo,” Hadley said.

  “I agree. It’s too hot to stand around in the garage. There’s a roadside park on the way to the ranch. We could grab a sandwich somewhere and sit in the shade to eat and study the video.”

  “I might even be able to choke down some food now that I know the girls are alive.”

  They seemed to be unharmed—for now. Though he wouldn’t dream of saying it out loud, the kidnapper’s message had unnerved him. No matter how good Fred Casey was, a thousand things could still go wrong with the transfer, especially since they didn’t have five million dollars.

  Fred had said they wouldn’t need it. But Adam figured the kidnapper meant exactly what he’d threatened. It was expertise and sanity against a madman. He didn’t like the odds.

  Adam powered down the computer. “Do you want to call Lane now?”

  “Not now. You heard what the kidnapper said. No cops. I can’t take chances. Besides, isn’t Fred supposed to run the show from here on out?”

  Adam checked his watch. “Yes, and his airplane should be on the ground at DFW by the time we get to the ranch.”

  The ranch and the reunion with R.J. As they say in combat, the easy way is always mined.

  * * *

  R.J. LADLED THE warmed-over chicken and dumplings into a cracked pottery bowl. The fragrant odors made his mouth water. He wasn’t much of a cook himself, but his neighbor, Carolina, was as good a cook as she was pretty.

  Every old man fighting a losing battle with a brain tumor needed a neighbor like her. Come to think of it, he wondered if his daughter, Jade, could cook.

  Probably not. Her mother couldn’t scramble an egg without it tasting like cardboard and that was a fact. She’d had other talents, though. He smiled just thinking about those.

  All in all, he couldn’t complain about any of the mothers of his six kids. They could sure complain about him, though. He reckoned most of them did.

  One complaint they couldn’t make if they were honest. He might have been late on some of his child support payments, but he never missed one entirely. Not even in the beginning when his bad habits chewed up his income like that old goat he’d kept around for a while back in the eighties.

  Seemed like yesterday. That was the thing about time. It flies whether you’re having fun or not.

  R.J. set his bowl on the table and then went back for a spoon. His memory was less dependable by the day. According to the doctor, it would get worse. Not much to look forward to.

  For a few weeks there, he’d looked forward to his five sons and Jade moving back to the ranch. Stupid of him to think he could force them into one big, close family when they had no use for him.

  All but Adam had stuck around to ask a few questions yesterday. None had indicated they’d be back anytime soon.

  R.J. picked up the remote and turned on the TV for the noontime news. He blew across a forkful of chicken to cool it as the commercial ended and the blonde newscaster smiled into the camera, making it look like she was smiling right at him.

  Always nice to get smiled at by a good-looking gal even if the smile was fake and she didn’t know he existed.

  The lead story was about those two twin girls who had gone missing from the bedroom in their grandmother’s house yesterday. A man who’d do something like that was just stirring up hell with a long spoon.

  “...Adam Dalton, a veteran...”

  “Whoa. What was that?” R.J. grabbed the remote and backed up for a repeat.

  “No arrests have been made, but police say they’re investigating several persons of interest in the case including Adam Dalton, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who’d moved back to the Dallas/Fort Worth area less than a month ago.

  “When our reporters tried to talk to Hadley O’Sullivan, she and Adam Dalton refused to comment.”

  “Well, don’t that just beat all.” Adam was mixed up with the mother of the missing girls. No wonder he lit out so fast yesterday. He wondered if Adam could be involved in the kidnapping.

  Not likely. Jerri would have raised him better than that. Maybe he should give Jerri a call. He’d have to give that a bit more thought. Might be better to contact Adam and see if there was anything R.J. could do to help.

  Maybe later, he decided. Only fools jumped into the fray when they hadn’t been invited. Actually, he could be wrong about that. He supposed a good father might jump into trouble to help out his son on occasion.

  He finished his chicken and dumplings and carried his dishes to the sink. If he was going to think this through properly, he’d have to go saddle up Dooley. He always thought better on the back of a horse.

  Old memories invaded his mind. Adam had loved horses, too. From the time he was first walking, he’d been fascinated by them. R.J. would sit him in the saddle and Adam would grin like a possum. Never showed fear, that boy.

  From what Meghan Lambert had learned about him during her investigation, Adam had never shown fear as a marine, either. That had almost cost him his life.

  Hadley O’Sullivan was lucky to have him on her side.

  * * *

  HADLEY FORCED DOWN another bite of sandwich. She’d been hungry when she started, but no matter how much relief the beginning of the video offered, the ending always turned her stomach.

  They’d watched it three times now, parts of it in slow motion. If there were clues as to where it had been filmed, they were well-hidden.

  “I’ve seen enough,” she said. “I’m ready to go when you are.” She wadded the rest of her sandwich into her napkin and carried it to the nearest trash can.

  When she came back, Adam was perched on the top of the picnic table watching her. He patted the spot next to him. She slid onto the wooden table and rested her feet on the bench.

  “I hate to bring this up again, Hadley, but I’d really like to have a better handle on your relationship with the girls’ father before we talk to Fred. I know he’s going to ask as I’m sure Lane did before I showed up yesterday.”

  “It was one of the first questions Lane asked.”

  “That makes sense, especially since it looks like an inside job.”

  “He’s not involved. But I’m sure Lane followed up to ascertain that for himself.”

  “I’m not trying to be nosy. I just don’t want any surprises at the last minute. Just tell me what you told the detective and I won’t ask you again.”

  But she’d gone too far to settle for that. Adam had every right to know the whole truth. She realized that now. That didn’t make this any easier. Now she had to figure out where to start.

  “I was four months pregnant when Jim and I married.”

  “I didn’t realize that. All I heard was that you were married and expecting.”

  “We separated a month before the girls were born.”

  “Odd timing.”

  “The marriage was a mistake. We knew it from the beginning. I was vulnerable and alone and there were health concerns connected to the pregnancy. Jim’s a caretaker. He fancied himself in love with me and wanted be there for me.”

  “Sounds like a great guy.”

  “He is, but I wasn’t in love with him. I didn’t want to use him, so I decided it was time to stand on my own two feet—very swollen feet at the time. Besides, he had a job offer in California. I didn’t want to stand in the way.”

  “Is he still in California?”

  “Yes, and fortunately married to a wonderful woman. They have a new baby boy.”

  She slid off the table and moved a few steps away from him, hoping she could think clearer if he wasn’t so near.

  “There’s more,” she said. “I suggest you stay seated for this.”

  Chapter Eight

  Hadley looked anxious and uneasy, as if she were afraid that the next step might send her flying over a cliff. Or like she was about to confess a ca
rdinal sin. All of a sudden, Adam wasn’t sure he wanted to hear more.

  “You don’t have to say more.”

  “Actually, I do. I should have found a way to get word to you years ago, Adam.” Her voice broke and she turned away from him. “Lila and Lacy are your daughters. I was pregnant before you shipped out.”

  Adam heard the words, but it took all his powers of concentration to make them sink in. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive. They couldn’t be anyone else’s. I hadn’t had sex with anyone but you for over eighteen months before I conceived. I haven’t been with another man since you.”

  “But the marriage...”

  “Was a sham,” making a statement of his question. “It was never consummated.”

  All the months he’d lain in that hospital, agonizing over her making love to another man, all the long nights when he’d survived on bitterness that she could forget him so easily.

  Had she been clinging to the love they’d shared, resenting him, feeling betrayed as he had? But he could have never married someone else.

  “Why didn’t you tell me I was going to be a father? Why didn’t you give me a chance to do right by you?”

  “Don’t turn this all around to me, Adam. I laughed and cried for joy when my pregnancy test came back positive. We were going to be married. We’d have each other and a head start on the big family I’ve always wanted. I couldn’t wait to be a family.”

  “But you didn’t even send me an email.”

  “No, I wanted to wait until I saw the doctor and was sure. The day he confirmed what I already knew, I got your letter. You’d met someone else.”

  Only he hadn’t met another woman. He’d met an ambush. He’d become damaged goods. He couldn’t move his legs and the doctors weren’t sure he would ever walk again. Worse, he was still only half a man. He couldn’t saddle Hadley with that. And he couldn’t abide her staying with him out of pity.

  Life was a bitch, especially for an injured warrior.

  “I have two daughters,” he said, his mind still struggling with that fact. And now they were missing.

  “Suppose I hadn’t shown up at your door yesterday,” he questioned. “Would you have tried to find me and let me know that my daughters were in danger?”