by Rebecca Deel
Heidi knew the basics of what Quinn had survived in their hometown. She’d searched for his name on the Internet over the years. The time when he’d been on active duty, there was no news in their hometown newspaper. Now that she knew about his work, Heidi wasn’t surprised about the silence. Quinn kept a low profile even after he separated from the military.
“Whenever you’re ready, babe,” he murmured. “Take your time.”
Might as well get this discussion behind her. Refusing to talk about the past hadn’t made the memories easier to live with. Grabbing the tattered remnants of her courage, she said, “My sister and I were sleeping the night we were taken. We shared a room, much to my ten-year-old dismay. I didn’t think I should be made to share a room with a baby of eight.” She stopped as grief threatened to overwhelm her. Twenty years and the wound was jagged and fresh. Would she ever lose the pain over Moira’s death?
Quinn covered her hand with his. The ugly story couldn’t be told by anyone else. Drawing strength from the contact, she said, “Moira had a bad cold. We must have been sleeping for a few hours before we were taken from our beds.”
“You don’t remember being snatched and hauled outside?” Dane asked, skepticism evident.
“According to the police reports, Dad used chloroform on us so we wouldn’t wake our sister or mother. The crime scene techs found two cloths reeking of chloroform on the floor of our bedroom. Dad and his partner carried us into the woods. A trail led to the subdivision with the house where we were held.”
“Why didn’t they drive to the hideout?” Angel asked. “Tough to carry dead weight.”
“We lived in a small town,” Quinn said. “Would have been easy for someone to recognize the car. Gossip was a local pastime. Secrets were impossible to keep, especially when someone was always awake.” A small smile curved his lips. “I never got away with anything.”
“When did you wake up, Heidi?” Dane asked.
“Moira and I were already inside the house when the chloroform wore off. We didn’t know where we were.”
“How did your father hide his identity?”
“He didn’t. His partner stayed with us. Dad never returned to the house.” Her lips curled. “He had a role to play, after all. The grieving father, desperate to save his children.”
“Did his partner say anything to you?” Quinn asked. “Give any hints to his identity?”
“He whispered so we never heard his voice. If we had, we might have recognized him.” She shivered. “It was creepy.” Heidi swallowed hard. “Moira was so scared. I tried to comfort her, but I was as frightened as she was.” Two terrified children shoring up each other. Impossible to do when neither understood what was happening or why.
“You’re sure the other kidnapper was a man?”
“Positive. He had big, strong hands with dark hair on his arm.”
“Caucasian?”
She nodded.
“Any distinguishing marks or scars?”
A hesitation, then, “A tattoo.”
“What kind?”
Here came the disbelief. Why should they believe her when the police had been skeptical? “I don’t know. I’ve blocked most of the details from my mind. I tried to picture the tattoo in my mind, but it’s still a blur.”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay, baby. Did you see this man’s face?”
Cold sweat formed on the back of her neck.
“That’s enough, Quinn,” Levi snapped. “Back off. Can’t you see she’s been traumatized enough?”
Quinn ignored her cousin. “Heidi?” His gaze held confidence that she’d handle the questions, no matter how tough. She prayed he was right.
“I don’t know.”
“Why do you say that?” Angel prompted.
“I still have nightmares about being held captive. In the dreams, I see a man’s face, but it’s shrouded in fog so I can’t distinguish any features.” She sighed. “Then again, I could be dreaming with no basis in reality, hoping to find closure for myself.”
“Your father never identified his partner?” Quinn asked.
“I think Dad was afraid to identify him.”
“Is it possible the partner is trying to kill you?” Dane asked.
“He’s the only one I know of who might want me dead.”
“What about your mother and sister?” Angel leaned her folded arms on the table. “Would they know who this man is? Can we ask them what they know?”
“They’re dead, too.”
Angel paled. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“House fire.”
“Another arson?” This from Dane.
Rio freshened Heidi’s coffee in silence. He squeezed her shoulder before starting a fresh pot of coffee.
“They died one week after my younger sister and I were abducted.”
“Ironic,” he muttered.
“Tragic,” Quinn said with a pointed look at the younger Fortress operative. “Heidi, who investigated the kidnapping and fire?”
“Detective Ivan Bennett. Why?”
“Might be worth talking to him about what’s been happening to you.” He paused. “Unless you’ve touched base with him over the years.”
“Not since I turned eighteen. Levi went with me to request a copy of the police report. My copy burned in one of the house fires. I never went back for another.”
“Bennett might be willing to talk to us. Can’t hurt to try.”
Levi snorted. “If he’s still alive. He was nearing retirement fifteen years ago.”
“Won’t take long to find out,” Quinn said. “If he’s dead, someone else will remember.”
“We shouldn’t leave town right now.” Heidi sipped her coffee.
“Why not?” Her cousin scowled. “It’s the safest thing for you to do. If the second kidnapper is trying to kill you, he won’t expect you to return to Black River.”
“She’s right.” Rio returned to the table and sat on the other side of Heidi. “The Otter Creek police might need her S & R skills in the next few days.”
“Heidi’s not putting her life in danger on the off chance that the cops might need her,” Levi insisted.
“It’s more than a chance,” Heidi said. “I promised the police chief I would be available to track an escaped prisoner heading this direction. He might already be here for all I know. The bombing has kept me out of the loop.”
“You can’t track someone that dangerous.”
If he only knew how dangerous Muehller was, Levi wouldn’t allow her to leave the house. “Not your decision, Levi. This guy is targeting the chief’s pregnant wife. Serena Blackhawk deserves to have her baby in peace and safety.”
“If Heidi searches for Muehller, she won’t be alone.” Quinn laced his fingers through Heidi’s. “My team and I will be with her. Nothing will happen to her on our watch.”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
“He’d have to go through me to reach Heidi and that won’t happen.” Quinn turned to her. “Sweetheart, I don’t want to make this harder than necessary. Finish the story. I know you were held two days before you escaped.”
He was right. Time to finish the story and find out if someone else knew a fact that might help unravel the arsonist’s identity. “Moira and I were kept in a room with the door locked.”
“Windows?” Rio prompted.
“Boarded up. The only reason we knew it was daylight was the sunlight seeping through a crack in the wood. We had enough light to see each other.”
“What about electricity? Were you able to turn on a light?”
She nodded. “Leaks in the roof left stains on one wall. It was damp and musty, smelled of mold and mildew. Moira was already sick. I think the conditions in that house made her worse. Her fever spiked and she cried constantly for Mom.” Tears welled and spilled down Heidi’s cheeks as the memory of her baby sister’s misery swamped her. “The second kidnapper told her to shut up, that Moira was driving him insane.” Her voice broke on t
hat last word. “When she still cried, he used a pillow to muffle the sound. He suffocated her.”
“How did you escape?” Quinn asked.
“The man panicked when he realized Moira was dead. He raced from the room to the phone and called someone to help him get rid of the body. In his panic, he forgot to lock me in. I slipped from the house. As soon as I was outside, I ran as fast as I could to find help for Moira. I hoped that the man was wrong and I could save her, but Moira was gone.”
“How horrible,” Angel murmured. “I’m sorry you went through that. How soon did the police realize your father was behind the kidnapping?”
“The day of my sister’s funeral. I think they’d been piecing everything together.” She wiped the tears from her face. “My father couldn’t keep his story straight. Once he realized his partner killed Moira, everything fell apart. Dad confessed to everything.”
“Why did he set this plan in motion?” Quinn pressed his jeans-clad thigh against hers. “What was his motive?”
“Money. Unknown to us, Dad was having an affair. He needed money to start a new life with this other woman in Mexico. The lady wanted to live in Acapulco.” Her lips curled.
“Were you aware of your father’s activities?”
“He fooled all of us.”
“Did you learn the woman’s name?” Angel asked, a scowl on her face.
She shook her head.
“Your turn, Quinn,” Rio said. “What happened from your side?”
“The night Heidi and Moira disappeared, my father received a phone call from his business partner, begging him for money to save his daughters. Dad urged Henderson to go to the police, told him kidnappings never ended well without the help of law enforcement, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He had a note from the kidnappers threatening to kill the girls if he didn’t come up with five million dollars in cash within 48 hours. The note said they were watching Henderson and would know if he contacted the police.”
“Why didn’t your father go to the cops?” Dane asked.
“You don’t understand. Our parents were best friends. Dad never suspected Henderson was behind the ransom demand.”
“Did your father get the money?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Where did he find that much cash?”
“The company coffers. Dad owned a majority stake in the company. He had to sign all financial transactions. G & H Industries was doing well at the time. That amount of money cleaned out the bank account and they still didn’t have enough. So thinking about the sweet little girls who were in danger, Dad borrowed against our house. He also tapped his and Mom’s personal account. To save Heidi and Moira, he drained every penny we had.”
“Oh, Quinn.” Heidi squeezed his hand. “You must have hated us. We ruined your life.”
He gathered her into his arms despite her cousin’s frown. “No, baby. Never you or the rest of your family. You were as much victims of the scheme as we were.”
“Finish the story,” Rio said.
“There isn’t much more to tell. Dad believed Henderson was telling the truth until the police arrested him. Dad tried to keep the company afloat, but there wasn’t enough cash to pay the bills and the bank refused to extend credit to G & H or to Dad personally. Within a few weeks, the company was bankrupt and so were we. My father took his own life. G & H employed half the people in Black River. When the company went under, most of them either went bankrupt or moved. It devastated the town. My father couldn’t live with the guilt that he’d ruined so many people’s lives with a desire to save children that weren’t his own.”
“But it was never his fault,” Heidi protested. “Why didn’t he lay the blame where it belonged, at my father’s feet?”
Quinn hugged her a little tighter. “Dad had a lot of pride.”
No wonder Quinn had been so angry when she first admitted her identity. What she found more amazing was that he saw past her name to the woman she had grown into.
“What about the five million dollars?” Dane asked. “Did the police recover the money?”
He shook his head. “They assumed the partner disappeared with the cash.”
Angel looked at Heidi a moment, then shifted her attention to Quinn. “Why now?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“If the second kidnapper is behind Heidi’s problems, why did he wait this long?”
“He didn’t,” Levi pointed out. “This creep has tried to burn us alive several times over the last fifteen years.”
“Heidi has been attacked twice in as many days. There was a five year gap between when he killed her family and when he went after yours. From then on, the fires were about once a year. Why the sudden escalation now? He went from toying with you to real attempts to kill you. What changed?”
Heidi’s eyes widened. Good question. What had changed?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Quinn glanced away from the road to Heidi for a few seconds. She’d been quiet since they climbed into his SUV to locate a map and explore Dunlap County. Too quiet. The discussion at her dining table had been difficult. No one wanted to visit the past, especially when that past was filled with so much heartache. Hadn’t been a pleasant time of reminiscing for him, either.
No matter what it took, he’d unmask her arsonist. In the meantime, he would support and care for her. The truth was he did care. More than made logical sense and more than he wanted at this early stage of their dating relationship. So what did that mean? He didn’t know, but he also couldn’t wait to find out. “Talk to me, Heidi.”
“We dug into the past and bared our souls, for all the good it did. No earth-shaking revelations, no spotlight on the killer. We dragged ourselves through the muck and mud for nothing.”
“I’m not so sure about that. We can explore the connection to Detective Bennett now that we have his name.”
“If he’s willing to talk to us. Cops are a close-mouthed lot.”
“With the exception of the kidnapping, you’ve been a suspect. I can’t see why Bennett or his partner wouldn’t share information. The money is still missing and the second kidnapper has yet to be identified. If Bennett or his partner would rather talk to another law enforcement officer, I’ll have Nick contact him. If that fails, I’ll turn the tech geeks at Fortress loose with their mad hacking skills, see if they get anywhere. If the information is in an electronic file, the techs will find it.”
“What about the fires? A cop will suspect I’m behind the blazes. Bennett might wonder if I’m mentally stable. I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t take me in for a psych evaluation.”
“There’s no proof you started the fires. Besides, they can’t be traced to you because you weren’t using your birth name. The only fires Bennett knows about are the ones that killed the rest of your family. Whoever has this cold case will be interested in any information that could solve this case. Small town cop shops take murder personally, and when the victim is a child, everyone wants justice.”
He drove to the Otter Creek town square and parked in front of Del’s bookstore. Quinn opened the passenger door for Heidi, then escorted her inside the store.
Heidi gawked at the large stock of books Del kept on hand. “This is amazing!”
“Thank you.” Del came around the counter, a broad smile on her face. “Welcome to Otter Creek Books, Heidi. I’m glad you stopped in.” She gave Quinn a quick hug. “What can I help you find?”
Quinn turned to Heidi. “Do you want to look around while I talk to Del?”
She smiled. “I’d love to.”
“Come to the coffee bar when you’re finished.”
Del glanced at her part-time sales assistant. “Annie, show Heidi around the store. I’ll watch the front desk.”
The red-haired grandmother of four rambunctious grandsons led Heidi to the second floor to start the tour, chattering as though Heidi were a long-lost friend. Typical Annie. She never met a stranger, which was a real boon for Del’s business. Her assistant knew ever
ybody in town. If you were a reader, she kept up with your reading habits, ready with a suggestion for the next book. Quinn smiled. That’s how he’d ended up with so many books in his possession. Yeah, he loved to read before going to bed, but his towering TBR stack was due more to his reluctance to disappoint Annie than his desire for yet another book. By the time Annie brought Heidi back to the cash register, his girlfriend’s arms would be full of books.
“How are you?” Del nudged Quinn toward the coffee bar. “Josh told me what happened yesterday.”
“I’m fine.”
One eyebrow went up.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m a little sore, but seriously, I’m okay.”
“Heidi?”
“The same.” The fact that she had recovered as well as she had spoke volumes about her fitness and the angle of impact with the wall and ground.
“She’s lucky.”
The sound of Heidi’s laughter drifted down the stairs, drawing his attention to the second floor. “I know,” he admitted, voice soft. He tried not to think about the “what-ifs.” The worst hadn’t happened. Heidi was still here and, by some miracle, had agreed to date him.
“Do you know who the mastermind was behind the bomb?”
“Not yet. My ride is in pieces and charred. Nate said the bomb was a simple design. I doubt Otter Creek’s finest will find a signature left behind by a professional bomber. Fortress is looking into it as well.”
Del slid him a mug of coffee across the counter. “Was the bomb aimed at you in retaliation for a mission?”
Quinn sipped the hot liquid, taking his time before replying. Wouldn’t be fair to blow off her concern. She had a valid reason to worry. Del cared about each member of Durango. But her focus was on her husband’s safety. “It’s possible. Zane hasn’t found anything to indicate that Durango is a target for revenge.”
“If there had been rumors or threats against Josh or the rest of you, would you tell me?”
“I wouldn’t have to, sweetheart.” He squeezed her hand. “The minute a threat is suspected, our women will know. We don’t take your safety lightly.”
Her eyes closed a moment. When she opened them again, Del’s gaze was filled with remorse. “I’m sorry. I know better. Josh has never held anything back from me. Wouldn’t be like him to start now.”