by DiAnn Mills
“Okay.” He forged ahead. “I live near Sweet Briar in Tyler County. Own Snyder Construction.”
“Your name is Snyder?”
“Yes. Last night my project manager called a meeting after hours. Said it was an emergency, and Russell never exaggerates. We’ve known each other for years, like brothers. In the home construction business, problems range from upset customers to tempers flaring among the crew. When I got there, I didn’t hear the familiar sound of country-western music bursting from the sides of his truck. I knew whatever he wanted to discuss had to be serious. We waved when we got out of our trucks, but he looked pale.” He studied April. Still no response to his story. “Do you need all these details?”
“The more you tell me, the more I’m able to understand the problem.”
He nodded. “It was spitting a chilly rain. We went inside the office, and I reset the alarm. Flipped on a light. I suggested Russell take a seat, but he said he couldn’t. I watched him pace and waited for him to talk. Like you did for me.”
Isabella finished her bottle. Poor thing must not have eaten since last night. He clenched his fist at how the kidnapper had neglected his daughter’s needs. He reached into her bag for a jar of organic toddler vegetables and beef and a spoon. He popped the lid off the jar with one hand. “Could you microwave this for me?” he said. “Put it in a glass bowl for about twenty seconds. Not plastic.”
April blinked. If she denied his request, then what? But she carried Isabella to a cabinet and followed his directions. She bounced his daughter until the microwave chimed. He stood until she returned to the table.
“Where was Isabella when she was abducted?”
“With my parents. Normally she’s with me, but she needed to sleep.” Isabella folded her little hands and he quickly prayed. April touched the bowl before inserting the spoon. When Isabella opened her mouth and took a bite, he continued. “I told Russell whatever was wrong, we’d figure it out. My concern was his wife.”
“Why?”
“She’s fragile and sometimes he has to take care of her.”
“Physically or emotionally?”
“Emotionally. Tough childhood. Russell said his family had been threatened by our county sheriff, Willis Lennox, and he needed my help. We had a powerful enemy.”
“The sheriff?”
Jason nodded. “Willis is also related to Russell—his sister is Russell’s wife.” Isabella widened her mouth for April to fill it. Had he made a serious mistake in forcing a federal officer to hear him out? Was he no better than the woman who kidnapped Isabella?
God, I keep asking this, but I need Your help.
“You’re saying the county sheriff, Russell’s brother-in-law, threatened his own family?”
“I know it sounds ridiculous. Willis believes I helped his wife and son escape his abuse. He could have thought Russell knew too.”
“Did you help Willis’s family leave him?” April said.
“Whether I did or didn’t doesn’t matter.”
“I understand. You have no reason to trust me. Go on.” She had the placate-the-hostile tactic down solid.
“Russell wanted me to fix the situation. Before I could answer, someone fired through the side window.” The visceral images jarred him. “I realized Russell had been hit in his left shoulder. He jerked and staggered. I reached for him, but a second shot came through the window and got him in the chest. I helped him to the floor.” Blood spurting from Russell’s chest . . . Searching for a pulse with bloody fingers . . . Vacant eyes that signaled death.
Again, as in the moment of knowing his best friend was dead, grief sank its claws into Jason’s heart, and his stomach burned raw.
“I’m sorry, Jason,” she said.
He’d stared at the man who’d always been there for him. “Russell was the best man at my wedding. Comforted me when my wife died. The sad part is his death and my wife’s are one year apart.”
Her gaze flew to his. “Yesterday was Isabella’s birthday?”
“Yeah. We celebrated it last Sunday.”
“Take a deep breath, Jason. No need to rush. What happened next?”
Her words strengthened his resolve. “I called 911, and something akin to fury came over me. I grabbed a company baseball bat and walked out onto the sidewalk leading around the back of the office. There’s a huge parking area in front of the warehouse. A light’s mounted on the building’s roof. No signs of anyone. No sounds but insects. I called my parents. Told them about the shooting, said I’d be delayed.”
“You could have been shot too,” she said.
“My mind didn’t go there. It seemed paralyzed. I went back inside and put the bat back into the closet with the crews’ baseball equipment. Shortly afterward, two deputies arrived. They’d been in the area when the call came in. One of them is another good friend. We all went to high school together, played football, fished, hunted. I explained the shooting, showed him the broken window. We talked about me calling Carrie, Russell’s wife.”
“Did you?”
“Yes. She took the shooting hard, but I didn’t tell her he was gone. This is a part I don’t understand, but she asked if I’d shot him.”
“Why did she ask that?”
“According to Carrie, Russell claimed he and I argued earlier in the day, some nonsense about not giving the crew the day off after Thanksgiving, which we’ve always done.” He wiped Isabella’s mouth. “We hadn’t argued. She hung up on me. The ambulance arrived. I called her back and left a message that I’d meet her at Tyler County Hospital in Woodville.”
“So you left the deputies?”
He shook his head. “Willis wanted to take my statement at his office, so I drove there, and the other deputy followed me while my friend searched for evidence. When I parked my truck, Willis came from the office and jerked me out, clamped on cuffs, and charged me with murder. He said Russell had phoned him asking for help at the construction office, said I’d threatened him. I’m telling you, Russell didn’t make a call while we were there.”
“What was the other deputy’s role?”
“Willis sent him back to the crime scene.”
“Did you contact anyone?”
“I reminded him of my right to make a call, but Willis refused. I sat in a cell for the next seven hours trying to put pieces together while grieving for Russell. Then around 5 a.m., Willis released me. Claimed there’d been a mistake. Told me to get Isabella and go home.”
“Had Willis made another arrest?”
“No. I drove to my parents’ house. Tried calling them but no answer. I found my parents tied to chairs on opposite sides of the garage. I freed them and learned Isabella had been kidnapped by a masked woman.” He took a breath. “A beat-up Honda that had been at the curb was gone. I took off after the signal and followed the car to Houston.”
“What signal?” April moistened her lips. “How did you know Isabella was inside the donut shop?”
Jason pointed to an anklet, shaped like a heart pendant, on Isabella’s right foot. “It’s a tracker. I had it designed to protect my daughter after receiving a threat in my mailbox.”
April examined the anklet. “Was this before or after you helped Willis’s wife and son leave him?”
“After. I assumed the threat was from Willis.”
“In what way was he abusive to his wife?” she said. “I’m looking for a bigger picture of him.”
“He used his fists on her and their eight-year-old son.”
She cringed. “I’ll need more information about that later. If Willis released you, there are no murder charges.”
“Well, not exactly. On the road here, I found out Willis changed his story. Supposedly I overpowered him and escaped jail. Now I’m wanted for assaulting an officer and murder. Add abducting a federal officer. What I can’t figure out is why he arranged to have Isabella kidnapped.”
“Are you sure the two incidents are related?”
Jason rubbed his face. “I think so.”
“Does the sheriff know about the tracker?”
“The only ones who are aware are my parents, Russell, and maybe Carrie. The anklet requires a key to remove, and the device is monitored on my phone. My only thought is Willis planned the nabbing to get even about his missing wife and son.” Could he have handled any of this differently? Made better choices? “I wouldn’t put it past him to bargain with Isabella in exchange for the whereabouts of his family. But why frame me for murder?”
She nodded slowly. “If I had my phone, I could search for an update.”
“I’ll check.” He entered his password and navigated to a local Houston news site. There it was, and he read. “‘From Sweet Briar, Jason Snyder, wanted for murder, assaulting a county sheriff, and kidnapping, is still at large. He’s driving a green Chevy pickup truck and is considered armed and extremely dangerous. Snyder has his twelve-month-old daughter with him. The child’s grandparents, who are also guardians, reported Snyder abducted his daughter from their home. If you see Jason Snyder, call local authorities at once. Do not attempt to approach him.’” He glanced up as the reporter gave Jason’s license plate number. “The blatant lies here make me furious. Now kidnapping a federal officer will get me shot on sight.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Help me prove I’m innocent of killing Russell Edwards.”
April inhaled deeply. “Your story is . . . unusual. I can definitely call my supervisor to have him look into the reported crimes.”
Jason shook his head. She could very well set him up for an arrest. “Won’t work. I need you to go with me to Sweet Briar. Help me find the evidence to prove my innocence.”
“I’m sorry, but my work has me here in Houston.”
Jason stared into her dark-brown eyes. “For now, you have no choice.” He waved his weapon in front of her face. “Since I’m pointing a gun at you.”
Clinging to Isabella, she stared across the table. “Your actions will get you killed, Jason. Why should your daughter lose her mother and father?”
Truth flowed through her words, and for a moment he reconsidered his plan. Guilt pelted him. He’d made the right decision to find Isabella, tuck her away someplace safe, and search for what he needed to right the wrongs.
5
APRIL STUDIED JASON, looking for signs of deceit in his body language. All appearances indicated he told the truth. Could he be so delusional he believed his own lies? His wife’s death might have sent him into irrational waters. And he might have pulled the trigger on his friend. Complicated didn’t touch the way his story swung.
One trait she saw in Jason—he cared for his daughter. April would use it.
“I’m on your side,” she said. “But what about Isabella? She’s already been traumatized. How will you keep her safe?”
“I’ll take her where she’ll be well cared for and protected.”
“Like last night? Do you even have an idea of who abducted her, other than Willis may have planned it? I want to help you, but not this way.” She looked at Isabella. “If this beautiful baby were mine, I’d move heaven and earth to give her the best life has to offer.”
“No one loves her more than I do. No one.”
Confusion coiled around April’s mind. She heard the caring in his voice, saw it in his actions. “The best thing you can do for your daughter is to turn yourself in. I’ll make sure my report says you approached me for the sake of Isabella.”
“Impossible.”
The moment the word left his mouth, she recalled Benson saying it with the same desperation. Was Jason suicidal? Her heart sped. She couldn’t let that happen again, wouldn’t. “I want what’s best for you and Isabella.”
“What makes you think they’d believe me over an elected law official? I’m a documented fugitive.”
“What if Isabella were hit in cross fire?”
“I wouldn’t let a situation put her in danger. I’d surrender first.”
“What about the deputies who arrived on the scene? Won’t they vouch for your innocence?”
“Kevin, my friend, has proof of my innocence. He took photos of the crime scene and recorded the findings on his phone. He was writing a report when I left to give Willis my statement. That’s where you come in.”
“He doesn’t need me to hold his hand while he talks to the FBI.”
“Kevin isn’t the problem. Willis is. I need to find out who killed my best friend and why Willis is trying to frame me for his murder. He threatened his brother-in-law, and I’m aware of other underhanded dealings. I need you to talk to Kevin, persuade him to tell you what he knows. And hope Willis doesn’t take revenge on Kevin.”
She heard the pleading in his voice. Was it a ploy to gain her sympathies? “Why me?”
“I see compassion in you that reminds me of someone else. I think Kevin would feel better if he had support in bringing in evidence.”
The Kevin person might be able to persuade Jason to see his foolishness. “No one is above the law,” she said. “The guilty person can’t hide forever.”
“Some are clever enough to avoid justice.” He shook his head. “You don’t know what goes on in my part of the state.”
“You’re right, I have no clue. But I can arrange—”
“I’m not a crazed killer on a rampage.”
“I believe you.”
“Do you? Before I learned about Isabella being snatched, I wanted a good lawyer to make the false charges go away. I will find justice.”
“I’d feel the same way. Is there anyone here in Houston who can help? A criminal defense attorney? I know a few who have outstanding reputations.”
“Not yet, but thanks. Time for us to get going. I’ll give you ten minutes to pack.”
“I’d like to discuss this first.”
“When we’re on the road.”
She’d find a way to overpower him. His story was too bizarre to be true.
6
APRIL STUFFED AN EXTRA SET of clothes into her weekender. Once the FBI realized she was missing, they’d track her cell phone. Although Jason had her device and her Glock, the tracking ability would still be enabled.
She’d get them back.
What were the odds of a negotiator being held hostage? The phrase fight, flee, or freeze marched through her thoughts. She chose to freeze and hope Jason came to his senses. Her nightstand contained a gun, but he stood in front of it with Isabella, and she refused to risk the child’s life.
April longed for solid intel.
The image of County Sheriff Willis Lennox looked a bit Hollywood stereotypical: a corrupt public servant out to bully the people. Highly unlikely.
Jason held Isabella, giving the impression of the doting father, while his gun was tucked inside his jacket. He stood far enough away from her that she couldn’t secure the advantage. Kind words and kisses could be a disguise. What kind of father killed a man and escaped jail? If he was innocent, why not proceed according to the law?
While she added a toothbrush and toiletries to her packing, Jason asked if she had a little extra money. “Stopping at an ATM is out of the question.”
ATM security cameras were positioned to not only image him but to also capture the license plates of his truck. If she lied, he’d simply look through her wallet. “I have around two hundred dollars.”
“Once I’m a free man again, I’ll pay you back.”
“Reimbursement is the least of my worries.”
“Maybe for you, but I pay my debts.”
Peculiar fugitive. He’d pay his debt to society.
“Is there a reason why you’re not calling your deputy friend?”
The lines fanning around his brown eyes aged him. “I have a loose plan. Can’t call him from my phone since it can be traced, but I still need to take possession of the report and photos.” Through a strained voice, he continued. “I’d rather you make the exchange and take Kevin’s statement.” He slipped the diaper bag over his shoulder with April’s bag. �
��Right now, what’s important is to get on the road.”
“Jason, I see how much you love your daughter. You’ve risked your life to protect her.”
“Do you ever say anything that doesn’t sound like a textbook response?”
“I’m trying to be your friend. Let me help you.” She’d said the same thing to Benson. Learn from your mistakes.
“April, how does evil affect you?”
An odd question. How is he wanting me to respond? “Evil challenges me to end it so others can live free from fear.”
“Then keep your eyes and ears open because you’re in for a ride.” His phone rang, and he yanked it from his jean pocket. “This should be an eye-opener. I’ll put the call on speaker so you can hear how the law is handled in my neck of the woods.” He set Isabella on the bed and selected Speaker. “Hey, Willis.”
April concentrated on the phone call.
“We can put an end to this,” Willis said.
“How? Are you dropping charges?”
“It’s up to you. As it stands, you murdered Russell Edwards. He called me about twenty minutes before you killed him asking for help.”
“Russell and I were friends—he was Lily’s brother, my brother-in-law.”
“Nix the family card. Your wife’s dead. Now he is too, and you’re going to pay.”
“Two bullets came through the office window.”
“There’s no broken window to prove that, and the bullet lodged in Russell’s body.”
“The first bullet is in the wall opposite the window. Kevin put it in his report and took photos.”
“Nothing has come across my desk with those facts. Someone tampered with the security cam too. You’re not so smart after all.”
“You rigged it.”
Willis chuckled. “This can go away. You know what I want. Make it easy on yourself.”
“Blackmail, murder, and kidnapping will get you life.”
“There’s no way this will end without spilt blood. Everything you have will vanish. Just a matter of time. Wouldn’t you like to have Isabella returned?”
“Where is she?”