by Box Set
“I already ordered some. It should be here soon.”
“I can’t believe I fainted.”
“You were scared.” He stopped as if searching for the right thing to say. “I don’t want to scare you more by admitting he’s a horrible man, but I don’t want you to beat yourself up for reacting the way you did. I would have wet my pants.”
I giggled at the thought. “You would not.”
“I totally would have. Then I would have passed out in a puddle of my own urine.”
Now I was laughing hard.
My brother looked over in alarm. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” Hearst said. “She’s laughing.”
“What’s she laughing about?” Graham asked.
“The image of me, passed out in a puddle of my urine,” he said.
My brother smiled. “I can see how that would do it.”
Hearst laughed. “Whatever I can do to help.”
Joshua stood suddenly. “Your soup’s here,” he said. “I’ll get it.”
“Thank you,” Hearst said.
“Did you get a lot?” I asked.
I got a bowl for you, a bowl for me, and a spare for whichever one of them moves fastest.”
“And,” I said.
“And what?”
“You’ve never ordered from them without getting spinach dip and chicken fajitas.”
“This could be the first time.”
“It’s not,” I said.
“No. It’s not.” He stood and helped me up. “We can’t eat soup on the couch.”
Once I settled in a stool at the kitchen island, I was starving.
Joshua brought the food up, all four bags of it.
My brother perked up. “That looks like too much food for you two.”
“I ordered enough for all of us,” Hearst said.
“Let me pay you back,” Graham said.
“No, it’s the least my parents can do.”
Graham thought for a second and then nodded. “I can’t argue with that logic.”
I ate two bowls of soup while the others binged on the more solid options.
“Which couch is mine?” Joe asked when we had finished eating.
“You don’t have to stay, Joe,” Graham said.
“I wouldn’t try to stop me if I were you,” my godfather answered.
“We’ve got another bed down in the storage room,” Graham said. “I guess we should bring it up and put it in the spare room.”
The bed had been my father’s. He hadn’t used it in a long time. He’d been in a hospital bed for over a year.
“I’ll get it,” Joshua said.
“I can help,” Hearst said, jumping up.
“I can do the dishes,” I said, grabbing for the empty containers and tossing them in the trash. “Done.”
“I don’t like the choices you and your brother made this week, Townsey,” Joe said. “You took so many risks.”
“What other choices could we have made, Joe?” I asked. “We made the right choices.”
The older man frowned. “I never said you didn’t.”
“I’m not dizzy at all, Graham. Is it okay if I go take a shower?”
“Yes,” he said. “Close the bathroom door but don’t lock it. Once Hearst gets back, he can wait in your room in case you feel sick.”
“You’re sending the Angel of Death in after your sick sister?” I asked.
My brother gave me a sheepish grin. “He’s no Angel of Death. I get that now.”
Chapter 17
I listened to a song by Why to help me get to sleep. The words helped build up my courage. Hearst was right. I was strong. I was humming it the next morning when I went into the living room, but stopped when I heard Graham and Joe arguing.
“What choice do we have, Graham?” Joe shouted. “We can’t send her into hiding. She’s been through too much already. She needs you. She needs her friends.”
“We aren’t putting her in danger like that. My sister isn’t going to be used as bait.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We’re working on some things, Townsey,” Joe said. “We aren’t ready to share them with you yet.”
“Get something to eat and drink,” Graham said. “We can go finish this downstairs.”
“I don’t want to be alone,” I said quickly.
“Sorry,” Graham said. “Hearst is in my shower. We can wait until he gets out.”
“I wish that woman had never contacted you,” Joe said.
“No. I don’t wish that. I’m glad she did.”
Graham looked at me in surprise. “Even now?”
“Yes. She didn’t have anybody, and she had two kids to worry about. As bad as this feels, as scared as I am, she must have been ten times worse. Maybe a hundred times worse.” I met my brother’s gaze. “I wouldn’t want her to live that way.”
“We know this guy is dirty, Townsey,” Joe said. “We know he’s neck deep in crime. If nothing else, the deaths of his wives and his brother. We just can’t find enough to take him down.”
“But we’re going to keep looking,” Graham said. “We will bring him down.”
“It would be a lot easier if you could charge him with kidnapping though, wouldn’t it?”
“Townsey, no,” Graham said.
“Joe thinks that’s our only option. To use me as bait.”
“No. We were talking. We haven’t weighed all the options.” Joe frowned at me.
“I can do it. If it’s the only way, I can let him take me.” I shivered. “Just be sure to find me fast.”
“We’ll find another way,” my brother said, anger in his voice.
“Maybe a body double,” Joe said, sounding hopeful. “We have some young women on the force. Let me pull up their photos. A couple of inches, a couple of pounds. None of that would matter too much. Let’s see if there’s anybody who looks enough like Townsey to do the job.”
“They aren’t going to believe we left her unattended,” Graham said.
“No, but if we put the officer with the boyfriend, they might believe she would sneak out to see him.”
“You can’t use Hearst,” I said. “Find another body double.”
Graham and Joe shared a look.
“The boy’s rather unique,” Joe said.
“Then you better start looking,” I said. I went to the refrigerator for the orange juice and poured myself a glass. “Graham can help with the makeup.”
I left them to discuss it and went into Graham’s room to wait for Hearst. No way was I letting Hearst risk his life. If Doug grabbed him and a police officer, he would be furious. He’d kill them both. I was sure of it. They’d never manage a rescue in time.
If they decided to use Hearst, I was going to be the bait. I had no other choice.
* * *
The female officer was moving in with us for the duration. She was nice. Seemed smart. I liked her fine. I didn’t think she’d fool anybody. She was two inches taller than me, and she weighed ten pounds less. They were putting a layer of sweats on under a pair of my jeans. I didn’t mind that part. I really didn’t.
The part I minded was that she watched every move I made and mimicked it. It was like having Jared Leto studying me for a movie role. She was all method. All me all the time. I knew she had a better chance of fooling Doug if she moved like me and had my mannerisms. We had to assume he had watched video of me at Sharon’s house. We had to assume he’d spot a poor substitute.
The plan for Saturday night was to send Officer Thomas out as me to sneak a phone call to someone. She’d loiter behind the building for a few minutes and then sneak back in. As if I would be that stupid.
The plan for Sunday night was for me to sneak out. Well, the woman would sneak out and slip into Hearst’s car.
More aggravating than my permanent shadow was the fact that Hearst had to go home to his house. I couldn’t sneak out to meet him if he was already here all the time.
I knew Jo
e and Graham were hoping Doug would bite on Saturday and grab the woman when she made the phone call. I was seventeen, and I knew he wouldn’t take that big of a risk.
Right at dusk, she went out to try to tempt them. She had tracking devices in place, and she did look a lot like me in my clothes.
Twenty minutes later, she was back inside.
“Tomorrow night, then,” Graham said.
I went to my room and called Hearst. “It’s not going to work,” I said. “At first I thought they were going to grab you both. Now I don’t think they’ll bother. They know she’s a fake.”
“Then you don’t need to worry,” he said. “I can’t get hurt if they don’t bother to kidnap us.”
“They need a better plan,” I said.
“They have all day tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll come up with one.”
“I can’t stand being cooped up here.”
“You’re welcome to come over here. I’m lonely. It’s just me and the two guys standing out there guarding me.”
“That’s a great idea,” I said.
“Wait. What?”
“I’ll come to your house.”
“How are you going to manage that?”
“You come here like they planned. But you come an hour early, and I’ll sneak out. Instead of Officer Thomas, it will be me.”
“I’m not risking your life.”
“Party pooper,” I said.
“By Monday, they are going to take their shot at grabbing you. It won’t be too much longer.”
“She’s wearing my favorite pair of boots,” I grumbled.
Hearst laughed. “I’ll get you new ones for Christmas.”
“I’ll still be locked up in here at Christmas,” I said.
“Go to sleep.”
“Stay on the phone with me until I fall asleep,” I said.
“Okay. I can do that.”
He talked to me for a while about the video game he was playing. It was mindless and calm and didn’t involve creepy weirdos trying to kill me. I fell asleep.
* * *
Sunday night, Officer Thomas got in the car with Hearst. They drove to his house and hung out for a while. Then they drove back to the loft. Nobody came near them on their journey.
“This isn’t working,” Joe said on Monday at breakfast. He’d increased his donut intake as his frustration grew. “We’re sending Officer Thomas home. We’ll be obvious about it.”
“Townsey can’t go to school. The chance for him to take her from there is too high. He could take them all hostage. It would be easier to lock himself in than bring her out,” Graham said.
My phone buzzed, and I checked the text. Liz sent me a picture.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Oh my God.” I ran over to Joe and handed him my phone. “They’ve got Liz.”
I couldn’t breathe. Liz was duct-taped to a chair, with her mouth taped as well. She had her uniform on. The picture was real.
“They’ve got Liz, Graham. We have to help her!”
My brother looked helplessly at Joe.
My phone rang a few seconds later. Joe answered. “What are your demands?”
Doug had Liz. He would eat her alive. Felicity could give him a run for his money, but Liz would withdraw into herself.
Joe hung up the phone. “We need to work out of the station. I’ll have somebody pick up Liz’s parents.”
“Single mother,” I said. “What did he say?”
“He wants to trade her for you.”
“Then let’s do it,” I said. “I can hold up better than Liz. He’ll kill her. He’ll keep me alive longer. He’ll want to get his revenge before he kills me.”
“Townsey,” Graham said, “are you listening to yourself?”
“She’s my friend. I’m no more important than she is. So let him have me. Let him take me and then you’ll figure out a way to find me. Right now we have no way of finding Liz.”
“We can’t do that, Townsey,” Joe said. “We’ll get a team working on finding her, but we can’t trade one hostage for another.”
“Get dressed,” Graham said. “We’ll go to the police station too.”
I went to my room and changed out of my shorts and t-shirt for some jeans and the Admiral High hoodie.
Joe and Graham had gone down to the office. I grabbed my purse and went down the stairs, slipping under the rail before I got to the bottom and going out the back exit door instead of the side door into the agency. I ran over to the black sedan, felt along the left rear wheel-well, and pulled off the magnetic box with the spare key. Two seconds later, I was on my way.
I didn’t think too much about what I was doing. It was stupid, rash, and pretty certain to get me killed. Liz was my friend. She wasn’t going to suffer for my choices. I took responsibility for the choices I made. I helped Sharon escape. I’d be the one to face the consequences.
I hit the interstate and drove eight miles over the speed limit. Joe didn’t have an APB out for me yet, or if he did, there wasn’t anybody in the area to respond. I took the familiar exit and drove down the road and into Sharon’s neighborhood. I gunned it and drove the car right up into the neighbor’s lawn. I got out and walked the short distance to the door.
The nosy neighbor from the other night opened the door before I knocked.
“Call Doug and tell him to release my friend,” I said. “Then you can take me to him.”
The man pulled a gun and aimed it at me.
“I came here willingly,” I said, trying not to call him an idiot. “Call Doug. I want my friend safe at the police station in the next fifteen minutes.”
“You aren’t in any position to make demands,” he said with a sneer.
“Actually, I am.” I pulled out my pistol and aimed it at him. “I can still get away. You know Doug would dismember you if you accidentally killed me. Plus, there are a lot of police looking for me right about now.” I nodded at the car on the lawn. “I think they’ll find me pretty fast.”
He pulled out his phone and called Doug. He explained what was happening. “Yes, sir. I know we need to get out of here right away. There’s just one complication.” He sighed. “I have my gun trained on her. The problem is that she has a gun on me, too.” His face turned red. “I realize that you don’t care if she kills me. But you do want to grab her while you can. Once the police get here, you aren’t going to get another chance at her.”
The henchman was smarter than I thought.
“Yes, sir. We’ll get in the car and wait for word that the Chinese girl is safe.”
“She isn’t Chinese,” I said.
“Let’s get in my car. He said to give him three minutes and you’d be able to confirm that she’s been released.”
“Three minutes is cutting it close,” I said.
“I don’t hear any sirens yet,” he said. “Maybe they decided to let you take your chances.”
“No,” I said, smiling at him. “I have a family who loves me. They’re coming for me.”
He led the way to the garage and we got in and started the car. We’d gotten lazy with keeping the guns pointed at each other, but there was no question that if one of use fired, the other would too. I stared at my phone. “Two minutes,” I said. “Nothing yet.”
Then I got it. Two photos from Liz’s phone. One of her standing in front of a gas station and another of her inside at the counter talking to the clerk. He had released her.
I grinned. She was safe. I looked up to tell the henchman, but all I saw was the butt of his gun before he clocked me with it.
* * *
“You’re an idiot,” the man said. “She’s no good to me like this.”
“You wouldn’t have her if it weren’t for me,” another man said. “She’ll wake up eventually.”
“I’m not so sure,” the man muttered cruelly.
“Do you want me to leave?” the other man asked.
“You can’t leave, you idiot,” he said. “They know you have the girl.
Her car is parked in your front yard. They must be looking for any sign of you or your vehicle. You aren’t going anywhere.”
I tried to get a look at my surroundings by opening my eyes a tiny bit.
This monster had me in his clutches, and I had to find a way to get free. It took all my self-control to pretend I was still unconscious, but right now, it was my best chance for buying time.
I didn’t know where we were, how long it had taken to get here, or whether there were any other houses around. Getting knocked unconscious hadn’t been my plan. Staying unconscious was the best plan B I had though.
I smelled gasoline and the faint odor of motor oil. I thought it was a residential garage, but it could just as easily be a commercial building. What had the henchman done with my phone? Had he kept it? If so, my brother might be able to find me. I didn’t have any other trackers. Maybe I should have gotten one implanted like Sharon had. At least I would have a chance if I had.
How else could they track us? They’d know for a fact that I was with the idiot. No way had he taken time to move my car out of his front yard. They’d try to track him with his phone. That would be difficult if they didn’t have his information. What else could they track?
Buying time remained my best hope. I focused on staying limp and relaxed on the concrete floor. If I tensed up, they might realize I was conscious.
“She’s going to be out for hours,” Doug snapped. “Tie her up in case she isn’t. I’m not standing around waiting. I’ll get to her when I’m good and ready. Everybody knows I like them awake. I like them awake and scared.”
I was awake, and the idea that he had a habit of kidnapping women and scaring them sent shards of ice-cold terror shooting through my veins. What did he do to these women? What did he have planned for me?
I listened as Doug left the garage and went into the house. Then the henchman came close to tie me up. I wanted to fight him and run. I wasn’t sure I could fool him into believing I was unconscious if he was moving me around and tying me up. I wasn’t sure I’d get away once I was tied up. I struggled to breathe normally and fight back the rising panic.
“No appreciation at all for the work I do,” the idiot said as he rolled me onto my side. He grabbed my arms one at a time and brought them behind me. “And calling me an idiot on top of it. I don’t like when people call me stupid.” He continued to grumble and complain as he tied my wrists together. Then he went to the garage door and into the house the way that his boss had gone.