Chapter1

by Ribbon of Rain

  Kat held out her hand to Carl. For all she knew, he could turn his anger against Maria to her. “Shall we?”

  “Gracious, as well as beautiful. I’ve found quite a prize.”

  Carl sat and helped himself to large portions of the numerous dishes Maria brought from the kitchen. The wine settled in Kat’s stomach like a watermelon. The rich Mexican food made her nauseous. Looking for a dish that would do the least harm, she spied a green salad. She reached for it as if it were a lifeline.

  “Come now, Katherine,” the silky voice rustled over the table. “You must eat more than that. Although you’re a pretty little package, I wouldn’t want you any thinner.”

  Christ. He talked about her as if she were an animal being fattened up for slaughter. A giggle rose in her throat. That might not be far off the mark.

  The meal continued in silence. Kat did her best to eat the salad, but no matter how long she chewed the food, it refused to go down without water.

  “I’m going to put my proposition on the table now. What you do with it will decide your fate.”

  Kat stiffened. Now he had her attention. The queasiness in her stomach temporarily forgotten, she focused on him. “I’m listening.”

  “It’s no secret I want Loon Lake Lodge.” His long tapered fingers buttered a roll. “Your parents refused to sell, and a few days ago, you did the same. Have you changed your mind?”

  Was this a trick question? Kat held herself immobile, trying to figure out the rules of his game. “I’ll never stop loving my home.” She hedged the question but answered truthfully.

  “I take that as a no.”

  She squirmed in her chair. “You’re putting me in a difficult situation, Carl. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

  “As usual, you’re right. As I see it, I’ve got three choices. I make you disappear and deal with Elizabeth as the surviving heir.” He stopped speaking and Kat knew he was gauging her reaction. She gave him no satisfaction.

  “Or, I force you into marriage, and on the honeymoon you’ll have a fatal accident.” Again he paused.

  Jaw thrust forward, she blurted out her thoughts. “Let’s hear the third option. Can’t say I’m too thrilled with the first two.”

  Carl brushed a crumb from his sleeve before answering. An air of arrogance settled over him, creating icy chills deep in her bones. “Your third choice is to marry me willingly.”

  Kat was too astonished to react. He couldn’t be serious. Her eyes searched his in an attempt to ferret the truth.

  “Sounds far-fetched, doesn’t it?” Reaching across the table, he poured them each a cup of coffee.

  Kat nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

  “I assure you I’m serious. We’d make a good team.”

  “Would I be your prisoner for the rest of my life? Unable to come and go as I please?”

  “Not as long as I could trust you not to double cross me.”

  Her hands wrapped around her coffee cup. “Then, I guess you have yourself a bride.” She hoped God wouldn’t strike her dead. She didn’t even want to live in the same zip code as Carl Winter, never mind marry the man. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

  He smiled. “I’ll make the arrangements. We’ll get married the day after tomorrow.”

  Kat lowered her eyes to prevent him from seeing the terror she knew would be reflected there. The day after tomorrow was too soon. What was she going to do?

  *****

  The elevator wasn’t moving fast enough for Jude. Anxious to find Kat, he paced back and forth in the small confines.

  “For Christ’s sake, Jude. Stand still.”

  Frank’s irritation irked him. “I need to find Kat, Frank. God knows what that maniac has done to her.”

  “I’ve told you…”

  “I know.” Jude cut Cody off in mid-sentence. “She can take care of herself.”

  “You are quite attached to this young lady,” Frank commented.

  “She means everything to me.” Jude refused to further satisfy Frank’s curiosity.

  Four o’clock in the afternoon and people still bustled around the Bureau as if it were mid-day. The three headed toward Frank’s office, Red at Jude’s side.

  “Hey, Frank, what’s with the dog?”

  “Hi, Jude, how’d the wilderness trip go?”

  None of them exchanged pleasantries with the other agents. They stalked to Frank’s office as if on a mission. Frank picked up the phone and dialed an internal extension before he even sat behind his desk. “Hogan? Do you have that information I requested? Good. Bring it to my office. Now, not five minutes from now.”

  Agent Hogan arrived carrying a stack of paper at least two feet high. At Frank’s disgruntled look, Hogan smirked. “I tried to tell you.”

  “Where’s Perkins?”

  “Locked in the conference room threatening to sue you, the Agency and the entire United States government. He’s demanding to know what he’s charged with and wants a lawyer.”

  Frank sighed and rubbed the middle of his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Shit. What a mess.”

  Jude began thumbing through the listings of Carl’s properties. “Are these in any order? Alphabetically or according to States?”

  The question earned him a disgusted look from Hogan. “Didn’t have time. Christ, the man incorporated a hundred fifty holding companies.”

  “Fucking great.”

  “Eliminate anything that isn’t a border property,” Cody suggested.

  “Look. I’ve been thinking. Just because we heard his pawns say they’d be going to Texas doesn’t mean that’s where Winter whisked Kat. He could be holding her in any of these places.” Jude paced around the small office. “It’s time to question Perkins. Perhaps he knows something that will shed some light.”

  “Okay, let’s do it.”

  The three men watched Dave Perkins through the one-way mirror.

  “This is stupid, Frank. Dave knows the mirror is here.”

  As if he’d heard them, the suspect looked straight at the mirror and gave them the finger.

  “Should all three of us go in?” Jude asked. “How are we going to play this?”

  “He doesn’t know me,” Cody interjected. “Perhaps I can get more out of him.”

  “No, way! I know that the military operates by a different set of rules, but there’s no way in hell I’m taking any chances of him being able to yell entrapment.” Frank was adamant. “I’ll do it.”

  Jude poured himself a cup of fresh coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste. He sat beside Cody at the wooden table in the room behind the mirror. Why had the coffee at the lodge tasted better than any he’d had before? When he’d mentioned that to Kat once, she’d laughed and told him it wasn’t the coffee. The wilderness air made everything smell and taste better. Remembering her laugh made gave him a pain in the pit of his stomach.

  Christ, what had he done? Kat was the most honest, unpretentious woman he’d ever met. When she gave, she gave freely, no strings attached. Under the guise of not hurting her, he’d taken every emotional gift she’d given him and trampled them into the ground. Talk about waffling. One minute telling her he wanted her, the next telling her anything between them was impossible.

  “Hey. Are you paying attention?”

  Cody dragged Jude from his self-pity party.

  Frank circled Dave Perkins, reminding Jude of a turkey vulture ready to land on a piece of road kill. Dave looked nervous and flustered. Not surprising, as he’d been locked in this room for twelve hours without being told why. Unless he was guilty. That would make him flustered for sure.

  “Well, Dave, have anything to tell me?” Frank’s voice sounded tinny coming through the speaker system.

  “Fuck you.”

  Cody chuckled. “Real cooperative guy.”

  Jude sighed. Dave always had been defiant.

  Frank pounded his fist on the table. “That’s what you’ll be if you don’t come clean with me.”
<
br />   “What’s this about, Frank? You found out about the missing phones?”

  “Good place to start.”

  Dave shrugged. “I screwed up. I needed money and someone offered me good money for them.”

  “How’d you hook up with Carl Winter?”

  Dave’s head jerked in surprise, but then he just shrugged.

  “Tell me where Winter is holed up, and perhaps we can work out a deal.”

  “How the hell would I know where he is?” Dave sounded exasperated. “He and I don’t exactly communicate on a regular basis.”

  “He’s kidnapped Kat Tenney.”

  Jude doubted Dave could fake the surprised look that came over his face. “I had nothing to do with any kidnapping.”

  Frank put his elbows on the table. “Look Dave. You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Come clean. I’ll try to help you.”

  “I want a lawyer.”

  Cody looked at Jude. “He’s sweating. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “Anything you tell me is unofficial. Do you see any witnesses to verify anything you say?”

  “You’re taping this conversation, and there are agents behind that mirror watching and listening to everything I say.”

  “You’re right. I am and there are. But you also know that nothing you say will be able to be used against you. Right now, all I’m concerned about is finding Kat Tenney and Carl Winter. Did you know that he’s involved in a smuggling ring?”

  Dave Perkins’ Adam’s apple bobbed with each swallow. “Smuggling? No way are you pinning that on me.” His gaze darted to the mirror. “Callahan? I know you’re there.”

  “Dave, don’t worry about Jude. Worry about yourself. Tell me all you know.”

  “I haven’t been read Miranda rights so anything I say is not admissible in a court of law.”

  “Understood,” Frank muttered impatiently.

  “Winter approached me when Callahan and I were investigating the connection between him and Willie Card. Offered me a shit load of money. I got greedy.”

  “Offered you money in exchange for what?”

  “The satellite phones and making sure the Agency didn’t send an agent to Maine. That’s why I encouraged you to send Callahan. Everyone knows he hates the woods. Besides, Winter told me that Willie Card was full of shit…that the gems had disappeared a long time ago. Winter wanted to buy the property. He had no interest in the gems.”

  A feeling of hopelessness swamped Jude. They weren’t going to hear a damn thing to help them find Kat. The man wasn’t guilty of anything other than greed and stupidity.

  “When’s the last time you had contact with Winter?” Frank persisted.

  “A week or so ago. He called and I told him not to worry about the FBI interfering in Maine. Haven’t heard from him since.”

  “Have any idea where he is now?”

  “No.”

  “Do you know how to reach him?”

  “No. He always called me. Once I attempted to reach him on one of the phones I gave him, but it wasn’t his voice that answered, so I hung up.”

  “Okay.” Frank sounded weary. “I’ll send someone in with a phone so you can call a lawyer.”

  Frank was already seated at the desk when Jude and Cody returned to his office. Red ran in circles letting Jude know how happy he was to see him.

  “Sorry,” Frank said. “That didn’t produce the information I’d hoped it would.”

  No one responded.

  An angry female voice shouted in the hall. “Take your hands off me this instant. I demand to know what this is about.”

  “Here comes our last hope for a quick find of Carl Winter.” Cody stated the thought that sat in all their minds.

  Elizabeth Tenney had arrived.

  Chapter 15

  Jude barely managed to jump out of the way when Elizabeth catapulted into the office, the door slamming against the wall in her wake. Who would she tear apart? With masses of honey blonde hair and eyes identical to Kat’s, no one could deny her beauty.

  Like a green laser beam, her eyes scanned the room, searching for a target. They locked on Cody. “You! I should have known you’d be involved in this.”

  A sigh of relief escaped Jude, glad that Cody, and not him, would be the one to take the brunt of her anger.

  Cody grinned. “And hello to you, too, Princess.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “You play the part so well.”

  “How dare you drag me out of my home and bring me here?” Fists clenched, she and Cody stood toe-to-toe.

  “Let me introduce myself.” Frank moved next to the two combatants and extended his hand toward Elizabeth. “Frank Rowe. You must be Kat’s sister, Elizabeth.”

  Elizabeth graced him with a slight nod of her head. “What’s going on? Where’s Kat?”

  “That’s why we, uh, dragged you here. Carl Winter has kidnapped your sister.”

  Elizabeth’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped. “I don’t believe you. If my sister is missing, it’s because she took off somewhere by herself. Went on a canoe trip or camping. She’s famous for doing that.” Her green eyes encompassed all three men.

  Jude stepped forward to fill her in on everything that had happened. “We’re not mistaken. She’s been abducted.”

  Elizabeth’s fingers twisted the handle of her handbag. Walking to the nearest chair, she sat down. “Brian and Willie are dead?” She shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s imperative that we find Carl Winter. Do you know how to reach him? A private phone number? Or do you know where he is right now?”

  “I…I think I’ve got a number for him somewhere in my address book.” She fumbled through her purse. Her hands trembled and the handbag slipped off her lap, spilling the contents on the floor.

  Squatting down on the floor to retrieve her belongs, she handed Jude a red book. “The number should be in there.” A single tear slid down her cheek. Jude thought that maybe Cody had been right about her. Prickly on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. Like her sister.

  “Here’s the number. Looks like a cell phone. Let’s give it a try. Frank, get the tracing equipment in place.” He turned to Elizabeth, now sitting in a chair. “If he answers, Elizabeth, it’s important to keep him on the line for as long as you can.”

  “Me?” She sounded panicked. “You want me to call him? He’ll hang up on me.” She cowered in her chair. “He made it very clear we were through. What possible reason do I have for calling?”

  “The truth–to a point,” Frank advised. “Don’t tell him where you are or who you’re with, but let him know you’re worried about Kat. You’ve been notified she’s missing. Tell him you don’t have anyone to turn to. You don’t know what you’re going to do. Ask him if he thinks you should you call the police. You know…play on his ego. Make him feel important. Just be yourself.”

  Jude cringed and Cody chuckled at Frank’s implication that lying was right up Elizabeth’s alley. If she were anything like her sister, Frank best be prepared for a roundhouse kick to the head.

  Elizabeth nodded and took the phone. Jude relaxed and put on his headphones. Cody and Frank did the same.

  The phone rang several times, and Jude’s hope started to dwindle. On the sixth ring, a man answered, giving him a shot of adrenaline laced with hope.

  “Hello, Carl?” Elizabeth sounded scared.

  Jude was impressed. The woman was a great actress, or maybe she wasn’t acting after all.

  “It’s Elizabeth. I apologize for calling you, but I’ve no one else to turn to. Kat’s missing, and I don’t know what to do. Should I call the police?”

  Winter chuckled, putting every nerve in Jude’s body went on alert.

  “Don’t worry, Elizabeth. Kat’s fine. As a matter of fact, she’s sitting right here next to me. I’m pleased you called. We were planning to get in touch with you tonight to give you our news.”

  *****

  Kat forc
ed herself not to tear the phone from Carl’s hand when he handed it to her. “Liz? Please don’t cry. I’m fine. I’m feeling like a rotten sister for stealing your boyfriend.”

  Kat turned her back on Carl when she saw him smirk. Pompous ass. She knew damn well this was her only chance to tell someone where she was. But if Carl figured out what she was doing, her life would be snuffed out in an instant.

  She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Liz, do you remember what Dad told us all the time whenever we were sad? Don’t despair, happiness is around the next big bend in the river.” Kat put a big smile on her face for Carl’s benefit. “Well, he was right. I went around the big bend and found Carl.”

  A look of suspicion replaced Carl’s smirk. Her heart thudded loud as a pileated woodpecker hammering on a dead spruce tree.

  “We’re getting married soon and plan on having an extra long honeymoon.” She forced herself to laugh. “No, Liz, we don’t want any company. I’ll call you when we get back from the honeymoon. I promise. Love you. Bye.”

  She ended the conversation quickly, not giving Liz a chance to ask any more questions. Carl leaned back in his chair and grinned. “Well done, Katherine. I’m glad she called. Another loose end tied up.”

  “I’m feeling woozy,” Kat murmured. “I think I’d better lay down.”

  “Of course.” Acting the gentleman, he stood and held out his arm to her. “I had my doubts about you drinking those two glasses of wine. I’ll see you to your room.”

  *****

  A flurry of energy whirled within Frank’s office. “Did they get the trace?” Frank bellowed into the phone. “Damn it.”

  Jude’s hope of a trace evaporated at the look on Frank’s face, and the familiar ache of missing Kat wormed back into his heart. Hearing her voice had been bittersweet.

  “Jude?” Elizabeth’s voice interrupted his miserable thoughts. “Kat wasn’t making sense.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Our father never said anything about big bends in life.”

  Excitement surged through him. “Where’s that list of Winter’s properties?”