Whisper of Revenge (A Cape Trouble Novel Book 4)

by Janice Kay Johnson

  Steadied by Elias’s presence, she had demanded to hear Ian’s voice.

  “Mommy?” he’d said tremulously. “Mommy, will you come and get me?”

  “Yes. Yes! I swear! Mommy will always—”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he said, and disconnected.

  “Ian!” Still holding the phone, she kept screaming his name, tears pouring down her face, until Elias pried the phone from her hand and gathered her, struggling, into his arms.

  She knew he’d called Daniel, but all she could do was curl into a corner of the sofa and shake. The moment he was done with the call, he dropped his phone on the coffee table, sat down beside her and lifted her onto his lap.

  Hannah struggled. “What are you doing? I’m too heavy!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Elias shifted until he sat in the same corner he’d plucked her from, and then adjusted her position until her head rested on his shoulder and his arms enclosed her.

  She stayed rigid for all of thirty seconds before collapsing against him. Somehow her hand had come to rest over his heart. Hannah concentrated with all her being on that steady rhythm, but the terror barely retreated. Feeling Elias rubbing his cheek against her hair, she whispered, “I’m scared.”

  “Of course you are.” His arms tightened almost painfully before he seemed to make an effort to loosen them. “But think about it this way. Yesterday, we had no idea why Ian was taken. Now we know. The kidnapper wants money. Come morning, you’ll have every dollar of it ready to go. You’ve heard Ian’s voice, so you know he’s okay. There’s no reason to think he won’t be home tomorrow, once the hand-off is done.”

  She listened for doubt, but didn’t hear any.

  Mommy, will you come and get me?

  “Do you think Ian believed me?”

  “Of course he did.” That hard cheek rasped against her hair. “Have you ever let him down in any important way?”

  Well, she’d been close to late picking him up at daycare a few times, but that didn’t count, did it? And…she wished he didn’t have to spend almost nine hours a day in preschool, not to mention the boring weekends. But she had to work, and most of his friends were in daycare because their parents worked, too. Anyway, Hannah knew from experience that if she showed up unexpectedly at A Little Bit of Trouble, she always found him completely engaged. Happy.

  So…no.

  She shook her head. Elias wore a V-neck, gray T-shirt, which meant she was not only looking at the strong, brown column of his neck, but seeing the hollow at the base of his throat and a hint of gold chest hair. She wanted to touch, except one of her hands was tucked behind his back and she couldn’t move the other. It tied her to his heartbeat.

  What if he hadn’t come back after she sent him away? The thought was unbearable. Had she really believed he wanted to go? She’d seen him pull back before, had even understood that opening himself to her the way he had was a struggle for a man so accustomed to being a loner. So, he had his moments. She was the one who’d freaked out. Hannah realized she wasn’t very good at trusting. This…this was the closest she had come since her foolish belief in Grady.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

  His head tilted. “About?”

  “You know. Me telling you to leave.”

  After a minute, he said, “I’m sorry, too.”

  She let herself nod. Trust.

  They stayed the way they were for a very long time.

  *****

  Hannah looked at the strange number on the screen of her phone. She held it up for Elias to see, and then their eyes met.

  It was time.

  After a deep breath for courage, she said, “Hello?”

  “Step outside onto the front porch, now. You alone. No hesitation. I’m watching.”

  From her position on the sofa, it was only a few steps to the front door. Skin crawling at the idea of the eyes on her, she scuttled outside, leaving the door open. Elias should still be able to hear her side of the conversation.

  “Have your boyfriend throw his car keys to you. Not for the rental. The Land Rover.”

  Which had only been returned by the police yesterday evening. He had to be watching.

  Standing just inside where he couldn’t be seen, Elias gently tossed her the keys.

  “Now his phone.”

  She passed on the message.

  “Throw his phone as far as you can.”

  Hannah did, flinching when she heard the small crunch as it hit pavement.

  “Where is the money?”

  “It’s…right here. Inside.”

  The instructions kept coming. The strap biting into her shoulder, she carried the duffel bag filled with bills to the Land Rover and set it in the cargo space.

  “Disconnect the call and throw your phone away.”

  In instinctive protest, she cried, “But—!”

  He was gone. Hands shaking, she did as he said, only then seeing the mobile phone lying almost beneath the Land Rover. It wasn’t anything fancy. A throwaway was Daniel’s word.

  She had barely unlocked and climbed in when it rang.

  *****

  Watching his Land Rover back out of the driveway, hesitate and then turn up the street, Elias ran out and grabbed Hannah’s undamaged phone. Daniel Colburn answered his call instantly. He listened to the terse summation.

  “He’s separated her from anything with GPS. Unless you added it to—?”

  Elias squelched the brief hope. “No.”

  “All right. Which did she go way?”

  “South, then immediately turned east at the corner.”

  “Probably toward the highway. I’ll put out the word to watch for her.” Cape Trouble police officers and county deputies waited in strategic locations, all in family rather than squad cars.

  The sound of the engine told Elias that Daniel was already driving. Like others, he’d borrowed a car to escape notice – but this wasn’t what they’d anticipated. Hannah could already have passed unseen. The kidnapper hadn’t only escaped the reach of GPS, he had isolated her.

  Elias looked hard up and down the street, at parked cars, house windows reflecting the sun’s rays. His gaze ended up at the one home for sale, which would have provided an ideal location for someone watching to be sure Hannah follow instructions. But nothing moved there that he could see. The garage door didn’t rise; he heard no car starting up within a couple block radius.

  On a raging storm of helplessness, he stood in the middle of Hannah’s small lawn, and knew there was not one single thing he could do to protect the woman he might have cursed by his attention.

  *****

  Gripping the steering wheel so hard she wasn’t sure she’d be able to pry her fingers loose when the moment came, Hannah drove slower than she should on a highway with a speed limit of fifty-five. She would press down harder on the accelerator…then have a mini-burst of terror because she knew herself incapable of normal reaction time. What if a deer ran out in front of her?

  A minute ago, she’d gotten the finger from a teenager who’d thrust his hand out the window as the stupidly low-slung car tore by at a suicidal speed. Her heart tried to beat its way out of her chest. If she got rear-ended—

  Don’t think about anything going wrong.

  This two-lane highway took a winding route alongside Mist River, going east into the foothills of the coastal range. In the twenty miles or so between the outskirts of Cape Trouble and North Fork, the county seat, there were only a few minor roads turning off, most gravel. Houses were scattered up in the woods, but not visible from the highway. Only brief glimpses of the river interrupted the dense forest pressing close to the highway on each side.

  Despite the silence, she wasn’t alone. He had told her not to disconnect the phone, because then she could have used it to call someone else. Elias. Having laid the phone on the passenger seat, she kept sneaking looks at it.

  Yesterday, he hadn’t even given her a chance to ask whether Ian would be wher
ever she was going. Twice now, during this surreal drive, she had demanded to know, but there was no answer. If he didn’t return Ian…

  Daniel had thought it essential that he be able to watch the exchange, but the kidnapper had won – Hannah would be alone.

  Hyperventilating, she tried to calm herself.

  Mumbled words had her snatching up the phone. “What?”

  “You’re paying attention to how far you’ve driven?”

  Her eyes flew to the mileage on the dashboard. What if she’d gone too far? Relief mixed with her stew of other emotions. “Yes.”

  “Why did you do this?” she whispered.

  “Because I’m angry. Because I need the money.”

  “Why are you angry? What did I do wrong?”

  He didn’t answer, but she knew. She had turned to Elias Burton instead of him, whoever he was.

  He’s crazy.

  And that made this so much worse. If all he wanted was money, he had no reason not to return Ian. But if his rage drove him to hurt her, he had to know how easily he could deliver the killing blow.

  “You’re coming up on a viewpoint overlooking Mist River.”

  She’d never stopped there, but had noticed it, barely a wide place to accommodate one or two vehicles at a time off the narrow highway.

  “Pull into it.”

  “All right.”

  The time of day contributed to her isolation. Mid-morning, traffic was scant on this two-lane highway. The turn-out was on a curve, limiting her sight-line in both directions.

  “Set the emergency brake. Turn off the engine.”

  “Where is Ian?” Swiveling her head, she couldn’t see any movement. She rolled down the window a few inches and heard a burble of water over rocks. A car was coming, too. Her stress level climbed…but the sedan passed without slowing, the driver not even looking her way.

  “The rear hatch where you put the money is unlocked.”

  “Yes.” Hannah was breathing like someone who’d sprinted full-out for a mile. “I’ve done everything you said. Please.”

  “Keep doing it,” he growled, his voice less muffled. “Unfasten your seatbelt and get down on the floor. Face down, cover your head with your hands. If you see me, you die. If you see me, your little boy dies. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. Yes!” She pushed the release to move the seat back as far as it went, then maneuvered to squeeze onto the floor, hunching forward half onto the passenger side. Contorted to fit into a space not meant for a human being, with her weight on her elbows and her hands locked behind her head, she was completely vulnerable. He could be here already, looking down at her. She’d hear the door open…but she couldn’t allow herself to look.

  The wait was excruciating.

  *****

  Daniel glanced at the man in the passenger seat of the borrowed sedan. Elias Burton. Against all the rules, Daniel had paused in front of Hannah’s house and waved Elias to jump in. He of all men understood the torture the guy was undergoing. The woman he loved suddenly gone, at the mercy of a monster.

  His fingers flexed on the steering wheel. “Ian’s a nice boy.”

  There was a little silence. Elias’s back hadn’t yet touched the seat. He leaned forward against the seatbelt as if willing them to move faster. Since Daniel wasn’t even driving the speed limit, the other man’s frustration was understandable.

  “He is,” Elias said at last, hoarsely. “I’ve never been around kids. I hesitated to get involved with a woman who has one.” He shook his head. “Of all things, the kid is artistically gifted. We…hit it off right away.” He swallowed. “Ian’s so bright and happy.” His voice broke. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  “The best I can. We don’t have any choice now but to let the drop happen.”

  A county deputy swore he’d seen the Land Rover turn east on the Mist River Highway. He’d known better than to go after it without permission. Daniel had had him wait a couple of minutes, then follow. If he caught up to her, he was to pass without interfering. They were operating under radio silence, using cell phones only.

  Daniel was currently driving the same direction, but hanging back as he waited for her to be spotted again.

  His own tension was pulled tight. Elias’s must be close to snapping.

  *****

  Hannah heard a footfall. Not lifting her head to look might be the hardest thing she’d ever done.

  It was weird, though. Where had he come from? Straining to hear the faintest sound, she’d swear someone was prowling around the Land Rover peering in windows. At one point, she knew he paused for a long time by the passenger door, staring down at her. The hair on her nape prickled. What if he had a gun in his hand? What if—?

  A car passed. Was it her imagination that it slowed briefly before speeding up again? The phone, still lying on the seat beside her, stayed silent.

  And then…and then, he tested the doors. Opened one on the other side and then slammed it. Absolutely rigid, she didn’t move except for an involuntary shudder. If he was testing her, she couldn’t fail. But…why was he being so slow? Shouldn’t he have grabbed the money and taken off?

  At last the back hatch opened with a squeak. She heard the duffel zipper.

  A man’s voice breathed, “Damn. Lady, why are you carrying around money?” More softly, “A lot of money.”

  A new kind of fear entered her bloodstream like a virus, multiplying with impossible speed until it filled her with burning terror. The man standing there looking at the ransom money was not the kidnapper.

  She reared up, whacking her back on the steering wheel, trying to untangle herself as she screamed, “Don’t touch that! Who are you?” She made it to her knees in time to see a man carrying the duffel bag and a rifle slung over his back step from the paved turn-out into the forest with all its concealing understory of dense ferns, salal, Oregon grape and huckleberries. He wore camouflage, like a hunter, but it was dirty and torn and his hair looked matted.

  And then he was gone.

  “No, no, no.” Somehow, Hannah scrambled out of the car. She fell to her hands and knees on the pavement, barely conscious of a sting. She half-crawled until she regained her feet and made it around the front of the Land Rover, facing the river and forest, searching frantically for any sign of movement.

  She started after him, wading through ferns. “If you take that money, my little boy will die!” she yelled. “It was ransom! Do you understand? It was ransom. I need it back.” Her foot hooked on an unseen root and she fell again, smacking down hard. “He’s only five,” she whispered.

  Face down, she didn’t see him, but the air stirred. With a thud, the full duffel bag landed beside her. Unbelieving, she stared.

  By the time she pushed up to her knees, she was completely alone.

  *****

  Daniel pulled in behind the Land Rover. Before he came to a complete stop, Elias was out, running.

  She’d called. She was here somewhere.

  But when he saw her, he froze.

  Hannah huddled just off the pavement, facing the woods and river. She didn’t so much as turn her head, but kept rocking, her body curled around the leather duffel bag as if it was her missing son.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “When I got to the phone, he wasn’t there,” Hannah said dully. “I think…”

  The three of them sat in Daniel’s borrowed car. Elias had gotten in the back with Hannah, who leaned against him as if too weary to hold herself up, her head resting on his shoulder. Daniel had turned so he could see them.

  “I think?” he prompted.

  “A car went by while everything else was going on. It slowed down, then speeded up. That almost had to be him.”

  Elias’s blood chilled. “You didn’t catch even a glimpse of it.”

  Her head shook slowly, loose tendrils tickling his neck. “I was still squeezed down on the floorboards.”

  “Think about the sound of the engine,” Daniel said. “Was it a roar like a diesel? M
aybe a truck? Quieter, like a car?”

  “Car,” she said immediately. “Although it could have been a crossover or…even some SUVs don’t sound any different from cars.”

  He asked more questions. Hannah kept shaking her head. The muffler wasn’t shot, the engine wasn’t hesitating. It was just a car.

  Frowning, Daniel said, “It could have been Deputy Colvin.”

  “Another car passed when I first pulled over,” Hannah said. “The driver didn’t even look at me, but it was a man alone.”

  “I’ll talk to him.” He kept frowning. “Okay, Hannah, tell us what happened.”

  When she was done, Elias said, “Larry?” But he didn’t believe it. The Vietnam War veteran who still lived in the woods was reluctant to take any kind of handout. To help himself to a duffel full of money seemed unlikely.

  “He never carries a weapon,” Daniel asked.

  “I’ve seen Larry,” Hannah said. “This guy had dark hair. Shaggy and kind of matted. But he did wear camo like Larry does.”

  “Jeff Dunn.” Daniel sounded resigned. “Thin? Not real tall?”

  “Maybe” was Hannah’s uncertain response.

  “Sure as hell. He’s a lot more paranoid than Larry, but Sean Holbeck thinks he’s okay.”

  “We’ve crossed paths.” Elias sought out isolated spots to work, whether on lonely stretches of beach or deep in the woods. He’d never felt unsafe, until one day when he turned his head and saw a man watching him from only a few feet away, a rifle in his hand. Elias had nodded, said, “I’m an artist,” and received a nod in return. He had glanced down at his palette, and when he looked up again, the man was gone.

  “He gave me the money back,” Hannah whispered. “When he heard why I needed it, he turned around and dropped the duffel right next to me.”

  They sat in silence, and Elias knew he wasn’t the only one stunned at the unlikely mischance of the Iraq war veteran, wracked by PTSD, happening on the ransom drop.