Into Dust

by B. J Daniels

  Catching her hand, he studied the ring. “Expensive enough, but not too expensive. Your husband definitely knows his voting public.”

  She bristled at his words. “It isn’t always about politics.”

  He laughed. “Of course it is. Buckmaster Hamilton was a born politician.”

  That didn’t sound like a compliment. “I’ll have you know, he’s pulling out of the race.”

  “No, he’s not. You’re going to keep him in the race.”

  “Just so you can use me to get to him once he’s president? I have every reason to let him quit the race.”

  Doc shook his head. “Do you still not comprehend how far The Prophecy will go to make sure not only that Buck wins the race, but also that you are there by his side when he does? Sarah, I just got a call. They have Cassidy. If you want to see her alive again, you will make sure that Buck not only stays in the race, but also that he wins as per plan.”

  * * *

  TOM DURAND HAD run his fair share of bluffs in his time, but none were as dangerous as this one. He’d called Dr. Venable and told him he had Cassidy. Technically, he had her in his sights. At least Ed did. It wouldn’t be long and it would be true.

  He was betting everything on this bluff. Anything could go wrong. Jack could up and decide to go to the authorities not only with what he’d found in the metal box from the office, but also from what he’d apparently taken from the bank. Or Cassidy could call home before she could be stopped.

  He paced, unable to sit still as he waited for Ed to call letting him know that Cassidy was in his possession and that Jack had been...neutralized.

  Jack. His stomach burned like the fires of hell at the thought of his son. It had been his dream from the moment the kid was born to bring Jack not only into the business, but also into The Prophecy—just as Jerrod Williston had been brought in.

  But even at an early age, Jack had proved to be too much like his mother. Kate had been a do-gooder who worried about global warming, saving the whales and feeding starving children in some godforsaken country on the other side of the world.

  The truth was, she’d been embarrassed by her husband’s success. It still appalled him that she wanted to give away his money to make herself feel better. If she’d known where the money had really come from, she would have had a coronary.

  “There are poor people who can’t afford to buy food while we...” She’d opened her arms to encompass the palatial penthouse he’d bought for her. He’d thought her ungrateful even while a part of him had understood. He’d loved her, though. Just as he loved Jack.

  And now, like his mother, Jack knew too much about Tom’s past. He didn’t have to ask himself what his son would do with the evidence he’d found. Jack wouldn’t hesitate to bring down his own father. There would be no explaining why Cassidy Hamilton had to be kidnapped. No explaining about The Prophecy and what they planned for the country.

  He knew his son. Jack would do what his mother would have called the “right thing.” He’d sell out his own father.

  That’s why Tom had had to make the hard decision. Jack couldn’t be allowed to take what he knew to the police.

  He put those thoughts out of his mind, the same way he’d put his former wife out of his mind. He had known that he could no longer trust her. And like her, Jack had to be taken care of as well. That’s just the way it was. But he hadn’t expected it to hurt so badly. First Kate, now Jack?

  He paced the floor, his stomach a ball of fire. He told himself that once he had Cassidy, everything would fall back into place. No reason to dwell on things he couldn’t change.

  His cell phone rang. He snatched it up, praying it was Ed with good news.

  “Do you have her?” a male voice demanded.

  Tom groaned inwardly at the sound of Joe Landon’s voice. He’d changed his name, of course, and had assimilated into society like the rest of them. For years, Tom hadn’t heard from him. Not until it had been time to send Sarah back to Montana, back into Senator Buckmaster Hamilton’s loving arms and for the newest plan to begin ticking down.

  “It’s taken care of.” He couldn’t quit bluffing now. Especially to Joe.

  Joe had been the face of The Prophecy. Until he met Sarah and brought her in. She’d taken to it with a tenaciousness that had surprised them all. It wasn’t long before The Prophecy really took off and it became clear that she was the true leader.

  Sarah had planned it all. Unlike Joe, who was a hothead, she had been cool and calm when the group had needed it most. It had been Joe’s stupid idea to dynamite the building that killed the two innocent people inside. That move had gotten two of their members caught and imprisoned.

  After that, Sarah had been determined that nothing like that would happen again unless it served a purpose other than to make a name for The Prophecy. Sarah had seen the bigger picture unlike Joe, who’d simply liked seeing The Prophecy in the news.

  When Sarah had faltered twenty-three years ago, Joe began giving orders again. Just as he was doing now. His former love for Sarah had turned into a finely honed hatred. Tom was glad he wasn’t in Sarah’s shoes. Once this was over... He didn’t like to think what Joe would do to her. Admittedly, Sarah had a few weak moments—like now. But she didn’t deserve what he figured Joe had planned for her.

  All he could hope now was that Sarah would remember the woman she’d been, the leader who’d believed in The Prophecy and an adaptation of the plan she’d come up with all those years ago. If she tried to let everyone down... Well, Joe would make sure her daughters paid the price.

  “You better be telling me the truth,” Joe said now. “You promised to handle this.”

  “It’s handled. You just worry about yours and Doc’s part,” he said, sounding more confident than he felt.

  “It’s you and Doc I worry about.”

  “I thought Doc was replacing her memory.”

  “He is. But he says he has to take it slowly. Apparently, she’s balking and wants to know everything right now. You know Sarah.”

  He heard the bitterness in Joe’s voice. “Yes, I know Sarah.” And Joe would be a fool to underestimate her.

  Getting off the line as quickly as possible, Tom began to pace again as he willed the phone to ring and Ed to give him the good news. Otherwise, he might get a surprise visit from Joe.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “YOU BASTARD,” SARAH spat as she grabbed for her cell phone. She was fumbling for Cassidy’s number when Dr. Venable reached over and took the phone from her. “Give that to me.”

  “You need to listen to me,” he said as he pocketed her phone.

  She wanted to lunge for the man’s throat. She could have ripped out his eyes she was so angry. Had she been holding the pistol Buck had bought her, she would have emptied it into the man without hesitation.

  “You. Kidnapped. My. Daughter?” she demanded from between her gritted teeth.

  Dr. Venable took a step back and raised both hands as if he knew what she was capable of. “Not me. The Prophecy.”

  “Don’t you dare try to hide behind that,” she snapped. “You are The Prophecy.”

  “No more than you are. This was your plan originally, Sarah.”

  His words blew out the anger like a gust of wind extinguishing a fire. She could pretend she was nothing like the members of The Prophecy, but the truth was, she’d been one of them. She’d been responsible for the deaths of two innocent people. She was The Prophecy in the eyes of the law. Because of her involvement her entire family was at risk.

  Sarah fought to remain calm. If she had any hope of rescuing her daughter, she had to be strong, to be patient, to find out the truth about the woman she’d been. The woman she still could be.

  “All this will be easier when I restore the rest of your memory,” Dr. Venable said.

&nb
sp; She shook her head. She didn’t believe him. He was stringing her along. Buck was determined to quit the race and now The Prophecy had abducted their daughter to force him to stay in?

  “What are you planning to do with Cassidy?”

  “Joe is running everything now. I’m just a small cog in a big wheel.”

  What surprised her was that she actually believed that might be true.

  But did he have the answers that she desperately needed if she was going to keep their big plan from happening? At the back of her mind was the fear that if she remembered, she might become again the fanatical anarchist she’d apparently been. That she might become Red, the leader of The Prophecy, again and destroy not only the lives of her family, but also possibly bring down the country, terrified her.

  She took a few deep breaths. If she hoped to get any of them out of this alive, she had to calm down. “I want to speak to my daughter.”

  Dr. Venable shook his head. “I doubt that’s possible.”

  “I either speak to my daughter to make sure she’s all right or I call the sheriff and end this all right now.”

  “You really need to quit making threats, Sarah,” he said, enunciating each word.

  Her laugh came out hard and brittle. “You’re the one not only threatening me but also my children. I want to talk to Cassidy. Now, Doc. If they really have her—”

  He pulled out his cell phone, but didn’t dial the number. “This is a mistake. Joe won’t be happy. Aren’t you worried about what The Prophecy will do to your daughter as retribution for your...demands?”

  She was petrified of what they would do, but she couldn’t let him see it. Years ago, she was Red, she reminded herself. Apparently, nothing had scared her then. If there was a time that she needed to be stalwart and daring, it was now.

  “I have six daughters,” she said in answer to his question. “I don’t doubt you would use all of them to try to manipulate me. But I can bring The Prophecy down with one call. You want Buck to be president? He won’t be if I make that call to the sheriff.”

  Doc sighed. “I don’t think you realize who you’re dealing with if you try to go against The Prophecy.”

  She stared him down, while quaking inside.

  “All right,” he said after a moment. “I’ll see what I can do. But I would be reasonable if I were you.” His gaze grew almost sympathetic. “We all want the same thing here. Once you remember—”

  “Make the call.”

  She turned and stepped away from him. Her anger was so intense that her palms itched for the feel of a weapon in her hands. The .22 pistol Buck had bought her was in the bedroom. She knew she could get to it before Doc realized what was happening.

  That she thought she could kill him should have shocked her. It didn’t.

  She told herself that Doc was only the messenger. Killing Doc would be like cutting off one small tentacle of an octopus. She had to think about her daughters and Buck. She couldn’t let The Prophecy make her so angry that they took it out on her family. That fire of fanaticism he talked about, that need to “do” something burned brighter than ever inside her. She would destroy The Prophecy or die trying.

  Taking a moment to gain control, she reminded herself of the precarious position she was now in. They said they had Cassidy. Buck wanted to quit the race. She only had part of her memory back. She needed all the facts, all her memory. But once she did...

  * * *

  JACK STILL QUESTIONED if going to Montana and confronting Sarah Johnson Hamilton was a good idea. But he could tell that Cassidy was determined. He couldn’t let her go alone. And her idea to have someone take them by private jet would help erase their trail out of Texas—and get everything they’d taken from his father out of the state as well.

  “This Evan is someone we can trust?” Jack asked as he kept winding his way through the maze of streets. It made him even more nervous having all that loot behind the backseat of the pickup.

  Cassidy nodded. “I broke up with him before I went to Europe, but I think I can talk him into taking us to Montana in his jet.”

  Jack hadn’t realized until that moment the kind of boyfriends she would have had. Superrich ones. One’s who had their own jets apparently.

  “You sure you want to call him?” he asked, thinking about the kiss earlier. It was ridiculous under the circumstances, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet one of her old boyfriends—even though the private-jet idea was a good one.

  She reached for her phone. “He won’t mind. We left it fairly civil.”

  He didn’t think he would have taken it well if Cassidy had been his girlfriend and she’d broken things off.

  Jack realized that he hadn’t been paying attention to where they were going. He’d hoped that by taking a lot of turns they would have lost anyone following them since he hadn’t seen a tail. Now he saw that he’d driven into a maze of narrow streets in a run-down, deserted-looking industrial area.

  Cassidy had pulled out her phone and was thumbing through her contacts. How many old boyfriends did she have anyway?

  Unfamiliar with this area of Houston, Jack pushed the button on his GPS, hoping for a route out. At least there was little to no traffic.

  Just as he thought it, he heard the beep-beep-beep of a commercial vehicle backing up. He looked up an instant before a delivery truck backed into the street, blocking them. Hitting his horn and his brakes, he skidded to a stop only a few feet from the side of the huge delivery truck.

  The delivery truck’s engine had died apparently when the driver stopped. As Jack rolled down his window to yell at the driver, he could hear the driver trying to crank the motor over. He honked again but got no reaction. Squinting, he could see the driver. Young, tattooed, wearing headphones and rocking out behind the wheel. No wonder he couldn’t hear Jack honking.

  With a sigh, Jack looked over at Cassidy. When he’d hit his brakes so suddenly, she had apparently dropped her phone. She was fishing for it on the floorboard when he happened to catch movement in his rearview mirror. His head snapped up to the mirror, where he saw the car speeding toward them. He had wondered if Ed would change cars. He hadn’t.

  In that split second before Ed came roaring up behind him, a half-dozen realizations came to him. There was no way the man could have tailed them unless Ed had put a tracking device on Jack’s pickup. With a curse, he realized his father would have known he would head for the bank with the safe-deposit key. Ed would have recognized Jack’s truck in the lot. Jack couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been. He’d underestimated his father and his resources.

  And now they were screwed, he thought as Ed jumped out of the car, weapon in hand and walked toward them.

  Cassidy was still fishing for her phone. Ed had reached the back of the pickup. The driver of the delivery truck was still rocking out and grinding the starter on the engine, completely oblivious of what was happening only yards away.

  Ed raised the gun, ready to fire.

  “Stay down,” Jack yelled as he grabbed his own weapon, threw open his door and tumbled out.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ED CHARGED THE PICKUP. Jack was behind the wheel, but he couldn’t see anyone in the passenger seat. Where the hell was the girl?

  He’d only taken a few running steps when the driver’s side of the pickup flew open and Jack dived out, hit the ground and rolled. Something flashed in the light. Ed saw the weapon too late. He swore as the air between the run-down buildings filled with the echoing report of the shot.

  Suddenly, his right leg was on fire, but he was still moving, his gun raised. He got off one shot, but heard the crack as the bullet bounced off the pavement inches from Jack’s head.

  His left leg went out from under him at the same time he heard Jack’s second shot. His own shot went wild, pinging off the truck blocking the s
treet as he fell. The pavement rushed up at him. One knee hit the hard surface as he tried to block his fall. He lost his grasp on the gun. It skittered across the pavement only seconds before he heard the sound of Jack’s boot soles moving swiftly toward him. From the ground he watched Jack pick up the gun and approach.

  “You don’t want to kill me,” Ed said through his pain. Both his legs were on fire, the hot pavement under them slick with warm blood. He pushed himself up on one arm, rolling to his side, his legs like dead wood attached to his body.

  Jack squatted a few feet away, a gun in each hand. “I’m not going to kill you unless I have to. Why does my father want Cassidy Hamilton?”

  Ed hadn’t known her name. Now that he did, the name didn’t ring any bells. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”

  Jack poked at the wound in his right leg with the barrel end of the gun, making him cry out in pain. “He paid you to abduct her. Why? Where were you taking her?” He jabbed at the wound again without even waiting for Ed to answer.

  “I’m going to kill you,” Ed gasped from between his gritted teeth.

  “Where were you supposed to take her?”

  As Jack started to prod the wound again, Ed raised a hand to stop him, promising himself he would make Jack suffer if he ever got the chance. “I was to call him when I had her and then he would tell me where to take her.”

  Jack studied him for a moment. “And you have no idea why he wanted her?”

  He shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment, half expecting Jack to finish him there in the street. “I didn’t even know her name until you told me.” In the distance he could hear the driver of the delivery truck still cranking at his engine. The smell of diesel fuel filled the air an instant before a loud boom made him start. He’d thought for sure that Jack had shot him again.

  He opened his eyes, realizing with relief that it had only been the delivery-truck motor backfiring. He could see the driver still trying to get the delivery truck backed around on the one-way street. Even from where he lay, Ed could hear the hard rock music that escaped from the young driver’s headphones. The dumbass apparently hadn’t witnessed any of this as he got the motor going and drove off.