by Bonnie Vanak
“Mr. Clare?”
No answer.
Dust covered two desks. Stacks of files and papers tilted haphazardly to one side, threatening to spill over. If the owner expected to pull files from this mess...
If he kept everything on the computer, all she’d need was a printout.
Belle looked out at the warehouse. Crates were piled high, floor to ceiling. Gray metal shelving held boxes and boxes. Curious, she walked outside and read one box.
Hill Country Chardonnay, the label read.
A tingling rushed down her spine. All Star Fine Foods wasn’t a caterer. Mindy lied, or she didn’t want to share the information. And why would they import wine if they were a food catering company?
She knew of one business in Estancia Pointe that did import wine.
Belle returned to the office and began combing through the shelves and desk drawers.
Midway through the second drawer, she found an invoice with Evan Worthington’s name at the top.
Evan, the investment advisor. Evan, her childhood friend.
Stacks of wine magazines sagged on a shelf. Belle thumbed through them. One featured Evan on the cover, somberly staring at the camera as he held a bottle of wine.
She stared at the photo. Such a serious pose. Green eyes, that chin...
The magazine fell to the floor with a flutter of pages. “Oh dear God,” Belle whispered.
The eyes. And then it slammed into her.
The way Anna nibbled on her thumbnail, just like...her father. Not Mike Patterson after all.
Belle ran out of the office, heading for the exit when a low chuckle came to her right. Frantic, she threaded through the crates.
She ran for the door leading outside, jiggled the knob. Locked from the outside. Trapped.
No way out. Whoever did this lured her here. So stupid of her to trust! A shadow moved in the dim light.
Screaming, she ran as the person approached. They planned this all along, to trap her here. Belle threaded through stacks of wood crates, desperately seeking another exit, fumbling for her cell phone to call Kyle. There, that reassuring red glow.
Energy flagging, she pushed on. Get away, her mind screamed.
This was the real enemy, who’d been standing before her all along. The one who would never let her speak the truth.
She darted around a stack of crates, zigged and zagged. Her lungs started burn as her heart rate accelerated. Can’t do this much longer. A stitch began in her side, the muscle ache turning excruciating.
Maybe I should have worked out more in the gym. Belle almost laughed, but she hurt too much. Legs pumping, she ran. Up ahead, she saw the opened door of the warehouse. Someone would be outside, loading or unloading.
She opened her mouth to scream, using up the last bit of oxygen.
Gulping down a lungful of air, she flailed her hands. “Help me,” she cried out, but the words came out as a whispered gasp.
And then she felt a prick in her arm and felt nothing more.
Chapter 21
Four hours of questioning and they’d gotten nowhere with Jesse Dugin. The man insisted on a lawyer and wouldn’t say a word. Hands and ankles chained, he glared at them from the chair as Kyle sat across from him, the lawyer to Dugin’s left.
Until Kyle laid his winning ace on the table—the DNA lifted from the motel room where Patterson had stayed.
“We have your DNA in Michael Patterson’s room, Jesse.” Kyle leaned close, maintaining eye contact. “You killed the doctor. There’s enough evidence to send you away for life.”
“Or to Old Sparky. Florida still has the death penalty,” Roarke added.
Blood drained from the man’s face. “I didn’t want to do it. But the doc got scared, was going to blab everything. Had no choice.”
“Jesse,” his lawyer warned.
“No, I’m not taking the hit for this. You gotta work me out a deal.”
“Oh, we’ll deal. If you tell us what we need to know. Where the hell is Anna?” he demanded.
“No,” the lawyer interrupted. “In return for Mr. Dugin’s cooperation, we want a promise from the federal prosecutor of reduced charges.”
“We’ll work something out. But no deal until I know where the hell Anna is!” Kyle snapped.
Jesse banged his hand against the desk, making the handcuff rattle. “I told you I don’t know!”
Kyle felt his impatience grow, forced it down. “Her name isn’t Anna. What’s her real name? We know what’s going on. We know about the catering event, how Mercedes worked for rich people and then she had to bolt. And you were hired to find her.”
The man’s thin shoulders sagged. “Annalise. Kid’s name is Annalise. The old lady wanted a family name. She insisted when Mercedes gave birth. It was part of the deal. The old lady controlled everything.”
Alarm spread through Kyle. “Old lady. Related to Dr. Patterson?”
Jesse snorted. “You don’t know squat. Patterson was same as me, hired to find Mercedes and the kid after they bolted. The clinic was a starting point because the old lady had sent Mercedes there to get birth control pills. Only the stupid photo the old lady gave me to ID the kid was so blurry that I had a hard time finding her, so I had to snatch other girls from the clinic until I finally got a photo of Mercedes from the ID badge she wore at the catering event.”
“What was Patterson’s part in this?” Roarke demanded.
“Patterson secretly photographed the kids at the clinic until we found the right one. Then he destroyed all the clinic medical records for Mercedes and Anna. I made my move on Mercedes, charmed her, gave her money and pretended to love her. She was desperate to get out of town and needed money. Patterson owed six figures and the old lady paid it all off.”
“Who’s the old lady?” Kyle asked.
Eyes darting to his lawyer, who nodded, Jesse sighed. “Mindy Worthington. She paid me to snatch Annalise and kill Mercedes.”
Horror iced Kyle’s spine.
“Don’t you goons get it?” Jesse yelled. “Mercedes worked for the old lady and had an affair with her son. Worthington didn’t give two squats how many bastards Evan fathered, until he couldn’t have any more because of the cancer.”
“The chemo made him sterile,” he realized.
“Annalise is her only grandchild. She said her son got chemo and now he can never have kids and Annalise is her only hope of extending the lineage. When Mercedes wanted to take Annalise to Texas, the old lady threatened to sue for custody. Mercedes ran and Worthington hired me to find her.”
“And kill Mercedes and steal Anna.”
Jesse nodded. “The old lady’s the real brains of that family, not her son.”
Outside the interrogation room, he called Belle and got her voice mail. Then he checked messages, heard her sultry voice.
“Hi, I’m meeting the owner of All Star Fine Foods at their warehouse in West Estancia Pointe. I’ll let you know if I glean anything from the meeting.”
Minutes later, he did some checking through the Bureau’s computer experts and found out not only the address of All Star Fine Foods, but that it was owned by...
Mindy Worthington.
Mindy was the one who had Anna. And Belle was walking straight into a trap.
* * *
Belle awoke feeling woozy and disoriented. Slowly, she forced her eyes open.
Think, think. Hard to recall anything, but every instinct screamed danger.
Belle went to move her hands and could not. Blinking to erase the head fog, she realized they were bound in front of her with duct tape. Her legs, as well. She lay on a bed... Craning her neck, she saw white walls. A white ceiling fan spinning lazily overhead. Turning her head to the left, she saw another room, without a door.
A single window displayed bright sunshine outside. The air smelled slightl
y musty, as if this room had been unused for a long time.
“Hello,” she called out. Her lips were dry, cracked. She’d have sold her soul for a drink of water right then.
Or an easy escape.
The door opened. Expecting an adult, or maybe even that treacherous Mindy herself, the person slipping inside shocked her.
“Anna,” she called out in a hoarse whisper.
“Dr. North, why are you here?” The girl ran over to her.
“Help me. Get this tape off me,” she urged.
She tried, but her thin fingers plucked uselessly at the bindings around Belle’s ankles.
“Try my hands.”
After a few minutes, Anna succeeded in removing the tape. Belle quickly undid her ankles.
She scrambled over to the window and her hopes sank. A small patch of land outside, thick trees beyond. Beyond the trees she saw a shimmer of sunlight on water.
Toto, I don’t think we’re in Estancia Pointe anymore.
“Water,” she croaked.
Anna went into an adjoining room, returned with a bottle of water. Belle drank it greedily, licked her lips.
“Where are we, honey?”
“I don’t know. There’s water all around us. It’s like an island.”
The girl bit her lip. “It’s scary at night. They told me to never go out at night because of the mosquitoes.”
Mosquitoes, water, probably someplace near the Everglades. Belle sat on the bed, rubbing her head. “How long have you been here? Are you all right?” she asked.
The girl looked fine. Her hair had been dyed blond, and she wore an expensive blue-and-white shorts-and-sweater outfit. Fear danced in her green eyes. But she was clean and looked well-fed.
“I’m fine,” she said in rapid Spanish. “The lady, she told me to call her Grandmother, doesn’t like me to speak Spanish. She said I have to forget that and my former life.”
Not if I can get us both out of here. Belle opened the window, which slid upward only a few inches without noise. She pushed harder, but the window did not budge. No use trying to climb out.
Impact windows, with glass that would not easily shatter. She must still be in Florida. A chorus of insects hummed outside, accompanied by the distant croak of an alligator. The distinct roar of a generator filled the air, but no smell of diesel or gasoline, so the generator must not be by the building.
Wherever this place was, it was deep inside the Everglades. Or another swampy area, far from utilities.
“Anna, what did this grandmother tell you?”
The little girl chewed on her thumbnail. “She said my real daddy is her son and we were going to live far from Florida, in a place where no one would ever bother us.”
Tears shimmered in Anna’s eyes. “Grandmother said my mama is dead. Is it true, Dr. North? Will I ever see my real mama again?”
Belle hugged her. “It’s not true. Your mama is fine. She’s recovering in a hospital and they are taking good care of her. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you see her again. Your mama misses you terribly.”
“Why did this happen?” Anna whimpered. “Grandmother said I have to have private-school lessons and learn to be a lady, and in the place where we will live no one speaks Spanish. They changed my hair color, too.”
“Anna, this is important. Do you remember anything about who took you here and how you got here?”
“No. All I remember is Jesse hurting Mama...” Tears swam in Anna’s eyes again. “Then I felt this needle and when I woke up, I was here.”
Dugin had drugged Anna and transported her here.
“Can you tell me anything at all about this place? Who’s here during the day and night?”
“There’s Mr. and Mrs. Clare are here all the time, except when my daddy visits. And my grandmother, but she never stays long. That’s it, I think.” Anna frowned. “Is he really my daddy?”
“Yes, I think so.” The pounding ache in her head made it difficult to think. “Right now we have to figure out a way to contact the FBI agents who are looking for you. Who’s here guarding you now?”
“Mr. Clare and Mrs. Clare. My grandmother has only been here once or twice during the day.”
Anna’s voice dropped. “There’s a lot of alligators. I’ve heard them. Mrs. Clare says I can’t play close to the water or they’ll eat me.”
Using a child’s terror against her made Belle want to shake the unseen Mrs. Clare.
“Anna, do you know when they plan to take you to this place where you have to speak only English?”
Anna shook her head. “They wanted to go there last week, but my daddy said he had to set everything up yet. He argued with my grandmother that all the money wasn’t in the right place yet and it would look too suspicious if she left all the sudden.”
Before he died of a heart attack, Evan’s father had purchased a palatial home in Switzerland. Evan must be transferring all the family money into a Swiss account for a permanent move to that country. If Mindy left in the middle of the social season, she’d need a good excuse.
Belle and Anna might have a little time to escape, but not much.
But how could they escape this house if there was no way in or out except by boat? Belle went into the adjacent bathroom. No door, only a curtain. She washed her face, dried it with a towel hanging on the rack to erase the grogginess. The bathroom, with its simple fixtures, was functional. Not upscale. But the mirror hanging over the sink was gilded and seemed incongruous.
Belle touched the mirror. I’ve been here before.
Motioning to Anna to remain quiet, she crept to the bedroom door, opened it and listened. Voices in the back, arguing.
Belle opened the door and slipped into the hallway. Oak flooring led to a living area. The voices were past the kitchen, and she could see two figures sitting on the screened-in porch. Two sofas in the living room and a square coffee table between them. Brown area rug, photos of fish and boats...
Evan’s fishing camp house. She’d stayed here ten years ago with her brother, Evan and Mike Patterson. She’d been fifteen, tagging after her big brother and bragging she could outlast them on a fishing trip.
“It’s a primitive house,” Clint had warned. “Primitive for you, Belle. Generator, water pumped from a tank. No television. You might break a nail and then what would happen?”
It had only been for one night, but the memory stamped into her brain. The alligators surrounding the property were big and loud, but it was the snakes that scared her most. No road in. Without a boat, you were stuck.
Belle pushed past the pain in her head and inched her way to the kitchen to eavesdrop.
But she still felt dizzy and grabbed the counter, knocking over a pot. The people on the porch stopped talking. A door slammed and a bulky man in jeans, a grimy gray T-shirt strode in. A gun hung on a holster on his belt.
“You must be Mr. Clare,” she guessed. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Keeping watch over you.”
Belle backed away. “You truly think you can keep me prisoner here?”
“Not me. My employer. He’s got plans for you.” Clare licked his greasy lips and the glint in his eyes made her suddenly afraid. “You’re going to be the good little wifey and please him in every way possible. Too bad, because you’re really pretty. You and me could have a fun time together.”
Wife? What madness was this?
Chin in the air, she glared at him. “Fun? With you? Doubtful.”
“Maybe we still can, blondie.”
Jerking back as his thumb traced her cheek, she shuddered. Kyle had touched her the same way, and the memory of his tender caress and the passion they’d shared fueled her resolve.
There must be a way to break free. I will see Kyle again. I will get Anna out of here.
When his hand laced aro
und her wrist, she tried pulling free. “Let me go. What about your wife? Will she like you cheating on her?”
“She doesn’t care.” Licking his lips, he brought her closer.
“But Mrs. Worthington will.”
Magic words, for he dropped his hand and sneered. “You’re not worth it. I’ll ask another ten grand for this stunt. But when it’s all over, I’ll have us a nice vacation house in the Caribbean and enough money for life.”
She stormed out of the living room and retreated back into the bedroom. But this time, Anna wasn’t alone.
Evan was with her. And judging from the look in his eyes, he wasn’t pleased.
Chapter 22
Belle could be anywhere.
But with this lead, he knew the one person most likely to know her exact location. In his car, he called Clint North.
Voice mail. Again.
“Listen, you son of a bitch, your sister is in trouble and if you don’t want her to die, then you’ll cooperate. I’m through with you protecting your friends. I’m on my way to your house and if you’re not there, I’m sending every available squad car to find you.”
Minutes later, sirens blaring and lights flashing on his SUV, he parked in Clint’s driveway. Phone in hand, Clint North stood outside, his expression pale beneath the light of the porch lantern.
“I was just returning your call...” he said.
Not wasting words, Kyle rushed out of the SUV and threw an arm up, backing North against the front door, pinning him there.
“Where the hell is Evan Worthington?” he roared.
“I don’t know! Why do you want him?” Clint yelled.
“He’s got her. I’ve tried her cell. Nothing. The last location she reported visiting is empty. Her car is missing and the person who took Anna has taken Belle.”
Clint’s gaze grew wide. “Oh my God. It can’t be possible.”
He spit out the details and Belle’s brother gulped. Kyle eased his grip. “Where would Evan and Mindy Worthington go?”