by Terry Poole
After closing and sending the file, he shut down the computer, checked the clock on the wall and frowned. The case profile had taken well over an hour to complete, far longer than he had hoped it would. He had to get to Nathan. At least Nathan could visit with his kooky neighbor, Mrs. Rosario for a bit. That old lady adored Nathan and would miss him. They’d have to make time to visit her.
Kelly stretched, pulling the kink from his back as he smoothly rose to his feet. His cell went off and he reached for the phone lying on the desk. He thumbed the device to accept the call without looking at the number.
“Special Agent—” He never got a chance to finish.
“Kelly!”
Terror flashed through Kelly at the sound of Matt’s frantic voice. Breathing was forgotten as the foreboding swelled, threatening to drown him. Kelly fell heavily back into his chair.
Nathan had to be all right because if anything happened to the man, the other half of his soul, Kelly would simply cease to exist.
“Nathan’s been kidnapped!”
Kelly’s brain stalled on the words.
Nathan’s been kidnapped.
The words seemed to bounce around in Kelly’s skull like a macabre drum beat on repeat.
Nathan’s been kidnapped.
“I just received a call from a Detective James. He’s at Mrs. Rosario’s. You know her; she’s Nathan’s neighbor. She insists that she has to talk to you, that the kidnappers left you a message.”
Nathan’s been kidnapped.
No!
Kelly was on his feet and moving long before Matt had finished speaking. “I’m on my way.”
He dropped the phone into his pocket as he tore out of the room. He ran through the building as if the hounds of hell were on his heels. Alarmed agents scrambled to get out of his way. The look on his face convincing them not to ask questions.
Once in his SUV, Kelly slapped the magnetized siren onto the roof and switched it on. He peeled his vehicle out of the parking lot in a screaming fury, ignoring the angry drivers slamming on brakes and yelling in his direction.
The drive went by in a blur of avoiding other cars and pedestrians. The area in front of Nathan’s building was already filled with police vehicles by the time Kelly arrived.
Kelly slid his SUV to a skewed stop behind an FBI forensics van before grabbing his FBI vest. He still had his badge around his neck but the vest would guarantee that no one would question his presence. Resisting the urge to race through the small crowd, which would automatically put the other officers on alert and likely get him detained, Kelly strode as swiftly as he could into the building.
A few officers and agents threw concerned glances in his direction. Whether they knew who he was or it was the deadly cold vibe he was giving off didn’t matter to him. Just so long as they stayed out of his way.
Too much adrenaline was flooding his system for him to wait for an elevator. He took the stairs two at a time to Nathan’s floor before bursting through the stairwell door into organized chaos. Jerry, his ex-partner was already on site with a team scouring the area for evidence.
How did Jerry get here so fast? He was supposed to be out of town. And more importantly, why was he here?
Jerry spotted him and waved him over. “The old lady is in there. The realtor found her injured on the floor of Nathan’s place.” He pointed toward Mrs. Rosario’s condo. “She won’t talk to anyone but you.”
“Thanks, Jerry.” Kelly patted Jerry’s shoulder as he brushed past him.
“No problem. We’re pulling security footage right now.”
Kelly nodded before he entered Nathan’s condo. He gave the place a quick look around but knew he was unlikely to see anything. There would be no furniture overturned because it was empty. The techs were dusting the countertops anyway but Kelly doubted they would find anything.
He turned on his heel, walked the short distance down the hall to Mrs. Rosario’s condo and entered through the open door. Mrs. Rosario, sporting bright pink hair in a tangled mess, sat on her couch. A paramedic beside her held a cold pack to her tear streaked wrinkled cheek. She had a bandage on her forehead above her eye, another on her jaw. Her wrist was wrapped up and in a sling.
Kelly had to hold back the angry growl that threatened to burst from his throat. That someone would actually hurt the kind-hearted old nutcase with the invisible dog made him furious. She had never been anything but sweet and mothering to Nathan, and doting on Kelly, accepting him immediately.
Her watery gaze met his and she held out her uninjured hand toward him. “Kelly, oh thank the stars! They’ve taken him! They’ve taken our Nathan!” Fresh tears began streaming from her eyes.
Moving quickly to her side, Kelly clasped her trembling hand in both of his then sat beside her. Mrs. Rosario immediately turned to him. Kelly opened his arms and held her close to him, sparing the paramedic a quick glance for assurance that he wouldn’t aggravate Mrs. Rosario’s injuries. At the man’s nod of approval, Kelly wrapped his arms snuggly about the shaking old woman.
“Mrs. Rosario, who’s taken Nathan?” he asked her gently after a few moments.
She looked up at him from the circle of his arms. “Some evil, evil men. I tried to stop them but…” Mrs. Rosario took a deep shuddering breath. “They said you would know where to find Nathan but you had to hurry or there wouldn’t be much left of him to find.”
Kelly’s gut clenched. This is my fault?
“What did they look like?”
Mrs. Rosario sat up with an angry expression. “They were South Americans, possibly from Brazil or Columbia by their accents,” she said in a much firmer voice.
Kelly felt his eyebrows rise with his surprise. “How on earth would you know that?”
“I’m not stupid,” she snapped. “I watch NCIS and Criminal Minds. They looked like thugs sent by a Columbian drug lord.” The last part was said in a whisper behind her hand while giving the room a furtive once-over.
Kelly would have scoffed at her assessment had it not been a very real possibility considering his past.
“There were three of them. The leader spoke with a very heavy accent.” She paused. “He asked me if I knew you and when I said yes, he said, the Señora would be waiting for you.”
“Did he use my full name?”
“Yes, he definitely said FBI Agent Kelly MacNiel.”
“And he said the Señora?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what he said.”
“Did he give a name?”
Mrs. Rosario scowled, gaze fixed on the ground as she concentrated. “Danna.” She clutched his sleeve in excitement as she looked up at him. “I heard one of them say Señora Danna.”
Kelly stared off into space, racking his brain for the name but he didn’t recognize it. Mrs. Rosario broke his train of thought when she put a hand on his chest to bring his attention back to her.
“There were three of them. They put a cloth on Nathan’s face and he passed out. They probably used ether because it works so quickly, not like sodium pentobarbital which takes a few minutes to work and you have to inject it.”
Impressed with the elderly amateur sleuth, Kelly gave Mrs. Rosario a gentle hug. “You are one very brave, very smart lady, Mrs. R. Thank you.”
She beamed up at him.
“Mamma!” The word echoed from the doorway as a younger, slimmer copy of Mrs. Rosario charged into the room. Obviously, it was her daughter and thankfully without the garish hair Mrs. Rosario favored.
“Elena!” Mrs. Rosario cried, stretching her good arm out to her daughter.
Kelly rose, relinquishing his spot to Elena, who took his place and gathered her mother tightly to her. He stopped at the tug on his shirt and turned back to Mrs. Rosario who had a tight hold of the fabric.
“Find him,” she demanded firmly. “Find him and bring our Nathan home safely.”
“I will. I swear to you I will or die trying.”
She stared up at him for a moment before nodding and swiveling bac
k around to her daughter. Kelly scanned the condo searching for Jerry. He spotted him speaking to one of the forensic scientists and strode over to him.
“Do you know a Señora Danna?”
Jerry looked to the side as if he was thinking but something in his body language struck Kelly as off. It was subtle and if Kelly hadn’t been watching Jerry so intently, he would have missed it.
Glancing back up, Jerry shook his head. “Nope, name doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry.”
“You sure?”
Jerry scowled. “I think I would recognize a name like that if I’d heard it before.”
Jerry had always had a lousy poker face, the ‘tells’ were all there. He was standing there lying right to Kelly’s face. Why? And who was Señora Danna?
“Excuse me, agents?” A police officer interrupted them. “Security has the footage available if you would follow me please.”
Kelly joined Jerry as he followed the officer to the main floor of the building and to an office marked ‘Security’. Once there, a man introduced himself as the head of security for the building. He led them past a bank of monitors to a desk with one large screen on it. Tapping a key on the keyboard, a recording began to play.
Kelly clenched his fists at his sides as he watched three men manhandle Nathan out the front door of his condo. Two held his arms while he struggled to avoid the third’s attempt to put a cloth to his face. He gave a small smile as he saw Nathan nail the man in the balls with his knee. Bet that will hurt for a while. The man drew back his arm and backhanded Nathan hard before pressing the cloth viciously to Nathan’s face.
The men made absolutely no effort to hide their faces from the camera but they had to know they were being filmed. The cameras were large and prominently placed throughout the building. Why drag Nathan out into the hallway in full view? Unless…they wanted to make sure Kelly saw all of it. A thought occurred to him and he patted the man at the keyboard to get his attention.
“Pause that for a minute. Why didn’t anyone see this and go help?” Kelly asked the head of security.
“Two men were smashing windows and generally causing as much damage as they could to the cars in the parking lot.” The man hesitated. “I wasn’t here and the supervisor pulled everyone to help with that. No one was left behind to monitor the screens.”
“Did you at least catch the men?”
“No, sir. They jumped into a black SUV as soon as they saw us and escaped.”
“What about the lobby cameras. How did the men get into the building?”
“We don’t know. The lobby cameras just quit working and before anyone could investigate, the problem in the parking lot started. All the lobby cameras were broken.”
Kelly grunted, completely unimpressed. “Continue playback.”
Mrs. Rosario appeared in the hallway brandishing an umbrella of all things. Kelly couldn’t resist the grin as she fearlessly attacked the men with the hideous multicolored thing. Nathan slid bonelessly to the carpet as the men focused on Mrs. Rosario, roughly twisting her arm to snatch the umbrella from her hands. The leader pulled her head back by her hair, spoke to her briefly then pushed her forcefully through the door to Nathan’s condo. Unfortunately, the feed had no audio.
The man blatantly glared up at the camera, waved insolently and laughed. The leader then gestured to the other two men. They hoisted Nathan up and awkwardly half carried, half dragged him, between them to the elevator. Kelly gave a small smirk as the leader limped slightly as he followed after them.
The view abruptly switched to the elevator, then to the exit. Because the lobby’s cameras had been disabled, no video was available for the area.Kelly watched them exit the building then head for a dark SUV parked at the curb. Obviously, they hadn’t want to be seen entering the building but once they had Nathan, all bets were off. The two men unceremoniously dumped Nathan in the back seat then all three climbed into the front.
“Freeze that.” Kelly snapped as the SUV pulled away. The license plate was clearly displayed in the frame.
“Mathews,” Jerry yelled over his shoulder.
“Here, Agent Gilbert.”
“Put a BOLO on that plate.”
“Yes, sir, on it,” Mathews quickly responded to Jerry’s order.
“You know it’s probably going to come back stolen or a rental,” Jerry said to Kelly.
“Probably,” Kelly agreed. “But maybe we can track its path or get an idea of their destination.”
“True. It’s also highly likely that the two men in the parking lot were a distraction so the others would have time to snatch Nathan.”
“Excuse me. Is there an Agent Kelly MacNiel here?”
Kelly looked up at the interruption. A large dark-skinned man, a detective judging by the gold shield clipped to his belt, stood in the doorway.
“That would be me, Detective.”
“Dr. Kirkfield’s parents are waiting outside. If you have a moment, they would like to speak to you.”
“Shit.” What am I going to tell Nathan’s parents?
Kelly hauled in a deep fortifying breath, stiffened his spine and went to tell his future in-laws that it was very likely his fault that Nathan had been taken. He vowed to himself he would move heaven and earth to get Nathan back safety.
Chapter Two
Earlier
Nathan was very impressed with the job the cleaning company had done, the condo looked immaculate. He glanced at his phone to check the time. The realtor would be there soon and he could hardly wait. His things, the few he had kept that is, were already at Kelly’s place, now their home. They would be heading there at the end of the week and a week later he would begin his new position as head of the Cardiology Department at Anchor Hospital.
At least, it wouldn’t be completely all new faces. Martin, his technician had been more than happy to follow him and receive the promotion that the move would earn him. With a baby on the way, Nathan could hardly blame him. They worked well together, and after everything Nathan had gone through at his previous hospital, he was relieved to have someone he knew he could trust with his work. Nathan couldn’t help being a bit paranoid now, after having a coworker try to blackmail him, thanks to the hospital’s archaic and illegal policies, and nearly steal his life’s work.
Having already met his new administrative assistant and secretary, he felt confident that they would all get along fine.
Nathan turned at a noise behind him expecting to see his realtor, but instead, three strange men stood in the doorway of the condo. He hadn’t locked the door, not expecting anyone other than the realtor or Kelly. Thinking they must have entered the wrong condo by mistake, he moved forward toward them.
“Gentlemen, you must have the wrong condo,” he began pleasantly.
“Oh no, Doctor Kirkfield, we have the right place.” One of them spoke with a heavy accent.
“Excuse me?” Nathan began then exclaimed loudly in shock as he was grabbed by two of the men.
They each held an arm and dragged him roughly out into the hallway.
“What are you doing? Let go of me!” Nathan fought with all his strength, trying to wrench free of the men. “Help!”
He shouted, hoping that someone would come and investigate. Swinging his legs, he felt his knee connect and a low groan followed by a string of curses confirmed the blow. A cloth was roughly shoved into his face. Recognizing the smell, he quickly held his breath knowing it wouldn’t help for long.
“Hoodlums! Unhand him!”
Nathan heard Mrs. Rosario’s imperious demand as a technicolor umbrella solidly thumped the head of the man holding his right arm. Managing to yank his arm free, Nathan tried to pull the other one away but the man elbowed him hard in the ribs and the air he was holding was forced out of his lungs. Sucking in another breath brought the noxious smell of ether with it and as his world began to go hazy and dark, he saw the carpet come up to meet his head.
He thought he heard Mrs. Rosario yelling, then nothing.
&n
bsp; §§§§
Slowly, he became aware of sensations hovering vaguely at the very edge of his consciousness. There was movement, rocking, up and down, then a strange vibration beneath him. At one point, he thought he had been carried and possibly dragged. Each time he began to rouse, the hated cloth soaked in ether was held to his face and he would sink back down into oblivion. Then at some point his kidnappers switched to needles, as the repeated sharp jabs to his thigh and arm testified to.
Hours, days could have passed for all he knew. Then slowly his mind began to clear, no longer held prisoner to the murk that held it down. Intense discomfort bloomed in his forehead quickly becoming torment as it spread to the back of his head as he became more aware. He would have gladly traded the peaceful dark for the agony that steadily overwhelmed him. He couldn’t control the moan that slid from his throat.
Nathan felt his upper body gently raised and a glass was pressed to his mouth. Cool liquid brushed against his bottom lip and Nathan automatically opened his mouth. It trickled across his tongue soothing his raw throat as it slid down. But when the liquid hit his stomach, it was like a blow to his gut. He waved the glass away before leaning over the cot he lay on and throwing up what little was in him into a bucket.
“Easy now,” a soft male voice murmured close by as someone held his shoulders steadying him.
With the couple of brain cells that were still partially functioning, Nathan was hazily thankful that whoever had given him the water had the foresight to place a bucket beside him.
Falling back exhausted, Nathan panted, the pain blinding. A wet cloth wiped his face, and then darkness enveloped him once more. It removed him from the excruciating torture threatening to shatter his skull with each heartbeat.
But at least he was alive, suffering, but alive. For now.
The next time awareness intruded, the headache was somewhat diminished, still there, but tolerable. He felt weak, drained of energy. Slowly, Nathan opened his eyes, blinking several times to clear them. He lay on a small cot; the thin mattress under him, lumpy and hard.
Shifting slightly, his hand brushed up against the wall directly behind him. The surface was cold and rough. The cot butted up against a concrete wall, by the feel of it.