“God doesn’t work like man. The way I see it, prayer could only help you. Verona and I prayed this morning, once she got over being mad at me. And we’ll keep praying.”
“Kiss him for me. Tell him Daddy and Mommy love him.”
“I will. Now find that microchip. “
“I have to go back to Megan’s house because it’s not here, but I have no logical explanation for leaving this house. And I have no way of ditching the circus following me.” Ryan rubbed his head. “I’m pretty much a prisoner in my own home.”
“How about the truth? It has a way of setting people free.”
Ryan contemplated. “That might be the answer. I think I know what to do.”
“Good. I know you’ll find the way. Ask God to strengthen your faith.”
Ryan nodded at the FBI agents peering at him through the window and ended the call.
How could he ask for something he no longer believed in?
Ch. 37
“Megan and I have to go back to her house,” Ryan told the agents. He and Megan stood with the detectives in the kitchen. They were huddled in a corner while Ryan pleaded his cause. “The chip isn’t here. If it’s anywhere, it will be there.”
“Let myself or Agent Gray go again,” Agent Wilders said. “You both should be here if the kidnappers make contact.”
“I think Ryan is right. I’m wondering the house like a zombie when this could be the one chance I have to help my son,” Megan chimed in.
Ryan tentatively took her hand. It felt limp in his but at least she didn’t pull away. They had to present a united front if they were going to sway the agents.
“This is about the chip,” Ryan said. “Megan is the only person who might be able to find it. She has to go and I’m not letting my wife go there without me.”
“We can’t put her life in danger. I’m sure Jackson’s conspirators are watching the house. Right now, Cooper is our main priority,” Agent Wilders said.
Ryan groaned. “We’ve been going round and round this for the past hour. This is the only way I think we’ll get Cooper out of harm’s way for good.”
Agent Gray finally spoke up. “I’ll go with them and have two of our men patrol the house while they go inside.”
Agent Wilders shook his head. “It’s still risky. And the press will only follow them.”
“You can pull your car in the garage. Megan and I can stay out of sight until you arrive there. The press won’t know we’ve left the house. No one will know,” Ryan said. “You can have the house phone transferred to my cell so if the kidnapper calls, I’ll still be able to answer the phone.”
Agent Gray nodded. “It might work.” He gave Wilders a look. “I really want this investigation finished today.”
Wilders debated for a few minutes before he gave his consent.
The ruse worked. Agent Gray drove the car. He searched the house before giving them the okay to enter. Two other agents were in the back while Agent Gray manned the front from his car. Ryan took Megan’s hand and they entered Megan’s old house, locking the door behind them.
***
Megan stood in the foyer of her old home with her hands stuffed in her pockets. Furniture covers blanketed the living area. She sneezed. The air was humid and stuffy. Ryan went to turn on the air conditioning. He had had the placed professionally cleaned once he’d learned about the unwelcomed invasion.
She wrapped her arms around her waist.
“I’ll start looking in the basement,” Ryan said. “Where do you want to start?”
Megan nodded toward the stairs. She hadn’t spoken to Ryan directly since she found out his role in her son’s disappearance. If it weren’t for Cooper’s safety, Megan would have packed and left Ryan. She planned to once she had her son in her arms.
While Ryan headed to the basement, Megan trudged up the stairs and headed to the master bedroom. The door to her walk-in closet was closed. She shivered and rubbed her arms remembering Jackson’s lifeless body and her ransacked closet. Now she knew the killers had ravaged through her personal possessions searching for a microchip. Megan was glad she had tossed those undergarments in the trash.
After Jackson’s death, she had relocated her clothes into the master suite. She never went into that room. Ryan would have to go in there. Megan turned and walked into her old bedroom.
Her stomach rumbled. Megan ignored the hunger pangs. She wouldn’t eat until Cooper was home. Ryan had forced her to drink a cup of tea, but that hadn’t stayed down.
Her eyes scanned the space. Megan had donated a lot of Jackson’s clothes and books, but she kept his watch, his wedding ring, and other keepsakes for her and Cooper to cherish. Those were at the home she shared with Ryan. Ryan had checked them but hadn’t found a microchip.
Megan wandered over to Jackson’s laptop desk in the far corner of the room. She ran her hand over the wood. She had protested when he carried his work into their bedroom. “You have an office downstairs,” she had said.
“I need it here with me,” he had replied. “Sometimes I might have an urgent situation to handle.”
Yeah. Like communicating with his other wife.
Megan squared her shoulders and went over to the desk. She opened the drawers and rummaged through the papers. She saw pennies and paper clips but nothing small enough to be a microchip. Megan decided to toss the contents of the drawers onto the carpet. She would vacuum it later.
The top drawer rolled out halfway and stopped. She gave it a hard tug. Nothing. She reached into the drawer and felt a solid metal partition.
“Don’t tell me this is the clichéd hidden drawer.”
She slid her fingers across the partition until they contacted a protruding piece of metal. She gripped it with her fingers and slid it to the left.
The partition fell forward, and the drawer opened completely.
She gasped. There were pictures of another woman. She covered her mouth with her hands. She thought she had emptied her tear ducts, but here they came. Her body shook. “Why, Jackson, why? Wasn’t I enough?”
“You’re enough for any man. Jackson wasn’t man enough to know that.”
Ryan’s voice startled her. Megan wiped her face and twisted away from him. She tensed when she heard his footsteps behind her.
Ryan picked her up and held her. “I love you.”
Megan shook her head. She still refused to communicate with him. Extricating herself from his arms, Megan dropped the pictures to the floor and went to wash her face.
The doorbell rang. She froze.
“Who could that be?” he asked. He looked out the window and didn’t see Agent Gray in the car. “Has to be the agent. Tired of waiting, I guess. I’ll get rid of him so we can continue searching.”
Ryan bounded down the stairs, and Megan followed at a slower pace. Ryan looked through the peephole before swinging the door open.
“We’re not quite ready,” Ryan said.
Agent Gray walked past him and into the foyer. He had a bright smile on his face. “I just received some great news. We learned your son is with one of the conspirators. His name is Frank Armadillo, and Cooper was with him. Your boy is safe.”
She saw Ryan stiffen and pause.
“You have Cooper?” Ryan asked. His tone didn’t sound like he believed the agent.
Agent Gray nodded. “Yes.”
“And you have this Frank Armadillo in custody,” Ryan said.
“We do,” Agent Gray said. “I just got the call.”
“Thank you, Jesus!” Megan flew down the stairs, and before she could hug the agent, Ryan scooped her in his arms.
Ryan turned his back to the agent and kissed her. At first Megan pushed him away but then she responded. She poured all the joy she felt about Cooper’s return into that kiss. Ryan pulled away and whispered, “He’s lying. Trust me on this.”
Megan frowned.
Agent Gray clicked the door shut behind him.
Ryan gave her another scorching kiss before pus
hing Megan toward the basement. “Run,” he whispered. “Hide. Now.”
“I hate to break this up,” Agent Gray said, “but we’ve got to get back to the house.”
Megan bit her lip and shook her head. Ryan was telling her to trust him. To run and hide. Why? Why did Agent Gray say they had to go and then shut the door?
Did the agent have Cooper?
Megan swayed back and forth with indecision. God, what do I do?
“I’m eager to find out how you found Frank,” Ryan said. “He’s one shifty character, a ghost.” He gave her a pointed glare and cocked his head to the basement door. “Go now,” he mouthed.
Megan catapulted toward the basement door, opening and shutting the door behind her as she raced down the stairs to the den.
Above her, she heard tumbling. Ryan and Agent Gray must be fighting and rolling on the floor.
Megan released short raspy breaths. What should she do? Maybe Ryan was attacking the agent. Maybe Ryan was playing her again. Lord, what do I do?
She heard a loud crash and a huge groan. Someone was hurt. Another loud bang convinced her to go upstairs. One of those two men had her son or knew where he might be. Megan scanned the area for a potential weapon. Her eyes landed on her guitar. Her precious gift from Jackson. Why had she left it behind?
Maybe for this moment.
Today, this guitar would save someone’s life. She wasn’t sure whose yet. Megan grabbed the instrument and raced upstairs. She unlocked the basement door and opened it a crack.
She saw Ryan on his knees, his hands protecting his face. She leaned forward and opened the door wider. It sounded as if he was praying. Agent Gray delivered a harsh blow to Ryan’s head.
“Tell me where it is!” Agent Gray growled.
Ryan’s body jerked as he fell face-first to the floor. “I don’t know where it is,” Ryan mumbled. “We haven’t found it yet.”
Megan slipped into the foyer and raised the guitar high over her head.
“Well, at least I know it’s somewhere in this house, and that’s good enough for me.” Agent Gray reached into the small of his back and pulled out a gun. “You can thank Frank for this. I missed Kyle on purpose. You won’t be so lucky.” He took aim at Ryan’s head.
God, I need You! Megan thought as she swung the guitar with all the force she could muster.
Agent Gray turned a millisecond before the guitar shattered on his head, the gun went off, and he thudded to the floor unconscious.
“Megan!” Ryan screamed, crawling to where she stood holding only the guitar’s handle, the strings fluttering in the air.
Megan dropped the handle. “Is he dead? Did I kill him?”
Ryan checked the agent for a pulse. “Barely, but he’s alive. Thank God.”
“He knows where Cooper is, doesn’t he?”
Ryan shook his head. “Megan, he has no idea where Cooper is. You have to trust me.”
Megan lowered her head and whispered, “Cooper, baby, where are you?” Megan’s shoulders slumped, and she slid to the floor…
Ch. 38
“Is that man your husband? He’s a beast.” An EMT checked her pulse. She shined a light to check Megan’s pupils.
She rolled her eyes. “I might as well claim him because he’s not going anywhere.”
Megan sat on a stretcher outside of the ambulance, eyeing Ryan pacing back and forth with an icepack on his face. Police cars lined her block, and several news teams filmed nearby.
“We had to pry you out of his hands. That man wouldn’t let you go. He wailed and carried on thinking you were shot. I had to let him hear your heartbeat before he released you.” The EMT laughed. “I told him he couldn’t come in the ambulance. He almost bit my head off.”
“Yes, that sounds like him.” Megan put a hand to her head. “Ouch.” She felt a trickle of blood.
“The bullet grazed by your ear. It could’ve been worse.” She cleaned Megan’s wound and wrapped a bandage around her head.
Megan lifted a hand. “Thank you, Jesus.”
The EMT smiled. “Hallelujah.” She put a hand on her hips. “You need to go to the hospital, you know. And so does he.”
“I told you, I’m fine. I just want my baby.” Her chin wobbled. “I want Cooper.”
Agent Wilders came over carrying a notebook. “I need to get a statement.”
“Later,” Ryan growled, tugging Wilders’ shoulder. “Megan needs her rest.”
Agent Wilders shook his head. “I have to get her statement now.”
“Not without her attorney present,” Ryan said.
Megan glared at Ryan. “Agent Wilders, I’ll be happy to answer your questions. But can you tell me where Cooper is?”
The agent shook his head.
Megan swallowed tears. Where is my son? She pictured him crying and hungry or lying somewhere… She gulped.
Ryan looked at his watch. “He’ll be here in ten minutes.”
She reached for Ryan. “You know where he is?” Her heart thumped in her chest. She sobbed. “I thought…I thought…”
Ryan looked at the EMT workers and Agent Wilders. “I need to talk to my wife in private.”
“Okay, but you’re not leaving until I get a statement,” Agent Wilders said. “From both of you.” He glared.
Ryan met him stare-for-stare. “You’ll get it with our attorney present.”
Wilders stomped off.
Ryan pulled Megan close.
“Well?” she asked.
“Cooper’s safe. He’s with Michael Ward.”
“What?” Megan’s mouth dropped open. “Why?”
“I gave him to Michael for safekeeping,” Ryan said. “I had to protect him from Frank and Jackson’s people.”
“You…you kidnapped my son—”
“To protect him, yes, but Cooper was never in any danger,” Ryan interrupted. “It’s been the worst two days of my life.”
Fury hit her in waves. She jabbed a finger in his chest. “You made me think…why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t,” Ryan said. “Your face and heart would’ve told the truth. I suspected Frank and Jackson’s people both had leaks from the FBI or law enforcement. They had to be getting inside help. It was the only way they could get away with so much. How else could Frank have gotten a note to me without getting caught? And, how could Jackson get killed without any clues? I couldn’t tell you the truth because I feared the whole house was wiretapped. And, I was right. Agent Gray heard our conversation. That’s why he said Frank had been captured.”
Megan sagged against him. “I’m furious with you, but I’m glad my baby is all right.”
“I didn’t know who to trust.” He hugged her close and pulled away to gently touch her hair. “Thank you for trusting me.” He shook his head. “You were supposed to hide, to run away, not come back upstairs.”
“I didn’t know if you were in trouble so I had to come back. Good thing I did.”
“I would’ve handled it.”
“You were on your knees getting your face rearranged.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Just say thank you,” Megan interrupted.
“Thank you,” he said.
“And you owe me a guitar.”
“I’ll get you one.” He sighed. “Before you came up those stairs, I had been praying. The entire time I was on my knees, I was asking God to look out for you. To help you leave. I didn’t care about myself. Trust me, that’s big for me.”
She placed a hand on his chest. “Thank you for loving me and for being a father to Cooper.”
“If you’ll let me, I’d like to be in his life.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean if I let you?”
“I’ve decided to set you free. I’ll give you the money and the divorce. I only hope you’ll let me see Cooper from time to time. I love you too much to keep you hostage. I see that now. Besides, I promised God I’d do it if He kept you safe. Imminent death will put things in perspective real fast.
During those precious seconds, I had no one to trust but Him and He came through for me.”
Megan hugged him. “Thank you for freeing me. You can see Cooper every day. I realize you do love him and Cooper is crazy about you. I won’t interfere with that.”
Ryan nodded and stepped out of her arms. He averted his eyes, but Megan could see they were teary. He turned to walk out of her life for good.
Megan raised her voice. “But I have one condition…”
Ryan turned.
“Can this be a package deal?”
Ryan’s face transformed. She read the relief and hope in his eyes, and her stomach relaxed.
He was back in her arms in two steps. “This is a fairytale ending.”
She chuckled. “I’m not saying I love you. It’s way too soon.”
“You don’t have to,” Ryan said softly. “It’ll come in time. I have enough love for both of us.”
Megan rolled her eyes. Nice to see his confidence had returned. “What’s going to happen since we never found the microchip?” She shuddered. “Frank might come back for Cooper.”
Ryan rested his head against hers and whispered, “I found it.”
“What?” Her mouth dropped. She looked around to see if anybody was listening, but Agent Gray was getting all the attention for now.
Ryan placed a hand over his lips. “It was in your guitar. That’s where Jackson hid the microchip. When you cracked it open, the chip fell to the floor. I don’t know how I saw it, but I’m going to say it was God. I pocketed it before the cops arrived.”
Megan glared. “You need to tell Agent Wilders. I don’t want to live my life in fear.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if I can trust him. If Agent Gray was his partner…”
“I see,” Megan said.
“I’m giving the chip to Frank. Michael’s getting word to him. Frank will delete anything incriminating about me on there. The way I see it, I’d rather trust the evil I know, and I know Frank.”
Megan considered his logic and shook her head. “You’re one stubborn man, Ryan Oakes. I’m going to love seeing God deal with your thick-headedness. He’s going to set you right.”
A Reason to Sing Page 19