Trust No One (Vista Security)

by Diana Layne

  “MJ, the baby is gone. Someone broke into the house and took her. Angel’s missing.”

  Chapter 24

  Missing? “No!” Gone? “No.” No, no, no.

  MJ swerved violently, nearly lost control of the car. The dog yapped as he was thrown against the door.

  “Goddamn, woman, pull over before you kill us,” Tasha snapped.

  MJ obeyed, steering the car to the shoulder and stepping on the brakes, glad Tasha was there to tell her what to do when her mind blanked.

  “Only killing going to be done is me killing Ben,” MJ vowed.

  “What’s happened?”

  MJ didn’t take the time to answer. She realized the phone was still to her ear, and Tex was still talking. “The police are here now.”

  “The police?” MJ felt like sinking through the floorboard. The local yokels. Terrific.

  “Officer Jenkins wants to talk to you.”

  Great. Mike Jenkins, getting better and better. He probably already had a hard-on over that BOLO and now this. She didn’t want to talk to Mike. She knew who had her baby. But the longer she had to screw around with the cop, the longer it would be before she could find Angel.

  “MJ.”

  “Mike, what’s going on?”

  “There’s more Tex didn’t tell you. There was a rental car stranded here in the driveway.”

  “Stranded?”

  “Spark plug wires ripped out. And signs of a struggle. You know anything about that?”

  “Why would I?”

  “The disabled car?”

  “You said the wires were ripped out. I’m a mechanic, I can disable a car in a less destructive way.”

  “Had to ask. Have to ask this, too, do you have the baby?”

  “Why the hell would I kidnap my own child?” MJ imagined she heard that spooky Twilight Zone music. “No, I don’t have Angelina, why don’t you find her instead of bugging me?”

  “I told you I had to ask. Where are you?”

  “With my sister. Family emergency.”

  “We’re putting out an Amber Alert for Angelina. Can you get back to town?”

  “As soon as I can.”

  “When I put your name in the system, NCIC popped on a BOLO in West Virginia.”

  Yeah, she already knew that, thanks.

  Why the hell had he looked up her name in the first place? “West Virginia?” she said with mock surprise. “It’s a mistake.”

  “Obviously. It listed you as a nurse. I’m going to have to talk to you, see if we can get this mess straightened out.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Find my baby!” She added the last bit for effect, knowing a mom who really didn’t know where her baby was, would be frantic. MJ was frantic all right. Frantic to get her hands on Ben. There was no doubt in her mind who had Angelina.

  “Wow, your baby’s gone?” Tasha murmured while before MJ could disconnect the call. “Who took her?”

  MJ shot her a look that said she had a good idea while Jenkins continued, “We’re looking. In the meantime, stay where we can reach you.”

  “Yes, of course. Tell Dottie I’ll call back later.”

  “She’s in bad shape.”

  “I can imagine.”

  MJ disconnected, then immediately punched Ben’s number, talking to Tasha while she waited on the phone to connect. “Yes, Angel’s disappeared. Ben said he thought I’d be wanting to see him soon. He has to have her. But he left a disabled car behind.”

  “And that means . . . he left on foot?”

  “Don’t think so. Jenkins said there were signs of a scuffle.”

  “So Ben was scuffling with . . . ?”

  “Someone else who had kidnapping in mind?”

  “Or worse,” Tasha suggested.

  “Yes,” MJ conceded, not so irritated that Jenkins was on the scene to keep Tex and Dottie safe at least.

  Ben answered.

  “You bastard, what happened? She better be all right.”

  “Of course she’s all right, why wouldn’t she be?”

  “A few things don’t make sense, like a disabled car, signs of a scuffle?”

  “You’re lucky I was a step ahead of you this time. There was a man already there trying to get her.”

  Shock held her silent while she processed what he said. She’d suspected, but to have it confirmed. “Trying to get her?”

  “I thought that was his intent, yes, but I called the cops in case he meant to come back and hurt the Myers. Are they okay?”

  “Yes, physically. Emotionally they’re a wreck.” She remembered something. “This man, what’d he look like?”

  “It was dark, but once I pulled his cap off, he looked blond. The most noticeable thing about him was a scar on his forehead.”

  “Scar?”

  “Yeah, do you know him?”

  “No, but Dottie said earlier a man with a scar ran them off the road. She thought there was going to be trouble but a cop came along in time.”

  “So he was already in place.”

  “Looks like it. And you fought with him, you okay? Your shoulder?”

  “I’m fine. And you’re welcome.”

  “Thank you.” Relief warred with chagrin. “Where is she?”

  “With me, of course. And finally sleeping. She doesn’t do well in the carseat.”

  “I could have told you.”

  “Like I had the opportunity to ask?”

  “She has a dog she likes. Plays music.”

  “That little black and white thing? I stuffed it in the diaper bag. She uses it in the carseat?”

  “She uses it in the carseat, yes. And to sleep. I want her back.”

  “Of course, meet me.”

  “I’m not stupid.”

  “I just want to be involved. I have suspicions.”

  “I’m suspicious myself and that means not to trust you.”

  “Don’t see you have a choice.”

  Blood rushed to her head so fast, she saw red. So that’s what it felt like, a detached part of her brain thought. She brought herself under control, managed to sound reasonable she thought. “This doesn’t concern you.”

  “Jeff made it my concern when he gave me the job.”

  She found herself screaming, “You mean he sent you to kidnap Angelina? And you did it, knowing how that would make me feel?” So much for any real caring on his part.

  At the moment, she felt she was being manipulated like a puppet. On a string, every move she made choreographed. Now that she knew the circumstances of her parents’ deaths, she realized she’d been manipulated most of her life. The idea of any control over her life, over the last years of being “retired” had only been an illusion. Despair clawed its way up through her stomach, settled with a dull thud behind her ribcage.

  “I’m saying I knew Angelina would bring you running like nothing else. I’m not saying that Jeff gave the orders. I just interpreted it as part of my job.”

  MJ stiffened. “Wait a minute,” she said as Ben’s words pushed past her pain. “Jeff doesn’t know you have her?”

  “Can’t say that he does.”

  Of course, Jeff might soon guess if he was the one who sent the other man. If Ben was to be believed, this could work to her advantage. If they stayed a step ahead. “What made you go off on your own like this?”

  “I have some ideas. I want to be involved.” She heard him draw a breath. “I don’t like to fail.”

  She noted he didn’t say this had anything to do with them and the night they’d spent together. She wasn’t sure if she felt relief or disappointment. “It doesn’t concern you,” she said, perhaps more bluntly than she intended. But she’d really just rather have Angelina and have Ben gone.

  “I just saved your daughter from whoever was trying to take her.”

  “Yes, thank you for saving her. Now, where are you, we’ll come get her.”

  “Where are you?”

  Hope blossomed. “Just crossing over into Texas.”

&n
bsp; “You’ll need to turn around.”

  MJ released a breath.

  After she repeated the instructions, Tasha offered to drive. When MJ refused, Tasha said, “We need to take a break for the dog soon anyway, and I’ll take over driving then.”

  “There’s a Texas welcome center we passed about three miles back. We’ll stop there.” MJ shifted the Porsche into gear, pulled back into traffic and started watching for a turn around so they could head to Oklahoma.

  * * *

  “Okay, kid, let’s see if I can figure out this diaper.” The brief nap was over way too soon, Angelina woke up and screamed her protest again. While driving, Ben had dug the toy dog out and figured out how to turn it on. He passed it back to Angelina, who promptly batted it to the floor.

  Yeah, she loved the toy all right.

  He saw a fast food place ahead, took the exit and hoped there was coffee. Now, he was trying to figure out the diaper thing in the front seat of the car. She was soaked. He pulled the wet wipes open and ready, and took a deep breath before he opened the diaper. Good, only wet. He held his breath, but she kicked and fussed and how did you talk to a baby to calm her when you were holding your breath?

  He got the old diaper off; after a brief debate what to do with it, dropped it on the ground with the intent to pick it up afterward, and wiped her down. Before he could figure out how to position the clean diaper beneath her, pee started dribbling out and onto the car seat. Damn.

  “All right, I know I’m slow,” he said giving in to the need to talk and comfort her. “And yes, it’s cold. I’m trying to hurry, honest.” Once he started talking, she seemed resigned to watch him with a look that said she expected no less than incompetence. “Yeah, yeah, everyone’s a critic.”

  Finally he had her diapered, dressed and sitting in a high chair in the restaurant, happily crumbling a biscuit to pieces while he drank coffee. After his body got the needed caffeine jolt, he called his mom.

  “I need some help,” he said after very little pre-amble.

  “So what’s new?”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “You’re my kid aren’t you? You kids are always needing something.”

  “Not fair.”

  “But true.”

  “Well, in this case–”

  “What do you need? Rent money, a place to stay on your next vacation, or worse, a place to stay while you go back to college, a new car. . .”

  A new car? He wondered which sibling had pulled that one. “When have I ever asked for rent money?”

  “Hang on, I’m sure I made a list.”

  And he was sure she had. She was just persnickety enough to do something like that. “Recently?”

  “What’s recently got to do with it? A milk cow doesn’t change her spots.”

  He shook his head. “Mom. I’m a bull, not a cow.”

  “You’re full of bull, you mean? I’m waiting.”

  He blew out a breath. “I need a babysitter.”

  There was actually silence on the other end of the phone. He thought he’d lost the connection.

  “Mom?”

  “Shush. I’m trying to think how many months it’s been since I’ve seen you. You had a baby in that time? Funny you didn’t mention that when we spoke.”

  “If I’d had a baby myself, I’d be famous like that other man, I think.”

  “Oh, you know what I meant. I didn’t even know you had a serious girlfriend.”

  “I don’t. And I don’t have a baby either.”

  “So you want me to babysit. . .your dog? Cat? Horse?”

  “A friend’s baby. She’s out of town and I’m having a little more trouble managing . . .”

  “You want me to fly to D.C.?”

  “No, I’m coming to you.”

  “So you are driving this baby all the way from D.C. to Oklahoma for me to help you babysit?”

  “You do know your way around babies.” She didn’t answer, and he finally answered her question about driving from D.C. to Oklahoma with a reluctant, “Not exactly.”

  “What is it exactly?”

  “I’d rather not get into it over the phone. We’ve stopped for breakfast, but I’m a couple of hours out.”

  “Wow, thanks for not making it last minute.”

  “If you have plans, I can handle it for a while. And I just need you for half an hour or so.”

  “Sounds intriguing,” she said in a tone that belied her words. “I do have a hair appointment this afternoon.”

  “We can wait at the house, leave the back door unlocked.”

  “Wait a minute. You don’t have anything to do with that baby on the Amber Alert?”

  “Amber Alert?” Terrific. Though for the moment he wasn’t too worried. Angelina had dark skin like him and could easily pass for his daughter. Still, he’d have to be careful. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

  He disconnected the call, took a gulp of coffee. He wasn’t looking forward to explaining this mess to his mom. He wasn’t even certain he understood his reasons for staying involved.

  Speed was of the essence though, to stay a step ahead of . . . whoever it was, though more and more he was beginning to have suspicions.

  Chapter 25

  “So why’d he take her?” Tasha asked.

  “He said he has some ideas and wants to be involved.”

  “Probably a trap.”

  “Maybe. Likely.” MJ rubbed her hand across her forehead. “I don’t know. He said Jeff didn’t know.”

  “And you believe him?”

  A myriad of mixed feelings tagged MJ. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

  “Thinking with your hormones again?”

  “Would that be the synthetic hormones I’m supposed to be taking?”

  “Whatever. You two were pretty cozy when I got there.”

  “And you say I’m a master of understatement,” MJ said, remembering Tasha’s night vision goggles. “If you’d showed up earlier I’d never slept with him.”

  “Then I’m glad I was late, he’s hot. I’d’ve jumped his bones the first day.”

  “Well, that’s a given.”

  “Meaning?”

  “You’ve always had a reputation for being . . . easy,” MJ said, grateful to move the subject away from her and Ben.

  “How delicately put.” Tasha smiled. “Some of that reputation might be based on rumors.”

  “There were a lot of those going around.”

  “Like the one where I had an abortion?”

  MJ swung her gaze to study Tasha’s face. “That was a rumor?”

  A smile still hovered around Tasha’s mouth. “The dude was upset I said no.”

  “And so is this a new thing of sleeping with men and then killing them?”

  “Worked for you. Though I added the variation where I didn’t get shot too.”

  “And only because I saved your butt today, thank you very much.”

  Tasha laughed. “Aren’t we a pair?”

  MJ laughed herself, “Yeah, no doubt ready for the mental ward.”

  “So what about your latest hottie, the one you didn’t kill.”

  “Hot, yes,” MJ agreed, “But trustworthy? Experience has taught me it’s best not to trust, even if it does seem he’s playing straight.”

  “That’s your call. It’s your daughter.”

  “And that’s the reason I have no choice. If you want, you can drop me off at the first car rental place we see, and I’ll go after him myself. Don’t risk getting caught.”

  “Do that and miss all the fun? You’ve gotta be kidding.”

  The dog whined, obviously his need to relieve himself getting to a critical level. MJ took the exit for the welcome center, pulled into the parking lot. “Dog, you’re a pain in the butt.”

  Tasha hooked on his leash and opened her door. “But worth it. Unlike men, dogs are loyal.”

  By the time they stopped an hour later for something to eat, Ben still hadn’t called. MJ kept checking her phone
.

  Tasha took notice. “Phone broke?”

  She knew good and well it wasn’t broken. “Seems to be in working order,” MJ said, her lips pressed together.

  “Maybe he changed his mind, decided to take Angelina straight to Jeff.”

  “He said he’d call.” God, she sounded pathetic, like some teenage girl hanging on the words of a first crush when he’d promise to call. She told herself she was only so desperate because she was worried about Angel.

  “Or maybe he’s not calling until the ambush is in place.”

  “Don’t go out of your way to make me feel better.”

  “Reality sucks.”

  “I don’t think he’ll take part of an ambush.”

  “So says you.”

  With no convincing argument, MJ held silent.

  They ate under the shade of a tree in the back of the fast food place and let the dog run around. MJ picked at her breakfast burrito.

  The phone rang. Finally.

  MJ took time to check the number, make sure it was Ben calling. “Where are you?”

  “Nowhere yet, but soon.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “A trip takes a lot longer with a baby.”

  “No, really?” She remembered how long it took when she was driving to Texas with Angelina, pulling a trailer full of belongings behind her.

  “I had to clean her up. You know she’s a messy eater.”

  “What’d she eat?”

  “A biscuit. Mostly she just crumbled it but she did eat a few bites. She seems happy enough.”

  “So you’re ready to get back on the road?”

  “Almost. I had to change a diaper.”

  “Seriously? Can’t imagine why that would be necessary.”

  “Can the sarcasm. It was a dirty one.”

  “Shit happens.”

  “I knew you were going to say that as soon as the words left my mouth. You remind me of my mom.”

  “That better be a compliment.”

  “Okay, you two, stop with the foreplay. Shouldn’t you be talking about where we are going?”

  “Yeah, where are we going? Just where the hell are you? Why don’t you wait there and let us catch up?”