Brody smirked and turned his attention to the screen. It was nighttime, but the Gracens’ landscaping bathed the monstrosity of a home in light, including the front walk and the curve of the driveway.
The bottom of the screen was time-stamped 8:10.
Headlights came into view. It was Sophie’s Accent. The car lights went out, and Sophie walked around the front of the vehicle toward the front door. She was carrying a satchel—the one he had found in the kitchen—over her shoulder and the cloth grocery bag dangled from her hand.
Sophie let herself inside without any delays. She was confident and standing tall. She didn’t give any fleeting looks over her shoulder or seem to sense any danger.
With her out of the camera’s view, nothing was going on in the frame.
“Forward. Slowly,” Brody directed Bob.
Then a man entered the feed.
“Stop. Go back a bit.”
He entered the screen from the right, and no vehicle had pulled up. This man had planned to abduct Sophie and take her in her car.
Brody sat up straighter. The time stamp now read 9:02.
“Pause it and get in closer. Enhance the picture.”
Bob followed his directions, and Brody’s suspicions were confirmed. The emblem on the right arm of the man’s coat confirmed the brand as Canada Goose. While an interesting choice for a name, their coats went for around a thousand dollars. Needless to say, the average earner didn’t invest that much in outerwear. So the man had money…
Brody’s eyes traveled to the man’s face. The image was grainy. “Can you clear it up?”
“Working on it.” Bob clicked the mouse here and there, and after a few seconds, the picture was of good enough quality to make some distinctions. “My God, he looks like—”
“Liam Neeson.”
Bob turned to face Brody. “Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. Either the actor kidnaps women as a hobby or it’s his doppelganger.”
“I’d wager it’s the latter.”
Bob almost had the straw back in his mouth but lowered his hand under Brody’s watchful eye.
“Can you take that picture and run it through facial recognition? I’m thinking our guy is in the system somewhere. At least, I hope so.” The arrogant swagger on the man, the expensive clothing, and the premeditation told Brody this guy was a professional. Sadly, most professional criminals didn’t have a background. They were too good to be caught.
“Sure thing. It will take a couple days to come back, though. I’ll have to send it out of house.”
Brody nodded. He knew these things took time, but he didn’t have to like it. Two days could be too late for Sophie Jones; it could be too late already. “Let’s watch the rest.”
Bob resumed playing the feed.
Liam Neeson reached the door and pulled out a gun.
“Son of a bitch. He’s right there, and we can’t do a thing about it.” The words escaped Brody’s lips without thought. He hated this part of playing cat and mouse, the part where the cat saw the mouse but was powerless to swat at it.
Back on the screen, the door cracked open, and there seemed to be a brief interaction before the man entered the house. Within five minutes, he was guiding Sophie by an elbow toward the Accent. She was struggling against him, but he tossed her into the passenger seat.
He leaned over her as she flailed her arms out the side of the car, but then they dropped, still. The bastard must have drugged her.
With her rendered motionless, the man walked around the back of the car, going offscreen temporarily, before getting behind the wheel.
By 9:20, Sophie Jones had been swept away into the darkness.
-
Chapter 52
“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Matthew’s fist connected with Ian’s eye socket.
Fired by adrenaline, bone on bone went unnoticed to Matthew, who drew his arm back to throw another punch.
Ian jerked to the right and countered with a jab to Matthew’s side. Matthew stared at Ian, daring him to come at him again. Ian rose to the challenge, and Matthew kneed him in the gut, doubling him over. As he was hunched, Matthew brought his elbow down between Ian’s shoulder blades.
Ian howled in pain, wound his arms around Matthew’s torso, and tried to bring him to the ground. The sustained pressure won out and both men hit the dirt hard.
Rolling and twisting, each fought for dominance but neither was able to sustain it. Torquing his head left and right beneath Ian, Matthew avoided the man’s blows and then managed to get on top of him.
A well-placed knee had Ian arching his shoulders and neck back. This reprieve was all Matthew needed. He lifted his arm and punched, his fist slamming against Ian’s cheekbone.
Ian spewed blood, and Matthew tasted his own. It only fueled him more.
He took advantage of Ian’s weakness and shifted their positions. Now Ian was below him. Matthew pulled his arm back, preparing to strike again, but met with resistance.
He glanced quickly over his shoulder to see Juan and Lewis gripping his forearm.
“Stop,” Juan called out.
Matthew tugged against their hold, determined to plow his fist through Ian’s skull. But as the Bolivians persistently clung to him, his self-control began to return.
Ian’s face was covered with blood. Matthew felt the sticky substance dripping down his own face, too. He’d need to pull from a place deep inside to move away.
As if sensing this, Juan yanked on him again. “We have to focus, Matthew. There will be another way out. We must have faith.”
Matthew reluctantly lifted himself off Ian. As far as he was concerned, this fight was to be continued.
He banged on the door that closed off the entrance to the tunnel. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes, Matthew,” Robyn responded.
He detected fear in her voice. “Do you have a flashlight?” It was a throwaway question. He already knew the answer.
“We each have one.”
He took a second to breathe. He had to stay positive. They needed him to. “Follow the tunnel, okay? We’ll meet up again.”
“And if we don’t?” Cal asked.
Matthew’s heart palpitated. The pain that would result from that situation bore down on him. He wished not to dwell on it. Screw Ian and his issue with staying optimistic. “We will.”
“We have to,” Robyn added.
Her voice sounded as if she might be crying. He wouldn’t blame her if she was. Tears gathered in the corners of even his eyes, and it wasn’t from the wounds Ian had inflicted. “Just be careful.”
“You too,” Robyn and Cal responded in unison.
Back home, one of them would have proceeded with, You owe me a beer.
Matthew closed his eyes briefly, aligning his mental focus, before opening them again and turning around to face the rest of the cavern.
There was nothing here except for the mountain wall, lush vegetation, waterfall, and lagoon.
Were Juan’s words about there being another way out even a reasonable possibility? Or did Matthew just make a promise he couldn’t keep?
-
Chapter 53
“WE’RE GOING TO DIE.” Cal directed his light toward Robyn’s face, careful not to shine it in her eyes.
“Shh, would you keep it down? If Matthew hears you say that—”
“Well, it’s true. And I never even had the chance to marry Sophie. I never told Matthew how much his friendship means to me.”
“Stop talking like that, all right? It’s self-defeating, and the last thing you want to do is create a self-fulfilling prophecy with that outcome.”
He wished he could garner the confidence Robyn had. But he also recognized that finding the rose in a shit pile was one of her gifts.
Cal tried to suck in a breath. Claustrophobia was setting in a
fter spending so much time confined to tunnels in the last twenty-four hours. His lungs had to work harder as the walls and ceiling started to close in on him. But he had to somehow pull himself out of the spiral that threatened to dissolve his strength.
Tight quarters didn’t usually bother him, but he’d never been squeezed into such a small space for so long before. The short rest in the cavern had done little to help him. He was probably the only one in the group who was actually relieved when the floor opened up. He recognized the irony as his nightmares had him fearing that exact possibility. But at least as he fell, his arms and legs could spread without touching anything. Of course, it was easier to appreciate that fact now that his life wasn’t flashing before his eyes.
He bent over, placing his hands on his knees, fighting the urge to faint.
Robyn put her hand on his back. “Are you going to be okay?”
He glanced up at her and nodded his head.
“All right, then. We’ll do as Matt said and follow the tunnel to see where it goes. According to your thingy there—”
“My thingy? You make it sound perverse.” Cal laughed for the first time in a while.
“Hey, you took it there,” she said with a smirk.
The ache in his chest settled with this interaction, the familiarity of it, but then a piercing pain struck his heart. He missed Sophie. God, he hoped she was okay. Would she ever be able to forgive him for getting her involved with this? She had asked him to stop treasure hunting many times. She’d said he needed to grow up and work in a more traditional field. While she preferred he did something other than provide photographs for travel magazines, she appreciated his passion for seeing life through the lens of a camera.
His camera… He couldn’t believe it was destroyed. He had spent thousands of dollars on it over the years, and it had survived rough times before, including time in the jungle. All it took was bathing in a lagoon to give it wings.
It was funny how one thought connected to another, and another. Thinking of his camera dying brought everything back around to him, to his friends, to Sophie. They had to survive this.
“Are you coming?” Robyn asked from about ten feet ahead of him.
“Yeah.” With one more glance at the walls and the ceiling, he summoned the courage to trudge on, if for no other reason than those three people.
He caught up to her and was about to mention the absence of booby traps but chose to remain silent. Why attract them? Sophie had spent hours talking to him about the law of attraction, so he knew the importance of keeping positive. And if it got through to him, the subject must have come up a lot. For better or worse, he had the stereotypical male quality of being a poor listener.
Keeping optimistic, he said, “On the upside, we’re definitely heading in the right direct—”
Her flashlight beam exposed a sharp turn to the right. They continued on to where it headed downhill. “So much for your sense of direction.”
-
Chapter 54
DANIEL WAS ANXIOUS. HE REALIZED Justin had only had the latest video for about six hours. He also appreciated that he’d given the kid more to do than simply analyze the feed. There was the matter of tracking down the phone that was sending the videos, and that couldn’t be an easy task seeing as there wasn’t even a number to use as a starting point. All Daniel could do was hope that the video was imprinted with that information. It was probably a big leap and the kid was being too nice to come out and say it because he was aware of the stakes.
Daniel dialed Justin, and he answered after the fourth ring. He sounded out of breath and haggard.
“It’s Daniel.”
“Oh, yes, hello. I’m working on it, but no luck yet.”
“The videos or the phone?”
“Well, both actually.” Justin fell silent, but his tone of voice made Daniel question if he was holding back.
“What is it?” It seemed like this question was becoming a common staple of their conversations already.
“Mayor Connor called.”
Daniel straightened up. His employer was likely growing impatient about finding Gideon Barnes. “And?”
“And he wants me to track down his son. What’s going on? I mean, I know—”
“Not another word over the phone.”
“Sorry, yes. While I know what the situation is in part, I do wonder if I should know more.”
“No, absolutely not. You already know more than you should.” Daniel paused for a second as he digested William Connor’s request of Justin. He was looking for Matthew? Why?
The second Daniel asked the internal question, the answer sparked in his brain. It had to tie back to his visit from the police chief and the news he’d brought. William likely felt he deserved an explanation from his son. Matthew did leave rather hastily, not that it could have been prevented. It would, however, be enough to pique the mayor’s interest. In William’s world, reputation meant everything, and for Matthew to be unreachable at a time such as this… Well, it didn’t look great.
“I have been able to determine Matthew’s general location.”
“You—” It was the only word that would come out. The rest constricted in his throat. A clammy sweat covered his forehead. “Please tell me you haven’t said anything to Mr. Connor about this.”
“I was just about to call him before you—”
“No.”
“No?”
“Yes, no. You can’t tell him.”
“But he’s paying me to do this.”
“And I’ll double it from his other pocket. Listen, you know only a bit of the picture, but for your safety, I can’t elaborate any further.”
Silence.
“Do you understand me?” Daniel asked.
“Yes. I will respect your wishes, but what am I supposed to do if Mr. Connor calls to follow up? I mean, he is the mayor.”
Daniel noted the tone of respect in Justin’s voice, as if William were the prime minister. “I am aware of his position, but it has no bearing on this particular situation. You do know what’s at risk with the woman. I will tell you that it, in a roundabout way, involves William’s son.”
There was a gasp. “The mayor’s son was abducted, too?”
Daniel steadied his breath and tried to stay calm and cool. “Did you look at the latest video yet?”
“Yes, of course. There was definitely a moment there where I believe the CN Tower is visible out the window. Actually, I have that frame frozen and in front of me now. I would say it definitely is the CN Tower.”
“Great!”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that still doesn’t tell us a lot. There are many condo buildings with similar views. Of course, I can narrow it down more, but it will take time.”
“One thing we don’t have.”
“I understand that, but please, try to understand. I am just one man. I don’t have an office or employees. I have an accountant who does my books, but that’s about the extent of my staff. I have three jobs for you and Mr. Connor alone. That does not include my other clients.”
If it were anyone else giving this speech, Daniel would have countered quickly with not wanting to hear excuses. Instead, he felt something like pride for the boy sticking up for himself.
“Keep me updated,” was all he said in the end.
“I will.”
Daniel hung up, not feeling much further along in identifying Sophie’s location, and there was a queasiness settling into his gut over William’s request to locate Matthew. The man couldn’t possibly harbor doubts as to his son’s innocence when it came to Sophie’s disappearance.
-
Chapter 55
MATTHEW’S FOCUS KEPT GOING BACK to the lagoon. His brain was unable to formulate any other plan but to return there. The notion that they could get out that way was ludicrous. Impossible, even. B
ut what other choice did they have? Scaling the side of the mountain wasn’t feasible, as Ian had mentioned earlier. No, the solution had to do with the lagoon, no matter how crazy it might sound aloud.
“What are you thinking?” Juan asked. He stood beside Matthew, his foot braced on a rock, his leg bent, looking serious.
Matthew took in the man’s brown eyes and remembered the toothy grin he had shown more at the beginning of the expedition than he had recently. Matthew let his gaze go to Lewis and then to Ian. He almost preferred not to give voice to his thought, but the minute he dove into the waters, he’d only leave behind confusion.
“We have to go down,” Matthew said.
“Down?” Juan repeated.
“Yeah, I think something might be at the bottom of the lagoon, some way out, maybe.”
“You believe Paititi is under the water?” Ian asked.
Matthew shrugged before going into his bag and pulling out a pair of goggles. “I believe it might lead us there.”
“Haven’t you had enough swimming for one day?” Ian asked, his snark more apparent than ever.
Regardless, Matthew’s chest recalled the cold water. Given the right circumstances, a drastic temperature change could bring on a heart attack. He considered his father’s history and hoped they weren’t caused by a genetic predisposition.
“I’m going to do this. The rest of you stay here. I’ll let you know what I find.” Matthew took large strides toward the lagoon.
Ian hurried after him. “Assuming you find something. And that you survive!”
Matthew was sick of the man’s attitude, but short of duking it out until one of them died, he chose to ignore him and focus on the task at hand. The sooner they found the City of Gold, the sooner he’d be free of this man.
Matthew approached the edge of the lagoon, his heart hammering in his chest. There wasn’t time to stand around and second-guess everything. He tightened the rope connected to his waterproof flashlight around his wrist, put on his goggles, steepled his hands over his head, and dove in.
City of Gold Page 20