Ransom of the Heart

by Susan Page Davis

  What were they after?

  The answer seemed obvious. Money. His stomach clenched. He’d known something was going on with Carter.

  “What do you want?” He forced the words out. “If it’s money you came for, I may be able to help you.”

  The gunman paused and flicked a glance at his partner.

  At first, Peter had wished someone else had stayed late. But, no—he was glad no one else was there. They might have been killed, too. Sylvia, or Jeremy, or Andrea. Mostly, he was glad Abigail hadn’t arrived before they’d hurried out the back door.

  The killers’ friend apparently came through with not only a secluded building with a basement, but some supplies. The one called Mack had taken Peter inside and down the stairs and sat with him. The friend they’d contacted must have driven in a separate vehicle, and Mack’s buddy met him upstairs. Peter heard muffled voices and footsteps above them. Then the other kidnapper came down, and Mack took off his blindfold. That surprised Peter, but he guessed it made sense, since he had already seen their faces. Mack’s buddy was holding a pistol. He aimed it at Peter’s chest.

  When Mack’s partner handed him a chain and a couple of padlocks, Peter’s hopes plummeted. Mack wrapped one end of the chain around Peter’s left ankle and fixed the lock so tight he wouldn’t be able to slip out of the chain. The other end of the chain went around a large vertical pipe in a corner. Great. Even worse, they left his hands duct-taped behind him.

  The last thing they gave him was a sleeping bag. Mack unrolled it and laid it out, and Peter wriggled onto it, sitting on it with his back against the wall. Then they left him for a long time, turning off the bare lightbulb in the ceiling fixture. The light from the small window faded. Peter couldn’t see any streetlights or stars, just a dark bit of dirty glass.

  He prayed. He thought of Abigail and the boys and wondered what was going on back at Hobart Chevrolet and at his mother’s house. What did Abby do when she came to pick him up at the store? He hoped she didn’t see Carter’s body. But she was strong. She was used to seeing blood. Even so, he hoped she didn’t have to go through that.

  Please, God, comfort her!

  He had an idea that he might fray the duct tape on the sleeping bag zipper’s teeth, since it was old enough to have a metal zipper, but he couldn’t make it work. He tried for a long time, but every effort fizzled when the padded fabric crumpled on itself. With everything behind his back, he couldn’t find a way to make the edge of the zipper stick up and stay solid enough to work with.

  Hours later, they came back. They took the chain off long enough for him to use the small bathroom. Mack cut the tape on his wrists for that, too. Afterward, they told him to sit on the sleeping bag and gave him a wrapped hamburger and a bottle of water.

  “Thanks,” Peter said. The young man holding the gun grunted in reply.

  The wrapper was from McDonald’s. Was that significant? Were they near a McDonald’s? There were several in Portland. Peter catalogued them mentally.

  The hamburger was still lukewarm. It wasn’t bad, but it was a far cry from the dinner he’d planned with Abigail at the upscale restaurant.

  After he’d eaten, his captors restrained him again and went upstairs. Peter sat in the darkness, praying silently.

  He heard them talking, so they hadn’t left yet. He’d offered them a bundle of cash. Were they working out how to get it? Making out their words was impossible, and he gave up trying. A few minutes later, the light switched on, and Peter blinked.

  Mack came quickly down the stairs holding a cell phone.

  “You’re going to talk to your wife,” he said. “Here’s what you tell her. Do not try to say anything else. It’s no skin off our nose to shoot you, and we’d rather do that than be caught. You got it?”

  Peter nodded, and then they called Abigail. Peter let out a deep sigh and eased down onto the sleeping bag. The chain rattled on the floor as his foot moved.

  Lord, comfort Abigail! Protect her.

  He hadn’t even had time to tell her that he loved her.

  Chapter 5

  Harvey breezed into his office at five minutes to seven. Nate Miller was already at his desk, working at his computer. He looked up and nodded at Harvey.

  “Morning, Cap’n.”

  “Thanks for coming in early, Nate. You got anything?”

  “Not much on Ulrich. I did get an address on his ex-wife. Sent it to you in an e-mail. Oh, and Jimmy called a minute ago. He’s just relieved Eddie, and Eddie’s coming here.”

  “Good. Did you check the usual suspects?”

  Nate’s face contorted. “The truth is, boss, we haven’t had many kidnappings in the area, or in the state, for that matter. The last three were parental abductions in custody cases.”

  “I guess I knew that.” Harvey set his briefcase on his desk. “I was hoping. But, like I told you last night, I don’t think these are serial kidnappers. I think they went to Hobart’s to settle their business with Ulrich last night, and Peter surprised them.”

  “Why didn’t they just shoot him too and scram?”

  “Peter’s a smart guy. I suspect he talked his way out of it and offered them money.”

  Nate nodded slowly. “I guess that fits. He’s going great guns in the business. He’s expanded three or four times in the last ten years.”

  “I’m not saying he’s loaded,” Harvey said, opening the briefcase. “He puts a lot back into the dealership—inventory and so on. But he’s not hurting any financially, that’s for sure. He takes care of his mom and gives Abby a free hand with the credit cards. Of course, she a sensible young woman, so he doesn’t have to worry much.”

  “Still,” Nate said, “he must have put that ransom figure in their heads, based on what he thought the Mrs. could raise quickly.”

  “Well, this doesn’t leave this room, but the truth is, his line of credit is four times what he said it is. Abby could probably have raised a lot more than they asked for.”

  “Huh. Maybe he figured the bank wouldn’t raise their eyebrows so much if she didn’t ask for it all.”

  “Could be. Especially when she asks for it in cash. I’ll take a look at his inventory today and see if he’s already used part of the line of credit for stock.”

  “That’s a thought,” Nate said. “I’ve got all the addresses of the other Hobart employees.”

  “Good. Let’s ask Sergeant Legere to have some of his detectives help us out with that.”

  The door from the stairway opened, and Tony Winfield walked in whistling. “Hey, boss. Nate.”

  “Good morning,” Harvey said, and Nate nodded.

  “Have you seen the chief’s new secretary?” Tony asked.

  Startled, Harvey said, “Judith hasn’t left yet, has she?”

  “Not till the end of next week, but she’s training her replacement. A big improvement, I’m telling you.”

  Harvey scowled. “What, she files better than Judith?”

  Nate laughed. “I bet she won’t be as good at keeping the riffraff out of the chief’s inner sanctum.”

  “People like you, you mean?” Tony said.

  “Be careful how you talk about the female employees,” Harvey said. Careless remarks were being scrutinized these days.

  “Right.” Tony grinned and pulled his chair over near Harvey’s desk. “So what’s the plan, Captain?”

  “We’ve arranged for a bank officer to meet with Mrs. Hobart at 8:30. The bank doesn’t open until nine—well, just the drive-up before that—so it should be nice and quiet. I’ll take her to get the ransom money, and then we’ll go to her house to wait for the instructions on the drop.”

  “Can I go with?” Tony asked.

  “Yeah, you and Eddie. Nate’s got a speaking engagement in Kittery this afternoon, and I don’t want him to be late.”

  “Sorry,” Nate said.

  Harvey shook his head. “No problem. Just keep on the research until you have to leave, okay? I’ll call you if I’ve got any new lead
s for you to follow.”

  “What about the ex?” Nate asked.

  Harvey had opened his email while they talked and eyed the address Nate had sent him. “Deering. Maybe I should send a couple guys out there while we get the money.”

  “Jimmy will be free while Abby’s with you,” Nate pointed out.

  “Yeah, but I want to make sure everyone’s available for the drop. We have no idea when that will be.”

  “There’s time,” Tony said. “I’ll follow you to Mrs. Hobart’s, and Jimmy and I can take my car to Deering while you and Eddie escort your sister-in-law to the bank.”

  “Maybe.” Harvey leaned back in his chair and thought about it. He and Eddie would probably be plenty of manpower with Abby. He didn’t want to draw too much attention to her when he took her to the bank. But he should have told Eddie to wait for him at Abby’s house. “All right, that sounds workable, Tony. Thanks.”

  His desk phone rang, and he picked it up.

  “Harv, you got a minute?” came the chief’s familiar voice.

  “Yeah. Are you upstairs?”

  “Just got in.”

  “I’ll be right up.” Harvey stood and said to Nate and Tony, “I’m going up to the chief’s office for a minute. Tell Eddie to wait for me here. Tony, you guys can go over what little Nate has on Ulrich. See if you can get a few contact names. And remember, when you see the ex, we don’t have the official I.D. yet.”

  “What, we can’t say it’s him?” Tony asked.

  “You can tell her it looks that way, and we’ll notify her for sure later.”

  “I guess she can’t help us with a visual of the corpse.” Tony grimaced.

  “Right, but she may know of some identifying marks. But not a word about the abduction,” Harvey said, striding toward the stairs. “We need to head over to Abby’s by eight—sooner if I can get away.”

  As he entered the chief’s outer office, his phone rang. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. “Larson.”

  “Captain, this is Zoe, in the lab. I have a preliminary report on the evidence collected at the shooting at Hobart Chevrolet.”

  “Great. Anything stand out?”

  “The shell casing is from a 9-millimeter. No matches in the system. We weren’t able to unlock the phone, but the fingerprints on it are Carter Ulrich’s. Same with the wallet, which has his driver’s license, three credit cards, a medical card, a picture of two children, and eleven dollars.”

  “Send me the report, please. I’ll be on the move all morning, but I’ll look at it on my phone.”

  Harvey realized that Mike’s nearly retired secretary, Judith, was standing by her desk waiting for his attention. Beside her stood a twenty-something redhead that would cause more heads to turn than just Tony’s. He was glad his unit secretary was a motherly woman in her late forties.

  As he pocketed his phone, Judith said, “Captain Larson, I’d like you to meet Elaine Cross. She will be replacing me at the end of next week.”

  Harvey smiled and stepped forward. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Cross. I’m not sure anyone can replace Judith, though.”

  “It’s a tall order,” the young woman said. “Please call me Laney.”

  Harvey nodded. “I’m sure there’s a lot to remember, but it will get easier as you go along.”

  “That’s what I’ve told her,” Judith said in a rare moment of warmth. “The chief is expecting you.”

  “Thank you.” Harvey walked into Mike’s office and closed the door behind him. “Hi, Mike. What’s up?”

  “I just got the labs on this shooting you caught last night.”

  “Yeah. Not a lot to go on, but it’s a start.”

  “You’re sure the victim is this. . .” He squinted at his computer screen. “Carter Ulrich?”

  “Pretty sure. He’s one of Peter Hobart’s sales team.”

  “What’s the word on Peter?”

  “Nothing new since we talked last night.” Harvey glanced at his watch. “I have to leave within ten minutes to pick up Abby and take her to the bank.”

  Mike leaned back in his chair, chewing his gum pensively. “I assume you’ll want plainclothes backup for the drop.”

  “Yeah. The guy said things will go badly if Abby doesn’t cooperate. I take that as a threat to Peter’s life. We don’t want to spook them.”

  “But they didn’t tell her not to call the police?”

  “They’ve got to know we’re involved, because of the shooting,” Harvey said.

  Mike shrugged. “You’re right. I’ll speak to Sgt. Yeaton and Sgt. Legere as soon as they’re in and ask them to have some people on standby. How many, do you think?”

  Harvey had already thought about it some, but it was tricky. “I don’t really know until they tell us where to make the drop. If it’s out in the open—a park or something—we can use a dozen. If it’s someplace more confined. . .well, we’ll have to wait and see.”

  “Okay. I’ll see that you get at least six.”

  “Besides my four guys?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Have you thought about replacing Miller yet?”

  Harvey threw back his head and frowned at the ceiling. “Not really. Seems like I’m always looking for new detectives.”

  “Well, keep it in mind,” Mike said. “And another thing you can think about: I know it’s three months away, but Jill Weymouth called me yesterday about the Labor Day Challenge. Bangor wants a rematch in September.”

  “What? You’re crazy,” Harvey said. “We lost a good detective because of that game. No, two good detectives. As far as I’m concerned, you can tell the mayor—”

  Mike held up both hands. “Easy now, Harvey. You know Joey would have gotten killed anyway, game or no game.”

  “Maybe. But the challenge gave the perfect opportunity. Accepting the invitation would be an insult to Joey’s memory.”

  “That’s a little strong.” Mike popped his gum. “Well, think about it.”

  “No, I will not think about it. My brother-in-law has been abducted. I am going to think about that. I don’t need all these distractions.”

  “Okay, you’ve got a point. Jill isn’t going to be happy, though.”

  “Jill can take a hike. Mike, you won’t even be here by Labor Day, will you? I thought your last day was August thirty-first.”

  “Right. It is.” Mike smiled. “This isn’t my headache. It’s Jack Stewart’s. I’ll send him a memo, and he can meet with Mayor Weymouth. Sharon and I will be up at Churchill Lake, catching fish and watching the leaves turn.”

  “I’ve really got to get going, Mike.”

  “Of course.” Mike stood and walked to the door with him. “I didn’t mean to trivialize Peter’s situation, Harvey. I thought maybe things were a little heavy for you right now.”

  “I’m okay. But thanks.”

  Mike patted his shoulder. “I know time’s flying, but for what it’s worth, I’ll be praying for you.”

  “That’s worth a lot.” Harvey went briskly through the outer office calling, “Have a good day, ladies.” As he dashed down the stairs, he wondered if he’d made a blunder by calling them ladies. Some people were very sensitive about things like that, especially since the harassment turmoil the department had been through the previous fall.

  Eddie had just hit the third-floor landing as Harvey came down.

  “Hey,” Harvey called to him. “I should have had you stay at Abby’s. You going with me to take her to the bank?”

  “Oh, okay,” Eddie said. “Or do you want me to go directly to the bank and do a little observing?”

  “Yeah, that sounds good. If they’re watching us, it will be less obvious how closely we’re guarding her.”

  Eddie nodded. “And if they do watch for her to go to the bank, the fewer of us they recognize later at the drop the better.”

  He opened the door to the unit office, and Harvey strode in. Tony popped up from his chair. “You ready, boss?”


  “Yeah. Better bring along all your gear, in case you don’t get back for it before the drop.”

  “Already in my car.”

  “Good.” Harvey went to retrieve his briefcase and Kevlar vest. “Nate, anything new?”

  “I’m looking at the lab report.”

  “Okay, stay on this. Eddie, you good?”

  Eddie nodded. “I’ll go sit across the street from the bank.”

  *****

  Abby greeted Harvey at the door when he arrived at her house. She was dressed in a calf-length skirt and sweater.

  Harvey kissed her cheek. “How are you doing?”

  “Okay. I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

  Emily and Paul were seated in the living room near their equipment, with coffee and muffins set out nearby. Emily put aside a book and stood when Harvey walked in.

  “Good morning, Captain,” she said.

  “Hi. You guys must be exhausted.”

  Emily smiled and shook her head. “We swapped off for naps on the sofa. No calls except a couple of Mr. Hobart’s employees. Abby told them the business won’t open today.”

  Good choice, Harvey thought. “You should go home. I thought they were sending in a relief team.”

  “We asked to stay until the 10 a.m. call comes in,” Paul said.

  “Yeah,” Emily added. “We wanted to see it through. I hope that’s okay. I’m alert, really.”

  “Okay, but I’ll have someone spell you as soon as we get that.”

  Harvey turned as Jimmy Cook came from the kitchen with a coffee mug in his hand.

  “Oh, you ready, Cap’n?” Jimmy said. He set the mug on a coaster on the coffee table.

  Abby stepped toward him. “Let me put that in a travel mug for you, Jim.”

  “Tony’s outside,” Harvey said. “Jim, I need you to go with him to talk to Ulrich’s ex while we’re at the bank. Eddie’s meeting Abby and me there. Get going.”

  “Okay,” Jimmy said.

  “You can take your coffee with you like that,” Abby told him.

  Jimmy grinned. “I promise to bring the mug back.”