Missing at Christmas

by K. D. Richards

  She prayed she wouldn’t be too late.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The ride to Chatham was quiet. Shawn attempted to push his pique aside as Ryan drove. Confronting a man who’d already shot at him once was dangerous enough without negative emotions clouding his judgment. It was hard. Every protective instinct he had had been triggered as Ryan and Addy argued. He wasn’t objective when it came to Addy—he couldn’t be. He loved her.

  “Listen, what I said earlier about you being distracted. I was out of line questioning your work ethic.” Ryan broke the silence.

  Shawn shook his head. “Now is probably not the best time for this conversation.”

  Ryan shot him a half smile. “We don’t know exactly what we’re about to walk into. I don’t want you mad at me.” As usual, they were on a similar wavelength.

  “For real,” Ryan continued. “You’re an asset to the company, and I don’t say that enough.”

  “Thank you. And look, I know I could step up more on the administrative side of things. You have a new wife and a baby coming. When we get back, I will do better.”

  Ryan rolled his eyes, but there was humor in them.

  “You’ll have to show me the ropes, of course, but I’m serious. If I want you to treat me like a co-owner, I need to act like one.”

  “Okay. Okay. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m still the president of the company, but I appreciate you stepping up. I’m going to want to spend some time with Nadia and the baby after she’s born.”

  “It’s going to be so fun to watch you with a daughter one day.” Shawn laughed.

  As they drove closer to the address Gideon’s source had given them, the houses they passed appeared more run-down and the businesses fewer and fewer. They both sobered.

  As they neared the location, the tension in the car ratcheted up. Given that Teddy had tried to kill him and Addy this morning, they planned to approach with guns drawn, but the seedy, run-down nature of the surrounding neighborhood only accentuated the potential danger.

  Shawn drove slowly past the three-story brick apartment building where Teddy was supposedly lying low. A dirt yard fronted the structure and wound its way around to the back where residents parked their cars. A dirty vertical window traversed the center of the building, revealing an interior stairwell. There were lights on in several of the apartments on either side.

  It was a few minutes after 2:00 a.m. They had no idea if Teddy was still inside the apartment, but if he was Shawn was determined to make the man talk.

  Shawn pulled into the parking lot behind a neighboring apartment complex, and the three of them got out of the car.

  They each checked their guns, then slid on tactical vests. They fit their earpieces and did a sound check before moving toward the building.

  It wasn’t the first time they’d worked together, and they each knew their role. Shawn approached slowly from the front, keeping to the shadows. Ryan circled, approaching from the back. Gideon hung back, keeping an eye out for anyone coming up behind them.

  Ryan came around the building, meeting Shawn at the front door.

  “One exterior exit at the rear. Requires a key to enter from the outside,” Ryan said.

  “I’m on it.” Gideon’s voice came through the earpiece.

  “We’re going in the front now,” Shawn said, following Ryan through the unlocked front door.

  The unit Teddy hid out in was on the second floor. They stopped in front of unit twenty-three, Ryan to the right of the door and Shawn to the left.

  Shawn counted to three, mouthing the numbers so he didn’t tip off the occupant of the apartment to their arrival.

  On three, Ryan kicked the door open, sending it crashing against the wall.

  The apartment was a studio with a small kitchenette tucked into a corner.

  Teddy lay on a threadbare brown couch barely off the floor. On the floor next to the couch sat an old flip cell phone, a nearly empty bottle of rum and a Glock.

  For a moment Teddy stared, wide-eyed like a deer caught in headlights, as Shawn came through the door and advanced toward him. Then he lunged for the gun.

  Shawn got there first, kicking the gun under the couch and grabbing Teddy’s injured arm.

  “Ahhh!” Teddy cradled his arm against his chest.

  Ryan cleared the small bathroom and came to a stop next to Shawn. They waited a moment for Teddy’s caterwauling to quiet.

  Shawn kept his gun trained on Teddy. “Teddy, we have some things we need to discuss.”

  “I ain’t saying shit to you.” Teddy pushed himself into a sitting position using his good hand. He’d used a belt and a dirty white T-shirt to make a tourniquet for his arm. His legs splayed open on the couch, his beady green eyes cloudy and unfocused as a result of pain and booze. The grayish pall of his skin suggested he’d lost quite a bit of blood.

  “Now, now, Teddy. There’s no call for that kind of language,” Shawn said.

  “You shot me!”

  This was interesting. Teddy hadn’t noticed it was Addy shooting from their vehicle. They might be able to use that information later, but for now, he was happy to have all Teddy’s anger focused on him.

  “So we’re just going to ignore that you were shooting at us first. That’s cool. I’m willing to let bygones be bygones, Teddy. Who shot who is so this morning. What I want to know is where is Cassie Williams?” Shawn said.

  “Screw you, man,” Teddy spat out. Then his mouth curled up into an ominous smirk. “You’re too late, anyway. The delivery is going down now, and Raupp’s going to kill the women right after.”

  Icy shards of fear spread through Shawn. “Women?”

  Teddy laughed sinisterly. “Raupp’s decided to get rid of both the Williams sisters. That oldest one has really pissed him off, and she’s a threat to his operation. He won’t tolerate that.”

  Fury and fear tangled in Shawn’s stomach.

  “Where? Where would Lance hold them?”

  Teddy smirked. “You don’t have a clue.”

  Shawn’s heart raced in fear, but he held the gun steady and put two bullets in the bottom front panel of the couch between Teddy’s legs.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ryan move to cover the apartment door, in case the shots brought curious neighbors. In a neighborhood like this one, it wasn’t likely that a couple of muffled shots would lead anyone to call the cops, but they knew better than to take chances. Cops meant questioning, and if Teddy was telling the truth, he didn’t have that kind of time.

  A string of swears burst from Teddy’s mouth. He covered his groin with his good hand. “What the hell? You almost shot off my junk.”

  “The next shot I won’t miss,” Shawn said. “Where are they?”

  “You won’t get there in time, anyway.”

  “Then it hardly seems worth losing your manhood over, but it’s your call.” Shawn raised the gun a fraction of an inch higher. “I won’t ask again.”

  Teddy’s eyes widened in fear. “All right, all right. Raupp called your girlfriend about a half hour ago. Told her to meet him at the factory if she wanted to see her sister alive. He told her to come alone, but he’s expecting you.”

  Shawn glanced at Ryan. “We’ve got to go.”

  Ryan jerked his head toward Teddy. “What do you want to do with him?”

  “We can’t wait for Donovan.” Shawn pulled a pair of handcuffs from his vest. He hauled Teddy up from the couch and pushed him toward the kitchenette.

  “Sit,” he ordered Teddy.

  Teddy lowered himself to the scarred linoleum with a grimace.

  Shawn snapped one side of the handcuff around Teddy’s wrist and the other around the handle on the stove. “We can call Donovan to come get him from the car.”

  Teddy pulled at the stove. “You can’t leave me like this.”

&
nbsp; “Be grateful, Teddy. You were this far from becoming a eunuch,” Shawn said, closing the apartment door.

  Shawn pulled out his phone and dialed Addy’s number as they burst from a side door out into the trash-strewn yard surrounding the apartment building. Gideon met them at the SUV.

  Addy didn’t pick up, but she’d left a voice mail message. His blood chilled as he listened to the message.

  “Martin Raupp. He’s got Cassie. Addy’s gone to meet him.”

  Ryan swore and started the SUV. “Martin Raupp? The father?” Ryan swore again. “That’s what Teddy meant when he said we don’t have a clue. We were looking at the wrong Raupp.”

  Shawn called out the address Addy had left on the voice mail, and Ryan plugged it into the GPS. “I know this address, but I can’t place it.” He frowned and dialed Tansy.

  Ryan gunned the SUV out of the parking lot.

  “Sup?” Tansy answered.

  “On my way to an address. It’s familiar, but I can’t place why.” Shawn gave Tansy the address and listened as computer keys clacked on the other end of the line.

  Less than a minute later, she spoke. “It’s the address for that building Spectrum previously leased. It was in the initial research I gave you on the company. There’s a recent real estate listing putting it up for rent, so looks like it isn’t in use.”

  He remembered now. Carrier-Forest LLC. He’d planned to research the property, but so much had happened since he’d rolled into Bentham, investigating a warehouse that Spectrum no longer used had slipped his mind.

  He saw now what a mistake that had been. Empty property made for an excellent place to hold someone against their will.

  “It’s empty, but who owns it?” Shawn asked, although he suspected he already knew the answer to that question.

  “Hang on,” Tansy replied. A moment passed before she spoke again. “Deed’s in the name of Madeline Raupp.”

  “Damn. I should have caught that,” Shawn said after he’d signed off with Tansy.

  Martin probably counted on no one thinking about a property Spectrum no longer operated out of.

  “We gotta get there now. Raupp has got to be desperate by now. His entire scheme is crashing down around him.”

  Ryan pushed the SUV to go faster.

  Shawn checked the safety on his gun as the neighborhood flew by outside the car’s windows. “If Raupp has touched a hair on Addy’s head, I’ll send him straight to hell.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Addy found the factory easily. A large, faded for-rent sign stood sentry at the entrance to the empty parking lot fronting the drab single-story square building. The weak glow from the one functioning lamppost near the building’s door did little to cut through the darkness.

  Ignoring the faded white lines marking the asphalt, Addy pulled to a stop directly in front of the spiritless gray building. A large metal loading door was set into the wall of the building next to the glass-fronted main entrance.

  Martin stepped out of the glass doors as Addy stopped the car. She reached for her purse in the passenger seat, slinging it across her body.

  Martin stepped outside, sticking close to the cover granted by the alcove entrance. Security on either corner of the building sent light bouncing off the silver pistol in Martin’s hand. He peered at the car, then scanned the parking lot beyond. “Where’s your boyfriend?” Martin’s words dripped with disdain.

  On his way, I hope, Addy thought. “I came alone.” She swallowed the fear clogging her throat. “Where is Cassie?”

  Martin scanned the expanse of the building again. “Inside.” Martin stepped aside and motioned to the door with the gun. “Now.”

  Addy passed Martin, ignoring his smirk.

  Any furniture in the space had long since been removed, leaving only threadbare gray carpeting and a chipped and scarred reception desk.

  “Down the hall to your left.” Martin prodded her in the back with the gun.

  Addy flinched, her grandfather’s voice floating through her head. It’s never the gun’s fault. It’s always the idiot who’s holding it.

  They walked down a long laminate-tiled hall, the click of the heels of Martin’s loafers the only sound in the cold, otherwise empty corridor. Despite being in the process of committing any number of felonies, he’d managed to dress the part of genteel businessman in tailored brown slacks and a crisp white button-down.

  “In the office on your left,” Martin said, motioning to a closed door.

  Addy glanced over her shoulder at him. If this was a trap, she could be walking to her death.

  But the voice she’d heard on the phone was Cassie’s, which meant her sister was alive or at least had been twenty minutes ago. If there was any chance Cassie was inside this room, she had to go in.

  Addy reached for the doorknob, turning it slowly. She pushed the door open and froze.

  Cassie sat in a desk chair, her left wrist cuffed to a large black filing cabinet. Her hair was a rat’s nest of tangles and knots, and her face was slimmer than it had been the last time Addy saw her, but she was alive.

  “Cassie!” Addy raced forward, kneeling so she could wrap her sister in a hug.

  “Addy, I’m sorry.” Tears rolled down Cassie’s gaunt cheeks, her shoulders shaking on a sob.

  “No, honey. Don’t be sorry. None of this is your fault. We’re going to get out of here.”

  The sound of the door snapping closed drew both their attention. Addy’s gaze fell on Martin Raupp, whose gun remained trained in their direction.

  “I’m sorry, but I think you know I can’t let that happen.”

  Addy straightened and put herself between Martin and Cassie. Cassie peeked around Addy’s side, her hand slipping into Addy’s. “You said you would let Cassie go.”

  Martin shrugged. “I lied. I’ve got to make a very important delivery tonight, and you girls are going with me.”

  “Why? Why not just leave us here and go? Too many people know you’re behind the fake computer chips. Your fraud is over.”

  “You’re so confident you’re right,” Martin sneered. “From where I’m sitting, the only people who know anything are staring down the barrel of my gun. And both of you are going to disappear. For good this time,” Martin said.

  A wave of fear crashed through Addy, followed by the determination that she couldn’t let Martin Raupp win. Cassie had managed to stay alive for nearly two weeks. Addy just needed one shot at Martin to bring him down.

  “At least answer me this,” Addy asked to keep Martin talking and buy time. “Why? You’re a well-respected businessman. Spectrum is a successful business. Why risk everything you’ve built?”

  “Call it diversification. Spectrum is a little fish in a very big pond. Frankly, there’s a great deal of money to be made in cyberfraud. Plus, there’s the added bonus of destroying the competition.”

  “Greed and jealousy,” Cassie said.

  Martin’s face twisted in anger. The hate-filled glare he shot Cassie made Addy’s mouth go dry. Cassie’s grip on her hand tightened.

  “None of that explains why you kidnapped my sister,” Addy offered quickly. The last thing she wanted was to make him angry.

  “Your sister stuck her nose in where she shouldn’t have,” Martin spat.

  Cassie glared back at Martin. “Ben showed me one of the fake chips. He was drunk and he told me all about the fraud.”

  “Idiot,” Martin snarled. “I should have known better than to bring him in on it, but I needed delivery drivers who had, shall we say, malleable ethics to make the extra deliveries off the books. Then he blackmailed me into giving him a management job.” Martin’s snarl morphed into a cold smile. “I didn’t mind killing him at all.”

  “I told Ben he should go to the sheriff. That what Martin was doing could get him in a lot of trouble when it came out, but Ben w
anted the money.” Cassie shook her head forlornly.

  Martin scoffed. “Sheriff Donovan. I’d be surprised if Donovan can spell fraud, much less be able to spot one. He’s only interested in two things—upholding the illusion that there’s no crime in Bentham and getting reelected. Three guesses who his biggest political donor is.” Martin’s smile grew wider.

  Cassie wheeled the office chair she sat in so she was beside Addy. “Ben wouldn’t go to the sheriff, so I decided to go myself. But I wanted some proof. He caught me going through his files after work.” Cassie jutted her chin in Martin Raupp’s direction.

  “That dolt Ben had just told me you knew about the fraud. I was trying to figure out what to do about it when I saw you going through the files. I knew you wouldn’t be bought off. I had my little friend here.” Martin gestured with the gun. “And I was able to persuade Miss Williams to partake in a little staycation in my basement.”

  Martin looked pleased with himself.

  “And you had Ben and Suri Bedingfield tell the sheriff Cassie had moved back to New York.” Addy filled in the rest of the blanks. Cassie’s gasp told Addy she hadn’t been aware of that part of the story. “Did you think no one would come looking when Cassie didn’t make it back home?”

  Martin flicked his wrist, looking at his watch before focusing back on Addy. “Don’t you watch the news? Women traveling alone going missing is nothing new. Even if a relative came looking, that had nothing to do with me or Spectrum.” Martin’s eyes darkened. “I guess I underestimated you. It won’t happen again.”

  He took several steps to the left, away from the door. “Big sister, you get over there.” He waved Addy toward the corner of the room opposite Cassie.

  Addy hesitated. Martin was clearly done with talking, but it wasn’t clear exactly what he planned next. Attempting anything was risky in the small room, particularly given Cassie’s limited mobility.

  “Now! And keep your hands where I can see them,” Martin growled.