“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Her voice had graduated to a snarl.
“Check your text messages. I’ll wait.”
Lara put the call on hold and brought up the one message that was waiting. It was a photo of her mother walking up to a house Lara didn’t recognize, flanked by two men with guns strapped to their sides. The photo was time-stamped from only a couple of hours ago. The Draytons did have eyes on her mother. Lara’s heart fluttered, then plunged into a gallop.
She returned to the call. “What do you want?” As if she didn’t know.
Her world now balanced on a pinpoint of decision. Her mother or Maisy—how could she possibly choose?
* * *
Ethan stormed through the door of the marshal’s office with Terry on his heels. The marshal had been called about the situation and was on his way in but hadn’t arrived yet. The room held a trio of CPD officers who had been standing guard on this floor of the courthouse.
“What happened?” he demanded.
One of the officers was seated, rubbing his head while meeting his gaze with bleary eyes. “I was guarding the elevator. Ms. Werth brought me a cup of coffee. I drank it, and a little while later, it was lights out. When Mitch here—” he waved toward one of the other officers “—found me slumped on the floor and woke me up, we discovered she was gone.”
Ethan’s stomach twisted. “Lara drugged you and she’s missing?”
This couldn’t be happening again—betrayal by someone he was protecting. Not Lara! She wouldn’t do that. Would she? A deep burn began under his breastbone.
“We alerted all the night guards immediately,” said another officer. “We’ve searched the building, and she’s not on the premises.”
“What about Maisy?”
“She’s here,” said the fourth CPD officer on duty as she entered the room cradling the infant, who was mewling slightly at having her night’s sleep disturbed.
Thank You, Lord. Maisy was safe. Wherever Lara had gone, she hadn’t taken the baby. But where was she? Why had she left? Even more immediately pertinent, when had she left?
“How long ago did Lara give you the coffee?” he asked the officer who’d been stationed at the elevator.
The man glanced up at the wall clock. “Probably an hour ago or thereabouts.”
Ethan furrowed his brow. “Say it took ten or twenty minutes for whatever was in there to take effect, she can’t have slipped away more than forty minutes ago. Everyone spread out and search this floor with a fine-tooth comb for any clues as to Lara’s destination.” He turned toward Terry. “See if you can get in touch with someone in tech support to pull the camera footage throughout the building for the past hour.”
“On it.” Terry walked away, poking at his cell screen.
Everyone on their feet scattered, including the officer with the babe in arms. The groggy guard began to stand up, but Ethan motioned him to remain where he was.
“You look like you’re ready to keel over.”
The man jutted out his jaw and came fully upright. “I messed up. I’m helping fix this.”
If it can be fixed. But Ethan didn’t utter the dark thought. “Understandable, but take it easy. We don’t have time to be picking you up off the floor.”
The officer nodded and tottered off to assist with the search.
Ethan headed for the room Lara and Maisy had shared. He stepped over the threshold, flicked on the light and scanned the area slowly. Maisy’s diaper bag and Lara’s go bag remained in the room. If Lara intended to run off and disappear, wouldn’t she have wanted her belongings? He rifled through the bag and discovered the power-of-attorney and last-will-and-testament papers missing. Why take those and not the baby?
Then he checked Lara’s cot and the playpen Maisy had been sleeping in. The baby harness Lara had used in the forest was gone. It had been hanging from the corner of a chair next to the playpen. She took the baby harness without the baby? The clues got stranger and stranger.
His teeth ground together. Lara, what is going on? Where are you?
“She took it.” Terry’s voice came from behind Ethan.
He turned to find his partner standing in the doorway. “Took what?”
“The baby doll. It was sitting in the break room, but now it’s gone.”
Ethan’s pulse jumped. “If Lara took the doll instead of Maisy, she must be going to a meeting set up by the Draytons. But that doll won’t fool them for long. Once they discover the ruse, Lara’s life won’t be worth a thing.”
Terry’s frown said he agreed with Ethan’s assessment. “If it helps, she left this in the doll’s place.” He held up a small brown-tinted glass vial in his gloved hand. “Must be the container for whatever she put in that officer’s coffee. We’ll have it tested and the container fingerprinted.”
“But where did she get the drug?”
“Good question. I suspect the answer is wrapped up in that fire alarm kerfuffle this afternoon.”
“Beyond a doubt. To get Lara to take drastic action like this, the Draytons had to have blackmailed her somehow. We need to check on the status of Lara’s mother. Since Maisy is safe here, that’s the only leverage they might have on her.”
Terry pulled his phone from his chest pocket and began to turn away.
“Is a technician on his way in to check the camera footage?” Ethan called after him.
“On the double.” Terry turned back toward Ethan with a nod. “You’ll never guess who’s insisting on helping in this emergency.”
“Alex Bingham, the kidnap victim?”
“Spot on.”
“I thought he was on medical leave.”
“He’s cutting it short. Rabid for the opportunity to do something, anything, to get the Draytons.”
Ethan grunted. “Can’t say I blame him, and I’ve been told he’s our best, which is what we need.”
Terry walked away, already on his phone trying to find out the status of Lara’s mother.
Ethan planted his hands on his hips and gazed around once more for anything he might have missed. Come on, Lara, you had to have left us a few bread crumbs to guide us.
Might she have left a note? Where would it be?
He hurried to the office he’d worked in this afternoon. At first glance, everything looked the same as he’d left it, but on second look—Ethan strode forward and snatched up the sticky note adhering to the corner of the desk.
He stared at the brief message. Mother threatened. On my way to meet the Draytons. Follow me.
“Clever girl,” he murmured.
She left the drug vial to highlight the missing doll, and she left the note in place of the tracker they’d found inside the rattle. The serial number of the device was already in the marshal’s system, courtesy of their failed attempt to find the buyer. A skilled tech should be able to use the serial number of the unit to locate the tracker wherever it was right now.
“Terry! I found something!” Ethan bellowed, and the man scrambled into the room almost before he’d finished speaking.
He held the note out toward his partner, who glanced at it and then at him with raised eyebrows.
“Follow her how?”
Ethan spread his lips in a shark grin. “Bingham better get here pronto and prove his reputation.”
FIFTEEN
White-knuckled grip around the steering wheel, Lara drove through the night toward her meeting with Ronald and Vincent Drayton. During that horrible phone call while she was yet in the marshal’s custody, the senior Drayton had directed her to a location a few blocks away from the courthouse. This vehicle had been waiting for her and the baby with an infant seat installed in the back. She’d also been told to bring with her all documents designating her as a caregiver or custodian to Maisy. That directive had come with his pledge to let her walk away once they had the baby and the documents
.
As if Lara was about to believe such empty assurances! But she’d kept that thought to herself.
Now that she’d acquired the car and left the city, she was driving fast to stay on the strict timeline the senior Drayton had given her to reach the destination that had been preprogrammed into the car’s GPS. Withholding the destination until she was already out of the marshals service’s offices had prevented her from leaving that information in a note for Ethan. He was smart, though, and he would catch on to what she needed him to do. She had to hang on to that belief, or she’d lose her mind with fear.
Vincent had also warned her not to attempt to contact anyone from the phone they’d given her. It was being monitored by his people. Any reaching out for help via text or call would result in the death of her mother. She would also face the same consequence if she were even a minute late at the meeting site, ensuring she wouldn’t dare stop anywhere on the way.
Vincent Drayton had dictated all the terms except one. Lara had stipulated that he and Ronald be present to personally take custody of Maisy. She’d absolutely refused to turn the child over to garden-variety thugs and stated she wouldn’t make a move out of the courthouse without their pledge to be on-site. Vincent had seemed impressed by her caution and care for his granddaughter, which offered her a glimmer of hope that he and his son would meet the stipulation. If they didn’t, this whole exercise would be a fruitless disaster, ending her and her mother’s lives for nothing.
But no matter what, at least those evil people wouldn’t get Maisy. She just needed to keep her adversaries from taking a closer look at the car seat. That doll would fool people only from a distance or in the dark. She’d have to think up any reason to put off letting them get near. Any delay or diversion would be golden, allowing Ethan and his rescue team an opportunity to catch up with her.
She reached out and touched the tracker she’d placed in the cup holder of the central console. Ethan, you’re on my trail, aren’t you?
On one level, the hours of travel crawled past, and she filled the hollow minutes with worship music from the radio and short, desperate prayers. On another level, the time flew by, and suddenly the GPS was telling her to make a turn onto a gravel road with her destination only a mile ahead. Minutes later, she arrived at a long driveway leading up to a building site.
Lara took her foot off the gas pedal and allowed the vehicle to coast up the driveway. Gravel crunched softly under the tires, and a pole light faintly illuminated the yard. Ahead and to her left was the burned-out shell of what must have been a house at one time. Ahead and to her right loomed a large barn, a bit rickety looking, but unscathed by the fire. A pair of large dark vehicles were parked in front of the structure. Golden light trickled from gaps in the barn door and shuttered windows. Her adversaries must be waiting for her inside.
Her pulse throbbed in her neck. She was about to come face-to-face with the people who had been trying to kill her and snatch Maisy. God, be with me.
She pulled the car over into a patch of shadows near the gutted house and sat still, struggling to draw in deep breaths. But she didn’t dare delay for long, or the bad guys in that barn would come out after her. She couldn’t have that.
With trembling fingers, she opened the car door and got out, custody papers in her hand. Balmy night air washed over her, carrying no trace of smoke, so the house fire must not have been recent. She locked the door of the vehicle, then looked down at the car keys in her hand.
Here goes.
With her best softball-star pitch, she flung the keys into the overgrowth around the house. If her adversaries wanted to get at the car seat and its occupant, they’d either need to find the keys or break into the car. The delay might come in handy. Of course, they might just shoot her down for hindering them, but it was a risk she’d have to take.
Squaring her shoulders, Lara trod toward the unwelcoming committee awaiting her in the barn. She hadn’t gone a dozen feet when the barn door opened and a rifle barrel poked out, pointing in her direction.
“Where’s my daughter?”
Lara’s heart jumped at the harsh voice. From fear, yes, but also exhilaration. Ronald Drayton was present, and presumably, the man’s father was also here. At least that much of her hasty plan had worked.
She kept walking slowly and waved the papers in the air. “Maisy is asleep.” A truth she was reasonably confident about—she simply omitted where the infant was sleeping. “We conduct our business and you let me leave. Then you can collect the baby carrier out of the car.”
“Stop right there,” Ronald Drayton ordered, and Lara complied. “How do we know you’ve brought her if we can’t see her?”
“Have patience, Ronnie,” a more mature voice admonished from beyond the door. Vincent. “What purpose would it serve Ms. Werth to have failed to bring our sweet Maisy with her? But if it pleases you, I’ll send Gary out to check that she’s there.”
A moment later, a large man with a big pistol stepped out the door. He scowled in Lara’s direction as he passed her on the way to the car. Lara suppressed a shiver as she looked over her shoulder to follow the thug’s progress.
Would the lifelike doll fool him? She’d placed a light blanket over the car seat, leaving only part of the doll’s head and hair visible. The precaution would have to be sufficient. Her gut tightened as the hired gun leaned close to the rear window and bracketed his face in his hands to peer in.
The guy stood up with a grunt. “She’s here,” he called as he turned and headed back toward the barn.
“Good,” said Vincent. “No need to disturb her yet. She will be fine there for the moment. Collect our guest and bring her inside.”
The thug grabbed Lara’s arm in a viselike grip and dragged her toward the door. She suppressed her natural instinct to pull away. The better part of wisdom right now dictated she go along. She stumbled over the threshold into the well-lit interior of the cavernous building, and her throat clogged as if a fist had closed around it.
No fewer than six heavily armed thugs formed a half circle around a tall, dapper figure dressed in a suit. Next to him stood an equally tall but muscular younger figure wearing a button-down shirt and pair of slacks. Vincent and Ronald Drayton, beyond a doubt. Otherwise, the barn was empty. Odors associated with animals and machinery were mere whiffs of memory.
Vincent stepped forward and held out his hand. “The papers, please.”
Without a word, Lara handed him the will and power-of-attorney documents. The man pulled out a lighter and lit a corner of the sheets. Wearing a faint smile that sent chills down Lara’s spine, he gazed at the flames until they had nearly consumed the papers. Then he dropped the remnants and stomped on them with his expensive shiny shoes.
“May I go now?” Lara dredged up her voice from beneath a layer of ice in her mind. Ethan, where are you?
“Certainly.” Vincent’s tone was cheery. “We’ll all go.”
He nodded toward the thug who still had her by the arm. The man grinned and pointed his gun at her. Lara went rigid. This is it, God. See You soon.
“Not in here!” barked Ronald. “For all the trouble she’s caused us, I don’t want her body or any trace of her ever found. Take her out back where there’s a nice field to plant her. I’m going to get my daughter.”
“Start the vehicles,” Vincent told his men. “I’m going to greet my granddaughter. Keys, please.” He held his hand out toward Lara.
She shrugged as casually as she could manage, which turned out more like a jerky-puppet movement. “I threw them in the grass.”
The elder Drayton narrowed his eyes and then strolled past her. “No matter. We’ll get the vehicle open in no time, with or without them.”
Lara was dragged by the arm in the midst of the herd as they moved en masse toward the open barn door. But as they stepped outside, a pair of headlights suddenly blinked on, illuminating their fa
ces. Everyone froze, and Lara’s heart jumped. Ethan?
“Stop right there,” a familiar female voice called out. “I’m a great shot, and at this range, I won’t miss you, Ronnie, or you either, Vincent. Let Lara go.”
“Izzy?” Her friend’s name whispered from Lara’s lips.
The thug who had her by the arm released her and lifted his gun. Lara began to edge backward to the rear of the group, but Ronald suddenly grabbed her and dragged her in front of his body as a shield.
“You shoot me, honey, you shoot your friend.”
Lara struggled against the big man’s hold, but his arm snaking over her shoulder and down to her waist was like a band of iron. In his other arm, he held his rifle in a one-handed firing position.
With an oath, Vincent darted behind one of his gunmen. A shot rang out, and the thug in front of Vincent abruptly hit the dirt. Then everyone with a firearm began blasting away.
Lara lifted her foot high and brought it down with all her might on Ronald’s instep. The man yelped and loosened his grip. She jerked away from him and flung herself to the ground even as a feminine cry chilled her ears. Had Izzy taken a bullet?
“Stop firing,” Vincent screamed at his men. “You could hit Maisy.”
The dapper man began running toward the car Lara had driven to the site, but his son dropped to one knee and took careful aim with his rifle at his wife’s vehicle. Still on the ground, Lara kicked out at the man’s shin, and his shot went wild. Swearing, Ronald pointed his rifle down at Lara. Their gazes met, and the darkness in his core sent a shiver through Lara. His lips peeled back from white teeth, like a predator about to pounce, and the man’s finger curled around his weapon’s trigger.
A gunshot reverberated from a new direction, and Ronald screamed and flopped onto his back.
“Drop your weapons!” Ethan’s voice cracked through the air. “This is the marshals service. You are surrounded.”
Tears welled from Lara’s eyes as her entire body melted into a puddle on the warm earth.
In Need of Protection Page 15
