The Bullet

by Iris Johansen

  “Until we find somewhere else more likely. Get on the phone and call Eve and see if she can tell us anything more. We need to know everything she knows about where Joe was in those mountains. Maybe we can GPS his phone.” He frowned. “Though I’m sure that Svardak would have destroyed it by now.”

  Cara was already dialing. “I don’t want to do this. Dear God, I’m dreading telling her about Joe.”

  “You’ll have to do it.”

  “Of course. I have to be honest with her. I’d want to know myself even if it terrified me.” And it did terrify her. She was still having trouble keeping from shaking. “Eve has to face the possibility of Joe’s being in danger every time he walks out the door in the morning. It doesn’t make it any easier for her.” She shook her head. “And it doesn’t make it easier for me that I brought this threat to her.”

  “Bullshit. Kaskov hand delivered this one on our doorstep. No one is going to blame you.”

  “The poison was there, but I increased the venom a thousandfold while I was with Svardak. I made him hate me. I just have to find a way to keep it from hurting Joe. I need to—” She broke off as Eve answered the phone. She took a deep breath. “Hi, Eve, Cara. I’m sorry, but I have to ask you a few questions about Joe. When was the last time you talked to him?”

  Silence. “Yesterday evening. I talked to him twice yesterday, but I lost the connection on the first call.” Another silence. “Why are you asking? What the hell is wrong?”

  She should have known that Eve would pick up on her disturbance immediately. She’d been awkward and stiff, and it had almost spelled out her panic. “Too much. That’s why we have to track him down.” She briefly told her about the call from Svardak. “But we’ll find him, Eve,” she added quickly. “We’re on our way right now. We just have to get some idea where he was traveling.” Eve wasn’t speaking. Cara could sense the terror she was feeling. “Eve?”

  “You bet we’ll find him.” Eve drew a harsh breath. “I’m sorry. Let me pull myself together. What did you ask? You have to know where he said he was when I talked to him? It’s hard to think right now. Saltor, I think he said. He mentioned the Saltor River. And Ruell Falls. And there were several other places … I’ll text you the ones now that I can remember. I’ll call you back with a complete list. I’ll have to go over Michael’s notebook when he gets home from school to make sure I don’t forget any of them.”

  “Michael?”

  “Michael always wants me to tell him where Joe is and what he’s doing. He has a notebook in which he charts where Joe is every day. I think it’s a healthy outlet for him and makes him feel closer to Joe and less worried.”

  “I can see that it would,” Cara said. “When can you call us back? The sooner we get that complete list, the better.”

  “Do you think I don’t know that?” Eve said jerkily. “But I’m not thinking straight. I won’t wait for Kaskov’s guard to bring Michael home after soccer practice. I’ll go pick him up myself as soon as I pack.”

  “Pack?” Cara had been afraid this would be the inevitable result the instant Eve knew Joe was in danger. She could hardly blame her. “You do realize that Jock and I are going to find Joe and bring him home.”

  “I realize you’re going to do everything you can. But you’re not going to do it without me.” She drew a deep, shaky breath. “Look, I have to get moving, and I’m not in great shape right now. As soon as I get off the phone, I have to call Catherine Ling and ask her if she’ll take Michael again. Then I’ll send you that first text before I throw a few things in my duffel. I’ll call you from Michael’s school the minute I pick him up and go over his notes.” She was silent an instant before she added unsteadily, “Maybe not the first minute. I’ve got to tell him about Joe.” Then she cleared her throat. “But right after that, I’ll be in touch, Cara. I promise.” She cut the connection.

  “Okay?” Jock asked, his gaze on her face as she put down her cell.

  Cara slowly shook her head. “No.” There was nothing okay about any single part of this, and Eve was already being hurt in all kinds of ways. The sound of her voice before she’d hung up had almost broken Cara’s heart. “How on earth is she going to tell Michael?”

  * * *

  How was she going to tell Michael? Eve asked herself for the hundredth time as she drove into the athletic parking lot two hours later. The tension was causing the muscles of her back to lock at the mere thought. Or maybe it wasn’t the dread of telling Michael about his father but just the sheer terror she was feeling about Joe. It was hard to separate her feelings when they were all the stuff of nightmares.

  Stop whining. Just do what has to be done.

  She parked her car beside the blue Subaru where Kaskov’s guard was sitting waiting for Michael to finish his practice. Cheknof nodded politely but didn’t roll down the window. Evidently, both guards had orders to be virtually invisible and seldom spoke. That was fine; all she cared about was that one of them was always with Michael. Cheknof would never leave the parking lot of Michael’s school until he brought her son home. She supposed should have remembered to call him to tell him she’d be here to pick up her son, but that had been the last thing on her mind after Cara’s call.

  And she wasn’t about to worry about it now. Her gaze was focused on the soccer field and the boys in their navy-and-gold uniforms. She had to find Michael and get through that dreaded talk without breaking down.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Quinn.” Coach Eastman was striding across the field, his brown face lit with a warm smile. “It’s good to see you. Beautiful day, isn’t it? What can I do for you?”

  She forced a smile. “Beautiful. I just came by to pick up Michael. I’m afraid we’ve had an emergency, and he has to leave early.” Her gaze was back searching the field. “I don’t see him. Where is he?”

  “What?” The coach frowned. “There must be a mistake.” He checked his clipboard. “Michael was never here today. He’s on the absentee roster. Maybe another of his relatives picked him up. Mix-ups happen when there’s an emergency.”

  Eve froze. “Not here? Yes, definitely a mistake. He has to be here.” Her gaze was frantically searching the young boys on the field. No copper-haired Michael running toward her. “Call the office. Only one person had my official permission to pick up my son, and he’s sitting in the parking lot waiting for him. There was no mix-up.”

  “I’ll call right away.” Eastman was punching numbers. “But I’m certain we’ll find there’s an explanation. It’s not as if Michael is ever a problem.”

  An explanation. But the only explanation that was occurring to her was causing her to shake with terror. Svardak. First, Joe. Now, Michael. Two people who were the center of Eve’s life and who Cara also considered as beloved family. The bastard would consider it a coup to take not only Joe, but his son from both of them. “Yes, you check.” She turned and started to run. “Come to the parking lot when you finish.”

  She tore across the field. It didn’t have to be Svardak, she told herself desperately. Yes, he’d regard it as a double triumph, but it would be difficult to coordinate taking her son as well as Joe. Perhaps it would be too difficult from where he was in the mountains. Hope, and look in another direction.

  She skidded to a stop in front of the Subaru. “Get out of that car, Cheknof. Now.”

  Cheknof hesitated, then got out of the driver’s seat. He was a bearded young man who had the strength and build of a wrestler. But he was looking at her warily. She couldn’t blame him. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and the wildness pounding through her. She probably looked as fierce as she felt. “You have a problem?” he asked.

  “You may have the problem. Where is my son?”

  He stiffened. “Soccer.” He nodded at the field. “I wait for him.”

  “He’s not there. His coach said that he hasn’t been at school all day. What did you do to him?”

  His eyes widened in alarm. “I did nothing. I did what I always do. I let him out at the f
ront door, then waited outside. He knows to call me if there is a problem. He told me to pick him up here at the soccer field.”

  “And he didn’t call you?”

  He shook his head. “I stayed here. I watched all entrances. I did nothing wrong.”

  She reached for her phone to make the call she should have made if she hadn’t gone into a tailspin. She punched in Michael’s number.

  Answer me.

  Five rings.

  No answer.

  It went to voice mail.

  The panic was tearing through her.

  Her eyes were blazing as she looked back at Cheknof. “Last chance. Tell me who paid you. Tell me what happened to my son.” She started to dial. “Or I won’t be the one to whom you’ll have to answer.”

  “Who are you calling?” Cheknof’s scowl was menacing. He took a step toward her. “Hang up that phone.”

  “The hell I will.” The phone was ringing, but she took a step backward as Cheknof took another step forward. “Tell me what happened to Michael.”

  “You will not tell Nikolai I did not do my duty.”

  “No, not Nikolai, Kaskov.” She held up her hand as the cell call was answered. “And you stop right there, Cheknof. He’s on the line.”

  “What are you doing, Eve?” Kaskov asked curtly. “I answered your call because Gavin just phoned and told me about Joe Quinn. But now it sounds as if you’re using me. I don’t permit that from anyone.”

  “Too bad. I am using you, and I might not have to do it if you didn’t hire scumbags who would sell anyone to the highest bidder.”

  Silence. “I believe that you might be referring to one or two of my employees who I sent to you at Cara’s request. You’re finding them unacceptable? What did they do?”

  “Michael’s gone,” she said harshly. “I thought at first it might be Svardak, but it would be difficult for him to pull off without help. And you supplied me with two dirtbag criminals who I’m sure would fill his bill.”

  “Don’t be rude. You’re making assumptions. To which dirtbag are you referring?”

  “Cheknof was on guard.”

  “And he was the one you were telling to stop when I answered the phone. Stop what?”

  “Mayhem. Murder. Whatever he could get away with. Tell him to give me back my son.”

  “Speaks the ferocious mama bear. I’m sure he’s already intimidated, but I’ll speak to him. Give him the phone.”

  She took the phone to Cheknof and handed it to him. “Kaskov,” she said curtly. “Talk to him.”

  He was still scowling with menace as he took the phone. But he was actually pale, and his hand was shaking, she noticed, as Russian words began to tumble from his lips. The power Kaskov wielded was blatantly evident.

  She stood there, tense, glaring at him, waiting as Cheknof stuttered and mumbled his way through the conversation. Then he sighed with relief and thrust the phone back at her. “You should not have done that. I told you I would never betray him.”

  She knew he was talking about Kaskov and not her son. But she hoped it would come down to the same thing. She lifted the phone to her ear. “He’s looking too relieved. What if he’s lying to you?”

  “He’s not lying. He knows that’s not safe, and he has a good sense of self-preservation.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” she said dryly. “He was ready to murder me to keep me from unleashing Nikolai on him.”

  “You made a mistake threatening him. You should have called me right away.”

  “Mistake?” she said fiercely. “I can’t find Michael, and Joe’s been shot. There are no mistakes, no right or wrong, until I can put my life back together again. Your errand boy should have kept Michael safe. You promised Cara.”

  “Yes, I did,” he said quietly. “I thought I’d done what she wanted, but somehow I failed her. Now I have to find out what went wrong. I’ve told Cheknof that he’s to make certain that nothing happens to you and to discover exactly how Michael disappeared on his watch.”

  “I don’t want to know how, I want to know who.” She saw Coach Eastman running toward her. “And if you aren’t able to tell me that, I’m going to call Joe’s captain and see if the police can find out.” The coach had reached her, and she said curtly, “I have to hang up now. I’ll call you later.” She whirled to face Eastman. “What did you find out from the office? Who checked him out of school?”

  “No one.” The coach’s expression was sympathetic. “It’s as I said, Michael never showed up for homeroom. So he was placed on the absentee list. If you don’t believe there was a mistake, the principal is willing to contact the authorities to investigate.”

  “Willing? I’m going to call them myself.”

  “I was not to blame,” Cheknof said harshly. “No one took the boy. I would have seen it. I would have known.”

  “He’s not here,” she said, through set teeth. “You didn’t know. No one saw him. He’s not Houdini. He didn’t just disappear after he walked through those—” Her phone was signaling a text.

  Michael!

  Dear God, a text from Michael.

  Just two words. THE LOCKER.

  Michael’s locker? A ransom demand or message from Svardak?

  She whirled on the coach. “I need to get into Michael’s locker right now. I don’t have the combination. Can you get it from the office?”

  “Not necessary.” Cheknof took the coach’s arm and propelled him back toward the building. “I’ll do it. Tell me the number.”

  Eastman checked his sheet. “It’s 1531. But it would only take me a minute.”

  But Eve wasn’t about to delay even another second. “Let him do it.” She was hurrying after Cheknof. She had to know what was in that locker.

  But when Cheknof swung open the metal door of the locker, it was only to reveal schoolbooks, a pair of tennis shoes … and Michael’s notebook. He might have left the other items, but he wouldn’t have left that notebook. She took out the notebook and flipped through the pages.

  Dad …

  Notes. Maps. Descriptions of areas …

  And on the last page an envelope.

  Her hands were shaking as she opened it.

  A note in Michael’s familiar scrawl.

  I’m sorry, Mom. Dad told me to watch out for you, but I think we have to watch out for him now. Last night after I went to bed, I could feel something bad coming toward him. I knew you wouldn’t let me go with you, so I decided to go on ahead. I’ll call you when I reach the mountains and meet you there. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, and we’ll find him together. That’s how it should be.

  Love,

  Michael

  “Shit,” she whispered. Her hand clenched on the paper. This was almost more terrifying than what she had feared before. Michael alone, trying to make his way hundreds of miles into the mountains in search of Joe. It was crazy and she was getting panicky at the thought.

  “Bad news?” Coach Eastman asked. “Anything I can do? Will we need the authorities?”

  “Yes.” She slammed the locker shut. “But I’ll contact them. It isn’t what I thought. Thank you, Coach.” Her head was whirling. She had to get back to her car, where she could sit and think and try to make a decision what was best to do. She walked quickly down the hall and out into the parking lot. She wasn’t aware that Cheknof was trailing behind her until she’d almost reached her car. “You don’t have to come with me. I won’t need you.”

  He shook his head. “Kaskov says nothing must happen to you.”

  She gazed at him incredulously. Joe might be on the verge of death, she’d lost Michael, but nothing must happen to her? It wasn’t worth arguing about. She got into the Toyota and slammed the door.

  Her hands clenched on the steering wheel as she gazed blindly out the windshield. I don’t know what to do, Joe. Michael’s really done it this time. But how can I blame him? He loves you, and he’s fighting the same fight I am. I won’t let you die, and I have to keep him safe. Help me, love.

 
; Help her? Joe was the one who needed help, and she was whining and trying to lean on him. Think. She had to work it out for herself. Smother the panic and handle one thing at a time. Michael was exceptionally clever, and they had taught him to protect himself from any ordinary threat. That should bring her some small measure of relief. Very small. But if any child could develop a coherent plan to get himself safely out of the city to those mountains, it would be Michael. She would try to think how to follow his steps until she found him.

  First, see if Michael had even been able to accomplish what he’d set out to do. He’d been gone for most of the day, so time was on his side. But it wasn’t easy for a young boy to travel unaccompanied without running a gauntlet of questions. She needed help in tracking him down, and it had to be fast. She reached for her phone and started to dial the number for Joe’s captain, Ezra Campbell, at the precinct.

  TENNESSEE-KENTUCKY BORDER FOUR HOURS LATER

  Eve’s cell phone was ringing.

  She glanced down at the ID on her phone. Cara. She braced herself. She hadn’t answered it when Cara had called before because she had been caught up in tracking Michael. But she knew she had to answer now. It wasn’t fair not to involve Cara even if Eve’s first instinct was to protect her from worrying about Michael. Cara loved him, and she was family. Eve pressed the access. “Hello, Cara. I meant to call you back, but there were … complications.”

  “I thought there might be,” Cara said gently. “I wanted to give you a little time to recover, but I was worried about you. I did receive the text you sent a few hours ago listing the other towns from Michael’s notebook.” Cara hesitated. “It took you a little longer than you thought it would to get back to me. How badly did Michael take the news about Joe?”

  “I didn’t get a chance to tell him,” Eve said bluntly. “Though it wouldn’t surprise me if he already knew. Something spooked him. He seemed to know something bad was going to happen to Joe and took off to the rescue.”

  “Took off? How could he do that? What do you mean?”

  “Exactly what it sound its like. When I got to Michael’s school, I found he’d flown the coop and left me a note.”