Now the pounding of footsteps on the floorboards told him they were back. For a moment he let his eyes close in prayer, asking God for courage and help as he battled the fear in his chest. He looked up to see two of the men whose faces had just been mug shots on the evidence wall now standing over him. Between them they’d been accused of seven murders, along with countless violent assaults and extortion threats. He asked God to bring these men and all those who’d been on the wall to justice, even if he didn’t live to see it.
Just stay alive, Jay. The words of his mentor, Jess Stone, filled his mind. When you’re faced with the worst, do your job, hold on to faith and stay alive. Your brothers and sisters in blue are always coming for you.
But how could they if they didn’t even know he was in trouble?
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t break your limbs and shoot you right now,” Stan said.
“I know where Ann-Margret Herber is,” Jay said.
His answer was blunt, direct, honest and definitely not what the criminals were expecting based on how wide their eyes went. Stan’s hand flew across Jay’s face in a slap, snapping his back.
“Where is she?” he shouted.
“Hey!” Jay shouted. “There’s no need for all that! I’m cooperating!”
Stan stepped back like he was shocked by Jay’s defiance. Ross chuckled. It was a threatening sound.
“Then where is she?” Stan shouted.
“She’d dead,” Jay said honestly.
Ross’s derisive laughter grew louder.
“He don’t know nothing!” Ross said. He pulled his gun and pressed the barrel right between Jay’s eyes. “He’s just some guy that was hired to work around the place. We got no reason to keep him alive.”
For the first time in his life, Jay felt the overwhelming urge to blow his cover well up inside him. Sure, he’d been warned to expect it. It was a trial every undercover officer faced at some point in their career. But he hadn’t been prepared for just how urgently the need to stay alive would hit him and how desperately he needed to see Leia’s face again and know that she was okay, even as his logical brain shouted that telling these thugs he was a cop would do nothing to make his death less inevitable or painful.
Something moved in the shadows to his right. He glanced over to see Moses sitting behind a large black duffel bag that lay on the floor by the couch. It wasn’t exactly the kind of backup that Jay would’ve wanted, but somehow it helped to know he wasn’t alone. The cat disappeared into the shadows. Jay thought about how Walter’s memory had continued to guide Leia long after he was gone. Suddenly, John 8:32 crossed his mind the way Leia had recalled the verses that Walter had taught her. But this verse hadn’t come from Walter. It had been one of Jay’s own father’s favorite verses and one he’d lived his life by.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Truth was, Leia, Sally and Mabel were safe; they’d found the hidden box in the attic, and one way or another the wheels of justice had already started turning even if he never lived to see how the story ended.
“Listen up,” Jay said. “You’re right, I was hired to be a farmhand here, which means I talked to people, listened to what they said and know things. I’m going to tell you the honest truth. And if you hadn’t been foolish enough to take out the cell tower you might even have been able to verify every single thing I tell you on the internet. So pay attention and take this message back to your boss, Franklin Vamana. About thirty-five years ago, Ann-Margret got married and changed her name to Annie Dukes. There’ll be government records to back that up, along with the fact that she died a few years later. If she did leave anything behind about Franklin, it’s long gone now. So, all this tearing up the house and threatening people is getting you nowhere.”
Ross’s laughter began to peter out like the way a man chuckled nervously when he suddenly lost confidence that he was on the right side of a joke. Stan’s hand flew across Jay’s face in another backhanded slap. But this time, instead of pain, all Jay felt was righteous anger. These men might be monsters but at their core they were nothing but bullies and he’d dealt with bullies.
“What’s even the point of all this?” Jay yelled. “Because it makes no sense to me. What can your boss possibly think is so important that he’d send you all here in the middle of the night to terrorize people. Do you even know?”
A car engine rumbled outside. Tires screeched as it came to a stop. But the criminals holding him were done with questions and answers. In a swift and brutal motion, Stan shoved the chair, sending Jay flying backward to the ground. His head cracked back against the floor. Agony shot through his limbs. Stan stepped his foot onto Jay’s throat.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Stan said. “I’m going to ask the questions, but you’re not going to speak unless directed. If I don’t like the answers I’m going to hurt you. Got it?”
“No, you’re not!” Leia’s voice filled the air, determined and strong, sending shivers through Jay’s core. “You’re going to let him go. Right now!”
What was she doing? Lord, keep her safe.
Stunned silence fell thick through the room. Jay glanced past Stan and saw Leia towering over him as she stood firm in the middle of her family living room. She wasn’t holding a gun or any weapon in her hands, and yet she was swathed in some invisible cloak of confidence and courage that took his breath away.
“This is my family home,” she said, “and you’re not welcome here. Get out while you can.”
Stan snorted. “You have any idea what I’m going to do to you?” he snarled. “Who do you think you are to stand up to me?”
“I’m the eldest sister in this family,” she said. “That’s what matters most to me. But for you? I’m the biological daughter of Franklin Vamana. That means the one man you’re probably most afraid of has every reason to be afraid of me. If you kill me, my sisters will go to the police and the press, with photos and evidence claiming Franklin Vamana ordered his own child killed. They’ll fight in the courts for a DNA test proving it. He’ll be ruined. His family’s businesses will be destroyed. Whatever he’s hoping to accomplish here will be nothing. Now. Let. Jay. Go.”
A pregnant pause filled the living room. Then the criminals turned their weapons on her.
“You’re coming with us and we’re taking you to the boss,” Stan said. “Now. And if you’re lying, we’ll kill you.”
“I will come with you and cooperate,” Leia said. “But only if you let Jay go.”
“No!” Jay shouted. His heart was pounding so hard he thought his rib cage might shatter. His bound hands, now pinned by the weight of his body, struggled against the chair. “No, Leia, you can’t let them take you!”
Leia’s eyes met his and he could see his own anguish mirrored there. She started across the floor toward him. Immediately Ross stepped in front of her, weapon raised, but she pushed past him like he wasn’t even there.
She crouched down beside Jay, leaned over and lightly placed her lips against his cheek.
“Sally’s on the phone with 9-1-1,” she whispered. “Help is on the way. Don’t worry, this is just a stalling tactic to keep you alive until then. Cops will block the roads, backup will arrive and it’ll all be okay. They won’t dare hurt me and you’ll be two steps behind.”
“I’ll find you,” Jay whispered.
“I know,” Leia said. She bent down and brushed a quick kiss across his lips. He heard the faint sound of wood snapping and realized she’d purposely cracked one of the spindles on the back of the chair.
“Hurry up!” Stan bellowed.
Stan grabbed Leia by the arm and yanked her to her feet. Ross picked up a heavy bag of weapons off the ground and slung it over his shoulder. Jay watched as they marched her out through the kitchen, feeling something tear in his chest as if they were pulling out a piece of him as they w
ent. He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached. He struggled against his bonds, twisting his body against the broken spindle and fighting his own exhausted limbs’ desire to pause. Slowly, bit by bit, he felt the wood crack under his weight until finally he was able to wrench his hands free, enough to roll onto his side and push himself up. He stumbled to his feet and ran into the kitchen, dragging behind him a piece of the chair still connected to his bound hands.
The kitchen was empty, and the back door lay open. Where had they taken Leia? He found the knife block, felt around behind with his hands for a steak knife and used it to hack his hands from the wood. Finally, his hands were free and he could move again.
Sirens filled the air, feet pounded, voices filled the air and, within an instant, police stormed the farmhouse on all sides. Instinctively, his hands rose above his head even while his heart leaped to see the wave of figures in flak jackets, bulletproof vests and helmets.
Then he saw the diminutive form of his mentor, Jess, striding through the group toward him. The detective’s long blond hair was tied back in a smart bun. The armed officers parted for her like the proverbial sea, despite the fact she barely came up to their shoulders.
“Good to see you,” he said. “They took Leia.”
“Where?” Jess asked.
“I’m not sure exactly,” he said. “They went out the back. I’m positive they’re taking her to Franklin Vamana in Toronto.”
“How big’s their head start?” she asked.
“Maybe ten minutes,” he said. “Probably even less.”
“Come on,” Jess said. She gave a signal and within moments a weapon was handed to him by an officer to his right. They ran out the back door, flanked by armed and uniformed officers on both sides. An officer shone his flashlight over the trees. A path of footprints and broken branches lay before them. “This way.”
Jay pelted up the path, feeling the strength of his fellow officers and mentor around him like a wave. The criminals were outnumbered and outgunned. He would rescue Leia, this would all be over and she’d be safe. The trees broke and a steep grass hill lay ahead, with the demolished cell tower at the top. Jay pressed himself onward as they ran up the hill.
A roar overtook the air ahead of him, so deep and loud it sounded like a wall of thunder rising straight up from the top of the hill. Fierce wind whipped against his body, and a light shone down on him. He looked up to see a helicopter rising into the sky, climbing higher and higher by the moment. And he knew with every beat of his pain-filled heart that Leia was on it.
He dropped to his knees on the wet grass, blocking out the voices of the officers around him.
Leia had been kidnapped, snatched away from him, and she was gone.
* * *
Leia’s desperate eyes stared down at the treetops as Jay’s form disappeared from sight. For a fleeting moment she’d seen him there, running through the trees after her, flanked by people with flashlights coming for her. And everything in her heart had leaped with the hope that he would make it. Instead, she’d been forced to watch helplessly as the helicopter rose, leaving him behind.
Finally, even the ground below disappeared into the darkness.
She leaned back against the seat, strapped in tightly by the shoulder harness seat belt. The sound of the rotors was so deafening that it seemed to be coming from every direction at once and radiating through her body. Both Ross, who was piloting the helicopter, and Stan, who was in the back pointing a weapon at her, were wearing headsets, which meant they could communicate with each other. But without one, she could barely make out a word they were saying, lost as they were in the noise and vibrations surrounding her.
“Ack!” Suddenly Stan leaped from his seat as if Ross’s bag, which lay on the floor, had bitten him. “There’s something in here!”
The helicopter swung wildly to the right as Ross spun around and looked back over his shoulder. Stan lurched and stumbled, falling against the side of the helicopter. Leia grabbed her seat belt harness tightly. As she watched, Moses leaped from the bag; his fur was standing on end and his eyes were wild. The cat shot across the helicopter and into Leia’s lap. She wrapped her arms around his frightened form.
“It’s the cat!” Stan hollered, and Leia wasn’t sure if he’d yelled so loudly that she’d actually heard the words or had just read his lips. He grabbed a handle above the door with one wildly shaking hand and with the other aimed his gun at the cat on her lap.
“Stop!” Ross yelled back over his shoulder, and again she wasn’t sure if she’d actually heard him. “Sit down!”
“Let go of the cat!” Stan shouted at Leia. The gun still waved in front of her.
“Sit down!” Leia screamed, not even knowing if Stan could hear her. “You’re not shooting a cat in a helicopter!”
Did he even realize how idiotically impossible trying to shoot anything was in a helicopter? Let alone a small animal?
She prayed hard and cradled the cat to her chest, staring the criminal down until finally the helicopter righted and Stan sat back down and, this time, fastened his seat belt. A tense stalemate filled the helicopter and after a while Moses’s fur relaxed. She closed her eyes and felt the cat’s rumbling purr through her fingertips.
Jay’s face filled her mind. She remembered the way his smile quirked when he thought she was saying something funny, and the dark intensity in his eyes when they’d kissed. But even more, she thought about the way he cared about those in need and how relentless he was in pursuing the things that mattered to him.
Jay had promised that he would find her and she knew that he would.
Everything would somehow be okay. These criminals were taking her to meet her biological father, Franklin Vamana, and that was probably at his hotel and office in Toronto. Police would raid it and find her. She had to have faith.
From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
She drifted in and out of consciousness and didn’t even realize she’d fallen asleep until she felt the helicopter suddenly begin to drop beneath her. She looked out the window but saw nothing but city lights shining against the predawn black.
Stan undid his seat belt and leaned over toward her. There was a strip of cloth in his hands. He blindfolded her firmly and she didn’t fight it, knowing she had nothing to gain by struggling or trying to make a break for it while they were still in the air.
The helicopter landed with a jolt that seemed to shake through her; the cat disappeared from her lap and she felt the rush of cold air as a door opened. The rotors began to slow, and he felt Stan grab her arm and pull her to her feet. His other hand pushed her head down for a moment as they climbed through the low doorway and out into the wind. She was walked across the tarmac, flanked by people on both sides, and something about the air filling her lungs told her she was on the roof of a skyscraper. As the rumble of the helicopter began to dissipate, she was aware of another deep rushing sound she couldn’t place.
She was propelled off the roof, through a door, down a flight of steps, along a hallway and finally down another flight of steps. Then she was tugged to a stop.
“Hold her still,” an unfamiliar male voice said.
Suddenly her right arm was being practically yanked out of its socket as a rough pair of hands stretched it out to its full extension. There was a sharp jab and she felt a needle pierce her skin on the inside of her elbow. Leia yelped. It felt like they were drawing blood. The moment seemed endless as she waited for the needle to be withdrawn.
A door opened, she was lead inside and then she heard that door shut behind her.
The world fell silent again, except for the strange rushing sound she couldn’t place. She took off her blindfold and found herself alone in a hotel room. A small prick of blood on her inner arm remained from where someone had taken a blood sample. Looked like they’d
decided to run a DNA test.
At first glance, the hotel room was small but lavish. But as she investigated it further, she discovered it had been conscientiously stripped of every single thing that could be used as a weapon; it was like a high-end prison cell. There was a bed with nothing but a thick down duvet on it, and a chunky desk, which was bolted to the floor. Heavy blinds were drawn across the window without curtains. Every drawer was empty as was the minifridge, and the only towels in the bathroom were small, fluffy hand towels. An array of tiny samples of Indigo Iris cosmetics, hair and beauty products sat artfully beside the sink.
The hotel door clicked open again and she glanced through a crack in the open door to see two young and well-dressed men in sharp suits and ties stepping into the room, and Stan behind them with his weapon drawn. One of the men set a paper bowl of fresh fruit, paper plates of cheese and meat and a plastic cup of water on the desk. The other laid a pair of soft pink yoga pants, T-shirt, sweatshirt, socks and slippers on the bed. Then they left without a word.
It was like they’d been planning on her trying to escape or fight her way out and had been determined to rob her of every possible weapon. Did that mean she should freshen up and eat something? When was she meeting Franklin Vamana? How long until Jay found her?
And where was that rushing noise coming from?
She crossed to the window, opened the blinds, looked out and gasped. The towering waters of Niagara Falls poured into its basin below her, sending a plume of mist soaring upward as the waterfall roared.
She wasn’t in Franklin Vamana’s building. She was nowhere near Toronto.
Jay had no idea how to find her. She was on her own.
THIRTEEN
The predawn raid by the police on the Vamana Enterprises building on Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto moved like a well-oiled machine. Over thirty Ontario and Toronto police officers were already in tactical position around the building, waiting for the moment when the warrant arrived authorizing their mission. Then they’d swarmed the forty-two-story building, securing both exits and staff, as Jess strode to the security desk and announced, “We have a warrant to search this facility for Miss Leia Dukes and question Mr. Franklin Vamana in relation to her kidnapping.”
Undercover Protection Page 13
