Stranger's Game

by Colleen Coble

“Daddy! I want my daddy. She’s dead, Torie is dead. Let me out of here!”

  What a great little actress! Torie wanted to hug her for the inspired improvisation. If the guy thought she was dead, he’d be more likely to run inside to verify it without expecting an attack.

  “Quiet down, kid. She wasn’t hurt that bad. She’s probably just sleeping.”

  Torie inhaled at the sound of the man’s voice. The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t place him.

  The zippered entrance fell open as the man ran the tab around the teeth. The guy stepped inside, his back to Torie, and she swung the case of water with all her might. Her aim was off from using just one hand, and it struck only a glancing blow that knocked him to his knees and left him stunned facedown on the tent’s floor.

  Torie reached out with her right hand and grabbed Hailey’s hand. “Run!” She lunged through the opening with Hailey close to her side, and they plunged into the underbrush. “We have to hide,” she whispered.

  With the scent of mud and wildflowers in her nose, she pulled Hailey down behind some dense bushes and underbrush. The foliage was so thick she couldn’t see through it to watch for the man emerging from the tent. Surely he’d look for them, but she prayed he would assume they would make for the trail to escape.

  Stumbling footsteps snapped twigs as someone moved on the other side of the bushes guarding them.

  “I’m in big trouble,” he said. “She’s going to kill me.”

  The footsteps faded away, and she held her breath to see if he would return. Once she caught the sound of an ATV engine, she rose and looked over the vegetation. They were alone.

  The sound of the ATV’s engine sputtered out. “I think he’s got machine trouble. Let’s wait until he gets farther away.”

  “What if he comes back?”

  “I don’t think he wanted us to see his face, so I think he’ll walk out. Let’s get out of the heat for a few minutes. We can grab some water for our hike out of the woods.”

  She guided Hailey back inside and listened with a sharp ear to the noises outside the tent. No sounds other than birds chirping and frogs croaking.

  * * *

  As Joe paced the floor all night waiting for daylight, he’d realized he needed to get into more remote places, areas his truck couldn’t go, so at daybreak he borrowed an ATV from Craig and set out. Joe had searched all day, and he was bone weary, but he wasn’t about to give up as he maneuvered the ATV into tracks so narrow the bushes scraped his arms.

  He’d searched alone since he hoped to be able to have room to bring back Hailey and Torie. He couldn’t let himself think it might be a vain hope. They had to be all right.

  At five he drove down a narrow track to Horton Pond, moving in a circular pattern into smaller and smaller trails. He rounded a curve and spotted an ATV in his path. He dismounted.

  “Hello, anyone there?”

  The marshy ground was soft underfoot, and birds squawked overhead at his intrusion into their space. He saw no one around, but when he touched the hood of the ATV, he found it warm. Someone had driven this thing recently and abandoned it. Had it run out of gas?

  He got back on his ATV and veered around the abandoned machine to continue the search. In a couple of minutes he found himself breaking through a hedge into a small clearing. At first he thought it was another dead end until he spotted torn leaves and broken twigs where someone had forced his way through the underbrush to make a narrow path.

  He cupped his hands to his mouth and started to yell for his daughter, then shook his head and dropped his arms. If this happened to be the girls’ location, he didn’t want to tip off their kidnapper. He pulled out his phone to call for backup, but found no bars back here, so he reached into his ATV and retrieved his SIG Sauer. With the gun in hand he walked back to the other ATV and searched for signs of where the kidnapper had gone.

  With the ground marshy and soft back here, he quickly found footprints that led away from the ATV and toward the main road. Joe went back to the path he’d found and forced his way into the bushes. He struggled against the thorns that scraped at his jeans and shirt.

  His elation deflated on the other side of the barrier at the sight of a canvas tent on the far end of another clearing. Just campers. He started to go back the way he’d come when he hesitated. Why not at least ask if they’d seen Hailey or Torie? It was a long shot, but it was all he had.

  The open door revealed the darker interior, and he thought he saw movement, so he moved that direction. “Hello?”

  A head popped through the opening, and he blinked. “Hailey?” It was her and not a mirage. “Hailey!”

  “Daddy!” His daughter tumbled out into the sunlight and ran toward him with her arms out.

  He sprang forward and scooped her up. Her heart beat like a frightened bird against his chest, and he inhaled the wonderful live scent of her as he buried his face in her matted hair. He didn’t care if she reeked of canvas and mud.

  He looked past her to the opening and saw Torie step out into the sunshine with two bottles of water. Her hair had fallen out of its braid, and her lovely face showed the trauma of her ordeal. Purple marks marred her high cheekbones, and she sported a black eye. Livid scratches had crusted over on her arms, and she limped as she stepped out of the tent.

  “Joe?” Her choked voice trembled. “Oh, Joe.”

  She moved into a rambling half jog-half stumble, and he moved one arm away from Hailey to catch her as she fell against him. Her trembling transferred to him, and he shook with the intensity of the moment too.

  Alive. They were both alive.

  He kissed her forehead and embraced both of them with all his strength. “Thank you, God, thank you.”

  He hadn’t even admitted to himself how much he doubted this would end well. His past traumas had shown him that things didn’t always turn out okay. Good people died or disappeared. Loved ones left. Jobs disappeared. But as long as Hailey and Torie were alive, he could tackle any other problem.

  Torie drew away and gestured to the tent. “We were locked in there all night. The guy came back on an ATV and I clobbered him with the case of water. While he was stunned, we escaped. We never saw him, but he sounded familiar.”

  “I think he had to ditch his ATV. I found one a little ways down the path.”

  “I heard the engine cut out, and we decided to wait and let him get away.”

  “Smart move.” He circled one arm around her waist and took Hailey by the hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter 37

  Torie fought back the moisture in her stinging eyes as she tried to wrap her head around what had just happened. Who had taken them and why?

  They needed to find out. Maybe there would be a clue in the kidnapper’s vehicle.

  Torie turned to the exit. “Let’s take a look at the ATV.”

  His green eyes understanding, Joe gave a nod. “We need to call Craig once we get a cell signal too.”

  Torie looked around for the ATV but didn’t see it. A narrow path forced its way through some bushes, and there were recent shoe impressions in the vegetation.

  “It’s this way,” Joe said.

  He held back the bushes for her and Hailey, and they forced their way through the vegetation into a small clearing. She went to the ATV, but as she neared, she saw the police emblem on the side.

  “That one’s mine,” Joe said. “The other one is a little ways along the path.”

  He helped her along the uneven ground since she was still so unsteady. He pointed. “There it is. Let me check it out.” He climbed into the passenger seat and began to open every compartment and checked under the seats.

  “Find anything?”

  “Not really.” He reached out and grabbed the key ring in the ignition. “Look at this.”

  He held it up and it took a moment for the metal piece dangling from the ring to register to Torie. “That’s the top hat from a Monopoly game!”

  He took out his phone and looked at i
t. “One bar. I’ll call Craig. He’s going to have a cow that I examined the ATV.”

  “I don’t think we had any choice. We need to find out what’s going on. You go ahead and call him.”

  He exchanged a few short words with Craig. What did all this mean? If she could push back the pain enough, maybe she could see to the heart. The man’s voice reverberated in her head. She knew that voice—if it would just come to her. Her gaze went back to the keys with the top hat token. The token for wealth.

  Joe ended the call. “He’ll be here in a few minutes. He’s just finishing up with security for the dignitaries arriving.”

  Torie watched him begin to tinker with the engine. Her memory nagged at her.

  Dignitaries. The dinner tonight. Then it came to her. “It’s Noah. It was Noah’s voice.”

  He lifted a brow. “Noah kidnapped you?”

  She nodded. “And I keep thinking about how picky Amelia was about the globes and where she wanted them. What if they are planning something against the bank and government officials? Noah was reading that book about the Federal Reserve. What if he’s part of the protesters against the Federal Reserve? I know he works for the senator, but maybe it’s part of his plot. Joe, we need to get to the hotel, to the Sans Souci building. The banking executives are all in danger. I think whoever is in on this with Noah plans to take them all out.”

  “Why Sans Souci?”

  “It’s where they’re all staying.” She was missing something else, but what was it? When the memory hit her, she put her hand to her mouth. “What if Lisbeth found out about his plan somehow? She was poking into things and was part of the hotel’s planning for the globes. She might have overheard something, and that’s why she was killed.”

  “Craig’s on his way. We need to pass this information along to him.”

  She shook her head. “There’s no time. Guests will be gathering for the opening games very soon. I need to get there. I can take your ATV.”

  “I just fixed a fouled spark plug on this one.” He gestured to Noah’s ATV. “See if it starts.”

  She nodded and the engine fired the first time she tried to start it. “You and Hailey wait here for Craig, and I’ll get to the hotel. Meet up with me there.”

  “Let’s try calling your aunt first. Maybe she can get them all to safety.”

  She put her hand on his arm. “What if she’s part of it? She lied about my mom. What else has she lied about? And I heard Noah say, ‘She’s going to kill me.’ We can’t trust anyone.”

  She saw the argument gathering in his eyes, but she didn’t want to argue so she accelerated away. Lives were at stake, and she could only pray she wasn’t too late.

  * * *

  Torie might be driving straight into danger. Joe paced while waiting for Craig. Her phone was broken, so he couldn’t even contact her to see how it was going.

  His gaze slid to his daughter. What could he do with Hailey before he went to the hotel? He couldn’t take his daughter into danger. He thought through who he could trust. He’d call his parents but he needed someone here on the island right now. Maybe Danielle wouldn’t mind keeping her. Hailey would enjoy being with her little twins.

  He shot off a quick text to Danielle, and she replied almost immediately, suggesting she send her husband to pick up Hailey.

  “You get to go play with Danielle’s twins tonight, and it might be a sleepover,” he told Hailey. “Mr. Pete will be here in a few minutes.”

  A frown still creased her forehead. “I don’t want to leave you, Daddy. I’m scared.”

  He pulled her against his chest and kissed the top of her head. “I know, Peanut, but it might be a long, boring wait while I tell Craig everything that happened. You might as well have a fun evening with her littles. They are looking forward to you coming. They’re going to get fish tacos from Tortuga Jack’s and then have a Frozen marathon.”

  Her eyes lit up. “That sounds fun. You’ll come get me first thing in the morning, right?”

  “I promise.” He turned at the sound of an ATV rolling through the brush.

  He waved at Pete and hurried Hailey into the passenger seat before sending them off. They’d barely left when two more machines rolled to a stop. Craig and another state trooper got off their transport, and he stepped to meet them.

  “Torie left on an ATV. She recognized the kidnapper’s voice. It’s Noah Rogers. But there’s an even bigger problem. Torie thinks the plot seems to revolve around the Federal Reserve executives. We think it’s going down tonight.”

  He launched into the items left at Torie’s house and the connection to the Monopoly game and the Federal Reserve. Craig’s mouth twisted, and he took a step back as a frown gathered on his forehead. Joe was losing him.

  “Look, I know it sounds like some kind of conspiracy theory, but I believe it’s true. You have to check it out.”

  Craig shook his head and glanced at the other officer. “What proof do you have? Torie finding a top hat token for a Monopoly game on Noah’s ATV key ring seems to show he was behind her stalking? What you’re proposing is outlandish, Joe. Where’s your logic?”

  The propulsion device.

  But even as he prepared to tell Craig about it, he realized it would sound crazy to the state trooper too. The propulsion device was no real evidence of anything other than someone scuba diving. It didn’t have to be something sinister like a terrorist bringing in explosives.

  But Joe was convinced it was and that Torie was running headlong into danger. He didn’t have time to convince Craig, not when he needed to get to Torie.

  “I understand your hesitancy. Will you at least promise me you’ll consider what I’ve told you and do some digging?”

  “I can do that,” Craig said. “Forensics will be here any minute along with our detective. What can you tell me about what happened here?”

  Joe glanced at the time on his watch. After six. The group would be at the cottage by now, and he needed to get there too. “All I really know is that he had Hailey and Torie. He showed up and she managed to escape with Hailey. Look, I have to go.”

  “We need to talk to Torie. Where is she?”

  “It will have to wait until tomorrow.” He ignored Craig’s command to come back and rushed to his ATV.

  Craig ran after him and tried to block him, but he veered to the right to avoid him and zoomed down the narrow track out of there. In minutes he was on the road and rolling toward the historic district. Bicyclers were out in force, and he gritted his teeth at the need to slow down to avoid hitting them. When the coast cleared, he raced around them and finally turned at the mini golf to drive back to the hotel.

  He gaped at the big black SUVs parked in the lot. They announced the power and wealth of the dignitaries inside, and he spotted several security men on alert outside. At least he and Torie wouldn’t be the only ones dedicated to preserving the lives of the executives and politicians. While the state police hadn’t believed him, these men knew him. They would be ready to listen.

  He rolled past and drove to the Sans Souci building. It looked deserted. Maybe they’d gone to dinner. He parked and looked for Torie’s ATV. When he didn’t spot it, his gut clenched. Had someone else intercepted her on the way here? She’d left at least twenty minutes before him so she should be here. Could she have parked somewhere else and walked? Maybe she hadn’t wanted to alarm anyone and had slipped in the back way to scope out what was happening.

  Wait a minute. Wasn’t there an event at the Morgan Ballroom too? Maybe she’d gone there first.

  All they had to go on was gut instinct and very few clues to exactly how this was going to go down. He realized that he might need a key. Torie had had a master key, and he prayed it was in her purse. He grabbed it and searched through the wallet inside. There it was. He pocketed the key, then got out and ran around to the front. He’d check here first, then go to the Morgan Center.

  Chapter 38

  Torie glanced at her watch as she neared the Sans Souci buil
ding. Nearly six thirty. Maybe stopping to change had been a mistake, but the last thing she wanted to do was cause an uproar or frighten anyone needlessly in case she was wrong. That was one of the first things she’d learned in the hotel business—don’t upset the guests. If she burst in looking like a refugee, she’d attract too much attention and there could be a panic that caused injuries.

  Her gaze took in the hotel wing. Wait a minute. There was no ballroom here and no real gathering spots. The scavenger hunt couldn’t be taking place here. Had she made a mistake? She clutched the top hat token in her palm, and the metal edges reaffirmed her confidence in what was about to happen. While she had no motive for Noah’s actions yet, she was positive of her sudden insight.

  It had to refer to something about J. P. Morgan. She turned and looked around the historical district. The dining room was in the main hotel, and there was a ballroom as well. She snapped her fingers—the Morgan Center! It was off to her right and close enough to walk instead of drive. She kicked off her heels and sped along the grass past the Island Sweets Shoppe and across the road.

  The big building was originally an indoor tennis court for club members back in the day. And she’d been right. Men in tuxedos and women in formal dresses stood outside on the terrace and spread out onto the lush lawn. Cloth-draped refreshment tables lined the area near the trellis, and the tinkle of laughter mingled with the sound of running water from a fountain.

  She slipped her heels back on and donned a smile before strolling toward the crowd. Her gaze swept the group of who’s who in banking. Some of the faces were familiar, but she couldn’t have identified them. Dad could though. She looked around for him. He would help her.

  Though she saw no sign of his tall figure, she was sure he’d be here somewhere. This was a huge coup for the hotel and for the Bergstrom Hospitality brand, and he was on the Fed’s board. A photographer snapped pictures constantly, and the woman would be able to sell her photos for good sums to the newspapers.

  The news had been filled lately with cryptocurrency and how it was going to change the world. She had no doubt the topic would be discussed during the next few days, and the newness of it made for great copy for reporters.