Danger Zone

by Stacy Claflin

Will turned to Anderson. “Would you do something about her?”

  Sanchez tilted her head. “You think he can control me? Because I’m a woman? Is that how it works?”

  Will’s face reddened. “That’s not what I said! Why are you treating me like I’m guilty?”

  “Are you?”

  “No! If it was anyone in my house, it was our dad! Good luck getting answers from him because he doesn’t even know his own name anymore. But if he did know about the pregnancy, he’d have done whatever it took to get rid of the problem.”

  Anderson nodded. “Do you think your sister wanted to keep the baby?”

  “As a teenager? I doubt it.” He paused. “Well, maybe.”

  “Maybe?” Sanchez asked.

  Will nodded. “Daisy always wanted to get married and have a family. She dreamed of it. I kind of always thought she wanted it so badly because it would be her ticket out of our house.”

  Anderson set his pen down. “She wanted a knight in shining armor to save her from a harsh home life?”

  “Exactly!” Will’s eyes lit up. “And I think she wanted a baby because a child would give her unconditional love.”

  Anderson scratched his chin. “If that was the case, she wouldn’t have wanted to terminate the pregnancy. She’d have fought to keep it against a father determined to end it.”

  Will nodded.

  “But that still doesn’t explain how she ended up in an attic here in town.”

  Will shook his head. “Well, her boyfriend’s dad was that televangelist who used to own the house.”

  “And he wouldn’t have wanted that to scar his reputation, either.” Anderson tapped the table. “Basically, we have two fathers who would’ve had motive to put an end to this problem.”

  Will drew in a deep breath. “And neither one is able to tell his story.”

  Lead

  Alex checked his phone for what had to be the fiftieth time, despite the fact that he had the volume turned up and it was right next to him. Zoey hadn’t called to say they’d found Ariana, and Paul still hadn’t called with any information about the Dark Web or any ties to Hiram or Damon or his father.

  For that matter, Alex wasn’t coming up with anything, not even with all the resources at the station. It wasn’t like answers ever just came to them. Never that easy.

  “Find anything?” Nick’s voice came from behind.

  Alex shook his head as he turned around. “Nothing. You?”

  Nick handed him a coffee. “It looks like it could be anyone except the brother, but that’s based on the brother’s testimony. If he’s to be believed, the worst he’s guilty of is being scared of his father.”

  Alex sipped the hot drink, then glanced back at his computer screen when it dinged with a notification. “It could be the girl’s dad?”

  “Or the televangelist, or the boyfriend. Maybe someone else who hasn’t shown up on our radar yet. Anything I can do to help with finding Ariana?”

  “See if you can find anything on the tutor’s dad that I can’t. I’m still new at all this.”

  “You don’t give yourself enough credit. You’d become quite the detective working on your blog all that time before joining the force.”

  “And that’s what started all this mess.” Alex sighed. “And none of my skills are helping. Can’t find anything on that jerk, despite knowing he’s guilty of something. Just can’t prove it.”

  “Email me what you’ve got and I’ll have a look.”

  “Thanks, Nick. Are you sure you don’t want to go home?”

  “Not a chance. Your daughter’s missing. I’m going to do whatever I can to help.”

  “I appreciate it. I’ll send over what I have.” Alex copied what he had, pasted it into an email, and sent it. Pressure squeezed around his temples and forehead. Exhaustion made his eyelids feel like heavy weights. His muscles ached.

  He grabbed his phone and sent Ariana yet another text. His last ones still hadn’t been read yet.

  It rang just as he was setting it back on the desk. He grabbed it, nearly dropping it, heart racing, hoping it was Ariana.

  It was Paul. Maybe he had good news.

  Alex’s hand shook as it took him two tries to accept the call. “Did you find something?”

  “Yes. Are you sitting?”

  “What is it?” Alex demanded, his stomach knotting. No way was this good news.

  “Do you want the long explanation, or the short one?”

  “Just tell me what you know.”

  “Short version it is. I came across a site where people sell information to child abductors. They look out for easy targets and sell everything they have to the highest bidder.”

  The thought made Alex’s stomach lurch. “And Stalker420 is involved with this?”

  “Yes. It took a lot of digging, but I found proof that he hired the guy you call Hiram Ricci.”

  Alex struggled to breathe. “Do you know where he is? I’m going to face him personally.”

  “Easy there, Officer Mercer. You need to go through the proper channels, remember?”

  Sometimes he wondered why he ever became a cop. It had been so much easier when he’d been able to skirt the rules and handle things himself. “Yes, I know. Send me over everything so I can forward it to my captain.”

  “The email is ready to go, but there’s more.”

  “What? Do you know where my daughter is?”

  “No, but this is the part where you’re going to want to sit down.”

  “Just tell me!” Alex pulled on his hair.

  “The man we know as Hiram is Damon’s father.”

  “He’s what?” Alex could hardly comprehend the news, though it probably shouldn’t have surprised him. Of course it was all connected.

  And Alex had been face-to-face with the man who had kissed Zoey. The man who was single-handedly trying to destroy Alex’s family.

  “I can’t find anything on the kid himself,” Paul continued. “He has no record—”

  “I could’ve told you that! I’ve been looking into him.”

  “Despite my doubts, the kid is innocent. I thought his name would be an alias, like the dad. It’s not. Also thought he could be a twenty-something posing as a high schooler. Again, no. From what I’ve gathered, he is actually a student. His good grades are legit. The school has nothing but glowing remarks about him.”

  “So, you’ve found nothing against him?” Alex took a deep breath, hardly able to accept the truth. Not that it negated the fact that he’d run off with Ariana.

  “Damon’s dad, Cal Jones, is fairly new to the Dark Web. I can’t find any evidence of him involving his son in any of his criminal activity.”

  “That’s something, I guess. Send me that email, so I can get it to my captain.”

  “I will, but promise me you’ll let your force handle this by the books.”

  “What other option do I have? As much as I’d like to take this into my hands, I won’t lose my career over this guy.”

  “Are you going to keep your blog up?” Paul asked.

  “Yes! Those kids need it more than I realized. I just thought we were dealing with random kidnappers working alone—not a ring of them.”

  “The Dark Web is a seriously nasty place. Just sent the email. Once you confirm you have it, I’ll hang up.”

  Alex refreshed his personal email on his phone and waited. “Are you done? Do I need to send the rest of the payment now?”

  “I’m still going to see if I can track down some addresses.”

  “I went to the loser’s house! I know exactly where he lives!”

  “Cal isn’t working alone. There’s the guy who took the picture of your wife. A completely different person got close enough to your family to know what class your daughter needed tutoring in and how to get your wife to apply for that fake job with Hiram. This case is far from closed.”

  Hide

  Ariana’s heart thundered as Damon unlocked the hotel room with the keycard. They’d found a rid
e from an app Damon had her download and were now two towns away from home. He’d paid cash for everything. She quickly glanced at her phone while he was distracted. More missed calls and texts from her parents and friends.

  Guilt stung. She probably shouldn’t have run away with Damon, but she couldn’t let him be alone at a time like this. Not after what his dad had done to him.

  It made her realize she had nothing to complain about regarding her dad. Or any of her four parents. Sure, it could be overwhelming having so many and it seemed unfair at times to have twice as many parents as her friends, but they all loved her, all wanted the best for her. None of them had ever laid a hand on her out of anger, much less left scars or bruises.

  “You coming in?” Damon’s voice broke through her thoughts.

  “Yeah.” She stuffed her phone back in her bag and stepped in the entry. It was a small room, nothing fancy, but at least it was clean.

  Damon threw his bag on the bed and turned to her. “Hungry?”

  Her stomach had been growling, but she didn’t want to say anything. He’d already spent so much on the ride and the room. “Do you have enough for food?”

  He pulled out a thick envelope. “Plenty. I’ve been keeping this for a long time, adding to it whenever I could. Found a spot my dad never would look.”

  “You always thought you’d have to run away?”

  Damon nodded. “Ever since my mom died and he turned mean, I have to give him space when this happens. I need the funds when it does. He could trace my cards.”

  “What about all your stuff at the house? Your car and everything?”

  He sat on the bed and shrugged. “I’ll either wait until he calms down and go back, or I’ll just have to start over without him. That much will certainly be a relief.”

  She sat next to him. “Why’s he so angry? It seems like with all the nice stuff, he’d be happy.”

  “Like I said before, he resents the fact that he has to work. When Mom was around, he could be as lazy as he wanted. Now he can’t.”

  “What does he do for his job?”

  Damon frowned. “Dad doesn’t really talk about it. I learned not to ask.” He rubbed his shoulder, almost like it was a reaction to thinking about it.

  Ari scooted closer. “Did he hurt your shoulder when you asked him?”

  Damon looked away. “You probably think I’m a pushover. Letting my dad get away with hitting me. Only losers get beat up.”

  “No! You can’t help what your dad does to you. I think you should tell someone, but I get why you don’t.”

  He looked her in the eyes. “Foster care would be so much worse.”

  Ariana rubbed his back where the largest scar was. “What’s he going to do when you come back? Isn’t he going to be madder than before?”

  “I’ll give him enough space.”

  “Is there enough?” She held his gaze.

  “He always calms down.”

  Ari leaned against him. “He was so mad that you’d brought me over. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. You had no way of knowing—and I never thought he’d find out. I should’ve been more careful.”

  Ariana’s stomach growled loudly.

  “I knew you were hungry.” He gave her a sad smile. “What are you in the mood for?”

  “What do you want?”

  He shook his head. “Why do girls always do that? I asked what you want.”

  She sighed. “I just want you to be safe at home. I’m glad we’re together, but I hate that—”

  Damon planted his lips on hers. “You’re still not answering my question. I’m going to guess that you don’t want sushi, since that’s what we had earlier. What about burgers? Everyone likes burgers.”

  “Sure.”

  “Can I see your phone? Better make sure something is close before I make any promises.”

  “Okay. But what about your phone?”

  “I had to leave it, otherwise Dad could track me.”

  “Makes sense. I turned off my location in my phone when we started meeting away from school.”

  He cupped her chin and ran his thumb across her lower lip, making her stomach tingle. “I may be the tutor, but you’re definitely smarter. That’s what I should’ve done—not just left my phone for my dad to go through.”

  She shrugged. “My dad’s a cop. I have to think about that stuff if I’m going to sneak around.”

  Damon ran his fingers through her hair. “I’m really sorry I dragged you into all of this.”

  “It isn’t your fault.”

  He shifted and pulled back, mumbling.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Damon wrinkled his forehead. “Actually, I did drag you into this. Not as accidentally as you might think.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He looked down at his hands. “I’ve been keeping something from you, but you deserve to know.”

  Blood drained from her body. “What?”

  Damon hesitated before meeting her gaze. “My dad told me to tutor you.”

  The room spun around her. She squeezed the bed coverings. Struggled to breathe. Forced herself to look at him. Dug into her bag for her phone. “You better tell me everything right now.”

  He reached for her.

  Details

  Ariana leaped back before he could grab her. “What have you been hiding from me? Why did your dad want you tutoring me?”

  He pulled his hand back. “I don’t know. Sometimes he gives me odd jobs, and this time it was to tutor you in English.”

  Her heart pounded like a jackhammer. “Your dad wanted you to tutor me? Did he want you to tell me I was special and kiss me, too?”

  Damon shook his head no. “I swear he didn’t.”

  Her face flamed. She was so stupid, thinking he had any actual interest in her. “Why? Why me?”

  “I don’t know.” He looked back down at his hands. “He never tells me anything about the jobs he gives me. I was just supposed to tutor you and say some bad things about your dad. That was it.”

  She grabbed the table and leaned against it for support. “Say bad things about my dad? None of the stuff you said was true?”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to.”

  “Why did you?”

  He looked back up at her, his expression making him look like a little boy rather than the jerk he actually was. “If I didn’t, he’d beat me worse than you saw earlier. You know that big scar I have?” He lifted his shirt to show it. “That was what happened the last time I didn’t follow through.”

  “What didn’t you do?”

  “He wanted me to bring a little girl to him. Told me where she’d be and that her babysitter would be distracted. She was just a kid, and there was no way I was going to do that—it’s kidnapping! He wanted me to commit a felony! To take an innocent little girl from her family. He’s insane!”

  Ariana sat in the chair closest to her, not taking her attention from Damon. “Did he want you to kidnap me? Is that what’s going on now?”

  He scooted closer, but she moved away from him, nearly falling out of the chair.

  “Stay back!”

  Damon nodded and held out his hands. “I will, I swear.”

  “All of this was a trick? You were just trying to turn me against my dad?”

  “No. That’s what my dad wanted. I was just supposed to lead the study group and get close enough to you to push you away from your dad. That’s it. Nothing more. He doesn’t even know I’ve been tutoring you alone.”

  “Then why?” Her lips trembled and she blinked back angry tears, hating that she was showing him weakness. “What do you want with me?”

  “Everything changed when I got to know you.” He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “You’re really smart and sweet, and so unlike any other girl I’ve met. Everything I’ve ever told you about how I feel is true. I swear it is.”

  Ari shook her head. “I’m so stupid. You’re a high school junio
r and I’m an eighth grader. I’m nothing more than a kid to you! Like that girl you wouldn’t kidnap.”

  “It’s not true! You’re almost fifteen and I’m sixteen. That’s only a year difference. Couples have that age difference all the time.”

  She frowned. “You’re lying. It’s all a set-up. Just so your dad could get to mine.” Then a horrible thought struck her. She moved closer to the door. “Your dad is that stalker who has been threatening my dad!”

  “I really don’t know.” Damon scooted a little closer to the edge of the bed. “I’m serious when I say he doesn’t tell me anything. I said some things to make you start thinking badly of your dad, but only because I didn’t want to get beaten. I never should have, and I wouldn’t have if I’d known how amazing you are. At the least, I should have stopped after the first week or two. I’m really sorry. I should’ve just taken the hits like a man and done the right thing. I never should’ve gone along with my dad’s demands.”

  Ariana studied him. Tears shone in his eyes. Were those real or fake?

  Damon rose and stepped away from her. “Tell you what. Just so you know I’m not lying, I’ll call your dad and tell him where you are. I’ll let him arrest me. It’s what I deserve. Your phone’s in your bag?”

  Her heart pounded. “You really like me? It’s not just a show? Your dad didn’t tell you to make me think you like me?”

  He gave her a shocked expression and rubbed his jaw. “You saw what he did to me when he thought I had a girl over!”

  She let his story sink in. “Let me get this straight. You led the study group because your dad wanted you to turn me against my dad?”

  Damon nodded.

  “But then you ended up liking me for real?”

  “Right. And I’ve hated keeping all this to myself, but I was afraid you’d hate me if you knew.”

  “Then why tell me now?”

  He licked his lips and drew in a deep breath, his expression pained. “Because I’d rather you know the truth and hate me than not tell you. I hate my dad for destroying my life, but I’m done doing anything for him ever again. And to prove to you that I’m serious, I’ll go back to him and take another beating. Or like I said, your dad can arrest me. I’m sure it looks like I abducted you. No matter what happens, I deserve it.”