by Karen Rose
‘Well?’ Joseph asked.
‘The silent alarm that IT put in the police report database was tripped. Someone accessed Valerie Jarvis’s murder file an hour ago using Missy Jarvis’s account.’
‘Denny’s wife, the woman who clerks for you?’ Ford asked, staying calm on the outside, but inside he was snarling. That’s the connection. JD had known that Gage was getting insider information through either Denny or his wife. Or if JD hadn’t known, he’d at least suspected. Yet he’d still sent Taylor into what had become an explosively dangerous situation. And now Clay was fighting for his life. Sonofabitch, JD.
Ford wanted to hit something. Hell, he wanted to hit JD, but he forced the fists he’d clenched to relax. JD had to be feeling like shit. As well he should. Still, getting angry with him on Taylor’s behalf wasn’t going to make matters any better and it was in stressful times like this that people said things they couldn’t take back. So he bit his tongue and waited for his mother’s answer.
Daphne nodded, troubled. ‘Missy’s account was used, yes, but the access was established remotely from her house. She’s been at her sons’ softball games all afternoon. Her husband’s at their house right now and has been all afternoon. Alone.’
Ford was surprised. ‘You put a tail on him?’ That was a cop thing. Not a prosecutor thing.
‘Joseph did. On both of them. I’m glad we know for sure that Missy didn’t do it.’
Joseph sighed. ‘It’s safe to assume that her husband somehow got access to her codes. Let’s hope she didn’t give them to him willingly.’
‘I never liked that man,’ Daphne stated baldly. ‘Denny was always . . . weaselly. Like a kid who was proud because he thought he’d gotten away with something.’
‘At least now we’ll have cause to get a warrant for his phone records,’ Joseph said. ‘Before this we didn’t. If he’s been in contact with his brother, we’ll find that out.’
‘How long will it take?’ Ford asked. ‘If Gage has Jazzie and Janie . . .’ He didn’t want to think about that. He knew the terror of being abducted, and he’d been twenty at the time. Jazzie was only eleven. Janie was only five. Poor babies must be simply terrified. If they’re still alive. And even if they were dead, there was still urgency. ‘Not to mention that Taylor’s a target until this guy is caught.’
Joseph’s expression remained resolute, but his eyes revealed that he was more affected than he let on. ‘I know that. I know all of that. I’ll make it happen as quickly as possible.’ He lifted a brow. ‘If you leave right now, you can catch up to Taylor and Officer Meyer. Make sure Taylor knows that I’ll have her followed too if she’s foolish enough to try talking to Lilah Cornell on her own.’
Ford’s temper bubbled. They hadn’t thought her foolish this morning when she’d agreed to JD’s crazy scheme. He was about to open his mouth to say so when his mother broke in.
‘“Foolish” is a harsh word, Joseph. Taylor seems like the kind of young woman to overplan everything.’ His mother spoke softly, derailing Ford’s temper. ‘She’s abundantly cautious. But she’s been put through an emotional wringer and she might be . . . less cautious. And if that happens? Ford, you may be the only voice of reason she’ll listen to. You may need to be wise enough for both of you.’
Ford met his mother’s eyes, gave her a nod. ‘I won’t let her be “less cautious”, Mom.’ But the next person who called Taylor foolish or stupid or who questioned her brain would hear all the words he was holding back.
Twenty
Baltimore, Maryland,
Sunday 23 August, 6.40 P.M.
‘Hold the elevator, please!’
It was Ford’s voice, so Taylor stopped the elevator doors, allowing him to slip through and ignoring the scowl on Officer Meyer’s face. ‘He could have been the guy who shot at you,’ Meyer scolded. ‘I can’t keep you safe if you allow just anyone this close to you. Next time, let him wait for the next elevator.’
Taylor supposed she had Joseph to blame for Meyer’s condescending attitude. Actual brain, my ass. She managed not to roll her eyes at Meyer, smiling sweetly instead. ‘I’m sorry. I’m a little new at being the target of a homicidal maniac. I don’t know all the rules yet.’
Beside her, Ford snickered, and Meyer frowned at him too. ‘Kids,’ she muttered.
Taylor felt her cheeks heat in anger. ‘I’m twenty-three, Officer Meyer,’ she said coldly.
‘Then stop taking stupid risks or you won’t live to see twenty-four,’ Meyer retorted.
Ford had gone too still. ‘Her biggest stupid risk was an op sanctioned by the FBI/BPD taskforce that promised to keep her safe while dangling her as bait for a killer,’ he snapped.
Taylor squeezed his hand. ‘It’s okay, Ford.’
‘No, it’s not,’ he said, visibly struggling for control of his temper. ‘I didn’t see them questioning your intelligence when you agreed to their ridiculous scheme.’
She leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek. ‘Calm down,’ she said softly. He jerked a nod, saying nothing more as they exited the elevator and walked to the OR waiting room hand-in-hand, Meyer bringing up the rear.
‘I thought you’d agree with Joseph,’ Taylor murmured.
‘No. Well, yes, that it’s dangerous, but not about the brain thing. Joseph can be an arrogant prick sometimes, but he is damn good at his job. The way I see it, they involved you when they made you bait. Which I was against, if you recall.’
He hadn’t just been against it. He’d nearly busted Maggie’s office door in after listening in on JD’s conversation with her and Maggie that morning, his fury reminding her more of a charging bull. ‘I recall quite clearly,’ she said.
‘Good,’ he said with a nod. ‘Involving you – emotionally and physically – means that they owe you the right to be part of the resolution. Talking to Lilah is a good idea. There may be another way to make that happen that doesn’t put you in Gage Jarvis’s cross hairs again.’
She chanced a look up at his face and caught her breath. His eyes were sharp, intense. Like a live wire daring her to touch. ‘How?’
‘I’ll tell you once we’ve settled inside.’ He started to walk in the door to the OR waiting room, but Taylor held back, hesitating. It was noisier in there than the ER waiting room had been. Lots of people. All of Clay’s friends, most likely. And his stepdad.
No, her heart corrected. Tanner is his dad just like Frederick is mine. His father in every way that matters. Clay had said so, just that morning. Tanner was her grandfather.
My grandfather. The sudden, overwhelming need for Tanner to accept her morphed into another wave of panic, and she dug her heels in, pulling back when Ford would have led her into the waiting room.
‘Wait. I’m not . . . I can’t . . . Just wait.’ She started to rub her sweaty palm on her jeans, then remembered her jeans were still stained with Clay’s blood. Her other hand, sweaty or not, was being firmly held by Ford, and when she tried to tug free, he just tightened his grip.
‘It’s fine,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘They will like you. Tanner will love you.’
He didn’t force her, though. The noise abruptly quieted when he cleared the threshold alone. ‘Hi,’ Ford said quietly. ‘Any news?’
‘No, son. Not yet.’ It was a man’s voice. Older. Worried. Then almost pitifully hopeful. Eager, even. ‘Where is she? Did you bring her with you?’
The ‘she’ needed no clarification. Ford tugged Taylor’s hand, pulling it into the room while the rest of her remained frozen in the hallway. Ford gave her an exasperated look over his shoulder. ‘She’s here. She’s shy.’
‘Tell her to come in, Ford.’ It was Stevie, and she sounded so tired it hurt Taylor’s heart. But there was dry humor in her voice when she added, ‘And Taylor, I swear to God if you say you’re sorry even once, I’ll take away your iPad and send you t
o bed without your supper.’
That sent a chuckle through the room, and it was on that sound that Taylor stepped over the threshold and found herself face to face with Tanner St James.
He was closer to her height than to Clay’s, his gray hair still sporting a few strands of red. His shoulders were broad without being bulky. His eyes were blue, although bloodshot at the moment, with smile lines at the corners. But he wasn’t smiling now. He was staring at her – just as Clay had stared twenty-four hours before – with reverential awe and a healthy portion of disbelief. Like she was a ghost or some trick of the eye.
‘Oh my God,’ he whispered. ‘He told me that you resembled her, but . . .’ He gave himself a little shake, regaining his composure. ‘I’m sorry, Taylor. Forgive an old man’s ramblings. But you . . . you could be her.’
‘Nancy,’ Taylor said quietly. ‘My grandmother. I never knew.’
He drew a deep breath and let it out, and it was like he’d shed the weight of the world. ‘Well, now you do. Now you’re home.’ He wrapped his arms around her and she breathed him in. A little salt, a little sweat. And just a hint of Old Spice. ‘Welcome home, Taylor,’ he whispered fiercely, tears in his voice. ‘It doesn’t matter where you live or who you live with, or how often you visit us or for how long. We’re part of you now. Part of your heart. You’ll take us with you wherever you go. And we will always be your home.’
Somehow, some way, he’d known exactly what she needed to hear. She wasn’t sure how long they stood there, holding each other tight. She knew she cried and she knew he did too. When they finally stepped apart, a smile lit his face like the Fourth of July.
‘Come, sit a bit,’ he said, leading her to an empty loveseat and settling in with his arm around her shoulders like he’d known her forever. ‘You’ll have to forgive me if I stare. We’ve waited a long, long time for you to come home.’
It was then that Taylor noticed the other faces in the room. She knew about half of them. Holly and Dillon and Cole. Paige, dozing on the shoulder of a huge dark-haired bruiser of a guy who Taylor assumed was Grayson Smith, Paige’s husband and Daphne’s boss.
Stevie was sitting with an older couple and a slightly younger version of herself. ‘The Nicolescus, Stevie’s parents,’ Tanner told her. ‘Emil and Zina. And that’s her sister, Izzy.’
Stevie caught Taylor watching her and gave her a smile that was a little too bright. ‘He’ll be fine. Don’t worry.’
‘I can’t promise that I won’t worry,’ Taylor said honestly. ‘I’m really good at it.’
Stevie sighed. ‘Fair enough. Then we can worry together.’
Izzy’s smile was easy and warm. ‘We’ll all be on our best behavior and not swarm you. I don’t want Clay waking up to find out we scared you back to California.’
Taylor found it impossible not to smile back. ‘Thank you. It is a little overwhelming to meet all these people.’
A bright-eyed blonde came into the waiting room, carrying a huge bag from a local sub shop. Her gaze immediately found Tanner, her eyes widening when she saw Taylor.
‘My wife, Nell,’ Tanner said, standing up to receive a hug and a kiss and the bag of food. ‘Nell, this is Taylor.’
Taylor hoped her surprise didn’t show, because Nell was really young. You go, Grandpa. ‘It’s nice to meet you. Clay speaks highly of you.’
‘We’re glad you’re here,’ Nell said warmly. ‘You’ve made my guy here very happy.’ With a nod, she became briskly businesslike. ‘I brought sandwiches. And don’t tell me you’re not hungry, Tanner St James. You know you need to eat. Have you checked your blood sugar?’
‘Yes, dear,’ Tanner said patiently, then rolled his eyes. ‘I have diabetes. She worries.’ He broke a sandwich in half and gave Taylor a piece. ‘Help a grandpa out here.’ He glanced at his wife, who’d already begun passing out sandwiches to the others in the room. ‘Just don’t tell Nell.’
Taylor smiled. ‘One day and you’re already corrupting me.’
Nell took some sandwiches to the small table in the corner where Ford and Alec, who was Clay’s IT assistant, were hunched over Alec’s laptop. They looked up to thank her, then bent back down to stare at the laptop screen.
Tanner’s eyes narrowed. ‘What are those two up to? They look way too serious.’
Taylor figured this was what Ford had referred to in the hall, his way of contacting Lilah that was less dangerous than Taylor’s more direct knock-on-her-door approach. Either way, she wasn’t certain that Tanner wouldn’t report them to Joseph, so she just shrugged. ‘Probably playing a video game. I’ll go find out.’
She joined Alec and Ford, peeking at the laptop, which did not have a game on its screen. ‘Can I play too? I’m a whiz at League of Legends.’
Alec grinned at Ford. ‘She’s a gamer too? Awesome,’ he said, his speech a little off.
Taylor had met Alec on her first day at the farm, but he’d been busy and had greeted her with a quick handshake before hustling off to work on the camera systems. Now she had a chance to really look at him, specifically at the hardware behind his ear. It was some kind of hearing aid, neon green just like his high-top sneakers.
Ford gave her his seat next to Alec, then moved behind her chair, leaning over her shoulder to see the laptop screen. ‘Taken,’ he said lightly, and Alec rolled his eyes.
‘Figures,’ he said, then tapped the device behind his ear. ‘Cochlear implant. Saw you looking.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I can hear you whisper, so please don’t shout.’
‘Wouldn’t think of it,’ Taylor whispered back, studying what filled Alec’s screen. It was a list of dozens of phone numbers, each with a time, date and duration of the call. Ford reached over her shoulder, casually putting his phone into her hand.
The guys talked as if they were playing a game while Taylor read the flurry of texts they’d sent to each other after she’d left the ER waiting room with Officer Meyer.
Ford: Where r u?
Alec: OR wait room. Where r u?
Ford: OMW now. U have ur laptop?
Alec: Duh. What u need?
Ford: Phone records for Denny Jarvis. First name Dennis? Def atty. Bro of shooter.
Alec: Have it. Clay asked this a.m.
Ford: Yessss. Need records for Eunice Jarvis too.
Alec: Her number?
Ford: IDK.
Alec: I’ll try.
Alec scrolled to the top of his laptop screen, showing the name Denny Jarvis, then opened another document – Eunice’s phone records – and arranged the two side by side.
Alec opened a text window on his laptop and began to type. They share an account. He hit SEND, and Ford’s phone buzzed in her hand.
Ah. Taylor realized that the two had been communicating via text under the noses of everyone in the room. Denny pays for his mom’s phone, she read. Piece of cake to break in. Alec rolled his eyes. His password was his children’s names.
Taylor studied the columns of numbers, quickly seeing the patterns. ‘There,’ she said, pointing to a number that was common to both. Denny had called and received calls from the number several times over the last month. Eunice had received only one call – early that morning. That was when he convinced her to bring the girls to the park, Taylor typed into Ford’s phone.
‘Yep,’ Ford said aloud.
Taylor sighed and continued typing. If we call Gage, he’ll just be alerted and he’ll run.
Ford took his phone back and typed for a few minutes. When he hit SEND, the new text appeared on Alec’s laptop.
Joseph has a tail on both Denny and his wife. If Denny gets a call from this number – with the right bait – he might go to Gage. His tail follows him to where Gage is. If he still has the girls, hopefully they are there too. Either way, we get G.
Alec gave Ford a dark look. The CO
PS get him. Not WE. Not U. Right?!?
Ford nodded seriously. ‘Of course,’ he said aloud, but spoke very quietly.
Taylor reached for Ford’s phone. How do we call from this phone number? It’s Gage’s phone and we don’t have that.
Spoofing sites, Alec typed. Messes with caller ID. You can pick the number you’re pretending to be.
Taylor frowned. She’d never heard of such a thing. Okay, she typed. Offer me as bait. It brought him out today. She didn’t intend to be literal bait, of course. She’d heard Joseph’s warning and as much as his condescension had rankled, she knew he’d been right. She wasn’t going to leave the hospital. But Gage didn’t know that.
‘No.’ Ford’s spoken reply was nearly silent, but he didn’t need to shout for Taylor to know he was furious. She could hear him grinding his teeth. ‘No fucking way. I . . . I forbid it.’
Forbid? Really? Taylor turned around in her chair to face him, delaying her explanation that she really wasn’t going to be bait. This attitude of his had to be nipped in the bud. Right. Frickin’. Now. ‘Forbid? You are not my fa—’
She was cut off by the sudden greetings that erupted from everyone in the waiting room for a man who had just come through the door holding a suitcase with one hand and a pretty redhead with the other. The man was young, but he had a head of white hair and hadn’t removed his wraparound sunglasses even though he was indoors. And he had a presence. Even from the back of the room Taylor could sense his energy as he strode in like he owned the place.
The atmosphere had abruptly changed. Become charged. Spines straightened, shoulders lifted and smiles lit the faces of every single person. ‘Deacon!’ they all called out, just like the folks at the Cheers bar greeted Norm.
‘Deacon’ would be FBI Special Agent Deacon Novak. Taylor had read about him in the transcripts for the trial of Ford’s abductors. Novak had worked with Joseph to bring Ford home. He had been transferred somewhere in the Midwest nearly a year ago. To Cincinnati, Taylor recalled. Obviously he was a family favorite.
