by Dale Mayer
“Like how much?”
“In these five cases we’ve found, apparently around the five grand mark.”
“So something that families might raise as a ransom, and yet not so far out of line that it’s out of the question.”
“Exactly,” he said.
“And fifty grand for a weekend’s work?” she said bitterly. “That’s a pretty damn decent wage.”
“It certainly is,” Hatch said, with a nod.
Just then Killian returned with a metal first aid kit. “Did you get coffee?”
She lifted her cup and smiled. “Hatch got me a cup.”
“Good,” he said. “Let’s get that leg bandaged.” He quickly redressed it, and, when he was done, she swung her leg back under the table, and he sat back down in front of his laptop and the other paperwork.
“Hatch was just telling me about the five other cases.”
“Yes,” he said. “Although we’re looking for more.”
“Did you check the morgue?” she asked in a hard voice.
“Meaning, cases where he may have killed the women?”
“Well, I mean, it seems a little bit hard to believe that he would have had success with every case. Some women will fight and not stop fighting.”
“And that’s quite true,” he said. “But it should still be in the case files.”
“Not if they’re unsolved, would it?”
“Well, it’s one of the searches that we’ve asked for, but we haven’t got any answers back yet,” he said.
“Right, we always expect information to be right at our fingertips these days, don’t we?”
“We certainly do,” he said. “But it’s not all that easy to get sometimes.”
“No, you’re quite right there,” she murmured. She sat here with her coffee and asked, “Are we cooking our own food here or …”
“The kitchen’s fully stocked, and you should stay off that leg as much as you can,” Killian said. “So I can cook you whatever you would you like.”
“Steak and eggs,” she said immediately.
Surprised, he answered, “Okay, so maybe not steak.”
“Well, then how about something like ham and eggs, bacon and eggs, some toast? I’m really hungry,” she said.
“Well, being hungry is a really good sign,” he said, with a bright smile. “So let me just close up some of this, and I’ll get you something started.”
“Well, not just me though,” she said. “Aren’t you guys eating?”
“We’ll all eat,” he said firmly. “We’re all in this together.”
“Well, I’m glad you think so,” she said, with a crooked smile. “And, you guys, I’m really grateful not to be alone. I don’t think anything is worse than waking up as a captive, knowing that nobody cares, that nobody wants to help you, that nobody can help you because they don’t even know the situation you’re in. It just makes you feel so alone.”
“I can imagine,” he said gently. “And I’m sorry that happened to you. Obviously that’s a horrible scenario.”
“It is, and it just, it’s just a feeling that I still haven’t quite shed.”
“Well, you’re not alone now,” he said. “So keep that thought in mind.”
“I know,” she said gently. “And again, I really appreciate it.”
“Maybe you should be thanking your father for that too,” he said, “because he’s the one who contacted us.”
“Oh, I will,” she said, “and hopefully this will heal the rift between us.”
“And was this rift big enough that it couldn’t heal before?”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said. “It was so frustrating because, once I realized what I was up against in my marriage, I guess I was looking for his support, and he just couldn’t give it to me. It was beyond his comprehension that my husband could be like that. My father is a righteous man and, as such, loves his daughter, so expects his son-in-law to love me too. This won’t be an easy thing for my dad to come to terms with. Because he’ll also have to come to terms with the fact that, by not listening, he may have had a hand in me getting hurt. Yet I wouldn’t want him to think like that. It’s totally not his fault.”
“No, but you know how it is when it comes to guilt sometimes. We’re really good at making sure we fit the mold, so that we can take on as much of it as we need to.”
“But that doesn’t do anybody any good,” she said. “He’s not responsible for this.”
“Well, neither are you. Remember that. Your husband ultimately started this nightmare,” he said. “So you can expect that your father is likely to feel as if he could have prevented it, at least.”
She sighed and sat back. “I guess, but that’s not how I want him to feel.”
“Maybe not,” he said. “So, when you get a chance, you can tell him that you don’t hold him responsible for this and see if you can let him off the hook. Chances are, he won’t be quite so easy to let himself off.”
She nodded. “I think you’re right,” she said. “But, I mean, all’s well that ends well, right?”
“Maybe, but first, let’s get you home, safe and sound.”
She smiled at that. “So, about that bacon and eggs?”
He rolled his eyes. “Nothing like having a hungry female to feed,” he joked.
“Hey, I’m just asking for food,” she said. “It could have been an entirely different kind of hunger.”
He looked at her, one eyebrow raised, and said, “Now that kind of hunger, I’d be totally down for.”
She snorted. “Oh, right, well, that’s not happening. Besides, I’m injured.”
He laughed. “Well, that will be an excuse for a day or two but not after that.”
“Isn’t that against some rescuer code? Besides, you’ll soon be off into the wild blue yonder anyway,” she said. “Living the life that you always live.”
“Which would mean another mission,” he said, with a laugh.
She looked at him in surprise. “Don’t you ever get downtime?”
“Yep,” he said. “Sometimes. Why?”
She shook her head. “I was just thinking it might be nice to take you guys out for a beer afterward, or something, as a thank-you gesture.”
“You’re right. It would be nice, but it’s certainly not necessary. We don’t even live in the same states.”
She looked back and forth from one to the other. “Really?”
They shook their heads. “Nope, I’m from California. Hatch’s from Wisconsin.”
“So you just meet up on jobs then?” she asked. “Okay, I’m not sure how to deal with that information.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Well, it shouldn’t,” she said, “but, for some reason, it kind of does, yes.”
He laughed. “Well, don’t let it.”
“It’s odd, but I thought you guys were probably great friends—in real life, I mean.”
At that, both men looked at her in surprise.
She shrugged. “I know. That doesn’t sound right either.”
“This is real life,” Killian said gently.
“I know that,” she said briskly. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”
“Outside of missions, we are friends,” Killian said. “We used to work together in the navy.”
“Used to? I thought you were still there.”
“We’re in the special operations division now.”
She said, with a smile, “Well, that makes a little more sense.” As she watched, Killian got up, packed up his stuff, and closed his laptop. “Oh, goody. Food finally,” she said.
He burst out laughing. “Are you really that hungry?”
She shrugged, as she drained her coffee. “Another couple cups of this and I’ll probably not eat anything.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” he said. “Your body needs sustenance.”
“Does it though? It feels like it needs to rest,” she said. “My mind too, with everything just spinning around in
my head. I mean, I figured it was my husband originally, but then that second attack? That one really gets me. It was, like, so demoralizing. It’s bad enough that I was out there suffering and struggling to survive. But to think that, of all the people who could have seen me on that ferry and who could have come to my rescue, who do I get? Another predator. And that’s a bit beyond me, and frankly, I’m struggling with it. Now I feel like the ratio of good guys to bad guys is different than I thought, and now I’ll have to look at everybody differently out there, wondering if they’re safe, wondering who’ll attack me next.”
“That’s a perfectly normal reaction after what you’ve gone through,” Hatch said in a serious tone. “It’s hard not to think about what’s happening out there and who’s out to get you. All I can tell you is that the feeling does fade, but, in a way, it’s good if it doesn’t completely because you still really should be aware. You want to enjoy the world out there but still keep an eye out,” he said. “Finding that healthy balance, well, that’ll take some time.”
“I would just like to hit a Delete button or something and wipe out the last three days.”
“Well, how about the last two years, with your husband?”
“That would be nice too,” she said, with a heavy sigh. “When you get married, you go into it with such high hopes, an almost giddy sense of expectation. Then, when you come back down to reality, it took me such a long time, and then I had this slow dawning realization that he really was a monster, hiding within such a pretty disguise. I just—I just didn’t see it. Until it was far too late. And, because I didn’t see it, I can’t trust my own judgment.”
“That will change too,” Killian said. “When you make new decisions, new judgments, they’ll be more positive and easier to handle.”
“I’m not so sure,” she said softly.
“Well, let me know if you need more coffee,” he said. “I’m working on the bacon.”
She lifted her nose as the bacon hit the pan, and she heard the sizzle, almost like a crossover of senses. “What is it about bacon?” she marveled.
“I’m not sure,” Killian said, “but it’s almost universal.”
She nodded. “And I, for one, am very grateful for that.”
“Well, we’ll get you fed here in a few minutes.”
“What’s the plan for today?” she asked, changing the subject abruptly.
“Stay here and rest,” he said. “Did you have anything else you wanted to do?”
“No,” she said. “I’ll sleep and rest, then rest and sleep.”
“That sounds like the same thing, but both are very doable.”
And that’s how the day went. She napped; she got up, walked around a few minutes until her leg started killing her. She laid down, watched some TV, got up, went to bed, crashing for a nap when needed. Then it was just a repeat, rinse, and repeat. By the time dinner rolled around, she looked at the guys and said, “I’m not even hungry. It seems like all we’ve done today is sit around on our butts and eat.”
“Well, you,” he said, with a big grin, “have slept a lot too.”
“I have, and I’m grateful for that,” she said. “It must be the pills.”
“I would imagine so,” he said. “They do tend to make people sleepy.”
“When your body needs to heal, I suppose that’s probably not a bad thing,” she said.
“Exactly.”
Yet, when dinner was ready, she sat there and ate until she was full and then groaned. “I can’t believe I’m tired again,” she said, yawning. “Or that I ate all that.”
He just nodded and said, “Don’t forget to take your pills before you go to bed.”
“Well, maybe if I don’t take my pills,” she said, “I could make it through tomorrow, more awake than asleep.”
“And maybe making it through tomorrow isn’t the goal,” he said.
She shrugged, took her pills, and headed to bed. With any luck, she would have a little bit more energy tomorrow. Her last thought as she crashed was that, at least this way, she was getting stronger faster. So maybe the next time she came up against one of these assholes, she would get away on her own.
The next morning, the phone rang and woke her up. The smell of bacon hit her nose, making her stomach growl. She made her way out to the sitting area and sat down on the couch. She watched Hatch, as he answered Killian’s phone. She looked back at Killian. “Do you want to take that, and I can watch the bacon?”
He shrugged and said, “Hatch is fine with my phone.”
She half listened to Hatch’s conversation but didn’t get most of it. Irritated and annoyed for some reason, she hopped up, walked over slowly to where the chef was cooking, and stole a piece of bacon off a plate, where it was cooling.
He lightly smacked her fingers.
“I’m really hungry,” she murmured.
“It’ll be ready in a few minutes,” he said.
“So, what are we doing today?” she asked.
“More of the same,” was his reply.
She groaned. “I don’t think I can do more of that. It was pretty boring yesterday.”
“How would you know?” he said, with a chuckle. “You slept all day.”
She thought about it and agreed. “Can I call my dad again?”
“Yep, you sure can. As soon as Hatch is off my phone.”
She saw an odd look on Hatch’s face. “Uh-oh,” she said, as Killian looked at her, and she pointed in Hatch’s direction.
Killian twisted to look at Hatch, immediately shut off the bacon, moved the pan off the burner, and snatched the phone. “Repeat that.”
She listened again, hearing only part of it.
“That’s fine,” he said. “We’ll handle it.”
He turned, looked at her, and said, “Your father was taken.”
“Jesus,” she said, staring at him. “What does that mean?”
“Meaning,” he said, “he was kidnapped.”
“It must have been my ex,” she said. “I thought you said Dad was safe, protected.” She couldn’t get the shock or anger out of her voice.
“We assumed so.”
“Well, how was it possible?” she cried out. “That bastard Max will kill him.”
“No,” Killian said. “That he will not do. But he is quite likely to use him as bait, to get you back into his control.”
She stared at him, not comprehending.
“A trade,” he said. “He’ll want to trade you for your father.”
“Let’s do it,” she said, instantly straightening and pushing away from the stove.
“No,” he said. “No can do.”
“You have to,” she roared. “You can’t let my father die over this.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” he said. “But what we can’t do is hand you over to get hurt, or worse, killed.”
She slumped down onto the bench seat at the kitchen table and scrubbed her face, and said, “I rue the day I ever met that pathetic excuse for a human being,” she said softly, painfully. “My father is a good man.”
“I’m not saying he isn’t. All I’m saying is that I’m not handing you over to Max to be killed.”
“Fine,” she whispered. “But you better have a plan that saves my father.”
“I get that,” he said. “We just need time.”
“We need to go home now,” she said. “My leg is fine. I rested all day yesterday again, and that’s all the rest it’ll get.” The two men looked at her, and she shook her head. “Don’t,” she said. “Don’t even start. We go home to Florida today. You tell his kidnapper, undoubtedly my ex or someone in his employ, that I’m on the way. That’s all Max wants. It’s just me that he wants. Well—and his precious docs.”
“But he’s not getting you,” Killian snapped.
“He has to,” she argued.
“No.” Killian shook his head slowly but firmly. “Not what your father hired us for.”
She burst into tears. She wanted to rail at him; she wa
nted to hit him and force him to do this. She understood, at the same time, that—if their positions were reversed—she would probably do the same thing as he was doing now. But it wasn’t fair; it wasn’t fair at all. Her father needed so much more than this, and he deserved a good life. “He’s a good man,” she said. “It’s not fair.”
“It might not be fair,” he said, “but that’s just what it is.”
She sat here slumped over, tears pouring down her face, until she scrubbed her face and said, “Get me home. You’ll have done your job, and you are off the hook.”
“It’s not that easy,” he said.
“It is exactly that easy,” she said in a hard tone. “I don’t need your services anymore. I can get home on my own.”
“No,” he said. “Not happening.”
She glared at him. “Why?”
“Your father hired us to keep you safe,” he said. “How do you think that’ll go over if we let you get hurt to save him?”
She stared at him for a long moment and then slowly sagged in place. “We have to do something,” she wailed.
“And we will,” he said. “Remember, Stacey. This is what we do.”
She took a long deep breath, exhaled loudly, and said, “Then we need to eat, so we can leave afterward.”
“Are you sure you’re ready?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “You and I both know that Dad’s out of time.”
Just then Killian’s phone rang again. He answered it. “Yes? Okay, good,” he said. “We’ll be on the next set of flights. Give us two hours to get out of here.” He checked his watch, listened to something else, and then said, “That’s fine. We’ll make it.” When he hung up the phone, he said, “Well, you’re getting your wish. We’re heading home today.”
She beamed and bounced her feet, only to stop and shudder in pain.
He nodded. “And you’ll pay the price,” he said seriously.
“I can pay it,” she said. “I’m strong, and I’m young. My father is neither of those.”
“I get it,” he said. “Your father’s kidnapper has issued orders.”
“Of course he has,” she said bitterly. “And I am to be delivered into his grasp, I presume?”
“Something like that,” he said. “But first, we have to get you back to the States.”
