by V. Vaughn
“Hello, Jen. Have you given any thought to our previous conversation?” Sally-Ann’s voice was filled with smug confidence.
“You mean about the money?” Jen asked.
“About our transaction,” Sally-Ann kept the subject neutral.
“Why aren’t you at the cabin like you were supposed to be?” Jen changed tack.
“Cody told you, I knew somewhere much more picturesque. They are both having a wonderful time, by the way. Although the water is deeper here, so I’ll have to keep a very good eye on them.” A veiled threat that made Jen’s stomach turn over.
“What about their phones? I tried to call them both last night. And then I called your phone. No one answered.” Jen didn’t want Sally-Ann to know they had visited the cabin for themselves and found the phones.
“The boys lost theirs. And mine broke,” Sally-Ann lied smoothly. “I picked up this throwaway phone for us to use.”
“You have it all worked out, don’t you?” Jen accused.
“The trip? Yes, I do. I have a set itinerary, as long as I have the money to fund it.” Sally-Ann continued, “Do I have the funds to continue, or do we have to cut things short?”
“It’s not that simple. If you want a million in used notes, it takes time.” Jen was not going to allow Sally-Ann to make vague requests. She was going to get the proof they needed on tape.
“You have until this time tomorrow. By then I expect you to have the money. It’s loose change to a man like Will. If you value your children, you will find a way.” Sally-Ann’s voice was hard and then the call ended abruptly.
Will pressed the screen on the iPad and looked up at Jen. “I believe that’s enough to implicate her in kidnap and ransom.”
“But not enough for us to track her down.” Jen put her face in her hands. She’d failed to get any more details on where Sally-Ann had taken the boys.
“At least we know the kids are all right.” Will looked at the iPad and scrolled across the screen before he stopped, his finger poised an inch above the glass. “I have an idea.”
He tapped the screen, and Jen watched as he worked, the intensity on his face giving her hope.
“Have you found something?” she asked hopefully when he paused. Will turned the screen toward her. “Minecraft! That’s what you’ve been doing.” She lowered her voice as an elderly couple looked across the café in disapproval.
Will leaned in. “Cody’s been online in the last couple of hours.”
“That means that they’re okay. But we knew that.” Jen’s frustration grew.
“True. But what this also means is we can track them.” Will tapped the screen and went to an app called Find my iPad. “I installed this on both Cody’s and Jack’s iPads in case they lost them or they got stolen. All I have to do is log in and the app will tell us where the iPad is.”
Jen’s hands shook and she placed her coffee cup down on the saucer as she took in this latest news, which seemed too good to be true. “Why didn’t Sally-Ann take the iPads from them?”
“She probably didn’t think about it. And they keep the boys entertained.” He raised an eyebrow. “Sally-Ann isn’t used to two boisterous boys, especially on a long drive. My guess is she was happy to let them play.”
“What if it’s a trick and she’s given the iPad to someone else to send us off on a wild goose chase?” Jen asked. This was too good to be true. She didn’t dare let herself believe it.
“No, these logins are from Cody and Jack, they chatted to each other.” He tapped the screen and turned it toward her once more.
“They chatted to each other on screen, even though they were together?” Jen asked.
“That’s what kids do.” Will turned the screen back to face him. “Now, let’s log in to the app and see where they are right now.”
Jen drank her coffee and got ready to move. If they could track down Sally-Ann and the boys, she wanted to get there as soon as possible. Just to have the satisfaction of seeing Sally-Ann’s shocked expression when they showed up at the door of wherever they were.
As they prepared to leave, Jen’s phone rang, and her heart nearly exploded with surprise. Was Sally-Ann calling again? Will switched his attention to her phone and then relaxed. “It’s Kelvin. Do you want me to record this call, too?”
“Might not be a bad idea. I don’t think he knows anything, but just in case. Going on his past actions, I don’t exactly trust him,” Jen said, and waited for Will to give her a thumbs up before answering. “Hi, Kelvin. Any news?”
“Yes.” He sounded genuinely worried. “Sally-Ann never picked the keys up from the cabin rental company. I’ve tried calling her cell phone, but there was no answer. Now, her phone is switched off.”
“Do you have any idea where else she might go, Kelvin? Anywhere close by that she spoke about visiting?” Jen still didn’t tell him she and Will were already in France.
“She knows the country well, that’s why she organized the trip. I just picked up the tab. Sally-Ann spent her childhood summers in France, she loved the countryside, and the mountains.” He gave a small sob. “But nowhere particular, her family toured Europe extensively.”
Jen decided to reveal a few more details that might help jog his memory. “I spoke to her an hour ago. She says she’s by deeper water.”
“Deeper water.” A strangled sob before Kelvin answered, “Why would she do this?”
“Money. It seems she wants a slice of Will’s and isn’t afraid to use Jack and Cody to get what she wants,” Jen couldn’t hide the bitterness from her voice. “Do you have anything helpful to say, Kelvin?”
“No.” He paused. “I could call her parents and see if they have any idea. A favorite destination of hers. They might have something we can use to find them.”
Jen glanced up at Will, who nodded. “Do it. But don’t tell them about the ransom demand. Just tell them Sally-Ann traveled on from the cabin and you can’t get a hold of her. I doubt she’s told her parents about her plan to kidnap two boys.”
“Are Cody and Jack okay?” Kelvin asked. “Did you talk to them?”
“Yes,” Jen replied shortly.
“She wouldn’t hurt them. I’m positive she wouldn’t.” He paused. “I’ll get on a flight back over there.”
“No need, we’re already here.” Jen heard his sharp intake of breath.
“You didn’t tell me,” Kelvin accused.
“You didn’t ask,” Jen replied shortly. “We flew over here as soon as Sally-Ann made her demands.”
“You didn’t trust me,” Kelvin voiced his suspicions, which were not unfounded.
“Do you blame me?” Jen’s anger flared, but she let it go. “I don’t want to argue with you, Kelvin, so I’m going to hang up. Let me know if you have any further information.”
“I will.”
The call ended and she turned to Will. “He didn’t know, I’m sure of it.”
“You’re right. Although that still does not let him off the hook. He brought that woman into your lives.” Will gripped the iPad so tightly she thought he might break the screen.
“He’s not lucky enough to have a shifter in his life he can trust one hundred percent,” Jen told him quietly.
“You’re right.” He kissed her cheek. A sense of urgency filled his voice as he continued, “I think we have a location. I’ve messaged Jack and Cody to tell them to contact me via their iPad as soon as they can. I’ve said not to tell Sally-Ann, in case she doesn’t want them talking to me on their vacation with her.”
“Good thinking. You’re good at this sneaking around business.” She smiled a real smile for the first time since yesterday. “So what’s the plan?”
Will got up from the table and they left the café. “They must have driven through the night.” He led her back to the car and once they were inside, he showed her a map on his iPad. “We’re here.” He drew his finger along the screen. “And they are here.”
“How many miles?” Jen asked.
“T
oo many.” Will switched off the iPad and set it down before he took her hands in his. “This needs to end before tomorrow morning. Sally-Ann thinks she has the upper hand. For all we know, she might know we’re here.” He looked outside of the car.
“Someone could be spying on us?” Jen asked worriedly.
“We don’t know. Kelvin said she came here on vacation before. We have to assume she might have an accomplice.” Will rubbed his thumb over the back of her hands. “Like Hansel and Gretel, Cody and Jack have left us a breadcrumb trail with their iPads. But for us to follow it, we need to move fast.”
“Can we fly there?” Jen asked. “We could drive back to the airfield and go on your plane?”
Will shook his head. “There’s nowhere close to land. At least not to land a private jet.”
“What if we hire a smaller plane?” Jen suggested.
“I have something else in mind.” He took his phone out of his pocket. “What about a dragon?”
Jen’s face went pale as she realized what he was saying. “You’re going to call Thaddeus?”
“Yes, and ask him to fly here tonight and take us the rest of the way on his back. We can drive part of the way, and then rendezvous with him in a mountainous region about two hundred miles from here.”
“If you think he’ll come.” Jen shut down the horrified voice in her head that screamed of the insanity of even suggesting they ride on the back of a dragon.
Jen would do anything for her boys. And tonight she might just have to prove it.
10
Jen
“The signals from both the iPads haven’t changed location for the last three hours,” Will told Jen as they sat in the car deep inside a forest somewhere in eastern France. That was all she knew about their current location, the last road sign was miles behind them and they hadn’t passed a house for fifteen minutes or more. Jen could understand the need for such covert actions, since a dragon was going to land here anytime now.
“I want this over,” Jen said as she leaned across the car seats, her head on his shoulder. “I want to scoop Cody and Jack up in my arms and take them home.”
“Soon.” Will stroked her cheek and kissed the top of her head. “Real soon.”
He sat up and she slid her head off his shoulder, fighting the need to run. “Is he here?”
Jen loved Thaddeus. He’d turned Calista’s world upside down and made her happy. But that was when he looked like a human, not a dragon. Maybe she’d read too many mythological stories about fire-breathing dragons. Thaddeus was here to help them, not hurt them.
“He’s here.” Will opened the car door and got out, his head tilted up to the sky as he searched for the dragon who was going to take them to find her boys.
Jen swallowed down her panic and got out of the car. She didn’t want to appear ungrateful that Thaddeus had flown all the way here to help them. But riding a dragon…not a thing she’d ever expected to do.
A steady thrum sounded above their heads and the trees began to sway, the air pressing down on them in waves. Jen looked up and a large shadow blocked out the stars. The dragon, silhouetted against the dark night sky, flew lower, his control formidable as he navigated between the gaps in the trees to land in a small clearing next to the road. Almost as soon as his feet touched the ground, the air shimmered and Thaddeus, looking smooth and well-groomed, with not a hair out of place, stood before them.
“I had to sneak out of a fashion show,” Thaddeus informed them, rushing forward. He enveloped Jen in his big strong arms. “I’m so sorry about this, Jen. And Calista sends her love, too, she would have come with me, but I’m not sure if I could carry three adults and the children.
“The children,” Jen said softly as Thaddeus let her go.
“They’ll be okay,” Will told her gently. He’d mistaken her reaction. Jen was not only scared over Sally-Ann kidnapping her sons, but also over the thought of Cody and Jack flying back here on a dragon.
“Shall we go?” Thaddeus said. “You have the coordinates?”
“Yes.” Will showed Thaddeus the map on his iPad. “I’ll take this with me, in case anything changes.”
“Okay.” Thaddeus walked away from them, back to the clearing, while Will and Jen watched. The air filled with static electricity before Thaddeus faded out of the world, to be replaced by a large, fierce-looking dragon.
“Ready?” Will asked and pulled her forward, without waiting for an answer.
The dragon, who Jen constantly had to keep reminding herself was Thaddeus, lowered himself down toward the ground so that she could place her foot on his leg. With a boost from Will, she reached for one of the dragon’s horny spines and pulled herself onto his back. Will followed, and soon the two of them were seated on the back of the dragon. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but Will’s arms around cocooned her, making her feel safe.
With a long, slow swoop of his wings, Thaddeus lifted himself off vertically. An impressive feat of aerodynamics followed as he flapped his wings, taking them higher and higher, until they were above the trees. Then he changed the angle of his wings and they flew forward, plunging through the darkness, skimming the tops of the trees as they made their way toward their destination.
When the small twinkling lights in the distance told them a town was close by, Thaddeus altered course just enough to skirt around the outside, avoiding crossing roads and busy areas as much as possible. When they reached a larger town, he made use of cloud covering the moon, and rose up high, so that if anyone looked up they would only see a fast-moving shadow that was gone before their eyes could focus on it.
The chill night air pulled at her clothing and whipped her hair around her face, but Will’s body kept her warm. His tight embrace kept her safe. How they were going to journey back with the children on board, too, she didn’t know. But that was a problem to be solved after their safe return.
The dragon dipped down, clinging close to a river, which threaded its way through a wooded valley. Jen recognized the terrain from the map Will had shown her on the iPad. They were close, she could sense it in the tightening of Will’s muscles and the quickening of his breath. He was getting ready to fight.
Thaddeus touched down by the side of the river, and Will jumped off his back to land on the ground before reaching out for Jen to follow. Numb with worry, she placed her hand in his and slid off the dragon, landing next to Will, who wrapped his arms around her waist to steady her.
“The cabin is through there.” Will pointed and then pulled out the iPad, which he’d tucked down his shirt.
“What’s the plan?” Thaddeus asked, shifting quickly and striding over the coarse grass to join them.
“I’m hoping the boys are online. If they are, I’m going to tell them to come to the door.” Will tapped the iPad screen and it lit up.
“And they’ll do it?” Jen asked, shocked.
“Yes.” Will studied her for a moment.
Jen pressed her lips together and studied him. “I’m going to have a good long talk with them about being safe online and grooming.”
“We have a password so they know it’s me. I’ve spoken with them at length about being safe.” Will’s assurance didn’t stop her from wanting to drum into her children the need to be aware of the dangers both online and offline. Like wicked could-have-been-their-stepmother such as Sally-Ann.
“I’m still going to do a recap.” Jen folded her arms, trying to stop herself from shaking. “Just do it.”
Will tapped the screen. “Cody’s on.”
“Are you sure this is where they are?” Jen asked.
“Yes. I checked that first. Unless Sally-Ann is three steps ahead of us, the boys are here and will soon be back with you.” Will gave her a reassuring smile, although it was so dark it was hard to see his features clearly. “Okay, message sent.” He chuckled and typed something else. “They’re asking how I got here. Dragon.”
“If anything is going to get them moving, it’s the thought of seeing you, Thaddeus
,” Jen told the dragon shifter.
Will grinned. “Yeah, thanks, man, a lion shifter should be impressive, but next to Uncle Thaddeus’s dragon, I’m a zero to your hero.”
“Can’t help the gift I was born with,” Thaddeus said easily as they walked around to the front of the cabin, keeping to the cover of the trees.
“Doors locked,” Will read off the screen. “What about a window?” He tapped on the screen.
“There,” Jen said in a hushed whisper as Cody’s face appeared at the ground floor window. She rushed forward as he tried to lift it up, hoping Sally-Ann was occupied elsewhere. “Is it bolted?”
Cody looked around the window and reached for the catch, but couldn’t undo it.
“Where’s Jack?” Will asked. “Go get him and try to open it together.”
Cody nodded and disappeared, leaving Jen nervous. What if Sally-Ann found out they were here and stopped Cody and Jack from escaping? But before Jen’s panic had a chance to get its claws into her, two bemused faces appeared at the window.
With Jack’s help, they undid the catch and Will helped slide the window up. “Why are you all here?”
“We came to see you, Jack,” Will said, holding his arms out. “Come out here one at a time and we’ll explain why.”
“Shouldn’t we go and tell Sally-Ann?” Cody asked, but was already halfway out of the window.
“I’m going to go and see her in a moment. Then we’re all going to go for a ride on a dragon!” Will exclaimed in a hushed voice.
“Really?” Cody asked as Will passed him to Jen, who hugged him so tightly, he gasped. “Sorry, I’ve missed you both so much.”
“We missed you, too. Dad and Sally-Ann argued the first day, then Dad went home, and Sally-Ann just told us to be quiet. It’s boring.” Cody slipped down to the ground as Will passed Jack over.
They were safe.
“What about our stuff?” Cody asked.
“I’ll go and get it,” Will offered. “Why don’t you all walk down to the river?”
“Boys, go with Thaddeus for a moment and I’ll be there in a second.” Jen waited for them to get out of earshot before she asked Will, “What are you planning?”
