Guarded Secrets

by Leann Harris

  “He’s late. And there are a lot of teens wanting to eat lunch,” replied Dave.

  “He’s watching.” Jon hit his fist on the console. “But where?”

  A group of about twenty elderly people walked into the food court, blocking his view of Lilly. Jon didn’t wait, but dashed out of the control room.

  Something was going down.

  Lilly looked around at the people filing into the food court. Her stomach knotted. Looking down at her watch, she noted that the man was late. He’d said 11:45 a.m. It was 12:10 p.m.

  “Mary, I can’t decide what I want,” an elderly woman told her friend.

  “I’ve always loved the gyros,” her friend answered.

  A man appeared beside Lilly.

  “Let’s go,” he growled.

  Lilly glanced up at him. It was the guy who had accosted her at the church.

  “Where’s my daughter?”

  “I’ll take you to her. You have what I want?”

  She nodded.

  “Let me see.”

  “No. I want assurances that my daughter is okay.”

  He shrugged and turned to go.

  Jumping to her feet, she grabbed his arm. “I want my daughter. I have what you want.” She reached into her jeans pocket and drew out the flash drive.

  He didn’t try to take it, but nodded, grabbed her arm and led her to the back of the food court.

  Panic raced through her. He was taking her out a back way. Fighting back her fear, she followed. She wouldn’t be any help to her daughter if she fell apart and started sobbing. She had to keep her wits about her. As they exited the delivery doors, she prayed that Jon would see what was happening.

  By the time Jon arrived at the food court, Lilly was nowhere to be seen. Turning in a circle, he scanned the area. He didn’t see her anywhere.

  Dave came to a stop beside Jon, along with two of the officers stationed around the food court.

  “Where is she?” Dave asked.

  “She was gone when I got here. Let’s fan out and see if we can locate the two of them.” Jon looked at his people. They all knew Lilly wasn’t alone. “If you see our suspect, radio it in.”

  They scattered.

  Jon hadn’t known such fear since the doctors first told them him about his daughter’s illness. Shoving it aside, he started scanning the food court again. When he spotted a table of older ladies who were chatting about the food, he asked if they had seen a woman who fit Lilly’s description.

  “Yes, she was at that table,” one of the women answered.

  “Did you see where she went?” Jon quizzed.

  “A man came up and said something to her. She didn’t like what he said. When he started to leave, she chased after him,” said the woman.

  “Which direction did they go in?”

  The woman pointed to the hallway leading to the back of the food court.

  He thanked the woman and sprinted down the hallway.

  Lilly felt like a rag doll as the man pulled her down the back stairs and out the food-service delivery entrance. The sunlight momentarily blinded her. She stumbled. Her captor jerked her upright. He didn’t say anything but continued walking.

  They threaded their way around several commercial trucks. Signs on the sides of the trucks let her know that they belonged to the biggest vegetable distributor in the tristate area.

  Rushing behind the tall man, Lilly dropped several of her church business cards. She wanted to leave a trail behind her so Jon would know in which direction she’d gone. She prayed the man wouldn’t turn around. She felt around in her purse, found her cell phone and slipped it into the front pocket of her jeans.

  They arrived at a van. Painted on the side of the van was a carpet company logo.

  He jerked open the sliding door of the van and pushed her inside. She landed on her left shoulder, jamming it against the floor. The pain took her breath away.

  Her captor ran around the front of the van, jumped into the driver’s seat and revved the engine. In less than two seconds, he backed out of the slot, put the van in Drive and sped off. The momentum sent Lilly rolling back into a piece of equipment. Whatever it was, it forced the air from her lungs. Black spots danced before her eyes.

  She struggled to maintain her grip on the here and now. After several bracing breaths, she focused on the dirty floor of the van.

  Jon needed to know where she was. Reaching into her jeans pocket, she took out her cell phone and turned it on. She dialed 911. She put the phone to her thigh to muffle the sound. When she was sure the 911 operator had answered, she set the phone on the van floor, behind a bucket.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked her captor.

  He didn’t answer.

  “You are taking me to see my daughter, aren’t you? I know Penny will be frightened and I want to comfort her.”

  The driver stopped at a light. He turned and gave her a death stare. “Lady, shut your trap.”

  She opened her mouth, but his glare effectively silenced her.

  No sound came from the cell phone, but Lilly prayed that the 911 operator had caught on to what was happening and relayed the information to the proper authorities.

  Lord, all things are in Your hands. Please let Jon know where I am.

  Jon scanned the parking lot. The hall pointed out to him by the ladies had led to the elevator and stairs to the ground floor. He knew the guy had escaped to his car. He walked up and down the rows of cars, looking for some clue. He noticed a business card for Lilly’s church lying on the ground. Picking it up, he realized immediately that Lilly had thrown in on the ground so he would know she’d been there.

  He ran his hands through his hair. His walkie-talkie squawked. “Jon, come on up to the mall control room. We’ve got a shot of Lilly as she was dragged from the mall,” said Dave.

  At a run, he headed back inside to the control room. He shoved open the door to the room. “What have you got?”

  Dave motioned him to the bank of monitors. On one of the cameras overlooking the parking lot Lilly appeared, being dragged by Snake. They watched as he shoved her into a van and the van pulled out of the lot.

  “Can you make out the plate on the van?” asked Jon.

  “No. It’s too grainy.”

  Jon immediately radioed dispatch and ordered an ID on the van. He also radioed his team the make and model of the van and a description. “He dragged her out the food-service entrance,” he noted. “How did he get through our team?”

  “The place is crowded, Jon,” Dave answered. “He was determined.”

  Jon knew his partner was right. And his gut told him why Lilly hadn’t created a scene but had gone with the man. She wanted her daughter back. He turned around and listened as the other cops in the mall checked in.

  He reviewed the plan in his mind. What had gone wrong? How could he have stopped what had happened?

  “Yeah, I’ll tell him.” Dave closed his phone. “That was the captain. Apparently, Lilly dialed 911 on her cell phone so the operator could listen in, and she has kept the phone on. The cell company is trying to triangulate on the signal.”

  Hope sprang to life in Jon’s heart. “That’s the way to go, Lilly,” he whispered. “Let’s go and follow her cell phone signal.”

  Lilly’s heart raced and she fought the fear trying to crush her. The van pulled off the paved road and onto a bumpy road. There were no shocks in this van and a roll of carpet shook loose, falling on her leg.

  She swallowed her cry of pain. With her free foot, she tried to push the carpet off her leg and onto the van floor. It took four tries before she got the crushing weight off her leg. She rested her head back on a pile of drop cloths.

  The van screeched to a stop. Her captor climbed out and slammed the driver’s door shut. Lilly wedged her cell phone behind the roll of carpet just before the side door opened.

  “C’mon, lady.” He didn’t point a gun at her, but Lilly didn’t doubt that he had one under the shirt he wore, which w
as untucked from his pants.

  She gathered her purse and scooted toward the door. When she was close enough, he grabbed her elbow, pulling her from the van.

  Glancing around, she saw that the place was some sort of road construction project. On the side of the partially built bridge sat a plain white trailer.

  He steered her to the trailer door and unlocked it. “Get in,” her captor instructed.

  Lilly looked inside and saw Penny. She lay on a couch, not moving. Lilly raced to Penny’s side. The little girl didn’t move. Lilly’s gaze drilled into their captor. “Did you ki—”

  “Lady, she’s fine. I gave her something that would knock her out for a few hours.”

  Lilly glared at him. “She’s a little girl.”

  He shrugged. “I could’ve tied her to the chair, if you prefer that.”

  Looking down, Lilly saw the gentle rise and fall of her daughter’s chest. Lilly brushed a few strands of hair from Penny’s cheek. The relief flooding her nearly knocked her off her feet.

  Their captor sat down in the chair opposite her. Holding out his hand, he said, “Now, let’s see your evidence.”

  Lilly pulled the flash drive from her front jeans pocket and handed it to him.

  Holding up the flash drive, he asked, “This is what your ex-husband had? No hidden papers or diary?”

  “That’s it. Pete never said anything about his work. We were divorced. And it wasn’t a pleasant divorce.” She didn’t add that that was years ago and they’d change the tone of the relationship. “I never would have found that if my daughter…I hadn’t looked at a bunch of pictures on this digital frame and seen the papers. I think what you want is there.”

  Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed a number. “I’ve got what you want.” The man looked at her. “Okay.” He hung up the phone. “Let me see your purse,” he commanded.

  Lilly didn’t like it, but she handed over her purse. He searched the purse, then handed it back to her. “Stand up.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m going to pat you down, in case you’re wired.”

  She slowly came to her feet. He quickly ran his hands over her. Satisfied she wasn’t wired, he said, “Make yourself comfortable.”

  “Are you going to let us go?” she asked.

  He didn’t bother answering.

  Lilly knew that she wasn’t going to sit by and let this man kill her and her daughter. She would fight. She didn’t know how, but she vowed she would.

  Jon sat in their police-issue car, waiting for the phone company to call back with the location of the cell phone broadcast. Dave sat beside him. They didn’t say anything, but both knew that Lilly and Penny were more than just victims in this case. Lilly and Penny had slipped under Jon’s guard, touching his heart, which hadn’t felt anything since he’d buried his wife and daughters.

  Dave didn’t press him with any questions. Questions Jon couldn’t have answered.

  The radio sprang to life. “Jon, we’ve got a hit. The phone company triangulated on the signal and determined its location. On the interstate, just north of the city.”

  “You got a street address?” asked Jon.

  “No. It’s coming from an undeveloped area. Around fifteen miles north of the city. Looks like maybe on State Highway 44.”

  “Got it. Have units from the highway patrol meet us at the turnoff of I-25 and State Highway 44.”

  Jon hung up and started the car. Dave put the flashing light on the dash. They were going to make it through the city in record time.

  As Jon drove, Dave picked up the radio and coordinated with the other units.

  “Read me the rap sheet on our kidnapper,” Jon asked when Dave finished with the arrangements.

  “Let’s see. Pardue killed his first man when he was fourteen, his stepfather. Apparently the guy beat Pardue senseless. The kid killed him when he was drunk.” Dave reread the part about the man’s association with different crime syndicates and families throughout the world. “So what’s a guy of this caliber doing messing around with Pete Burkstrom?”

  “That’s the question burning in all our guts.”

  The knock on the door of the trailer made Lilly jump. Snake, her captor, opened the door. A well-dressed man walked into the trailer. He didn’t look at her. “Where is it?”

  Snake pulled the flash drive from his shirt pocket. The other man nodded and disappeared outside.

  Lord, don’t let him find that phone, Lilly prayed silently.

  She ran her fingers through Penny’s hair, grateful her daughter was okay. Suddenly Penny’s eyes fluttered open. It took a moment, but her daughter smiled.

  “You’re here!”

  “Of course I’m here.” Lilly fought to keep the fear out of her voice. Penny needed to stay calm. “Did you think I wouldn’t come?”

  “I was so scared. I kept praying that Jesus would send Jon to come and rescue me. Is he coming?”

  Lilly put a finger to her lips. “Shhh.” She nodded yes.

  Penny’s fear subsided.

  “Now, I don’t know what is going to happen or when Jon will get here, but if I tell you to do something, you do it. Don’t question me. Understand?”

  Penny nodded. “I prayed for that man, too.”

  “What man?”

  “The man who grabbed me. I told him he needed Jesus.”

  Lilly blinked several times. “What did he say?”

  “He didn’t say anything. Just got this weird look on his face. He was nicer after that. He gave me a soft drink and a candy bar. I got sleepy after that.”

  Lilly pulled her daughter close, amazed at her actions. Out of the mouths of babes came such truth.

  Finley pulled his laptop from the backseat of his car, put it on top of the trunk, turned it on and inserted the flash drive. Twenty thumbnails came up. He clicked on one picture. It was of a little girl at a water park. “What’s this?”

  “Try another one.” Snake pointed to another thumbnail. “The ex said it was mixed in with pictures of her daughter.”

  Finley clicked on another thumbnail. It was a copy of the invoice for the concrete really used in the bridge project Burkstrom had supervised. Too bad Burkstrom got religious and wanted things set right.

  Finley cursed. He clicked on another thumbnail. Another invoice. “What he copied could put me out of business. Why he suddenly became such a choir boy, I don’t know.”

  “Maybe he wanted some insurance to protect himself.”

  Finley glared at the man. “I don’t need your opinion.”

  “You got what you want?” Snake asked.

  “I’ll destroy this.” Finley pulled out the flash drive, dropped it on the ground, and stepped on it, crushing it in the dust with the heel of his boot. He put his laptop back in the car. “You’ll have your final payment when you dispose of the witnesses inside the trailer.”

  “I’ll need my final payment before I finish,” Snake calmly replied.

  Finley frowned. “I won’t cheat you.”

  “This is business, Finley. I’m paid, and then I’ll finish the job.”

  The other man threw out his chest. “How do I know you won’t let those people go?”

  “You don’t. I can walk away now and let the chips fall where they may.”

  Finley glared at him.

  Snake said nothing.

  “I’ll go by the office and make the money transfer. I’ll give you a call in a few minutes, when it is done.” Finley got into his car and sped out of the construction site.

  Snake turned around and headed for the trailer. Finley might not like his methods, but he’d been shorted only on one job. And that individual had got what he deserved.

  Jon pushed the cruiser to its limits. The radio came on. “I got a white sedan speeding away from a construction site. He’s headed south on State Highway 44, just below Santo Domingo Pueblo. He’s flooring it.”

  Jon didn’t know who was in the car, but he intended to stop it. As he turned onto State Highwa
y 44, he asked, “You with me, Dave, if I stop whoever this is?”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “Putting on the light and siren and chasing this car down.”

  Dave picked up the handset and radioed what they were about to do.

  “See if we can get the tribal police to join in,” Jon instructed.

  As Dave radioed the request, their suspect flew over a hill, heading for I-25. Jon turned the cruiser around, his siren blaring. The person in the white car sped up. As he approached the merging lane to I-25, he swerved to take an unpaved side road.

  He didn’t make the turn. The white sedan skidded, hit a large boulder and flipped twice in the air. It came to rest on its wheels. Smoke poured out of the open hood.

  The cruiser skidded to a stop. Both Jon and Dave jumped out. Jon went to the driver’s side of the white sedan, opened the door, hit the release on the seat belt and pulled the man from the vehicle.

  Three seconds later the engine exploded, sending the sedan several feet off the ground. Jon covered his head, but felt a piece of burning metal knock him in the back. Dave ran over and patted Jon’s back, putting out the sparks on his shirt.

  “You okay?” Dave asked.

  Jon didn’t feel anything besides an urgency to find Lilly and Penny. “I’m fine.”

  They looked down at the man. Adam Finley. The man had a gash on his head, and was bleeding and unconscious.

  “I’ll stay here,” Dave said. “You go get Lilly and Penny.”

  “I’ll call for help,” Jon yelled as he raced back to their cruiser. Lord, let me get there before anything goes wrong.

  Snake walked back into the trailer. Lilly could read nothing on his face. He sat down in the chair opposite her.

  He said nothing.

  “Are you going to let us go?” Lilly asked. “That flash drive was what that man wanted, wasn’t it?”

  Snake leaned back. “I’m waiting for him to call back.”

  That didn’t sound good. “I promise you that Penny and I have no idea what is going on. Let us go.”