The FBI Thrillers Collection

by Catherine Coulter

  “Hello, Wade, it’s Katie. No, don’t tell me anything about the storm just yet. This is urgent.” She told him about Sam and his kidnappers, the two men who’d been chasing him, and how she’d shot the fat one in the arm. “I’m on the south end of Delaware. Sam came out of the woods in nearly a straight line from the road to Bleaker’s cabin—I’ll bet that’s where they were holding him. They’re armed, they tried to kill me. Take three deputies and get out there fast.” She gave them descriptions, then said, one eye on Sam’s white face, the other on the woods, “I’m taking Sam to Doc Flint’s. I’m on my cell. Let me know what you find. Did you hear any names, Sam?”

  “Fatso and Beau.” Just saying their names made Sam so afraid he had to concentrate not to pee again in his jeans.

  “The one in the black leather coat is Beau, the other one is Fatso, that’s Sam’s name for him. Put out an APB on them, Wade. The one with the bullet in his arm—chances are he’ll need some medical attention. Maybe the other one, too. Alert all medical facilities in the area. I’ll tell Doc Flint. I’ll bet he’ll be putting in some calls himself. I’ll check in again after I make sure the boy’s all right.”

  She looked one last time toward the woods. No sign of either man. She pressed harder on the gas. She couldn’t go any faster, it was just too dangerous. “Sam, you keep bundled up. Don’t worry about talking right now. Just get yourself warm, that’s right. You can tell me everything in a little while. Right now, you just think about how you saved yourself. My goodness, you’re a hero.”

  Sam nodded. It made him feel woozy. A hero? He didn’t feel like much of a hero. His teeth were chattering and that made him feel like a baby. He hadn’t been a baby for longer than he could remember. And there was that little girl Keely pressed against him, two fat braids the color of wheat toast hanging over her shoulders, touching his face she was so close. He closed his eyes. He wasn’t about to cry in front of the little girl. He wanted his father.

  It took them nearly twenty minutes to get to Doc Flint’s office in the rain. Katie kept talking to both children, keeping her voice calm and low, telling Sam about how the weather was going to be really bad until some time tomorrow, telling him how Keely was five, not as old as he was, and about how Keely could play “When You Wish Upon a Star” on the piano. Keely chimed in and told Sam she’d teach him how to play it, too, and the C scale.

  Sam looked bad, Katie thought, worrying now as she pulled in front of the small Victorian house that stood at the corner of Pine and Maple, two blocks off Main Street. It was tall, skinny, and painted cream with dark blue trim. Jonah Flint lived upstairs and had his examination rooms and office downstairs. She said, “Keely, I want you to stay put until I get Sam into the office. Don’t move, don’t even think about moving. I’ll come back for you with the umbrella.”

  She and Sam were already soaked, steam rising off their clothes because of the hot air gushing out of the truck heater. The little boy’s face was sheet-white and his dark pupils were dilated. There was blood oozing down his cheek from a cut on his head.

  She eased him across the front seat, raised the umbrella, and whispered against his small ear, “Grab me around the neck, Sam, it’ll make it easier.” When she straightened, he wrapped his legs around her waist. “That’s good, Sam. Now, it’s going to be all right, I promise you. You’re with me now and I’m as tough as an old boot and meaner than my father, who was meaner than anybody before he died. You know something else, Sam? Since you’re a hero, I’m not the only one who’s really proud of you. Your folks will be proud, too. Don’t worry now, everything’s going to be all right.”

  She kept talking, hoping she was distracting the boy as she carried him into the empty waiting room. Katie wasn’t surprised there wasn’t anybody there, not even Heidi Johns, Dr. Flint’s receptionist and nurse. Who would want to be out in weather like this except for Monroe Cuddy, who might have shot himself in the foot again, or Marilee Baskim, who was close to having a baby?

  She called out, “Jonah!”

  No answer. What if he wasn’t here? She didn’t want to take Sam to the emergency room.

  “Jonah!”

  5

  Jonah Flint, just turned forty and very proud of his full head of blacker-than-sin hair, came running out of the back room, the stethoscope nearly falling out of the pocket of his white coat.

  “Jesus, Katie, what’s going on? Who’s this?”

  “This,” Katie said, carrying Sam into the first examination room, “is Sam and he just escaped kidnappers, believe it or not. There’s a cut on his head and I think he’s going into shock. I was afraid you weren’t here.”

  “I was doing some research in the back. Now, let’s see what we’ve got here.” Dr. Flint smiled at the boy even as he peeled him off Katie and removed all the blankets, taking in all the signs and talking to Sam all the while.

  “How do you feel, Sam?” He sat the boy on the edge of the examining table. “Do you take any medications? No?” He began to check him over. “Does your head hurt? I know the cut does, but do you have a headache? No, okay, that’s good. I’ll give you something to cut the pain. You got away from kidnappers? That’s something now, isn’t it? Okay, Sam, let me get you out of those wet clothes. You can just call me Doc Flintstone, okay? That’s right, you help me. Now, do you hurt anywhere else? No? Good. Katie, you can step out, please, just men in here. You going to call the kid’s parents?”

  Sam looked shell-shocked.

  Katie said, “I’ll call his parents in just a bit, when you’re through examining him. First things first. He’s the most important thing right now.” She took one last long look at the little boy who’d run out of a wilderness of maples and oaks. She picked up the huge office umbrella, lots bigger than hers, and fetched Keely from the truck.

  She sat Keely on a chair, handed her the huge black waiting room bear, and called Wade again. “What’s the word, Wade? You see anything out there?”

  “Not yet. Where are you?”

  “I’m in Jonah’s waiting room. He’s with Sam—that’s the little boy. I don’t know his last name yet. Making sure he’s okay is the first priority. I’ve got Keely with me, too. With the two kids, there was no way I could do anything but get out of there. Have you checked out the old Bleaker place yet? That’s bound to be where they were keeping him. It’s hidden and nobody can hear anything for all the trees.”

  “I think so, too. Me and Jeffrey are out here on the road, and even with the fog and the rain, we found where the guys had come out of the woods. We found several shells, probably from your rifle. You also dropped a blanket. We’re fixing to go into the woods now.”

  Katie wanted to be the one to go to the Bleaker cabin. It was tough, but there was just no way she could leave the kids, not yet. “Listen, Wade, you and Jeffrey be really careful. Anyone else with you? Good, glad that Conrad and Danny got there. Don’t forget, these guys are dangerous. If they’re still at the Bleaker cabin, it could get dicey. If they’re not there, I want you to secure the place. Be real careful not to destroy any possible evidence.”

  “You got it, Sheriff,” Wade said. “Over and out.”

  Over and out? Katie shook her head. Wade sounded pleased as punch that he was the lead on this. She just hoped he’d be careful. She disconnected and said to Keely, “I sure hope Jeffrey wears his glasses.”

  Keely said, not looking up from the bear, “Jeffrey has to wear his glasses or he’d step in the toilet. Millie likes him without his glasses, but she says it’s just too dangerous.”

  Millie was Jeffrey’s girlfriend. Katie smiled and felt her tension lessen just a bit. She fully intended to keep the boy with her as long as it took to get him safe. She hardly knew anything about him. She hated to wait before talking with him, but the child needed Jonah a lot more than he needed to answer questions right now.

  Sam’s parents. She’d get their names and phone number as soon as Jonah said Sam was okay. She knew they had to be frantic.

  Jonah
came out from the examination room twenty minutes later, smiling, holding the little boy’s hand. “Sam’s been telling me how his mama kept talking in his head, telling him what to do, how to get himself free.”

  How could Sam be okay? He looked white and exhausted, a big Flintstones bandage on his head. Katie said, “You did great, Sam, you didn’t give up.”

  “No, ma’am, I didn’t.” There was a flash of pride in that exhausted little voice, and that was good. Sam looked like the little boy he was, wrapped in two very big blue blankets, a pair of Jonah’s black socks on his small feet. Sam looked up at Jonah. “I want to go home, Doctor.”

  Katie patted Keely’s head, and walked swiftly to where the boy stood. She picked him up and held him close to her. “You’re just fine, Sam, just fine. Now, if Jonah is through torturing you, I’m taking you home with me. You’ll be safe there until I can get your folks here.”

  “We’re in Tennessee?”

  “Yes, we are. Eastern Tennessee. Jessborough is the name of the town.”

  “Where’s Tennessee?”

  “We’re sandwiched among lots of states. Where do you live, Sam?”

  “I’m from Colfax, Virginia.”

  “A nice state, Virginia,” Katie said and turned to Jonah. “It’s not too far away from here. He’s okay?”

  “Yep, he might come down with a cold from his run in the rain, but he’s a strong kid. He’ll be just fine. Give him a nice big glass of juice. He needs the sugar. I don’t want to take any chances that he’ll crash.” He patted Sam’s head, ran his fingers through his damp black hair. “His clothes are still wet. What do you want to do?”

  “If you could wrap his clothes up in a towel, I’ll wash and dry them.”

  Katie realized she was rocking Sam, sort of stepping from one foot to the other, swaying, just like she did with Keely. She smiled. “I’m going to squeeze him in next to Keely and take both of them home. You like hot chicken noodle soup, Sam?”

  He didn’t say anything, but she felt him nod. She and Jonah looked at each other. Neither of them knew what the kid had been through, at least not yet.

  “You be careful, Katie, it’s coming down thicker than confetti on New Year’s,” Jonah said. “Take good care of my patient. Keely, you keep a close eye on Sam, too, okay?”

  Keely allowed Sam to sit next to her mother, his head on Katie’s leg. She pressed close to his other side. “I’ll keep him warm, Mama.”

  “Sam,” Katie said, lightly touching her fingers to his pale cheek, “you’re a very lucky boy.”

  Sam, who felt dopey and stupid, said, “That’s what my mama was always telling my dad.”

  “I’ll call your daddy right now if you’ll just tell me his name and phone number.”

  Sam said against the wet denim on her leg, “My dad’s name is Miles Kettering. He’s really cool. He can fix anything. He fixes helicopters for the government.”

  His father was a government contractor? Could that be why he was kidnapped?

  “What’s your home phone number, Sam?”

  He was silent, thinking, but he couldn’t get it together, and she knew his brain was closing down. “It’s okay. I’ll call information. Colfax, Virginia, right?”

  Sam managed to nod before he closed his eyes. He felt her strong leg supporting his head. She still felt wet through the blanket she’d put under his head. He felt the sway of the truck and the little girl’s body pressed close against him. He was warm. He was safe. He was asleep in the next minute.

  Katie pulled the blanket more closely around his shoulders, and whispered to Keely, “He’ll be okay, sweetie. You just stay there, keep him really warm.”

  After a moment, Keely said, “I would have saved myself, too, Mama.”

  “I know you would have, Keely. Now, let me get information in Virginia and find Sam’s daddy.”

  When the phone rang, Miles jumped nearly three feet. He’d been telling the agents again how the government contracts worked, who his competitors were, and how much money was involved. Agent Butch Ashburn, the lead on Sam’s kidnapping, nodded to the other agent, Todd Morton, who’d just swallowed a doughnut too fast and was choking.

  “Showtime,” Agent Ashburn said.

  Savich, who’d just gotten to the Kettering house, laid his hand on his friend’s arm and said, “Everything’s set, Miles. Just answer the phone. Keep calm, that’s more important than I can say.”

  Miles Kettering forced his hand to reach for the phone. He didn’t want to touch it, didn’t want to because he was afraid that Sam was dead. So many children were kidnapped and so few survived. He could hardly bear it.

  It had been a day and a half. This was the first word. His hand shook as he lifted the phone.

  “Hello? This is Miles Kettering.”

  “Hello, Mr. Kettering, my name is Sheriff K. C. Benedict from Washington County, Tennessee. Don’t worry, I have your boy, Sam. He’s just fine. He managed to escape his kidnappers. He’s with me. Mr. Kettering? I promise you, he’s okay.”

  Miles couldn’t speak. His throat worked. “I don’t believe you. You’re the kidnapper, right? What do you want?”

  Butch Ashburn and Todd Morton were standing there staring at the phone, trying to look both calm and competent. Savich took the phone from Miles’s hands. “Who is this?”

  Katie understood. She said again, “This is Sheriff K. C. Benedict from Washington County, Tennessee. Sam is just fine. He managed to save himself. I’ve got him with me. Tell his parents not to worry, he’s okay.”

  “This is Dillon Savich with the FBI, Sheriff. Thank you very much. Give me your exact location and we’ll be there as quickly as we can.”

  Katie gave the man directions. She’d never before met a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She patted Sam’s shoulder, whispered, “Your daddy’s going to be here soon now, Sam,” but Sam didn’t hear her. He was asleep.

  She heard Mr. Kettering say in the background, “I want to talk to Sam.”

  She said to Agent Savich, “Sam’s asleep. Do you want me to wake him?”

  Miles Kettering came on the line. “No, let him sleep. I’ll see him soon. Please, Sheriff, tell him I love him. What about the people who took him? Did you get them?”

  “I’m very sorry, but they escaped. But we’ve got a group of my deputies in the field and they’ll do their best.”

  When Katie hung up the phone, Keely said, nearly asleep herself, “What about his mama?”

  “She’ll probably come, too. If I were her, I’d beat his daddy here to get him.”

  “Stealing Sam was a bad thing, Mama.”

  “You’re right.” And she thought, I should have just brought the bastard down, not given him a kiss in the arm. I should have kicked his butt like Sam said.

  6

  Katie’s phone rang at a quarter of seven that evening. It was Alice Hewett from Hewett’s Pharmacy, and she was out-of-breath excited.

  “Oh, Katie, that man who kidnapped the little boy—I think it was him. He just left. I called the station house and Linnie told me to call you at home.”

  Katie’s heart started to pound, deep and hard.

  “Was he the fat one, Alice?”

  “No, he was the other one, tall, almost sick-looking thin, but he wasn’t wearing that long black leather coat Wade told everyone about, just a white shirt and jeans, and some scarred black boots. But he had a ponytail, like you said. And he was shivering, which means he left that leather coat in his car because he was afraid to be seen in it. He bought bandages and antibiotic cream and some Aleve. And when he was leaving I saw blood on the back of his sleeve.”

  “He was in his forties?”

  “Yes, I’d say so.”

  “And he had a ponytail.”

  “Yeah, wet and stringy-looking. He didn’t say anything, just brought the stuff up to me at the register, and paid cash. He had a really big roll. I saw a couple of hundreds, lots of fifties.”

  “Did he just leave the
pharmacy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you see his car?”

  “Yes, Katie, the instant I saw that blood I knew. When I heard his car, I peeked out the front window. He was driving an old van, light gray I think, but it was hard to tell with all the rain.”

  Katie nearly held her breath. “License number?”

  “I just got part of it. He screeched out of here pretty fast. It was a Virginia plate, the first three letters were LTD—you know, like that old Ford sedan—LTD. I think the next one was a ‘three’ but I can’t be sure.”

  Katie wanted to leap through the phone line and kiss Alice. “That’s just great,” she said. “Now, was there anything about the man that was unusual, something that would make you remember him as opposed to another man?”

  Silence, then, “He was wearing a necklace, you know, a gold chain with some sort of pendant or stone hanging off the end of it. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Oh yes, his two front teeth overlap.”

  “Alice, do you want to be sheriff when my term is over?”

  Alice Hewett laughed. “No, Katie, it’s all yours. Just looking at that guy made my stomach cramp up. Besides, I’m too young to be sheriff, I just turned twenty last week.”

  Katie was pleased, as was the rest of the town, that Alice was no longer a teenager, particularly since Abe Hewett was fifty-four years old and had three grown boys all older than their stepmama. “Well done, Alice. Thank you.”

  “Let me know, won’t you, Katie?”

  “You bet.”

  Katie called Wade at home, got him between spoonfuls of his wife’s special pork stew. “I’m really sorry about this, Wade, but—”

  “I knew you’d call, Katie. I sent Conrad over to talk to Alice, see if she remembered anything else. Man, this stew is the best.” A long silence, then Katie heard Wade’s wife, Glenda, say something in the background.

  “Tell you what,” Katie said, “stay put. Just keep close to your phone. Call Jeffrey and have him update the rest of our people, including our three volunteer deputies. Keep an eye out for that van—we’ve got a partial plate. It’s Virginia and it’s LTD three something. I’m going to call the FBI, let them check it out.”