“Who is this man, and am I supposed to feel better that someone wants to kill you?”
Zoe sighed. “Zach, trust me—no one is dying—except Joe.”
Zach heard a voice telling Zoe to slow down.
“Should I call the police?”
“Not yet,” she said.
Zach released a frustrated breath. “How much longer before you get here?”
“Just wait for me.”
* * *
Zoe hung up with her brother and turned to Carver. “What are we going to do?”
“The Shadows are coming and we have a team of FBI agents who recover hostages coming as well. We’re going to save Chante, but, Zoe, you’ve got to calm down and you’re going to have to let us do our job.”
She was about to say something when her cell phone rang, showing a blocked number.
“Hello?”
Loud screaming pierced her ear. “Chante, are you okay?”
“Not for long,” Singletary barked. “It’s a shame that you’re going to take another wife from your brother.”
“Why don’t you let her go? Chante has nothing to do with this.”
“I know. And had you kept your nose on your face and not in my business, this wouldn’t be happening.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Do you know how much money you cost me?”
“No, I don’t, and I really don’t give a fuck. Let my sister-in-law go!”
“You have a mouth on you, bitch. You’re not in charge here, I am!”
“Fine, you’re in charge.”
“Wait for my instructions, and you better do exactly as I say.”
“Yes, sir,” she snapped. The line went dead and Zoe banged her hand against the steering wheel. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Zoe, this is what he wants. We have to come up with a plan and make sure we nail him before—”
“You didn’t hear her screaming. She’s pregnant, she’s scared, and there’s no telling what he’s doing to her.”
“We’re going to save her, Zoe.”
“If we don’t, Carver, I will never forgive you.” Zoe looked forward, trying to keep her fear and anger from boiling over. Carver reached out to her, but she put both hands on the steering wheel.
“Can we talk about this?”
“What’s left to say? It was one thing when I was the only person at risk, but now Chante is in the clutches of this thug who doesn’t even give a damn about human life.”
“That’s why I have the Shadows in place. Kenneth is already at your brother’s house analyzing the ransom note.”
Zoe was about to get into how all of this could’ve been avoided had he been honest about what was going on, but she didn’t want to have the same argument again. She had to be laser focused on finding Chante before Singletary killed her. Deep down, she knew that no matter what she did, Singletary was planning to kill Chante. And she couldn’t let that happen.
The rest of the ride to Charlotte was in total silence. When they pulled up to Zach and Chante’s, Zoe jumped out of the car and walked in the open front door. “Zach!” she called out.
“In the kitchen.”
Zoe walked into the kitchen and ignored the other people around her twin. She wrapped her arms around him. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said as he took a step back from her.
“Zoe,” Kenneth said as he crossed over to her. “We dusted the place for fingerprints and we got a hit on your former partner, Lewis Martinez.”
“That son of a bitch! So, he kidnapped Chante for Singletary.”
“We don’t—”
“He called me on the way here and said he had her.” She looked at Zach and chose her next words carefully. “I heard her.”
“What did she say?” Kenneth asked.
“Is she hurt?” Zach asked.
Zoe took a deep breath. She couldn’t tell her brother the torment and terror she heard in Chante’s screams. Carver walked in and nodded toward Kenneth. “Let’s talk in the back.”
“What number did he call you from?” one of the FBI agents asked.
“It was a blocked number.” Zoe handed over her phone. “He’s supposed to be calling back with instructions.”
“Was Chante all right?” Zach asked again.
“I think so,” Zoe said. She hated lying to her brother, but what choice did she have?
He glared at her. “Don’t lie to me.” Then he turned to the FBI agent. “What did you find out about the number on this note?”
“It’s a throwaway cell phone, Mr. Harrington.”
Zach muttered curse words that would make a sailor blush. Zoe grabbed her brother’s arm. “Let me get you a drink or something.”
Zach snatched away from his sister. “I don’t want a drink, I want my wife back. How did this happen?”
“Natalie.”
“What?”
Zoe told him how Natalie was working with Singletary during her time as the Harlem Madam. After Natalie had gotten Zoe arrested, Zoe started investigating the trafficking ring and uncovered Natalie’s connection to Singletary. She’d given most of her findings to the FBI. When Natalie found out that she was going down for all of Singletary’s sins, she started talking. Then the heat was on him and his nationwide organization. Natalie had been sentenced and was going to cooperate with the FBI, but once Singletary got a mole inside the unit of the FBI investigating him, he started eliminating people.
“So, Natalie’s dead?”
Zoe nodded. “As well as two FBI agents. I’m next on his list.”
“This makes no sense to me. If the FBI knew this was going on, why weren’t you warned?”
Kenneth and Carver walked into the kitchen and Zoe nodded toward Carver. “I’ll let him tell it.” She crossed over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. As much as she wanted to pretend that she wasn’t going to have a problem working with Carver, she was pissed. She wanted to punch him in his face for putting her brother through all of this.
“What is she talking about?” Zach asked as he looked from Zoe to Carver.
Carver cleared his throat. “We had intel that Singletary was targeting Zoe, so we took her out of New York and tried to apprehend him while Zoe was out of his reach.”
Zach crossed over to Carver. “I’m about sick of you and your meddling in my fucking life. Now you’re the reason my wife is in the clutches of some psychopath!” Without warning, Zach hauled off and punched Carver in the face. Carver stumbled backward and Kenneth took a step toward Zach. Zoe blocked the big man from touching her twin.
“You know he deserved it.”
Sarah and Ray walked into the kitchen and surveyed the tense scene. Zach was shaking his hand and Carver was stroking his sore jaw.
“Can everyone take a breath and calm down? Fighting in here isn’t going to save Chante,” Sarah said.
Zoe was about to respond when her cell phone rang. Blocked number. It was him. She waved for everyone to be quiet as she answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“You must not care about Chante.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You have a bunch of FBI agents at your brother’s house. Bad idea. You said this is between you and me, but you got all of these people in our business. Tsk, tsk.”
Zoe felt nuclear anger building inside her. “I’m tired of your bullshit. What do you want?”
Sarah shook her head frantically at Zoe and mouthed, “Don’t engage with him. Listen to what he has to say.”
Zoe sighed and rolled her eyes. “Joe, what do you want me to do? You’re in charge.”
“Whoever is coaching you is smart. You need to come see me alone. So, tell them that you’re taking out the trash and wheel the green bin to the curb. Once you do that, I’ll know that you’re ready to play ball.”
“Then what?”
“Wait and see.”
“How is Chante? I want to spea
k to her to know that she’s all right.”
“She’s alive.” Joe laughed. “For now.”
“Prove it.”
“I don’t have to prove a damned thing to you. But, since I’m a gentleman, I’ll let you speak to her.”
A beat passed and Zoe heard Chante’s voice. “Zoe. Zoe, please do what they say. Tell Zach I love him.”
“Chante, where are you?”
The line went dead and Zoe shoved her phone in her pocket. Without a word, she walked outside and pushed the trash can to the curb like Joe told her to do. Looking around the area, she searched for signs that Joe was watching the house. There were a lot of places where he could be hiding. The house across the street was for sale, there was an empty house catty-corner from Zach’s place. She figured that was the spot. It looked as if you would have a clear view of the house from that place. She wondered if Joe was cruel enough to have Chante that close to her home. He’s a psycho, it’s possible. He’s probably making her watch everything that’s going on right now.
“Zoe?” Zach said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “What are you doing out here?”
“Thinking. Singletary is a ticking time bomb. He’s a psycho and I’m scared.”
“But all of those people in the house say that we can get Chante back. You think we can’t?”
“I didn’t say that. I just said—”
“Zoe, don’t lie to me. What are the chances of me seeing my wife alive?”
She placed her hands on his shoulders. “She’s going to come home and wrap her arms around you. Just wait.” Zoe kissed her brother on the cheek and headed back into the house.
Chapter 29
Carver stroked his cheek as he watched Zoe and Zach talking on the curb.
“He doesn’t like you much, huh?” Kenneth asked.
“Shut up.”
“He clocked you pretty hard.” Kenneth laughed. “I know he’s upset, but that seemed really personal.”
“I’m not going to sit here and joke with you right now. I have to figure out what the twin summit is out there.”
Raymond walked up and said, “That ransom note was from Lewis. The fool sweated on the envelope.”
“Really.” Carver folded his arms across his chest. “So, Zoe has two people out there looking to kill her and we don’t know what direction they’re going to be coming from.”
“We will if we can control the situation. Zach has to call the number on the letter, and we need to trace the call.”
Carver blew a frustrated breath. “Raymond, go out there and talk to them.”
“You really think that’s wise?” Sarah asked. “I’ll go.”
Carver nodded, then turned to Ray and Ken. “What’s the plan?”
“Once we draw Lewis out, he’s going to lead us back to where he and Singletary are keeping Chante. But everybody has to be on the same page. They’re watching us,” Raymond said. “We need to clear the agents out of here.”
Kenneth nodded and headed for the living room, where the other agents were staged. Carver was about to walk out to where Zach and Zoe were standing when Raymond grabbed his shoulder.
“Are you sure you can handle this?”
“Can we not start this again?”
Ray folded his arms across his chest. “Let’s see, you have a woman standing out there mad as hell because you tried to play Captain Save—”
“This is not the same situation, and I wish you would stop comparing Zoe and Monica.”
“I’m not comparing them; it’s you. Don’t try to do something that’s going to lead you down a road where that woman is going to hate you.”
“At least she will be alive. Zoe has a point. Had I trusted her with the truth, we might not be here.”
Ray shook his head. “So, at the end of the day, if you save her sister-in-law, she tells you to go to hell. You’re putting everything on the line and—”
“I’m doing my job, and as long as we rescue Chante and keep Zoe alive, that’s all that matters. Now, let’s get to work.”
Raymond nodded and walked over to the kitchen table to set up his laptop. Carver didn’t want to think about what his friend had said, but the truth was, he knew at the end of all of this he could lose Zoe. Could he really live with that?
* * *
“Why would I call this man?” Zach snapped at Sarah. Zoe touched her brother’s arm.
“Let’s go inside,” Zoe said. “Sarah knows what she’s doing.”
Zach glared at the women. “Whatever it takes to get my wife back. But your fellow agents told me not to pay any money or call this man.”
“That’s what the FBI is supposed to tell you. But Singletary and his accomplice aren’t playing by the rules. They don’t want your money, they want your sister.”
Zoe swallowed. “And we’re going to give them what they want.”
“No!” Zach shook his head. “I’m not losing you to save Chante.”
“Mr. Harrington,” Sarah said. “As long as the Shadows are here, you’re not losing anyone. Now, I need you to shake hands with the agents who are leaving your house, then we’re going to get down to finding Chante.”
Zoe’s phone rang as Zach and Sarah headed inside. “Hello?”
“I see you cleared everyone out. Good job,” Singletary said, clearly unaware the Shadows were still in place. “I don’t want to kill your sister-in-law, but you’re going to make that happen if you don’t do what I say.”
“I’m listening.”
“There’s a lake up near a Hilton hotel off of Harris Boulevard. Be there in an hour and you better come alone.”
“Are you bringing Chante?”
“Who’s in charge? You just be there.”
Before Zoe could say another word, the line went dead. Zach turned around and locked eyes with his sister.
“What was that about?” he asked.
She shook her head and followed him and Sarah inside. Raymond waved them over to the kitchen table.
“If we’re going to extract Chante, we have to make the writer of this note think he’s going to get the money he’s asking for,” Raymond said.
Zoe rolled her eyes. “And that’s probably the most dangerous thing you can do.”
Raymond looked up at her. “How many hostages have you saved?”
“Three,” Zoe snapped.
Carver walked into the kitchen with bottles of water for everyone. He handed one to Sarah, but when he walked over to Zoe, she turned her back to him.
“Fine,” Raymond said. “You’re not a rookie, but these people don’t want to hurt Chante. Zoe, they want to kill you.”
“I’m not trading my sister for my wife,” Zach exclaimed.
“That’s understandable, but if you want to save your wife, then you’re going to listen to me.” Raymond shot a frosty glance in Zoe’s direction. “We know who has your wife and we know that this is about something else. Believe me, I don’t want to see your wife hurt.”
“She’s pregnant,” Zoe said. “That’s why we have to bring her home, no matter what.” She looked up and locked eyes with Carver. “If I have to give Singletary and Lewis a pound of flesh to save my sister-in-law and my unborn niece or nephew, then I will.”
“It’s not going to happen like that. We’re going to bring her home safe and sound,” Carver said.
“Excuse me if I don’t trust that you’re going to be the one to save my wife,” Zach snapped. “But I know one thing is for certain, you’re not using my sister as bait.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” Zoe asked.
“No,” Zach and Carver said in concert. She rolled her eyes and walked outside on the back patio. Leaning on the railing, she looked out over the quiet neighborhood and prayed that Chante wasn’t being hurt by her captors. Just as she was about to return inside, her cell phone rang. Blocked number. It was Singletary.
“Hello?”
“Tell your brother that I’m serious about giving him his wife back, as long as you play alon
g.”
Zoe gritted her teeth but didn’t respond right away. “How do I play along?”
“Well, I want my revenge, and that ends with you in a grave.”
Son of a bitch, she thought.
“You have one hour to show up at the lake. Alone.” The line went dead and Zoe wanted to toss her phone across the yard.
“What’s going on, Zoe?” Carver asked. His voice startled her, because she hadn’t even noticed that he’d come outside.
“Where did you come from? I thought you-all were in there brainstorming.”
“Zoe, that was Singletary, wasn’t it? He keeps calling you, and I know you’re going to do something reckless.”
“Like you did?”
“We’re going to work up a plan, but you have to let us, and be honest about those calls.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “What’s the plan?”
“That ransom note didn’t come from Singletary,” Carver said. “And if we’re going to bring your sister-in-law home alive, then we have to follow this lead.”
“What if that note is just to throw us off track? Why would he leave a note and continue to call me?”
“Your former partner’s DNA was found on the envelope from a drop of sweat.”
Zoe balled her hands into fists. “That bastard. If anything happens to Chante because of Lewis, I hope you can keep me out of prison.”
“Zoe, you can’t go after these men alone.”
She pointed her finger in his face. “I shouldn’t have to, but I’m not going to let my brother down.”
“I understand that. How do you think he’s going to feel if you don’t make it home with his wife? What did Singletary say?”
Zoe looked away from him and stroked her forehead. “He’s taunting me. Telling me that he wants me dead and whatnot.”
“Has he given you a clue as to where he is?”
She shook her head. “I need to take a drive. Where are the keys to the car?”
“Zoe, where are you going?”
“I just need to think and I need some quiet. Sitting around here feeling useless is driving me crazy.”
She saw the suspicion in his eyes as he turned and walked away. Zoe didn’t care. Her phone chimed, indicating that she had a text message. Blocked number.
Deadly Rumors Page 24
