Time Stands Still (Forever and Ever #51)

by E. L. Todd

  I would try anything in the hope it would work. “Okay.”

  The door burst open and Scarlet walked inside, looking like she would murder anyone who got in her way. She came around the desk and stared me down. “News?”

  “Nothing yet. They just entered the building. The detective said he would call me once they know something.” I rose to my feet but didn’t touch her. I could tell she didn’t want to be touched. She was suffering in silence, panicking behind her eyes.

  “Why aren’t you there?”

  “They told me we couldn’t go anywhere the sight.” Otherwise, I’d be there instantly.

  She crossed her arms over her chest, on the verge of having a meltdown. “He better be in there.”

  “He probably will be.” I hadn’t told her about the execution. Hopefully, Roland would be extracted, and she would never have to know. I turned to my brother. “Can you give us a second?”

  He nodded and walked out.

  When he was gone, Scarlet’s bottom lip trembled. She wanted to cry but fought hard against it. She took a deep breath to steel her nerves, but she couldn’t keep the agony bottled deep inside.

  Neither one of us could talk about reality. Neither one of us could look each other in the eye and admit Roland was really gone. It was too much for either of us to handle.

  So we waited in silence.

  She kept her arms across her chest. She shifted her weight back and forth, unable to stand still.

  I stood beside her and watched every move she made. I wanted to hold her but I couldn’t do it. She would only push me away.

  The phone on the desk rang.

  Before I could grab it Scarlet snatched it. “Mrs. Preston. Do you have my son?”

  The detective’s voice came over the intercom. “I’m sorry, ma’am. We raided the apartment but no one is here. We searched everywhere.”

  Scarlet kept the phone to her ear and closed her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

  Without saying goodbye, Scarlet hung up the phone.

  I couldn’t hide the disappointment on my face.

  Scarlet couldn’t either. She took a deep breath, and her voice cracked with tears. “Roland…my baby.”

  I couldn’t listen to my wife cry. It only made me want to die inside. “We’ll find him, Scarlet. We will.”

  “He’s all alone…with those men.” She covered her face with her fingers, about to collapse right before my eyes.

  The tears started in the back of my throat. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into me. “Scarlet, it’ll be alright. We’ll find him.”

  She pushed me away, her eyes coated with moisture. “How? What’s our plan?”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “We need to think of something, and we need to think fast,” she said. “After three days, the case turns cold.”

  It’d been forty-eight hours, but we wouldn’t have much longer than that anyway. If we were going to do something, we needed to do it now.

  “They didn’t want you,” she said. “But what about me? If they took me it would hurt you just as much. So let’s make the trade.”

  “No.” I wasn’t going to trade my wife for my son. I wasn’t trading anyone except myself.

  “Sean Preston, do as I say. Call him and tell him.”

  I held her gaze and felt my body grow weak. “I don’t have his number. I have to wait for him to call me.”

  “When he does, I want you to make the offer.”

  “No.” I wasn’t doing it under any circumstance.

  Her eyes burned with fire and she gave me a violent shove. “This is my son we’re talking about. You will do as I say. I don’t care what we have to do to get him back. I’ll give myself up freely in exchange. You aren’t the only parent who gets to make that offer.” Split flew from her mouth because she yelled with such ferocity.

  I still couldn’t do it. “Scarlet, no.”

  She held up her hand to slap me.

  “I have something else to offer them. I’m going to try and hope for the best.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “I’m going to offer myself again and remind them what they can get out of me. They could use me as leverage against their enemies. I’m priceless to people like that. They’d have information to account, software, big companies…everything. If he doesn’t take that offer, then there’s nothing he’ll take.”

  Scarlet pressed her hands together and rested them against her mouth. “Do you think they’ll go for it?”

  “I don’t know…I hope they do.”

  She fell onto the couch and covered her face from my view. She was trying not to cry, to collapse under the weight of her own grief.

  I sat beside her and wrapped my arm around her. “Baby, I’m so sorry…”

  “I’m sorry too.” She started to sob, convulsing in my arms. “I want my son back. I want my baby.”

  “I know.” I kept my tears back because I had to remain strong for her, but that was nearly impossible.

  “No parent should ever have to go through this.”

  “No.” I rested my face against her temple. “No, they shouldn’t.”

  She cried quietly beside me, a mother terrified for her only son. It didn’t surprise me she was willing to sacrifice herself to free Roland. And it didn’t surprise me that she was willing to let me take his place. We loved each other more than anything in the world, but when it came to our children we were a united front. We understood they were the most important things in the world, and we would do whatever was necessary to get them back.

  “When will he call?” she whispered.

  “In a few hours, probably.”

  “A few hours…I don’t think I can wait that long.”

  “It’ll be alright, Scarlet.” When she needed my support I abandoned my hopelessness and did everything to comfort her. When she needed me, I became strong. I became what she needed. “I promise, I’ll get him back.” If I made a promise I had to keep it. And that would vow would be enough to keep me pushing, to find a solution to an unsolvable problem.

  She nodded. “We’ll get him back.”

  ***

  The phone rang loud in the office.

  The time had come.

  Scarlet still didn’t know what was about to happen. It was too terrible to tell her. I had to hide it from her as much as possible. She would collapse and never rise again.

  “Oh god…”

  I grabbed the phone and held it to my ear. If this didn’t work I’d lose my son. Roland was one of the most important things to me. If I lost him, I would never be the same. I would never smile or laugh. All I would know was uttermost misery. Scarlet would slip away into her grief and we would pass through life as ghosts. “I’m listening.”

  “Good. I was hoping you would answer. Most men would be too weak to listen to their son’s execution.”

  I steadied my nerves and remained calm. I had to focus.

  Roland’s voice was heard in the background. “Let me go! You fucking assholes!”

  Tears immediately formed in the back of my eyes when I heard his voice. “Roland!”

  “He can’t hear you,” the man chuckled into the phone. “But you can hear him. Nice set up, huh? Alright, I’m going to stab him in the chest repeatedly until he bleeds out and dies. Enjoy the show.”

  I gripped the edge of the desk so hard I was about to break my hand. “Wait. I have something you won’t refuse.”

  “I highly doubt that.”

  “I have enemies in every corner of the world. I have access to privy information that criminals dream about. If you auctioned me off on the black market you could make a fortune—”

  “I already told you I don’t need money.”

  I pressed on. “Or you could earn the respect of your enemies—or even their debt. You would be known as the man who captured the infamous Sean Preston. If you handed me over they would be indebted to you forever. Whatever criminal gains you want cou
ld be easily achieved. I’m a precious tool. Use me.” When he didn’t interrupt me I felt the hope in my heart. I expected to hear my son scream but there wasn’t a sound.

  Scarlet stood beside me, her hands clutched to her chest and her breathing non-existent. Her eyes were closed and the tears fell down her face. “Please…please…please.”

  I waited for a response. “There has to be something you want. I could help you get it. You could use me as leverage with anyone you choose. People would do anything to have me in their grasp. Make the switch.” My knuckles turned white from gripping so hard.

  He remained silent, carefully considering the offer.

  “Come on. You get your revenge and you get even more on top of that. What more could you possibly want?”

  He turned to the men in the back. “Hold on.”

  I finally let go of the table, taking my first breath.

  “You think other men want you?”

  “I know they do.” He was actually considering it. Roland might escape. He might be free again. He wasn’t going to pay the price for my errors.

  “Alright. I will make the switch.”

  I gripped my hair and felt my eyes coat with moisture. It was the best news I heard all day.

  “We’ll meet. If you bring the police, we’ll kill your son.”

  “I understand.” I wouldn’t endanger his life by involving the authorities. All I wanted was for Roland to be free—even if it cost my life.

  “Meet at the Northern shipping dock in thirty minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  Click.

  I dropped the phone back on the receiver and felt the gratitude wash through me. Roland was coming back. He was coming back to safety and he would be okay. I did it. I saved my son.

  Scarlet cried harder, covering her face and sobbing louder than I’d ever heard her.

  “Baby, it’s okay. We’re getting him back.”

  She grew hysterical and fell to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

  I moved to the spot beside and cradled her into my chest. “It’s alright. I told you I would get him back.”

  “No…now I have to lose you.” She could barely speak because the tears muffled her words. “Sean, I can’t. I can’t lose you.”

  “This is the way it has to be.” I didn’t have time to be scared. All I cared about was freeing Roland. If they shot me in the back of the head the moment I was in their possession, I could accept that—as long as Roland was safe.

  “No.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and cried into my chest.

  I rested my chin on her head and listened to her sob. “Scarlet, we’re getting Roland back. Concentrate on that.”

  She pulled away and looked at me. Her mascara ran and her eyes were blotchy and red. “I want my family—my entire family. Sean, I can’t live without you. I can’t do it…”

  “You can. And you will.” I didn’t want to have this conversation. I never thought I could have this conversation. When I expected the end of my life it played out much differently than this.

  “Sean Preston, you need to come back to me. Figure out a way and do it.”

  I held her gaze, feeling my chest ache.

  “Promise me you’ll come back to me. Escape.”

  “Baby, you know I’ll do everything in my power to make that happen.”

  “Promise me you’ll come back to me. You almost slipped away when you were stabbed. I had to remind you to fight. Now I’m doing it again. Give me your word.”

  I never broke a promise to her. I always kept every single one. She clung to those vows like law. “I promise.”

  She softened against me and rested her face against my chest. She continued to cry quietly, pouring her heart out for only me to hear.

  I ran my fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead. “I promise I’ll come back to you.”

  ***

  Ryan took Scarlet into another office and comforted her so the kids wouldn’t see her breakdown. None of them knew what was going on, not even Skye. And I wanted to keep it that way. Saying goodbye to my daughter was the most difficult thing I could possibly do.

  I wasn’t sure if I could do it.

  “Okay, we only have an hour so we need to think. Now.” Mike stood across from my desk, his eyes wide open and focused.

  “I have no idea where they’re taking me, so I have to escape during transport.”

  “We could put a tracker on you.”

  “They’ll know.” I didn’t know these men, but I knew they weren’t stupid. “I’m sure they’ll check me thoroughly.”

  He rubbed his chin as he thought. “Trackers emit signals, electric signals.”

  I stared at him blankly, unsure why he was stating the obvious.

  “What if we insert it directly next to your heart?” he asked. “It would be impossible to detect it.”

  “Sounds dangerous.”

  “I’m sure it is. If we insert it too close to your heart, they won’t want to tamper with it out of fear of killing you.”

  “In that case, they’d probably kill me anyway. They’d want to disarm the tracker so they wouldn’t be followed. It would be a good plan if they didn’t know it was there.”

  “Yeah…” He rubbed his chin again. “What did they say about selling you off on the black market?”

  “Not much. Why?”

  “If they sell you, I could bid on you.”

  “But they wouldn’t recognize you. They would probably suspect it was a trap.”

  “Not unless I bid under a name they know. Perhaps someone they know.”

  “We don’t have that kind of information.”

  “No,” Mike admitted. “But I know people who do. That seems like the most logical approach. I could buy you back and everyone wins. They wouldn’t know the difference.”

  “But if you didn’t win the bid I’d have to go somewhere else.”

  “I’d win,” he snapped. “Between our incomes I would make it. Trinity would give us her earnings too. Everyone would chip in. And if it exceeded that I could just pull a loan from the bank. The funds aren’t the issue.”

  “We still don’t know who we’re up against. It could world leaders for all we know.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But I still think it’s a solid plan.”

  I hated putting my destiny in the hands of someone else—even if it was my brother. “We’re meeting at the shipping dock so we’re probably leaving the country by plane or boat.”

  “Not by boat,” Mike argued. “Too slow. They must have a small plane there.”

  “Probably.” I’d flown a helicopter and a commercial airliner before. I had some knowledge about planes.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “If I could take over the plane I could crash it into the ocean and swim away.”

  Mike didn’t like that idea at all. “Or you could die in the crash.”

  “Maybe. That’s the risk I’m willing to take.”

  “Too risky, Sean. Even if you could get to the cockpit they’ll shoot you before you can gain control.”

  “If it’s a small plane, the bathroom will be located behind the cockpit. I could always go to the restroom.”

  “The door will be locked.”

  “I could bring a decoder with me.”

  “And put it where?” he snapped. “Up your ass?”

  I ignored his frustration. He was just as terrified of losing me as Scarlet was—even if he didn’t show it in the same way. “We can insert it next to my heart. That way they won’t detect it.”

  “And then what?” he asked incredulously. “You’re just going to rip it out?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sean, you’ll bleed out and die.”

  “Not if the incision is small. And I don’t need long to escape. The second you drop me off call the cops and tell them to expect a crash off the Atlantic. And tell them to bring a medic.”

  Mike shook his head, uncomfortable with this idea. “I don’t know, man…”


  “The black market is out of our control. Too many things could go wrong.”

  “And you don’t think anything could go wrong with this?” he snapped.

  “Every option is risky. But I think this has the greatest chance of success.”

  “What if they don’t let you use the bathroom?”

  That was a real possibility. “Then we’ll go with your plan.”

  “Alright.” He finally got on bored. “What if they catch you on the plane and realize what you’re doing?”

  “They’ll give me a good beating—but they won’t kill me.”

  He nodded in agreement.

  “Now we need to find a world-class surgeon on short notice.” He eyed his clock. “Someone in the city.”

  “If you offer the right amount of cash, they’ll respond.”

  He grabbed his phone and made the call. “I’m on it.”

  Chapter Nine

  Skye

  We sat in the lobby to the floor, huddled together on the couches. People drank coffee and juice while others snacked on the crackers under the cabinet. Everyone was quiet, concerned about Roland.

  I was terrified.

  So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours. I hadn’t slept because I was too scared I would miss something. Cedric didn’t sleep either but he didn’t make a sound, understanding something serious was going on.

  Cayson looked like a train wreck. His face was purple and red from the beating he received from the kidnappers. His left cheek was swollen and his eyes were nearly black.

  I hated seeing the scars. It broke my heart.

  “Baby, you should get some sleep.” He moved his hand under Cedric so he could take him off my hands.

  “No.” I held our son tight in my arms. “You’re the one who needs to rest, Cayson. Please.” I wish we could take him to the hospital to get some pain medication but my father said it was too dangerous.

  He dropped his hand, his shoulders sagging with exhaustion.

  Slade grabbed a pillow from the couch and tossed it at him. “Use this.” Trinity lay across the couch with her head resting on his lap. Her hands rested on her bulging stomach. “Trinity doesn’t need it.”

  “Thanks, man.” Cayson placed the pillow against the headrest then lay down.

  I grabbed his feet and placed them on my lap so he would be comfortable. Cedric rested on top as he was cocooned in my arms. I’d never been so exhausted and so restless at the same time.