“Let’s go,” Jed said,” It’s better than sitting here doing nothing.”
“I agree,” I said, “Are we taking two cars or just one?”
“Let’s all take this car,” Jed said, “It’s less noticeable than a red Camaro.”
“Ok, I’ll drive,” I said teasingly, starting to pull my buckle on.
“That’s ok,” Jed said quickly. “I’ll drive.” At the same time Kent said, “Let Jed drive.”
“Well thanks a lot,” I said opening the door to get out. Charlotte offered the front seat to Kent and got out also.
“I didn’t mean...” Jed started.
I put my hand on his chest to stop him. “It’s ok, I was just teasing anyway. I know you guys like to drive,” I said smiling.
“Thanks,” Jed smiled back relieved. “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“You feel bad about hurting my feelings telling me you want to drive, but you don’t care that you hurt my feelings yelling at me earlier?”
“Listen, about that,” Jed began.
“Get in the car!” Kent said, “You can work things out later. We have to look for Ollie.”
“He’s right,” I said getting in. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Jed’s eyes met mine as he started the car. I could tell that he didn’t want to leave it at that. I sort of felt bad for the way I acted a minute ago. I shouldn’t have accused him of purposefully hurting my feelings. I knew that he was probably just worried about me. I was the first to look away. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Whoever was committing murder around town, possibly took Ollie. We needed to find him as soon as possible.
“Tell me where Charlotte,” Jed said.
Charlotte gave him directions. It was actually pretty close to the Country Club.
“I think that was the one,” she said, pointing to a small brick ranch on about an acre just outside town. The outdoor lights were on, but the garage door was shut and the rest of the house was dark.
“It looks like no one is home,” Jed said.
“Should we go knock?” Kent suggested.
“Let’s sit in this little park across the road and watch it for a few minutes, while we figure out what we are going to do next. I would like to confirm that the house belongs to Ms. Morley before we approach it,” Jed said.
Just as Jed parked the car, so that we had a good view of the house, his cell phone rang. Jed looked at the caller id then answered, “What have you got Mike?”
“I managed to get her home address along with her vehicle registration.”
“Shoot.”
“1456 Broadview.” Mike told him.
“Thanks, Mike. I’m sitting in front of it, but wanted to wait for the confirmation before approaching the house. No lights are on.”
“Ready for her plate number?”
Jed turned to Kent, “Can you write this down?”
“Sure,” he said searching for a pen. I dug one out of my purse, along with a small notebook and handed it up to him.
“Ok, I’m ready,” Jed told Mike.
Jed repeated the license plate number to Kent, who wrote it down.
“A white Jeep Grand Cherokee? Got it,” Jed said. “Thanks.”
“Jed, I’m sending a unit to watch her house. I’ll let you know when she comes or goes.”
“Thanks, Mike, I’ve got another call coming in, so I catch up with you later,” Jed said.
Switching over, he said, “Hello.”
“Jed Greyson?”
Even though we all could hear the metallic voice that began talking, Jed still switched it over to speaker phone. We were silent as Jed said, “Yeah?”
“We have your friend. If you want to see him again, you will bring the papers to me. I will call you later with more instructions. Don’t look for him, or you will never see him again. We will be watching.”
“How do I know you haven’t hurt Ollie already?” Jed said, “I want to talk to him.”
There was a scuffling sound, and then we all heard Ollie say, “Jed?”
“Ollie! Are you hurt?” Jed asked loudly.
“That’s all you get,” the mechanical voice said, “Now you know I have him, and you know I mean business. You’ll hear from me in a couple hours.” With that the phone disconnected.
“Well at least we know Ollie is fine for now,” I said.
“Yeah,” Jed said, “The only problem is that we don’t have the list.”
Chapter 27
“In Ollie’s note, he said that he had the list,” I said. “Why do they think that you have the list?”
“Ollie probably hid it. He knew that if he gave it to them, he would be expendable,” Jed said.
“So we just wait?” Charlotte asked.
“There’s not much else we can do,” Jed told her.
“Here comes a car,” Kent said. “It looks like it could be a small SUV.”
We all watched as the headlights came closer. When the car started to slow down as it came to the driveway, we all leaned forward in our seats. The streetlight from the park entrance clearly showed a white Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was Ms. Morley’s car!
“It looks like she just got home,” Jed said. “Let’s wait a few minutes, until the police get here.”
We sat in the darkness, silently watching, as she opened the garage door with a remote and drove in shutting it behind her. Was Ollie with her? It seemed unlikely. The lights in the house came on one by one as she made her way through the house. She was the only one in the house that we could see. Our line of vision was cut off, when she walked over and pulled the drapes shut in the front room.
“What happens if she leaves again?” I asked.
“Then we follow her,” Jed said.
It was starting to get chilly in the car. Jed needed to shut the car off, so that she didn’t see or hear a car running across the street. Without the heat running, the cool spring night was starting to seep in. I shivered and goose bumps broke out on my arms.
“You cold?” Jed asked. He must have been watching me through the rear view mirror.
Charlotte shivered next to me, as I said, “A little. I didn’t exactly plan on being on a stakeout tonight.”
“Me either,” Charlotte said.
I heard the sound of Jed’s belt buckle being slid open followed by the sound of him pulling out his shirt. Oh my! Who needed a heater, when you had thoughts of Jed, dancing in your head?
Jed shrugged off his dress shirt and handed it back to me. “Here, this might help a little. Sorry Charlotte, I only have the one.”
“She can have mine,” Kent said, going through the same procedure as Jed.
I quickly shoved my arms through the sleeves and wrapped it around me. It was still warm from Jed’s body, and it smelled like him too. I hugged the shirt to me, savoring the experience.
“Thank you,” I told him, sneaking a peek into the front seat at Jed. He was wearing what appeared to be a form fitting black t-shirt.
I think the past couple of days were starting to wear on me and Charlotte, because we both leaned toward each other touching our shoulders together to support each other, and snuggled against the back of the seat, closing our eyes.
Kent and Jed talked softly in the front seat for what seemed like forever. In reality it was probably only thirty minutes or so. I don’t think either of us fell asleep, it was just nice to rest a minute.
“Here comes another car,” I heard Kent say.
“That looks like Detective Cooper’s car,” Jed said. Charlotte and I sat up and looked out the window.
The car pulled into the park and parked next to us. “I’ll be just a minute,” Jed said. “I need to go have a talk with him.”
Getting out of the car, Jed climbed into the passenger seat of Detective Cooper’s car.
Jed filled Detective Cooper in on the phone call and their suspicions of Ms. Morley. They agreed that the best plan was to wait for the kidnappers to call back, and to keep an eye on her house.
“I wouldn’t put it past these guys to come after the list themselves,” Detective Cooper told Jed. “It might be better if you were all together in a safe place until they called.”
“I’ve thought about that,” Jed said. “I think we are going to head back to the Barton’s house. That way the girls can change and warm up and we can watch for anyone approaching the house from all directions. Unlike my farm, there are not a lot of trees close to the house that would provide cover. They would have to come out into the open to get in.”
Ideally, Jed would have liked to use the science-club room, but didn’t feel comfortable using it, if The Order had connections to the high school.
“Good idea. Keep me posted.”
“Will do,” Jed said, climbing back out and getting into his car.
“Let’s go,” He said. “I thought we would go back to your house. Is that ok?”
“Absolutely,” Kent said.
I was relieved. I could get out of this dress and shoes. I’m sure I could find something for Charlotte to change into also. I couldn’t believe how late it was getting. It was already past ten o’clock. If we didn’t hear from the kidnappers soon, it was going to be Saturday, before we knew it.
We pulled into our driveway and Jed shut off the car. “Just sit a minute. I want to make sure no one is here waiting for us.”
We sat in the car for five minutes, while we looked out the windows, searching for any movement or sign that someone was out there.
“Ok, let’s go,” Jed said.
We all got out and went inside. Our house has an alarm. It was still set and everything appeared ok, so Charlotte and I headed upstairs to get changed.
“Well, this was a weird night,” I told her as I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror over my dresser, wearing Jed’s shirt. “Not quite what I was expecting.”
“Tell me about it,” Charlotte said taking off Kent’s shirt and laying it on my bed.
“It’s kind of creepy. I feel like we are being watched or something, although I know that no one is in the house besides us.”
“Let’s just shut the blind on your window. Anyone could be out there looking in,” Charlotte said and walked over to pull the blind.
“Thanks. Here try these,” I told her, pulling out two pair of long yoga pants and handing her one. “I am not in the mood to be fashionable.”
“These are fine with me, thanks.”
We each grabbed a shirt and changed in silence. I didn’t want to take Jed’s shirt off, but I knew he would probably want it back.
As we headed back downstairs, we were surprised to see all the lights off. “We’re in here,” Kent’s voice said, coming from the living room. The living room jutted away from the house in a wing of its own. It had many windows that faced both the back and the front of the house, as well as the side. It also had three skylights. It was one of my favorite rooms. During the day, the sun came in, making the room bright and cozy. It was perfect for curling up on the loveseat with a good book. At night, I liked to come and sit in the dark, looking up at the stars.
Jed was standing by a window that faced the back, looking out into the dark. Kent was kneeling by the fireplace starting a small fire.
As we came in Jed turned to us. “We thought this would be a good spot to wait them out.”
“Are you expecting trouble?” I asked.
“Actually, yes. They want the list. They need the list to hide their identity. Why wait for us to meet them? Why not just come and get it themselves?”
“Oh,” I said shivering. The dark night and all the windows didn’t seem so welcoming, suddenly.
“Are you still cold?” Jed said. “Come here.” He grabbed a soft blanket off the chair in the corner and carried it over to one of the loveseats. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me down into his arms and wrapped the blanket over both of us. “We need to talk,” he said.
“Kent? Would you come into the kitchen with me?” Charlotte asked. “I think everyone could use a drink and something to eat. What do you think?”
“Thanks Charlotte that would be great,” Jed told her with a smile. He knew she was trying to give us some privacy.
“Sure,” Kent said, standing up and brushing off his hands. He walked over and took her outstretched hand and allowed her to lead him out. He was probably just as anxious to be alone with her, I thought.
As they left, Jed nuzzled my neck and turned me toward him so that he could kiss me. “I’m sorry about how I acted earlier at the Country Club,” he said.
“I’m sorry about how I acted in the car,” I said giving him a soft kiss back.
“I was pretty mad that you came outside by yourself,” Jed said, pulling back to look me in the eye.
“I’m not five you know,” I told him, watching the firelight, reflected in his eyes.
“I know that, trust me,” Jed said wrapping his arms tighter around me and pulling me closer. “I guess I was just worried. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I...care about you.”
My heart softened. All my anger from earlier disappeared. I know it must have been hard for him to admit that.
“Jed...” I said softly.
He responded by brushing my hair back with his hands and gently cupping my face. Sitting up towards me, his pressed his lips very softly to mine. I don’t think he had ever kissed me so sweetly and tenderly.
Hearing Kent and Charlotte banging in the kitchen, made him pull away. He brushed my forehead with a soft kiss before snuggling me back at his side. We sat there, I stared into the fire, and Jed scanned out one window at a time, watching.
Charlotte came in carrying a tray with some cookies and glasses, followed by Kent with a pitcher of something to drink.
“Thanks, guys,” I said.
Charlotte set the tray down and we each took a glass and a couple of cookies. We sat there in silence, each lost in our own thoughts.
“It’s getting pretty late,” Kent said looking at his watch.
“Let’s do a check of the house before we settle in,” Jed said, gently detangling himself from me.
Kent joined him and they headed off to do whatever checking the house entailed.
The fireplace was warming the room up so much that it felt toasty warm. My eyelids were starting to get heavy. I glanced over at Charlotte curled up on the couch across from me, and saw that her eyes were already shut.
I lay down and snuggled under my blanket, listening for the guys to come back in. That’s all I remember, until I felt Jed’s hand on my shoulder nudging me awake.
“Nora,” he whispered urgently. “You need to wake up sweetheart.”
I slowly opened my eyes. Jed was crouched over me, his hand gently shaking my shoulder. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Someone is trying to break it,” he said. “I need you and Charlotte to go up to your room and hide. Quickly!”
“I don’t want to hide,” I said still sleepy. I looked over and saw Kent pulling Charlotte to her feet.
“I didn’t ask you if you wanted to,” Jed said more forcefully. “This is one of those times we were talking about. Please go do it, for me, so that I don’t have to worry about you.”
“Nora!” Kent said sharply. “Go with Charlotte upstairs. Stop arguing.”
Waking up enough to realize that they were serious, I swung my feet over the side and stood up. My heart started pounding faster as the danger started to set in.
“Come on,” Charlotte said grabbing my arm.
“Be careful,” I whispered loudly over my shoulder as we snuck up the stairs. I could hear someone rattling the backdoor handle.
“I want to try and get a look at whoever it is, before they get scared away,” Jed told Kent as they silently crept towards the kitchen and the back door.
“As soon as they open the door, the alarm is going to go off,” Kent reminded him.
“Can you shut the alarm down, so that it doesn’t scare them off?” Jed asked.
“Are you sure
you want to risk it?”
Jed reached behind his back and pulled a small semi-automatic handgun from his waist band. He had been careful all night not to let the girls see it. He had been almost relieved when the two had fallen asleep before he and Kent had come back from checking the house. They had switched on and off the last two hours. Each taking turns catching a cat nap and watching the house. It was on Jed’s watch that he noticed two figures moving in the shadows, on the outskirts of the yard, trying to stay behind bushes. They had slowly and methodically got closer to the house.
Kent made a detour toward the alarm control panel and quickly punched in the code to shut down the alarm. Then he reached into the hall closet for his old baseball bat that his mom had insisted on keeping. Re-joining Jed, they snuck towards the door.
The intruder tried to bust in the door, but the double locks held strong. They must have got frustrated, because there was a small popping sound.
“Silencer, these guys mean business,” Jed said, as the top lock shattered. “Get down.”
They both dove for cover behind the kitchen counter as someone kicked the broken lock and the door flew open. As two masked men came through the door, Jed jumped up with his gun raised and said, “Freeze.” The moonlight shone enough light into the kitchen that Jed was able to see the two pretty clearly. Jed had the advantage of being hidden by shadows.
One of the intruders quickly brought his gun up and shot in the direction of Jed’s voice.
Jed dropped below the counter as the glass door leading out onto the back deck, shattered behind him.
“Stay down,” Jed told Kent. Taking a deep breath, Jed yelled out, trying again, “Freeze Police.” Reaching around the counter, he fired off a shot trying to miss the men. He had no desire to hurt anyone. If they shot at him or Kent again, it would be a different story, however. His shot went into the back door, just above their heads.
The men froze and then ducked and ran out the door. They must have decided to cut their losses, because they took off running toward the neighbor’s yard.
Jed vaulted the counter and ran out after them, yelling to Kent to call the police as he went.
Jed chased one of the men across the yard and onto the neighbor’s property, as Kent called the police.
Undercover Justice Page 29
