by Lori Ryan
“Yes?” Came the female voice through the intercom.
“Detectives Harmon and Rylan from the New Haven Police Department. We need to see Mrs. Staunton.”
“I’m sorry, she’s not available.”
“She needs to make herself available. Now.” Jarrod practically growled into the little box. “Tell her it’s about her son. We believe William Tyvek might have him.” He wasn’t above scaring the crap out of the woman to get results at this point.
Tyvek had proven he was dangerous. There was no telling what he might do if he did have Warrick and Sara. They’d been to both their residences and gotten no answer at either.
“Just a moment.”
“You have to be shitting me,” Cal grumbled.
Seconds later, they heard the mechanical sound of the gate clicking and the wrought iron swung open to let Jarrod pull up the drive.
He was surprised to see Warrick’s mother waiting for them in the front entranceway. He’d been expecting to have to go through the formalities she seemed to favor of being shown to a room so she could make her entrance.
“Gentlemen,” she said with a nod and turned to walk into the sitting room to her left.
Jarrod didn’t waste time after following her in.
“We believe Tyvek has Warrick Staunton and his girlfriend.”
“His girlfriend?” She seemed taken aback and Jarrod guessed Warrick didn’t share much with his mother. He couldn’t picture them having weekly phone calls or anything.
“Sara Blackburn.”
She raised her brows but didn’t comment on Sara or her relationship to Warrick. “I’m not sure how I can help. As I told you before, I don’t know anything about Tyvek’s whereabouts.”
“And I think you were holding back on us.” Jarrod wasn’t going to pussyfoot around.
“We’ve been doing this a long time, ma’am,” Cal said. “We know when we’re not getting the full story.”
“Nothing I can tell you will help,” she snapped.
“Let us decide that. Tell us what you were holding back on last time we talked.”
She shocked the hell out of Jarrod when she actually looked embarrassed. “It has nothing to do with what’s going on. It’s in the past.”
Realization dawned. “You were having an affair with William Tyvek, weren’t you?”
Anna Staunton sniffed as though the idea were distasteful or maybe it was just that talking about it was distasteful. “No. It ended years ago. William was a widower and my husband and I had,” she paused, “certain agreements.” A little shrug of her shoulders explained the rest.
“When was this?”
“Years ago. When Warrick was in high school.”
Jarrod frowned as he thought back to what Carrie had told him about Warrick and Vicki. “Warrick was dating Vicki in high school, wasn’t he?”
She raised her chin. “Yes.”
Jarrod could see the look of shock on Cal’s face and had a feeling he wasn’t hiding his opinion much better. But he didn’t care. “Did Warrick know?”
“No. We were discreet.”
“You need to tell us now if you know anything about where Tyvek might be hiding. We know the Balls were hiding him, but they’ve been arrested and we raided the apartment they’d put him in.” Jarrod had already had uniforms check the building in case Tyvek had taken Warrick and Sara back there. He hadn’t and there’d been no sign he’d been back.
Her eyes went wide at the news. They’d kept the arrest of the Balls quiet and this confirmed it hadn’t gotten out. If it had, she’d have known. He watched as she seemed to deflate a little. The woman didn’t strike him as someone who had a lot of empathy for others but apparently, there was something there.
“I’m sorry, detectives. I really don’t know how to help you. I’m not in contact with Tyvek. I don’t have the slightest idea where he is or where he would take them.”
Her voice shook in the smallest hint of her concern for her son, and unfortunately, Jarrod had a feeling she was telling the truth this time. They’d hit another dead end.
Chapter 39
Sara didn’t recognize the house Tyvek directed her to, but she could take a few guesses. Something told her it wouldn’t be Tyvek’s own house. That had likely been seized by the police last month. It was possible the house was the one Warrick had sold, but wouldn’t the new owners be here?
No. A dumpster. Sara took in her surroundings. There was a dumpster and the evidence of work being done on the house. But where were all the workmen? Or the neighbors? Surely someone would see them here and call the police?
Warrick was beginning to move in the backseat. Sara reached for him.
“Sorry, kitten. Can’t let you do that.” Tyvek pointed the gun her way, but still kept it far enough away from her that she couldn’t move in close enough to disarm him. If he’d just reach out toward her with it, or let her get closer to him, she could stop all of this.
Sara shot another look at Warrick, whose eyes now focused on her with renewed sharpness, as though he was coming around and taking stock.
“Get out of the car, kitten.”
Sara saw Warrick’s slight nod. She opened the car door and stepped out. She would only have seconds while Tyvek got out of the car. She put her hands behind her back and twisted one of the fingers on her prosthesis, wrenching it.
Not enough pressure.
Tyvek got out, moving toward the back of the car. He held the gun on her but his focus was on Warrick. She braced the pointer finger of her prosthesis against her hip, and twisted again. The pressure on her stump sent pain shooting through her arm, but she ignored it. The finger gave way. She moved her hand behind her back again, twisting the finger free of the wires that still held it to the hand.
Tyvek called out to Warrick. “Your turn, Mr. Big Shot. Get out of the car.”
Sara felt like she was watching some bizarre family sitcom where the father-in-law hated the son-in-law so much he was holding him at gun point. She wondered if Tyvek had called Warrick Mr. Big Shot at Thanksgiving dinners, then almost laughed at the strangeness of her thoughts in the face of a weapon. What the hell was wrong with her?
Warrick unfolded himself from the car, stumbling a bit as his legs moved to take his weight. His hands were bound behind his back, but his gaze locked onto Tyvek and he stood up straight.
“Let her go, Tyvek.”
“I can’t do that. I can’t let her leave me again.”
Warrick glanced from Sara to Tyvek and opened his mouth, but Sara jumped in before he could speak.
“I’m not leaving again, I promise.” As she said it, Sara thought of Buddy who’d had the same concerns. She hoped Tyvek was as easy to convince of that as Buddy was, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath on that. For now, she was hoping to lull him into letting her closer.
Warrick didn’t argue with her as Tyvek motioned toward the side of the house. “Move. We’re going to the rose garden.”
Warrick put himself between Sara and Tyvek as they walked around the corner of his old home. The house was set far back with a yard that stretched out in a yawning expanse on either side and a wooded double lot at the back. Stone walls contributed to the isolation of the space, something he’d once valued for its privacy, but now cursed as he thought about the gun at his back. He knew the new owners planned several months of renovations, leaving very little chance they’d discover what was happening at the moment.
He carefully flexed his fingers, ignoring the sharp pains as the feeling came back into his fingertips. He needed to be ready to move the second he could figure out a way to get his arms free. There was no way in hell he would let Sara down the way he’d let Vicki down.
They got out to Vicki’s rose garden with its ceramic benches and the circular pattern of roses and pathways.
“Keep going. All the way to the center.” Tyvek spoke gently, and Warrick had a feeling the man was talking to Sara now. Of course, he seemed to think Sara was Vicki, which might
be a good thing. If Warrick couldn’t get loose, he could at least convince Tyvek to let Sara go safely.
Sara looked back at Warrick and he murmured directions to her. “Right...left…left.”
They came to the center of the maze and Warrick turned to face Tyvek.
“Let her go, William. You’ve got me, but it’s time to let Vicki go. We don’t want her to get hurt.”
The sneer that crossed Tyvek’s face gave Warrick his answer before Tyvek spoke. “Now you want to put Vicki’s well-being first? That’s rich, even coming from you.” Tyvek turned to Sara. “Have a seat dear.” He gestured toward one of the two ceramic benches. Only on this one, he’d laid a fleece blanket out for Sara to sit on.
Sara raised her hands up slightly. “I’d rather sit with my husband.”
“He’s not your husband anymore.” Tyvek’s sudden outburst made her jump slightly, but she kept her gaze steady and Warrick’s gut clenched. Even if he could talk Tyvek into letting her go, he realized Sara wouldn’t leave. She would try to stay and fight. That’s who she was. God, he prayed he wasn’t going to get her killed. “Till death do us part, Vicki. That’s all you gave to him.”
Sara rushed to Warrick and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his chest. The move startled Warrick, but he felt her press something small into his hands. He recognized the feel of it with a start. It was one of the fingers from her prosthetic hand. And at the end of it, a sharp gear stuck out about a quarter of an inch. She was giving him a way to cut the ropes at his wrists.
She was incredible. Even in the face of danger, she was thinking. She hadn’t frozen or panicked.
Tyvek’s voice turned achingly soft. “You gave him till death and he took it. He took a lifetime from you. Can’t you see I want it to be different this time?”
Sara pulled away from Warrick and sat on the bench.
“Now, you.” Tyvek gestured to the other bench. “You sit there.”
Warrick lowered himself onto the other bench. “No blanket for me?”
Tyvek didn’t bother with an answer. He turned to a bag on the ground and unzipped it. Warrick didn’t wait to see what was in the bag. He worked his fingers back and forth over the rope with the gear Sara had given him, ignoring the way it cut into his fingers as he moved. He needed his hands free. He needed to get Sara away from Tyvek.
Chapter 40
Sara watched as Tyvek dug through the bag he’d stashed in the bushes. When he brought out lighter fluid, she had to fight not to spring out of her seat and attack. She cut her eyes toward Warrick. He was managing to stay very still, but she could see the muscles in his arms flexing as he moved. She only hoped that meant the worm gear she gave him was working, that he could cut through the ropes with it. She kept her hands by her sides, hoping Tyvek wouldn’t see her destroyed prosthesis.
She and Warrick locked eyes as she prayed over and over that he would break through the bindings. Tyvek knelt not far from her. He held the gun, but his focus was split now. He pulled two more cans of lighter fluid from the bag. That’s when Sara realized many of the shrubs had been stripped. Of course, they were bare of leaves and flowers for the winter, but Tyvek had hacked away at them and a pile of branches lay next to the bench Warrick sat on.
Tyvek had begun to talk, but the words were hard to make out. He was ranting to himself, and Sara understood what mental health experts meant when they talked about a psychotic break. He appeared to be exactly that: broken.
“William,” Warrick said, his voice steady. “Vicki always loved these roses. Don’t do this here.”
Tyvek stilled for a moment and Sara held her breath. Warrick had talked about Vicki in the past tense.
“I still do,” she said quickly. “I love this rose garden. Warrick is right. Don’t do this here.”
Tyvek shook his head and looked up at her, bone deep sorrow etched on his features. “I should have done better by you. I was too concerned about what people would think. Not this time, though. This time, we’re going to do this together and then you’ll see, things will be better when he’s gone.”
Sara’s stomach twisted and she thought she might be sick. She knew in Tyvek’s sick mind, Warrick was the root of his daughter’s problems.
Tyvek froze.
Her hand. He’d seen her hand. He stepped toward her, then spun toward Warrick. Sara couldn’t wait to see if Warrick had freed his hands.
Sara took a chance. It was now or never and she knew of one sure way to get Tyvek to turn back to her, to get his focus off Warrick. “Dad!”
Sara held her breath for a split second before remembering to breathe. As Tyvek turned, she struck, using the heel of her hand and driving straight up to his nose. Contrary to urban legend, it wouldn’t send the cartilage into his brain and kill him. But it would hurt like a mother and make his eyes water, giving her a few seconds’ advantage.
The gun fell from Tyvek’s hand and Sara dove for it, but he was on her almost instantly. Her right hand was pinned beneath her. With her prosthesis broken, she wasn’t able to grab the weapon with her left hand, but she could shove it out of the way. She hit at it, sending it under the shrubs.
“Vicki,” Tyvek choked out in a guttural sob. He looked at her as though he couldn’t believe she’d hurt him, but Sara didn’t feel anything for the man. He was a killer, and she wouldn’t let him kill Warrick in some crazed revenge plot for his daughter.
She shoved hard at Tyvek with the elbow of her left arm, flipping over to her hands and knees. She scrambled to look for a weapon. Something. Anything. Her eyes scanned the area and she finally dove for the gun she’d only moments before shoved out of the way.
She felt Tyvek’s hand clamp down on her ankle and she pitched forward, her head hitting the concrete bench.
Then Warrick was up and moving. His hands were free as he charged at Tyvek, tackling him. The two men flew over Sara and hit the ground. The sound of grunts and flesh hitting flesh rent the air.
Chapter 41
Jarrod lifted his phone to his ear as Cal drove them to the last of the three properties owned by the Balls. So far, they’d found nothing of note happening at either of the properties. Jarrod had touched base with Warrick’s assistant again. There was no sign of Warrick or Sara at the office yet and she hadn’t heard from either of them.
“Chad?” Jarrod said when his friend answered the phone. “Are you at the office?” His friend Chad worked at Sutton Capital and was close with one of the best hackers in the country, a woman who also worked at Sutton.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Jarrod summarized what was going on quickly. “Is Samantha there? I’m wondering if there’s anything she can do to help us.” He glanced at Cal. “Anything that maybe, we uh, can’t do.”
He was doing all he could to avoid flat-out asking Samantha to break the law, but he knew chad would get it. Their hands were tied and William Tyvek was a dangerous man. They needed to bring him in before he hurt anyone else.
“Hang on.”
A Minute later he could hear Chad talking. In typical Chad fashion, he didn’t bother with expansive explanations. He cut straight to the point. “William Tyvek might have Sara. Jarrod wants to know if you can track her somehow?”
Jarrod was expecting some mystical hacker solution. It wasn’t what he got. “Jarrod,” Chad said into the phone. “Samantha and Sara have the Find My Friend app. She’s pulling it up now.”
Jarrod knew the address as soon as Chad relayed it. Sara was at Warrick Staunton’s old house.
“We’ll keep you posted, Chad.” He said, hanging up. He hit the dashboard to turn on the lights. “They’re at Warrick Staunton’s old house.”
As Cal hit the gas and turned them onto the highway, Jarrod called into the Captain to see about getting backup. Hopefully he could convince the captain that she wouldn’t be there unless she was in trouble.
Chapter 42
Jonathan paced the conference room. He didn’t know if his heart could take a whole lot more of this. Wa
rrick was like a son to him and they’d only just gotten back to the point where he truly believed Warrick had forgiven him for his part in Tyvek’s plan.
He had driven out to Warrick’s townhouse before coming here. At the moment, he was waiting for a call-back from the car company. He was trying to convince them to track Warrick’s car and give him the location, but of course, they were fighting it. He’d wasted time screaming at them and was now waiting for a call from one of the supervisors. The police hadn’t been able to help.
Detective Harmon and his partner seemed to believe Warrick and Sara were in trouble, but their captain wasn’t willing to back them until they had some evidence of that.
Charlotte entered the room, looking as concerned as he did. “I talked to one of Sara’s friends at Sutton. The detectives just called there and one of the women had an app on her phone that located Sara. They’re out at Warrick’s old house.”
“Would Warrick have any reason to be out there? Maybe this is all just a false alarm. He and Sara could have run out there for some reason and they just aren’t answering the phone.”
Charlotte was shaking her head before he finished. “The new owners have closed on the house. The sale’s gone through and I’d know if any complications or issues had turned up. I can’t imagine they’d have a reason to be there.”
Jonathan’s chest tightened as the small bit of hope he’d begun to grasp at fell away. He knew how reliable Charlotte was. She was on top of every little detail of Warrick’s life. If something had happened at the house, Charlotte would know about it.
“Let’s go,” Jonathan said. “I’ll drive.”
Charlotte nodded and followed him out.
Jonathan had almost lost Warrick once with his betrayal and he’d been damned lucky to build back some of the trust they’d once had. He couldn’t lose him now. He just couldn’t.
