by Christi Snow
The surprise of the group came with Tim. Easily in his fifties, he looked more like an aging NFL player than a writer. The guy was huge. He definitely rivaled Colton’s size, but he had an intelligent and friendly look in his eyes that Penelope liked.
They were an eclectic group and it made Penelope even more curious as to how their cooperation worked. She was looking forward to hearing their talk this afternoon.
She led them into her office where she’d set up some refreshments for them while they prepared for the signing. “Make yourselves comfortable. I’m going to go downstairs and set up the table with the books you all brought with you. Thanks for that. I’ll send someone up when we’re ready for you. Do you all have any questions or concerns?”
Tony immediately dug into the food. “This is a sweet set-up. Thanks, Penelope. How long do we have until we need to be downstairs?”
She glanced down at the clock on her cell phone. “About twenty minutes.” Melinda blanched, so Penelope rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be fine. Everyone here loves books and you all love to write them. It makes it easy for everyone.”
Melinda nodded and gave a weak smile.
“I’ll introduce you and get you started with a few questions about how your cooperative works. I think once you get going, it will flow for both you and the customers. Do you want one person to do most the talking? You know, act as the spokesperson for the group?”
A resounding, “Tony,” came from the group.
Penelope chuckled. “Okay, Tony, you’re unanimously nominated.”
He grinned his cocky grin and said, “That’s cool.”
As she left her office, one of the buff bodyguards stood next to the door and nodded at her. She assumed the other one was downstairs somewhere watching over the growing crowd. As she started down to the main level, she was immediately overwhelmed with how many people were there. The bookstore was overflowing.
Standing taller than most, she spotted Colton as she descended the stairs. He was talking on his phone and scowling as he scanned the room, obviously looking for someone. When he saw Cassie he strode over to her, talked to her for a moment. She looked worried. Something was wrong. She rushed over to them. “What’s wrong?”
“Chris has been in a car accident,” answered Cassie.
“Is he okay?”
Lines of worry and fear covered Cassie’s face. “I don’t know. We need to get to the ER.”
“Go. Of course, go. We’ll be fine here. Both of you go and take care of care of Chris.”
Colton’s gaze swung suddenly to her. “I’m not leaving you. It’s not safe for you here in this crowd.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Colton. Your brother needs you. I’ll be fine. Besides we have the extra bodyguards here.” She waved her hand at the man who stood guard by the front door and watched their exchange in interest as he scanned the room.
Colton looked torn as he glanced from Cassie to the crowd in the store.
Penelope urged, “Colton, it’ll be fine. Your priority right now is to make sure Chris is okay.”
Cassie tugged Colton’s hand. “We need to go.”
He finally relented and quickly placed a kiss on her forehead. It was the closest he’d come to her in two days. Her heart stuttered.
“I’m going, but I trust you to be careful.” He looked her in the eyes. “I need you to promise me to stay safe.”
“I promise.” She tried to ignore the shiver of dread that snaked down her spine.
After they left, she ignored the specter of danger in the air and set about starting the signing.
Penelope watched out over the crowd waiting in line. The customers were chaotic, but it was an organized chaos. Tony was witty and gracious and everyone seemed to be having a fabulous time. Even Melinda relaxed as Tony joked and worked the crowd. Jon did a fabulous job running the cash register while Alix and Julie kept the lines sorted and happy. Penelope was at Tony’s elbow making sure his needs were met as she handled the crowds. Things were going smoothly until Tim, one of the Abilene Authors, came up to whisper discreetly in her ear, “There’s an issue at the back door.”
She looked at him and could see his concern. “What is it?”
“There’s a little girl. She’s lost her mother, but won’t come with me. She’s scared of me.” He looked disgruntled at the thought, even though he had to realize he was a huge guy. She could see why a little girl would be intimidated by him. Hell, if she was lost and alone, she’d be intimidated by him, too.
She smiled at him. “Okay. Let me just tell Tony where I’m going and then I’ll take care of it.”
As Tim and Penelope headed toward the back of the store, one of the bodyguards fell in beside them. Penelope stopped and turned to him. “Look I know you’re just doing your job, but it’s just a lost little girl. She’s already scared and having two huge guys with me isn’t going to help the issue.”
“Then he can stay here,” he nodded his head at Tim, “and I’ll go with you. Your protection is my job.”
Penelope worked hard not to sigh. “Listen, I completely understand what you’re saying, but she already knows him. I am not going to be responsible for traumatizing a little girl. Stay here. I’m going to stay in the store. I’m just going to find her mother for her.”
He didn’t look convinced, but he finally relented. “Okay.”
Penelope spotted the blonde-haired, blue-eyed little angel with tears rolling down her cheeks by the back door. Her heart went out to her. She looked terrified. Penelope crouched down beside her. She couldn’t be more than four or five years old. “Hello angel. My name is Penelope and this is my friend, Tim. Did you lose your mommy?”
She nodded quietly, still looking scared.
“What’s your name?”
“Ka..Kat,” she mumbled.
“It’s okay. We’ll find your mommy. Do you know what her name is?”
The little girl looked even more petrified as she shook her head. Suddenly she darted toward the back door and pushed it open. As soon as she hit the outside, she started running across the back parking lot. Penelope dashed after her, yelling her name. She was so little; any car could back up and never see she her until they hit her. Penelope saw her as she darted between a van and a Lexus and went running after her.
She was in between the van and the car when she realized something was wrong. The little girl ran into a strange man’s arms, just as two men reached out of the van to grab her. She didn’t have time to even take a breath and scream before she found herself on the floor of a van surrounded by four really tough-looking guys, all grinning from ear-to-ear.
Chapter 34
The hospital was only five minutes away from Penelope’s bookstore, but Cassie was frantic by the time they arrived. Colton tried to reassure her while he drove since they had no idea what Chris’s status was medically. “Cass, you and Chris have your twin connection and you’ve always known he was hurt before anyone else. Do you feel like he’s in any danger?”
She was quiet for a moment as if trying to connect with Chris. Colton glanced at her and thought about their connection. The year before when Chris ‘died,’ Cassie always had that connection telling her he was alive even when all the facts said he wasn’t. Unfortunately, none of them believed her then. Now they all trusted their connection implicitly.
She shook her head hesitantly. “No, I’m not getting a sense that anything is wrong.”
“Then trust that feeling. It was probably just a fender bender. Try to relax until we know more.” They pulled into a parking spot and ran into the ER, but it was mass chaos. A school bus carrying one of the area high school track teams had crashed and there were crying teens and harried adults everywhere. Trying to find someone who knew what was going on was next to impossible.
It was forty-five minutes later before they finally found someone to talk to. Unfortunately that person had no idea where Chris was at. The young nurse looked up at Colton from her computer.
“Who did you say called you?”
“I don’t remember her name. She just said that Chris had been brought in from a car accident and was in the ER.” This was beyond frustrating. Colton gnashed his teeth with impatience. Worry for Chris and the stress of the week had taken its toll.
“Are you sure the caller identified the hospital as Texas Tech Health Sciences Center?”
“I thought so, but I was in a crowd when I got the call and there was a lot of noise. Maybe I misunderstood her.”
The nurse picked up the phone. “Okay, let me call the other ER’s in the area and see if I can locate your brother. Go have a seat and I’ll let you know as soon as I find out something.”
Colton gritted his teeth, but simply nodded and pulled Cassie down into a chair in the waiting room. He looked over at her as they sat. “Why don’t you try his cell again?”
She nodded and looked up at him as she listened. “It’s still going directly to voice mail and no one is answering the house phone.”
“What was Jake doing today?”
“He went fishing with some friends from college. They wanted Chris to go with them, but crutches on a boat aren’t a good idea. He left around 5:00 this morning. I’d call him, but I don’t want to worry him until we know something.”
Colton nodded as he looked around the waiting room, wondering what the hell happened to Chris.
Two hours later, they were no closer to the answer. The nurse who’d been helping them called all the area hospitals and then finally the Lubbock PD. There was no trace of a car accident with Chris Robertson in it. With no other choice, they headed out the door and back to Cassie’s house to regroup.
As Colton turned onto Cassie’s street, he exclaimed, “What the hell?”
Parked in her driveway was Chris’s truck with no visible damage. He hadn’t even gotten Cassie’s jeep stopped before she flew out the door and up the walk, yelling Chris’s name.
Colton rushed in after her and she was already coming back down the hall from the bedrooms. “He’s not here. Where the hell is he?” She headed to the French doors leading to her patio and launched herself out them, calling Chris’s name.
Colton got to the doors in time to see Cassie throw herself into a very sleepy, confused looking Chris lying on the lounge chair. He wrapped his arms around her as he sat up in distress. “Cassie what’s wrong?”
She was crying and not capable of speech so it was up to Colton to explain. “We got a phone call you were in a car accident and in the ER. Where the hell have you been and why haven’t you been answering your phone?” he growled at him.
“I’ve been out here enjoying the day. I’ve just been reading and napping. My cell is probably dead. The battery isn’t keeping a charge for anything.” He pulled Cassie off him so he could pull the phone out of his pocket. He flashed it to them. “Yep, dead.”
Colton rubbed a hand over his face. “Dammit. I’m glad you’re okay, but damn… We’re gonna get that fixed first thing Monday morning.” He nodded toward Chris’s phone. “But why would someone call and tell us…” Realization dawned and the blood drained from his face. He reached back for his phone as he said a single word, “Penelope.”
He dialed her phone first, but there wasn’t an answer. Panic crawled up his gut. He left a message and tried not to sound as frantic as he felt, “Penelope, I need you to call me as soon as you get this.” He hung up and dialed the store.
Alix answered, “Raider Readers.”
“Alix, it’s Colton. May I speak to Penelope?”
“I’m sorry, Colton. We were getting ready to call you.” Her voice was full of sorrow. He knew what was coming next. He sank to the ground and both his siblings reached for him as she said, “Penelope’s missing. We can’t find her anywhere.”
Chapter 35
Penelope knew she was in trouble when they didn’t try to hide their faces. The four men surrounding her spoke Spanish. Unfortunately, they spoke much too quickly for her to pick up anything but a few random words here and there. From what she could gather, they were on their way to meet the Boss and then they would finally have access to the gift. She shuddered in revulsion and fear as she thought about Colton’s theory and her erotica writing.
She couldn’t see where they were going, but estimated they’d been traveling for around forty-five minutes. The floor of the utility van was hard on the rocky road they’d hit about ten minutes ago. With her hands tied behind her back, she had a difficult time maintaining her balance. Her shoulders were going to be covered with bruises from falling across the hard floor, but that was probably the least of her worries.
Right after they grabbed her, they had picked up the man and the little girl. They’d obviously been part of the set-up and were dropped off somewhere else about ten minutes later. The whole time they were in the van, Penelope watched the suddenly dried-eyed little girl in amazement. She was an incredible little actress. It never even occurred to her that danger lurked behind the tears of a scared, angelic-looking five year old girl.
She tried to engage her captors in conversation. They hadn’t been open to the idea. A threat with a roll of duct tape meant she’d been quiet ever since. Instead, she listened to them and tried to gather information.
There were four men in the back with her, plus their driver. The driver looked nervous and young. He didn’t even look old enough to have a driver’s license yet. She looked around at the four men surrounding her. Three of them were also very young, barely in their twenties.
The one issuing the orders was older, mid to late thirties and both his arms were covered in sleeve tattoos. He had five teardrops tattooed below his left eye and a frightening looking ragged scar which travelled up his right cheek. His hard, cold eyes didn’t miss a flicker of movement and she knew he wouldn’t think twice about killing her. There wasn’t a shred of humanity left in his eyes. He was the one she had to worry about.
She had no doubt they planned to kill her. Colton would feel responsible because he wasn’t there when she’d gotten stupid. That alone almost made her lose her self-control and start sobbing, but she couldn’t lose it yet. She had to figure out a way out of this. Mainly because Colton would never forgive himself if she died.
She couldn’t dwell on him or she would panic. But that didn’t keep her from wondering if Chris was okay. If things were serious with Chris, Colton may not even know she was missing yet.
The van suddenly lurched to a bone-jarring halt and she tumbled across the floor again. She didn’t have time to right herself before the door slid open and hard hands yanked her up.
The heat of the day slapped her in the face, but the sight in front of her was even more of a shock. They dragged her up the steps of the old Martin homestead. She loved this house and this ranch. The last time she’d been here was with Colton. To know she’d probably die here seemed too cruel a fate. Were these men tied to the Martin family somehow? Surely the Martins didn’t know about this.
Two men dragged her as she stumbled, trying to keep up with them. At the sound of galloping hoof beats, they immediately drew out guns. Penelope closed her eyes, praying one of the Martin family wouldn’t die here today.
But it wasn’t a Martin who rode up. It was Ethan, the Martin’s ranch hand, and the men around her obviously knew him because they put away their guns and relaxed their stances. Ethan greeted Scarface, but never even looked in her direction. He couldn’t be with these men could he? She didn’t know Ethan as well as she knew the other men on the ranch, but he’d always been nice when she’d seen him around. He was always helpful and willing to lend a hand when she needed it.
In fact, he’d been the one who introduced her to Hannah. Oh my God! He’d been the one that introduced her to Hannah. Her stomach rolled and she tasted bile on the back of her tongue. These were the men who were responsible for Hannah’s death. She had no idea how it all tied together, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was all related. She lunged for the railing, leaned over and lost her
breakfast in the overgrown bushes.
The men surrounding her laughed at her discomfort. Finally, Ethan looked at her for a split-second. His gaze was filled with guilt and remorse before it slid away. Maybe she’d be able to use that guilt to get him to help her to escape. He spoke in rapid Spanish to Scarface, but she didn’t have a chance to find out what they were discussing as they dragged her inside the house. They bypassed the main floor and headed directly to a staircase leading to the basement.
The basement was unfinished with a dirt floor and walls. It was dark and damp and had obviously been used as the root cellar. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, they shoved her to the ground and left her, not even bothering to untie her hands. The lock on the door clicked into place and Penelope was left in the pitch black. The panic she’d been holding at bay ever since she’d been grabbed came shuddering through her chest in great big sobs. What was she going to do?
* * *
Colton took great gulping breaths trying to get control of his panic. He would get her back. He had to believe that. To think anything else was unacceptable, but right now he had to get his head on straight so he could do that. He stood up and tried to remember the breathing techniques Penelope taught him when she was showing him her yoga breathing. Slowly, he shut his eyes and inhaled and exhaled to the count of five. He did that for five breaths, and then ten. Opening his eyes again, he splashed some cold water on his face, and felt more centered.
The worried faces of his siblings greeted him as he opened the bathroom door. He knew he was still pale from getting sick and they both looked at him with concern. “I’m headed to the bookstore. Are you going with me?”
They both nodded.
Colton grimly strode toward Chris’s truck and started dialing his phone. Brian barely had time to answer before Colton began issuing orders. “Brian, Penelope disappeared from the bookstore. I’m pretty sure she’s been kidnapped. I need you to meet me there as soon as you can.”
