by Dale Cadeau
“Well, both of you be extra careful until I check everything out. It could be just a crackpot calling James, but I don’t know for sure. I’ll call you when I know more, so make sure you have your phone with you.”
“Okay, I’ll be extra careful, but that goes for you, too. And I’ll keep you informed about what’s happening at the hospital with Avery and Cyn. I bet both James and Angel are basket cases right about now,” Laura said with a laugh.
“You’re probably right. James did sound very shaken when he called. He’s really worried about Avery and he doesn’t need this extra worry about Chase, especially if it turns out to be nothing.” Laura closed the bathroom door and Clay started dialing Grant’s number.
Pulling a clean T-shirt out of the dresser, he listened to the phone ring and ring until Grant’s voice message came on. He left a message for Grant to get over to James’s penthouse, then ended the call and called Gabe. Not giving him time to say hello, Clay told him that he need both him and Tony at James’s penthouse, as soon as possible. Putting the T-shirt on, he thought about James and what he had told him.
On the way over to the office, Clay decided to try to reach Chase again. Clay picked out Chase’s number on his phone and dialed. A few minutes later, Chase answered and sounded out of breath.
“Clay, what do you want?”
“Chase, where are you right now? And what are you doing?” Clay asked abruptly.
“I’m in the park jogging. I’m trying to get some peace and you and James keep calling—”
“Where are you?” Clay cut him off.
“The park just blocks from my apartment. Why?”
“Stay there and I’ll pick you up. Don’t go anywhere until I see you. I’m leaving now.”
“What’s up, Clay?” Chase asked in a concerned voice.
“I’ll fill you in when I get there. Be careful and aware of your surroundings and anyone around you.”
“Okay, but make it fast. You’re starting to scare me,” Chase said with even more concern sounding in his voice.
“Soon.” Clay ended the call and grabbed his keys up and hurried out of the apartment.
Chapter Four
Chase stood jogging in place, cooling down from his run. His body might be cooling, but his mind was going at warp speed wondering what Clay’s cryptic phone call meant and how it had anything to do with him. Taking a deep breath, he walked slowly to the main gate of the park. A few people were milling around, but no one looked out of place this early in the morning.
Chase heard Clay’s truck before he saw it. Clay loved his bike, but now he had changed to a truck. He still liked it to rumble and had some fancy exhaust put on the truck.
Clay’s black truck pulled up in front of the park gates and Chase jumped in.
Clay barely waited for Chase to shut the door and peeled out of the parking lot.
“What’s up, Clay?” Chase asked, grabbing on to his seatbelt to fasten it.
Clay ignored his question and asked one himself. “Did anyone see you this morning? Anything strange go on?”
“No, I didn’t go home last night. This morning I had the limo let me off at the park. I had gym clothes in the car and thought it was a waste of time to go up to my place. So I got off at the park and started my jog. Clay, stop being mysterious, I know that something is up. Tell me before I go crazy and call James to find out.”
Clay gave him a strange grin as he parked the truck in the underground parking lot at Braden Security. “You wouldn’t get an answer from James right now. He’s at the hospital having a baby.”
“James is having a baby?”
“Well, James isn’t, but Avery is. He could hardly talk this morning, he was so nervous and excited,” Clay told Chase as they rode up the elevator to the office.
When the elevator door opened, it revealed Gabe and Tony standing there waiting.
“Get in, we have to go to James’s penthouse.” Clay held the door open and when they stepped in, Clay put his index finger on the glass box next to the top button. A green scan started and the elevator rose to the penthouse.
Clay led the guys out of the elevator and opened the penthouse door, walking straight through the living room and into the kitchen. Making his way to the counter, he turn on the always-ready coffee pot. He told the other guys to take a seat at the table and grabbed a chair for himself.
Just because James didn’t think much of hoax calls like the one this morning didn’t mean that Clay wasn’t still on edge. He took threats to his team (and to the members of his team’s family) very seriously. His gut was telling him that the call was something serious, and it didn’t sit right with him that the entire team wasn’t here.
Clay look questioningly at the men. “Does anyone know where Grant is? I tried to reach him this morning and got no answer.”
“I tried Grant after I woke Tony up. He lives just down from our apartment, so I was going to ask him if he wanted us to pick him up. But like you, I got no answer,” Gabe replied.
“We’ll just have to keep trying until we reach him.” Chase got up and pulled cups from the cupboard and poured coffee for all of them, grabbing the milk out of the fridge on one of his trip to the table with their cups.
Clay grabbed his cup and took a sip of the much-needed coffee.
“Well the good news is that James, Avery, Angel, and Cyn are all at the hospital having babies.”
“Wow, that’s great,” Gabe and Tony said with wide grins on their faces at hearing the news.
“Yeah, it is great. I’m going to be an uncle now,” Chase added as he pulled the sugar bowl closer and put in four spoons of sugar.
“You don’t sound too excited about the whole thing,” Gabe asked him.
“Well I really haven’t had time for it to sink in. I’m more worried about what Clay is not telling us.”
Clay sat up, put his cup down, and clasped his hands together in front of him on the table. He gave them all seriously looks as he seemed to be gathering his thoughts.
“James told me that in the midst of all the excitement of getting Avery ready to go to the hospital, he received a strange phone call on the penthouse landline.”
“Who the hell would call him that early in the morning? Especially on the landline. We all know to call his cell,” Tony asked.
“James didn’t know either. All he said is that they told him if he wanted to see his brother and Charlie ever again to have his check book ready at noon when they called back. Chase, do you have any clue what this is about?” Clay turned to Chase.
“Nothing, like I said I didn’t go home last night. Nothing unusual went on. The last time I spoke to Charlie was a week ago. I told her I wanted some time off before taking the reins over at the office.”
“Chase, why don’t you call Charlie and see if she can shed some light on it? Maybe it’s just a disgruntled customer taking pot shots.”
“Sure.” Chase pulled out his cell phone. “Charlie is probably at the office by now. She really likes to get there early and get a jump on the day.”
Chase dialed her number and waited for Charlie to pick up. After hearing her voicemail message, he shut his cell and looked at the guys “That’s strange. In all the years that I’ve known Charlie, this is the first time that I got her voicemail at this hour.”
“Maybe she had a hot date last night and turned it off,” Gabe added.
“Charlie, no way. She’s holding out for Grant. She doesn’t think I suspect, but the sparks between the two when I introduced them were like seeing fireworks go off. I’ve never seem her so out of sorts. Every time I called from the compound, all I heard from her was about how Grant was doing such a good job and not to worry about coming home too soon.”
“Well you couldn’t have told anything from Grant’s demeanor, all the time you were gone,” Clay replied.
“Do you think it involves both of them? I know Charlie wanted to meet with Grant sometime this week, outside of business hours, to make sure everything
was ready for my return. That’s the excuse she used. Maybe they got together. Let me call the office and see if Helen, my secretary, is there yet. She might know if anything went on.” Chase stood up and dialed his office as he walked to the coffee pot and brought it back to the table and poured all of them a new cup. Chase put the coffee pot down on the table when Helen answered.
“Helen, this is Chase. How are you? Yes, I’m fine and will be back at the grind soon.” The men listen to the one-sided conversation. “Helen, what I wanted to ask you about is Charlie. I tried to get her at the office, and there was no answer.” He paused. “Yes, I know it’s strange that she’s not at the office at this time. Did anything go on yesterday that might give me a clue as to where she is this morning?”
Chase was silent as he listened to Helen. “Thanks, Helen, I’ll look into it.” Chase closed his cell and sat down.
“Helen said that Grant was in the office most of yesterday with Charlie. Both left at the same time. According to Helen, in her eyes they looked very chummy. She couldn’t tell me anything else.”
“I’m going to try Grant again,” Clay said, picking his cell phone off the table and dialed Grant’s number. After a few minutes, Clay put the cell down. “Nothing. Now I’m starting to worry. Both Grant and Charlie seem to be missing.”
“Don’t all our cell phones have GPS tracking in them?” Tony asked.
“That’s right, but with Grant gone, I don’t have a clue how to work the software he designed for this purpose on his computer.”
“I think I do.” Tony got up. “Let me go down to the office and see what I can come up with.”
“Trace Charlie’s phone, too, if you can.” Chase handed his phone to Tony. “It’s number two in the address book.”
“Sure, no problem.” Tony rose from the table after writing down the number and made his way out of the penthouse and down to the office.
“Well, what do we do now?” Chase asked.
“Wait, that’s all we can do until Tony comes back. If he can trace Grant’s phone, we will get a bead on him. He could be just at home with his cell off. Let hope that’s all it is. Charlie might even be with him.”
The three of them were all lost in their own thoughts, downing more coffee, when Tony came back in.
“That was fast. Got anything?” Clay hopefully asked Tony as he took his seat back at the table.
“Yeah, but I don’t know what to make of it. Both of their phones pinged at being at the corner of Main and Tenth.”
“That’s where James’s restaurant is. But it’s closed now until noon. They can’t be there.”
“Well that’s where their cell phone say they are. Gabe and I will go down and take a look.”
“I’ll go, too,” Chase said as he got up. “I can’t stand this sitting around.”
“No, you’re not going anywhere. Did you forget that someone called James and told him that if he wanted you back, to be here at noon?”
Chase sat back down. “Yeah, you’re right. You think it’s connected in some way to Grant and Charlie being missing?”
“I’m starting to look that way.” Clay turned to Gabe and Tony.
“Hurry down there and look around. Maybe they took Grant and Charlie thinking they were grabbing Chase.”
“Grant doesn’t look anything like me and he wears glasses,” Chase added.
“Not now he doesn’t. But before you beefed up you were both around the same size. I know Grant has been hemming and hawing about trying contact lenses. God, I wish Brad was here, he is the closest to Grant and would know.”
Tony and Gabe left after taking a last sip of their coffee. “We’ll leave you two to take the phone call. We’ll let you know as soon as we find anything.”
Chase watched them leave and got up and started pacing. “Do you really think that’s what’s going on, Clay?”
“Well, it’s a real possibility, with both Grant and Charlie not answering their phones.”
“But who would want me?” Chase brushed a hand through his thick black hair, making it stand on end.
“Maybe that’s what we should concentrate on until we hear something from Tony or Gabe,” Clay said.
“Sit down and let’s go over anyone that you might have a beef with, or that might have a beef with you. In your line of business, you must have both.”
“Yeah, I do,” Chase said, sitting down and looking into his now-empty coffee cup. “But I’m glad to say my record is pretty good, I make more money than lose. Most people are pleased with my efforts. There are a few, but I don’t think there is anyone that would go this far.”
“Well you must have pissed off some people. I know you’re good and I thank you for all that you have done for the group of us. But think hard, Chase. It could have happened while you were gone or could be years ago. Some people simmer for a while before they make a move.”
“Let me think. I’ll make us some more coffee while I do,” Chase said, moving to the counter to start the coffee pot going again.
“We might drown in the stuff before we know anything. Make it strong,” Clay said dryly.
Chapter Five
Grant listened to Charlie breathing softly as she fell asleep. He was glad that she had enough trust in him to keep her safe, which allowed her to let go. There was no way that he could sleep. He had put on a good act for Charlie, but deep inside he was worried about their chances. Especially when or if the men realized their mistake, that they had grabbed him and not Chase.
He knew the guys would start looking for him when he didn’t make it to the meeting, but that was hours away. Rolling Charlie away from him, he waited until her breathing evened off again, then stood up from the bed.
He felt in his pocket for his cell, then remembered that he had put it in his suit jacket that he had been carrying over one shoulder when he was hit from behind. He must have dropped it and his coat when he went down. So either it was still back in the alley or the two assholes that had them also had his cell. Looking down at Charlie, he could see that her clothes had no pockets and her purse was nowhere to be seen. So they must have hers, too.
Walking into the bathroom, he turned on the bare bulb on the ceiling and looked around. The bathroom was small, had a tiny shower, toilet, and basin, but no windows. Not even a vent. Going back into the room, he walked to the one small window. Even with the dark outside, he could see the steel bars on the outside. He tried to jimmy the window up anyway, but gave up when he found it was painted shut and the only way to break the seal was to pound on it. That would wake up Charlie and also make enough noise for the two guys to come investigate.
Leaving the window, he walked to the small table and took in what their kidnappers had left. On the tray was some bottled water and energy bars. Well at least they had something. He hoped that they wanted to keep them around for a bit.
He knew the statistics were against them, but most people didn’t have Braden Security watching their back. He knew the guys would find them come hell or high water. He didn’t have a doubt.
Restlessly, he started pacing and running his hand through his hair. His first priority was to Charlie. If he was alone, he might try to jump these guys, but with Charlie’s safety in his hands, he knew he couldn’t take that chance. When he heard muttering, he looked down at Charlie and noticed her talking in her sleep. Grant went back to the bed and slid in, pulled her close, and nestled her to his side. She snuggled up and quieted.
There was nothing he could do right now, so he pulled the covers over himself and sighed. Well, he had a least a few hours to try and think of something. He just hoped the team had already gotten a start on finding them and that there were clues for them to find and follow.
Grant’s mind worked and came up with every scenario that he could think of. He knew that the kidnappers thought he was Chase. If he could keep them thinking that, he and Charlie had more of a chance. Chase was a high-profile person. He ran a multi-million dollar investment firm, and he was James Braden
’s brother. Maybe they had not realized at the time that by kidnapping Chase, they had awoken one of the best Green Beret units the army had ever seen. If they hadn’t been railroaded and discharged on faulty info, all the guys would probably still be overseas, deep in some mission, with a few metals to their names. He wasn’t worried that the guys wouldn’t make this their first priority when they realized what was happening. He just hoped that he could do something to help them at this end without putting Charlie at risk.
Grant thought of the kidnappers asking her her name. He was surprised when she acknowledged that it was Amber Charlie Stone. He bet there was a story behind that name. Charlie, in all the time that he had known and worked with her, had never let on that her real name wasn’t Charlie. In his mind, he had thought that it probably short for Charlotte or some other name that she didn’t like, and never questioned her. Grant brought his thoughts back to their situation and made himself relax as much as he could while still being alert to his surroundings. He knew that when Charlie awoke that she would need him. Last night, with the shock of the kidnapping, she probably shut a lot out, but she was too curious not to wake up with a thousand and one questions.
Grant was wide awake the next morning, watching Charlie sleep when the door to their room opened. Grant gently unwrapped his arms from around her and stood up. He didn’t want to be laying down and not ready for anything they might try to pull. It was a repeat of the night before, with one guy holding a tray and the other standing in the doorway holding a gun. The first man laid the tray down on the table, then turned to Grant.
“We have been in touch with your brother. We will soon see how much he values your life,” the man said with a sneer from the doorway as the other man walked back to the door and through it. Giving another sneer at Grant, he followed, closing and locking the door behind them.
Charlie had woken when the guy was speaking, but she didn’t move, just lay there listening. Her first thoughts were that it was all a dream that she had made up overnight, and in the morning, she would wake up in her apartment. Of course, Grant was with her in her dreams. He was never far from her thoughts since she had met him. She didn’t want to let him go now his job at Chase’s firm was over. Listening to the guy’s voice, when she woke, she knew it wasn’t a dream, no, it was too real.
