“She went somewhere with a man,” Susannah said.
“Who was it, honey?” Eric asked as alarm bells rang in his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Tiff? Do you know who it was?” Eric asked, turning to his older daughter.
“No, but he had a broken arm, and Mommy looked scared.”
Adrenaline pulsed through his veins as he grabbed his cell phone from where he’d hidden it in his office, then called Franklin as he rushed the girls to a neighbor’s house.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Abby pulled into the bank parking lot and turned off the engine, then watched as Tim put the gun into his jacket pocket.
“That’s right,” he said, catching her watching him. “Don’t try anything foolish. You’ll walk next to me and pretend everything’s fine.” He reached into the backseat and picked up a briefcase.
Abby nodded, praying she wasn’t about to make a mistake.
They exited the car and Tim handed her the briefcase. “You carry this.”
As they walked toward the bank, Abby thought over her plan. She needed to stall. Maybe Tess had called the police, although she wouldn’t know Tim had forced Abby to go to the bank.
“Open the door, Abby,” Tim said, keeping his good hand in his pocket with the gun.
Abby complied and they got in line behind an older woman. When it was their turn, Abby set the briefcase on the floor, then opened her purse, pulled out her wallet, and set it on the counter. Tim watched her every move.
“How can I help you folks?” the teller asked them.
“I, uh, I’d like to make a withdrawal,” Abby said.
“Okay. What’s the account number?” the teller asked.
As Abby fumbled with her wallet, she could sense Tim’s nervousness. “Let me see. I have it here somewhere.” Abby pulled out a business card and flipped it over before Tim could see what was on it. “Let me just jot it down for you.” Quickly scrawling her account number on the card, Abby handed it to the teller and tried to convey with her eyes that something was wrong.
The teller didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary as she asked, “How much would you like to withdraw?”
“Fifteen thousand dollars.” Abby’s heart pounded, and she ventured a quick glance in Tim’s direction. He was grinning.
“I’ll need to see some ID, ma’am,” the teller said.
“Oh, sure.” Abby held her wallet out to the woman, her license facing up.
“Thank you.” The teller barely looked in Abby’s direction as she typed the numbers into her computer.
Abby held her breath, waiting to see what would happen.
The teller looked at Abby and Tim, puzzled. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Your account doesn’t have the funds to cover that withdrawal.”
Tim stepped forward. “How much is in there?”
Startled at Tim’s sudden movement, the teller’s gaze jerked in his direction, then back at the screen. “It says you have $548.63.”
“What the—?” Tim sputtered.
Abby’s heart beat erratically as she looked at Tim. He clenched his jaw and his eyes bored holes into her face. Without looking away from her, Tim said, “We’ll take it all.”
Inhaling sharply, Abby tried to calm herself. She hadn’t foreseen Tim emptying her bank account when she’d thought of this diversion.
“Ma’am?” the teller asked.
Turning back to face the teller, Abby again tried to convey her concern.
“Sign here, please,” the teller said.
Unsure what else to do, Abby signed the withdrawal slip and passed it back to the teller.
“Do you want that in twenties?”
She felt Tim step closer, his arm going around her shoulders.
“That would be fine,” he said, smiling.
The teller looked at Abby, hesitating. When Abby didn’t respond, the woman began counting out the money.
Not taking his arm from Abby’s shoulders, Tim motioned with his chin toward the cash. “Go ahead, honey.”
Abby slowly scooped it up, then placed it in her purse along with her wallet.
“Don’t forget the briefcase, sweetheart.”
Tim’s arm still on her shoulder, Abby picked up the briefcase. Pressing Abby close to his side, Tim walked with her away from the teller’s window.
“Ma’am! You forgot this,” the teller called after them, holding up the business card.
Barely able to turn her head in the teller’s direction, Abby called out, “It’s fine.” She prayed the woman would turn the card over and come to the right conclusion.
Once Abby and Tim had cleared the bank’s doors, Tim released Abby’s shoulders and gripped her arm, nearly dragging her to the car. She could hear him swearing violently under his breath.
When they got to the car, he spun her around so she faced him, making her drop the briefcase.
“Where’s the money?” he said through gritted teeth.
Abby trembled at the fury in his face.
He squeezed her arm harder.
“You’re hurting me. Let go.” She tried to pull away, but his hand was like a vise.
“If you think you’re hurting now, just wait until we’re no longer in public.” He moved his face within inches of hers, then spoke very slowly. “I don’t like being tricked.”
“I’m sorry,” Abby whispered, trying to back up a few inches, frightened to see there were no other people around. “I wasn’t tricking you. The money’s in there.”
“Then where is it? Or should we go back to your house and see what your daughters are up to?”
Abby’s eyes widened and her voice shook at the clear threat. “It’s in a safe-deposit box.”
Tim spoke with barely controlled rage. “Then why didn’t we ask for that?”
Abby shrugged slightly. “I’m sorry. I guess I was just scared and not thinking clearly.”
“Take the money in your purse and put it in my glove box,” Tim said, never letting go of her arm.
“Let go of me first.”
“Fine. But don’t forget who has the gun.” His grip slackened.
Nodding, Abby opened her purse and pulled out the cash. She opened the car door and slid into the seat, then opened the glove box and placed the money inside. “Okay,” she said, standing next to the car once more. “Now what?”
“Now we go back inside and get my money. All of it.” He looked around the parking lot, a determined expression on his face, then turned back to Abby. “I have to warn you. I’ve had all I can take of you. I don’t even think I care that we’re in a public place. If you do anything stupid, I think I just might shoot you in front of everyone. Got it?”
Seeing the expression on his face, Abby believed him. “Yes, I understand.”
“Get the briefcase.”
Abby picked it up and allowed Tim to lead her back to the doors of the bank.
As soon as they entered, Abby looked at the teller’s window to see if the woman who had helped them earlier noticed them, but her window was closed. Abby stared numbly ahead as Tim got someone to help them with her safe-deposit box.
“Do you think it’s Tim?” Eric said into his cell phone as he drove toward the city center.
Agent Franklin was clearly also in transit as he answered, a car’s horn interrupting him. “Now, don’t panic, but I just received a call from the manager at your wife’s bank. He said a man and woman came in a few minutes ago trying to make a withdrawal. He said the pair were acting strange, and the woman had written her account number on the back of one of my business cards.” Franklin paused. “He said the woman’s name was Abby Breuner.”
A ball of anger worked its way up Eric’s throat. “It has to be Tim.”
“I agree.” Franklin paused again. “Eric, I want you to stay home with your children. Let us handle this.”
“No way. This is my wife we’re talking about. I’m already on my way.”
“You’ll just get in the way. Look
, I’ll call you as soon as she’s safe.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
With shaking hands, Abby loaded the briefcase with the bills from the safe-deposit box. As she approached Tim, she tried to act normal. She held the briefcase out to him.
“You carry it,” he whispered. “I need to keep my good hand free to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”
Nodding, she followed him toward the front door of the bank. He pushed it open and allowed Abby to go first. She kept walking, not wanting to give him a reason to get angry.
“I want you to put the briefcase in my trunk.” He pulled out his car keys then unlocked the trunk. It popped open. “Nice and easy now.”
Abby followed his instructions and watched as he closed the trunk. “Okay. I did what you asked. Let me go now.”
“Patience, patience.” Keeping his hand inside his jacket, he jerked his head toward the passenger door. “Get in.”
Abby had always heard that once you got in the car with your kidnapper, your chances of survival decreased. She hadn’t balked before because she’d wanted to get Tim away from her children. Now, however, she couldn’t see how going with him could be beneficial.
Her hesitation seemed to agitate him. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.” He pushed her toward the door. “Open it.”
“No.” She tried to bolt away, but her pregnant shape made her slow and awkward. Tim caught her easily and pulled her toward the door. As panic welled up inside her, a thought came clearly to her mind. Pretend you’re in labor. Suddenly she bent over and held her abdomen. “I think I’m going into labor.”
That caught Tim’s attention and he let go. “What?”
Abby moaned as she slid to the ground. “Help! Help me!”
Tim knelt next to her. “Shut up and get in the car.” He tried to pull her up, but she made herself limp. He squeezed her arm hard and wrenched her up, forcing her to stand.
“Stop it!” she screamed. “You’re hurting me!” Wide-eyed and paralyzed with fear, Abby watched as Tim’s hand formed a fist and drew backward. Preparing for impact, she closed her eyes, then heard a thud. When nothing touched her, she opened her eyes and saw Eric on top of Tim, pummeling him.
Shocked to see her husband there when she needed him most, she stared at the scene unfolding before her. Then, realizing Eric might hurt Tim badly enough to cause them all more problems, Abby reached for him. “Stop, stop!” she screamed. “You’re going to kill him!” Eric looked at her, seemingly surprised to see her, then his hands fell to his sides. Tim moaned beneath him, his face bloody.
Eric stood and faced her, exhaustion and relief on his face. Abby smiled and opened her arms, but as Eric stepped in her direction she heard the sickening sound of a gun being cocked, and she gasped when she saw Tim pointing his gun at Eric.
Eric shoved Abby behind him, then stared at Tim, who’d pushed himself into a sitting position. “You’re only making things worse, Tim. The police are on their way. Let us go.”
“No.” Rage filled his eyes. “I’m not the only one who’s going to suffer.”
“You brought this all on yourself,” Eric said.
“It doesn’t matter.” Tim held the gun steady. “If I go down, you’re going down with me.”
“He’s got a gun!” a woman coming out of the bank screamed, and Tim turned his head in her direction. Taking advantage of the distraction, Eric dove into Tim, knocking him backwards. The gun shot into the air, and Eric grabbed Tim’s wrist, then slammed his hand against the pavement until he dropped the gun. Eric snatched it from the ground and held it to Tim’s forehead.
“Freeze! FBI!” a voice shouted.
Abby watched in horror as several men pointed their weapons at Eric.
“Drop the gun!” the commander yelled.
Eric dropped the gun and was immediately thrown to the ground.
“You have the wrong man,” Abby screamed, trying to make herself heard above the chaos. “Tim’s the one you want.” She pointed at Tim, who lay on the ground, watching. As soon as eyes turned away from him he tried to roll over.
“Stay back, ma’am,” one of the men said to Abby, gently pushing her out of the way.
“But you’ve got the wrong man,” she shouted, nearly hysterical, terrified that Tim would get away.
“The lady’s right. Let that man go,” a familiar voice said.
Abby turned to see Agent Franklin walking toward them. She watched as he approached Tim and, after searching him, placed handcuffs on his wrists as best he could with the cast on Tim’s arm.
A moment later Eric grabbed Abby and pulled her close.
“Oh, Eric,” she sobbed.
“It’s over now,” he murmured into her ear.
“Really?”
“Yes, and I’ll never leave you again.” He loosened his arms and looked at her. “Everything’s going to be okay now. Agent Franklin spoke with the Assistant U.S. Attorney, and since I’m cooperating, he let me go. He said because I came forward and I’m turning in the money, they won’t press charges even though I did hold onto the money for a while. They understand I was being framed.”
Abby put her hands on his face. “Does that mean you get to come home now? For good?”
Eric grinned. “Yes. Are you ready?”
Abby nodded, too overcome with emotion to speak.
“Excuse me,” Franklin said as he approached them. “Are you okay, Mrs. Breuner?”
“I’ll be fine, I think.”
“Good. I’ll need to get a statement from you.”
“Now?” Eric asked.
“I’d like to do it as soon as possible,” Franklin said.
“Right now I’m taking my wife home. She’s been through enough today. We’ll come to your office tomorrow and take care of this.”
“That’s fine,” Franklin said.
“Wait,” Abby said. “There’s a briefcase in the trunk with the money that was stolen, and I have the key to your safe-deposit box, too. There’s also money in the glove box that belongs to us.”
After the FBI took the briefcase and gave the Breuner’s their money, Eric led Abby to his Jeep and they headed home.
Late that night after the girls had been tucked in, Abby and Eric sat together on the couch in the family room. They had called family and concerned friends and had been trying to avoid the media all day.
“I still don’t understand,” Abby began. “Why did Tim steal the money and then try to blame you?”
“It seems he’s addicted to gambling and had to borrow money from some pretty bad people to pay off his gambling debts. Apparently he paid them off, but decided to set me up so there was an explanation for the missing funds. The only problem was that he kept gambling and losing. He had to borrow more from them but then he couldn’t keep stealing because he’d already set me up to take the fall, but I’d left.”
“I see.” Abby pet Pumpkin as he lay on her lap. The cat had turned up at the house that evening, collarless but apparently unharmed. “He couldn’t very well continue to embezzle from the company when you weren’t there to be blamed.”
“Exactly. So he needed to get back the money he’d planted on me so he could start paying these guys back. I guess it wasn’t fast enough for them, though.”
“Why didn’t you just go to the police right away?”
“I wanted to, but you know about my past mistakes. I knew if the authorities checked my record they would have reason to doubt me.”
Inwardly Abby winced, vividly remembering her own doubt in her husband. She took his hand. “I’m just glad no one was hurt. When Tim pulled out that gun today, I thought that was it.” She shuddered at the memory and drew closer to Eric.
Eric stroked her cheek. “I would have given my life to protect you.”
As she imagined all that could have gone wrong, unshed tears clogged her throat, and she felt deep gratitude that none of them had been injured. “What did your dad say when you told him everything?” Abby asked, trying
to turn her thoughts away from what could have happened.
“We had a good talk. I think we understand each other better now.” He paused. “What about your mother? Does she still think I’m not good enough for you?”
Abby cringed, saddened to realize her husband knew what her mother thought about him. “She’s coming around. She wasn’t thrilled when I told her the whole story, but that’s something she’ll have to work out. Besides, Jennifer said she’d put in a good word for you.” She turned to face him directly. “The important thing is how I feel about you, and I love—”
Suddenly Abby’s eyes lit up. She got up and went to the bookshelf, taking down the origami bird and holding it out to Eric.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Open it,” Abby smiled, thrilled to have her husband home with her again.
He unfolded the little bird and stared at the words inside. “Is this what I think it is?”
“I got it the day you disappeared. I’ve been waiting for you to come home to see what it says.” Abby sat on the couch next to Eric and snuggled up to him. “So?”
Epilogue
Four Months Later
Eric brought their new baby boy to Abby and settled him into her arms. She ran her fingers through the soft fuzz on her son’s head.
They’d come home from the hospital earlier that day and were enjoying a peaceful moment. Brock had given Eric the week off to spend time with Abby and the new baby.
“It feels good to be home,” she said, tucking the blanket around the little bundle.
Eric smiled and sat on the couch next to her.
Just then Tiffany and Susannah ran into the room.
“Can I hold him, Mom?” Tiffany asked.
Abby placed the baby into Tiffany’s arms and watched as Susannah crowded close to her siblings. Her heart warmed with joy as she watched her children. Taking Eric’s hand, she leaned against his shoulder, enjoying the closeness of her family.
“He’s so tiny,” Susannah whispered as she watched her baby brother sleep. “Do we really get to keep him?”
No Way Out Page 21
