Drawing himself up, Ed bit back, “Not without some money. You don’t provide, I go to the police and tell them what I was asked to do.”
“I don’t have that kind of money—”
“Get it!”
Pinching his lips, his chest heaved. “I can get you a couple of thousand dollars—”
“Do it!”
He sat down in his chair and opened a lower drawer, pulling out a locked box. Opening it, he counted out the contents…just a little over twenty-five hundred dollars. Handing it to Ed, he said, “This is it—all I have here. Take it and get out.”
Ed eagerly snatched the money from his outstretched hand, nodding enthusiastically. He was almost to the door when he spoke again.
“What are you going to do with the kid?”
Rubbing his chin, Ed said, “Just leave him somewhere. Someone’ll find him.” With that, he turned and jogged out of the office.
Jonathan slumped over, placing his head in his hands, hating ever having met Richard Atkins…or dealing with the NSEG.
Parked in the back alley, Ed looked at his old pickup truck and grinned. Moving to the back, he stood in indecision for a moment. Opening the door, he saw David, hands still taped together with an old handkerchief used as a gag. Lifting him easily, he set him in the alley behind the realty office. “Don’t worry…someone’ll find you soon. This’ll give me time to get away.”
David’s eyes widened in fright, but he stayed still. Relief at being out of the truck, flooded him.
Ed set David down next to a dumpster and looked at him for a moment. He hesitated for a second, mouth open to speak, then, simply shook his head and turned away. Climbing back into his truck, he drove away, never looking into the rearview mirror. He had money in his pocket and a few hours to get away.
David watched his dad drive off, a tear sliding down his cheek. One thought was able to penetrate his distress though—Please let Mace find me and mom.
23
The military helicopter landed at the airport, using special permits to access space in one of the hangars. Josh and Walker stayed behind to monitor from the compound and direct the mission.
Mace hopped down, stalking over to one of the two, black, tinted-windowed SUVs. Speaking into his radio, he said, “Talk to me.”
“His truck was parked outside the Adams’ realty for almost twenty minutes,” Josh said. “Rank can now use his locater and find it. David’s locater has him still at the realty office. He must have left him there.”
“Status?” he asked, his throat threatening to close with unfamiliar fear.
“Easy, boss. His heart rate is slightly elevated but he’s alive. He’s not moving so I’d say he’s restrained or locked in somewhere.”
“Sylvie?”
“Still with Marge and Horace. They took her back to her house.”
The others had gathered around and Rank nodded toward him as he worked his tablet in his hands. Looking over, Rank asked, “You want Ed or David?”
Without skipping a beat, he barked out, “David.” Turning to climb into the nearest SUV, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “But after I secure David…I get first dibs on dickhead. Save him for me.”
The others grinned and nodded. “You got it,” they agreed in unison.
Guided by the lighthouse location sensor attached to David’s skin, the Keepers had no problem making their way to Adam’s Realty.
“In back,” Josh’s voice came through Mace’s radio. He hopped out of the SUV before it came to a stop, his feet barely hitting the ground before he took off running. Skirting the corner, he pounded the pavement, his heart stopping before his feet did as he saw David sitting in the dirt by a dumpster.
Forcing his mouth to not spew forth the curses he felt like howling, he dropped down on one knee and whipped out his knife, deftly slicing the gag and the tape wrapped around his wrists. “Hey, little man, I’ve got you now.”
David flung his thin arms around his neck, his voice breaking as he cried, “Mom. He hit Mom!”
“Shhh, she’s fine, I promise,” he assured, keeping his arms tightly around David as he stood. Unused to these types of emotions rushing through him during a rescue, he gratefully accepted Blake’s hand on his back to steady his legs.
Cobb and Bray walked around the corner, a blustery man between them. The man’s eyes landed on David and all blood drained from his face.
“Oh, Lord…I had no idea he left him here.” Realizing he spoke as though he knew the child was there, he snapped his mouth shut.
Mace turned his fierce, narrow-eyed gaze upon Jonathan Adams, and said to Cobb, “Get Detective Martinez here. Tell him we’ve just found the link that they were missing.”
Jonathan’s eyes bugged out and he threw up his hands, shouting, “I’m not part of it! I didn’t know what they were doing.”
“You were told to send Charles Jefferson’s wife far away on business, and you didn’t think why that might be? You helped set things up between Richard Atkins and Douglas Smiteson. And now, you’re party to the kidnapping of a minor. I’d say you and the police will have a lot to talk about.”
Cobb turned back around, lowering his phone from his ear, a grin spread across his face. “We had Detective Martinez at the ready. He’s already on his way.”
Bray moved close to Mace, placing his hand on David’s back. “Hey, buddy. Will you come to me for a few minutes and let me check you out?” David shook his head, his arms jerking tighter about his neck. “I promise, Mace will be right here with you.”
Just then, two State Police SUVs pulled into the parking lot, Roberto jumping out and hustling over. Cobb handed Jonathan over to them, quickly explaining what they had found. Mace carried David over to their SUV, where Walker had the back door lifted. Turning, he sat down with David in his lap, shifting him around so that Bray could give him a quick evaluation.
Answering their questions, David told them that other than bouncing around in the bed of the pickup truck, he had not been hurt. Turning his face toward him, his eyes still filled with tears, he asked once more, “Are you sure Mom’s okay?”
“I’ll never lie to you,” he promised. “Marge and Horace are with her. They say she’s got a bump on her head, but she refused to go to the hospital, wanting to wait for you at home. We’ve let Horace know that we’ve got you, so she can rest easy.”
“Can we go to her now?”
“Absolutely, buddy. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, than with both of you together.”
Cobb jogged over, with Roberto in tow. Seeing they were about to leave, Roberto smiled at David before leaning in toward Mace.
“I know who orchestrated this,” he said, his eyes shifting sideways to David. “I also know you plan on doing something about it. You gotta let the police handle this.”
Mace shifted David again, getting him buckled into the backseat. Turning, he held Roberto’s gaze. “I get what you’re saying. And, when we find him, I’ll make sure to give you a call.”
Roberto stood with his hands on his hips, and sighed. “When? After you fuck him over? Man, you cannot fuck this case—”
“You have my word, when we get our hands on Ed, we’ll give you a call. But, other than that, I make no promises on the shape he’ll be in.” Climbing into the seat next to David, he gave a curt nod toward Roberto, and the Keepers headed out of the parking lot.
Sylvie sat on the sofa, David’s favorite bear in her hands as Marge kept a cold compress on her head. The way her stomach knotted, she was not sure which was worse…head or stomach. Her gaze followed Horace as he paced, his phone plastered to his ear.
“They made it to David’s location,” he said. “He’s fine! They’ve got him and he’s fine!”
A tear slid down her cheek as she sucked in a shuddering breath. “Oh, thank God!” Trying to stand, she said, “We’ve got to go. I’ve got to get to him.”
Marge held her in place again, and said, “Don’t you worry, Sylvie. If I know Mace, they
’re on their way here right now.”
Horace nodded as he disconnected the call. “Yep, they’re coming here. David isn’t hurt, but I’m sure he’s scared and wants his mom.”
Fifteen minutes later she looked out the front window from the sofa, seeing a large, black SUV pulling into the driveway. Horace and Marge were standing at the front door, and she escaped from the sofa, her legs shaky underneath her. Pushing past them, she made it to the front porch just as Mace ran up with David. She collapsed and David rushed into her arms. Crushing him to her, she sobbed, rocking him back and forth as he burrowed deep into her.
Mace, landing on the porch floor with Sylvie and David, wrapped his arms around both. He knew she needed to be lying down, but her need to hold her son was greater. With both of them in his arms, their tears mingling with smiles, relief flooding throughout, he felt a sense of rightness that he had never felt before.
Leaning back slightly, he looked at the side of her head, the bloody, bruised skin already a dark purple. His rage renewed, but he checked it, shutting the anger down for the moment.
David held on to his mom, and asked, “He hit you. He hit you hard. Are you okay?”
Nodding, Sylvie assured, “Yes, baby. As long as I have you with me, I’m okay.” She felt Mace’s hand slide gently from her back, to her neck, to the side of her head. She shifted her gaze to him, wincing slightly as his fingertips touched the abrasion. Offering a wobbly smile, she repeated her words to him, “I’m okay. Having you both with me…I’m okay.”
Marge stepped over, her hand laying gently on Mace’s shoulder. “Let’s get everyone inside,” she encouraged.
Agreeing, Mace stood, assisting Sylvie to her feet, David still in her arms. Taking her weight, he ushered them inside, settling them on the sofa. Bray entered the house and caught his eye, offering a curt nod before walking back out of the room.
He kissed Sylvie’s forehead, his lips lingering longer than necessary and mumbled against her soft skin. “I’ve got to go…there’s more business to take care of.”
Her eyes searched his and she asked, “You’ll come back?”
A smile touched his lips, as his gaze moved between her and David. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away from the two of you.” With a final kiss, and a squeeze on David's shoulders, he stood, shooting a steady look toward Horace and Marge as he walked back out the door.
David looked out the window as Mace and the others climbed back in their SUV and pulled out of the driveway. His brow scrunched, and he asked, “What does he have to do?”
Shaking her head, Sylvie said, “I don’t know.”
Marge hustled toward the kitchen, calling out over her shoulder, “I’m going to make some sandwiches and get some food in the two of you.”
David, still curious, looked up at Horace, and asked, “Do you know where Mace is going?”
Horace just mumbled, “Retribution.” As both she and David looked at him in confusion, he moved down the hall saying, “I think I’ll go help with those sandwiches.”
Pulling up to the old barn outside of town, Mace noted the pickup truck with the shell canopy on top. The idea that Ed had bound and gagged his own son, before putting him in the bed of the truck, caused his blood to run cold. The only other vehicle in the area was the black SUV of his men.
The door to the barn slid open as he, Bray, Cobb, and Walker stepped inside. His eyes quickly grew accustomed to the dim, musty interior. Straw and sawdust were scattered about the floor and in the center was an old, wooden stool. Ed sat, tied to the stool, his eyes wide with fright.
Stepping closer, he looked down at him, disgust on his face. Without taking his eyes from the sniveling man in front of him, he asked, “Got them signed?”
“Right here, boss.”
Rank handed him a sheet of paper and his eyes quickly scanned the contents. Seeing Ed’s scrawled signature at the bottom, he shifted his gaze back to the man in the chair. “You understand what you signed? No contact. In any form. You relinquish all rights to your son.”
Ed’s head bobbed up and down as he swallowed audibly. “Yeah, yeah. I get it.”
“Get him up.”
Ed was quickly untied and pulled to his feet. His head jerked around as he tried to look at all of them before his gaze settled on Mace.
Mace’s fist landed squarely on Ed’s jaw, hard enough to knock him back on his ass without breaking anything. Standing over him, he looked down, his face full of fury. “That’s for hitting the woman I love and kidnapping the boy I hope to call my own. If I ever see you, hear of you, or find out that you even so much as breathe the same air as them, I will make your life hell.”
Stepping back, he growled, “Get him to Roberto.”
Mace lay in bed the next morning, his arms wrapped around Sylvie. Tucked on the other side of her was David. At first, David had insisted on sleeping in his own bed, but it had not taken long for him to cry out in fear. Sylvie had opened her arms, comforting David, as he slid underneath the covers with them.
He had whispered in her ear that he would go sleep on the sofa, but she had clutched his arm shaking her head.
“No,” she whispered back, her eyes pleading. “I want you here with us. Please.”
Lying as the early morning light slipped through the blinds, illuminating the two people that had come to mean the world to him, he thought of how his life had changed. For the better.
Sliding from underneath the covers, he moved to the bathroom. Finishing his business, he stepped back into the bedroom just as David was climbing from the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. David saw him and a wide smile split his face.
“Hey, buddy,” he greeted, hoping he would not be upset at seeing him.
David blushed as his eyes slid over to his sleeping mother before returning back to him. “I’m sorry I got scared last night—”
In two steps, he was right in front of him, squatting so that he could look him in the eye. Placing his large hands on the small boy’s shoulders, he said, “Never apologize for being scared. Truth is, I was terrified yesterday.”
“You were?”
“Absolutely. Whenever you think someone you care about might be hurt, it’s absolutely scary.”
“You were scared for Mom?” David asked hesitantly.
His heart warmed as he answered, “I was scared for both of you, because I care for both of you.” He tugged gently on his shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. “No matter what, I’ll always be here for you.”
“You’ll let us come back to your home?”
Feeling David’s arms tighten about his neck, he glanced over toward the bed as he heard the sheets rustle. His warm smile landed on Sylvie as she sat up in bed, her gaze pinned to them. He watched as she wiped her eyes before the threatening tears could fall, and she smiled, nodding in return.
Speaking to both of them, he said, “There’s nowhere else I’d rather the two of you be, than home with me.”
24
Six Months Later
Looking up from her desk in the Lighthouse compound, Sylvie called out, “Drew! I need your report ASAP. Invoices have to go out tomorrow.”
Drew had the good grace to blush, as he acknowledged, “I know. I know. I promise I’ll get it to you before I leave today, Sylvie.”
She fired a grin his way before winking at Babs, whose desk was next to hers. Babs laughed, saying, “Some things never change, even with the boss’ wife riding his ass.”
Finishing the invoice that she was working on, her smile never left her face. From the moment she awoke in her old bedroom with David safe and his arms holding on tightly to Mace, hearing him say that he wanted them to be together, she knew it was time to make a change. Turning in her notice at work, she had gone one last time to her old office to collect her few possessions and say goodbye to Jeannie. It felt great to tell Mr. Thomas to stuff it and watch him sputter in defense.
Standing at the large window, looking out on the unfinished construction across the stree
t, she had sighed heavily. Hating what her son had gone through, she also knew that it led them to find Mace.
He had told her that he had been considering offering her a job with Lighthouse Security Investigations, but that had been secondary to him wanting her to be his wife. Proposing marriage to her and fatherhood to David, they had become a family.
She had insisted David talk to a trauma counselor, certain that confusion over his father kidnapping him and then abandoning him…again…would leave lasting emotional scars. Mace agreed, but after a few sessions, the counselor assured her that David appeared well-adjusted.
Mace had spoken to David at length about his own father and the young boy soaked up the stories, understanding that Mace was the kind of man he wanted to be.
A month later, they married at a small service at the base of the lighthouse, overlooking the ocean. Having had a big wedding the first go around, she wanted simple and Mace was more than accommodating. Her parents attended, along with Mr. Curtis and Jeannie. They stood in front of Marge, Horace, Babs, and the LSI Keepers, and pledged their love to each other.
Calling David up with them, Mace also made his vow to David, promising that the paperwork to officially adopt him had already been submitted.
Now, months later, that promise had come to fruition and Mace was legally David’s father. Having worried about him being in a new school and making new friends, she discovered her concerns were foundless. David integrated perfectly in his new surroundings, but spent most weekends working with Horace to learn how to swim and handle a small-engine boat.
The elevator doors opened and she startled out of her musings, watching as Mace stepped into the compound with Walker, his head bent as he listened. As always when he entered her presence, his eyes immediately shot to hers and his lips curved into a smile.
Mace: Lighthouse Security & Investigations Page 19
