And now I feel like an idiot. For some reason, it never occurred to me until now that this video shouldn’t exist at all. Natalie wasn’t the first woman in my office to engage in a bit of extracurricular activity. Anytime Samantha and I needed some midday fun, the first thing I did was hit that button; there was no way I was going to let anybody see her like that. I consider the possibility that the day in question I simply forgot to hit the button to stop recording. Pete puts this concern to rest, though, when he pulls up the original video. I watch Natalie’s arrival to my office, then there are a couple minutes of kissing before I pull her onto my lap in my desk chair. I see myself very obviously reaching over to where I know the button to be installed and hit it. The feed goes black for several minutes, then inexplicably comes back. It’s possible one of us might have hit it on accident—or it would be, if we weren’t already on the couch.
“So someone turned the feed on again,” I say quietly, reaching over to stop the video.
“Seems so,” Pete confirms.
“And who would have had the access to do that?”
He sighs. “A couple people. Me, of course, though I assure you I value my job much more than to do that. Security has access as well.”
“Would they have had to be in here to turn it back on?”
Pete shakes his dead. “No, sir. Could have been accessed from the security offices.”
My list of suspects just shrank considerably and I really don’t like the conclusions I’m coming up with. When my pocket vibrates, I sigh, removing my phone and glancing at the caller id. With a slightly scowl, I look up at Pete. “Let me know if you figure anything else out,” I tell him, standing with the intention of leaving the room. “And I swear to God, if I find out you’re watching that video during your spare time, I will fire your ass.”
He only smirks, gives me a smart ass salute, and turns back to his computer. I leave the office before answering my call. “Leo, what’s up?” I ask briskly, on my way back to my own office.
“Where the fuck are you?” he practically shouts at me.
I falter in my steps slightly. “Headed back to the office,” I say cautiously. “What’s going on?”
“Get to the garage, we have to get back to the house,” he says immediately.
A chill shoots down my spine. “Why?” I demand, already altering my course to meet up with Leo. “Is Sam okay?”
“For the moment,” he says cryptically before shouting orders to someone else. “She went to pick Tyler up from school. He’d already been picked up.”
If I thought it was possible I’d say time slowed down to a crawl with those words. “By who?” I ask quietly.
Leo sighs, his voice softening slightly. “We’re working on that. But Samantha is at home and I can’t imagine she’s handling this well.”
“No,” I respond automatically. “I don’t imagine she is either. I’ll be there in a minute.”
It takes me a few moments to reengage my brain enough to figure out what to do and how to do it. Before I burst through the door to the garage, I’ve already made three phone calls, one to Marcus, and I know I need to keep a level head. Leo’s right about Samantha: she’s probably losing her mind right now. I have to figure out a way to keep her blood pressure from spiking again; I’m not sure we’d come out as lucky as we were last time. Claire was another one of my phone calls. She can handle Samantha better than I can since I have every intention of being involved with every aspect of searching for my son.
And Tyler… Just like every good thing that’s ever happened to me is somehow related to Samantha and Tyler, every time I’ve felt horrible fear has been when they’ve been in danger somehow. The initial threat in Omaha. The man who was staking out Samantha and Tom’s house. Everything leading up to the kidnapping… Unlike then, Samantha isn’t with Tyler to help keep him calm; he’s all alone. He’s probably terrified. Whoever this person is that took him from his school… There’s something to that. Tyler wouldn’t go somewhere with a stranger and he would have made a huge fuss if someone had taken him from school forcefully. So either it’s someone he knows, or they somehow convinced him he needed to go with them.
Neither scenario is acceptable.
In the garage, I see several members of my security team surrounding Leo who is throwing out instructions at rapid fire. He sees me and pushes through the group, shouting over his shoulder to tell them to get his demands done. Now.
“I don’t suppose you know anything new from two minutes ago?” I ask him as we head towards my car. I don’t even hesitate to hand my keys to my friend, knowing I’m far too distracted to drive right now.
“No, sorry,” he tells me. “The police are investigating, among other things, how Tyler was able to leave school with someone not on the list of acceptable guardians.”
“You fucking told me there was security in place,” I growl at him, not bothering to hide my accusatory tone. “What happened with that?”
Leo seems at a loss. “Matt, I don’t know,” he says quietly. “I’m trying to find out. We’re having trouble getting a hold of Kyle right now, though…”
That’s it. Complete overhaul of my security detail once this shit is resolved. I’m getting so sick of hearing my employees just happen to be occupied with other things when they’re needed most. Leo continues to talk, though I honestly have no idea what he’s saying; my mind is stuck with Samantha and our son. How much more of this are we going to go through before we’re allowed to live our lives in peace? How much more before Samantha throws up her hands and gives up completely?
The half hour it takes to get home drags on for what feels like hours. The driveway is full of cars—police cruisers, black unmarked SUVs, Claire’s. Before the car comes to a complete stop, my door is thrown open and I’m sprinting the remaining distance, up the stairs, and pushing past the two uniformed police officers standing in front of the door.
“Samantha!” I yell, searching for her among the unfamiliar faces in my home. I hear a sob to my left and turn just in time for Samantha to throw herself into my arms. I wrap my arms around her, holding her closely while she cries and murmuring comforting words to her. She’s shaking uncontrollably, trying to speak through her hysterics, and I’m helpless trying to figure out how to make her feel better. Of course the only thing that’s going to make either of us feel better is to have our son in our arms again.
“Where is he, Matt?” she rasps against my neck.
I close my eyes tightly, wishing I had a better answer for her. “I don’t know,” I tell her reluctantly. “But I swear I will find him. I found the two of you once before and I’ll do it again.”
She nods jerkily against me and I look up at the sight of movement. Claire is watching us, looking as helpless as I feel. For the first time, I take in the house. It’s been turned into a central command center with computers setup on every available surface, people talking in rushed voices, and several people on phones. Marcus enters through the backdoor and scans the room until he finds me. His mouth is set in a hard, grim line and I know he’s worked something out. “Samantha, look at me for a second,” I cajole, gently pulling away from her. Her eyes are bloodshot from tears. “I need you to stay with Claire for a bit while I figure out what’s going on. I know it’s probably a lot to ask right now, but please try to stay calm. For the baby.” I bring my hands down to rest on her belly for a moment. “I promise I will tell you the moment I know something. Okay?”
Resignedly, she nods. “Please find him,” she begs, her voice cracking. It’s all I can do to keep my eyes from watering as Claire puts an arm around Samantha and leads her elsewhere in the house.
Running my hands through my hair and taking a deep breath to regain control of my emotions, I force myself to head over to Marcus. “Please tell me you’ve found out something,” I say quietly.
“Wish I could, Matt,” he says apologetically. “So far we’re coming up empty as far as leads go. We were able to access the cameras at the s
chool, though that didn’t do us much good. We’ve got one shot of who we think might be our suspect, but the rest of the footage is missing. We believe someone tapped into the feed and hijacked it. Sound familiar?”
Cursing under my breath, I nod. “So you think the person who altered the video of Natalie and me is the same one who wiped out the school cameras?” I ask.
“Very possible.”
“Can I see the shot you managed to get?”
Nodding, he leads me into the living room area where he’s got his computer setup and digs through a stack of papers for a photograph. I take it, studying it closely and realize what he meant by not having many leads. Whoever this person is knew what they were doing. They’re wearing baggy clothes and a baseball cap that’s pulled low over their face, which I can’t see at all since the person is staring at their feet. “The description we got from the school is vague at best. It was a woman, mid-twenties who had been calm as can be and acted as though her checking Tyler out of school had been planned all along.”
“A woman?” I repeat darkly.
“We’ve got a list of people we’re looking at,” he says, already knowing where my mind is headed. “What about the security team you’ve got assigned to keep an eye on Sam and Tyler?”
“Still working on that,” I say tiredly. “They were supposed to be in place, but it seems someone might have decided to take a piss at the exact time when my son was kidnapped and they’ve disappeared.”
“Could be an inside job,” Marcus suggests. “Your guy at the school could have simply looked the other way and let this woman get to Tyler and get out without stopping her.”
I’ve already considered this option and I’m still not a fan of it. “I’ve got my own list to add to yours.”
“Thought you might,” Marcus says. “I’m going to do everything I can to find your boy, Matt, but if you’ve got one of those GPS tracker chips attached to him, now’s the time to tell us.”
Since I got Leo’s phone call, I’ve been kicking myself about this in particular. “I don’t have one,” I say regretfully. “Took it out after the last time.”
Though he tries to hide his disappointment, Marcus nods. “All right,” he sighs. “Why don’t you go take care of Samantha for a bit? I need to make some calls and the moment I hear anything, you’ll be the first to know.”
I hesitate, wanting to be involved in every aspect of this search, but knowing Samantha needs me. “The moment you hear something,” I repeat.
“You got it,” Marcus promises quietly, turning away from me and making his calls.
Sighing, I head off in search of Samantha and Claire, finding them in the basement, curled up together on the couch. Samantha is wrapped up in a blanket and her tears seem to have stopped for the time being. She looks a bit dazed, which I can sympathize with, and I’m pretty sure she’s nodding mechanically to whatever Claire is saying to her. My sister looks up as I step off the last stair and gives me a tight smile that I can’t return right now. With a jerk of my head, I silently ask if Samantha and I can have a moment alone. She hesitates, but manages to disengage herself and meet me at the stairs. “How is she?” I ask in a low voice, my eyes not leaving my fiancée.
“Okay for now,” Claire says, reaching out to squeeze my hand in comfort. “I gave her a mild sedative to keep her calm.”
“What?” I ask incredulously, glaring at my sister.
“It’s safe for the baby,” she assures me, lowering her voice in an attempt to get me to do the same. “I wouldn’t have given it to her otherwise.”
My brow furrows. “You just happened to have a pregnancy-safe sedative on your person?” I ask.
“Not exactly,” she says evasively.
“So where did you get it?”
She raises an eyebrow at me. “You really want to know?”
I think for a moment, then roll my eyes. “Reilly,” I say grudgingly.
“Word travels fast around here and he called to see what he could do to help. When I told him I was on my way to make sure Sam doesn’t end up back in the hospital, he offered to drop off a prescription to keep her blood pressure as normal as possible. He said it’ll make her a bit drowsy, but it’s preferable to the other risks.”
I have to agree with that and mentally, grudgingly, thank Dr. Mark Reilly for his thoughtfulness. Still, the cynical part of my mind has just added him to the list of suspects and I’ll be watching Samantha very closely for any adverse affects from whatever the good doctor prescribed her. “I’ll sit with her for a bit,” I tell Claire. She nods in understanding and heads up the stairs.
On my way to the couch, I run my hands down my face, trying to think of some way to apologize for this, since I have no doubt in my mind this has happened because of me. I slide down beside Samantha and pull her into my arms. She stiffens for a moment, but eventually relaxes and I’m relieved. We haven’t sorted out our issues from last night, and while that’s the last thing we need to be concerned about right now, part of me feared she might not want me near her because of that.
“Why is this happening?” she asks me.
I wince that the hollowness of her voice. “I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “Samantha, I am so sorry.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t, Matthew,” she warns. “Not now. I just want to find Tyler.”
Nodding, I sigh. I don’t know what else to do right now. Upstairs is a team of law enforcement who has dedicated themselves to searching for Tyler and if by chance they can’t find him, no one will. And that is one thought I will never speak aloud to Samantha. Her breathing evens out and I look down to find her asleep. This is good. This way she’s not worrying herself sick. I on the other hand can barely see straight between my worry, frustration, anger, and fear. I am going to fucking destroy whoever has done this and I don’t care if I go to jail for it. Target me. Hurt me. Leave my family alone. They’re innocent in all of this and they don’t deserve to be put through this misery. The problem is that people know my family is my soft spot, probably my only one when it comes down to it. My job is not made for family men and I probably should have learned that years ago when I nearly lost my arm. I think once this is over I’ll have to figure out how to change that aspect.
I have no idea how much time has passed since I came down here, but I start a bit when I feel a tap on my shoulder and realize I’ve drifted off into my own dazed world. I look up and find Claire standing over me.
“Marcus wants to talk to you about something,” she whispers.
I sit up as quickly as I can without jostling Samantha and lay her down on the couch. “Have they found him?” I ask urgently.
“I don’t think so,” Claire tells me regretfully. My heart sinks another foot or two. “But I think they might have a lead.”
Nodding, I turn to press a kiss to Samantha’s forehead. “Take care of her,” I murmur to my sister before taking the steps two at a time until I’m walking through the crowd of people in my home. Reflexively, I glance at a wall clock and find two hours have passed since I came home. What little I know has told me Tyler has been missing nearly six hours how. He could be anywhere…
“We need to talk privately,” Marcus says tersely by way of a greeting. He doesn’t waste a second leading me up to my office where Leo is standing over my desk looking completely shell-shocked. “This just came in from a CCTV camera in Pennsylvania. The Amber Alert for Tyler red flagged it.”
My heart is racing as I join Leo at my desk. He takes several steps sideways and I notice faintly he’s out of arm’s reach from me. I’m looking at my computer screen at three people I know quite well. One is Frank Marone who seems to have grown himself a beard since I last saw him. The second is my son, who looks completely unharmed—thank God. And the third…
“Fuck,” I exclaim brokenly, fisting my hair in my hands. “Natalie?”
“Seems so,” Marcus says quietly. “Leo positively identified her for me. It would seem she’s the woman who picked Tyler up from
school.”
This is a fucking nightmare gone worse. The woman I had, just last night, vehemently defended to my fiancée has kidnapped my son. And now I know without a doubt she was the one behind Samantha and Tyler’s kidnapping a few months ago. She’s probably also behind everything else. “Why is she with Marone?” I hear myself asking, uncertain why this is the question at the forefront of my mind.
Marcus reaches over and presses a button on the keyboard and the photo changes. Now it’s Frank and Natalie engaging in what looks to be a lovers’ embrace. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say in disgust. I glance over to find Leo looking more pissed off than I’ve seen in years and I realize he’s been played as well. “Why are we still standing here? Where is this place?”
“We’ve already sent teams to the town,” Marcus tells in a soothing tone.
“Fuck that!” I yell. “I’m going down there!”
“I figured as much,” Marcus says dryly. “We’ve got a plane ready to take off. You should probably bring Samantha up to speed first, though.”
I was afraid he’d say that. I know he’s right, but this terrifies me almost as much as my son being in the hands of Frank fucking Marone. “I’ll meet you down at the car,” I say quietly, turning on my heel and heading out of the office, imagining how horribly this conversation is about to go. Downstairs, Samantha is awake again and holding a cup of some steaming liquid in her hands, talking quietly with Claire. I take a moment to just look at her, knowing this could have been avoided if I’d just listened to her and believed her last night. If we get through this without her hating me, it will be a miracle.
“Claire,” I say tightly, drawing their attention immediately. “I need to talk to Sam privately for a moment.”
Young Revelations (Young Series) Page 27
