“What instructions, sweetheart?”
“They will send them to you tomorrow, and they also don’t want you going to the police. They will be watching you, Daddy. They’ve always been watching you.”
The line disconnected, and he couldn’t breathe. His little girl had sounded so frightened, and he didn’t know what to do. His heart was beginning to pound in his chest, and Alison put her hand on his shoulder. “Derek, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“They have her! They have my baby girl,” he said, and it sounded as if he was gasping for air.
“Who has her?”
Finally he brought himself to look at Alison, and he shook his head. “I don’t know who has her, but someone does. They said they will be giving me instructions.”
Alison was at a loss for words, and Derek looked to the picture on the mantle. His daughter was smiling brightly in the photograph. She had a bright future, and he was not going to allow someone to steal that from her. They didn’t want police involvement, but he wasn’t sure he could do this alone. He had a hunch as to who was behind this, and if he was correct, he knew that even after doing what they asked of him, his daughter would still die.
###
Emily had been waiting for someone to send a serious e-mail. Instead they had been bombarded with spam, and she finally saw one that spiked her interested. Reading over everything, she looked back to the name of who was contacting them. Derek Malone—she knew that name, but wasn’t too sure where she knew it from.
“Boss,” she shouted. She watched as David emerged, and he gave her that look. He didn’t like her calling him ‘boss,’ but that was not going to change anytime soon. “Do you know of someone called Derek Malone?”
“Yeah, why?”
“He just sent me an e-mail. Could you read it over and tell me what you think?”
He nodded and walked behind her desk. She felt as he leaned over her, and he rested his hands on her own. This felt nice, and she looked up to him. His gaze shifted from the e-mail to her, and he kissed her forehead. After a moment had passed, he finally spoke. “Set up a meeting, and we’ll see is there is something we can do to help him.”
As David walked away, he paused and turned to her, and cocking his eyebrow. “Do you have any plans for this evening?”
“Of course not.”
“Great, I hope you keep it that way, because I will be taking you out this evening.”
“Oh really, and where might we be going?”
“It’s a surprise, but don’t dress too fancy.”
Smiling at him, she looked back to the computer, and she quickly composed a message back to Derek Malone. Hopefully, this case was not going to be anything like the one they had finished up a month ago.
Reading over what she wrote, she sent it on out, and now all she had to do was wait for his reply. Emily reclined back in her chair, and she took the moment in. She was unsure what she would do if she was a mother and her child was missing. When they were to meet him, she was not even too sure how she would be able to speak to him. Saying she understood would be a lie, and then apologizing was insincere, for the simple fact that it was engrained in almost every single person’s mind to say that, instead of something else. Comforting people when they truly needed it was surely not her strong suit.
Turning her attention back to the screen, she waited, but so far there was nothing. She wondered if Derek was eagerly sitting next to his computer, waiting for the message to arrive. While she waited, she was going to see why his name sounded familiar to her.
Searching his name through the system, a picture of him appeared along with his bio. Derek Sebastian Malone was a successful attorney who had fathered a daughter, Meghan Rae Malone. He was not based in Primer, but she remembered one of his last cases. He was a prosecutor, and that told Emily that he undoubtedly had many different enemies. Narrowing down the suspect list was not going to be easy.
Continuing to read through everything, she couldn’t find any reference about who his wife was or if he had even been married before. There were a lot of holes, and that made her curious about why he was hiding certain aspects of his life. None of it was making any sense to her whatsoever.
###
She was in a small room that reminded her of a prison cell. The door was gray, as were the blocks that surrounded her, and there was a single window, but she was not able to see through it. Everything around her was cold, and she was fearful. She didn’t know who they were, and she did not know what they wanted. As she hugged her knees to her chest, she wasn’t even sure how long she had been here. Time seemed to drag by, and she wasn’t sure what time of day it was.
The slat of her cell suddenly opened, and she saw that a tray food was being handed through. She didn’t want to get up from where she was to retrieve it. At that point she was not even hungry, and she heard the voice from the other side.
“You should eat, Meghan. We wouldn’t want you getting malnourished now, would we?”
Whoever spoke to her must have been speaking through a machine in order to alter their voice somehow. Meghan wanted to say something, but was unable to do so, and she jumped as they banged on the door. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she wished she could wake up from this nightmare, only she knew it was all too real.
“Meghan, please, will you eat for me?”
“No,” she choked out. “Not until you give me answers.”
She heard a chuckle come from the other side of the door, and she watched as the tray of food was removed and the slat was shut. “You are not deserving of the answers. You are just my pawn, and you are… disposable.”
Meghan felt as if she was going to be sick, and she looked to the darkness that surrounded her. It was crushing her, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could endure this.
Chapter 26
Sitting on the deck, sipping a glass of water, Quinn Saunders listened as the birds were chirping carelessly. They darted in the sky before her and she was able to see the lake far in the distance. For a while, she had felt as if she had been frozen in time, trapped and suffocated by the darkness around her, but now she was free. It had been nineteen years, but she was finally on the outside and it felt delightful. Now, she could exact revenge on the person who had put her there. Smiling to herself, she could not wait to watch how her plans unfolded.
There was a task at hand, and she wasn’t quite sure yet just how she was going to handle it. She knew this would be a delicate task, but she had never been a delicate person. Proceeding from here would be one of the biggest obstacles she would face, and it made her anxious just thinking about it. If she was too forthcoming, this could ruin the plans she had made for Derek Malone, but she knew she would be able to adapt to it either way. This was something she knew had to be done. There was no avoiding it.
She felt the cold on her palm as she opened the door. Taking a step into the house, she knew this place had withstood the test of time. As she was looking at the graffiti covered walls, she remembered what this house had once looked like. It was something she would never forget; nor would she forget the crimes committed behind these walls. A crime that meant this house had remained abandoned for all these years.
Standing in silence in what once was the living room, she kept all of her memories sealed. They were not something she wanted to relive.
She heard someone walking down the hall. His brown hair was cut short and his brown eyes were a bit too close together, but none of that mattered. His actions spoke volumes to her, therefore, how he looked was of no importance.
“Quinn, is everything alright? You seem to be in deep thought about something.”
Quinn wasn’t certain he would agree with her decision to tell Meghan. Of course he would be against it. Everything they were doing was senile and it put her on edge, but it needed to be done. “I think I want to tell Meghan.”
“What? That’s crazy! If you tell that girl what is happening, she probably won’t
believe you! Do you really want to risk everything you’ve been working towards?”
“Dominic, our plan will still work, but she needs to know the truth. I have no idea what lies have been pumped through her head.”
“There is a chance she doesn’t know anything, you know. I thought her father was your target, and that you were just using her to get to him.”
“Yes, but why would I keep the truth from her?”
“Telling someone the truth is not always a good thing. Where do you think little white lies came from?”
She shook her head and attempted to walk past him, but he remained in her way. Becoming angry, she took a step back. She was not going to lash out, she didn’t need to lose her temper right now; especially with the person who had been helping her all this time. She needed him to stay loyal to her.
“Quinn, you need to focus on what we are doing to Derek. That girl downstairs is scared, but she is fine. Getting what you want out of him can be done without exposing yourself that way.”
“Ha! I want my daughter and she is right downstairs. He took her from me and she deserves to know who I am. Hell, I deserve to know her!”
“It’s possible that he already told her.”
“He wouldn’t have told her the truth about me,” she said simply. “We both know why he sent me away, and it wasn’t for any crimes I committed. It was for something else altogether.”
“Test her then, but get your plan in motion first.”
She smiled as she took another step towards him. He reached out his hand to her and she felt his thumb rub her lower jaw, and he looked at her with affection. His lips brushed against her forehead and she sighed. There was more than one reason she had him around, and she was not ready to lose him. He had helped her through all the dark times, and she knew she was not out of the forest yet.
###
Emily was wrapped comfortably in the covers, and for a moment she was looking at the ceiling. Everything in the room was silent, all except for David’s breathing. It sounded melodic and she turned to look at him. He was beginning to come out of his slumber, and she still could not believe what had happened to get her here with him. For a while she had attempted to forget him, and had doubted that they would be anything more than boss and assistant, but now she realized she had been completely mistaken all along. He seemed to be just as crazy for her as she was for him. Despite all the complications, and the fact that she had been ready to throw everything away, she was finally happy. Everything in her life seemed to have been taken from her abruptly, and now she was going to hang on to him with all of her strength.
David turned on his side and she watched as he opened his eyes. It took him a little bit to comprehend he was awake, and now he met her gaze and smiled warmly. “Good morning beautiful,” he said, a little gruffly. “How are you doing?”
Adjusting herself, she rested her weight on her elbow and leaned in to kiss him. “I couldn’t be better. And though I would rather stay in bed with you for the day, we need to get ready to leave. We have an hour trip before us, and we can’t be late.”
One last kiss and David moved to sit up. He stretched and pulled back the covers to get to his feet. She had never expected him to be as muscular as he was, but sometimes you never know what is underneath the surface. For a moment she just enjoyed admiring him, then realized she needed to get moving to get up and get dressed as well.
Pushing back the denim quilt, she was reluctant to leave the warmth it provided. Her feet touched the cold wood floor and she looked to him. “So,” he began. “Today is going to be a busy one, but hopefully this will not turn out to be as, well, you know, busy, as the last case we were on.”
His eyes traveled down to the scar on her shin. She had gotten reconstructive surgery on it, and though it was agonizing at times for her to walk around, she generally kept that to herself. The memory of how she received it was one she always attempted to force back, but sometimes, mostly when she was alone, it would push through and she would remember—being trapped. Thinking she was going to die.
Putting on a smile, she nodded. “Hopefully it is more mundane than the last one. However, I am more than certain there are going to be complications with this case as well.”
She watched as he was walking towards the adjacent bathroom, and she walked over to the closet. Looking at the clothes hanging up, she heard David speak. “What do you mean? What have you found in regards to this case?”
Pulling out a pair of faded blue jeans and an orange blouse, she tossed them gingerly on the bed and walked towards the bathroom. To answer his question, it was more of what she had not found. It was strange to see someone lead such a transparent life. Especially someone as successful and as well-known as Derek Malone.
“Well,” she hesitated, a little unsure of where to start. “There are things that you typically find about someone that just aren’t showing up in this case. For instance, he has no marriage license or any relatives that I am able to find. When I look further back into his life, there is nothing there that sticks out. He was a typical kid who stayed in the same neighborhood and got good grades. He was not involved in sports and he sounded like a loner.”
“What do you know about his parents?”
“His father was an accountant who was killed in a mugging, and his mother was a paralegal who died two years before Meghan was born. From what I see, she died of a heart attack which strikes me as odd because she was a runner who had no history of cardiac issues within her family.”
David flashed her a look and she knew he sensed there was something she wasn’t saying. “Derek wasn’t close to his mother. She was not an ideal parent and she was released from five different firms within six years, because she seemed to have issues with going to work. She has a sealed record too, which I can work on, but I don’t know that it would be helpful.”
“Any information can be helpful, but let’s see what he says about it first. Now, what do we know about Meghan?”
“She is a very private person. She doesn’t have any accounts on social networking sites. Another odd thing is that so far anyway, there is nothing I can find on her mother. I found a digital copy of her birth certificate, and per what I see she was born in Staten Island, but the birth certificate doesn’t have a real name for the mother.”
“What do you mean? Every birth certificate has the mother’s name on it.”
“Not this one. It is written out as Jane Doe—classic, right? I don’t like the sound of any of this, and hopefully when we see Derek Malone this morning, he’ll be able to shed some light on this matter. If he doesn’t, then we know he is definitely hiding something from us.”
“Well, he sounds like a man with secrets, and when men as powerful as him have secrets you can damn know they have enemies. And I’m pretty sure we won’t know all of them.”
“It certainly sounds that way. And from everything I was looking through, it looks as if he was getting ready to retire. He’s been working as a prosecutor since he was twenty-six and now he is sixty-one. With all of his success, he should be able to have a comfortable retirement. I just don’t know if all of his cases were clean. I’ll be looking into everything when he hands it all over to me.”
David furrowed his brow and she knew he was thinking about something. “What is it?”
“How old was he when Meghan was born?”
“He turned forty-two a month before she was born. Why? Is his age of any importance?”
“Yes, but I have not figured out why yet. I don’t know. I suppose I am dumbfounded because he has never been married, and there is no mention of Meghan’s mother in anything. It just doesn’t seem right.”
“Of course I agree with you, but we are going to have to tread lightly when we start asking him all of these questions. There could be something he is trying to hide and if he feels we are pushing him to hard he might close up and even dismiss us.”
“No, he would give us half-truths, but h
e would keep us around. We are the only hope he has of bringing Meghan safely back to him.”
Emily nodded and continued to get ready. Car trips were one of her least favorite things, but she knew it was necessary. Mr. Malone was refusing to leave his home because he was waiting for the special instructions to arrive. She was unsure of how this was working, but whoever was behind it seemed to be calculating and that could be a very dangerous thing.
###
Thumbing through the photo book, looking at old photos of Meghan, he could not help but wonder if she was still alive. She had to be, right? Because if she was not, then whoever had her didn’t have any leverage over him. Yes, Meghan had to be alive, and he knew the best way to deal with this was to think positive. So long as he did everything they said, all would be fine.
He stumbled upon a picture of Meghan when she was five. They had just built her tree house and she had fallen and broken her arm. While they were on the way to the hospital, Meghan got to talking and had shown him a new perspective. They say that parents teach their children in the ways of the world, but it was almost as if children taught parents just as much. Their minds filled with questions that sometimes they never thought to ask themselves. He knew that Meghan was insightful, but she was also submissive.
Placing the photo book down on the coffee table, he looked around the living room. It had always been quiet, but now there was eeriness to it. Letting out a sigh, he was not too sure that this private investigator would be of much help to him, but he was limited to who he could go to about this. From everything that he read, it seemed as if David Orlando would be the best and perhaps only choice he had. Maybe not any better than the police, but the moment he turned to the police, he would run the risk of losing his daughter. He wasn’t too sure if he was constantly being watched, but if he was, there would have to be several people involved in this and not just one.
Getting up, he walked into the kitchen and got himself a bottle of water. Uncapping it, to take a sip, he heard the doorbell ring. Walking to the foyer, he peered through the peep hole and he saw a woman, a petite red head, standing with a dark haired man. They didn’t look like cops whatsoever, and he let out a sigh of relief. Unbolting the door, he swung it open for them and quickly ushered them inside. The two of them stood in the foyer, hesitant to ask any questions right away.
Promised Box Set Page 69
