Every Precious Thing (A Logan Harper Thriller)

by Brett Battles

  An hour passed with no sign of the gray sedan. He thought the woman must have been cautious. Maybe she’d even parked somewhere else and was watching the El Camino on foot just like Dev was.

  Doing nothing to draw attention to himself, Dev looked around and indentified all the locations someone could covertly watch the truck from. Then, keeping his exposure to the open sky to a minimum, he visited each one by one. No Dr. Paskota, not even one of the men who’d been with her.

  Confused, Dev looked out at the road that led toward the entrance.

  Where the hell are you?

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  ONCE THEY WERE back in the car and had reached the partially blacktopped road, Logan called Dev.

  “Hey,” Dev answered. “Everything okay?

  “Well, I guess. Yeah,” Logan said.

  “Did you find her?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And?”

  Instead of answering, Logan asked, “What happened there?”

  “Nothing happened here.”

  “What do you mean, ‘nothing’?”

  “She hasn’t shown up.”

  “At all?”

  “Haven’t seen her or her car.”

  That was definitely not what Logan had expected. He took a moment, then said, “Head back to Tusayan. Same gas station as before. I’ll be waiting there. But keep your eyes open. Maybe she’s just been waiting for you to come back out.”

  “You going to be there alone?”

  “Undetermined at this point.”

  “All right. See you in a bit,” Dev said.

  As soon as the line went dead, Logan called Ruth.

  “I’ve got someone in my office,” she said quickly before Logan could speak.

  “Anyone I know?”

  “As a matter of fact.”

  “Oh, God, it’s Jon, isn’t it?” Jon Jordan was the head of Forbus International, and the man responsible for blaming Carl’s death on Logan.

  “Yes. That’s correct.”

  “Well, please don’t tell him hi for me.”

  “I think that’s a sound plan.”

  Before she could say good-bye, he said, “Ruth, I need you to check on that cell phone that was in the car following me earlier. I have to know where it is.”

  “That might be a little difficult.”

  “Please, Ruth.”

  “I’ll tell you what. Let me finish up here, and I’ll give you a call back.”

  “How long?”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry. Talk to you soon.” She hung up.

  Logan set the phone in his lap and looked out the window, his mind willing Ruth to hurry.

  “Something wrong?” Diana asked. She was sitting in back with him while Sara sat up front with Richard.

  “I’m…not sure.”

  “Not sure about what?”

  “It’s probably nothing.”

  “Oh, I see. Now you don’t want to share.”

  He was tempted to remind her she wasn’t sharing, either, but instead he said, “The woman who was following us. My friend never saw her.”

  She became instantly concerned. “You don’t think she could have followed us to the cabin, do you?”

  “If she had, she’d have probably tried to take us by now, don’t you think?”

  “What woman are you guys talking about?” Sara asked, looking back.

  “There are four people, actually,” Logan explained. “Three men and a woman. They tried to kill my friend and me last night. The woman seems to be the one in charge.”

  “What’s she look like?”

  The fear Logan had seen on Sara’s face back in the woods had returned, only it seemed even more intense now.

  “She’s maybe forty. Short blonde hair. Fit.”

  Sara stopped breathing.

  “We don’t know if it’s her,” Diana said, trying to calm her sister down. She glanced at Logan. “It’ll be better if we drop you outside of town. Shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes to walk to the gas station.”

  Logan wanted to ask who it was they thought the woman might be, but his phone rang. Ruth.

  “Well, that was almost awkward,” Ruth said.

  “How’s Jon?”

  “The same.”

  “Still a dick, then.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Can you tell me where the other phone is?”

  “I’m pulling it up now.”

  He waited.

  “Whoa,” she said. “Um, okay. I’m looking at the phone you’re calling on and the other three on the map. I see the one that was out on its own is with you now.”

  “Yeah, that’s not the one I’m interested in.”

  “The other one’s heading south from the canyon.”

  “You mean the one that was following me?”

  “No. That one’s clear back on I-40, heading west.”

  Logan was surprised. “Toward California?”

  “Not there yet, but that direction.”

  “Okay, thanks.” He disconnected the call.

  Why had Dr. Paskota backed off? It didn’t make sense. If Logan had been in her place, he would have stuck with the tracking device, knowing it was his best lead to find Diana or Sara. In fact, the only reason that could have gotten him to back off was if either woman had been located elsewhere. But they were here, with Logan.

  Wait. There was one other possibility.

  Emily.

  If Dr. Paskota knew where she was, then she wouldn’t need Diana or Sara.

  “Are you going to tell us what’s going or not?” Diana asked.

  Ignoring her, he called information, and had them connect him to Callie’s law firm. A few seconds later, he was put through to her office.

  “Logan, where have you been?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

  “Sorry, I’ll explain later,” he said quickly. “Right now, I need you to have Alan and Emily—”

  “Logan,” she cut in. “Harp’s missing.”

  He thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. “I’m sorry?”

  “Your father is missing.”

  “What happened?”

  “You need to call Barney. He can give you the details. Do you need his number?”

  “Please.”

  She read it off to him, then asked, “What was that about Alan?”

  “Get them out of Riverside. Someplace safe that only you know about. Don’t tell anyone.”

  “My God, what’s going on?”

  “Maybe nothing. I’m probably being overly cautious. Just do it, okay?”

  He hung up, and immediately started dialing Barney’s number.

  “You think Alan and Emily are in trouble?” Sara asked.

  Logan held up a finger. “Give me a minute.” He put the phone up to his ear and listened to it ring.

  A click, and then Barney said, “Hello?”

  “It’s Logan. What’s going on?”

  “Oh, Logan. Finally,” Barney said. He told him what had happened.

  “You checked everywhere?”

  “Yes. He’s not here.”

  “Stay by your phone.”

  One of Logan’s strongest points was his calm in the face of chaos and danger, but he’d never been in a situation like this that involved his father. He had to force the pounding in his head to relax, and cage his emotions so they wouldn’t overtake him.

  He called Ruth back, and had her do a similar check on Harp’s phone. It was sixty miles east of Braden, seemingly stationary, just off the interstate. But that wasn’t the worst part.

  The phone in Paskota’s car—Logan’s phone—was traveling down the freeway off-ramp at the very same exit where Harp’s phone was located.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  “NO,” RICHARD SAID. “There’s no way to know that for sure. We stick to the plan, leave him here, and get you someplace safe.”

  “But what if he’s right?” Sara asked.

  They were parked behind the Grand Canyon Camper Villa
ge at the north end of Tusayan. Dev had pulled up several minutes earlier, but sat waiting in the El Camino. Logan had spent the time laying out what he had in mind. Now it was up to them to decide. He already knew what he would have to do, one way or another.

  “And what if he’s wrong?” Sara’s brother retorted. “Or maybe it’s a trap just to get you.”

  “Richard! I’m not the point, remember? Emily is. They’re not going to use her to get to me.” She paused before speaking in a softer voice. “If he’s wrong, then we’ll know soon enough, and we can still disappear.”

  Richard clenched his jaw. “I don’t like it.” He looked at Diana. “You don’t like it, either, do you?”

  Diana closed her eyes and massaged her right temple. When she opened them again, she gave her brother a halfhearted smile. “It doesn’t matter what we think. It’s up to Sara. But if it were my call, I’d probably say we have no choice.”

  “To get out of here,” Richard stated.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “But—”

  “Richard, our family is bigger than the three of us now. Remember that. There’s Emily and Alan, too.”

  He grimaced. “Alan’s not—”

  “Yes, he is,” Sara said. “He’s my husband. Your brother-in-law.”

  She stared at Richard, challenging him to contradict her. As much as he looked like he wanted to, he didn’t.

  “So?” Logan asked.

  “Yes,” Sara said.

  Logan nodded. “Give me a minute.” He got out of the car and stepped over to the El Camino.

  Dev rolled down the window. “Well?”

  “Follow us out of here,” Logan told him. “Once you’re on the interstate, I want you to push it, go as fast as you dare. If you get pulled over, that’s fine. But if you don’t, you’ll be able to get there fast. We’ll be coming behind you, but will stay at traffic speed. I can’t afford to have us both delayed by cops. Here.” He handed Dev a piece of paper with a number on it. “That’s Barney’s cell. Call him, and tell him and Pep to be ready to leave in the next thirty minutes. Tell them I’ll call when it’s time. I’m going to keep tabs with Ruth. If possible, I want to time things so that Pep and Barney get on the road just ahead of the doctor and her people. She’ll probably be traveling pretty fast and will overtake them at some point. When that happens, they need to try to stay with her.”

  “Pep should drive.”

  “I agree,” Logan said. “If they’ve forced my father to tell them where Alan is, they’ll be heading straight to Riverside. We’ll know that soon enough. Callie’s getting Alan and Emily out of town as we speak, which means the house will be empty. I’m hoping we can trap the woman there, and get my dad away from her.”

  “And then what? Call the police?”

  Logan looked back at the Grand Prix. “If I can convince them of that.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  HARP KEPT HIS eyes closed, hoping the others would think he was asleep. It wasn’t that he had some elaborate plan for escape. That was something his son might think up, not him. He just didn’t want to talk anymore.

  It wasn’t fair. He was a nearly eighty-year-old man, whose son was the only family he had left. Once threats were made about Logan, Harp hadn’t stood a chance, and he’d talked. He hated himself for it, but what else could he do? He couldn’t run. He couldn’t fight. He couldn’t call anyone even if they hadn’t taken his phone away.

  Harp could hear other vehicles entering and leaving the truck stop. Most sounded like regular, family-sized cars, but every so often there were low rumbles and vibrations of big rigs pulling in to fill up.

  Once he’d tried to signal a passerby, but his interrogator had simply reached over and slapped his hand down. If he tried again, he was pretty sure he’d get more than a slap.

  As soon as they had stopped, the driver had made a call, told the person on the other end their location, and hung up. The two men then took turns going into the station to use the facilities. Harp, though, was not offered the same opportunity.

  Finally, his mind started to drift. His body, on edge since the moment he’d been taken, felt suddenly drained and useless. If he were lucky, soon he wouldn’t just be pretending to sleep.

  A phone rang, loud and jarring.

  Harp’s eyes sprang open, his breath catching in his throat, as whatever adrenaline he had left shot through his system.

  “Hello?” the driver said into his cell. He listened, nodding, and hung up without saying anything else.

  “Well?” the man in back asked. He was the one who’d introduced himself as Leon Clausen at the hospital cafeteria.

  “Almost.”

  They fell into silence again.

  Almost what? Harp wondered.

  He didn’t have long to wait for his answer. Only a few minutes went by before a gray sedan with a blonde woman behind the wheel pulled up next to theirs and stopped.

  “We’re switching to the other car,” Clausen said to Harp. “Don’t do anything dumb.”

  Dumb was getting out of bed that morning. Dumb was offering to get water for Pep by himself. Dumb was telling the men where Alan and Emily lived. Trying to get away from men with guns would be colossally idiotic.

  Harp moved over into the gray sedan without a fight. The man who’d been driving took over the same duties in the new vehicle, and soon they were back on the interstate.

  Once they had settled into a steady speed, the woman twisted around in the front passenger seat and looked at Harp, studying him.

  “I see the resemblance,” she said. “Your son has your eyes, and your…ears, I think.” Her smile sent a chill through Harp. “But I’m glad to hear his stubbornness didn’t come from you.”

  Harp said nothing.

  “I advise you to continue to be cooperative, Mr. Harper. If I get the feeling that you’re not, you become unnecessary, and I don’t keep anything unnecessary around.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  DR. PASKOTA AND her men had over a two-hour lead on Logan and the others. They might be able to close the gap some, but it wouldn’t be by much. The question was, would the woman blaze into Riverside and go straight after Alan and Emily? Or would she take a little time to evaluate the situation first?

  That really depended on why the woman was after the girl.

  “If I’m going to help you, really help you, then you need to tell me exactly what’s going on,” he said.

  “No,” Richard said. “All you need to know is that those people are trying to hurt my sister and her family. That’s it. That’s all you need. That’s all you get.”

  “Those people also happen to have my father. He’s not a young man. There’s not a lot he can do to protect himself. I need to know what’s going on!”

  “I’m sorry about your dad,” Richard shot back. “But I don’t give a shit. If you hadn’t come nosing around in the first place, he wouldn’t be in trouble.”

  All Logan had to do was grab the back of Richard’s head and slam it into the steering wheel. That would be that. Of course, they’d all be dead, but at least he’d have a little satisfaction.

  His hands remained at his side.

  “I’m going to ignore that last part, because I know you’re trying to protect your sister. That’s admirable. I also know that you’re not very smart. There’s nothing you can do about that.”

  Richard’s face balled up into a reddening mass of fury. “You son of a—”

  “Richard!” Diana yelled. “Just drive!”

  “I’m pulling over and we’re kicking him out.”

  “No, we’re not,” she said. “Keep going.”

  “Go to hell, Diana! Sometimes I’m right. Sometimes we do what I say!”

  “Richard,” Sara said, her voice calmer than the others. “Logan’s right. We all know you’re doing your best to help me. I love you more for that than I can ever express. But Logan’s not the problem here.” She pointed out the front window at some imaginary point in t
he distance. “She is. Logan’s involved in this now whether you want him to be or not. Which means he needs to know the truth. Please. Keep driving.”

  A whole minute passed, then two, as if the air in the car needed to calm first before anyone spoke. Then Sara started talking.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  “DIANA AND RICHARD had it harder than me,” Sara said.

  Diana shook her head. “That’s not true.”

  “It is. We all had the same mother, but Diana and Richard had a different father than me. Didn’t really matter, though. Their dad, my dad, neither of them stuck around. Mom was…not picky, you know what I mean? There were different men all the time.”

  “Until Jerry,” Diana said.

  “Yeah,” Sara agreed.

  When neither of them said anything more, Logan asked, “What happened?”

  “Richard and I came home from school one day,” Diana said, picking up the story. “Sara was four at the time, and was sitting in the living room watching TV. That usually meant Mom was busy with one of her boyfriends in back, but when I went to my room, I noticed her door was open, and she was stretched across the bed. There was something odd on her pillow, so I tiptoed in to see it, thinking she was asleep.” Diana paused. “It was blood, and there was more on the sheets. Her face was bruised and swollen. Turned out Jerry beat her into a coma at some point during the day, then gave Sara a sandwich, put her in front of the TV, and left. They caught him a week later. Mom never came out of the coma. She lasted three months before she died, and six weeks after that Jerry went to prison.”

  Sara said, “We were sent to live with our aunt and uncle in Iowa. Unfortunately, they weren’t particularly big fans of our mom. They tolerated us at best. Diana and Aunt Jill didn’t see eye to eye at all, so Diana left when she was a junior in high school. Richard and I both made it through our senior years before we got out.”