by Mel Gough
“Who’s calling?” Carrie sat up, yawning, and a moment later the bedside light clicked on.
A dark knot of fear formed in Jay’s gut. An unknown caller at this time could only be bad news. Lou.
He braced himself and took the call. “Hello?”
“Jay, this is Detective Lamar,” a tight voice said.
Jay’s gut turned to ice. “George, what happened?”
“We’ve had a bad development.” George paused, and Jay bunched his fist into the sheets. “Lou has been abducted from the hospital.”
19
After listening for a minute, Jay dropped the phone on the bed and ducked down for his pants.
Carrie scrambled out from under the covers. “What did he say?” She found her bra near the door. The memory of creeping from this room less than twenty-four hours ago flooded through her brain, giving her a sick stab to the heart. Then, Lou had been asleep in this bed. Now…
“Jay?”
“They’ve taken Lou.” His voice sounded like he was repeating words in a language he didn’t speak, but that were making him feel sick.
“They?”
“That’s what your detective friend said.” He slipped his shirt over his head. “The security cameras recorded three men in the ICU. They shot the officer guarding the door. And a nurse.”
Dread was quickly becoming her natural state of being. “Are they dead?”
He shrugged, shook his head. “I don’t know.”
They’d fucked up. The police had failed them yet again.
Jay frowned at her. “What are you doing?”
She’d finished dressing and was strapping on her holster. “I’m coming with you.”
“Why?” He spat the word, sudden fury marring his face.
Carrie stared at him. “What do you mean, why? I told you, I’m seeing this through.” She nearly added to the end, but caught herself. The last thing she wanted to do now was think about bad endings.
He glanced at the crumpled sheets. She was suddenly furious. Had this meant nothing to him?
She didn’t speak. He looked murderous, but shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He turned toward the door.
Carrie glowered. How could anyone meet this guy’s exacting standards? First, he’d been furious with her for not defying her superiors, now he didn’t want her help. She stomped into her boots and headed after him.
At the elevators, Carrie asked, “Is George sending a car?”
“No.”
Patience. “Do you want me to drive?” She patted her pockets for the rental car keys, then remembered the car was still at the arena.
“No.”
Carrie clenched her jaw. “Then how are we getting there?”
“We’ll take a cab,” he said without looking at her.
They didn’t speak inside the elevator. When it opened on the ground floor, Jay strode across the lobby to the concierge’s desk. Carrie let him order the cab, then trailed him outside.
After a couple of minutes, Carrie couldn’t take it anymore. “Look, I know this is awful—”
“You got no idea.” Out here, under the tall canopy that shaded the hotel’s entrance, he sounded dejected and scared. His face was no more than a pale oval in the darkness, but a faint wet streak shimmered on his cheek. Carrie stepped closer, but didn’t touch him.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to get him back.” She squared her jaw. When he didn’t respond she added, “I won’t abandon you again. I swear.”
His shoulders slumped and he lowered his head. “Okay,” he whispered.
The cab drew up and they got in the back. Had it been Corey with her in the car, or Lou—her heart contracted with grief—Carrie would’ve scooted close for a hug and shared comfort. But with Jay, she didn’t even dare take his hand. He had them both balled to fists, the knuckles translucent with tension.
At this hour, even Austin’s vibrant nightlife was simmering down, and they sped through empty streets. With hardly any traffic, they arrived at the police station within minutes. It was one of the few buildings with lights on inside, but that didn’t make it look any more welcoming.
Only a few hours ago Carrie had planned to book her flight home. She suppressed a shiver. What if she had? She might already be in the air now, oblivious. She thought back to the night she’d shared with Jay. They’d been deeply asleep when the kidnapping happened.
George waited in reception. His eyebrows shot up as he saw Carrie, and he gave her a quizzical look. “I didn’t think I’d see you again so soon.”
“Change of plan. What do we know so far?” Her tone brooked no argument.
“Let’s go somewhere private.” George led them down a corridor, past a space full of shoulder-height cubicles. His gaze stayed with Jay, who scowled, hands still in fists. George seemed on the verge of saying something more than once, but desisted.
“Coffee, or a soda?” he asked instead as he showed them into a meeting room.
Carrie said, “Two coffees, milk and two sugars.” She didn’t bother asking if that was what Jay wanted. He had to get some fluids into him, and she hoped he’d drink coffee if it was put before him. They’d have to get him something to eat, too. They’d barely slept; he was running on empty.
The meeting room floor was carpeted and the chairs weren’t bolted down. Other than that, it was as drab as any police interview room Carrie had ever seen.
George spoke to someone about coffee, then closed the door. “We’ve got the security footage.” He considered Jay, expression doubtful. “Do you want to see it?”
Jaw set and face paper white, Jay nodded. Carrie didn’t comment. She needed to see the footage and if she made him wait in the hall while the professionals talked she’d lose any remnant of trust he still had. But she wished they could spare him this, at least.
George took the chair in front of a laptop. Jay still stood, unmoving. Carrie touched his elbow. He looked at her with a dazed expression.
“Sit.” She indicated the chair next to her. He obliged.
George tapped a few keys. The TV on the wall came to life. The screen filled with the frog-eyed view of a nurse’s station. Someone in scrubs stood bent over files on the counter. The camera was at a strange angle, and the longer Carrie watched, the stronger her vertigo got.
A man rushed into the frame from above. He wore scrubs, too, and what looked like a ski mask. The figure at the counter turned around, and the intruder shot her without a moment’s hesitation. She went down, and lay motionless at the bottom of the screen.
“She’ll live.” George’s voice was terse. “At least they didn’t shoot to kill.”
Jay’s eyes were glued to the screen. He was in shock and seemed unable to move. A vein pulsed in his throat.
On the screen, the image changed to a different angle, a different corridor. A single uniformed cop stood by a door. Jay exhaled noisily. The cop was distracted by something to his left. It had to be the shot at the nurse’s station. Two men stepped around a corner at the bottom of the screen. They also wore scrubs and masks. Taking advantage of the cop’s distraction, they fired two rounds. Their weapons were fitted with silencers. The cop’s gun was still in the holster.
“He’s still in surgery.” George sounded like he was about to be sick. Carrie felt for him. One of your own going down was the worst experience in their line of work. “He should be okay, though.”
The first man joined the two others. They disappeared into Lou’s room. One of them bent down and took the cop’s weapon.
Jay leaned forward. The seconds ticked by. Carrie counted twenty on the security footage clock. When the men reappeared, pushing a gurney, Jay stiffened in his seat. Carrie couldn’t take it any longer. She reached for his hand.
The bed, and the three men pushing it, were only visible for a few seconds as they maneuvered down the corridor toward the nurse’s station. The body on the bed lay very still. Lou’s face was no more than a low-res blur.
“Is he…” Jay croaked.
“Unconscious, yeah.” George threw Carrie a look. “We found a syringe that tested positive for Versed. It’s a drug used for conscious sedation. It’ll keep him calm, but he can still follow directions.” George put a hand on the table near Jay’s. “They wanted him alive. They could’ve killed him. But they took him alive.”
“They took him right under your nose.” Jay’s eyes narrowed. He leaned forward and spat, “We should’ve never trusted you. You’re all the same!” He yanked his hand from Carrie’s grip, glaring at them both.
The door opened and a young man in a dark blue suit entered, carrying a tray.
“Thanks, Will.” George motioned to the table. “Just put it there.” Will did as he was told and withdrew. Carrie put a mug each in front of Jay and George.
Jay turned his around and around in his hands. Watching it made Carrie dizzy. She turned to George. “Do we have an ID?”
George tapped his computer again. A still appeared, showing another camera capturing a wide sliding door. Two men in scrubs were close up in the frame, but without the masks. Carrie narrowed her eyes. “They’re the attackers from the meet-and-greet.”
George nodded. “This is the best frame we have for their faces.” He pointed at a figure standing next to a black van on one side of the screen. “We think that this is Greene.”
Carrie looked more closely. Yes, that was Sam Greene.
“In this video, they get Lou off the bed and into the van.” George sighed. “They switched cars almost immediately. We found that vehicle in an alleyway a few blocks west. No clue where they went from there. One bit of good news is that we recovered some DNA from the van. We might know the identity of one or both of Greene’s associates soon.”
Jay scoffed. “Yeah, great news. What are you doing to get Lou back?”
George glanced at Carrie. He seemed to be hoping she’d absorb Jay’s anger and explain, but she had no intention to oblige. She gave him a stony look. George sighed, bracing himself. “We review all the evidence. We talk to the crew again. Now that we know what questions to ask, these interviews should be a lot more productive. We’ll also reinterview the bartender at that place Greene chose for the meeting with his brother. Maybe Greene came in person to set that up.”
“And how’s any of that gonna help find Lou?” Jay snapped. “He ain’t being held in a fucking bar.” He slapped the table. Some coffee spilled from the mugs. “You got nothing, nothing!”
Carrie braced herself. She’d been around plenty of suspects who had raged and shouted, and some who had threatened violence. It wasn’t her favorite situation to be in, but usually it didn’t faze her.
This was too close. She was too involved. Jay’s anger, his pain and despair went right through her. She wanted to rage and shout herself. If she couldn’t bear the thought that, at this moment, Lou was in the hands of those madmen, then how could they expect Jay not to lose his mind?
She wanted to pull him into a hug, wanted to magic them back to the quiet suite, a time when Lou was safe at the hospital and they were allowed to rest for the first time in days. But she didn’t even dare take his hand again.
Instead she said, “I’ll call my analyst right away. He’s great at ferreting out details, and he’s a fresh set of eyes.” She hadn’t even filled Flick in about the stage accident yet. Maybe if she’d kept him abreast none of this would’ve happened.
Jay gave her a disgusted look. “So that’s your big plan? More talking, and nerds poring over a computer screen? Is nobody actually going to look for him?” He buried his face in his hands.
“Look where?” George asked, annoyed. “We don’t have a clue where to start.”
Something tugged at the back of Carrie’s mind. “Actually, we might.” She pulled out her phone. “Nigel Greene called me before…well, earlier tonight.” She avoided looking at Jay. “He wanted to know if we had any news. He said their dad used to take the twins bird watching when they were young.”
Greene’s cell rang several times. It was barely half past six. “Agent McDonald, that’s a surprise.” Nigel sounded groggy.
“I’m sorry to wake you. Unfortunately I’m not calling with news.” Carrie couldn’t bring herself to tell him that his brother was now a kidnapper, too. Even if it hadn’t been against protocol, now was not the time to cause more grief. They didn’t have time. She hurried on. “Nigel, did you, Sam and your dad ever stay anywhere overnight on your bird watching trips?”
“Hmm.” He paused for a moment. “Once or twice, I think. We moved to Houston for a few years when we were twelve. I remember the overnight trip because Dad was obsessed with ticking off all the birds listed in his guidebook for the area. He was still missing a couple when we moved. So we went back for a weekend, to complete his collection.”
Carrie’s heart beat faster. “Do you remember where you went?”
“Bear Valley. It’s one of the smaller parks, but really rugged.” When he continued, a reminiscent fondness infused his words. “Sammy and I, we loved it. A lot of great climbing. We stayed in these cabins near a lake. There was one on an island in the middle of the lake, and a cluster on the shore. We stayed in one of those. I remember wanting to be in the one on the island, but it was shut.”
It sounded too good to be true. Carrie pictured it in her mind. An isolated cluster of huts, in the off season. Unless someone knew to look for them there, it was a good place for Greene and his hostage to hide for a few days.
Before Nigel could ask why she was interested, Carrie said, “Thank you. This is really helpful.”
“No problem. I really want this to be over.” All the reminiscent happiness had gone from his voice.
“So do we. I’ll be in touch as soon as I can share some news, I promise.”
Carrie ended the call. Before sharing what she’d learned with George and Jay, she opened the browser on her phone and typed Bear Valley vacation rental.
She clicked through several offerings until she came across pictures of a cluster of cabins by a lake. She maximized one picture, of a single cabin on an island. “There!” She read the description aloud, “‘Bear Valley holiday cabins. Your perfect budget getaway weekend retreat—rent one of our cabins and forget the world exists.’” She scrolled past photos of the lake and the small, dingy-looking huts. “Stan and Sally De Vries. Says they live about a mile from the lake. ‘In the summer months, we organize a barbeque every weekend. Just come down the road and say hello.’” She read out an address and phone number, which George copied down.
Then he lowered his pen. “And why are we interested in a vacation rental?”
“It’s where the Greene boys spent an overnight bird watching trip with their dad.” She turned the phone for George and Jay to see. “Season hasn’t started yet. The huts are shut for another month.”
George looked impressed. He consulted his watch. “Nearly seven. I’ll call this De Vries now.”
Jay hadn’t said anything. As George pulled out his phone, he stood. “Where’s the bathroom?”
George pointed the way they’d come. “Down the corridor opposite the cubicles.”
As the door fell shut behind Jay, and George waited for De Vries to pick up the phone, Carrie brought up the map app on her phone. Bear Valley was one hour’s drive away.
George finally started speaking, but it was instantly apparent that he was leaving a voicemail message. “Mr. De Vries, this is Detective Lamar with the Austin Police Department. Could you please give me a call? We have a few questions regarding an ongoing investigation.” He recited his cell phone number and hung up. “How likely is it that Greene went there?”
Carrie considered. “He’s not lived in Texas since he was a young adult, so he’s unlikely to have many contacts here. He doesn’t seem the type to make friends easily. It doesn’t look like he contacted his brother again.”
“Not many places left to go.” George scratched his chin. “Why do you think he did this? At first, I thought that Barry was the one he had a gru
dge against. But he’s dealt with Barry. Why go to the trouble of abducting a grown man?”
“I’ve been wondering about that too. It seems like the band was his target as much as Barry.”
“But they didn’t even know him until a few weeks ago.”
“That’s one question on my list for when we catch the asshole.”
George got to his feet. “Time to get this underway. I’m not hanging around here until we hear back from De Vries.” Jay’s pain seemed to have made an impression on him. “You, Jay and I’ll go in my car. We’ll meet the SWAT team by the lake.”
Carrie shouldn’t have been relieved that he was pulling out the big guns this early. Had it been any other kidnapping she might’ve recommended a more conservative approach. Now, she couldn’t wait to get started.
She followed George out into the hall. He glanced around. “Where’s your friend gotten to?”
A lump of dread formed in Carrie’s gut. She looked at her watch. Jay had been gone for more than ten minutes. “You check the men’s room.” She hurried toward the cubicles, George on her heels.
A young female officer stood by the copier. “Are you looking for Jay Davis?” she asked Carrie, her eyes misting over.
Oh great, a fan. “He was just going to use the bathroom. Did he say anything?”
The officer shook her head, looking alarmed at Carrie’s urgent tone. “He didn’t say anything. And he didn’t head to the bathrooms,” she added as George turned that way. She pointed toward the exit. “That’s where he went.”
20
Outside the station, Jay hailed another cab. Street cabs weren’t his preferred mode of transport, and he didn’t relish the thought that he’d have to convince the driver to wait for him at the lake, or find another way out of there. But waiting around for a sedan from the Austin limousine company they used would take too long. He hadn’t had that kind of patience earlier that morning, and he sure as fuck didn’t now.
He still couldn’t wrap his head around the scene in the interrogation room. How could these guys, who should be all about catching criminals and upholding the law, sit there and strategize while Lou’s life was at stake? He’d expected a hell of a lot more from Carrie. She’d made love to Lou, she liked him. Did she really not feel personally involved?
