by Carolina Mac
“We’re calling you first… and Blaine… Jesse had a heart attack when Ty told him. The ambulance took him to Fayette Memorial.”
“Oh, my Jesus. Let me do something and call you back.”
“Yes, please.” Bob sounded like he might keel over too.
Blaine called the number that he’d only called a couple of times before.
“What is it, son?”
“A woman took Jesse’s baby girl and Jesse had a heart attack when he found out. I could use some help.”
“I’m sending people to Quantrall. Go to Jesse’s ranch and organize them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And son, don’t hesitate to use Miss LeJeune.”
“Right, I’ll take her with me.”
Good thing there was one clear thinker in a shit storm.
He called the Chief at home and told him.
“I’ll meet you at Quantrall in an hour.”
He called Annie next. “Mom, we have a situation.”
“What happened to Jesse?”
Always Annie’s first thought.
He filled her in and she screamed and wailed. “Mom, I know you’re upset, but I need things done.”
“What, baby?” She asked though the sobs.
“Go to the hospital and get hold of Jesse’s cell in case...”
He could hear Annie taking some deep breaths. “I know. In case they call him for ransom.”
“Have Neil drive you and find out from Brian how bad Jesse is. Farrell and I will be at Quantrall covering the kidnapping.”
“Okay, I’m going now.”
She was still sobbing when Blaine ended the call and rounded up Farrell and Misty.
He called Bobby back as he was going out the door. “On my way and sending people. They should be arriving soon.”
“Thanks, Blaine. I’ll have Molly make coffee.”
FARRELL jumped in the back seat of Blacky’s truck and checked his SW. “What about Mom? She’s gonna go off the rails over the baby being gone.”
“She already did,” said Blaine. “I told her I was covering the baby and sent her to the hospital. We’ve got to have access to Jesse’s cell.” He glanced across the console and Misty was silently crying.
I’m glad I didn’t tell Carm about the baby.
Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange.
NEIL came running down the hall when he heard Annie scream. “Mom, what’s happening? Why are you crying?”
Through sniffles and sobs, Annie said, “The new nanny kidnapped Charity.”
“The bitch took my baby sister?” color rose in Neil’s face so quickly it scared Annie. Neil grabbed the island for support. “What should we do?”
“We have to go to the hospital to get Jesse’s phone. That’s what Blaine wants us to do.”
“Why is Jesse at the hospital and not talking to the feds?” asked Neil.
“He… he collapsed when he found out Charity was gone.”
Neil tore at his blond curls. “Oh, my God, Mom. Let’s go. I’ll drive you in my truck.”
Quantrall Ranch. Giddings.
BLAINE AND FARRELL arrived at the Quantrall ranch as a convoy of black SUV’s poured down the laneway. The unmarked vehicles parked in a neat line, suits spilled out and stormed the house. A forensics’ van was parked close to the porch steps. All the lights in the huge house were blazing brightly.
As Blaine helped Misty down from the sidestep he said, “With a baby we won’t have much time, sweetheart. We have to find her quickly.”
Misty nodded and wiped fresh tears from her face.
Tyler opened the door for them looking like walking death himself. “I’m glad y’all are here. Where’s Annie?”
“I sent her to the hospital. I need Jesse’s cell.”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think of that. Sorry.” He pointed at the door to the dining room. “A lot of men in suits are in there.”
“Don’t matter,” said Blaine. “Let them do what they do. We’re doing something else. I need you to get Charity’s favorite toy and a picture book or something she touches all the time and bring it to the office for Misty.”
Tyler glanced at Misty like he hadn’t realized she was there. “I’ll do that now, then I’ll get y’all a drink.”
“Farrell, show Misty where the office is while I see who’s in the dining room. I’m supposed to be organizing these guys”
Guys from the top of the food chain that I’ve never even met.
Bob Quantrall, tall and blond like his youngest brother, was holding court in the dining room. All of the Quantrall boys were raised by their father to be perfect hosts.
An intimidating group of men in dark suits sat around the ten-foot pecan table with mugs of coffee in front of them, some already staring at their laptops. Molly darted in and out of the room placing trays of squares and tarts on the table.
“Blaine, you’re here,” said Bob with a sigh of relief. “This is Special Agent in Charge, Tabor Sharping.” Blaine shook the man’s hand. Sharping was over six feet tall, coal black with a shaved head and an earring in his left ear.
Was an earring acceptable in the FBI?
“And you are?” Sharping checked out Blaine’s long hair, tats and ripped jeans and shaved a layer off with his dark eyes.
“Blaine Blackmore, Violent Crime.”
“You’re the … person we’ve been waiting for?”
Blaine shrugged. “I trust you weren’t waiting long?” He took a position at the head of the table and got the ball rolling. “What we need are prints that Skylar Alward—not her real identity—left somewhere in the house. She wouldn’t have used an alias unless she was in the system. Her prints will identify the woman and from there we can find her known associates. I doubt she’d be a lone female kidnapper.” Blaine glanced around the table to see who was listening and who regarded him as a lower life form. “I presume you sent the forensic team straight to the room she was using?”
“They’re up there now,” said Sharping. “We’re monitoring the landline waiting for a call, but of course the kidnappers may call any of the Quantrall brothers’ cell phones as well.”
“I have someone at Fayette Memorial picking up Jesse’s cell. It was probably on his belt when the ambulance took him.”
Sharping tilted his head to one side. “You think that’s the phone they’ll call?”
“Why wouldn’t they call the baby’s father?” asked Blaine. “Makes sense to me.”
A couple of the suits nodded.
FARRELL leaned on the doorframe of Skylar’s room and watched the techs with their sprays and powders. Sue and her team were working quickly, lifting prints from different surfaces. There would be lots of prints to be eliminated mixed with many from Skylar. She wouldn’t care about leaving them behind knowing that she’d be long gone with Charity before anyone found out who she really was.
Sue looked up and saw Farrell watching her. “Hey, there, Donovan. Like to watch me work?”
“Sure do. I know you’re gonna have something for me any minute.”
“I can run a print from her as soon as I get a clear one. Won’t be long.” The smile vanished from her face. “We’re all concerned about Ranger Quantrall’s baby girl.”
Fayette Memorial Hospital. La Grange.
ANNIE waited until Brian came out of the cardiac unit where he was working on Jesse. They hadn’t been on friendly terms for a long while, and she didn’t give a hoot about the arrogant Doctor Brian Quantrall or his opinions, her only concern was for her ex-husband.
She caught up to him at the nurses’ station. “Brian, how’s Jesse doing?”
“I might have known you’d be hovering around, Annie. He’s not doing well and that’s all I’m saying. Whenever you’re in the picture my brother gets worse. I want you to leave and stay away from him.”
Neil took a step towards Brian and took a stance.
Annie reached out, touched Neil’s arm, then turned to Brian. She hissed at him in a whisper. “I don�
�t give a flying fuck about you or your opinions, asshole. I want all Jesse’s personal belongings and I want them now. The police are waiting on them.”
“Why would they be?”
“Blaine wants the phone. Would you please get it for me?”
Brian tried to figure it out in his little doctor brain. “Oh, the phone. Right. I’ll get it now.”
He was back moments later with a brown bag bearing Jesse’s name. Annie checked, and the cell was in the bottom of the bag. She looked to see if there had been a missed call. Not yet.
“No call yet. I’m taking the phone to Blaine. He’s at Quantrall.”
“Thank you, Annie. And… I apologize.”
Neil slipped an arm around Annie’s waist and glared at Brian over his shoulder.
Quantrall Ranch. Giddings.
FARRELL FAIRLY flew down the wide curved staircase when he had the ID on a print from the nightstand in Skylar’s room. Her real name was Heather Bunch and she had a jacket. He tore down the hall, past the great room and was a little out of breath by the time he reached the group in the dining room.
Special Agent Sharping glanced up and frowned at the intrusion.
“Got her?” asked Blaine.
“Yep. Heather Bunch. See what you get, bro.”
“And who is this?” asked Sharping.
“This is my brother, Ranger Farrell Donovan,” said Blaine.
“Of dead-eye fame?” asked one of the other agents.
Farrell grinned and shrugged it off.
Sharping had set up a white board in the corner of the room and was establishing a timeline when Chief Calhoun arrived. It was after hours and the Chief wasn’t in uniform. He entered the dining room wearing jeans and a plaid shirt. He stuck out a hand and greeted Blaine and Farrell.
Sharping eyed the newcomer. “Another joiner?” he asked, “And your reason for being here, sir?”
Calhoun cracked a smile. He loved to shoot down an arrogant smart ass as much as the next person. “Ranger Quantrall is one of my boys. Where else would I be?”
“This is Chief Calhoun,” said Blaine, “Chief of the Texas Rangers.”
“Welcome, Chief,” said Sharping sucking in his horns.
“Many thanks, sir. What have we got so far?”
“Sue just made the ID,” said Farrell. “The nanny is a girl named Heather Bunch.”
“And Blacky is on that right now,” said the Chief, watching Blaine on his laptop. “Won’t be long until we know who she’s working with.”
THE DOGS barked, and Annie was next through the dining room door with Neil right behind her. She plopped the bag of clothes down beside Blaine and pulled the phone out of her purse. “Here it is.”
“And this lady is?” Sharping was obviously annoyed by the constant interruptions.
“I’m Annie Powell-Quantrall, sir. Blaine sent me to the hospital to get Jesse’s cell in case the kidnappers called on it directly.”
“Good thinking, Ranger Blackmore.”
Blaine turned to Annie. “See Ty and Misty in the office, would you, Mom?”
“Sure, baby. Come on, Neil.”
TYLER hovered over Misty who was sitting in one of the leather wing chairs next to the fireplace in the study. Items belonging to Charity sat on the end table beside Misty and she was waiting for… Blaine?”
She didn’t speak and that made it hard to know what was going on in her head.
Tyler ran across the room when he saw Annie and grabbed her in a long embrace. “I’m so scared,” he whispered into her hair.
“Misty will pick something up far quicker than the feds,” said Annie, “and we’ll go get the baby back.”
“Charity is so little,” said Ty, “and this is all my fault. I was the one who hired Skylar.”
“You wouldn’t have hired a kidnapper, sweetheart.” Annie brushed the hair back from Tyler’s face. “She’s a con and she probably has a partner.”
“Will you stay here with me, baby?” he asked in a whisper. “I can’t make it alone.”
“Of course, I will. I love you, Ty.”
BLAINE RUSHED into the study with Farrell and closed the door behind them. He turned the lock and it make a loud click. Misty smiled, and he hurried across the room to sit beside her. “Sorry it took so long to get those people rolling, sweetheart. Do you have what you need?”
She nodded and pointed to the items on the table.
“Okay, let’s see where Charity is.”
Tyler sat on the sofa with Annie beside him and he held tightly to her hand. Charity was just as much Tyler’s child as she was Jesse’s and had been since the first day she arrived at the Quantrall ranch.
Neil sat in one of the club chairs near the desk and watched from there. He’d become so attached to the baby when Jesse and Annie were living together at Coulter-Ross.
Blaine handed Misty the picture book and she sat holding it in her hands. She closed her eyes and sat that way for a long five minutes. When she opened her eyes, she reached for the pad she’d been using to communicate and drew a bear.
“Uh huh.” Blaine studied the drawing. Kind of a cartoon bear. Could be any location to do with a bear and there were a lot of them in Texas, especially in hill country. Maybe she’d get more from the elephant.
Tyler started to ask a question and not wanting to break Misty’s mood, Blaine held up his hand. He gave her the elephant and sat closer to her, ready in case she fainted like she had so many times in the past.
Misty held the stuffed elephant close to her chest and closed her eyes. When she’d been able to talk, her voice would come out low and throaty and not in sentences—just words and phrases. Now, without words, she had to remember what she saw and write it down afterwards.
No one was more shocked than Blaine when Misty began reciting letters and numbers. “RV,” she said clearly, then a garbled list of numbers and another letter. She opened her eyes and reached for her pad. She drew a rectangle and inside placed the letters and numbers, not in the order she had said them out loud, because Blaine had written them down in that order.
She drew what looked like a box with a window and then the rectangle with the numbers down near the bottom.
Blaine smiled. “I got it, sweetheart. It’s an RV and that’s the tag. You are so fuckin amazing I want to tell everybody, but we can’t.”
He called in the tag and it belonged to a rental unit. The unit had been rented to Mr. and Mrs. Smith for a week two days earlier and paid for in cash.
Tyler came closer hoping to find out what Blacky knew.
“Charity is in a camper,” said Blaine.
“Somewhere with a bear,” said Tyler. “What about Jellystone at Canyon Lake. I’ve never been there, but I’ve seen the sign. They have a huge bear on their sign when you drive down I-35.”
“Yep, they do,” said Blaine. “I’ve seen that sign a million times.”
“I’m going there now,” said Annie. “What’s the tag?”
“You aren’t going alone, Mom. These people are kidnappers and they may be killers.”
Annie rolled her gray eyes.
“Farrell and Chief Calhoun will go. You and Neal and Ty follow in Ty’s truck. He has a car seat to bring the baby home.”
Ty nodded. He was on his feet ready to leave.
“What about all the feds?” asked Farrell.
“I’ll stay with Bobby and Paul and the feds and wait for the phone call, even though I’d rather be with y’all at the take down.”
Canyon Lake.
FARRELL drove the Chief and Neil opted to ride with them. He was keen on talking to the Chief during the trip to Canyon Lake and learning something new about law enforcement. Neil was a sponge for knowledge.
“Think the park will be closed for the night when we get there?” asked Farrell.
“I’ll phone ahead, and it wouldn’t hurt to request a couple of extra squads and have them meet us down there.”
“If it’s the right park,” said Neil. “What i
f it isn’t?”
“Misty has never been wrong,” said Farrell. “But we could be wrong thinking it’s Jellystone. Our take on her information might be off the target.”
Quantrall Ranch. Giddings.
THE CALL CAME at ten o’clock on the dot on Jesse’s cell phone. Paul had been nominated to take the call and stand in for Jesse because they sounded a lot alike on the phone.
The feds had everything wired up for tracking and they put the call on speaker. Sharping pointed at the cell and gave the nod to Paul.
Paul answered on the second ring.
“Hi, Jesse, this is Skylar. I guess you know by now that I have your daughter.”
“What do you want?”
“What everybody wants, Jesse. Money.”
“How much?”
“Five million. You’d never miss five million, would you?”
“Where’s Charity?”
“She’s safe and you’ll get her back if you do what I say.”
“Tell me.”
“I know it will take you part of tomorrow to get the money. Bring bundles of clean hundreds to Austin Water Park at three. I’ll call this phone at two-thirty with more details on the exchange.” She was gone.
Jellystone Park. Canyon Lake.
WHILE FARRELL drove, Chief Calhoun had made a few calls and found out that the tag they were looking for was registered at Jellystone in spot number sixty-two. The manager agreed to leave the chain down until they arrived.
Neil phoned Annie in the truck behind and told her.
They arrived at the park and Farrell ran into the office to let the manager know they were there, and more squad cars were on their way. He asked for the quickest way to spot sixty-two and there was no quick way. The one narrow road snaked all the way around and through the park.
The Chief watched the numbers on the right side and Neil watched them on the left for Farrell. “Fifty-nine,” said the Chief. “Gonna be on your side, Farrell.”
“I see it. Let’s park here so they don’t see the truck or the headlights,” said Farrell. “We don’t want to panic them. Chief, you cover the back, I’ll send Mom to the door and I’ll cover her, once the door is open.”
