Bodyguard for Christmas

by Carol J. Post

  He stood shaking his head, his shoulders hunched. He wasn’t just hurt. He was defeated. Her heart clenched.

  The older of the two officers spoke. Posner, according to his nameplate. “Did you see which way they went?”

  “No. The bigger guy knocked me out.”

  Jasmine stepped forward. “Since the front door was still locked, they probably left the same way they came in—through the back. Then over the wall with the help of the oak tree.”

  The younger officer took off in that direction while Officer Posner spoke into his radio. When he’d finished calling for backup and instructing them to comb the woods behind the subdivision, he turned to Colton again.

  “Any idea who these men were?”

  “No.”

  “Or what they want?”

  “My son, but I don’t know why. This is their second visit. The first time they weren’t successful.”

  Over the next hour, several people were in and out of Colton’s house, including two detectives. Since the men had worn gloves, the detectives had decided against dusting for prints.

  Liam’s information was going immediately into the missing persons database. Soon his photo would be all over Atlanta and beyond, disseminated throughout the law enforcement agencies.

  At one point, Jasmine had found Colton texting both Tanner and Bryce, asking them to pray for Liam’s return. The extra prayers wouldn’t hurt. But she didn’t put much confidence in them. If God intended to offer any kind of intervention on Liam’s or Colton’s behalf, He’d have prevented the kidnapping to begin with.

  Finally, she and Colton were alone in the living room. Christmas dinner was still in the oven. She’d turned it off after the police arrived, but it was probably too dried-up to eat. Not that it mattered. Colton’s appetite wouldn’t be any better than hers.

  Colton sank onto the couch and put his face in his hands. “I should have stayed in Murphy. I could have invited you there.”

  She rested a palm on his knee. “Don’t blame yourself. Hindsight’s twenty-twenty. We both thought that once Perez’s brothers were captured, you were safe. Everybody did.”

  He lowered his hands and looked at her. Moisture pooled against his lower lashes. “What am I going to do if they don’t find him? I can’t lose him, Jasmine.”

  Her heart twisted at the grief in his eyes. She wrapped both arms around him and squeezed, her face pressed to the side of his head.

  Maybe her actions weren’t professional. But this was what Colton needed. Besides, she wasn’t his bodyguard anymore. The assignment was over. Now she was acting solely in the capacity of a friend.

  When his arms circled her waist, the action silenced all her doubts. He held on to her in the same desperate way a drowning man clings to a life ring.

  “They’re going to find him.” His breath was warm against the side of her neck. His tone held more hope than confidence.

  She dropped her arms from around him and gripped his hands. “The guys who took him had to have a reason. When we find out what it is, we’ll know better how to proceed.”

  “I can’t imagine someone is holding him for ransom. There are lots of kids easier to get to than Liam and plenty of dads with more money than I have.”

  Colton was right. Finding a ransom note in the morning would be an easy resolution. But that wasn’t likely to happen.

  He drew in a deep breath. “The authorities are doing everything they can to find him. In the meantime, I’m trusting God to protect him. I’ve been praying for that since the moment I woke up.”

  The confidence she’d looked for earlier crept into his tone. He seemed sure prayer could make a difference.

  But would God really hear him, one man among millions? What if God was busy elsewhere, doing important things, like preventing massive natural disasters or keeping the planets in their orbits?

  Or maybe God did hear him, but instead of deliverance, this was one of those storms he was supposed to go through.

  She tightened her fingers over his. No, she wasn’t going to allow thoughts like that to stay in her mind. After losing his wife, Colton couldn’t lose his son, too.

  If only she’d been there. The score would have been more even—two against two. The thirty-eight at her hip would have made it even more so. Depending on how long Colton had been out, she might have missed the kidnapping by only ten or fifteen minutes.

  The amount of time she’d taken to finish the last wall. The realization was like a steel-toed boot to the gut.

  If she had stuck to the original plan and gotten to Colton’s at three, Liam would possibly still be home. She closed her eyes and said a prayer of her own.

  God, I don’t have any reason to expect You to listen to me. But I’m begging You, for Colton’s sake, please bring Liam back home.

  Her prayers wouldn’t hold any special power. She’d ignored God all her life.

  But maybe, when combined with Colton’s, they could have the ability to move the hand of God.

  TEN

  The jangling of the phone sent Colton’s pulse into overdrive.

  He pulled his hands from Jasmine’s and rose. “My landline number is unlisted. I only have it to monitor the alarm.”

  He reached the kitchen at a half jog. Before snatching the receiver from the wall, he glanced at the caller ID. Blocked number displayed on the small screen, sending his tension skyrocketing. He pressed the phone to his ear and gave a breathless “Hello.”

  “You’re not answering your cell phone.”

  The voice was gruff. Definitely not a friendly call. He glanced over his shoulder at Jasmine, who’d followed him into the kitchen. If he could keep the caller on the line long enough, maybe Jasmine could have the call traced.

  He pulled a pen and sheet of paper from a drawer. “It didn’t ring.”

  While he jotted down his phone number, the caller continued. “You thought you’d get away with it, didn’t you?”

  Get away with what? Making sure another criminal paid for his crimes?

  He handed the paper to Jasmine. She was a step ahead of him and already had her cell phone in hand.

  “Who is this?”

  “You know who I’m calling for.”

  “Perez.” The name slipped out before he could stop it.

  The man laughed, the sound hard and cruel. “You’ve got so many people after you, you can’t keep them straight.”

  Jasmine’s soft voice came from the living room. She was probably on the phone with police. He needed to keep the caller on the line.

  “Tell me what you want.” Whatever it was, he’d find a way to give it to him. Anything to get his son back.

  “I’m through waiting. Return what you took, or the boy dies.”

  His brain shut down. The man’s last three words branded themselves on his mind. He was threatening to kill Liam.

  Several moments passed before the first part of the sentence even registered. Return what he’d taken?

  “What are you talking about?” This couldn’t be connected with his job. Those decisions were irreversible, at least by him.

  “I’ll text instructions tomorrow morning. Make sure your phone is charged and working. If you don’t show up at the appointed place and time with what you took in hand, the boy dies.”

  Panic pounded up his spine, scrambling his thoughts. How was he supposed to return something he didn’t have? “I didn’t take anything.”

  “If you want to see the boy alive, you’ll follow my instructions explicitly. Don’t involve the police or anyone else.”

  “Tell me what you want.” His voice was several decibels louder than normal. But it didn’t do any good, because he was talking to dead air.

  He stared at the phone for several moments before placing it back on the hook. When he walked into the living room, Jasmine was pacing silently, pho
ne still pressed to her ear. Her eyes met his, and he shook his head.

  Her shoulders dropped. “He’s gone. Were you able to get anything?” After a short pause, she disconnected the call. “The kidnappers?”

  He nodded.

  “Did they make a ransom demand?”

  “They said if I don’t return what I took, Liam dies.”

  “What did you take?”

  “Nothing.” He flung his arms wide, all the fear and frustration coming out in his tone. “How am I supposed to give them something when I have no idea what it is?”

  “How long do you have?”

  “I don’t know. He’s texting further instructions in the morning.”

  To his cell phone.

  He charged into the kitchen and swiped it from the counter. “When I first picked up the call, he chided me for not answering my cell phone. I told him it didn’t ring.”

  He checked his log. The last call was from Jasmine. Maybe it went straight to voice mail. He didn’t know how, since he had full signal strength. After all, this was Atlanta, not rural Smoky Mountains.

  But that explanation was better than the alternative, that the kidnappers had the wrong number and he wouldn’t even get the text.

  While he waited for his voice mail to connect, worry, fear and hopelessness melded into one toxic concoction. Moments later, a computerized voice said the words he dreaded—You have no messages.

  Okay, maybe the kidnapper hung up when the call went to voice mail instead of leaving a message. He laid his phone back on the counter and squeezed his eyes shut. He was grasping at straws.

  “The kidnappers have the wrong number. He hung up without giving me a chance to check it.”

  Jasmine put a hand on his arm, and he opened his eyes.

  “When you don’t respond to the text, he’s going to figure it out. He’ll call you on the landline again. And when he does, we need to be ready. Call the police. I’m calling Gunn.”

  She swiped her screen and pulled up her contacts.

  “No.” He covered her phone with his hand. “I can’t involve anyone else. If I do, they’ll kill Liam.”

  Her brows dipped toward her nose. “If you try to handle this alone, you could get both you and your son killed.”

  “But if they find out that I’ve involved the police or anyone from Burch Security, Liam is as good as dead. That’s a chance I’m not willing to take.”

  She heaved a sigh, indecision flashing in her eyes. “Let me call Gunn, at least get his input. There might be a way to give you and Liam some security without the kidnappers finding out.”

  Colton stalked into the living room, unable to remain still. He didn’t like it at all. The kidnapper had made himself clear—no one except Colton.

  But bringing in other minds might be a good thing. “Advice only, right?”

  “Yes. Tomorrow when he calls back, we’ll figure out how to proceed. The final decision will be yours.”

  Colton’s cell ringtone sounded from the kitchen, and his breath caught in his throat. For a split second, he stood frozen, then ran from the room, Jasmine right behind him. When he swiped his phone from the counter, Cade’s name and number displayed on the screen.

  His heart fell, and he gave his brother a weary “Hello.”

  Cade apparently didn’t notice the heaviness in his voice. He didn’t even try to temper that characteristic playfulness. “If you’re spending Christmas with your hot new neighbor, I don’t want to interrupt anything. But I did want to wish my favorite brother and nephew a merry Christmas.”

  Colton winced. The mention of Liam was like a red-hot poker through his heart.

  “You can’t talk to Liam. They took him.” His tone was flat, in spite of the maelstrom of emotion swirling inside. If he didn’t keep tight reins on it, he’d fall apart and never be able to pull himself back together.

  “Who took him?”

  “I don’t know. The same guys as before.”

  “They found you in Murphy?”

  “No, I’m in Atlanta.” His gaze met Jasmine’s. The sympathy and support he saw there bolstered him.

  “What?” Cade’s voice was almost shrill. “I told you not to come back to Atlanta.”

  “It was supposed to be safe. The authorities caught Perez’s guys.”

  “These aren’t Perez’s guys.” Cade screamed so loudly Colton held the phone away from his ear. “I told you to stay in Murphy.”

  He matched his brother’s tone. “And I assured you I wasn’t going anywhere until the people after us had been caught. They were caught last Thursday.”

  There was a muffled thud, like a boot hitting a wall. Or a fist. Cade wasn’t just sick with worry. He was furious. He blew out a breath. “Has anyone made contact with you?”

  “Someone called my landline and said if I don’t return what I took, Liam dies.”

  “Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.” Cade released a long moan.

  Colton’s gut tightened. His brother’s reaction didn’t make him feel any better. Cade knew something. He’d said these weren’t Perez’s guys. Did he know who they were?

  “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  The pause that followed stretched out so long Colton thought the call dropped. “Cade?”

  “I’m here.” He released a long sigh. “I acquired a collection for a buyer, five Roman signet rings, circa second century. One was gold and oval-shaped eye agate, a beautiful piece. The agate was cone-shaped, with three color layers and an inscription on the face.”

  Colton curled his free hand into a fist. “Get to the point.”

  “It was exactly what I’d been searching for, for another buyer.” After a brief pause, the rest of the words tumbled out. “I pulled it from the collection and replaced it with a fake.”

  Colton closed his eyes, clutching the counter for support. Cade had made some poor decisions in his life. But Colton had never known him to do something this stupid. “What were you thinking?”

  “It was one piece out of five. And the fake was such high quality, I almost couldn’t tell. I didn’t think anyone would notice.”

  He clenched his teeth. If his brother were standing in front of him, Colton would have his fingers around his throat.

  “Why did they go after Liam? I have nothing to do with the antiquities business.”

  “It’s a case of mistaken identity.”

  Colton shook his head. That didn’t explain anything. “How? I’m never at your business. It’s on the opposite side of Atlanta from where I live and nowhere near where I used to work. Other than the fact that we look alike, there’s nothing to lead them to me.”

  “While I was living at your house, I had some of my meetings there instead of in my office. It was more comfortable. We could kick back, have drinks, socialize. Your place is good for that, makes a good impression. Classy without being ostentatious.”

  Jasmine put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. He needed it. He was probably growing paler by the second. The only thing keeping him on his feet was anger with his brother.

  Cade continued. “They disabled the alarm at the business and ransacked it the night before coming to your place. I didn’t learn that until later. When they didn’t find the ring there, they came to the house.”

  The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. And they weren’t forming a pretty picture. Their father had made a good living dealing in antiquities. But that hadn’t been enough for Cade. He’d wanted more. And he’d resorted to dishonesty to get it.

  This probably hadn’t been the first time he’d done something like this. He’d apparently had the connections in place when the need to quickly create a quality fake had presented itself.

  Whatever stupid choices Cade made were his business. But how could he even think about pulling anything shady with people he’d brought
into Colton’s home? But that was just it. Cade didn’t think. That had always been his MO—acting without weighing the consequences.

  Colton pursed his lips. Cade had created the problem, and Cade would have to fix it. Colton was not going to lose his son to his brother’s greed.

  “You have to get the original back from the other customer. Buy it back. Pay double if you have to.”

  “I can’t. It disappeared from your house the day they tried to take Liam.”

  “What was it doing at my house?”

  “I had it in my pocket in a small cloth bag when I stopped to see you and Liam the day before. I was meeting the other customer at his hotel room the following afternoon. Since I’d be running around with you in the morning and had the other appointment in the middle of the day, I took it out of the safe to bring home with me. I figured I’d save time backtracking to the south side of the city.”

  “And you stashed it at my house in the meantime.”

  “Not intentionally. Remember, I ended up having dinner with you, then staying the night. When Liam spilled his juice on me and you loaned me your sweats, I needed to put it somewhere safe.”

  “And why didn’t you take it with you when you left?”

  “Would you want to carry around a $20,000 artifact while running errands? I figured I’d pick it up when we got home, but I had to leave for my appointment right away. When I came back to get it, that’s when I found out you’d been robbed, and it was gone.”

  “If they took it, why are they demanding I return it?”

  “Maybe the guy that wants it doesn’t know that.”

  “The guy you ripped off.” His tone was heavy with disdain.

  “The buyer. Maybe his goons decided to pick up some quick cash and pawn it themselves, then told him they couldn’t recover it.” Cade heaved another sigh. “I tried to make it right. I figured if I could get a similar piece, the problem would go away. I’ve made dozens of phone calls. I’ve got dealers all over the world searching. But until I had it in hand, I knew I didn’t dare come back. And you couldn’t, either.”

  “But you didn’t bother to tell me.”