THIRTY-SIX
In the two days since they'd returned from Santa Barbara, Jess had noticed a change in Kayne. During the day, he was restless and edgy, a wild animal sensing an impending storm. She didn't understand his behavior; it was as if his spidey senses were pinging in the red zone, that something was about to happen. It was only at night, when they were alone in the dark, that she could see the man who'd finally laid his demons to rest.
“Mama, potty,” Gracie said, doing the cross-legged potty dance. Leave it to Rafe and Trace to decide to convince her daughter out of diapers in the twenty-four hours she’d been gone.
Jess looked around the park. Kayne wasn't here yet, and she'd promised not to go anywhere without him or one of the other guys. He'd tried very hard to keep them from going to the picnic at all, but she'd wanted the kids to have a sense of normalcy. And she needed fresh air and sunshine.
She could see the bathrooms from where she stood—so could everyone in attendance. “Okay, let’s hurry.” Jess grabbed Gracie's hand and took off, Maddy falling into step beside her.
“Papa said you weren't supposed to go anywhere alone.”
Seriously? He had their own daughter policing her? And though Jess didn't say anything, she'd not missed the fact that all of the children were calling Kayne 'Papa' these days.
Jess gave her daughter a reassuring smile. “We'll be there and back before he ever gets here.”
“Probably, but I'm here, so you're technically not alone.” Maddy grinned.
Jess couldn't help but laugh. She was going to have to watch her carefully as she grew up.
“Besides, I have to go potty, too.”
Jess walked the girls around the far side of the building and quickly dashed inside, when she suddenly felt like she was being watched. Should she call Kayne? What would he say? He'd be angry that she came alone, that she'd disregarded his guidance for his family’s safety. Jess pulled out her cell phone to call anyway.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” a steely male voice said.
Jess jumped and lost the grip on her phone. It hit the concrete floor and flew apart. Her eyes flew to the intruder, and found a monster with a gun in his hand.
“Against the wall.” He motioned with the gun as he bent down to grab Gracie with his free hand.
Like any toddler who doesn't want to be held, she turned to jello, and he lost his grip. She tried to snake under the stall where Maddy was hidden. Jess lunged forward, but he backhanded her with the gun, sending her to the ground. “Don’t move, bitch!”
He caught Gracie’s foot and dragged the screaming toddler out. He held the gun to Gracie’s head. “Tell her to shut up!’
“Gracie, quiet!” Jess cried, sheer desperation in her voice.
Gracie grew quiet, but continued to struggle against him.
“Tell Kyrsin, The Wolf wants his property back.” He pointed the gun at Gracie again. “Or I’ll kill this one like I did the other two.” He took a step toward the exit.
Jess lunged forward. “You're not taking my daughter!” She reached for Gracie, but froze when he shoved the gun against her forehead, his finger on the trigger.
“I’ll kill you right now.” Then he turned the gun and pointed it at the stall where Maddy hid. “Or maybe her.”
Jess swallowed hard, tasting the blood from where he’d backhanded her. “Please. Take me with you.”
The monster studied her for a long moment through soulless eyes. He shrugged. “It's your death.” He handed a terrified, crying Gracie to her.
The man pounded on the stall door. “You, little girl, come out here!” Neither the weapon nor his gaze ever wavered from Jess.
Maddy slowly stepped out, clutching Gracie's stuffed rabbit. “Leave my mom alone.” Maddy swallowed hard before looking directly at the man. “I'll go with you. I'll take care of Gracie.”
“No!” Jess shouted. Christ she'd never seen such fear and determination in her daughter’s eyes.
You!” He aimed the gun at Maddy. “Aren't going anywhere.” He relayed the message again and grabbed Jess.
“Wait!” Maddy shoved the stuffed animal toward them. “Gracie can't go without Bunny. She won't stop crying if she doesn't have it.” As if on cue, Gracie began to wail, reaching for the bunny, fat tears trickling down her face.
“We'll walk out real slow, just like we're two friends taking a stroll through the park. Make one wrong move, try to alert anyone, and you're dead.” He wrapped a hand over Jess’s shoulder and shoved the muzzle into her side. “If the girl says anything, you both die.” He looked pointedly at Maddy, who nodded her understanding.
God let the cavalry be out there. Jess prayed as she stepped into the bright, noon-day sun. Nick, Kayne, and Del had all worked today, but should be getting off duty any moment and be arriving for the picnic. Trace and Rafe had been here, but had been called out because the task force was mobilizing on whoever they'd been watching and waiting for. Coincidence? Suddenly Jess didn't think so.
Her kidnapper walked them out and along the wall, well out of sight of the picnic goers. Then he quickly pushed her toward a dark gray Mercedes, just like the one she'd seen in the driveway the night she'd come home from the school board meeting.
In less than a minute, she and Gracie were being shoved into the vehicle sight unseen. Her last glimpse was of Maddy, holding up her hand in Sign Language for I-love-you, before she turned and raced toward the other side of the bathroom.
***
Kayne picked up his phone on the second ring. He was more than a little frustrated with the day. He'd been sent on another wild goose chase at the far edge of his district and was late getting to the park. “Officer Dobrescu.”
“Papa, they took her!” A small voice cried into the phone.
“Maddy?” His heart lodged in his throat. “Took who?”
“A man. He took Gracie and Mama. He had a gun.”
Kayne’s heart stopped, panic crushing it in its iron fist. He swallowed hard against the bile racing up the back of his throat, and asked, “Where are you, are you hurt?”
“No. The payphone by the bathrooms at the park. He just drove away.”
“Are Nick or Del there yet?
“I don't know. I don't see them, or any patrol car. Uncle Rafe and Uncle Trace had to leave a little while ago. They think that really bad man is finally in town.”
Dread filled Kayne. There was no way it could be a coincidence.
“The guy had a gun, Papa.”
“I heard you, sweet pea. What did the vehicle look like?” Kayne held his breath, praying she'd be able to remember at least the color.
She floored him when she said, “Dark gray car, no chrome, no emblems, four doors, dark, tinted windows.”
“Did you see which way it went?”
“Toward Main Street.”
Fuck! He'd just turned onto Main from the highway. He started searching for the vehicle even as he said, “Hold on Maddy. I have to set the phone down so I can use my radio, don't hang up.” Kayne flipped the phone to speaker before laying it on the passenger seat. He picked up his microphone. “Eleven-three-eight emergency traffic.”
“Eleven-three-eight go,” Shay responded. Thank you, God, a competent dispatcher!
“Notify Payson PD—I need all available units to respond to Green Valley Park, kidnapping just occurred, copy vehicle information.”
“Go ahead.”
He could hear the confidence in her voice; the calmness that only a seasoned dispatcher could instill in a situation like this. But this time it didn’t help. He still felt sick to his soul. He gave her the preliminary vehicle information.
The second he released the button, his sergeant piped in, “Are we sure it's a kidnapping? Who was taken?”
“My wife and baby daughter. Suspect was armed.” God, he couldn't breathe. Kayne listened to the silence for a dozen heartbeats.
“Eleven-three-one to dispatch.” Sgt. Balentine’s voice was calm. Authoritative. “I want an all call. Everyone checks 10-8. I want every highway in and out of Payson shut down, now! Get the county to lock down Houston Mesa and all the back roads to the ranches. Notify the Tribal police. I want this town shut down tight.”
“PD notified. They're setting up roadblocks on all three highways. They have units enroute, asking for any further description, and we're working on the other notifications.”
“I just came down Main Street—no sign of the vehicle. I'm checking on-scene now.” Kayne threw the car into park and bailed out at a dead run, straight toward his eldest daughter.
Maddy hurled herself into his arms. “I was right there, Papa, and I couldn't stop him.”
“Maddy, you saw it happen?” Nick dropped down in front of her. “Can you tell me anything more about the car?”
“Yes. I watched Mama climb into the back seat holding Gracie, and the man slid in behind her. The car didn't have a license plate on it. I looked. I swear I looked.” She burst into tears. “I don't understand why Mama went. I tried to stop her.”
“Sweetie, Mama didn't have a choice. She couldn't fight him and protect you and Gracie.”
“He only wanted Tasha, but Mama refused to let him take her. Even when he pointed the gun at her, Mama stared him down and insisted she was going.”
Images of Jess lying bleeding flashed through Kayne’s mind, and his vision began to tunnel. He forced himself to breathe and focused on Maddy.
Goddammit! What a fucking choice. He was so proud of her and so fucking scared for her. Only a mother like Jess would fight to be taken with her child, knowing she stood a good chance of them both dying. He had to find her.
“Tell me everything that happened,” Nick demanded.
Maddy recounted what happened. “He had a very thick accent. He said, ‘Tell Krysin that The Wolf wants what Krysin stole returned to him, or The Wolf will destroy everything that matters to Krysin.’”
Kayne hugged his daughter close. “I don't know who The Wolf is, but I do know Krysin. This is about Tasha's grandfather.”
“Papa, he said something else. He said he killed Niki and Natalia. He's going to kill Gracie and Mama too, isn't he?”
Kayne vehemently shook his head. “No. We're going to get her back. Both of them.”
“I did something else, Papa. I slipped my phone into the zipper pocket of Gracie's bunny before I stepped out of where I was hiding. I thought he'd take me too, and so I hid it. But when he refused, I gave the bunny to Gracie, told him she'd cry without it. Mama doesn't know I put the phone there, but I don't think he will check for one since he saw Mama's fall and break.”
Kayne brushed her bangs off her forehead. “Sweet Pea, I don't think they'll give her an opportunity to use it even if she did know it was there. But let’s pray they do.”
Maddy planted her hand on her hip and cocked her head giving him Jess's “Seriously? Where the hell is your brain?” look and said, “Papa! It has GPS tracking. That's why Mama got that phone for me. So you'd know where I was. I silenced it and made sure it was turned on.”
Kayne pictured the tiny pink phone in his mind with its three buttons. The phone only made and received calls to and from pre-programmed numbers or to 9-1-1 by an emergency button.
Kayne kissed her soundly on the forehead. “You are the smartest, bravest girl I know, Maddy. What a good job. We'll start tracking it.”
Maddy was able to give a detailed description of the man down to the tattoos on his arms. At the mention of tattoos, Kayne had an uneasy feeling Jess had seen her kidnapper before. He’d introduced himself that day at the water park.
“Do you know how to get a hold of this Krysin guy?” Trace asked.
Kayne looked up to realize that not only was Trace there, but Rafe as well. Kayne nodded, “He’s my ex-father-in-law.” He sure as hell hoped he could find him. Because he wanted some goddamned answers.
Trace nodded. “Let’s do it at the station, so we can record it.”
Kayne shook his head. “I need to be out looking for them. I can't sit in an office.”
Rafe got in his face. “You talking to Krysin is far more beneficial than needle-in-a-fucking-haystacking this. We need to know what this Wolf fucker wants.”
When a Fire Engine used its air brake and came to a screeching halt, Kayne looked up. To his surprise, Joe Sutton bailed out of the driver's seat and ran toward them. Kayne had expected Cody when he heard the engine. “How can we help?”
“Where's Cody?”
Joe looked toward the fire truck. “He took the day off. Danny's covering for him. You think he had something to do with this?”
Kayne shook his head. “I don't know. I almost wish he did.”
Joe nodded. “Better the devil you know and all that.”
“Del,” Kayne said, looking to the kids’ grandfather. He looked like he'd aged two decades since Kayne had seen him at breakfast. He had to be out of his mind with worry for Jess. “I need you to take my kids home and stay with them until we get back.” He wouldn't come home without Jess.
Del nodded. “Make sure you both come home.”
Kayne sure as hell was going to try, but if only one of them could, it would be Jess.