8
Nate glanced at the clock on the dashboard as his captor headed through traffic away from the bank. He was thankful that the majority of the effects from the Taser had passed. But three minutes had also passed since they’d grabbed Gracie. These guys knew what they were doing. Probably former military, and definitely well trained.
Another ten minutes max and Gracie and her captor would emerge from the bank. Somehow, he had to find a way to take control of the situation and get back to the bank before that happened. But at the moment, he had no way to get backup and no way to ensure Gracie’s safety.
He’d managed to sit up, but his hands were still secured behind him. Unclenching his hands and turning his wrists so they were facing inward had given him a half an inch or so of slack, but it hadn’t been enough. He needed to get his thumbs out first. Once he did that, he should be able to get free.
Nate’s skin was getting raw from trying to slide his hands out of the ties, but he ignored the pain. Over the past couple minutes, a plan had begun to formulate in his mind, but he had to find a way to escape without getting Gracie hurt. The guy in his front seat—who he’d nicknamed Tat—was on the phone and watching him in the rearview mirror. From what he’d been able to determine from the situation, Tat had been ordered to drive him away from the bank, while the other two men would take Gracie in their car. Nate’s gun sat out of reach on the front passenger seat. If he got loose, he’d only have a second to subdue the man. But hopefully that would be all the time he needed.
He tried to listen to the conversation, but all Tat did was answer yes and no a couple times. Not enough for Nate to pick up the other side of the conversation.
“Where are we going?” he asked Tat when he was done on the phone.
“Don’t think that concerns you at this point.”
Nate frowned. As far as he was concerned, it did involve him. Especially if they were planning to dump his body somewhere. At the moment, though, he didn’t really care what happened to him. Gracie was the one he needed to rescue.
Flashes of trauma surfaced. His heart hammered. Adrenaline surged. He tried to stop the panic, but the claws of his past only dug deeper.
His counselor had tried to get him to combat the lies. Lies that told him he could have prevented Ashley and the others from dying. Lies that told him he was at fault. True or not, he didn’t know how to shake the demons haunting him. And now Gracie’s life was in danger. He couldn’t let it happen again.
The zip tie dug into his wrists as he twisted them, but he ignored the pain as he worked to break free. Seconds later, he managed to slide out his left thumb, then his right. Another moment later, he was out of the zip tie.
He didn’t wait to weigh the consequences. He grabbed his gun from the front passenger seat before the driver could react.
“Keep your hands on the wheel and keep driving.” Nate scanned their surroundings. “There’s a mall parking lot fifty feet ahead of us to the right. Pull the vehicle over and park, or I promise, I will shoot you.”
“You’re making a mistake. If I don’t respond to their next call, they’ll shoot the girl. And besides, no matter what you do, you can’t stop what’s already been put into motion.”
“Just do it.” Nate pressed the gun against the back of the guy’s head, tired of the cryptic messages.
The man hesitated, then flipped on his blinker and pulled into the mostly empty lot.
“There’s a row of parking places to your left. Park there, then shut off the engine.”
The man followed his directions, shifted the car into park, and cut the engine.
Nate grabbed his handcuffs out of the pocket in the back seat with his free hand. This wasn’t over yet.
“With your left hand on the steering wheel, you’re going to hand me the keys first, then your gun, and then you’re going to put both hands on the steering wheel.”
Instead of complying, Tat thrust his hand between the bucket seats, skimming Nate’s face with the butt of his gun, then bolted from the car.
Nate yelled at the guy to stop, then chased him as he took off across the parking lot toward a group of kids. The man still had his weapon, which meant a mall full of shoppers could quickly turn deadly.
Thirty yards to their left, a woman was loading her purchases into her trunk, oblivious to what was going on.
Nate was gaining on him. “Stop now!”
He knew he couldn’t risk a shot. His only option was to physically stop the man. And he had to stop him before he got to the woman. Another ten feet . . . five.
Tat stumbled over a curb, breaking his stride and allowing Nate to gain the final few feet he needed. A second later, he tackled him to the ground. Tat’s gun went off, shattering a car window.
The sun beat down on them as Nate quickly confiscated the gun, then put the guy in handcuffs. A crowd began to form, but what he needed was backup.
“Next time you might want to try something a bit more creative than zip ties. Now I want you to tell me who you are and what the plan was.” He hauled the guy up, wishing he had his partner or his phone, or preferably both. He needed to get back to the car and then to the bank before Gracie left.
“I don’t have to tell you anything. Besides, by the time you get back to the bank, they’ll be long gone.”
“Well, when you’re up on murder charges, I’ll be sure to tell the DA that you refused to cooperate.”
“That won’t happen. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“I’m not sure I believe that. You seemed awfully eager to shoot somebody.”
A police car pulled into the lot, heading directly toward them. Nate signaled for him to stop.
“What’s going on? 911 just got a call.”
“Detective Nate Quinn,” he said, pulling out his badge. “I need you to transport this man to my precinct and process him until my team can question him.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You’ll never find her,” Tat yelled at him as the officers escorted him to the squad car. “She’s expendable. Just like Stephen was. Just like you are.”
Nate ran back to his car, ignoring the man’s threats. What had he been thinking, asking Gracie to go into the bank? Whatever they’d wanted, the stakes were apparently high enough for the murder of a security expert.
Nate slipped into the driver’s seat, grabbed his phone where it had fallen on the floor, then put in a call to Kelli at the precinct, who did the majority of the technical legwork for their squad.
“Kelli,” he said when she answered. “I need a BOLO put out for a black sedan in connection to a probable kidnapping situation.” He pulled out of the mall parking lot, his lights flashing on top of his vehicle, as he gave her a description of the men.
“What’s going on, Nate?”
“Things went south. They ambushed us at the bank. One is inside the bank with Gracie. The other one Tasered me.”
“What did you do? Walk in on a robbery?”
“I told you, it was an ambush. I got one of the men subdued about six blocks from the bank and have local LEOs delivering him to the precinct. I’m headed back to the bank now, but I’m not sure I can walk in there without putting Gracie’s life at risk.”
“I’ll inform the bank manager of the situation.”
“Where’s Paige?”
“She got held up but is on her way now. I can have additional backup there in less than five minutes.”
He glanced at the dashboard clock. “I’m not sure we have five minutes.”
Nate sped down the road, heading back to the bank. If they left before he got there, finding her in this city was going to prove almost impossible. There were too many variables. Too many places for them to go, and they still had no idea who was behind this. What they did know was that this was much more than a murder. But what, he had no idea. Nothing made sense.
I need a miracle, God.
He slowed down and pulled into the bank parking lot, searching for the black sedan he’d seen pull up next to them.
The vehicle was gone.
“Nate . . . what’s going on?”
“She’s not here, Kelli. The car’s gone.”
“Maybe they left her and she’s still inside.”
He banged on the steering wheel. He’d lost her. Unless Kelli was right, and she was still inside. But they both knew that the chances of that were slim. And if she wasn’t inside, how in the world were they supposed to find her?
“Paige is a minute out,” Kelli said. “Go inside and see if she’s there. Get them working on the video footage to see if we can get a license plate on their car.”
He ran into the bank. A security guard stood in the back corner, several customers were at the teller booths. Was it possible that no one noticed what had happened to her?
“Can I help you?”
He turned to the twentysomething blonde and held up his badge. “I’m Detective Nathaniel Quinn. A woman came in a few minutes ago with a man to get something out of a safe-deposit box. I need to know if they’re still here.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know, but Shannon . . .” She signaled to a coworker. “Can you help this gentleman?”
Shannon seemed just as perky. “What can I do for you today, sir?”
Nate tried to squelch his impatience. “A woman, early thirties, light-brown hair, came in fifteen minutes ago with a man to get something out of a safe-deposit box. I need to know if she’s still here, or if she’s already left.”
“I’m sorry, but they’re gone. Is there a problem?”
“There is, actually. The man she came in with was holding her against her will. How long ago did they leave?”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Um . . . a minute . . . two tops. Do you want me to call security?”
“I’ve got backup on their way. What I need now is security footage from when the bank opened until now. Both inside and outside.”
“Of course. Come with me, and we’ll go see the manager. She can make that happen.”
“Hurry.”
He glanced at the clock in the corner of the bank as they headed toward the manager’s office. Another minute had passed. Every minute spent in the bank meant Gracie was another minute farther away.
Melissa quickly introduced Nate to Sondra Parks, explaining the situation to the brunette in her late forties. Nate told her exactly what he needed, then got Kelli back on the line. “Kelli, I need you to see if you can track Grace Callahan’s cell—”
“I just got a call from Paige, and I’m already on it, but there isn’t a current signal. Looks like either the phone went dead, or they took out the battery. But wait a minute . . .”
Nate felt his panic grow. So tracking her phone wasn’t going to be an option? This couldn’t be happening. They’d used her for what they needed. And if they didn’t need her anymore—
“I think I’ve got something.” The bank manager leaned forward, then pointed at the screen.
“Stay on the line for another minute, Kelli.” Nate glanced at the screen in front of him.
Grainy footage showed Gracie walking to the car with someone holding her arm. They walked across the parking lot, then climbed into the black sedan. His heart raced as the footage showed the vehicle pulling out of the parking lot and heading left onto the main street. “See if you can zoom in on the license plate, then freeze the footage . . . there.”
Nate let out a sharp breath. They had the license plate, but where had they gone?
He read off the license plate number to Kelli, thanked the manager, then headed out of the bank to the parking lot. “Track any 911 calls placed in the last thirty minutes. Then search street cams . . . license plate readers . . . there’s got to be a way to track her. They couldn’t have just vanished.”
“I’m doing everything I can. But wait a minute, Nate . . .”
“What have you got?”
“Okay, I’ve got the last location of her phone, but without the ability to track it, that doesn’t give us much.”
It might not be enough, but at least it was a start. “It will steer us in the right direction.”
“What can you tell me from your end?”
“We’ve got her leaving the bank at 9:16,” he said. “They were heading north. Add your location and map it out.”
“Okay . . . They’re headed northeast.”
He pulled out of the parking lot and headed that direction. He thought he was three to four minutes behind them, but even that was a guess. And until the security cameras tracked her, he would have no idea if they were still on 428 or not.
He drove through the area, keeping the line open with Kelli, looking for the sedan. Why was it that every other car was a black sedan?
“Nate . . .”
“I’m still here.”
“An alert just came through via one of the city’s plate readers. I’ve got a cross street, four blocks from your location.”
“Give me the address.”
She gave him the street names. “Paige has just arrived at the bank.”
“See if she can find out anything else there.” He made a left and continued toward the location. “Is there any way to follow that sedan live?”
“I wish. All I can do is try to catch them on the traffic cams, but it’s not going to be easy.”
At least it was a start. It wasn’t foolproof by any means, but technology had allowed authorities to capture fugitives and kidnappers by reading license plates, then passing on up-to-the-minute data to local police.
“Nate . . . I found them again . . . They just turned left at the second stoplight ahead of you.”
“I’m on my way.”
He raced down to the four-lane intersection. Traffic might be somewhat lighter now that the official rush hour was over, but there was always congestion in the city no matter what time of day. He weaved in between a couple slower cars, fighting the urge to honk his horn.
“Wait . . . I’ve lost them again. Just give me a minute.”
He slowed down, not wanting to waste time having to backtrack.
“Okay,” she said finally. “Take another left at the next street.”
He flipped on his blinker, following Kelli’s instructions.
Where are they taking you, Gracie?
Unlike with Ashley, he still had a chance to stop this. But he was going to have to find her first.
“Do you see her?” Kelli asked.
He searched the lane in front of him as well as the side streets. “No . . . I don’t have her yet. Where is she?”
“Give me a second, Nate.”
His breaths became shallow. They’d narrowed it down, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to pinpoint her location. “Where is she? I need something.”
There was a long pause before she answered. “I’m sorry, Nate, but I’ve lost her.”