31
Ryan noted that the officer had finished going through the last drawer of the desk and found nothing. He stood with his hands on his hips and perused the room. Where was Izzy?
Charice had moved on to the cabinet behind the desk and was carefully removing everything in it.
Izzy stepped back into the room and stopped just inside the doorway. She scanned the room, her eyes landing on each person in it.
Ryan frowned. What was she looking for?
He almost walked over to ask her when she drew in a deep breath and headed for Charice and the cabinet. She opened the door on the right and started helping by removing the items one by one.
“Everything okay?”
She glanced at him, then at the others working behind her. “Fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“Sorry. I just found out my friend is in cahoots with a killer. I’m a little stressed.”
She continued to work and Ryan continued to frown. He supposed that was a reasonable explanation, but she was different than before the call. He didn’t think anyone else would notice the slight difference, but he did.
His phone rang and he snagged it with one last look at Izzy. She’d crouched in front of the lower part of the cabinet and was pulling items out. He sighed. “Yeah?”
“This is David.”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“I . . . uh . . . was playing around with that video Kevin took and I managed to get some sound from the office. It sounds like Sinclair said something like, ‘He expects to see it there no later than eleven o’clock Tuesday night.’ Granted, I had to piece together what I could clearly hear and then fill in the blanks, but that’s what I’ve come up with.”
“Money. Whoever she’s working with is expecting to see money in an account.”
“That was my first thought too.”
“We need to get a warrant to watch the account and see where the money comes from.”
“Yep. I left a message for Charice to take care of that since you’re not investigating this. Since it has something to do with Kevin’s death and all.”
Ryan shook his head. “No, David, I’m being good, I promise.” But he would stay in the loop and make sure everything was being done that could be done.
Tobias Freeman.
A man who was still on the loose.
He drew in a deep breath. “Thanks for the heads-up, though. And good work.”
Ryan hung up and turned around to see Charice still working with Izzy at her side. “Charice.”
“Yeah?”
“Check your phone messages.”
She frowned and pulled her phone off the clip on her belt.
Izzy sighed and leaned her head against the cabinet. Ryan walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “This shouldn’t be happening. It’s not fair,” she whispered.
He wrapped her in a hug and inhaled her scent, not caring about the people in the room. They knew him. Some of them had known Kevin. They’d understand.
Only she didn’t hug him back. She tugged on the front pocket of his jeans and he leaned back to look in her eyes. She tugged again and he frowned. Then she pulled away and swiped the tears that had leaked onto her cheeks. “Sorry. Excuse me, I need to get ahold of myself.”
“Down the hall and to the left.” The officer who spoke had a sympathetic smile.
Izzy nodded. “Thanks.”
She left and Ryan watched her go. Casually, he slid both hands into his pockets and sighed, met the officer’s eyes, and shook his head. She’d taken his keys. What was she doing?
“Sorry about Kevin, man.”
“Thanks. Me too.”
“She’s taking it hard.”
“We all are.” As he spoke, his fingers curled around a piece of paper Izzy had tucked into his pocket after she’d palmed his keys. He got it. She was being discreet. Didn’t want anyone to know what she was doing for some reason. What was she doing? He turned. “Charice?”
“Yeah?”
“You get that message?”
“I got it. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”
“Thanks.”
With another nod to the vigilant officer, Ryan followed the route Izzy had taken and walked outside to see her climbing into the front seat of his car. What the—
“Izzy?”
Her eyes met his as she slammed the door. He pulled the paper out of his pocket and read, “Gabby called. Wants me to help her escape or she’ll kill my dad. Someone here is watching. Follow me discreetly.”
Ryan stood for a moment, his blood humming, adrenaline kicking in while his mind went to work on a plan. First, he needed a car. Then he’d warn Izzy’s father that someone was targeting him. He spotted a detective he knew and walked over, casually. “Hey, Jack, I need your car.”
“What? Why?”
“Don’t ask. It’s important.”
Jack pulled his keys from his pocket. “You need backup?”
“Not yet, but stand by. I have a feeling things are going to get messy.”
“Ryan—”
“I’ve got to go.” Izzy’s taillights came on as she slowed to turn right onto the street that led out of the subdivision.
Ryan climbed in the car and pulled away from the curb. When he looked in the rearview mirror, he noticed the officer from the room he and Izzy had been searching.
He got on his phone and called Jack.
“Yeah?” The man’s voice came through his Bluetooth.
“This is Ryan. Keep an eye on the officer standing on the front porch. If he tries to call anyone, stop him. I’ll explain later.”
“Got it.”
Ryan appreciated fellow officers who would act without question. He accelerated to stay behind Izzy and activated his phone to allow him to send a voice text. When he had the chief’s number, he sent the text to her work phone. Every one of her officers had the number and it was only used in an emergency. No one dared overstep the bounds and use it for anything else. She immediately responded.
Meet me in ten minutes.
Can’t. They’re watching. Be casual about it, but get Marcus somewhere safe where a sniper can’t see him.
Will do. And Izzy?
Following her. I have her back.
You need backup.
Will call for it when I know where to send them.
Be safe.
He caught sight of her just ahead, saw the taillights flicker just before she made a left.
Ryan stayed far enough behind so that if anyone had followed or was watching him somehow, they wouldn’t suspect he was following Izzy. He hoped. For a moment, he lost sight of her as she went around the next corner, the large church blocking his view.
Several seconds later, he turned and braked. Izzy wasn’t in front of him. Nor to the right. And not to the left. Tensing, he turned right and drove fast, looking at every car he passed. Braking, he executed a flawless three-point turn and went back the other way.
Still no Izzy. He returned to the place where he’d lost her. How had she vanished so quickly?
He studied the church for a brief second, then gunned the motor and turned into the parking lot. Where could she have gone? It was like someone had simply snatched her and the vehicle and simply vanished. Since that wasn’t possible, he drove slowly around the perimeter of the parking lot that led around to the other side of the building.
And there she was. Or at least there his car was.
She’d parked in one of the back parking spaces not being used by the voters crowding the area. Ryan pulled up next to the vehicle and climbed out of his borrowed unmarked car. A quick look in through the window told him what he’d already suspected.
She wasn’t in the driver’s seat.
So where had she gone? Had she taken off on foot?
No. Someone had picked her up and she’d left her phone on the front seat. His gut clenched.
He’d lost her.
Izzy had followed Gabby’s directions to the letter. Drive to the church and park, facing the police vehicle toward the wooded area behind the back of the building. She’d had a feeling Gabby planned to pick her up and make her leave her phone and she’d racked her brain on how to leave a trail someone could follow once they found the vehicle.
The transfer to Gabby’s car had taken less than a minute and then they were off, driving away from the direction from which she’d come.
“Tell me how to save my father.”
Gabby shot her a pleading look and glanced at the rearview mirror. “I can’t. I don’t know.” She tapped her ear and Izzy understood. They were listening. Probably through the Bluetooth function of the vehicle. “Did you bring the iPad?” Gabby asked.
“Yes.” Izzy pulled it from where she’d tucked it into the waistband of her pants. It had taken some maneuvering, but she’d managed to do it without Charice or anyone seeing her. While she was on the floor in front of the open cabinet, she’d pulled a sheet from the stack of printer paper and grabbed a pen from the cup on the desk. She’d written the note to Ryan, folded it, and then tried to figure out how to pass it to him without sparking interest in her interaction with him.
It hadn’t been hard to bring the tears to the surface. And Ryan had reacted like she’d expected him to. With a hug of comfort. She’d deliberately pulled on his pockets in a desperate attempt to make sure he checked them. Lifting his keys had been easy, as they’d been halfway out of his pocket anyway.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“A little out-of-the-way place that no one knows about.”
“Owned by who?”
“I . . . I don’t know.” Another frightened glance at the mirror.
Fear curled inside her. The fact that Gabby hadn’t tied her up or blindfolded her told Izzy that the threat against her father was real. Gabby knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t try anything without getting what she needed to save her father. But not only was the threat against her father real if Izzy didn’t cooperate, the threat to Izzy was also real. They weren’t going to just let her go once they got to where they were going. No blindfold, no one other than Gabby to pick her up. What did that mean?
“Gabby, just drive me to the police station. I’ll help you.”
Her friend’s eyes filled with tears that leaked onto her cheeks. She shook her head and gripped the steering wheel. “I can’t,” she whispered.
“What does he have on you?”
“He?”
“Yes.”
“N-Nothing.”
“Who is he?” she asked. “I think I at least deserve to know who’s going to kill me,” she said.
Gabby gasped. “He’s not going to kill you. He said he just needed you out of the way for the plan to work.”
Frowning, Izzy racked her brain and came up empty. “What plan?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“Gab—”
Her jaw hardened and she sent another frantic glance to the rearview mirror. “No, I can’t. Please, please, be quiet.”
Izzy fell silent. Not because Gabby begged her to, but because she needed to think.
They drove for the next half hour in silence and Izzy decided that someone was definitely pulling her friend’s strings. Someone had terrorized her into being their puppet—and with having her be the one to pick up the money from Bianchi and have the money trail leading back to her, it was obvious they were setting her up to take the fall should they be caught.
Now Izzy had to figure out how to escape without putting her father in danger—and figure out what they’d threatened Gabby with. Maybe that they’d hurt Mick?
While Izzy didn’t know their final destination, the signs indicated Lake Wateree.
Gabby finally turned down a wooded road that led to a small house set on about two acres of property. Through the trees, Izzy spotted a lake in back, with a large basketball court–sized yard sloping gently down to it. Wind shook the few trees near the house, bending them with its force. Clouds had rolled in and it looked like a thunderstorm would soon hit. Izzy wondered if she could somehow use that to her advantage.
“Who owns this place?” she asked.
“I don’t know that either. He didn’t tell me.”
Izzy was going to have to go with the flow for now. She had no way of knowing if the person watching her father was still there, waiting for Gabby to give the word to shoot or stand down or what.
“Those weren’t your words on the phone call getting me here, were they? You were reading something.”
Gabby nodded.
“What did you mean by you’ll give me the information that I need to save my dad? Don’t you just mean you’ll call off your sniper as long as I help you do whatever it is you need me to do?”
“I don’t know, Izzy! I don’t know what he’s doing or why he’s doing it. He’s obsessed with you and he’s—” She snapped her lips shut and tears streamed down her cheeks. “Come on. Get out, please.”
Izzy went cold, but obeyed. She opened the door and stepped out. “Mick’s behind this, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” Gabby whispered. “And I’ll protect you as much as I can, I promise.”
Mick Sinclair. She hadn’t realized it until now, but he was a bigger nightmare than Lamar Young would ever be. To Young, she’d been a job. But for Mick, this was personal.
Gabby’s tears streamed. “I’m so sorry, Izzy, you’re a cop. I was hoping you could help me.”
“Tell me. Fast. We’re not in the car so he can’t hear us.”
She shot a terrified glance at the house. “Mick and the guy I was seeing were just using me. To get as much information about the election as they could get.”
“Why?”
“Get in here!”
The shout came from behind the open front door and Gabby flinched. The voice was familiar, but Izzy couldn’t place it. She took Izzy’s hand and led her toward the house.
Izzy slowed the pace, trying to gain as much information as she could. “What are they threatening you with to get you to cooperate?”
“My mother. They’ll kill my mother.”
That would do it. Gabby adored her mother. And Mick hated her because she saw right through him. Izzy had no doubt he’d follow through on his threat if he had to.
“Move it! Now!”
Gabby hurried her along. Kidnapped twice in less than two years. Izzy wondered how many people could say that. A fat raindrop landed on her cheek and she giggled as the wind whipped around her. She walked into the house and Gabby glanced at her with a puzzled look.
Izzy realized she was borderline hysterical and clamped her lips together. She had no time for that and forced herself to calm. She had to stay cool and in control of her emotions—her fear. Once indoors, she saw that the home was a typical ranch. Probably three bedrooms and two baths. Den straight ahead through the foyer, formal living room to the right, and kitchen off the den.
And a basement off the kitchen.
She noted all of this as Gabby directed her toward the den.
And when she stepped into the room, she stopped and stared. Tobias Freeman, the man who’d killed Kevin, stood next to the recliner, a gun pointed at her. He tossed the duct tape to Gabby. “Secure her and be quick about it.”
“I’ll do it.”
Izzy froze at the familiar voice and fear crystallized in her blood. She prayed she could keep it from showing on her face. Gabby had told her Mick was there, and Izzy had tried to prepare herself for it in the few seconds it took them to get into the house. But there was no preparation for coming face-to-face with one’s biggest terror. Turning, she watched Mick Sinclair walk into the room, and the cold smile on his face nearly sent her to her knees.