CHAPTER NINE

The CEO of Knight Products had some explaining to do.

Seth stood on the porch of Terry’s cabin. Terry held the door open, but did not invite Seth inside. The outside temperature had dropped when darkness had fallen. Heat spilled from the interior. But the CEO wasn’t acting as warm as he had earlier.

“Where’s Shawn?” Seth asked, peering over Terry’s shoulder.

“He wanted more fried chicken.” Instead of moving to invite Seth in, Terry shifted his body to block more of the entrance. “It was excellent.”

“Nell’s is the best,” Seth agreed. “What can you tell me about Wade Pierce?”

The flinch in Terry’s gaze was almost imperceptible, but Seth was watching for it.

“I haven’t seen Wade in three months,” Terry said. “But what does this have to do with the activities of the other resort guests?”

Seth ignored the question. He wasn’t going to reveal Liam’s presence to anyone other than the FBI.

“When was the last time you saw Liam?” Seth asked.

“Four, maybe five months ago.” Terry crossed his arms. “When Wade’s wife kicked him out of the house, she got a court order to keep him away from her and Liam. Wade had a terrible temper. He was supposed to go in for a psychological assessment and counseling. He never went. Instead, he broke into the house, fought with his wife, lost control, and killed her. Then he took Liam and ran.”

“He also took a hefty sum of money from your company,” Seth said.

In Seth’s mind, stealing the money proved premeditation. Wade Pierce hadn’t lost his temper and killed his wife in a fit of rage. He’d planned to kill her. He’d planned his escape. “I’ll bet you’d like to locate your money. That’s not pocket change. I’m sure it’s been a drain on your cash flow.”

Seth wondered if Liam had been taken to force Wade to give up the money. Maybe Terry had the boy kidnapped. Could Terry have hired Peter and Kandi? Or was Terry on the other side? Maybe he’d hired the Dodge brothers to get the boy back.

“I’ll have the money back soon. I know where it is,” Terry said. “Wade transferred the funds to an offshore account. He washed it through several banks, but money is easier to track than a man. We found it. Now it’s just a matter of cracking his account login and passcode. I have someone working on it.” But his eyes weren’t as confident as his words.

“Is Wade a smart man?”

“Yes.” Terry frowned.

“If you know where the money is, why don’t you hire some lawyers to get it back?” Seth asked.

Terry shook his head. “Even if the foreign bank would cooperate, and there’s no guarantee of that, it would take years to recover the money through international legal channels.”

“And you don’t have years to wait.”

Terry exhaled through his nose, like an irritated bull. “Is there anything else that I can do for you?”

Seth debated. Asking more pointed questions would demand that Seth reveal that Liam had been found, something Seth wasn’t ready to do at this time. The fewer people who knew the child’s whereabouts, the better. For all Seth knew, Terry and Wade had been working together and a third party had interfered. Maybe the company was in trouble and the $10 million was their joint escape plan. Seth needed financial records and full background checks before he could assess the motives of the corporation’s key players.

“I’ll be in touch.” Seth left the cabin. He stood on the porch for a few seconds, watching the rain fall. He had physical evidence to hold the Dodge brothers for questioning but no motive. He had nothing on Terry but a possible motive.

Ten million dollars was a lot of motive.

Seth ran to his car and slid behind the wheel. He’d see if he could catch up with Terry’s right-hand man. He wanted to see if Shawn’s answers matched Terry’s. Seth texted his wife and let her know he was stopping at Nell’s and picking up dinner. She answered with a happy-face emoji.

The message—verification that she was all right—eased his worry for about two seconds.

The parking spaces in front of Nell’s small grocery were empty. No white Yukon. Seth parked and went inside. His stomach rumbled at the smell of fried chicken. He spotted Nell counting the money in her vintage cash register.

“Hey, Nell.” Seth inhaled fried chicken goodness. “No one in the world makes chicken like you do, Nell.”

“I know,” she said without missing a beat.

“Can I get two family-size orders to go?” Seth asked. Then he thought about Terry and Shawn. “Did you sell chicken to a tall stranger driving a white Yukon?”

“Sure did.” Nell filled a large paper bag with chicken pieces. “How many biscuits?”

“A dozen,” Seth said. His stomach rumbled. “Better make that two dozen. Did he come back for a second bag a little while ago?”

Nell shook her head. “No. He was only in the one time.”

Shit.

Terry had lied. So where was Shawn Collins?

Seth picked up the two large bags of chicken and biscuits and headed for the door. He shielded the bag from the rain with his body. In the car, he set the bag on his passenger seat.

His radio was squawking with calls for backup from the Solitude PD. His phone went off simultaneously. Seth reached for it.

Zane.

Seth’s gut clenched as he answered.

“Seth, I hate to tell you this,” Zane said. “But the drain backed up in the holding cell. Kenny had to take the Dodge brothers out. They got away from him.”

“Shit.” Seth needed to get to his family. Now.

“I’m sorry,” Zane said. “Look, I’d love to say we’re out in full force looking for them, but the fact is, there aren’t any bodies to spare looking for two guys who haven’t even been officially charged with a crime.”

The Solitude PD was limited to a chief and a handful of officers.

“I called the sheriff,” Zane continued. “He can’t spare anyone either. There are accidents all over the place. Two bridges are under water. Three cars were swept off Briggs Road into the river. Rescue crews are fishing the occupants out now. And we have a small herd of horses trapped in a flooded pasture. I put out a BOLO alert for the Dodge brothers, but frankly, we’ll have to find them when the disaster is over.”

“I understand,” Seth said in a calm voice, but inside he was freaking out.

“How dangerous are these guys?”

“I don’t know. Thanks for the heads-up.” Seth ended the call.

He pressed the gas pedal and called Gabe. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes,” Gabe said. “We’re on the way back to the farm.”

He told Gabe what had happened at the Solitude PD.

“I don’t see any sign of them,” Gabe said. “But I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Thanks.” Seth disconnected.

He didn’t want to distract Carly by calling while she was driving.

Seth’s car fishtailed as he took a turn too quickly. His fingers clenched the steering wheel until the knuckles went white. He barely slowed for a stop sign.

The Dodge brothers had no transportation. They couldn’t possibly get to the farm before he did.

Unless they stole a vehicle.

How would they even know where Liam was? Finding him at the hospital could have been an educated guess. Where else would the authorities take a child who’d been held captive?

Seth slowed for an elbow in the road. His tires hydroplaned, and the car slid. He eased off the accelerator. He wouldn’t be able to protect his family if he crashed his car.

Even if Ethan and Lyle Dodge did find the farm, Bruce and Gabe were there. Gabe was an experienced deputy. And Seth didn’t discount his wife either. She could handle herself.

But Seth’s gut rolled into a tight ball for the rest of the drive. Between the darkness and the rain, visibility was limited to twenty feet. He rounded a bend in the road, his headlights shining on the water that filled the ditches on either side of the road.

What if they were watching his wife? They’d had all day to find her and the boy. It wouldn’t be that hard. Solitude was a small town. He wouldn’t feel relieved until he saw Carly and Liam with his own eyes.

He turned into the long driveway. In front of the house, the taillights of Gabe’s cruiser and Carly’s Jeep glowed. They must have just arrived.

Relief flooded Seth. He parked next to his wife’s Jeep and stepped out into the rain, leaving the fried chicken in the car.

Carly opened her car door.

Seth bent to see inside the vehicle. “Let me check the house before you all go inside.”

Her eyes questioned, but she just nodded.

“Just as a precaution,” he said.

The house shone in the darkness. Patsy always left several lights on inside and out when she expected to come home after dark. Leaving Gabe and Bruce outside, Seth unlocked the front door. He went through the house, gun in hand, quickly sweeping each room. When he’d ensured the house was secure, he grabbed a powerful flashlight from the hall closet and went back outside. He swept the light around the yard, but saw nothing out of place. The wind pushed the rain sideways.

Carly lowered her window as he walked to her side of the Jeep.

“It’s all clear,” he said, then retrieved the chicken from the passenger seat of his car.

The family climbed out of the Jeep. Hoods and umbrellas up, they trudged toward the front door. Patsy led the group. Bruce draped Liam over his shoulder. The boy was limp, as if asleep. Flashlight in hand, Gabe brought up the rear.

“I brought chicken from Nell’s.” Seth herded his family toward the front door.

Carly hunched her shoulders against a gust. “Oh good. I’m starving.”

“Daddy!” Brianna skipped to Seth’s other side.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Seth kissed his daughter.

“Is that Nell’s chicken?” she asked.

“You know it,” Seth said.

“Yay!” She took the bag from his hand and raced for the front door.

Seth wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“What’s going on?” she asked quietly.

Seth leaned closer to whisper in her ear, but the crack of a gunshot resounded through the night.