Chapter 21
“So how’s Claire taking all this?”
Nick Black looked across his desk at John Booker. Booker was Black’s best friend, and his private investigator when he needed somebody he could trust. Right now, he was filling Booker in on the Hammons couple. Black wanted an in-depth background check on both husband and wife before he would even consider turning Rico over into their care. He thought they were okay, but he was going to make damn sure.
“You know Claire, Book. She’s not saying much yet, but she doesn’t want to lose Rico any more than I do.”
“You think these people have ulterior motives for coming for the boy?”
“No, not really. I just want to make sure they are legitimate relatives and good people who’ll love him the way we do. I’ve got money, and some people will do lots of things to get hold of some of it. They could be here to make a deal. Like I said, I don’t think that’s the case, but we’ll have to wait and see. What I want you to find out is if they’re really who they say they are, if their story stacks up the way they laid it out for us. You need to make sure they aren’t involved in any illegal dealings or drugs or criminal activities, either now or in their past. You find anything like that, it’s a deal-breaker and they’ll never get their hands on Rico. Like I said, my gut’s telling me they’re perfectly clean. But Rico is not going off with complete strangers that I know nothing about. You need to get up to Toronto now and check out everything about them. If they’re on the up and up, then I’ll probably have no choice but to let him go back to Canada with them.”
Booker gazed at him a moment. “Does he even want to?”
“We haven’t really had time to discuss that with him yet. He’s been with the Hammonses most of the time since they arrived here. He ought to be home soon. Then Claire and I have got to sit down and talk to him about what is coming up the pike, what his choices are and what’s the best thing for him.”
“You don’t look so thrilled about any of this, my friend.”
“I’m not happy about it, but how I feel doesn’t matter in the long term. It’s what’s in Rico’s best interest that counts. It’s about what’s going to make him happy.”
“Personally, I don’t see him wanting to ever leave here. Not with them, or anybody else. I’ve seen how much he loves you two. He’s happy with you.”
“I hope to hell you’re right. But he loves them, too. They are his Memo and Papa, and that’s something we can’t take away from them, or him.”
When Black’s cell vibrated, he quickly picked it up. Caller ID told him it was Buckeye Boyd, Canton County’s medical examiner. Whatever he wanted, it couldn’t be good. He was Claire’s colleague, and he’d never once called Black, not that he could remember.
“This is Nick Black.”
“Is Claire there with you?”
The shaky tone rattling Buck’s voice alerted Black instantly to trouble. He’d gotten similar calls about Claire in the past, from other friends of hers, more times than he liked to remember. “No, she’s not home yet. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know if anything’s wrong, but she was supposed to show up here to ID the victim’s body, along with Jonesy Jax and some FBI fella she’s working with. The appointment was at three o’clock this afternoon, and there’s no sign of them yet. She’s not picking up her cell, either. Nobody answered in Jonesy’s suite, I just tried, so I need to know if I should keep waiting or postpone the viewing. I’m a little worried about her, to tell you the truth. This is not like her, at all.”
Before he even finished, Black’s instinct told him something awful had happened. Claire did not miss appointments, especially official ones that entailed a victim’s positive ID. His gut clenched, and he jerked his attention to Booker.
“What happened?” Book asked, sitting up straighter and looking concerned.
“I’ll find her and have her call you back, Buck,” Black said. Then he clicked off. “Claire missed an appointment at the morgue hours ago. Something’s wrong. She’s in trouble. I can feel it.”
“Maybe not. Maybe she’s just late. You know, could be she got caught up with some police emergency, something like that. Don’t buy trouble, Nick.”
“I’ve found that it’s expedient to buy trouble where she’s concerned. Claire would never be late for something like this, not without calling Buck and cancelling it.”
Quickly punching in Claire’s cell number, Black sat and listened to it ring. No answer for him, either, and Claire always picked up for him. It was a promise she’d made a long time ago because he worried about her so much. And now he was worried, all right―more than worried. He clicked off and phoned down to Jonesy Jax’s suite. No answer there, either.
“Something bad is going on. We need to―”
He stopped in mid-sentence and stood up quickly when his executive assistant, Miki Tudor, tapped on the open door, looking highly apologetic. “Mr. and Mrs. Hammons are out here, Nick. They say it’s urgent. They’re really upset. You better see them.”
Mr. Hammons didn’t wait for Miki to usher him inside. He pushed past her. “Rico’s gone! Somebody took him!”
Black’s muscles went to rock, but then he knew―he knew in his heart. Claire and Rico both disappearing at the same time was no coincidence; they were both in trouble. Maybe together. Probably together. Probably connected to Claire’s homicide case. Which involved a psychopathic murderer. His heartbeat went into overdrive.
Across from him, Booker was on his feet, too, and he looked every bit as worried as Black did. Trying to remain calm, Black was more concerned with what had gone down. “Tell me what happened. What do you mean, he’s gone?”
“We were down at that winter festival out at the mall, you know, the one with the Ferris wheel. He went to buy us some cotton candy and didn’t come back. We were just yards away from that booth, Dr. Black, holding our spots at a picnic table. He was standing there in line at the booth one minute, and we glanced away to watch the carolers, and then when I looked back he was simply gone. We found three cones of cotton candy on sidewalk. He’s in trouble. I know it. I don’t know what to do!” His voice had grown increasingly panicky. He looked about ready to have a heart attack.
Black’s heart was knocking against his chest, too, but he forced it down. He had to find Rico and Claire, and he had to find them now. “Okay, calm down. I’m going to find him. Try not to worry. This is my friend, John Booker. He and I will handle this. You need to get down to your suite and stay there until I bring him back.”
“How are you going to find him? Who would take him? He’s such a sweet boy,” Mrs. Hammons said, now in the office with them, too. She was crying and distraught. When her husband put his arms around her and held her close, she buried her face in his coat.
“Rico’s got a GPS chip in his arm, just in case anything like this ever happened. It’s going to give off a signal, and we can track him, wherever he is.”
They both looked immediately relieved. “Did somebody take him? Is that what you think?”
“Has he been kidnapped?” Sally’s voice was verging close to hysteria.
“I don’t know what happened. But it’s possible. Try not to think the worst. I’m not going to stop until I find him and bring him back here, don’t worry about that.”
“We tried and tried to call Claire’s number, but she’s not answering. Is she all right?”
“How long ago did you try to call her?”
“On the way over here, when we couldn’t find him. The phone just rang and then went to voicemail.”
“Okay, listen closely: I need you to go down to your suite and sit tight until you hear from me. There’s not a thing you can do until we get him back. Maybe he just got lost somehow. Carnivals are crowded. Or maybe he just got distracted by something he saw in a store window.” None of that was remotely possible, of course, and Black knew it. Rico was a very smart little kid. He acted twice his age most of the time. He had guts and resiliency like no other child that Black had ever seen. Rico didn’t know about the GPS chip, but Black had made the kid promise to always keep his phone with him. Rico would’ve called Black immediately if he had gotten lost or needed help of any kind―unless he was restrained or prevented from calling, and that’s what Black was afraid of. It was the only thing that made sense. Same with Claire.
Black hastily ushered the Hammonses out of his office, still trying to calm their worries as best he could, but without much avail, not with his own nerves jumping around and threatening to flame up out of control. This was not good. He and Booker had to get on the road, right now.
Minutes later, they were inside his weapons room, arming themselves. Then, not long after that, they were in the back parking lot, inside Booker’s Jeep. Black was in the passenger’s seat, staring down at Rico’s GPS blinking on his phone.
“He’s been abducted, goddamn it to hell,” he muttered softly, so angry he could barely speak. “I promised him he’d be safe here with us at the lake, Booker. I thought he was. I thought it was okay for him to go out with the Hammonses. I can’t think who’s got him. Who’d want him enough to do this kind of thing?”
“Maybe the grandparents are in on it. They have to know how wealthy you are. Maybe all this is a grab for the ransom. Maybe their accomplice is holding him.”
“No way. You saw their faces. They’re terrified that he’s in danger. Somebody else took him. We’ve got to get to him quick.”
“Where is he?”
“GPS puts him about ten miles north of the lake. It’s mainly just woods out there, I think. I’m not all that familiar with the area. We need to get there fast, and I need to find Claire. She’s still not picking up.”
“You think the same people have her, too, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. And I’m pretty sure whoever killed that girl in Claire’s homicide case is the one who has them. They may have Jonesy Jax, too. He was with Claire, and there was an FBI guy working with her, too. Claire wasn’t sure she could trust him, so maybe he’s in on the whole thing, as well. Oh God, I can’t believe this is happening again.”
Within minutes, they were off the hotel grounds and on their way. Black kept calling Claire but got no answer. He called the sheriff’s office and was told they were getting no response, either. Black told them to put out a BOLO on her and Rico, stat. When he called Jonesy’s suite again, he finally got an answer: Candi picked up. She sounded as if she was stoned out of her mind, but managed to tell him that Jax had left with Claire and the Fed about three or four hours ago. He hung up and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. A lot of terrible things could be happening to her. Three hours spent in the company of a homicidal maniac who nailed his victim to a wood bannister. God help him, it was happening again.