Chapter 36

As they were approaching the house, Charles’ cell phone rang. He reached for it and pulled over to the curb. “Parker,” he answered.

“Hey, Charlie. I think we got him!” Officer Blackburn sounded confident.

“Great,” Charles responded. “Tell me what’s going on.” Charles hit the speaker button on his cell phone so Sarah could hear. “I’m putting you on speaker. I have the victim’s mother here with me.” He introduced the two and then said, “Go on, Tom.”

“We followed your suggestion and checked out car rentals that might have used falsified identification. We found a Jonathan Harvey whose identification indicated that he would be ninety eight years old. They called their night staff and were assured no one had rented a car to anyone that old. We checked it out, and Mr. Harvey died two years ago.”

“And I assume no one could describe the guy that rented the car since they didn’t even look at the identification.”

“Right,” Blackburn responded.

“What kind of car did they put the fake Mr. Harvey in?”

“He’s in an SUV, a white Chevy Tahoe, and the GPS has him in Middletown.”

“That’s got to be Greyson. Is he on the move?” Charles asked.

“No. He’s been in one spot for several days. He’s in the Sleep-A-Way motel out on your Route 39.” Charles grabbed his notebook and jotted down a few notes. “I’ll call the precinct and get someone out there. Thanks, Tom.”

“Thank you, Tom,” Sarah called out as Charles was disconnecting. She had become both excited and agitated. “What shall we do?”

“We’ll call Amanda.” He dialed her number and was relieved when she answered the phone. He told her what he had learned from Blackburn, and she said she would get officers out there right away. You stay put,” she added, knowing he had Sarah in the car. “I’ll call you when I know something.”

“I want to go!” Sarah demanded after he completed the call.

“Absolutely not,” Charles responded. “There could be a shoot-out, or any number of other things might happen. It’s no place for a civilian.”

“But my daughter is there,” she wailed.

“How about this. I’ll take you and Barney home. Then I’ll go to the motel to make sure Martha is safe, and I’ll bring her back home to you. Is that okay?”

Sarah thought for a moment and finally agreed. If she couldn’t be there, at least Charles would be. He dropped her at her house and told her to call Sophie and Jason and tell them to come to the house. “We’ll have something to celebrate!” He hoped that was true but, if not, he didn’t want Sarah to be alone.

It was at least a twenty-minute drive to the motel on the outskirts of town. He hoped he could get there by the time Amanda and the officers arrived.

* * * * *

Martha heard a car pull up outside the motel room. She heard muffled words and the car pulled away as quickly as it arrived. She heard heavy steps walk toward the office. That must have been a cab, she thought. She had given up all hope of someone coming for her. No one knew where she was.

A few minutes later she heard the heavy footsteps return. The man who said to call him Tony was engrossed in the television and hadn’t noticed the sounds outside. He laughed at the news stories about Martha and how far off they were as they speculated about her disappearance.

Martha’s wrists hurt from the rope binding them. She was stiff and wanted to move around but didn’t want to draw attention to herself. He seemed to have temporarily forgotten about her. Her eyes burned with unshed tears that she couldn’t wipe away.

Suddenly the door burst open. Through her tears, she saw a tall, muscular man standing in the doorway. “You sick bastard!” he screamed at her captor. “What are you doing with my wife?” Martha squeezed her eyes tight to clear the tears and looked up into the man’s face.

“Greyson?”

The man called Tony stood and faced Greyson. “She’s not your wife anymore, man. Get out!”

Without a word, Greyson instantly had the man down and began beating him in the face. Blood splattered and the man moaned. Greyson dragged him into the bathroom, tossing him in like a rag doll. He locked the door, checking first to make sure there was no escape. He immediately untied Martha who sat on the floor dazed. “How did you know where I was?” she asked.

“That fool in the bathroom has loose lips. It’s no wonder he’s spent most of his life in prison. He can’t keep his mouth shut.”

“What do you mean?” She rubbed her sore wrists and tried to get up but didn’t have the strength. Greyson reached under her arms and lifted her effortlessly onto the bed. She still appeared to be in shock.

“That jerk was my cellmate. He used to drool over your pictures and always wanted me to tell him stories about you. I never thought much about it, just the ramblings of an idiot who’s been away from women too long.”

Martha waited for him to continue. His blond curls were beginning to gray, but she could still see the handsome boy she had fallen in love with behind his now aged and hardened face. Despite fearing him for years and hating what he had done to her, he had come to her rescue, and she couldn’t help but be thankful.

“Thank you,” she mumbled hesitantly. “How did you know?”

“My parole officer clued me in that this jerk was talking about marrying you. It sounded like crazy talk to both of us, but then I heard he was planning to come get you and that he was going to take you out to Oklahoma. I still figured it was all talk, but he was telling everyone about it.”

Martha sat dazed. “He told me he was taking me some where out west, but …”

The man locked in the bathroom began to curse, and Greyson opened the door and looked down at him on the floor. “Shut up,” he said, giving him a warning kick in the ribs. “I’m deciding what to do with you.”

Martha heard sirens in the background, and within seconds, cars were screeching to a stop outside the room. Again, the door burst open and three police officers entered, wearing protective gear and pointing firearms at the two. Charles came in behind them and cried out, “Stop! That’s Martha.” He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the bed and half carried her out to Amanda’s squad car. Amanda jumped out of the car and hurried around to help him get her into the car.

“Are you hurt?” she asked. “We have an ambulance on the way.”

“He didn’t hurt me,” she responded, still rubbing her wrists and beginning to cry with relief. “Just a little rope burn.”

“After an EMT takes a look at you, I’m going to take you to your mother’s house, and we’ll talk there after we get him locked up. Is he still in the room?”

“Yes. Greyson subdued him and locked him in the bathroom.”

“Greyson?” Amanda and Charles said in unison.

“Greyson subdued who? Wasn’t Greyson the one who kidnapped you?”

“No. It was a man named Tony. Greyson knew him.”

“So what is Greyson doing here?” Charles asked. “Was he in on your kidnapping?”

“No. Greyson found out what this guy was up to, and he came here to stop him. He was almost too late. …” She began crying, mostly out of relief.

The EMT arrived and checked her out, but she refused to go to the hospital. She just wanted to go home.

Amanda spoke briefly with the officers and returned to the car. “They’re taking Greyson in for questioning, and we’ll talk to Montana about whether they want him arrested. He’s violated parole, but then he has a reasonable excuse. He might need you to testify for him,” she added, looking at Martha. Martha thought about that time years ago when she was terrified of testifying against him, and now, years later, she might be testifying for him. She smiled at the irony.

“And his parole officer just might cut him some slack.” Charles said, smiling as he thought about how far out on a limb Blackburn had gone for Greyson.

“What about that guy Tony?” Martha asked cautiously. “He’ll be locked up, right?”

“He’ll be in the prison hospital for a day or two and then charged,” Amanda responded. “Montana will probably wait to see what happens to him here. He’s jumped parole there, but we have him on assault, false imprisonment, possibly kidnapping. They’ll put a retainer on him, so he’ll be sent back to them when we’re through with him. The guy won’t see the light of day for many years,” she added with a chuckle as she walked back toward the motel room. “You folks wait there.”

Once the prisoners were taken away, Amanda walked her partner to his car, and they talked for a few minutes before he drove off. She then returned to her car. Martha was leaning against Charles, and he had a protective arm around her shoulder. “Put your seat belts on, folks. We’re headed home.”

As she drove, Amanda leaned her head back to speak to Martha. “It looks like he brought you here sometime on Thursday. I’m glad you were still here in town, but what was he waiting for?”

“He asked me if I had any money. That’s when I got the idea. I told him Mom has lots of money and that we should wait until she gets back from Chicago. I convinced him she would give us as much as we wanted.” Charles looked surprised that she would involve her mother, but Martha, sensing his concern, added, “I was worried about bringing her into it, but I was sure you two would be involved by then. I knew you would figure out what was happening. I was taking a chance, but this guy was a loose cannon, and I didn’t want him to leave the city with me.”

“Good thinking, gal. Good thinking.”

“How did you find me?”

“Your stalker saw the guy grab you in front of your house.”

“My stalker?” Martha responded looking confused.

Charles told her about Jillian Fitzgerald. “Alan’s wife?” she exclaimed with disbelief. “Why in the world would she be stalking me?”

“The green-eyed monster. She was obsessively jealous of you and Alan. She was sure you two were having an affair, and she followed you incessantly, determined to catch you.”

“Why would she think that?”

“Well, she was right about one thing. He was having an affair. And if she hadn’t spent all her time following you, she might have actually caught him with the right person.” He looked at her with a sly look as if he knew something she just might like to know.

“And who might that be?” she asked coyly, willing to play his game now that she was safe and on her way home.

“Your pretty blond administrative assistant!”

“Sheila?”

“You bet. And guess who’s been feeding Alan’s wife with all the false information about Alan and you?”

“Sheila?”

“Right again! And she even gave Jillian the key to your house so she could look for proof of the nonexistent affair!”

“I wonder …” Martha began.

“I know what you are wondering, and you are partially right! Now, she wasn’t the actual corporate mole. She’s not that smart. The mole was some computer jerk in Davis’ lab, but our little blond friend, Sheila, was feeding information to him as well.”

“Why would she do all this?”

“Your mother suspects that Sheila’s in love with Alan and was doing everything she could to discredit you and break up his marriage,” Charles explained.

Amanda, in the front seat, was listening to the entire conversation and smiling. “Your mom is one smart puppy!”