29
Danny stared at Ben and Eric. He and Angel had been sitting around the kitchen table while Kate made coffee when the sheriff and FBI agent and Chavez came in the back door. “What do you mean, you lost Joel?”
“First we lost the microphone signal, then at the park, the transmitter. We found his car, the briefcase with a transmitter in a pocket—all at the courthouse. The transmitter in his shoe indicated he was still at the courthouse. It’s probably in a drain. The money was gone, and so was Joel.”
“They knew he was wired?”
“Why would they kidnap him?”
Danny and Angel asked questions on top of each other.
Ben held up his hand. “To answer Danny—either they knew or Joel removed them. And I have no idea why they took him, if they did. My money says he’s in collusion with the kidnappers.” Ben looked around the room. “Where’s Edward?”
“Ian called him,” Danny said. “Dad’s leaving later tonight, and the contract needed Edward’s signature. Edward offered to go over and sign it—I think he needed to get out of the house. Said he’d be back by the time Joel returned.”
“Have you checked the house for bugs?” Chavez asked.
Eric ran his hand over his head. “Gordon checked both mornings. Nothing.”
Chavez shifted from one foot to the other. “Then how did the kidnappers know about the transmitters?”
Danny drummed his fingers on the table. “Like Ben said, Joel is in on the kidnappings and decided to take the hundred thousand and skip.”
“Maybe,” Angel said. “He could be part of the kidnapping, but if he is, would he settle for a hundred grand when a million is a good possibility?”
The Mexican sergeant nodded.
Kate set sugar and creamer on the table, then sat beside Ben while the coffee finished percolating. “Have you asked your deputies if they’ve seen Charlie or his pickup?”
Danny squeezed her hand. “They’re looking for him, Kate. And you didn’t have to make coffee. I’m sure you’re worried to death.”
“Making coffee is what I do. And feed people, but I don’t figure anyone’s hungry. I know I’m not.” When the coffeepot gurgled, she filled five mugs. “Do you think the tech would like a cup?”
“Pour it,” Eric said. “And I’ll take it to him. He’s running all the facts of this case through some software program to see if it fits any other kidnappings.”
Ben stirred creamer in his coffee. “I’ll go with you. I want to see how that program works.”
When they were alone in the kitchen, Danny tilted his head toward Angel. “You never told me what Chavez wanted to discuss with you.”
“He wanted to apologize. Some of his men arrested a couple of drug dealers with the cartel. After their interrogation, the drug dealers told him the tip about the warehouse meeting where I was shot came from a crooked cop.”
“Do you believe him? I’ve wondered if he was the one leaking information here.”
“I learned a long time ago not to make rash judgments. Time will tell exactly who Chavez is, and in the meantime, I’ll watch my back.”
“Good idea.” Danny picked up the Bible again. He’d tried reading the thirty-ninth chapter of Job after Joel left, but he couldn’t concentrate. “Kate, have you been able to figure out anything?”
“I’ve read it over and over. Nothing. I’ve even looked through every chapter that had thirty-nine verses to see if that’s what she meant.”
Danny picked up his notes from earlier and started to scan them when the doorbell rang. “Maybe that’s Joel.”
All three of them hurried to the front door, but Ben had already opened it and let Edward in.
“Not here?” he was saying. “What happened?”
“Come into the living room, and I’ll fill you in.”
Danny and Angel returned to the kitchen while Kate checked to see if Edward wanted coffee. Danny picked up the notepad he’d dropped and read over what he’d written—strength, sword, hawk, south, eagle, nest, prey. His heart jumped into his throat. Eagle’s nest. “Angel, I think I have it!”
Angel looked up from the Bible. “What?”
Danny held the notepad where he could see it. “See—eagle, nest—Eagle’s Nest. There’s an old motel near the lake by the name of the Eagle’s Nest. Mostly itinerant workers stay there. Haven’t thought of that place in years.”
“Should we tell Ben?”
“Not yet. If it pans out, we’ll call him. Someone is tipping off the kidnappers, and if it isn’t Joel, it can only be Edward or Chavez. Let’s take a ride out there instead. After we go by the Maxwell Industries office and pick up some firepower.”
Just when Bailey thought she’d scream if her dad didn’t quit pacing the room like a caged lion, he stopped in front of the windows. Using his thumbnail, he scratched the paint on the window. Then he made the scratch longer. And another. What was he doing? When he connected the two, she realized he’d made an H.
“No!” The word came out before she could stop it. If the kidnappers saw what he’d done, they would move them and Danny would never find them.
He walked closer and whispered, “We have to do something to let the world know we’re here.”
He had a point. “But what if they see it?” she mouthed.
Her dad lifted his shoulders and hands, then he walked back to the window and scratched an E.
The lock in the joining door clicked. “Dad!” Bailey hissed.
Nodding, he pulled the flimsy drape back in place and walked away from the window.
The door swung open, and Whiskers entered the room with a package. “Something for the fever. And chicken noodle soup.”
“Thank you.” Bailey chewed her lip. Whiskers seemed almost human. Perhaps if she could make a connection with him, she could reason with him. “You’ve been kind.”
His gaze bore through her. “No, I have not been kind. You are a commodity, and I must keep you in good shape. Don’t read more into my actions than what they are.” Without another word, he turned and returned to the other room.
Her hopes deflated. He was as cold and heartless as the other one.
She turned to awaken Maria. Where was Danny? He was coming. She knew he was. God would not abandon them.
Joel wiggled his hands, trying to work feeling back into them. He didn’t know how long he’d been in the straight-back chair, blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back. Long enough for them to be numb. “Hey! Can’t you at least take the blindfold off? I already know what you look like, so what’s the point? Is it the money? I gave you Maria and the Adams woman. And you already have a hundred grand. We’re even.”
“Our orders said blindfold, so that’s the way it’ll be.” The voice came from behind him.
“Who’s giving the orders?”
“That does not concern you.”
“Is he coming here?”
Silence answered. They didn’t know. They were simply waiting for more orders. “How about the kid? When are you going to turn her loose? She needs to see a doctor.”
“We gave her medicine for the fever.”
Joel strained against the plastic zip tie that bound his hands. It didn’t give at all. “Come on, guys. I helped you. You can at least loosen my hands. I don’t have any feeling in them anymore.”
A slight movement on his left. Someone was beside him, kneeling. Breathing garlic breath on him.
“Do you know what this is?”
Something flat and cold lay against his neck. Adrenaline pumped into his body.
“I asked you a question.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“I know what it is. A knife.”
“If you don’t quit talking, I’m going to use it to shut you up.”