Captive Justice: A Private Investigator Mystery Series (A Jake & Annie Lincoln Thriller Book 4) (18 page)

HANK WAS AT his desk filling out some paperwork when Jake and Annie arrived at the precinct. He forced a grin when he saw them, tossed his pen aside and sat back.

“Have a seat,” he said.

Jake and Annie sat in the guest chairs.

“So much paperwork,” Hank said, with a sigh. “If I didn’t have to spend so much time at my desk I might be able to get this case wrapped up sooner.”

Jake handed his cell phone to Hank. “I got another call.”

Hank raised his brows and leaned forward. “Already? Not another kidnapping?” he asked, as he took the phone from Jake.

“Not yet,” Jake said. “Just a warning. And a threat.”

Hank listened to the recording of the call. When it was finished, he said, “Someone’ll pay? What could he mean by that?” He sat back and rubbed his chin. “We’d better keep Mrs. Coleman under 24 hour guard until this is wrapped up.”

“Perhaps he means the next victim or someone else entirely,” Annie said.

Hank seemed to consider that a moment before spinning around in his chair. “Callaway,” he called.

Callaway looked up from his monitor and Hank beckoned him over and handed him the phone. “Make a copy of this call. And see if you can find out where it came from.”

“I’ll get right on it, Hank.”

“And did you find out who owns that store?”

“Not yet, but I’m working on it.” Callaway hurried back to his desk.

Hank folded his arms. “The detail Detective King put together has finished canvassing the city looking for that white van.” He shook his head. “No luck. That seems to be a dead end, but now I have them out looking for blue vans.”

“At least that one’s a solid lead,” Annie said. “And there won’t be as many of them.”

“That’s for sure,” Hank said. “The list is rather short. I hope to hear something soon.”

Jake spoke up, “And what about the woods where Mrs. Coleman was abducted? Anything there?”

Hank shrugged. “Nothing in the woods that looks promising, but officers are checking door-to-door to see if anyone saw anything in the area, specifically, a blue van. I’m presuming she was taken away in the van Mrs. Coleman saw at the store.”

“What about the sketch artist?” Annie asked.

“He should be at the hospital now. They won’t let Mrs. Coleman leave for a while. Afraid she might have concussion, but she’s safe there.”

“I have to ask,” Annie said. “I know everyone is a suspect, even Walter Coleman—”

“Coleman’s alibi checked out. He was in King City all day yesterday doing a landscaping job. His workers vouched for that as well as the client. There’s no way he could’ve been home before 5:00 PM.”

“So who does that leave us with?” Jake asked.

Hank sighed. “Nobody. Which makes it more important than ever we find that blue van and its driver.”

Callaway approached Jake and handed him back his phone. “I’ll dissect that recording,” he said to Hank. “There might be something on it.”

“Any luck tracing the call?”

Callaway shrugged. “It’s almost impossible to trace a call after the fact. I’m afraid that’s a dead end.”

~~*~~

WHEN JAKE AND ANNIE got home, Jake went straight out to the back deck and sat down, propping his feet up on another chair. He could see Matty and Kyle next door, kicking around a soccer ball.

He stood and leaned over the railing and called to his son. “Matty, come here a minute, will you?”

Matty spun around, grinned when he saw his father and sped up onto the deck. He bounced on the edge of a chair.

“What’s up, Dad?” he asked.

Jake looked at his son with pride. He seemed to be growing bigger every day. “I just wanted to talk to you a minute.”

“Sure.”

“I realize your mother and I have been pretty busy lately, often in the evenings, and haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with you.”

“That’s ok. I know what you and Mom do is important. And everybody at school knows who you guys are. That’s all the kids are talking about these days and about the kidnappings and stuff.”

Jake laughed and then asked, “How about you and I take a little fishing trip one of these days soon? Maybe go up to Grand River or Humber River for a couple of days and see if we can bring home a few trout.”

“Yeah, that sounds cool, Dad. When can we go?”

“As soon as we get this case wrapped up.” Jake sighed. “I hope it won’t be long.”

“Can Kyle come too?” Matty asked.

“Sure, why not. We’ll make it a guy thing. Camping out. Black flies, mosquitoes, the whole shebang. It’ll be great.”

Matty jumped up. “Hey, Kyle,” he shouted. “Get over here.”

Kyle appeared a moment later, gasping for air. He looked expectantly at Matty.

“Wanna go fishing with us?” Matty asked.

Kyle frowned. “Right now?”

Matty giggled. “No, in a few days. Just you, me, and my dad.”

“Sure,” Kyle said. “Mom won’t mind.”

“Yeah, she’ll probably be glad to get rid of you for a couple of days,” Matty said dryly and then ducked as Kyle aimed a punch at his shoulder. The two boys charged back out to the yard and in a minute, were rolling around on the grass.

Annie stepped from the back door onto the deck. She’d fixed up a jug of ice-cold lemonade and she set it on the table along with four glasses, and filled two.

Jake told her of his plans to take the boys fishing.

“What about Hank?” Annie asked.

“Nah, not this time. He’ll have so much paperwork to do after this case he’ll still be doing it when we get back. He won’t even notice we were gone.”

Chapter 39

Friday, September 2nd, 4:18 PM

HANNAH MARTIN pulled her SUV into the driveway. It’d been a long day and she was glad to be home. Once she got the groceries in the house and put away she would take a break and maybe enjoy a cup of tea.

She popped the trunk, stepped from the vehicle and stopped short as a yellow van pulled into the driveway beside her. Perhaps it was the plumber. The kitchen sink was leaking and she’d been after Eli to get someone to fix it. Funny thing though, the van had no sign or other markings on it.

She waited until the passenger door opened and a man stepped around the front of the van. He wore baseball cap, pulled low, but she saw he had a number of scabs, nicks and healing wounds on his face, like he’d been in a car accident, or some kind of scuffle.

“Mrs. Martin?” he asked.

She answered cautiously. “Yes?”

“I have a delivery for you.”

She watched curiously as he moved to the side of the van, ground the door open and reached in. He turned around with some kind of a black cloth bag in his hand. Whatever could be in that bag?

With one deft move he slipped the bag over her head and drew the drawstring tight. She struggled and swung at him to no avail. Strong arms held her from behind, spun her around and pushed her, kicking and trying to scream, into the side door of the van.

Then she was rolled onto her stomach, her hands wrenched behind her, and she felt him on top of her, weighing her down. A cable tie zipped and she was helpless. Through the cloth bag, she felt the cool metal of the truck bed on her face. The confines of the bag, along with a sudden panic which overtook her, made it hard to breathe.

His weight was removed from her back, the van door slammed and in a few moments, the engine roared as the vehicle backed from the driveway. She struggled against her bonds as the van braked to a stop, then leaped forward, picked up speed and carried her away.

She’d heard about the kidnappings that had taken place lately. Was this the same man she’d heard about on the news? Was she now about to be treated like a piece of merchandise? Would her husband pay the ransom? Of course he would, but they weren’t rich. She feared for her life and lay trembling and feeling very much alone.

After a few minutes, the van pulled to a stop and the engine died. The driver side door creaked and then slammed. All was silent for several long minutes, seemed like hours, she couldn’t tell. Too many thoughts in her head, too much terror.

She struggled to remove the bag but the drawstring was too tight, her hands helpless. She kicked against the door, but nobody came to help. Nobody heard her muffled screams and nobody knew where she was.

The van door slid open and rough hands grabbed her from behind and half-dragged her from the vehicle. She tried to stand, stumbled, then was prodded forward, unable to see, and pushed through a doorway.

“Watch the steps.”

While held from behind, she felt her way down a flight of stairs. She was greeted by a strong odor, something chemical, and an unknown taste assaulted her taste buds.

When her feet touched the hard floor, she was pushed to the right, a door creaked open, she was prodded again and then the bag was loosened from around her throat and removed. She took a breath and gasped in the damp, clammy air.

When she turned around, her abductor had gone from the tiny room that now held her, slamming the door behind him. She heard a bolt slide and she was alone—alone in a small, dark room, the only light seeping from under the sealed door, her hands still tied.

As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, the tiny ray of light revealed the tomblike space. Concrete floor, concrete walls, cool and damp.

She slumped down against the cold, hard wall and cried.

~~*~~

A CALL CAME in to 9-1-1 at 16:30 hours and RHPD dispatch was notified immediately. A neighbor had witnessed a kidnapping at 96 Westwind Drive. The astute eyewitness had gotten the license plate number of a yellow Chevrolet van that was used to abduct her neighbor, a Mrs. Hannah Martin. First responders were on their way.

Hank was apprised of the situation. The kidnapper had warned there would be another abduction. Hank was expecting it, but not so soon. But at least there was a witness this time.

Hank jumped from his chair, raced across the precinct floor and dropped a sticky note on Callaway’s desk. “Looks like we might’ve caught a break,” he said. “A yellow van, license number MHW 396. What can you get me on that ASAP?” Hank sat opposite him and waited.

Callaway swung into action, faced his monitor and tapped rapidly on the keyboard. In a moment, he recited, “MHW 396. MTO has it listed as a red 2014 Hyundai. Registered to a Meyer Summerdale, here in the city.”

Hank tilted his head and frowned. “2014 Hyundai? It should be a yellow Chevy van. That’s what the neighbor saw.”

“Are you sure she got the right number?” Callaway asked.

“She seemed positive. Said she wrote it down right away. Given the accuracy of everything else she said—”

“Just a minute.” Callaway was glaring at the screen again. “A Meyer Summerdale reported his license plates stolen. MHW 396. His vehicle was parked along the curb in front of his house and this morning he noticed them missing.”

Hank slumped back in his chair. He just couldn’t catch a break. He would have a look at the statement the responding officers took and check out Meyer Summerdale, but he doubted it would lead him anywhere.

Chapter 40

Friday, September 2nd, 5:18 PM

JAKE WAS IN the backyard with Matty and Kyle when his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, gave the soccer ball one last kick to Matty and answered the call.

“Jake Lincoln.”

“Mr. Lincoln, my name is Eli Martin. It . . . it’s my wife. She’s been kidnapped and I just got a call from the kidnapper. He . . . he said I must call you if I ever want to see her again.”

Jake took a deep breath and stepped onto the deck. Here we go again.

“Tell me what happened, Mr. Martin.”

“A . . . a neighbor saw my wife being abducted this afternoon and called the police. It . . . it happened right in the driveway of our house. I’ve already given a statement and they said a detective would want to talk to me as well. And then . . . I received a call from the kidnapper.”

“Did he have a deep voice?” Jake asked. “Like a camouflaged voice?”

“Yes, and he wants fifty thousand dollars. He wants you to deliver it.”

Jake sat on a deck chair and leaned forward. If someone witnessed the abduction, hopefully the police can finally stop this guy before someone else dies.

“He said he would call you,” Martin continued.

“I’ll do everything I can to help, Mr. Martin, and to get your wife home safely.”

“He sent me a picture of her,” Martin said. “To my phone. I . . . I can’t tell where she is. In a room somewhere. A concrete room.”

“Mr. Martin, I know it’s hard, but try to relax. I’m sure the police are on this even as we speak. Let them do their job and I’ll be in touch with them as well. I’ll let you know as soon as the kidnapper calls me.”

“I’ll pay the ransom, Mr. Lincoln. I just want my wife back safely.”

“This is not the first kidnapping,” Jake said. “He doesn’t allow a lot of time to get the money together. He might want it tomorrow. Is that a problem?”

“No, no problem. I have enough here in my safe, but . . . he said he knows the police are already aware of this and I’m not to talk to them. I . . . I don’t know what to do.”

The police were already involved and nothing could be done about that. But right now, he wanted to be sure Mrs. Martin didn’t end up dead. “The police will keep it discreet,” he said. “But first, I have to wait for the kidnapper to call, then we’ll know how to proceed.”

“I . . . guess all I can do is leave it in your hands,” Martin said. “And the police.”

Jake sighed. His hands weren’t all that capable right now, but there didn’t seem to be any choice. “I’ll be in touch,” he said.

~~*~~

TEN MINUTES later Jake’s phone rang again. He looked at the caller ID. Unknown number. He was pretty sure he knew who was calling.

Jake pushed back from the kitchen table. “I think it’s him,” he said to Annie, as she dropped her book on the table and sat back.

He put the phone on speaker. “Jake Lincoln.”