Charmed (Second Sight) (8 page)

Mac nodded, holding out his arms.

“I’m sure,” he said, as Isabelle stepped quickly into his embrace. “But the rate of recovering infants
unharmed
is very high. Especially when the abductor is a parent.” Isabelle nodded against his chest, hugging him. “In a way, this is good news.” She leaned away from him and looked up into his face, her eyebrows knit together. “It’s kidnapping,” he said, answering the unasked question.

“But he’s the father.”

Mac shook his head.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s still kidnapping.” He grinned. “And that puts it in FBI territory and that means we can get a search warrant.” His phone rang. “In fact…” he said, letting Isabelle go and fishing his phone out. He hit the answer button. “MacMillan,” he said.

Isabelle stood directly in front of him as the police lieutenant gave him the bad news: there was no sign of Daniel or the baby. Wherever he’d gone, it wasn’t home. FBI agents were on the scene to look for clues.

“All right,” Mac said. It was time to profile Daniel. He’d start with the condo. “I’ll be right there,” he said and hung up.

Isabelle got her purse and slung it over her shoulder but, as she moved toward the door and he didn’t, she stopped.

“I think,” he said, though it was the last thing he wanted, “you’d better stay here.”

“No,
Mac
, come on–”

“We don’t know where he’s gone,” Mac said. “The answer might be at the condo and it might not. I’m going to go over everything. Try to gain some–”

“I am
not
waiting here,” she said, her gaze level. “I can help at the condo.”

Unfortunately, Mac knew that was true.
 

“It’s not what I want,” he said.

It’s what Scanlon wants.

“I helped to bring that baby into the world,” Isabelle said, her voice rising. “I am
not
going to just sit by. I can read something,
anything
.”

Even if she did read an object that could give them a lead, it wouldn’t be admissible. It wouldn’t even be grounds for another warrant. Tim needed a look at Daniel’s computers. He might very well find something that linked Daniel with the commune.
Then
they could serve a warrant at the commune.

Mac narrowed his eyes.

The commune.

He grabbed Isabelle by the shoulders.

That’s it.

“You already
have
read something,” he said.

She frowned at him, shaking her head.

“No. Daniel was watching. He–”

“Not there.
Here
,” he said. “The
photo
.” He grinned at her. “The commune. That’s where he’ll go.”

•••••

The level of stupidity was nothing short of astounding. Maurice could only gape at the improbable sight–their computer genius toting an infant in a car seat.
Here
. The only thing he could think to say was the obvious.

“
You
are an
idiot
,” Maurice said.
 

He was feeling his drink. Like he had the last few days, he’d called it an early night. He hadn’t exactly been expecting visitors, especially these ones.

“Now, wait a minute,” Geoffrey said. “Let’s just think about this.”

Maurice guffawed.

They’d shown up together: his brother, the great brain trust, and the computer dweeb. Neither with a single clue. The two of them stood together in Maurice’s office, across the desk from him. They had to stand since there was only one chair and Maurice was sitting in it, cocktail in hand.

“Good,” Maurice said, stifling his laugh. “You think about it.”

It’s over now. Truly over. There is no way to recover from this.

In a strange way, it felt liberating.

“Just put it back in the queue,” Daniel said, his face contorting in anger. “That’s why I brought it here.”

The baby started to cry but Geoffrey was the only one who looked down at the carrier.

“That’s why you
kidnapped
it,” Maurice corrected him, raising his glass. “Well done.”

He took a sip, careful to avoid the toothpick and olive. Say what you will, the vodka martini was timeless.

“Well,” Geoffrey said, over the infants’ mewling. “However it got here. Why not take advantage? Daniel’s right. List it on the web site.”

Maurice couldn’t help but snicker. The two of them. They were better than a comedy routine.

“Okay, sure,” Maurice said. “Is that before or after the police arrest him?”

“Arrest me?” Daniel said.

“Oh, no, no no,” Maurice said, holding up a hand. “My mistake. Arrest
us
.”

Finally, Geoffrey looked worried. He looked down at the carrier again.

“I’m the
father
,” Daniel said. “And–”

“And you have a document from the mother granting you complete custody,” Maurice finished, talking over him. “Oh, wait. You
don’t?
”
 

Maurice snickered.

“Maybe,” Geoffrey said. “We should all just calm down and put our heads together.”

Maurice had to laugh again.

Really. It was just all too funny.

“That would make,” Maurice said, laughing. “Wait. Let me count.” He pointed at each of them and then himself. “One brain between the three of us!”

He wiped a tear from his eye.

He hadn’t felt this good in
years
. It was the other shoe dropping. It was relief. He took another sip. It was an excellent martini. He looked at the two of them, waiting for their next joke. When it didn’t come and they looked at each other, he felt suddenly tired.

Tomorrow–he inhaled deeply–would be a
very
busy day.

“Go,” he said, exhaling and waving them off. “Just…
go
.”

He took another sip.

“What the fuck?” Daniel yelled as the baby cried again. “I came all the way out here with a guaranteed $25K,” he hefted the car seat slightly, “and you want to turn it down?”

“Maybe there’s something we can figure out,” Geoffrey said.

Maurice was starting to lose patience. For all he knew, the police were next, knocking on the damn front door.

“Get out,” he said.

Daniel’s face reddened and his eyes seemed to bulge.

“You do
not
want to piss me off,” he said. “
Trust
me.”

Geoffrey looked warily between the two of them.

“
Trust
you,” Maurice said, glaring at him. “Trust you to screw it up royally. Take your kidnapped son and get out.” Daniel’s glower had turned into a smug grin and, somehow, Maurice found that infuriating. “
Get out!
” he screamed. “
Get out!
”

•••••

Daniel jammed the seat belt into its holder, locking down the infant carrier in the back seat.

“Asshole,” he muttered. He slammed the BMW’s door closed and yanked open the driver door. “Fucking
asshole
.”

The baby was crying again.

“Shut up!” he yelled as he pounded the steering wheel. “Shut up!”

He started the engine.

“Well fuck them,” he said.

I’ll just sell it myself. I’m the one in control of the web site and the adoption group. Let them see what they think of
that
. But–he glanced in the rear view mirror at the baby–he’d need to buy formula or something. And diapers.

“Goddamn it,” he muttered as he threw the stick into reverse.
 

This was getting complicated.

ISABELLE HADN’T REALIZED the road to the commune was so dark at night. Then again, she’d never really seen it. When she’d last been here at nighttime, it’d been in the back seat of Mac’s rental with Kayla giving birth.

But up ahead, around a long bend in the road, light was moving through the trees.

Mac took his foot off the gas.

“Isabelle,” he said, quickly putting a hand behind her shoulder. “Get down.”

She ducked forward, hit the seat belt as it froze, then wriggled out of the shoulder strap. Mac unsnapped the closure on his holster. Light shone on his face, growing brighter, and though he squinted, he never took his eyes off the approaching car. One hand on the wheel, he quickly withdrew the gun.

Isabelle’s eyes widened.

Maybe
Mac
should get down.

Bent forward, she could only see his face and the black night beyond his window. Just as she was about to say something, the trees that had been invisible just a few moments before suddenly flared to life, the light in the SUV brightened, and then everything went black again as Mac whipped his head around.

“That was Daniel,” he muttered, holstering the gun and hitting the brakes. “Hold on.”

Isabelle sat up just in time to grab the arm rest as Mac cranked the steering wheel over and they slid sideways. She lurched toward him, leaning wildly, as he suddenly straightened it out and hit the gas. The headlights swam in a cloud of flying dirt and then they were out of it.

“Did you see the baby?” Isabelle said.

“No,” Mac said.

He’d exchanged the gun for his phone.

“Lieutenant,” he said, quickly. “MacMillan here. I’m in pursuit of Daniel Allmand on Summerhill Canyon, headed to Topanga Canyon Blvd. I want road blocks set up on either end, one in Malibu and one in the valley. He’s driving a silver BMW 640 Gran Coupe, license number 7JUI633.” He listened for a moment. “Right. Will advise.”

He kept the line open as he gunned the engine. Up ahead, the tail lights swerved and a dust cloud flew up. The red glow disappeared for a moment but then reappeared. The brake lights brightened suddenly and then veered off to the left.

“Okay,” Mac said. “He’s headed to Malibu.”

•••••

Mac left the call open but put the phone in the center console cup holder and made the same left turn. As they squealed onto Topanga Canyon, he gripped the wheel in both hands.

“He might have the baby in the car,” Mac said, loudly.

“Ten four,” replied the lieutenant, slipping into comm jargon though it was just the phone.

Mac could hear radio chatter in the background.

“He’s going too fast,” Isabelle said quietly.

She was right. Mac glanced at his speedometer as Daniel’s tail lights disappeared around a curve.

Fifty miles per hour.
 

Mac took his foot off the gas. They didn’t need Daniel to skid off the side of the road and down several hundred feet of steep canyon. All they really needed was for him to reach the road block.

•••••

Daniel could barely take his eyes off the rear view mirror.
 

Who in the hell is that?

They’d been on their way to the commune. The baby cried and coughed in the back seat as his mind flashed back to what Maurice had said.

The police?

He glanced at the road and jerked the wheel as the tires squealed and he leaned into the next turn.

But the police would use their sirens.

He stared at the rear view mirror again as the lights appeared on cue.

They’re following me.
 

He jammed his foot down on the gas as the road straightened out.

But who? Who is following me?

Suddenly, he was at another curve.

“Shit,” he muttered, cranking the wheel just in time.

A light in the dash came on.
 

The gas light? The goddamn gas light?

“Shit!” he yelled, pulling and pushing on the steering wheel as though he could rip it off the column. “Goddammit!”

Could he make it to Malibu? It was downhill from here. He could picture the gas station on PCH.

The baby coughed and then squealed.

“Just shut up,” he yelled. “Shut
up
!”

The tires screeched around another turn. He glanced in the mirror. The other car had fallen far back. He stared at the headlights. Was that even the same car?

The road dipped and the fuel light went out but as he rounded the next curve, Daniel could hardly believe what he was seeing. There was a
reason
the other car had fallen back. Up ahead, just past where the road rose again, both lanes were blocked by police cars, lights flashing.

“Shit!” he yelled.

He glanced left. The black depths of the canyon lay below the silver guard rail. He glanced right. The steep wall of the cut hill had given way to trees. Behind him, headlights rounded the last curve. He only had a second to decide.

He yanked the wheel right.

WHEN THE BRAKE lights hadn’t appeared, Mac already knew what was happening.

“Oh my god!” Isabelle screamed in the passenger seat.

Daniel’s car flew off the winding road only ten yards short of the police cars. Sparks flew everywhere.

“Hold on!” Mac yelled.

Daniel’s tail lights were bouncing erratically as he went off-road.
 

Idiot
. The clearance on his vehicle wasn’t nearly enough.

Isabelle grabbed the door rest and the center console.

Mac swerved to his right. He had just enough time to see the police officers scrambling to get into their cars. The SUV bounced across a drainage ditch at the edge of the pavement. Only a dozen yards ahead of them, Daniel’s car was lurching into the trees.

No way. The trees are too dense. Stop now!

But it was too late.

The road block had been set up there for this very reason. There
was
no way around.
 

Daniel’s car side-swiped one tree, plowed through a dense thicket of tall bushes, and then the left side of the car dipped dramatically. But Daniel wasn’t through. The car righted itself, plunged on and then swerved left. He was trying to get back to the road. But just as he turned, the right side of the car jumped upward, tilting at a crazy angle.

A boulder? A root?
 

Whatever it was, it sent the car veering crazily to the left and straight into a tree.

“No!” Isabelle screamed.
 

The crunch of metal and the shattering of glass filled the air and reverberated in Mac’s chest. Quickly, he slammed on the brakes, bringing them to almost a complete stop.