Love Inspired Suspense September 2015 #1 (15 page)

“Do I look that bad?”

“On the contrary. You look great, but our lives aren't ours right now. Not until this bomber is found.”

She smiled, the reassurance in his touch comforting her. This situation would come to an end, and she would get her life back. “The worst part is, I'm bored. I'm not even at my own house where I could at least clean and organize things.”

“Go right ahead. Feel free to do that here.”

She laughed. “That's okay. Although I am thinking of cooking a special dinner tomorrow. How about my made-from-scratch meatballs and spaghetti? It was my grandmother's recipe. No sauce out of a bottle. I won't go as far as she did and make my own spaghetti.”

“You're making me hungry at two o'clock in the morning. If you need me to pick up any ingredients, just make me a list and I can get them before I start working on the case.”

“Is there a chance I can come with you? You know that boredom thing.”

Their easy bantering ended as he firmed his mouth and stiffened. “No. Remember what happened at Sam Alexander's house.”

“But—”

“End of discussion.”

“I got to go to the shelters with you.”

“That's because Calvin knows you and responds to you better than me. I'm not taking you to a grocery store where you could be an easy target.”

“I could argue the point—” he opened his mouth to say something, and she hurried to finish “—but I'm not going to. I don't want to distract you from your job.” She spun on her heel and headed for her bedroom to the sounds of his chuckles.

* * *

While Don and Mary played a game of checkers at the kitchen table, Lydia finished up her homemade spaghetti sauce before she turned to making the meatballs. She would brown them and add them to the sauce. She'd already beat both officers and declared herself the checkers champion. Now they were deciding the runner-up.

Her cell phone rang. She glanced at the screen. Jesse. She quickly wiped her hands off and answered it. “Tell me you've solved the case,” she said as she walked into the living room for some privacy.

“I wish I could. I did find out Todd's last name, and I'm heading to his apartment right now.”

Her grasp on the phone tightened. “Be careful. He has a temper and could be the bomber.”

“I'll have backup. Thomas is working on a lead on the guy you ran into as you entered the bistro. One of the traffic cams found him turning into a housing development. So this is all good news. If they have to, they will go door-to-door to find the truck. They already checked on black trucks of that make and no license plates had addresses in the subdivision, but that doesn't mean he isn't there or working there.”

“I love your optimism. Come home hungry. I've made a ton of spaghetti sauce and asked Don and Mary to dinner. They both said yes. I hope we have something to celebrate tonight.”

“So do I, but unless one of them confesses, it will take a lot of police work to get the evidence to convict the bomber.”

When she hung up, she stood to the side of the picture window and peeked outside between the blind slats. She didn't want to scan the street blatantly and make herself a target, but she probably did this several times an hour. Would she ever stop looking over her shoulder?

She started for the kitchen when her phone rang again. This time it was the school. She hurried and answered it. Kate had been so upset when she went to class this morning.

“Dr. McKenzie, this is Kate's principal.”

She hoped her sister didn't get into a fight. “Yes?”

“Kate didn't go to her class after lunch. We've looked everywhere in the building but can't find her.”

“Someone kidnapped her?” Hysteria wormed its way through her.

“All outside doors are locked. You have to use the main entrance, and it's monitored so I don't see how that could have happened.”

“I'm coming up there, and I'm calling the police.” Lydia hit the end button.

Her hands trembled as she punched in Jesse's number and waited for what seemed like an eternity for him to answer. Before he could say hello, Lydia said, “Kate is missing at school. I'm going up there.”

“No. Stay with Williams and Collins. I'll take care of finding her and figure out what happened. You said she was upset this morning. Could she be hiding?”

“I don't know what my sister is thinking anymore. The school is locked down and the principal is sure someone didn't come in and take her but...”

“Lydia, I'll handle this. Let the officers know and have them be extra vigilant.”

“Okay.” But when she finished talking with Jesse, she sank down on a chair nearby, the trembling spreading through her whole body. She didn't know if she could even walk into the kitchen.

This whole mess had been hard enough for
her
, let alone a teenage girl. Maybe she should take Kate to Oklahoma until they found the bomber. She could probably leave without the man finding—

The phone ringing again disrupted her thoughts. She quickly answered, thinking it was Jesse. “Did you hear something?”

“I heard your sister was kidnapped and the bomber has her,” a chilling voice said, followed by hideous laughter.

THIRTEEN

N
umb, Lydia nearly dropped her phone. “Who is this?”

The same laughter she heard right before the bomb went off assaulted her ears. “You know who this is, and I have your sister. Have you told the police who I am?”

“No, because I don't know.”

“Maybe not now. You'll figure it out eventually. I can't have that. I'll let your sister go if you take her place. She hasn't seen my face, but you have. If I see any police around when we make the trade, I'll blow her up. You hold her life in your hands.”

“Where do I go?” Lydia asked, a knot jamming her throat.

He gave her a location of a warehouse. “It's abandoned, and I'll know if you tell the police.”

Had he bugged Jesse's house like hers? She scanned the living room, feeling as though she was being watched this very second. “I need to talk to Kate.”

“Such a demanding person. Remember it's easy for me to set off a bomb. I've done four so far.”

Another blast of repulsive laughter petrified her. She couldn't string two words together. She swallowed hard, trying to push the fear down so she could do this.

“Don't make me do a fifth one. When you get to the warehouse, I'll give you a call for further instruction. Here's your sister.”

“Lydia, I'm so sorry.”

She didn't have to see her sister to know that tears were streaking down her face. “You're going to be all right.”

“Please—”

“That's all. You don't have much time. Be here in an hour. Don't let your bodyguards know anything. I know you have two sitting with you right now.”

He
had
bugged the house! No, probably just watching it. “I'll be there.”

“Don't even think about telling your boyfriend. I can be vindictive if you cross me.” The bomber hung up.

The cell phone slipped from her hand and fell onto her lap.

She looked around frantically. She couldn't let her sister die because of her. The man was after her, not Kate.
Lord
,
what do I do
?
How do I get out without Don and Mary knowing
?

“Lydia, do you want to play another checkers game? I beat Don,” Mary said from the kitchen, her voice sounding as if she was walking toward the living room.

Lydia moved quickly, snatching up her phone and sticking it into her jeans pocket as she stood. She schooled her face into a mask of calm while inside she shook from head to toe.

“Your spaghetti sauce smells wonderful,” Mary said as she came into the living room.

Turned away from the officer, she inhaled a deep breath, then swung around. “Thanks. I was telling Jesse you two are staying for dinner tonight. I'm going to let the sauce simmer for an hour while I lie down. Getting up in the middle of the night is wreaking havoc on my sleeping schedule.”

“I know what you mean. Do you want me to wake you up in an hour?”

“Yes. Please.” Because by then she planned to be at the warehouse.

Once her sister was let go, she intended to fight for her life.

“Thanks.” Lydia walked out of the room at a normal pace. When she was out of sight, she disabled the house's alarm system and rushed down the hallway to her bedroom.

After calling for a cab to meet her at the corner, she stuck her car keys into her pocket with some money, then went to her medical bag and prepared a syringe with a heavy-duty tranquilizer that she hoped to use on the bomber. She should be able to conceal it in her long-sleeve T-shirt. She would save her sister and not go down easily.

Please, Lord, let this work
.

She hurriedly scribbled a note to Jesse about what was happening and left it for Mary to find. She couldn't risk saying anything before her sister was freed, but by the time Mary found the note, Kate should be safe.

She moved to the window on the side of the house, unlocked it and raised it up. The screen popped out with a little encouragement from her, and she lowered herself to the ground. Without looking back, she ran for the end of the street and prayed the cab would be there soon. When she reached the corner, it wasn't. She paced, checking her watch every moment. Finally after five minutes passed, she pulled her phone from her pocket to call the cab company. She punched in the first three numbers when she spied a taxi coming toward her.

She chewed on her thumbnail while she watched it approach. Once the driver took her to her house, she would take her dad's car, which was stored in the garage.

The cab stopped a few feet from her. “Did you call for a taxi?”

“Yes.” She climbed into the back and gave him her address. “I'll double the fare if you'll get there as fast as possible.”

When she arrived at her place, she paid the driver, raced into the house and found the keys to the Buick. In the garage, she turned her key. A grinding noise filled the air. It hadn't been driven in weeks, she suddenly realized. The car wouldn't start. What now?

* * *

Several K-9 teams were scouring the high school after the dogs sniffed a sweater in Kate's locker as well as her backpack. Jesse covered the area from the girl's last class before lunch. Brutus trailed her scent to a side door. He went outside and followed his dog to the parking lot. He stopped at an empty space.

She left and got into a car? Forcibly? Or on her own?

He hurried back into the building and strode to the principal's office. He'd met the man when he first came fifteen minutes ago. “Mr. Carver, are students allowed to go off campus to eat lunch?”

“No. That would be a security nightmare.”

“I traced Kate to the parking lot from her last class. She went out a side door. I need to know whose car she got into.”

“We have monitors on the parking lot. I can pull up the video feed and see if it caught anything.”

Five minutes later, Jesse discovered that Kate had gone with Connor off campus and neither one had returned. “I need to talk to some of Kate's and Connor's closest friends. Maybe they know what the pair were doing.”

When Jesse interviewed a couple of Kate's friends, no one knew where she'd gone today, although the day before they'd snuck off campus and eaten at Bud's Hamburger Joint. Jesse sent an officer to check in case they went back to the same place.

The next student Jesse talked to was one of Connor's buddies. Quinn came into the principal's office with a closed look on his face.

“Quinn, we discovered that both Kate and Connor are missing from their classes after lunch. I know they left campus. I need to know where they went.”

Quinn dropped his gaze to the table. “Don't know.”

“You may not be aware, but Kate is being protected by the police because her sister is a witness in the third bombing. I'm concerned something has happened to both of them, so if you know anything you might be saving their lives if you tell me.”

The teenager looked at Jesse. “Connor doesn't live far from here. He took her to his house. They probably lost track of time. I was at the door to let them back in, but they didn't show up. I figure they decided to cut this afternoon.”

Jesse stood. “Thank you. We'll check it out. What is Connor's address?”

Quinn wrote it on a piece of paper. “They'll be okay, right?”

“I hope so.” But he didn't have a good feeling about this.

After getting Connor's address, Jesse left the others to continue searching the high school. He thought about calling Lydia to let her know where Kate went but decided he would wait until he had Kate under his protection. He tried not to think of why the two went to Connor's house. Lydia already had enough problems. This would add to them.

When he pulled into the driveway behind Connor's car, he and Brutus approached the house. He'd get Kate and take her to Lydia. He figured she would want to see her with her own eyes. He would have a few words to say to the boy later.

He rang the doorbell, and when no one came to the door, he peered into the front window. He tried the door. Locked. The car was still there so they had to be inside. He strode around the house, looking into every window he could. From a back window he saw Connor on the floor, not moving. There was no sign of Kate.

* * *

In her haste, Lydia had flooded the engine. After sitting for a while, the car started and she backed out of her garage, praying she still had time to save Kate.

As Lydia drove toward the warehouse, the bomber called again. He told her to toss her cell phone out the window. At the warehouse there would be a phone that couldn't be traced. She had no intention of doing that. She could be tracked with the signal.

Her phone rang again. She didn't answer it. After a second call, she received a text from the bomber and pulled over to the curb.
I know you haven't done what I said. Throw it out now or your sister dies.

He must be following her. She scanned her surrounding but couldn't tell where he might be. A few cars passed her. Was he in one of them? She had no choice. She flung the cell out the window and continued her journey to the warehouse.

Lydia approached her destination and drove around back. After parking where he had told her to, she looked for the cell and found it, then sat in her car to wait.

Five minutes passed before the cell phone rang. She snatched it from her lap and said, “Where do I go now?”

“Drive down to the warehouse at the end of the row. Then I'll let you know.”

She followed his directions and again waited. This time it was ten minutes before she received another call.

“Go to the back door of the warehouse on the left. It'll be unlocked. Go inside and wait.”

As she headed for the building, she wondered if it was another stall tactic. Would she be sent somewhere else? If only she could remember who the bomber was and why he wanted her dead. The two cooks who survived in the bistro kitchen hadn't been targeted. She had seen him in the dining room. But who?

Then a vision of the gray eyes filled her mind, but this time the face became clearer. It wasn't gray eyes she saw but reflective sunglasses he put on right before he went out the bistro's exit door at the end of the hallway to the restrooms.

Her hand shook as she opened the door to the abandoned building. Inside, she paced in a circle, afraid to go too far into the cavernous area. She looked into the dim shadows surrounding her. Was he here now—watching her? Her heartbeat raced so fast she felt light-headed. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled to calm herself as much as possible.

The man leaving the bistro wearing the sunglasses had glanced back when she went into the bathroom and she'd looked right at him for three seconds. Then he'd hurriedly left.

A movement to the right in the warehouse caught Lydia's attention. A man stepped out of the darkness. She gasped. “It's you.”

* * *

After calling Thomas, Jesse picked the lock on the front door, then entered with gun drawn and Brutus off his leash, sniffing as he went. Jesse checked each room while he worked his way back to where the teenager was. He wouldn't put it past the bomber to have a repeat of what happened at Sam Alexander's place. When Sam's body was found in a freezer, it was determined he'd been dead for weeks. Jesse prayed that Connor wasn't dead and there wasn't a bomb ready to explode. He had to find Kate for Lydia.

When Jesse went into the teenager's bedroom, he hurried toward the boy while Brutus searched the area. He checked for a pulse and found one. As he called for an ambulance, he surveyed Connor, whose legs and hands were tied behind his back, to see the extent of his injuries. All he found was a head wound with matted blood around it. More had pooled on the floor. He untied Connor.

While waiting for the ambulance and Thomas, he scanned the room as Brutus went from one object to the next, sniffing. If the bomber was the one who did this, at least he left the teenager alive, but he must have taken Kate. They would have to assume that was the case and start canvassing the street for any information. They could look at traffic cams, but they needed an idea of what kind of vehicle the bomber drove. And they needed to know fast.

Connor stirred on the floor, his eyes blinking open. Obviously disoriented, he stared at Jesse for a moment, tried to move and groaned.

“An ambulance is on its way. I wouldn't move. You were hit on the head. Do you remember what happened?”

Connor tried to sit up and collapsed back against the floor. Jesse caught him before he hit his head. “Where's Kate?”

“He must...” Connor's hoarse voice gave out.

“She's not here. Who is he?” Jesse kept his voice calm as panic descended over Connor's features, his eyes rounding as he tried to get up again and could barely lift his head. Jesse held him still.

“Did he...” Connor opened his mouth, but no words came out for a few seconds then he continued, “...take her?”

“Kate is missing. Who is
he
?”

“He burst in here as we...” Connor averted his gaze.

“If Kate has been kidnapped, we need to know everything now. Time is of the essence.”

“He moved so fast.” Connor paused for a few seconds, closing his eyes.

Jesse thought he might have lost consciousness again.

But Connor continued. “He had a bat...he knocked me out.”

“So you don't know who tied you up?”

“No.” Connor opened his eyes.

“What did he look like?” Jesse asked as the sound of sirens grew louder.

“Wore a ski mask.”

“Do you remember anything about him?”

“About my size.” Connor sucked in a breath. “I heard Kate scream... He took her?”

“I'm assuming he did. She isn't here.”

“Is he the bomber?”

“I think so. Anything you can tell me would be great.”

Connor's eyes slid closed again. The teen might not be much help at this time, but maybe the house could tell him something.