Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (34 page)

Dylan waited patiently while Richard dialed Rade’s number. Richard put the phone on speaker so that Dylan could hear Rade’s voice. He cautioned her to be quiet in case they were listening on the other end. The phone rang five times; Richard was ready to give up when Rade’s voice came over the speaker.

“Hello, Richard,” Rade said.

“Hello, sir. I wanted to touch base with you and see how everything was going at
Je ne sais pas
. I wanted to make sure you didn’t have anything pressing that you needed me to take care of,” Richard questioned. He needed to keep the game going to make sure his captors didn’t get wind that he knew Rade was taken.

“There is something I need you to do for me,” Rade began trying to choose his words wisely. “Can you get Gwen to purchase a gift for Mr. Wood? I believe his birth date is August 15, 1969. Have her get something appropriate to his age.”

“Will do, sir. Anything else?” Richard asked.

“Yeah, give him a bottle of champagne from my personal stock.” Rade said before Alex pulled the phone from him, hanging up on Richard.

“The next time he calls, you need to tell him that you’re going to be out of range for awhile and that you will call him. These conversations are getting too risky,” Alex sneered. Even though Chloe had him purchase a GPS jammer, he still wanted to take extra precautions.

Dylan looked at Richard, confused. “You know something, Richard. What is it?”

“I’m not certain, Dylan, but I think Rade may have given us another clue as to where he is. Let me borrow your laptop,” Richard asked.

Dylan walked over to the dining room table and unplugged her laptop from the charger. Bringing it to Richard, she handed it over to him and sat next to him at the breakfast bar. Richard plugged in the date August 15, 1969. The search engine began to light up with the anniversary of Woodstock. It made sense to him. Mr. Wood, Rade’s champagne stock, which he knew Rade never kept. The town Bethel, NY came up as the town that held the Woodstock Festival. That had to be where Rade was. He just needed to find out where in Bethel he was.

Dylan wasn’t sure what Richard was looking at. She didn’t even know what Woodstock even was. “What is it, Richard? What did you find?” Dylan asked.

“I think Rade may be in Bethel, New York. The date he mentioned and the gift for Mr. Wood, it all leads to this town. I need to get in touch with Peter. If Chloe or Alex have any ties to Bethel, he will be able to find it. This is the best clue yet. Without a way to track him, we have to rely on his clues,” Richard explained.

“What can I do, Richard?” Dylan asked.

“Nothing. Not right now at least,” he added when he saw the look on Dylan’s face. He didn’t want her involved in this. He couldn’t risk her getting hurt.

Dylan nodded. Richard rose from his seat and went into the other room as he contacted Peter. He filled Peter in on what he found. If there was anything in Bethel, Peter would find it.

It was getting late and there was still no word from Peter. Richard ordered dinner while Dylan tried to make herself useful. She searched every possible combination she could think of on her laptop. Finally, she searched one last name, hoping something would come up. She typed Meredith Chandler in the search engine. The name gave her several hits. The first one had to do with her accident. Every link turned up something that Dylan already knew. It wasn’t until she got to the second page that she found something. It was an obituary for a Sally and Lawrence Chandler. Dylan clicked on the link, hoping it would lead her somewhere. Then she saw it. It talked about their community involvement, with the town of Bethel. It described their life there and their family. Dylan went on to read about their commitment to the town. It even showed a picture of the family participating at the town fair. Dylan looked at the caption below the picture.
Fifth annual Cherry Pie winners. Front row: Nathan Chandler, Meredith “Airy” Chandler, and pet “Gracie.” Back row: Sally Chandler and Lawrence Chandler.
They looked like such a happy family
, Dylan thought to herself.

Jotting down the names, she returned to the site to see if there was anything else she could find. Typing in Bethel town records, she wrote down the number to the county clerk and recorder. Her only hope was that they would be able to tell her where Sally and Lawrence lived. Just maybe there was a connection to Alex that would tell her where to look.

*****

Dylan was restless. Looking at her alarm clock every hour was driving her crazy. She knew morning wasn’t going to come any sooner with her watching the clock. She decided to go to Rade’s library and pick out a book that would surely put her to sleep. Reaching the door, she pushed the door open and turned on the light. She began scanning his collection of books. “
Pride and Prejudice,
too good.
To Kill a Mockingbird,
all time favorite.
The Arts of the Sailor,
that’s it,” she said as she pulled the book from the shelf.

If this book didn’t put her to sleep, nothing would. Climbing back into bed, she began reading the ins and outs of knot tying. Before she got to the fifth page, she was out.

The minute her alarm went off the next morning, she screamed at herself, wanting only to snooze for ten more minutes. Her mistake was, she turned the alarm off, causing her to sleep past her usual seven o’clock wakeup time to a late ten o’clock. “Oh shit,” she said as she hurried out of bed. Dylan picked up her cell and saw there were no missed calls for Keeve or Mason. Finding the number, she dialed Keeve to let him know she would be the office in the afternoon.

Stumbling to the kitchen, she saw that coffee was already made. Pouring herself a cup, she thought about how much she missed having her first cup of coffee with Rade. Taking a sip of the hot liquid, she pushed those thoughts away as she took the number for the county clerk that she jotted down. Taking a seat on the couch, she dialed the number.

“Sullivan County clerk. This is Nina. How can I help you?” the clerk asked.

“Um, yes. I was wondering if you could give some information regarding someone that use to live in Bethel, NY. I need to find out if they owned a home there and who the current owner is,” Dylan began. “The name is Sally and Lawrence Chandler. Can you pull a chain of title for me too?”

“Let me see what I can find out. Can I place you on hold for a moment while I check?” the clerk asked.

“Yes, I’ll hold,” Dylan responded.

A few minutes later the clerk returned to the phone. “I think I found the information you requested. It looks like the property was owned by Sally M. and Lawrence A. Chandler until 2001. From there it was deeded over to Nathan P. Chandler and Meredith M. Chandler. About two years later it looks to have been quit claimed to Meredith M. Chandler,” the clerk explained. “This is weird.”

“What is it?” Dylan asked, before letting the clerk continue.

“We don’t see this very often, but it looks like the property was put into a trust. It looks like the executor was Nathan P. Chandler. The next change of ownership happened about five years ago. It shows a David Wu as the current owner. There hasn’t been a change of hands since then,” the clerk finished.

“Can you tell me where the property is located?” Dylan asked.

“Yes, it is located at 325 Lemon Brook Road, near Black Lake. Is there anything else I can assist you with?” The clerk asked.

“No, thank you. You’ve been very helpful,” Dylan responded before hanging up.

Dylan needed to get in touch with Richard. She had to tell him what she found. Just as she grabbed her cell, she heard the front door open. Richard walked through the door carrying a nicely packaged box of gourmet donuts. Before he had a chance to set them on the counter. Dylan ran up to him.

“Richard, I think I may have found out where Rade is. After what you told me yesterday, I did a little searching on the Internet.” Dylan began explaining to Richard the information she was able to put together during her search. “He’s got to be there, Richard. It all makes sense.”

“You may be on to something, Dylan. It wouldn’t hurt to check it out,” Richard agreed. “If he is there, we need to make sure we are prepared. I’ll get in touch with Peter.”

“I want to go with you, Richard,” Dylan pleaded.

“I think it’s better if you stay here. I don’t know what we are going to be up against and I can’t risk you getting hurt,” Richard countered.

“Please, Richard, I promise I’ll listen to you. Please let me go,”

Richard knew it was against his better judgment, but he decided to give in and let her go. “You will do exactly what I say, Dylan. If at any moment I feel it is too dangerous or you defy me, I will send you back here. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Dylan said. “I won’t be any trouble. I promise.”

Richard exited the kitchen and headed down to his apartment through the door in the kitchen. He needed to make a plan. The best way to do that was to contact Peter. Peter was an ex-military man like himself. With Peter’s security company, he knew Peter would be able to get enough men together.

Richard pulled all the information he could on Black Lake. He needed to make sure they weren’t at a disadvantage by not knowing the territory. Peter called in a favor from his old military buddies and was able to get his hands on special equipment for their surprise trip. The next morning, Peter loaded his truck with the equipment he had on hand, which included several assault rifles, ammunition, tear gas, and gas masks. Dressed in military fatigues, Peter jumped in his truck and headed to Richard’s. On the way there, he made sure that his men were ready to go. Between him, Richard, and seven other men, he felt confident that they could handle what awaited them in Bethel.

*****

Dylan was in her room packing a small bag when she heard the front door open and close. It had to be Richard. Zipping her bag closed, she shrugged it over her shoulder and headed to the living room. She chose to wear something comfortable, yet appropriate for their trip. Jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes were the most comfortable clothing she had. Reaching the living area, she was surprised to see Richard. He was dressed like he was ready to into battle. He was wearing dark green fatigues and black boots. His pants were tucked inside his boots, which were laced and come to just above his ankle. He was all military.

Richard looked at Dylan sternly and asked, “Are you ready?” as he took Dylan’s bag from her.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Dylan said with hesitation.

Riding the elevator to the parking garage, Dylan could feel the tension. She also noticed the muscles in Richard’s jaw contract as he stood next to her. She wondered if he was as nervous as she was. When the elevator dinged, Dylan jumped. Richard noticed the slight jolt her body made. He gave her a reassuring look, letting her know that there was nothing to worry about.

Dylan followed Richard off the elevator. She became even more nervous when she saw the number of muscle-bodied men, dressed in military fatigues, standing in the garage. The only person among the men she recognized was Peter.

Taking her place beside Richard, Peter began introducing his men. “Dylan, Richard, this is Sly, Cop, Ryan, Hawk, Lou, Mike, and Ash.” Each of the men nodded at Dylan and shook Richard’s hand. Finishing their introductions, Richard escorted Dylan to the Yukon, with Peter and Ash following behind. Two of the other men, Sly and Cop, climbed into the F-150 while Ryan, Hawk, Lou, and Mike climbed into a Jeep Rubicon. All the vehicles headed out of the garage with Richard leading the way.

Dylan was a little uncomfortable sitting among the strong muscular men. As uncomfortable as she was, she also felt secure with them. She knew as long as she listened to Richard everything would be okay. Dylan looked out the window as the three men discussed the game plan. They decided it would be better to wait until night to get a jump on the situation. Peter suggested sending two of his men to scan the area before they all headed out. The best men for the job would be Sly and Hawk. Dylan learned that Sly earned his name by being one of the best at sneaking up on his target, whereas Hawk got his name from seeing a potential threat before it happened.

Every man on Peter’s payroll had a special talent. Cop’s was his knowledge of weapons, Mike’s was his mechanical skills, Lou’s was his pain threshold, Ryan’s was his dead-on aim and Ash was an explosive expert. Peter served with all of them in Iraq. They were his brothers. He would put their lives ahead of his if he was ever in the situation that called for him to make a choice.

Richard pulled into the small town. The first thing Dylan noticed was the welcome sign that read
Welcome to the Town of Bethel.
Dylan couldn’t make out the rest of it, but she saw the word
Woodstock
written on the bottom half of the sign. There wasn’t very much to the quaint little town. She’d bet that everyone knew each other. Dylan was pulled from her thoughts when Richard pulled into a parking space in front of a motel. It wasn’t much to look at, but at least it was better than sleeping in the Yukon.

Richard opened his door and walked with Peter up to the office. Dylan and Ash remained in the SUV. “I need to stretch,” Ash said as he opened his door and exited the SUV, leaving Dylan alone in the back seat. Dylan wasn’t sure how long she waited in the SUV, but when Richard returned, he handed her a key, letting her know that this is where they would be staying.