Silence in the Dark (38 page)

“Through here.” The guttural voice guided Bailey.

She shuffled her feet, trying not to trip over anything.
Please don’t let them cuff me again.
She lifted up the silent prayer. If her hands were free, she and her dad could surely figure how to get out of the room without getting caught. When the side door closed behind her, Bailey removed the sunglasses and sleep mask and searched for Maria and her dad.

Maria ran to her. “Miss Bailey! You came back.”

She bent over and wrapped her arms around the girl. Still hot. “How do you feel?”

“Sleepy. Uncle Charlie has been telling me stories about little girls everywhere in the world
.
”

Bailey remembered some of those stories. “Thanks, Daddy.”

“For what? Getting myself caught?”

She hugged him. “No, for being so special. For keeping Maria from being worried.”

“Were you able—”

She put her finger to her lips. For all she knew, bugs were hidden in the room. “Yes, I was able to tell them Maria had a fever.”

“The poor little tyke needs some medicine.”

“I know.” She picked Maria up and settled her in bed. “Why don’t we rest awhile?”

“But I didn’t tell you what else we’ve been doing.”

“You did other things?” She looked at her dad, and a pleased smile spread across his face. “What have you two been up to?”

Maria hunched her shoulders and concentrated. “Alk-ing-tay inway ig—” She looked at Charlie. “You tell her.”

“I’ve eenbay eachingtay erhay igpay atinlay.”

Pig latin?
She threw her arms around his neck. “That’s awesome! But how? She’s only four.”

“Maria is one smart cookie. So, you remember?”

“Yes.” At least now they could talk without worrying that they were being bugged. She seriously doubted that the men in the other room had
ever
learned pig latin or even knew what it was.

“Can Uncle Charlie teach me some more ig-pay at—” She frowned and looked to Charlie.

“Atin-lay,” he finished for her.

“How about if he tells you a story, and when we get home, he can do the other? Does that sound good?” When Maria nodded, she moved so her dad could sit on the bed. In the bathroom, she ran cold water over Maria’s washcloth and wrung it out, then placed it on the child’s forehead. “What day is it?” she asked her dad.

“Sunday.”

“Just Sunday?” Only one day since they’d been taken? It seemed a week since Saturday morning. Maria’s eyes drooped, and Bailey
nudged her dad, then in pig latin said, “We’ll talk as soon as Maria goes to sleep.”

Once Maria was asleep, Bailey kept her voice low and, continuing in pig latin, asked her dad if he’d found a way out of the room.

He answered her in the same way. “If they leave us alone again, we can take the bed apart and use the rails as weapons.”

She shook her head. “Too dangerous—they have guns. And we can’t break out through the windows.”

“Yeah, I saw the bars. There has to be a way out of here.”

Suddenly the door opened, and Whiskers entered the room. “I don’t want to hear any more talking. You got that?”

Bailey nodded. So there
were
bugs in the room.

Joel paced the room. This thing was spiraling out of control. No one ever mentioned he would be the one to drop the money. That had been the last demand. Joel was to bring a hundred grand —they called it good faith money—to Walmart and wait at the pay phone for further instructions. If anyone followed him, Bailey and Maria would be killed.

“The courier is here,” Angel said.

Joel hurried to the door and signed for the box. Edward had decided to withdraw two hundred and fifty thousand in case more was needed. He examined the package, surprised it was such a small box.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” the FBI agent said as he handed him a small transmitter the size of a dime. “This is in case something goes wrong, and we lose you. Put—”

“What could go wrong? You’ll keep me in your line of vision, right?”

“Yes, but I don’t take chances. Put the transmitter in your shoe so we’ll know where you are at all times.”

He slipped his shoe off and put it under the insole. He could barely feel it.

Ben Logan opened the container and removed ten bundles of hundred dollar bills and placed them in a briefcase. “The bills are in sequential order. I’m glad they didn’t want it in twenties.”

Joel didn’t know why that was important. The money wouldn’t be spent here. He nodded his agreement anyway.

Raines stuck a pen in his shirt pocket. “Hold the phone where this will pick up your conversation.”

“Got it.” Joel scanned the room and caught Edward’s eye. His boss’s gaze bore through him. “We’ll get her back.”

The FBI agent nodded. “We’ll follow at a distance.”

“Make sure no one sees you. I don’t want to end up dead.”

“Nor do we want you to,” Ben said.

Ten minutes later Joel set the briefcase beside his feet as he waited by the phone located in the entrance to the grocery section. A steady stream of people went in and out of Walmart. Suddenly, the phone rang, and he answered it. “Hello?”

“Do you have the money?”

“Yes.”

“Drive to the park. There’s a pay phone located at the west entrance. Wait for my call.”

The line went dead. “I hope you heard that,” Joel said into the microphone. They hadn’t given him an earpiece, fearing it would be seen. “I’m headed to the park.”

He turned and almost ran over an older man. “Excuse me,” he said, steadying the old guy.

“Watch where you’re going,” he snapped.

Next time he wouldn’t bother apologizing. He hurried to his car and drove across town to the next rendezvous. At the park he drove through the west entrance and looked around. A pavilion was to his right. Probably a pay phone there. Just as he reached the phone, it rang, and he answered it. “Get back in your car and
drive to the courthouse and park beside the statue of Stonewall Jackson. Then get out. And take your shoe off and remove the transmitter.”

The line went dead.

“I hope you heard that.” He glanced down at his pocket for the pen. It was gone
.
The old man
. He’d picked his pocket. He was on his own.

Joel drove to the courthouse and parked in front of the statute like he’d been instructed. He scanned the area. There weren’t even any walkers out and about. He climbed out of his car, and before he could get to the statue, a blue Buick pulled behind his car and the old man who had been at Walmart got out, an overcoat draped over his shoulders.

“Take your shoes off and get in.”

“Why? This isn’t the way we planned it.”

“Plans change. Now get in.” He moved the coat to reveal a gun pointed at Joel.

29

D
anny 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 win
dows. 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
.