Young Revelations (Young Series) (26 page)

My older sisters… Once I showed some amount of promise that I would be successful in my life as opposed to the layabout slacker they thought I’d become, they were much nicer to me than they’d ever been when we were growing up together. That was my first taste of money being an attraction for friends. Claire was never like that. She was so indifferent about my newfound wealth that for her high school graduation, I bought her a car. She still has it, though she doesn’t drive it often since she’s usually carting around three kids.

Before I met Samantha, the women started sniffing around. I’m not dumb; I knew full well they were attracted to my looks and money and had no interest in anything else, like my personality or interests. And that was fine with me. I was an outsider growing up, an antisocial computer geek who never went on a real date until college when I started growing into my body and my acne started clearing up. Lucy built up my self-confidence pretty thoroughly while we were together and for the first time in my life, I had friends, I was invited to parties, I was getting laid regularly… Of course she destroyed a pretty huge chunk of that self-confidence when I saw her in bed with my friend, but eventually I got over that. Probably around the time I started going places and women were hanging off me, flaunting all their assets in my face. There was always an understanding between me and those women that while I might spend more time with some than others, there were no commitment offers on the table. It was all casual. I’d buy them nice things, take them on dates to different business functions I attended, we’d have sex, and that was it.

After Samantha left me, it took me months to get back on track and I had no desire to be with another woman. What could they possibly give me that would measure up to Samantha? Eventually I did get back into the dating circuit, or at least back to my pre-Samantha dating habits. There was a string of women for a while, then I met Natalie. The draw to her was almost instantaneous from the moment we shook hands. She was smart and funny and gorgeous, and I wanted her. For a while, things between us were great and she was slowly helping me get past losing Samantha. I always knew in the back of my mind I’d never completely get over that, but I was making a start. Natalie knew about Samantha and Tyler and she put up with me talking about them almost every day. Then the day came that I realized I wasn’t talking about them anymore and while I thought about them often, it was nowhere near what it had been when they’d left.

Aside from my realization that Natalie was quickly becoming my replacement for Samantha, Natalie wanted more from me than I was ready to give. She started talking about moving in with me, getting engaged, having children. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t consider all of that very carefully and that it was an appealing prospect theoretically. I even started ring shopping. For six months, Natalie was the best thing for me and I fell for her quickly. I wanted her in every aspect of my life. I thought nothing of it when she started hinting around that she wanted to work with me at Young Technologies. Right around the time of our breakup, I was just finding a perfect position for her in my company. Needless to say, since she doesn’t work for me, we decided it would be best if she stayed on with her current job. I think she would have happily come to work for me regardless, but I smartened up enough to realize having an ex-girlfriend working for you probably isn’t the best move in the world.

With that breakup, I realized I was in a better place than I had been in years. I was more focused, more determined to be successful, personally and professionally, and I was making attempts to get Samantha and Tyler back into my life somehow. The only reason I never tried before the threats started recently was because I didn’t think I could handle being rejected by her again. That didn’t stop me from reverting to my old ways in terms of women. Some lasted longer than others, but eventually they all faded away from my life.

Every woman I’ve been with over the years has wanted something from me. Money. Notoriety. To be the center of attention. To see their faces plastered all over gossip rags when they were out with me. For the most part, they were shallow and thoughtless and complete bitches.

Only one woman has been attracted to me for me. Only one has never been interested in what I could give her. Only one has proved this time and time again. My wealth has never been a contributing factor for Samantha. If anything, it was a strike against me. That only made me want to spoil her more. When we divorced, she could have taken everything from me, considering there was no prenuptial agreement between us, but she didn’t take a dime. From what I could tell, she barely touched the money I put into bank accounts for her and Tyler’s use. When she left, the only things she took were a couple changes of clothing for her, a diaper bag for Tyler, and Tyler himself. I considered having her things sent to her, but I couldn’t bear to be parted from anything that reminded me of her. Even now that we’re back together, she isn’t interested in my money. The fact that she prefers to work rather than spend her time out shopping and running up my credit cards prove that.

The only things Samantha has ever asked me for pertain to me. My love. My honesty. My respect. My devotion. She doesn’t want cars or jewelry or clothes. She wants to know I’m hers. She wants us to have a happily ever after. Nothing more, nothing less.

So for what reason would Samantha lie to me about Natalie’s involvement in the kidnapping? Bitterness. Jealousy. Rivalry. Resentment. It could be any of those. The truth of the matter is she has no reason to lie. What has she got to gain from it? Aside from getting Natalie out of our lives for good, which she knows I’m already working on. Samantha is the only person in my life who has ever been completely loyal to me, almost to a fault, and the look on her face last night when I doubted her words was utter devastation.

I don’t want to doubt the people I most trust in my life, but I’m at the point that I need to start deciding who is truly looking out for me and the best interests of my family. And there are only two people in the world who can claim to do that: Samantha and myself. She wouldn’t have come to me if she wasn’t sure about Natalie; she hates gossip and prefers to play peacemaker, as she proved with my father and older sisters. I betrayed her last night. Maybe not in the same way that someone is trying to kill me, but I’ve taken something I’ve always held dear about Samantha—her honesty—and threw it out the window and essentially called her a liar.

“Fuck,” I murmur, burying my hands in my hair.

And now I’ve come to that realization, several other things are falling into place. Natalie’s behavior at the party. Sure she’s usually physically affectionate to everyone, but even I noticed it was a little exaggerated that day. The video. I’ve still got a few theories to check out, but I think I know who’s behind it. Natalie’s visit to Samantha in the hospital, which in my opinion was for no other reason than to upset Samantha. If Natalie would go to such extremes to make my fiancée believe I’ve cheated on her, who’s to say she wouldn’t have had a hand in something more devastating—like a kidnapping?

“Fuck!” I say loudly, immediately reaching for my phone. My fingers freeze over the buttons as I begin dialing Samantha’s cell number. She doesn’t want to speak to me right now and I’ll be damned if my phone call makes her feel even worse. Sighing, I open the text message application and begin typing.

I believe you about Natalie. I am beyond sorry. Please do not give up on me, Samantha. I love you.

I’m not expecting her to reply so I shove my phone in my pocket, throw my abandoned lunch away, and head down to the IT department. My need for closure on this has just become paramount. 

One of the best things about running my own company is that I have the power to choose the best people for the jobs I need them to do. All of my people are among the top of their fields and I trust them to be at the top of their game at all times. The head of my IT department, Pete Chambers, exudes the stereotypical computer geek. I think if I came to him and told him I would be paying him with only Mountain Dew and Cheetos, he’d be perfectly happy with those terms. Pete has never let me down and on a daily basis goes the extra mile to ensure his work is as perfect as it can be.

Right now I’m sitting in the tiny closet he calls an office while he walks me through several different things. Upon hiring him, I offered him a large corner office, but he turned it down, preferring to keep his focus on his job rather than all the empty space a large office would give him. He’s got a desk with a top of the line computer. On the walls are several high definition monitors. In the corner is a small fridge with a microwave sitting on top of it. I sometimes wonder whether he ever goes home.

I came to him with a question regarding the video of Natalie and me. It occurred to me that if one video managed to find the light of day, how many others might there be? We’ve gone through years’ worth of saved surveillance footage and it took me a few minutes to catch on to that there seemed to be periods of time that appeared to be missing.

“I imagine that’s because you hit the blackout button,” Pete tells me as though this should have been clear to me. When I only look at him uncertainly, he sighs, turning to face me. “One of the first things I did when you hired me was to install a button at your desk where you can stop the cameras from recording if you wanted. Those times are documented on the footage, but there’s no video or audio to tell anyone exactly what might be going on in your office.”

And now I feel like an idiot. For some reason, it never occurred to me until now that this video shouldn’t exist at all. Natalie wasn’t the first woman in my office to engage in a bit of extracurricular activity. Anytime Samantha and I needed some midday fun, the first thing I did was hit that button; there was no way I was going to let anybody see her like that. I consider the possibility that the day in question I simply forgot to hit the button to stop recording. Pete puts this concern to rest, though, when he pulls up the original video. I watch Natalie’s arrival to my office, then there are a couple minutes of kissing before I pull her onto my lap in my desk chair. I see myself very obviously reaching over to where I know the button to be installed and hit it. The feed goes black for several minutes, then inexplicably comes back. It’s possible one of us might have hit it on accident—or it would be, if we weren’t already on the couch.

“So someone turned the feed on again,” I say quietly, reaching over to stop the video.

“Seems so,” Pete confirms.

“And who would have had the access to do that?”

He sighs. “A couple people. Me, of course, though I assure you I value my job much more than to do that. Security has access as well.”

“Would they have had to be in here to turn it back on?”

Pete shakes his dead. “No, sir. Could have been accessed from the security offices.”

My list of suspects just shrank considerably and I really don’t like the conclusions I’m coming up with. When my pocket vibrates, I sigh, removing my phone and glancing at the caller id. With a slightly scowl, I look up at Pete. “Let me know if you figure anything else out,” I tell him, standing with the intention of leaving the room. “And I swear to God, if I find out you’re watching that video during your spare time, I will fire your ass.”

He only smirks, gives me a smart ass salute, and turns back to his computer. I leave the office before answering my call. “Leo, what’s up?” I ask briskly, on my way back to my own office.

“Where the fuck are you?” he practically shouts at me.

I falter in my steps slightly. “Headed back to the office,” I say cautiously. “What’s going on?”

“Get to the garage, we have to get back to the house,” he says immediately.

A chill shoots down my spine. “Why?” I demand, already altering my course to meet up with Leo. “Is Sam okay?”

“For the moment,” he says cryptically before shouting orders to someone else. “She went to pick Tyler up from school. He’d already been picked up.”

If I thought it was possible I’d say time slowed down to a crawl with those words. “By who?” I ask quietly.

Leo sighs, his voice softening slightly. “We’re working on that. But Samantha is at home and I can’t imagine she’s handling this well.”

“No,” I respond automatically. “I don’t imagine she is either. I’ll be there in a minute.”

It takes me a few moments to reengage my brain enough to figure out what to do and how to do it. Before I burst through the door to the garage, I’ve already made three phone calls, one to Marcus, and I know I need to keep a level head. Leo’s right about Samantha: she’s probably losing her mind right now. I have to figure out a way to keep her blood pressure from spiking again; I’m not sure we’d come out as lucky as we were last time. Claire was another one of my phone calls. She can handle Samantha better than I can since I have every intention of being involved with every aspect of searching for my son.

And Tyler… Just like every good thing that’s ever happened to me is somehow related to Samantha and Tyler, every time I’ve felt horrible fear has been when they’ve been in danger somehow. The initial threat in Omaha. The man who was staking out Samantha and Tom’s house. Everything leading up to the kidnapping… Unlike then, Samantha isn’t with Tyler to help keep him calm; he’s all alone. He’s probably terrified. Whoever this person is that took him from his school… There’s something to that. Tyler wouldn’t go somewhere with a stranger and he would have made a huge fuss if someone had taken him from school forcefully. So either it’s someone he knows, or they somehow convinced him he needed to go with them.

Neither scenario is acceptable.

In the garage, I see several members of my security team surrounding Leo who is throwing out instructions at rapid fire. He sees me and pushes through the group, shouting over his shoulder to tell them to get his demands done. Now.

“I don’t suppose you know anything new from two minutes ago?” I ask him as we head towards my car. I don’t even hesitate to hand my keys to my friend, knowing I’m far too distracted to drive right now.

“No, sorry,” he tells me. “The police are investigating, among other things, how Tyler was able to leave school with someone not on the list of acceptable guardians.”

“You fucking told me there was security in place,” I growl at him, not bothering to hide my accusatory tone. “What happened with that?”

Leo seems at a loss. “Matt, I don’t know,” he says quietly. “I’m trying to find out. We’re having trouble getting a hold of Kyle right now, though…”

That’s it. Complete overhaul of my security detail once this shit is resolved. I’m getting so sick of hearing my employees just happen to be occupied with other things when they’re needed most. Leo continues to talk, though I honestly have no idea what he’s saying; my mind is stuck with Samantha and our son. How much more of this are we going to go through before we’re allowed to live our lives in peace? How much more before Samantha throws up her hands and gives up completely?

The half hour it takes to get home drags on for what feels like hours. The driveway is full of cars—police cruisers, black unmarked SUVs, Claire’s. Before the car comes to a complete stop, my door is thrown open and I’m sprinting the remaining distance, up the stairs, and pushing past the two uniformed police officers standing in front of the door.

“Samantha!” I yell, searching for her among the unfamiliar faces in my home. I hear a sob to my left and turn just in time for Samantha to throw herself into my arms. I wrap my arms around her, holding her closely while she cries and murmuring comforting words to her. She’s shaking uncontrollably, trying to speak through her hysterics, and I’m helpless trying to figure out how to make her feel better. Of course the only thing that’s going to make either of us feel better is to have our son in our arms again.

“Where is he, Matt?” she rasps against my neck.

I close my eyes tightly, wishing I had a better answer for her. “I don’t know,” I tell her reluctantly. “But I swear I will find him. I found the two of you once before and I’ll do it again.”
She nods jerkily against me and I look up at the sight of movement. Claire is watching us, looking as helpless as I feel. For the first time, I take in the house. It’s been turned into a central command center with computers setup on every available surface, people talking in rushed voices, and several people on phones. Marcus enters through the backdoor and scans the room until he finds me. His mouth is set in a hard, grim line and I know he’s worked something out. “Samantha, look at me for a second,” I cajole, gently pulling away from her. Her eyes are bloodshot from tears. “I need you to stay with Claire for a bit while I figure out what’s going on. I know it’s probably a lot to ask right now, but please try to stay calm. For the baby.” I bring my hands down to rest on her belly for a moment. “I promise I will tell you the moment I know something. Okay?”

Resignedly, she nods. “Please find him,” she begs, her voice cracking. It’s all I can do to keep my eyes from watering as Claire puts an arm around Samantha and leads her elsewhere in the house.

Running my hands through my hair and taking a deep breath to regain control of my emotions, I force myself to head over to Marcus. “Please tell me you’ve found out something,” I say quietly.

“Wish I could, Matt,” he says apologetically. “So far we’re coming up empty as far as leads go. We were able to access the cameras at the school, though that didn’t do us much good. We’ve got one shot of who we think might be our suspect, but the rest of the footage is missing. We believe someone tapped into the feed and hijacked it. Sound familiar?”

Cursing under my breath, I nod. “So you think the person who altered the video of Natalie and me is the same one who wiped out the school cameras?” I ask.

“Very possible.”

“Can I see the shot you managed to get?”

Nodding, he leads me into the living room area where he’s got his computer setup and digs through a stack of papers for a photograph. I take it, studying it closely and realize what he meant by not having many leads. Whoever this person is knew what they were doing. They’re wearing baggy clothes and a baseball cap that’s pulled low over their face, which I can’t see at all since the person is staring at their feet. “The description we got from the school is vague at best. It was a woman, mid-twenties who had been calm as can be and acted as though her checking Tyler out of school had been planned all along.”

“A woman?” I repeat darkly.

“We’ve got a list of people we’re looking at,” he says, already knowing where my mind is headed. “What about the security team you’ve got assigned to keep an eye on Sam and Tyler?”

“Still working on that,” I say tiredly. “They were supposed to be in place, but it seems someone might have decided to take a piss at the exact time when my son was kidnapped and they’ve disappeared.”

“Could be an inside job,” Marcus suggests. “Your guy at the school could have simply looked the other way and let this woman get to Tyler and get out without stopping her.”

I’ve already considered this option and I’m still not a fan of it. “I’ve got my own list to add to yours.”

“Thought you migh
t,” Marcus says. “I’m going to do everything I can to find your boy, Matt, but if you’ve got one of those GPS tracker chips attached to him, now’s the time to tell us.”

Since I got Leo’s phone call, I’ve been kicking myself about this in particular. “I don’t have one,” I say regretfully. “Took it out after the last time.”

Though he tries to hide his disappointment, Marcus nods. “All right,” he sighs. “Why don’t you go take care of Samantha for a bit? I need to make some calls and the moment I hear anything, you’ll be the first to know.”

I hesitate, wanting to be involved in every aspect of this search, but knowing Samantha needs me. “The moment you hear something,” I repeat.

“You got it,” Marcus promises quietly, turning away from me and making his calls.

Sighing, I head off in search of Samantha and Claire, finding them in the basement, curled up together on the couch. Samantha is wrapped up in a blanket and her tears seem to have stopped for the time being. She looks a bit dazed, which I can sympathize with, and I’m pretty sure she’s nodding mechanically to whatever Claire is saying to her. My sister looks up as I step off the last stair and gives me a tight smile that I can’t return right now. With a jerk of my head, I silently ask if Samantha and I can have a moment alone. She hesitates, but manages to disengage herself and meet me at the stairs. “How is she?” I ask in a low voice, my eyes not leaving my fiancée.

“Okay for now,” Claire says, reaching out to squeeze my hand in comfort. “I gave her a mild sedative to keep her calm.”

“What?” I ask incredulously, glaring at my sister.

“It’s safe for the baby,” she assures me, lowering her voice in an attempt to get me to do the same. “I wouldn’t have given it to her otherwise.”

My brow furrows. “You just happened to have a pregnancy-safe sedative on your person?” I ask.