“Got it.”
Logan hung up.
“What happened?” Sara asked.
He told her.
“No. No!” She turned to her brother. “You’ve got to go faster.”
“Any faster and we’ll get pulled over.”
“I don’t care!” she yelled. “They’re going to hurt him! He didn’t do
“Sara, stop,” Diana said. “Everyone’s doing the best they can.”
Sara looked back, her eyes blazing with anger. “It’s not enough!” To her brother, she said, “Please. As fast as you can.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Alan was just finishing up in the bathroom when the doorbell rang.
It had to be Logan. Callie had said he was on the way. Surely that meant he’d get there in time to deal with the others.
As he walked through the house, his sense of determination to find out what the hell was going on grew to the point that when he opened the door, he was already asking his first question.
“I want you to tell me right now-”
That was as far as he got before he saw the gun in the hand of a man standing on his porch. Beside him, unarmed, was a blonde woman.
“Mr. Lindley?” she asked.
A good businessman knew when it was time to contemplate a decision and when it was time to just react. This called for the latter.
Alan shoved the door closed, and ran toward the sliding glass door that led out onto the back deck. If he could get there, he could go around the house and get out to the street.
Behind him, a dull thud was accompanied by the shattering of wood. He knew at that moment he would never make it outside in time. His head whipped around, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. But each item his gaze landed on seemed pitifully inadequate. The man had a
He cut around the sofa, and headed for the kitchen. The door to the garage was there. If he could get through that, maybe he could jump in his car and get away.
“Mr. Lindley,” the woman called out. “Our problem isn’t with you. If you’ll just cooperate, everything will be fine.”
Alan yanked open the garage door, and rushed through. He took a few seconds to look around for anything he could use to jam the door closed but quickly gave up, knowing he was wasting time. On the wall was the switch that opened the garage door. He slapped it, ran over to his car, and got in.
As the engine roared to life, the door to the kitchen opened. He flinched, thinking he was about to get shot, but neither the man nor the woman raised a gun. They merely stood just inside the doorway, smiling at him.
Not stopping to figure out what the hell they were doing, he turned so he could look out the back window to see if the door was high enough for him to leave.
It was, but he wasn’t going anywhere.
There was a car sitting right in the middle of the driveway with two more men inside.
A tap on the glass made him jump. He turned and saw the woman standing just on the other side of the door.
“You have two choices, Mr. Lindley. Come out on your own, or my friend here shoots you somewhere that won’t kill you, and we pull you out. I guarantee you the glass won’t offer any protection.”
The man behind her held up his gun and grinned. The barrel was longer than a normal pistol, like something had been added on the end.
If they did shoot him, no one would hear.
He opened the door.
“Good choice,” the woman said, helping him climb out.
“Who are you?”
“Your wife never told you about me? I’m an old friend. In fact, I was hoping to meet her daughter. Where is she?”
Feeling his anger well again, Alan said, “Fuck you!”
The woman smiled. With a speed Alan would have never expected, she slapped him hard on the side of his head.
He fell against the car, his ear ringing.
“Search the house,” she said to her companion.
The guy nodded and went inside. He was gone less than a minute before reappearing. “Not here.”
“I’ll ask again, Mr. Lindley. Where’s the child?”
“My daughter is no concern of yours!”
“
In the distance, they could hear sirens, but as much as Alan wished they were heading his way, the near constant sound of emergency vehicles was part of living in the big city.
“No girl,” the man said. “But there is a portable GPS.”
“Bring it.”
Alan could feel the blood drain from his face. The little box kept records of his travel.
At the top of the list would be his trip to Rachel’s.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
The sirens couldn't have been more than a half-mile away, but Pep knew they weren’t close enough.
The other car-now with the addition of Alan Lindley-was pulling out of the driveway. They’d be blocks away before the police arrived.
“Hurry, hurry,” Pep urged Barney.
They had stayed where they could see what was going on as long as they could. Now they needed to get back to their car. If they weren’t moving in the next thirty seconds, they’d lose the others for sure. Logan might be able to track them down again using his friend, but Pep didn’t want to count on that. He
The Jeep was parked right around the corner. Pep jumped in, fired up the engine, then leaned across the seat and opened the passenger door. As soon as Barney’s butt hit the seat cover, Pep jammed down the accelerator.
“Whoa!” Barney said, reaching out and pulling closed the door. “I’m not even fastened in yet.”
Keeping his tone calm, Pep said, “We’re kind of in a hurry, Barney.”
“You’re right, you’re right. Sorry.”
They turned onto Alan’s street just in time to see the taillights of the other car at the far end of the block. Pep had to restrain himself from pressing the gas all the way to the floor. They were in a neighborhood, and it was still early enough that someone might step out in front of them.
The other car turned right onto the street that led to a main road. Pep reached the intersection and saw the other car turn onto another road. This time he had no choice but to increase their speed and hope to God no one was around. When they arrived at the stop sign, he barely paused before making the turn. The first thing he saw
