listening. Finally, she said, “I understand, and I know you’re angry. I would be, too, but I need to ask you something…Is Emily with you?…No, I’m not going to try to take her. I just need to know if you have her…Rachel, please…Okay, okay, you don’t have to tell me. But if she
“Try again.”
She did, then shook her head. “She’s not picking up.”
“So what do you think? Is Emily there?”
“If she wasn’t, I think Rachel would have just said so.”
Logan agreed. He made a quick call to Dev, rerouting him to Simi Valley, and handed the phone back to Sara.
“Keep trying,” he said.
“Richard,” Diana said. She was looking at an old paper map she had fished out of the glove compartment. “The 210 West is coming up in a mile or two. That’ll be quickest. We might even gain a little time.”
“If we can do that, it’ll be the first thing that’s gone right today,” Logan said.
Ahead, the sign for the 210 Freeway loomed over the lanes. Barring a traffic jam, they’d reach Simi Valley in less than sixty minutes.
He checked his watch then looked back at the road, hoping that wouldn’t be too late.
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
There was a part of Erica that leaned heavily toward disposing of their two passengers before they retrieved the girl. They cut her manpower by half, forcing her to leave someone with them whenever she got out of the car.
If it had just been the old man, there would have been no question. They’d already extracted everything they needed from him, and any leverage they might have had over the man’s son by holding on to him no longer mattered. Logan Harper was undoubtedly still fooling around in Arizona, thinking he’d outsmarted her. Maybe he’d even found Sara. All the better if he did. When this part of the operation was over, she would have Clausen and Markle make the younger Harper tell them where Sara was before they silenced the bastard. The information would most likely net them not only Sara, but her bitch of a sister and oaf of a brother. Then they would be gone and everything would be perfect.
But since it wasn’t just the old man, it made more sense for them to take care of him when they took care of Sara’s husband, and they couldn’t do that until they had the girl. Once she was in Erica’s possession, Clausen and Markle would dispose of the two men while she flew with the girl back to the program’s offices and arrange a suitable family for her. It would be harder than usual, given the girl’s age, but not impossible.
She checked out the road ahead. Thankfully traffic was moving at a pretty good clip, unlike the irritating crawl they’d had to suffer downtown. According to Clausen, they were currently in the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley was just over the next pass.
Just a few more miles and the girl would be secured.
And this annoying aberration in her well-run program would be erased.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Sara leaned forward and pointed at a sign ahead. “That’s it. Tapo Canyon Road. Take that exit and go right.”
Richard eased the car into the slow lane.
According to Logan’s last conversation with Ruth, Dr. Paskota had been delayed as she passed through downtown, so they had actually arrived in Simi Valley first with a five-to-ten-minute lead. He hoped to God that was enough.
Once they were off the freeway, Sara guided them to another street that took them up the gentle slope of a hill and past a middle school. After that, they zigzagged through a well-kept, middle-class neighborhood until they reached Summit Avenue.
“This is it,” Sara said. “About halfway down and on the left.”
As Richard slowed the car, Logan’s phone beeped with a message from Ruth.
E
XITING
T
APO
C
ANYON
“They’re only a few minutes behind us,” Logan said.
“I thought we had more than that,” Sara said.
He did, too. “We don’t.”
“Which one?” Richard asked.
Sara turned back around, studied the homes, then pointed. “There. That one.”
As they neared, Richard made like he was going to pull into the driveway.
“Don’t,” Logan said. “If they see your car parked there, they’ll ask Alan if it belongs. Even if he lies and says yes, they’ll see through him.”
Richard looked at him in the mirror, unconvinced, but Diana nodded.
“On the street,” she ordered.
Her brother rolled his eyes, but did as she said.
As they climbed out of the car, Sara asked, “What if they don’t open the door?”
“They will,” Logan said.
“But what if they won’t?”
“It’s not going to be an issue.”
They crossed to the other side, and walked up to the porch. Sara was closest to the door, while Logan stayed in back. She stood there, doing nothing.
“Sara, you’re wasting time we don’t have,” Logan said.
She nodded, hesitated a second longer, then knocked.
They could hear footsteps on the other side, and the porch light flicked on. The door, however, remained closed. The dim light that had been visible through the peephole turned black.
There was nothing for a moment, then, “What do you want?”
“Rachel, please open the door,” Sara said.
“You can’t just come in here and take her.”
“That’s not why I’m here. Please, just let me in.”
“Who are those people with you?”
Sara glanced behind her. “My sister and brother, and-”
“Your what? Since when do you have a sister and brother?”
“I’m sorry. I never talked about them, but-”
“There is
Logan knew she meant it. “Keep her talking,” he whispered. He moved off to the left, along the front of the house.
Behind him, the conversation faded as he slipped around the corner into the side yard. Halfway down was a
