It was Barkley who found it. When we got back to Riverley, the first thing we did was stop to inspect the crime scene, and she’d escaped from the car, bounding around as a dozen people tried to catch her. We’d all been annoyed until she started barking at the ring she’d found in the grass.
Beth’s ring. Alaric had bought it for her before they left London. Sparkling blue sapphires to match her eyes, a sort of pre-engagement ring, he said. Bloody hell. They were that serious?
Alaric had bent to pick it up, only for Black to smack his hand out of the way.
“Don’t touch. It’s evidence.”
“There’s blood on it.” Alaric spoke in a choked whisper. “Beth’s hurt.”
“We don’t know whose blood it is. Somebody get me a pair of gloves and an evidence bag.”
A Rapid DNA test gave us the answer we needed—Beth had injured Ridley. Good on her. I only hoped his retaliation hadn’t been too devastating.
We found Beth’s phone in her handbag and Rune’s smashed beyond the treeline, but what we couldn’t locate anywhere was Rune’s insulin. Alaric insisted she kept a supply with her at all times, and if she still had it intact, that might buy us some time.
Which let’s face it, we desperately needed since we only had two solid clues. Firstly, we knew Ridley had stolen a dark green Toyota sedan back in Norfolk. The woman he’d carjacked was shaken but miraculously unharmed. However, nobody had seen the car since, and thanks to the story being front and centre on every news bulletin, the whole damned country was looking for it.
The second clue? Tennessee. We knew Ridley had been near Sevierville yesterday because that was where he’d sent the ransom note from. He probably thought he was being cute, submitting it via the comment form on Blackwood’s website, but he most likely didn’t realise we’d recorded the IP address of his device. And with that, Mack and her team of happy hackers were able to dig through networks and service providers to work out his phone’s IMEI number. The idiot should have used a VPN. Unfortunately, he was tech-savvy enough to have turned his phone off, so we couldn’t locate him right now, but he’d pinged off cell towers near Sevierville earlier, and that was where we were headed. I was in the helicopter with Black, Ana, and Alaric, and the rest of the team was coming by road.
Had we mentioned this little snippet of information to the police? Not exactly. We’d already gone the semi-legal route with Ridley once and look where it got us. He’d escaped. This time, we’d play for keeps. The cops were using their manpower to stake out the most likely locations as they saw it—anywhere Ridley had lived or had family or known acquaintances. Who was watching the Devane properties? Reporters and sightseers, that was who. Yes, still. Apparently, crime tourism was a growing phenomenon, which meant Ridley would be a fool to go near any of those places.
Of course, we still had the problem of what to do about the ransom request. The note asked for twenty million dollars in Bitcoin to secure the girls’ release and said Ridley would be in touch. He’d wanted me, but when his plan went wrong, he’d adapted on the fly, and now he was using people I cared about as leverage.
Motherfucker.
Black didn’t want to send the money. Not only because it would break Blackwood’s policy and set a dangerous precedent, but because Ridley wouldn’t know honour if it bit him on the ass, and on past form, he’d kill the hostages out of spite. But Black had offered the cash anyway. The final decision was up to Alaric. Whether we sent the funds or not, we’d hunt Ridley to the ends of the fucking earth.
“But will we be too late?” Alaric asked in response to Black’s assurances.
We could be already. I squeezed Alaric’s hand, and for once, Black didn’t seem bothered by that.
“Let’s try to stay positive.”
Alaric looked haggard, hardly surprising since he’d had no sleep since Thursday and barely eaten either. He’d held up a lot better through the Emerald aftermath. I guess it only went to show what was important in Alaric’s world—people, not work or material possessions.
“If I knew they were alive, I’d pay anything.”
“What if we ask for proof of life?” Ana asked.
Standard procedure in a kidnapping case, but there was a slight hitch, as Alaric already knew.
“How? That motherfucker didn’t give us a way to contact him.”
Black hadn’t said much on the journey. He’d been too busy thinking, and I let him get on with it. Now more than ever, we needed his insights.
“There might be a way,” he said. “If Ridley uses the web form again, we can have Mack set it so any mention of cryptocurrency triggers a pop-up message. No proof of life, no money. If Beth and Rune are still alive, he’ll comply because he needs the funds to run. His finances are in bad shape.” Too much play, not enough work. “And if they’re dead, we’re no worse off.”
“Could you not be so blunt?” I muttered.
“Sorry.”
“Get Mack to do it,” Alaric said. “Tell Ridley we need to hear from both of them. Beth and Rune. If they’re still breathing, we take a chance and send the ransom.”
CHAPTER 47 - BETH
“HE’S COMING!” RUNE hissed.
For the first time in three days, we heard footsteps. Clomp, clomp, clomp on the wooden floor overhead.
“Quick, put the handcuffs back on.”
We’d discussed whether to leave our hands free or not, whether to try and escape by force if Ridley came back. But ultimately, we’d decided against it. Ridley had a gun, and in the confines of the cellar, we’d be sitting ducks. And if we left the cuffs off, he’d no doubt wonder how
