“It’s not just money, Kyle. It’s never just money. I’m keeping tabs on you.” I waved the gun in the air. “You’ve got until Monday to pay the money, or you’ll lose everything. More than you can possibly imagine.”
He didn’t look convinced by my attempt to cover my tracks. In truth, neither was I.
It had to be the kidnapper that contacted Kyle. That’s the only way the money would’ve been deposited back, which meant that the kidnapper wasn’t motivated by greed, nor money. This wasn’t a kidnapping gang; this wasn’t a random attack. This was the work of someone on that list of names.
I had a lead but time was running out to chase it.
“Look after him.” Turning to look at Tanya, I waved the gun in Kyle’s direction. A look of recognition also washed over her face. “Make sure he sees it through, or there’ll be trouble.”
Chapter 22
Four hours until midnight, and the adrenaline from my encounter with Kyle and Tanya was still pumping through my veins as I drove my truck back to my house. My vision was focused, my mind was clear, and my heart was still pounding. My plan was to get inside, try and calm myself down with another beer, and then stake out the park around 11pm, before putting up the cameras at 1am. I needed a full stomach for the night ahead, and I had half a left-over pizza in the fridge. Perfect to get me through the night.
My greatest fear was how Chase was going to handle the drop. He might’ve been good at fooling people in business and sales, but he wasn’t prepared for this type of situation in real life. He hadn’t trained for this position, and the longer that the days went on, the more nervous he was becoming. I had to make sure that he didn’t panic. He didn’t want to part with that million dollars, and I had a feeling that he was going to make sure that he didn’t lose it. He was motivated to have both Millie and the million dollars back, and he was unreasonably confident, which meant that he was in the position to do something stupid.
My focus had to be on getting Millie back unharmed, but to do that, I had to keep Chase in check. I was going to talk to Chase at midday tomorrow, take him through the plan step-by-step, and ensure that he wasn’t going to go off-script. Casey and I would follow the kidnapper once Millie was safe, and that was our chance to nab the perpetrator.
The phone rang as I pulled into my driveway.
I groaned in frustration; I didn’t have time for a phone call right now.
“Jack.” It was Chase. He was desperate. “Things have changed. The kidnapper sent another message using another phone number. It’s bad.”
There was an edge to his voice I hadn’t heard before, now he had my attention. I was concerned but it only served to make me more alert.
“How bad, Chase?”
I heard Chase take a deep breath, and when he spoke, his voice was shaky.
“The message says that the drop has changed to tonight. Midnight. They want the money on the park bench in four hours or they’ve threatened to hurt Millie. What are you going to do, Jack?”
“Let’s not panic.” There was no way this could’ve been a coincidence. Not even an hour after I had left Tanya’s house, and the kidnapper was panicking. Either Kyle told someone, or he is one mighty fine liar. “What does the message say exactly?”
“It says, ‘The drop has changed to midnight tonight. Same location. You bring the money, place it on the park bench, and walk away. You’ll see Millie once you’ve walked away from the bag. The girl gets hurt if you involve the cops or anyone else.’” Chase’s voice was high-pitched. He was panicking. “Why have they changed it now? Why aren’t they sticking to the original plan?”
I pushed any feelings of guilt away and got down to business. Truth be told, I worked better under pressure anyway.
“This could’ve been their plan all along. To try and throw anyone off their trail. They want to keep you on your toes.” I turned my truck’s engine off. “Or they’ve seen you go to the bank and they know that you’ve got the money now. Do you remember seeing anyone watching you?”
I got out of the truck and headed into the house as we talked.
“No, Jack. Nobody was watching me. I went to a different bank, just like you said, and I watched my back really closely. I didn’t see anyone following me. There was nobody around as I went in, nobody in the bank, and nobody when I came out. I didn’t see anyone.”
I was strangely calm as I grabbed the leftover pizza. This was going to be a tough night, and I needed something other than beer to get me through it.
“Get ready for the drop. Do everything the kidnapper says. If they send you another text, call me right away,” I said. “If not, I’ll call you back in one hour.”
I hung up the phone, calm but realistic.
This wasn’t good. All at once, the investigation had lost a crucial day. Twenty-four hours gone, leaving only four hours to ensure that Millie was safe.
I could sense on the phone that Chase had wanted to talk more, and maybe he needed it. He wanted reassurance, comfort, but right now, he wasn’t my concern.
“Casey.” I called my assistant. “I need you to call Chase, keep him calm, focused, remind him of his role in the plan. I’m afraid he’s going to do something stupid.” I paused for a moment before adding the bombshell.
