Ashes and Bone (4 page)

“But his cellphone is missing too,” Cage said. “So if he took his laptop and cell, why haven’t you heard from him?”

The seed sprouted into full bloom, malignant and unyielding. “What are you getting at?”

Cage pulled the keys out of the ignition. He knelt at the tire tracks, silent and shoulders rigid. “We really need a tire expert, but good luck with that. Closest one is in Jackson, and they were hit hard earlier. But,” he ran a gloved finger along one of the marks, “see this one in the northbound lane? Nick was headed south, into town. I’ve worked a few accidents, and usually, when someone swerves, the marks are jagged. Fast. These have a weird curve that makes me wonder. Could have been the wind’s force but they almost look …” He glanced up at Gina, and they exchanged a look that made Jaymee’s blood turn to ice.

“Intentional.” Gina stood at the trunk. “Give me the keys, Cage.”

Jaymee stumbled backward against Dani.

“I’m sure he’s not in there.” Dani’s words were shaky. “They’re just looking for the laptop.”

Slowly, the trunk rose. Jaymee swayed, never taking her eyes off Cage’s face. After more than a decade of friendship, reading him came easily. Impassive at first and then a flash of relief.

“It’s empty.”

“Thank God,” Jaymee breathed.

“Meaning the laptop bag isn’t in here either,” Gina said.

Cage walked along the edge of the field, staring into the dirt just as Jaymee had. She knew what he was thinking. “Why wouldn’t he call if he were on foot?”

“Maybe his phone died,” Dani said.

“It was ringing for a while,” Jaymee said. “That means it was on. And suddenly, it’s straight to voicemail.”

“Which means,” Gina said, “either the battery died, or he shut it off.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Jaymee said. “Not when he knew the storm was heading for me.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” Cage agreed. His eyes focused intently on Jaymee. They held a look she hadn’t seen since his sister died. “He wouldn’t go off and leave the keys in the ignition. And there were two people involved in this wreck. I’m thinking if the other party was a decent human being, we’d have heard from Nick by now.”

Gina and Cage continued to examine the car, their conversation now in hushed whispers. Jaymee felt wobbly and knock-kneed. Swaying, she grabbed Dani’s arm for support.

“Let’s sit down in the truck,” Dani said.

“No. I want to know what they find.”

She just knew something bad had happened to Nick, and the storm had nothing to do with it.

“You two need to leave the scene.” Cage appeared in full cop mode now. His handsome face passive, voice full of authority. Only his eyes betrayed his concern. “We’re having our crime scene people come out and process.”

Jaymee stared, knowing Cage had delivered the news matter-of-factly because he knew her, knew she wasn’t some lily who would crumple.

“What do you think’s happened?” Dani asked.

“We don’t think he left willingly. We’ll do another check of the hospitals—it’s possible they went north, away from the storm—but the fact that Nick hasn’t called is what bothers me. We’ll get some volunteers to search the neighboring fields if we can. Might be tough since everyone’s cleaning up after the storm.” He looked at Dani. “You ought to check Ironwood.”

“That’s a good idea,” she said. “He might have headed there on foot after the storm passed.”

Jaymee knew Ironwood was less than a mile away, with Oak Lynn just down the road. Ashland and Riverview were close as well. “If he’d gone to Ironwood, he would have called.”

“Won’t hurt to check,” Cage said. “And you two need to go on. Search around town all you want, but you can’t be here right now. I’m sorry.”

Feeling as if she’d been hit with a stun gun, Jaymee allowed Dani to lead her back to the truck where Mutt anxiously waited. She snapped on her seatbelt as Dani got in the driver’s seat and started the engine. From the backseat, Mutt rested his head on her shoulder, gently licking her face.

“We’ll go to Ironwood, see if Nick’s there.” Dani’s attempt at positivity fell flat. “And then we’ll hit town.”

“We won’t find him,” Jaymee said. “Someone’s taken him.”

“If that’s the case, Cage and Gina will figure it out. They’ll find him.”

NICK

M
y wrists are
stinging like I’ve been slicing them with a knife. My feet and ankles are bound together with some sort of industrial strength twine. Every time I try to wiggle in my restraints, the twine cuts into my skin. All I do is bleed and struggle and bleed some more. Keeping calm is a pipe dream, and every breath reminds me of my injuries. The airbag broke at least one rib, and that injury is considerably more painful than I realized. So I try to focus on my anger and not let despair drain me.

How did I not see this coming?

I’ve been trying to count the hours I’ve been stuck in this dark place, but I honestly don’t know. It’s a closet, I think. Dusty. There’s shelving, but they are empty. Nothing to use to bash his head in. Just a dark empty space with only me and my thoughts.

I should have told Jaymee what I knew over the phone. But wind and a storm from hell put me out of sorts. What a gigantic mistake. I doubt anyone knows why I was taken. Cage is a good enough cop. I know he will figure out I’m working on a story, and maybe the fake artifacts were the catalyst, but how can he find the right story? I hadn’t left any clues behind. Guarded it like a jealous boyfriend.

Pulitzer material.

Maybe.

It’s big, that’s for damned sure. Exposing decades of lies from the last people anyone would suspect.

I’m not a guy who fears much. At least, not for myself. I’ve hung out with gangs and drug dealers and exposed some of the nastiest people in the state. Never once was I truly afraid. I always have an escape plan. I know the risks, know the territory, know how to maneuver out of a jam.

But I don’t have a clue how to get myself out of this situation. Much less deal with an opponent who’s pretty much gone off his rocker and can’t decide if he hates me or wants to apologize.

Too bad I didn’t figure out the true threat until he helped me out of my car and into his. He came at me from the other side of the road, and I’d assumed the wind was the real culprit. Dazed and bleeding, I gratefully accepted his offer to take me to the hospital before the storm ate us both. After all, he is an upstanding citizen and obviously felt terrible about hitting me.

Never even saw it coming.

Judging from the burning spot on my neck, the little bastard injected me with something. Next thing I knew I woke up here, wherever here is.

He barely says a word.

Now, despite the dark, I know he’s left the building. He’d been in a panic. Something about a spreading fire and needing to help.

Like I said, upstanding citizen.

That might have been a minute ago. Or an hour. I’m losing track of time, and I’m sure whatever he gave me is keeping my head whacky.

Is Jaymee all right? She won’t be alone, and she’s strong. She can handle this. And if I’m not found, she’ll get by. She’ll be safe. I’m pretty sure he believes me when I say she knows nothing about the story. She found the fakes in the chifforobe, but those wouldn’t lead her in the right direction.

Police will find the car and hopefully the cartridge. Cage will know it was important. I’m praying it leads their investigation down the same road it did me, but my discovery was sheer, dumb luck.

My wife used to tell me my quest for justice and truth would get me in trouble someday.

Turns out, she was right.

JAYMEE

D
ani drove too
fast down curvy White Creek Road, but Jaymee was too numb to tell her to slow down. Scenario after scenario of what might have happened to Nick careened through her head, and not a damned one had a happy ending. Foolishly, she kept her eyes trained on the side of the road, praying that at any moment, she’d see Nick on foot, laptop bag slung over his shoulder.

Another sharp curve and the vegetation thickened. They were close to Ironwood. Tree limbs scattered across the road, along with debris Jaymee hoped didn’t come from the house.

“Shit.” Dani cursed. Ironwood’s mailbox lay in the middle of the road, busted. Her knuckles whitened as the trees thinned, and the peak of Ironwood’s widow’s walk came into view. Jaymee hoped the house had survived unscathed. Dani and Cage had put so much work into the restoration, and the discovery of the original owner’s cache of family heirlooms had put the place on the National Historic Register.

“She’s all right.” Dani exhaled hard. Weathered and proud, Ironwood emerged. A few shingles were missing on the roof. Porch furniture had been broken and scattered. One of the railings to the upper balcony had been torn off, and the live oak had lost a big branch, but thankfully, it had fallen to the ground. The carriage house—Cage’s home for many months—had a broken window and missing shingles. All in all, the damage seemed minor.

“Stroke of luck the exterior painters come next week.” Jaymee’s meager hopes for seeing Nick evaporated. He didn’t have a key to the house or to the carriage house, and she didn’t see any sign of him on the property.

“I may have left the back door unlocked.” Dani read her thoughts. They sprinted out of the truck with Mutt following closely behind. Dani kicked the debris on the porch out of the way and quickly unlocked the door.

“Nick?” Jaymee called. Her voice echoed off the restored French marble in the entryway. Mutt barked his own distressed call. Dani headed past her. “I’ll check upstairs, you look down here.” She hurried up the right side of the house’s marquee dual staircase, and Jaymee went through the motions of checking the bottom floor.

Normally, she meandered, admiring the work Dani had done and inspecting the Laurent family antiques for the umpteenth time. But she barely noticed the magnificent sideboard in the dining room or the sofa in the parlor. She walked right past the painting of John James Laurent, Civil War hero and builder of Ironwood. The painting had been arguably the biggest find in the cache, painted by George Healy, the same portrait painter who’d immortalized General Sherman and President Lincoln on canvas. Dani cried when she found it.

The library was empty. So was the great room. And the bathrooms. Nick wasn’t there.

She met Dani at the foot of the great staircase. The look on her friend’s face said it all.

“All right, so we regroup,” Dani said. Mutt nuzzled her hand. “Let’s head back to Magnolia, double check, and then drive around town.”

*     *     *

Jaymee and Dani
drove around another hour, stopping first at Oak Lynn. The house had weathered the storm with only minimal damage and a leveled outbuilding. Thankfully, sweet Grace was fine. Her no-good son was in town again, so at least she wasn’t alone.

They promised to keep an eye out for Nick. Ben Moore even planned on walking the property.

“How generous of him,” Dani said as they drove away. “After the way he treated me last summer, I can’t believe he’s got the nerve to look me in the eye.”

“Me either,” Jaymee said. “But narcissists never see their own faults. Ben still thinks he’s a victim. Probably always will.”

In town, they picked their way around downed tree limbs and other scattered debris. No sign of Nick. No one had seen him. The radio reported the storm had hit Natchez, their neighbor to the south, much harder. Several of the historical homes suffered millions of dollars in damage.

“He never made it to town,” Jaymee said as she unlocked Magnolia’s door. Over three hours had passed since the terror blew through. Evening approached, and still no sign of Nick. Every second stole another bit of her remaining hope that Nick was still alive. Cage hadn’t called, so she assumed he had nothing to report. She supposed processing the scene would take a while.

An enormous emptiness bloomed inside her, dark as a stained rose, and she sank into the nearest chair. She’d kept the tears away all afternoon. But now, angry moisture welled in her eyes, rolling down her face and onto her lips.

“Who would take him?” She burst out.

“We don’t know—”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, Dani. He would have called if he could. He takes his laptop but not the keys to the car?”

Dani sat down next her. “You’re right. As for who would take him, he’s an investigative reporter who isn’t afraid to get dirty. He’s got enemies. And if Cage’s hunch was right and whoever hit him did it intentionally…”

“Cage should call Jackson.” Jaymee reached for her phone. “They need people digging into Nick’s house and experts to find out about the paint from the other vehicle.”

Dani caught her hand. “He knows that. So does Gina.”

Of course they did. Both were good cops and Jaymee an armchair detective. Still, the waiting made her want to beat something.

“I’m sure they’ll call soon.” Dani slung the bag she’d brought over her shoulder. She’d insisted on staying with Jaymee for the night. “I’m going to dump this in the guest room without a broken window, and then I’ll find us something to eat.”