Jamie Hill Triple Threat (26 page)

A muffled sound and man number two spoke again: “We’re ready to go.”

Crystal
: “Please. Just take me.”

Jack’s heart was breaking. He wanted to punch a hole in something, and then he wanted a drink.

Unknown jerk: “We’re taking you both, for insurance. There were supposed to be three of you, and we’re going to catch enough hell for that. Now come on.”

More scuffling sounds, and then
Crystal
spoke softly: “I love you,
Devon
. It’s going to be okay. Jack will find the two of us.”

Devon
’s timid voice: “I know he will. Jack’s the best,
Crystal
. I love you, too.”

Jack’s heart clutched and now he thought he really might be sick. How much more of this tape was there?

“Listen to this,”
Marshall
said and smiled again. They heard
Devon
speak.

“Is that Jack’s truck?”  His voice sounded so hopeful.

Crystal
: “No, but it looks just like it. Jack has an Explorer. This one is the same color but bigger. An Expedition, I think they call it.”

“Woo hoo!” Jack hollered, and several other people in the room cheered. “They’re driving a God damned black Ford Expedition!”

Unknown piece-of-crap with last remarks: “Would you shut the fuck up? Lie down in the seat. Put the kid on the floor. Tape his feet, and their mouths. That talkative bitch is driving me crazy already.” A door slammed and the tape went quiet.

Marshall
clicked it off. “There’s nothing else. I listened until the end.” He grinned at Jack. “Not a bad piece of work, though.”

Jack grinned and swept Mark up into his arms. “You have one smart mom, young man. She’s given us something to work with, for sure.”

“Go, Mom!” Mark grinned back at Jack, and they hugged.

Marshall
pointed at another detective. “Start tracing black Expeditions on the computer. I already filled in the guys at the scene. They’re going door to door as we speak. And I’ve got someone in my office researching the red dragon tattoo. That’s going to lead us somewhere, I know it is. Scum like this doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. We’re going to find the rock they crawled out from under.”

“Yes, we are,” Jack agreed and set Mark down. “Hey,” he remembered to ask
Marshall
, “did the vet get there?”

Marshall
nodded. “She was optimistic. They’re operating on him right now. Someone will call you here when he’s out of surgery.”

“Thank you.” Jack nodded.

Mark looked up at him. “Did they hurt Zeus?”

“Yep, they shot him. But we’re holding good thoughts for him, right?”

“Right.” Mark nodded uncertainly, and clung to Jack’s hand.

The door opened and Melanie Curtis entered. “Hey Dunlevy, I just heard. I’m sorry. Hi Mark! How are you holding up, fella?”

Mark shrugged and
Marshall
said, “Mel, great. Maybe you could take Mark to go get a snack or something. Dunlevy and I need to go over this tape piece by piece.”

Jack winced at the idea of listening to the tape again, but knew
Marshall
was right. He had to listen for every possible sound. He squeezed Mark’s hand and said, “Good idea. Why don’t you go with Detective Curtis for a little bit—”

The boy started to protest and Jack continued, “You can stay right out there, and I’ll be in here. I won’t go anywhere without you, Mark, I promise.”

Mark finally relented and walked over to Curtis. Jack gave her a piercing look. “Take care of him.”

“Of course,” she replied earnestly, and Jack swallowed his disgust as she led the boy out.

Reeder told the last detective, “Stay with these guys and see if you can pick anything else off that tape.”

He nodded. Reeder and the stenographer left.

Jack ran his hands through his hair and dropped into a chair. “Damn, I don’t want to listen to this again.”

Marshall
sat across from him. “She did real good for herself. Fast on her feet.”

Jack looked at him dryly. “Think she’ll be on her feet the whole time they have her?”

“No,”
Marshall
shook his head gravely, “and I think these guys are a couple of cold-blooded sons-of-bitches. But you can’t let yourself get distracted. We’re going to find her.”

“Yeah, we are.” Jack pushed rewind on the tape player. “We have to.”

They worked on the tape for another couple hours. Someone brought in pizza, and Jack made sure Mark ate. Curtis had the boy playing cards and he seemed content enough, so Jack stayed a little longer and tried to make sense of things.

“You need to eat.”
Marshall
dropped into the chair next to Jack’s desk.

Jack shook his head. “I can’t stand the thought of it. I still feel like I might get sick.”

“You’ll probably carry that feeling around with you for a while. It’s tough to lose a witness like this.”

Jack glanced at
Marshall
, then back down at his desk. “You know she’s a lot more than just a witness, Brady. I assume I can call you Brady.”

“Why sure, Jack.” Brady grinned and shoved Jack’s shoulder lightly. “And as far as
Crystal
being more than just a witness…I hate to break it to you, but even if I hadn’t known it before, one look at your face tells everybody.”

Jack rubbed his hands over his face. “I am so screwed,” he muttered.

“Nah, you haven’t broken any laws. She’s a fine-looking woman with a couple of cute kids. We just need to get them home so you can figure out what you’re going to do about it.”

Jack looked at him. “I know what I’m going to do about it. I just have to convince her to go along with me.”

Brady slapped his hand on the desk. “Well, all right, then. Let’s work on getting them back so you can put your plan into motion.”

* * * *

Jack slumped over his computer and yawned. It was only nine p.m., but it felt like midnight. He looked over to the plastic-cushioned sofa in the police department waiting area, where Mark slept. Someone had covered the child with a blanket, but he didn’t look very comfortable.

Jack let himself wonder where
Crystal
and
Devon
were sleeping tonight. He shook his head quickly and put that thought out of his mind. If he worried about them too much, he would lose it. He needed to keep his focus. He looked at Mark again. No, he needed to get the boy home and to bed.

The idea of returning home to an empty bed panicked Jack. But he had someone else to think of now, not just himself. He reluctantly shut down his computer and gathered his things. He shoved the pack of vending machine cigarettes in his pocket and thought about
Crystal
again. She'd be even more miserable and uncomfortable if she went through nicotine withdrawal. Maybe they’d give her a cigarette. He shuddered when he let himself think of what they could do to her.

“Hey, buddy.” Jack walked over to Mark and touched his shoulder. “Let’s go home. You need to get to bed.”

Mark look up at him sleepily. “Will Devon and
Crystal
be there?”

“Afraid not.” He wrapped the blanket around the boy’s shoulders. “But I sure wish they were. Come on.”

They started out the door slowly. “Did they call about Zeus?” Mark looked up into Jack’s face.

“Yeah. He made it through the surgery, but he’s very sick. They aren’t sure he’s going to make it.”

“We should go to him.”

“He’s asleep, Mark. If we can, we’ll try to see him tomorrow.”

“Okay.”  They got into the Explorer and drove home quietly. There wasn’t much more to be said.

The house looked silent and peaceful. It felt anything but as they walked inside. Everything was more askew than it had been earlier, with the police having done a thorough search. The black powder they used to dust for fingerprints left a dirty layer on everything. Jack sighed and ignored it as he pushed Mark through to his bedroom.

He stopped for a moment to glance in his own room, and knew he didn’t want to sleep there. “I think if it’s okay with you,” he said slowly, “I’ll sleep in your room tonight.”

“That would be good,” Mark agreed, and went brush his teeth.

Jack reconsidered and grabbed a pillow off his bed. He inhaled the fragrant scent of
Crystal
, and fought back tears that he hadn’t been able to protect her. He prayed that when he finally got to her, it wouldn’t be too late.

Mark scooted under the covers and Jack tucked him in. He lay down fully clothed on top of the blanket, still holding the pillow that he couldn’t seem to put down. “I hope you can sleep, buddy,” Jack murmured. “Try to have happy dreams.”

“Not much chance of that,” the boy replied, sounding older than his eight years.

Jack chuckled. “I hear ya. I almost hate to fall asleep.”

“I feel so guilty, Jack,” Mark whispered in the dark.

“Guilty? Why?” Jack rolled on his side to look at him.

“I should have stayed with them. But I ran and hid like a baby.” Mark’s tears gushed forward and Jack reached for him and rocked him in his arms.

“You did the right thing, Mark. You did a very smart thing.”

“Then why does it feel so lousy?” Mark continued to sob.

“I understand, because I feel lousy, too. I promised
Crystal
I’d protect the three of you, and I failed miserably.”

“I’m older. I should have protected
Devon
.
I
failed miserably.”

“No Mark, you didn’t. This thing was bigger than you, and there was no way you could have done anything different to make a better outcome. As it is, you were able to give us some good information about the creeps who snatched Crys and Dev. That's  important, extremely helpful. I’m very glad you were able to hide and get away, buddy, and I know Crys is too. She’ll feel better knowing at least
you
are safe.”

“But I hid like a baby!” Mark insisted.

“It wasn’t like a baby. A baby wouldn’t have any idea what to do. You did something important. You took action. Look at it this way—if you hadn’t, I’d be looking for all three of you now. I don’t know if I could handle that, Mark. I need you, buddy.”

“I need you, too, Jack. I was scared until I saw you, and then I wasn’t so scared anymore.”

“I was one-third less scared when I saw you, too,” Jack whispered and smiled in the dark, knowing it was true.

“I wish I would have told
Crystal
that I love her.”

“She knows, honey, and she loves you too. You and
Devon
are the two most important people in her life right now.”

“And you,” Mark added.

Jack smiled again. “I’d like to think so. I guess this is a good lesson not to put things off. If we feel that way about somebody, then we should tell them.”

Mark was quiet for a while and finally said, “I love you Jack.”

Jack hugged the child in his arms and sighed. “I love you, too, Mark.”

“I think maybe I’ll be able to sleep now,” the boy commented, but didn’t move away from the man who held him protectively.

“I hope so. Good night.”

“Good night, Jack.” Mark closed his eyes.

Jack held him securely as the clock ticked away. He closed his eyes, doubting he would sleep, and knowing if he did, his dreams would definitely not be happy.

* * * *

The ringing of the telephone startled him awake. Jack looked at his watch. It was one-thirty a.m. He stumbled to the nearest phone in his bedroom and grabbed it. “Dunlevy,” he croaked.

“Jack?”
Crystal
cried out, and then there was muffled sound.

“Crys! Are you all right? Crys!”

“She is fine,” a voice told him.

Jack tried to think. Was this male one of the voices on the tape? “Let me talk to her!” he demanded.

“You know that she's alive. That's your main concern at this point. Now, I believe we have a trade to discuss.”

“How can I trade you what I don’t have? You know I turned that money in, and it’s sitting in a police department safe right now.”

“That appears to be your problem. You need to figure out how to get the money without involving a lot of police. We will deal with you and you alone. This telephone call is our first request, what you might call a ‘freebie’. Tomorrow night you'll tell me you have the money, and we will discuss the exchange. If you don't, we will kill one of our guests. We have not decided which one yet, but probably the child. There are so many more…uses for the woman…if you follow my line of thinking.”

Jack bit back his first response and tried to remain calm. “If you harm a hair on her head—”