AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Auntie Taylor.” Reese’s voice knocked the breath out of her. “I want to come home.”
Her throat closed up, and she couldn’t speak at first. “Are you okay?” Reese didn’t sound scared, merely bored. The last thing she wanted to do was scare her.
“I’m bored and I want Peanut. I miss you and Mimi. Eliza says Mimi is sick and I can’t come home until she’s better. Is she better yet? It smells funny here. I don’t like it.”
Maybe if she kept Reese on the phone long enough, she’d get some useful clues about her whereabouts. “Don’t worry, Mimi is okay. Do you know where you are? I’ll come and—”
“You talked. Do you have what I want?” a man’s voice came on the phone, cutting off her sentence.
Damn. She didn’t get to tell Reese she loved her. “We’re working on it. No one keeps that much money hanging around their house.”
“I want it by Monday. Meet Eliza outside Faneuil Hall with the money.”
“Will Reese be with her?”
“Be there at ten and come alone. No police.”
Chapter Seventeen
Thud. Curt’s head hit the end table, the sudden impact waking him. He blinked and took in his surroundings. He sat on the sofa in the Walkers’ living room. Taylor leaned against him, her head on his shoulder, sound asleep. Priscilla slept in the chair across from him. Her head was tipped back and her mouth slightly open, while Stripes slept curled up in her lap.
He lifted his head as the events of the past day and night rushed back. Eliza and her boyfriend had Reese and were demanding money. How long had it been since the two assholes contacted them? Had the authorities made any progress in finding them? What about the security firm’s HRT, hostile response team? Honestly, he had more faith in them than anyone else working the case. Unlike the police and FBI, the members of the HRT didn’t have to follow a strict chain of command. The firm gave them a lot of leeway when handling situations in the field.
Against him Taylor moved, the comforting warmth of her body disappearing. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. What time is it?” Sleep clung to her voice. He knew she needed more rest but would never willingly take it.
He checked his watch. “Almost four.” They’d been out for two hours. Curt rolled his head, his neck stiff from sleeping in an upright position.
Taylor yawned and stretched her arms over her head. “I should be out there doing something. Not sitting here and napping,” she said with annoyance. “Poor Reese probably cried herself to sleep. She hates not having Peanut at bedtime. She cries if she has to go to bed without him.”
“Reese will be okay.” He kept telling himself the same thing. “Forcing yourself t
o stay awake won’t help. I just woke up, too.” He reached over and rubbed her neck. Considering her sleeping position, she probably had a stiff neck as well. “Even your Mom is catching a nap.”
“That’s different.”
She sounded angry with herself. He’d tried convincing her earlier the situation wasn’t her fault. His argument then had fallen on deaf ears. If he tried now it probably would, too, but he’d give it a try.
“Why? And don’t say because this is your fault. It’s not.”
“Mom works in a library. She doesn’t deal with people like my sister and her scumbag boyfriend every day. I do.” She moved away toward the edge of the sofa and turned back to look at him. “I know the types of places they use. I should be out searching for them, not waiting for the phone to ring.”
He understood her sense of helplessness. The same one filled him. Running around aimlessly wouldn’t help Reese or the authorities. “Taylor, I know you’re frustrated. I am, too, but we don’t know where to start. They might not even still be in New Hampshire.” Massachusetts was only a short ten-minute drive away. Parts of Maine could be reached in less than an hour, too.
“It doesn’t matter. I can’t sit here.”
When she stood, he knew he’d lost the battle, but he wouldn’t let her go off alone. “I’ll come—”
Taylor’s cell phone on the end table rang, and a cold fist punched through his chest and grabbed his heart. The authorities wouldn’t give bad news over the phone, he reminded himself, passing the device to her. Bad news, they’d deliver in person.
She answered the call, and before she finished her greeting his cell phone rang. Two calls so close together couldn’t be a coincidence. He checked the screen. Eric Coleman.
Curt skipped a greeting. Considering the circumstances, the firm’s director would understand. “Eric, tell me you have good news.”
“HRT found her.”
Elite Force Security wasn’t cheap, but it never disappointed. He’d been right to call them.
“Connor, the team leader, is coordinating with the police and FBI. Once they have a plan, they’ll go in and get her,” the firm’s director explained.
