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“How do I know you’re not lying,” she bit out, her stomach so tight, it was a hard ball, her lip throbbing and her face stinging from the blow.
He pulled out a cell phone and tapped it several times, then showed her the screen. It was a picture of Archie, bound hand and foot, looking terrified. Oh, God. “What is it you want me to do?”
“Get Barry into the school, then we let your brother go.”
Horror dropped over her like a blanket. Get this Barry into her school of innocent children? Like hell she would. She was heartbroken about her brother, but there was no way she was going to cooperate with these men. Those children were her charges, and she wasn’t going to put them in any kind of danger.
“No. I won’t do that.”
By this time, Barry had recovered, and he loomed over her. “You don’t have a choice.” This time his fist hit her chin and she dropped into a well of darkness.
12
Kaiya pulledup to the sweetest-looking house she’d seen in Sydney. Well, it was more of a cottage with its faux thatched roof in a muddy brown, the quaint yard and its abundance of bushes and trees, which would probably be beautiful in the spring and summer. It was reminiscent of an English garden, the reclaimed brick painted a stark white, with turquoise-painted windows and door…which was ominously ajar.
She grasped her weapon at the same time as Kodiak. “Stay in the car,” she instructed Archie. Ignoring her, he went to open his door, but she pushed back, and it closed. His earlier flash of effervescence was fading, and he looked wan and tired, the fear and concern for his sister strong in his blue eyes. He didn’t say anything. She glanced at Kodiak, and his sympathetic look elicited an exasperated huff and she growled, “Stay behind us.”
She turned up the walk, muttering something under her breath. But she didn’t waste any energy arguing with him. It was as if he’d used up the little burst he had, and he followed behind her, anxiously watching her every step.
They walked quickly, with Skull and Bones moving to the front of the house, while Hazard filed in behind Archie and Kodiak.
They went up the stone steps and entered the house. Groceries were spilled everywhere in the entryway. The inside was as whimsical as the exterior. There was a huge fireplace to the left with comfy furniture and a coffee table with various flowers in a glass vase. Hazard branched off and went upstairs. Seconds later, he called out, “Clear.”
Kaiya holstered her weapon. Entering the kitchen, she found an apple core and a paring knife on the counter. No blood, which was a good sign. She glanced out the back window, pushing aside the beautiful lacy curtains to find more of an overgrown, artsy garden. It was a beautiful view.
Archie sat on the couch in the living room, his sister’s picture in his hands, blinking furiously. Kaiya’s expression tightened when she saw how pale he was. Even his lips had lost their color, and she detected a fine tremor in his hands.
“They got her. What are we going to do?” She suspected, in his physically depleted state, that he was probably feeling the fear and worry over his sister more keenly.
“We’re going to preempt their attempt to hurt people,” Kaiya said. “We’ll get her back, Archie. We have to be optimistic, okay, mate?” He had lost someone during the evacuation, his brother-in-law. And she knew, without a doubt, that whatever had sent him into the streets had left some deep scars. Scars that went soul deep. Thanks to Kodiak, she understood those scars.
He nodded.
“Excuse me?” A woman’s voice sounded near the open door. Kaiya immediately went into the foyer to find a middle-aged woman, looking pensive. “Are you the police?” she asked.
“Yes, AFP. How can we help you, ma’am?”
“I saw two men carrying our lovely Alice into her car and driving away.”
“Can you describe them for us?”
She gave a brief description of each of them that fit Barry Turner and Sonny Robinson to a T. “They were very rough, and she looked…dead.”
Archie gasped, and the woman looked toward the living room. “Archie? Oh, my goodness. It’s so good to see you.” The expression on her face was apologetic.
He closed his eyes and took a hard breath. “And you, Mrs. Leonard.”
“Please, Judy.”
An AFP officer walked up, and Kaiya said, “Could you give our officer a statement? And thank you for coming forward, Judy.”
The woman nodded, then moved across the room quickly, giving Archie a hard hug. Kaiya could see how it affected him. He hugged her back, weakly at first then harder. “I’m so very glad to see you,” she said, again, her voice low and gentle. “Please don’t be a stranger any longer. We all miss you.”
“I’ll try, Judy. Thank you,” he said, visibly touched. The unexpected starkness in his eyes made her heart contract. Pain. And a terrible, terrible loneliness. Feeling as if she’d just stumbled into something so private, so personal, as if she had trespassed emotionally, she abruptly looked away. She stared at nothing, remembering Afsoon and how he had helped her so selflessly.
Kaiya gave instructions for the remaining officers to secure the house and do forensic collection. She didn’t want to leave that charming place to the elements and vandalism. Alice would need her home to come back to, and Kaiya was determined the lovely blonde woman in the picture Archie still gripped in his handswouldbe coming back to her English-inspired home.
“What, now?” Kodiak asked.
