No Happily Every After (Mia and Roman Psychic Suspense #4)

Chapter Thirty-seven

Mia pulled the padded chair across the spacious bathroom and gestured for Jennifer to sit. She perched on the lip of the soaking tub across from her.

“Initially, you said there were two kidnappers, yet you only saw one. What made you think there was a second person?”

“Well … I think she mentioned another person. Like she said, ‘Your old man paid up and we’re going to have such a good time with this money’. At the beginning she made a reference to checking in with someone.” Jennifer squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t remember what it was though. So many things are fuzzy in my mind.”

“Did you have the impression she was the boss or this other person was pulling the strings and she was following orders?”

“No. She was the boss. Or at least she put on that front.” She tapped a finger to her forehead. “I just remembered something else she said. ‘I need to check in with the minion to make sure things are ticking along.’”

“Okay. What about where you were held? Was it a house? A storage unit? Did it feel like you were in the city or a more remote location? Do you remember anything about the car ride to and from the place?”

“I had a hood on in the car and I was tied to the back seat. Not that I could have done much anyway. Once the drugs kicked in, I was all but useless. It felt like a long time, though. Driving there, I mean.”

“How did you get inside?”

Jennifer’s eyes went blank for a moment. “I think I walked. But we were already inside. I guess it was a garage first, maybe … oh, my goodness, yes, there were three steps up and then a small narrow hallway with blue triangles on the floor. Once I was in the room, she took the hood off and tied me to a chair. It was so uncomfortable. As soon as I was alone, I tried to move it over to the door, but the chair was chained to a metal ring on the wall behind me.”

“What else was in the room?”

“There was a chair across from me. A God-awful orange color. And beside it was a plastic crate used as a table. When she came in to see me, she always had a big glass of sparkling water, and she’d set it right there on that stupid crate. I was so thirsty I thought I’d die, but she never gave me so much as a single sip.”

Jennifer’s breath came fast now and she shook her head back and forth. Mia’s senses were fully engaged and she felt the woman’s fear and anger wash over her. Working to steady her own breathing, she held strong against the wave of emotions.

“Anything else you remember about being there? Could you hear traffic or people talking outside? Was there a window? How about any smells that stand out?”

“It was as quiet as a tomb. The only thing I could hear was someone walking above me sometimes. There weren’t any windows, and the light fixture was a basic builder type, the kind they install in low-end housing. The floor was linoleum. The same tan with small blue triangles as by the garage.”

“You remember a lot. Good job. Any idea what happened to your phone? Or shoes?”

She shrugged and looked down at her hands. Mia blew out a breath and smiled when Jennifer finally lifted her gaze again.

“What about when you were dropped off in the woods?”

“That part’s the most fuzzy. She injected something in my neck while we were still in the room, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the back seat of the car. My hands and feet were tied together, and I had the hood on again.”

“What happened when you got to the park?”

“I didn’t realize it was a park, all I knew was the car ride went from smooth to bumpy. My head kept hitting the arm rest of the door. After a while we stopped and she came around, untied me and told me to get out. We were in the woods and it was dark. No one was around. She got in the car and drove away.”

“What kind of car?” Mia asked.

“Light-colored Camry. Older model. I stupidly didn’t think to get the tag. I was just happy to be free. I started walking but then I got sick, and I don’t remember much for a while after. When I was conscious again, it was daylight. I had to pee, and when I pulled up my pants, I noticed there was a phone in my pocket so I called Scott, and you all came.”

“You’re an excellent witness, Jennifer. You’ve remembered so much.” Mia paused for a beat. “One more question. Do you think it could have been Eliza?”

Jennifer held Mia’s gaze. “I don’t know. I want it to be her. But I just don’t know. The kidnapper seemed bigger. It was hard to tell because she was wearing bulky, ill-fitting clothing but Eliza is so petite. And she was with you most of the time, right?”

“Only the last few hours. Before that we couldn’t get hold of her. We’ll need to do more investigating and see what we can find. You doing okay?”

For a second, Jennifer looked blank then she nodded once and squared her shoulders. “Yeah. I am. Not going to promise there won’t be other breakdowns over the next few days, but right now, I feel decent. Tired though.”

“You should sleep, if you can. Let the drugs work their way out of your system. You’ll feel even better once you’re clear. One more thing. We have no reason to believe Thomas was cheating. It looks like the text exchange was a mockup.”

Her face started to crumple. Blinking hard, she fought back the tears. “I don’t know why I want to blame him, but I do. I know how irrational it is. Sill, while I was being held for those hours, I thought of nothing except how I was going to make him pay.”

“It’s not irrational. But try and let it go now. I promise, if Roman and I uncover anything that points to your husband, you’ll be the first to know.”

Jennifer climbed shakily to her feet, still fighting not to cry, and Mia moved over to stand beside her.

“You up for a hug?” Mia asked.

Jennifer bit her lip then nodded, so Mia wrapped her arms around the woman’s shoulders. Digging deep into her reserves, she sent a tsunami of calming waves. The energy bled out of her double time, but she figured Jennifer had earned some relief.

“Thanks. You’ve been amazingly supportive,” Jennifer said when she stepped back.

“My pleasure,” Mia said, working to keep the strain out of her voice. “Go tuck yourself into bed. We’ll talk later, okay?”

When she stepped into the hallway, Mia heard angry voices. And though she wanted nothing more than to lie down somewhere in a dark and quiet room, she hurried out to the kitchen. Eliza was nose to nose with Thomas.

“Just because you’re my father-in-law doesn’t mean it’s okay to constantly insult me.”

“Don’t call me that. I don’t want to be your father-in-law. It makes me sick thinking you’ve infiltrated my family,” Thomas bellowed.

“Enough. Both of you,” Roman said forcibly. “It was a long night and we’re all tired and stressed. Ripping at one another won’t help Jennifer.”

Eliza whirled on Scott. “Why aren’t you standing up for me?”

“Eliza, sweetie, everyone needs to calm down. I’m sure my father didn’t mean it. We all know you had nothing to do with my mom’s kidnapping.”

She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, please. This isn’t just the stress talking, and we all know it’s not the first time he’s put me down. What about hiring Mia and Roman? Who does that to their son’s wife? It’s .…” She took another step back and shook her head. “You’ve never really been in my corner, have you?”

“Of course I have. I love you. I married you, didn’t I? I changed my will for you. Your happiness means everything to me and I’m doing whatever I can to give you a safe life,” Scott said, his voice weary and his eyes red-rimmed.

“If you had a shred of decency, you’d stop clinging to my son and leave us alone during this painful time.” Thomas sighed and turned to look out through the kitchen window. “You ruined your entire family, and now you’re trying to do the same to mine while making sure you get a nice big payday in the process. There’s nothing decent about you,” he said, his voice so soft it seemed he was talking only to himself.

“Dad. Stop speaking. I think we all need some space,” Scott said, pulling out a stool and sinking onto it. “And probably sleep would be good, too.”

Eliza studied him for several beats, then she whirled around and, grabbing her purse off the table, marched to the door.

“You’re right. Space will fix this. Good idea. I’ll go back to my place in Nashville. Hopefully that’ll be enough space,” she called out over her shoulder.

“Shit,” Scott mumbled under his breath.

He heaved himself up and lurched toward the door. Mia wandered out after him and watched from the front steps. He caught Eliza before she’d opened the driver’s door of the Toyota, almost tackling her from behind. His arms wrapped around her, and he caged her against the car while his head dropped down so they were cheek to cheek.

Eliza fought for maybe a minute, managing to get in a couple of good kicks and foot stomps in the process, but Scott remained as calm as an iceberg. When she stopped struggling, he immediately spun her around and kissed her. Deeply. Passionately.

Her hands went up to frame his face and she sagged against him. Eventually, they broke apart and she nodded up at him, her smile brilliant. Mia couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked like Scott had more than patched things up with his wife. He helped her into the car then stood and waved when she drove away.

“All good?” Mia asked Scott once he’d walked slowly back to the front door.

He grimaced. “For now. But I have this sinking suspicion things are going to get worse before they get better.”

“What does that mean?” Mia asked.

He didn’t say anything, simply shrugged and walked past her into the house. Roman and Thomas were still in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, Scott,” Thomas said. “Not for what I said, because I truly believe it, but for upsetting you. It wasn’t the right time or place.”

“We’re not gonna talk about this right now. How’s mom?”

“I checked on her a minute ago. She’s in bed, not sleeping yet, but at least resting.”

“That’s something we should all do. It was a long and stressful night,” Roman said. His gaze flicked to Mia’s face. “But first, did you get anything useful when you talked to Jennifer?”

“Well, it seems she only ever interacted with the one person but had the sense someone else was involved. Like a partner situation. Although her take is the absentee partner was a subordinate and not the mastermind. She’s also terrified of the police. Apparently, the word was they’d come back and kill her.”

“What?” Thomas’s hands formed into fists. “I’ll never let that happen.”

“Should we be taking that threat seriously?” Mia asked Roman.

He paused and rubbed a hand across his mouth. “Not to scare anyone, but if we don’t catch this person, a second abduction needs to be factored in. It wouldn’t hurt to look into personal security.”

“Yes. Of course. I’ll get on it,” Thomas said.

Scott waved a hand dismissively. “I doubt it’ll go that far. We’re smart. I bet we figure out the identity of the kidnapper even without the help of the police.”

“I hope so.” Roman saw Mia stifle a yawn. “The best thing for right now is to sleep. Mia and I will take a few hours down and you two should do the same. Then we can come back refreshed and ready to investigate the hell out of this.”

“We don’t have a car,” Mia commented.

“You can take one of ours. Which reminds me, we’ll need to retrieve Jenn’s Tesla at some point,” Thomas said.

“Give us the key and Mia and I can do that for you. I think it’d be best if you don’t leave Jennifer alone right now,” Roman said. “Also, send me screen shots of the kidnapper’s texts. I want to see if there’s anything to tease out from there.”

“Yeah. Of course.”

Thomas walked around the island and opened a drawer before handing over a black plastic card. “This will work for the Tesla.”

“Thanks. We’ll check in later today.” Mia took the card and tucked it in her pocket.

Thomas pointed a clicker through the kitchen window. “Here. Take the Lexus. I’ve opened the garage door.”

“Get some sleep,” Roman said to Scott who stood, bleary-eyed, clutching the counter.

“Same. Talk later?”

“Should we get the Escape from Scott’s house or go home?” Roman asked once they were driving away in the Lexus.

Mia collapsed back against the seat. “Home. Now. I’m beyond tapped out.”

“You gave Jennifer a boost, didn’t you?”

“A couple, actually. She needed them.” Mia jacked the seat back until it was flat. “And I need to recharge.”