Rowan (The Irish Wolves Book 3)

Chapter 22

Hugh thought he’d felt real fear before. He’d hydroplaned on an interstate with both his young sons in the backseat. Nine-year-old Bran fell out of a tree he wasn’t supposed to climb, dislocating his shoulder and suffering a concussion. Patrick and his friends were robbed at gunpoint during his high school senior Spring Break. Mom calling to tell him his father was having chest pains, and they were on their way to the hospital. Rowan getting shot.

There had been fear—this was terror. Blind, frantic terror. Rowan was missing. Gone.

She never texted him back about meeting for lunch even though his phone showed she was texting, the bubbles just bubbled. He didn’t think much of it then. She’d been jogging. He assumed she thought she’d hit send and put her phone away. An hour later, when he hadn’t heard anything, he called.

No answer.

Agitated but far from panicking, he phoned his mom.

She assumed Rowan went straight to his place after her run.

He called Raven.

“Hey, Hugh.”

Hugh heard Daniel cooing in the background. He wanted to enjoy the sweet sound but…“Have you spoken to Rowan today? Or has River?” He was trying not to sound freaked out, but he was definitely getting to that point.

“No, she texted us both, oh, let me think, probably around six-thirty or seven your time. She was going for a run. She said she would call us when she finished. Why? What’s going on?”

Raven wasn’t dumb. There was no disguising his concern. “She never came back to the hotel. She isn’t answering her phone or texts. Who’s by you?”

“Bran. Bran,” she hollered. “Come here quick, please!”

Raven had put him on speaker, so he heard his son’s heavy feet run into whatever room his wife and son were in. “Have Bran call Rowan. I’ll stay on the phone. Text River and ask if she’s heard from her.” He could feel his heart pounding harder and harder. His chest felt close to exploding.

He heard Bran’s phone ringing and ringing, and then Rowan’s voicemail picked up. Fuck. “River?”

“She just texted. Nothing since our group text. Oh God, what the hell?”

Bran wondered, “Maybe she twisted her ankle or...or her phone is dead.”

“She stayed at your place, Hugh. Did she charge her phone?”

There was no room for embarrassment that they knew he and her sister had slept together. “Yes.” He took a deep breath, attempting to engage his brain, shoving his panic to the side. “Do you know what route she takes since she’s been staying at Mom’s?”

“Oh God, Oh God, Oh God. Shit! Let me think.”

There were tears in her voice, her own panic a twin to his.

“Take a deep breath, Rave. Dad will find her. Just breathe and try to remember if she ever mentioned anything. I texted Pat. They’re coming up. River might know something.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Raven sounded breathless. She mentioned trails by the river were shady. That would be River Park, but there are a million trails,” she wailed, clearly losing the modicum of calm she’d been clinging to.

Hugh grabbed his truck keys from the counter and ran out his door, rushing toward the parking garage. “Okay, that’s good. That’s southwest of where we are, I think. Bran,” he barked, “pull up Google Maps around the hotel. See if you can figure out her route from the hotel lobby to where the trails might start. I’m getting my truck now.”

“On it,” Bran replied.

Hugh heard Patrick and River’s voices. “River. Call Rowan’s phone.” She immediately dialed without saying a word. It rang three times, and then, “Hello?” A woman answered. A woman who wasn’t Rowan.

“Hey, this is Darcy. I just found this phone on one of the back trails. I’m so glad you called when you did. The phone was under some leaves. I never would have seen it. Can I drop it somewhere?”

And that’s when he discovered the difference between panic and terror. He had River put her phone by Raven’s phone. He proceeded to tell the woman, Darcy, to please wait where she was. She needed to show him and the police exactly where she’d found the phone.

He had to hang up with Raven, promising to call her back after he called the police. Hugh called the Tulsa detective who had been instrumental in helping the FBI collect enough information on Samuel Delton. He explained to the detective that there was no doubt that something bad had happened to Rowan. It had killed him to admit that she was definitely missing. She would never put everyone who loved her through this kind of worry without a good reason. Detective Jeffreys said he would call two police officers who had also helped with the Delton case.

He called Raven back as promised the minute he’d parked in the trailhead’s parking lot. Jeffreys and the two officers pulled in behind him.

Bran asked what everyone had to be fearing at this point. “Could this be someone from Delton’s group?”

Hugh could hear stifled moans from Rowan’s sisters. Considering what those men did to women, he prayed not. Choosing not to answer—because he couldn’t even voice the possibility—he said, “I’m at the park. Jeffreys is pulling in behind me.”

He saw a woman in running clothes near the large map directory of the trail system. It had to be Darcy. She was nervously bouncing from foot to foot.

“I’ll keep my phone on speaker so you can hear what the police and Darcy have to say.” Hearing Raven and River’s barely contained whimpers threatened to undermine his thin thread of control. He wanted to destroy everything his eyes landed on until Rowan was found, but he had to stay levelheaded. She needed him stone-cold and clearheaded.

As Jeffreys rounded the hood of his black sedan, he didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “Officers are already combing through the CCTV footage from the intersections between here and the hotel. This parking lot has a camera. It’s older but should give us something. Some of the newer cameras downtown have facial recognition. I sent them Miss Byrne’s photo, which we still have on file from the Delton case.”

As the three men walked over to Darcy, Hugh asked, “Will they have something soon?”

“They were instructed to forward everything to me immediately. It shouldn’t take long since we have a good timeline. An officer is heading to the hotel now to review their footage, too.”

Jeffries introduced himself to Darcy, who immediately handed Rowan’s phone over to a gloved officer.

“I studied this map while I waited,” Darcy said, pointing to a spot on one of the several red lines running across the board. “This is an offshoot trail. Less traveled. Rockier terrain. I can take you there now.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” one of the officers remarked. “We’ll need to mark that part of the trail off. Once we do that, we’ll take down your information, and you’ll be free to go. Your cooperation is very appreciated.”

The officer holding Rowan’s phone asked if Hugh knew the password. Raven answered him. “113070.” His birthday. The officer typed in the password. It opened to reveal his and Rowan’s text thread. Help me move my things into your place and…That was it. She’d been texting him back.

They were almost at the spot where Darcy found the phone when he heard through his speaker a phone ringing on Raven’s side. He tensed. Patrick announced, “It’s Gran.” He didn’t ask what his mom wanted, not wanting to speak or interrupt the officers as they looked around the scene. Mom knew what was happening. He made a quick call on his way to the park.

“Dad, Jesus,” Pat sounded breathless. “Gran said Diana just called her. Her brother Owen called to let her know that William’s ex-wife, Katy, is missing. I know this might sound far-fetched, but is it possible this is connected? Row was just all over the internet as Will Stanton’s new girlfriend,” Patrick trailed off, probably realizing that it did, in fact, sound like he was grasping at straws.

Except…well, Hugh might be grasping at those same straws. Jeffreys stopped taking pictures of where the phone had been found and walked close to Hugh, so he could hear Patrick. “They know nothing of Rowan?”

“Nothing,” Bran answered. “Dad…maybe…what are the odds that two women connected to William Stanton are missing?”

Jeffreys was frowning, considering. There was no idea, however unlikely, that Hugh wouldn’t follow. “Boys,” he barked, his emotions fraying by the second, “call MacGregor. Tell him I need every man he has close to us and even those that aren’t. Give him our attorney’s contact information. I had him hire private investigators to look into William Stanton. Tell Don that I want the case completely turned over to MacGregor’s team.”

Silence. They were probably shocked that he’d gone there. He had considered at the time that he was overstepping, and that it might come back to bite him in the ass. He was fresh out of fucks now.

“Patrick’s calling him now, Dad. We’ll do anything and everything for you and Row. Will Jeffreys work with MacGregor?”

The detective answered for himself. “Yes. Hugh, call this William Stanton. Tell him I want to talk to him. Now. He knows something. Or he doesn’t know that he knows something. Either way, get him here.”

The last sixhours had been a test of impotence. Despite the manpower and dedication to finding Rowan, helplessness crushed Hugh. He needed his sons like he needed Rowan—desperately.

MacGregor had pulled eight of his crew to work here and remotely. Jeffreys had the CCTV feeds showing Rowan outside the hotel and at each stoplight leading to the park. There was a man watching her at two of the locations. He was big, wearing a suit, and clearly looking for opportunity. There was one frame that showed Rowan’s head turn and look directly at the man. She must have felt his eyes on her.

Damn her for not turning back. Damn her for leaving his arms empty and his heart bleeding. He couldn’t think of how she was feeling. If he went there...if he considered how scared she must be...if he pictured her hurt…No. Sanity did not lie in that direction.

“They found the car from the park’s parking lot camera. It was dumped on a country road outside Indianapolis. No cameras, obviously. Plates match. The car was stolen in Houston.” Hugh was in Jeffreys’ office. William had just walked in, red-eyed and pale.

“Stanton?” the detective asked. At his nod, he continued his report. “I was just going over the latest intel with O’Faolain. They found the car seen on CCTV outside Mrs. Stanton’s Houston address and here in Tulsa. It was dumped in Indiana. Countryside. No cameras,” he continued succinctly.

“A local unit found where another vehicle had been parked for a while. Heavy rain showed deep ruts where a truck or van sat. The car has been towed to a forensics facility. They recovered long black hair and wavy red hair from the trunk,” he finished that last bit grim-faced, jaw clenched.

Will stared at the wall in front of him, devoid of expression. He looked like a corpse. Hugh felt like one. Rowan. Rowan. Rowan. She’d been shoved in the trunk of a car for who knew how many hours.

“So, we don’t know what vehicle to look for now,” Hugh stated flatly.

“Correct. However, MacGregor pulled his best man away from his honeymoon. Fleet is working on a timeline and triangulating possible routes they might have taken after changing rides. Tulsa put out an APB on the kidnapping. If he can get a direction or catch a break on their new transportation, we’ll alert the appropriate authorities.

“Once Fleet figures out approximately when they dropped the vehicle, he’ll have a timeframe for the PD in surrounding towns on when to check their CCTVs. However, most small towns don’t have them. Still, it’s worth pursuing. Because the area of the drop is mostly rural, if we get lucky and find one of those small towns with cameras, it will be that much easier to check tags and identification of the owners.”

Hugh nodded, swallowing thickly. Attempting to come to terms with the fact that this nightmare wasn’t ending tonight.

“Hugh’s investigators and Thomas MacGregor’s security firm have several leads they’re working on, some of which you might be able to shed some light on.”

“I’ll answer any question,” Will gritted out, clearly struggling.

“The only link between the two women is you. Katy is your ex-wife, but reports show that you and Mrs. Stanton are seen quite regularly in each other’s company. True?”

“Yes. We attend some family events for our children and attend all of our granddaughter’s dance recitals. We don’t go together, but we are seen together at them.”

“It has been reported that you and Miss Byrne are dating. Is that accurate?

“We were,” Will’s hands fisted in his lap. He looked at Hugh then, clearly still pissed about their last conversation. “Until this asshole decided to reinsert himself in her life.”

“She was never yours, Stanton,” Hugh answered quietly. He was a hairsbreadth away from yanking the jackass out of his chair and beating the hell out of him. “If you’d been a better husband, you wouldn’t have needed to try to poach on another man’s girlfriend,” he added, giving into his fury that William had touched Rowan. It was a great diversion from the kidnapping.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean, O’Faolain? You don’t know shit about my marriage,” Will shot back, sitting straighter in his chair like he, too, was jonesing for a fight as well.

“Enough, gentlemen,” Jeffreys tried to interrupt.

Hugh ignored the detective to deliver another blow. “My men uncovered that Katy never cheated. She hired that society journalist to take a picture of her kissing that man. The kiss wasn’t even real.” William was reeling. “My guy spoke with the reporter. She said that Katy admitted to her that she was only doing it to get your attention. And it worked. Without allowing her to explain, you kicked her out and divorced her.

“I’ve been an asshole to Rowan for over a year and finally pulled my head out of my ass. When we find the women, I suggest you pull yours out.” By the look of horror on Stanton’s face, he’d never considered his wife to be innocent. Pride led to brutal consequences. Hugh would know better than most.

Sighing, Hugh realized he had let his emotions cloud his judgment again where this man was concerned. He slapped Will’s back before squeezing his shoulder. “I shouldn’t have spoken about your marriage.”

Will shook his head, looking grim but more determined than he had when he’d first walked into the room.

“I’m glad you did. I should have realized…I should have known…Katy…it was so out of character. Christ,” he said, shaking his head again. “Sorry about that, Detective. Finish asking your questions.”

For three hours, they reviewed the information gathered thus far and pounced on every report coming into the detective. William admitted the security breaches to his company were still a mystery, and because one of Stanton’s biggest moneymakers dealt with blocking hackers, the fact that they’d been hacked had been incredibly worrisome. One of MaGregor’s guys joined them to go over Will’s company, the hacking, and Stanton Industries’ hundreds of employees.

There was also a Canadian tech company that has been aggressively trying to partner with Stanton, but they had been turned away. Will said the company was known for some shady deals and they were toeing the edge of bankruptcy.

Dean, MacGregor’s guy, sent the company information out to the team and told them to make BlackOut, the Toronto based firm a priority. Dean said by tomorrow they should have a better picture. “We’ll find out about BlackOut’s key players, their financials, their friends and family, and hopefully any suspicious or abnormal activity. We’ll eventually start seeing connecting strands as we gather more pieces of intel.”

His determined confidence was welcome. Jeffreys’ phone dinged. After a minute of scanning the newest report, he announced, “Facial recognition software found a match for the man following Miss Byrne. Shane Reynolds. Ex-military. Special Forces. Flagged for anger issues. He left the military eight years ago.”

Dean was reading the report over the detective’s shoulder. “He became a ghost. Totally off-grid. Until now.”

“Sloppy for someone with his background and training,” Jeffreys said.

Dean agreed. “However, the article on Stanton and Miss Byrne mentioned her family lived in Ireland, and her business was there. Fewer people to worry about her going missing in Tulsa. Stanton lives in Texas. Reynolds was much more careful with covering his face in Houston.”

“It could be that whoever is paying him doesn’t know what in the hell they’re doing. Maybe Reynolds is used to being the muscle, not the brains. If BlackOut is behind this, desperation might have made them careless.” Hugh was by no means a detective, but with both women taken by the same man, all fingers pointed to Stanton as the common denominator.

“All true,” Jeffreys agreed. “O’Faolain, Stanton, go home. You’ll be notified if anything changes. Hugh, you’re paying MacGregor for his services, so you’ll probably know before me anyway.”

Dean told Hugh he’d call with a full report by eight in the morning. He and Will left the detectives office and headed to the precinct parking lot. Hugh looked at Will. “Do you need a place to stay?”

“I’m staying at Aunt Diana’s.”

The elevator ride to the lobby was strained. He and William were both lost in thought. Mom’s assistant Tina texted earlier to let him know that his mother and she were sleeping in his spare bedroom. She wanted to be close to her son. William wouldn’t be alone, though Hugh shuddered at the thought of sleeping in that Dragon’s lair.

When they stepped out of the elevator, Hugh took a deep breath and apologized again. “I should not have spoken about Katy. I should have just given you my investigator’s file. When you and Row are brought up, I lose my mind.”

Will stopped once they walked outside. He sat on the steps outside the building, his body deflating. Hugh understood the feeling. They were both trapped in hell.

“I put my goddamn job before my wife. She gave me everything. I loved her, just not enough. For the past few hours, I’ve had to live with the fact that Katy and Rowan wouldn’t have been taken if I’d been a better fucking man years ago.”

“We will find them. I will never stop looking. We can’t look back, Stanton. If I hadn’t been such a colossal cocksucker to Row, she wouldn’t have run to Oklahoma. We are both to blame for this—and whoever the hell is behind their abduction.” Will nodded, accepting Hugh’s peace offering. “I’ll have my people email me the file on Katy and send it to you tomorrow.”

“Appreciated.” Will hung his head for a moment, massaging the back of his neck, deep in thought. “I know you hired MacGregor’s services to find Katy and Rowan, which I plan on paying for, but why did you already have investigators looking at me?”

Hugh wondered when he’d ask. “If Rowan didn’t choose me over you, I planned on finding something to ruin you. I believed that Katy was never like Helen and that the divorce had to be on you, so I hired people to find out what happened. I won’t apologize. Rowan is everything to me.”

William huffed out a laugh. “I guess you being an overbearing asshole has served me well. I might have a chance of getting my wife back when all of this is over. When we find them safe,” he added softly.

“We will find them,” Hugh answered as he sat down on the steps next to the man, up until a few hours ago, he’d hated with a single-minded intensity.

“Helen was horrible. I hope you don’t mind me saying.”

“Worse than you even know. She flirted with you once, her one-thousandth attempt to make me jealous, at the Club,” Hugh admitted, wanting William to know where some of his animosity stemmed from. You didn’t shut her down even though your wife was in attendance. Even though I was standing right there. I hated you for that.”

William reeled back at the admission. Blanching at the honesty. He swallowed several times, looked forward, and then turned to Hugh once again. “I was young, dumb, and clearly full of myself. Christ, Hugh, I don’t blame you for not liking me. I want you to know I never touched your wife. I wouldn’t have done that to you and certainly not to my own wife. Even though allowing her the leeway to speak to me in a flirtatious way disrespected you both. Forgive me.”

He could tell William was sincere. He couldn’t have known how bad things were for Hugh back then. He didn’t want anyone to know. He’d probably appeared uninterested in his wife’s infidelity. “Forgiven.” Will stood and offered Hugh a hand up. “We will find them.”

“We will,” William agreed.