Chapter 19
Nineteen
“Have you heard? Howard Danforth was arrested.”
Jonah was grateful to be on kitchen duty this morning. He didn’t feel much like explaining his mile-wide smile to the public who’d been coming through the bakery in a steady stream all morning. Everyone was talking about the arrest. It had been after five on Friday when Xander showed up at the man’s house with a warrant for his arrest. A calculated move on his part, as the judge was already off on a known fishing trip for the weekend, so the bastard had been forced to cool his heels in a jail cell for the past couple of days.
It had been the best sleep Jonah had had in months.
Holt swung back into the kitchen from the front, arching a brow. “That smile gets any bigger, you’re gonna be a contender for the Mad Hatter. You’re looking a little bit crazed there, man.”
“Just enjoying the sweet, sweet sound of justice in the morning.”
“Yeah, well, maybe dial it down a notch. You’re up for the next wave.”
With a brisk salute, Jonah slid a tray of orange cardamom buns in the oven. He managed to get his face under control before he pushed through the swinging door and went to man the register. The figure standing on the other side of the counter studying the day’s offerings had both hands shoved into his pockets. His gray streaked hair hung almost to his shoulders, and his mustache was trying to do an impression of Sam Elliott and failing.
“Well hey, Harley. Welcome to Bad Boy Bakers. What can I get you?”
“I’ve got a hankering for those chess squares. They remind me of my grandmama’s. Get me two.”
“Sure thing.” Jonah moved to open the display case.
Harley turned a circle, taking in the shiplapped walls and industrial iron accents. “Man, this looks different.”
As far as Jonah knew, this was the first time his dad’s old bartender had been back since the renovation. “Yeah, we gave it quite the facelift.”
“Didn’t know the place could look like this.”
“Neither did we. My partner Brax’s wife had a hell of a vision.” He bagged the treats. “Anything else?”
Harley shook his head, and Jonah began to ring him up as more patrons in line behind him spread the gossip.
“—was arrested.”
“No! For what?”
“Nobody seems to know that.”
“It has to be some mistake. He’s a pillar of the community.”
“Well, we all thought that about his son when he was mayor, and look how that turned out. In prison for statutory rape. Maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”
Shaking his head, Harley handed over some cash. “That’s a hell of a thing.”
“Yeah. Takes all kinds, I guess. Figure that’ll be the talk of town for a while.” Jonah counted out his change. “Thanks for coming in. You enjoy.”
The older man saluted with his bag and strode out just as Rachel came in.
Everything in Jonah lit up at the sight of her. Because he didn’t have to worry about the end of things. He didn’t have a countdown clock ticking away the moments in the back of his brain. She was here. With him. Sure, they still had details to sort out. Like getting her stuff moved down here. But they had time, and that was a damned miracle. Now that Howard had been arrested, Jonah felt like he could finally focus on them in a way he hadn’t before.
Rachel circled around the end of the counter, rising to her toes to give him a quick kiss.
“Hey, you.”
“Hey back. How’d work go this morning?”
“I’ll tell you all about it when you get back to the kitchen. Go ahead and see to your customers.”
By the time he made it through the line and headed back, he found her giving Brax a hug.
“That is awesome!”
“Hey now. That’s my girl. You’ve got your own.” Snagging her around the waist, he tugged her into his arms and nibbled at her neck, making her giggle.
“I was just telling her we landed a contract with Crystal’s Diner to develop some custom desserts, and another with the tavern to provide the bread and buns.”
“We’re moving up in the world,” Holt declared. “Slowly but surely.”
“It’s fantastic progress. And hopefully, with the other situation resolved, you can all focus fully on the business.”
“From your mouth to God’s ear,” Jonah muttered.
As she perched on the edge of one of the worktables and began to tell them about her morning at the inn and the plans she was developing, Jonah saw a new lightness in her. She fairly glowed with enthusiasm. This new life she was putting together seemed to be working for her. And he was the lucky bastard she’d chosen to spend it with.
On that cheerful thought, he swung back out front for his next turn at the register.
“I heard Pamela was planning to divorce him.”
“I don’t know about that. He made bail this morning.”
Jonah’s step hitched for just a moment. It wasn’t a surprise. Howard had money and connections. It didn’t mean he was going to skate out of anything. The majority of his assets were frozen, and Xander and his team were still going through the records they’d seized from the house. Still, the idea that Howard was walking around free, for however little time he might have left, made Jonah uneasy.
He finished serving the latest spate of customers and returned to the kitchen. Rachel wasn’t perched on the worktable.
“Where’s Rachel?”
“Stepped out back to make a call. I think she was planning to touch base with Audrey,” Holt said.
Just a phone call. She’d likely be back in a minute. But Jonah felt the itch to lay eyes on her, just in case. He opened the door and stepped out, expecting to see her pacing by the dumpster.
No Rachel.
He looked up the side of the building along the porch that extended to the front.
No Rachel.
“Rach?
The itch ratcheted up to disquiet when she didn’t answer.
Maybe she’d had to walk closer to the parking lot to get a signal. Her cell carrier wasn’t exactly popular in this area.
Striding toward the front, he called out again. Still no answer.
She wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye and letting him know what her plans were for the rest of the day. And hell, there was her car, still in the lot. So where the hell was she?
Jonah swung around, intending to make a circle of the entire building. Something flashed in the sun about twenty feet away, beyond the dumpster. Closing the distance, he felt his heart begin to thrum as he realized it was a phone lying face up in the grass. The screen was shattered, but beneath the spider-webbed glass, he recognized his own face staring back from the selfie of the two of them she’d made her wallpaper.
Scanning the ground around it, he spotted two irregular furrows in the grass. Drag marks.
Rachel had been taken.
Rachel jolted awake, her heart slamming against her ribs as she opened her eyes to darkness. Her head swam, and she couldn’t seem to latch onto a thought. Was it a nightmare? Instinctively, she tried to reach for Jonah, but her arms wouldn’t move and her shoulders screamed with the effort. Pain cleared away the last of the cobwebs, and she realized her wrists were bound behind her back, and a gag was stuffed into her mouth. Flexing her muscles, she attempted to straighten, but her feet hit resistance.
Something seemed to drag her toward one side, and her head swam with nausea. She was moving. What the hell? A car. She must be in the trunk of a car.
Fighting back the urge to vomit, she struggled for calm, trying to piece together what happened. She’d been at the bakery and stepped out to call Audrey. Except she hadn’t ever managed to dial. Someone had grabbed her, choking off her air supply. Gasping at the memory, she began to choke on the gag pressed into her mouth.
Calm down. Calm down, or you’ll pass out from hyperventilation.
Body shaking, she forced her breathing to slow, sucking in the musty, humid air inside the trunk until the worst of the panic receded.
How long had she been out? Who the hell had grabbed her? Howard Danforth was in jail. Everyone had been talking about it. Had they been wrong about who was behind everything? Where was this guy taking her? It had to have been a man. Whoever had grabbed her was taller than her 5’9” and definitely stronger. What were his plans for her?
Fresh panic began to bubble. Rachel dug her nails into her palms, giving herself something else to focus on. The guys would figure out that she was missing when she didn’t come back in from her phone call. They couldn’t be far behind. Jonah would move heaven and earth to find her. She just had to survive long enough to give him the chance. How far she’d come from all those days when she’d wished she’d followed after her husband. She wanted to live. Wanted to embrace the life she’d found with Jonah.
John, if there’s anything you can do from up there, help him find me. Don’t let it end like this.
Struggling to roll over, she groped along what she could reach with her bound hands. A lot of new cars had release latches in the trunk as a safety feature. Maybe if she could find one… But with the restricted range of motion, all she felt was the rough carpet beneath her and the rise of the trunk lip. She couldn’t reach either corner. Abandoning the attempt, she searched the space around her for anything that might cut her bindings. But so far as she could tell, there was nothing back here with her. And even if there had been, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to use it.
The car stopped, and the engine shut off. A door slammed. Wriggling around so her back was to the front of the vehicle, Rachel braced herself for a confrontation with her captor, tensing her legs in preparation to kick out. It was a weak defense, but under the circumstances, it was the only one she’d be able to manage. Time stretched out, and the trunk didn’t open. Was he just going to leave her in the trunk? Where were they?
She waited and waited, losing all proper sense of time.
What felt like hours later, but might only have been minutes, she heard two faint male voices.
“Were you able to get it?”
“Not exactly.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
The trunk latch released, and the lid lifted.
Rachel flailed, striking out with her feet. The dark blurs against the bright glare of light only dodged her ineffectual attempt at defense.
“You dumb son of a bitch. What have you done?”
“Well, it’s in police custody. I couldn’t get to it. So I brought you leverage instead.”
Her eyes began to adjust as the second man let out a creative string of curses. He was older, with silver-shot blond hair and a beard. Even from her poor vantage point, she recognized Howard Danforth from some of the videos they’d spot-checked on the flash drive. What the hell was he doing outside of jail? He must’ve made bail.
Her gaze swung to the other man, the one who’d grabbed her. He was tall and lanky, with gray-streaked dark hair pulled into a tail and a Sam Elliott mustache. She’d seen him at the bakery when she’d arrived. Who was he? More importantly, what were their plans for her? Obviously, Howard hadn’t been in on the kidnapping plot.
“What were you thinking?” he demanded.
Mustache shrugged. “I saw an opportunity, and I took it.”
“You know this is why your family doesn’t trust you with their business, right? This impulsive streak of yours is very problematic,” Howard lectured.
“You’re a smart man. I figure you can come up with something.”
Scowling, Howard stared into the trunk at her. Rachel held in a whimper. She’d seen both their faces. Did that mean they were planning to get rid of her as a loose end?
“I don’t do business involving a body count. I’ve explained this before.”
Rachel wished that fact were more comforting.
Howard scrubbed a hand down his face, considering. “Okay, maybe this isn’t a complete disaster. Your beau is a reasonable and resourceful man.”
He knew who she was? Knew about her relationship with Jonah?
“If this idiot couldn’t get what I need, I expect he can—and will—in the name of saving your life.”
“Now you’re thinking.”
Ransom? He was going to ask Jonah for some kind of ransom? To retrieve whatever it was the police had confiscated?
“Take her to the cabin. I’ll make arrangements and let you know what happens next.”
“Yes, sir.” With that, her kidnapper slammed the trunk, and she was shut into darkness again.
But this time, as the car began to move again, she had hope. If Howard called Jonah and gave him any sort of in, he’d do whatever he had to in order to outsmart the son of a bitch. She refused to believe that an entitled rich guy who’d built his fortune on the backs of others was smarter than her Navy SEAL.
She just had to wait for him to come get her.