Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
What Noah felt went far beyond fear. He was caught in a horror movie, and against his will, he’d been given a starring role.
Scratch that. Charlotte had the starring role. Noah was an extra. A spectator.
It seemed obvious that Violet had taken her. But where was she?
“Hasn’t been tampered with.” The detective stepped into the living room. His weathered face held a kind of practiced neutrality that made Noah want to punch him. “No signs of forced entry, no bypassed circuits. Whoever took your niece knew the code.”
“How!” Noah stood between the kitchen and the living room, wanting to tell Norton to look again, to figure out how somebody had come into their house in the middle of the night, crept up the stairs, and snatched sweet Charlotte from her bed.
Across from him, Delaney was curled into the corner of the sofa, her knees drawn up, her arms wrapped around her shins. Tears tracked silently down her cheeks, and every few seconds, her shoulders shook with a suppressed sob.
On the other side of the windows, Jasper paced in the backyard, phone pressed to his ear.
“Did you give the code to anyone?” Norton asked, pen poised over his notepad.
“Of course not.”
“A repairman, delivery—?”
“I said no!” Noah hadn’t meant to shout and regretted his volume when Delaney startled.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
The detective’s gaze shifted to her. “Miss Wright?”
She lifted her head, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “I never told anyone the code. I wouldn’t.”
“Ma’am.” The detective’s tone was patient and understanding, and Noah got the feeling he plucked that chord when he thought he’d found his mark and wanted to lull them into letting their guard down.
“It’s obvious you care very much about Charlotte,” Norton said. “I saw you with her the day after your accident. I know you love her. And I know you want to help us find her. You’re not going to be in any trouble, I promise. But you need to tell me everything, right now.”
Her expression shifted from heartbroken to shocked to offended. She straightened her legs and dropped her feet to the floor, then stood. “Detective Norton, I love Charlotte with all my heart, and I wouldn’t do anything to harm her.”
“I’m not saying you did. But maybe someone you’ve been spending time with? A friend, or a boyfriend?”
Her gaze flicked to Noah, barely a glance, but the detective couldn’t have missed it. He didn’t say anything, just let his question hang in the air.
“The only people I know in Driftwood are Noah and Charlotte and a woman I thought was my friend. We’ve already told you about her.”
They’d explained all about Heather/Violet when he’d arrived.
“We’re looking for her now.” The detective’s tone was placating, bordering on patronizing. “But if there’s anything else you should tell us…”
“I would do anything to get her back, detective.”
Jasper stepped through the patio doors, his face grim.
“Who were you talking to?” Noah asked.
“I have some contacts. Hopefully, one will call me back soon. Violet’s not answering.” Jasper’s face was pale, but his eyes blazed with fury.
Noah understood that. He had to focus on what was happening around him or else he’d go crazy imagining what Charlotte was going through.
The clock ticked, and every minute that passed was one more minute the kidnapper—or kidnappers—had to escape with her.
Detective Norton studied Delaney for another long moment, then focused on Jaz. “We’ve got an APB out on Ms. Bosch, and we’re checking known addresses. If she’s in the area, we’ll find her.”
“If?” Noah’s voice cracked on the word. “She has to be in the area.” If she wasn’t…she could be anywhere.
The detective’s expression remained maddeningly calm. “We don’t know anything for certain yet, Mr. Aylett. We need to explore all possibilities.”
Noah squeezed the bridge of his nose and concentrated on what he’d seen the night before. “She was getting into a sedan.” He looked at Delaney. “It was a Cadillac, right? You saw that, didn’t you?”
“I did, yes.”
Noah faced the detective. “She was with Frederick Hayes.”
Jasper’s cheeks flushed. “Are you saying…? You think this is about business?” He spat the word like one might human trafficking or fentanyl smuggling.
“Yeah, you know, business. Dad’s business. The thing that funds your life.”
“You have no idea what—”
“Stop it.” Delaney marched around the sofa and stood between them, glaring at each of them in turn. “There’s no time for your bickering. Charlotte’s missing. Nothing else matters.”
Jasper’s gaze flicked from her to Noah, and then his shoulders dropped. “You’re right.”
“Tell me about Frederick Hayes.” Detective Norton held his notebook and pen at the ready. “He’s a…business rival?”
“Yeah.” Noah focused on the detective. “My company was in merger talks with Tidewater Logistics out of Norfolk when Hayes got wind of it.”
Via Lowell Jeffries, he would swear.
“Big deal?” Norton asked.
Noah nodded. “Millions.” Not that he cared about that. Without Charlotte, none of it mattered.
If this was about that—if his choices were the deal or Charlotte, he’d pick Charlotte every day.
“Talk to Richard Whitestone,” Noah said. “He’s had dealings with Hayes in the past.”
“Do you have an address for Hayes?”
“I think he lives in Virginia City.”
“Heather mentioned Norfolk.” Delaney stepped toward the detective, a hint of hope in her tone. “She told me her new boyfriend rented her an apartment.”
Norton glanced up from his notebook. “Tell me about that.”
“She said the boyfriend was older, married. She said she could walk to the beach, and maybe a golf course? And…I think she said it was on an upper floor. Something about a view?”
“Okay, we’ll look into it.” He made a final note. “Mr. Aylett.” He looked at Jasper. “Your brother mentioned you’ve been out of town for several months. Where exactly?”
“What difference does that make?” Noah snapped. “Jasper’s Charlotte’s father. If he wanted her, he could’ve just come and taken her.”
Norton’s smile was tight. “I thought you had custody.”
“I do, but it’s not like I’d fight my brother. She’s his daughter.”
That remark had the detective shifting toward him. “Do you resent taking care of her?”
“What? Are you out of your…?”
Delaney rested her hand on his forearm, her warm touch surprising him. He took a breath. “I love Charlotte, and I love Jasper. I would never do anything to hurt either of them.”
The detective’s eyes narrowed, and he swiveled back to Jasper. He seemed intent on finding one of them guilty, which would sure make his job easier. But nobody in this room had taken Charlotte. Noah knew that, at least.
“I was in the Caribbean.” Jasper’s voice was strained. “I have receipts, customs documentation, whatever you need. Have you put out an Amber Alert?”
“Yes.” Norton made another note. “And the last time Charlotte was seen?”
They’d gone over all of this already. Every second they wasted here was another second she was missing. Noah forced himself to think back. “I checked on her around midnight. She was sound asleep.”
Jasper wandered down the hall toward the front door.
“You’re sure she was there?” Norton asked. “You didn’t just see a lump under the pillows.”
“I went into the room and kissed her good night, since Jasper had put her to bed.”
“I see. Because you and Miss Wright were at the police station late.”
Since it wasn’t a question, Noah couldn’t summon a response.
“Miss Wright?”
Delaney’s voice was barely a whisper. “I went to bed earlier than Mr. Aylett.”
Noah glared at the detective. “You need to go find Charlotte. You’re wasting your time.”
“I know you’re worried,” Norton said.
Worried. Such a common word for the feelings coursing through Noah. He couldn’t even name most of them.
“We have people out looking for her right now,” Norton said. “I promise, we’re doing everything we can.”
Which wasn’t the same as “I promise we’ll find her.” Nobody could make that promise.
Jasper’s heels thumped on the hardwood as he returned. “Someone could’ve watched you put the code in through the window.”
“What? How?” And how had Noah’s brother thought of that? Jasper was the expert at causing problems, not solving them.
“Come here,” Jaz said. “I’ll show you.”
Noah followed his brother out the front door, where a few uniformed police officers were milling about, doing nothing useful.
He wanted to order them off his property, to order them to do their jobs. Every second they spent here was another second Charlotte was farther away from him.
Jasper led him to the hedge that separated the yard from the sidewalk and pointed. “It’s hard to see right now because of the glare, but I think, from here, if you look through the window just this side of the door…”
Noah crouched and saw what Jaz had noticed, the keypad through the window. But how could someone have been here, watching, without being seen? The hedge was only waist high.
“Step away,” Norton said. When they did, he crouched and poked around in the hedges.
“Got it.” He pulled on latex gloves before carefully extracting a tiny metal device.
He held it up for them to see. It was black, cylindrical, about an inch long and no wider than a quarter. A tiny camera. “Here’s your answer.”
Jasper swore under his breath.
Noah’s stomach dropped. Someone had been watching them. Watching Charlotte. Learning their routines, their security code, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“How long has that been there?” Noah’s question came out in a whisper. This had happened right here, in his front yard. And he’d had no idea.
“Could be days, could be weeks.” Norton slipped the device into a plastic bag. “We’ll dust it for prints, but…”
“You probably won’t find any.” Delaney had followed them outside, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
Noah was about to rebuke her for her negativity when Jasper added, “Professionals don’t leave prints.”
Ice coursed through Noah’s veins. This wasn’t just Violet acting on some bizarre maternal urge. Maybe Charlotte’s drug-addicted mother and Noah’s biggest rival were working together.
Norton stepped away to speak to one of the uniformed cops, lowering his voice so they couldn’t hear. He handed him the evidence bag, then gestured to the yard.
Noah needed to call Richard, to get him over here so he could tell the police what he’d told Noah about Hayes’s tactics. He stepped away and dialed, watching the bizarre scene unfold at his house.
Police crawling all over the place, searching for clues.
His niece, missing.
None of this could be happening.
While the phone rang, Delaney approached Jasper and said something to him.
It was irrational, the rage that tiny action triggered.
He knew jealousy had no place here when his niece was missing.
He couldn’t help his frustration that Delaney would even speak to Jaz after he’d been MIA for months.
And Jasper, who’d done literally nothing to protect his daughter except dump her and then take off, was now acting like some freaking knight on a white horse.
Noah wanted to punch his brother. He wanted to punch Norton, who was chatting with his team while his little girl’s life was in danger. Where was the sense of urgency?
More than anything, Noah wanted Charlotte home, in his arms.
He wanted to make sure she was safe and protected, like he’d promised her.
Once again, he’d allowed himself to get distracted by a pretty girl, and someone he loved had paid the price.