Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Hours had passed since Delaney left, and the inaction was killing him.
Noah could feel it, his chest squeezing tighter and tighter. Was this what a heart attack felt like?
Amputees complained of pain in their missing limbs, phantom pain that no pills could deaden.
He wondered if it was similar, the empty place in his heart slicing agony through his body, a vacuum that nothing but his curly-haired niece and her beautiful nanny could fill.
At least Delaney was safe. The cop who’d taken her to the airport had returned an hour before, saying they’d had no trouble. She was probably already in flight.
He hadn’t even asked her where she was flying to. Did Portland have an airport, or would she fly to Boston or Manchester? He had no idea.
His mind didn’t have room for that kind of information right now. Even so, he itched to text her, to check on her. To tell her…something.
But there was no news. There was nothing to share.
He’d been sitting in his living room, listening to Mason coordinate with other officers, watching Richard refresh news websites incessantly, enduring Jasper’s increasingly frantic pacing.
Every tick of the grandfather clock in the hallway marked another second Charlotte was gone.
Another second she was scared, alone, possibly hurt. He had to do something.
He stood abruptly, drawing Mason’s attention from where he leaned against a wall, phone pressed to his ear.
Noah grabbed his wallet and keys from the basket where he kept them near the front door and headed for the back.
“Where are you going?” Mason’s voice followed him onto the patio.
Noah turned. “I need some air.”
“I think you should stay—”
He froze and faced the cop. “Am I not free to leave my own house?”
Mason stiffened. “There’s nothing you can do to find Charlotte that we’re not already doing. If you have an idea—”
“I don’t.” Not one that he was ready to share, anyway.
“I need to know where you’re going,” Mason said. “For your own safety.”
This…this friend of Jasper’s might be wearing an official uniform and a gun on his hip, but Noah didn’t answer to him. If he learned anything, he’d reach out to Detective Norton.
For now, all he had was a hunch.
“I need to get out of here.” That was true enough. The walls were closing in on him, suffocating him. “I’m just going to go for a ride.” Also true, mostly. “I’ll be back in an hour, and I have my phone if you need to contact me.”
Mason’s gaze was suspicious, but he didn’t have the authority to stop him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
He’d do whatever it took to get his niece back. He hurried to the carriage-house-turned-garage, slipped inside, then started his car’s engine before pressing the button to lift the door.
He’d backed into the garage, as usual. As soon as the door was up, Noah accelerated down the driveway and careened onto Magnolia Street much faster than was safe.
A couple of reporters scrambled for their vehicles, but he had a head start. He took the first right, then another, weaving through the residential streets until he was certain he’d lost anyone trying to follow.
Noah drove through downtown Driftwood, glancing at the park where the event celebrating Noah’s ancestor had been held the night before.
The rental tables and chairs were already gone.
The only remnant from the festivities was the bandstand.
It’d looked fancy the night before, draped with banners.
Now, stripped of all its adornment, it looked empty and pathetic.
Sort of like the Aylett family. All window dressing. No substance. Not since Mom’s death.
All Noah had wanted to do was preserve what his parents and their parents before them had built. Was it such a sin? A sin that required this level of punishment?
Father, please. Whatever I’ve done to deserve this, forgive me. Don’t let Charlotte pay the price.
If Delaney were here, what would she say? That this wasn’t his fault. That bad things happened, and there was often no explanation.
Even so, he couldn’t help but think that if he’d kept the nanny at arm’s length, if he hadn’t given in to his feelings for her, none of this would have happened.
It was why he’d been eager to send her away. Because when he’d been distracted by his girlfriend in high school, his father had died.
Now, he’d been distracted by Delaney, and Charlotte was gone.
So he’d sent her away. Because…because what he’d believed was true. When he wasn’t vigilant, terrible things happened.
People died.
Dear God, please. Don’t let that happen to Charlotte. Please.
By sending Delaney away, he was removing every distraction. And keeping her safe. The fear that she might be in danger was…
Well, just another distraction he couldn’t afford.
He had to focus on the task ahead, his mind churning through everything he knew.
Lowell had been feeding information to Hayes.
Of that, Noah was certain. Lowell, who’d once been his best friend, who’d stood beside him at his wedding, who’d named him godfather to his firstborn, had betrayed him, a betrayal that cut deeper than Noah’s failed marriage ever had.
But he wasn’t a kidnapper. His former friend was bitter and vindictive, but he wouldn’t hurt a child.
Would he?
One way or another, Noah was about to find out.
Lowell lived in a newer development about halfway between Driftwood and Norfolk, where cookie-cutter colonials sat on postage-stamp lots. He and his wife had chosen the development to be close to Lowell’s work in Norfolk and his sister in Driftwood.
Noah hadn’t been there in years, not since Marianne had packed her things and moved out.
He pulled into the driveway and parked, then sat there a minute, fumbling to make a plan.
The best he could come up with was to tell Lowell what had happened and hope the man’s better self responded.
Noah climbed the front steps. Rage—just one of the feelings he’d been suppressing all day—rose inside him like lava. If Lowell had any connection to this, any part in Charlotte’s disappearance…
Lord, help me here. I don’t know how to do this.
He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.
Footsteps approached, then the door opened.
Missy, Lowell’s wife, smiled from the far side of the screen.
Back in college, she’d been tiny, but the years and the kids had affected her figure.
Even so, she was attractive, with shoulder-length brown hair pulled back in a headband.
She wore jeans and a sweatshirt. “Hey, Noah. I’m glad to see you. ”
No matter what Lowell had believed, Missy had always been kind to him. By her casual greeting, she hadn’t heard about Charlotte’s kidnapping.
He didn’t have it in him to explain and then deal with her emotional reaction, so he said, “Is Lowell home?”
“He’s playing with Bryce. Come on in.” She pushed the screen open, and he stepped inside and followed her to the back of the house.
It hadn’t changed much since he’d seen it last. Missy had a talent for decorating.
The dining room looked showroom beautiful, with light furnishings that matched her cheerful personality.
On the opposite side of the hall, Lowell’s office wasn’t so airy with the mahogany desk and matching floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
The family room, while decorated as well as the rest of the house, was far less tidy. Toys littered the floor. The Carolina Panthers football game played on the TV, but muted. Lowell sat cross-legged on the carpet, building a tower of blocks with his three-year-old son.
Noah took in the man who’d once been his friend—kind, patient, devoted to his family. A man without bitterness etched into the lines of his face.
He studied the little boy, his godson, the boy who’d been his nephew before the divorce. He and Marianne had been at the hospital when Bryce was born. Noah had held his tiny body and promised to be the best godfather ever.
He hadn’t seen Bryce since he’d learned to crawl, much less walk.
Lowell looked up. The smile he’d aimed at his wife vanished when he saw Noah. “What are you doing here?” His voice hardened as he placed a protective hand on his son’s shoulder.
“I need to speak with you.” Noah kept his voice level despite the storm raging inside him. “Privately.”
Lowell stared at him for a long moment, then spoke to his son. “Bryce, go with Mommy. I need to talk to Mr. Aylett.”
Uncle Noah, he wanted to say. They were family.
Bryce protested, but Missy picked him up. “Come help me in the kitchen, buddy. I’m making cookies.”
Noah expected Lowell to lead him into his office, but instead, he headed for the sliding glass doors that opened to the backyard, then stepped aside to let Noah precede him as if he feared turning his back on him.
Maybe he should.
The landscaping had grown since Noah’s last visit, the saplings now sturdy young trees, the flower beds more established. An outdoor seating area was nestled under a covered patio.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Noah rounded on his former friend. “Did you know?”
Lowell’s expression shifted from annoyance to confusion, his brows drawing together. “Know what?”
“Charlotte’s been kidnapped.” He paused to let the words sink in. “Someone broke into my house in the middle of the night and took her from her bed.”
All color drained from Lowell’s face. He gripped the edge of a patio chair and lowered himself into it as if his legs could no longer support him. “I would never… Of course I wouldn’t be involved in something like that. She’s just a child.”
Noah searched for any hint of deception, any flicker that he was lying. But Lowell’s shock seemed genuine—the way his hands trembled, the sickened pallor of his skin.
“I had nothing to do with it.” Lowell’s voice was unsteady. “You have to believe me.”
Maybe. But that didn’t extinguish the anger burning inside Noah. “The difference between you and me, Lowell, is that when you tell me something, I do believe you.”
“But… This isn’t… This is different. Marianne’s my sister, and she said—”
“If Marianne believed those lies about me, then she was wrong.” Noah’s words were too loud, vibrating with betrayal and fury and fear.
He needed to control himself. More importantly, he needed to reach Lowell to get his help.
“I never had a relationship with Lena Monroe. She started the rumors because she’s crazy. ”
“Oh, come on—”
“Right now, she’s in custody after pointing a gun at us last night. She threatened to kill Delaney. Charlotte was there for the whole thing. When Jaz tackled Lena, she fired. We’re just lucky the shot went wide and nobody was hurt or killed.”
“Seriously?” But his expression darkened. “That doesn’t mean you didn’t—”
“I never slept with her!” He shouted so loudly that his words came back in an echo. He took two deep breaths. Help me, Father. Calm me down. Give me wisdom.
He watched his friend processing, but he didn’t have time for that.
“Get it through your head, Lowell. I didn’t cheat on your sister. All the things you’ve done to hurt me have been for nothing. Got it?”
“If what you’re saying is true about Lena, then maybe she took Char—”
“She’s in jail,” he snapped. “Try to keep up.” His heart was racing as if he’d run a marathon.
Here he’d thought having a gun pointed at him would be the most drama he’d face in a year, maybe in a lifetime.
Less than twenty-four hours later, that moment was already irrelevant.
“So you’re saying somebody else took Charlotte?” Lowell asked. “Not Lena?” His eyes widened. “You can’t think I did it.”
“You’ve been feeding Hayes information about me.”
“I…” Lowell sank deeper into the chair, his face ashen. “Yes, but—”
“Tell me everything you know about him.”
“I don’t know much.” Lowell rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, I heard he was ruthless in business. That’s not a secret. And I think—” He paused, his eye contact slipping. “I know he was behind the sabotage at your office.”
“I don’t care about that.” Noah stepped closer, looming over his former friend. “What else? What did he tell you?”
Lowell looked up at him, eyes wide. “I just know he’s a dog with a bone when he sees something he wants.
” He blinked, looking so young, so like the college freshman he’d been when Noah had first met him.
“I wanted you defeated, I admit that. I thought Hayes would stop at nothing to make the merger fail.”
“You got what you wanted, then. He didn’t even stop at kidnapping an innocent little girl. Now, you’re involved. You have to tell him I’ll back out of the deal if I get Charlotte back today. Unharmed.”
“I…I’ll think about—”
“Now, Lowell, or I’m telling the police you’ve been conspiring with him. If he’s behind this, which I have no doubt he is, you’ll be an accessory to kidnapping. You’ll be a felon.”
Noah wouldn’t have thought it possible, but the remaining color drained from Lowell’s face, leaving him looking pasty and sickly.
Noah settled on the chair across from him. “Unlike you, that’s not what I want for you, though God knows you’d have destroyed me if you’d had the chance.”
“I believed my sister. I really thought—”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Noah said. “All I care about is getting Charlotte back. If I have to destroy you to do it, believe me, I will.”
“Okay, I get… Okay.” Lowell pulled out his phone with trembling hands. “I only have his business number. He probably won’t—“
“Make the call. And put it on speaker. I want to hear everything.”