Chapter Sixteen
“Sheriff, Sheriff!”
Rafe looked up as a young woman came racing down the hallway toward his office. He’d just stepped out to grab another cup of coffee and a file Sally Anne had waiting for him to sign. She’d gone to lunch, so he had a few minutes of peace and quiet before she got back. Lord knew he loved the woman, but she could talk a mile a minute.
“Alice, slow down. What’s wrong?”
Out of breath, Alice placed a hand against her chest and panted for a few seconds. “There’s a woman at Gracie’s shop…something’s wrong…Gracie told me to go home early…”
“Okay, take a second. Deep breaths. That’s a good girl. Now, start over. Somebody came into Gracie’s shop?”
She nodded. “I was in the back working on the new order that came in. I was focused on it when Gracie and this woman came into the back.” She stopped and drew in another deep breath. “Gracie told me to leave early. But there was a strange lady in the back. Gracie hardly ever allows anybody who’s not an employee back into the stock area.”
“Alright, that’s a little out of the ordinary, but what made you come racing over her to tell me about it?”
“I started to leave, like Gracie said. She wanted me to lock up the front as I left. Only she knows I can’t lock the front door. I don’t have keys yet. So, I went back to ask her what she wanted me to do, and I saw that the blonde lady had a gun, and she was forcing Gracie to leave with her.”
Rafe’s heartbeat raced as Alice’s words sank in. “Alice, I need you to be very sure. You clearly saw the gun?”
“Yes, sir. I’m positive. She had it in her right hand. She kinda tried to keep it out of sight, but I saw it.”
“You did the right thing coming to get me. Now I need you to go home. Don’t tell anybody about this, Alice. Not until I talk with you later, understand? It’s important you don’t say anything to anybody. I’m going to help Gracie, I promise.”
“Please don’t let her get hurt. She’s a good person. I don’t know why somebody would want to hurt her.”
“I don’t either, Alice. Go on, now. I need to go help Gracie.”
He watched Alice head for the front door, and he pulled his cell phone from his back pocket, dialing Nick’s number.
“Hello.”
“Get here ASAP.”
“Rafe, what’s wrong?”
“Somebody pulled a gun on Gracie. I’m heading over to her shop now.” He opened the front door and headed for Gracie’s Grounds. On full alert, he scanned the sidewalks as he crossed the street, running to get there as fast as he could.
“I’m about ten minutes out. Your Dad’s with me. I’ll meet you there.” After a short pause, he heard, “Rafe, don’t let anything happen to her.” The anguish in Nick’s voice confirmed what Rafe had known for days. The man was head over heels in love with Gracie.
“I’ll watch over her, you’ve got my word.”
He’d reached the front door, and stopped outside long enough to glance through the window and see there was no one inside, at least not visible from the street. Twisting the knob, he pushed the door open, hearing the little bell above the door tinkle. It was eerily quiet within the shop. Slowing pulling out his weapon, he headed toward the stock area.
Holding his breath, he pushed open the door slowly, doing his best to remain calm and focused. This was Gracie, his friend, and whatever was happening, he needed to diffuse the situation if possible.
Moving through the opening, it was evident nobody was there. The back door of the shop was wide open. Rafe walked out into the alley, scanning up and down, but there was nobody. Holstering his gun, he headed back inside. He’d barely made it back into the stock area when he heard his name being yelled.
“Back here, bro.”
“Dad called, told me to hightail it over here and help you with a situation.” Ridge raised a brow. “What can I do?”
“Looks like somebody kidnapped Gracie. Alice came running to get me, but by the time I got here, they were gone. Found the back door ajar, so they took her out through the alley. I need to get the forensics team in here ASAP.”
“Let me call Shiloh and Destiny, have them see if they can access the traffic cameras. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll spot something.”
“Good idea. Thanks.” Rafe looked toward the front when the door flew open and Nick and his dad entered, and he knew there was going to be a problem. Nick had that wild-eyed look of a man on the edge.
“Gracie!” Nick’s voice carried through the shop. “Rafe, where is she?”
“We’ll find her. No,” he grabbed Nick as he tried to race past him. “She’s not here. You’ve got to stay calm. I need you clearheaded if you want to help. Otherwise, I’ll have you hauled over to the sheriff’s station and locked in a cell, because I don’t need you interfering. Pull yourself together right now.”
“Tell me everything.” Rafe had to admit he was impressed. It was like Nick pulled on a suit of armor, a chilly demeanor coming over him. It was almost looking at the man who’d be in Brashear’s back pocket all over again. But right now he’d take it, because he needed Nick thinking because there were only two options, and neither one was good.
“What can I do?”
“Call Huntsville. See if Brewster made any calls, had any visitors. I need to know if he’s behind this.”
“He’s not.” Nick’s tone was definitive, like he knew exactly who was to blame.
“What do you know that I don’t?” Rafe glanced at his dad, who nodded. Guess he knew what Nick did, and he felt completely out of the loop.
“Just found out some information this morning. I’d planned to share it with you. We were on our way to your office when you called. Apparently Simon Norville has family who’s been visiting him, two nieces and a nephew. Long story short, Cassandra Bishop, the niece, and Jesse Norville, the nephew, have been in Texas for the past eight weeks. We suspect they’ve been working and coordinating with their uncle to take me out. Somebody screwed up the first attempt and got Antonio instead.”
“Ridge, can you stay put until the forensic guys get here?” At his nod, Rafe motioned for everyone else to follow, and headed back to the sheriff’s station. On entering, he spotted Alice pacing by Sally Anne’s desk, her arms wrapped around her middle. She looked up when she heard him walk in.
“I know you told me to go home, but is it okay if I wait here? I’ll go crazy until I know you’ve found Gracie.”
“It’s fine as long as you stay out of the way.”
“I will.”
“Was she there when Gracie was taken?” Nick’s eyes fastened on Alice.
“Yes, Alice is the one who came and told me about the woman forcing Gracie out at gunpoint.”
“I need to ask her a few questions.” Without waiting for his answer, Nick walked over to Alice. “Hello, Alice. I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Nick, a friend of Gracie’s.”
She nodded. “You’re the guy from Australia, right? Gracie’s talked about you.”
“Alice, I need to ask you a couple of questions, if that’s okay? It might help us find Gracie faster.”
“I’ll do anything to help. Gracie’s my friend, and I’m scared something bad is going to happen to her.”
“You told Rafe there was a woman who had the gun pulled on Gracie. Can you tell me what she looked like? Anything you remember might help.”
Alice looked at Rafe and he nodded encouragement. “She was tall, a little taller than me. She had really blonde hair, longer in the back and shorter toward the front, straight and kind of curved under at the ends. It was really blonde, like what they call a platinum blonde, I think. I didn’t get a good look at her eyes, so I can’t really tell you what color they were. Sorry.”
Rafe watched Nick pull out his cell phone and turned it toward Alice. “Is this the woman you saw?”
“Yes! That’s her! I’m positive.”
“Thank you, Alice. That’s a big help.”
Nick passed the phone to Rafe, and he looked at the photo of a blonde woman with blue eyes, a small nose, and a pointed chin. The hair was styled exactly how Alice described it.
“Who is she?”
“Cassandra Bishop. Simon Norville’s niece.”
“The one you were just telling me about? Guess you were right about them being in Shiloh Springs. But what made her grab Gracie?”
Nick drew in a deep breath and before he could answer, Douglas did. “She took her because Nick’s in love with her.”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Nick, and he simply shrugged, a sheepish expression on his face. “I do. I know it’s crazy because it’s happened so fast, but it’s true.”
Rafe looked at his dad. “Seems be a family tradition, falling hard and fast.”
“When it’s the right woman, you know.” Douglas patted Nick on the shoulder. “We’ll get her back, son.”
Nick took his phone back and scrolled to another pic and handed it to Rafe. “This is Jesse Norville. Chances are good he’s helping Cassandra. You’ll need to keep a watch out for both of them.
Rafe jumped when Nick’s phone rang and he handed it to him. He glanced at the caller ID and his body stiffened. “I don’t know this number.”
“Put it on speaker.”
“Hello.” Nick’s voice almost broke with the single word.
“Hello, Nick.”
“Cassandra.”
“Oh, good,” she practically purred. “You know who I am. That makes things a bit easier. I’m going to assume you’re with the sheriff and he’s listening in. Hello, Sheriff Boudreau.”
“Miss Bishop.” Rafe’s tone was terse, giving nothing away.
“What do you want, Cassandra?”
“I want you, Nick. A simple exchange. You for Ms. Medeiros. You meet with us, and we’ll let her go unharmed.”
“I want to speak with Gracie first.”
“I figured you would. Here you go, darling. Here’s your lady love.”
There was a harsh intake of breath before Gracie’s voice on the other end. “Nick?”
“Gracie, are you okay? Have they hurt you?”
Rafe’s gut tightened at the look of fear on Nick’s face, the emotion in the air thick enough he could almost taste it. His friend was in agony, thinking the woman he loved was in danger, and there wasn’t anything he could do.
“I’m okay. Nick, don’t do—” Her voice cut out and left Nick staring at the phone.
“Still there, darling? Keep your phone handy, I’ll call back, and we’ll make plans for the exchange. Ta-ta.”
The call was disconnected before Rafe could say anything.
Ridge’s fingers flew across the keyboard on his phone for several seconds before he looked at Rafe. “Shiloh says he got footage from the traffic cameras at the corner of Main Street and Connors. Looks like a black SUV pulled out from the alley onto Main and headed south. He couldn’t see how many people were in the car, but the driver was a white male. Couldn’t get the plates. Sorry.”
“A black SUV isn’t going to be much help.”
“Shiloh’s coordinating with Destiny. She’s going to see if she can follow the traffic cams in town as far as they run, but once they hit the outskirts, we’ll lose any visuals we have. We might get lucky if she can get a clearer picture.”
“We already know who has her.” Nick spoke for the first time since the call ended. “Cassandra Bishop is taunting me. She has to be working with her uncle. And the best part—Uncle Simon was moved from the prison infirmary to RMH Trauma Center. He was supposedly in a coma, yet Calvin called me about an hour and a half ago and said Norville is gone.”
“Gone? Hang on a second, didn’t you tell us he was paralyzed? In a wheelchair. Blames you because of his disability. How in blazes did he manage that?”
“Good question, Rafe. Calvin’s trying to get answers. He’s on scene at the hospital and RMH is on lockdown until they find him. He was in intensive care, hooked up to monitors. They found the prison guard who was manning the door stuffed in a bathroom. Calvin’s hoping he hasn’t managed to get out of the building, but it’s a pretty big facility. Even with the best security, if he’s got help—which I’m assuming he does because there’s a third person in the picture I haven’t mentioned yet—”
“This situation’s getting crazier by the minute,” muttered Ridge, still staring at his phone.
The front door of the sheriff’s station swung open and Ms. Patti raced through, running up to Douglas, who put his arm around her shoulders. “I heard something happened to Gracie.”
Rafe knew it would happen, word just spread faster than he’d anticipated. Shiloh Springs, small town living at its finest, had the biggest, and usually most accurate, gossip line in the state. He glanced at Alice, who raised her hands.
“I didn’t do it.”
“What happened?”
“Gracie’s been kidnapped and it’s my fault.”
Ms. Patti moved to Nick and took his face between her hands. “Sweetheart, whatever’s happened, it’s not your fault. It’s the fault of whoever took her. You haven’t done anything wrong except love her. Somebody wants to use that as a weapon. Don’t let them. We’ll all work together to get Gracie back, because we love her too. She’s important to you and to this family.”
“Momma’s right. We need to figure out how we’re going to handle this when Cassandra calls back.”
“Who’s Cassandra?”
“Dad, can you fill her in? We need to deal with the fallout.”
Douglas drew his wife aside and whispered to her, catching her up to speed. Rafe and the others headed down the hall to the conference room.
When the next call came, they’d be ready. Nick wasn’t going to be allowed to sacrifice himself for Gracie. There had to be another way and they’d figure it out.
And bring Gracie home.