15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
T here had to be something he was missing.
Parker stared at the wooden jewelry box. To him, it was a big jewelry box. The outside was carved with flowers, hearts, and swirls. He didn’t see a name of a company, so he wondered if it was handmade. If so, there may well be a hidden compartment.
The top of the box didn’t move. It had two wooden doors that had little brass handles. And when he opened them there was a row of little drawers to the left and an open space to the right to hang necklaces. At the bottom of the jewelry box, there was a big drawer.
While Belle was upstairs changing into some dry clothes, he continued to puzzle over the jewelry box. He opened the doors and once more took out each of the little drawers. He studied each of them from top to bottom. He was certain there was nothing special about them. He set them aside.
Then he focused on the rest of the jewelry box. He turned it this way and that way. He knocked on this wall and that wall. And then he noticed that there might be an open space at the top of the jewelry box. He wasn’t sure. If so, it wasn’t very much space.
He pulled here, and he pushed there. If this thing opened up, it was like a puzzle box. He kept trying to move things, but with so much engraving, it was nearly impossible to see any cuts in the wood.
Desperate to figure this out so he could solve this case, he kept up his push/pull method. And then something shifted beneath his finger tip. It was a small strip of wood. His heart beat faster. This was it. He’d finally figured it out.
He pulled out the small slip of wood from beneath the lid and set it aside. Then he once more tried to open the top of the jewelry box. It didn’t budge. He tried again with the same results. He expelled a frustrated groan.
There had to be another piece of wood locking the lid into place. He kept searching. At last, he found it. He removed the piece. This was it. The final step. He was certain of it.
He set aside the strip of wood and then he lifted on the lid of the jewelry box. This time it gave way. He moved it to the table and stared inside the hidden space. Inside were folded papers.
He withdrew them and unfolded them. They were bearer bonds. He didn’t know much about them, but the amount on them and the number of them said they were valuable.
He heard movement at the top of the steps. Belle was coming. He still had his coat on so he stuffed the papers in the back of his jeans, then he replaced the top of the jewelry box. Thankfully, the two strips of wood quickly and easily slid into place.
The last piece of wood had just fallen into place when Belle entered the kitchen.
She wore a worried frown on her face. He wanted to promise her that everything was going to work out, but he couldn’t say that, because he didn’t know how this situation was going to play, especially now that he knew the stakes were really high.
She stopped and stared at him as though she knew he was keeping something from her. “You figured it out, didn’t you?”
He hesitated. Then knowing he couldn’t lie to her, he explained what he’d found.
“Wow. I can’t believe that was in the jewelry box. I probably never would have found them. Did you put them back?”
And this was why he didn’t want to mention them to her. “No. And I’m not doing it.”
“But you have to. If he knows they’re gone, he won’t give back Odie.”
“We have no guarantee he’ll give the dog back, even if he gets the bonds. The best thing to do is hang onto them so we have some leverage.”
“I don’t know…”
He glanced at the time on his phone. “Just trust me and go. You don’t want to be late.”
Belle slipped on her coat. When she reached for the jewelry box, she said, “Don’t follow me.”
He couldn’t believe she didn’t want his backup. She was either very brave or very desperate. He figured it was a little of both. But it didn’t matter because she wasn’t doing this alone. He got to his feet.
When he didn’t say anything, she said, “Please. I’m begging you. Let’s just do this part my way. I can’t risk Odie.”
Still, he said nothing because everything within him was screaming to stop her. But he knew by the determined look on her face that she was going to put up a fight, but it wouldn’t stop him.
Buzz.
He reached for his phone. When he saw it was one of his deputies, he said, “Let me get this. It might be new information about the case.”
She nodded.
He pressed the phone to his ear. “Bishop.”
He didn’t have a good connection. There was a lot of static on the line. He walked toward the kitchen because he had better reception there in the past.
He was in the process of pulling in every deputy he had to work this case. They had to be plain clothes. He didn’t want to spook this guy. And then he and Stark worked out a plan to keep Belle safe and to get her dog back.
When he finished the call, he rushed back to tell Belle the plan, but she wasn’t there. Thinking she might have gone upstairs to get something, he called up to her. There was no response.
And that’s when he saw that the jewelry box was gone. He yanked open the front door. Her car wasn’t in the driveway. She had gone without him.
His gut knotted with worry. He stepped into his boots before running out the door. With his phone pressed to his ear, he headed for his pickup.
Her phone rang and rang.
She didn’t answer.
Belle knew it was Parker calling to yell at her for leaving without him. She wished he would understand that she had to do this. She had to do whatever it took to save Odie.
The ringing finally stopped. Silence once more filled the car. Belle expelled a sigh.
Buzz. Buzz.
Belle nearly jumped in her seat. She hadn’t expected him to call back so quickly. She focused on the road and let the call go to voicemail.
She knew Parker would be angry with her. Still, she had to do this her way, erm…the dognapper’s way. She wasn’t going to lose someone else because she lied. It wasn’t going to happen.
She desperately wanted her precious puppy back, safe and sound. At this hour on a snowy December evening, there wasn’t anyone at the park.
She easily found a parking spot along the road. A glance at the clock on the dashboard let her know she was four minutes early. She stayed put as the warm air pumped out of the vents.
Her attention was on the occasional car that drove by. If they would slow down, her pulse raced. But once they passed the falls with its festive color display, they picked up speed, and she would sigh.
There was the occasional car that would slow down almost to a stop. Twice now they’d turned into a driveway across the street from the park. None of them were the dognapper. Where was he?
She squinted and stared into the dark. Was he already in the park? Her palms grew damp, and she rubbed them over her jeans. Was he watching her, and she didn’t know it? Probably. Her breath came in short, fast gasps.
She looked for anyone walking in the park. There wasn’t anyone on that below-freezing evening. She looked at the shadows to see if they moved. They didn’t. But he had to be somewhere, and hopefully, Odie wasn’t far away.
As she stared into the night, she knew she was letting her imagination get the best of her. She had to stay calm. She couldn’t panic. Odie was relying on her to get this right. She drew in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. She repeated the process a few more times.
Buzz.
Her hand had a slight tremble to it as she grabbed up her phone from the passenger seat. Her heart stilled as her chest tightened. Was it the dognapper with more instructions?
When she looked at the caller ID, she found it was Candi. Now wasn’t the time for chit-chat. Belle sent the call to voicemail.
No sooner had she done that than the phone rang again. She lifted it to see if it was Candi calling back. It wasn’t. It was Parker.
Her finger hovered over the answer button. She didn’t want him to come rushing in and mess up the drop. She pressed the phone to her ear. “Parker, I need you to stay away. Nothing you say can stop me from doing this.”
“Belle, just let me be there with you.”
“No.” She didn’t need rescuing. “I’ve got this. Promise me that you’ll stay away.”
There was a tense silence. “Belle…”
“Parker, I’ll be fine. Trust me.” She disconnected the call. In frustration, she tossed the phone onto the passenger seat.
Her gaze moved back to the clock. The numbers glowed in the darkened interior of the car. She had two minutes until her drop off time. The problem was that she didn’t know what happened after she made the drop. The dognapper better bring Odie with him, or there wouldn’t be a deal.
Her gaze constantly moved through the park, looking for the dognapper and Odie. He had to bring Odie. As the clock got closer to her appointed time, the shivering in her stomach turned into a knot.
And then a car came down the road toward her. As she watched in the rearview mirror, her heart started to pound. Was this the man she was supposed to meet?
She couldn’t see anything beyond the bright headlights. They were practically blinding. As the car drew closer, her heart beat faster.
And then they passed her by. They didn’t even slow down. Her hopes were dashed.
She focused on the time again. One minute to go. It was time to make her move. Her insides were quivering with nerves as she opened the car door. She reached over for the jewelry box. It was pretty big and a little heavy. With the old jewelry box clutched to her chest, she got out of the car.
In the distance, she could hear singing. She wondered if the carolers were still out there, bringing smiles to so many people. She wished she was still with them because if she was, it would mean Odie was safe at home, and this was all just a terrible nightmare she could wake up from.
On wooden legs that didn’t feel like her own, she started toward the waterfall. The snow had been cleared from the sidewalks. Putting one foot in front of the other, she kept repeating to herself: Let Odie be okay. Let Odie be okay.
There were a half dozen benches near the waterfall.
She visually examined each one. All of them were snow-covered.
It didn’t stop her from searching for anything that might lead her to Odie.
Her sweet puppy was nowhere in sight. There wasn’t even so much as a disturbance in the smooth coating of snow on each seat.
She didn’t know which bench she was supposed to leave the jewelry box on. She picked the bench right in front of her. It was in the middle.
When she reached it, she wished she’d put on her snow gloves, but they were back in the car.
Moving the jewelry box to her left arm, she used her right arm to brush the snow from the bench.
All the while, she kept glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone was approaching her. She didn’t see anyone.
What did she do next? Leave the jewelry box on the bench and walk away? No. She definitely wasn’t doing that. She wasn’t going to let this creep get away without giving her dog back.
Belle sat down on the bench. The coldness immediately seeped through her jeans. She didn’t care. She was going to sit there until the guy showed his face.