Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Back in the motel room adjacent to Dana’s, Nolan sat at the table and waited for the twins to arrive. It struck him that this was a pattern throughout most of his life. Waiting. While the two of them skittered off course, coming late to family events, getting in trouble with the law, and pulling pranks on nearly everyone, Nolan was left behind to be the grown-up. It wasn’t that he wanted to be the adult in the room; he got the title by default. Sometimes one of them, Pete usually, would razz Nolan, calling him a stick-up-your-ass. Easy for him to say. They had no guidance system, but they did have good old dependable Nolan to do clean-up after the fact.
To make it more unfair, their grandfather had consistently favored the two of them over Nolan. Maybe it was because they’d had a rough start in life, or perhaps it was that growing up they’d always been small for their age. The fact that they’d struggled in school definitely drew some sympathy. Or maybe it was because they reminded their grandfather of himself at a younger age. Nolan never knew the truth of it. All he knew was that the old man made excuses for them. “They’re such rascals,” he’d say with a grin. Or, “They don’t mean anything by it.”
Funny how family could mold your perception of the world and the people in it. If he’d met the twins under different circumstances, he’d have immediately labeled them losers and live wires and made sure to give them a wide berth. But he’d known them since birth and had a front-row seat to the whole sordid story. He knew that their mother had abandoned them as toddlers and that their father had a drinking problem and that their eventual stepmother resented their very existence. As a result, the twins became a gang of two, determined to be noticed. And for some reason, as adults they felt justified in taking questionable shortcuts to get what they wanted.
Even so, the worst they’d ever done was burgled their own apartment for the insurance money. They never got caught for that one. Perhaps that was what made them confident that they could pull off a kidnapping. He’d never have thought them capable of it, but it just proved you never really knew people.
Nolan had tried to guide them. He’d explained his system for paying for everything with cash, taking the same lump sum out of the ATM at the beginning of each month and sticking within those limits. “It keeps me financially on track,” he’d explained. “With credit cards, it’s too easy to overdo it.” They’d laughed at him then, calling him “boomer,” implying he was an old guy. Clearly, they weren’t interested in changing their ways.
He saw them as they were—not that bright, thinking the world owed them more than they’d gotten—and part of him understood. They had gotten shortchanged. Their childhood had been the pits, and adulthood hadn’t been great for them either. Not that it justified the things they did, but he could see how they came to that conclusion. Nolan also knew that they were the closest things to siblings he was ever going to get, and he loved them. Sort of.
An old girlfriend, Abby, had once said to Nolan, “I don’t get it. They’re adults. Why do you keep lending them money when they never pay you back?” It was hard to explain why he felt so compelled to honor a childhood promise to his grandfather. Family ties could be so tight they sometimes wound up like a noose around the neck.
Well, no more. After this, assuming he escaped prosecution and could resume a normal life, he was cutting ties. They’d actually abducted a woman and gotten him embroiled in the crime. The expiration date on his commitment to his grandfather had come and gone.
When Pete and Hunter finally arrived that morning, they turned quickly into the parking lot, making their tires squeal. When they got out of the car, he heard their voices, words coming out loud and rapid-fire.
So much for keeping a low profile.
They barreled into the room. “Get this!” Pete said, his face twisted in anger. “We called Ian again, and still no answer!” He plunked himself down into a chair. “This is not how it was supposed to go.” He jabbed a thumb at the monitor. “We’re going to be stuck with her forever.” Nolan had turned the sound down, but the visual revealed Dana sitting sedately on the bed, her outstretched legs crossed while she watched television. Elegant, serene, glamorous. Unworried.
“So you want to cut your losses?” Nolan suggested. “You could pack everything up and drive away. Leave an anonymous tip with the local police and tell them she’s here.”
“What we want,” Hunter said, slapping the table with the flat of his hand, “is to follow the plan.”
“Yeah,” Pete said. “The brother was supposed to answer his phone. Now we’re screwed.”
“I think I can help.” Nolan reached into his pocket, pulled out a scrap of paper, and placed it on the table. “Dana gave me her assistant’s phone number. She said Courtney Hart is the one to talk to.” He’d decided against telling them he’d already spoken to Courtney. He’d been a little taken aback when the woman at the bookstore put Courtney on the line, and he hadn’t handled it well.
Hunter picked up the paper and nodded approvingly. “Okay, this might work.” He reached over and high-fived his brother. “We’re back in business.”
“And another thing,” Nolan said, “Dana thinks you should ask for a million dollars. She seems to think anything less than a million is an insult.”
Hunter hooted with laughter. “I’ve got news for Dana. She doesn’t have a say in the matter.”
Nolan sat up straight. “I’m just telling you what she said. She has a point. And if you’re risking getting caught, why not go big?” Personally, he didn’t care how much money they asked for, but Dana had been so insistent he felt compelled to make a case for her.
Pete jabbed a finger in his direction. “Get this, Nolan. You’re not in charge and neither is Little Miss Sunshine.” He glanced at the monitor. “We’re not deviating from the original plan.”
“I’m just saying—”
“Shut it,” Hunter said, his eyes narrowing. “We’re doing it our way.”
Movement on the monitor caught Nolan’s eye. Dana was now standing next to the bed and waving toward the camera. He reached over to raise the volume just in time to hear her calling out, “Nolan, I’m getting hungry. I need some lunch.”
“What the hell?” Pete said, reaching over to turn down the sound. “You told her your name?”
Nolan shook his head, but his mind searched his memory to see where he might have slipped up. Did he say his name? He didn’t think so, but she had a way of messing with his thinking. “I’m sure I didn’t.”
“Then how is it she knows what it is?” Hunter asked, his tone accusatory.
“I don’t know.”
Pete frowned. “Why does she think she can order meals? We left food for her.”
Nolan cleared his throat. “I made dinner for her last night. And brought her coffee this morning.” Seeing his cousins’ glares, he added, “What? I can’t make it a little nicer for her? The woman’s been through an ordeal!”
“You’re unbelievable.” Hunter shook his head and pulled a folded piece of paper out of his shirt pocket. “Call the assistant and read this.” He handed it to Nolan.
Nolan unfolded the paper, smoothed out the wrinkles, and read, “Listen and take notes. This is very important.” He scanned the rest of it, seeing it was the standard ransom demand. No police. Directions for putting $100,000 in hundred-dollar bills in a bag and where to leave it. He quietly read, “If you want to see Dana alive...” He raised his eyes to see his cousins’ grins. They were threatening someone’s life and they found it exciting. He wanted to throw up.
Hunter said, “Just read it the way we wrote it.” He slid the burner phone over to Nolan. “Nothing to it.”
With a shake of his head, Nolan slid the phone back. “No, not doing it. This is going too far.”
The twins exchanged a long look, and finally Pete said, “Okay, have it your way. I’ll do the talking.” He tapped in the numbers and put it on speakerphone.