Chapter 5 #2
“Yeah. For now.” He drove around the main lodge to the cabins located behind it.
They should be safe enough staying here for the rest of the day and through the night until morning.
Since he still wasn’t sure how the kidnappers had tracked them all the way to the outlet mall in Wisconsin, he didn’t dare make long-term plans. Better to take things day by day.
While hoping and praying he could keep Lauren and Lucy safe until they understood the source of the threat.
* * *
Lauren was holding on to her composure by a thread.
She’d never in her life broken the law, and she could barely comprehend that she’d participated in stealing a car!
Granted, she’d gladly reimburse the owner, but for all she knew, they’d left the owner stranded inside one of the stores without any means of getting home.
What if the owner had kids? What if taking the car meant the owner couldn’t go to work?
The endless possibilities zipped around in her mind until she wanted to scream. But of course, she didn’t. Instead, she opened the back door of the stolen car to let Lucy out as Grady headed up to unlock the cabin door.
Lauren hunched her shoulders at the chill in the room.
Grady found the thermostat, cranked it up, then crossed the room to start a fire.
The interior of the cabin was rustic but nice.
Wooden floors were covered with colorful rugs, and the furniture was simple yet comfortable.
There was a small kitchenette, and for the first time in hours, she belatedly realized she was hungry.
“We’ll need to get some groceries.” She crossed the room to peer into the two bedrooms. One held a queen-sized bed, and the other had two twin beds.
Satisfied, she turned to head back into the main living area.
They needed food for lunch, dinner, and breakfast the following morning.
How much that would cost, she had no clue.
“I know. We’ll head there next.” Grady didn’t appear concerned about their financial situation. “I just want to get our phones charged and ready to go. We’ll make our calls when we’re back in town.”
She nodded, belatedly remembering her determination to call the local police back in Chicago.
The shooting event from the middle of the night seemed like eons ago rather than hours.
And what about Clara? Their long-term housekeeper didn’t live in the penthouse with them, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t in danger.
Someone could easily try to use force against Clara to obtain information about her daughter.
Just for easy money? Or was this about something else? But what? It didn’t make any sense. There was absolutely no reason to go after Lucy other than to force her or her father to pay a ransom.
The only person who could be seeking revenge was her ex-husband, Nelson Derringer. He wouldn’t have nearly enough money to pay someone to do this.
Unless the person involved had negotiated a portion of the ransom as payment.
She swallowed hard and turned her attention to Lucy. Her daughter was at the living room window, gazing out at the snowy landscape. Her daughter frowned, then shot Lauren a look of reproach. “I thought we’d see wild animals here.”
“The lady in charge said there’s a bobcat family that lives in the woods nearby. But I don’t think you’ll see them until dusk. Or dawn,” Grady said. “She also mentioned there are a lot of white-tailed deer in the area.”
“Bobcats?” Lauren paled. “Are you sure it’s safe here?”
“Yes, don’t worry.” He shot her an amused glance. “They won’t bother us. They prey on small animals, not people.”
Easy for him to say, she thought darkly. There hadn’t been any bobcats at the Big Cedar Lake in Missouri. At least, not that she was aware of.
When Grady finished with the phones, he handed her one. “Do you know the number of the police station? If not, I can use the computer to find it.”
“I don’t have the number memorized, so please look it up for me.” She felt foolish, but really, how many people in the world knew their local police department phone numbers by heart? Especially in this age of smartphones?
Less than a minute later, Grady had the number. She entered it into her phone but didn’t put the call through. She knew he wanted her to wait until they were away from the cabin.
Grady pocketed his phone. “Ready to go?”
She nodded. “Lucy, let’s decide what you want for lunch and dinner, okay?”
“How about pepperoni pizza?” Lucy and Grady both said at the exact same time.
She couldn’t help but smile as her daughter dissolved into a fit of giggles. Lauren rolled her eyes and threw up her hands in surrender. “Captain Jack’s pizza it is.”
Lauren wondered how big of a risk they were taking by heading back into the town of Fullerton. She felt as if they were driving a car that had stolen written across the back window in neon paint. But surprisingly, they didn’t pass a single police car on the road.
She wasn’t sure that the lack of a police presence was a good thing. What if the bad guys showed up there? They could all be dead before anyone from law enforcement arrived.
Not dead, she grimly reminded herself. Alive. The goal was to take Lucy alive in order to make a ransom demand.
If that’s what was going on here.
When they reached the city limits, Grady nodded at her. “Go ahead and make your call.”
She pushed the send button on her phone and waited. A female voice asked how she should direct the call. “I’d like to speak to either Lieutenant Olson or Detective Kramer please. It’s important.”
“Hold please.” A moment later, Lauren was annoyed to hear a recorded voice in her ear. You’ve reached Lieutenant Olson. Please leave a message.
“Lieutenant, this is Lauren Chandler. I’m calling about the shooting at my penthouse apartment earlier this morning.
Please call me back right away.” She ended the call without giving her phone number because she had no idea what it was.
“That was useless,” she told Grady. “I don’t even know my own phone number. ”
“I’m sure they have caller ID. He’ll call you back.” Grady smiled reassuringly.
“Yeah, okay.” She tried to shake off her frustration. Maybe the lieutenant was still at her penthouse apartment, checking out the scene of the crime. She stared down at the cheap disposable phone for a moment, then tucked it into the pocket of her winter coat.
Grady pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. He backed into a space that was at the far end of the building, well away from any other cars. She was about to ask why when she realized the USB drive was still being used as a car key.
Yeah, this was a big risk. She glanced back at Lucy, then at Grady. “Maybe we should wait here.”
“Too cold and we’re low on gas.” He glanced around, then killed the engine. “Let’s just make this quick, okay?”
She nodded and pushed out of the car. Lucy did the same, skipping alongside them as they headed inside.
“Sandwiches for lunch and eggs and toast for breakfast?” Grady asked the questions as he made his way to the bread aisle. “We need to keep things simple.”
“That’s fine.” There was no point in worrying about eating healthy at this point. “Coffee, too, please.”
He flashed a grin. “That goes without saying.”
She smiled back, thinking that under different circumstances, this would be fun.
Grady wasn’t like any man she’d ever known.
Certainly not like those who chased her at various charity events.
He was calm and cool in a crisis, having gotten them to safety several times now since this nightmare started.
He always seemed to have everything under control.
She was deeply grateful he’d been the one assigned to her case.
He paid for their groceries, then ushered them back to the stolen car. He set the bags on the floor of the back seat, started the car, then pulled away from the store.
As they were heading back to the highway, she caught a glimpse of a black-and-white squad car. She reached over to grab Grady’s arm. “Do you see him?”
“Yeah.” Grady’s jaw was tight. “Don’t stare over there. I’m going to turn at the next intersection.”
“Okay.” She didn’t let go of his arm as he made the turn. She braced herself for the cop to flip on his red and blue lights and come racing after them.
He didn’t. But it was a close call that frayed her temper.
“We need a different car,” she hissed.
“I know, but it’s not like a town this size has a rental car facility that we can use, even if I can get Rex to make the arrangements.” He glanced at her. “We’re okay for a little while. The cabin we’re staying in is well off the main roads.”
She forced herself to release her death grip on his arm. “Fine. But please get in touch with Rex Grayson, sooner rather than later.”
“That’s the plan.” Grady remained focused on driving. It took her a minute to realize they were in a neighborhood where small houses lined both sides of the street. The area looked as if they could have been in a middle-income Chicago suburb rather than in a different state entirely.
By the time Grady made his way through the area to the highway, she managed to relax. Before she could say anything, her phone buzzed with an unfamiliar ringtone.
Eyeing the display, she recognized the number she’d used to call the Chicago PD. “Hello?”
“Is this Lauren Chandler?” a deep voice demanded. She thought it was Lieutenant Olson, but she wasn’t sure.
“Who is this?” she asked, instead of answering in the affirmative.
“Detective Kramer. Olson told me you called him about the shooting at your penthouse last night.” The detective sounded annoyed. “Where are you? I need you and Grady to give me a statement about what happened here.”
“We’re safe, thanks to Grady.” She glanced at Grady, knowing he was listening to her side of the conversation. As was her daughter. “Are you still at the penthouse now? Is Clara, my housekeeper, there? I’d like to know she’s unharmed.”
“She was here, but we sent her home.” Kramer’s tone had calmed down a bit. “She was the one who called us. Said the place was empty when she arrived early this morning and that the window was shattered.”
Lauren closed her eyes, grateful to know Clara was unharmed.
Probably scared, but otherwise fine. She thought of how Grady prayed and sent up a silent prayer for God to keep Clara safe.
“Thank you for letting me know. Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can tell you.
The window shattered, so Grady got us out of there. ”
“Looks like somebody shot the window,” Kramer said. “We found a slug in the drywall across from the window.”
A slug. How close had Grady come to being hit? She shivered and tried to remain calm. “Yes, that’s what happened. We left via the parking garage, but there was a car waiting for us there. The driver drove straight toward us, trying to cause a crash, but Grady was able to avoid being hit.”
“Where was this?” Kramer asked. “Did either of you get a good look at the car?”
“No, it was too dark, and I think the driver had his high-beam lights on. They were very bright.” She thought back to those harrowing moments when they’d nearly been hit. “All we can say for sure is that the car was dark in color.”
She was about to go into detail about the black SUV with tinted windows that showed up outside the outlet mall when Kramer spoke again. “Well, the good news is that we have a new lead to follow up on.”
“What new lead?” She glanced at Grady who had turned into another neighborhood of homes. These were a little nicer and bigger than the others they’d passed. Clearly, he didn’t want to go back to the cabin until she’d finished the call.
“Does the name Joe O’Neil sound familiar?” Kramer asked.
She frowned, then nodded, even though she knew Kramer couldn’t see her. “Yes, Joe O’Neil was a security guard that worked for my father. He left our employment maybe nine months ago? I don’t understand. Why are you looking at him?”
“Do you know why he left your father’s employment?” Kramer pressed.
“No, I assumed he got another job.” Even as she said the words, she realized that wasn’t likely. Most of the staff at the Savion building enjoyed their work, and she knew they were paid a decent salary. Better than most of the other security guard positions.
“We were told by your building manager, Mark Jonas, that O’Neil was fired for theft.”
The news shocked her. “What did he steal?”
“He stole items from some of the residents’ apartments.
Not yours, that would have been too obvious,” Kramer added.
“From what I understand, they didn’t figure out it was him right away because he was able to tamper with the security video to mask his movements.
And he chose apartments that were undergoing remodeling.
When he was arrested, he had stolen jewelry from Mrs. Ashley Pauly’s apartment.
He returned those items but still did a few months in jail. ”
She couldn’t believe it. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned the details about O’Neil’s arrest to her? “And you think Joe O’Neil has decided to try another way to get money?”
“Yep. We have issued a BOLO for him. Where are you?” Kramer sounded cranky again. “We still need to talk.”
“I’ll be in touch. Thanks for letting me know.” She quickly ended the call and shut down the phone.
Was Kramer right about the former security guard? Had Joe O’Neil really decided to try to kidnap Lucy to get a big payday? She wanted to think it would be that easy.
But she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.