Chapter 17 Christopher
CHRISTOPHER
Christopher stood in the inn’s dining room, watching the chaos of emotion swirling around him like a storm.
Everyone had gathered here in the past twenty minutes, drawn by the crisis like moths to a flame.
The room that had been filled with laughter and Christmas planning just hours ago now felt heavy with fear and desperate hope.
Isabella sat at one of the tables, fidgeting.
She looked beside herself with panic and guilt, her face pale and tear-streaked.
She kept wringing her hands and glancing at her phone on the table beside her, unable to sit still for more than a few seconds before standing up to pace, then sitting down again when her legs wouldn’t hold her.
Holly was trying to comfort her, but Christopher could see his surrogate mother’s own fear showing through the cracks in her composure. Her hands shook slightly when she reached out to pat Isabella’s shoulder. Her eyes kept darting to where Gabe stood, as if afraid he might disappear too.
Charlie had taken over one end of the long dining table, spreading out everything she had on Todd Berkley like a general planning a campaign.
Hotel information. Rental car details. Financial records.
Credit card statements showing his recent purchases in St. Augustine.
She’d built a timeline of his movements over the few days, color-coded and precise.
Jack was on the phone with the police again, his voice low and controlled as he answered their questions.
The local police were treating this seriously, but Christopher knew how these things worked.
There would be protocols. Procedures. Time wasted on paperwork and jurisdictional questions while two little girls were out there somewhere, terrified.
And Gabe stood in the center of it all, deadly silent.
That silence was what worried Christopher most. Not rage. Not panic. Not the desperate fear that any father would feel when his child was taken. Just cold, calculated silence. The kind of silence that preceded violence.
Gabe was watching everything, listening intently, processing information with the tactical mind of a combat veteran assessing a mission. His eyes tracked every piece of information Charlie laid out, every word Jack spoke into the phone, every tear that fell from Isabella’s eyes.
Christopher recognized that look. Had seen it before in combat zones. It was the look of a man who had already decided someone was going to pay dearly today, and was simply working out the logistics of how to make it happen.
Logan ended a phone call and crossed to where Gabe stood. “Front desk at his hotel says Todd isn’t in at the moment. He left about two hours ago and didn’t say when he’d be back. They didn’t see if anyone was with him.”
Gabe’s jaw tightened, but he just nodded. Then he turned to Christopher, and their eyes met across the room. That look said everything.
“You know who to call,” Gabe said, his voice low and hard. “I don’t care what it takes. Get me Todd’s phone’s location.”
Christopher nodded once and walked toward the hallway, pulling his phone from his pocket. He needed privacy for this call. The kind of favor he was about to ask wasn’t exactly legal, and the fewer people who heard the details, the better.
Isabella followed him into the hallway, her footsteps quick behind him.
“This is all my fault,” she said, her voice breaking. Tears streamed down her face again, and Christopher’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest.
He turned to face her, wanting desperately to pull her into his arms but knowing he needed to make this call first. Every second counted now.
“No,” he said firmly. “It’s the fault of a desperate man. And desperate people are the most dangerous kind. Like feral animals backed into a corner. They’ll do anything to survive, anything to get what they think they need.”
Isabella swiped at her tears with shaking hands. “If anything happens to the girls...” She couldn’t finish the sentence. The thought was too terrible to even speak aloud.
“It won’t,” Christopher said, and he put every ounce of conviction he had into those two words. He needed her to believe it. Needed her to hold onto that hope. “We’ll get them back. Both of them. Safe.”
“Christopher?” Holly’s voice came from behind them. “Sorry to interrupt.”
He turned to see Holly standing close to them. Her eyes were as frantic and filled with worry as everyone else’s, but there was something specific in her expression. A particular concern that Christopher recognized immediately.
She glanced back toward the dining room, where Gabe was once again questioning Jane about every detail of what had happened on the beach.
Jane had refused to go to the hospital despite the paramedics’ strong recommendations.
She sat at the table with a bandage on her head, looking almost as guilty and miserable as Isabella did.
“You’re worried about Gabe,” Christopher said softly. He knew Holly well enough to read her like a book after all these years. “I am too,” he added. “But his daughter has been kidnapped, Holly. I honestly feel sorry for Todd right now.”
“That’s the problem,” Holly said, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper. “I’m not only afraid he’s going to do something stupid when he finds that man, but...” Her eyes went to where Gabe was standing, and Christopher followed her gaze.
Gabe was clearly favoring his injured leg now. The medical boot was still on, but Christopher could see the strain in his friend’s posture. The way he shifted his weight. The tightness around his eyes that spoke of pain he was ignoring through sheer force of will.
“I think he’s reinjured his leg on the beach,” Holly finished, her eyes imploring Christopher to understand. “And I don’t think he should be going after Todd. Not like this.”
Christopher felt the weight of what she was asking settle on his shoulders.
She was right, of course. Gabe, in his current state, would be a liability in any kind of confrontation.
Gabe would, of course, push through the pain, push past his physical limitations, and potentially get himself or someone else hurt.
But telling Gabe Bennett that he couldn’t go after his own daughter? That would be like telling the sun not to rise.
“I agree,” Christopher said, managing a reassuring smile even though he felt anything but reassured about what he was going to have to do. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
Holly’s relief was visible. “Thank you.” She stepped forward and kissed his cheek, then turned to Isabella. “Why don’t you come with me and let’s leave Christopher to plot?”
Isabella seemed reluctant to leave, her eyes clinging to Christopher like he was the only solid thing in a world that had suddenly become terrifyingly unstable. But she nodded.
Before she could turn away, Christopher acted without thinking. He stepped forward, leaned in, and kissed her. It wasn’t long. It wasn’t inappropriate given the circumstances. But it was real. A promise in it. A vow that he would make this right.
Holly, despite the terrible situation, smiled slightly and turned away to give them a moment of privacy. She understood what was growing between them.
“I’ll get them back,” Christopher said quietly, his forehead resting against Isabella’s for just a moment. “And Todd will go to prison for this.”
Isabella looked stunned by the kiss, her eyes wide and shining with tears. She nodded, unable to find words, and let Holly lead her back into the dining room.
Christopher waited until they were out of sight, then pulled up his contacts and found the number he needed. A guy who’d moved into private security after leaving the service, the kind of security work that involved satellite tracking and electronic surveillance that existed in legal gray areas.
The kind of person who could track a phone without warrants or paperwork slowing things down.
The call connected after two rings. “White? Long time, brother. What’s going on?” The voice was jovial, familiar. “You finally calling to take me up on that fishing trip?”
“Not today, I’m afraid. I need you to track a phone for me,” Christopher said without preamble. “It’s an emergency.”
The tone shifted immediately. “What kind of emergency?”
“Gabe Bennett’s daughter has been kidnapped,” Christopher said, his voice flat and hard.
“Along with another twelve-year-old girl. The man who took them is the biological father of the other girl. He’s trying to extort the mother.
We have maybe twenty-four hours before he does something we can’t come back from. ”
There was a moment of shocked silence. “Gabe Bennett? The Gabe Bennett? That man’s a legend. He saved my cousin’s unit in Fallujah.” The voice had gone completely serious now. “Everyone loves that man. He’s helped everyone out at one time or another. He’s a hero.”
Christopher felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders. This was why he’d called this particular contact. Because Gabe Bennett had that effect on people. Had touched so many lives, saved so many soldiers, earned so much respect that favors would be called in without hesitation.
“Give me the number,” his contact said.
Christopher read off Todd’s phone number from the information Charlie had compiled. “I need real-time location. And I need it now.”
“On it. Give me a few minutes…” his contact said.
Christopher could hear typing in the background, the clicking of keys as his contact worked whatever technical magic was required. The seconds stretched out, each one feeling like an hour.
“Got it,” the voice said. “He’s at a storage facility on Route 1.
A place called SecureStore. Unit 247.” A pause.
“And Christopher? I’m sending you a tracking link.
You’ll be able to see his movements in real time.
I’ll keep monitoring on my end, too. If this jerk moves, I’ll let you know immediately. ”
“Thank you,” Christopher said, meaning it with everything in him. “I owe you.”