Chapter 15 #2
Clay relayed the message to the bystander then ended the call. “Why would she toss her cell phone?” He didn’t expect either of them to know the answer, but it struck him as wrong. That phone was her lifeline to her son.
Cooper pulled his laptop toward him. “Let me see if I can pull up the video feed in the store.”
“I know the manager,” Dean said. “I’ll call him right now.” He took out his phone and placed the call. After a few minutes, Cooper had a link to the video surveillance feeds.
He found Darby on the cameras in the men’s section. She looked normal. Everything looked normal until she answered a call. After that, they saw her drop her phone, purchase new luggage, then walk out to her car and leave the parking lot.
“Where’d the second phone come from?” Dean asked.
“Looks like she pulled it from her pocket,” Cooper said.
Clay ran a hand through his hair. None of this made sense. Why would Darby ditch her cell phone, abandon her shopping cart, and purchase only a suitcase? Something didn’t sit right with him.
“Pull up the rental agency’s site. We can track the GPS on her car.”
Cooper did so, and they tracked her movements from the shopping center to the bank, then to the highway heading out of town.
“That’s the road that leads to the camp,” Clay said. “She must know about David going missing.”
“Or she picked him up herself, cleaned out her bank account, and they’ve left town,” Dean suggested. “Maybe someone at the camp dropped the ball and didn’t realize it.”
That suggestion didn’t make sense to him either. She would have called him.
“That doesn’t explain why she threw away her cell phone. Plus, she hasn’t even made it to the camp yet.” He shook his head. Something was very wrong. He felt it in his gut. “Where did she get the second phone? She changed her behavior after she answered it.”
“This can’t have anything to do with Rushton,” Cooper assured him. “He’s locked up. Do you think we missed someone wanting to cash in on the hit?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that she’s in trouble.” He grabbed his coat. “I’m going to follow her. Send me that link so I can track her car.”
“Wait,” Dean said. “I’ll come with you. Just let me grab my coat.”
Clay hurried out to his pickup and climbed inside. His heart was still racing as he pulled up the GPS link on his phone. Once Dean joined him, he started the engine then took off after her.
He couldn’t let something else happen to her. Not after he’d promised her she was safe.
The miles seemed to drag by as Darby drove. Her passenger was silent, only texting his companion with updates on their whereabouts periodically.
It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to have a conversation with this man. She didn’t want to know anything about him…except where he’d taken her child.
A car turned onto the highway behind her—a police car. She tensed and, after a moment, it flashed its lights and sirens.
Her passenger turned to look then swore. “He’s pulling us over.” He turned back to her, pressing the gun against her. “Make this go away. Remember, if anything happens, your son is dead.” He slid the gun into his pocket as she pulled to the shoulder.
A uniformed officer approached the car. Darby fought to keep her hands from shaking as she lowered the window. “Good afternoon. Was I speeding?”
“No, ma’am.” He glanced at her then at her passenger before opening her door. “Please step out of the car. Sir, remain where you are.”
She stole a glance at her passenger. His face was tight but she gave him a nod of assurance. She would do nothing that would endanger her son.
As she got out and followed the officer to the back of the car, he lowered his voice. “Are you Darby Foster?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a BOLO on your vehicle from the Sheraton Police Department. They want a welfare check on you.” He glanced at the man in vehicle. “Do you need help?”
Oh boy, did she. But even more, she needed to reach David. She forced herself to give him a comfortable smile. “I’m fine, officer.”
“Who is that man with you?”
“Just a friend. We’re taking a trip. Everything’s fine.”
His eyes narrowed as he gazed at her, clearly trying to figure her out. “Stay here, please.”
He walked back to Darby’s rental car. He leaned in and spoke with her passenger. He over his driver’s license. “I’ll call this in,” he said as he walked back to his police vehicle.
Darby stopped him. “Officer…?”
“Turner,” he supplied.
“Officer Turner, we’re in a big hurry. We’re picking up my son at Silver Lake Camp and we’re already running late. Please, he’s only eleven. You have my word. Everything is fine.”
He thought for a moment then agreed, handing her the license. “Okay, give this back to your friend. You’re free to go.”
She hurried back to the car and slid behind the wheel. “Here’s your license back,” she told him. “Everything’s fine.”
He took it and slid it back into his pocket. “It’s a fake anyway. You did good.”
“Let’s get going. I want to see my son.”
She pulled back onto the road, breathing a sigh of relief that that officer hadn’t insisted on keeping them any longer. The person holding David might get tired of waiting and harm him.
She prayed the entire time. She’d done her best to depend on God, but even through the threats on her life, she’d struggled to believe everything was going to be okay. But trusting Him was so difficult when her son’s life was at risk.
A few more miles up the road, her companion instructed her to turn off. She made a right into a different campground, one with RV set ups and cabins scattered about. She followed his directions to a cabin. The place was isolated and the park nearly deserted at this time of year.
“Park in front,” he instructed.
She pulled to a stop then put the car into park, whispering a prayer that David was safe inside.
Her heart pounded as he exited the vehicle, grabbing the suitcase and motioning her out too.
He led her up the steps to a cabin. The door was slightly ajar when she lifted her hand to knock. He shoved her inside.
Darby stumbled into the cabin’s darkness. No lights were on but the sun filtered in from the windows. Through that little bit of light plus the sun coming from the door, she spotted a small figure in the corner and heard sobbing.
“David,” she cried, running across the floor to him.
“Mom?” His voice was questioning then ecstatic. “Mom.”
She pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly, checking him over injuries.
He didn’t otherwise appear to be hurt but his tear-stained-face and trembling shoulders told her how frightened he’d been.
Anger flowed through her at the thought of someone doing this to him just to get back at her. “Are you okay?”
He wrapped his arms around her and clung to her. “I was so scared. I chased after a ball into the woods, and someone grabbed me.” His voice cracked with sobs. “Mom, I want to go home.”
The door slammed and she glanced back at the man who’d brought her here. The suitcase sat at his feet. He clicked on a light, and only then did she realize there was another person in the room with them.
“Hello, Darby,” the female voice said, her lips spreading into a big smile as she covered them both with the gun in her hand.
Darby hadn’t recognized the man who’d jumped into her car. But she recognized his partner.
Suzanne Crompton.