Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
“Suzanne! You’re the one behind this? You kidnapped my son?”
“He’s fine.” She reached down and slid the suitcase closer to her. Her eyes widened then her face broke out into a grin at seeing the cash.
“How could you do this?” she asked her. “Was it you behind these attacks all this time?”
“No, not really. Jeff was right. Your uncle was the one who orchestrated the attacks against you, but when I heard you had all this money, I knew I had to do something.”
A tear slipped from Darby’s eye. All this for money. Let her have it. Darby would be happy to be rid of it. There would always be someone who wanted to take it from her. David’s life was more important than money.
“So you and Chief Dean plotted this together? You kidnapped my son just to get your hands on my inheritance?”
“Not exactly. He would never go along with a kidnapping. My ex-boyfriend, Max, agreed to help me on the promise of a nice payday once I got the money.” She smiled up at Max. “Looks like our plan worked.”
“Sweet,” he said. “It was a little close. We got pulled over by the police.”
“What?” Suzanne’s face hardened. “What for?”
Darby’s pulse quickened at her sudden change of demeanor. She’d always believed Suzanne was unstable. An unstable Suzanne who’d already orchestrated an abduction and now had a gun trained on her …
Darby gulped as David clung to her. They were in real trouble.
“The officer claimed there was a BOLO out on my car. Clay must have panicked when I didn’t answer him. It was just for a welfare check. I convinced him everything was fine, and he let us go on our way.”
“She’s right,” Max agreed. “She made it believable. She did good.”
That didn’t seem to satisfy Suzanne. “They saw you together. Now when something happens to Darby, you’ll be the person they’ll look for.”
He rubbed a hand through his hair as he thought about the mess they’d made. “I used the fake ID you gave me. It should be okay.”
Suzanne shook her head again, disgusted. Being pulled over by the cops obviously hadn’t been a part of her plan.
Darby had to do something convince her that everything was going to work out. “Suzanne, take the money and go. Please. David’s not hurt. You haven’t done anything you can’t come back from. Just let us go. I won’t tell anyone it was you.”
She seemed to consider that for a moment before her expression twisted into a smirk. “Like I believe you. You’ll have the cops on me in a hot second. You’ve been looking for a reason to have me arrested. Now you’ll have it, won’t you?”
“All I care about it is making certain David is safe.” Her son clung to her, still shaking with fear.
Darby meant it. She would happily let Suzanne walk off with her fortune if it meant she and David were safe.
But Suzanne wasn’t convinced. She raised the gun to Darby. “No, you’re coming with me. Once I’m safely out of town, I’ll release David.”
David’s grip tightened. “Mama, don’t leave me.”
“Please, Suzanne, just let us go.”
She grabbed Darby’s arm and pulled her away. “You’re coming with me. If you want to see your son alive again, you’ll do what I say.” She motioned to the suitcase. “Pick it up and take it outside to my car.”
Tears pressed against Darby’s eyes, but she blinked them away.
She had to be strong for her son’s sake.
She cupped his face in her hands and did her best to calm him down.
“It’s going to be okay,” she promised him.
“I’m going with Suzanne but I’ll be back.
You stay strong. Everything is going to be fine. ”
She hated breaking away from him, but she had no choice. Besides, she would rather go with Suzanne than have her take him. Max had been fairly low-key during the time they’d been together, so she hoped David would be safer with him.
Suzanne unzipped the suitcase and pulled out a wad of cash. She handed it to Max. “I’ll call you once I’m safe,” she told him. “You know where to meet me, right?”
He nodded and stuffed the money into his pocket.
Darby grabbed the suitcase and carried it outside to Suzanne’s car. She ordered Darby into the passenger’s seat while Suzanne climbed behind the wheel.
As Suzanne drove away, Darby glanced back as the cabin door shut.
Please, God, keep David safe.
Clay pulled up to the police cruiser parked on the side of the road, and both he and Dean hopped out. The officer had radioed and said he’d stopped Darby’s car and had a conversation with her before letting her go.
“I’m Agent Walker, FBI,” Clay said as he approached. “You saw her?”
“Officer Turner. Yes, she seemed fine. She was in a rush to pick up her son.”
That didn’t make any sense. “She seemed fine?”
“Yes, and the BOLO said only to do a wellness check, and that’s what I did. I talked with her privately, and she insisted she was fine. Her passenger seemed okay too.”
“Passenger? What passenger? Her son?”
“No, he was about her age. The name on the license was Maxwell Merchant.”
“Did you run his name?”
“I was going to, but your girl really wanted to get back on the road, and I didn’t have any reason to suspect him.”
Clay took out his cell phone and relayed the information back to Cooper. “I have no idea who this guy is, but apparently, he’s with Darby.”
He heard Cooper typing on the computer. “I can’t find anyone by that name. Can the officer give a description?”
“He was tall and thin. Dark hair. Tattoos on his arms.”
Dean swore then pulled out his cell phone.
“Do you recognize him?” Clay asked.
“Maybe.” He scrolled through his phone then held up an image. “Is this the man you saw in the car?”
The officer nodded. “That was him.”
“Who is he?” Clay demanded.
“His real name is Max Stewart. I’ve busted him a few times on drug charges and burglary.” He took a breath and the bitterness on his face told Clay his next words were not going to be good ones. “He also used to date Suzanne.”
Clay’s stomach tightened at that bit of information. “Is he dangerous?”
“He never has been before, but if he’s after Darby’s inheritance, for that kind of cash, I’m not sure.”
“Do you think Suzanne is involved?”
Dean rubbed his chin as if in thought then gave a reluctant nod. “She was very interested when she heard about the money Darby inherited.”
Clay pulled out his phone to check her GPS. “Looks like the car’s parked at the Silver Lake RV Center about twenty miles up the road.”
Officer Turner stood to attention. “That campground has lots of isolated areas this time of year.”
“Let’s go,” Clay said, running back to his pickup.
Dean hopped in too and they took off down the road, following Officer Turner, who turned on his siren.
Dean took out his phone and dialed.
“Who are you calling?”
“Suzanne. I hope she’s not involved in this.” He held the phone to his ear then shook his head and grimaced. “She’s not answering. It’s going to voicemail … Suzanne, call me back right now.” He ended the call. “There’s no way Max knew about that money without Suzanne telling him.”
Officer Turner turned off his lights and sirens as they turned from the highway and past the Silver Lake RV Camping Center sign. No need to alert this Max and Suzanne that they were approaching.
Clay took the lead, since he had the GPS, and led them to the cabin where he spotted Darby’s rental car parked.
They got out and Clay drew his weapon, as did Dean and Officer Turner.
“Stay here,” Clay told the officer. He motioned for Dean to go to the other side while Clay circled to the right.
He stopped at a window and peered inside, where David sat tied to a chair and another man paced back and forth restlessly, a gun in his hand.
No sign of Darby or Suzanne. He didn’t know if that was good or not. They could be in the back of the cabin.
Darby’s rental car sat in front of the cabin, but he saw nothing that indicated a struggle. They already knew Max had ridden here with her.
Where was the other vehicle?
He circled back around to the front of the cabin and saw Dean returning.
“I’ve got eyes on the kid along with one male with a gun,” Dean explained.
Clay nodded. “I saw that too. No sign of Darby or Suzanne. Let’s go in. If Darby’s not here, she might be in trouble. But we need to rescue David before that guy gets too antsy.”
He led the way, moving up the porch steps. The door was slightly ajar, so they were lucky Max hadn’t heard them yet. He must be preoccupied. On the count of three, they burst inside, guns raised.
“FBI, don’t move,” Clay yelled.
Startled, Max spun around, raising his gun. Clay fired, hitting him in the shoulder and sending him to the floor. Office Turner kicked Max’s gun away then quickly cuffed him.
Dean hurried into the back room then re-emerged. “No one else is here.”
Clay hurried over to David and loosened the binds on his hands. “David, are you hurt?”
“No. I’m okay.”
“Where’s your mom? Do you know?”
“She left with that lady who used to work for her.”
“Suzanne?” Dean asked him.
He sniffled then nodded. “She made Mom go with her. She said she would kill me if she didn’t go. They took a suitcase.”
Dean grabbed Max’s uninjured shoulder. “Where did they go?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m supposed to take care of the kid then meet up with her in the Bahamas in a week.”
This time, Clay grabbed his arm. “And what exactly what where you supposed to do with the kid?”
His face flushed and he lowered his head. “She told me when we were planning this to kill him. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t get my nerve up to do that.”
While relieved that Max wasn’t a killer, Clay’s heart sank. Because, if she’d ordered the death of a child, then Darby’s life was in danger.
“Call your precinct and have them issue an alert for Suzanne’s car,” Dean told Officer Turner, calling off the license plate number he obviously knew by heart.
“How long since they left?” Clay demanded.
Max shrugged. “Not long. Maybe twenty minutes.”
“They couldn’t have gotten far. I’m going after them.”