Page 51

FIFTY

At five after eleven, Jenna’s phone chimed a message. Chills ran down her spine as she stared at the screen. “Oh, no! We have a kidnapping.” She held out the phone to Raven. “It says: I have Wendy. Leave your office alone and follow instructions or she dies.”

“Wendy who?” Raven stared at the phone. “No caller ID.”

Panic gripped Jenna. “It must be Wendy from Aunt Betty’s Café. She’s a friend.” She called Wendy and it went to voicemail. “She’s not picking up. I’ll call Aunt Betty’s. Hi, Susie, is Wendy working today?”

“She was due in at eleven and always comes by early. I’m waiting for her to arrive.” Susie Hartwig, the owner-manager of the eatery, sounded alarmed. “Has something happened to her?”

Forcing herself to keep calm, Jenna raised both eyebrows and looked at Raven. “I have no reason to believe something has happened to her, but I need to know where she is right now. If she comes in, can you ask her to call me, please?”

“Not a problem.”

The moment she disconnected, Jenna’s phone chimed again. She stared at it. “No caller ID. Call Kalo to trace the call, and I’ll keep them on the line for as long as possible.” She put the phone on speaker .

“Now you know who I’m talking about. You have exactly five minutes to leave the building alone. Climb into your vehicle and drive to the convenience store. I’ll call you again once you’re there. Leave now or Wendy dies.”

Stomach clenching, Jenna shook her head. “That’s not going to happen. For a start I can’t drive the truck. Who is this? If you’ve kidnapped someone against their will and this is a ransom demand, I need the terms before I leave the building.”

“Are you dumb or just plain stupid? You know darn well this is Mason Margos. I’ll trade Wendy for you, for a start.” In the background she could hear a muffled scream. “Wendy doesn’t like me very much. Go figure.”

Trying to remain calm, Jenna sucked in a deep breath. Margos was unhinged and not thinking straight. “I don’t like you either, and what do you want with me? If you figure holding a sheriff hostage will get you out of prison, you’re sadly mistaken. I would be collateral damage if it meant getting you back in a cell.”

“I’m not going back to a cell.” Margos chuckled and Wendy screamed again. “You care about the people in your town. That much I know about you just by speaking to the townsfolk. You know not one of them recognized me and I’ve been close by all this time. I’ll swap you for Wendy. You’re valuable and your deputies will release Callahan and Romero in a trade for you.”

Raven slipped back into the room and nodded. He pushed a slip of paper across the desk with an address scribbled on it. From the area it was one of the dilapidated warehouses alongside the old railroad line.

Nodding, Jenna stood. “No deal. Do you figure if I release them, you’ll get out of town alive? I have teams of armed people hunting you down. I’ll alert the DOC teams that you’re in town. You won’t stand a chance if you hurt Wendy. Give yourself up and we’ll talk. I’ll make sure no one shoots you.” The line went dead. She looked at Raven. “I guess that’s a no ?”

The desk phone rang. It was Maggie. “Yes, Maggie.”

“Agent Carter called in. Everyone is heading to the industrial area. There was a sighting of Margos ten minutes ago. The owner of a recycling yard chased him off. They’ll call in again once they’re back in range.”

Unable to believe her ears, Jenna stared at Raven. “Okay, Maggie, tell them it’s a false lead. Margos just called me. He’s holding Wendy hostage.” She gave Maggie the details. “I’m on my way now with Raven.” She disconnected.

“You should call in the DOC.” Raven’s face was filled with concern. “You can’t possibly handle this alone.”

Pulling Kane’s Kevlar vest over her head, she rounded on him. “I’m the sheriff. Of course I can handle this and I won’t be alone. You’ll be with me and we have Ben. It’s about time we put that dog through his paces.”

“Okay.” Raven attached a leash to the K9. “Does Kane have a spare Kevlar vest?”

Nodding, Jenna checked her weapon. “In the supply room.” When Raven left the office, Jenna pressed her tracker ring. The moment her deputies, Kane, or Wolfe came into range, they would be alerted. They could also hear every word she said and could track her movements.

Unfortunately, it only worked one way. She would have no idea if the cavalry was coming. She made a call to the DOC command post and gave the person answering the phone the details of where she believed Margos was hiding. For now, this was all she could do. Raven was solid. He could shoot straight but he wasn’t Kane. She met him in the passageway. “I know the area. We can go off road and then park the Beast inside one of the warehouses and walk. He won’t see us coming. Okay, let’s do this.”

The old warehouse’s rusted metal roof groaned in the wind as Jenna, Raven, and Ben slipped inside. The smell of oil and decay oozed from the dark interior. Shafts of sunlight fought their way through the broken dirt-covered windows to cast long eerie shadows across the floor. Waiting for her eyes to become adjusted to the dim interior, Jenna slipped behind a large rusty bin the size of a boxcar. The ground, once a solid concrete slab, was cracked and weeds grew up all around the floor, leaning toward the light. A scream followed by threats came from the opposite end of the building. Concern for Wendy gripped Jenna. She kept her voice to just above a whisper. “He must be hiding in the other end of the building that held the offices. It has windows all around. We can’t risk using flashlights if we want to get the jump on him.”

“Ben will be able to see. He’ll lead us to them.” Raven leaned closer. “He won’t kill her, not yet. She is all he has as a bargaining chip right now.”

Jenna nodded and scratched Ben’s ears. For a K9, the dog was very sociable. “I don’t plan on trying to negotiate with a psychopath. Wendy is the priority here. First chance we have, take him down.”

“Ben will attack on command.” Raven swiped a hand over his mouth. “There’s always a risk he’ll be shot, but if he can distract Margos, we’ll be able to take him out.”

A terrified scream filled the entire warehouse. Margos was starting to enjoy himself, which made him even more dangerous. When Raven moved off with Ben leading the way, stretching out the leash between them, Jenna followed closely behind, keeping to the shadows and using massive pieces of machinery and old boxcars to conceal their movements. Ahead Margos was muttering as if arguing with himself. It was the ravings of an unhinged mind, and Jenna’s hand trembled on her weapon. She’d made Kane a promise to stay safe while he was away, and she never broke her promises—until now, but what other choice did she have? Everyone on her team was out of contact and one of her friends was in deadly peril.

Ahead, a small light shone from a divided area that had once been an office. Inside, Wendy sat on an old rusty metal chair, hands tied behind her. Margos had his fist balled in her hair and was grinning down at her as he twisted it. In that moment, Jenna wanted to raise her weapon and shoot him, but the cop inside her would always make her follow procedure. She didn’t have a problem shooting a perpetrator if they drew down on her, but if she shot him in cold blood, she’d be no better than him. Making sure both she and Raven were completely protected by the heavy machinery, she pointed her M18 pistol at Margos. “Sheriff’s department, put down your weapon and surrender. You’re surrounded.”

“That’s never gonna happen.” Margos dragged Wendy to her feet by her hair, holding her in front of him. He waved a pistol around and then pressed it to her temple. “I’d like to kill her. My fingers are itching to see her bleed out on the floor. Do you know how that feels, Sheriff? I can tell you it feels mighty fine, and once you’ve done it you want to do it over and over again.” He laughed manically. “If one of your men takes me down, I’ll take her with me. One for the road, you might say.”

Jenna watched Wendy’s eyes. Her friend stared to the left. Hoping one of the team had arrived, she nudged Raven. A second later Ben flew out of the shadows like a bullet and sunk his teeth into Margos’ thigh. The gun moved away from Wendy’s temple, and she dropped like a stone just as a shot rang out. Beside her a millisecond later, Raven fired as well. Margos fell sideways, a gaping hole in his head.

“Clear.” Raven darted forward to lift Wendy to her feet as Ben ran around them barking. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve had better days.” Wendy tossed her long blonde hair over one shoulder and rubbed the top of her head. “Thanks for saving me, Raven.”

“It wasn’t me.” Raven indicated to his left and a smile spread across his lips. “It was him.”

Jenna leaned against the machinery suddenly exhausted. The room darkened for a second, as someone climbed through an old brick window frame. She turned as Kane dropped to the floor. Relief rolled over her as he holstered his weapon and walked toward her smiling.

“Honey, I’m home.”