Page 45 of Her Final Hours (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #3)

N oah had never been much of a gambling man; that had been his brother Ray.

One thing he’d always told him was to win big, you had to be willing to risk it all — strange advice coming from someone who had a history of losses. Still, if there ever was a time he had to choose between where to place his chips, it was now.

Negotiating had been his strong point in an interview room, but this wasn’t a controlled environment where he could observe through a one-way mirror and then take a person through trained steps.

Yet he had to believe that Mia was still alive because the abductor hadn’t gotten what he wanted yet.

That was still beside him, sitting quietly.

At least, he’d thought it was.

Now he knew better.

Noah had been out of the vehicle, helping the troopers, when Callie called and left the voicemail. She had given him an essential piece of the puzzle. To her, it was but a mystery; to him, it now fit perfectly. She had answered the question of why her. Why did the abductor want Jane Doe?

She’d also made it clear that they weren’t dealing with one individual but multiple, and that’s how they could stay one step ahead of law enforcement.

Although now the Bronco was free and back on the road, he sat there patiently waiting for the shrill call of the abductor’s cell phone. When it came, he answered with a degree of confidence.

“I told you not to cross me. Time’s up. Your daughter is as good as dead.”

“If she’s dead, you don’t get a cent of the three million.”

There was dead air.

“That’s what you’re after, isn’t it?” Noah asked. There was a pause. “It never was the girl you wanted; it’s what she knows about the location of the money Joseph lost.” Silence stretched between them. “So, we are going to do this another way. My way, asshole.”

“Fuck you.”

The line went dead.

As a father, a shot of fear went through him.

There was always the possibility that he would kill Mia out of spite — that he’d lost control.

But underlying the paranoia and fear was a silent trust, a belief in his experience as an investigator.

He knew a man wouldn’t go to all this trouble if he were willing to let that money slide.

It meant something far beyond what it could buy.

Had it been cash that was to be distributed among the many, and the abductor feared blowback?

There was only one thing worse than an unhinged criminal — that was an untrustworthy one.

It would have been easy for the others to think that he had killed Joseph and taken the money for himself even if he hadn’t.

No, this wasn’t about lining his own pocket; it was about maintaining control over a tight-knit group that could easily collapse under plea deals.

Even the most loyal could be broken if they felt they had been thrown under the bus.

The cell phone rang again.

“Hello,” Noah said.

“Who did you speak to?”

“Does it matter now?”

“I guess not, but inquiring minds want to know.”

“All you need to know is I know where the money is, so the girl is off the table. It’s just you and I from here on out.”

“You making the rules now?”

“I am.”

“No. You don’t…”

Before the abductor finished what he was saying, Noah interrupted him.

“Call me back when you’re ready to listen.

” Noah hung up on him this time. It was a powerful yet potentially stupid move, but at this point, he figured he couldn’t stop them from killing his daughter even if he wanted to.

From all he’d gleaned from Callie’s voicemail, their empathy for human life fell far below that of a deer.

The two state troopers had lingered beyond the window, listening in on the call, so they were now brought up to speed on the recent development. Snowflakes swirled around them. They shuffled on the spot to stay warm.

“Aren’t you scared he’ll kill your daughter?” the one trooper asked.

“Terrified,” Noah replied. “But he won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I can’t, but he won’t.”

“Because you’ve dealt with things like this before? ”

“Not exactly.”

“Then how can you be so calm?”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

“Why don’t we just track the phone?”

“Burner phones. He won’t be using the same one each time.”

The phone rang again, and he glanced at the trooper as he answered.

The abductor cut straight to the chase. “If you’re lying...”

“That would be foolish, right?” Noah replied.

There was a short pause. “How do you want to do this?”

And there it was; he relented.

“We meet face to face. You can see the money, and I can see my daughter is alive and unharmed.”

“Huh. I can’t promise she’ll be unharmed. She really is a sweet little thing.”

It was an act, an attempt to get under his skin because the abductor was out of control and no longer dealing the cards.

“So?” Noah asked.

The abductor laughed. “What, and let the entire law enforcement community hedge us in? Come on! Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

“We’ve come this far; you have my daughter. I can assure you there will be no police presence beside myself.”

“Sounds arousing,” he said jokingly. “Me with a gun to her head, and you bringing me what I want. Except, I smell foul.”

Noah remained silent. Sometimes it was in the silence between that suspects broke. The need to fill the void. The sense that an opportunity or deal might come to the table. “Where to meet?” the abductor asked.

“You pick the place. You can arrive first. You’ll see me arrive. I want you to be comfortable.”

“How generous of you,” he said mockingly .

Noah gripped the phone tighter.

“We’ll meet sixty feet apart. You bring the girl; I bring the money.”

“Unarmed?”

“I’m there for my daughter. Nothing more. Once you have checked the money, you release my daughter and go on your way.”

“You could alert cops to pull me over.”

“You were confident that I wouldn’t contact anyone before. Have one of the others watch over me from afar until you are long gone.”

“Others? What makes you think there are others?”

“Drop the facade — Frank.”

There was dead air. He knew Frank Rodriguez was wondering how he knew him.

That, again, was thanks to McKenzie, who unearthed the details of the farm’s owner.

The Sheriff’s Office had descended upon the farm, making entry in their search for Mia.

Although they never found her, there was substantial evidence to believe that she was held there for a time and the property had been used to hold captives.

Etched into the cement block walls of the basement were the names of the missing.

Like a wall of remembrance of lives lost.

“You think you know me?”

“I know enough that I wouldn’t lose an ounce of sleep if you were put to death.”

“There are many things I could do with your daughter before I take her life.”

“Then you might as well put a bullet in your skull before your pals do it for you. I hear withholding what is owed doesn’t go over well among your kind.”

“Is that what you think?”

“Think? I know. Tell me, Frank, how many get to walk away in your line of work? Now you’ve got a chance to do it with three million, albeit, it’s not a lot nowadays but enough to set you up to live comfortably — let’s say in Mexico? I hear the cartel loves trafficking girls.”

There was a long pause as if Frank was contemplating. The offer Noah extended was a carrot on the end of a stick, a nudge in a direction he had to have considered.

“So? What’s it going to be?” Noah asked.

“The Heart Lake Campground fifteen minutes south of High Peaks. I hear you’re familiar with the place.” There was a slight chuckle on the other end of the line, a nod toward the site of Payton’s abduction.

“No, too many innocents could die if things go wrong.”

“In a snowstorm?” Frank replied with a chuckle. “I hardly think people are working on their tan.”

It went against the grain of most ransom exchanges.

Having absolutely no one around gave them a false sense of security.

But throw civilians into the loop? Things got complicated.

Officers could blend in with a crowd but so could an abductor.

Although the campground would be less populated because of the season, he knew it still offered lodging and cabins in the winter months.

How many would be brave enough to be out in this was unknown, but it was a risk he didn’t want to take.

Already his mind was beginning to wonder how Frank would enter and exit.

There was only one road in and out. The lake was surrounded by hilly, forested terrain.

It had to be daylight hours; darkness would only increase the chance of disappearing.

“Just off Heart Lake Road. We’ll meet outside High Peaks Information Center,” Noah said. “Let’s say at 12:35. Two hours from now. With the storm and all, you’ll need the extra time.”

“As will you if you planned on rallying the troops. No. Thirty minutes from now. ”

“It would take me twenty on a good day to reach it from where I am.”

“In forty-five then because I see you’re out of the ditch now.”

With that, Frank hung up.

Fear spiked as he glanced out. They’d had a few vehicles drive by over the last hour; one of them had to be him.