Page 33 of Rescued Dreams (Last Chance Fire and Rescue #8)

THIRTY-TWO

“C ome with me.” Kane’s statement was more of an order than a request.

Ridge watched his cousin stride to the break room at the police department. Olivia said, “Go see what he wants.”

He needed answers, but if Kane wanted to pull him aside, it had to be important.

“Shut the door.”

“Are you going to keep ordering me around all day? I have things to do. We need to keep pestering the cops until we have a lead on where Amelia might be. Now that we know it was Nicholas who took her?—”

“Interviews take time. Elam isn’t going to give up his only ticket to a deal easily.” Kane dumped his backpack on the small round table, which wobbled under the weight of it. He drew out a roll of bandage. “Maria told the twins what happened. Now take off your shirt.”

Meg might have confirmed that the man she’d seen was Amelia’s ex, but what did that get them? They still had no idea where to find the guy. “We don’t have time for this.”

“You don’t want to go to the hospital, you take off your shirt.”

Ridge stared at him.

“I’ll cut it off and give you another one.” It might not have been meant as a threat, but with Kane’s broody stare, Ridge wasn’t sure.

The guy was mad that Ridge had been hurt, the truck had exploded and a man was in critical condition at the hospital, and Amelia had been taken.

Not exactly under his nose. Kane knew he wasn’t responsible for what’d happened.

Him or Maria, who was currently at the town house with the twins, keeping them safe.

“I can get it off.” He had ditched the turnout pants and found tennis shoes, so there were no suspenders. Ridge got one arm through the hole, ducked his head, and moved the shirt to the left, where he drew it down his arm.

“You should’ve gotten an X-ray.”

“So they can tell me what I already know?” Ridge dropped the shirt on the table. “They’re not broken. Just cracked.”

Kane ducked his head to Ridge’s side.

If the twins found out he’d been admitted, they’d be more freaked out than they probably already were about everything that had been going on. As freaked out as he was not knowing what had happened to Amelia.

Where is she, Lord?

Kane wrapped his ribs. Ridge gritted his teeth through the whole painful process, but when his cousin was done, he said, “That actually feels better, thanks.”

“I’ve had the same injury a time or two.” Kane grabbed Ridge’s shirt and tossed it back at him, followed by a bottle of over-the-counter pain pills to take once he’d put his shirt back on. That would take the edge off.

“You could always go home to the twins. Let Maria and me find Amelia and bring her back to you.”

Ridge put the pills on his tongue and ducked his head to the faucet at the small sink. Some glorious person had put a fresh pot of coffee on, and the scent of it hung in the air while the carafe popped and sizzled as the dark brew dripped into the glass container.

He turned to his cousin. “Is that what you would do? Sit back and let someone else find her?”

Ridge knew the answer already, because it had only been a matter of months since Maria had gone up against dangerous men who would have torn this country apart with a terror attack.

Kane had a personal interest in justice, along with the rest of his former Delta Force team.

All of them had stopped the threat and saved a whole lot of people who would never know they’d even been in danger.

“No.” Kane’s expression didn’t lose any of its shadows. “But Maria doesn’t like being cooped up any more than the rest of us.”

“And she’s trained but I’m not.”

“But Amelia is your woman.” Kane lifted his chin.

“I’m glad we have that figured out.” He spotted Olivia in the doorway.

“You guys need anything?” She glanced between them, now in her street clothes where she’d been in her uniform just a moment ago. “I just clocked off.”

Ridge said, “How do you feel about private protection detail?”

“Can you afford me?” Her eyes gleamed. “Actually, don’t worry about it. The twins? I heard they came to the firehouse. They’re probably worried about your people, and Amelia.”

All Ridge had done when he’d shown up here twenty minutes ago was ask her about Elam. It choked him up a bit to know she cared about them. She wanted to help.

Kane said, “I’ll tell Maria you’re relieving her.”

“Sure, but I have her number.” Olivia shrugged. “I’ll give her a call. See if they want any dinner on my way over.”

“Thanks, Liv.” Ridge swallowed against the lump in his throat.

She nodded. “Find your girl.”

Ridge poured two mugs of coffee while Kane made his call and explained to Maria what was happening. He handed Kane’s over, and they went back to the main PD office, pretty quiet and almost empty except for Sergeant Donaldson at his desk over in the corner.

“You guys want to listen to the interview?” Aiden got out of his seat, smoothing down his tie as he moved.

“Is that allowed?” Ridge asked.

Kane nudged him. “He offered.”

Aiden tipped his head. “This way.”

The back hall between the bullpen and the rear entrance had doors all down it. Holding was downstairs, and the city was working on plans to expand the whole building or even move it to a different location, considering the cops were crammed in here on a slow day.

Aiden opened a door that said VIEWING. “You were never here.”

“Thanks.” Ridge ducked in.

Kane turned the dial on the wall so they could hear voices, and Aiden shut the door.

In the interview room, Jessica, the detective, and Lieutenant Basuto sat across from Elam, who faced them.

“…expect us to believe that.” Basuto sat back in his chair, clearly unimpressed.

Ridge didn’t need to be able to see his face to register that. Not that he liked this guy much right now. Considering he’d dragged Amelia here and interrogated her, Ridge wasn’t going to be best friends with the guy anytime soon.

Jessica said, “You got that equipment from a guy at the National Guard who conveniently ‘loses’ items and then sells them to whoever will pay the most.”

“I never bought anything from him,” Elam said. “I don’t even know the guy. I found that stuff.”

“Found it? Really?” Basuto leaned forward. “You expect us to believe you enacted that fiasco at the bank because you found C4 and a locking mechanism? That seems convenient.”

Elam didn’t say anything.

He didn’t seem to have asked for a lawyer, or he’d have representation in the room with him. Which meant he thought he could handle this by himself. So he’s cocky. Prideful enough he might easily make a mistake.

“Not such a good plan. I mean, it didn’t work.” Basuto shrugged. “Whose idea was it? You should probably fire that person. I think they steered you wrong.”

“Ain’t nobody calling the shots but me.” Elam lifted his chin.

Basuto said, “So you’re the big man.”

Jessica tipped her head to the side. “Seems to me like you’re the failure. Going back to jail, nothing to give us to score yourself a sweet deal. You’ll be sixty by the time you get to use that money. Assuming, of course, that the government doesn’t discover the account and seize your assets.”

“What do you want?” He tried to be nonchalant. “Maybe I’ve got something to trade.”

“Try me.” Basuto shrugged. “We’ll see.”

“She’s gone, isn’t she?” Elam glanced between the two cops.

Ridge shifted, his body jerking as he realized what Elam was talking about. Pain flashed through his ribs despite the pills he’d taken. “He knows.”

Amelia was missing and her brother knew.

Jessica said, “She who? Who is gone, Elam?”

He only rolled his eyes. “As if you don’t know. Her crazy ex. That guy is…” His voice trailed off into muttering mixed with some colorful curses.

Ridge said, “Tell them where she is,” to the glass.

Basuto was the one who said, “Yes, it would seem that your sister is gone. Are you confessing that her ex is the one who orchestrated your plan?”

“Set me up, didn’t he?” Elam made a face that was pure displeasure. “I’m gonna kill that…” He quit talking.

“Good idea not stating your intention to murder someone in front of two cops who will testify against you,” Jessica said. “Who is he?”

“Nicholas. What kind of name is that?” Elam sneered.

“And where did he take Amelia?”

Ridge held still. “It can’t be that easy. He needs to bargain, he’s not just going to answer the question.”

Kane made a small sound of acknowledgment in his throat. His phone buzzed, and he lifted his wrist to look at the screen of his smartwatch. “Maria is here.”

Elam studied his fingernails.

“Good,” Ridge said. “We could use her help as well.”

Finally, Elam shrugged. “My father had a lot of properties all over town.”

“I’ll run a search.” Kane strode out, probably going to meet Maria. Whatever he had in that backpack of his, Ridge prayed it was tech that would enable them to get Amelia back.

With no one in the room, he let out a breath, braced a hand on the glass, and hung his head. The persistent ache in his ribs flared to life again as if increasing simply because he was acknowledging it rather than skillfully pretending it didn’t exist.

When he drew his hand back from the glass, it flexed. Not glass, thick plastic. Basuto glanced over his shoulder, one brow raised.

He turned back to Elam. “So this stalker ex has her, and you want us to go on a wild-goose chase through every property your father owned just to find her? She’ll be dead by then. Or he’s already put her on a plane. He’ll take her somewhere no firefighter will ever find her.”

Ridge groaned.

Basuto knew he was in here.

“Find her.” Elam shrugged. “Don’t find her. What do I care? I’ll have my money to retire with.”

Ridge went to the door and let himself out. In the bullpen, Maria and Kane bent to look at the same laptop screen, Aiden standing nearby. A couple of uniformed officers sat in the break room, drinking coffee.

“Anything? Because Elam is giving them nothing.” He told them what had been said.

Aiden nodded. “Basuto has a point. A wild-goose chase is a waste of resources. We need intel and probable cause so we can get a warrant and go kick a door in.”

Ridge sucked in a long breath.

“We’re looking at options.” Kane didn’t even glance over.

Ridge paced down the aisle between desks and then back over. He’d never felt so helpless in his life as he did right now. God, how do I get her back?

He prayed Amelia wasn’t hurt or in imminent danger of being hurt.

That things didn’t get worse before they got better.

And he prayed she would find peace in Jesus so that she wasn’t alone. If she cried out to Him, she would find safety in His arms. No matter what the outcome would be.

That was the promise he believed in.

Aiden said, “I’ll be right there.”

Ridge twisted around to the sergeant’s desk, where Aiden set the phone back on its cradle. “It’s okay if you need to go.”

“You’ll want to come with me.” Aiden slid his holstered weapon onto his belt and grabbed a set of keys. “A call just came in from one of your neighbors. There’s a disturbance at your house.”

Ridge ran for the entrance as fast as he could.

The twins.