"You talked to her? Tell me what she said. Everything, Jamie. Anything she said could be important."
"She said to pet the cat and that she didn"t want to wear the ring I got her. She called me Jamie and herself Danish. And to tell Pi she loved her very much." Jamie closed his eyes. He knew why Dane had said what she did, but it didn"t make it hurt any less.
"You have a cat? Why would she want you to pet the cat? Are you sure that"s what she said?"
"Cait, I asked her about the cat you, you"re the cat." He wanted to get things going, not explain what she should al... He took a deep breath before continuing. "I was asking her if I should contact you and she said yes to pet the cat for her. And I didn"t give her a ring. We were going to the mall to pick it out tonight. I think she was telling me that she was at the mall with him. Keep up, will you?"
"Hey buck-o, I just had a kid." She laughed. "So back the f.u.c.k off. And as much as I hate to admit it right now, that was very clever of you two. Stay away from the mall, Jamie. If he sees you there, he might hurt Dane."
"What about Pi? She will freak out if someone tells her she doesn"t know that Dane is with this guy. She told me she thinks of Dane as her daughter. I have to tell her, Cait. She"ll get hysterical if I don"t do it."
"d.a.m.n it. Call your mom. Tell her what"s going on. This is just what I need, your mother and a woman who barely speaks English in a mall full of people, flipping out. I can see the headlines now. "Crazed Chinese Woman and Head of Children Services Have Screaming Fit in Mall, more at eleven." Tell Margaret to remain calm and bring Pi out the food court exit. I"ll have a plain car waiting there to bring her to you." Cait drew a loud, deep breath. "We"ll get her, Jamie. Don"t worry."
He called his mother next. Cait must have called Spencer because while Jamie was still trying to calm his mother down, Spencer burst into his office. He knew that he was talking to another brother; his cell was plastered to his head.
"Yes, Mom. Please, just tell her whatever you need to get her out of the mall without causing a scene." Jamie rubbed his aching forehead. "I"ll tell her when I see her. Dane isn"t stupid. She"ll get us to her."
"Well of course she isn"t stupid. What a thing to say. Did this man kidnap her because of her money? He worked fast if he did. That poor child. When you get her back, you tell her I love her, all right, Jamie?" He heard her turn off the car. "I"m at the mall. I"m betting she"s at the kitchen place. That woman has probably bought out half the store. Hopefully they won"t mind holding it for her. Maybe I can make arrangements to have it delivered to your new home. What do you think?"
"Mom, I love you, but I don"t give a rat"s a.s.s about the stuff she"s bought. I want my Dane back." He closed his eyes. "I"m sorry. I know you"re trying to help. I"m worried. She"s my life. I can"t...I"m sorry."
"You"re a little too tall for me to wash your mouth out with soap. But I"ll think of something." Her laugh made him smile. "Oh dear, Jamie, she has bought out the store. She has a cart that the construction people use to cart around brick and stuff. I"ll call you back when we leave."
As soon as he hung up, his phone rang again. It was Ronnie. She and Devin were on their way to pick him up, he was not to drive. Jamie looked up at Spencer, who was still on his phone to whoever.
"I want to go to our house," he told Ronnie. "Mom is going to bring Pi there. She"ll want to cook, it calms her. Can you call the rest of the family and let them know that"s where I"ll be if they need me? They don"t have to come, but they should know where I am." Ronnie snorted. "Like you"d be able to keep us away. I"ll text everyone with your location now. And Pi will need more food. I"ll call a friend of mine who owns an upscale store and have him bring out the works. Do you mind if the kids and nannies come too? That way we can stay together."
"No, one thing we have is plenty of room. I"d like the family with me. Ronnie, I can"t...I need her back. I don"t think I can...she"s my life." He didn"t know why he kept telling people that, but it did calm him somewhat.
"She"ll be home soon and be spitting mad that all this fuss was made over it. And Jamie, you"ve got the best working at getting her back. Cait won"t let anything happen to her." He knew that too.
Spencer was pacing again. He did that when he was nervous. When he noticed that Jamie wasn"t talking, he sat down.
"Cait will find her and bring her home. She said to tell you she loves you. Meggie is coming here too. Did I hear you right? Are we going to the big new digs?"
"Yeah, Mom is picking Pi up now." Jamie put his head in his hands before he continued.
"Then we"ll all meet at the house. Ronnie is having more food brought in. You know this is a lot of people for Pi. I think she"ll be all right though. She loves Dane. And Dane loves her."
"Mom says she"s a hoot. I"ll ride over with you and Devin. He called to tell me what was going on. Taylor is closing down the office. Byron is catching a flight home from Germany. He said he"d catch a taxi there. Nick and Morgan are leaving as soon as they pick the twins up at preschool, and Dan and the boys are picking up Damon at the hospital. He is bringing his kit. He also said to tell you that he had a date tonight and you owe him big time." Spencer leaned back in his chair. "He said that he wants a paint by number kit too. Want to explain that to me?" Devin walked in the door just as he was finishing up the story behind the chocolate and brushes. It seemed that everyone wanted a set for Christmas or their birthday, whichever came the soonest. Jamie told them he was getting one first.
The drive to the house was long; Jamie just wanted to find Dane and make love to her and pretend none of this had happened. And he needed to talk to Pi. Jamie just hoped she was easy to make understand and that he could understand her. He was beginning to love the batty woman and didn"t want to have to strangle her. He sat her down in the kitchen with his family around and a couple of men who had come with Cait. Men with nice suits and guns under their arms.
"You tell me what happen to Missy Dane or I hex your twig and berries. Missy Dane be mad, but you make me wait long enough. Split it now, Mister Jamie. I worried."
"Someone has kidnapped her." Jamie took Pi"s hands into his. "Dane said to tell you she loved you and that you were right. Do you know what she meant?"
"She tell you how much she love Pi?" That made her smile then she frowned. "She said anything else? I need to know. It important."
"Dane said to tell you she loves you very much and that you were right all along and that you were right about everything. Does that help?"
"It be that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Markus. He a weasel of bad kind. He make her sick before. I tell her that he bad man, she no listen. Now we cut his wiener off and make it roast over fire then serve it to him. I no like him."
No kidding, Jamie thought. He found himself cupping his groin and hoping never to make Pi this upset with him. He looked at his brothers, who were trying not to do the same thing. Cait snorted at them and turned to Pi. Easy for her to say. A man"s "wiener" was all he had.
"Pi?" Cait asked her. "What"s his last name, and do you have a picture of him? I want to find him too and you and I will discuss his demise. Also, how did he make Dane sick before?"
"His name is...train, Miss Dane say. Like a train. He make her sick by making her keep going. It hard for her. No time to rest. He keep sending her stuff to look at. She tell him no more.
I heard her, she say he have to learn to do job himself. You want hear it?"
"Hear it? Yes, I"d like to...train, you mean like the railroad company?" Cait looked at Jamie and he shrugged. He didn"t know. "Or a toy? Can you remember anything else?" Cait followed her into the study, Jamie close behind. He liked this room and wondered if Dane would let him set up his office in here. The smell of cigar smoke made him think of his father and grandfather. Pi walked over to the answering machine and pushed the b.u.t.ton.
A man"s voice was leaving a message wanting Dane to call him back immediately. Then Dane answered him. Jamie watched as two men from Cait"s office started taking notes. He read their notes as they wrote.
*CHAPTER 20*.
Dane woke to a dark room. The only bit of light was from beneath the door that was just in front of her. She was tied up, her arms up over her head, and she was hanging from them. Her feet were on the floor, but just barely. Every time she tried to move, the rope would cut into her wrists. The gag on her mouth cut into her mouth and lips.
The room wasn"t very big, she could feel that, and she could also feel the others that had been in here, their despair, the pain and the terror. Death was here, all through the room, and even on the gag in her mouth. She tried screaming, but she couldn"t make a noise past the cloth.
Terror made sweat bead on her skin and she could feel it dripping down her back.
Trying to focus on building a wall around her mind, she kept listening to anything that might tell her where she was and if help was available. The room was too loud and the voices of emotion too strong. Her mind simply shut down and she slipped back into darkness.
The next time she opened her eyes, Markus was sitting in a chair in front of her. There was also more light this time. He looked pleased with himself and he had a single red rose in his hand. When he noticed Dane was awake, he stood and brought the rose to her cheek and ran it down to her chin. She tried not to pull away, but he must have seen something and slapped her again. She simply let the darkness take her away.
Keeping her eyes closed this time, she reached out into the room to see if she was alone. Her head hurt so bad that she couldn"t concentrate long, but it was enough to let her know no one living was with her this time. Opening her eyes, she could see that the light under the door was brighter and that she could smell something, some sort of food smell wafting through the air. The odor made her belly jump and she thought she might throw up. Terrified she would kill herself if she did throw up with the gag in her mouth, she tried to breathe through all of it. She took several deep breaths into her nose and tried to think of anything else.
James. He would come for her. Dane knew he would, and Cait would too. They would find her and she would be all right. She had to keep saying that to herself. She couldn"t lose hope.
When a shadow crossed over the front of the door, she closed her eyes and relaxed against the rope. When the door lock was clicked and the brightness of the outer room shone against her eyes, Dane knew the door had been opened. She reached out gently and found Markus and a man she didn"t think she knew. But something was...familiar to her.
"See, I told you I had her. You just need to give me a little more time to acclimate her to my way of doing things. She"ll find your wife and child. I had to hit her a couple of times to get her to listen, but she"ll be ready to work when she wakes up."
He sounded so calm, so normal that Dane could almost believe that he was the same Markus she knew. The one who she had worked with all those years.
"Ain"t nothing wrong with hitting a woman to keep her in line. You remember that. And I don"t give a t.u.r.d"s h.e.l.l about that brat. I want that woman back. She"s mine and I mean to have her. Nothing gets away from me, unlessin" I say it can. Don"t know who helped her, but I wanna know that too. Got me some lessons to teach when she comes back. You and that girl there will make sure I get her too or else"n I"m gonna make you sorry you were born. Got me, boy?"
"Oh yes, Mr. Ormond. Dane and I are a team now. We"ll deliver. Don"t you worry about at thing." Markus" voice sounded slightly afraid and she could feel his fear of the other man too.
Dane waited until she heard the lock click before she opened her eyes. An urge to giggle caught in her throat. They actually locked the door and she was tied up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Did they expect her to cut herself down and then get away? she wondered. The room was screaming at her again and it was beating at her mind like a thousand little knives. She needed to get out of here or she would shut down. And she doubted that Markus would be calling Pi for instructions on how to wake her. Working at building the wall, she tried to concentrate. But pain was taking its toll on her too. She needed to work harder, she realized, before she went somewhere she couldn"t return from without help.
When Markus came in later, Dane was fighting the demons. She could feel eight different tragedies in this room. There were no windows and he had painted the walls flat black; the smell of fresh paint stung her nose. Her arms ached and she was pretty sure she was bleeding from somewhere on her face. The blood was dripping onto her chest and spilling down her shirt. Using every bit of her energy, she focused on Markus and what he was saying.
"You"ll do as you"re told, Dane, or I will punish you." He snarled at her. "I know what to do to keep you in line. Your mother did it to you and look what happened. I"ll start out slow for you.
I know I hit you too hard, but you must learn to listen." He put a cloth next to her face. It was too close to see, but she could smell the blood all over it. She tried to jerk away from it, but she couldn"t move. Screaming behind the gag, she reached for anyone she could touch and begged for help. When the cloth touched her face, she lost consciousness.
The cold water brought her awake screaming. It was only a small amount, probably just enough to fill a gla.s.s, but she wasn"t so deep yet that it wouldn"t work to bring her around. The first thing she noticed was that her shirt was gone and the second, there was someone else in the room with her besides Markus. He was sane...sort of, but he was evil. And she did know him.
The moment she realized who he was, she began to scream behind the gag and struggle to get away.
"Ah Dane, decided to join us did you? Good. This will be you"re first lesson in learning to obey me. I guess you know who this is, don"t you. Remember? He helped your mommy all those years ago right before you disappeared. It took me forever to find him. But he"s been so busy since those days. It seems he"s developed quite a taste for the whip. Haven"t you, Carl?" Markus"
laughter made her sick. "I"m going to leave you two alone to get reacquainted." Dane started screaming again the moment the door closed behind Markus. Carl moved up behind her and started touching her with something. Her body reacted to the contact by convulsing and jerking. The power of the emotions on it ripped through her mind and body like a freight train. Death. So much death. He"d killed so many with this whip.
"You were such a willful child." His voice was so soft and low. "Your mother paid me so much money to hurt you. I wanted to tell her I"d do it for free, but I like spending the money on wh.o.r.es and drink. Makes me h.o.r.n.y to hit, to make someone bleed. I"m going to put a matching set of scars on your back, baby girl. You"re going to remember me every time you look in the mirror. And Markus don"t care none. He don"t wanna f.u.c.k you, he said. He said so long as I don"t hurt your head, I could have as much fun as I wanted." The first slap of the whip took her breath away. His laughter tore at her memories and she tried to slide into a light place that she went when the world around her got to be too much. She was too weak, the loss of blood, the room, and the bombardment of it proved too much. By the time Carl had delivered his tenth blow to her back, Dane had slipped into a deep hole. And unless she got help soon, no amount of water was bringing her back. And she was at the point by then that she didn"t care.
Jamie read the notes from the answering machine. They were verbatim and they were precise.
Man: "Dane, if you"re there, answer the f.u.c.king phone. I"ve had enough of this. I need you to help me find a woman and her child."
Danish: "I"m here. Markus I can"t do this anymore. I"ve had enough. I"ve had the week from h.e.l.l and I-"
Man: "What"s happened? I haven"t heard from you all week and now you"re telling me you"re done. I"m afraid I can"t let that happen, Dane. I"ve a great many people depending on me."
Danish: "Depending on you? How on earth are they depending on you? I thought your team knew about me. You said they all worked hard on keeping me out of the media. Are you taking credit for what I"ve been doing?"
Man: "Are you kidding? I"d have to share the proceeds if I did that. No, baby, it"s all you and me. We are going to clean up the streets with your power and my smarts." Danish: "I"ve never charged a single person for my help. I told you that. But you have, haven"t you? You"ve been charging for my help and taking the money. Christ, I"ve been doing this for eight years, paying for my own plane fare to come to you, and you"ve been making a profit? How dare you?"
Man: "d.a.m.n right I dare. I dare a great many things. You"d be well to remember that, Swedish Danish Messenger. Yeah, I know all about your mother and her methods to control you.
The way she would lock you in that dark room until you begged to come out. Well, I"ve got my own little dark room just waiting for you. And if I have to come for you, you"ll be very sorry." Danish: "f.u.c.k you, Markus. You come near me and I will kill you." Phone disconnects.
"This is a long enough call that we could trace it, but it"s a cell phone. He did call her from here somewhere in Ohio. It was about ten miles from where she lived when she received it. But that was five days ago. If he has her, and I"ve no doubt that he does, it"ll have to be in a place that will be secluded. He talks about a dark room. Do you know what that might be, Mr. Grant?" Jamie looked up from the transcript of the call. He had to ask the officer to repeat it. This man had his Dane.
"No, I"m sorry, but Pi might know. She and Dane have been friends for a very long time.
Let me get her for you."
Jamie walked into the kitchen and looked around. There was food everywhere. Sandwiches and pies, cakes, and a pot roast. There were Chinese dumplings and French fries, pancakes, and bacon. He could see one of the ovens was on and it looked like a whole turkey was in there. The stove was covered in pans, potatoes boiled in one, carrots in another. Rice was steaming on the back burner and there were chopped up vegetables in a large wok steaming. Along the counter under the window were gallons of tea, some with sugar, some without. A large coffee urn brewed in the corner and several cups along with cream, sugar, and spoons rested on a tray. But he didn"t see Pi. When he went to look in the pantry, he saw her outside with Morgan and the boys. He walked out to talk to her.
"h.e.l.lo, Jamie," Morgan said as she walked toward him. "We were just taking a break. Pi has been busy. We were just discussing the merits of inviting everyone here next Sunday. Your mother is fine with it so long as Pi cooks less food."
"I go overtop, Mister Jamie. I cook when I tinsel. Missy Dane said it good thing I not have too much." Her smile was sad. "She come back she be p.i.s.syed at me, I think. I don"t care, but she be there."
"I have to agree. It"s not good to have too much tinsel. The police have a few questions for you, Pi. That man said he-"
"Lionel!" she said suddenly. "That it. The train. Missy Dane call him that too, freighter train. His name is Markus Lionel. I knew I"d rethink it. That help, Mister Jamie?" They all ran into the house and began talking at once. It took Cait a few seconds to catch up with them, but once she did, she called someone to do a search on him. When that didn"t turn up anything, Pi looked crushed. Jamie pulled her into his arms and held her again as she cried.
"Try it backwards. I mean, they"re both first and last names. Maybe he just turned it around," Byron suggested with a shrug.
"Bingo!" Cait smiled. "Two hits on an M. Lionel. He rented a van the day before yesterday and he"s rented a house on Broad Street. I"ll get my men there in ten minutes. I"m going too.
Saddle up, boys, we"re going to have some fun."
"Uhhh, O"Malley, you aren"t going anywhere. You just had a baby less than five days ago, by C-section I might add. And I nearly lost you. I can"t...you aren"t even supposed to be up and around this much." Spencer looked ready to do battle. So did Cait.
"Spencer, I have to go. I"m alive because she told you I would be. I"m here because she said that she saw us holding our son. I can"t fail this woman again. I need to be there. I can"t sit on the sidelines again, not now that she"s going to be a part of my family." Jamie didn"t know what to say. He wanted Cait to stay home too, but he wasn"t going to stay home either. He had to find his Dane and he figured Cait felt the same way. Jamie didn"t ask nor did he comment when the FBI agent raised his brow at him. He simply kissed his mother, slipped on his coat, and went to one of the many vehicles that were being loaded. Pi came out to speak to him.
"Missy Dane need you to touch her," she told him softly. "She will need good touches, not hard. You don"t let n.o.body touch her who not love her. Tell her I have house ready when she come here."
"I will, Pi. And thank you. I"m so glad that you"re here for us. We are both going to need you so much when we get settled." Jamie kissed her cheek. "We"re going to make you a grandma. You"re staying right here with us."
"I not going nowhere. I be here. You just bring my Missy Dane home, Mister Jamie. Bring her back here to me."
By the time they left, there were nearly twenty more men with them. Vests that said POLICE, SWAT, and FBI were all around them. There were SUVs, vans, and large vehicles, Jamie had no idea what they were. There was even an ambulance and a medical team on standby.
The house was situated just where they thought it would be. Deep into the woods and no neighbors for miles. There was a single car out front that had been leased to an M. Lionel, and the house was lit up. Jamie and Cait were told to stay in the SUV until someone came back to get them. The men had silently left the vehicles and had fanned out over the area as silent as the wind.
As soon as they were out of sight, Cait reached behind them into the back of the seat and handed him a vest. He looked at her. The letters POLICE were bold across the back and the front. She started putting hers on.
"I"m not sitting here when she needs us," she told him when he just sat there. "You can come or go, but if you go, you go hot, understand me? You fire to the chest if you have to. No more head shots for you. The last time you were d.a.m.ned lucky you didn"t kill anyone else or miss."
"I didn"t though. And I"ll agree I was lucky. Both of us were. And bite me, girl. I saved Ta"s life."
He pulled off his coat, slipped the vest over his head, and Cait helped him secure it. When he was buckled up, he reached behind him and pulled his gun, a Glock nine millimeter, out and racked one in the chamber. Satisfied, they both quietly left the car and moved to the house.
As they made their way to the house, staying behind the men who were going to hit the house first, Jamie thought about the last time he"d pulled his gun out for something other than target practice. Taylor had been in trouble and he"d killed a man.
She had been hurt by a man who she worked for. He and his brother, the law firm of Freedom Fighters of all things had been using Taylor as a fall guy in a huge multimillion dollar insurance scam. While visiting her in the hospital, Paul Freedom had come into her room and demanded that she tell him where his money was. When he fired at Taylor, Jamie fired too, and had killed him with a single gunshot wound to the head.
One of the men directly in front of them suddenly stopped and turned back to Cait and Jamie. Neither he nor Cait were under any delusions that the unit they were following didn"t know they were there. They had to have known from the beginning that they"d follow. He was talking in a headset when he started for them.
"They found the woman. The house is secure. They want you both in there now." Jamie took off running. All he could think about was that he"d said they found the woman, not they had found a body. He knew deep down that it could be either way, but he couldn"t think that she was dead. Not now, not now that they had found each other.
*CHAPTER 21*.
An officer nearly tackled Jamie as he came barreling into the room. If Cait hadn"t been behind him, he would probably have been hauled off to jail. As it was, he was escorted down to the bas.e.m.e.nt by the guy who kept giving him an odd look. The door was blocked when he and Cait got to the bottom.
"We haven"t touched her except to feel for a pulse. We were told by her physician that under no circ.u.mstances were we to touch her unless it was life or death. We"ve contacted him and he is going to meet us at the hospital. Life flight is on their way. ETA is about three minutes." He waited a few seconds before he continued. "Sir, she"s been beaten and her breathing is shallow.
Her pulse is weak but steady. If we can"t get her to respond, we will have to try something soon." Jamie nodded. Beaten. Weak pulse. Shallow breathing. Life flight. He looked over at Cait, who nodded at him. When the medic moved, Jamie walked in.
Dane was still hanging from the ceiling, her shirt and bra missing. Jamie took off his coat and wrapped it around her. She was so cold, worse than she had been before. He looked over at the officer standing there with his gun pointed to the floor as he watched the room. No one was looking at Dane. Be he could see that they were concerned.
"Do you have a knife?" The agent next to him nodded and looked relieved. "We"ll need to cut her down. And do you think you can have someone bring us a blanket?" Jamie didn"t know where the calm was coming from, but he was glad for it. While the agent sawed through the ropes, he and Cait held her between them. Cait was crying, he saw. Jamie refused to think beyond what he was doing.
As soon as Dane was loose, her body dropped limply in his arms and he held her to him.
When the blanket arrived, he wrapped her up in it and carried her up the stairs. Her arms and legs swung with each step he took. When he got her to the kitchen and then outside, he rocked her gently in his arms. Someone, he a.s.sumed Cait, kept telling him that Dane would be fine. Then he heard the whop-whop of the chopper.