A Man to Trust (15 page)

Damn it. He was still furious to learn Angela had been knowledgeable about the drug operations. Beebe never let on that his wife was aware of his illegal activities, let alone participated in them.

He needed to know exactly what she knew. It was imperative that any evidence be destroyed that could lead the cops back to him.

Then he’d kill her.

Jake glared at Rick through the two-way mirror while he listened to him interrogate Angela, his mind still reeling from her deception. She’d played him for a fool. Not only had she known about Scott’s criminal activities, she’d aided and abetted him. Anger at her betrayal twisted his gut.

The sound of J.D.’s voice broke through his contemplations. “What’s going on between you two?”

Jake turned toward his brother with a scowl and his thoughts drifted back to the way Angela had placed a hand over her stomach, almost protectively. For a second, he’d felt like a total bastard . . . until he remembered how she’d deceived him.

But what if she was pregnant?

He turned back to the mirror. She seemed lost. Her voice trembled, her beautiful green eyes filled with distress, as though
she
was the one who’d been betrayed.

Dammit
. Jake raked his fingers through his hair and swore. “Shit, J.D., I think I’m in love with her.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Jake turned and gave J.D. an incredulous look. “She’s a goddamn criminal and probably going to prison.”

“We don’t know that for sure, Jake. If you love her, maybe you need to give her the benefit of the doubt,” J.D. said grimly.

“What about the video? How can I just ignore the video?”

“Have you seen it for yourself?”

“No.” Rick had told him of the bank video that showed Angela opening up the offshore account to make a large wire transfer.

“Well, maybe you should withhold judgment, until you do.”

Jake clicked off the audio from the interrogation room, then turned to face J.D. “Is there any doubt it was Angela?”

“I don’t know, bro,” J.D. snapped. “But before you go ruining any chance you may have with her, maybe you should check it out for yourself.”

Jake stared at his brother as doubt ate at him. Could he be wrong about her? His emotions where she was concerned were giving him whiplash.

“You’re right.” Jake turned his attention back to the interrogation, flipping the speaker back on.

Rick placed half a dozen photographs on the table in front of Angela.

“Are you saying this isn’t you opening an offshore bank account?”

Angela looked at the pictures, bit her bottom lip, then brought her gaze back to Rick. “That’s not me,” she said flatly.

“The account’s in your name, Angela, with your signature on the application.” Rick scowled at her, his tone harsh. “Things will go a lot easier for you if you tell us everything now. Who was your husband’s supplier?”

“I don’t know,” she said. Her voice broke.

Rick slapped his palm on the table. “These were no small transactions, Angela. You must have moved large quantities of drugs through Milwaukee to rake in this kind of
cash.
We need to know who the supplier is.”

Angela began to cry softly. “I told you I don’t know anything about it.”

Jake swore and shut the speaker off again, unable to listen to her heartbroken tears. He fought back the urge to go in and comfort her, and kick Rick’s ass. His jaw clamped tight. He needed to see the damn video.

“Did you call Stacey?” Since Angela probably didn’t want him anywhere near her right now, he wanted Stacey to at least be there for her.

“I tried, she didn’t answer. I’m heading over there now. But I wanted to see how you were doing first.”

“I’m pissed.” He shot a glance a J.D. “What’s your gut telling you? Do you think she’s innocent?”

“Don’t know, but I’m not convinced she’s guilty either.”

“You think Beebe set her up?” Grimly, he turned back to the interrogation.

“It’s possible. Maybe he figured to throw suspicion off himself. Let her take the fall in his place if he was ever investigated.”

Jake wondered the same thing. He nodded, never taking his eyes off Angela. She was pale, with tears staining her cheeks and purple shadows under her eyes. He flexed his hands at his sides as a storm of emotions ripped through him.

“Go get Stacey, little brother. I’m gonna take a look at that video.”

“I think we’re done here, Ms. Beebe,” Rick said. “But don’t leave town.”

“I won’t.” Her voice sounded raspy, sore from holding back tears. She watched a fly crawl across the table, refusing to meet the detective’s accusing gaze. She was both sick and tired, and angry, at being the object of suspicion once again. Hadn’t she suffered enough during her marriage? When would it end?

Pain tore through Angela and her heart broke remembering the way Jake had looked at her. As though he hated her. A sob tore from her and she covered her face with her hands.

Dammit! Get a grip already!

“Ms. Beebe, are you okay?” the detective asked. His voice was no longer full of accusation, now softer, almost soothing.

Angela pushed aside her self-pity and straightened, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She could do this, and didn’t need Jake’s tender arms and comfort. Didn’t need a man at all, something she shouldn’t have forgotten.

Angela nodded and then stood. The sound of the chair scraping across the floor echoed in the small space. “I can go?”

“Yes, you’re free to go. But we believe you’re still in danger. You need to wait here for Jake. He’ll take you back to the safe house.”

A tremor rolled over her at the thought of seeing Jake. Angela took a quick breath and met the detective’s now sympathetic gaze. “Could someone else take me?”

I’m afraid not,” he said. “I don’t have any other officer available at the moment. I’m sorry. Please wait here.”

“Okay.” She turned away from the mirror, not knowing who watched her from the other side. She’d seen enough cop shows to know it was a two-way mirror. Was Jake there? Had he watched the entire thing, convinced she was guilty? The pain of betrayal burned through her, unable to stop tears from falling.

Images of him staring at her with cold eyes tore her apart inside and she buried her face in her hands as tremors racked her body. Then anger hit. Angela straightened and wiped at the tears on her face in frustration at her weakness. She was done crying over Jake. And she didn’t want to see him again.

Pursing her lips, she peeked out the door and headed for the lobby. Not wanting the detective to know she was leaving, she glanced around for him before hurrying outside and across the street to Starbucks.

When Stacey didn’t answer her phone call, Angela called a cab instead. Not sure what her next step would be, she just knew she needed to get away for a few hours and clear her head. Maybe she’d stay at the Pfister for the few days left before trial.

Yes.
That’s what I’ll do.

She’d call the detective from there and they could send over a different man to guard her.

Angela had no sooner hung up from the cab company when her cell phone vibrated with an incoming call.
She pressed ‘talk’ and brought the phone to her ear.
“This is Angela.”

A man’s voice said, “Angela, we know where you are. Act natural or Stacey dies.

“What?” Angela glanced around the coffee shop looking for anyone on a cell phone who might be watching her. Her heart sank. Everyone was on a cell phone. She bit her bottom lip as panic flared, then she froze at the sound of Stacey’s tearful voice.

“Angela. I’m sorry—”

“What, Stacey—what’s wrong?” Her heart raced when the man’s harsh voice came back on the line.

“If you want to see your friend alive again, you’ll do exactly as I say,” he demanded.

Angela gasped. “Who is this? Let me talk to Stacey.”

“Just do as I say,” the guy snarled.

Terror gripped her at the sound of a woman’s scream. Stacey’s scream.

Oh, God!

“Please, I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t hurt her.” Her hands trembled, nearly dropping the cell phone.

Who were these people? What do they want from me?

“Go to the alley behind the coffee shop. Someone will be waiting for you. Come alone or she dies.”

Angela heard “Come here, bitch,” then Stacey screamed again. The line went dead.

Angela inhaled sharply and brought her hand to her mouth. They had Stacey. She closed her eyes and fought against the panic consuming her.

There was no choice but to do what they wanted.

I should tell Jake. He’ll know what to do.

Then she remembered his cold accusing eyes and his suspicions. What if he didn’t believe her? Stacey would be killed.

She had no choice but to do as they said. Maybe they’d let Stacey go after they had her. Angela swiped at the tears falling silently down her cheeks. Somehow, she’d get Stacey away from them. Determined, she turned on wobbly legs and made her way to the alley.

Jake replayed the video of the woman opening the offshore account again. She looked like Angela with the same build and hair color, but something about her seemed off. Jake leaned in to study the woman closely as she walked into the bank, keeping her head averted from the video camera. As though she knew it was there. Her dress was a little more revealing than what Angela usually wore, her face obscured by a floppy brimmed hat.

Jake had never seen Angela wear a hat. He watched suspiciously as the woman followed the teller to a desk, sitting across from her, she reached into her purse to retrieve her wallet. As she did so, her hat slipped for just a second, before she quickly shoved it back into place.

Jake hit pause, then backed up to the point when the hat slipped, then hit ‘stop’. His heart drummed heavily against his chest as he leaned in and enlarged the photo.
Damn it.
The quality was too grainy, and he couldn’t get a good image.

He turned to the department’s resident geek. “Randy, can you focus in on her face here?”

Randy rolled his chair over to study the images. “Yeah, I think so.” He set his Diet Coke on the desktop and brought up another program. Soon images flew across the screen as he manipulated the photo.

In less than ten minutes, he had a visibly improved image. Jake watched intently as Randy enlarged the woman’s face so they could get a good look. Blurry at first, then the image sharpened.

Jake froze. The woman wasn’t Angela. He let out a relieved breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Then the full ramification’s punched him in the gut.

Fuck!

He raked his fingers through his hair, recalling the way he’d treated her.

Randy gave him a questioning look. “It’s not her, Jake. Isn’t that a good thing?”

Jake nodded. His mind filled with images of Angela being interrogated, the sadness that shown in her eyes. Sadness that he’d put there.

The office phone rang and Randy wheeled over and picked it up.

Jake rubbed the back of his neck and glanced up at the ceiling. Damn. He had a lot of apologizing to do, and probably some begging to boot. Guilt washed over him, along with fear that she wouldn’t forgive him. Angela was right. He was an ass.
Shit.

“Jake,” Randy said. “That was Rick. He’s done with Angela’s interrogation and needs you to take her back to the safe house
.”

“Thanks, Randy.”

“You bet. Anytime.”

Jake quickly made his way back to the interrogation room, but found it empty. He turned and strode into the conference room, but it was empty as well. He gritted his teeth and broke out into a cold sweat.

Where is she?

Jake hurried to the reception desk. “Shelly, did you see where Angela Beebe went?”

Shelly shook her head. “No. I haven’t seen her since Rick took her inside for questioning.”

“Have you been at your desk the entire time?”

“Yes. I haven’t moved from here in over two hours.” She paused. “No, wait a minute. I did leave to use the restroom a little bit ago. But I was only gone, like, five minutes.”

Unease crawled through him. Jake turned and strode into Rick’s office. Rick was sitting at his desk flipping through a file.

He appeared startled to see Jake. “Did you take Angela home already?”

“No.” A lead ball sank into the pit of his stomach. “I didn’t fuckin’ take her home. And she’s not in the interrogation room.”

Rick stood, a look of concern covered his face. “Shit, Jake.”

They both turned in unison and ran toward the interrogation room. Rick barked to the guy behind the guard desk to pull the surveillance video for the room as they ran past.

Jake slammed open the door and they ran inside. He studied the empty room, but saw no signs of a struggle. His mind filled with dread, as fear crawled through him.

“What happened between you two, Jake? Why would she leave, knowing she’s in danger?” Rick’s voice held a note of accusation.

Jake said nothing. He had no defense for the way he’d treated her. If anything happened to her, it would be his fault entirely.

Shelly stuck her head in the door. “Hey, we just got a call about a woman being grabbed from the alley behind Starbucks. It might be—”

That was all Jake heard as he tore out of the room, through the lobby and out the door. Rick right behind him, they ran to the alley behind Starbucks. A patrol car and a small crowd of people filled the area.

Jake’s eyes narrowed in on a woman’s purse on the ground. He recognized Angela’s black leather pouch, the contents spilled across the filthy pavement. Her cell phone wedged under the corner of the dumpster.

“Goddammit!” Jake’s fear increased at the obvious signs of struggle. His gaze moved to Rick, who was speaking with a young, fresh-faced patrol-car officer.

Jake’s cell phone rang. He flipped it open, hoping it would be Angela. But it was J.D.’s number flashing.
Shit.

“What is it?” Jake asked, glaring at Rick.

“Jake, Stacey’s missing.” J.D.’s voice was tight.

“What do you mean, she’s missing?” Jake asked.

What the hell is going on?

“I stopped by her place, but she’s not here. Her front door was ajar, so I went inside. It looks like there was a struggle, overturned furniture and a broken lamp.”

Jake glanced down at the cell phone as a thought struck him, crouching down to retrieve it. “Get back to the station, J.D. Angela’s missing, too,” he snapped, before ending the call.

“Hey, hold on,” the young cop said.

“I just need to check her calls.” Jake picked up the phone and hit the recent call log.

“It’s okay,” Rick said.

“Well. Okay,” the guy said hesitantly.

Jake checked the last call to come through. Stacey.

Sonofabitch
.

“Stacey’s been grabbed.” He laid Angela’s cell phone back down. This was a crime scene and they’d need it for evidence.

“She called Angela less than ten minutes ago. I suspect, after she was taken. Can you get Stacey’s phone records? Maybe we can determine where the call was placed from.”

Rick nodded grimly and left.

Jake took in deep harsh breaths, his hands fisted at his sides. He was blinded with rage and remorse. The bastards had both women. If he hadn’t been such a dick, he would have been with Angela and would have been able to protect her. Guilt clawed at him, leaving his emotions shredded and raw.

Man up, Bauman. Shake it off and get your head in the game.

He straightened to his full height and set his jaw. He’d deal with regrets later. Right now, he needed to do whatever was necessary to find the women. Before it was too late.

Angela struggled against the thug who’d grabbed her in the alley. But he was too strong. He planted both his hands against her back and shoved her into a room. She took several stumbling steps before regaining her balance. The door slammed shut behind her with a resounding thud. And the sound of a deadbolt scraping across metal clued her in that she was locked in. She let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting.

The first thing she noticed was a dark clump in the middle of the room. Her heart lurched. Looked like a body.

Oh, my God. Stacey!

She rushed over to the crumpled form, recognizing Stacey’s red hair and curvy form. Tears sprang to her eyes as she rolled Stacey to her back, fearing she was dead.

“Stacey,” Angela whispered tearfully. A bruise covered the left side of Stacey’s face. She also had a black eye and a cut lip, and her blouse was torn at one shoulder. Angela placed her hand on Stacey’s cheek, relieved to find it still warm. She was alive.

What had they done to her? “Oh, Stacey, I’m so sorry. Please wake up.” But Stacey didn’t stir.

Angela’s chest tightened. How badly was she hurt?

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Angela was able to make out the room. She knew they were in Chicago, deep into the city, and a very ugly part of the city. She’d been to Chicago on only a few occasions, and then she’d only visited the shopping and theater districts. Those areas were nothing like the part of the city where she was being held. It seemed they’d driven forever through an area with abandoned buildings, drunks, prostitutes, and gang members hanging out on the streets. Was she safer with her kidnappers than on the streets? A shudder rolled through her.

She glanced around and studied her prison. It was a big empty room, with boarded-up windows, like every other building she’d seen on the block. Two men had taken her. Boys, really, obvious gang members. But despite their age, she knew they were dangerous.

The older one had shoulder-length hair that looked like he’d cut it himself and a tattoo on his arm, symbols she didn’t recognize. He scared her the most, watching her with eyes full of lust. When he’d reached for her, the younger one said something to him in Spanish and he’d reluctantly backed off.

Even though she didn’t understand Spanish, it didn’t take a genius to realize they were under orders not to hurt her.
But orders from whom
?

Angela rubbed her arms, trying to ward off the chill that was settling over her. A cool breeze flowed in around the boarded-up window high on the wall. She hurried over and tried to reach it. Maybe they could escape if she could get it open. The thought of being on the street terrified her, but the thought of what these men might do to her and Stacey scared her even more.

She stood on her tiptoes and managed to reach the very bottom of the window, tugging on the board until her fingernails were broken and her hands scraped, but couldn’t get it to budge. She shoved her hair off her face and wiped angrily at the tears on her cheeks. She’d didn’t have time for the luxury of crying. Stacey was here because of her and she needed to get her out.

Does Jake know I’m gone? Does he even care?

A soft moan filled the room and she hurried back to where Stacey was stirring and knelt beside her.

“Stacey?”

Stacey moaned again, then her eyes fluttered open.

“Stacey, it’s me, Angela.” She reached out and stroked Stacey’s cheek with hands that trembled. “Are you okay?”

“Angela?” Her voice cracked, and she licked her lips. “I—I think so,” she whispered.

Angela began to cry. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess. Please tell me you’re okay.” Relief at the sound of Stacey’s voice and guilt over her injuries made Angela cry harder.

“Hey, it’s okay. Not your fault.” Stacey’s voice was growing stronger and she struggled to sit up.

Angela managed to get her emotions under control, and with a shuddering breath helped Stacey to a sitting position.

“Are you okay?”

Stacey managed a smile, but Angela could see pain in her eyes. “I’m fine.” She took a shaky breath. “They just roughed me up a bit. No real harm done.”

Angela stared at her incredulously.

Stacey snorted. “Okay,” she conceded, lifting a hand to her split lip. “Maybe a little harm done.”

Angela’s lips curved into a ghost of a smile and she shook her head. Stacey, always the optimist. If it hadn’t been for that vein of optimism that ran through her tiny frame, she never would have hired Angela. If not for her compassion and sense of fairness, she wouldn’t be in this mess now. It was Angela’s fault Stacey was here, and she’d do whatever was necessary to keep her safe. Even if that meant sacrificing herself.

Jake glanced over when the door of the station’s computer room flew open and J.D. strode in, a deep scowl on his face. His eyes mirrored Jake’s own rage and frustration.

“Goddamm it, Jake,” J.D. said with a scowl. “Stacey’s fuckin’ missing.” He stopped next to Jake and slammed a fist down on the table, the sharp crack sounded throughout the room. “And Angela’s missing. What the hell’s going on!”

If not for the gravity of the situation, Jake would have been amused. J.D. very rarely swore and he’d just uttered more curse words in under a minute than he said over the past year.

Ignoring his brother’s colorful language, he handed him the pages of the fax he’d just received.

“Slater’s girlfriend just rolled on him. She confirmed Slater was behind the threat to Angela after Scott’s death. He was afraid she’d link him to Beebe. She also said some hotshot attorney out of Chicago is the mastermind behind the drug running.”

J.D. studied the pages. “Michael Hirschman. Isn’t he that suit who got one of the gang members off on a murder charge last year?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Since Slater’s girlfriend provided us with this information, Angela’s no longer a threat to them. They won’t need her or Stacey. They could just let them go.” J.D. paused and his lips thinned into a hard, straight line. “Or, they could just kill them.”

Having reached the same conclusion, Jake nodded grimly. “Evidently, the Raptor gang runs the drugs out of Chicago to Milwaukee, under Hirschman’s direction.”

Jake rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tight muscles there. “Chicago. That’s where they took ‘em. I know it. Rick’s trying to get a warrant right now for Hirschman’s place. We’ll find them, J.D.”

Jake’s gut roiled.
But will we find them in time?

He glanced at J.D. and read the same question in his eyes.

Rick burst into the room. “I’m sorry, the Court refused to issue a search warrant on Michael Hirschman.”

Jake scowled. “Why the fuck not? Are we supposed to just stand around with our dicks in our hands while he has the girls killed?”

Rick pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “That’s just it, Jake. We don’t know he has them. The surveillance video shows Angela leaving the interrogation room and walking out on her own accord.”

“Dammit, Rick. She received a call from Stacey right before they took her from the alley. You know they grabbed Stacey to force Angela's compliance.”