Hunting Truth (35 page)

Chad and Angel’s blank
expressions made me suspect they hadn’t mentioned her. A suspicion
that was confirmed a few moments later when Angel shrugged and
announced it wasn’t important because we’d located the house. It
had been niggling in the back of my mind on the drive to the
hotel.
What
if it
was
Ava? How could she be held hostage yet be able to go to a
grocery store?

Since I could think of no
obvious answers, I voiced my questions aloud.

Angel tilted her head to
one side and then shrugged. “It probably wasn’t her. Just a lucky
coincidence I guess.”

“But what if it was?” A
feeling that we might have fucked up gnawed at me.

“Perhaps she was threatened
by Joel that something bad would happen to Scott if she didn’t come
back or if she told anyone,” Chad suggested.

“That would make sense,”
Angel agreed.

I wasn’t sure. “It’s risky.
Probably too risky. Joel’s been too careful and too clever to take
chances like that.”

“Maybe it was less of a
gamble than leaving Scott and Ava alone while he went out,” said
Chad with a shrug.

“But remember, she used her
cell at some point earlier today. That’s how Lucas knew she was in
the Walton Park area. Why would Joel allow her to do that?” I added
as the uneasy feeling escalated.

“Maybe Joel forced her to
use it. Maybe he threatened her and made her call Lucas so he knew
she’d been taken hostage,” Angel said, clapping her hands and
clearly feeling that she’d solved the puzzle.

“No.” I shook my head and
tried desperately to recall the exact details of my conversations
with Lucas. “Lucas received a ransom note this morning from Joel.
That’s how he knew about Joel having Ava. And it was one of
Carter’s team that picked up the trace from her cellphone. I don’t
think Lucas knew why she’d used it.”

“Okay, but Joel could have
made her call someone else to explain why she wasn’t home so that
nobody else suspected she was missing,” she said in an excited
rush.

“That sounds reasonable to
me,” Chad agreed.

I pulled a face. I just
didn’t buy it. Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t put my finger on
it but I knew that it didn’t add up. “I’m going to call Lucas and
let him know.” I saw Angel roll her eyes. “Just in case, Angel. How
would we feel if it was important somehow and we’d neglected to
mention it?”

I made the call and groaned
in frustration when it went straight to voicemail. I left a brief
message telling him what I’d seen and asking him to call me right
back to let me know he’d received my message.

Half an hour later, I’d
still not heard from him. I tried calling again but his cell was
still off. I couldn’t sit still; I paced up and down the room,
snapping at Angel when she said I was driving her
insane.

“Chad, give me the keys to
the van,” I demanded, suddenly unable to cope with the worry and
frustration bubbling up inside me.

He looked shocked. “What
for?”

“I’m going to find Lucas
and tell him about that woman. It could be Ava and I have a feeling
it’s important. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do.”

Angel’s eyebrows almost
took flight. “Oh no, you’re not. God only knows what’s going on
back there. Not only could you put yourself in danger, you’d
endanger everyone involved. No way, Issy. That’s the most stupid
idea you’ve ever had!”

“Too right!” exclaimed
Chad. “Besides, you’re not insured to drive the van. It’s on hire,
remember.”

“Take me then, and you can
make sure I don’t get into any trouble. I only want to find Lucas
and tell him about Ava. I’ll never forgive myself if I’m right and
I do nothing. That could put everyone involved at risk, including
Scott. Are you willing to take that risk?”

Angel and Chad exchanged
glances. Chad shrugged.

Angel slid off the bed and
picked up her jacket. “You’d better hope you’re right because Lucas
is going to be murderous if you go back there and you’re
wrong.”

I knew that but my
conviction that something wasn’t right was overwhelming.

The journey back to Walton Park
was made in silence. I kept trying Lucas’ cell but it was still
off. The tension grew as we neared our destination. Chad had agreed
to drive us back but only on the condition that none of us went
anywhere near Joel’s house. The plan was to drive around as we’d
done before in the hope we’d stumble on one of them. I knew there
was no chance of that so I’d not agreed with Chad’s terms; I’d just
not
disagreed
with him. I fully intended to sneak up near to Joel’s house
and get a message to Lucas, even if I couldn’t get to see him in
person. The painkillers I’d taken earlier in the evening had helped
to numb the majority of the pain in my shoulder. I hoped it would
make my task easier.

We arrived without incident
and Chad proceeded to cruise around the neighborhood. It was a
totally unsuccessful venture. I persuaded him to pull into the road
that led to Joel’s property in the hope that Carter’s team were
camped out in the area between the houses and the beginning of the
gravel track. We approached with caution and my instinct seemed to
be right. There was a van parked on a grass verge. It wasn’t
Carter’s but it had the same array of antennae on the roof. It
looked deserted though.

Chad pulled in behind it. I
got out, taking a small flashlight from the door pocket, and
approached the driver’s door. There was nobody inside the cab. I
shone the flashlight in but it looked unremarkable. I was tempted
to make a run for it, up to the house, but Chad and Angel had
followed me and the last thing I wanted was a loud
confrontation—even at that distance. Angel looked as frustrated as
I felt but then Chad said, “It could be one of those surveillance
vans, you know, like you see on TV. It looks to have equipment
inside, judging from those antennae.”

I thought he had a point so
I crept around to the rear of the van, pressed my ear against the
door and listened carefully, signaling them to be quiet. I couldn’t
hear a thing until, suddenly, I picked up a muted sound. It could
have been a cough or something being moved inside, I didn’t know,
but there was definitely someone or something inside.

I crept back over to Chad
and Angel and whispered what I’d learned. Angel was all for banging
on the door and making them open it to shut us up. Chad thought
that was a bad idea; we could disrupt something important and
potentially ruin the whole operation. But I was sure that if I
didn’t get the message to Lucas, something bad would happen. Really
bad. We didn’t have time to decide in the end because the same guy
who’d pointed a gun at my head earlier that evening appeared
soundlessly in front of us, looking as pissed off as a half-starved
Rottweiler.

“Oh, thank God,” I cried.
“I have some information for Lucas. You have to get it to him
immediately.”

“Ma’am, Mr. Hunter is aware
that you’ve disobeyed his instructions and I have to say that he’s
madder than hell right now. He says you’re to go back to his
apartment immediately.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Chad,
looking like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. “How did he know
we were here?”

The guy nodded to the van.
“The outside of the van is under constant surveillance.”

“Cool,” Chad replied, his
eyes like saucers.

“What’s happening?” asked
Angel, suddenly. “With Joel, I mean.”

“The situation is in hand,
ma’am,” he replied.

I narrowed my eyes, annoyed
at his brevity. “What does that mean?”

Chad huffed and shook his
head. “Issy, that’s probably classified.”

Angel rolled her eyes and
turned to him. “Chad, don’t get carried away. This isn’t a United
States government operation, you know.”

In other circumstances, I’d
have cracked up but I turned back to Carter’s man and repeated my
question.

“I’d have to request
permission to update you, ma’am,” he said. “But I strongly
recommend that you get back in that van and follow Mr Hunter’s
instructions.”

I glared at him, ignoring
Chad’s triumphant smirk. “Then make that request. And while you’re
at it, tell Mr. Hunter that I have some information that may be
very important. Once you tell me what’s going on up there, I’ll
give you that information . . . if it isn’t too late by then. I’d
hate to be in your shoes if it
is
too late and Lucas finds out that you could’ve
passed on important information. I think Carter would be distinctly
unimpressed too.”

His look of annoyance
turned to one of resignation. “All I can do is make the request,
ma’am. Give me a moment.”

He turned and walked over
to the van. He appeared to be having a muted conversation with
himself so I assumed he was wearing some sort of concealed
communication equipment.

He returned momentarily and
announced that everyone was in place to storm the building.
Apparently, they’d been waiting for Joel to retire for the night.
He had done so an hour earlier, so they’d be going in at any
moment. He made sure to point out that Lucas was not involved in
the first wave, that he wouldn’t go in until ‘the perp’ was
apprehended and the building secure. Lucas would only go in once
the hostages were found and released. Then he passed on the message
that my presence in the area was distracting and could jeopardize
the whole exercise so I was to go home immediately. The guy then
said he’d been tasked with escorting us to the county
line.

For a moment, doubts almost
overcame me.
What if I’m mistaken? What if it’s just my overactive
imagination?
But a little voice in my head asked,
What if you’re not?

Very quickly I told him
about the woman carrying groceries who’d walked in that direction
and that she’d borne a strong resemblance to the female hostage.
Instantly, he looked skeptical and his body language changed. He
became dismissive. “I’ll be sure to pass that on, ma’am. Right now,
you need to get back into your van and head home. I’ll be following
in this van. Don’t even think about doubling back once you’re over
the county line.”

Anger bubbled up inside me
at the way my information had been discounted. “No,” I hissed. “You
pass on that information first. Exactly as I told you, or I’m going
nowhere.”

Cold brown eyes stared
back. “Then I’ll have to restrain you and your friends and put you
in the back of your van until this is over.” He withdrew a pair of
handcuffs from his jacket and stepped closer to me.

“Issy, don’t be stupid.
Let’s just go!” said Angel, attempting to grasp my arm.

“Tell him now!” I shrieked
as I backed away.

He continued to advance but
stopped hastily and held his fingers to his ear. “It’s too late
now, they’ve gone in.” His grin made my stomach churn.

“It’s not too late to tell
Lucas. He’s not going in yet, you said so. Tell him now or I’ll
scream.”

In a flash, he was on me.
He grasped my arm and pulled it tight behind my back as he spun me
around so that my back was against his chest. I shrieked in pain,
although the arm he’d grabbed wasn’t my injured one. Chad looked on
in horror but Angel instantly jumped to my defense.

“Don’t hurt her, you
bastard,” she cried as she launched herself at him from the side.
She may as well not have bothered for all the good it did. He
completely ignored her and proceeded to cuff one of my wrists. But
then Chad had thrown himself into the fray and all four of us ended
up on the floor. I managed to free myself from his grasp and get my
feet underneath me but, when I tried to stand, I found my wrist had
been cuffed to one of his.

Chad landed on top of him,
pulling me back down and making me yelp in pain. The three of us
writhed around on the ground. I grasped and kicked whatever I
could, fervently hoping each time that I wasn’t hitting Chad.
Distantly, I heard Angel shout, “Remember he’s armed!”

That was enough to knock
the fight right out of Chad, who froze in terror. Within a second,
the guy had me back in his grasp and on my feet. Man, he looked
angry. He was also completely disheveled.

“That wasn’t a good idea,
Miss Prince. You could have got yourself hurt. Now, I’ll give you
one last chance to agree to get in your van and leave Orange
County, and if I even get a whiff of you—”

He stopped abruptly and
pressed his fingers to his ear, concentrating hard.

“Yes sir,” he said
eventually. He released me, giving me a stern look as he uncuffed
me. “I’m needed back at the house. It’s too late anyway. It’s all
over and everyone’s safe. Now go home.”

I sagged with relief as he
walked away, got in the van, and set off towards Joel’s
house.

I turned to Angel and Chad
and winced at Angel’s furious glare. “Feeling foolish are
we?”

“Why?” I
shrugged.

“Because you’ve dragged us
back here, put us in a very dangerous situation and jeopardized
Scott’s rescue, and it was all for nothing.” Man, she was pissed at
me.