Love Inspired Suspense June 2015 #1 (18 page)

“We need to split up.” Her uncle headed toward a group of senators.

She looked at Nicholas. “I want you to stay near him. If you think he's overdoing it, please let me know. I'm going to talk with General Meyer.”

Nicholas watched her uncle across the room. “Not without me.”

“Afraid of what I'll find out about you?”

His gaze zeroed in on her. “Yes,” he said in dead seriousness. When he chuckled, his eyes sparkled. “No, I'm afraid of what you'll tell her.”

Selena winked at him. “You should be.”

For an hour she went from one group of guests to the next, pleased by the number of pledges she received for Wounded Heroes. Every once in a while she found her uncle and Nicholas in the crowd. Both were talking to the people around them. She enjoyed watching them.

When she moved into the dining room to make sure everything was flowing smoothly with the food, Congressman Jeffries approached her.

“I've heard about all the problems you've had lately,” he said.

She didn't know what to reply. She knew of Nicholas's suspicions the congressman wasn't what he appeared to be, but everything she'd heard about him was good. “Nothing like what some wounded soldiers have when returning to the States. I hope you'll support a good cause,” she chose to say rather than talk about the case.

He chuckled. “Preston has already hit me up, but I have no problem giving more.” He took out his checkbook and made another generous donation. When he gave the check to Selena, he smiled. “Your uncle and I might disagree on some issues, but I'm glad you're here to make his life easier.”

When he left, Selena stared at his retreating back. She could see why the congressman was so popular.

“Ma'am, I have a note for you,” a waitress said next to her.

She looked at the woman then took the note. “Who gave this to you?”

“A man in the living room.”

“Thanks.” As the waitress disappeared in the crowd, Selena read the message.
Meet me in the library. Good news. Nicholas.

The handwriting looked similar to what little she had seen of his. Maybe the good news was about Isaac's interrogation of Tabitha Miller. This might be the best time to talk to him about Brooke taking over the protection detail. She headed back into the foyer, looked around for Nicholas, and when she didn't see him, started down the hallway to the library.

He wasn't there, either. She scanned the room again. She began to back into the hallway, when she felt a prick at her neck. Everything twirled before her eyes and darkness fell.

THIRTEEN

N
icholas panned the crowd in the dining room where he'd seen Selena heading fifteen minutes ago. When he didn't find her there, he glanced around the large foyer. Where was she? She wasn't in the living room. Maybe there had been a problem with the food, and she'd gone to the kitchen. As he made his way there, he asked a couple of security guards if they had seen her.

A guard near the hallway that led to the den, restrooms, office and library said, “She went down the hall about ten minutes ago.”

“Do you know where?”

“She turned at end of the hall, which only leads to the library. Do you want me to look for her?”

“No, I will. Did anyone else go to the library?”

“No. Just Miss Barrow.”

Maybe she needed quiet time. He could certainly understand that. Nicholas strode toward the library. When he went inside, he found an empty room and the window open. His gut clenched.

He hurried to the window and looked out. When he examined the sill, a royal blue swatch of fabric riveted his attention. Selena wouldn't leave without letting him know—at least willingly and especially out a window.

His blood iced. He needed Max.

He spun around and rushed into the hall, stopping at the end to talk to the guard again. “Are you sure no one else went to the library?”

“Yes, sir. I note where everyone goes when they walk past me. Right now one woman is in the restroom. That's all.”

“Put out an alert that Selena Barrow is missing. I want everyone to be on the lookout for her.”

Nicholas made his way to General Meyer near the dining room. “Ma'am, I think someone took Selena from the library. I'm going to track her from there and see what I find.”

“I'll handle everything here. We're going to lock down the party and gather everyone into the living room.”

“Because of all the precautions, if someone took Selena, it probably was one of the guests or staff.”

“I know. I'll take care of this end.”

As General Meyer gathered some of the security guards and began to corral the guests and servers into the main room, Nicholas pushed through the crowd and retrieved Max in the kitchen. He put a leash on the rottweiler then hurried upstairs to get an article of Selena's clothing. In the library, Max sniffed the blouse she'd worn earlier, found her scent by the door and followed it to the open window.

Not wanting to damage any evidence on the window, he hastened to the nearest exit and had Max pick up the trail outside below the window. His K-9 tracked Selena's scent to an empty spot in the parking area. One of the security protocols he'd put into effect before the guests arrived was for the guards to note who parked where.

Nicholas spied a guard with a clipboard and asked him, “Did you see this car leave?”

“No, sir. It was here about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Who parked here?”

The guard checked his list. “Carly Jones.”

“What was the license plate and make and model of the car?” He'd told the guards before everyone arrived to add that information down on their list.

The man gave him the information.

Nicholas placed a call to Fiona, who he hoped was still at headquarters. On the fifth ring she picked up.

“You must have been reading my mind. I finished the last person on the list minutes ago and was going to call you.”

“This is an emergency. I need you to send out a BOLO on this car and its driver, Carly Jones. I believe she's kidnapped Selena from the party. Tap into traffic cams in this area. I need to know where she is taking Selena.”

“It's not like the city has traffic cams in a lot of places.”

“I know. I need something to indicate where to find Selena. Anything.” Desperation edged his voice, and he didn't bother to mask it. He had to find Selena unharmed. He'd never forgive himself if he didn't.

* * *

Selena slowly felt sensations—the feel of leather against her cheek, a musty smell that roiled her stomach and the sense of moving. Was she in a vehicle? She tried to move. She couldn't. Rope dug into her wrists, which were tied behind her back, and bound her ankles.

She inched her eyelids up. Darkness surrounded her, but she could tell she must be in some kind of SUV. Suddenly it went over an obstacle, and she bounced.

“Sorry about that. The road is getting a little rough.”

Carly?

She decided not to say anything, but she continued to try to assess what was happening.

“Playing possum?” Her uncle's chief of staff cackled. “I know how long what I gave you would last. I want you to know what's going to happen to you since you've ruined my life. I've given your uncle the best years of my life and then you start snooping.”

“What are you talking about?” Maybe playing clueless would get her some answers.

“Ah, so you are awake. We're almost there.”

Where was
there
? Selena lifted her head to see what she could make out in the dim light from the dashboard. Another bump sent her to the left, and she hit her head against something she thought was—a stick—no, a handle.

With her arms behind her, she couldn't reach it to see what it felt like. She scooted and rocked until she managed to sit up on the backseat. “Where are we?” She needed information and the only one that had that was Carly.

“We're on I-95. Once I dispose of you, I'll make my escape. I have it all figured out, and if I can't escape, you're going to be my bargaining chip.” Carly exited the highway. “But I don't think I'll have a problem. I've got a boat ready to take me wherever I want to go if I couldn't stop you from looking into Saul's death. Why didn't you leave it alone?”

“Did you kill Saul?”

“Duh. Yes. He tried to blackmail me. I wouldn't allow that. He should have known that. If I take bribes to sway the senator's point of view, then I wouldn't think twice about protecting my cash cow.”

“Cash cow?”

“My job. Once I made chief of staff and became indispensable to the senator, I started planning ways to make money. There are a lot of lobbyists out there that have no problem paying for a vote, but with Senator Eagleton, that wasn't going to happen. One of the few men of integrity. So when I was paid off, I used any means I could to persuade the senator the way I needed. I worked hard for that money and no one was going to take it away from me.”

“And that worked?” Selena tried to figure out where they were, but it was pitch-dark. From the headlights she glimpsed thick woods on both sides of the country road.

“About eighty percent of the time. Enough for me to stash a couple of million over a three-year span.”

Selena squinted her eyes and kept her gaze trained on the landscape out the window. If she could manage to get away from Carly, she needed to know her whereabouts. “How did Saul find out?”

“He overheard an exchange with one of my best clients. He was going to blow the whistle on both of us if I didn't pay him.” Carly pulled off the country highway onto an unpaved rougher road. “Even if they find this SUV, I'll be long gone by then.”

“How? Walking?”

“Oh, no. I've got a motorcycle waiting for me.”

“So you attacked me and shot my uncle?”

“Yes. No one asked me for an alibi. I had one for one of the times just in case. I took a lesson from Saul and blackmailed a client to provide it.” Carly went off-road and parked. “Time for the next part of my plan.” She exited the front seat and opened the back door nearest Selena. “I'm untying your feet, but don't try to get away. I have a gun and won't hesitate to use it, especially when I think of all the trouble you've caused me.”

The interior light illuminated the weapon Carly stuffed in her pants' waistband. When had she changed? What time was it? “Where are we going?”

“To your grave.”

* * *

“The SUV is stolen?” Nicholas asked Fiona on the other end of the phone call.

Everyone in the dining room quieted. The area had become the command center for the manhunt for Selena. The guests had left and law-enforcement officers were arriving. The senator had called in every favor he could think of to get as much help as possible.

“The vehicle doesn't belong to Carly Jones,” Fiona said in a voice full of concern.

“But I've seen her driving it the past week.”

“She stole it from one of her neighbors who is still on vacation to throw us off. I have a call in to them in Bermuda. The hotel said they went to dinner. They are checking to see if the couple is in one of their restaurants. As soon as I hear from them, I'll let you know. In the meantime, we are searching a ton of traffic-cam footage to see which way Carly went when she left the estate.”

“Thanks. I know you are doing what you can. The general has computers being set up in here.” When he hung up, he realized everyone was waiting for him to report what he'd discovered. “As you heard, the vehicle wasn't registered to Carly. It's her neighbors' SUV, and they are out of the country, so it hadn't been reported stolen.”

“Can it be tracked?” General Meyer asked.

“Don't know. Fiona will find out. In the meantime, we look the old-fashioned way. I'm grateful for traffic cameras. They might be able to spot the car and track it.”

Nicholas noticed the senator backing out of the dining room. His pallor concerned Nicholas. They were going to find Selena. He wouldn't rest until they did, but he didn't want her to return to find her uncle sick.

Margaret Meyer's gaze moved from Nicholas's to the senator's and back. “Go talk to him. This has got to be a reminder of when Erin disappeared. I have everything under control in here.”

“But what if—”

“I'll let you know,” the general interrupted, “if we find the car on one of the roads. In fact, we've got too many people on this. We're stumbling over each other.” Then she turned away and went to speak with Dan Calvert and a few other Secret Service agents, who were there at the request of the president.

Nicholas found Selena's uncle in the living room, the furniture still arranged as it had been for the fund-raiser. He stood in front of the fireplace, staring at an empty grate as though a fire was blazing.

“Sir, are you all right?”

Senator Eagleton lifted his head and peered at Nicholas with eyes full of sorrow. “I can't go through this again. Erin is still missing. What if we never find her or Selena?”

Nicholas approached the older man, whose hands shook until he finally stuffed them in his pockets. “We will find both of them. I won't stop looking until we do. This time we know about the getaway vehicle and the person who took Selena. She only had a ten-or fifteen-minute head start before we started searching.”

“I should have known Carly was capable of this. I trusted her with everything.”

“And your knowledge of Carly can help us. Think about your conversations with her, especially in the last months. Is there a place she might go to hide? It could even belong to a friend.”

The senator returned his gaze to the empty grate, his shoulders hunched forward. “I don't know. Maybe. I can't think.” He glanced at Nicholas. “I've seen how you and Selena are. You care about her—she's more to you than just another assignment. How can you be so calm?”

“Because I have to be. I refuse to think we won't rescue her. The Lord is with her, protecting her until I can get there.” In that second, he realized he loved Selena, and all he could do at the moment was put her in God's hands.

“But life doesn't work that way.” The senator kneaded his nape. “What if...”

“Sir, I can't let worry take me down, or I won't be ready when I need to be.” He laid his hand on the senator's shoulder. “Sit down and let's go through conversations you've had with Carly. How about the last vacation she took? Where did she go? What does she like?”

He thought a minute then replied, “The water. She always goes to the beach. In fact, a friend of hers has a boat.”

“Do you remember where? Who she was talking about?”

“I don't know. I can't remember.”

“Close your eyes and think back to when she told you about the boat.”

Nicholas slipped into the chair across from Selena's uncle. There were so many marinas in Maryland and Virginia.

“It's not coming.”

“Give it time. Relax. Don't force it.” He'd used this technique many times in the past with witnesses. He prayed it would work this time. But he was struggling to keep his doubts from surfacing.

Lord, I need You. Give me peace to do what I need to do
.

The general sat forward, snapping his fingers. “Virginia Beach.”

“Okay. We can investigate the marinas...”

The general appeared in the entrance to the living room. “The SUV pulled off I-95 at Exit 152 near Prince William Forest. We think she's headed toward Highway 234.”

“That's a big area.” Nicholas rose. “But we can get the team down there and begin searching for the SUV. At least it's something to do and a start.”

“Yes. I've called Gavin, and he's mobilizing the team.”

Nicholas strode toward the foyer where Max was. “We're on our way. I'll call Gavin, and maybe before I get there, Fiona will know if the vehicle can be tracked.”

“I'm coming with you,” the senator said as he stood.

Nicholas paused. “No, sir. I'm taking the helicopter that brought some of the White House Secret Service agents here. To put it bluntly, you'll slow Max and me down. I'll call you when I know something. Sir, see if you can remember the name of the person with the boat. Then we can locate the marina. If this is a dead end, we'll have that lead.” At least Selena's uncle wouldn't be sitting around, waiting. He had something to do.

“I'll have a highway patrol officer meet you at the 152 exit.” The general gestured for Nicholas to leave. “I'll keep you company, Preston.”