New Growth (Spook Hills Trilogy Book 2) (8 page)

John Henry glowered at him.
 
Rick gave him a thumbs-up sign, even though his expression beseeched him
to be successful.
 
Mathew let his eyes
linger
on Callie’s worried face as he began to
turn to the door.
 

Plugged into the conversation through Mathew’s microphone,
Steve growled into his earpiece, "Get moving, Heylen."
 

"Going out the door with the ransom."
 
He grasped the doorknob, taking one last
glance at Callie before closing the door behind him.

The day of waiting had been a form of purgatory.
 
Susannah had been missing for over 36
hours.
 
Moving ahead solidified Mathew’s
resolve to ensure Susannah’s return to Callie.
 
If anything happened to her daughter, her sensitive heart might not
survive.
 
He hustled down the sidewalk to
the car where Lenny had slipped into the backseat in the darkness.
 
Mathew shut the door.

“Ready?” he asked Lenny, more to say something than anything
else.

“Yeah.
 
No shooting
unless any action starts.
 
Minimize the
impact on that sweet kid.
 
I pray
Susannah
is alright,”
Lenny said
.

“Here we go.”

Mathew drove in silence, wishing Steve hid nearby in case
the operation went awry.
 
At least with
Steve on a wireless setup, his voice would keep his nerves steady.
 
He sucked in his gut and straightened in his
seat.
 
Even with a damaged leg, Mathew
kept himself fit and
active
.
 
He had learned from and served with the best
in the FBI.
 
He could handle this
situation.
 
Most importantly, he wanted
Susannah back even if he had to take a bullet.

Using the GPS he kept to the speed limit, arriving near the
indicated locale about twenty minutes early.
 
He parked down the street and waited, eager to discover if Susannah
remained alive.
 
He bowed his head and
folded his hands, praying for her safe return to Callie and for his role in
this unconscionable business to contribute to that success.
 
Mathew crossed himself and swallowed,
mentally prepping himself for the task looming in front of him.

At two minutes before
eleven,
he started the car, made the last turn, rolled towards the address and parked
about a half block away.
 
He saw no one,
which meant the FBI agents kept deep in the shadows as instructed.
 
He turned the car off, leaving the keys for
Lenny in case a hasty exit became necessary.
 
Mathew stepped out of the vehicle and walked about ten paces to stop
standing on the curb with a duffel of money in each hand.

A lumbering
SUV with
its lights off approached from the other direction and trundled to a stop.
 
The window on the rear passenger side slid
down.

“Bring the money here,” said a clipped voice from the car.

“No way,” Mathew said, keeping his voice low and firm.
 
“You bring the girl out where I can see her.”

“You a cop?”

“Nah,
a tough
friend.
 
Show me the girl.”

In his
ear,
Steve
muttered
, "Good.
 
Stand firm."

The man got out of the car with his gun poked out
first.
 
He pulled Susannah behind
him.
 
A blindfold encircled her
head.
 
T
ape
gagged her mouth.
 
Rope
bound her
hands.
 
While she seemed
physically unscathed,
even with the blindfold and
gag,
Mathew
could
she
was terrified.
 
Even though Mathew wanted to grab her and
run, he could not chance
having
her harmed.
 
In her
rumpled
school outfit, she looked as scared as a fawn deserted in an open meadow.
 
Mathew skidded the lighter duffle over to the
man and moved back two paces.
 
“Down
payment.
 
Release the girl.”

The man seized the bag, tested the weight, opened the zipper
with one hand, poked around inside and zipped it shut again.
 
“The rest of the dough.
 
Now.”
 

He shoved Susannah closer to Mathew while keeping a grip on
her arm.
 
Mathew swung the second bag
towards the man in
a slow
motion with his
right arm.
 
He considered knocking the
man down with it.
 
If
he
did, the driver and perhaps others in the
vehicle might shoot,
endangering
Susannah.
 
With his left arm, he reached
out to grasp her around the waist.
 
The
man snatched the money and let go of her arm.
 

Mathew could feel Susannah shaking in his arms.
 
“You’re safe now.
 
You’re with me.”
 
He whispered into her ear.

He felt her press her little body
closer
.
 
He gripped her
tighter as he began running backward, holding her in his left arm tight against
him, leaving his right ready to reach for his
gun
.
 

“We have to get to the car,” he said into Susannah’s
ear.
 
“Unca Lenny is with me.
 
He will protect us both.”

The thug unzipped the second bag, flipped through the stacks
of money, nodded and crammed himself and the loot back in the car.
 

Mathew turned to finish the run to the town car.
 
He jerked open the driver’s door and put
Susannah inside, whipping off her blindfold and gently lifting the gag covering
her mouth.
 
She clung to his arm,
shivering and sobbing.
 
He whipped off
his jacket and wrapped her in it, then he untied her hands and whispered to her
to crawl over and hide on the floor of the passenger side.
 
Cautiously she
unpried
her hands from his arm and slid over, scrunching down in
the well, safely hidden, but she reached out a hand to him.

Matthew hopped
in the
car, closed and locked the door, muttering, "Got her." into his
microphone.
 
He started the car then
reached over to take Susannah’s outstretched hand.
 
She peered up at him, still shaking.

Lenny popped up in the backseat, careful to keep his gun
tucked on the floor.

“
Hiya
, kid,” Lenny
said.
 
His gruff voice almost
lilted
with relief at having her back safely.

“Unca Lenny,” Susannah murmured and popped her head up by
the seat.
 
She wiped the tears from her
cheeks, then craned her neck to face Mathew. “I knew you would come for me –
both of you.”

Tears of relief replaced her tears of
terror and started
running down her cheeks
while happiness coursed through Mathew at her words.
 
Somewhere over the last weeks, Susannah had
wormed her way into his heart.
 
He
reached over to caress her head.
 
“It’s
over
now.
 
You
’re safe with us.
 
Let’s
get you home.
 
Stay down until we’re on
the road.”

Lenny reached forward to take her hand.
 
“Drive Mathew.
 
Get us the heck out of here.”

Mathew jammed the car in gear and sped in reverse, swerving
around the corner, then rushing off the way they came in.
 
The other car did a fast
U-turn
in the street and rocketed off in the
other direction.
 
A chopper droned in the
distance.
 
The chase was on.

To their surprise, from down on the floor, Susannah began
singing somewhat loudly through her sniffles.
 
“Can’t see.
 
Can’t scream.
 
Better make a tune that’s mean.
 
Back out the drive.
 
Do a Hi-Five.
 
Turn left.
 
Stop quick. Turn right
and speed up a lick.”

“What the heck?
 
Record this,” Mathew said into the microphone.

In his ear, Steve said “Typing.”

“Two stops.
 
Make a
right hop.
 
Up a curve to the left.
 
Gun the car with lots of heft.
 
Hey kids, merge in line.
 
Swerve and duck, lots of luck.
 
Count to sixty, ten times not too
lickety
.
 
Shoot to the right and down a curve.
 
Don’t think, don’t swerve.

“Count to
fifty, three
times.
 
Stop four times.
 
Turn left, turn right.
 
Grit my teeth with all my might.
 
Stop the clock.
 
Wait.
 
Mind the smoke.
 
Wait.
 
Moving again
like a big fat hen.
 
Stop.
 
Listen!
 
Mathew!
 
Mathew!
 
Man out! Now me out!
 
Wait.
 
Talking.
 
Me Safe!
 
Me Safe with Mathew!”

Mathew pulled over.
 
Even though he chuckled, tears slipped down his face.
 
Susannah had memorized the way to her release
site by making up lyrics.
 
He motioned to
her to edge up on the seat.

“You are one smart and courageous girl.
 
Lenny, move up front and hold Susannah.

Mathew reached over and gave
Susannah
a hug.
 
She clung to him for a long
minute then she scooted over to let Lenny scrunch into the front seat.
 
He wrapped Mathew’s jacket around her before
burying her in his arms.
 
Mathew noticed
that tears seeped down Lenny’s grizzled face.
 
He put the car back in drive and crept off the shoulder.

“Susannah, will you sing that again?
 
Steve is
on
a
transmitter.
 
He will type it up.
 
”

“
Hi
Steve,
” Susannah said in a loud voice and
forced out her hip-hop melody again, while she snuggled next to Lenny

As he drove, Mathew hit speed dial to call Callie.
 
“She’s with
us.
 
S
he’s okay.
 
They took the money.
 
The important thing is your Susannah is
safe.
 
We will be at your house as soon
as we can.
 
Put Rick on and then you can
talk with Susannah.

“What
a clever girl your
Susannah is!
 
Even though she was
terrified, she had the smarts to memorize the directions from where they held
her to the drop spot by turning them into a little song.
 
Gives us a big jump on locating those clowns,
even if the agents tailing them should lose them.
 
They got the dough.
 
Now the CARD team owns the case.
 
They are following the scumbag who took the
money.
 
We should be with you in about 30
minutes.
 
Stay in the house until you
hear our horn.”

They had Susannah back with
them,
and she seemed materially unharmed, although traumatic
aftershock would
haunt
her
for some time.
 
Her smarts and her
resourcefulness impressed Mathew.
 
Even
if they lost the five million, having her back was worth every penny and he was
sure Rick would share his perspective.
 

Steve came on.
 
“I
transmitted the directions to the lead agent.
 
They can use it to figure out alternative hold sites.
 
Mathew, you were terrific.
 
Well done! Tell Susannah I owe her a big ice
cream sundae for making up the tune.”

“Cherry sundae,” Susannah said in a soft little voice when
Mathew told her.
 
“I like cherry vanilla
ice cream too.”

Once at the house after the
initial
hugs and tears of joy, Mathew asked Callie to take Susannah away to see if she
had
been hurt
and to set her clothes
aside in a plastic bag for the FBI to check if any evidence might
be gleaned
from them.
 
Once up at the house, Steve would shield
Susannah from any further distress of probing FBI
inquiries
.

When Susannah came back out, Mathew did ask her one question.
 
“Did you make a jingle or poem for the car
ride from the school to the place they took you?”

She shook her head, going pale at the memory.
 
“Two women.
 
Smelly rag on my face.
 
Sleepy.
 
Woke up in a basement.
 
Tied
up.
 
Stayed there.”