Against the Heart (9 page)

She buried her face in Ian’s chest, her tears soaking through the front of his shirt.  He ran a hand over the top of her head, felt the silky strands beneath his fingers, thought of the way she had looked with her hair unbound last night. 

If this was happening to another woman, he might think it was a con.  But he had no doubts about Meri, a truth that hit him squarely in the chest.

"We’ll find her, honey," he said.  "Finding people is one of the things I do." 

"I don’t know what...what he’ll do to her, Ian.  She’ll be so scared.  Joey hates kids and if she cries...oh, God, if she cries..."  A sob escaped and he pulled her back into his arms.

"Listen to me, okay?  We’re going to get her back, just like I said."  He looked down at the paper, read the words.  "’Fifty-thousand.  I’m Lily’s father.  I deserve it.  Midnight tonight.  No police.  I’ll call and tell you where we meet.  Joey.’"

Meri looked up at him.  "He...he’s crazy.  He thinks because he’s Lily’s father, he should get half the money I inherited from my foster mom.  But it wasn’t that much and now its gone."

"You’re talking about Mrs. Vandermeer."

She blinked up at him, for the first time grasping how much he knew about her.  "How...how did you know about Mrs. Vandermeer?  And Joey?  How did you know about Joey?"

"I ran a check on you, did some digging.  I gave you a chance to tell me yourself.  When you didn’t, you left me no choice." 

Angry heat flooded her cheeks.  "You had no right, Ian.  I haven’t done anything to you.  I didn’t deserve to have you prying into my past."

"I wanted to help you.  I still do."

Embarrassment washed into her face.  Her gaze slid down to the pink sneakers on her feet.  "I didn’t want you to know the kind of life I’ve led.  I wanted to leave while you still believed I was the person you thought I was."

Ian caught her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.  "This doesn’t change anything, Meri.  It just helps me understand you a little better."

She shook her head.  "I wish you hadn’t done it."  She wiped away the wetness on her cheeks.  "But I’m too scared to stay mad at you."  When she tipped her head back to look at him, he couldn’t resist bending down and very softly kissing her.

"It’s going to be okay," he said.

Daniel cleared his throat, letting them know he was still there.  "Let’s go into the house.  We’ve got plans to make." 

"The money isn’t a problem."  Daniel walked into the kitchen, a canvas satchel in his hand.  He dropped the bag in the middle of the round oak table. 

Meri stared up at him.  "You...you’ve got fifty-thousand dollars in that bag?"

"What the hell, Dad?  You keep money like that here in the house?  Don’t you know that’s dangerous?"

"With all the trouble in the world, it could be dangerous
not
to have emergency money around.  Better to be prepared.  Haven’t you heard of the Doomsday Preppers?"

Ian just shook his head.  "Well, I guess that’s one problem handled."

Meri reached across the table and covered his father’s hand.  "I’ll pay you back, Daniel.  I swear it.  I’ll work here for free for as long as it takes, or I’ll get a job somewhere else.  I’ll pay back every cent.  No matter what I have to do."

Daniel squeezed her fingers.

"With any luck," Ian said.  "Joey isn’t going to end up with the money.  We’ll have a little reception waiting for him.  Once Lily’s safe, we’ll take him down.  He won’t be a threat to you anymore."

Meri sat up arrow-straight in her chair.  "No police.  I know you were a cop, Ian, but I can’t take the chance, not with Lily’s life at stake.  I trust you and Daniel.  I’ll do whatever you say, just don’t bring the police into this."

Ian looked over at his father, waited for his reaction. 

Daniel leaned back in his chair.  "If this were Seattle where you knew people you trusted, I’d be inclined to call the cops.  As it is, we’d be running blind.  Bandini might find out, do something stupid.  I think Meri’s right.  We should handle this ourselves."

"How we going to deliver the money?" Ian asked.  "We can’t send Meri in there with guys like these.  There’s no way to know what they might do."

"I’m taking him the money.  If I don’t go, there’s no way he’ll let Lily go."

Ian’s jaw went tight, though from the start he had known there was no keeping Meri out of this, not with her daughter’s life at stake.   "Fine, you can make the drop.  But you do exactly what I tell you."

He could see that didn’t sit well by the subtle squaring of Meri’s shoulders.

"This is what I do, sweetheart," Ian reminded her.  "You need to listen to me on this."

Her eyes connected with his.  "You’re right.  I’ll do whatever you say."  She bit her lip.  "There’s something else you need to know." 

Ian cast her a frustrated, what-else-haven’t-you-told-me glance?  "Go on."

"Joey isn’t alone.  He called me from Portland.  I have a girlfriend there.  That’s where I was headed when I left L.A.  Joey figured it out and got there first.  I talked to Pam after the call.  Joey hit her, forced her to give him my cell number.  He mentioned he was traveling with this friend of his, Bart Kowalski.  Joey calls him Ski.  Joey’s a real creep, but Ski’s big and he’s bad.  He’s dangerous, Ian.  Just thinking about him with Lily...."  She broke off, blinking back tears, swallowed and glanced away.

Ian’s gaze swung to his father.  "How’s your weapons and ammo situation?  You still got our hunting rifles in the gun safe?"

Daniel nodded.  "Remington 308 and a Winchester .30-30 locked up out in the garage.  Haven’t been used in years.  Need to get them out and get them cleaned."

"Ammo?"

"All we need.  I’ve also got my sidearm, Smith and Wesson .44.  It’s locked in the drawer next to my bed.  And you got your Glock, right?  That’s still your weapon of choice?"

Ian nodded. 

Meri’s face went pale.  "You aren’t going to kill them, are you?"

Ian grunted.  "Much as that idea holds a certain appeal, that isn’t the plan.  Getting Lily back safely is the objective.  But this is kidnapping, Meri.  Joey and his buddy aren’t getting away with it.  Once Lily’s safe, we’ll be taking the men into custody, turning them over to the police."

"But the guns--"

"If these guys aren’t armed, we won’t have to use them.  If Joey or his buddy starts shooting, that’s a different story."  Ian’s hard gaze zeroed in on her.  "You don’t still have a thing for this guy, do you?"

Hysterical laughter burst from Meri’s throat.  "I never had a thing for Joey.  He was good-looking and I was lonely.  That night I thought, you know, other women do this kind of thing, why can’t I?"  She shook her head.  "One stupid night.  That’s all it was.  I’ve been paying for it ever since."

Ian stood up from the table.  He gently squeezed Meri’s shoulder.  "You’re done paying, Meri.  And so is Lily.  This is about to be over.  Make sure your phone’s turned on."  He glanced at his father.  "Come on Dad, let’s go."

Ian and Daniel spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning, checking, and loading their weapons.  They poured five gallons of gas into Meri’s car from the can his dad kept in the barn, and continued planning their strategy.

Daniel Brodie was a former Marine.  He might be a little out of shape, but he was gun-savvy and he was smart.  Ian trusted his dad to back him up when the time came.

And he had a hole card up his sleeve.  What his dad had said about knowing someone on the Spokane PD had reminded him of a detective named Gray Hawkins he had worked with in Seattle.  Family problems had forced Gray to move to Spokane.  He’d been on the job here a couple of years.

Ian phoned him, told him he and his father were going into a situation that might require some backup and asked his friend to help.

"If this goes sideways, I need you to step in.  There’s a kid involved so her safety is first and foremost." 

"Are you sure you want to handle it this way, Ian?  We could bring in some of our people, call in SWAT, do whatever it takes."

"Too risky.  This guy is completely unpredictable.  For now, I just need to know you’ll be ready."

"You know my ass is on the line if you screw this up."

Ian just grunted.  "Then I guess it’d be better if I didn’t.  I’ll let you know the location as soon as I’ve got it."  He signed off before Gray had time to ask him anymore questions. 

Now that they were ready, the waiting began.  It wasn’t until ten p.m. that Bandini called to give Meri the drop site.  She put her cell on speaker as Joey talked.

"You got the money?" he asked.

"I’ve got it.  Put Lily on the phone, Joey.  I need to be sure she’s okay."

"You can talk to her tonight."

"Joey, please...."

"Shut up and listen.  There’s a place called Sikani Park.  It’s not that far from the house you’re in.  There’s a parking lot on East Upriver Drive, sits right on the water."

Ian knew where the park was.  He’d been raised in the area.  He nodded to Meri.

"Okay," she said.

"Be there at midnight.  One more thing.  I see any sign of a cop or those two jokers who live in the house, and you’ll never see your kid again.  You got it?"

Meri’s face went pale.  "No, police.  No one but me, I promise." 

Joey ended the call. 

Ian swore foully.  "I can’t wait to get my hands on that bastard."

"Promise me you won’t do anything until we get Lily."

Ian’s chest went tight.  He reached out and touched Meri’s pale cheek.  "Lily comes first.  You don’t have to worry about that." His jaw hardened.  "Then Joey Bandini is going down." 

"I want my mama.  I wanna go home."

"Didn’t I tell you to shut up?  I’m your father, okay?  "You’re supposed to do what I say."

"You’re not my father!  Ian’s my father!  I want to go home!"

"Ian’s some joker your mother is screwing.  Now shut up before I put a piece of tape over your mouth."

Lily’s face puckered up as tears threatened to surface. 

"Do it, and I swear to God you’ll be sorry."

She turned and pressed her cheek against the wall, managed to keep from crying.  Where was Mama?  Where was Ian?  She knew Ian wasn’t really her daddy, but sometimes she pretended he was. 

She didn’t know this man who had grabbed her out in the barn and carried her away.  She had seen him talking to her mom a couple of times, but that didn’t mean he was her father.  She’d never even seen the big ugly man with no hair.

"Look, you’re mother’s coming to get you tonight?  Okay?  She’ll be taking you home." He glanced away.  "And good riddance," he mumbled.

"What time is it?" asked the big ugly man.

"Eleven o’clock.  Time to go."

"You think she’ll bring the money?"

"Like I said, if she doesn’t have it, her boyfriend or the old man’ll give it her.  That house is worth a lot of dough.  Fifty thousand shouldn’t be that hard to get hold of." 

Lily listened, but she didn’t really understand what the men were talking about.  All she knew was she wanted her mama to come and get her.  And she wanted to go home.  She wanted to see the kittens and she wanted to be with Ian and Mr. Brodie. 

Lily closed her eyes and said the prayer she and her mama said together every night before they went to bed.  "Now I lay me down to sleep.  I pray the Lord my soul to keep."  She recited the rest of the prayer and added at the end, "And, God, please help me get home.  Amen." 

Then she started to cry and hoped the men wouldn’t see.

Meri watched Ian and Daniel prepare.  It was clear the men knew what they were doing.  They were father and son, but beyond that, Daniel had been in the military and Ian had been a policeman, and a private detective, he’d said.  Ian had told her they both knew the park fairly well, remembered the parking lot along the river.  And they had used Google Earth to get a closer look at places with good vantage points. 

The plan was for Daniel to go in on the high side of the road, climb to a spot they had chosen, and cover her as she met with Joey in the parking lot.  Ian would park out of sight a ways away, drop down on the south side and move along the riverbank, cover her from below. 

Once Meri had given Bandini the money, the exchange had been made, and Lily was safely out of harm’s way, he and his father would take the men into custody.

Meri looked at the clock on the wall above the sink in the kitchen.

Midnight was getting close. 

But thinking of her little girl and what could be happening to her, the hour wasn’t nearly close enough.

CHAPTER TEN

A waxing half moon slid in and out between the clouds, enough light Daniel should be able to find his target, not enough he and Ian would be easily seen.  The night was quiet except for a slight, temperate breeze that drifted through the dry grass and branches of the cottonwoods lining the Spokane River.

Ian checked his watch as he moved along the riverbank, careful to stay out of sight below the walking trail at the water’s edge.  He was getting close to the parking area.  By the time he reached his location, Daniel should be in position deep in the cover of the pines on the opposite side of East Upriver Road.   

Headlights moved along the ribbon of asphalt winding through the park.  Meri signaled to turn, letting him know she was there, and pulled into the empty parking lot.  She stopped close to the riverbank, killed the engine, and turned off her headlights, sat in the car to wait.

Only a few minutes passed before another car approached and pulled off the road into the lot from the opposite end.  An old, rattle-trap Ford stopped thirty feet from Meri’s older brown Chevy.

Both front doors of the Ford swung open and two men got out of the car.  Ian recognized Joey Bandini from the picture he had seen in the file, roughly six feet tall, slender and black haired.  The other man was big, thick through the chest and shoulders, his bald head gleaming in a patch of moonlight shining down through a hole in the clouds.

Something else flashed for an instant in the darkness. 
Sonofabitch.
  Both men carried semi-automatic pistols in their hands.