All In: Raising the Stakes (16 page)

"Do you want the call?" the officer asks. I nod and accept the phone in his hand.

"Hello?" I refuse to call the woman Mom.

"Katie! What are you doing?"

"Whatever it takes."

"This has gone on for too long as it is. He's not worth it."

"Yes he is! He's Kelly's son. Your grandson! If you weren't such a bitch you'd know that he's sweet and kind. He's good like her, and he doesn't deserve this. He's probably crying and scared to death and doesn't understand what's going on."

"You're going to give yourself up for nothing. He's probably already dead."

I press the button to end the call, shaking with rage from just a few words from that woman. The room’s silent, probably everyone having heard both sides of the whole loud conversation.

I go into Joe's arms, needing him to tell me she's wrong.

"Of course he’s worth it, Katie Kat, but you need to think this through and outsmart them."

I close my eyes and nod in agreement because I’m too exhausted to argue anymore.

Now that Drew’s gone I realize that I'd held back with him. I didn't let him call me mommy, and it wasn't just because he was really Kelly's. I'd kept him at an arm's length for three years, waiting for him to prove my parents right. I’m a horrible person for thinking a sweet little boy is evil just because his father is.

Together we sit and wait for a call in Joe's living room, the clock seeming like it’s standing still. Julie and Dylan eventually decide to leave, giving us their phone numbers for when we need them. We check in with Tyler, who’s working on the case from the police department, but he doesn't have any updates.

Finally, a little after midnight, the officer brings back the phone.

"It's Brannock," he says grimly.

"Let me talk to him first," Joe says, jumping up. "I was his attorney."

After considering it, I finally nod so he takes the phone.

"James? This is Joe Montgomery. I represented you in your last charge. I know you think you got a shitty deal, but it wasn’t Katie's fault. Your prior record left the judge no choice in your sentencing." Joe listens, looking pissed before he hands me the phone without another word.

"James, this is Katie."

"If you want the boy safe, first you're going to wire the fucking money to the account number we text you, and then you're going to meet us alone. No police. No wires. No trackers. If you trick us, we'll kill him. Once you're ours, we'll let him go."

"How do I know?" I ask. "How do I know you'll actually let him go? Let me talk to him."

"No. You've got until eight a.m. to get us the money and get into a cab waiting at the courthouse. The driver's going to search you and then give you a phone to call us on. After we know you're not being followed and confirm the money's in the account, we'll turn him over to a hospital."

"Okay," I agree, and he hangs up. The house is frantic with officers and movement, discussions and planning, trying to trace the call.

Tyler and Simmons show up a little later, and I know what they’re going to say.

"They might be bluffing, Katie. It's too risky," Simmons tells me like I’m an idiot.

"We know they have him, and if this is the only way then I'm going to do it."

"Katie..." Joe starts, then makes a sound of irritation. "What can we put on her that they won't find?" he asks.

"Actually, the safest is a tiny tracking device Katie can swallow. It'll stay in her system for about seventy-two hours. They'll never know it's there. We can get the boy, and then we'll get her," Simmons explains.

"Okay," I say as Joe explodes.   

"Fuck no! She might be with them for hours and they still might not turn Drew over! They could kill her, or worse..."

"Exactly, that's why this is not smart, Katie," Tyler says. 

"If it was one of your daughters, would you say the same thing?" I ask him, knowing he and his wife have twins.

"Ah, damn it!” Tyler groans. “Fine, I'll go get the tracker.”

"Katie…" Joe starts.

"As soon as the account information comes in will you call Julie and Dylan?" I ask him. "And promise me, Joe, that you won't do anything to jeopardize his life. You can’t."

"Jesus, Katie. At least let me go with you," he says.

"No. I have to go alone. You can help them find Drew."

Joe grabs my shoulders, his blue cerulean eyes burning into mine. "You think this is it, don't you? That we won't get to you in time."

I have to look away when I answer. "I don't know, I'm just being realistic."

"Don't do this, Katie. I know you want to do whatever it takes to get him back, I get that. But I love you, and I don't want to lose you," he says, crushing me to his chest.

"I love you, too," I tell him, in case I didn't have another chance. "But I won't be able to live with myself if I don't try and something happens to him…"

Joe

The woman is on a suicide mission and she fucking knows it! There’s nothing I can do or say to talk her out of it, which is the most frustrating thing in the whole goddamn world.

Lacy does a brief television update around sunrise, telling the country that the suspects have contacted us and arrangements are being made to provide the ransom and other demands. The police hostage negotiator thought it was important to let the assholes see that we’re serious and going to go through with this.

At seven-thirty, Katie swallows the tracker, and after the police confirm it’s active and working, it’s time for goodbyes.

Victoria and Chad tried to talk Katie out of it, too, with no luck. Jules and Dylan are back, and had already made the wire transfer. I hope to hell those bastards never get a chance to touch that money.

I walk Katie out to her car and know the time for begging is over. She’s determined to do this and I don’t want possibly the last words I say to her to be arguing. So I wrap her in my arms and kiss her long and hard before she pulls away.

“I’ve got to go.”

"I love you," I tell her, finally forcing myself to let her go.

"I love you, too," she says, tears rolling down her cheeks. Then she gets into her car and heads for a trap.

Katie hadn't been gone ten minutes before the call comes in. Tyler and most of the other officers are at the house with us, which has been set up as the temporary headquarters this morning while we wait. Sergeant Simmons's phone rings, interrupting the solemn silence.

"Hello?" he answers. "What? You're sure? Put him on the phone." The Sergeant looks concerned as he presses the button to put the phone on speaker.

"Hewo?" the sweet voice comes through loud and clear.

"Hi there. Can you tell me your name?" Simmons asks.     

"Drew."

God, it sounds like him, but all kids probably sound the same.

"Drew, what's your favorite color?" I ask, then quietly whisper to Simmons, telling him to ask the officer to send a photo.            

"Bwue."

"Drew, this is Joe. Do you remember me? What did we play with the other day?"

"My choo-choo. Where's my Kay Kay?"

"That's him, without a doubt!" I tell them without needing the photo confirmation. "Where…how…where's Katie?" I ask the officers monitoring her tracking device.

"She's just pulling up at the courthouse," Tyler says.

"What's going on Simmons? Where was Drew found?" I ask frantically.

"That was Maxwell calling from the station. Rakes just brought the boy in and turned himself in. He said he's had him the whole time to keep him safe from Brown and Brannock after he found out what they were going to do."

"Those lying bastards! I knew it! We've got to stop her!"

"She doesn't have a phone on her, so let's go," Tyler says.

"I'll go to the station and check on Drew," Chad offers and I agree, then we’re all out the door. Tyler and I speed through the roads to get downtown in my SUV. Several cop cars follow, since Tyler is the one monitoring the tracker on his phone.

"Tell me she's still there, Tyler."

"Shit, she's moving. Heading down Main toward the highway."

"Fuck!"

"It's okay, we'll follow and she'll lead us to them. We can get them before she even knows we're there."

For an hour, we follow the damn taxi as it goes in circles before finally coming to a stop at a hotel just outside of town. By then we’re only two minutes away.

"I don't like this," I tell Tyler. "If we go in guns blazing, they'll take her hostage or kill her straight out."

"Then drive faster or slow up to wait them out. I don't know, Joe. I'm calling Simmons for orders. The damned Feds are involved, and honestly I think they wanted to use Katie as bait either way. They don’t tell us what their planning, but I’m sure they are on top of this. I'll provide you with backup, either way."

Shit! I don't know what to do. My gut tells me to get there as fast as possible, so that's what I do. We pull into the shitty hotel's parking lot and the taxi is still there, making me think we've made it in time. Pulling up beside it though…fuck! Katie isn't in it. Tyler is already calling the assembled officers to move in immediately.

"Where'd she go?" I get out and yell at the driver. He points farther down the row of rooms, so I take off running in that direction with Tyler right behind me. All I keep thinking is that we’re fucked if she's already gone into a room. It would take us forever to check every single one of them and by then…oh God I don't want to think about it! But then I see her, her hand on a door knob.

"Katie, no!" I yell.

Startled, she jumps, and looks over her shoulder at us. Surprise and confusion spread across her face, before the anger.

"What are you doing? You can't …" she starts yelling.

"Drew's safe. I talked to him," I'm trying to assure her right when the hotel door opens.

"Down!" Tyler yells, and I tackle Katie to the ground, covering her when gunshots sound so close behind me that I brace for their impact.

Katie

One minute I’m certain my life is over, but at the same time, I feel a sense of peace. Then the next minute I hear Joe’s voice and time freezes. My heart and lungs stop working and my body is paralyzed, unable to move a muscle underneath the protection of Joe’s body.

"Come out with your hands up!" Tyler orders. It sounds like his voice is muffled and far away.

"We're clear," he finally says into the silence after what feels like an eternity. He talks into his radio calling in some code. I faintly hear other voices but it sounds like they’re underwater.

"Are you okay?" Joe asks, his face buried in my hair. “Please tell me you’re okay.”

“I-I’m okay. Are you? Did you…did you get hit?” I ask.

“I’m good. I’m better than good. Thank God we got here in time.” Pushing himself up off of me, his eyes roam from one end of me to the other, searching for injuries. His hands goes to the side of my head and comes away with blood on it. “You hit your head?” he asks.

“I guess so. I don’t remember,” I say. “I’m fine. Drew's really safe?" I ask, trying and failing to blink the tears away.

"Yes, I swear. Rakes had him the whole time. He took him into the police station and turned himself in."

All the air rushes out of me in relief. "You're kidding."

"That's what they said. We left before I had time to ask any more questions, but Chad went to the station to check on him," he says, then hugs me to him again, kissing my forehead. “God, I was terrified we wouldn't make it in time. I love you too much to lose you, Katie Kat.”

“I love you, too,” I tell him, wrapping my arms around him. When he finally pulls away, he stands up and helps me get to my feet.

Brannock and Brown are face down on the ground, hands cuffed behind their backs. Brannock is bleeding out onto the cement from somewhere on the front of his body. I can't find it in me to feel any sympathy for the son of a bitch.

"Tyler, are you all right?" Joe asks.

"Yeah, I hit him before he fired, making his shot go wide," he answers with a smile.

"Thank God," I exhale in relief. "Now can we go get our boy?" I ask.

Joe smiles and nods. "Tyler, we're heading to the station to get Drew. We'll give our statements there, okay?" he asks.

"Sure," he says, waving us on. "Go."

We climb into Joe’s SUV, and begin weaving through all of the emergency responders. We pull up at the police station fifteen minutes later. I jump out before he comes to a complete stop at the curb. Pushing through the front doors, I run down the hall, finally spotting them. I fall to my knees and pull Drew into my arms, not sure if I’ll ever let him go again. He hugs me back tightly, and then I start looking and feeling him over from head to toe. He looks just like he did the last time I saw him, other than his eyelids being heavy like he’s tired.

“Are you okay, sweet boy?” I ask, and he nods.

“I miss you, Kay-Kay,” he says with his little lip out, breaking my heart.

“I missed you, too,” I tell him, crushing him to me again. “Did anyone hurt you? Did they touch you? Are you hungry?”

“The pediatrician just left,” Chad says crouching down next to us with his arm around me. “He did a full evaluation and said he’s perfectly healthy, just a little confused and sleepy.”

I nod and let out another sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I tell him.

"Joe! Can we play choo-choo?" Drew asks when he sees him come through the door.

…

Joe

I give Drew a big hug, so relieved he’s back safe with us and unharmed. "Yes, I promise as soon as we get home we'll spend the rest of the day playing with your train."

We'd set up the track in my den the first night he and Katie came to stay with me. I knew that for the past twelve hours it had been harder for Katie than it was on me to walk past it, and the empty bedroom he'd been sleeping in.

"How are you feeling, Drew? Are you hungry? Thirsty?" I ask.

"Peaceman gave me ceweal and milk," he says.

Katie’s hands are still patting him all over, checking him for injuries, but he seems perfectly fine, all things considered.

"I'm going to talk to the officers, and then I'll be right back, okay?" I tell Chad and Katie.

An older officer is waiting down the hall and smiles when I approach.

"Do you think I could go see Rakes?"

"Sure, give me a minute to bring him up.”

I wait in the hallway until they put Rakes in one of the attorney conference rooms. 

Taking a seat in the folding chair across from him, he looks just like his prison photo, still sporting a brown, shaggy beard. His dark eyes look tired and weary.

"Mr. Rakes, I'm Assistant District Attorney Joseph Montgomery, but I'm not here on a professional basis. Katie Albright is my girlfriend, and I just wanted to thank you for bringing Drew back to her."

"I'm sorry I scared him and her both. When I found out he was alive...I had to see him. Brown and Brannock had more…malicious plans that I went along with for a time, but I only just wanted to meet him just once."

"How'd you find out about him?" I ask.

"After we got out, Brannock started searching for Katie. He tracked down her Facebook page. A few of the pictures were public. Seeing the one of him…with the number three candle and the red hair…I knew he was Kelly’s."

I nod, at a loss for words as he tears up.

"I'm so damn sorry she lost her sister, but I’m glad she decided to raise him. He's a really sweet kid," he says with a smile.

"Yeah, he is."

"Did you catch them? Brannock and Brown?" he asks.

"Yeah, they're in custody."

"I'll testify against them, it's not like I have anything to gain or lose."

"Okay, I'll let the District Attorney know," I assure him as I stand up from the small table to leave.

"Drew talked about you. Told me he was staying with Joe and Chad and had a big boy room. He deserves a good father like you instead of the one he was born to."

"Yeah, he does," I agree, hoping one day I'll get the chance to permanently fill the role.