Christmas Bodyguard (17 page)

She could face down a person with a gun, but right now with Slade, his declaration sent fear through her. He was in love with her, and all she could think about was how messed up her first marriage had been, even if her feelings for Slade were strong. Possibly love. And there was her job. One that had given her a sense of who she was.

The sound of Bosco's yap and the padding of his paws across the wooden floor in the theater room took Elizabeth by surprise. She seized on the distraction to avoid
answering Slade. “What are you doing down here? Is Abbey on the phone again and ignoring you?” Her terrier mix leaped into her lap and gave another yelp.

“More likely that's it. A male can only take so much.” Slade scratched her dog behind his ears. “Us males have to stick together, don't we?”

Bosco answered him with a bark.

A vague feeling nagged at her. As if she was missing something. “You should tell Joshua about what the sheriff said. Maybe if we sleep on it, we can meet tomorrow morning and go through the list of suspects again with the idea it might be a woman—or a slightly built man. Another question we need to consider is how the person knew to contact Ben James.”

“I'll call the sheriff back and have him look into that and then let Joshua know what's going on.”

Bosco licked Elizabeth's face. “Now you want my lovin'. The second you arrived here you abandoned me for Abbey.” She rubbed her face against her pet.

The vague feeling evolved into a sense that something wasn't right. She got to her feet, putting Bosco on the floor, then started for the hallway. “Why is Bosco out of the room? He's rarely been away from Abbey since he came here. Even if she's on the phone, how did he get out?”

“Abbey let him out?”

“Maybe, but he usually stays in the hall outside her door, whining to get back in. It never hurts to check.” Elizabeth checked the downstairs security system and exhaled deeply when she noticed it was still on.

Slade trailed her steps all the way up the stairs and down the long corridor to Abbey's room. He rapped on the door. No answer.

Apprehension leaked into his expression while Elizabeth thrust open the door.

Bosco darted into the room and began yelping at the bathroom door.

Elizabeth followed. The sound of the shower running drifted to her. A frisson of relief eased some of her tension.

But when Bosco continued to bark, Elizabeth's internal alarm system went off. She marched to the bathroom door and knocked. After a minute she tried the knob. It was locked. “Abbey, open up,” she shouted to be heard over the shower.

After a moment of waiting, Slade tugged Elizabeth out of the way and raised his leg, kicking in the bathroom door. It slammed against the wall. He rushed in with Elizabeth right behind him. The empty room taunted her. Then her attention fell on the open window with a ladder—one usually stored in the bathroom cabinet in case of a fire—hooked to the ledge.

“T
he alarm should have gone off if the window was opened.” Slade walked to where the ladder was and leaned out of the window.

“Not if she turned off the security system upstairs and left the one on downstairs. The one we check more often.” Elizabeth kept her voice calm while inside every muscle tensed.

“Why?”

“To see Brody, maybe. Let's check her room and the security system.”

“I'll check the alarm.” Slade strode into the hallway.

Elizabeth circled the room, searching for anything out of the ordinary. At Abbey's desk she found a note, handwritten, partially under the keyboard.

When Slade reentered, a muscle in his cheek jerked. “It's off.”

Waving the note, Elizabeth said, “She went to meet Brody. She left this, so if for some reason we came in here, we wouldn't panic. She just wanted to spend some time alone with him. She was tired of always being watched.”

“Why the ladder? Why not just go out the front door?”

“Because the camera would catch her leaving. She didn't
want anyone to know. She was probably afraid the security company would alert you since it's late.”

“I hope she has her phone with her, because I'm going to give her a piece of my mind.” He took out his cell and punched in a number. When he disconnected a moment later, a frown marred his expression. “It went to voice mail.”

“Something feels wrong.” Elizabeth strode from the room and toward the staircase. As she descended the steps, she peered at Slade. His expression mirrored his obvious exasperation at his daughter, but it also held fear. What if Brody had set Abbey up?

“Where do you think she went?” His jaw clamped down on the last word.

“The perimeter has cameras along it. So do the entrances to this house and the barn. I'm going to the bunkhouse and barn. You call Jake and see if he knows anything, and have Joshua check the video feed of the cameras around the ranch and make sure all of them are working.” There was a room where several computers were set up for him to do this on-site even though they were monitored off-site.

“Also notify the guards at the gates. See if anyone came or left.”

Slade fished in his pocket for his cell.

After switching off the alarm, Elizabeth went to the front door. “We need to get moving on this.”

Slade paused in his trek toward the den. “You're scaring me.”

“You should be scared. I don't have a good feeling about this.”

Elizabeth didn't wait for Slade to reply. She quickly left and headed for the bunkhouse first. A clock materialized in her mind, ticking off the seconds that Abbey was missing. Waving to one of the security guards, she
slipped through the gate and strode down the paved road to the barn. She saw the lights on in the bunkhouse and the darkened hull of the barn, only a soft, muted glow coming from its interior.

Her knock at the bunkhouse door was answered by Hank. “Howdy, miss. What's up?”

“Is Brody here?”

“Nope. He left a while back, all gussied up.”

“Do you know where he was going?”

“Nah, that one is closemouthed. Can't get much out of him.”

“Who else is here?” Elizabeth peered around Hank.

“Just Gus. The other two went into town.” He winked at her. “It's Friday night. They always go to the local bar. Something wrong?”

“Abbey's gone. She's supposed to be with Brody.”

Hank shifted around and called out, “Gus, come here.” When the other cowhand appeared, he continued. “Did Brody tell you what he was doing tonight?”

Gus dragged his hand through his short-cropped hair. “Naw. But he doused himself in aftershave. Stunk the bathroom up.”

“Thanks. If you see him or Abbey, give the house a call.” She turned away.

“Do you need our help?”

Eagerness mixed with concern greeted her glance back at the pair. “If one of you can check out the barn and the other stay here in case Brody comes back, that would be great.” She doubted they were meeting in the barn because of the cameras on the exterior doors, but it didn't hurt to check.

On the short hike back to the main house to find out what Joshua and Slade had discovered, she checked to see if Brody's old beat-up truck was parked in its usual place. It
was, which meant that Abbey was probably still somewhere on the ranch. At least she hoped so. She tried to figure out where Abbey would have gone. The ranch was huge, and only the perimeter was lined with cameras.

Back in the main house she walked directly to the room where the computers were. Joshua was at the bank of monitors, running through the feed. With the stance of a warrior, Slade stood behind him.

“Anything?”

“Nothing on the perimeter cameras. No one has entered or left the ranch in the past hour.” Joshua typed in a command and another screen popped up. “The people off-site didn't notice anything unusual.”

“Then she's still here. That does narrow it down slightly.” Elizabeth looked at Slade. “Have you tried her again on her cell?”

“Five minutes ago. It still goes to voice mail.”

“Are you tracking her GPS in her cell?” she asked when she saw what Joshua pulled up.

“Yeah. I've got a location. It's by the bunkhouse.”

“I was just there. I didn't see anything.”

“It's behind the bunkhouse, about ten yards or so.” Joshua pointed to the computer.

“What's there?” Elizabeth again replayed her walk back to the house, but she hadn't seen anything unusual.

“A pasture. A grove of trees isn't too far from the bunkhouse. Do you think they met there?” Slade kneaded his thumb into his palm.

Joshua scooted back his chair. “Only one way to find out. Elizabeth and I will search the area.”

“I'm coming, too.”

Joshua blocked the doorway. “Nope. You're paying me to protect you, and that's what I aim to do. If Abbey has been taken, we don't know what this person, male or
female, is going to do. You need to stay in here with the alarm on. Nothing may be wrong. We still need someone to be with Mary and Hilda. I'll post the guards at the doors to the house until we get back. I'll call when we know something.”

“I need to be out there looking for Abbey.”

Joshua shook his head. “We don't know if she's really missing. What if she's perfectly fine, but something happens to you because you rush out and do something stupid?”

For a long moment Slade's gaze bore into Joshua. Anger flowed off Slade in waves, but finally he nodded.

After Joshua grabbed a couple of flashlights and gave instructions to the security guards outside, Elizabeth left the house with her uncle and hurried toward the bunkhouse. Switching on the light, she searched the terrain for any sign of Abbey or Brody. She and her uncle climbed over the fence right behind the bunkhouse and went farther out into the pasture toward the grove Slade described.

As Elizabeth neared the small cluster of trees, she called Abbey's cell, hoping it would ring nearby. Only silence greeted her. The almost-full moon cast eerie shadows off the bare branches, which swayed in the cool breeze. A shiver snaked up Elizabeth's spine as though evil itself touched her.

To the left of her she spied a mound on the ground near the base of a large oak that had retained its dead leaves. “Joshua, I've found something,” she called as she closed the distance between her and the lump, “or, rather, someone.”

 

Slade gathered Mary and Hilda in the den, so he could keep an eye on them as he waited to hear back from Joshua and Elizabeth. He paced from one end of the room to the other while Mary and Hilda prayed on the couch.

This feeling of waiting brought back all the emotions that had inundated him when Catherine had died and he'd had to stand by and do nothing. He couldn't save her. Even his prayers, he'd felt, had gone unanswered.

God, are You turning Your back on me again? Don't let Abbey be harmed. Bring her home safely. Whatever You want, I'll give You.

When his cell rang in his hand, he flinched.
Please be good news.

As he answered the call, he noticed the number was blocked, which sent his heartbeat racing. “Slade here.”

“Ah, it's been a while since we talked,” the person said in a disguised voice as though trying to mask his—or her—gender.

He stepped away so Hilda and Mary wouldn't be able to hear him. “What have you done with Abbey?”

“She's safe if you follow my directions. Your daughter's life will depend on you doing exactly as I say. First, get somewhere alone. Go into your office.”

He strode out of the room and made his way to his office. “I'm alone now.”

“I'll trade you for your daughter. Do you love her enough to do that?” The person didn't wait for an answer. “You can't tell anyone where you're going. If anyone follows you, I'll know and kill Abbey. I have ways of listening.”

Were more bugs somehow planted in the past few days, by someone who'd been in his house recently? A supposed friend?

“When you go to the old cabin at the back of the ranch, I'll call that woman you care so much about and tell her where I hid Abbey.”

“Please don't hurt my daughter. I'll trade myself for her. I'll do anything you say.”

“Good. Because it's you I want, not Abbey.”

“How will I know my daughter is safe?”

A laugh, definitely feminine, sounded. “You just got to trust me. Leave your cell at your house. If I discover it on you, your daughter is dead. You've got fifteen minutes to get to the cabin without anyone else. If you are a minute late, I'll detonate the bomb attached to Abbey.”

“A bomb on Abbey? I can't make the cabin in fifteen minutes.” He could only ride a horse part of the way. The rest of the terrain was too risky in the dark.

“If you leave
right
now, yes, you can.”

 

Please don't be Abbey. Please be alive.

She knelt by the body and shone the flashlight at the face. Brody. Feeling for a pulse at the side of his neck, she nearly collapsed with relief when she discovered a steady beat beneath her fingertips. Joshua joined her, his light revealing the young man's bound hands and feet while Elizabeth found the matted blood on his head. Then they both swung their flashlights in a wide arc around Brody.

“Abbey's gone.” Elizabeth picked up the teen's cell phone next to Brody. It vibrated in her palm. Clutching it, she answered it. “Yes.”

“You can find Abbey at the lake tied to a tree,” a voice that could be either male or female said.

“Who—” The call disconnected.

Joshua rolled Brody onto this back and placed his own call to 911, then asked, “Who was that?”

“The person who took Abbey. He, she, I couldn't tell, told me I could find her tied to a tree by the lake.”

Joshua rose. “Why? Another game?”

“I have a bad feeling about this. Have since it started tonight.”

“We need more manpower to search the lake. There are a lot of trees out there.”

“I'm going to the lake to start the search while you go get more help. Abbey is my responsibility,” she added when Joshua started to protest, “and I
will
find her.”

 

A brisk wind came off the lake as Elizabeth reached the shore with only a flashlight and moonlight to illumine her path. Trekking over the uneven ground, she shone her light on the tree line. A sense of urgency swamped her. The noise of the water lapping against the rocky beach couldn't mask the thundering of her heartbeat in her ears.

Her cell ringing cut through the sound of a hoot owl in a pine up ahead. Elizabeth answered on the second ring. “Yes.”

“Slade is gone. He got a call and left the house.”

The tight thread in her uncle's voice heightened her fear that this wouldn't end well. “Why?”

“Mary is sure the call came from the person behind all this. Worse, I can't track him with his cell—I found it on the hall table. Mary listened to Slade talking in his office, and she heard something about a cabin. She says there's one on the ranch in the northwest pasture on the back property line.”

“I just reached the lake and am starting my search.”

“The lake is between the cabin and the main house. The ambulance should be here any minute and the sheriff's ETA is five minutes. Once everyone has arrived, I'll head to the lake. Mary thinks Slade is trading himself for his daughter. We need to find Abbey and make sure she is safe, then go looking for Slade. I believe there's a bomb on Abbey, so be careful. I'm leaving right now. The sheriff has called in the bomb squad, but we might not have the time. Once you find her, give me your location and I'll disarm it.”

She thanked God that her uncle had been on the bomb
squad for years before rising to the level of captain in the Dallas police department. “You'll see my light. I'm on the east side making my way north.”

 

The dark shape of the old cabin loomed before Slade as he ran the last part of his trip. He checked his watch and noted one minute until his time was up. Sweat drenched him. His heart pounded with each step he took.

Lord, anything You want. Just save my daughter. Take me if You must.

A hundred yards to go.

Slade counted down the time in his mind and pressed forward, increasing his speed as much as possible in the darkness with only a flashlight to show him the path. Leaping over a fallen trunk, he headed down a small incline, then up the other side of the ditch. Slipping in the grass, he stumbled forward, caught himself before falling and charged forward.

Twenty yards.

His breath hissed from him in short bursts. He reached the cabin with ten seconds to spare. Shining the light on the entrance, he saw the door wide open. He made his way to it and entered the cabin.