Not This Time (11 page)

“I’ll come over. Nathara can drive me,” Nora said. “Should I call your parents?”

“No, you stay put. They’re in Alaska on a cruise. Peggy and Harvey are on their way to Sacred Heart.”

“Peggy’s likely alerted the prayer warriors.”

“They’ve been at the Crossroads chapel since the club attack.”

“Nathara and I can come wait with you.”

“No offense, Nora, but I can’t take Nathara or her attitude right now. I’m frazzled.”

“Don’t fret, my girl, I understand.”

Beth made sure no one else was within earshot, then dropped her voice. “Robert’s been kidnapped. The FBI’s here. They think it’s notable that the cake-topper groom and Robert are both missing.”

“They think they’re connected?”

“Maybe, though no one’s saying how.” Beth’s hand shook. “Jeff asked if I was involved with Robert’s kidnapping.”

“I’m going to blister that boy’s ears.”

Relief washed through Beth. Nora believed in her. “He’s just doing his job.”

“Being ridiculous?”

“He won’t be the only one who looks my way, Nora. You know it.”

“Sorry to say that’s true.” She sighed. “Be careful who you trust and keep your mouth shut. I’m thinking, this ain’t good for Sara or you—or for SaBe.”

“I haven’t thought about SaBe. Too scared for Sara. There was blood in Robert’s car.”

Nora repeated that and then told Beth, “Mark says the FBI should be involved in both, so there you have it.”

Her boy was the final authority. “What should I do to protect SaBe?”

“Get your Margaret to respond to press inquires.”

The personal assistant she and Sara shared. “No comment?”

“Absolutely not. Ask for prayers for Sara and her husband—
if
word’s out she’s in the hospital. Just a second.” A pause and then, “Nathara says nothing about Sara’s been on the news, so keep mum about that for now. No sense giving anybody more to chew on.”

Sensing movement, Beth glanced back, but the kitchen was still empty. Just the whir of the fridge motor and the clink of the icemaker dumping ice into the bin broke the silence. “The agent in charge should be here any time.”

“Maybe it’ll be somebody Roxy knows,” Nora said. “I’ll give her a call.”

“No, it’s two in the morning and she’s had a really bad day.”

“Didn’t notice the time. I’m thinking you’re right, but if things ain’t suiting you, let me know. I’ll get the boys busy.”

Mark, Ben, and maybe Mark’s old team. “All right. Thanks, Nora.” NINA attacking the club. Of course her boys were already busy.
Joe, I wish you were here
.

“Did you talk to Peggy or Ben? I’m thinking some private help finding Robert would be a good thing.”

“I’m scared to do anything. If I jump through hoops for Robert, the FBI is going to assume I have something to hide. Jeff really is suspicious. Now, for Sara, everyone knows I’d jump through anything.”

“A better friend ain’t been born.”

“A better friend would have kept her away from the skunk, knowing he was a skunk.”

“Ain’t none of us perfect, and Sara is a grown woman. You have to respect her choices, even if they’re bad ones.” Nora harrumphed. “Just a second, Beth … Nathara, you ain’t in this conversation, so kindly shush yourself. Okay, Beth. I’m back.”

Beth rubbed at the knots in her neck. “I can’t think right now. Sara—”

“Is in God’s hands. The best thing you can do for her is to be there when those kidnappers call and go to that fund-raiser and get her the money for the moms. She’ll be upset as all get out if you don’t.”

“Seriously?” Beth groaned. “I hadn’t even thought about going.”

“Of course you should go. It’s important to Sara.” Nora’s tone turned sad. “We do for those we love because we love them. What’s important to them is important to us.” She cleared her throat. “I learned that too late, dearie. My Clyde is gone home now, but don’t be tromping through that mud hole firsthand. Learn from my trip through it. Get Sara her money. The moms and their kids being safe will make her happy.”

If Nora felt that strongly about it … “I’ll go.” Jeff wouldn’t like it, but she’d go anyway. Why hadn’t the kidnapper called?

“That’s my girl.” Nora sounded relieved. “You let me know how it goes, eh? And keep me posted on Sara.”

“I will. Do you think the authorities have let the club reopen?”

“Let me ask Mark. He’s staying close tonight since Lisa’s on duty at the crisis center and can’t be here herself.”

Likely Mark and Lisa didn’t want Nathara driving Nora over the edge when she was already so upset about Clyde, and Lisa’s mom, Annie, had maxed out on patience. Mark would make a good buffer.

“He says the all clear came through about half an hour ago, so it’ll be fine for Sara’s fund-raiser tonight.”

“Thanks.” Beth stared at a slat on the shutter on the window above the sink. “Nora, I’m grateful for you.” Her eyes stung and her throat swelled. “I—I just wanted you to know.”

“I know, my girl.” Tenderness filled her tone. “Me too.”

Beth sniffed and hung up the phone, then reached in her pocket for her special phone to call Joe, but Kyle walked into the kitchen. She kept it in her pocket and went back into the living room, where Jeff stood apart from the FBI team as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do. “Any word?”

“Not yet.” He looked rumpled and as bone weary as Beth felt. “Sometimes they delay to play mind games—to ratchet up the tension.”

“The club. Sara. Now this.” Beth let out a staggered sigh. “There’s plenty of tension.”

“Get some rest, Beth. If the phone rings, I’ll wake you.”

She was dead on her feet and worried sick. Sleep was as out of reach as Joe.

“The sofa in the den is a whole lot more comfortable than this marble slab they call a sofa.”

Beth attempted a smile. “The concrete porch is more comfortable than that slab.” Quiet would be good. Calm would be good.

She went to the den and curled up on the sofa. Every muscle in her body ached from tension and knots of fear.
God, help Sara. Help
 … She couldn’t say it. Couldn’t. Shame slid through her.
Forgive me my flaws. I have a ton of them, and I know I’m a disappointment. Sorry about that. I know You’ll do what You know is for the greater good of all anyway. Thank You for everything, but especially for that. I know sometimes I test Your patience and I’m really hard to love
.

Her special phone rang.

Joe.

She answered and began filling him in on Sara. “She’s critical, Joe.”

“She’s in God’s hands. Are you all right?”

“No. Jeff asked if I had anything to do with Robert’s kidnapping.”

“That’s routine.”

“It didn’t feel routine, and the way he looks at me isn’t routine either.”

“The man’s half in love with you.”

“Was. We’re just friends, not that he looked at me like one. He’s suspicious.”

“He’s scared. Finding everyone out cold, Clyde dead, Sara critical, and Robert kidnapped. Jeff’s got a lot on his plate.”

Hardly the response she wanted, but not the one she feared. The question burning in her mind was different. She did fear his answer to it, but she had to ask. “Aren’t you going to ask me if I had anything to do with it?”

He laughed, soft and melodic. “No, sha. You might slug Robert Tayton, but you’d never have him kidnapped.”

Slug him? “I’ve never hit another human being in my life, but your belief in me … I adore you, Joe.”

“Ah, progress.”

“Don’t let it go to your head. I adore puppies and kittens too.”

He laughed. “Adore the man, gorgeous, but not for believing in you. You’d never do anything to hurt Sara, and harming Robert would. If Jeff were thinking clearly, he’d remember that and that it’d be a violation of your faith. Not happening.”

Exactly what she needed. Exactly. Was that one of Nora’s signs? Had to be, for goodness’ sake. “Can you come?” Her voice came out weak. She resented that but couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“I’m doing everything I can to help. I’ll fill you in on what that is when I can. But I can’t get down there immediately. Wish I could, but I—I just can’t.”

“It’s okay. I understand.” In his job, he couldn’t call in someone to take over.

“You do, but you’re upset anyway, and I don’t blame you. Beth, believe me when I tell you that you want me where I am right now.”

Doing all he could already. She processed that. “You’re looking for Robert.”

“Mark told me you were a smart woman. I knew it from our talks, but I think you might be smart and intuitive. I love your mind, sha, but I’m going to have to remember that.”

Her heart fluttered.
Don’t feel special. Don’t you dare
. “What you need to remember is to be careful.”

“I will. You too—and watch what you say. It’s amazing how twisted up things get.”

“That’s what Nora said. Well, actually, she told me to keep my mouth shut.”

“Wise woman.”

“Yes, she is. I’ll work on it. Holding my tongue isn’t easy.” She paused. “Joe, what if Karl Masson did this? He could be working with NINA again, or on his own.”

“Factoring that.”

A cold chill swept through her. Joe was working on that too. “Be very careful.” They knew only too well NINA’s capabilities and Masson’s specifically.

“I will.”

“And smart.”

“I’ll try.”

“And—”

He chuckled. “Careful or I’m going to think you adore me more than puppies.”

Maybe she did. “If I were as smart as you say, I’d toss out a pithy comeback, but I don’t have it in me right now. I want you safe. So don’t mess up my already awful day by getting yourself hurt. I don’t need the added stress.”

He laughed. “I’ll do my best not to inconvenience you.”

“I appreciate it.” Jeff came in. Grim and solemn. “I have to go.”

“Soon, sha.”

Beth hung up and held the phone in her hand rather than making a production of stuffing it into her pocket, praying Jeff wouldn’t notice it. “What’s up?”

“An update on Sara.”

Beth jumped to her feet. “Is she—?”

“Peggy and Harvey are with her. She’s fighting hard.”

“She’s still critical?”

“She had a secondary attack, Beth. She survived it, but it’s taken a toll.”

Beth sagged down on the sofa. “Will she make it?”

“It’s too soon to tell.” Jeff rubbed his fingers at his side. “Harvey says you need to be prepared …”

Karl Masson had done all he could to prepare. The kids were with his mother-in-law and tucked away where they’d never be found. They had money, a nice house, and college funds—everything he could do from a distance in case Raven decided to kill him. That she was having him drive to Seagrove Village wasn’t a good sign, and knowing it didn’t offer any alternative choices. That irritated him.

Driving the red rental sedan down Highway 98, he passed the spot where he’d worked over Annie Harper during the Lisa Harper operation.

He’d done few things in his life he could feel good about, but giving Annie CPR that day was one of them. Though if he’d known her daughter, Lisa, was going to wreck the entire NINA trafficking operation, he’d have let Annie die. “Lesson learned. Show no mercy.” In the green glow from the dash, he grabbed his phone and dialed Raven.

She answered on the third ring. “Yes?”

Two in the morning and she sounded fully alert. Did the woman ever sleep? As high up as she was in the organization, probably just power-napped her way through life. Only in the last few months had he heard the name of one higher up than Raven—Jackal—though there had to be a host of honchos; NINA was international. For their own protection, even those on the inside were briefed just on their immediate chain of command. “Gray Ghost. Dead Game. A72777.”

“Are you in position?”

He passed a white Honda with a dented rear panel, then swung back into the right lane. “Yes ma’am.”

“Go to Darla Green’s house.”

“New or old?” The new one she’d bought off the government, who’d seized it from an arrested NINA operative. The old one was the former mayor’s residence.

“New.”

NINA had gotten Darla out of jail for killing John Green, which meant she owed NINA for her freedom. It would collect a hundredfold. But Tack Grady was a caretaker there—at least until NINA got him elected mayor. They’d spent a fortune to see to it he won; though whether or not Tack knew who was bankrolling him, Karl had no idea. Best he could tell, the total reason NINA cared who was mayor in Seagrove Village ended with Raven. She wanted to control it. Probably because the people here had destroyed two NINA operations.
NINA couldn’t let that stand. Others would test NINA’s resolve too, and that Raven couldn’t tolerate.

“You’ll be expected.”

“Yes ma’am.” By whom? Darla or Tack? Masson’s position with NINA was too precarious to ask, but apparently Raven had taken one of them into her confidence.

Question was, which one?

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