Praying for Daylight (17 page)

“So, where do we start looking?” I asked, thinking Cheyenne looked scary as hell. Jake was smiling at her with pride. She was pretty tough, just like Kate.

“Farmhouse,” Cheyenne didn’t let anyone get a word in. “What else do we have?”

“Nothing, other than the fact that the direction Marco was driving was toward the farmhouse.” I opened the front door.

Jake nodded, “So hopefully that’s where he was headed. If not, we need to think fast. The longer Kate’s gone, the worse her chances are of being found alive.”

We piled in a truck and peeled down the drive. People were coming onto the property, passing us at equally fast speeds. News of Kate’s kidnapping had spread through town like wildfire. Soon every willing and able body would be at the ranch doing everything they could to find her. Hopefully, we wouldn’t need their help.

Hopefully.

When we pulled up to the old farmhouse, I half expected to see the light on in Kate’s window upstairs. I was so used to seeing it by now. Thinking that she could be dead or hurt made me so angry, so sick.

I was not expecting to see a light on in the living room, and neither was anyone else. We slowly made our way up onto the porch and to the front door.

“You leave lights on?” Chase asked, his voice hushed.

“Nope, shut it all down.”

“Then maybe we’ll get lucky and Death brought her here,” Cheyenne sounded really hopeful, but I wasn’t so sure this was where he’d bring Kate. It would be too easy to find them. Unless that’s what he wanted.

I mentally prepared myself for what I might find on the other side of that door.

“I have an idea,” I said, waving for them to stay back. “Keep out of sight.”

I turned for the door and rang the bell. “Kate?”

No answer.

“Katie, it’s me, Dustin. Come on, we’re going to be late.” I wasn’t sure if whoever it was on the other side of the door would fall for it, but it was worth a shot.

“Cheyenne!” Jake roared loud enough that I nearly had a heart attack.

I turned to see him race down the porch with Chase, around the back of the house. Thinking the worst, I followed, only to round the side and find Jake pulling her off some guy who was face first in the dirt.

“I knew they’d try and sneak out the back,” there was a triumph in Cheyenne’s voice.

Jake grinned, no doubt impressed with her takedown, “Nice job. Now let’s find out who the trespasser is.”

He gave the man a nudge, keeping his gun aimed at him, and the guy rolled over. I didn’t recognize him. Never seen him before. Chase seemed just as stumped. He frowned and shook his head.

“Perry?” Cheyenne on the other hand, stood there glaring at him.

He groaned and waved up from the ground, “Hey babe, how you been?”

She growled, “Don’t hey babe me. What the hell are you doing in my house?”

“Uh…just trying to help.” He sat up and dusted the dirt off his jeans. “Heard about your little sister.”

Chase caught my gaze and I nodded. He was thinking what I was thinking. That Perry wasn’t totally honest. Or even here for the right reasons.

“And what were you thinking? That breaking and entering would somehow help find her?” Jake sounded disgusted with the man. He’d gotten our hopes up. Kate wasn’t here.

“No, I wanted to make sure you and Ben were okay,” He said this to Cheyenne, his face earnest.

“Okay, thanks but we can handle this.” Cheyenne crossed her arms. “And you can’t see Ben.”

“Unless you are okay with it. Maybe just from a distance?” Perry stood slowly, his hands raised slightly. “I can see you need some time alone. How about I stop by the ranch later and we can chat?”

Cheyenne dismissed him with a curt nod, “Once I find my sister I’ll think about sitting down with you for a talk.”

I felt like it was the wrong thing, to be letting him go. I watched his retreating back, wondering. Why was he at the Kelly house?

Then something hit me. No one seemed to realize it.

“Hey!” I shouted. “Wait, Perry!”

He stopped, turning back to look at us. “What?”

“Mind telling me how you knew Cheyenne was in town?”

And that was all it took. Perry spun, running down the drive. We took after him, and I knew we were too far away to get him before he’d make it to a car hidden in the bushes by the road. Sneaky bastard. He’d made it halfway when Walters came screaming up in his cruiser and cut him off.

“How did he know to come?” Jake limped to a stop. He wasn’t kidding about his bad knee.

Chase took a second to catch his breath, “I texted him. Breaking into a house is a crime, and it was too much of a coincidence.”

“Hands up!” Walters leapt out of his car. “High, where I can see them, Perry!”

The sheriff knew him by name?

Perry wasn’t an upstanding member of McCree, but whether or not he was Kate’s kidnapper remained to be seen.

Cheyenne nearly jumped Perry as Walters stuffed him in the back of the car, but Jake held her back. “He might know something about Kate!”

Chase and I looked at each other with grim expressions.

If he did, he wasn’t talking.

I walked up to Walters as he was getting ready to leave. “What if he knows something?”

He leaned on the open door of his cruiser, studying Perry. “Once I get him to the station I’ll question him.”

“What if we don’t have that much time?” Jake asked.

Walters sighed, “Look, you follow me and I’ll see what I can do. But I cannot let you talk to him. Clear?”

Jake stayed on his ass the whole way into town, and it was like a circus as we invaded the waiting room at the station. Walters’ secretary tried to keep us quiet, but considering Kate’s life was on the line, she didn’t have much luck.

We waited for an hour before Walters emerged from the back, with several cups of coffee, and invited us to squeeze into his tiny office. We gave Cheyenne the only chair facing Walters’ desk, and stood behind her for support.

It took the old sheriff a while to start talking, and he wouldn’t meet our eyes. He stared at a picture of his wife and daughter next to his computer. “Perry knows where Kate is.”

Cheyenne gasped, grabbing Jake’s hand, gripping it like she was going to fall right out of her chair, “And?”

Walters shook his head, “And he’s not telling.”

We were silent. Walters rubbed his eyes, and I noticed he was trying to hide tears. What kind of person let themselves get caught, and then hold back on where their victim was?

A sick son of a bitch, that’s what kind.

“What does he want?” Jake looked as desperate as I felt. “There has to be something we can give him.”

“He wants Kate dead to make Cheyenne suffer for leaving him. Nothing would make the man happier.” Walters glanced up at us, “I can’t beat it out of him, as much as I want to.”

Cheyenne held back a sob,. “So that’s it? I leave him, and he takes Katie to get back at me? Let me talk to him! Maybe I can reason with him.”

Walters shook his head, “Perry doesn’t want to see you. He said that this was your punishment. He’s happy to serve his time, knowing you shall share the purgatory with him.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” I demanded.

He nodded, “I’m calling in help. Perry is crazy, and it’s going to take someone trained to try and get the information out of him.”

“If this wasn’t a free country I’d suggest torture to make him talk,” Jake grimaced. “But like you said, you can’t beat it out of him.”

“No. Until help arrives, we’re going to get as many people together as we can and comb the county. Perry’s parole officer says he hasn’t left McCree, and that must mean Kate is somewhere in this town.” Walters picked up his phone, and three hours later, there was a meeting at the town hall. Every person in McCree was present, wanting to do everything they could to help find Kate. Teams were made, maps were given of the town, and slowly people started venturing outside, doing everything they could to help.

With word that the famous singer had been kidnapped, and that we were running against the clock to find her, it didn’t take long for it to spread to the neighboring cities and counties. People were piling into their cars and driving from hours away just to help.

It was around midnight, well after the search started, when Walters and Jerry started talking. They were in the back of a massive tent that had been set up as a base of sorts on McCree Ranch.

I was lucky enough to overhear them.

“It isn’t looking good.” Walters sipped a steaming mug of coffee Millie had provided. “We don’t even know where to continue looking. Kate could be anywhere.”

“Perry still not talking?”

“Not a word. He just laughs and mumbles to himself about how great his plan is.”

I was restless, and damn impatient to find Kate, and my next idea was probably going to get me arrested. So, I kept to myself and walked down the drive to where my truck sat. As I was pulling down the dirt road, the side door opened and Chase leapt inside.

“What the hell are you doing? Trying to get run over?”

He rolled his eyes, “No, I’m going to be your accomplice.”

“Damn it, what do you think I’m doing?”

“Exactly what I would do if it was Briar missing. I’d be going to interview the asshole that knew where she was myself. Especially now that he’s probably sitting in an empty sheriff’s office since everyone’s out looking for Kate.”

“Chase you can’t help me. We don’t know what the consequences will be once Walters finds out I snuck in to talk to Perry.”

“That’s all you’re going to do? Talk to him?”

I rolled my eyes, “Maybe, but that’s my choice. Briar isn’t going to like visiting you in prison.”

“We’re not going to prison, Dustin. We’re going to get Perry to talk to save someone’s life. If they send us to prison for that, then I have lost hope for mankind.”

What Chase said made sense, and yet it didn’t. What we were doing was still illegal. At this point, I didn’t care what I had to do, as long as Kate was found alive. I just didn’t want to bring anyone else down with me when I did it.

“Okay, but I hope you’re able to live with the aftermath.”

“It will be fine. Now drive faster before someone realizes we’ve left.”

I flew down the highway, making it back to town in half the time it usually took. We parked two blocks down from the station, careful to avoid being seen by anyone. Instead of using the front entrance, we used the side door that Mrs. Smith, Walters’ secretary, liked to sneak out for a secret smoke.

“Now where do we go?” Chase whispered. “I’ve never been in the back of the building before.”

We were in a long hallway, and ahead of us was a bathroom. We could go left or right. Right would take us toward the front of the station, left was leading back…so I went left, very quietly, hoping we didn’t bump into a deputy, or surprise Mrs. Smith. She might be a sweet woman, but I didn’t doubt she’d knock us upside our heads.

When we reached the end of the hallway there was a door. On it, beside the handle was a thin black box to swipe a keycard.

“Looks like we’re not getting any further.” Chase cursed. “I guess Walters isn’t as behind the times as everyone thinks.”

I nodded, leaning against the wall, “At least there aren’t any cameras.”

Chase glanced around, “Not ones we can see…is that what I think it is?”

I followed his gaze, and on the floor, near the front of the building, was a little white card.

“This is too much of a coincidence.” I ran for it and scooped it up off the ground. The symbol in the top right corner matched the logo on the black box on the door.

“Let’s not ask why or how. Let’s just get in and get this done.” Chase snatched the card out of my hand and swiped it. There was a soft click, and I pushed the handle. The door swung inward, and we closed it quickly behind us. Chase pocketed the card and I led the way deeper into the building.

On the right were some offices, an interrogation room, and then there was another door with the same black box. We swiped the card again. It opened. Inside were six jail cells. All empty but the very last one.

“Well, looks like I’ve got some unexpected company.” Perry stood from his bench and smiled, “What can I do for you boys?”

“We want to know where Kate is,” I said.

He smirked, “Sorry boys, no can do. My lips are sealed.”

“What kind of sick bastard are you?” I charged his cell, trying to shake the bars. They didn’t budge. Lucky for him.

Perry shrugged, “One that didn’t plan on getting caught. Now I have to play crazy so they don’t suspect anything.”

Chase was behind me, hovering, watchful. “Why were you at the farm?”

“I wanted to leave a message for Cheyenne,” He grinned, “Something to taunt her.”

Sicko. I grabbed for him but he was out of my reach. “I’m going to get this door open, and when I do, you’re gonna wish you’d answered my questions.”

“Yeah, and you’ll end up in the cell beside me.” He sat on the bench, smiling. “I’ve won, admit it. You can’t make me talk. No one can. The men in suits will be here soon to cart me off, and I can’t wait to play them like I played your stupid sheriff. They’ll try to reason with me, bribe me with less prison time or some shit like that, but I ain’t telling a soul until I know Kate’s dead.”

Chase pushed past me, “Name your price.”

Perry tilted his head to the side, “You’re going to bribe me?”

“I’m paying you for information that I consider very valuable. To me, that isn’t bribery.” Chase sounded cool, but I could detect desperation in his eyes, in the way he tried not to move. He was so still. It was almost spooky.

“How much we talking?” Money was a big motivator, and though I suspected Chase wouldn’t give him a penny, I hoped just the thought of a lot of money would make Perry consider his offer.

“Ten,” Chase didn’t blink.

“Thousand?” Perry looked unimpressed.

“Million.” That was a lot of money for him to offer to a loser like Perry, but I’d pay more than that if I had it to get Kate back.

“Seriously? You’re really going to give me that much money just to find out where that spoiled brat is hidden?” Was he even considering it? Maybe he was. I hoped to God he was.