Sawyer (9 page)

Well, that didn’t paint a pretty picture of the doc, and he looked at Cassidy to see if she knew anything about a supposed relationship between Diane and her brother.

Cassidy just shook her head. “Bennie never mentioned her.”

“But they had met,” Sawyer reminded her. “Dr. Blackwell mentioned it when she was at the sheriff’s office. She said she’d met you and your brother at a fund-raiser.”

“Yes,” Cassidy mumbled. And he could almost see the wheels turning in her head, trying to remember the details of that meeting. “If Bennie was seeing her, he didn’t tell me. I’ll call him and ask—”

“Already spoke to him about it,” Grayson interrupted. “He said he knew her but they were never lovers. Apparently, April had a jealous streak and often accused Bennie of having affairs with other women—including Diane.”

Sawyer thought about that a moment. “Maybe April was behind Bennie’s kidnapping because she was jealous of the affair she believed he was having with her shrink? She could have hired Finley to help her, faked her own kidnapping, and then he could have double-crossed her. With her out of the picture, Finley and his partner could collect the entire ransom.”

“I didn’t hear either kidnapper mention April’s name,” Cassidy supplied, “but they did call someone. Maybe it was April. Is there any way to trace cell-phone activity out in that area?”

“Not usually, especially since the kidnappers would likely be using burners, as in disposable phones, but I’ll look into it. Plus, we have a CSI team still combing the woods and the Tumbleweed. There’s a chance they’ll find some kind of evidence to prove who orchestrated the kidnappings and killed April.”

Yeah, but that seemed a long shot. If there had been something obvious, the team would have already found it.

“We’ll keep looking,” Grayson assured him. “Keep going through the diary, too. Just stay put until you hear from me.”

Sawyer ended the call, thankful that there hadn’t been any bad news, but he wished there had been more progress in the investigation. Unless Finley started talking, this case could drag on longer than his and Cassidy’s nerves could handle.

“You’re stuck with me for a while,” she said, setting aside her glass of tea.

True. And it might be more than just
a while
. There was no telling how many days—and nights—Cassidy and he would have to spend under the same roof. Of course, they had chaperones of sorts with the nanny-bodyguard and the two agents. But Sawyer was truly worried that chaperones weren’t going to help him keep his hands off Cassidy.

In fact, nothing might help.

“Yes,” she mumbled, pulling in her breath. That caused her chest to rise, just enough to capture his full attention.

“It’d make me dumber than dirt to act on this,” he mumbled back.

And apparently that’s exactly what he was. Dumber than dirt.

Sawyer ignored every red flag waving around him and leaned in and kissed her. He caught the little sound of surprise she made with the kiss. She made another of those sounds when he hooked his arm around her waist and snapped her to him.

Even though he knew he should stop, Sawyer just kept kissing her. Kept inching her closer and closer to him until Cassidy was pressed against him, body to body.

Yeah, there were plenty of memories, all right.

She tasted exactly as he remembered. Like something forbidden. Not far from the truth. She was in his protective custody, which made her hands off, but neither his hands nor the rest of him seemed interested in staying away from her.

Too bad Cassidy clearly felt the same way.

She didn’t say so. Hard for her to speak through the deep kisses, but her body let him know this was exactly what she wanted. She wound her arms around his neck and kept kissing and touching so that the heat spiked through Sawyer.

His phone rang again, the sound shooting through the room and him. Once he tore himself away from Cassidy and her irresistible mouth, he was thankful for the reprieve. Until he saw the unknown-caller ID on the screen.

“Agent Ryland,” Sawyer cautiously answered.

“You have to help me,” the woman said, her words rushed together. It took him a moment to realize who the caller was.

“Dr. Blackwell? Where are you?” Sawyer asked, and he put the call on speaker so Cassidy could hear. “There are people looking for you.”

“Please, you have to help me,” she repeated. “Two men kidnapped me—”

And before the doctor could say another word, the line went dead.

Chapter Eleven

Cassidy’s heart slammed against her chest.
No
. This couldn’t be happening again. Even though she hardly knew Diane Blackwell, she did know what it was like to be taken captive. And in this case, the kidnappers were also killers.

Well, they were if it was the same people who’d taken April, Bennie and her.

Sawyer cursed, and he immediately scrolled through his numbers to call Grayson. No doubt so the sheriff could try to trace the call and locate the doctor before it was too late.

“Grayson,” Sawyer said the moment he answered. “We’ve got a problem.”

But before he could give the sheriff any details, Sawyer’s phone beeped, indicating he had another call coming in. Cassidy glanced at the screen and saw unknown caller, the same as before.

“I’ll have to get back to you,” Sawyer said to Grayson, and he clicked over to the other call. “Diane?”

“It’s me,” the woman said in a whisper. It was hard to hear her words, but Cassidy had no trouble hearing the fear in her voice. “We got disconnected or something.”

Better than the alternative of the kidnappers taking the phone. Or harming her so she couldn’t speak.

“Where are you?” Sawyer asked. He took the landline phone off the hook, pressed in Grayson’s number and handed it to Cassidy. “Tell him what’s going on,” Sawyer mouthed.

“I’m not sure where I am,” the doctor answered. “Some kind of warehouse. I managed to get away from the men, and I stole one of their phones. But I know they’re looking for me. That’s why you have to help me.”

Cassidy got through to Grayson and asked him to try to trace Diane’s call. He kept her on hold while he tried to do that, and she gave Sawyer a nod to let him know what was happening.

“And I will help you,” Sawyer assured her. “I’m having someone try to pinpoint your location now. Just stay on the line and describe where you are.”

“A big metal building.” Her breathing made a soft hiccupping sob. “It’s empty except for some wooden crates.”

“How’d you get there?” Sawyer pressed.

“The men were holding me in a nearby building. A vacant office.” She paused, gave another of those panicky sobs. “I think I’m in San Antonio. Please, you have to help me.”

“I will, I promise,” Sawyer said. And Cassidy knew that he would certainly try. “Look around you. Can you see the city lights or hear traffic?”

“No. But the men didn’t drive that long after they kidnapped me. God, I’m so scared.”

“I know.” Unlike Diane, Sawyer’s voice was level and calm. But not the rest of him. He had a crushing grip on the phone. “Just give me all the details you can.”

“Okay.” But it still took her several long seconds to get control of her voice. “I’d just gotten back from Silver Creek and was in the parking lot of my office building. It’s underground, and the light over my assigned space was broken or something.” Another sob. “I didn’t think anything of it, but the men took me the moment I stepped from my car.”

Again, it was hard to hear. They’d done almost the same thing to her. Grabbed Cassidy as she was coming out of her downtown office. She’d left in a rush that day. Distracted. Because only moments earlier the kidnapper had called to tell her that they had her brother. The last thing Cassidy had expected was for them to kidnap her, too, and that she needed to get the money for the ransom.

“Did you see the men’s faces or recognize them?” Sawyer demanded.

“No,” the doctor answered, and didn’t hesitate, either. “They wore these cartoon masks, like the kind kids wear to trick-or-treat. And they didn’t speak. They just threw me on the floor of a van. There were no windows in the back, so I couldn’t see where we were going.”

“How long were you in the van?” Sawyer asked. “Because it can help me pinpoint where they took you.”

“It’s hard to think.” Diane started to sob again.

“I know, but you can do this. You can help me save you.”

It was silly, but Cassidy wished that she’d had him on the other end of the line when she’d been taken. She’d been out of her mind with fear for Bennie and for herself, and there had been no one like Sawyer to help. Still, he’d managed to save her, and she hoped he could do the same for Diane.

“The kidnappers drove for maybe fifteen minutes before they stopped and took me into the empty office,” Diane finally said. “I ran here after I got away from the other building where they were holding me.”

And she’d obviously hidden herself since the kidnappers hadn’t found her all this time she’d been on the phone with Sawyer.

“Look around,” Sawyer instructed, “and try to guess where you are.”

“Uh.” Diane made several more of those sounds and was, hopefully, looking around. “I think I’m on the south side of town near some abandoned buildings.”

“Good.” He motioned for Cassidy to relay that to Grayson, and she did. “Just try to remember if you saw something, anything that will help us find you.”

“She’s using a burner,” Grayson said to Cassidy, and she passed that information on to Sawyer.

Cassidy had already learned that the cops couldn’t trace a disposable cell, and that meant it was even more critical for Diane to tell them exactly where she was.

“Put my call on Speaker,” Grayson added to her, “so Diane and Sawyer can hear this.”

Cassidy did, and she held the landline phone near Sawyer’s cell.

“San Antonio P.D. is sending two cruisers out to an area on the south side where there are warehouses,” Grayson explained. “Diane, I need you to listen for the sirens. That’ll help us pinpoint your location.”

“Wait,” Diane said, her voice shaking again. “I think the men are coming into the building. Oh, God. I think I hear footsteps.”

Cassidy put her fingers to her mouth. Held her breath.

“Just stay quiet a moment and try to keep out of sight.” It was good advice, but Sawyer mouthed some profanity after giving it. Probably because he hated not being able to help her. Diane was alone and no doubt terrified.

The seconds crawled by, and even though Diane wasn’t saying anything, Cassidy could hear plenty from Grayson. Speaking in whispers now, he was giving instructions to the officers heading out to look for the woman. She only hoped that the cops got to Diane before the kidnappers found her.

“I think they’re gone,” Diane finally continued. Some relief was in her voice, still mixed with fear. “I remembered something else while I was waiting. There was a driver’s license clipped to the visor in the van, and I saw the man’s name. Joe Finley.”

Cassidy seriously doubted it was a coincidence that the surname matched the kidnapper they already had in custody, and several moments after she gave the name to Grayson, he confirmed it.

“Joe and Chester are brothers,” Grayson explained. She heard the click of computer keys. “And like Chester, he has a long criminal record. He has a fondness for working as hired muscle for loan sharks.”

And these were almost certainly the men who’d held Bennie and her. Men with violent criminal records, and now they had Diane.

“Why?” Cassidy hadn’t meant to say that aloud, but it grabbed Sawyer’s attention. He nodded, repeated it.

“Why would these men take you, Diane?” Sawyer came out and asked.

“I don’t know.” Diane’s breath broke again, and there was another sob. “Maybe because they think I know something about April. Something that will incriminate them in her murder.”

That was a good guess, and it might all lead back to April’s therapy sessions with the doctor. Or the diary. “Did April ever say anything about the Finleys?” Cassidy asked.

“Nothing that I remember. She mainly talked about Willy and how terrified she was of him.”

Sawyer’s gaze met hers, and Cassidy could see the same conclusion in his eyes. Had Willy hired the brothers to kidnap Bennie, April and her?

And now Dr. Blackwell?

Willy could have wanted Bennie and her for the ransom, but he could have had the doctor kidnapped to silence her.

Or for another reason.

“According to April’s diary, she thought you and Bennie were having an affair,” Sawyer said. “Maybe the Finleys took you in the hopes of still getting the ransom from Bennie and Cassidy.”

“No,” Diane practically shouted. Then she repeated it in a much lower voice. “I’m not having an affair with Bennie. Never have, never will. April was paranoid that way, always believing that her lovers were cheating on her with someone else.”

“But why did she think Bennie was cheating on her with you?” Cassidy asked.

“Who knows. The woman wasn’t mentally stable. Wait, I remember something else,” Diane said. “I heard this Joe Finley mention a debt that Bennie owes.”

Cassidy’s heart felt as if it skipped a beat. “Joe said Bennie owed him money?”

“No, only that Bennie was in debt,” Diane clarified. “Why, do you know anything about that?”

This time when Sawyer’s gaze came to hers, Cassidy saw the questions. And maybe some distrust. After all, she had already admitted that she would do pretty much anything to save her kid brother, and he might be thinking she was withholding something.

And she was. Though not intentionally.

“Bennie did owe some money,” Cassidy admitted. “But I don’t know the details. A couple of days before we were kidnapped, Bennie asked me for money to pay off some loan. But I refused. I wanted more information, and he wouldn’t give it to me. So I told him he’d have to wait until the first of the month when he got his allowance from his trust fund.”

Too bad they’d been kidnapped before then.

Cassidy shook her head, looked at Sawyer. “I swear, I forgot all about it until just now. Besides, it might not have anything to do with what Joe said.”

But that felt and sounded like an excuse, the same kind of outs she’d been giving her brother most of his life. The odds were that this was indeed connected to the kidnappings.

“Oh, mercy,” Cassidy mumbled. “They might have kidnapped us because of what Bennie owed them.”

Sawyer looked up at the ceiling, added some profanity under his breath. “And if so, then there’ll likely be a ransom demand for you, Diane. They probably think your husband will pay to get you released.”

“He would,” she immediately agreed. “If he knew my life was on the line, he’d pay, and that means these kidnappers won’t stop looking for me....” Diane’s words trailed off, and for several seconds, all Cassidy could hear was the woman’s suddenly heavy breathing. “I hear sirens. They’re in the distance, but I can hear them.”

“Good,” Grayson answered. “When the sirens get closer, let us know.”

“Oh, God,” Diane said. “I heard the kidnappers again, too. I think they just came into the warehouse. I’ll text you when the sirens are closer.”

And with that, she ended the call.

“She hung up,” Sawyer relayed to Grayson.

“Let me know when she calls back,” Grayson said.

Sawyer assured him that they would, and he turned to Cassidy. “Tell me everything about this money that Bennie owes.”

She was shaking her head before he’d fully asked the question. Except he didn’t just ask. He gave her a lawman’s order.

“I’ve already told you everything I know,” Cassidy insisted. “But I know where to get answers.”

Since she didn’t have her cell with her, she used the house phone to call her brother. Bennie answered on the first ring, and she put the call on speaker.

“What happened?” Bennie snapped, clearly on edge. “What’s wrong?”

Cassidy had a quick debate about how much to tell him and decided to focus on the money for now. There was no need to give the details of Diane’s abduction.

“Before we were kidnapped, you said you needed cash to pay off a loan. Who did you owe money?” she asked.

He made a huffing sound of surprise. “There’s a kidnapper still on the loose, and that’s what you want to talk about?”

Now Cassidy huffed. She knew her brother well enough to know when he was stonewalling her. “Yes, it’s what I want to talk about. Tell me about that loan.”

Bennie mumbled something she didn’t catch, and he hesitated so long that she wasn’t sure he would answer. “You wouldn’t recognize the man’s name,” Bennie finally said, “but he owns several bars. He loaned me some money to cover my gambling debts.”

She looked at Sawyer, expecting to see an I-told-you-so expression, but he only scowled. “How much did you borrow?” Sawyer pressed.

Again, a long hesitation. “A quarter of a million.”

Oh, mercy. Six months of his allowance wouldn’t have covered that. “Was this bar owner pressing you to pay him?”

“Yes, and that’s why I asked you for the money. I shouldn’t have to remind you that you refused.” Bennie made it sound as if this was somehow her fault.

It wasn’t. And even though this wasn’t the time to have a long talk with her brother, she still had some things to clear up.

“Were we kidnapped because of the money you owe?” Cassidy came out and asked.

“No.” There was zero hesitation this time. “How could you even ask that? I wouldn’t have put you in that kind of danger.”

Cassidy desperately wanted to believe him, but she wasn’t so sure. “Then why were we taken?”

“Probably for the money that you were going to pay the kidnappers for our release. Maybe money, too, from Sawyer for the baby if it turned out to be his. I think April could have set it up. She’s a gold digger, you know. Or maybe it was that psycho Willy.”

Both of them were good suspects, but April was dead, and Willy was pointing the finger at Bennie. Cassidy wasn’t sure who to believe.

“One more thing. Were you involved with Dr. Diane Blackwell?” she asked.

“What? No.” Another quick answer. “Why, is that what she said?”

“April did, in her diary.”

“Well, April was lying.” Bennie cursed and then made a sound of frustration. “Hell’s bells, Cassidy, why would you believe her over me?” However, he didn’t wait for an answer. “April was angry because I ended things with her. She would have said anything to get back at me.”

“But why this?” Cassidy continued. “How would saying you’re involved with Diane get back at you?”

“Because it would have made it seem as if I was trying to manipulate April’s therapy by sleeping with her shrink. April could have probably used that to get herself moved to another doctor. She hated Diane.”