Heiress Recon

“What condition?”

He released his hold on her shoulders. “The condition is that until we know exactly what’s going on, you stay with me in a safe house my company maintains in the city. It’s a farmhouse north of town, not far from where your father is building his mall.”

“Fine, whatever,” she replied.

“Okay, get your things and let’s get out of here.”

It took only minutes for the two of them to repack their bags, load them into the trunk of the car and get on the road.

“He thought I was the one in danger,” she said, her voice thin and filled with worry. “He protected me but he didn’t protect himself. Whatever the ransom, I’ll pay it. The kidnapper can have every dime I possess as long as he gives my father back unhurt.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We don’t know for sure that it’s about a ransom.”

She looked at him in surprise. “What else could it be about?”

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and tried to ignore the tight nerves knotted in his stomach. The fact that the kidnapper hadn’t made a ransom demand worried him a lot, but he didn’t want Brianna to see his concern.

“Maybe it’s about the meeting your dad was supposed to have on Wednesday night,” he finally answered. “Maybe the kidnapper believes if Brandon can’t make that meeting, the mall development will suffer.”

“Maybe,” she replied, but he could tell by the dubious tone of her voice that she didn’t completely believe it. “But what would that accomplish? Eventually they’ll have to let him go.”

“We can’t really know what’s going on until we have more information,” he replied. He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was almost noon. They wouldn’t be back in Kansas City before three. Maybe by then Brandon would show up, and everyone would realize it had all just been a terrible mistake.

“Can’t you drive any faster?” she asked impatiently.

“It will slow us down considerably if I get pulled over for a speeding ticket. Just sit back and try to relax until we get you home.” He knew how ridiculous it was to tell her to try to relax, but there was nothing else to do at the moment.

“Maybe I should call Heather,” she said and dug into her purse to withdraw a sparkly cell phone.

“That probably isn’t a good idea,” he replied. “She’ll be keeping the line clear in case a ransom call comes in. She promised to call me if anything else happens.”

When she dropped the phone back in her purse and fell silent, Troy was grateful. He needed to think. He needed to figure out how to counsel Heather when they got to her house.

He believed, theoretically, that the proper authorities should be contacted when a crime was committed. But he’d never been faced with an actual situation like this.

What if he insisted that Heather call the cops and Brandon was then murdered? He’d have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life. He glanced at the woman beside him. Despite the fact that he believed she was incredibly spoiled and he didn’t agree with the way she lived her life, there was no question that she adored her father. Troy didn’t want to be responsible for taking Brandon away from his daughter.

He would feel better if they discovered Heather had received a ransom call when they reached her place. At least they would know that they were dealing with a criminal looking for a cash payday. It was much more problematic if a ransom call didn’t come in.

Brianna remained silent for the rest of the ride, and Troy couldn’t begin to guess what must be going through her head. What surprised him was that she wasn’t having hysterics. She wasn’t playing the drama queen.

As they pulled off the highway and into her neighborhood, she sat up straighter, her features taut with strain. “Maybe it’s all been a sick joke or some kind of a mistake.”

“Maybe,” Troy agreed, not having the heart to disagree with her. He knew that if that were the case, Heather would have let them know that Brandon was home safe and sound.

Brianna’s childhood home was a huge two-story mansion set on two acres of prime property. As Troy turned into the winding circle drive that led to the front door, the knot in his stomach twisted tighter.

On the outside nothing appeared amiss. No police cars were parked in the driveway, no news crews littered the lawn. Apparently Heather hadn’t called anyone for help yet.

Brianna was out of the car before he’d shut off the engine. He quickly parked, jumped out of the car and hurried after her.

“Heather!” she cried as she burst through the front door.

The redhead appeared in the doorway of the living room, her eyes swollen and red-rimmed as she twisted a tissue with her fingers. With a small cry, Brianna ran to her and the two women embraced.

“Thank God you’re here,” Heather said as she released Brianna. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’ve been afraid to do anything.”

“Have you heard anything else? Have you gotten any more calls? A ransom demand?” Troy asked.

“No. Nothing since the first phone call.” She motioned them into the living room.

“Have you contacted anyone else?” he asked once they were all seated.

“Only my sister. She’s going to be here in a couple of hours to stay with me.” Heather dabbed her eyes with the tissue. “And I called Brandon’s office to see if he was there, if maybe this is all just a terrible mistake, but his secretary told me he didn’t show up for work this morning.”

“How did this happen? Do you know where he was taken?” Brianna’s voice trembled slightly, and again Troy had the ridiculous desire to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything was going to be fine.

“Apparently somebody was waiting for him when he stepped out of the house this morning. You know your father, the first thing he does after getting dressed and ready for work is walk out to get the morning paper. That’s when it must have happened because his car is still in the garage.” A sob escaped Heather and she stared at Troy as if he might somehow have the answers to make this all go away. “What do we do now?”

Brianna looked at him, her big blue eyes holding the same appeal as Heather’s.

“I need to make some phone calls,” he said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “I want to call my two partners and let them know what’s happening, and then I think we need to call Chief Wendall Kincaid of the police department.” He hadn’t wanted to involve his partners until he’d checked out the situation with Brandon’s wife.

Heather shot up from her chair. “No! You can’t do that. They said they’d kill him if we contacted the police.”

Brianna’s eyes grew bigger as she continued to stare at Troy, and he wondered how on earth he’d gotten himself into a position to make such a weighty decision. “We’ll give it a couple of hours,” he finally said. “We’ll see if the kidnapper calls back with a ransom demand. But call or no call, my personal opinion is that it’s best to contact the police.”

“He’s my husband,” Heather exclaimed. “And I don’t want to do anything to put his life in jeopardy.”

“It’s already in jeopardy,” Brianna said softly. “So there’s nothing we can do right now but wait for the phone to ring.”

Troy nodded and stood. “And in the meantime, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make my phone calls.” He walked back to the front door and stepped outside to call both Micah and Lucas to let them know what was going on.

If Heather didn’t want him to contact the police, then having his partners here was the next best thing. Micah and Lucas could remain here with Heather while he got Brianna settled in the safe house.

Just because Brandon was missing at the moment didn’t mean that Troy meant to shirk his duty. Brandon had wanted his daughter under wraps at least until after the Wednesday night meeting, and that’s exactly what Troy intended to do.

He was still standing on the porch when Lucas pulled up in his black pickup truck. He had just reached the front porch when Micah roared into the circular driveway and parked his car behind the truck.

Troy quickly filled the two in on what he knew and that Heather was adamantly against calling the police. “Why don’t I knock on some doors and see if anyone noticed any suspicious cars or trucks in the area this morning?” Micah suggested.

Troy nodded. “Sounds like a plan. And Lucas, I’d like you to stay with Heather later while I take Brianna to the safe house. I’m hoping a ransom call happens before the night is over. Then we can decide what the next plan of action should be.”

The next couple of hours crawled by. Heather’s sister arrived and took the distraught Heather upstairs to her bedroom. Micah made the rounds of the neighbors but nobody had seen anything unusual that morning. They waited for the phone to ring as the tension in the air crackled.

Brianna sat curled up on a love seat, looking lost and alone. Her eyes held the torment of her thoughts, and Troy could easily imagine how horrifying those thoughts might be.

By seven o’clock Troy realized there was no point in all of them sitting around waiting for something that might not happen. “Brianna, I want to get you settled in the safe house for the night. Lucas and Micah will let us know if anything happens here, but it’s my gut instinct that nothing is going to happen for the remainder of the night.”