Chapter Ten

Gary knocked on the door to a modest house complete with tan colored siding just after dawn.

He’d spent the night on the computer searching for Felina Kensington before finally making a hit. As soon as the rental car agency had opened, he’d stood at their door, getting a car for a small road trip. That had placed him at the old woman’s doorstep firmly at nine am.

A young blonde woman with blue eyes opened the door, a squalling baby perched on her hip. “Can I help you?”

He blinked, glancing up to double check the address. Verifying the numbers, he focused on the woman. What in the hell? He’d expected an old woman, not a young trick complete with screaming kid. “I’m looking for Felina Kensington.”

“She moved out a year ago. I bought the house from her.”

His lungs seized in near panic. He’d worked nearly non-stop the past twenty-four hours of his precious three days searching for this woman only to come to a dead end. If he didn’t get his hands on a lot of money soon, he’d end up floating face down in a river. A sudden idea struck. “Can you tell me where she moved to?”

She peered up at him, indecision apparent in her face. She bounced the baby a couple of times, the motion doing nothing to stop the crying.

Frantically, he searched for a logical reason to sway the girl into confessing what she knew. He lowered his voice to an appropriate solemn level and gave her a sad smile. “I really need to find her. You see, it’s her ex-husband. He’s on his deathbed and is asking for her. He wants to make amends before he passes.”

She hesitated a moment longer before apparently making a decision. “She moved in with her son. They live in Crossroads.”

“Thank you. I know she’ll appreciate your assistance.”

The woman shut the door as he spun and returned to his car. Crossroads. He’d been there before. Luckily, it wasn’t far and this time there would be no surprises. He would ensure it.

After all, his very life depended upon finding this woman, stealing her jewels, and hurriedly taking them to the pawn shop.

The clock continued to tick and he had much to accomplish before Ravini’s goon showed up again.

With steely determination, he cranked the engine and headed north, his mind whirling with visions of gold, money, and the riches of a free man.

* * * *

Summer had arrived late Friday morning, a bit ahead of schedule to start therapy with Mrs Kensington as they were extending their session to include more walking and stairs. She’d juggled around other clients in order to allow for ample time for this visit as stairs always took longer when learning the ropes.

A loud clang drew Summer’s attention, almost as if someone had knocked something off a dresser in one of the bedrooms. Her gaze met Mrs Kensington’s which was wide with surprise. “What was that?”

The older woman shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Night?”

“No. He went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions and run a couple more errands. It’s just us.”

Summer’s heart raced, her breathing escalated as a tremor of fear sliced through her body. With no reasonable excuse for what they’d heard, she worried it meant trouble. Big trouble.

Setting the walker in front of her patient, Summer leaned over the sitting woman, patting her knee. “I’ll just go check it out.”

“I’m not sure. Maybe you should stay here.” Worry laced Mrs Kensington’s tone.

“Do what she says.”

Summer stood upright, searching for the source of the hard male voice. A moment later she spied him, a lanky, blond man, just a few inches taller than her. His focus appeared to waver and shift. He rocked from foot to foot, raking one hand through his hair constantly. His narrow chest rose and fell rapidly, as if he was hyperventilating.

Mrs Kensington gasped, her hands shaking as she clutched her chest. “Get out of here.”

The man stalked forward slowly. “Not until I get what I want.” His lips thinned as his pinched face tightened all the more.

Summer stood still, sizing the man up, attempting to kick her stunned brain into gear. “What is it you want?”

“Your husband said he gave you jewelry and other gifts, valuable ones. A gold nugget and diamond necklace, among other things. Give me those and no one will get hurt.” He pulled a gun from behind his back, leveling it at them albeit jerkily, backing up his menacing threat. “Stupid drunk told me all about you and your riches at the bar. Your loss. My gain.”

“But… I…” Mrs Kensington stammered, panic written on her face.

“Tell me where they are!” He stepped closer, growling at Mrs Kensington.

“I don’t know!” Tears began to form in Mrs Kensington’s eyes.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” His attention flicked to Summer for a moment before snapping back.

Summer furiously scanned the room, searching for a distraction, a weapon, anything to defuse the intensifying situation. Finding nothing, she stuck by her patient’s side, trying to offer as much support and protection as possible.

“My son. He stored them somewhere. Safe deposit box or something. Didn’t want to leave them around the house.” She managed to get out between pants.

“Take deep breaths, Mrs Kensington.” Summer advised, concerned with the woman’s physical distress. If she experienced a heart attack on the spot, things were going to get a lot worse.

“Where?” He demanded, reaching out to grab her arm, giving it a hard shake.

“I don’t know!” Mrs Kensington covered her face as tears began to flow in earnest, great sobs wracking her small frame.

The man cussed a blue streak, gesturing wildly in agitation.

Summer leveled a glare at the intruder. Perhaps he would listen to reason. Anything was worth a try at the moment. “Stop it. She doesn’t know and you’re going to make her have a heart attack. If that happens, you won’t get anything you came for.”

He calmed marginally, brows furrowed in apparent concentration. “Fine. I’ll take her with me. She can call her son. He gets the goods and I’ll return her.”

Summer gasped at this new plan. Breaking and entering, and robbery, seemed preferable to kidnapping. How many times did the victim survive? What emotional tolls did they live with for the rest of their existence if they did?

She glanced over to Mrs Kensington, who sat with her face buried in her hands, overcome with fear. Though strong and able for her age, the chances of her surviving being taken from her home by force and carted around the country until rescue arrived would be slim.

She couldn’t allow that to happen. Summoning her failing courage, she lifted her chin.

“Take me, instead.” Summer heard a gasp to her right but plunged ahead. “She just had knee surgery. Not only will she slow you down to a snail’s crawl, she’ll be easily remembered. Everyone who sees a little old woman with a walker will open the door, offer to help her, and remember that they did. I’m your best option.” She pleaded her case, begging for him to leave her patient at home.

He seemed to ponder the idea for a moment before making a decision. “Okay. You come with me. But no monkey business.” Pointing a finger, he warned Mrs Kensington, “Call your son now. Tell him he has eight hours to come up with the goods I want or I will kill her.”

“No. Leave her out of it. She has nothing to do with this.” Mrs Kensington railed at the man, her face growing red with exertion.

The man’s beady eyes locked on the older lady. “You must care for her or you would have let me take her without a peep. You’ll make sure your son will trade for her.”

Summer bit her lip, trying to keep her wits. “It’s a bank holiday. They won’t reopen until tomorrow morning at eight am. He’ll be unable to access the safe deposit box until then.”

His face clenched in obvious rage. “Twenty-four hours, but not a minute more!”

Winning that minor battle, Summer thought about her animals. Staring at the older woman, she implored, “Please, call my neighbor, Masie. Tell her there’s been an emergency and I need her to look after my animals for…for…” She clamped her mouth shut, uncertain how long this nightmare would last. “Here are her numbers.” After hastily jotting down two numbers on a slip of paper, she thrust it in Mrs Kensington’s hands.

The older woman peered at her, trails of tears running down her dark cheeks. “I will. And, I’ll call Colton…”

The man grabbed Summer’s upper arm tightly, dragging her toward the door. “Now, lady. Or she dies. I’ll call you in twenty-four hours to set up the exchange. If he gets those things, I’ll trade for her. If not…” He grinned wickedly, putting the gun against Summer’s head.

A shudder and cold chill ran through Summer—so great the fear, she could barely breathe yet she clung to her wits with steely determination. Falling apart into hysterics wouldn’t help her get out of this terrifying dilemma. Luck and thinking might.

Not waiting for an answer, he tightened his grip on her arm, placing enough pressure to bruise, and pulled her to the front door.

Summer protected her side, the one where her oversized scrub top covered the cell phone holder and cell phone. Maybe they could track her through the GPS on her phone—if they thought of it. It was why she’d written her cell phone number on the paper along with Masie’s. Thankfully, she’d charged it fully the night before and it was already on silent. She never wanted her phone to ring while working with a patient, so she always kept it quiet and non-distracting on her work days. A good thing since at the moment it appeared to be the only way to find her before the deadline arrived.

He glanced back at the house then shoved Summer in front of him, keeping a firm grip on her. Together they headed toward a newer model sedan, Summer struggling all the way.

“Don’t even think about it,” he ordered.

“About what?” She dragged her feet a bit more, anything to slow him down and allow an opening for her escape.

“Fighting. Trying to escape.” He jerked hard on her arm. “Even if you manage to get away, I’ll just go back in that house and drag that old woman along. She may be slow, but she won’t escape and I have no reason to keep her alive if she gives me problems.” His beady eyes bored into hers.

Summer shuddered at the message, her dilemma sinking in.

Mrs Kensington could call Night, who would line up the cavalry for a rescue.

She hoped.

With a long sigh, she stopped resisting, obediently climbing into the car as instructed, her heart pounding and sinking at the same time. Terror flowed through her veins as she contemplated what the immediate future might bring.