A Colby Christmas Rescue (Colby Agency: The Next Generation #1)

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Stonewall Drive, Nashville, 9:50 a.m.

Kenny struggled to control his anger until they had the doctor and his wife settled in the great room of Amar’s employer. Another rich guy, apparently, who had decided his life was more important than the doctor’s, the Case family’s or any-damned-one else’s.

But that wasn’t really the reason Kenny felt so furious. He was mad as hell because Amar had seen trouble coming and he had hesitated long enough that Jamie and the doctor’s kid had been taken by the other team—the other set of bad guys.

Kenny walked out onto the terrace where he could properly pace and mutter the swear words burning inside his throat.

Like the doctor’s home, there was a pool and all the usual trappings of überwealth. The home was older than the one on Lionheart Court, but the location was likely the draw. Kenny shook his head. What the hell was he doing here?

They had kidnapped a surgeon and brought him to this place.

He told himself he’d made the right decision. Jamie’s brother was being held hostage. It wasn’t like he could ignore the situation and he sure as hell didn’t trust Abidan Amar to straighten this out. So he’d come along. He’d dove in and done what he could to help. For Luke. For Jamie.

Now Jamie was missing too.

The French doors opened, and Amar joined him on the terrace. Kenny looked away, not trusting himself to look the guy in the eye.

“We have a problem,” Amar announced.

Kenny wheeled on him. “You think? Like who the hell took Jamie and the kid? Do you have a handle on that situation?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t say who took them. A competitor it seems who isn’t looking to save a life, but is positioning himself for a ransom demand.”

Kenny took a breath and told himself not to punch the guy. Doing so would not fix the situation and right now they needed to figure out how to help Jamie and that little girl. This was not the time to allow emotions to reign.

Of course Amar couldn’t say who had taken Jamie and the kid. He’d totally missed whatever happened this morning. He and his people should have picked up on the trouble in the air.

“Your people were already on the ground when the other guys showed up—and there was only three of them. Three! They came in right under the noses of your people and walked away with Jamie and the girl.”

If there was ever a situation that screamed of incompetence, this was it. Kenny struggled to regain his composure. Amar was not incompetent. Kenny knew this. He was just angry. Even the best plan could go awry. He also knew this firsthand. Rather than focus on pointing to how badly Amar had failed, they both needed to focus on how to rescue Jamie and the child.

“You are correct,” Amar agreed. “There is no excuse for what happened except to admit that someone on my team failed. However, I’ve just been told that we have some security footage that may help us nail down who these people were and hopefully find them.”

Kenny was over simply talking about this. They needed to act. To do that, he had to focus and to focus he had to find calm. “What is the problem you mentioned?”

“Dr. Case will not move forward with the surgery here until his daughter is found.”

Well, Kenny didn’t blame him. He’d been kidnapped. His family had been dragged from their home and his daughter had ended up God only knew where. Why would he cooperate? Only a fool would do so.

“What’s your plan?” Surely the man had a strategy for straightening out this screwed up mess.

“I’m glad you asked.” Amar’s sly smile was more of a smirk, and it seriously rubbed against Kenny’s last nerve. “We have someone waiting to see us downstairs in the game room.”

Kenny followed him back into the house, beyond the great room and down the stairs to the walkout basement. It was like another house, the floor space no doubt as spacious as the layout upstairs.

Amar turned down a hallway to the left, which led into another large room with doors leading to the outside. A man wearing black, as they all had been this morning, was secured to a chair in the center of the room. He glanced at Kenny, then Amar, before looking away. His own smirk suggested he was not worried about whatever they had come to do.

Never a good sign.

“Mr. Reicher.”

He turned to Amar as he approached, but said nothing.

Kenny stayed back a few steps and watched. This was Amar’s show. He’d give him some time to see if he could pull this debacle together. Jamie liked the guy. Respected him. He must be better at this than he’d shown so far.

“Your girlfriend—Darla, I believe, is her name—and her baby are on the way here. Is there anything you’d like to share with us before they arrive?”

Reicher’s face paled a little. “I have nothing to say.”

Amar smiled. “Really. Darla says her baby is your son, Paul junior. She’s very excited to bring him to see the Christmas surprise I told her you had arranged.”

His face tightened. “She doesn’t know anything about all this.”

“That’s too bad, Mr. Reicher. I think she may be very disappointed about what she finds here today.”

He looked away a moment.

Kenny was out of patience. “That little girl your friends took better be safe,” he warned, stepping closer. “If something happens to her...”

Reicher glared at Kenny. “She’s fine. Nothing will happen to her if Dr. Case is delivered as requested.”

Amar shrugged. “You see, Mr. Reicher, that is not going to happen. We have the doctor, and he is the important one. I’m sure you realize this. And as much as we want his daughter to be safe, she really is not our top concern.”

Kenny bit his tongue to prevent calling him a liar. But he understood the tactic. He didn’t like it, but he understood it.

“I don’t think the doctor will see it that way,” Reicher argued, the fear in his eyes impossible to conceal.

“I have a onetime offer for you, Mr. Reicher,” Amar said. “You tell me where my friend Jamie and the girl are and—assuming they are unharmed—I will allow you to leave with your girlfriend and your son when they arrive.” He laughed. “Hell, I’ll even throw in a little bonus for that Christmas surprise. But, if you waste this opportunity, there is nothing I can do for you.”

Kenny shook his head. “He doesn’t deserve a deal. I say we just beat it out of him.”

“But I’ve already called Darla and she’s on her way.” Amar checked his watch. “We have maybe ten minutes before she arrives.”

“Okay,” Reicher said. “Just don’t hurt her or tell her about any of this.”

That was easier than Kenny expected. Maybe too easy. “Tell us where the girl and my friend are being held.”

“They’re in a house on Trinity Road. I can give you directions.”

“How about you take my friend there,” Amar suggested. “That way there are no miscommunications.”

“But what about Darla and the baby?”

“I’ll let them know to go home and wait. You’ll be there soon.”

Reicher looked from Amar to Kenny. “How do I know I can trust either of you?”

Amar withdrew a knife, opened the blade and sliced it through the bonds holding Reicher to the chair. “I suppose you’re just going to have to take a chance. If you’re not willing to take a chance, then you’re in the wrong line of work.”

Kenny grabbed the guy by the collar. “Let’s go.” He shoved him toward the door.

Amar leaned in closer to Kenny. “Once you have Jamie and the girl, just leave him at the house and get back here. We’re running out of time.”

Kenny nodded. “I just hope Jamie doesn’t regret trusting you because I sure as hell do.”

In the corridor before they reached the stairs, one of the men working on Amar’s team approached Kenny and Reicher. “This way, gentlemen.”

They were led to a door that opened into a six-car garage. Outside the garage, one of the black sedans Amar’s people had used waited as if everyone had known this was the way things would work out.

“I’ll be your driver,” the man said as he opened the rear passenger-side door.

Kenny waited for Reicher to get in, then he dropped into the seat next to him. He removed his weapon and held it ready. “Don’t waste my time,” he warned Reicher.

Reicher gave the driver the street address.

The drive took longer than Kenny had hoped, but he didn’t know a lot about the area. Trinity Road was closer to where they had been in the Excalibur house than where they’d ended up today. Staying in the same general vicinity as the home invasion for hostage containment made a sort of sense, he supposed.

Trinity Road led away from the more heavily populated areas and had older houses set back off the road. It was heavily wooded in some areas.

“Up ahead on the left,” Reicher said.

When they turned onto the long drive, a man with a weapon emerged from the woods.

Kenny poked the muzzle of his weapon into Reicher’s side. “Unless you want to die now, I would suggest you think carefully before you speak to this guy.”

Reicher nodded, then, hand shaking, powered his window down. “I’m here to pick up the girl.”

“Good luck with that,” his comrade said. “That lady with her opened a window and they took off. I’ve been looking for them for the past hour.”

Kenny’s pulse thumped with the news. He barely resisted the urge to grin.

“We’ll help you look for them,” Reicher said. “Get in the car.” He slid toward Kenny.

The other guy got in. As he closed the door, he looked at Kenny. “Who the hell are you?”

Kenny pressed the muzzle of his weapon to the man’s forehead. “Toss your gun into the front seat.”

He hesitated.

“Do it,” Reicher said. “We’re not going to win this one.”

The new guy reluctantly did as ordered.

“Anyone else here?” Kenny asked.

The new guy shook his head. “Just me.”

“Drive up to the house,” Kenny said to the driver.

The car rolled forward, stopping at the small ranch house. Kenny and the driver emerged and ushered the two men into the house. Kenny walked through. Spotted the raised window in the bedroom and smiled.

“Go Jamie.” He crossed to the window and surveyed the area into which the two had taken off.

Back in the living room, the driver had the two standing with their backs against the wall. Kenny looked to the driver. “You have anything we can use to secure these two so we don’t have to shoot them?”

The driver nodded and hurried out of the house.

Kenny looked to the guy who had been guarding Jamie. “How long ago did they escape?”

“Maybe an hour.”

Damn. They could be anywhere by now. Maybe even back at the Excalibur house. “If I don’t find them, I’ll be back.”

When the two were secured, Kenny and the driver headed outside.

“Let’s make sure they have to walk out of here if they somehow manage to get loose.”

“Good idea,” the driver agreed.

“What’s your name?” Kenny asked while he slashed the tires.

“Landon.”

“Well, Landon,” Kenny said as he got back to his feet, “maybe we need the car’s fob to ensure it’s no use to anyone.”

Landon nodded and went back into the house. Half a minute later, he returned with the car’s fob. He popped the hood and did something under there. Kenny wasn’t much of a mechanic so he had no clue what. He could change a tire and check the oil. That was about the extent of his vehicle maintenance skills.

When Landon closed the hood, he said, “They won’t be going anywhere in this vehicle.” Then he dropped the fob on the ground and used the heel of his boot to disable it as well.

“Take the car,” Kenny decided, “drive slowly along the road. I’ll walk and have a look around in the woods.”

“You got it,” Landon said.

Kenny scanned the overgrown grass and quickly spotted the signs of recent movement. He followed that path into the woods.

“Jamie!” If they were still in these woods, maybe they would hear him calling.

Once he was deeper in the woods, the path wasn’t as easy to follow. He trudged through the underbrush and called Jamie’s name over and over.

The sound of a car horn blowing had him stalling in his tracks. He listened. Coming from Trinity Road. Maybe Landon had found them.

Kenny started to run through the woods. When he emerged, he was in the yard of another property. He kept close to the tree line along the yard’s border since he had no desire to get shot. Then he saw Landon’s car on the road. Kenny broke into a hard run.

As he reached the road and the car, the rear passenger window powered down. “Looking for me?”

Jamie. His knees almost gave out on him. “You and Lillian okay?”

She nodded. “We’re good. Get in.”

Kenny opened the front door and dropped into the seat. To Landon, he said, “Let Amar know we’re headed back with what we came for.” He turned to Jamie then. “Where were you?” He glanced at Landon. “How did he find you?”

“We were hiding in the church a mile or so up the road. The guy who’d been holding us had come through looking for us, but he didn’t think to look under the altar.”

Kenny laughed. “But you thought to hide there.”

Landon ended his call. “Smart move,” he said to Jamie. “I spotted the church as we drove in. When we were told you had escaped on foot, I figured you went to the church. That’s where I would have gone.”

Kenny had to admit he would probably have done the same. He looked to Lillian then. “Your parents are going to be very happy to see you.”

She nodded. “Jamie saved me.”

Jamie smiled. “We did it together.”

Kenny was just thankful they were safe. He was pretty sure he’d never been so relieved in his life.

“I don’t think that guy was very good at his job,” Lillian suggested.

“We’re just lucky he wasn’t,” Jamie pointed out. She looked to Kenny. “And we’re very lucky that my friend is really, really good at his job.”