Love & Redemption (24 page)

“No.” Ken shook his head. “There’s no way she would do that. She’s been Emma’s nanny for the past year. She’s young, only twenty-two, but she loves Emma like her own. She’d do anything to protect her, not put her in danger.”

As casually as Stephen and Terrance were willing to shoot Shelley, Gavin knew they’d have no trouble killing the nanny. “If Rose is still alive, she’s in trouble. We have to make her safety part of our plan.”

“Of course we do,” Shelley agreed, “if they haven’t already killed her. I’m assuming Emma was all Brent worried about when he talked to them, so I hope Rose hasn’t done anything to draw attention to herself. That’s a worry. Emma’s probably safe, but Rose—”

“Emma’s all that matters!” Ken punched his thigh. “Don’t get distracted by a little nobody. The kidnappers want five million dollars tomorrow. If Brent can’t make that happen, they threatened to torture Emma. They said they’d send her ear for incentive if Brent didn’t get the money.”

Gavin swallowed a few times, fighting the salty taste in his mouth urging him to heave up anything in his stomach.
Her ear?
They were more twisted than Gavin guessed. Shelley never mentioned anything about torture, though she said Stephen had planned horrible things for Carlie.

“The nanny
is
important,” Shelley insisted, not seeming as shaken by the information as Gavin was. Then again, she was one of the toughest women he knew. “We’ll save them both. Do you have any sort of plan on what to do?”

“That’s why I’m here.” Ken leaned back in his chair, rubbing the spot on his thigh that he’d punched. “I hoped you could help. You’re the expert on S.A.T.O. and I want Emma home safe.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Shelley took some deep breaths, doing her best to maintain her composure. Gavin was visibly upset by the news, and it wouldn’t do for her to give into the rage building inside her. Still, if she’d only stayed behind in the garage that day and killed Stephen and Terrance, Paul Billings would have more to worry about than killing and kidnapping innocent kids. She wanted to make them pay.

“First things first,” she said to Ken. “We need to speak with your brother-in-law. Where is he?”

“He went to work. We figured if he changed his schedule, the kidnappers might think he informed the cops and then hurt Emma.”

“That was smart,” she agreed. “I bet S.A.T.O. is watching him.”

Gavin stood and crossed to the mini fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and unscrewing the lid. “Do you have any idea what we should do, Shell? Paying them is out of the question, but how do we get the girl back?”

“Emma, not the girl,” Shelley corrected softly. They both needed to remember a little girl’s life depended on them. Distancing themselves by not referring to her by name might make them sloppy.

Ken turned to Gavin. “Brent’s going to pay. He just wants you to help make the exchange and get Emma back safe.”

“What?” She must have heard wrong. “He’s seriously considering paying five million dollars? He must be more successful than I assumed.”

“He has K and R insurance. The money isn’t the problem.”

Gavin leaned against the vanity counter, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. “What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Kidnap and ransom insurance,” Ken explained. “He’ll borrow the money from the company, pay the ransom, and then the insurance will pay the company back. He’s put money into that policy ever since he became such a public figure. He funded it to cover the entire family. I always thought it was stupid, but turns out it’s a good thing.”

Although Shelley didn’t think paying the money would ensure Paul gave Emma back, it wasn’t up to her whether or not they paid. In some ways, it made her more nervous knowing they were going to hand over that kind of money. While she knew Paul took on jobs that offered him cash in return, kidnapping seemed excessive, even for him.

It made her worry what he planned to do with such a large sum. Maybe he already found a new cache of diamonds, but he’d have to pay for this one instead of murder to get it. If it wasn’t more diamonds, he might have something even worse planned. Although the man had become increasingly greedy, from what Nick had described, she still believed he had an ultimate plan, something they hadn’t figured out yet. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good for any of the regular citizens of America.

All they could focus on now, though, was Emma. And Rose.

“How much money does your brother-in-law’s policy cover?” she asked. “And how long will it take him to get the money?”

“The policy is for five million,” Ken answered. “Brent’s liquidating company assets right now. I’m hoping he gets the funds gathered before the drop off time.”

“Which is when?”

“Five o’clock tomorrow evening. They want the drop to happen on the subway. Brent’s supposed to take the F train into Manhattan. I guess they’ll meet him somewhere along the way.”

“What a minute.” Gavin put his hand up, palm out, to stop the conversation. “Before we get to the plans, tell me how S.A.T.O. knew how much money to ask for.”

Ken’s eyebrows flew toward his hairline. “What do you mean?”

“They asked for
exactly
what Brent’s policy covers.” Gavin set his drink on the table beside him and crossed his arms. “How did they know?”

Ken shrugged. “Maybe they have a computer wiz like Jenessa working for them who hacked his files.”

That could have happened—Paul definitely had hackers. If true, that meant this wasn’t a last minute kidnapping plot. S.A.T.O. investigated Brent before Stephen ever started stalking Emma and her nanny. Why would they target him? Sure, he was a hotshot investor, but there had to be a reason Paul went after him in the first place.

“Is this insurance of his common knowledge?” she asked.

“That damn policy is what put Emma in danger,” Ken snarled. “Everyone in his company knows, plus some people around town Brent’s friendly with.”

“What about people in your police station?” She hated to harp on that, but it seemed someone decided to feed information to S.A.T.O. She had been convinced an FBI agent was the culprit, but none of them could have known about the insurance. That led right back to an officer.

“I’ve grumbled about it to my friends on the force. Word probably spread from there.” He put his hand over his eyes, as though he had a headache starting. “I was angry Brent wasted money that way, when he should have paid more to find a doctor who could cure my sister. I bitched quite a bit at first. Once Kelley died, I never brought it up again, but I’m sure people remember.”

Shelley looked at Gavin. “That explains how they knew.”

“Yep. Even more reason to not involve the police.” He rolled his eyes. “One good thing about the bomb—we never made plans in front of whoever the traitor is.”

Sure, that was a good thing. Ken pulled a gun on me, I was caught in an explosion, and I spent time in the hospital. What fun! Good times.

Not wanting Gavin to experience further guilt than he already did by being snippy, Shelley simply nodded. “We definitely shouldn’t tell any cops. No sense giving away what we’re doing to get Emma back.”

“All you’re doing,” Ken said, “is taking the money on the train and handing it over. There’s nothing further to plan. We’re following orders.”

So much for them wanting help—he didn’t mean with the plan. What he really wanted was Shelley and Gavin to do the dirty work, take all the risk, but not offer any input on how that happened. Not that it should surprise her. Ken was a take-charge guy, and probably couldn’t stand the fact that he had no power now.

What did surprise her was Ken and his brother-in-law didn’t mind handing over millions without any guarantee they’d actually get Emma. They seemed to have forgotten they were dealing with criminals, who may or may not hold up their end of the bargain.

There must be some sort of protocol to handle kidnappings. Jenessa needed to be brought into the loop. The FBI could put together a better plan than Shelley could. She’d never been in this situation before.

“I’m not sure that’s the best plan. Let’s call Jen and see what she recommends.”

“No. I’m not bringing in more people.” Ken stood up. “If you can’t handle this, I’ll figure something else out. Hell, I’ll take the money to them myself.”

Shelley desperately tried to hold onto her patience. Ken was a cop, he should know better than to give into the demands of criminals. However, she also knew he wouldn’t try to protect the nanny if she left this up to him to handle. She and Gavin had to help, or Rose was as good as dead. She had to get Ken thinking, though, not just blindly reacting.

“What happens when they keep Emma
and
the money? What if they make even larger demands since you were so quick to get them what they asked for in the first place?”

Ken slowly sank back into his chair and rested his forearms against his knees, leaning closer to her. “If you have a better idea, let’s hear it. I won’t talk to Jenessa though, or anyone else in the FBI. While it’s true someone on my force probably told S.A.T.O. about the insurance, I still think someone on your FBI team is crooked. I don’t want them knowing about this.”

“It’s not Jenessa, but I see your point.” After all, someone informed Paul about Gavin being with Shelley that first night. There were too many bad guys to count in this situation. It was frightening to think how far Paul’s corruptive hands might reach and who, exactly, was on his payroll.

“It has to be just the four of us.” Ken’s voice was firm. “No one else can know. Even if you’re right about Jenessa, the more people who know, the more risk they find out and hurt Emma.”

Shelley knew he was right. People loved to gossip, especially Jenessa. “We won’t tell Jen.”

Gavin’s lips narrowed in obvious disagreement, but he didn’t argue, for which Shelley was grateful. She needed him on the same page as her.

“We still have problems,” she continued. “Like how are you going to explain Gavin and me showing up with the money when it is supposed to be Brent?”

“I’m not an idiot.” He sneered at her. “That’s the reason I asked for you to
help
.”

Shelley balled her hands beneath the long sleeves of the robe. The cocky jerk had returned. It didn’t take long for Ken to get over the fear he felt for his niece.

Ken stood again, this time walking for the doorway. “Meet us in Brent’s office at noon. He’s ordering in lunch so we can talk privately.” He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Oh, and Shelley, try not to draw attention to yourself on the way in. We want to keep this meeting secret, and I know how you like the spotlight.”

“Seriously?” Shelley unclenched her hands, taking a deep breath before responding further. “If you think that poorly of me, why come here for help?” Although Ken must be under a lot of stress with his niece in danger, he obviously still held a grudge from the other night. Since she had seen inside the real person, and found him to be a cheating asshole, he had no right to treat her bad.

He paused with his hand on the doorknob, not turning to face her. “Put your pettiness away, Agent Daniels. You’re the one who played me like a fool. I just want Emma home safe.”

Gavin crossed the room to stand in front of Shelley, touching her shoulder softly. “That’s what we all want, Ken. Let’s show each other respect while we work toward that.”

Ken grunted, presumably in agreement, and left the room.

As soon as the door shut, Shelley pushed Gavin’s hand away. “Why didn’t you let me stand up to that dick?” Better yet, if he loved her so much, why didn’t he stand up for her?

“Because.” Gavin plopped down next to her, taking her hand in his. “I know Ken’s opinion doesn’t matter, and I know you really want to save Emma and Rose.”

All the fight in her deflated at those words. “You’re right. That
is
what I want.”

“So forget Ken. He doesn’t matter.”

He kissed her cheek, and Shelley turned to kiss him full on the mouth. She wrapped her arms around his waist, wishing the world hadn’t already come crashing in. Just as she feared, the next disaster had already struck. She didn’t even get to declare her love for him in return. Now the moment was ruined, and they had bigger things to worry about than their relationship.

Breaking away from him, she reminded herself there was no time for romance. “I’m going to shower and get cleaned up. You should probably go to your room to do the same.”

“You sure you don’t want to shower together?” He gave a wide grin, flashing his dimple. “I could help you scrub and make sure you can stand okay on that injured leg.”

To this point, Gavin had been the one cautioning her to wait until they were sure about each other. Did he mean he was ready to commit to her one-hundred percent? He had said he loved her, but she couldn’t quite interpret his grin. Maybe this was just a joke—his effort to make her forget about Ken and lighten her mood.

Either way, now wasn’t the time to take their relationship to the next step, as much as she wanted to.

“That’s probably a bad idea. I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Can’t blame a guy for dreaming.” He kissed her again before standing. “I’ll see you in a bit. Try not to worry. We’ll get Emma back.”

Although she didn’t share his conviction, she smiled and nodded.

It was a straightforward plan—give S.A.T.O. the money, get the girl—but somehow Shelley didn’t think it would be that simple. She’d feel better if she knew what Paul was really after. Too bad no one could figure that out.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Gavin pulled into a spot in the parking garage, glancing at Shelley from the corner of his eye. She seemed composed enough. He felt more nervous than she appeared about being in the garage, especially when he knew S.A.T.O. watched the place. He didn’t see any way they could enter Walker Investments without being seen.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go inside.” He shut off the car, but left the keys in the ignition. “They’ll see us.”

Shrugging, Shelley pulled her hair back and twisted it in a knot, securing it with a clip from her purse. A few stray strands framed her face, making her even more beautiful.