Navy SEAL Surrender (7 page)

Chapter Eleven

“Please don’t hurt our baby. Lauren’s just an innocent child in all this.”

The TV station cut back to the reporter, talking live in front of an empty police station. “That was Shauna Adams Weber, pleading with the kidnappers to return her step-granddaughter alive. Kidnapped four days ago from the grocery parking lot, here in Aubrey, Texas. If you’ve seen this little girl, please call the number on your—”

John clicked the mute button so they wouldn’t hear any more of the blather regarding the kidnapping. Silent tears rolled down Alicia’s cheeks. She sat close enough to the screen to touch the picture of Lauren, almost caressing the beautiful little girl who looked just like her. Long curly dark hair. Freckles across her nose. Same frame. No doubt who that kid’s mother was.

“How dare that woman call my child her baby?” Alicia whispered hoarsely.

“So that’s the target? The dude standing behind her doesn’t look like much. Why don’t I just ask him real polite like?” Dev asked under his breath, and plugged another auxiliary cable into something electronic.

“Negative. Too many unknowns.”

“Gotcha. Hey. Isn’t that you?” His friend began laughing. “You never said your brother was a twin.”

“Turn it up, John.”

He did. Knowing they all had to hear the details, but not liking a minute of it.

“With no evidence of a kidnapping and the fleeing of Alicia Ann Adams, police were forced to release Brian W. Sloane earlier this morning. When asked about the kidnapping, Sloane’s attorney shrugged and said his client refused to comment.”

He hit the mute button. “Give me your cell.”

“You could ask,” Dev said while reaching into his pants cargo pocket.

“You can leave.”

Dev tossed it to his hands. “So demanding,” he said to Alicia.

John left the cabin. “Hi, Mabel.”

“It’s about time we were hearing from you, Johnny. Is this number— Oh, what do they call it on those shows? Secure. Can we talk?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled, all the while dreading the conversation with his brother. They hadn’t managed more than arguing since he’d returned. “This number’s good to reach me. How’s Dad doing?”

“He’s just fine, Johnny. How’s our girl, she safe?”

“Missing Lauren and threatening to beat me to a pulp at every turn.”

“Oh, I just bet she is. There’s someone here who wants to talk with you.” The noise on the phone sounded like it was being passed around. There was a long delay.

“Where are you?” his brother asked.

“You don’t need to know.”

He’d been expecting his brother, but for some reason hearing himself on the phone had always thrown him for a loop. People thought that being a twin was like seeing yourself in the mirror. It wasn’t. In person, the sides of your face are on the wrong side. Hearing himself on the phone was unnerving.

“I see you got out of taking care of dad.”

“I’ll try to make up for it.”

It was hard to explain. Creepy to some. Cool to others. For him, he’d instantly missed the connection with his brother. Maybe he’d been missing it a long time. Though the moment was awkward, it was good. A calm start that neither of them could control. Neither could order the other around.

“They treat you okay in jail?”

“A couple of bruised ribs. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Nothing I haven’t handled before. One thing they didn’t do was talk around me about the investigation. I’m assuming you’re the one who figured out they were waiting at Alicia’s house to arrest her.”

“Yes. Quick thinking to call her instead of your lawyer.”
Handled before?
Had the chief or other officers beat his brother?

“I didn’t have much time. The deputy had his boot in my back by then. What do you need from me?” Brian asked.

Son of a— What had his brother endured while he’d been gone and why hadn’t anyone said anything?
Because I never asked.
“A haircut.”

“Already done. Mabel fainted when she walked through the door and I’d used the horse trimmer. Hasn’t been this short since we were kids.”

In the background there was a distant, “I did not faint, you flirt.”

“Stay visible around town, Brian. Let people see you.”

“I get it. If they see me, they’ll think Alicia really left. Leaving your presence here as a surprise. How do you plan on getting Lauren back?”

“To be honest, I’m not completely sure. But I will.” Any luck and Dev would find some property or a money trail. Something. Soon.

“You can’t do this alone,” Brian said in a low growl.

John recognized the mix of pain, frustration and clenched jaw in the delivery. He spoke that way when he wanted to argue with commands given to him on a mission.

“I’ve got an expert here. I promise, Alicia’s secure and we
will
find Lauren.”

“Don’t mess this up.” Same growl. “A piece of pie from the café might be exactly what we need for dessert after all that chicken, Mabel,” he said louder and in a fake worry-free tone. “John.” He lowered his voice again. “Weber’s as guilty as sin.”

“How do you know?”

“I saw him with a chick in Fort Worth one weekend. It wasn’t his sister, if you know what I mean. Find her and I bet you’ll find Lauren.”

“I’ve got somebody digging into their financials. Did you tell the cops you’d seen him?”

“I didn’t bother. They wouldn’t believe me, man. Take care of my girls.”

“I’ll send a message if we find anything.”

Brian disconnected. John stuck the phone in his pocket and cracked his neck from side to side.
My girls. Handled before.
Things had changed a lot.

“Did they say anything about Lauren to Brian?” Alicia asked.

He spun around. He’d been so deep in his thoughts he hadn’t heard her come outside. That had to stop. “He gave me a lead about Weber.”

“Isn’t there anything I could be doing? Making phone calls, pretend to check on references or something?”

“Have you thought about how you’re going to prove you had nothing to do with this mess?”

“Why? I’m innocent. Why would I have to prove anything? You know I didn’t arrange this. You believe me, right?” She plopped onto the porch swing, looking totally defeated.

“What I know doesn’t amount to much in court, Alicia.” He joined her. “Will you let Dev look into your accounts?”

“What do you expect to find?”

“If Shauna is framing you and Brian for the kidnapping, she might have arranged for more damning evidence.”

“I, um... I hadn’t thought of that.” She began to stand but he caught her arm.

“There’s something else.”

She waited. Mentally preparing herself for bad news. The expression on her face went from terrible to worse. Tight. Strained. He wanted to be cool with it and not show any emotion one way or the other. At least he thought he did. Jumping out a chopper with a full pack into the Indian Ocean was easier than this conversation.

“I think my brother’s in love with you.”

* * *

“A
RE
YOU
OUT
of your ever-loving mind? Brian and I are just friends. We see each other almost every day when leaving instructions or getting leftovers from the fridge. End of discussion.” She shook free from his hand.

If she hadn’t been so furious, she’d laugh so hard she might fall down. But she was furious. After all these years, John’s interpretation was still the same.

“He just told me to take care of his girls.”

“When are you going to grow up, Johnny Sloane? It’s just an expression.”

She jumped to her feet. If she wasn’t so exhausted and anxious, she might just give him a dose of reality. Shoot, she was tired enough to go ahead and give him a full heaping helping. “You know this is the same reason neither one of us went to the senior prom. And the same argument we had when we broke up.”

“That’s not how I remember it.”

“You and Brian were arguing. As usual, neither of you said what you really wanted to say. You both interpreted the other and as much as I wanted to stay out of all those stupid arguments, you sucked me in and I didn’t ever wear that prom dress.”

“You don’t know what was going on then. What he thought about me.”

“I really thought you’d changed, Johnny. Don’t you get it? We were friends. You and Brian both talked to me back then. Both of you. I know both sides of the story. So I think I got the full picture.”

“Why aren’t you mad at him?” He tensed his body.

“Only one of you left without a word.”

“We’d broken up. I didn’t think you said you never wanted to talk to me again.”

She crossed her arms and tried to stay. Tried to listen. But she needed to get away from him and all the emotion that his return made bubble to the surface. Good or bad emotion, it was just too much.

The words faded the faster she ran, even if she couldn’t get far. The cabins sat on the edge of the lake, and she was soon out of path. When she slowed down, she heard the brush crunching. John was directly behind her.

“Don’t go off on your own, Alicia. It’s not secure.”

“It’s at least 110 on a weekday. There aren’t that many people out here tanning. Actually no one’s here to notice me. Is that all you can think about?”

He coolly walked closer. She, as casually as the tension strumming through her would allow, took steps away.

“You have to be careful. Your face is being flashed on every television network and someone’s bound to recognize you.” He kept his voice low, sounding sexy and dangerous.

“Yours, too.”

“It’s Brian’s, but point taken.” He stopped advancing and stretched his arms above his head, yawning. “I don’t know if you heard me back there, but I don’t know what you mean. You knew I was leaving for the navy. We said goodbye.”

What was she supposed to say? “We broke up the night of the fire. I never really thought you’d leave without making things right or that you’d leave without ever coming home.” Should she just answer the question that he’d been incapable of verbalizing? “You never asked me wait.”

More crashing through the dry leaves had John expertly shoving her behind his body to protect her.

“Dude, you guys can’t take off like that. They found another ransom note.”

“What?” She’d heard the concern in Dev’s voice and asked, “Why would they up the ransom demand on themselves?”

“They wouldn’t.” John spoke low, sounding more than a little worried. “If they abducted Lauren, they’d want to be the heroes in all this.”

“I don’t think
they
did. I couldn’t record it and don’t know them as well as you, Alicia, but they looked genuinely surprised. They kept looking at each other like ‘What the frankincense is going on?’”

They all ran back to the cabin. The ransom note was breaking news and being repeated by every local station. So they were able to watch the video replay over and over again. And with each play she fell further into an abyss of despair and hopelessness.

“You’re right. They look surprised.” Her eyes burned. She wanted to curl into a ball, give up and cry, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. It wouldn’t get Lauren back.

“Watch when she turns to him. He shrugs.” Dev pointed to Patrick the third time the station played the video behind whatever the broadcasters were saying.

“Or he’s shifting his jacket in the heat.” John continued his walk around the cabin.

She couldn’t call it pacing, per se. He was thinking and moving. He seemed to always move, always be aware. This afternoon, it was walking around the room, tapping the remote with the palm of his hand or rubbing it on the bottom of his chin.

“Dude, unmute it.”

“...stunning development. Witnesses say they saw this woman—” the screen flashed an unflattering driver’s license picture of her face “—Alicia Ann Adams, mother of the missing little girl, who was thought to be in San Antonio after reservations were discovered in her name. Witnesses report her pushing a stroller with a child through the neighborhood around two this afternoon. The Amber Alert for Lauren Adams continues—”

The TV went silent again.

“Well, we know that’s a lie,” Dev said. “You’ve been here. So who’s been there?”

“That’s the million-dollar question. Any luck running down Weber’s phone records and bank accounts?” John asked.

“I can see why the police didn’t suspect them. They both look clean.” Dev waved them over to look at his laptop screen.

“But...” John added.

“There’s a
but?
You really found something?” A spark of hope? It was amazing how fast her mind could latch on to the smallest glimmer that this ordeal might end well.

“Alicia, your accounts aren’t so squeaky.”

“Mine? I don’t understand. I barely had twenty dollars to buy chicken the other night.”

“In checking, yes, but your savings account’s a different matter.” Dev pointed to an insane amount of money.

She looked at both men. “I don’t have any savings. I emptied it.”

“Actually, you’re a cosigner. This account is Lauren’s.”

That shiny glimmer of hope that had been just out of reach quickly became a far-off pinprick of light in the sky. Again, the images of all those women found guilty in the press... Were any of them ever innocent like her? She couldn’t remember hearing of anyone cleared. If she was watching the evidence on television or found this bank account, she’d probably think the mother was horrible and didn’t deserve to be reunited with her child.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop.” John’s hand was on her shoulder. A strong plea was in his eyes to not give up.

“Don’t worry, sister, I’m good at what I do.” Dev typed on his laptop.

“Is that a navy SEAL motto?” she asked, trying to put on a brave front. A look shot between the men. Perhaps it was their motto, or they were just surprised they’d both said it.

More screens and code flicked across the monitor. She had no idea what he was doing, but had to trust that he was very good at what he did. John trusted him. And she trusted John to get her daughter back.

“Meanwhile in Dev’s world, I’ve found a couple of rental properties that the Webers’ parents own for you two to check out.”

She sort of moved through a haze watching John add the addresses to a map application on Dev’s phone. The men whispered indiscernibly and she stared at a television now showing the evening programming. She had no point of reference to draw from to try to understand the mind of someone so horrible. No amount of money in the world would make her put an innocent child through this ordeal.