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Chapter Four

Sarah blamed her impulsive leap into Blake’s SUV on an overdose of adrenaline racing through her veins. Her usual behavior was practical, and she didn’t take unwarranted risks. But the successful escape from the clearing and the equally successful search of the B and B had blinded her to how violent the situation could become.

Sitting quietly in the passenger seat, she’d had a chance to calm down and regroup. While she’d watched Blake and the other men approach the cabin with military precision, she’d been tense. The yelling, the guns and the terrifying moment before Blake tackled that armed thug in the ski mask had turned her blood ice-cold. Even though the bad guys had been apprehended without a single shot being fired, the potential for danger was as obvious as a lit fuse that hadn’t yet ignited the powder keg.

She owed Blake an apology. After seeing him in action, she understood why he didn’t want her to interfere. He had a lot more to worry about than hiring a stripper for the bachelor party.

He yanked open the driver’s-side door to his SUV and slid behind the steering wheel. Before she could apologize, he said, “I need your help.”

“Me?” After the scene she’d just witnessed, she figured he could handle anything.

“Farley was hired by an unknown person to kidnap Emily. He’s supposed to call his employer and arrange a meet. I’m going to make that call. If this guy wants to talk to Emily, can you play her part?”

“But I don’t sound like her.”

“I don’t think he actually knows Emily. You can disguise your voice.”

“Like this?” She changed her alto to a soprano and said, “Hi, I’m Emily and I’m getting married.”

“Nice Minnie Mouse impression.”

She tried again. “Hi, I’m Emily.”

“Close enough.” He started the engine for his rental vehicle and turned up the blower for the heater. “This background noise should disguise our voices.”

“Why are you pretending to be Farley? He’s sitting right over there in Kovak’s car.”

“I don’t trust him to say the right thing. Are you ready to do this?”

Impersonating someone else was out of her comfort zone, but she wanted to help. “Okay.”

As he punched in a phone number, he explained, “This is Farley’s cell phone. I’m putting it on speaker.”

A male voice answered on the fourth ring. “Do you have the package?”

“Hey, there,” Blake said. “How’d you know it was me?”

“The caller ID, you idiot.”

“I got the girl right here.” Blake’s smooth, deep voice had transformed into a thin drawl. “Where’s my money?”

“You don’t get paid until she’s with me. You didn’t hurt her, did you?”

“She don’t like the handcuffs, but she’s fine. Real fine and real pretty.”

“Is she blindfolded? I told you to blindfold her.”

“You bet she is,” Blake said. “You want to talk to her?”

“Yes.” The response was terse, almost a reprimand.

Blake held the phone toward her and said, “Go ahead, Emily.”

Sarah tried to imagine how her friend would feel if she’d been captured. Emily wouldn’t be crying; she was tougher than that. But she would be frightened. Putting a quiver in her throat, Sarah said, “Please, please, help me. If it’s a ransom you want, my father will pay. He’ll pay anything.”

“Are you injured?”

“I’m scared,” Sarah said. That wasn’t a total lie. “You’ve got to help me.”

Blake gave her a thumbs-up sign as he pulled the phone back. “Now you’ve heard her. Where do I bring her to get my payoff?”

“Come to the parking lot behind the Laughing Dog Saloon on the Bridge Road outside Carbondale. And make it quick. I expected to hear from you an hour ago.”

“Well, ain’t that too bad. Me and the guys had a little drink to celebrate.”

“Don’t bring your crew. Just you and the girl. Keep her blindfolded.”

Blake disconnected the call, opened his car door and signaled to Kovak, who came toward them. Then he turned back toward Sarah. “Come with me.”

“There’s something I need to tell you first.”

“What’s that?”

In the overhead light from the car, she noticed his dark stubble, a smear of dirt across his forehead and the glittering intensity in his blue eyes. The sleeve of his parka was wet from his struggle with the armed man. “I’m sorry for getting in the way,” she said. “I didn’t take the threat seriously enough.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a half grin. “I appreciate that. You did a good job talking to that guy.”

His compliment warmed her, and she had the irrational notion of doing whatever it took to please him. “I won’t cause any more trouble.”

Blake left the SUV to join Kovak, and Sarah followed. Standing in the forest between these two tall men, she felt as small as a mouse.

Blake filled Kovak in on the phone call and continued, “I was hoping Farley’s employer would give us a specific place, like a hotel room, where we could walk up to the door and arrest him. Instead, he’s treating this situation like a hostage exchange, probably because he doesn’t want to take a chance on Farley getting close enough to get a good look at him.”

“What about Emily?” Sarah said. “If he took her hostage, she’d be able to identify him.”

“Bad luck for her,” Kovak said.

“Maybe not,” Blake said. “He seemed concerned about her well-being and wanted her blindfolded. It’s hard to believe he intends to hurt her.”

“Kidnapping is a serious crime,” Kovak said. “Even if the kidnapper isn’t a pro, he won’t want to leave a witness.”

Sarah shuddered to think what might have happened if she and Emily hadn’t gotten away at the clearing. They hadn’t been prepared for danger. As trusting as Hansel and Gretel—or Gretel and Gretel—they’d followed a text message into the forest. Though she’d told Blake she was sorry, she couldn’t help blaming him for not warning them.

“We need a plan,” he said. “This might be our only chance to catch this guy.”

“I can call for more backup,” Kovak said.

“Not enough time. He expects Farley to show up soon.” Blake gave a decisive nod. “And that’s what we’ll do. I’ll take Farley’s van and wear a ski mask. Kovak, you follow at a distance in my SUV. We’ll keep in touch by phone. When I get close to the Laughing Dog, I’ll put in another call to this guy. I’ll distract him. You approach from behind. And we’ll take him into custody.”

“What about me?” Sarah asked.

“You’ve done enough,” Blake said. “The other deputy is taking Farley to jail to book him. You can ride with him.”

“Hold on,” Kovak said. “What if our kidnapper wants to see Emily? Sarah could impersonate her.”

“No way,” Sarah said. “We don’t look anything alike.”

“She’s right,” Blake said. “They both have light-colored hair and are close to the same height, but that’s where the resemblance ends. Emily is pale and dainty. Jeremy says she’s like a perfect white rose.”

And what did that make her? A big, old, prickly cactus?

Kovak squinted at her. “From a distance, Sarah looks kind of like Emily, especially if she’s got a blindfold covering half her face.”

She muttered, “Or I could just put a bag over my head.”

Blake ignored her and spoke directly to Kovak. “How well do you know Sarah?”

“Pretty well.” He shrugged. “Why do you ask?”

“Most cops hate to have civilians involved, but you don’t seem to have a problem with pulling Sarah along.”

“We’ve worked together before.” Kovak clapped her on the back. “Sarah regularly volunteers for mountain rescues. I’ve seen her in action, and she knows how to handle pressure.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a grin.

“To tell the truth, I’d rather have you setting the belaying lines for a descent than most of the guys in the sheriff’s department.”

“Good to know,” Blake said as he headed toward Farley’s van. “Sarah rides with me.”

With Kovak’s praise ringing in her ears, she strode along beside Blake. Maybe she wasn’t a delicate flower like Emily, but she was the first woman the deputy would pick to play on his team. She’d always been “one of the guys.” Not homecoming queen. Not the girl with tons of dates on Saturday nights. But men were comfortable around her and trusted her.

The interior of Farley’s van was, predictably, cluttered and grungy with a gross smell of stale bread, gunpowder and sweat. In addition to the litter—crumpled wrappers from fast-food places, empty ammo boxes and discarded clothes—there were filthy, blood-soaked rags, reminding her of the wounded men who had been arrested. She remembered her jolt of fear while watching the armed men and Blake circling the cabin.

She glanced over at him as he got behind the steering wheel. If she mentioned that she’d been scared, she knew he wouldn’t want her to come along on this ride. With a shake of her head, she dismissed her nerves and concentrated on what needed to be done. “What should I use as a blindfold?”

“There must be something in here.”

“Excuse me?” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not touching anything in this van, much less putting it against my skin.”

“See what you can figure using your clothes.” He started the engine and pulled away from the cabin. “Do you know where the Laughing Dog is located?”

“Go left, then take a right at the main road.” She unzipped her parka and looked down at what she was wearing. Her baggy sweater, jeans and underwear didn’t provide much of a selection. “Instead of a blindfold, I could pull my cap down over my eyes.”

“I don’t expect to get close enough for this guy to make out details, but you heard him on the phone. He wants Emily blindfolded.”

“Don’t you have a scarf?”

“Don’t you?”

There was an item of her clothing that might work. “I suppose I could use my bra. It’s black.”

“Is it lacy? Does it have those cups that poke out?”

“It’s a sports bra.” She couldn’t believe she was discussing her underwear with him. “A cotton and spandex blend.”

“Let me take a look at it.”

Glaring at him, she took off her parka and pulled both arms inside her sweater. She wriggled the strap off one arm, pulled the bra over her head and took off the other strap. Though she hadn’t exposed an inch of flesh, she felt exposed, and she was glad the lights from the dashboard weren’t bright enough to reveal the heat she felt rising in her cheeks. At least she wasn’t scared anymore.

Plunging her arms back into the sweater sleeves, she dangled the bra in front of him. “Ta-da.”

“The perfect blindfold.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not going to have a bra wrapped around your face.”

“It won’t be for long,” he promised. “This maneuver needs to happen fast before the guy figures out what we’re doing. It goes without saying that you’ll stay in the van.”

“I understand.” She slipped back into her parka. “I have a question for you. If this person is trying to threaten the general, why kidnap Emily?”

“The general himself isn’t a realistic target. He’s a tough old bird, and he’s usually protected by his aides. If the kidnapper had Emily, he could use her as leverage.”

“To do what?”

“Could be something as simple as ransom,” he said. “Or it could involve having the general change his position on some kind of finance bill. Attacking the family makes for an effective scare tactic. When it comes to his own personal safety, the general is fearless. But his family? He’d do anything—including going against his core principles—to protect them.”

It sounded to her like he’d had some experience with this sort of operation. “Have you done things like this before?”

“I did some counterintelligence work in the Middle East, enough to know that terrorists don’t always use explosives to get what they want. Fear is a powerful motivator.”

Though she’d never been to war, she had an idea of what he meant. “You can’t give in to fear.”

“Can’t ignore it, either,” he said as he clipped a hands-free phone into his ear. “I’m going to check in with Kovak.”

Leaning back in the seat, she stared through the windshield at the cold, snow-encrusted forest on either side of the road. The mountains were a wonderful place to live. Nowhere else would ever feel like home to her. But she was well aware of the dangers hidden in these rocky slopes. Every winter, there were deaths due to natural causes.

Living here, you learned to be careful. But you couldn’t let fear keep you locked inside in front of the fireplace. Without risk, life was too dull.

He ended his call. “The cell phone reception is better here than at your B and B. Earlier tonight, I tried to call Jeremy and the call got dropped twice.”

“Is Jeremy with his father?” she asked.

“They’re together, driving each other crazy.”

“The general can’t be happy about having his son marry into Emily’s family. Her dad is super-liberal.”

The corner of Blake’s mouth twitched into a grin. “When those two shake hands for the first time, it’s going to turn into an arm wrestling match.”

“You think that’s funny?”

“Hell, yes,” he said. “Don’t you?”

Because Emily was a good friend, Sarah had been sympathetic about her family problem. But she had to admit that she’d been looking forward to the confrontation. “I’ve been trying to think of conversation topics they might be able to talk about without arguing, like the weather or sports.”

“Sports are out. The senator supports West Coast teams and the general likes the Yankees and Patriots.”

She envisioned many long, uncomfortable silences with the two men snarling at each other. “Do you have any ideas? I’d guess that you and I don’t have much in common. What would we talk about?”

“Mountain rescue,” he said. “How did you get started with that?”

“I took a search and rescue course a long time ago. And I was already into rock climbing.”

“Me, too.”

It seemed that they actually did share some interests. “Do you ski?”

“Skiing and snowboarding, but I like cross-country best.”

As did she. She’d learned cross-country skiing as soon as she could walk. “What about rodeo?”

“Not a big fan,” he said. “My family used to have a farm in Wisconsin, so I got enough of horses and cows when I was growing up.”

With that kind of background, she knew that he was familiar with livestock. “I’ve always been concerned about animal cruelty at rodeos,” she said. “I cheer for the bucking bronco instead of the cowboy.”

“Cowboys aren’t your thing?”

“Not really.”

The light from the dashboard outlined his high cheekbones and sharp jawline. When he grinned again, she noticed that his lower lip was fuller than the upper. “You know, Sarah, I don’t think we’d have a problem finding things to talk about.”

When she first started talking, she hadn’t been on a fishing trip, trying to find out more about him. But that was what had happened. She’d learned that they had similar interests and small-town backgrounds. In that way, they were compatible.

And in other ways, too. Emily noticed Sarah’s first reaction when she met Blake. A glowing blush that spread from her neck to her hairline. Sarah had always preferred big men with broad chests and long legs. Seeing Blake in action was, well, it was kind of thrilling.

She ripped her gaze away from his profile and squinted down at her lap, pretending interest in the bra she held in her hands. She didn’t want to be attracted to him. This weekend was going to be difficult enough.

“Take a left up here.” They were making good time. No other vehicles on the road. And the pavement was dry. “We’re about ten minutes away.”

“Put on your blindfold.”

Grumbling, she took off her cap and tied her bra around her forehead. When she flipped the front down, the black fabric covered her eyes, but she could still see through. She eased it up on her forehead. “This had better be worth it.”

“If we catch this guy, we’ll be on our way to ending the threat, and the wedding can go forward.” He took Farley’s cell phone from his pocket and held it toward her. “I should make contact with our mystery man. Press the redial button and hold the phone while I talk?”

She did as he asked and listened as the kidnapper answered on the first ring.

Using his fake drawl, Blake said, “I’m getting close. Where should we meet?”

“Changed my mind,” the kidnapper said. “This project is over.”

“What’s your problem?” Blake shot her a worried glance. “I did what you wanted.”

“Changed my mind,” he repeated, angrily. “Never contact me again.”

“You can’t just cut me off like that. You owe me.” Blake put a convincing whine into his voice. “What am I supposed to do with the girl?”

“Get rid of her.”

A shudder ran through her. This man had called for Emily’s death as casually as he’d order a pizza.

Playing along, Blake drawled, “Are you telling me to kill her? ’Cause that’s going to cost you extra.”

“Do whatever you want with her. Do it slowly, painfully. You boys can have yourselves some fun making her squeal. That will be payment enough for your services.”

A muscle in Blake’s jaw twitched but he kept his voice flat and emotionless. “You promised cash. Half up front and half now.”

“Let’s cut the crap. I know who you are.”

“Is that so?”

The kidnapper’s voice turned cold. “Don’t play games with me. You’re out of your league.”

Abandoning his fake voice, Blake said, “We should talk.”

“Oh, we will. Not today but soon. Good night, Major Randall.”

The phone went dead.