Never Surrender Page 10

  “I was focused on the details of the abduction,” she clarified. “There was no mention of your marital status, and from speaking with Zoey, it sounded to me like she lives here. That isn’t the point. My focus is on finding your son.”

  “I appreciate that. Do you need to question me?”

  “Do you have anything to add?” she asked. “You weren’t even in town. I don’t know what you could tell us that we don’t already know, but if you can, go for it.”

  He took a deep breath and told her about the kidnapping ring and his blog. “You have my number. Call me if you think of anything. You may hear from my precinct. I’ve already spoken with my captain about this.”

  “Okay, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Our focus is finding the toddler. And we’re local. We have the advantage.”

  “Then do that—find him.” He ended the call, frustration building.

  Alex collapsed onto the bed, exhaustion pressing on him. His muscles ached, and his eyelids were heavy. He needed to get back to Zoey, but he was too tired to move. Giving into tears, he lay there, thinking of Zander—his tiny hands, his mischievous grin, the way his eyes lit up when he learned something new.

  The thought of a criminal taking him shattered his heart. What was his plan for Zander? Would the ring once again threaten Alex into shutting down his blog? Or was this something much larger? If it had something to do with the eleven missing children along the coastal states, it could be much worse. Something he couldn’t imagine at this point.

  None of those kids had been found yet. They were all clearly linked, given the similarities between the cases and the timing. In both rounds of abductions, the children had been snatched within a half hour of each other. But as the other detective had pointed out, Zander’s case didn’t align with those—different place, different time, different everything.

  It also didn’t mean there wasn’t a connection.

  Alex was different from any of the other parents. He had been actively going after the ring and dealing with them for years.

  They hadn’t been shy about their disdain for him.

  Zander’s abduction was no coincidence.

  The criminal ring was behind it.

  He would take them all down personally if it was the last thing he did.

  Chapter 24

  Nick filled the rest of his travel mug with coffee as soon as he arrived at the station. It was already buzzing with activity—not that he was surprised. Between the kidnappings in the area and Zander’s—one everybody was taking personally—there was a lot to be concerned about.

  Alex’s son wasn’t connected to the others, which were all under different circumstances. Malls, long coats, and taken at the same time. Idaho was close enough that it could be considered a possibility on that fact alone, but nothing else pointed to a connection to the other abductions. Zander was taken from a home, at night. And no other children were taken at the same time.

  Unless this fit because of the intercepted abduction. If they wanted six each round.

  Did that mean more rounds were coming?

  There was so much to consider, and it would be foolish to rule out Zander’s abduction as unrelated.

  Nick said hello to a few people between the coffee counter and his office. He nearly dropped his mug when he stepped inside.

  Alex was sleeping on the couch.

  When had he come in? After they’d gotten off the phone? Or early this morning? At least he was getting some rest, but he’d be better off crashing in his own bed. Noise from the station was sure to wake him before long—if Nick working at his desk didn’t first.

  He set his coffee on his desk and powered up his computer while checking the new files placed in his inbox overnight. A captain’s job was never done. He could work twenty-four hours a day and still not get it all done.

  Nick got to work, nearly forgetting his friend was lying across the room.

  After about a half hour, Alex sat up and looked around, rubbing his eyes. “You’re in already? How long have I been sleeping?”

  “No idea. When did you lay down?”

  He shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep, so I came in last night. Then I crashed on your couch to rest my eyes for just a moment. Feels like I got much more than that. Is there any news?”

  “Not that I’ve heard.” Nick gave him a sympathetic glance.

  Alex sighed. “It has to be related to the ring. There’s no other explanation. It can’t be random.”

  “No, it doesn’t seem like it could.”

  “The detective over there doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing.”

  “I’m sure they’re not as versed in abductions as we are. The feds practically come to us for advice at this point.” Nick cringed at his weak attempt at lightening the mood, though he wasn’t exaggerating by much.

  Alex raked his fingers through his hair. “It’s not just that. She just didn’t sound like she knew what she was doing when I spoke with her.”

  “The feds will be there soon, if they aren’t already. That’s what they’re for—to give support and resources to the officers who need it.”

  “I know,” Alex snapped. “Sorry. It’s just that time is of the essence here. I hate not being there. If it’d happened just a few hours earlier, I’d have been able to stay.”

  “You can’t blame yourself.”

  “I don’t!” He rose and looked out of the office. “Is Crawford here yet?”

  “I haven’t seen him, but he may be talking with the feds. Why?”

  Alex’s expression tensed. “I have a bone to pick with him.”

  Nick’s stomach knotted. “This doesn’t sound good. What’s on your mind?”

  “Finding my child!” He marched toward the door.

  “What does the chief have to do with that?” Nick blocked his way.

  Alex grimaced. “He’s the mole. If anyone knows something about my son’s location, it’s him.”

  “We don’t know that for sure.”

  “Even the feds suspect him.” Alex’s brows drew together. “I overheard them.”

  “More than a year ago. And are you sure they suspect him?”

  “Who else? And the timing doesn't change anything.”

  “It might. They could’ve figured out he isn’t the mole. And that’s our boss you’re talking about.”

  Alex held his gaze. “I’m not going to throw you under the bus for suspecting him, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “I’m worried about you.”

  “Then help me find my son.” Alex moved around him and reached for the door handle.

  Nick blocked him again. “What are you going to do? I can’t let you risk your career.”

  “I’m going to my desk to check my blog. Then I’m going to find out what the feds know about any of the kidnappings.”

  “You aren’t going to confront Crawford?”

  “Not right now.”

  Nick frowned. “Come back and talk to me before you do. We’ll figure out something together, okay?”

  “He needs to answer for himself.”

  “That’s fine, but we need to proceed carefully. No sense in you going down in the process.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Fine. No sense in us going down. I’m not letting you ruin your life.”

  Alex turned the knob. “No reason you have to be involved at all.”

  “Let me help you. We’ll find Zander, and that’s what’s most important.”

  His friend nodded and left without a word.

  Sighing, Nick watched him.

  Alex kept his word and went straight to his desk and opened his laptop. He leaned close to the screen and typed on the keyboard.

  Anderson went over to the desk and spoke with him. He had a good head on his shoulders and would keep Alex from doing anything stupid. That made Nick feel better.

  He went back to his desk, to the stacks of paperwork and pages of unread emails. He read over the subject lines and respond
ed to the urgent ones, then began looking at the most recent kidnapping ring information.

  But before he could start, movement caught his attention outside the office.

  Crawford was heading straight for Alex’s desk.

  Nick’s stomach dropped to the floor. He barely had time to put his computer on sleep mode before darting out of his office to distract the chief before reaching Alex’s desk. Then his friend could later approach the chief when he was ready.

  Chapter 25

  Ariana hit snooze and stared at her ceiling. Something felt weird about the morning. No, not weird. Wrong. It was like bad news clung to the air. Or maybe she was just coming off a nightmare she couldn’t remember and was making too much of nothing.

  Not nothing. Her mom was still in Idaho with the twins. She hadn’t agreed to return with them, even though she could’ve packed them into the car and driven.

  Every muscle in Ari’s body ached as she climbed out of bed. It was like she’d had a killer workout, but all they’d done was travel the day before. That was the opposite of a workout. Maybe that was the problem. She needed to walk around today and get some exercise.

  She grabbed clothes and headed for the bathroom, peeking into Mom and Dad’s bedroom—the bed was made—and the twins’ room with the empty beds. Nothing unusual there.

  As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, feeling better after a shower, the aromas of bacon and coffee greeted her. Weird that Dad would make breakfast with everything going on, but maybe he and Mom had talked last night and she’d agreed to return home.

  The thought made her heart skip a beat. She tossed her pajamas into her clothes basket and went downstairs with a skip to her step. Today was actually going to be a good day, and it was a half-day to boot. Maybe Mom and the twins would be back by the time she got home.

  She skidded to a stop in the kitchen.

  Grandpa was sitting at the table with a newspaper and Grandma was at the stove, stirring something.

  “What’s going on?” Ari’s heart leaped into her throat. “Where’s Dad?”

  Grandpa set his paper down. Grandma turned around. They exchanged a look.

  “You’re scaring me.” Ariana leaned against the wall.

  “Have a seat, sweetheart.” Grandma gave her a sad smile. Her eyes were red.

  She’d been crying.

  “No.” Ari pressed her palms against the cold wall. “What happened?”

  Grandpa patted the table and gave her a reassuring smile. His eyes were red, too. “Have a seat.”

  Ari shook her head.

  Grandma turned off the burners. “We need to tell you something.”

  “Then tell me.” Ariana struggled to breathe.

  “Please sit with us.” Grandpa gave her a look she couldn’t refuse.

  She gave in and sat next to him, then Grandma sat on the other side of her. They both took one of her hands in theirs.

  This was bad.

  Ari shook. “Did someone die?”

  “No, honey.” Grandpa squeezed her hand. “But your brother is missing.”

  The words were like a slap to her face. “Zander’s missing?”

  Grandma kissed her hand. “Last night, your mom went in to check on the little ones. Only Laney was in her bed.”

  Ari’s pulse drummed in her ears. “What happened to Zander?”

  Tears shone in Grandpa’s eyes. “Someone snuck in and took him.”

  “Who? Why?”

  “That’s what everybody is trying to figure out.”

  “They’re sure?” Ari asked. “He didn’t just go somewhere to hide? He likes to hide.”

  Grandma and Grandpa shook their heads.

  “The police confirmed it,” Grandma said.

  “Where’s my dad? Did he go back?”

  “No.” Grandpa wiped his eyes. “He went into work last night and asked us to stay here with you. He didn’t want to wake you.”

  “Why not?” she exclaimed. “Someone should’ve told me!”

  “We’re telling you now.”

  Her cell phone alerted her of a text. Damon was on his way.

  “Do I have to go to school?”

  They exchanged a look again before Grandma got up and piled food on plates.

  Grandpa nodded. “Your parents don’t want you to fall behind.”

  Ariana rubbed her temples. “I suppose I should be used to going to school when the life of someone I love is in danger. Just another day.”

  Grandpa squeezed her hand. “I imagine that’s why your mom wants to move.”

  Tears blurred her vision. “It obviously doesn’t matter where we live. She kept saying how safe it was over there, and look what happened.”

  “I know, sweetheart.”

  Grandma set a plate in front of her. “Eat. You’re going to need your strength.”

  The food looked no more edible than the ceramic it sat on. She was shaking but couldn’t deny needing the nourishment. “What about Mimi and Papi? Do they know about Zander?”

  “Yes,” Grandpa said. “We’re not sure if they’re going to fly in or not yet.”

  “Why not?” Ariana took a bite of scrambled eggs.

  “Your great-grandpa’s health has taken a sudden turn for the worse, and Papi has to be there for him.”

  Ari nodded. She should feel bad about Papi’s dad, but she’d only met him one time years earlier. She did, however, feel bad for her grandparents having to deal with such impossible decisions.

  Another text came in.

  Grandpa glanced at her phone. “Do you need to get that?”

  She looked at the text and sighed. “Damon’s here to pick me up for school.”

  “Invite him in for breakfast,” Grandma said. “I made too much, as usual.”

  Ari looked at the time. “We only have a few minutes.”

  “That’s all you need.”

  Sighing, Ariana texted him to come inside. She met him at the door.

  Damon’s eyes widened as soon as he saw her. “Is something wrong?”

  She nodded and gestured toward the kitchen.

  He jolted when he saw her grandparents. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Mercer.”

  “Sit down and have some breakfast.” Grandma motioned to the new plate at the table. “How are you, Damon?”

  “Call us Chad and Alyssa,” Grandpa said. “And eat up, or I’ll have to.”

  “Thank you.” Damon lifted a brow at Ariana.

  She mouthed, “I’ll tell you later.”

  They all ate quickly with little conversation before Damon and Ari had to get going.

  “Will you be here when I get back?” she asked.

  “We’ll be at home.” Grandma motioned in the direction of their house, as if Ariana didn’t know where it was. “If your dad’s car isn’t here after school, come over. I’m going to make a big dinner.”

  “Okay, thanks.” She gave them hugs before leaving with Damon.

  As soon as they got outside, Damon turned to her. “What’s going on? You all have red eyes, so you can’t tell me nothing is wrong.”

  She sighed. “Zander was kidnapped.”

  “What?” Damon exclaimed as he opened the door for her.

  “It was sometime last night, and nobody bothered to wake me.” She climbed inside.

  Damon sat in the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Is your dad back in Boise?”

  “No. He’s at work, apparently.”

  “Apparently?”

  “I haven’t talked to him. My grandparents said he went in last night and had them sleep over at our place so as not to wake me.”

  Damon shook his head as he pulled from the parking spot. “Are you sure you’re up to going to school?”

  “No.”

  “What do you want to do, then? And how long before someone calls your dad about your absence?”

  “I was gone yesterday, so they might think I’m still out of town.”

  “Still, your dad’s going to freak out. Do you really want to do
that to him right now?”

  Ari frowned. “No. He already has way too much going against him.”

  “So, to school?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “At least the teachers are all giving busy work this week.”

  “And movies,” she added. “It’ll give me time to think.”

  “Are you going to launch your own investigation?” he joked.

  “Yes, actually.”

  “Wait. You are?”

  “Yeah. I’m sick of sitting around and waiting for the adults to take care of these things.”

  “What do you think you can do that they can’t?”

  “I don’t know, but there has to be something. I’m better at getting around online than my dad, and the police never take kids seriously. I can ask around at school and see if somebody knows something.”

  “What would they know about Zander being taken in Idaho?”

  “I won’t know until I start asking.”

  Damon pulled into the high school parking lot. “It can’t hurt to ask.”

  She straightened her back. “I’m going to do a lot more than just ask.”

  He threw her a worried look.

  “I’m going to get to the bottom of this and find Zander myself. No matter what it takes.”

  Chapter 26

  Alex typed nonsense onto his computer screen. He was really listening to Crawford’s conversation about thirty feet away. The chief and one of the feds were speaking in low tones, and though it was challenging to hear over the noise and conversation of the precinct, he could make out enough words to get the gist of what was being said.

  The feds picked up a pattern in the eleven kidnappings. Each of the second set of abductions were within a certain distance of the first set—Alex couldn't hear the exact distance—but they all seemed to be moving closer to their town. It was impossible to say for sure without a third set of abductions, and that was something nobody wanted to see.

  What Alex really wanted to know was how Zander’s disappearance played into it all. On the surface, it looked disconnected. But there was no way it was. Not even the slightest chance.