Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Laura Scott (speed reading book .txt) 📖

him. He took a double tap to the forehead, probably a nine millimeter. Can’t be sure, since the bullets were jacketed.” The detective divided a look between them. “I can see that I’m not getting anywhere. All I can do is to warn you to be careful.” He stomped off.

Liam recalled the terrifying moments of nearly being trapped in the trailer, but it wasn’t fear that washed through him now.

It was fury.

TWELVE

The rest of the day was spent making yet another statement at the police station. That took longer than it should have as Liam and Paige did their best to convince Detective Reineke yet again that the attacks were related to the accident.

He’d come around in time, but time was something they didn’t have.

When Liam received a call, he frowned at the unfamiliar number on the display before answering.

“We have your son.”

His first thought upon hearing the electronically distorted voice was that someone was playing a cruel joke on him. Jonah was safe with his parents. In Savannah. No one knew he was there but Paige and her boss, Shelley Judd. There was no way they would have leaked the information, but a determined individual would find it relatively easy to figure out where he had taken Jonah.

Instinctively, he looked at Paige. The worry in her eyes echoed his own.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your son. Cute little boy named Jonah. You think he’s with your parents, right?” The caller named his parents, their address. “Go ahead, call them. I’ll call back in five minutes.”

Hands trembling, Liam called his parents. His mother answered at once. “Jonah’s missing. We’ve had the police here. At first we thought he had just wandered away, but...” Her voice broke.

Liam spared a precious minute to reassure first her, then his father, that he would get Jonah back. “I’ve got to keep the line clear,” he said tersely and ended the call.

He hit the record function on his phone. The kidnapper called back exactly five minutes after they’d first talked. “If you want to see your son alive, stop your investigation into the accidents. Jonah will be released when we’re satisfied that you’ve obeyed our instructions. Do as you’re told and you’ll see your son again. Easy-peasy.” The voice was straight from a nightmare.

The call was disconnected.

Though both he and Paige knew there was little to no possibility of tracing it quickly and without a warrant, she called S&J and asked if the firm’s IT person could run a reverse-trace program. This might not be possible, since they were almost positive this was a virtual number, which meant no one could see the caller’s real number.

Liam listened as Paige explained the situation to the S&J operative, but, inside, he shook with terror. He couldn’t give in to it. Coldness such as he’d never known invaded him. Were it possible for his blood to turn to ice, it would have at this moment. His insides tightened with such force that he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“I did this. If I hadn’t been so arrogant, thinking that I could keep Jonah safe and continue the investigation, my son would be home with me right now. If something happens to him...” He stopped, unable to put what came next into words. Waves of guilt-tainted fear washed over him.

Get a hold of yourself, man. The bracing words did nothing to banish the unbearable horror of knowing his son was in the hands of a murderer, though.

“The person who took Jonah is to blame. Not you. We don’t know that the threats against you and Jonah would stop even if you backed off. Someone is playing a very dangerous game, and since you’re one of the survivors, they wanted you dead before you started investigating.”

“In the unit when we faced something horrific, we were taught to ignore and override. How do I ignore my son’s kidnapping? How do I override that?” His voice rose with every word. The shouted words stunned because they came from him.

He paced across the room, back and forth, clenching and unclenching his hands, as if the motion itself would bring Jonah home safely.

Losing control wasn’t like him. It wasn’t like him at all. He took a breath. Another. When he had himself under control, he asked, “What do we do now?”

“Do you have a record function on your phone?”

He nodded. “Jonah and I have a game where I leave a message for him on the phone, record it, and then he can play it back as many times as he wants.”

“Good. I want to hear the call again. We can’t tell anything from the voice—it’s too heavily processed—but maybe the words themselves will tell us something.”

Liam hit the playback function, and they both listened to the chilling message.

“‘Easy-peasy,’” Paige said, repeating a phrase. “We heard that not long ago.”

Reva had used the words while talking about dismissing people who didn’t like her. It had been a catchphrase of hers from years ago. He remembered Marie teasing her about it.

“Reva,” they said in unison.

Shock shook Liam to his core, but it explained why the attack on her had failed and how the men who shot at him and Paige at the hospital knew they’d be there. Reva had set it all up, making herself appear a victim and, at the same time, using the opportunity to try to take them out.

Identifying the murderer/kidnapper had been the easy part. Finding Jonah and rescuing him was another matter.

“I want to do a run on Reva,” Paige said, “especially any properties she owns. Residential and commercial.”

Liam was silent for a moment. “Years ago, her father owned a paper mill operation. I don’t think he ever sold it, even after the factory shut down.”

Paige did a property search and found what they were looking for. “The property is still in his name. It’s about a half hour from here.”

She brought up a picture of the factory. “It looks to be fairly secluded. Perfect for holding a hostage. Also, she’d need