A Cop in Her Stocking Read online

  “To ask for ransom?”

  “Yes.”

  She motioned to the shabby little apartment, the cheap Christmas tree she’d bought in a discount lot, already dropping needles. The decorations made of paper and pipe cleaners and good old-fashioned popcorn on strings she’d used to round out the few good decorations she had left from the house in Chicago. Not to mention the sparse secondhand furniture underneath it all, a veritable museum of particle board and pilled cushions. “I obviously have no money. What could he want that I could give him?”

  “We don’t know, Ms. Garvey. We are trying to cover all the bases.”

  She nodded. She should be glad of that, not giving the man a hard time.

  A knock sounded at the door. Ty opened it. A familiar-looking man dressed in a suit and dark overcoat pushed into the room and focused on her. “Megan. I came when I heard.” He thrust out his hand and grasped hers, but instead of giving it a shake, he simply held it and stared into her eyes.

  He looked so familiar. The sharp nose. The high forehead. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

  “Evan Blankenship. We went to high school together.”

  Memories shuffled into place in her mind. “Of course. You were a few years older, right?”

  “You had to remind me.” He chuckled and glanced at the other newcomers over his shoulder, then back to her.

  “And I heard you married Dee Dee Harris.” Megan almost lapsed into the envious nickname Dee Dee had been given by the other girls in high school, Harris the Heiress, but stopped herself just in time.

  “Three years now.” Evan held up his ring as if offering proof.

  “Lucky man.” It seemed ridiculous to be chatting about normal life as if everything was…normal. But somehow just the ordinariness of the exchange made Megan feel a little more grounded.

  “Don’t I know it. I was also elected mayor of Lake Hubbard in a special election this fall. That’s why I stopped by, to offer my support as an elected official and an old friend.”

  “Uh, thank you.”

  “And my help. Seriously, Megan, if there’s anything Dee Dee and I can do to get your little boy back—connections, money, anything at all—you let me know.”

  She fished for a way to respond, finally settling on another “Thank you.”

  “I understand the FBI is on its way?”

  Again Megan nodded. She hadn’t been sure how to take this outpouring of generosity from a man she hadn’t talked to since high school. Even then, he’d been Doug’s age, not hers. She’d hardly known him. But after that last comment, she had to wonder if he was here to see the FBI. Maybe Mayor Evan Blankenship had watched too many crime shows on TV and simply wanted to see the bureau in action.

  She gave him what she could muster for a smile and excused herself. She didn’t like being so cynical, thinking poorly of others’ motives, not trusting anyone at their word, but she couldn’t help it. The last years had bled her dry of trust and optimism, and the past couple of hours didn’t seem likely to change that.

  Her throat thickened. Her chest physically hurt with each beat of her heart, and she knew the only thing that would make it stop was clutching Connor close. Standing, she excused herself and walked out of the living room and down the short hall.

  She had to get away. Just for a moment. She had to catch her breath. She wanted to be somewhere she could feel closer to her son.

  She slipped into Connor’s room and pulled in a deep breath. The place smelled of him, of crayons and Lincoln Logs and the orange-flavored candy he’d accidently gotten stuck in a corner of the carpet. She looked around at his toys, at his unmade bed, at his jammies lying in a wadded-up clump on the floor. For a moment, the walls blurred, the Thomas the Tank Engine clock became merely a smudge of bright reds and blues against the white wall.

  She tilted her chin back and did her best to blink away tears. They would find him, wouldn’t they? She had to trust they’d find him. She didn’t know how she’d cope otherwise.

  “Meg?”

  Her body swayed toward the sound of Ty’s voice and his old nickname for her coming from right behind her. If she turned around, if she reached for him—allowed herself to curl up in his arms, to soak in his comfort, to accept his strength—she knew he’d oblige. He would again promise to find Connor. He’d reassure her that everything would be okay. She wanted those things so badly. She wanted to trust he could provide them.

  But she knew things weren’t as simple as that. They never were. To get her son back, she needed to be strong. She couldn’t rely on anyone else to make things okay. She’d known that most of her life. She couldn’t let herself forget it now.

  She wiped her cheeks with her fingertips. Pulling in a shuddering breath, she turned around and searched his face, his clear blue eyes, the creases around his mouth, the shadow of stubble beginning to show on his chin. But as much as she wanted to see relief in his eyes and the joy of good news curving his lips, they weren’t there.

  She braced herself. “Have you gotten hold of Doug?”

  “Still no answer.”

  “You tried the cell number?” He nodded.

  She dropped her focus to the carpet. Large, colorful Duplo Legos scattered the worn Berber. She had the urge to drop to her knees and fit them together, to fit something together, anything. The minute hand on the train clock clicked forward.

  How long she stared at those blocks, she wasn’t sure, but she heard another tick. Then another. She could feel Ty watching her, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.

  Connor. Out there somewhere. With a stranger.

  She felt sick. She felt weak.

  She felt angry as hell.

  She folded her arms tight across her chest and hung on. “A few years ago, Doug got in some trouble with the law.”

  Ty’s brows arched upward, as if he was surprised, but something in his eyes told her the expression was more acting than truth. Of course she’d be naive to think that the news of Doug’s embezzlement and the hell she’d gone through hadn’t reached their hometown. Lake Hubbard had grown a lot over the years, but it still had the feel of a small town. And in small towns, gossip traveled fast.

  Gossip or not, she was grateful he didn’t ask questions. She didn’t want to get into the story. Especially with Ty. “He got out of it with a slap on the wrist and swears he’s a model citizen now, but he might not be eager to answer a phone call from police.”

  “I see. Would you be willing to give him a call?”

  She nodded. She prayed he had taken Connor. At least then she’d know her little boy was safe. She couldn’t rely on Doug for much, but for all his faults, he was truly fond of his son.

  “It’s worth a shot. I’ll let Leo know. We can put your phone on speaker.”

  “No. I want to make the call alone.”

  His lips flattened into a line.

  “I’ll use my cell. Please, Ty. This is all…too much.” She gestured to the officers down the hall in the living room. It appeared as though the mayor had left, but the lieutenant, Detective Baker and another detective she didn’t know still milled around the Christmas tree.

  She didn’t want any of them listening in on her call to Doug. Whether Doug had Connor or not, he would blame everything on Ty, chalk up everything to their past relationship, as distant a memory as it was. Doug had always felt threatened by Ty, even though she and Ty had broken up long before. Even though she’d married Doug in the end. Sometimes his comments were very hurtful, and she didn’t want them on the speakerphone for all to hear.

  Ty finally nodded. “Don’t let him upset you. Tell him it was all my fault. After all, it was.”

  She’d seen the video, and she wasn’t so sure of that. Of course he would say the same thing if it wasn’t. “If you’ll excuse me?”

  Ty spun around and headed back down the hall. Her cell phone started ringing before she could get the door closed. She fished it out of her pocket with shaking fingers and flipped it open. “Doug?�
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  “Get the cops out of your apartment.”

  Megan shuddered at the low, brutal voice. Not Doug. The kidnapper. It had to be. Somehow he’d gotten the number of her cell phone. And he was watching her apartment.

  “Tell them someone you trust has your son.”

  She wasn’t sure she could push a single sound from her throat, but somehow she managed. “Who?” There weren’t many people she trusted. And the police had probably checked with everyone she’d put on the list by now.

  “A friend. The boy’s father. I don’t care who. Just convince the police they no longer have to look for your son.”

  She could hardly breathe.

  “Do you want to see your son again?”

  “Yes. Okay. I’ll get rid of the police.”

  “Then I want you to go to work tonight.”

  She couldn’t have heard him right. “Work?”

  “You do work for Brilliance Cleaning?”

  “Yes.”

  “You are scheduled to clean Keating Security tonight?”

  He knew everything about her. “Who is this?”

  “That’s not your problem. Your problem is that I have your son, and if you don’t do everything I say, you won’t see him again. At least not alive. Understand?”

  A scream built in her throat. She pushed it back. “Yes. I understand.”

  “While you are cleaning tonight, you will copy their client files off the secure server, including all the specifications of each client’s security system. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” She understood perfectly. He was asking her to steal sensitive files. Files that could be used to get into any of the security company’s clients’ businesses and homes undetected. Files that would work like a magic key, allowing him to walk in any of those places he wanted, take anything he wanted and never get caught.

  But although she felt a pang of guilt at the idea of stealing the information for him, she wouldn’t let it stop her. In the end, it wasn’t much of a choice. Connor was the only thing she cared about. She would do anything to get him back. “Then what?”

  “I’ll tell you after you have the files. Do what I ask, Ms. Garvey. I mean it. Or Santa won’t be coming to your house this Christmas.”

  Chapter Four

  “So you’ll do it? You’ll call the lieutenant and tell him you took Connor from the mall?” Megan held her breath. Doug had reacted to the news just the way she’d thought he would. A lot of blustering about Ty’s role, a lot of blaming. But in the end, he’d been just as worried about the ransom call as she was. She just needed to know that he’d hold up his end—she needed to hear him swear it—before she went out to talk to Lieutenant Wheeling.

  “And then what happens? I take the blame for this? I get arrested?”

  “I’ll back you up. I’ll tell them it was a misunderstanding, that we’ve worked everything out.” She wasn’t sure if that would be enough to protect him, but she hoped it would at least convince him to go along.

  “And I’m supposed to stick my neck out and trust you to explain things?”

  “I will explain things.”

  “Right. If I had a more devious mind, I might think you and Davis set this up. That he faked the kidnapping so you could trap me with some kind of kidnapping charge and take full custody.”

  She closed her eyes. She’d only needed Doug to come through for her twice in all their time together, after Connor was born and now. He’d failed her the first time. She had to make sure he came through for her now. “I will make sure you don’t get in trouble for this, Doug. I promise. But I need you to do this. Connor needs you to do this. Please.”

  “I suppose.”

  She recognized the smug tone in his voice. She could picture him right now in her mind’s eye, all inflated and self-important. The strange thing was, she didn’t care. She’d tell him anything he wanted to hear, just as long as he came through on his end. The only person she cared about was her son. “Thank you. You’ll call him now?”

  “Yes.”

  “You have his phone number?”

  “He’s called me a dozen times in the past hour, I swear. All I have to do is call him back.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I want you to remember this, Megan.”

  “Don’t you worry. I will.” She ended the call. She was still shaking, but at least she felt like she had a plan, a plan that was underway.

  She’d wait for Doug to make his call, then give the lieutenant all the reassurances he needed from her end. He had no reason not to believe her. It would all go smoothly. It had to.

  “Was that Doug?”

  Ty’s voice jolted along her nerves like an electric shock. She’d been so focused on convincing Doug to call Lieutenant Wheeling and then doing her own explaining that she’d almost forgotten she also had to lie to Ty. “Yes. He promised to call your lieutenant back right away.”

  Ty nodded. “Does he know anything?”

  “Yes. He has Connor. That was him at the mall.” She tried to give him a relieved smile, but she wasn’t sure she remembered what that felt like. “So everything is okay.”

  “Really?”

  What did that mean? That he didn’t buy it? “Yes. He saw you with him at the store, and, well, he got jealous. He called me to let me know everything’s okay. Everything’s over.”

  She expected him to look relieved. Something. But his expression didn’t change. “You have to tell Lieutenant Wheeling. But I have to warn you everything is not likely to be over instantly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’re going to have to investigate what happened. Make sure Connor is okay.”

  “Why? There’s no need for it.”

  “That’s good. I’m glad. But we have to confirm that fact in order to close the investigation.”

  “But I’m telling you that he’s safe.”

  Ty held up his hands.

  Megan’s mind raced. If the police went after Doug for the story they’d concocted, he’d tell them the truth for sure. It would all be over. She couldn’t let that happen. “You can’t do anything if I don’t cooperate.”

  “The department has an obligation to check on Connor’s welfare.”

  “You can’t charge Doug with anything for taking his own son.”

  “If he has Connor and the boy is all right, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

  “So what happens now?”

  “We tell Leo. He’ll take it from there.”

  And judging by the squareness of the man, she’d be willing to bet he’d follow procedure to a T. Which probably meant she didn’t have much time before the police would know Doug didn’t have Connor at all. She had to head this off, or at least buy some time until she could give the kidnapper what he wanted and get her son back.

  She stepped toward Ty and laid a hand on his arm. “I don’t want the police to harass Doug. He’s Connor’s father. I have to deal with him. Something like this…he’ll blame me. He’ll make things miserable for me, just because he can.”

  She wasn’t sure if she could convince the lieutenant and the other officers out in her living room, but maybe she could appeal to Ty. He wanted to help her. If she could convince him, maybe he’d convince his lieutenant. “Things are fine between me and Doug right now. I don’t want to ruin that balance.”

  “He took your son without telling you. That doesn’t seem fine to me.”

  “He was upset when he saw I let Connor go shopping with you. I think he felt like you were trying to take his place with his son. But I talked to him. Now he understands that’s not true. I also talked to Connor. Everything is fine. Can’t this whole thing just be over?”

  “It’s not that simple, Meg.”

  “Can we try to make it that simple?”

  He didn’t answer.

  Seconds stretched, one after another until Megan thought she might fall to her knees and beg. She couldn’t let things unfold this way.

  “All right.”

/>   Ty’s answer was so low, at first Megan thought she might have imagined it. “Did you say yes?”

  “I’ll talk to Leo.”

  “Doug said he’d return the Lieutenant’s calls.”

  “Good. He’d better do that. The sooner, the better.”

  “He will.”

  Ty stepped toward the hall, then paused. He turned back to face her, lines digging into his forehead and bracketing his mouth. “Who called earlier? Right when I left you?”

  Megan had been ready with the story she’d cooked up with Doug, but she wasn’t prepared for this. Ty must have heard her cell phone ring as she closed Connor’s bedroom door. “It was…it was Doug.”

  Ty watched her carefully. “That’s a coincidence. You were about to call him.”

  He might have been just making a casual observation, but Megan didn’t think so. More likely, he suspected she was lying. A jitter seized her stomach. “A coincidence. Yes, it was. At least everything worked out. Connor is safe, and everything is fine.”

  “Glad to hear Connor is okay. That’s the important part.” Again he started to leave, then caught himself. This time when he returned his gaze to hers, his eyes held something softer. Sadder. “I don’t understand why you’re still protecting Doug.”

  She wished she could tell him the truth. That this wasn’t about protecting Doug at all but protecting Connor. She wished she could trust that if Ty knew the real situation, he would stick by her. But wishing didn’t change anything. He was a cop, and she was about to become a criminal. That was the way things were.

  It was up to her to get her baby back, to make him safe. She was on her own.

  TY DIDN’T BELIEVE MEGAN’S story. Not for a second. The entire time she’d been talking, her eyelashes had fluttered and her cheeks had flushed a delicate shade of pink. When she’d related the part about how Doug had seen the error of his jealous ways, her eyes had shifted to the side, as if she found something fascinating near his left ear. She was about as good at lying as the teenagers he discovered throwing toilet paper into the trees outside the high school last Halloween.

  The thing that had him confused was why.