“Is there a problem?” Noah barked at her.
“Uh, no. I just thought of something. My dog has a microchip. Maybe I can find him that way.” She resisted the urge to turn around to see whose voice it was that she had heard. But she didn’t have to. She knew it was Gabby’s.
Once they reached the ground floor, a guard walked her to the front entrance and waited for her to walk until she was out of sight. That meant going in the opposite direction from Jimmy in the truck. She shook her head, indicating that he should not come after her yet. Let her keep walking. There was a bend in the road about a half mile from the entrance. Once she got past that point, she could move into the bushes until Jimmy could drive around. He waited a few minutes, then started the rattletrap and moved slowly down the road. Once he made the bend, he saw Maggie’s neckerchief on a bush and pulled over.
“Thank God! What the hell happened? Are you all right?” Jimmy was vacillating between anger and relief.
“Drive!” Maggie bellowed. She sat back and took a few deep breaths. “I know where Gabby is.”
“Where? Is she okay?” Jimmy was trying to focus on the road and on Maggie’s words.
“She seemed okay. Give me your phone, please.”
“Well? What did she say?” Jimmy was getting increasingly irritated. Maggie wasn’t talking fast enough for him.
“Nothing. At least not to me.”
“You are going to have to be a little clearer. Explain.”
“Let me call in so I don’t have to repeat myself.” She dialed Annie’s number.
“Jimmy Griffin, you better have some good news for me!”
“Annie, it’s Maggie. I’m okay. I found Gabby.”
“Is she with you?” Annie asked.
“No. She didn’t see me.”
“If you found her, then why isn’t she with you? And what do you mean she didn’t see you?” Annie was holding on to her patience as best she could. She put her phone on speaker so Myra, Charles, and Fergus could hear.
“There was an Escalade that entered the property. I saw two women get out, both very well dressed, then I was caught staking out the perimeter by one of the guards. Even though I was on public land, on this side of the fence, he put a gun in my back and forced me to enter The Haven. I ditched the phone after dumping its contents. But while I was being escorted up the driveway, I saw only one of the women, the older one, get back into the SUV.”
“Yes, we know about the phone,” Myra chimed in. “Fergus was able to get its location.”
Maggie continued. “The guard turned me over to another dude, who took me to the main house and up to a space on the second floor that was as austere as a police interrogation room. Very odd.” Maggie took a deep breath before she went on. “They had me in there for about two hours. And then a guy came in to actually interrogate me. He didn’t give me his name, but I’m pretty sure it was Noah Westlake.”
“What did you tell him?” Myra asked as she was stroking her pearls.
“I told him that I was looking for my dog and acted really pissed at the way I was being treated. I figured that any solid citizen would be. I gave a good enough performance that he let me go.”
“Thank goodness for that. But how does Gabby fit into this?” Annie asked.
“When the guy led me out of the room, I heard a voice at the far end of the hallway answer the phone. It was Gabby’s voice.”
“I’m still not quite clear about what you’re saying,” Annie nudged her.
“The guy was standing between me and the person answering the phone. He was blocking my view and hers. He led me in the opposite direction to a back set of stairs. But I know the voice that answered the phone was Gabby’s.” Jimmy handed Maggie a bottle of water from the cooler.
“So she didn’t know that you were there,” Charles surmised.
“Correct,” Maggie answered. “We have to get her out of there.”
“Yes, but we need to get to the bottom of all of this. Gabby was right when she left you that ‘strange happenings’ message,” Charles added.
“Gabby could probably simply walk out of there. She must have a reason for sticking around,” Annie commented.
“I’m not so sure about that, Annie. Remember this all started when she was prevented from flying home to see her mother in the hospital. I think we should call a meeting for tonight and see how many pieces of the puzzle we’ve managed to assemble,” Charles suggested.
“Good idea,” Myra agreed. “I’ll get everyone who’s available to phone in or show up by seven. Does that work for you, Maggie?”
“Right now, a gallon of espresso would work for me.” Maggie was starting to come down from the adrenaline. She felt around for the bag of bagels and gave Jimmy the stink-eye. “You ate all the bagels?” Laughter came through the phone lines. Everyone was relieved that Maggie was safe and back to normal.
Chapter Nineteen
Rachel watched out the window of the luxury chopper. The color of the water below was changing by the minute. It went from deep blue to turquoise as they skirted the Florida Keys to the east.
It was a spectacular view from where she sat. They had been in flight for just over an hour, barely skimming the water. She still had no idea where she was headed and didn’t dare ask. She spotted an island ahead as the helicopter moved even closer to the ground. She feared they were going to crash. Within minutes, the aircraft was on the ground. But where?
The pilot cut the engine. Rachel sat frozen in her seat until a young woman climbed in and introduced herself.
“Hello, Rachel. I’m Yvonne. Please follow me.” Yvonne instructed the pilot to bring Rachel’s luggage to an awaiting Jeep.
“I’m very excited to be here,” Rachel squeaked. She still wasn’t sure what to say or to whom.
“We’re happy to have you. Here, climb in.” Yvonne gestured for the man wearing camouflage and brandishing an AK-47 to assist Rachel. Another man dressed similarly hoisted Rachel’s bags into the back. Rachel tried not to act concerned. Why on earth am I being greeted by men who look like they’re part of a militia group? Even more reason not to ask questions.
From the surroundings, it appeared that they were near a beach resort, with a private road that led from the helipad. As they approached the elaborate property, Rachel could see several scantily dressed women on a veranda. There were also two men wearing traditional Middle Eastern clothing, smoking cigars, and laughing.
Her thoughts were running amok until the Jeep stopped at the foot of the terraces surrounding the elaborate swimming pool.
“Welcome home,” Yvonne said easily.
“Excuse me?” By now Rachel thought this must be one big misunderstanding.
“Diecinueve camino de la luna amarilla. This is where you will be living from now on.”
“There must be some kind of mistake. I’m supposed to be a spokesperson for The Haven,” Rachel said halfheartedly.
“Of course you are,” Yvonne humored her. “Let’s just say you will be entertaining guests.”