Trumped Up Charges

Chapter Fifteen



Hadley sat in the porch swing, a cup of coffee that had grown cold clutched in her hand. She stared straight in front of her but didn’t really see anything.

Her brain was numb, the rest of her body an aching mass of muscles that seemed disconnected and unresponsive.

The detective, Adam, Fred, and even R.J. had tried to convince her that progress had been made. Either they thought she was a fool or they were fooling themselves.

Even though the helicopter was in the air in minutes after the getaway car had speeded from sight, the car had never been spotted again. Hundreds of police and private citizens were combing that area now looking for the car and the girls. R.J. and all three of the Lambert brothers were among that group.

Detective Lane had insisted that she, Adam and Fred stay at the ranch in case Quinton tried to get in touch with them. She had little hope that would happen. Quinton was most likely across the border by now with R.J.’s fifty thousand dollars.

No one had an explanation for why he hadn’t gone through with the planned ransom exchange except that he must have suspected a trap.

If Sam knew where Lacy and Lila were, he wasn’t admitting it. According to Lane, even under intense interrogation, Sam had stuck to his original story. He’d said that Quinton had come to him yesterday and threatened Alana if he didn’t cooperate with him.

Lacy and Lila could be locked in a dark closet somewhere, starving and crying for their mother to come and save them. They might be outside, wandering in a patch of woods along any highway, lost and afraid. They could be...

No. She couldn’t bring herself to even think the dreaded word.

Nausea hit again and she grew so dizzy the cup slipped from her fingers and broke into dozens of pieces. The coffee sloshed on her legs and feet. She didn’t bother to wipe it off.

Her phone jingled announcing a new text. She checked the caller ID. The sender information had been blocked.

In spite of her crippling depression, she felt a twinge of hope as she opened the message.

If you want to get your daughters back, meet me ASAP in Galveston. I’m not the kidnapper, but I know where they are. More info to follow.

Hadley knew the odds were that this was a hoax. She warned herself not to get her hopes up again. And yet traitorous anticipation laced her heart.

She jumped from the swing and ran to find Adam. This time she didn’t want police involvement or a negotiator. This time she only wanted Adam with her. She’d take no chance in scaring off anyone who might know the whereabouts of her Lacy and Lila.

* * *

ADAM CALLED AND MADE the arrangements with Durk Lambert. They would have to drive into Dallas to board the plane, but the flight to Galveston on the company jet would get them there about two hours faster than driving.

Adam strongly suspected the call was a ruse and that the trip was a wild-goose chase, but he agreed readily to make the trip with her. Any chance was better than none.

They touched down at a small private airport in Galveston at 11:06. The rental car Adam had ordered ahead of time was waiting. There had been no more texts.

The pilot stood at the door as they started to descend the narrow steps to the tarmac. “Do you have any idea what time you’ll want to fly back to Dallas?”

“I’m hoping we won’t need more than an hour at the most,” Adam said, “but I can’t guarantee this won’t take longer.”

“Take all the time you need.” He took a card from his pocket and handed it to Adam. “Give me about a thirty-minute heads-up if you can. I’ll be in the area.”

“Thanks, “Adam said.

They hadn’t told the pilot the nature of their business. Nor had Durk, but Hadley was certain he could tell from their demeanor that this was not your normal business trip.

Adam took care of the paperwork on the rental. There was still no follow-up to the earlier text. He opened the car door for her. “No use to just hang around the airport. We may as well find a coffee shop on the beach.”

They had just taken their first sip of coffee when the text came through. Hadley picked up the phone but said a silent prayer before she checked the message. She read it silently to herself and then read it out loud.

“The SunFun Motel. Room 217. I’m sorry.”

Frustration took hold again. “I’m sorry. That can mean anything. Sorry the texter had changed his or her mind about talking to me? Sorry he got our hopes up for nothing. Sorry that...”

“Find the hotel on your phone’s GPS,” Adam said, calm in the face of immense frustration—as usual. Calm but not immune. His fingers had tightened on the wheel and his muscles bunched and flexed beneath his light blue sport shirt.

“It’s 6.2 miles away,” Hadley said. She gave him directions and cursed every red light.

“I can’t stand this. I’m calling the motel,” she said. “I’ll ask for Room 217 and see if someone answers.”

She made the call. “Room 217, please.”

“I’m sorry. The guest in that room checked out just a few minutes ago.”

Hadley mouthed the words checked out for Adam. He grimaced.

“Please ring the room anyway,” Hadley said.

“I’m pretty sure I saw her drive away, but I’ll ring the room.”

“Thanks.”

Hadley checked the GPS while the phone rang. “Turn right in six hundred feet.”

She was about to hang up when the phone clicked and she heard a noise as if it had been dropped. “Hello, she called into the phone. Hello. Is anyone there?”

“It’s Mommy.”

The familiar voice wrapped tight around her heart. Her throat closed. Tears burned at the corners of her eyelids.

“Lacy, is that you?”

“Come get me, Mommy.”

“I’m coming, sweetheart. I’m coming. Is Lila with you?”

“Yes. She being bad. She took my cookie.”

“We’ll buy more cookies. We’ll buy all the cookies you want.”

Adam took her hand and squeezed it as he jerked to a stop in front of Room 217 at the SunFun Motel. “Ask her who’s with her.”

Dread choked Hadley’s joy. She’d been so excited at the sound of her daughter’s voice that she’d never considered that this might be a trap. If Quinton was in that room with them, if this was another of his schemes.

He’d never let them just walk in and walk away with the girls.

“Who’s in the room with you, sweetheart?”

“Lila?”

“Who else?”

“Amanda. Mary Nell leaved us.”

Adam was already out of his truck when the door to Room 217 opened and Lila stepped onto the outdoor walkway. Adam flew up the steps and grabbed her. She started to scream and he quickly set her back down.

Lacy ran out of the room and started kicking him.

With tears streaming down her face, Hadley raced to his rescue. She fell to her knees and both girls tumbled into her arms.

“Don’t cry, Mommy.”

But she couldn’t stop crying and laughing and kissing.

“This is Adam,” she said when the girls had endured all the slobbering attention they could stand. “He’s my friend.”

She’d tell them he was their father later when they’d had time to get to know him. They’d soon love him the way she did. The way she’d always loved him. The way she always would, even though they still had a few serious barriers to hurdle.

Adam picked up both girls and started toward the steps. Hadley took one quick look inside the motel room. She didn’t see another soul, but there was food scattered about the room. At least her babies had not starved.

“Wanna go home, Mommy,” Lila said when she caught up with them.

“Me, too, sweetheart. Me, too.”

Oddly, when she’s said home, she was actually thinking of the Dry Gulch Ranch.

* * *

QUINTON SWERVED INTO the left lane and passed an 18-wheeler that was going five miles over the speed limit. He cursed the traffic the way he had ever since leaving Dallas.

By now, the stupid broad would have surely heard that Sam had been arrested. There was no telling what she was planning.

Most likely she’d try to get the ransom for herself and end up in jail with Sam. He had to get to her before she screwed up everything.

He needed the girls and then he’d collect the rest of his five million. But one stupid move by Hadley and the next time she saw her daughters, they’d be dead.

* * *

UNABLE TO BE MORE than a few inches away from the girls, Hadley had sandwiched herself between them in the backseat of the car. The girls were giggly and full of chatter as they drove to the airport.

They were not only unhurt, there were no apparent signs that they’d been frightened during the kidnapping ordeal. That did not sound as if they’d been left at the mercy of Quinton.

Lacy had mentioned the name Mary Nell. Perhaps she’d been the one who’d cared for them and kept them safe.

Hadley leaned forward and touched Adam on the shoulder. “I should have gone inside the hotel room and looked around. There might have been a note from whoever texted me.”

“If there is, the cops will find it. I think we should call the detective now and let him take care of the case from here on out.”

“And I have to call Mother and R.J. I should do that now.” She took out her phone and made the calls. Her mother was so ecstatic she didn’t even complain about Adam. She’d talked to both of the girls, though. And then she’d started singing “Amazing Grace” right over the phone.

R.J. was silent for at least a minute. When he finally said something, it was a mumbled old Texas saying that had little relevance to the situation. But she’d swear he was crying.

“I don’t think your father is used to showing emotion,” she said when she and Adam had both finished their calls.

“I have no idea what R.J. is about or what affects him. But he came through for us when we needed his help. He opened his home and his pocketbook with no strings attached.”

“I think he’s trying hard to connect with you, Adam.”

“Maybe he should have practiced back when I was the age Lacy and Lila are now.”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Adam. Look at the years we lost together because of ours. What did Lane say?” she asked, changing the subject.

The scars in R.J. and Adam’s relationship would not fade overnight any more than the scars on Adam’s back would. But given a chance, they could at some time in the future.

“The detective admitted he owed you an apology,” Adam said. “He said he’ll deliver it in person when we get back to Dallas and promised that he’ll track down and arrest Quinton no matter how long it takes.”

Adam pulled into the almost empty airport parking lot. Traveling by private jet was far less complicated than taking a commercial airline.

Lila tugged on her arm. “Where my Amanda?”

The doll. They’d forgotten the doll. “Did you have her in the motel?”

“She’s in the covers.” Lila began to cry.

“We can’t leave Amanda in the covers,” Adam said. “We’ll go right back and get her.”

Lila quit crying. Adam turned the car around and exited the parking lot.

“When we get to the SunFun, I’ll run in and get the manager to let me back into the room to get it,” Hadley said. Hopefully the room hadn’t been cleaned and serviced yet. She wanted a chance to look around, though she had no idea what she was looking for other than the doll.

* * *

“ROOM 217 HASN’T been cleaned, but I’m afraid I can’t let you in there.”

“I only need to pick up my daughter’s doll. I can’t go back to Dallas without it. She’ll cry all the way and she won’t go to sleep tonight without it.”

“I sympathize, believe me, I do. But we have orders from the police to let no one into that room until they give us the all-clear. They didn’t say why.”

“Give me a minute.” Hadley made a quick call to Detective Lane. He owed her more than an apology. She was ready to collect on the debt.

Within five minutes, the local police called and gave the manager permission to let Hadley into the room with orders that she was only to get the doll and leave.

The manager took her to the room and unlocked the door. “You’re on your own. I normally follow police orders exactly, but I’m not getting in the middle of this. You do what you have to.”

“Thank you.”

Hadley quickly found the doll, hidden in the bed covers, just as Lila had said. She picked it up and hugged it to her chest as she scanned the rest of the room.

Two old-fashioned bonnets lay atop the room’s small desk. The motel notepad that rested beside them held a meticulously printed note.

I’m sorry for my part in the abduction. I took care of your girls as best I could. They are precious. Take care of them and give them lots of love. And make sure Quinton Larson never comes near them again. He is an evil man.

Ignoring the detective’s orders, she tore the note from the pad and stuck it into her pocket.

“Well, well, if it isn’t little Miss Goody Two-shoes. What luck to run into you here.”

She spun around just as Quinton Larson turned the safety latch on the door.