Page 35 of A Colby Christmas Rescue

“Meaning?” she pressed. “Are we going in armed? Will he be drugged?”

“No drugs. No weapons.”

She and Poe had discussed the possibility that the man’s child would be used to gain his cooperation. “Then we’re using the kid.” Dread congealed in her gut. She hated the idea. Hated it even more than the drugs or weapons.

“You have my word,” he said, his gaze pressing hers, “if it becomes necessary to use the child, she will not be harmed in any way.”

Damn it. She knew it! “You can’t make that promise. Things go wrong. Accidents. Mistakes. You can never predict how people will react to these situations.”

Abi held up his hands as if to quiet her, which made her all the angrier. “This will happen quickly. In an orderly manner. There will not be time for mistakes or accidents.”

People always thought a simple plan would go easy—no glitches. But there was no simple plan when it came to abducting another human. Not unless you rendered them unconscious.

The plan sounded perfect. Well thought out. Concise. Except all of that would go out the window when Dr. Case or his wife understood what was happening. If a guest happened to overhear...it would all go to hell in a heartbeat.

“You can’t be sure of anything. Not one single thing that involves another human.”

“You can’t be sure I’m wrong.”

She wasn’t going to argue the point with him. Moving on, she said, “You’ve mentioned that we have a very narrow window of opportunity. Why is that the case? It’s a party with guests who will be coming and going. Is there some sort of step or arrival—maybe a departure—that will happen that somehow renders our plans unusable? Is something turning into a pumpkin at a certain time?”

He didn’t answer right away. And he didn’t laugh. Mostly he stared at her, obviously attempting to decide how to answer.

He was just as worried as she was, but he would die before he would admit as much.

“It’s the kid, isn’t it?” Jamie shook her head. He might as well just spit it out. “It has to happen before she’s tucked in for the night.”

“Something like that,” he confessed.

“I’m not good with this.” But what could she do? Her brother’s life was on the line. “If anything goes wrong—”

“I will not allow the child to be hurt,” he insisted. “Really, you have my word on that.”

She didn’t doubt he meant what he said, but he could not guarantee the child’s safety or the doctor’s cooperation. He could only deduce the outcome based on common human behavior. The odds might lean slightly in his favor but there were no guarantees.

“What happens if the doctor is injured?” Had his employer thought of that? What they were about to do posed significant risk to all involved. “Then no one will have the benefit of the lifesaving surgery only he can do at this time.”

“We can talk about what-ifs all night,” Abi said. “But it’s our job to make sure the what-ifs don’t happen. We get the doc and his daughter out with no hitches. We do what we have to do and everybody’s happy when the night is over.”

Jamie held up her hands in surrender. Further discussion was pointless. “Moving on, please. At this point, I need some sort of assurance from you that your employer had nothing to do with Poe’s disappearance.” The facts were troubling. She had not heard from him, and his cell had ended up on the ground in the woods behind the house. If he’d been taken by someone involved in all this, why hadn’t they heard anything? If he’d decided some other action was necessary, why hadn’t she heard from him by now?

“I have no idea why or how he left other than what we found on the security system.” Abi shrugged. “He told me nothing. I saw and heard nothing.”

“You don’t receive any sort of notification when someone enters or exits the house?”

“This is not my house. I’m a guest here just as you are. I had no reason to want to monitor who went in and out. It was only relevant if we were here and frankly, I wasn’t expecting you or Poe to cut out on me.”

“He wouldn’t cut out without a reason,” she said to ensure Abi understood this wasn’t Poe just cutting out.

“You want to know what I think?” He braced his hands on the island. “I think he decided he didn’t need to be part of this.”

Jamie shook her head. “No way. He wouldn’t do that. He would never leave me in the lurch.”

Abi shrugged. “Maybe I’m wrong. I guess we’ll find out tonight. If he shows up and tries to interfere, we’ll have our answer. If he doesn’t show up, we’ll have an answer as well.”

Jamie shook her head again. “You’ll see.” She wasn’t standing around here and throwing her friend under the bus. She knew Poe too well. He had either set out on a plan of his own because he knew something was rotten with this one or someone had taken him. End of story.

She thought of his cell phone and worry dug deep beneath her skin. She desperately hoped her allowing Poe to come here with her wasn’t going to be the reason he...

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