Page 35 of Mysterious

“No. They didn’t say anything about that. Oh, God! Does that mean they’re going to kill her because I didn’t have the money to offer right then and there?” Andrea asks, sobbing again.

“No, no. Calm down. They said they’d call back, right? They want money, so they’ll give us details about how to get them the money in the next call. Did they say anything else?”

“Yes. They said not to call the police or the FBI. I wasn’t going to, Liam, because they never do anything. I swear they want to wait until she gets hurt until they do something. Oh, my God! Is this her stalker? Has he graduated to kidnapper now?”

That already occurred to me, but I quickly dismissed that idea. Just as kidnappers rarely want to become murderers, stalkers rarely make the leap to kidnappers. It’s an entirely different focus and unlikely one a stalker would want to get involved with.

“No, I don’t think this is her stalker, so let’s not get worried about that. We do have to contact the FBI, at least, though. This is a kidnapping, and as much as we might want to think we can handle things ourselves, the FBI knows how to deal with this better than anyone else in the world.”

“Mia won’t like that, Liam. She never wants to deal with the police or FBI. She doesn’t think they ever want to help. That’s why she leaves dealing with them to me, but I have to admit, I think she’s right. I doubt they’ll even take this seriously since she’s only been gone for about eight hours.”

I grab my suit jacket and head toward the door. “We’re contacting the FBI, Andrea. Not to contact them will risk Mia’s life, and we don’t want that. I can be the one who deals with them. I’ve done it before, so it’s no problem. As soon as I finish this call with you, I’ll get in touch with them.”

“No, no. I can’t have you do that. They’ll only end up wanting to talk to me because I’m her mother. I’ll do it.”

Confused, I say, “Mia’s not a minor anymore, Andrea. You don’t have to be the point person on this. I can do it. In fact, I should since two of my guys were with her and I need to find out where the hell they are.”

“That’s even more reason for me to handle the FBI. I’ll take care of them, Liam. Just be ready when they get here because they’ll need to know all the details about when Mia left. I don’t know because I was sleeping. You deal with finding your men. God, I hope they aren’t…”

She doesn’t finish her sentence before she begins crying again. I don’t need to hear the rest of what she was thinking. I’ve already said those exact words to myself.

God, I hope they aren’t dead.

Drew answershis hotel room door in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt that says Auburn on it. I don’t know why I notice that, but as he steps back to let me in, I ask, “Is that where you went to college?”

Confused, he shakes his head. “No. Why are you here early asking me about my shirt?”

“Mia’s mother got a call from kidnappers a half hour ago. They have Mia and they want five million for her. I don’t know where Brett and Kip are, but I’ve checked with the pilot and they never came back to the plane.”

“Jesus Christ, man. Where the hell did they go and why weren’t you with them?”

I shake my head, hating myself right now. “Long story. Mia decided she needed to fly out to Miami to the recording studio and I felt like I should stay here to do the walk-through in Houston today. So I sent Brett and Kip to guard her. There’s no way they’d let anyone take her if they had the ability to stop them.”

My friend knows what I’m trying not to say out loud.

Holding his hand up, he says, “Stop right there. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not a sure thing. Kidnappers rarely like to kill people. They’re in it for the money. Nothing else.”

His attempt at making me think logically makes me chuckle. “Yeah, I just told Andrea that.”

“So don’t go thinking Brett and Kip are done for yet. You said you contacted the pilot and he hasn’t seen them. Did you contact the recording studio?”

I whip out my phone as I shake my head. “Fuck, why the hell am I not thinking clearly? That’s why I came to you. My head is a fucking mess right now, Drew.”

“Call there and see if you can find out anything. I’m going to get dressed and get the rest of the guys ready for when we head out.”

Drew leaves me alone, and suddenly, I feel like nothing is going to be okay. I should have never assigned them the job of guarding her on this goddamned spur of the moment trip to Miami. That was my responsibility, but after fucking up things at that bar, I didn’t think I should be the one to go with her.

Goddamnit! This is my fault.

The phone at the recording studio rings for what seems like five minutes before someone finally answers the call. Some guy named Larry tells me Mia left right before seven, more than an hour ago. He says she left with the two bodyguards she had with her and he and his brother haven’t heard anything since they walked out with her.

“I need you to check outside. Mia’s missing, as are my two guys. There should be a rental car there. A black SUV,” I say, my heart racing at the good news he’s just told me.

They’ve only been gone for a short time. That’s good. At least I hope it is.

“Okay. Hang on. I’ll check.”

Pacing back and forth across Drew’s hotel room, I listen for any indication this Larry person found Brett and Kip, but I hear nothing. When he returns less than a minute later, he only has bad news.

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