Page 37 of Delivering David

“Hide in plain sight?” another man guessed.

Samuels smiled. “Something like that. Now. Let’s keep it short and simple. The “merchandise” as we call it will be there at the chosen place. And since it is New Year’s Eve, and we have multiple events going on at the same time, with hundreds of guests, no one will miss you when you slip away to the special auction room. You’ve all received and inspected the photos?”

Most of the men nodded and smiled, their satisfaction evident. But one lone man scowled. “What if the bidding war gets too intense? And are we guaranteed safety in getting the merchandise away?”

“We’ve promised you’ll be able to get it out of the site,” Samuels reminded him sternly. “Unless you want to pay an additional price. Once you’re off the property, the transport of it is your responsibility. As for bidding wars? We have several new items that have become available, courtesy of our European contacts. I have no doubt even if you are outbid for one item, there will be others that will more than satisfy your needs and wants.”

“And the event starts at nine o’clock, New Years’ Eve?” The man in blue asked.

“Yes. So many people want to go out to dinner that night,” Samuels said. “I don’t want to take away from local businesses enjoying their own money-making. Especially since some of them contributed items for the auctions. Any more questions?”

There was silence and Smith nodded. “Then I’ll see you on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.”

The men filed out and Samuels considered his next move. Except for that idiot Tate, everything was going as planned. Samuels had paid someone top dollar to hide cameras inside the Family Services of Tennessee building. There had been no sign of Tate all weekend–and Samuels had people watching his house– but he doubted the younger man would want to draw suspicion on himself by not showing up to work right after Christmas. When Tate did show up tomorrow morning, Samuels would let Bogdan know so he could kill him. He hated the thought of paying the Romanian assassin even more, but after viewing photos of those young girls he’d smuggled into the country, it was worth it.

And after his electronics man finished bugging Families United, Samuels would let Bogdan kidnap Suzanne Bennett when she arrived at work on New Year’s Eve–the agency was only open half a day–and finally, kill her too.

CHAPTER 26

Early Monday Morning.

“I don’t thinkwe’ve thanked you enough, T.J. for keeping the house so tidy while we’ve had to work these crazy twelve–and fourteen–hour shifts.” Mrs. Anne Johnson beamed at him from across the table.

“And making these great breakfasts too,” Mr. Taylor Johnson added, pouring syrup over the stack of pancakes with a generous hand.

“I was glad to do it,” T.J. said. “How much longer are you gonna be working those crazy shifts?”‘Cause I’m getting tired of baby-sitting and I think David is gonna take off if I’m gone too long.

“Tonight, and tomorrow night,” Mrs. Johnson said. “And then off for a whole week. It will probably take that long to get our sleep patterns back in order.”

“T.J., have you heard anything about David Phillips?” Mr. Johnson asked. “Have you talked to anyone?”

“No, sir,” T.J. said quickly. “But then I didn’t want to bother anyone or make them think I was being nosy, you know? Aren’t a lot of people out of town for the holidays?”

“I’m so tired I really don’t remember, buddy,” Mr. Johnson said. “But if you see or hear anything, don’t wait for us to come home. Call the police right away. I saw on the news in the ER breakroom, there’s a special tip line you can call.”

“I think I saw that too.” T.J. hated to lie to them since they were being so nice, but he wasn’t going to tell them about that card the cop gave him a few days ago. If someone came looking for David, he’d call that social worker first.

“You know,” Mrs. Johnson said thoughtfully. “It’s too bad Mercy never got around to buying that webcam for her garage or even her house. If she had, maybe the police could have used the SD card to find whoever killer her by now.”

A hidden camera?T.J.’s fingers froze around his fork.Holy crap. Could David be right?As from a distance, he heard Mr. Johnson say, “Mercy was thinking about getting a webcam? Why?”

“She’d read about a child abduction case in another state,” Mrs. Johnson said sadly. “Some custodial dispute, I think she said. A child was kidnapped from their own home by a non-custodial parent. She said it spooked her enough to think someone could break in so easily, so it was going to be one of the first things she bought after the first of the year. Then she laughed, and said she’d put one camera either under one of her hanging bird feeders on the back porch or inside one of the garden gnomes there. No one would think to look there.”

“Mercy had a great imagination and a great sense of humor,” Mr. Johnson sighed. “I’m going to miss her. Aw, honey, don’t cry.”

He moved to put his arm around his wife’s trembling shoulders as she grabbed a napkin and wiped her tear-stained face. “When did she mention that, honey?”

“At the Meet, Greet and Eat party,” Mrs. Johnson sobbed. “Can we get one please? I know the house is safe since T.J. is never gone too long. You can tell by how clean the house is and how much food he makes. But school starts next week, and the house will be empty. Can we get one please?”

“Sure thing, honey,” Mr. Johnson soothed. “Anything you want. Right, T.J.?”

“You bet,” T.J. said, his feet itching to go. “You bet.”

CHAPTER 27

Much later thatsame night

“Thinking about David?”Kristopher asked.

---