Page 54 of Chasing a Kidnapper

No, she couldn’t stay inside. She opened the back door a crack and scanned the area. Peanut slipped past as if sensing the need to leave.

Seeing nothing alarming, she pushed the door open wider. There weren’t any trees or bushes back here, which was good and bad. No fire, but there was nowhere to hide, either.

Maybe she had enough time to get to a neighbor’s house. All she needed was a few minutes. She pushed the door open wide enough to get Gabriel’s car seat through.

Her left arm screamed in protest in carrying Gabriel and the car seat, but she didn’t dare holster her weapon. Peanut ran ahead. She stepped outside and moved to the right. She was hoping that whoever had set the fires was expecting her to come through the garage, which was to the left.

Trisha had barely taken five steps when a masked man charged toward her from the left side of the house. She turned, intending to fire at him, then noticed the barrel of his gun was trained on Gabriel.

“Drop the gun,” the guy ordered. “Or I’ll shoot your kid.”

She didn’t want to let go of her service weapon but knew he wanted the key. Peanut was somewhere behind her, and she prayed the K-9 would stay out of the way.

“Sure. I hear you.” She tossed her gun a few feet away, then grabbed Gabriel’s car seat with both hands. “What do you want?”

“The key!” The masked man practically shouted the words. “Give me the stupid key or die.” An evil smile creased his features. “The same way your ex-husband did.”

Her thoughts whirled, and she hoped the fire trucks and West were already on the way. She almost told him she had no idea where the key was, when something clicked in her mind.

The elephant lamp in Gabriel’s room. She vaguely remembered one day several months ago when she’d thought the lamp had been moved. The only reason it had caught her attention was that her elbow had almost knocked it off the table. At the time she hadn’t considered it to be a big deal. But now she couldn’t help but wonder if the lamp had been moved on purpose.

Why hadn’t she thought of it before now?

“Okay, fine.” She held the masked man’s gaze. “I’ll take you to the key if you promise not to hurt me or my son.”

“You’re in no position to make demands,” the gunman snarled. He kept coming toward her, his weapon still pointed at her son. “I have a car on the next block.” He used his chin to indicate the direction he wanted her to go. “Move it!”

Trisha reluctantly headed across the backyard, refusing to look around for Peanut. She prayed someone would notice and call the police and that Peanut would find West.

Before she and Gabriel were kidnapped by this ruthless killer.

FIFTEEN

West and Dan Slater sat across from a skinny guy with a goatee by the name of Craig Benson. He was the suspect who’d come out of the bus station, looking around as if wondering where his gun was.

“I’m ATF Agent Slater and this is Detective Cole,” Dan said. “I’ve noticed you have an outstanding warrant for burglary.”

Benson shifted nervously in his seat. “That was nothing more than a big misunderstanding.”

Sure it was, West thought dryly. He thought of the Glock that had been found at the Fitness Guru Gym. Dan had told him before the interview that the gun was clean. No crimes had been committed with it.

They needed this guy to talk.

“I want to know the name of the man who sold you the gun,” Slater went on, ignoring his comment.

“I don’t know anything about a gun,” Benson said, but the way his gaze skittered sideways was a dead giveaway.

“You can cooperate with us or sit in jail. Your choice.” Slater sat back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest as if he had all day. “Doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.”

West didn’t interrupt, letting Dan take the lead. It took all his willpower not to look at his watch. Trisha and Gabriel were in a secure location—no need to rush back to be at her side.

But it was difficult to ignore the weird nagging feeling that urged him to head back to the safe house as soon as possible.

“If I tell you who sold me the gun, you won’t put me in jail?” Benson asked.

“Yes. I’ll work with the district attorney’s office to drop the burglary charges against you,” Slater confirmed. “But only with your full cooperation. If you hold back key information, or lie to me, you’ll do your full stint of jail time. Oh, and that includes any jail time for any additional charges for crimes I discover.”

West hoped Craig Benson would go along with the plan. It was obvious to West that the locker in the bus station and the one at the Fitness Guru Gym were drop points for individual gun sales.

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