Page 20 of One Knight Stand

My hand holding the phone started to shake. Mr. Toodles, sensing something was wrong, started whining and pawing at my shins, but I ignored him, trying to get a hold on my thoughts. “Should I call the police?”

“No. We can’t take this to the police. If we do, she won’t come home. Ever. These people who have her… As long as they don’t know how to reach me, she’s safe. But if you go to the police, it becomes public knowledge that she’s missing. And once it’s public, they’ll know I know.”

My mind whirled, trying to make sense of this. “What does that mean? Who took her? What do they want?” My voice sounded faraway, even to my own ears.

“I can’t tell you, Angel, and that’s for your own protection. It’s me they want, and something I have. They’re using Mom to get to me. But don’t worry, because I’m not going to let anything happen to you or her. Mom is okay for now, because she’s no good to them if she’s hurt, or worse. We’re going to get her back, but we have to be very careful. There are spies everywhere.”

“What’s going on?” I pleaded. “Please just tell me.”

“I will, just not over the phone. Listen to me carefully. I need to determine a safe place for us to meet, and once I find it, I’m going to send you a riddle. It will tell you how, where, and when to meet me. Only you should be able to decipher the riddle, which will contain memories that will be significant to you, and you alone. But you must solve it within twenty-four hours from the time I send it. I can’t wait any longer.”

Had he lost his mind? “Meet you? Aren’t you putting yourself at risk?”

“It’s a risk I have to take.”

“Why do you have to send a riddle? Why can’t you just tell me now?”

“Because I don’t know where we should meet yet. And we must presume all communication between us will be monitored, even this phone. Trust me, I’ll write a riddle only you can solve. That, in turn, will confirm that I am who I say I am and not someone posing as me.”

It seemed more paranoid than sane, but my entire world had been turned upside down, so what did I know? A scary thought occurred to me. “What if I can’t solve the riddle?”

“I have every confidence you’ll solve it. However, once you do, you must take precautions to ensure you are not followed to the specified location. If you’re being followed, I won’t show. That’s for both of our protection. But time is of the essence. Your mom needs us. I won’t use your friend’s phone again, but I’ll find another way to contact you. Be strong, be smart, and be careful, Bitsy. Until then, watch your accounts—all of them—for my communication, and keep your mom’s disappearance as quiet as possible.”

Before I could say anything else, he hung up. I stared at the phone as disbelief, terror, and hopelessness swept through me with equal parts.

He’d hung up before I could ask the million questions I still had for him.

I leaned back against the sink, trying to collect myself. Mr. Toodles whined at my feet. I leaned down and picked him up, giving him a hug. He nuzzled my neck with his wet nose. After a moment, I set him down and turned off the water in the sink and the shower. I flushed the toilet and opened the door.

Jax took one look at my face and stepped forward. “You okay?”

I nodded, anything but okay. “Yeah, I’m just worried. I suppose my mom might have fallen or gotten hurt. Let’s take Mr. Toodles for a walk, then clean things up. I’ll make some calls to the local hospitals to see if she’s been admitted. No need to panic unnecessarily. My mom wouldn’t want that.”

I saw the surprise in Jax’s eyes, but he said, “Sounds like a plan. I’ll get the leash and a baggie. I saw both hanging by the door.”

He handed the leash to me, and I clipped it onto Mr. Toodles’s collar. Neither of us spoke until we were outside the building.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Jax asked, slipping on his sunglasses. “Was that your dad on my phone?”

“Yes.” My stomach churned, and I felt like throwing up.

“What did he say?” Jax demanded. “Does he know where your mom is?”

“No. But he confirmed my mom’s apartment is bugged and someone has kidnapped her. I need to buy time for my dad to find her, and we’re going to meet to figure out how to get her back.”

Jax stopped in his tracks, lifting his sunglasses to look at me incredulously. “Meet? You’re going tomeethim? Are you sure it was even your dad?”

“I’m sure.”

But was I really? Maybe it was one of the kidnappers who wanted to stop me from calling the police. Or maybe it was a ploy to delay the search for my mother. But it had sounded like the man I’d met in the coffee shop, who’d later turned out to be my father in disguise. He had saved me, protected me then. Plus, he’d said the riddle he’d send would confirm his identity.

“He called me Bitsy,” I said. “My mom said he used to call me that. No one but him would know that.”

“You can’t just blindly accept it’s him because he knew your pet name. Did you forget you were almost kidnapped a few weeks ago? This could be a trap.”

He was right on all counts, but somehow, I didn’t think so. “I know it could be a trap, Jax. I’m not an idiot. But I really believe it was my dad, and I trust what he said.”

Jax did not look convinced, so I had to figure out a way to get him to believe me. “I know this whole thing sounds crazy, but I need you to trust me. Please.” I kept walking, so Jax followed.

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