Page 18 of Bridles and Bribery

Something is wrong.

Climbing out of bed, Jillian stared in growing alarm at the time displayed on her cell phone. It was past ten o’clock. Dave’s plane should’ve landed by now. He should’ve read her text messages and responded already. Or called.

She tried dialing him yet again. Still no answer. Moving to their massive walk-in closet, which was roughly half the size of her last apartment, she retrieved her purse. He’d printed out a copy of his flight itinerary before he’d left, and she’d folded it inside her purse.

Returning to the bed with her purse, she pulled the itinerary out and smoothed it open to read the charter plane’s tail number, which she subsequently typed into an online flight status checker. Pushing the submit button, she waited for the rotating circle to clear off the screen. The status of her husband’s flight popped up. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting.

Rerouted due to mechanical issues.

Did that mean he hadn’t made it to Dallas after all? If so, where was he?

Jillian did an online search and found a brief reportabout flights being diverted to other airports because of the rainstorm in their area.

She dialed Dave again, knowing he would eventually have to land somewhere. There was still no answer. It was with a sick feeling that she mentally replayed her last conversation with him — the Cliff Notes version of it.

If you need anything, call me. If you can’t reach me, call Gil. If you can’t reach Gil, call Lonestar Security.

She scrolled through her address book to locate Gil’s number. It wasn’t until it started ringing that it occurred to her he was likely already in bed. She probably should’ve waited to call him in the morning.

He picked up on the second ring, making her jolt in surprise since she’d already accepted the fact that it would roll to voicemail. “Everything okay, Jillian?”

“I’m sorry for calling so late.” She spoke through numb lips.

“What’s up?” There was no hesitation in his response. Despite the late hour, he was wide awake and ready to listen.

“I can’t reach Dave.” She swallowed her embarrassment, hoping she wasn’t coming across as a woman incapable of standing on her own feet emotionally. “He should’ve landed by now, and?—”

“You’re right. He should’ve,” Gil cut in before she could elaborate on the rain delays sweeping across the state. “Lemme try his number.” He put her on hold. In the ensuing silence, the seconds ticked by with painful slowness. Then he was back. “It went straight to voicemail.”

“Something’s wrong, Gil.” Jillian’s gut was waving a thousand red flags. “An hour ago, his flight status was listed as rerouted for mechanical issues, and there hasn’t been a single update.”

Gil grunted. “If you’ll give me his flight number, I’ll see what I can find out.”

She read it off the copy of his itinerary and kept talking. “I know it’s getting late, but he’s going to want to hear about the second threat I received.”

“What did you say?” Gil barked out the question.

“I received another ransom demand.” She spoke between clenched teeth to keep them from chattering. “This one came with a deadline. My baby’s due date, no less.” It was unnerving to know that whoever had sent the message knew the exact day her baby was supposed to make his or her entrance into the world.

“Where are you?” Gil’s voice was low and terse.

“At home.”

“What room, specifically?”

“In our bedroom. Why?”

“I want you to walk to your closet and step up to the big dressing mirror on the back wall. Hidden in the iron scrollwork on the right side of the frame is a button. It looks like an unopened rosebud, but it’s a button. Push it, and it’ll open Dave’s safe room. Wait there until I can get a security detail over to your place.”

“All the doors in the house are locked, Gil. I checked.”

“Just humor me, please?”

“What about my mother-in-law?” Her thoughts raced anxiously. If they were in any danger inside the house, her mother-in-law was equally vulnerable.

“She’s still there, eh?” He sounded surprised. “Figured she’d be long gone from Heart Lake by now.”

“She stayed to go furniture shopping with me tomorrow.” Jillian gulped. “After church.”

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