Page 25 of Bridles and Bribery

“Sounds like it.” Gil’s voice vibrated with suppressed anger. “I take it you haven’t called the police yet?”

“It’s on my to-do list. At the moment, I’m in a shower stall at a truck stop, washing off blood and staving off hypothermia.”

Gil snorted out a laugh. “Thanks for that mental picture.”

“You’re welcome.” Despite his pain and exhaustion, Dave couldn’t hold back a grin.

“Just so you know,” Gil sounded cautious, “Jillian received another ransom request this evening.”

Dave’s exhaustion fled. “Anything different from the last one?”

“Yep. It had a deadline. Her baby’s due date.”

“Unbelievable!” Rage flooded Dave’s chest. “When I get to the bottom of who’s behind this?—”

Gil kept talking over him. “A third ransom request was delivered in a sealed envelope to your doorstep.”

“What?” Dave’s voice rose nearly to a shout.

“This one was for you.”

“Me?”

“A demand for a million dollars if we ever want to see you again.”

“Please tell me you’re kidding!”

“Wish I was,” Gil sighed.

“Is Jillian, uh…how is she?” Dave couldn’t bear the thought of what she must be going through right now.

“She’s hanging in there. She’ll be better after she hears you’re safe.”

Safe?Dave was alive, but he was in no way convinced that he was safe. But first things first. “Any chanceyour new hotshot friends at Lonestar Security could help rustle me up a change of dry clothes?”

“In Dallas?” Gil pretended to be aghast. “Just kidding. We’ll have friends on their way shortly. Thirty minutes tops.”

By friends, he was referring to a pair of plain-clothes detectives from the Dallas Police Department and two paramedics in an ambulance. They provided him with a pair of black running pants that were a little too snug and a hoodie that both he and Jillian could have fit inside of at the same time.

“Sorry.” The tallest detective, who’d introduced himself as Detective Miller, shrugged. “It’s the best we could come up with from our lost-and-found bin.” They also provided him with a pair of dry socks that gave him a layer of protection against his damp boots.

While he endured an unwanted medical exam in the back of the ambulance, he gave his official statement to the police. It took some careful wheedling on his part to get them to admit that the turboprop plane he’d been flying in had been hijacked.

Dave scowled in contemplation. “What happened to the original pilots and crew?” He didn’t recall seeing anyone else on the plane other than the three men who’d held him at gunpoint.

Detective Miller exchanged a grim look with his partner. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” Within the hour, they had a search party scouring the remote airstrip Dave had described to them. They found his sodden suitcase. However, he wasn’t the least bit surprised to hear that the turboprop plane was no longer there. They did, however, find a shell casing located roughly in the same spot the pilot had been standing when he’d shot at Dave.

After a wider search, the bullet was located. It had become lodged in mud at the base of a tree. There were trace amounts of Dave’s blood on it but no fingerprints. Essentially, it was a dead end.

It was the next day before Dave could get his hands on a burner phone. After checking in to his hotel, the first call he placed on it was to his wife.

“Dave?” Though Jillian’s voice was choked with emotion, it reached his ears like a welcome caress. “Is it really you? Please tell me it’s you. Gil said you might call on a number I didn’t recognize, and?—”

“It’s me, babe.” He cradled the phone against his shoulder, aching to have her back in his arms. Moving to the window, he peeked out at the parking lot from behind the curtains. Nothing suspicious caught his attention among the slow-moving cars five stories below his window.

“I’ve never been so scared in all my life,” she confessed breathlessly. “The thought of never seeing you again?—”

“You will,” he assured firmly. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.” He wished he could give her a more specific timeframe.

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