Page 40 of The Billionaire's Son

“Possible good news. Have you heard from Agent Ballard today?”

“No. What’s going on?”

“The FBI brought in Darlene’s father for questioning.”

“What? Is he a suspect in Jason’s kidnapping?”

“Definitely.”

“How did that happen?”

“Ballard asked me for a list of people who might have a grudge against you or your family. When I told him about the lawsuit, he jumped on it.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t seem likely to me. The man doesn’t even live in Miami, does he?”

“Well, that’s the thing. They located him in a fleabag motel near the Miami airport.”

“Oh, my God.” Trey stared out the window. Was it possible that any man could kidnap his own grandson and demand ransom money? Even if the grandfather had never met his daughter or her son, the idea sounded too sick.

“What was Darlene’s father’s name again?”

“Jeff Lawson.”

“Does Lawson resemble Kelly’s sketch?”

“Vaguely. But if you try hard enough, a sketch can look like anyone. I suspect they’ll bring her in for a lineup soon.”

“I hope it’s him,” Trey said. “If it is, then this nightmare will be over. At least for her.”

“Ballard told me about the bomb in Officer Jenkins’s vehicle. Lawson spent ten years in the Atlanta federal penitentiary, an ideal place to get an advanced education on pyrotechnics.”

“She could have been killed.”

“But she wasn’t. Read the report. You’ll learn Kelly Jenkins is nothing if not a survivor.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

KELLY ENTERED A SMALL, dark room while Agent Ballard held the door. Trying to suppress her resentment, she stared through the one-way glass, but no one had entered the space on the other side yet.

She’d been yanked off patrol before lunch and instructed via radio by Sergeant McFadden to drive her unit immediately to the FBI headquarters in Broward County, an hour away. The feds had a suspect in Jason’s abduction in custody. They needed her to come in and make the ID.

“This won’t take long,” Ballard said.

She took a deep breath and bit back the words, “I hope not.” She was missing another tour of duty, and she’d had no lunch. An empty belly always made her cranky.

Yeah, of course she was thrilled at least one of the bad guys had been caught. But why did the kidnapping case have to constantly interfere with her job? She could tell Sarge was angry when he gave her the order, although he didn’t go into what was bugging him. He did, however, remind her they still needed to have a conversation, to check with him before she clocked out tonight.

Awesome. Just what she needed today.

Her morning had started off with Jason clinging to her legs and begging her not to leave. Trey had helped calm him down, but the little dude’s sad, tear-streaked face had touched something deep inside her, his misery reaching into a place she thought had shriveled up a long time ago. She’d felt like a low-life dirtbag for making a little kid cry.

Was it normal for kids to get that upset when their mothers went to work? How did real moms manage that kind of drama every day?

And ever since that good-night kiss, she didn’t know how to act around Wentworth. Trey, she reminded herself. Think of him as Trey. Why was using his first name so hard for her? Because she understood the need to keep distance between them.

Being around Trey Wentworth was bad for her mental health.

Ballard pressed a hand to an ear piece, and Kelly heard garbled words.

He nodded at her. “They’re on their way.”

When the door opened, a tingle of excitement shot through her. She really did hope the Bureau had apprehended Adam. She didn’t like looking over her shoulder every second, wondering if she was in someone’s sights.

“Just take your time, Officer Jenkins,” Ballard said.

Remaining silent, she pressed her lips together. Damn right she’d take her time. She wasn’t some unreliable witness off the street. Why couldn’t the FBI remember she was a trained law enforcement officer?

Five men, all graying, all approximately the same height, weight and age entered the lineup room. She perceived immediately that neither Caleb nor Adam was among this group, that all these men were at least twenty years older than Jason’s abductors. She carefully scrutinized the face of each subject anyway just to be certain.

---