When the Heart Lies Read online

  Veda moved around the kitchen in a hurry. In no time, there was coffee along with biscuits and jelly for the three of them. All remained untouched. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand that held a colorful dishtowel and dropped like a rock into the chair across from him.

  Jackson waited. When her breathing settled, he spoke. “Veda, you seem to know that I’m here about Kinsley. Why?”

  She leaned in over the table and spoke at a brisk and anxious pace. “I’ve been worried about her for months. Nothing ever seemed right with him and her.” She stopped abruptly and bit her lip. Picking at it, she glanced at Scott.

  He looked from one to the other. “Please, anything you know will be helpful. She said the two of you were friends, and she trusted you. She’s not in any trouble. I just want to be sure she and her son are safe.”

  Veda’s mouth opened, and her forehead wrinkled. “Well, Max is safe. He’s here with me. He’s in Colt’s room playing. Wayde brought him down early this morning. I happened to be comin’ in from the barn. He said she was going back to Lakeside. Seemed a little odd actin’ to me, but he’s always a little strange.”

  He motioned for her to wait a minute, took out his phone, and called Olivia. “Olivia, I don’t have time to talk. Can you get Lakeside on the phone? Find out if they’ve received any word on Kinsley coming in today. I’m going up to the house in a few minutes.”

  “Jackson you need a reason to—”

  He cut her short. “I’m at the neighbor’s. Wayde dumped Max here.” He hung up and turned back to Veda. “What do you mean by odd acting? More than usual?”

  “Yeah, like he was in a hurry to get back to her. I ain’t talked to her since the day she got home the last time. That was near the end o’ summer.” She started to bite at her nails. “I should’ve called someone. He always made excuses why she couldn’t talk to me. Only time I ever saw her was in the truck with him when they dropped Max off, but …” She glanced over at Scott.

  With a frown, Scott pulled at his neck again. “It’s my fault she never said anything. I told her to mind her own business.”

  “Don’t worry about that. Just talk to me now. Is Max safe with you until someone comes for him?”

  Veda nodded, but she looked like she was seeing a ghost and nodding from fear.

  “I only want you to release him to someone from Le Grand PD. Okay?”

  “Are we in any danger here?” Scott asked.

  “I’m relatively sure you’re not, but I’m going to send someone over to watch the house before I leave the area just to put everyone’s mind at ease. I might need to talk to you again. Here’s my cell number, in case you think of anything you forgot to mention. Doesn’t matter how insignificant something may seem, call me.” His cell rang back. “Olivia? Wha’d you find?”

  “The staff at Lakeside has no information about her coming in.”

  He ran his hand up his chest, cleared his throat roughly, and searched his jeans pockets for his roll of futile relief. All empty. “I’m going up to the house. Send some back-up. I need someone at the neighbor’s, too. Get Xavier on the phone, and fill him in right away.” He snapped his phone closed and sat despondent for a moment before he addressed Scott and Veda. “Okay folks, thanks for your help. I need to run. I’ll have someone update you as soon as I can, ma’am.” He nodded, stood, and headed toward the door.

  Veda’s mouth formed a smile, but her face grimaced. She stood cross-armed and head tilted next to her husband as she watched Jackson get into his truck and whispered under her breath as he pulled away.

  “Damn. So that was Jackson.”

  “What?” Scott asked.

  “Nothing.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Nick ran into the emergency room. He spotted Xavier standing at the nurse’s station and went to him. Out of breath and frantic, he held the counter with both hands, gasping for air as he spoke. “Dad, is she…?”

  “She’s alive. They’re with her now.”

  Nick blew out a gust of air so strong the action made his cheeks puff.

  Xavier appeared grim. “She had a stroke.” He placed his hand on his forehead with his eyes to the ceiling. “I don’t know what happened. She was talking to Carolyn.” He clasped Nick’s shoulder. “She didn’t look good, Nick. I’m not sure …”

  “Dad, don’t think that way. Sit down. I’ll find out if I can get any new information.”

  Xavier sat hunched over on the hard wooden bench as Nick headed off. His cell rang and rang. When the nurse glanced up from the desk and tilted her head with wide eyes, he finally answered. It was Olivia. “Olivia, this is a bad time. I’ll call you back.”

  Before he hung up, she interrupted. “Wait. It’s about Kinsley and Max.” Silence.

  He stood, turned his ashen face from Nick’s view, and spoke into the phone. “At eight-thirty a.m. on a Sunday morning, this must be serious.”

  Olivia spoke up right away. “It is. This morning, Jackson went to talk to Kinsley’s friend, Veda. Max was at her house. Wayde brought him down this morning, telling them he was taking Kinsley back to Lakeside, but there’s no pending admission. Max is safe with Veda until he’s able to get back to New York. We put an officer at the house.”

  “And Kinsley?”

  Nick came up behind Xavier just in time to hear her name.

  “What about Kinsley?” When he got no response, his brows furrowed tight, and he questioned him again. “Dad, what about her?”

  Xavier held his finger up and went back to his call. “Go ahead, Olivia.”

  “We don’t know anything yet. Jackson is still on his way to Wayde’s house. He wanted you informed right away. I thought you might want to arrange for Max to get home as soon as you can.”

  “Call me when you get any new information.” Xavier was quiet again.

  Nick was waiting in anticipation for an answer, which would be difficult even in the best of situations.

  Olivia spoke before he could hang up. “Xavier, are you okay? You don’t sound right.”

  He sighed, but it was broken. “It’s Angela. She’s had a stroke. I need to go.” He hung up before she could speak and turned to Nick. He didn’t officially know anything about Kinsley yet and only told him about Max. “Max is ready to come home. I’m going to have Jonathan fly down and pick him up, so we can be here for your mother.”

  “You handled that fast. I’m glad you agreed he should be home. What about Kinsley?”

  “No information. Your mother? Has she woken up yet?”

  Nick slipped his hands into his pockets, glanced away and back again. “No. The nurse said she woke briefly and was agitated, so they had to sedate her. They’d like to keep her quiet. She gets too distressed when she awakens. The nurse also said the behavior is a common reaction with stroke patients. If she’s stable enough tomorrow, they’ll move her from Intensive Care. There’s not much we can do here tonight.”

  They sat and leaned back in unison, slumping against the cement wall for support. Xavier called Jonathan. He gave him Olivia’s number and asked him to make arrangements to pick up Max as soon as possible. As he ended the call, he noticed Angela’s doctor walking in their direction and stood.

  “Mr. Wentworth? I’m Dr. Sheehy.” The doctor stuck his hand out, and Xavier shook it. Sheehy then extended his hand to Nick. “Are you a relative?”

  Nick nodded.

  Xavier turned to Nick and placed his hand on his shoulder. “This is my son, Nick. You can talk in front of him.”

  “She’s stabilized, and she’s lucky to be alive.” The doctor focused on what he was saying, moving his head back and forth, accentuating the depth of his statements. “The stroke caused severe damage. There’ll be a long rehabilitation. At the moment, there’s no telling how much of a recovery she’ll have, if any. She’s unable to speak or move her right side. Try to keep things positive. She’ll be able to hear whatever you say when you do visit with her. Right now, she’s still sedated. You might want to take advantage of that
time, and come back to see her tomorrow.” The doctor shook their hands again and left.

  Xavier watched after him. When the doctor was out of sight, he sighed, and turned to Nick. “Nick, are you going to be okay? I can drive you home.”

  Nick buried his face in his hands.

  “You can come back to the house if you like. Stay with me. I’ll make sure things are taken care of with Max.”

  Nick looked up, dragging his face from his hands. “What? Oh. No, I’m fine. You go. I’m just going to sit here a few minutes.” His eyes wandered a bit and then came back to Xavier. “Go. Really, I’ll be fine.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Jackson parked at a distance from Wayde’s house and walked through the grove. Everything still appeared quiet. As he neared the back porch, he bent down examining the matted grass. A car had parked there recently. Before he got too close to the house, he called Percy. “Yeah, it’s Jackson, what’s been going on this morning?”

  “Looks like they headed out. The two guys anyway. That’s what they were talking about. One of the feeds musta malfunctioned. Stopped getting anything on that one ‘bout two hours ago. Not like we could go in and check it while they were home, so I figured I’d watch and let you decide what to do when you got here. They pulled out from the back about an hour ago. Been silent inside ever since. Appears the women are still sleepin’.”

  “Pull around, over by my truck. I’ll talk to you when you get here. I’m waiting on back- up. We’re going in. Make it quick. Did you notice the guy bringing the kid down to the neighbor’s?”

  “No, I musta been …”

  Jackson cut the call and figuratively threw his phone through the air. He squatted low to the ground and waited. He took a deep breath and exhaled fully. In situations like this, his rage built at a brisk pace. Percy pulled up next to his truck and began walking toward Jackson.

  He finally reached Jackson just as an unmarked police vehicle pulled into the driveway. He extended his hand. “You must be Jackson.”

  “Ya, I’m Jackson. Great police work.” Frustrated, he blinked and opened his eyes wide with a raised brow. “What kind of vehicle did they leave in?”

  “Black one.”

  The only vehicle Jackson had ever seen Wayde in was the white Chevy pick-up. After waiting for more info, he threw his hands out to his sides and craned his neck forward, waiting for a response.

  Percy gawked at him. “What? You don’t got to be so nasty.”

  He had about a feather’s worth of patience left. “Make? Model?”

  Percy gazed at him with a blank stare. “I was told to watch the house and listen for trouble. Nothing about minding every car in and out.”

  Jackson turned from him, pulling his hands though his hair the way he always did right before he popped, but it was too late. He spun back as fast as he’d turned away and nailed Percy with a right hook. Percy stumbled backward and hit the ground, nearly knocking over the cop who walked up behind him.

  While rubbing his jaw with one hand, he pointed and wagged with the other. “I’m pressin’ charges. That there’s assault, Mister.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that.” Jackson turned his attention to the two cops who joined them and extended his hand.

  They shook hands and exchanged names.

  “How much do you know about the situation?” He asked Ben, who’d introduced himself as the supervising officer.

  “Just that you want to enter the house and needed some back-up in case there was resistance,” Ben replied.

  “Basically, that’s it. The two men who were here left in a black vehicle. I have a GPS tracker in this truck over here. That was the only vehicle they’d ever used. A lot of good that does us. I’ve been watching a woman and her son; they’ve been staying here almost six months. A concerned family member hired me. We have audio inside, but it hasn’t given us much information other than the man she’s with is an asshole. However, this morning things took a turn. The guy brought her son down to the neighbors, saying he was taking her to Lakeside. Lakeside has no pending admission for her; it’s not the kind of place you just walk into.”

  “You think they have firearms in there?” Ben asked, motioning toward the house.

  “In this area? Probably. I’m hoping Kinsley, the woman I’m trying to locate, is in there asleep along with the other woman who lives with them. If not, I don’t think she went anywhere voluntarily. She wouldn’t leave her kid, and thanks to the numb-nut over there …,” he nodded toward Percy, “we don’t have much to go on.”

  Ben tipped his head in the direction of the house and put his hand out for Jackson to take the lead. “You know the routine.”

  He knew the routine, but he didn’t know if he was prepared for what he might find.

  Chapter 15

  The trunk was stifling. The only light, a glow of red filtering in though the taillights. Kinsley’s lungs were soaked from an hour’s inhalation of gasoline and exhaust fumes. And immune now. Her legs and arms were cramping, and the ropes dug painfully into her skin. Something hard poked into her back, and when the car stopped it dug into her kidney. Her bladder was full, and if it happened again, she’d be lucky if she didn’t pee herself. Between that, the grumbling of the motor, and the grueling pain amplified with each jar in the road, she could almost imagine Hell.

  A head banger’s ball raged in her skull, and the in and out tides of consciousness rendered it impossible to gauge time. As she fell in and out of a drunken-like stupor, she had the most terrifying nightmare and struggled to open her eyes, but once she did, she wasn’t safe in her own bed—the nightmare was real.

  After being conscious for what seemed like a short while, the car turned and slowed to a stop. The engine cut off along with the radio. Two doors slammed briskly, one after another. There were muffled voices and laughter. Fear made her tremble from beneath her skin as if the fear itself was trying to escape. The doors opened again, and she heard the ruffling of objects in the backseat. When they closed, she welcomed the tranquil silence. It seemed they’d parked in an isolated area, but she was afraid to kick or expose her presence in any way. If Max were in fact alive, she’d rather die than have him hurt. She tried to believe him being hurt or worse wasn’t a possibility, but after three months of threats, and now this, she couldn’t be sure.

  The pounding in her head had lessened to an unsympathetic ache. Despite her anxiety, her exhausted mind and body surrendered, and she fell unconscious.

  The rattling of keys and the screech of the trunk opening woke her. The sunlight burned her eyes like a laser. It must be mid-afternoon. She pinched one eye and saw Wayde—a black silhouette against the purity of the sun.

  He reached down, cut her wrists free, and wrenched her feet upward by the rope that bound them. The knife sliced the rope with one quick hack, and her legs dropped with a thud.

  “Get out.”

  Her bones creaked like rusty hinges that hadn’t been opened in ages, but she no longer ached. The long drive had rendered her body numb. She grasped the rim of the trunk and tried to pull herself up, but her arms gave way, and she fell back.

  “Jeez-us.” He bent down and lifted her from under her arms, bringing her to her feet. Her knees buckled. His shoulder gutted her, and he heaved her over it.

  Her head dangled from her neck like a bowling ball, and the dizziness made her woozy. Once they got inside the cabin, he dropped her on an old musty couch. The ratty thing felt as good as the most luxurious piece of furniture she’d ever had the pleasure to sit on. She pointed to her mouth and glanced at him for approval.

  “Take it off.”

  She pulled slowly at the tape, wincing with each movement. He shook his head and grunted as he reached down and yanked the sticky gag roughly, tearing it from her lips. After pulling the sock from her mouth, she attempted to talk, but with the dryness and the stray cotton, talking seemed more akin to hacking and choking. “Wa,” her voice croaked. “Wat.” She grasped her throat and hacked some more.


  Wayde handed her a bottle of water. Before the bottle reached her mouth, she was gulping fast enough to gasp for air at the same time.

  “Don’t drink so fast. You’ll puke.”

  When she didn’t stop, he snatched the bottle from her hand. The water caught midway between the bottle and her mouth, she quickly mopped up as she swiped her lips over the shoulder of her T-shirt with a gasp. “I have to use the bathroom.”

  “Over there.”

  She stood and scanned the room. The condition of the cabin confirmed it had gone unused for some time. The boarded windows and the furniture had at least a year’s worth of dust. The structure consisted of one large room, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. A small kitchen area contained a table, sink, propane stove, and Coleman ice chest. Her bag sat beside the front door. “Can I get my bag? I’ve got my period.”

  He drew hard on his cigarette and curled his lip with distaste. “Just what you need, and leave the rest. The bathroom door’s on the right. Remy is in the other bedroom sleepin’.”

  She stubbornly refused to let herself think Max was anything but safe, and she kept her emotions and wits about her. She had to if she was going to have a chance to get away and find him. “Is a shower out of the question?” It was worth a try.

  “This ain’t the Ritz.” He turned from her, grumbling to himself.

  She grabbed the tampons, a can of deodorant, her toothbrush, toothpaste, and a small bottle of liquid soap.

  “Lemme see what you got.” He peeked at the supplies and grunted. “Okay, make it quick.”

  After she closed the door, she opened the tampon box and searched frantically for the pills she’d hidden. Once found, she held them in a death grip against her lips. To conceal them, she tucked the bottle into the waist of her jean shorts and bunched her T-shirt at the bottom, so they wouldn’t protrude too much. After nearly drowning herself in cold water and soap, she wet her hair completely, gathered it into a ponytail, and secured it using the elastic band she had on her wrist. She needed to drink more, but wasn’t sure the tap water was safe. When she came from the bathroom, Wayde was in the kitchen area. Again, she took in her surroundings, trying to remember everything, so she could plan her escape.