Crandall tried it. ‘No, nothing.’
Faith sat down hard in a chair, frustrated. ‘We know he had this new house as of ten years ago, because he took Jade there early on and beat her after she tried to pump Gran for information on the Mount Carmel house. The earliest instances of fake scholarship applicants were fifteen years ago. That’s when Henson Junior’s wife started to skim. If Jordan was skimming too, he would have had a bump in income. He could have bought the house then.’
‘That narrows it down,’ Crandall said. ‘Fifty home sales in the area between the creek and the old schoolhouse.’ He moved back to let them see his computer screen.
‘Phillip Smith,’ Bishop murmured as she read. ‘Alan Robinson, Theodore Davidson, Edward Saugh, David Florentino, Victor Shafer, Nathaniel Molyneaux, Shannon Bodine . . . any of these names ringing a bell?’
‘Oh my God,’ Faith said. ‘I think my Catholic school education just paid off. There. Edward Saugh. E. Saugh.’
‘Esau,’ Crandall said, rolling his eyes. ‘Esau in the Bible had his birthright stolen.’ He clicked on the name and the address popped up. ‘There you go, Lieutenant.’
‘Bishop, you go ahead,’ Isenberg said. ‘I’ll direct the SWAT team up there and then I’ll call Novak. He can meet us there. Faith—’
‘I know. Stay here. Stay safe. I got it. Go, go!’
Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday 6 November, 4.15 P.M.
Deacon pulled into the parking lot in front of Dani’s apartment, too many pictures in his mind. Noel Lazar’s head in a bag. Arianna covered in slices and bruises. Jars filled with eyes. And the bodies. All the bodies.
He jumped out of the car, breathing too fast, he knew. But there wasn’t a way to slow down. That monster had his family. Please. Please don’t let him hurt them.
Adam was waiting for him at the front door. ‘CSU is up there. So is Dad. He’s kicking himself for not taking your protective detail.’
‘I’m kicking myself for not calling Dani to hear her voice. Jordan must have used her phone to text me after he took her.’
‘Jordan?’ Adam frowned. ‘I thought we were looking at Jeremy.’
Deacon’s mind blanked for a moment, overwhelmed with everything that had happened. But before he could say a word, his cell phone buzzed, Isenberg on the caller ID.
‘We have a location for Jordan’s house.’
Deacon’s chest compressed, leaving him breathless. ‘Where?’
‘I just texted the address to your phone. I sent Bishop and the SWAT team that was with you earlier up ahead. I’m going there now. Hurry, Deacon.’
‘On my way,’ Deacon said, getting back in his car.
‘I’m coming with you,’ Adam said. ‘Please. They’re my family, too.’
Deacon gave him a nod. ‘Get in and clear it with Isenberg on the way. Let’s go.’
Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday 6 November, 4.45 P.M.
Faith looked at her phone for the fiftieth time in as many minutes. Everyone had blasted out of the police station, headed up to Jordan’s house on the property that had once belonged to Gran. Deacon was racing to meet them up there.
She’d done what she could. Now there was nothing to do but wait. And watch her phone.
Which began to ring. Faith had to smile. It was the theme from X-Men. Deacon had downloaded it before giving her phone back. Caller ID was Jeremy. ‘Hello?’
‘Faith, it’s Uncle Jeremy. I was hoping we could continue our negotiation from earlier.’
Negotiations? An alarm bell started to ring in her mind. ‘Of course. What, when and where did you have in mind?’
‘Now would be good. I want to settle on a price. I’ve got to go out of town tomorrow afternoon, and would like to get this taken care of between now and then. Can we meet in the hospital cafeteria? I don’t want to go too far from Marcus’s side.’
What the hell? This was not Jeremy speaking of his own volition. He was talking nonsense and he knew the police wanted her to stay at the station for her own safety.
Someone must be forcing him to try to draw her out. Jordan. ‘That’s fine. I’ll meet you there. I’ll have to hail a cab and we’re heading into rush hour, so it might take me a while. Be patient. I’ll be there.’
She hung up, her heart pounding. She needed to call Deacon and Bishop, but they were focused on Jordan’s house right now. But if Jordan was trying to lure her out, he would be close to the police station or the hospital. Either way she’d promised Deacon she wouldn’t leave.
Jeremy had said he was going to Della’s. She didn’t have that number, but she knew who would. She dialed the hospital. ‘Hello, can I have Stone O’Bannion’s room?’ Stone was not in ICU. More botherable than his brother Marcus.
‘Yes?’ a husky voice snapped.
‘Stone, this is Faith. Your cousin. Is Jeremy there?’
‘No, why?’
God, I hope I’m doing the right thing. ‘Because he just called me. He asked me to meet him at the hospital to discuss buying Gran’s house. He acted like it was a continued conversation, but we never discussed any such thing.’
‘Because he doesn’t want your damn house.’
‘I know. That’s why I’m looking for him. I’m afraid someone was with him, making him say those things. I think it was Jordan, and if it was, Jeremy’s in trouble.’
‘The guy in the ski mask,’ Stone murmured. ‘He was Jeremy’s size. I’ll call you back.’ He hung up, and Faith tapped her foot impatiently until her phone rang again. ‘He’s not with Audrey and Mom or with Marcus. Call the police, then keep me informed,’ he said as autocratically as if she’d been his servant.
‘Of course,’ she said, determined not to be offended. ‘Stand by.’
She hung up and had started to dial Deacon when Jeremy’s number came through again. Steeling her spine, she picked up. ‘Hello,’ she half sang, as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
‘Where are you, Faith?’ It was the same voice as before, or sounded like it. Except now the tone was menacing. ‘You haven’t come to meet me.’
It could be Jeremy. Or it could be Jordan using Jeremy’s phone, pretending to be Jeremy.
‘I told you it would take me a while. Really, Jeremy, if you’re going to be like this, maybe I won’t sell you my house at all.’
‘Where are you, Faith?’
‘On my way. I told you I’d have to catch a cab.’
A dark chuckle. ‘Don’t play games with me. You’re stalling me so that you can tell your boyfriend that I’ve called. Here’s a new invitation: get your ass out here in five minutes or I start shooting your new friends.’
A text came through and she fought the dread, forcing herself to look. What she saw was a photo of Dani, a gun to her head, her expression grim and determined. ‘No,’ she cried, the word slipping out before she could control it. ‘No,’ she said more firmly. ‘Of course I don’t want that. But what about the others? Greg and the child, Roza. How do I know they’re alive?’
‘You try my patience.’
‘You insult my intelligence,’ she fired back. ‘I want proof you haven’t killed them all before I climb up on the sacrificial altar.’
‘Very well. You now have three minutes, fifteen seconds.’ He hung up and immediately called back using FaceTime. Live video streaming. But it wasn’t his own face. It was Greg’s terrified one that filled her phone’s screen, the noise of the street the accompanying sound.
He knows I haven’t come out. He must be right outside.
‘Okay, okay,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m coming. Don’t hurt him.’
‘Come out of the building, then wait for my instructions. I’ll text this number.’
The phone call ended, leaving Faith trembling. Get a grip. Get a plan. Call Deacon. She opened the texted photo again. And leaned in closer. Above Dani’s head was the portrait of Joy, the face slashed, just like Jade had said. He has them at his house on Gran’s family’s old property. Or at least he did.
She dial
ed Deacon and he picked up before the first ring was completed. ‘Faith?’
She shuddered out a breath. ‘He’s here, Deacon. Outside the police station. He said if I don’t come out in three minutes, he’ll start shooting.’
‘No! You do not leave the station. He will kill you.’
‘He may have Jeremy, but I know he’s got Greg with him. I think Dani is at his house.’
‘Fuck. You do not leave the station. There are cops all around you. Tell one of them.’
‘Can you get a sniper in position in under three minutes? Because if you can’t, he is going to kill an innocent boy. He has a gun to Greg’s head. Now listen to me. I’m not stupid, nor do I have a death wish, but I cannot allow anyone else to die in my place. Especially not someone you love. So this is what I’m going to do.’
Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday 6 November, 5.05 P.M.
‘Hurry, hurry.’ Faith glanced up at the elevator panel, her fingers fumbling with the settings on her iPhone. Forward, forward, where is it? Oh, okay. She forwarded all calls to the pre-paid cell with the broken screen and stepped off the elevator. Using her iPhone, she dialed Deacon’s number, and waited until he picked up before turning on the speaker and sliding the phone into her pocket.
‘Faith, do not do this!’ Deacon snapped, his voice coming from the phone in her pocket.
‘No more talking,’ she said without moving her lips. ‘I’m going outside now.’
She looked up and down the street and saw the white van. Greg stood in front of the slightly open middle door, his expression grim. He took a little stumbling step, like he was pushed, then climbed into the passenger seat.
She wished she had her gun. She’d brought it with her that morning, but had left it locked in the trunk of Deacon’s car since she couldn’t bring it in the PD building.
Her pre-paid cell phone dinged and she checked the text that had been forwarded from her iPhone number. Barely visible through the cracked screen, it said: Get behind the wheel.
Faith obeyed. Once she was in the car, she saw that Jordan was sitting directly behind the center console, his gun trained on Greg. At first glance he could have passed for Jeremy, with his mustache, crisp tailored shirt and tie, but Faith had seen Jeremy up close just hours before. Jeremy’s face was gaunt, his eyes had bags beneath them. The man who sat behind her was a little pale, but otherwise seemed healthy.
He’s got Jeremy, or at least his phone. Faith knew better than to hope for the second.
‘See, we can all get along if you obey,’ Jordan said. ‘Toss your cell phone.’
‘But—’ Faith cut off the protest she’d made just for appearance’s sake and dropped the broken pre-paid phone to the pavement.
‘Put your hands on the wheel and drive.’
Faith obeyed. ‘Where am I going?’
‘Always a bossy bitch. Just go straight.’
She tried to remember to breathe as she moved into traffic. ‘Pretty bold, Jeremy. You pulled a kidnapping in front of hundreds of people and nobody’s the wiser.’
‘I did, didn’t I?’
‘Can I ask you a question?’
‘No. Just shut up and drive.’
‘You’re going to kill me, so it costs you nothing. Did you kill my mother?’
‘Obviously you think I did, or you wouldn’t have asked.’
She smacked the steering wheel, furious. ‘Answer my question.’
‘Yes, I did. I had to. She saw something she shouldn’t have seen.’
‘You murdering Melinda Hooper,’ she said, naming the victim he’d abducted that day.
He huffed a mirthless laugh. ‘Melinda Hooper. You’ve been busy.’
‘She was a Foundation recipient.’
‘Yes, she was. You always were too smart. I should’ve killed you that day too, but that would have been harder to explain.’
‘Why didn’t you kill me when I lived with you? Why draw it out like this?’
‘I figured it would be easier and more fun to bring you into my web of sin.’ He said it mockingly. ‘If you were ever tempted—’ He stopped abruptly, then yanked her hair, making her cry out and jerk the wheel so hard they went into the next lane.
Faith righted the van’s path. ‘Trying to cause another car accident, Jeremy?’
His grip on her hair tightened until her eyes watered. ‘Cut the shit. You knew I wasn’t Jeremy. How?’
‘He never uses his right hand, and at the moment, your right hand is clutching a gun. Plus he’s been grieving for his son, so his face is a little less pretty than yours at the moment.’
‘Who else knows?’
‘I don’t know. Why didn’t you kill me when I lived with you?’
‘Because once you’d jumped in the fast party lane, nobody would have believed you even if you had broken our little secret pact. Especially my sainted mother.’
‘Did you kill Gran?’
‘No. Killing my mother would have been stupid. She was my gravy train.’
Something in his voice gave her pause. ‘Your father? You killed him?’
‘He had it coming.’
‘How?’
‘Drive, Faith.’
She held on to the wheel and prayed that Deacon was still behind her somewhere. A movement in her rear view had her flicking her eyes up to the mirror and her heart sank. Dani and Roza were back there. God, this is a mess. Please help me. Please help Deacon if I fail. He’ll have no one left.
I’m so glad I told my dad that I loved him today.
Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday 6 November, 5.20 P.M.
‘Left at the corner,’ Adam said, his grip on Deacon’s phone iron-tight.
Deacon was grateful Adam had come. His cousin had taken over tracking Faith’s phone, leaving Deacon free to drive. And to worry, because he could hear every word between Jordan and Faith. He had muted his end so Jordan wouldn’t know that Faith still had an open phone connection.
They could track her even if the connection was broken, but this way they could hear everything Jordan said.
Jordan knew that Faith knew the truth. Somewhere he was still holding Dani and Roza. Jeremy was missing too, having not arrived at his ex-wife’s house where he’d been expected.
They’d driven out of the city and were heading east on Kellogg Avenue, along the river. They were going toward the O’Bannion mansion in Mount Carmel. Or Jordan might plan to shoot all of his captives and throw them in the river.
Deacon’s gut turned to water and his blood to ice. Don’t think like that. Stay focused.
Faith’s voice came through the phone’s speaker again. ‘How did you kill your father?’ she asked Jordan.
‘He was on heart medication,’ Jordan replied. ‘I just forced him to take a few extra doses.’
‘Because he’d fired you from the Foundation for stealing.’
‘You seem to know a lot, kiddo,’ Jordan said mockingly.
‘How did you learn to stitch like a surgeon?’
‘Practice, practice, practice,’ Jordan drawled. ‘My guests accommodated me by allowing me to use their skin. It’s not so hard.’
‘And the embalming?’
‘Bought a machine, bought a book. Turn left up ahead, Faith.’
‘What are you going do with me?’ she asked.
‘You know the answer to that.’
Oh God, Deacon thought. ‘Where’s our backup?’ he asked Adam.
‘We have two unmarked cars behind us. The left turn Faith took puts them on Wilmer. He’s headed to Lunken Airport. I have three units a half-mile away from the airport.’
The turnoff Faith had taken was now in sight and Deacon increased his speed. ‘How did you know he’d go there?’
‘I didn’t. Isenberg and I put together a plan while you’ve been driving. We have backup stationed all over town, just in case.’
Faith’s voice rose from the speakers once again. ‘It was you in my apartment in Miami, wasn’t it?’
Jordan made an impatient noise. ‘Yo
u know it was.’
‘How did you make yourself look like Combs?’
‘Not too difficult. I wore a padded coat. Old theater prop.’
‘Which was why they never found the bullet or your blood. The padding of your sleeves caught it all, so you left no DNA behind. Clever.’
‘So happy you approve,’ he said sarcastically.
‘What will you do to the others?’ she asked.
‘They’ve served their purpose,’ Jordan said.
‘Even Roza?’
‘I’ll keep her,’ Jordan answered. ‘Her aunt’s gotten a bit long in the tooth. Roza will be a good housekeeper.’
‘At least he doesn’t know we’ve got Jade,’ Deacon said. ‘He must not have been back to his townhouse or the studio all day.’
‘He’s been busy kidnapping people,’ Adam grunted.
‘Novak won’t let you go,’ Faith said. ‘You kill his brother and sister and he will hunt you down to the ends of the earth.’
‘He has Dani with him too,’ Deacon said. ‘Tell Bishop.’
‘Not worried, kiddo,’ Jordan was saying. ‘He’ll be chasing the wrong brother. Even if he suspects, he’ll have nothing on me and everything on Jeremy. Including your body in the trunk of Jeremy’s Bentley.’
‘Okay,’ Adam said. ‘They’re slowing down. Turning right . . . into the playfields. Smart. Sun’s going down. No night games scheduled. It’ll be deserted. Okay, it’s that white van. The one that’s stopping next to the parked Bentley. Must be Jeremy’s.’
‘It is,’ Deacon said, slowing down so he didn’t give away their position. ‘I saw it when we interviewed him at his estate.’
‘New text from Bishop,’ Adam said. ‘They have Jeremy and Keith. Jordan shot out Keith’s knees so he couldn’t fight him.’
‘Where’s the SWAT team?’
‘On their way to us. Isenberg too. We’ve got squad car backup minutes away.’
Deacon killed his headlights and prayed that Jordan wouldn’t notice them until it was too late.
‘I know these playfields,’ Adam said. ‘Keep going another hundred feet. There’s a shaded lot, plenty of trees. We leave the car and double back through the woods. It’ll take us another thirty seconds, but it could save their lives.’