Devil May Care: Boxed Set (13 page)

“Excuse me, I have to take this,” Fiona said, and walked outside onto the porch where she’d have privacy. “Hello?”

“Fiona Mackintosh?”

She didn’t recognize the voice, but it certainly didn’t sound like a friendly sales call. Her heart raced as she listened.

“Yes?” she said.

“If you’d like to see your daughter alive, come to the farm at 494 Greenville Road in exactly three hours.”

“494 Greenville Road,” she repeated.

“And I’m sure it goes without saying, do
not
get the police involved. Unless, of course, you want to be rid of this kid. I’m sure they can be a pain in the ass and all. I’d understand.”

“No, I won’t.” Her voice shook and she hoped the officer inside the house right now couldn’t hear. And that the guy on the phone had no idea the cop was there.

“Oh, and that little pussy boyfriend of yours? Jasper? If you were smart, you wouldn’t bring him either. See you soon, doll.” The man laughed and hung up.

Fiona stood on the porch and gripped her phone so tight it dug into her hand, shaking. Okay, well, at least she knew that this was about Jasper and it wasn’t Sam who’d taken Sophia. But she felt no relief at that. Had she expected to?

Suddenly, the fact that Jasper wasn’t answering worried her far more than it had before. What if they had him? And what if they had his phone? They’d just told her not to call him. They’d know if she did. She couldn’t even try calling him again. But why say not to bring him if they had him? Unless they were testing her. If that was the case, she had to get away from this cop as soon as possible. She couldn’t risk being seen near him.

She ducked back inside the house like she just needed to get something from her purse. She held the phone to her ear and when she was near Jeanine said, “One sec, Sue, let me find my notebook and I can tell you.”

She walked back out to the porch with her purse and then put her phone in her pocket and dashed to the front of the house where her car was. She hopped in and quickly drove off.

But she had so much time to kill. She wanted to drive right to this farmhouse right now. But she wanted more not to mess up and endanger Sophia. She’d already caused her too much pain by not being there when she was taken. By getting mixed up with this guy in the first place. She was the worst mother in the world. Picked a horrible man to be her father, and now another man that brought them trouble. Maybe she deserved to have her daughter taken for all the better care she’d given her. How could she be so stupid?

She turned into her apartment’s building. Where else could she possibly go right now? She paced for a while, then thought, what if they needed to make a getaway for some reason? She packed bags for her and Sophia and filled the car with her stuffed animals so that when she got Sophia back, she’d have all her favorite things. She had to believe she’d get her back. There was no other option than to keep believing that. And she had no other option right now but to sit and wait.

Jasper sat on the edge of the ambulance, sipping water. He’d told the guy a thousand times he was fine, and he didn’t need to go to the hospital. But they were taking Daniel.

“I’ll ride over with you,” he said to Aaron.

All Jasper had was his bike, and he didn’t feel up to riding that right now. Maybe his car was okay. It’d been in the garage, but he couldn’t get to anything inside until after the police cleared the place. Guess it was a good thing any papers or drugs were burned up. Having the cops poke around wasn’t something he ever wanted to have happen.

He was trying not to think of everything that was gone. His computer, TV, other electronics. His clothes, photos, furniture. And the money. He had so much money hidden in that house. Thousands and thousands of dollars. Of course, it wasn’t all hidden there, but a lot of it was. Good thing he’d taken out a chunk and given it to Fiona. It was far better off in her hands than up in smoke.

Maybe some of his stuff was salvageable. The place hadn’t caved in or collapsed. The cops said once the fire was out for sure, and they’d had time to check the place to find the cause, then he’d be allowed in to look around and see if he could save anything. He didn’t have high hopes. Really, besides the money, everything was replaceable and didn’t matter much. Even his photos all existed in digital form in other places. No big deal. It would be a hassle, sure. But who knew, maybe he’d have Fiona to go shopping with.

Right now, Fiona was his biggest worry. His phone wasn’t charged and he didn’t know her number. He wanted to make sure she was okay and that Leo and his guys hadn’t come after her. He was antsy sitting there, waiting for the medical guy to clear him.

“You have a phone charger in your car?” Jasper asked.

Aaron nodded. “Did your phone survive all that?”

“It was shut off because the battery died before I even went in, so yeah, it should be fine.” But what if it wasn’t? He needed some way to get to her then. If he couldn’t call her, he’d have to go to her house or the gift shop.

“Can you go plug it in now? I have to make sure Fiona is okay and her number is in my phone.”

He took his phone from his pocket. It looked okay. Not cracked or anything. But maybe the heat had messed it up. Only one way to find out.

“Sure thing.” Aaron took the phone and went to his car, not too many feet away.

They’d moved his bike into the driveway for him. He hated the thought of just leaving it there like that, but what choice did he have? Maybe he could get it later tonight. After they figured out what was going on with Daniel. He wasn’t doing well right now.

The EMT finally walked over to Jasper. “Okay, we’re going to take Daniel to the hospital and I really think you should come, too. You’ve had a lot of smoke inhalation.”

“I feel fine.”

“I know that, but you don’t know what damage could be happening internally.”

Jasper started to protest, but Aaron, who’d just returned from his car, spoke up. “We’re going to the hospital anyway. Might as well let them check you over or whatever they’re going to do.”

Jasper sighed. “Fine. Do me a favor, though. Drive by Fiona’s on the way and see if her car is there.”

Aaron nodded. “I’m going right to the hospital after.”

“Don’t forget to bring my phone in. And your charger. I have to talk to her.”

“Yup. See you over there.”

Jasper spun his legs so that he was fully in the ambulance.

“Do I have to lie down?” he asked the EMT.

“No, sitting is fine. But I do want to run an IV and get some fluids in you, okay?”

“Fine.”

He buckled Jasper in and took a seat beside him. After he put in the IV line and had started the drip, he told the ambulance driver to go ahead. They drove off and Jasper looked out the back window at the smoking remains of his house.

Now what would he do? He’d need a new house, or at least a place to stay while his house was being fixed—if it was fixable or worth fixing. It all seemed like such a hassle. He’d put a lot of work into that house. Finished the basement, repainted the rooms, redid the kitchen and bathrooms. It was kind of his project when he didn’t have other things going on. And now he’d either have to spend a lot of time fixing it up again, pay a lot of money to have someone else do it, or hope the insurance money was enough that he could buy a new place and start over.

The thought of starting over was daunting, but his second thought—that maybe he could start over with Fiona—gave him hope and filled his chest with excitement. He had to keep reminding himself that he couldn’t get his hopes up. He hadn’t talked to her. He had no idea what she was thinking or if she’d ever even talk to him again. But the dream built up in his head. Picking out paint colors with her for their bedroom, letting her choose the curtains, making Sophia’s room all pretty, like a little girl’s room should be. He’d let Fiona design the kitchen and bathrooms and whatever else she wanted to do in the place, and he’d make it happen. Didn’t she know he could make her dreams come true and give her an amazing life? She just had to let him.

He really needed to get to his phone and call her. Nothing would feel right until he did. Too many horrible possibilities ran through his mind. What if they set her apartment building on fire, too? Or took her or beat her like they had him? Or something even worse. The anger rose in his chest just at the thought that someone could hurt her in any way. If they actually had touched her, they would pay. His burned hand clenched into a fist. When the pain hit him, he released it immediately and looked down at his bandage.

This hand better heal up fast. What a pain this was to deal with. He couldn’t do much of anything with just one hand. Couldn’t even ride his bike right. How would he grip the handle bars? And he couldn’t ride with only one hand.

Flashes of the fire and trying to get Daniel out of there kept coming to his mind. He could smell the smoke like it’d burned into his nostrils. It still burned his chest and he couldn’t breathe deeply. If he tried, he’d go into a coughing fit. Maybe the EMT guy was right. But what could they even do for him? Some sort of breathing treatment?

And Daniel. He could barely stand to think of him. He hadn’t woken up yet and they said he was in bad shape. What if he never woke up? How would he look his wife and kids in the eye and tell them he hadn’t gotten Daniel out soon enough? That he’d only been there in the first place because he’d called a meeting. And that the meeting was because of things he’d done and revenge he needed to take. His death would be entirely on him. Any injury he faced would be, too.

And he would pay for his damages where Daniel was concerned, too. He’d cover any doctor bills, any inconveniences. Whatever he could do to make up for it. Daniel just had to live. And until he was well enough to go home, he’d help out his wife and kids however he could.

The ambulance turned into the hospital and when it stopped, the EMT opened the doors and hopped down. He took out the IV bag, then Jasper hopped down, too, and followed the EMT into the hospital. He was taken to a trauma room and immediately, nurses and doctors starting poking at him. They took his temperature, his blood pressure, drew blood, made him breathe into a tube device. It all seemed to take forever, and he had no idea where Aaron was.

They hooked him up to some kind of breathing machine and told him to breathe in slow and deep. He had to admit, it made his lungs feel better and he was able to breathe better. But he wanted to be out of here. He needed to find Aaron and get his phone. His heart was racing with anxiety. Even the doctors said he was likely in shock. No, not shock, he just needed to check on Fiona. He couldn’t take not knowing. He kept picturing the worst and the horrible things that could be happening to her right now.

Finally, Derrick showed up in the doorway of his room. He pulled back from the breathing machine to talk to him.

“How’s Daniel?”

“Still hasn’t woken up. They’re working on him, though. He’s alive.”

“Keep me updated. Where’s Aaron?”

“Not sure.”

Jasper growled in frustration. “Find him and get my phone. I
have
to call Fiona.”

Derrick nodded. “I’ll try to track him down.” He took out his phone and sent him a text. “Oh, he’s here. I’ll be right back.”

Jasper resumed breathing from the machine and kept an eye on the door. Every time someone walked by, he turned to look, hoping it was Aaron. When he appeared, Jasper held his hand out before he even got over to him. Aaron handed him the phone with wide eyes.

“What?” Jasper asked.

“You have a lot of missed calls and messages from Fiona.”

Jasper looked down and already his stomach was twisting in knots. Eight missed calls, four texts, and three voice mails. He read through the texts quickly. Mostly they just asked him to call her. The voice mails were much the same, until the last one.

She was crying and it was hard to make out what she said. “Jasper, I don’t know why you’re not answering, I hope you’re okay. They have her. They took Sophia. I think. I’m going to Jeanine’s now. I guess it could be Sam, I don’t know, but she’s missing. I don’t know what else to do. I hope you’re okay. Where are you? I’m sorry.”

Her words were scattered throughout with sobs and sniffles. His heart lurched in his chest. The last voice mail had come over two hours ago. That seemed weird. And ominous. There’d been messages or calls every few minutes for two hours, then silence. Couldn’t be a good thing. Unless she’d gotten mad at him and given up. He actually hoped for that at this point.

“Thanks, man,” he said to Aaron, and dialed.

He held his breath, waiting for her to answer.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded scratchy and weak and hesitant all at once.

“Fiona, are you okay?”

“Oh, thank God it’s you. Are you okay?”

The worry in her voice melted his heart. At least she cared about him still. “I’m at the hospital. Leo burned my house down, but I’m okay. Where are you and where’s Sophia?”

“They called and told me to meet them at this farmhouse. I’m heading there now. They said not to call the cops or you. I thought maybe they had your phone and were testing me or something. That’s why I stopped calling. I didn’t want them to hurt you, too, and I couldn’t get a hold of you, and I didn’t know what else to do. They’ve had her for hours and she must be terrified.”

“Okay, okay, hold on. Slow down. Who called you?” He was already fumbling around, trying to get his shoes back on. He held the phone with his injured hand—gingerly because closing it at all hurt—and yanked on his boots with his other hand.

He put the phone down for a second and called toward the door, “Aaron!”

“I don’t know who called. Some guy. I guess one of Leo’s guys? He said…” She broke into sobs again and he couldn’t understand her.

“He said what?”

“If I…wanted to see her…alive…”

The anger that had settled in his stomach earlier burst through his body, lighting every nerve on fire. He was raging now inside. His teeth ached, he clenched them together so hard. How dare they do something like this. It would have been bad enough if they took Fiona, but the child? And that hurt Sophia and Fiona. Maybe hurt Fiona even worse. And that hurt him. He would stand for none of it. Leo and his guys were dead. Maybe he’d even torture Leo first. Just to let him know what it felt like to be hurt so badly.

“Do you think they’d really kill her?” She sniffled through the words.

Yes, absolutely. They were that evil. And stupid. But he’d never tell her that. Why make it worse? “Not a chance. They need her to alive to get to me. Where are you right now?”

She let out a sigh. “Good. I’m almost at the farmhouse.”