In Harm's Way (Heroes of Quantico Series, Book 3) (36 page)

It had to be Gary Feltrop.

Nick walked over and introduced himself. "I understand you
discovered the cell phone'

"Yep. Heard it ringing on my way back from the pasture.
Strangest thing, how that sound come out of nowhere. Glad I
stopped to check it our

"So are we. You didn't see or hear anyone in this area tonight,
did you?"

"Nope. I don't use this pasture much in the winter. But I got a
pump on the back forty that's givin' me fits, and this is a shortcut.
Didn't see a soul, though. Just heard the phone'

"Any idea where that lock might be from?"

The man stepped into the light and examined the rusted piece
of metal at closer range. "No. Lots of people in the area use that
kind. Mostly on sheds and such. They're not real secure, so we
use 'em more to keep pranksters and kids out. This one wouldn't
even do that, though. It's rusted through. Looks like it's been
out in the weather for a good long time"

"Nick:" Mark spoke in his ear. "One of the K-9 units is
here"

Excusing himself, Nick turned toward Mark as the farmer
melted back into the shadows. A county police officer with a
dog was visible in the background. He tipped his head toward
the drop cloth. "Any thoughts?"

Mark inspected the array of items. "My guess is the tools
were used to remove the rusted lock. Clair's team should be
able to confirm that"

"Our farmer friend pointed out that the lock is useless. It's
rusted out. That says abandoned building to me. We could be
looking for the kind of storage shed that he indicated is often
secured with this type of lock. The abductor might have left
Rachel inside and replaced the rusted lock with a new one" He
raked his fingers through his hair and shook his head. "But I
don't get the coat and shoes"

"Maybe our subject didn't have the stomach for outright murder," Mark theorized. "Cold can be as fatal as a bullet. It kills
too. Just not as fast"

"Hey, guys, get a load of this"

At Clair's summons, Nick and Mark joined her. She was holding a Glock, similar to the one they carried. Except ...

Nick leaned closer to examine it. "That's not a real gun:"

"Nope. It's a toy. Pretty authentic looking, though" Clair
hefted it in her hand. "And heavy duty. It almost fooled me."

And it would certainly have fooled someone who didn't have
much experience with guns.

Like Rachel.

Nick closed his eyes as he came to the obvious conclusion.

Rachel had been abducted with a toy gun.

If the situation wasn't so deadly, it would almost be laughable.

But laughing was the farthest thing from his mind. Especially
when the next item retrieved from the well was a tote bag containing Rachel's music. He felt as if someone had kicked him in
the stomach when Clair opened the folder and a single sheet
fluttered to the ground.

It was the opening page for "Our Love Is Here to Stay."

Dear God, could this get any more difficult?

As Nick's BlackBerry began to vibrate, he took a long, slow
breath. Don't lose it. You're notgoing to be able to help Rachel if
you get emotional. Think of the music as a positive message.

He noted that Mark was reaching for his belt too. They angled
away from each other to take their calls.

"Bradley" His greeting came out hoarse.

"Nick, it's Matt. I talked to Debra Kraus's father. He's a piece
of work. I think I can see where her mental problems come
from"

"Did he know where she is?"

"No. And he didn't care. According to him, she's been nothing but trouble since the day she was born. He described her
as lazy, selfish, less-than-bright, unattractive, unsuccessful in
her efforts to attract or keep a husband, and a failure in her
attempts at motherhood. Those are just a few of the things he
said. All he cared about was whether we were offering money
for information"

Disgust left a sour taste in Nick's mouth. "Not exactly fatherof-the-year material:"

"You've got that right. After I listened to his tirade, I did a
little more checking into Debra's background. Found out her mother died when she was nine. She was an only child, and her
father raised her. I dug up a few police reports from back then
indicating he spent an occasional night in jail for disorderly
conduct. The pattern would suggest he was into picking fights.
Our suspect could have been in an abusive situation as a child,
although a cursory check didn't turn that up. Did you have any
luck tracking her down?"

"Not yet, but we're on it. I think ..." He stopped as Mark
gestured to him. "Hang on a second, we may have some news:'
He pressed the mute button.

"The electric company has an account for a Debra Kraus in
Defiance," Mark told him. "I have the address:'

Nick released the button. "We've got an address. I'll be in
touch:"

"Steve is on his way:" Mark slid his BlackBerry back onto his
belt. "He also called in backup. The bad news is, the K-9 unit
lost the scent on the road:"

"I'm not surprised:" Nick assumed the abductor had been in
a car and stopped only long enough to drop the items in the
well. "But I have a feeling we're close. Why would someone drive
around for very long with incriminating evidence in the car?"

"I think we're all on the same page. Steve wants to set up a
TOC at the New Melle police station. He's bringing in the local
chief to brief us on the area, and our people are contacting the
owners of Debra Kraus's rental house to see what they know.
The house is about five miles from here, halfway between Defiance and New Melle."

"What's Steve's ETA?"

`About twenty minutes:'

"Let's head over to the police station:"

As they traversed the uneven ground toward Nick's car, a
frigid gust of wind whipped past. Neither spoke. Out loud,
anyway.

But Nick had a feeling he and Mark were thinking the same
thing: plummeting temperatures were as deadly as a ticking
bomb.

The police chief was waiting when they arrived.

"Joe Richter" He introduced himself and shook hands. "I put
coffee on. Would you like some? Could be a long night:"

Nick's mouth settled into a grim line. Not if he could help it.

"Thanks. That would be good;' Mark responded when Nick
remained silent.

"What can you tell us about the house our suspect is renting?"
Nick asked as the man poured Mark's coffee.

"It's the Schroeder place. Peggy and Harold. Nice folks. Harold
used to bowl on our team. Won some championships in our
day too. They moved into the city a few months back. Harold
has a heart problem and they wanted a hospital nearby. Just in
case. You start to worry about that kind of thing when you get
older, I guess:" He took a sip of his coffee. "They couldn't bring
themselves to sell the place, though. Lived there for fifty years.
Thought they'd try renting it out for a while:"

"About the house, Nick prompted, reining in his impatience.

"Oh yeah, the house. Nice little place. Frame, one story. Been
in there many a time. Sits on about five acres of woods and
fields. House is about three hundred feet back from the road.
Cozy living room, nice kitchen with a big breakfast area. Three
small bedrooms"

"Could you draw us a floor plan and site layout?" Nick
asked.

"I'm not much of an artist, but I can try."

As the man concentrated on his sketch, Steve arrived, followed in short order by several additional agents.

In typical fashion, the reactive squad supervisor got right to
business. "We talked to the couple who owns the house, and they
confirmed that Debra Kraus is the tenant. She did tell them she
had an infant daughter. Harold Schroeder has been out there
once since she moved in to check a leak in the roof. He saw the
child and said she seemed happy and well cared for, but he had
no recollection of what she looked like"

"That would be Harold, Joe interjected. "Never was the most
observant guy."

"Bring me up to speed:" Steve planted his fists on his hips and
aimed his directive at Nick.

As Nick filled him in, recounting what they'd learned about
Debra Kraus, the discovery in the well, and Rebecca's unexplained chills, twin furrows appeared on the squad supervisor's
brow.

"Our first priority needs to be Rachel Sutton. If she's still alive
and out in this cold without a coat, her time is running out. The
temperature is continuing to hover at about fifteen degrees,
but the wind chill is fierce. And according to the forecast, the
temperature's going to dive after midnight. If Ms. Kraus has
the O'Neil baby, and if she abducted Ms. Sutton, we need to
know. Now"

"Do we have a search warrant?" The question came from
Mark.

"No" Steve squinted at him. "Guess you were in the HRT so
long you forgot how the real world works. The search warrant
is in process. But it's not going to happen as fast as we need it
to."

"If we can confirm that Debra Kraus has the O'Neil baby, we
don't need a search warrant, Nick pointed out.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Steve folded his arms
across his chest. "It's ten o'clock on a Sunday night. My guess is
they're both in bed. If Ms. Sutton's life wasn't in imminent danger, we'd sit this out and confront the woman when she leaves the
house with the baby in the morning to go to work. Since that's
not an option, we need an cps plan to ..'

He stopped mid-sentence and reached for his BlackBerry.
"Preston"

The conversation was mostly one-sided.

"Get a full statement. But that's all I need for now." He slipped
the device back on his belt.

"We have a new development, gentlemen. The daycare worker
at the center where Ms. Kraus leaves her baby called a few minutes ago. She heard the newscast tonight and confirmed that
the Kraus baby has the distinguishing birthmark Megan O'Neil's
parents told us about. She also babysat the child today from two
o'clock until almost eight. And she noticed a stain by the baby's
ear that could have been hair dye"

A surge of adrenaline shot through Nick. "Everything fits"

"Agreed. We now have both probable cause and exigent circumstances. Let me have some input"

"Considering the toy gun, I doubt she's armed, Mark offered.

"Maybe not. But from everything I've heard, we're not dealing
with a rational person. I want vests on everybody if we go in"

"What about danger to the baby?" Mark asked.

"From what the daycare worker said, Ms. Kraus appears to
be a caring mother who dotes on the child. The infant is healthy
and happy. I doubt she'd hurt the baby, but we do need to factor
in that possibility."

"The safest plan would be to create a diversion that gets her
outside for the arrest" Nick folded his arms across his chest.

"We could always try the fake utility serviceman or pizza guy
ploy," Mark suggested.

"It's late. She could just ignore the bell. Or we could arouse
suspicion, Nick countered.

"How about a fire?" The police chief, who had been watch ing the exchange from the background, moved forward and
indicated a square on the diagram he'd drawn. "There's a small,
makeshift woodshed not far from the garage. I doubt she'd want
to call the fire department and draw attention to herself. She'd
probably try to put it out"

"You maybe right, but that could be dangerous:" Steve frowned
and folded his arms across his chest.

"I can have our fire crew stand by in case it gets out of control; Joe offered. "And our fire chief knows everything there is
to know about fires. He could get that baby started in a flash.
Pardon the pun"

"I still don't like it, but I have to agree there's a good chance
it will get her outside and away from the baby:' Steve looked at
Nick. "You want to call the parents? We need them standing
by for a visual ID"

"I'll set it up"

"Okay. Let's talk tactics"

Fifteen minutes later, suited up in ballistic vests and the black
fatigues they'd worn earlier for the SWAT team call-out, Mark
took the wheel while Nick placed the call to Rebecca.