Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (42 page)

Claire slid away from the table and headed off the porch. She
’d known
where most of the cameras were around the grounds but
,
since they installed new ones, she was unsure
. T
hey’d made so many changes since she’d be gone. She wasn’t going to let him leave with her
. I
f that happened
,
there wouldn’t be any chance of them finding her.
She glanced down at her arm and rubbed. She’d forgotten to put on her damn watch.
Crap
.

Chapter 21

Butch followed Jake into Claire’s office and shut the door behind him. He’d hated to leave Claire’s side, but duty called. He had a feeling the answers were right under his nose. After visiting with the detective and Abby’s earl
ier
comments, it made sense this asshole might be out for revenge. They were getting closer by the minute. He laid his phone down on the table
,
and it started to vibrate. He checked the caller ID before flipping it open.

Ted
was on the other line. He’d been an in
tegral
part of helping with Emma
’s
and Abby’s situations
.
Butch hoped he’d be just as invaluable to Claire’s too. Butch hit the speaker button. “Edwards.”

“H
ey
,
Butch, did you get
all of the
fax
e
s
yet?”

Butch pulled the papers off the fax
machine and started to flip
through them. “None of these people look familiar.”

Butch handed them over to Jake
,
who confirmed what he’d just said. “Nope, I don’t recognize any of them.”

Butch slumped in
the
chair behind
Claire’s
desk and leaned back. He
’d been
sure they’d get some sort of match from his idea. It was the only thing that made a lick of sense. They must sti
ll be missing something.

Jake s
e
t the papers down and
plopped down
in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk. “I just don’t get it
. W
hat are we missing?”

Butch leaned forward
.
“Are you sure you didn’t miss anyone?”

“Butch, I’m a professional. I went through every file
,
pulled the names of the ones their dad put in jail
,
and cross referenced for children with the same last name. I got everyone.”

Butch leaned back
, h
is mind going
from
ninety to nothing. He shot forward
,
slamming his hand down on the desk
, he could feel his blood pressure rising. He wasn’t mad at Ted he was furious with himself. He wanted this threat erased and he wanted it done now
. “
Tell me exactly what Abby asked you to do.
”

“Abby asked me to cross reference known children of all
the criminals that her dad had any involvement with.”

Jake’s brows scrunched together.

“What about the ones that didn’t have their father’s last name?”

“How the hell would I know if they knocked someone up and didn’t marry the woman
?
You’re asking for more research th
a
n I can do in twenty-four hours. I may be good, but I’m not that damn good.”

“Shit, it was right their in front of me, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. Start with Glenda. She had pictures of a child in her house when Claire and I went to ask her some questions. That’s at least one we know of.”

“
She’s got at least one kid. Start with him and work your way back.
Try and cross reference any females regardless of their last name and the children they had out of wedlock.
”

“It
shouldn’t be too hard to pull up something on
that
. I’ll see
if I can find a driver’s license picture, if I can’t I’ll just run my program and age him,
and fax it over before I get started on the others.”

“Thanks.” Butch disconnected the call.

Butch leaned back and steepled his fingers with his elbows rest
ing
on the chair. He looked at his partner. “What do you think? Do you think we’re barking up the wrong tree?”

Jake closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “No, I can’t imagine anyone else that would be holding such a grudge against Claire
. S
he’s
got a heart of gold and only tr
ies
to help people.
Who else would want to hurt her?”

The fax machine made the obnoxious ringing noise as Jake’s cell rang. Butch pushed himself up from the chair and walked over to it, waiting for
the fax to come through. Ted was quick. It had
been mere minutes since he’d asked him to run the other kid through his database. It would have taken Butch longer than that, and Butch considered himself good.

Jake answered the phone and put it to his ear. Butch could hear Emma’s shrill
voice
through the other end of the line. Something was wrong. She wouldn’t be calling if there w
eren’t.
He just didn’t know if it was at the beach house or if she was getting a hit from one of her gifts.

Butch pulled the fax and
recognized
the guy immediately. “Oh god.”
He turned to look at Jake
.

“Emma
,
I’ve got to go.
I’ll take care of it.
”

He flipped the phone closed
,
cutting her off.
He w
alked to the monitors he’d placed on the walls and started punching keys on the keyboard.

“It’s that damn banker.” Butch held up the picture. He hurried over to the monitors and started searching through the crowds. “Tell me you’ve got a lock on him and that you still see Claire.”

Jake started flipping through the screens. There were
easily
three hundred people in attendance. This was going to take foreve
r. He reached up and clicked his
communication device in his ear. “Who’s got a visual on Claire
?
”

The replies came fast.

“Alpha 2
,
negative
.”

“
Alpha 3
,
negative
.”

“
Alpha 4
,
negative.”

Butch slammed his fist down on the desk. “Sam, tell me you didn’t lose her.”

The line was silent until Alpha 2 replied, “Sam and Abby are breaking up a fight between two drunks.
Two drunks turned into four and then six.
”

“Shit. It was a setup
.” Butch
glanced up
at the monitors. His heart had fallen into his stomach. He couldn’t let anything happen to her. He walked over to Claire’s computer and punched in the code to bring up the monitor for her watch that Jake insisted they all w
ear
. The light blinked
,
indicating her location was in her bedroom. “
Either she’
s
in her room, or t
he damn woman doesn’t have her watch
on.
”

Jake threw the door open. “I’ll check her room
;
you check the crowd
. T
ell Sam to
just
knock those assholes out if they won’t cooperate.
We’ve got more important things to deal with.
Butch man, it’s bad this time. This is the worst episode that Emma’s ever had with her gift. She’s hysterical and threatened to
skin me alive if I let anything happen to her sisters.”

Butch relayed the message
to Sam
as he ran
toward
the hallway
,
pushing past people in his haste to fin
d
Claire. He’d made it to the kitchen
on his way to the dance floor
,
when
Abby
and Sam
stopped him by
yanking on his
arm. “What the hell is going on
,
and why the hell did I just knock the lights out of that drunk?
”

“Your guy had a hit
. O
ne of the kids is the banker, Andrew Pearson. Claire’s missing
,
and we can’t locate Pearson either.” He pulled Abby’s hands in to his. “Go watch the monitors and tell me if you see her.”

Abby shook her head. “No. If you’re right and he wants Claire
,
then you might need me to distract him. He probably wants me too.”

She squeezed Butch’s hands back. “Think about it
. T
his asshole knows I’m her sister
,
and I have a better chance at fighting the bastard off than she does.”

Sam grabbed Abby’s hand out of Butch’s
.
“
Absolutely
not
. Y
ou need to go
w
atch the monitors where you’ll be safe.”

“Like hell
,
buddy. You knew who I was when you married me
. H
ell
,
I’ve saved your ass before
,
and I’ll be damned if I let that lunatic hurt my sister. So back off
,
”
Abby barked.

Butch watched
Abby
kick off her shoes and run
down
the
steps off the patio
looking for Claire.
Time was their enemy. If they didn’t find her soon
,
the outcome wasn’t going to be good. This guy had it in for the entire family and wasn’t going to just walk away.
Butch had
seen this a dozen of times and could kick himself for letting her
get
in
to
this situation.
If Regina hadn’t showed up, he would have been with her.
Shit, that’s how she’d known where he was.
Butch clicked the comm in his ear,
“Thompson, Regina was in on it. Stop her from leaving town.”