Capturing Charlie Read online

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  After everyone had their coffee and was sitting back, James stood up and walked around the kitchen, his mind going a mile a minute, so much so that he couldn’t sit still.

  “Okay, now we know the area where they are. Let plan our snatch and grab. Since the picture shows the man that comes to the McDonald’s is around my and Chase’s build and coloring, I think I should be the one to take his place.”

  “No way, James. It should be me going in. You have too much on your plate right now. Also, if anything happened to you, Avery would never let us forget it. No, I’m going,” Chase said, looking at his brother, who had finally stopped at the end of the table and had leaned down and put his hands on the table, looking at the guys, one by one.

  “Chase, I’m glad that you want to help, but you have just finished your training with Sam. I don’t think now is the time to test it out. Nothing will happen to me if we plan this right.”

  Chase stood up with a determined look on his face. “No, I went through all this training so I could be part of the unit. You said yourself that Sam is and was the best teacher. Well, let’s put it to the test. I’m ready.”

  “I don’t know,” James said, looking at Clay and Angel.

  “You have to let him grow up sometime,” Clay said. “If Sam put him through his paces, I’d say let him do it. We’ll be there for backup and Grant will be prepared for anything on the inside. Remember you and Angel have been under a lot of pressure the last couple of days. A lot of highs and lows for you both. I think it would be best to take a backseat and be part of the backup team instead.”

  “Clay’s right, James, this is Grant and Charlie’s lives. You know yourself that you wouldn’t send any of us out on a mission unless we were 100%. Well, that goes for you, too. I know right now that my mind is still on Cyn and our baby. Yours is still wrapped up with Avery and the new baby, if you’ll admit it. Grant is part of our family, and we have to work with the same standards that we give our client’s. That means someone with their mind only on the mission, nothing else,” Angel said from his seat.

  “Okay, you have persuaded me. Chase can go in with us there as backup?” James sat back down.

  “Clay, you take over, what’s the plan that you guys have come up with?”

  “Well, the guy always comes between six and seven p.m. every night. He usually orders the same thing. We should be there at least an hour ahead of time. To make this work, we are going to need the cooperation of McDonald’s. That might be tricky, I don’t think they are going to be easy to convince.

  Brad pulled his cell phone out. “Let me call Jared and see if we can get some help from the police in the area. They might have a contact up there that will help us out when we try to persuade the manager at McDonald’s.”

  Brad called Jared. When he answered the call, Brad could hear the woman talking in the background.

  “I hope you’re calling to say that you are on your way to take our places,” Jared answered.

  “No, sorry, not that, but we could use your help.”

  “Shit. Okay, shoot,” Jared replied.

  “We have to do a setup at a McDonald’s in a small town a few miles out of the city. In order for it to work we have to replace the man at the drive-thru window with one of us. I was wondering if you knew someone on the force up there with a little pull that wouldn’t mind helping us. We are working on a tight time frame so we don’t have a lot of options.”

  “What town are we talking about?”

  “It’s the small town of Treyville”

  “Just a minute, let me talk to Stan.” The phone went silent as Jared put a hand over it to talk to Stan.

  A few minutes later, Jared came back on the line. “You’re in luck. An old buddy of ours recently moved to that town. He got tired of the hassle and bustle of the city and took a job as the sheriff for that area. I’ll call him and get him to contact you.

  “I’m sure he’ll help. He’s a good guy that you can count on. And one of the reasons he left was he was tired of all the rules and regulations that protected the bad guys and tied the good guys’ hands. This should be right up his alley.”

  “That would be great. Call him now and tell him to get in touch with me. We don’t have a lot of time to set this up.”

  “On it,” Jared said, and the phone went dead on the other end.

  “Well what did he say?” Chase asked.

  “Jared is calling a sheriff of Treyville. He’s a friend of theirs and should have no problem helping us. Jared is going to get him to call as soon as possible.”

  “Okay, so that should get us an in with McDonald’s. What about the pickup area, is it sheltered enough for us to take the guy down without any fuss? We don’t want any civilians getting hurt when we do this,” James asked.

  Brad’s phone started singing “Baby I’m Amazed” and all the guys turned to him with startled glances. “What can I say? This is what I think every time I think of Raven. So sue me.” Brad answered the call.

  “Yes, this is Brad. Glad you called. We need your help. I’m going to put the phone on speaker so we can all talk and hear. Is that okay?”

  Brad put the phone in the middle of the table and pressed the speaker button.

  A man’s deep voice came over the phone. “Jared just called me and told me that you could use my help. He didn’t tell me too much detail, just that it was about a kidnapping. I’m Sheriff of this area, my name is Devlen Myers. I’ve known and worked with Jared and Stan, so how can I help?”

  “Great, we need to set up a takedown at the McDonald’s in your town of Hope. For this to work and keep everyone safe, we want to put Brad at the takeout window,” James told him.

  “Okay, back up a bit. Why are you doing this? I know Braden Security by reputation and know that it has to be something serious. But a few more details would be nice before I put my ass and job on the line.”

  “Sorry, but we are working on a tight schedule and we have to get this in place before six p.m., earlier if possible,” Clay added.

  “Give me the Cliffs Notes version and you can fill me in more later,” Devlen replied.

  “One of our team, Grant, was abducted and is being held. He was with a woman at the time. The kidnappers are demanding two million dollars and to get a Carlos Castel out of prison. That was their terms.”

  “Shit, you can’t let that bugger free.”

  “We agree. We have tracked the vehicle the kidnappers used and traced it to your small town. Like clockwork, every day someone comes to McDonald’s at lunch and supper.”

  “That’s stupid of them to have a pattern.”

  I think that they believe they are safe in your town. And they probably would be if they hadn’t decided to grab them just outside of my restaurant. My restaurant is equipped with some of the best surveillance around. They managed to slip around the obvious cameras but missed a few hidden ones. So we managed to get a good look at the van. We followed it your town and it disappears down one of the side roads off the main street.”

  “Good place for them to pick,. There’s mostly just cabins out beyond the town, mostly summer residences.”

  “So, are you in or not?” James asked Devlen bluntly.

  “I’m in. I don’t like people thinking they can come into my area and get away with things like this. Tell me what you want and I’ll be there.”

  “Thanks. I think we should meet as soon as can. We’ll gather everything we need and get up there so we can talk face to face. Do you have an office?”

  “No, here in the country, the office is the first floor of my house. I’m out on patrol right now, but I’ll get someone to take my place. I can be back to the house in, say, one hour.”

  “That works for us. How do we find your place?”

  “It’s just on the outskirts of the town, a big red building on the right. You can’t miss it. It’s a big place that came with the job.”

  “See you in an hour, then,” James told him
.

  “I’ll be ready.” Devlen clicked his phone off.

  Brad shut his phone, ending the call also. “So that’s one problem solved.”

  “Okay, Chase, go change into something black. The camera always has the guy in dark clothes from what we can see.” Clay turned to Chase.

  “Sure, but I have to raid James’s closet again,” Chase said, getting up.

  “Damn, Chase, do I have to share everything with you? Couldn’t you have gotten some of your own clothes over here?”

  “Didn’t think of it, so right now you have to share.”

  “Just don’t take anything that looks new. Avery bought me some new clothes and I don’t want them ruined.”

  Chase saluted at James on his way out of the kitchen. “No problem, I need to use your old clothes anyway. The new ones are too big. You’re getting a bit paunchy since you got married.”

  “You shit, you’re going to pay for that when this is all over. I haven’t gained an ounce. In fact, with all the extra exercise I get being married, I’m sure I’ve lost a few pounds,” James told Chase’s back as he watched him walked down the hall toward the main bedroom.

  “Don’t let him get you riled up. I think he’s just being Chase. I turned him off a few days ago, so now he’s looking for fresh prey. He likes to joke to cover up his worry. You know that, James,” Clay said, getting up.

  “Let get this show on the road,” Angel said, also rising from the table. Looking around at the others, he started out of the room.

  “Let gear up down at the office.”

  All the men started for the door. Clay yelled at Chase to meet them down in the office when he was dressed.

  “Yes, let’s bring Grant and Charlie home,” James said as he closed the penthouse door and they walked to the elevator.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Grant was right, the man did come back to check up on them. As he picked up the tray from the table, he turned to both of them sitting on the bed.

  “I thought I would be nice to you tonight. It might be your last meal together. Would you like something other than McDonald’s? My partner and I are getting tired of it, so I’m sure you both are.”

  “That would be nice,” Charlie spoke up.

  “No, I don’t think we want a change. Charlie and I have started to look forward to our evening meal from McDonald’s. So if you don’t mind, we would like the same,” Grant said with Charlie turning a disbelieving look at him.

  “Are you sure?”

  When it looked like Charlie would speak up again, Grant hugged her tightly to his side.

  “No, me and Charlie like routine.”

  “Okay, your say. It just makes it easier for me. I don’t have to travel farther.” The guy picked up the tray and left the room.

  Charlie squirmed out of his arms. “What did you do that for? We were just talking about how we were getting sick of having the same thing. You even remarked on the guy not having an imagination when it came to our meals.”

  “You’re right, Charlie.” Grant reached out a hand and took her arm, stopping her from jumping off the bed in a huff.

  “I’m sick of the food being the same every day. But if the guys are looking for us, we don’t want the kidnappers changing their routine. If I know the unit, they have tracked us here. If the van goes to the same place every day, it will be spotted.

  “So changing the routine tonight wouldn’t be good. If the unit are going to make a move, it will be tonight. They know from the phone call that tomorrow we will be spit up. If they let you go. They could stash me someplace else, not wanting to take the chance of the guy trailing them back after they get the cash.”

  Charlie sat back and looked at Grant. “You really think they will come after us tonight?”

  “I’m betting on it. That’s why we have to be prepared. Let’s find something to sharpen our weapon some more,” Grant said, leaving the bed and walking into the bathroom to retrieve the spring he had stashed there from the bed.

  Charlie followed him. “What do you have in mind to do that? There’s nothing here.” She looked around the bathroom. “And the other room has even less.”

  “Well I thought about that at lunch, and I might have an idea,” Grant said as he went to the bed, sat on it, and started to straighten the spring. Charlie could see his muscles bugling as he made the wire do as he wanted and straighten out.

  “So what is it?” asked Charlie, still standing in the bathroom doorway.

  “Well we need something metal to rub this on to make a point. You’re right, we have nothing in these rooms. But the bars on the window are metal. I’m going to try and open it again. If I can’t I’ll try and punch a small hole through it, enough to poke the spring though and rub it on the bars.”

  “Can I help?”

  “Well when I tried earlier to get the window open, it was painted shut. See if the guy left us any cutlery on the table. Maybe we can scrape enough paint off to get it to budge.”

  Charlie walked over to the table where she found a set of cutlery still wrapped up in plastic from their lunch. “Here’s some, but they’re plastic. Can I take a stab at loosening the paint while you do that?”

  “Just make sure that you don’t make any noise, and if you do get some paint loose, don’t leave it on the floor, pick it up right away. We never know when they’re going to come in again,” Grant told her.

  “Do you really think that they would hear me and notice any paint flakes on the floor?”

  “I don’t want to take a chance. I think they must be well trained to have this mission, and one thing I learned is attention to detail. Look around and see if anything is out of place, even the smallest thing is basic. It could give a person a clue or an edge. I think these guys probably learned the same thing. They took me down like pros. So I don’t want to get them any heads up to what we are doing.”

  “God, I’m glad I only have to learn numbers and analyze trends in my training. I don’t think I could remember all the out-of-left-field things you think about,” Charlie told him as she unwrapped the cutlery, took the plastic knife, went to the window, and started trying to push it in the gaps between window and frame.

  Charlie picked at the paint in the seams, excited that something finally was going to happen, relieved that they might have a chance to get out of here. But she was also sorry that her alone time with Grant would be at an end. They had gotten to know each other at the office, but this time together brought out the more personal aspects of their lives. She wanted to know more about his life outside of Braden Security and his family.

  She wanted more of his kisses, more of the gentle Grant that had made sweet love to her. And she knew it was lovemaking. No man could be so gentle and caring about her and not have some feelings.

  Grant’s hand on her back made her jump, she had been so lost in thought.

  Grant turned her away from the window, facing him. Taking both of her hands in his, he bent his head and looked deeply into her eyes.

  “I can hear your mind going from over on the bed. And you stopped scraping. What’s bothering you? Are you worried that you could be harmed when the unit makes their move? I won’t let anything happen to you, Charlie. I told you that. All you have to do is hide in the bathroom and let me take care of the rest.”

  Charlie’s smile was small. “No, that’s not it. I was lost in thought, but not about being hurt. I believe you when you say that you will keep me safe. I was just wondering about after, when we get out of here.”

  “I guess you can’t wait to get back to your apartment and job. Back to eating anything but McDonald’s.” Grant’s blue eyes twinkled down at her.

  “Yeah, it was something like that. You must be thinking the same thing.” Charlie pulled her hands from Grant’s and turned back to the window so he couldn’t look too closely in her eyes. Her eyes always gave away what she was thinking or feeling. And in this case, she didn’t want him to feel sorry for her and promise to carry on after they we
re out of here. It could be an empty promise if he thought it might cheer her up. She didn’t think right now she could handle that from him.

  Grant looked at her back as she went back to scraping the paint. Grant knew she was closing herself off from him. He didn’t know why. He could see the shadows in her eyes and felt that she was hiding something, but right now and tonight, he needed her to be calm. So not wanting to bring anything up that might stir the waters between them, he backed off and returned to the bed.

  “I’ll admit that I can’t wait to take a proper shower and get out of these clothes. I’ll take jeans and a T-shirt any day over these. You ready for me to take over? I have the spring straightened about as much as I can.”

  “In a few minutes. I think I have a bunch of paint letting loose,” Charlie said as she picked at the seam and a long line of dried paint let loose and fell to the floor. In her excitement of getting some loose she forgot and banged the window.

  Grant heard them at the door and rushed to Charlie’s side, scooping up the paint at her feet and grabbing her and pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

  “What’s going on here?” The second guy who loved waving his gun around asked from the doorway. Like every other time, he pointed the gun directly at them, as if he was just waiting for them to do something that would give him cause to use it.

  “Sorry,” Grant said, lifting from Charlie’s lips and looking at the guy. “I got carried away and we bumped into the window.”

  “Well stop it, you can rut all you want if you ever get out of here. I don’t want to have to come back in here. I just might take care of your problem, but not the way you would want me to. I’m a good shot, one between the legs at the right height and you won’t have that problem again.” The guy turned and closed the door and locked it.

  Charlie buried her head in Grant’s chest. “I wasn’t thinking. I would make a poor spy. That guy is a bastard of the finest kind. He’s just waiting for us to do something stupid.”