He looked up. “I’m still trying to pay you back for all the times you had my back. Your nanny is taking great care of me. These waffles are the best. Don’t tell me you can’t eat. You have to eat. Jeremy needs you.”
“He does,” Claire’s voice echoed. Vic raised his eyes to hers. She was a beautiful woman even without makeup. Those gray eyes of hers begged him to eat and take care of himself.
Making up his mind he said, “I’ll take whatever Kit is having.”
A smile broke out on her face. “Coming right up.” They ate every waffle she put on their plates. “If you’re full, why not go in the living room so you can lie down on the couch.”
Claire smiled at Kit, who got up first and urged Vic to follow him. He’d refused to take a sleeping pill. She was hoping that with some good food inside him, fatigue would take over and he’d fall asleep.
“I’m going to stretch out, too.” Kit sat down in one of the fat leather chairs and put his feet up on the ottoman.
Vic had come to the table barefoot. She could see his eyelids drooping when he lay down on the couch wearing sweats and a T-shirt. He had to be exhausted.
Before long, both men were asleep. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and snapped a picture of them. If she had it blown up and framed, the plaque beneath would say “Two of the Famous Four Texas Rangers at rest.”
When Jeremy was found—and he would be found, Claire had made up her mind about that—she’d present this precious gift for him to treasure. She’d tell him this was the shape his father was in after searching for him nonstop all day and night. That was how much he loved him.
Claire sat in the chair matching the one Kit occupied and looped her arms around her raised knees to watch over them. She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but the ringing of someone’s cell phone woke her up. Her watch said ten after six in the morning.
Vic jackknifed into a sitting position and answered his phone. At this point Kit had awakened and stood up. She overheard Vic say the name TJ. He was talking to the head of the Rangers.
When he disconnected, he sprang to his feet. “The police caught up with Leroy at an all-night bar in Buda.”
“Buda? It’s not that far away. Thank heaven!” she cried.
“Amen to that. Leroy’s truck was parked outside. The logo the apartment building manager told us about helped find him fast. That clue saved the day. He thought it said ‘duda’ or something close. The officers have taken him into custody at the jail downtown. Guess who was with him?”
“The two guys who got in the fight with him at the park.”
“You’re right on the money, Kit. They were hauled in for questioning, too. Let’s go. I’ll get changed and meet you outside.”
After he disappeared, Claire turned to Kit. “Can I come with you?”
“I know how much you love Jeremy, but this is a police matter.”
“But I feel responsible.”
“In what way?”
“The second I didn’t see Jeremy, I should have run right in the school instead of waiting in the car for a few more minutes.”
“That wouldn’t have made any difference, Claire. This kidnapping was planned down to the second. You shouldn’t feel any guilt, but I guess it’s human nature.”
“It is,” she said. “I can’t stay here and just wait and wait.”
He studied her for a moment. “Maybe you can’t come with us, but if you drive down to the city jail, I’ll tell them to let you in. You can talk to Vic after he’s through vetting Leroy.”
“Thank you, Kit.” She smiled at him gratefully and raced to her bedroom to get dressed.
It took her only a minute to pull on some jeans and a knit top. She slipped on her walking sandals. After brushing her hair, she grabbed her purse and ran through the house to the door behind the kitchen. It led to the garage.
After she’d activated the remote, she backed out and took off for downtown Austin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a van parked a few houses away and knew it was the surveillance team. Before long she realized they were following her. Those were Vic’s instructions.
I love him. I love his son.
She knew where to find the jail. One day several months ago, she’d humored Jeremy by driving him to see it. Claire had so many memories of him.
After making sure her car door was locked, she walked to the entrance, where an officer met her.
“Can I see some ID?”
She pulled her license from her wallet and showed it to him.
“You’re Ms. Ames. Ranger Saunders said to let you in. You can sit in the lounge to wait for him.” He checked the contents of her purse and gave it back to her.
“Thank you.”
When she opened the door, the cold blast of A/C was welcome. Vic probably wouldn’t like it that she’d come, but she couldn’t stand to sit in the house and do nothing. Kit understood that. A dozen or so others were also waiting in the lounge. But they were here to visit inmates and had to wait until it was their turn.
It was a whole other world down here. Claire shuddered. This was the dark side of life Vic had to deal with day in and day out. But to face the man who’d kidnapped Jeremy had to be something else altogether. She’d never seen Vic’s dark side. She didn’t believe he had one. But this morning he was going to be tested.
Claire decided it was a good thing she wasn’t the one in that jail cell with Leroy. The urge to strangle that monster with her bare hands was so strong she wasn’t sure she’d be able to contain it.
Vic stood in the corner while two guards brought Leroy into the room, his arms behind his back, hands and ankles shackled. His attorney walked in behind them. Kit stood in the hall on the other side of the one-way glass to watch what was going on. Later he’d interrogate Leroy’s friends one at a time.
The school custodian had been put in a black-and-white-striped shirt and pants. The guards pulled out a chair in front of the small table in the bare room and helped him into it. Vic nodded to them and they left. The attorney took a seat in the chair next to him. Vic didn’t recognize him.
Curious, he walked around behind Leroy and peeked at the green eye tattooed to his inner left arm. It was ghoulish. Leroy sat there with his head down. White-hot fury was building inside of Vic and threatening to take over, but he had to remember that this wreck of a human being was his only route to Jeremy. Vic went back to the other side of the table.
“Is my son still alive?”
No answer.
“I want to know who paid you money to kidnap my son. You’ve committed a federal crime. If you tell me where you’ve hidden him and I find him alive, then you’ll only have to serve twenty-five years in prison instead of life.” He stared at the attorney. “Tell him what I just said so he’ll believe it.”
“We’ve already talked. My client wants a jury trial, no plea bargain.”
Someone was paying big dollars for Leroy’s defense. Had they bought the judge, too? “If you’re going for a verdict of insanity, it won’t stick. Otherwise you wouldn’t have been hired at the school.” Vic leaned over the table with his hands on the top. “A jury will convict you and throw away the key.”
“My client will take his chances.”