“No!” Harp said, trying to get it back.
The man frowned at him. “Sit back.”
As their car pulled away, he leafed through the book and then tossed it on the floor.
“Please, can I just hold it?” Harp asked.
“So you can try to hit me with it later? I don’t think so.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Shut up.”
No one said anything else as they drove through town before getting on the interstate heading east.
The silence continued until they reached Arizona, when the gunman looked over and said, “So, Mr. Harper, perhaps you should tell us what you were doing in Braden.”
Harp’s initial fear had ebbed. Now he felt a surge of anger. “This is kidnapping,” he said. “And across state lines. Do you realize what kind of trouble you two are in?”
“Seems to me you’re the only one in trouble here.” The man adjusted his hand holding the gun. “What were you doing in Braden?”
“None of your business.”
“What about Logan?”
“Logan? You leave him alone!”
The man paused. “Why did your…son leave town?”
“He had to take care of some business.”
The man smiled as if Harp had just told him something important. “Why is he interested in Diana Stockley?”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about. I’ve never heard of her.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Harp replied.
“What were you doing in Braden?”
Harp repeated his previous statement, and kept repeating it with each successive question, no matter what it was. How long this went on, Harp had no idea, but it seemed like forever. Finally the gunman told the driver to pull over.
They took an exit that led to a deserted road in the middle of nowhere, and stopped along the side.
“Watch him,” the gunman said. He got out of the car and raised a phone to his ear.
The driver turned so he could see into the backseat. He grinned as he reached under his jacket and pulled out a gun, aiming it at Harp.
It was overkill as far as Harp was concerned. As much as he would have liked to run, there was nowhere for him to go. And that was if he was able to run. He was almost eighty, for God’s sake. The best he could manage was a medium-paced walk. The others wouldn’t even break a sweat catching him.
He glanced at the floor. Could he at least chance grabbing Tom’s book? He wanted to more than anything, but he doubted the driver would be too receptive if he tried.
Outside, the gunman paced until he finished his call. “Let’s go,” he said as he climbed back in.
They reentered the freeway.
“Mr. Harper,” the gunman said. “Let’s try this again. What were you doing in Braden?”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
The gunman gave him his now familiar grin. “That phone call was an update from one of our colleagues. I thought perhaps you’d like to know what’s being done to your son.”
“What?” Harp said, confused.
“Logan is being as uncooperative as you’ve been so far. So it looks like our friend will be forced to use stronger methods.”
“What do you mean? He’d better not hurt him!”
“Or what?”
Harp hesitated, then said, “I don’t believe you. Logan wouldn’t let himself get caught.”
“I don’t think anyone ever plans on getting caught, but your son and his friend…what was his name? Martin? Things didn’t turn out the way they anticipated.”
Harp’s skin grew cold as blood rushed to his heart. Oh God, no!
“So, I guess it’s up to you. You cooperate and everyone will be fine. You don’t? Well, I’m sure you can imagine.” He paused. “What were you doing in Braden?”
Harp stared at the back of the seat in front of him. He wasn’t dumb enough to think that just because he cooperated, nothing would happen to Logan and Dev, but he knew for certain something would if he didn’t. Two choices, neither of them good.
“We’re…we’re helping a friend.”
“To do what?”
Harp let out a defeated breath. “To find his wife.”
CHAPTER FORTY
“It’s ten forty,” Dev said.
Logan stared out at the road heading toward the canyon. “I know.”
Diana’s message had said if she wasn’t there by ten thirty, she wasn’t coming.
“Five more minutes,” he said.
“Okay.”
The question of, “And then what?” hung in the air between them, but Logan didn’t have an answer for that yet.
He checked the rearview mirror. The line of cars and vans and RVs continued. The problem was, he wasn’t sure if she would be coming from the Williams end or the Grand Canyon end. Or if she was coming at all.
Two more minutes passed, three, then-
The cell phone rang in a loud, inane tune that someone at the manufacturer had deemed appropriate. Since this was the first call Logan had received on it, adjusting the settings to vibrate hadn’t occurred to him.
He hit the green button, cutting off the noise. “Hello.”
“You’re playing some kind of joke on me, right?” Ruth asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“The phone numbers you asked me to locate.”
“What about them?”
“I’m looking at a live map right now. I’ve got the phone you’re using right in the center. I see you’re taking a little vacation to the Grand Canyon.”
“Did you locate the others?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Ruth, what are you talking about?”
“Seriously?” she asked.
Keeping his calm, Logan said, “I appreciate your help, and I know I’ve asked a lot. But if you know where the other phones are, please just tell me.”
“Well, you should know where one of them is right about now.”
He started to ask if she was joking with him when Dev’s voice cut him off.
“Logan.”
Logan looked over just in time to see a ten-year-old Pontiac Grand Prix pull abreast of the El Camino’s driver’s side window. Sitting behind the wheel was a man Logan didn’t recognize, but in the passenger seat was Diana.
“I thought you didn’t have a phone,” she said, leaning through her window and staring past Dev at Logan.
“You’re late,” he told her.
“You’re lucky I came at all.”
“You believe us now?”
She pulled back inside her car. “Follow us, or don’t. It’s up to you.”
Dirt shot up from under the back tires as the other car took off.
Without having to be told, Dev started the engine and headed after them.
“Are you still there?” Logan said into the phone.
“Yes. Logan, you’re about to pass the second phone.”
“What?”
“About a mile ahead of you, on the right side of the road.”
“Which phone?” he asked, thinking Sara might be closer than he’d realized.
“Yours. Your original one, that is.”
He paused, then put his hand over the phone and said to Dev, “Dr. Paskota’s less than a mile ahead on the right.”
Dev looked surprised. “How did she find us?”
“I don’t know.” Logan brought the phone back up. “And the last phone?”
“It’s about twenty miles from your position. Off the main road, though. In fact, the map I’m looking at shows no roads within a mile of its location. You want the GPS coordinates?”
Logan opened the glove compartment, cringing a bit when he saw his dad’s letter, and rummaged around for a pen and scrap paper. Once he had them, he said, “Give them to me.”
As he was writing, Dev said, “Don’t look, but there she is.”
“You’re sure?”
“Definitely. Same gray car. Same profile.”
Dev switched his gaze to the rearview mirror.
“What’s she doing?” Logan asked.
“Nothing yet.”
To Ruth, Logan said, “Can you hold on for a few minutes? I want to see what the car we just passed does.”
“Logan, I have-”
“Please,” he said.