Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,114
started walking toward where he stood on the porch, one taller and brawnier than the others, one blond, one in a white straw cowboy hat. Seeing their fierce expressions, their determination to find his family, made his throat feel tight.
He took a deep breath, fought to steady himself.
“Where’s Castillo?” Jake asked as he climbed the stairs to the porch.
“On his way. The cops were here, detectives are just about finished. Crime scene guys took the ear. I don’t know how the box got inside the house. Nothing looks out of place. Claire’s purse is on the table with her cell phone inside. She’d opened the gun safe next to the bed, but she hadn’t touched it. The forensic guys didn’t find any evidence of a struggle. I don’t think Santos and his men ever came into the house.”
“What’s your theory?” Trace asked, forcing Ben to concentrate as he hadn’t been able to do since he had seen the front door standing open.
“They had to be watching the place, but I never saw any sign of them.” He shook his head. “I should have been paying closer attention. I should have figured they’d find her. I should have been more careful.”
“Okay, so Santos and his men were watching the house,” Jake said. “What about Sam? How does he fit into this?”
He tried to think. Couldn’t get his mind to function. Sam. He had just found his son and now he had lost him. His stomach knotted. Claire. Jesus God, what were they doing to Claire?
“They’ll torture her,” he said, his mouth so dry he could barely force out the words. “They think Claire has the information they’re looking for, but she doesn’t.”
“Ben, you’ve got to focus,” Jake said. “I know how much you love her, but you’ve got to clear your head.”
Ben stared at his best friend as if he had never seen him before. For several seconds he just stood there. I know how much you love her.
Claire was gone, maybe hurt, maybe dead. Jake knew the truth. The rest of his friends probably did, too. He couldn’t lie to himself any longer. “You’re right, I love her. I’m crazy in love with her. I didn’t tell her. I couldn’t say it. Jesus, why didn’t I tell her?”
Jake grabbed his shoulders and shoved him hard against the outside of the house. “All right, goddammit, you love her. You’ve said it. You’ve accepted it. Now get your fucking head on straight, and let’s go find her and your boy.”
Ben took a shuddering breath, looked up at Jake, and everything seemed to fall into place. He had to find Claire and Sam. He had the men he needed to help him do it.
“Sam was on the school bus. They must have known what time he came home every day. When he got off at the corner they were waiting. They must have figured Claire would come out of the house to get him.”
“How did they know Claire would be home?”
How had they? “Good question. Emma got sick. She called Claire at the office. Santos knew the address of her apartment. Sullivan had her business card in his wallet so Santos knew where she worked. Maybe someone at the office tipped him that she was staying with me. When she left early, they called, told Santos she would be here by herself, waiting for Sam.”
“We need to find out,” Trace said.
“If they wanted Claire,” Alex asked, “why did they take Sam?”
“Leverage,” Ben said, his brain finally beginning to function. “They figured if they threatened the boy, Claire would tell them where to find the flash drive.” He ignored the sick feeling in his stomach. He was thinking again and he wasn’t going to let his worry get in the way.
A brown Chevy unmarked police car rolled up and Danny Castillo got out, tall, black hair combed straight back. They all knew him, all had had dealings with the detective at one time or another.
Ben watched Castillo striding toward the porch, a grim look on his face.
“We talked to the people at Claire’s office,” he said. “Some kid dropped off a box tied up with a ribbon no more than fifteen minutes before Claire left to go home. The receptionist said Claire took the box with her when she left.”
“That’s how it got inside the house,” Alex said. “Claire carried it in. She didn’t have time to open it.”
“We’ve had uniforms canvassing the neighborhood,” Castillo said. “One of the neighbors saw an older white