his chest. Two men stood next to him, a black SUV behind them. No other cars were in sight. Herc shook his head vehemently as they spoke to him. Just as Dash arrived, another SUV pulled up. Bruce jumped out.
“Herc? Hey, buddy, how are you?” Dash asked.
His brother’s head shot up, a huge smile breaking out. Herc pushed himself to his feet as Dash enveloped him in a hug. Herc’s fingers clung to Dash’s shirt. Heavy sobs racked his body. They tore at Dash’s heart and made him want to rip Wake Marshall into tiny pieces.
“You’re fine, Herc,” he reassured. “Everything’s going to be all right. I promise.” Dash gripped Herc’s shoulders and held him at arm’s length to study him. Thankfully, he didn’t see a mark on his brother. The zip ties around his brother’s wrists did wash a wave of anger over him, but he kept it in check.
Looking at one of the security guys, he said, “Get these off him.”
“We tried to, Mr. DeLauria. He wouldn’t let us.”
Dash noticed the man who’d spoken held a Swiss army knife in his hand. He looked at Herc. “These are some friends of mine, buddy. They want to cut through this plastic stuff, okay?”
“Sydney said not to talk to anyone except you, Dash. I didn’t know they were your friends.”
“That’s okay. You did exactly the right thing. Sydney would be proud of you. Now, hold your arms out. Good.”
With one slice, the ties came off.
Bruce stepped forward. “We’re going to need to debrief Herc.” He motioned to the man with the knife. “Let Herc get in the car.” He looked back at Herc. “We’ve got some ice-cold Cokes in the car. I’ll bet you’re thirsty, Herc. Would you like one?”
“Can I, Dash? This is a special occasion, right?”
He only let Herc drink soft drinks every so often. Their code phrase was special occasion. Dash couldn’t think of a more apropos time than now to celebrate Herc’s return.
“It sure is. Save one for me,” he told his brother. Dash watched Herc climb into the SUV and looked back at Bruce. He held up the phone that was still in his hands. “I’ve got Sydney on the line but I can’t hear anything being said. Do have some kind of special equipment—”
Bruce took the phone from him and immediately disconnected the call.
“What did you do that for?” Dash roared.
“We’re already tracking her. The line being open on this end could put her in danger, especially if Marshall knew she’d left it where others could hear.”
“Then how—”
“A woman may change purses but she always has her keys with her. We put a tracker on her keyring and another inside her cell.”
Dash was puzzled. “Sydney has my phone.”
“We also put a device in your phone, Dash. You informed us of the close relationship between the two of you when you hired us. It was a precautionary measure. Your assistant helped us out with that.”
“Then I guess I’m grateful. Where is Sydney?”
“Driving around LA. It doesn’t look as if Marshall is going anywhere specific. He’s simply making random turns. The tracking device is strong. We have two teams on them right now and a third is scheduled to join them. They can leave a gap of several blocks and still follow the car’s movements.” Bruce paused. “Right now, I’d like to get you back to your house and talk to Herc about how he was taken. Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle. He won’t even realize he’s answering questions.”
Dash and Bruce climbed into the SUV, which headed to the DeLauria house. Gradually, Bruce pulled from Herc what he needed to know about the kidnapping. By the time they arrived, Herc seemed calm and eager to see Tim since the bad man had been mean to his friend.
As they got out of the vehicle and one security team member escorted Herc inside, Bruce told Dash, “Tim Dillon has a concussion but the doctor we sent said everything else checked out.”
Dash entered the house, where an anxious Brenda greeted him. He stopped to chat briefly with Tim, who assured him he was fine before apologizing for losing Herc. Dash assured the caregiver that they were dealing with a nut job and that Tim couldn’t have done anything about it. He urged Herc to tell Tim goodnight so that Tim could get the rest he needed. Herc went off with Brenda, who promised to make him her special mac and cheese since he was hungry.
Finally alone again, Dash looked