want proof,” Cade said.
“What’s that?”
“I’m not bringin’ the money unless I know the girls are still alive. Put one of them on the phone.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Then forget it.”
Cade hung up.
“What are you doing?!” I yelled, reaching for the phone.
“Give it a minute—he’ll call back. He wants the money, trust me.”
I wasn’t so sure. We waited two minutes, and then five. No phone call. I drank an entire glass of water, rinsed dishes, and tried to keep my mouth shut. It wasn’t easy. I was losing my mind, and in another minute, I’d be losing it on him.
And then the phone rang.
“Told you,” Cade said, reaching for his phone.
He answered it and pressed the speaker button.
“Hello?”
“Hello?”
There it was. A beautiful, young female voice.
“Who’s this?” Cade said.
“Makayla. I mean Olivia.”
“Are you okay?” Cade said.
“I don’t know, I guess so. Who are you?”
“Someone who has been tryin’ to find you and Savannah,” Cade said. “Is she with you now?”
“Yes.”
There was a sound like the phone was exchanging hands. “All right, you talked to her. We have a deal. Seven o’clock. Don’t be late.”
The phone clicked.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I said.
But Cade didn’t hear me. He sat down, drumming his fingers on the table in front of him.
“What’s going on?” I said.
“I’m just tryin’ to decide the best way to work this out.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to make sure I handle this right. Two hundred and fifty thousand is a lot of cash to come up with in a short amount of time.”
“We will think of something,” I said.
He still wasn’t listening.
“I just hope they’ll go for it without hearing the conversation.”
“Who?” I said.
“The FBI.”
“This Fletcher guy said not to involve them,” I said. “It’s too big of a risk, Cade. You can’t.”
“He doesn’t care if I use them to get the money.”
I shook my head.
“If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have told you to leave them out of it,” I said.
“He just wants to make sure I drive out there alone, and I will.”
“They’ll never let you,” I said. “There’s no way they’ll hand over the money and allow you to make the rules. That’s not how they do things.”
Cade shrugged.
“Doesn’t matter…they’ll have to. It’s my way or it’s no way at all.”
CHAPTER 39
Cade left without me convinced that letting the feds in on the situation was the best solution. He was sure they would understand once he explained everything. Cade’s version of “everything” would be telling them that the kidnapper knew who he was because he’d been working the case for the past several weeks…and that he was the only one who could do the drop off because the guy knew what he looked like. Cade had a way with words, but I wasn’t convinced it would work this time.
Cade expected me to stay put. He thought it was safer for the girls if I didn’t get involved, but taking orders had never been my strong suit. The kidnapper expected Cade at a certain time. He knew it would take him several hours to get his hands on the kind of cash he requested. He didn’t seem to know about me or my involvement in the case, and I wanted it to stay that way.
As soon as Cade left, I searched the Internet for Swanee Bridge Road. The map I found was a little less detailed than I’d hoped for, but it pointed me in a general direction. I scribbled down the directions on a piece of paper, grabbed my keys and my gun, and left. I drove until I reached a point where my cell reception started fading and gave Cade a quick call to check in.
“What a nightmare,” he said when he answered the phone.
“They aren’t letting you go alone, are they?” I said.
“Not a chance. They even told me I couldn’t go. Can you believe it? They were going to send one of their guys in my place and leave me out of it all together.”
“What did you say?” I said.
“I told them the kidnapper was calling me at seven o’clock and that if someone else answered, he’d know it wasn’t me. I also told them he knew what I looked like.”
“Nice job, liar,” I said. “Did they buy it?”
“I think so. They’re off in another room discussin’ it now. Where are you?”
“I stopped at the store for a couple things, grabbed a bite to eat.”
“If they let me go, and I think they will, I probably won’t be able to call you again