Chapter Two

Victoria's scream was still echoing through Billie's mind as Presley and she drove toward the park. He was going at a bat out of hell speed while Ruby blurted out info through the SUV.

Adrenaline was sky high and pulses were racing.

But that scream was cutting through Billie's focus.

Because she'd heard a scream like that before. Another time, another place. Another woman.

Tread carefully. Wouldn't want another hostage dying on your watch, would you ?

No, she didn't, but for the kidnapper to be able to use that taunt, he or she must have been aware of the case that'd gone horribly wrong. Billie wanted to know how that info had gotten into the kidnapper's hands.

And if it was important in Victoria's abduction.

But for now though, she just tried to shut it all out and listen to Ruby.

"Angel DeLuca will meet you in the parking lot of Merilee's Café, that's a block from the park," Ruby spelled out, and her voice sounded a heck of a lot calmer than Billie felt. No need for her to explain who Angel was. He was a former SAPD and now worked for Ruby. "He just picked up the diamonds from Jesep's assistant and is en route to you now."

"The fake diamonds," Presley grumbled like profanity, and that expressed Billie's sentiment.

Hostage extractions were dangerous enough without adding a bogus ransom to the mix. But they weren't calling the shots here. Jesep was, and apparently he valued the diamonds more than his wife's life.

"Yes," Ruby muttered, her disproval there as well. "Once Angel has handed off the diamonds to you, he'll head to the park and set up surveillance while staying out of sight. I've also just gotten approval for a drone to go in, and I'll send you the feed once I have it."

Good. The drone could help them pinpoint Victoria's location. Hopefully, anyway. Billie doubted the kidnappers would have her out in the open, not unless they had a way to protect themselves. They would no doubt know the cops could and would use SWAT snipers in situations like this.

"How many cops will be nearby?" Presley asked, barreling down the interstate toward their exit.

"Four plain clothes," Ruby provided. "I'm vetting them now. Judging from the initial search, the two of you never worked with any of them."

Not surprising. SAPD had over 2500 cops on duty, and probably at least a couple of hundred of them would have joined the force or transferred in after Presley and she left two years ago.

"What's your ETA?" Ruby asked.

"Ten minutes," Presley relayed.

"Good. That should give you time to park and get your bearings. Keep your earbuds open at all times so I can hear what's going on. Angel will give me a visual of you. Vest up," she tacked onto that.

They'd already put in the buds and donned vests before Presley had sped away from Maverick Ops' headquarters. They'd covered the vests with shirts to conceal both them and their shoulder holsters. Presley had had such a shirt in his SUV, and Billie had gotten one of her own from her go-bag.

"Message me after you've left Angel," Ruby instructed. It sounded as if she was on the verge of hanging up, but that didn't happen. She paused. "I'll be looking into that case the kidnapper mentioned. The one where a female hostage died. Anything I should know about it?"

"Other than I failed?" Presley said. The dread was there in his voice. In his intense brown eyes, too.

" I failed," Billie was quick to interject. "I was the senior officer on that investigation."

"Yes, other than that, tell me what happened," Ruby responded in a matter of fact tone.

Presley launched into the explanation. "Two years ago, Helana Frankfort killed her married lover, Charlie Belmont, after a heated argument. Charlie was friends with our captain, so he pressured Billie to lead the investigation. She tapped me as her partner, and we were a couple of hours into it when we learned that Helana had taken Charlie's wife, Sandy, at gunpoint."

He stopped to gather his breath, and Billie took up the recap.

"We got a tip where Helana might be holding Sandy, and since it was close to where we were, Presley and I went in pursuit." Again, Billie had to fight back those memories that were merging with the sound of Victoria's scream. "When we arrived at the location, we saw the women were outside a motel room, and there was a struggle in process. Sandy was trying to escape. Helana was armed. We didn't have a clean shot so we attempted a negotiation."

"It failed," Presley finished. "And Helana killed Sandy while she was screaming for us to save her."

"Helana is dead or in jail?" Ruby questioned.

"The latter," Presley supplied. "Once she'd killed Sandy, she tried to turn the gun on herself, but we stopped her. She was convicted and received two consecutive life sentences."

Ruby stayed quiet for a moment. "I'll look into anyone connected to that case. Anyone who might have a grudge against the two of you."

"You think Presley and I could be the reason Victoria was taken?" Billie came out and asked.

"It could be playing into it," Ruby replied. "But millions of dollars' worth of diamonds could be, too."

True. Money was a huge motive. But revenge could be as well, and Presley and she had been dragged into this by the kidnappers requesting them. So, Billie made a mental note to do her own digging into Sandy's murder.

"Keep me posted," Ruby added a moment later, and this time, she did end the call.

Presley took the exit, and the logjam of traffic ahead of them caused him both to curse and slow down. Even though he no longer lived in San Antonio, he obviously remembered his way around the back streets of the city because he took one.

"If there's a connection between Sandy and this, we'll find it," he muttered. Obviously, they were on the same wavelength, and it sickened her to think there was a possibility that Victoria had been snatched in some vendetta. "But the connection might be that the kidnappers could believe we're screw-ups, that we won't pose a threat to them getting the diamonds."

Billie hadn't considered it from that angle, but Presley was right. They, and therefore SAPD, had received a lot of bad press about it, partly because someone had recorded Sandy being murdered on their phone and uploaded it to social media. It'd gotten thousands of hits before the cops had managed to get it taken down.

"All that's for later," he muttered. "Right now, we deal with getting back the hostage."

Billie fixed that in her mind. They couldn't save Sandy, but they stood a chance of rescuing Victoria.

Presley threaded his way through the streets, and when they reached the diner, she immediately saw Angel in the parking lot. He'd worked mainly deep cover when he'd been on the job, but she had seen him often enough with Presley to know who he was. And now, like Presley and their other former cop friend, Jace Malley, they were all security specialists at Maverick Ops.

Angel moved to the SUV the moment Presley stopped and lowered the window. He nodded a greeting to both of them before he handed Presley a small black cloth bag.

"Let's hope the fakes are good," Angel muttered. "Be safe," he added, stepping away so that they could drive off.

Presley handed her the bag, and she shoved it into the front pocket of her jeans. It was mind-blowing to think that something so small could be worth so much. Well, they would be if these were the real deal.

While Presley drove the few blocks to the park, Billie checked her primary weapon and the small snub-nosed backup piece that she carried in a slide holster at the back of her jeans. Both were ready. So was she. Now, she had to pray that all went well.

Presley pulled to a stop in the parking lot, and even though they'd expected it to be jammed, both of them muttered some profanity as they looked out at the sea of people. She scanned the crowd, looking for anyone and anything that didn't fit. She knew Presley was doing the same thing.

"Nothing stands out," he muttered.

She had to make a sound of agreement. Then again, she seriously doubted the kidnappers would have a bloody, battered woman in this mix. So, where the heck were they? The question had barely had time to register in her mind when she heard Ruby's voice through the earbud.

"Incoming drone feed," Ruby let them know.

The footage immediately popped onto the dash monitor. It was grainy but detailed enough for her to see their SUV. And Angel's van as it drove past them toward the other end of the parking lot. Once he was in place, he might have a better view than they did.

"Feed is being analyzed. So far, no sign of Victoria," Ruby added.

The seconds crawled by, and the waiting fueled both her worry and the adrenaline. Angel's text didn't help with that, either.

"Nothing," he messaged.

Since there wasn't anything else for her to do, Billie scanned the crowd again, slower this time, and she spotted what she thought might be one of the plain-clothes cops. She was so focused on her search that when the ringing sound of her phone shot through the SUV, it caused her to gasp.

Billie frowned when she looked at the screen. "Unknown Caller."

"One of the kidnappers," Ruby supplied. "I didn't give them either of your contact info."

So, they were resourceful since only a handful of people had her number. That didn't help with the knot already in Billie's stomach.

"Trace and recording activated," Ruby said a moment later. "Take the call on speaker."

Billie did, and she didn't have to wait long before she heard that irritating fake voice. "I see you followed instructions. Good job. No one's died on your watch today. Not yet, anyway. Let's keep it that way."

"We're here at the park," Billie stated. "Where are you?"

"Not at the park." He laughed as if that were a hilarious joke. "I'm, uh, elsewhere with the lovely Victoria. Here's what you need to do to get her back. Come to 637 Barlett Street on the south side of the city."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Presley's shoulders snap back. They turned toward each other, their gazes colliding, and Billie knew something was wrong. Really, really wrong.

"Probably no need to put that address in the GPS," the kidnapper added. "Because Presley will know the way. Hope it doesn't bring back too many bad memories for you." The jerk laughed. "Be there in fifteen minutes, or you know the drill—cut off body parts."

The second he hung up, Billie blurted, "What's going on? How do you know that address?"

A muscle tightened in his jaw. "It was my childhood home until I was ten." Presley threw the SUV into reverse and backed out of the parking lot. "And it's the house where my father murdered my mother."