2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Laney

A s I watch the security footage, teeth grated together, I'm praying that something will help lead us to Peg. Mrs. Quinn is beside herself, blaming her care for the bairn as the reason for the disappearance.

"Margaret, they would have taken her either way, it's okay." Da reassures. "People like this are just waiting for the perfect moment to strike. If it's not the bairn, it would be something else. There are likely cons just waiting for an opportunity to fall under our radar, and this is the first time we've had a bairn in the family."

"Aye, just wait until our Laney has her bairn." Mama nods her agreement. "We'll have to double our security then."

"I swear I left her for thirty seconds." Mrs. Quinn assures, shaken. "How could they have gotten in that fast? Shouldn't we call the police?"

"Dougall McAdams has already called the police, Margaret." Da says. "And this was likely a job by one of our own. That's the only explanation for it happening so fast."

"Aye." I nod. "Peg is friendly, but she wouldn't have gone with someone with an American accent. She's not familiar."

"So, you're saying it was an inside job?" Mrs. Quinn shrieks. "Where are the police?"

Mama pours her a tea and sits next to her. "Margaret, the police are already doing what they can. Caleb's got the kidnapper on the phone and he's following two of his people, who are following a suspect. Everyone is doing all that they can."

I'm trying hard to focus on the footage, trying not to think about the fact that the bairn that I have grown to love so quickly recently is in harm's way. It's difficult to fathom that she was safe, at home in Scotland, with her mama, mere weeks ago. Then after Gretchen died, we brought her here to North Carolina, and now someone has taken her. The guilt is undeniable. And if it weren't for the tiny bairn growing inside me, I'd be out there, with Caleb, searching for the son of a bitch that took Peg.

That's when da's phone rings. "It's Dougall." He says, before picking it up and putting it on speaker. "Dougall. What have you got. Laney's just combing through the security footage."

"Good, good. Caleb's still got the man on the line, and police are in pursuit of the man that Caleb and two of our vehicles are following."

"What do the police have to say, Dougall?" Mama asks.

"Not much yet. We're just waiting on the ransom demands."

Da chuckles mirthlessly. "Yeah, that's inevitable."

"Why don't your people look through the footage so Laney can do something more productive?" Dougall suggests.

"I know the staff better than they do, Dougall. Besides, I'm expecting Caleb to call me back anytime."

"How are you all holding up?" Dougall asks.

Mrs. Quinn gasps, as fresh tears come, and mama takes her into the living room. "We're all okay, mostly, Dougall." Da says. "Margaret isn't taking this so well. She blames herself."

"If you'll pardon me saying so, Rupert, it's your security people that are to blame here." Dougall volunteers.

"I know it, Dougall. And I'll address it. As far as I'm concerned, with few exceptions, we'll be hiring a whole new security team after this." Da states.

"Which is another reason why I'm going through the footage." I add.

"Smart girl." Dougall says. "Keep in touch."

"Will do." Da says before clicking off.

Da sits next to me, as we both look at the monitor. I'm going through, frame by frame, the last time we saw Peg, and so far, it's not much from the backyard, until I finally see something. "Do we have all of our staff under lock and key, da?" I ask him, as I see two of our men approaching the yard from their vehicles.

"I'm not sure what good it will do, Laney. Even if it was one of ours, he could have easily paid for the troubles."

"But Peg would never leave with someone she doesn't know, da. Gretchen taught her well to stay away from strangers. That's the main reason why the lass refused to move to the states. She feared strangers."

That's when I see it. A man approaching one of our security guys from the back door. He's nobody that I recognize, and he seems to be just casually conversing from the back gate, yards away from where Peg is. "Who the hell is that?" Da asks.

"I don't know, but he's talking to Zen. Anyone that comes inside the house or anywhere near it gets logged, and none of our boys say that anyone was logged."

I look at da. "Maybe Zen fucked up, da."

Da opens his phone. He calls Zen. "Would you come inside for a moment." He says and hangs up.

Moments later, Zen appears, with a blank look on his face, like he isn't expecting to be raked through the coals. "I thought you said that you didn't log anyone today, Zen." Da says, pointing to the footage, which clearly shows Zen having a conversation with an unknown man.

"Aye, I didn't log him, sir. He had the wrong house."

"What did he want?" I ask.

"He said he was visiting distant family. Hadn't been here since he was a wee boy himself."

Da lifts a brow. "Where was he from?"

"Scotland, sir. That's how come I stood there having a conversation with him. He's from the same parts as I am. Fact, I think I went to school with the lad."

"Did you get his name?" I ask.

"Mackenzie, sir. Nathan Mackenzie."

"Why didn't you mention this before, Zen?" Da demands. "This could be valuable information. I asked for everyone to report any movement from anywhere in this house today."

He lifts his hands, defenseless. "Like I said, sir, he was at the wrong house."

"Which would be the perfect alibi for someone who needed to confirm the place." Da practically spits, he's so angry. "Did you tell him what family lives here?"

"Yes, sir." He nods conspiratorially.

"And did you tell him about Peg?"

"No, sir. But I think he could see her from the corner of his eye. The bairn was out playing with Mrs. Quinn at the time, sir."

Da punches the table in frustration. "Idiot! If you had told us this from the start, we could have figured out who this bastard is!"

While da berates Zen, I'm texting Caleb, telling him that we may have a lead. Nathan Mackenzie is a rather common name, but if Zen is correct, and that is the man's true name, I may be able to pinpoint him somehow. If he's from Scotland, though, it may be more difficult, especially if he hasn't migrated to the states. "Do you know if he lives here, Zen? Or if he's still in Scotland?" I interrupt.

"Err…he said he was visiting. I presume he's still in Scotland."

"Dammit." I mutter, turning back to the footage. It looks like Zen and Nathan part ways, and Zen goes off to another post, while I can see through another camera, Mrs. Quinn and Peg playing together. All looks good and well until moments later, when Mrs. Quinn goes inside. As da continues to yell at Zen, I watch closely. Something captures Peg's attention from the other side of the yard. She lifts her head from her Barbie collection, and walks off the patio. From a distance, it looks like a small animal; a kitten, maybe.

Then I realize that it's a lure. A toy cat, being pulled from a string of some sort. It pulls her to it faster and faster, until it falls out of view of the camera. The next camera shows a man waving to Peg from the other side of the fence, off in the distance. It's a birdseye view, but I can distinctly see that it's our Scottish friend from earlier, since he's wearing the same denim jacket as in the last frame he appeared in. It looks like he coaxes her to open the gate, which is supposed to be locked and engaged with the security system, but it's not.

"Da, where's the panel for the security system?" I ask, interrupting the screaming.

"What's up, Laney? Do you have something?" Da asks, suddenly less interested in shouting at Zen.

"The back gate looks disengaged. That's how he got Peg."

"It would have alerted us if it was disabled, Laney." Da says, looking as unconvinced of that fact as I am, since I'm literally watching a four-year-old open it and walk straight out.

"He must have disengaged it, sir." Zen offers. "It's in fine working order." Zen adds, pulling up the panel on his phone, and showing it to us. The green light above the panel coordinates clearly show that all is well.

"Dammit. He must have had someone watching over us for a while, figuring out how to tamper with the system." Da says, frustrated. "He's got to have someone on the inside though, as there is no way that anyone could have pulled that off without us seeing it on the security camera first."

"Wait, we did have a technician come in last week, sir." Zen adds. "He was from the security company. Had the credentials for it and everything."

"These people are slick, Laney." Da states. "We need to get in touch with the police straight away."

"Not before I let Caleb know, da. That man had to have known Peg somehow. Even with the little toy lure, she would never have taken off with him."

"No offence, lass, but bairns aren't exactly the smartest." Zen insinuates carefully.

"Zen, you don't know Peg. She's shy, scared, and her mama taught her well. She would never have done that unless she knew him. I swear to it." Then something occurs to me. "Wait, you said that he's from Scotland, right?"

Zen nods. "Aye."

"Gretchen could have known him. He…he could have been one of her sponsors. She said that's why she didn't want to leave Scotland, on account of losing touch with them."

"Do you know what organization she was sponsored with?" Da asks.

I tell him, since Gretchen shared the name of it, when I was still trying to build a case for her moving to the states. "I can look it up."

"You do that, Laney, while I call the police, and give them the update." Da says. Zen tactfully stays put, knowing full well that he hasn't been dismissed yet.

And as I connect with Caleb, the conversation is short, yet shocking.

Caleb

I watch from my truck, as my men deliver a healthy beating to the slender, cowardly man. After the third punch in the ribs, I get out of the vehicle. "Enough!" I shout from the distance.

"Mr. Harris, you're better off out of sight." Clancy, the larger security guy, suggests.

"It's okay, Clancy." I lift a hand to him, watching this cowardly man bent over by the waist, looking like he wants to puke so bad. I address him. "Are you Ned?"

He nods. "Yes. And I'll tell you what I told these guys, and that is that I don't know a goddamn thing about any kidnapping. I live in my fucking car, and this rich dude offered me five hundred bucks to drive this car around, losing anyone that was following me."

"Where did he tell you to leave the car?" I probe.

"He gave it to me. It was a win-win, man. My car's a piece of shit." I look at the Hyundai and think that if his car is worse than this one, I don't want to know what it looks like.

"And you've never seen the guy before?"

He coughs and regains his breath again, before speaking. "Dude, if I hung around with rich bastards like that, I wouldn't have to live in my car."

Point for him.

"You want me to investigate the car, sir?" Clancy offers.

"Na, it's probably stolen." I mutter. "And from the look of it, it won't last long enough to make it to the cop shop. I'm surprised it's hung on this long." I add, noting the fumes coming from the exhaust, and the plume of smoke billowing from the hood. I address Ned. "Where's your car, lad?"

He tells me. It's in this park up the street from my office. Known for vagrants hanging around in it. I pull a fifty out of my wallet and hand it to him. "Take a cab back and leave this shit mobile here." I address Clancy. "Call to have this thing towed away to the cop shop. Have them check the VIN and see if there's a connection anywhere." I address Ned again, who is looking at the fifty like it's gold. If he's telling the truth, that Higgins gave him five hundred bucks, then he doesn't need more cash, but I feel bad for the guy. Clancy and Mel likely broke a couple of ribs from the look of him.

"And you, Ned. Don't get yourself mixed up with scum like that. Chances are this guy is responsible for the kidnapping of my daughter."

"Look, I told you, man. I don't know shit about that."

"I get it, Ned. My point is that you shouldn't take money from strangers for things."

"Dude, until you've sat on your ass in the freezing cold, with a used coffee cup, begging for spare change, you don't know shit." Ned says, and I feel like a fool for thinking that he might be sympathetic. Not to mention the fact that I just condescended my own advice, giving him money, when in fact, I am a stranger to him.

"Fine, Ned. Off with it, then." I gesture for him to go, just as my phone rings, and I see that it's Laney. I pick up instantly.

"Caleb, I think I know who took Peg."

"Well, it definitely wasn't Ned here, that's for sure."

She ignores me. "Remember Gretchen told us about her support group and her sponsors?"

"Aye. What of it."

"Zen was talking to a lad named Nathan Mackenzie, and he was in the security footage, luring Peg to him. He's from Scotland, and he claimed that he was visiting family, but we're pretty sure he was tracking Peg down. I think he might have been one of her sponsors."

"How do we make a connection between him and Wesley Higgins?" I ask, trying to put two and two together.

"I'm not sure about that yet, but it could be any connection, Caleb. They're both thugs, clearly."

"Well, if Gretchen let on to anyone about me supporting her financially, it could mean anyone that knew her may be after us." I surmise.

"Exactly. So, what do we do now?"

"Well, Higgins gave me the ransom demand, as expected. So, we follow through with that, and see where it leads us."

"How much?"

"Twelve million."

A slight pause. "Do we give it to him?"

"We make him think that sure as hell we are, but no. At least, I stipulated that I see Peg before I give him a dime, so we'll see how that pans out."

"Your da and my da have been in touch with the police. It looks like it's in their hands now."

I pause, thinking about something. "Aye. Except for one thing, Laney."

"What."

"My little secret weapon."