Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

I t took Kane and Lark over thirty minutes to get through security. They were not allowed into the lab but instead had been taken to a conference room and instructed that Waverly's team would be in soon to meet them.

"Wow, I knew Waverly worked on important stuff, but I didn't know it was like, top secret stuff," Lark said to him.

He hadn't either, which made this very interesting. Much more so than another socialite being kidnapped. The paperwork, filed by her boss Garvey Levins, had said she had invaluable knowledge of the business that couldn't be replicated if lost. Kane knew she was a physicist, but based on the application, it had made her sound rather low-risk. She didn't travel for work and never to dangerous countries. She wasn't public facing or on the conference trail, making her interaction with the public low.

The door opened and three men in lab coats walked in.

Kane identified Garvey instantly. He was the oldest and wore a tie under his lab coat. He was also the clear leader as everyone stood slightly behind him. Elwood, the Golden Retriever, looked close to tears. Kelvin looked smug. Lark had been spot-on in her descriptions of all three.

"Mr. Townsend. I'm Garvey Levins, Waverly's boss. And Lark. Oh, honey, I'm so sorry about this." Garvey gave Lark a sad smile. "I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you here? I thought Detective Chambers was handling the case. At least that's what he said when I talked to him."

"Why would Detective Chambers handle this when you specifically had a hostage and ransom policy for Dr. Davenport?" Kane asked, observing them. Kelvin and Elwood were both surprised by that news.

"Because Detective Chambers told me an entire boat was taken hostage. It's clearly not specific to Waverly or her job, especially since the family got the ransom and not us. So I didn't think the policy would take effect and that's what the detective said."

"Speaking of her policy, why did you take it out?" Kane asked.

"I'm sorry, but that's confidential," Garvey said, glancing at Lark.

Kane smiled but it wasn't a pleasant smile. It was a threat. "I think you can make an exception."

"Let me just say she'd developed something worth hundreds of millions. We have several competitors, and I was worried one might take her to get trade secrets from her. But again, this doesn't seem to be the case."

"You're right. This seems to be a snatch-and-grab of the entire boat, but the policy doesn't differentiate. Dr. Davenport was taken hostage so the policy kicks in," Kane explained.

"Oh, excellent then," Garvey seemed to relax. "What do you need us to do to help?"

It was clear Kelvin didn't care if Waverly ever got back. Elwood looked ready to have a nervous breakdown. Garvey was now on board, but none of their social cues were quite right. However, that could be the bubble effect Lark was talking about.

"Please, what can I do to help?" Elwood pleaded before Kane could answer Garvey.

"Can you bring me all of her personal belongings from her office?" Kane asked. He didn't trust Kelvin to do it and he thought Elwood would be a little more flexible on the whole confidentiality thing than her boss.

"Of course." Damn. The way his eyes lit up really was like a Golden Retriever.

"What do you need me for? I have work to do." Kelvin asked, sounding like a whiney child being asked to wait after class.

"Kelvin," Garvey hissed. "We will do whatever Mr. Townsend needs us to bring Waverly home."

"Does Waverly have any enemies in the office?" Kane asked, looking at Kelvin.

"Please," he said with a roll of his eyes. "As if anyone cares enough."

"That's enough, Kelvin. Why don't you get back to work?" Garvey ordered. Kelvin left the room with a pissed-off huff. "Sorry, Kelvin doesn't like working under Waverly. She can make him feel, well, stupid. He then takes it out on her. He walked in here after college graduation and thought because he was the smartest kid in his class there he would be the smartest person here. He was sorely mistaken. He has a lot of potential if he'd get his ego out of the way. Now, Waverly? She's the smartest person here and yet she never had any problem working with others. That's why I promoted her recently. She brings out the best in the other scientists. Well, except Kelvin. Now, what can I do to help?"

"I need you to write a check when I tell you to. Don't worry, my company will reimburse you per your policy," Kane explained.

Garvey nodded. "Anything to bring Waverly home." He turned to Lark and gave her another forced smile. "I'm sorry this is happening, Lark. Let me know if you need anything at all. I'm sure Maria will be baking up a nervous storm and sending you some."

"Thank you, sir."

"You have my number. Call anytime." Garvey held out his hand and Kane shook it.

Garvey led them to the lobby where Elwood met them with Waverly's things. Kane shushed Lark when she started to talk the second they left. "Wait." He led her to the car and didn't talk until they were on the road headed to her college. "Okay, you can talk now."

"Do you think they were listening?" Lark asked.

"It's better to be safe."

"Kelvin really is a jerk."

"He sure is," Kane confirmed and decided to look into him.

"What now?" Lark asked.

"Now I do my job. I'll need your phone, but I'll buy you a new one. And don't worry," he said when she began to protest. "I will keep you up to date on every contact that gets made."

Lark nodded. She pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and handed it to him. "I trust you. Oh, and can you not look at my photos?"

"I have a younger sister. I won't look through your phone at all. I promise."

"I'm so glad Waverly had this policy. Please, bring my sister home. I'll pay anything, even if I have to work for the rest of my life to pay you back."

"Don't worry, Lark. I won't stop until Waverly is home."

"Let me out!" Waverly yelled to no avail. She'd yelled so much her voice was just a whisper at this point. She'd yelled nonstop for the first day. No one came. No one listened.

"Come on, Waverly, figure this out," she mumbled to herself. She'd been talking to herself to try to keep the panic at bay. She'd tried breaking down the door. It didn't work. She'd tried escaping through the window, but unless she could turn into a completely flat, two-dimensional object, she wasn't going to fit.

She was covered in dirt and sweat, and the room smelled, but at least she had a toilet, even if it wasn't working. She got a bottle of water a day and she focused on taking sips at regular intervals to keep her mind working.

Waverly worked on math problems and attempted to calculate where they were. She used a small chipped piece of tile to write a note behind the toilet in case something happened to her. And she battled crying since she knew it would only speed up dehydration. There were downfalls to being as smart as she was. One was knowing what was happening to her body simply from the heat and lack of water and food. Then, she did calculations on kidnappings and rescues. So far, they hadn't bothered her physically, but she knew as more time went by, the temptation would be there for the men. She also knew the longer they were forced to keep her alive, the more resentful they'd get.

Waverly rested during the heat of the day and listened. She learned their routines. She tried to learn names. She waited, she learned, and she would find a way to adapt and get out of this alive using the biggest muscle she had—her brain.

"Let's go," she heard on the third day. The deep voice and barking order was from the leader of the gang that had taken them. His name was Bruno.

Waverly sat up from where she lay on the floor. She could see out the long, narrow, broken window if she stood on the edge of the bathtub. The men had their faces covered as they pushed two couples along the path that led to more hurricane-ravaged villas.

"What's going on?" the husband asked as his wife clung to him.

"Your ransom has been paid. You're going home," Bruno told them. The wife began to cry with relief. Relief that triggered a wave of jealousy in Waverly.

Jealous or not, hope blossomed, but hope was dangerous. It could blind you to what really needed to be done to save yourself. "Hey!" Waverly yelled. The couple looked toward her villa. "Tell Lark Davenport of Charleston I'm still here! Tell Lark to call my boss for the money!"

"Shut up!" Bruno shot off a round of gunfire and Waverly jerked back in fear, losing her balance and falling off the edge of the tub. She landed hard on the tile floor, the air driven from her lungs.

"Please, someone, save me," Waverly repeated in her head over and over again.

"I told you. I represent Lark Davenport. You're not going to talk to her," Kane said calmly to the man he'd been negotiating with for the past several days.

This was the second phone call between them. Yesterday Kane had called and introduced himself without Lark there. Today she was sitting across the desk from him in his new office listening in. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she bit her lip to keep from making a sound. The kidnapper would feel powerful if he knew Lark was here. He'd purposefully taunt Lark to hurt her and ensure a larger payout.

"She must have money if she has you," the leader named Tomas said.

"She doesn't. She's a nineteen year old kid who is scared out of her mind. I offered to help since you told her no cops." Kane had to repeat this from yesterday.

"Five million dollars. This isn't a negotiation."

"Everything in life is a negotiation, Tomas," Kane told him. "And as I've told you, it's pointless to even talk if you don't give me proof of life."

Lark bit her lip hard. It was difficult to hear that her sister was now a negotiation, which is why he tried to keep Lark isolated as much as possible from the actual negotiations, but he knew Tomas wanted to talk to her, so it was time to use her to get something Kane wanted.

Angelica walked into the room and set down a piece of paper. Kane frowned. "You've released the Hambletons for fifteen thousand. I'll wire you fifteen thousand right now for Waverly Davenport." Kane had gotten a manifest from the resort and had made contact with every family. The more knowledge he had, the more he would be able to negotiate.

"You are a cop," Tomas spat, followed by a string of Spanish curse words.

"I am not. I'm a businessman. My business is making sure you get what you want and I get what I want. You want money and I want Dr. Davenport home safely. Fifteen thousand, providing you show proof of life." Kane didn't know what it was, but something was off. Tomas was fighting too much. The ransom number for Waverly was obscenely high. Kane had talked to the first family who had been released for ten thousand dollars. The husband's parents paid it instantly and the couple had been dropped on the far side of the island where their resort was located. The second couple, the Hambletons, had been dropped at a neighboring island three hours after their adult children paid the ransom.

Most ransom situations were resolved peacefully, but they usually took months. It was a game. Kane knew it. The kidnappers knew it. They stole an asset and knew that asset's worth. That's how ten million came down to six hundred thousand over time, but it came down and they were then released. Now, when Kane was working with an established kidnapper that he'd already built a relationship with, those negotiations were cut down to weeks, sometimes days.

But here . . . here, hostages were already being released, yet there hadn't been a budge on the price for Waverly.

"I won't talk until you put the sister on the phone," Tomas demanded.

"If I give you that, then I want proof of life." Kane's tone was firm but nonthreatening. The line went silent for a moment.

"Deal." Tomas spoke in Spanish to someone else. Kane had told him to speak in English and that always gave people the false sense that Kane didn't understand other languages. Kane spoke Spanish and easily understood the command Tomas had given to someone named Jose to get a picture of Waverly. Kane also recorded every phone call. He would listen back to try to get a location and if he didn't know a language, he'd have it translated. "Tell me, Kane. How do you know the Davenports?"

In most ransom cases, Kane would fully identify himself. The kidnappers usually took targets most likely to have Hostage and Ransom Insurance. They didn't just kidnap someone for no reason. They knew their target and knew what they were worth. However, here, it seemed as if they took a whole group and didn't target Waverly, so Kane kept the real reason for his involvement vague.

"I'm a friend of Lark's. That's why she called me when you said no cops."

"You sound like a cop," Tomas spat.

"I swear upon Waverly's life I am not a cop. I own an insurance company." Kane kept to the truth in case Tomas knew about the hostage and ransom insurance. The last thing Kane wanted was to be caught in a lie and have Tomas take it out on Waverly.

"I have the proof of life. Let me talk to the sister," Tomas demanded.

"Send the photo first."

"You want me to trust you?" Tomas asked with a chuckle.

"Here's me acting in good faith. I won't put the phone on speaker until I get the picture. Lark, say hello."

"Hello." Lark's voice wobbled as she tried to stay strong.

Her phone pinged and Kane pulled up the text. There was a photo of Waverly in a dirty bathroom. She looked exhausted but alive. And by the glare, she was still mentally strong. Good. She'd need to keep that up.

Kane turned the phone and showed it to Lark. Lark gasped and Kane muted the phone. "Get it together. You can't show weakness. You know what to say." Kane unmuted the phone. "Here's Lark. Say what you want to say."

"Hello little bird," Tomas practically purred. "Are you as beautiful as your sister?"

"What do you want?" Lark asked, her voice trembling but strong. She kept her eyes on Kane as he had instructed her to do.

"Five million dollars and your sister will leave here, untouched." The threat was clear and Lark looked ready to crumble. Kane gave a slow shake of his head and held up two fingers. She knew the signal.

"I'm just a college student. I have a couple hundred dollars. I could probably scrape together a thousand. Kane said he'd help. Fifteen thousand. That's more money than I'll make in two years."

"Aw, little bird is trying to spread her wings. Too bad your sister will pay for your actions. Remember, what happens next is your fault."

"You hurt Dr. Davenport and there will be no money," Kane said as Angelica whisked Lark to the far side of the room to get her calm down.

"Little bird, is your sister worth so little?"

"I know what you're doing, Tomas," Kane said, calling Tomas out on the emotional threat. "You don't care about Waverly. You care about the money and I'm here to help you get that money. But listen to me, Tomas. I will walk away from the table and take Lark with me if there are any more threats. Fifteen thousand. Think about it and we'll talk again tomorrow."

Kane hung up and Lark let out a soul-shattering cry. Kane picked up his phone and called his IT department. "Did you get a location?" Lark stopped crying and began to listen. "Do we have an ID?" Kane asked after writing down the location.

Kane's brow creased. That was interesting. He hung up the phone and looked up to see Lark and Angelica staring at him.

"She's on a small private island that was supposed to be a boutique resort but got destroyed by a hurricane five years ago. I'm pulling up the satellite now. No identification on the kidnappers yet," Kane told them as he pulled up the coordinates.

He turned his laptop slightly so Lark could see where the island was located in terms of the resort. Then he zoomed in and saw the broken-down villas."

"Is that a live image?" Lark asked.

"No. It's from months ago. Let me make a call."

Kane called Ryker. Damn, he hated asking for another favor. Even if they were friends, they were both self-made men and more comfortable with teasing than asking for favors, and this was Kane's second favor to ask.

"Hey," Kane said, trying not to sound pissed off at calling. "I need a favor."

"Another one? My, haven't you turned into a needy friend," Ryker said dryly.

"This isn't for me. I'm with my client's teenage sister. We got a ransom call and we've found her location, but we need current satellite images of the island. I was hoping you knew someone with access to that information to help save Waverly Davenport."

"Davenport? I knew an Alexander and Tricia Davenport. They died in a car accident," Kane heard an elderly woman's voice say in the background.

Kane turned to Lark and put the phone on speaker. "You're on speaker with Waverly's sister, Lark. Lark, were your parents Alexander and Tricia?"

"Yes? Why?"

"Oh, honey child!" the older lady said. Clearly, Ryker had also put it on speaker. "Your sister was kidnapped?"

"Yes, and Mr. Townsend is helping me get her back. Who is this, please? How do you know my sister?" Lark was battling her emotions but holding strong.

"It's Tibbie Cummings, dear. I was in the garden club with your mother and am involved with the debutantes. I was there for Waverly's come-out and yours."

Kane saw Lark relax as a sob escape. "Oh Miss Tibbie, Waverly's been kidnapped and we're hoping whoever this man is can help us. Can you help us too?"

There was the clear sound of a hand smacking a suit-covered shoulder. "You better help them, young man!"

"I already am, Miss Tibbie," Ryker said calmly. Kane's phone pinged with a text. "There you go. Let me know if you need anything else. I'm sorry you are going through this, Miss Davenport."

"Thank you, whoever you are."

"Ryker Faulkner. Kane will give you my number. Call if you need anything, Miss Davenport."

"Thanks, Ryker."

Kane hung up and pressed the link in the text.

"That was Ryker Faulkner? Oh my god. How do you know a freaking billionaire?" Lark asked.

"We're friends through my sister and we all live in the same small town. And, my new office here, I just happen to have bought from Miss Tibbie earlier this week. Ryker's just next door. I can't escape him. Now, let's see what he sent us."

The link loaded and there was a live view of the coordinates Kane had sent Ryker.

Lark gasped and they both leaned forward to watch the ant-sized people walking around the island. Kane immediately got to work. He put the image on the giant monitor and began taking notes. How many people? How many villas? How many weapons did he see? Where did the guards gather? Kane knew that there was no such thing as too much intel.