Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

W averly had been in captivity for five days. Five long days of surviving on two protein bars and one bottle of water a day. The bathroom was so hot Waverly was constantly covered in sweat. She'd stopped wondering if it was from the heat or from the likely infection she had. She knew the cut on her arm was beginning to get infected when, two days ago, it had grown warm to the touch. Then yellow discharge began to leak from it. She'd gotten hot from the fever she knew she had and then at the same time she would shiver with chills so violent they wracked her whole body.

She'd asked for antibiotics but was ignored. She used what little water she had to try to clean it, but now red streaks were starting to appear on her arm. No amount of water was going to fix this. It was a clear sign things were only going to get worse.

Waverly heard people leaving. She'd jumped up on the bathtub and watched them all leave, but no one was coming for her. And they wouldn't. Lark didn't have the money to pay them what they wanted. Waverly would know. She was in charge of Lark's finances. Lark had nine hundred dollars in a savings account and that was it.

No one talked to Waverly. Even the leader, Bruno, had stopped talking to her as day four turned to day five. He simply glared at her when he tossed her a protein bar as if she were the problem here. It was then that Waverly decided she was going to die here. And if that was the case, then there was nothing holding her back from trying to escape.

Kane pressed the record button as the next ransom call came into Lark's phone. "Hello, Tomas," Kane said as he answered the phone. The leader of the negotiations had given him the name once it was clear this wasn't going to be a quick negotiation. It was probably a fake name, but six days into talks and Tomas still wasn't budging.

"Five million dollars. Is it ready?" Tomas asked.

"I told you that's not a reasonable request. You let the Johnstones go for ten thousand. I'll give you twenty thousand and you send Dr. Davenport home today." Over the past six days, every other couple was ransomed for ten to fifteen thousand dollars. Except Waverly. Which was highly suspicious.

"Five million or she dies here."

"Tomas, it's been days since you gave me proof of life. I want another proof and then we'll talk about a significant increase in ransom. Until then, we're done."

"Fine. I'll send you a picture."

"No, I want live video. You can fake a picture. It's been six days and I need to know that she's alive in real time."

Kane and Lark watched the live satellite feed as Kane talked to Tomas. "Is the sister with you?" Tomas asked.

"I'm right here. I've found some more money. Please, let me see my sister." Lark was getting better at talking to Tomas, but she was still always one second away from crying. However, it's probably what made Tomas agree to the video.

"Hold on."

The phone was muted and Kane muted his too. Suddenly, a man emerged from one of the villas. He was clearly on the phone. "There he is," Kane whispered. "Gotcha." They watched as he and two other men walked to a villa and disappeared inside. "That's where they're keeping her," Kane told Lark.

Lark bit back a sob right as Tomas unmuted the phone. Kane instantly did the same as he turned off the monitor. He couldn't risk Tomas knowing Kane knew where they were. Lark's phone rang with an incoming video call. Kane answered it, his face filling the screen.

"Let me see the sister," Tomas ordered. He wasn't on video. Instead, Tomas had the camera pointed at a thick wood door. It was clear there was no power in the villa. Instead, sunlight from the late afternoon sun provided the light.

"I'm here. Please, let me see my sister," Lark begged as she came onto camera.

Kane kept the frame tight so Tomas could only see Kane and Lark. Angelica had a cloned phone and was recording the video. Kane would take in what he could now, but he'd get the most information out of it after he watched it back several times.

One of the masked men removed the chair that was preventing the door from opening. The door opened and Waverly came into view. Lark gasped in horror.

"Wave!"

Waverly looked up from where she was lying on the dirty tile floor. "Lark? Lark! Help. I need antibiotics. I have an infection. Call Garvey. He'll loan you the money." Waverly turned to Tomas. "Or let me just give you my account numbers. You can have it all."

That was all they got. The door was slammed and the video feed ended. However, they were still on voice call. Kane could hear Waverly plead for help and Lark collapsed into a crying heap.

"Fifty thousand," Kane said, remaining calm.

"Five million."

"You know that's not possible," Kane told him.

"Then stop playing since you know the clock is ticking. Five million."

"I've more than doubled my offer. You can bring it down to something reasonable. I'm willing to work with you, but you saw the sister. She's a teenager. She doesn't have five million lying around."

"Fine," Tomas said and Kane was almost relieved until Tomas talked again. "4.99999 million. See how generous I am. Pay the five million or she dies. You have until the infection kills her."

The line went dead.

Lark screamed as tears and deep sobs made her entire body shudder. Kane wrapped his arms around her and held her. Angelica sent him the video, and even as he held Lark, he pulled it up on the large screen with his remote. Lark cried and he held her, but he was studying the video over her head. Kane paused it and saw that Waverly was doing something to her arm. He zoomed in and there it was. A nasty cut. He could tell she'd tried to keep it clean. She'd had a strip of cloth over it, trying to keep the dirt from it, but she pushed it down so it would be seen. There was no question. It was not only infected but the infection was spreading. Red streaks were spreading out from the wound.

Kane grabbed a screenshot and sent it to his phone before turning off the image once Lark had cried herself out.

"How can I come up with five million dollars?" Lark asked.

"We're not," Kane told her even as he was pressing the button to bring Angelica into his office.

"You're going to let her die?" Lark jumped up and hit him in the back as he gathered his things.

"Lark!" he said, turning and grabbing her two little balled-up fists as Angelica came into the office. "I'm not going to let your sister die. It's clear that no matter how much I pay, even if I pay the whole five million, he won't let her go. He let everyone else go for pretty darn cheap. Why not your sister? Why not double what he got paid for anyone else? Why deny medical care? The only thing that makes sense is that he has no intention of releasing her."

Lark paused. Her breathing stopped on an inhale. Her tears stopped. Her screaming stopped. Her brow creased as she replayed the last six days in her head. "I don't understand."

"I don't either. Not fully. However, I can tell you several things. One, I have never had someone flat-out refuse to negotiate. Even if Tomas knew who I was and that she had insurance, he would negotiate. Two, Waverly wasn't the only person there worth money, but she was the only person there with an H&R insurance policy. Three, two of the other couples are worth five times the amount Waverly is, and they released them all for twenty thousand or less. That tells me this was all done to distract from the fact that they had targeted Waverly from the very beginning," Kane told her, grabbing his go bag.

"Again, why? She's just . . . Waverly."

"Talking to you, I get the side of her that's your sister. I've talked to Elwood and I've gone through her things. I see her personal side and I'm learning her business side. You said it yourself — your sister is a genius. I think she has something someone wants. And I think that it's whatever it is she invented at work. The invention even Elwood won't tell me about. And trust me, I pushed."

"They have her, so why pretend the ransom?"

"That's what I was hung up on, too," Kane admitted. "I'm not sure, but I am sure that it's about whatever she's invented, and I'm sure they're willing to let her die. I think they don't want anyone to know she was the target. If only she was kidnapped, then we would know it was about her and dig into whatever it is she invented."

Lark's eyes got big. "But if she dies during a group hostage event, then she was just the unlucky one."

"Exactly," Kane told her.

"What do we do about it?" Lark asked, clearly worried but more focused than she was a moment ago.

"You are going to go back to school and pretend everything is status quo. But, as for me, when negotiations fail or when the client's life is in danger, it's no longer a ransom."

"What is it?"

"It's a rescue."

Kane drove to the children's hospital while Angelica got all the flights, boats, and guns he needed lined up. Everything he'd need would be waiting for him at a designated location on the nearest island, which wasn't the resort but a smaller, poorer country. The landing strip was a dirt runway, but that made it easier for Kane. He could bribe his way out of any trouble instead of having a knowledgeable police force to deal with.

Kane walked through the hospital doors and stopped at the information desk. A nurse looked up and then blinked in surprise. He then got an appreciative smile from her and gave her one back. "Hi. I'm looking for my brother."

"Name?" she asked flirtatiously.

"My name is Kane. My brother is Dr. Rowan Townsend."

The nurse instantly became alert. Rowan was the head of pediatric surgery. Nurses tried to flirt with him, but they only tried once. Rowan was known for shutting all workplace romances down, not just fast, but not so nicely either.

"Of course, Mr. Townsend. Let me page him."

"Don't worry, I don't bite like my brother." Kane winked at her.

"Too bad," she whispered as her phone rang. "Dr. Townsend, your brother is here to see you." She paused. "Um, Kane, sir." She nodded and hung up.

"I'll show you the way," she told him.

She buzzed Kane in and walked him through the emergency room. They paused outside a bay and Kane heard Rowan talking to a child. The parents were probably in the room, but Rowan always spoke to the children. "Nurse Stacy here will sing you a song and then you'll drift off to sleep. When you wake up, that piece of metal will be gone."

"Will it hurt?" the little girl's voice asked.

"Not while you're asleep. When you wake up, it will hurt, but not like the accident. It's a healing hurt as your body heals from the accident. You'll have stitches and someday you'll have an amazing story to tell your friends. You're like a superhero," Rowan told the girl who sounded about eight years old.

"Where are my mama and daddy?

Kane's heart broke. He didn't know how Rowan did this day in and day out. Whereas Kane went into hostile territory to rescue people, Rowan was far braver. He would operate on the most dangerous of cases. Cases where other doctors said the children would never live. Rowan would do it. Sometimes they did live. Sometimes those sweet children would not. Rowan said those children needed to know someone was fighting for them.

"They are sleeping just like you will be and will have stitches just like you when they wake up. Now, Nurse Stacy is going to get you ready. Okay? Tell her your favorite songs and she'll either sing them or play them on her phone."

"Do you know Taylor Swift?" the child asked the nurse.

"Of course I do. Which song is your favorite and we'll sing it."

The curtain opened and Rowan walked out. "Walk with me," Rowan said, heading down the hall knowing Kane would follow.

Kane glanced behind him and saw two nurses push a bed out of the bay. A little girl was lying in the middle of the bed with a large piece of sheet metal, looking as if it belonged to a car, sticking out of her stomach as they all sang Taylor Swift.

"Shit," Kane whispered. "Will she be okay?"

"She'll lose some of her intestines and one kidney, but she'll live. Her fucking parents were high on drugs and ran into a semi. They'll live, but I've already asked Children's Services to place her with her grandparents. Now, what do you need that's so urgent you had to come to the hospital?" Rowan asked.

Kane held out his phone. It was zoomed in on Waverly's arm. "Tell me about this."

"It's infected. The red lines show it's spreading. If she doesn't get a boatload of antibiotics in her soon, she'll go septic if she's not already. She could lose her arm or die. Who is this?" Rowan pushed into the prep room attached to the operating room and began to scrub his hands.

"My client. She's in the Caribbean being held hostage."

"I'd pay the ransom now." Rowan paused and looked at his brother. "Ah, you're going to rescue her."

"Yeah. What do I need to take with me, medically, to help her?"

Rowan looked back down at the picture. "Zoom out." He looked at Waverly from head to toe and nodded. "Do you have her name and birthdate?" Kane nodded. "Pick up that phone, press 443, and put it to my ear."

Kane did what his brother said. "Pharmacy, it's Dr. Townsend. I'm sending my brother down to pick up a prescription for one Waverly Davenport." He rattled off her birthdate and address and then a series of medications. "Have them ready in five,"

Rowan ordered before nodding for Kane to hang up the phone.

"Oral antibiotics aren't enough. I'm sending you with two different shots to give her. One in each butt cheek for two days. Then you'll give her the oral antibiotics. I'm also including some antiseptic cleaner and waterproof bandages. Good luck. Should you take Hunter with you?"

"Hunter can save the world. I can save the girl." It wasn't a rivalry with his Special Forces older brother, but Kane did get tired of being asked if he could handle things himself. He had Hunter's reputation, but in the hostage and rescue world, Kane always delivered.

"Hmm, it's like that, is it? She is very pretty."

Kane rolled his eyes but didn't admit that he'd been thinking about Waverly a little too much like that too. "It's not like that."

"Sure it isn't. Go get your girl. Good luck and call me if you need a doctor."

The little girl was wheeled into the operating room on the other side of the glass. "Good luck to you too."

"She'll live."

"I mean, good luck not killing the parents."

"Now, that luck I will take," Rowan muttered as he shoved his butt against the door and headed into the operating room.