“I think he had to ditch his ATV. I found one a little ways down the path.”
“I heard the engine cut out, and we decided to wait and let him get away.”
“Smart move.” He circled one arm around her waist and took Hailey by the hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 37
Torie fought back the moisture in her stinging eyes as she tried to wrap her head around what had just happened. Who had taken them and why?
They needed to find out. Maybe there would be a clue in the kidnapper’s vehicle.
Torie turned to the exit. “Let’s take a look at the ATV.”
His green eyes understanding, Joe gave a nod. “We need to call Craig once we get a cell signal too.”
Torie looked around for the ATV but didn’t see it. A narrow path forced its way through some bushes, and there were recent shoe impressions in the vegetation.
“It’s this way,” Joe said.
He held back the bushes for her and Hailey, and they forced their way through the vegetation into a small clearing. She went to the ATV, but as she neared, she saw the police emblem on the side.
“That one’s mine,” Joe said. “The other one is a little ways along the path.”
He helped her along the uneven ground since she was still so unsteady. He pointed. “There it is. Let me check it out.” He climbed into the passenger seat and began to open every compartment and checked under the seats.
“Find anything?”
“Not really.” He reached out and grabbed the key ring in the ignition. “Look at this.”
He held it up and it took a moment for the metal piece dangling from the ring to register to Torie. “That’s the top hat from a Monopoly game!”
He took out his phone and looked at it. “One bar. I’ll call Craig. He’s going to have a cow that I examined the ATV.”
“I don’t think we had any choice. We need to find out what’s going on. You go ahead and call him.”
He exchanged a few short words with Craig. What did all this mean? If she could push back the pain enough, maybe she could see to the heart. The man’s voice reverberated in her head. She knew that voice—if it would just come to her. Her gaze went back to the keys with the top hat token. The token for wealth.
Joe ended the call. “He’ll be here in a few minutes. He’s just finishing up with security for the dignitaries arriving.”
Torie watched him begin to tinker with the engine. Her memory nagged at her.
Dignitaries. The dinner tonight. Then it came to her. “It’s Noah. It was Noah’s voice.”
He lifted a brow. “Noah kidnapped you?”
She nodded. “And I keep thinking about how picky Amelia was about the globes and where she wanted them. What if they are planning something against the bank and government officials? Noah was reading that book about the Federal Reserve. What if he’s part of the protesters against the Federal Reserve? I know he works for the senator, but maybe it’s part of his plot. Joe, we need to get to the hotel, to the Sans Souci building. The banking executives are all in danger. I think whoever is in on this with Noah plans to take them all out.”
“Why Sans Souci?”
“It’s where they’re all staying.” She was missing something else, but what was it? When the memory hit her, she put her hand to her mouth. “What if Lisbeth found out about his plan somehow? She was poking into things and was part of the hotel’s planning for the globes. She might have overheard something, and that’s why she was killed.”
“Craig’s on his way. We need to pass this information along to him.”
She shook her head. “There’s no time. Guests will be gathering for the opening games very soon. I need to get there. I can take your ATV.”
“I just fixed a fouled spark plug on this one.” He gestured to Noah’s ATV. “See if it starts.”
She nodded and the engine fired the first time she tried to start it. “You and Hailey wait here for Craig, and I’ll get to the hotel. Meet up with me there.”
“Let’s try calling your aunt first. Maybe she can get them all to safety.”
She put her hand on his arm. “What if she’s part of it? She lied about my mom. What else has she lied about? And I heard Noah say, ‘She’s going to kill me.’ We can’t trust anyone.”
She saw the argument gathering in his eyes, but she didn’t want to argue so she accelerated away. Lives were at stake, and she could only pray she wasn’t too late.
* * *
Torie might be driving straight into danger. Joe paced while waiting for Craig. Her phone was broken, so he couldn’t even contact her to see how it was going.
His gaze slid to his daughter. What could he do with Hailey before he went to the hotel? He couldn’t take his daughter into danger. He thought through who he could trust. He’d call his parents but he needed someone here on the island right now. Maybe Danielle wouldn’t mind keeping her. Hailey would enjoy being with her little twins.
He shot off a quick text to Danielle, and she replied almost immediately, suggesting she send her husband to pick up Hailey.
“You get to go play with Danielle’s twins tonight, and it might be a sleepover,” he told Hailey. “Mr. Pete will be here in a few minutes.”
A frown still creased her forehead. “I don’t want to leave you, Daddy. I’m scared.”
He pulled her against his chest and kissed the top of her head. “I know, Peanut, but it might be a long, boring wait while I tell Craig everything that happened. You might as well have a fun evening with her littles. They are looking forward to you coming. They’re going to get fish tacos from Tortuga Jack’s and then have a Frozen marathon.”
Her eyes lit up. “That sounds fun. You’ll come get me first thing in the morning, right?”
“I promise.” He turned at the sound of an ATV rolling through the brush.
He waved at Pete and hurried Hailey into the passenger seat before sending them off. They’d barely left when two more machines rolled to a stop. Craig and another state trooper got off their transport, and he stepped to meet them.
“Torie left on an ATV. She recognized the kidnapper’s voice. It’s Noah Rogers. But there’s an even bigger problem. Torie thinks the plot seems to revolve around the Federal Reserve executives. We think it’s going down tonight.”
He launched into the items left at Torie’s house and the connection to the Monopoly game and the Federal Reserve. Craig’s mouth twisted, and he took a step back as a frown gathered on his forehead. Joe was losing him.
“Look, I know it sounds like some kind of conspiracy theory, but I believe it’s true. You have to check it out.”
Craig shook his head and glanced at the other officer. “What proof do you have? Torie finding a top hat token for a Monopoly game on Noah’s ATV key ring seems to show he was behind her stalking? What you’re proposing is outlandish, Joe. Where’s your logic?”
The propulsion device.
But even as he prepared to tell Craig about it, he realized it would sound crazy to the state trooper too. The propulsion device was no real evidence of anything other than someone scuba diving. It didn’t have to be something sinister like a terrorist bringing in explosives.