Stranger in Town

CHAPTER 38





Cade came by the next morning.

“I was going to call you a few hours ago,” I said. “But I figured you were asleep, so I decided to wait.”

“You were awake—why?”

“I’ll explain in a minute. How’s your dad?”

“They won’t release him yet, but the nurse said he’s awake and talking to everyone. I hope it’s a good sign.”

“Me too,” I said.

“What did you make of the names I gave you?”

I grabbed a paper from the table and handed it to him.

He scanned it, muttering the contents of the rap sheet to himself. When he finished, he said, “Eddie Fletcher. How do you know this is the guy?”

I told him about my conversation with Todd the previous night.

“Anything new on your end?” I said.

“Chief Rollins called me this morning. The coroner looked over both bodies. He concluded the time of death was between ten and midnight the night before we showed up. The coroner said the same thing I did—the Kents were sleeping at the time of death. So far no prints have been found that can’t be accounted for.”

I was relieved for us, but not for the killer.

Cade mentioned a few more details from the ME’s report, but nothing I considered alarming.

“The question is: where do we go from—”

I was interrupted by the sound of Cade’s phone. He grabbed it out of his pocket so fast, he almost dropped it. I imagined he was waiting for an update on his dad, but it wasn’t the hospital or his mother on the other end of the line. It was the sound of someone saying Cade’s name. He flipped over a piece of paper on the desk, and wrote one word on it: EDDIE.

I assumed Cade recognized his voice from their previous conversation. I moved closer.

“Cade McCoy?” Eddie said, again.

“Who’s this?”

“Find a pen and paper. You have five seconds.”

Cade sat down at the desk and flipped the phone on its side so I could hear the conversation.

“Do you have it yet?” Eddie said.

“Yes.”

“Good. Don’t talk, just listen.”

Neither of us moved.

“Are you listening?” Eddie said.

“You said no talking,” Cade said.

“At seven o’clock tonight, you will bring two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash to a shack at the end of Swanee Bridge Road.”

“How do you expect me to come up with the money in such a short—”

“Not my problem,” Eddie said. “And you’re not talking, remember?”

Cade stayed quiet.

“You’ll get to the location using my directions. Head North on Tucker Road heading out of town. Drive twelve miles. When you get to Falcon Drive, turn right. The next road you come to will be Swanee Bridge. The place you are looking for is at the end of the road. It’s old and run down. You won’t have trouble finding it.”

Cade and I exchanged glances, but neither of us dared say anything. Eddie continued.

“Listen to this next part carefully. You will not involve the media, the police, the FBI, or anyone else. This is between us. If I see anyone come in with you, the girls die. If you don’t bring the money, the girls die.”

Eddie paused, then continued.

“The money will not have any consecutive numbers. The money bag will not contain an explosive dye. There will be no new bills, no marked bills, and no tracking devices of any kind, either in the money bag or in your vehicle. Do you understand?”

Cade looked at me like he wasn’t sure whether to speak or not.

“Yes or no?” Eddie said.

“Yes—now can I ask you a question?”

“Depends on what it is.”

“Where will the children be?” Cade said.

“When you get to the shack, go up the steps to the porch and stick the money through the window. It will be open. Then walk back to your car. Wait ten minutes and then enter the house. The girls will be waiting inside. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be watching your every move. Their life is in your hands, Mr. McCoy.”

“I want proof,” Cade said.

“What’s that?”

“I’m not bringin’ the money unless I know the girls are still alive. Put one of them on the phone.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Then forget it.”

Cade hung up.

“What are you doing?!” I yelled, reaching for the phone.

“Give it a minute—he’ll call back. He wants the money, trust me.”

I wasn’t so sure. We waited two minutes, and then five. No phone call. I drank an entire glass of water, rinsed dishes, and tried to keep my mouth shut. It wasn’t easy. I was losing my mind, and in another minute, I’d be losing it on him.

And then the phone rang.

“Told you,” Cade said, reaching for his phone.

He answered it and pressed the speaker button.

“Hello?”

“Hello?”

There it was. A beautiful, young female voice.

“Who’s this?” Cade said.

“Makayla. I mean Olivia.”

“Are you okay?” Cade said.

“I don’t know, I guess so. Who are you?”

“Someone who has been tryin’ to find you and Savannah,” Cade said. “Is she with you now?”

“Yes.”

There was a sound like the phone was exchanging hands. “All right, you talked to her. We have a deal. Seven o’clock. Don’t be late.”

The phone clicked.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” I said.

But Cade didn’t hear me. He sat down, drumming his fingers on the table in front of him.

“What’s going on?” I said.

“I’m just tryin’ to decide the best way to work this out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to make sure I handle this right. Two hundred and fifty thousand is a lot of cash to come up with in a short amount of time.”

“We will think of something,” I said.

He still wasn’t listening.

“I just hope they’ll go for it without hearing the conversation.”

“Who?” I said.

“The FBI.”

“This Fletcher guy said not to involve them,” I said. “It’s too big of a risk, Cade. You can’t.”

“He doesn’t care if I use them to get the money.”

I shook my head.

“If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have told you to leave them out of it,” I said.

“He just wants to make sure I drive out there alone, and I will.”

“They’ll never let you,” I said. “There’s no way they’ll hand over the money and allow you to make the rules. That’s not how they do things.”

Cade shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter…they’ll have to. It’s my way or it’s no way at all.”