The Auction House Deal: Bought by A Billionaire

Driving home, I thought about our close brush with death. Only a few inches were the difference between getting hit with a bullet in the chest and escaping without a scratch. Thanks to Stan, it was the latter.

There was no doubt in my mind that the person who took two shots at me was the same person who kidnapped Hannah. But if they were following me, where was Hannah?

It must mean she couldn’t be too far from the Roundhouse. A kidnapper wouldn’t have left her too far from where he was looking for me. I knew I had to tell Ed and Marcus my theory. They could check out places in a close radius to the club.

The fact that I hadn’t detected being followed, however, also disturbed me.

How did the kidnapper know I was going to be at the club? I hadn’t told anyone, and I hadn’t noticed anyone following my car.

Looking in the rear view mirror, I made sure we weren’t being tailed.

The police certainly were unconcerned with my well-being, but I knew they meant well. They were all about procedures and following their plans; however, in this case, I thought they needed a trick play or sorts.

This kidnapper was too smart, evading everyone’s senses. He’d managed to be near a public place on two separate nights, and not a soul had seen him. He was either a figment of our imagination, or he blended into his surroundings supremely well.

That also got me to thinking about how well he could hide himself as if he were a chameleon of sorts. How could I have missed someone following me and then pointing a gun at me?

Back at the house, I told Stan to be sure to lock everything down. I didn’t want to give the stalker another crack at me. I realized it would be best to stay in one place, run the operation of rescuing Hannah from my own private hub.

Even though I’d had a close call, my biggest concern was Hannah. I wouldn’t even consider that the kidnapper had already killed her. That just couldn’t be possible, and my mind wouldn’t even go there. If he was hunting me, it could be because he wanted Hannah all to himself.

Coming home to a completely empty house, I could feel the emptiness with Hannah gone, her dazzling smile missing from the room. I stalked over to my office, sitting down at the desk where I cradled my head in my hands.

It had been such a trying day. I hadn’t made any progress on finding Hannah, and to top it off, I’d been shot at and then berated by the police.

Because of all that, I needed a drink.

I stepped over to one of the cabinets that doubled as a bookcase in the room and opened the door. Uncorking the bourbon bottle, I smelled the sweet, crisp liquid before pouring myself a glass and throwing it down.

The more I thought about my attempted assassination, the more I understood how Hannah had been taken without being seen. Whoever the kidnapper was, certainly had stealth in spades. He came in like a whisper and out with a bang. By the time I heard the shots, I didn’t even have a chance to look around.

For sure, the kidnapper had left immediately after - probably even drove away in his dented black car. If I could just find him and follow him, I was sure he’d lead me straight to Hannah.

I finished my glass of bourbon, and when I picked up the bottle to pour another, I thought some more about how I could find this elusive person. He didn’t show himself easily, but...

That was when I came up with my plan. It wouldn’t be easy, and it just might be a little dangerous, but I was willing to do it if it meant finding Hannah.

Excited about my idea, I dialed Ed’s number on my cell.

"Ed, hey," I said. "Look, I know you’ve been working hard on this case. Why don’t you come over with Marcus and we can bat around some ideas?"

I knew he might not go for it. I had ridden him hard about losing Hannah in the first place, and then he gifted Stan to me. In order to get what I wanted from them, I was going to have to play it safe.

It took them three hours to arrive, but I didn’t get angry. I didn’t panic. They were helping to find Hannah.

"Hi, Ed, Marcus," I said, inviting them in.

Before closing the door, I looked around outside to see if they’d been followed. Marcus also checked carefully, standing beside the doorway.

"Hi, Stan," said Ed. "I see you’re getting to work already."

"Yeah, he’s already fitting in," I said. "Can you just check around? Make sure they haven’t been followed?"

Stan nodded and walked out the door.

"Thanks for coming," I said to Ed and Marcus.

"How are you?" asked Marcus. "How are the ladies faring, with everything?"

I groaned inwardly, but gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed the question was one of genuine concern.

"They’re all right," I said. "They’re holding up. Did you hear about what went down tonight in front of the Roundhouse?"

"The Roundhouse?" said Ed. "You mean the club we were at the other night?"

"The one," I said.

"Well...?" asked Marcus.

"Stan and I were there, talking to some workers, some regulars. No one saw anything. Some remembered Hannah, but not much else."

I offered them seats on the barstools by my kitchen counter and poured them each a glass of lemon-infused water that my cook prepared a couple times a week.

"What were you doing there?" Marcus asked, not looking happy about my story.

"Well you had no leads and the cops weren’t being very cooperative, so..."

"No, You can’t do that. Stay out of the way. You realize that we have a lot of important training you don’t?" Marcus said, then took a sip of the water. "It can make the difference between life and death out there. I don’t want you - or anyone else - getting hurt."

"Don’t worry, our friend in the NYPD already warned me. Said he’ll arrest me if I don’t stay out of their way."

"What did you do to run into him?" Ed asked.

"You mean, besides snooping around the club? I just happen to be a bullet magnet, I guess."

"Huh?"

"Our kidnapper shot at me," I exclaimed, standing on the other side of the counter from them. "Luckily Stan tackled me, and we were safe."

"How do you know it was him?" Ed asked.

"There was no one on the street. We have no auction house leads. It had to be him," I said.

"Are you alright?" Marcus looked me over. "I mean I don’t see any scratches, but..."

"I can’t deny I’m still angry about you two losing Hannah - but I want to put that behind us, because I need your help," I said.

"What?" Marcus scoffed. "If you want to be involved, you need to show us more respect."

I took a deep breath. "You’re right, I’m sorry. Okay. I told you about the shooting. After the shots rang out, whoever it was must have fled - which got me to thinking - this kidnapper must have Hannah somewhere close by. I don’t think he’d be going back and forth."

"Yeah, you’re probably right about that," Ed said. "We can check buildings and warehouses in the vicinity."

"But that’s not all," I said, pushing back on my heels. "I have another idea."

"Spill the beans," said Ed.

"You like to fish, right?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"Good. Then I’m the bait," I said.

They both looked at me for a moment, and then caught my drift.

"Oh no. No. Absolutely not."

"It could work. I know you’re considering it." I came around the counter and stood between the along the counter top. "Listen. I’d do anything to get Hannah back. Please."

"I know I’m not going to like this, but what’s the plan?" Ed sighed.

"Well, all we know is the man has somehow followed Hannah and then me. Neither of us realized it until it was too late. So this time, I want to bring him out. Use myself like a shiny, feathery new lure. He bites, and you guys get a picture or something to identify him." I put my hand on both of their shoulders.

Ed looked at Marcus, and Marcus shrugged.

"I don’t like it, but I get the feeling you’ll try this with our without us. And we’ve got nothin’. So. We could..."

"Absolutely not," Marcus jumped up from the bar stool. "Too dangerous. No way."

"Marcus, what Ed said is true. I’m doing this with or without you. So do you want the lead or not?"

Marcus swiveled the stool to stare me down. I didn’t budge.

"Okay then," he said, and plan fishing lure was coming together.