Jane Choate - Shattered Secrets

He steered Olivia to the desk sergeant where they stated their names and business to the efficient-looking woman behind the desk. A raised brow and the order to have a seat was her only response.

When a detective appeared, Olivia and Sal stood, followed him through the bull pen and went inside an office. He closed the door behind them. “Detective Richard Nynan. Now suppose you tell me what this is all about.”

Sal opened the box, indicated the finger inside and gave an overview of what had transpired.

“You say this belongs to your boss?” Nynan asked Olivia.

She nodded. “I recognized the ring.”

“No chance it could have been removed from your boss’s finger and put on—” he gestured to the severed digit “—whoever this belongs to?”

“No. The ring was custom-made for Calvin, I mean, Mr. Chantry, to reach the joint of his finger, just like it does. See how the stone tapers at the top?”

“Okay. That helps.” Nynan made notes on a legal pad. “I think I have it all.” He fixed his attention on Olivia. “You have no idea what the kidnappers want?”

“As I told you the first six times you asked the question, no, I don’t.”

“Sorry. Just trying to get things straight in my mind.” He put down his pen, scratched behind his ear. “It doesn’t fit the pattern of an ordinary kidnapping. Usually, kidnappers make their demands up front. They want their payoff right away, whether it’s money or something else.” Once again, he looked at Olivia. “This court case you talked about—could the kidnapping have something to do with that?”

“It’s possible,” she said thoughtfully. “If it goes the way I think it will, the company is going to have to pay out a huge compensation package. Twenty-one families are involved.”

“So it’s back to money.”

Sal had remained silent during the exchange, listening and thinking. He saw where the detective was going with this. “You think the kidnappers are going to barter for Chantry’s firm pulling out of the case.”

Nynan nodded. “I think it’s a strong possibility. As Ms. Hammond said, there’s bound to be a big compensation package.”

“But even if we did pull out of the case, some other firm would take over,” Olivia pointed out. “It doesn’t make sense.”

They’d been over this again and again but kept circling back to it.

“Why kidnap Chantry?” Nynan asked, more to himself than to Sal and Olivia. “Why him?” A few minutes later, Nynan stood. “I think I have all that I need for the moment. I’m sorry about your boss,” he said to Olivia.

She nodded. “Me, too.”

Outside, the Georgia sun beat down on those foolish enough to spend more than a minute under its unrelenting rays. Sal hurried Olivia to his truck, helped her inside, then circled it to slide in on the driver’s side. He punched up the AC.

“I hope we did the right thing,” she said. “What can the police do that we can’t?”

“They have resources we can’t hope to match.”

Her phone chirped. She switched it to speaker phone. “Yes?”

“You disobeyed orders.” A pause gave emphasis to the next words. “Involve the police again and your boss will be returned to you in pieces.”

* * *

Olivia was barely holding it together.

She knew it. Felt it. First the men in her office threatening her. Then the call about Calvin. The box with his finger. The second call. How much more could she take without falling apart?

In the meantime, she still had a case to try, the most important case of her career. Yes, there’d be some prestige to it. More important, though, was the precedent it would set that no company, however big, could pass off fake medicines for real ones and get away with it.

The parents, she knew, could use the money to pay off astronomical medical bills, but nothing could restore their families, make up for the unthinkable loss they’d endured. No amount could atone for the loss of a child.

“I need to work,” she told Sal. Of course, the case needed work. But more than that, she needed the purpose of it, the satisfaction of making a difference. A smile slid over her lips. Her daddy had always said that when you had a problem, take it to the Lord first, then get to work. He had lived that right up until the end.

“Okay. But I’m staying close.”

Sal’s words reminded her of his innate goodness. He didn’t back down from trouble; nor did he turn away from those in need.

Covertly, Olivia studied the man beside her. Two years ago, she’d thought she’d known him, but then he’d walked away, shattering her dreams and her heart. They’d gone their separate ways. Not without regret, at least on her part. Though she’d dated other men since then, none had touched her heart the way Sal had. None had come close to measuring up to him.

Olivia didn’t deceive herself—she was risking her heart by asking Sal for help. She had briefly thought of calling Shelley Judd instead but had immediately rejected the idea. Shelley was nearing the last month of pregnancy. No way could Olivia involve her friend in this.

She and Sal had shared something special, or at least she thought they had. Shelley had introduced the two of them on one of Olivia’s frequent trips to Atlanta to see her friend.

From that moment on, Olivia had known that this was a man who could become important in her life.

Within a week, they were spending every spare minute together, unwilling to let a moment go by without being close. They were so attuned to each other that they could finish the other’s sentences.

When she had returned to Savannah, Sal had followed. It had been a glorious six weeks of heady happiness and foolish dreams. Then, without warning, he told her that things weren’t working out and she’d do better to find someone else. She thought she’d moved on until she’d seen him again and knew that she hadn’t moved on at all.

“I don’t know what I would have done without you these last two days.” The acknowledgment caused her cheeks to redden.

“You would have managed, but I’m glad I was here.”

Her stomach did a jittery dance at the warmth of his words. As though aware of her thoughts, he drew her to him and held her. Just held her. Did he know that was what she needed at that precise moment?

And then she remembered her vow to keep him at arm’s length. Letting Sal back into her life had been a risk from the beginning. She had to remember why he was here.

Pushing away from him, she gathered strength, but her breathing was ragged. Not from the effort of putting some distance between them but from the knowledge that she needed the distance if she were to maintain her sanity.

Sal had always had that effect on her. It wasn’t his size, though that was impressive. It wasn’t his unflinching courage that was so much a part of him. It was the overall package, strength tempered by gentleness, honesty and compassion.

She and Sal didn’t say much on the way to the office. Once there, she planned to go over depositions while he headed to Calvin’s office.

“I want to get a handle on your boss,” he said in explanation. “If I learn more about him, maybe I can predict how he’ll react to the kidnappers. It might help us down the road.”

It made sense. Only a few of the partners and associates had arrived, so she was able to get Sal into Calvin’s private office without attracting attention.

Olivia spent the next hour working on witness depositions, preparing motions that would be reviewed by the court and writing a brief. The work was tedious, but it soothed the ragged thoughts that swirled through her mind.

How did the kidnappers know what she was doing practically before she did? How had they known she’d called Sal? How did they know she and Sal had gone to the police? She trusted the employees of Chantry & Hammond implicitly and couldn’t imagine any of them kidnapping Calvin, but that didn’t answer the question.