Colorado Abduction Read online

  Carolyn had changed from her bloodstained business clothes into jeans, a pink T-shirt and zippered hoodie. With her black hair pulled up in a ponytail, she probably didn’t look like the top executive of a multimillion-dollar company. Still, she resented the way he looked right past her, trying to find a man in charge.

  “I’m Carolyn Carlisle.” She held out her hand. “I’m the boss.”

  When he shook her hand and made direct eye contact, she felt a jolt of electricity—a warning. His dark eyes were hard, implacable. She and this fed were going to butt heads.

  “Have you heard from the kidnappers?” he asked.

  “Not yet.”

  Three other men left the van and came toward the house. All were carrying equipment in black cases.

  “We need to set up,” Agent Burke said.

  She held open the front door as they trooped through. “You can use the office. It’s down the hall to the left.”

  Ignoring her words, he went past the staircase to the dining room with the long oak table. “This will do.”

  She hated the way he disregarded her suggestion, not even acknowledging her. Biting her lower lip, she held back her protest when his men pulled the chairs away from the table. Without a word to her, they opened their cases and began spreading out equipment—all kinds of electronics and computers.

  He glanced over his shoulder at her. “We could use some coffee.”

  His arrogance astounded her. “I’ll bet you could.”

  “I take mine black.”

  The last straw. No way would she be relegated to the position of fetching coffee.

  “Listen to me, Agent Burke.” She struggled to keep from snarling. “I called in the FBI. As far as I’m concerned, you owe me an explanation of what you’re doing.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “You,” she snapped, “work for me.”

  Chapter Two

  The razor edge in her voice caused Burke to turn and face this slim-hipped woman in cowboy boots. Anger blew off her like a hurricane.

  “This is my ranch. My house.” Her tone was sharp but controlled. “I insist upon being treated with respect. I’m not your errand girl. I don’t bring you coffee. I don’t tidy up after you. And I demand to know what’s going on.”

  She looked like a teenager, but there was nothing girlish about her temper. Carolyn Carlisle was a mature and formidable woman.

  He peered into her eyes. They were fascinating, with green irises so pale they were almost transparent. She stared back at him, hard and determined, as she waited for his answer.

  “What do you want to know, Carolyn?” He purposefully used her first name to establish that he was the professional and she was a civilian.

  “Well, J.D…” When she countered immediately with his first name, he almost grinned. This woman didn’t miss a beat.

  “Actually,” he said, “I go by Burke.”

  “Okay, Burke. I want an explanation of all this equipment you’ve scattered across my dining room table. But first, I want to know your plans.”

  “Here’s the deal, Carolyn. I don’t have time to hold your hand and make sure you’re happy with our investigation. I didn’t come here to make friends.”

  “Understood. But you need my help. Things are different on the ranch than in the city. People are different.”

  As far as he was concerned, a criminal was a criminal. Their motivations and methods might change from place to place, but the underlying stupidity and cruelty were a constant. “This is a crisis situation and I’m in charge. That’s the way it rolls. Get used to it.”

  Her fascinating eyes narrowed. “Get used to what?”

  “I give the orders.”

  “Then we have a problem. I don’t take orders. I will, however, respond to requests made with respect.”

  “You want me to say please and thank you?”

  “That’s a start.”

  Her smile was infuriating and at the same time attractive. Even sexy. If they had met under different circumstances, he might have pursued her. But not here. Not now. As a hostage negotiator, he knew better than to become emotionally invested. The survival rate for kidnap victims held for ransom within the United States was less than forty percent. Nicole’s abduction probably wasn’t going to end well.

  The phone on the table rang. “This could be the kidnappers.”

  Carolyn’s bravado vanished. “What do I do?”

  “It’s on speakerphone,” Burke said. “If it’s the kidnappers, you need to keep them talking and demand to speak to Nicole.”

  He pressed a button and gave her a nod.

  “Hello,” she said. “Carolyn Carlisle speaking.”

  “Yes, ma’am. This is Wentworth. I wanted to give you an update.”

  Her tension relaxed. “I have you on speakerphone, Went-worth. I’m here with the FBI. We’re waiting to hear from the kidnappers.”

  “Who is he?” Burke asked.

  “One of the security guards my brother hired. Wentworth is at the hospital with the wounded man, Jesse Longbridge, the owner of the security company.” She turned back toward the speaker. “How is he?”

  “In critical condition,” said the voice on the phone. “His heart stopped during surgery. He hasn’t regained consciousness, but he’s breathing on his own.”

  “Is he going to be okay?” Carolyn asked.

  “It’s touch and go, ma’am.”

  She wrapped her arms around her midsection as if literally holding herself together. To Burke she said, “Jesse saw the kidnappers. He can identify them as soon as he wakes up.”

  If he wakes up. He leaned toward the phone. “We appreciate the update, Wentworth. This is Special Agent J. D. Burke of the FBI. Can you call in another man from your security company?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. I want two of you at the hospital, keeping an eye on Jesse Longbridge. He’s a threat to the kidnappers and they might come after him.”

  “We’ll keep him safe, sir.”

  Burke recognized the crisp attitude. “Are you former military, Wentworth?”

  “Marine Corps. Two tours of duty in Iraq as a medic.”

  There was no need for further conversation. Burke had complete confidence in Wentworth’s ability to keep the witness safe. The first lesson for a Marine was never leave a man behind. “Carry on, Wentworth.”

  “And thank you,” Carolyn added before he hung up.

  He figured that the veneer of politeness she insisted upon was a way to maintain control. It was a small price to pay for her cooperation. “Carolyn, would you please tell us the events leading up to the kidnapping.”

  She gave a brief nod. “It was dusk. Nicole went for a ride. She wanted to be alone, but the bodyguard, Jesse, left a few minutes later. I heard shots and went after them.”

  “How long between when they left and when you heard gunshots?”

  “Maybe ten minutes.”

  “Did you pursue on foot?”

  “On horse. Bareback. I happened to be near the corral.” She frowned. “I wasn’t dressed for riding, and I ruined a perfectly good skirt. Tore the slit all the way up the side.”

  His mind formed an image of her long legs pressed against the flanks of her horse as she raced across the field. It must have been something to see. “Then what happened?”

  “I saw Jesse coming out of the trees. Even though he was badly wounded, he managed to tell me that he saw two men grab Nicole. She struggled, but they knocked her unconscious. They said that my brother would pay a lot to get his wife back.”

  Apparently, this wasn’t a planned abduction. There was no way the kidnappers could have known Nicole would be out riding at that particular moment. Not unless she was part of their plan. If that were so, she wouldn’t have struggled, wouldn’t have needed to be rendered unconscious. More likely, this was a crime of opportunity. Nicole happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Bad news. Burke preferred to deal with professional crimina
ls. Amateurs were unpredictable. “What happened next?”

  “The men from the ranch rode up. Wentworth took care of Jesse. And he was nothing short of amazing. He got Jesse loaded into the bed of a truck and took him to the hospital before the ambulance arrived.”

  Jesse Longbridge had been lucky to have the battle-trained expertise of a Marine medic. Wentworth’s fast action and triage skills had probably saved his life.

  “After that,” Carolyn said, “I had to deal with my brother, Dylan. He wanted to track down the kidnappers and kill them. But I insisted that all the men leave their guns behind. The sheriff is with them now. They’re still looking, talking to people at nearby ranches.”

  Burke needed to put an end to this chase as soon as possible. He strode from the room.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “To get us some coffee. It’s going to be a long night.”

  NEAR ELEVEN O’CLOCK, Carolyn paced back and forth on the veranda, waiting anxiously for her brother to return. After half a dozen calls on her cell phone, she’d finally convinced him to allow the FBI to handle the kidnapping. Even if Burke was a pain in the rear, he was an expert.

  The equipment he’d finally deigned to show her was impressive: GPS surveillance, heat-sensing infrared imaging, audio scanners, computer linkups to monitor e-mail activity. These high-tech tools made her brother’s posse on horseback seem positively archaic.

  She knew Dylan would be impressed by the technology. The problem was Burke. If he tried to order her brother around, there’d be hell to pay.

  Her first impression of Burke as a brusque, authoritative jerk had changed. He’d shown patience when he’d explained how to handle the ransom call. He’d told her not to confront but to stand firm. And to keep the caller talking. There were two reasons for that strategy. First, so they could get a clear trace. Second, the more the kidnapper talked, the more information they could gather. Little sounds in the background were clues to the kidnapper’s whereabouts.

  Burke and his men had practiced with her so she’d know what to say. They’d told her to use her feminine wiles to stall—a useless bit of advice. If she’d ever had wiles, they were buried under years of dealing with ranch hands and businessmen who didn’t respect a woman who cried or pouted or giggled.

  According to the FBI experts, her number one goal when talking to the kidnappers was to get proof of life.

  She shuddered when she thought of the alternative. Nicole could already be dead. Her fingers tightened on the porch banister, anchoring her to something solid and tangible.

  Burke came onto the porch and stood beside her. The sheer size of the man was impressive. He stood well over six feet tall with long legs and wide shoulders. She couldn’t really guess at his age, but assumed that a senior FBI agent would be in his late thirties. A little older than she was.

  “Are you chilly?” he asked.

  “Not a bit.” She stuck her hands into the fur-lined pockets of the hip-length shearling jacket that protected her from the December cold.

  “It’s beautiful out here,” he said. “Peaceful.”

  “When I was growing up, I couldn’t wait to get off the ranch. After I left, I kept wanting to come back.”

  “But you live in Denver now. Tell me about your job.” He paused for a moment. “Please.”

  “You’ve asked so nicely, I can’t refuse.”

  She glanced up, catching a twinkle in his dark brown eyes. Though he was willing to play along with her insistence for respect, he made it clear that the decision was his choice. He was still in charge.

  His attitude was familiar. All her life she’d been dealing with taciturn, stubborn men. Cowboys weren’t known for wearing their hearts on their sleeves unless you put a guitar in their hands. A mournful tune could bring sentimental tears to the eyes of the most calloused ranch hand.

  She strolled to the end of the veranda, climbed onto the porch swing and tucked her legs under her.

  “My job,” she said. “I’m the CEO at Carlisle Certified Organic Beef. I handle oversight of the product, sales and distribution for this ranch and more than sixty others throughout the west. Anybody who contracts with us agrees to follow sustainable ranching procedures that my father pioneered in the 1980s. All Carlisle Certified cattle are grass fed. We don’t use antibiotics or growth hormones.”

  “With the craze for organic food, you must be doing well.”

  “The business keeps me hopping, and we’re also doing something good for the planet. Our system of shifting cattle from field to field prevents overgrazing. I like to think that we have a contented herd.”

  “But they still get slaughtered.”

  She leaned forward, setting the swing into motion. The chain that attached to hooks in the porch ceiling creaked. “I hate to think about that part. For a long time I was a vegetarian.”

  “On a ranch?”

  “Don’t even think about giving me a hard time. I’ve heard it all.” She swung a little harder. “Currently, we have plans to build a state-of-the-art, humane slaughterhouse a couple of miles from here.”

  “I can’t get a handle on you.” He regarded her with curiosity. “Are you a hard-driving businesswoman? Or a tree-hugging environmentalist?”

  “A little bit of both. I try to avoid politics.”

  He sauntered toward her and sank into a sturdy, carved rocking chair beside the swing. “I’d find that statement easier to believe if the FBI hadn’t been alerted to Nicole’s kidnapping by the governor’s office.”

  She hadn’t wanted to waste time going through regular law enforcement channels. “The governor is a friend. I called in a favor.”

  “But you’re not political.”

  She didn’t need to justify her position to him. What an irritating man! “Why do you want to know about my job?”

  “Motivation,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out who has a grudge against you or your brother. For the past couple of weeks, somebody has been causing a lot of trouble at the ranch.”

  “Trouble?” Dylan hadn’t mentioned anything until today when he told her about the stable fire. “Please explain.”

  “I read the police reports your brother filed. Uprooted fence posts. Damage to the irrigation system in the hay field. A couple of pieces of stolen equipment.” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, and peered at her through the dim light. “You didn’t know.”

  “These incidents sound like minor mischief. Dylan probably didn’t want to worry me.” Still, he should have kept her informed. It seemed like he didn’t trust her anymore. What was wrong with him? He’d never been secretive. Before today, she’d never heard him fight with Nicole.

  “It was more than mischief,” Burke said. “Sounds like deliberate sabotage at the ranch. Have there been any threats on the corporate side?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Of course, we have competitors. And disgruntled former employees. But that kind of hostility usually shows up in the form of a lawsuit.”

  She heard the sounds of horsemen approaching and saw the posse riding toward the barn. Slowly, she uncurled her legs and stood, watching. Dylan handed his reins to one of the other ranch hands and strode toward them. With his head down and his face shadowed by the brim of his Stetson, she couldn’t see his expression. But she knew he was troubled. His gait was stiff-legged, not surprising for someone who’d been on horseback for several hours.

  He had to be devastated about the kidnapping. No matter how much she wanted to ask him why he hadn’t told her about the sabotage, now wasn’t the right time.

  Dylan stepped onto the veranda. He pulled off his leather gloves and his hat, dropping them on a rocking chair. His matted black hair stuck to the sides of his head. His complexion was red and raw from exposure to the cold night air.

  “Dylan, I want you to meet Special Agent J. D. Burke.”

  The two men faced off as they shook hands. Burke was taller and broader, but Dylan was clearly the aggressor.

 
“You find my wife,” he said. “I want a search helicopter. First thing in the morning. And bloodhounds. Hell, I want you to call out the National Guard. And I—”

  “Dylan,” Carolyn interrupted. “What did you find when you were tracking?”

  “They went across the back ridge to a paved road. We lost their track. We’ve been going door-to-door at the nearby ranches. Nobody’s seen anything. Not a damn thing.”

  One of Burke’s men pushed open the door. “Carolyn, it’s the phone.”

  “The kidnappers,” Dylan said. “I’ll take that call.”

  “No,” she said. “You won’t. I’ve been practicing. I know what to say.”

  When he started toward the door, Burke stepped in front of him. “Let Carolyn handle this.”

  “Like hell I will.”

  She slipped inside and ran to answer the phone before Dylan could do anything to stop her.

  Chapter Three

  Burke would have preferred being inside, listening while Carolyn talked to the kidnappers. But he knew his men would record the conversation. During the next few hours, they’d replay it a hundred times, doing voice analysis and isolating every miniscule background noise.

  Right now, it was more important to hold Dylan back. Burke wouldn’t hesitate to kick this cowboy’s ass to keep him from barging in and botching their procedures. He stood in front of Dylan like a brick wall.

  “Let me pass.” Dylan seemed dazed, in shock. His pale green eyes—the same color as Carolyn’s—flickered nervously. “I need to be in there.”

  Burke didn’t waste time on logical explanations. He doubted Dylan Carlisle could hear anything other than the roar of outrage inside his head. It must be an all-consuming noise, louder than an avalanche.

  “We’re staying out here,” Burke said.

  “She’s my wife.”

  “I understand.” If Burke had allowed himself to become emotionally involved with the people on a case, he would have felt sorry for this guy.

  “My wife…” His voice cracked. “I love her.”

  Though Burke hadn’t touched him, Dylan staggered backward a few paces. The air deflated from his lungs in a gush of cold vapor. He turned, facing the night sky. His fingers gripped the banister. “We had a fight. Right before she rode off by herself, we argued. I said things. Hurtful things.”