Page 91 of Heated Takeover

“So they know. They know that we know,” she says.

“Which means that they know we can come down on them. Put them behind bars. Unless…charges aren’t pressed. And an agreement is come to…”

“An agreement,” she echoes hollowly. And the fear and hopelessness in her eyes turn to anger.

“Natalie…” I begin sullenly as I ask the question neither of us want to consider. “Would your sister hurt Jamie?”

“I don’t think so,” she says quickly. “But I wouldn’t put it past her to hold him as collateral.”

With that, she nearly collapses, and I pull her against me as she sobs again.

“Well,” Tuck says as he emerges through the police tape. He has a stuffy in his hand, a giraffe that Jamie named Isaac. He hands it to Natalie, who hugs it to her chest and buries her trembling face in the top of its worn head. “Aside from the fight Brittany put up, I don’t see any indication that Jamie was harmed, though it’s hard to say depending on who–”

“It was Reese,” I cut in. “Reese and Garrett.”

He nods and runs a hand through his hair. “Alright. I’m not even going to ask why. I think we figured that out.”

“She’s holding him hostage somewhere until we agree to sweep all of this under the rug or hand them half the company or access to continuing funds or–” I list off.

“She can have it. Whatever she fucking wants she can have. Except my son. Except Jamie. Nothing else matters.”

“I agree,” I nod, taking her face in my palms. “And we are going to get him back. Like you said. She wouldn’t hurt him. She just wants a trade-off.”

“He’s my baby,” she sobs. “He’s all I have. And I’m all he has…” she trails off on the last part, and for a moment, our eyes meet. There is a hint of fear in them. I blink.

Logistics don’t matter right now. No matter what they are. And neither do my feelings.

All that matters is getting Jamie back.

With some insistence, we are able to usher Natalie away from the condo and over to Jim’s place. I sit with Natalie in the back seat as Tuck drives, and I brief Jim on the phone. Obviously, he’s frantic, but I stay calm, assuring him that we are on our way and will figure it all out.

Once Natalie is on the couch with a blanket and a cup of tea, Jim, Tuck, and I sit around her.

“I don’t understand it,” Jim says for what must be the fiftieth time. “I just can’t understand it. My daughter. My own daughter. I mean Garrett, I don’t trust as far as I can throw. But my daughter? Where did I go wrong?”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Tuck tells him with his usual amount of genuine empathy. “She’s an adult.”

“Oh, she’s always been terrible,” Jim admits, and if it weren’t for the seriousness of the situation, I might crack a smile. I haven’t known Reese for that long, but I can attest to that. It’s as clear as day. “She’s always been ungrateful and greedy.”

“Ever since Mom died,” Natalie says softly.

“What I don’t understand is how she figured out that we were on to her?” Natalie says. “We didn’t stop the cash flow from going out, did we?”

“Not entirely; we only slowed it down,” I state. “But it is possible she or Garrett saw Janice coming or going from the building.”

“So, what are we going to do?”

“Well,” Tuck lets out. “We currently have no way of tracking them. And they can only leave the country with him if he has a passport.”

“He has a passport,” Natalie says with nearly no voice.

“Do they have access to it?” I ask.

“The house was ripped to shreds. Including the filing cabinet where I keep things like that. Passports, social security, birth certificates,” she says.

“Do you think he’d go along with it?” I ask. “I mean. It’s one thing for him to be staying with his aunt and led to believe they are just going on a fun little trip or something else plausible to a five-year-old. It’s another to break in, tear the place apart and injure his beloved babysitter. I can’t imagine they could get through airport security–”

“I have a private jet and both the girls have access to it,” Jim admits.