Bringing Benjy Home (Security Ops) by Kylie Brant Read Free Book Online Page B

terrible rage was back, the one that threatened to encompass him each time he thought of the unknown persons responsible for snatching his young nephew away. If he focused on that emotion, however, he’d never be of any use in securing Benjy’s return. He firmly slammed the mental door on that unproductive feeling and was left only with the now-familiar lingering sense of guilt.
    His voice, when he replied, was clipped. “Who knows? He could be punishing Lauren, taunting her, putting her through a little agony before he uses Benjy to force her to come back to him.”
    “But the Feds have been keeping Penning under surveillance, right? And they’ve had nothing to report so far.”
    Trey shook his head. “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything, though. Only that if Penning is involved, he hasn’t been stupid enough to take Benjy to his own home.” So far the Bureau had come up with no more than had the LAPD detective assigned to the case. Trey wondered cynically whether the Bureau would have been so interested in the kidnapping if it hadn’t been for the identity of Benjy’s father. The Feds must have jumped at the chance of catching Penning involved in something, anything they could manage to pin on him. The man’s law practice made millions a year defending men affiliated with one of the East Coast’s most powerful mob families. Too many times he’d destroyed the cases of federal prosecutors, using highly questionable tactics to win acquittals for his clients. He’d been investigated himself on occasion, suspected of jury tampering.
    Unconsciously, his fingers curled into fists. Trey had never intended to keep Lauren hidden away indefinitely. She deserved complete freedom, and only a divorce would accomplish that. But each time Trey had broached the subject with his sister, she’d become so overwrought that he’d always backed off. Her extreme fear of her husband was more than justified, he knew. People who crossed the man usually wound up missing or dead.
    “If Penning is behind this,” Mac said, “why haven’t we heard from him? If his motive is to get Lauren back, he’d have to make a contact, right? The man has already waited almost ten days. That doesn’t sound like someone with a bargaining chip to use.”
    One of Trey’s fists came down on the tabletop, punctuating his words. “Hell, who can predict how that sick bastard’s mind works? And why are we bothering to try? We still don’t have any proof that he’s the one behind this.”
    “Proof, no. But if you believe Jaida . . .”
    “Believe a whacked-out hillbilly professing psychic powers?” Trey scoffed. “I’m growing desperate, buddy, but not that desperate. Oh, she’s good, I’ll grant her that. She’s got Lauren dazzled with her lucky description of Benjy, but there’s no way she’s going to convince me she can hold on to a stuffed elephant and see across the country. No, she probably just described a motel she once stayed at, which just happens to be close to Boston. God.” He raked his fingers impatiently through his hair. “If her ‘help’ has this effect on us, just think how it would affect Lauren.”
    Mac considered his words. “So what’s our next move?”
    “Next?” Trey took out his cell. “Next we put the police to work. I’m calling Detective Reynolds and telling him of the ‘anonymous tip’ we received that Benjy was sighted at Glenview Motel, Highway 128, outside of Boston.” He broke off when someone answered at the other end of the line. The detective didn’t sound pleased to be awakened at that hour, nor did he put much stock in the “tip.” Trey remained smooth and unruffled—and totally insistent. When he hung up, a slight smile of satisfaction curled his mouth.
    “Success?” Mac asked.
    Trey nodded. “The detective agreed to alert the Massachusetts State Police immediately.”
    “So we should know in a matter of hours whether Jaida can be of some real help to us.”
    Trey corrected him.