Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

make him tell you where he’s taken my son.’
    ‘If it can be gotten, I’ll get it,’ he promised. ‘Paige will be coming to stay with you. Please,’ he said when she started to protest. ‘I need to know you’re okay. Clay can’t protect you right now. He’s too distracted. Paige can carry his load for a little while.’
    Poor Clay . Daphne hadn’t had a chance to think about him. He’d lost a colleague and a friend. And he’d hold himself personally accountable for Ford’s abduction.
    Shouldn’t he? Daphne was disturbed to realize that she held Clay accountable as well. She needed to deal with that before she saw him again. ‘It will be good to have Paige there, for me and Mama, too. And if you see your brother, thank him for me.’
    ‘We need to go.’ Hector slid behind the wheel. He pointed to the woman in the passenger seat, a striking redhead who oozed sex appeal, despite the heavy SWAT-style bullet-proof vest she wore over the jacket of her FBI-standard black suit. ‘Riding shotgun is Special Agent Kate Coppola. From Iowa.’
    Daphne winced. ‘“Riding shotgun” isn’t the expression I would have chosen today.’
    ‘Except that I am, ma’am,’ Coppola said. She reached to her feet and brought up an impressive-looking assault rifle.
    ‘At least now we’re evenly matched with the bad guys,’ Daphne murmured.
    ‘If there’s any incident,’ Hector said, ‘Agent Coppola leads the defense. I cover her. You hide in the floorboards. This car isn’t bullet-proof, but it is bullet-resistant. You’re wearing a vest?’
    ‘A new one,’ she said. ‘My old vest was taken by CSU.’ Because it was riddled with holes from Marina’s bullets . Daphne shuddered as the thought of how close she’d come to death briefly snuck through her terror over Ford. Then the moment was over and fear for her son threatened to paralyze her once more.
    She closed her eyes, knowing there was a call she needed to make. Dreading it. Travis . Ford’s father needed to know.
    Her hands trembled as she dialed Travis’s number from memory. It wasn’t in her contact list. She hadn’t wanted to desecrate her phone with his name. It began to ring and her stomach turned inside out. Like a coward, she hoped no one would answer.
    ‘Elkhart residence.’ Damn . The nasal tone belonged to Remington, the butler who was proud to be descended from a long line of butlers. In Remington’s mind, being a butler trumped being a mountain girl like Daphne, no matter how polished she became.
    ‘Remington, this is Daphne. Please connect me with Judge Elkhart.’
    ‘Daphne? I’m afraid I can’t place the name.’
    Her temper snapped. ‘Dammit, I’m not in the mood for your games.’ Since the divorce he’d thought it funny to not remember her. ‘I need to talk to Travis about Ford.’
    ‘He’s not in at the moment,’ Remington said snidely.
    ‘Then connect me with wherever he is. This is not a social call. This is . . .’ She exhaled carefully, controlling her temper. ‘This is a matter of life and death.’
    ‘One moment please.’ There was a minute of silence, then the phone picked up.
    ‘This is Nadine. What is this matter of life and death, Elizabeth?’
    Oh God, no . Not today . Please . Travis’s mother hated her. And the feeling was mutual. But this isn’t about you, Daphne . Or even Elizabeth, the middle name that Nadine insisted on calling her by since forcing her marriage to Travis. This is about Ford . And in Nadine’s own praying-mantis type way, she loved her only grandson.
    ‘Ford has been kidnapped.’
    Nadine’s gasp was audible. ‘What? What is this?’
    ‘What I just said. Ford has been kidnapped. I need to talk to Travis.’
    ‘He’s not here. He’s in court this morning. Oh my God.’
    Daphne could hear Remington in the background. ‘Madam? Madam, are you unwell?’ The old lady’s heart had never been that strong.
    Daphne hated her, but didn’t want her to have a heart attack. ‘Are you all right?’
    ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘I am not all right. Elizabeth, what have you done?’
    ‘I don’t have any details,’ she said, ignoring the accusation. ‘I’ll keep you apprised.’
    ‘Don’t you dare hang up on me, Elizabeth. Have you received a ransom demand?’
    ‘Not to my knowledge.’
    ‘Have you informed the FBI?’
    They informed me . ‘They are involved.’
    ‘When did this happen?’ Nadine’s voice was thinning. She’d be hysterical in a minute or two. This