Page 49 of Sinner's Ransom: Taken
Richard narrowed his eyes on him. “How did you get caught, boy?”
Montgomery shivered and glanced up into his father’s dark, unforgiving eyes. “I don’t know. It happened so quickly.”
His father’s nostrils flared, and it was the first time Montgomery had seen that reaction from Richard. “Here.” Richard shoved the briefcase into Montgomery’s stomach hard enough to make Montgomery lose his breath for a short moment. “Take it.”
“Is that Kaden?” He pointed in the direction of the detective.
Richard made a noise in the back of his throat. “Did you not expect me to contact him? Lead him back to your kidnappers. Kaden has it all under control.”
Fear curled in the pit of his stomach, and it suddenly felt hard to breathe. He imagined Stone and the crew being caught, taken to prison for his kidnapping, and the thought made him sick.
“We heard him, Monty,” Stone whispered in his ear. “Can you lose the detective if he follows you?”
“Yes.”
Richard frowned at him.
“Yeah, I’m glad Kaden is here.” He forced himself to smile. “I have to go. They’ll get suspicious.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed and he glanced at the briefcase in Montgomery’s hands. “Did they get the rest of the money through the transfer?”
“Yeah, they did. Thank you, Dad. You saved my life.” He backed away slowly, and finally turned away from Richard. He felt those cold eyes on him the entire time, watching the way he stumbled, but with one glance around, he was relieved to see Richard hadn’t moved. He couldn’t say the same about Kaden. He’d disappeared since Montgomery’s meeting with his father.
“Kaden is gone. I don’t know where he is.” Montgomery licked his dry lips and glanced around.
“Stop glancing around. You look suspicious.” This came from George.
Montgomery bowed his head, hugged the briefcase to his chest, and moved forward. He kept his face down, his back arched, and continued the stumbling act. He was halfway back to the rendezvous spot when he caught sight of Kaden again. The detective walked the same pace as him but farther away. He had his hat lowered, sunglasses still on, but he glanced toward Montgomery every so often, a small smile of reassurance spreading across his lips.
Montgomery exhaled. He needed to get rid of Kaden and fast, but he knew how good Kaden was at his job. There had been a reason why he had a ninety percent crime solving rate on his cases.
“Monty, what’s happening?”
“I found him. He’s not far from me now. Walking along the other path.” Montgomery paused and leaned against a tree, making it look like he was taking a breather. He hugged the briefcase against his chest harder, as though if he loosened his hold, it’d disappear. Everything rode on this moment. Kaden had stopped to look at the newspaper in his hands.
“How do I get rid of him?”
“Use the people to your advantage.” Ardan’s smooth, composed voice filled the earpiece. Montgomery had never heard anyone as calm as he was. He imagined not many people would be in this sort of situation. “Find a crowd and disappear into it. Can you do that?”
Montgomery nodded and then realized they couldn’t see him. “Yeah, yeah. I can do that.” He shoved himself off the tree trunk and pushed on. Kaden’s path ended, which meant he had to switch over to Montgomery’s. He didn’t have to look, because he felt Kaden’s heavy gaze on him the entire time.
A little farther down the walkway, he saw his chance. A tour group had congregated near one of the beautiful open areas. There were at least thirty adults, cameras in their hands and backpacks strapped to their bodies. They filled the area, which meant Montgomery would have to squeeze through them to get to the other side. A perfect opportunity.
“I have an opening,” Montgomery whispered. A rush of adrenaline shot through him. It felt like he was part of an action movie, maybe something with Dwayne Johnson in it, and he could almost hear the building music in his mind. More specifically, it was theMission: Impossibletheme song thrumming in his head.
When he approached them, he politely excused himself to an older man, turning to his side to pass between him and a lady hovering in front of him. He squeezed through some more people, and when he was in the middle of the crowd, he moved quicker. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kaden excusing himself too, but the older man who Montgomery had first passed clearly hadn’t heard Kaden. The man squinted at the tour guide at the front of the crowd, and it was only when Kaden used force to push himself in front of the man that he moved. But Montgomery was nearly out of the crowd by then.
When he cleared the people, he took off at a jog. Kaden shouted something, but Montgomery didn’t stick around to hear it. He ran through a couple of school children and past the child who’d stared at him before. A lady cursed him when he accidently bumped her in the shoulder, but by the time he made it near their meeting spot, Kaden was lost in his sight. To be safe, though, he ducked behind a thick tree trunk and waited for a few minutes. Kaden didn’t show up, though.
“Monty, you need to talk to us.” Stone’s strong voice sent a peacefulness through his limbs, relaxing the stiffness he didn’t know he had.
“I think I lost him.”
“How close are you to the rendezvous point?”
Montgomery glanced around at the school children laughing near the water fountain, and at the couple smooching on their picnic blanket under a blossoming tree. Kaden still wasn’t in sight. “About twenty feet or so. I suck at measurements.”
“We’re closing in on it. Get ready to move. We’ll be there in ten seconds.”
