Christmas Stalking

“Just a second and I’ll have your legs untied,” he said. She felt him fumbling with the belt, but was still unable to answer with the gag in her mouth.

With her legs free, he awkwardly helped her out of the back seat. Once she was standing, he undid the gag.

She swallowed several times, moved her aching jaw. She wished her hands were free because she felt so unsteady. “Where are we?”

“Someplace safe. Come on.” He took hold of her arm and pulled her along, at first quickly, but after she stumbled, he slowed the pace. He opened a door, and the light temporarily blinded her.

“I don’t feel safe,” she said. She blinked her eyes several times as they adjusted to the light. She took in her surroundings.

They stood in a large one-room cabin. There was a kitchenette to their right, a small table with four chairs around it, a desk against the wall to the left below a small window. On the other side, a half wall blocked her view of what she assumed was the bathroom. Across the room a double bed complete with a brass headboard sat below a second window. The door behind her led to the enclosed garage.

The decor was simple, rustic. Wood dominated everything, including the floor, which only had a few area rugs to lend warmth. There were two pictures on the wall, but they were both landscapes, nothing that would give her a clue as to the personality of the man who’d kidnapped her. It was neat, tidy, but it felt like it was more of a vacation cabin than a real home.

Max quickly shed the remains of his Santa outfit to reveal a pair of gray slacks to go with his light blue dress shirt. He recovered his gun from the kitchen counter and came back to Jade. “Turn around.”

She did so, facing the wall, and he untied her hands, then pulled off her coat.

“Go sit at the desk.”

“Why? You need some typing or something? I don’t—”

He poked her with the gun barrel. “Just do it.” She walked to the desk chair, and Max pulled it around so it faced the room. “Sit. Put your arms on the rests.”

She did, and using both the blue scarf and the rope he expertly tied her to the chair. He put the gun on the table and moved to the sink. “Do you want some water?”

Her mouth was terribly dry. An almost metallic aftertaste reminded her of the gag, the terror of feeling so helpless. Water wouldn’t fix that, but she was thirsty. “Please.”

She watched as he got a glass and filled it. He looked harried. With one hand, he grabbed one of the chairs from the small table. He set it down with the back toward her, straddled the seat and tilted the glass to her lips so she could drink.

She gulped awkwardly, spilling a thin stream of liquid down her chin. She had to turn her head when she was through and more water dripped down to her dress. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment despite the illogic. It wasn’t her fault she was tied up like this.

He set the glass on the desk, then walked over to the fireplace on the opposite wall. The wood had already been laid, kindling and all, and it took him only a moment to get a nice blaze going. He stared at the fire as it swelled, then walked back to where she sat. He knelt in front of her. She tried to scoot back until he slipped off one of her shoes, then the other. He stood, his expression somehow scarier because of its neutrality, walked back to the fireplace and put her shoes on the hearth. “They’ll warm up soon,” he said.

The act unsettled her as much as anything had. This odd, desperate man who’d kidnapped her at gunpoint was concerned about her feet being cold?

He joined her again, sitting on the other chair with his arms folded across the back.

“Look, I hadn’t planned this.”

“Yeah. Right. You just happened to have rope and scarves in your suit. What do you want? Money? I can get—”

“I don’t want your money. I told you that at the mall.” Max shifted his gaze to the wall behind her, his face losing all expression. What remained was exhaustion, worry. Fear.

“Then why? What the hell do you want from me? Are you some kind of pervert or something?”

Max laughed weakly. “Well, I’m not this kinky. I just—I’m at the end of my rope.” He shifted his gaze back to meet hers, and for the first time she really noticed how blue his eyes were. Despite the fact that they were so bloodshot. His left eye even had a tiny twitch.

“Why did you kill that old man?”

“I didn’t kill him. Werner was like an uncle to me.” He briefly closed his eyes and the grief shadowing his face surprised her. Or was it guilt?

“Then why not turn yourself in? Look, if I get home safely, I’ll just forget all this—unpleasantness. My father has some power in D.C. We could help—”

Max stood, almost knocking his chair over. “Your father is the reason I’m in this mess.”

He’d mentioned that before. Obviously he was unbalanced and she needed to tread lightly. She made sure her voice was soft, non-threatening. “What are you talking about?”

Max paced the small room like a tiger in a cage. “Your father. And Geotech. Christ, I’ve tried everything. Even my own editor can’t wait to see my head on a pike outside the city walls. You have to know the senator is in it up to his eyeballs. I know you two work together, that you’re his assistant. So please, do us both a favor and cut the bewildered act.”

If Jade could have faded into the desk chair, she would have. She was stunned by the vehemence in his voice. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

He stopped in the middle of a frenzied stride and looked at her. His shoulders slumped as he ran both hands through his dark hair.

Staring at her, measuring her, obviously wondering if he should believe her, his lips curved in a wry smile, and he sat on his chair again. “If you’re lying you’re damn good at it.”

“I’m not lying.”

That smile again, mellowed with a sadness that was palpable. “When your father first got on the Ways and Means committee, Geotech was a relatively small company, but with big ambitions. Their basic approach was deals and mergers, lots of investor cash, but few real assets. They approached Senator Parker for political assistance, but he turned them down cold, unsure of their stability, and unwilling to expose himself and the country to the risk.”

Jade remembered that time. Mom had still been alive, and there had been lively discussions about the viability of the company. Her dad had been dubious about their entire approach. “Okay, so what’s that got to do with murder and kidnapping?”

“Flash forward a few years. Geotech found the support they wanted in Texas. Their stock flew out of the brokerages at ever higher prices, and they rapidly became a more-or-less respected organization, one of, if not the, biggest energy brokers in the country.

“Meanwhile, your father became more powerful, wielding the kind of influence that gets bills passed. Then your mother died.”

“My mother?”

His mouth curved in an apologetic smile. “She’s only relevant because your father’s grief made him an easy target for Geotech. He started gambling, which Geotech was happy to exploit. They made sure your father would gamble to his heart’s content. And now he owes them somewhere in the arena of ten million dollars, peanuts compared to the hundreds of millions the new energy bill is worth to them. Now they’re blackmailing him for his vote.”

“That’s a lie.” Jade’s hands shook at the thought. “Dad would never submit to that kind of blackmail. Which is irrelevant because he doesn’t gamble and would never have incurred that kind of debt.”

Max smiled at her, his gaze assessing her carefully. “A man will do almost anything to protect his name and reputation.”

She shuddered, his message not lost on her. “You are crazy. I’m Dad’s executive assistant. There’s no way he’d be that deep in the hole without me knowing about it.”

“Right.” Max’s smile faded to grimness. “I figure you’re either unaware of his problem, or you don’t know what to do about it.”

“No. You’re wrong about this. And what’s that got to do with that old man you killed?”

Max leaned forward. “I told you. I didn’t kill him. Werner was finally persuaded to be on the board at Geotech, and when he found out what was going on, he talked to my dad and then to me. He knew all about your father’s debt, the gambling. And that Geotech wasn’t above blackmail. That’s why he was killed.”

Exhaustion suddenly swept through Jade. Max was obviously one of those people who had seen so many bad things that he’d been overwhelmed, seeing conspiracy everywhere. She doubted he would listen to reason. “I see.”

Max met her gaze. “You remember something?”

She saw a flash of reason in his eyes and hope boosted her spirits. “There’s probably a bunch of stuff I missed on my dad’s computer. You know, if we just went to the Senate Office Building, we could probably…”

“Damn it.” Max stood and swept his chair over with one angry wave of his hand.