How to Switch a Groom Page 6

  He had been planning to stay the rest of the weekend with his family and take Cally to lunch then maybe boating. And maybe a late-night adventure hike or canoe ride where he’d kiss her in a romantic spot. Tomorrow they could go to church with his parents, see some old friends. What would everyone think of Cally on his arm? He’d kind of liked the idea of giving the locals some gossip fodder.

  Dang, he was an idiot. He was so frustrated that he decided to go back to his parents, load up his stuff, and go home. He liked his large home on the North Ogden bench, but he didn’t want to be alone. Hopefully some friends would be around to play basketball or take his wave runners out to Willard Bay.

  Driving into his parents’ driveway, he shoved his truck into park and jumped out. Brody’s truck was sitting there. Brody popped out of the driver’s side, his blue eyes full of frustration.

  “What’s up?” Tate asked.

  “I don’t get women.”

  Tate rolled his eyes, completely agreeing. “Join the club, bro.”

  Brody folded his arms across his chest and glared out at the lake.

  “All women or a particular one?” Tate asked.

  “You know that beauty I was hitting on at the party last night?”

  “Kaimbrey?”

  “Yeah. We totally hit it off, and I was supposed to take her to lunch and on a hike to the waterfall up North Fork at noon, but she totally stood me up. I waited at Bri’s apartment where she’s staying, for like forever, called her phone, texted her, sent a Snapchat, called Bri, snooped around. She’s disappeared. It ticks me off.”

  Tate wanted to tell him to join the club again but wasn’t ready to reveal that he wanted to be with Cally. Brody had already teased him after he got back from taking Cally home this morning, but he’d played it off that they were just friends like they’d always been.

  “Why, when I finally find someone I think might be the one, does she ditch me?”

  Tate shrugged. Brody was what some might call a playboy. Could he truly be serious about settling down or finding “the one”? “Maybe something came up.”

  “Why is she not answering calls, texts, or Snapchats?”

  “Sorry, man.” And Tate was sorry, for both of them. “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know.” Brody shook his head. “I think I’ll just head back home. I love Momma, but I made the mistake of telling her all about Kaimbrey when you left with Cally this morning. She was all lit up thinking another of her sons had found his ‘angel’.” He grimaced. “I’ll never hear the end of this. She’ll want me to stake out the condo and wait for her. I already waited … way too long for a man with any pride,” he muttered. “How desperate do I have to get?”

  Tate shrugged. He was feeling pretty desperate himself. He was roiling inside. He’d finally committed himself and Cally to talking things out. Maybe they could’ve gotten past their issues. Maybe at some point he could’ve revealed to her how much he’d always loved her, but now … no chance.

  “Maybe I’ll just go home,” Brody said again. He had a beautiful home in Morgan, the next canyon over from this one. He loved the outdoors and didn’t mind the drive into Ogden to meet with his high roller clients four days a week as their financial planner and consultant.

  They were both pretty desperate in Tate’s mind, and he felt bad that Brody had been stood up. Maybe his brother burned through a lot of different women, but Tate felt like Kaimbrey had been something special for Brody. The entire parallel situation just stunk.

  “Why don’t we do something to get our minds off of women?” he suggested. He doubted it would work, but neither of them was the type to sit and stew. “Rappelling, rock climbing, or maybe go jump off the cliffs at Causey.”

  “Let’s do the cliffs. I haven’t been up there all summer.” A little light came back into Brody’s eyes, but Tate could tell he was hurting. He must have it bad for Kaimbrey. Tate knew exactly how that felt, maybe worse as he didn’t burn through different women every week like his brother. And Brody just met Kaimbrey last night whereas Tate had loved Cally for over fourteen years now.

  Brody glanced at their parents’ house. “Do we have to go change, or should we just go in what we’re wearing and avoid Momma’s questions?”

  Tate laughed. They both adored their momma, but she could grill you with questions until you wanted to cry uncle. His phone rang, and he ripped it out so quickly that Brody’s eyebrows shot up. “Expecting someone?”

  Tate ignored him and stared at the screen. Not Cally. Disappointment tasted bitter. Yet the number was one he’d saved from years ago, because Cally had never liked carrying her phone, said she didn’t have pockets in her dresses. Quite often she left her phone at home and would borrow his or Colt’s phone if she needed to check in with her nanny or her parents. Cally’s mother. He hadn’t seen the stern, snooty woman since Cally and Colt graduated high school. She hadn’t even shown up at Cally’s college graduation. He thought about ignoring it, but he was too intrigued.

  Swiping to answer, he said coolly, “Yes?”

  “Tate!” Cally’s mom Eileen almost yelled into the phone. Tate just about dropped his phone. Eileen was always proper, always standoffish; he didn’t know she knew how to raise her voice.

  “Yes?”

  “Help us! Tate, please, help us!” Her voice rose into a shriek, but then broke in a sob.

  “Of course I’ll help. Calm down, and tell me what’s wrong.” Tate queried an eyebrow at Brody who was watching him and mouthed, “Cally’s mom.”

  Brody stared at him in confusion. Tate was just as confused. He hadn’t seen this woman in years, and she’d never liked any of them very much. Why would she turn to him for help?

  She finally calmed enough to pull in a ragged breath, and then squeak out, “They’ve taken Cally! They’ve taken her!”

  The ground seemed to tremble underneath Tate. He clung to the phone and shifted to keep his footing, his stomach tumbling. Eileen kept ranting on about security videos at the house, ransom calls, and threats. He tried to listen, tried to compute what she was saying, but he could only latch on to those first words. They’ve taken Cally. It made his blood run cold. Who had taken Cally? If someone hurt her, he would kill them.

  “Eileen!” He finally yelled as she was speaking gibberish. “Who’s taken Cally?”

  “Kidnappers! They want five million. Of course we’ll pay it, but what if they don’t free her? They said they’ll carve up her beautiful face. My girl! They can’t hurt her. Oh, I’ve failed her. So many times. I can’t lose her now!” She was shrieking, and the words seemed to bang around in his head.

  Tate stuttered back to his truck and leaned heavily against it. Cally. Kidnapped. He could hardly wrap his mind around it.

  Brody hurried to his side and grasped his forearm. “Are you okay?”

  Tate could only shake his head.

  “Please find her, Tate. Please find her!”

  “Have you called the police?” he managed to stutter out.

  “No police. They threatened us that they have people watching, tapping our phones. If we call for help, they will cut her up, kill her! If the media finds out about it, they …” Her voice trailed off. “I can’t say it. I hid in the secret room I had built in this house to hide things from … Anyway, I know there are no cameras in here like they claimed are throughout the rest of the house, and I used this old cell phone that I kept in a drawer with numbers of people from home. I don’t think they can track it. Please Tate, you have to find her. You and that idiot younger brother of yours could track any animal. Track them. Find them.”

  Cally’s mom had hated Brody more than any of them because of his sense of humor and lack of decorum. “But we have no clue where to look.” Tate’s gut was churning at someone not only taking Cally but threatening to hurt her.

  “They want the money placed on the cliffs at Causey Reservoir tonight at midnight. Vincent is getting the money together and our jet is ready, but we’re in our Newp
ort, Rhode Island home, so we’re five or six hours from you.” She was at least calming down and sounding somewhat rational. “Vincent will get a canoe once we get there, so we can row it across and leave the money, but they have to be close to there, right? Start searching in the mountains close to there. I know you’ve always loved her. Please find her, Tate.”

  All these years Tate thought Eileen was only focused on herself, but she must be somewhat insightful to know how deeply Tate cared for Cally. His mind was racing with fear for Cally’s safety, hope that if her parents left the money she’d be set free, and plans to try to find her before midnight in case the kidnappers had no intention of returning her safely to them.

  “I’ll try, Eileen, but you have to call the police. Use this cell phone you’re calling me on.”

  “No! You don’t understand the things they’ve threatened if any police show up anywhere near us.” Her voice trailed off, and she let out a soft cry. “No! I can’t risk it. Please just find her. Please!” The call disconnected.

  Tate stared at Brody who was close by looking as confused as he felt but definitely not as distressed.

  “Cally’s been kidnapped,” he managed to grunt out.

  Brody wrapped an arm around him, and Tate leaned heavily into his younger brother. Luckily, Brody was built like a tank.

  “What are we going to do?” Brody asked.

  “Her mom said no police, but we’ve got to get some help.” His mind spun. Were the kidnappers really monitoring Cally’s parents that closely or was it just a threat? What if the phone call he just received was traced and they hurt Cally? He and Brody needed to move. They knew the mountains well, but there were so many trails, so many places someone could hide. They needed help. “We’re going to call Jake at search and rescue and your buddy with the FBI. Do you think he can keep things quiet so the kidnappers don’t hurt her like they threatened her parents?”

  Brody nodded. “Yeah, he’s the best.”

  “Then you and I are going to find her.”

  Brody’s blue eyes widened, but he didn’t refute him. Tate was grateful for that because he’d never been so doubtful of his own skills in his life.

  Chapter Eight

  Cally’s heart still hadn’t calmed down, her stomach was clawing at her throat, and her feet were bleeding and aching by the time they reached a clearing in the trees with two tents set up. A couple men sat in camp chairs by an empty fire pit, and they stood quickly when they saw them. Cally’s anxiety tripled. Bull looked like a friendly neighbor compared to these two.

  “Any problems?” the hulking blond man asked. The bald, short guy just leered at Cally.

  “Nope,” Bull said.

  “Good. Put her in the tent with the other one.”

  Bull grunted and tugged Cally toward the tent. The other one? She hated to think of anyone else in this nightmare, but it was also a small comfort that she wouldn’t be alone with these monsters. At least, for the moment, they seemed to be about the ransom and not doing anything to her. Once they realized her parents wouldn’t waste their money on Cally, they might not be so complacent as to simply shove her in a tent.

  Bull unzipped the tent, and then ushered Cally in. “Just stay in there, be quiet, and it’ll be all right,” he said quietly.

  Cally glanced sharply up at him. He hadn’t been too hard on her besides making her walk barefoot through the forest, touching her too much, and threatening to cut her up, but it seemed like he was almost concerned for her.

  She bent her head and ducked into the small tent. Sitting cross-legged in the corner, staring defiantly at the two of them was … “Kaimbrey!” Cally called out before she could stop herself.

  Kaimbrey scrambled to her feet, her dark eyes losing a little of their belligerence.

  Bull looked between the two of them. “You two know each other?”

  Cally nodded, seeing no reason to lie. “We met at a party last night.”

  “I guess all rich chicks know each other, right?” Bull’s permagrin resurfaced.

  “Something like that.” Cally rolled her eyes.

  Bull put his hand on the bare skin of her upper back, caressing it. Cally hurried away from his touch and into the tent. He winked at her and zipped the tent up.

  Cally turned to Kaimbrey. Cally was too tall to stand up straight but Kaimbrey could. Kaimbrey tilted her head, her hands tied behind her back also, and directed her to sit on the sleeping bag with a pad underneath. Cally knelt down then rotated to her rear. It felt nice to sit after walking for so long.

  “You okay?” Kaimbrey asked quietly.

  “Yeah. He didn’t do anything to me.”

  “Good.”

  “You?”

  Kaimbrey shrugged. “The big guy with the blond hair?”

  Cally nodded that she knew who Kaimbrey was talking about.

  “His name is Jack. He’s …” Kaimbrey shuddered. “Pretty vile. I think he’s in charge.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “Just lots of threats.”

  Cally sat quietly next to her. Her shoulders ached from her hands being tied behind her back. Her feet really ached. She wished she could get her hands free to pull out what had to be a sticker in her sole.

  “So, what’s our plan?” Kaimbrey whispered.

  Plan? Cally had no plan besides not getting raped and killed. Usually, she was a take-charge kind of person, but it was hard not to feel like their situation was hopeless. “Well, hopefully your parents like you a lot better than mine like me. There’s no way my mother will waste money on ransoming me. After midnight, I might be in trouble.”

  Kaimbrey stared at her. “You said your mother was a brat, but come on, she’d pay for your ransom.”

  Cally looked away. She couldn’t imagine her mother caring enough to waste money on her. Maybe that wasn’t completely true. Cally had always had a good nanny, plenty of food and clothes, and a nice car. With her deep-seated desire to prove herself, she’d refused to let her parents fund her school. When she earned a huge scholarship to the U from a private donor, she’d been thrilled. It hadn’t been until she was awarded her master’s degree that she found out her mother had been the private donor. Maybe her mother cared, a little bit.

  “But we can’t just wait around to be ransomed,” Kaimbrey said. “You know how men like these losers are. They’ll get their money, and then kill us so we can’t identify them.” Kaimbrey’s voice lowered, “Jack bragged about this being their third job and alluded to how he’d gotten the money and had his fun.” She looked away, clearly terrified of Jack’s descriptions and unwilling to share them.

  Cally’s chest constricted with fear. What could they do? She agreed with Kaimbrey that they had to do something. She heard a soft plinking against the roof of the tent. The day had been overcast, but now it seemed to be raining lightly.

  She scooted closer to Kaimbrey and whispered. “How long are your fingernails?”

  Kaimbrey tilted her head and said, “Viciously long. Why?”

  “I bite mine, so you need to pick my ropes loose first, and then I’ll somehow dig yours off of you.”

  Kaimbrey nodded grimly. “Then we’ll rip a hole in this tent and escape before those jerks get a red cent.”

  Cally prayed for as much confidence as Kaimbrey seemed to have.

  Tate and Brody took their parents’ Side by Side, simply told them they were going on a hike by Causey, and started driving the dirt roads through the trees east of the lake. Their momma was worried about the rainstorm that was coming, but they both assured her they’d turn around if the weather got too bad.

  The FBI agent agreed to quietly organize with search and rescue so as not to alert the kidnappers. He’d been concerned this might be the same men who had taken other women, received the ransom, and then still killed them.

  Tate was sick and terrified. At least help was on the way, but he couldn’t stop praying Cally wouldn’t be hurt and that there wouldn’t be a leak. If the kidnappers got wind that t
he FBI and search and rescue were deployed it could be a death sentence. They had to find her … soon.

  Tate prayed nonstop, and for the first time in his life Brody was quiet, simply searching the surrounding forest for any sign that someone may have passed through. Tate drove slowly when he wanted to speed toward Cally, beat the men who had taken her, and then hold her close and tell her he was wrong to have ever been upset with her. The reasons he shouldn’t fall for his brother’s ex-girlfriend were pretty unimportant to him now.

  Hours passed, and his stomach got more upset, his neck and shoulders were so tight he couldn’t even roll them out, and his head started pounding. He needed a handful of ibuprofen and a huge Coke, though neither were a healthy option. Water and peppermint oil like his momma would give him weren’t going to cut it right now. His momma was going to be so upset when she found out Cally was missing. He’d wanted to tell her so she could start praying—her prayers could stop the devil in his tracks—but he hadn’t dared let the information out, even to someone as trustworthy as Momma. She’d be so upset there was no telling how she’d react or if she’d let it slip to one of his two older sisters or her friends.

  “Any word?” he asked Brody.

  Brody pulled out his phone and scowled. “I’ve got no service.”

  Tate nodded tightly. Of course they wouldn’t have service up here. It was just another strike against them. Hopefully the search and rescue had quietly deployed and the FBI agents were on their way, but there was just so much ground to cover, if Cally was even in these mountains. Tate blew out a breath and shoved his hand through his hair. As much as he wanted to be the hero and find Cally, he was way out of his league.

  Chapter Nine

  Cally sat quietly but definitely not patiently as they sat back to back and Kaimbrey blindly worked on her knots. Kaimbrey jabbed Cally’s tender wrists with her nails a few times, but she acted like it hadn’t hurt. She knew Kaimbrey was doing her very best.