The three men turned in surprise and then leapt into action. Two of them took off running, but the third man ran for the sliding door on the cargo van. I was already running toward him when I holstered my gun.
I slammed into the man and took him down to the cement floor, quickly rolling him to his stomach, pulling his arms behind him, and slapping a set of cuffs on him. The whole maneuver took less than ten seconds. I breathed heavily for a moment as I pinned the guy to the floor, my knee in his back.
“You’re under arrest.”
“I got Cynthia,” Sam yelled.
I quickly glanced over my shoulder. “Is she hurt?”
“I’m fine, Salvador,” Cynthia said as she walked around the end of the cargo van.
She looked fine, a little ruffled, but fine.
Her eyes narrowed as she glanced down at the man pinned under me. “This man forced me to go with him. I didn’t even get to finish my shopping. I’d just found the perfect dress when he put a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me if I didn’t go with him. You need to arrest him, Salvador.”
“I will.” I smiled despite the gravity of the situation. “I’m glad you’re okay, Cynthia. Go with Sam. He’ll take you to Lany. I need to finish up here.” I looked around until I spotted another team member. “Wu, you and Sam escort Cynthia, Vinnie, and Lany back to the estate. The police can take their statements from there.”
“Copy that,” Wu said as he walked over to help escort Cynthia out of the building.
I wanted them out of here until I could figure out exactly what was going on. This looked like a simple kidnapping for ransom, but it felt like something more. I just couldn’t quite place my finger on what that something was.
We made sure all three of our suspects were restrained and then read them their rights. I wanted to make sure everything was done correctly so these idiots couldn’t get out of jail on a technicality.
“Burke, search the van. I need to call this in.” I also needed to let the others go home before the police arrived. “Patty, thank you.” I nodded my head toward the door. “You guys better get out of here. I have to call headquarters.”
“Any time, Sal. I’m just glad everything turned out okay.” Patty waved, and then they all turned and walked out of the building.
I sent a quick text message to Lancaster and Carlos, letting them know Cynthia was safe. I knew without asking that Carlos would call his men back. He wouldn’t want them around when the police arrived any more than I did. Lancaster simply needed to know his wife was safe.
I called for a squad car to come pick these idiots up and someone to come and police the scene. I wanted to turn it over to the incident commander as quickly as I could so that I could get back to my family.
I paused when I heard a voice come through the comm unit in my ear. “Sal, this is Sam. We might have a small problem.”
“Define small.”
“The car is gone.”
I blinked as if he had spoken a garbled language. “Say that again.”
“The car where Lany and Vinnie were supposed to be waiting is not here. It’s gone.”
I swallowed down the instant fear that filled me. “And Lany?”
“He’s gone, too.”
Porca troia!
I knew this was too easy.
Chapter Seventeen
Lany
My leg was tapping restlessly, my nerves stretched paper thin. I didn’t want to wait in the car. I wanted to be out there looking for my mother. I hated the waiting. I knew this was my best course of action, but it still sucked.
“It’s going to be okay, Lany,” Vinnie stated. “Sal and his team know what they are doing.”
I knew that, really I did, but that didn’t help settle my nerves one damn bit. I doubted anything would until I saw my mother alive and well again. It would be nice if my husband and his team came back in one piece as well.
