"He figured you would say that," Clay snarled. "Wake him up!"
Elizabeth jumped in her seat when a zap of electric current was followed by a gasp. "Hey," Martin's scratchy voice came online.
"Marty, what did he do to you? Are you hurt?" Elizabeth's voice cracked.
"I'm fine. No matter what, I don't want you to do anything he says." Martin's words were followed by the sound of skin hitting skin and a guttural grunt.
"Marty!" Julian squeezed her hand. "Marty, please. I want to help you," she pleaded with the silence. Julian wrote a note on a pad. "Tell me our special word, so I believe you.”
"Mercutio. Now, beautiful, we’re doing this my way. Listen to me: I don't want you to come. You need to take care of Lola and yourself. I need you to take a smooth ten-minute ride to the house. Pack your bags and get out of Dodge."
"Enough, Marty. She'll come if she doesn't want you to die," Clay screamed at him. A slap reverberated through the speaker. "Sunshine, hmm, I like how that sounds, come to Penrose and Main at midnight. A car will pick you up. And if you want your precious Marty to live, you come alone." Clay hung up.
"Julian, he's going to kill him." Elizabeth shook.
"Not if we can help it." Julian took her hands. "Marty gave you a set of clues. You need to help me solve them."
"I don't understand." Elizabeth shook her head.
"Breathe with me. In and out. Now,chère, one clue at a time. Mercutio. Is that your code word?"
"No, ‘Queen Mab’ is our code. Mercutio is Martin's cat and a character fromRomeo and Julietwho could hang out on both sides without getting into trouble. He's saying someone is playing both sides."
Julian thought of Brynn. "Beautiful? Another pet name?
"No, he never called me that. We used to sing a song... ‘Up, Up, and Away’..." Elizabeth sang the song about the beautiful balloon. The lyrics of the second verse answered their question. "He's telling us Lewis is Clay."
"Yes. ‘A smooth ten-minute trip to the house.’ Smooth is me. He's ten minutes from the jail. ‘Pack your bags and get out of Dodge.’ What's that mean to you?"
Elizabeth smiled. "My dad drove a Dodge Diplomat. When he was campaigning, he rented a warehouse in North Silverton. We spent hours packing plastic campaign bags with literature and crap with my dad's name on it: key chains, sponges, rain bonnets."
"We will bring him home,chère. I promise," Julian said.
"What about me?" Elizabeth was ready to join the fight.
"We need you to try to save Troy. Tucker is staying to help, and Pete will be here soon. Kieran just let me know the governor is sending a National Guard unit with physicians to cover the hospital until they can hire more. Hillinger either is or will be in custody soon. Patrick agreed to help orient the new people. I know Martin is counting on two things: that you are safe, and Lola has a Mommy."
"Julian, Lola needs her daddy, and so does this baby." Her hand drifted to her belly.
Julian's mouth went dry. "You're pregnant? Does Martin know?"
"No, just Patrick and Pete. I asked them to keep it a secret." Elizabeth's eyes welled up.
"Oh,chère, promise me you’ll listen. Lola and that little one need a mommy.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Loren Ragan headed to Judge Ronald Weese's home. Ragan, Mike Johnson, Cordelia Snow, and Terrence Newsome stood at the judge's door. The judge gaped at the district attorney. "Mr. Ragan and friends, what did I do to deserve your presence on my stoop this evening?"
The district attorney sounded stressed. "Permission to be heard, Your Honor. We are here to notify you of a horrendous miscarriage of justice." They explained the evidence and the situation, offering the judge detailed, notarized documents.
The judge scanned the paperwork. "Case against Martin Bailey is dismissed. Any idea of where he is?"
"No, Your Honor," Zach said.
The judge escorted them to the door. "Keep me posted. I expect you to do your part to fix this, Loren."
On their way to Ragan's office, as Kieran pledged, Loren watched as the Silverton Community became inundated with law enforcement. On live video, two state patrol majors walked into Chief Doug Sharpe's office with orders signed by the current Iowa Governor. A similar thing was occurring at the Silverton Corrections Center. Dogs under state deputies' direction descended like the hounds of hell, searching for contraband. Based upon new evidence and evidence provided by Chase Security, arrests of cops, corrections officers and inmates were underway.
