As they crossed the wide porch, Cade moved in front of her and opened the door for her. She stepped into a large entryway.
“In here.” Cade motioned to a room directly to the left. “Have a seat.”
It was a living room. Piper barely took note of the decor, falling into the nearest chair. It, two others and a couch were clustered around a coffee table. Each of the men took one of the other chairs.
“So what’s going on?” Alvarez said before he was even in his seat.
Piper wasn’t sure how much she wanted to reveal to this strangely hostile man. Cade took the decision out of her hands.
“Piper’s sister has been kidnapped for ransom,” he said without preamble. “Piper was ordered to drive out to Cartwright for the exchange, but had car trouble and didn’t make it. I picked her up along the side of the highway, which is when somebody started shooting at us. We managed to get away, and I brought her here so we could figure out what to do.”
Cade offered the sanitized version of what had happened so smoothly Piper almost could have believed it herself. From the way Alvarez’s eyes narrowed again, shifting slightly from Cade to her and back again, he suspected there was more to the story, as well.
“Aren’t you going to call the police?”
“No,” Piper said immediately. “I can’t.”
Alvarez raised one eyebrow so high it nearly met his hairline. “You can’t?”
Cade quickly explained about Pam, the fact that she was an FBI agent, and what had happened to her. “Piper doesn’t know who within the FBI she can trust. There’s a good chance someone there is involved and was the person shooting at us. She doesn’t want to risk contacting the police and having them getting in touch with the FBI, alerting them to where she is.”
“You think you can’t trust the police?” Alvarez said.
“For the kidnappers to bring me here of all places, chances are they have some connection to the area. That could include anyone with the local police. I can’t risk it. My sister’s life is on the line. I can’t afford to trust the wrong person.”
“But you trust us, even though we’re locals?” he asked, his voice tinged with a disbelief she understood all too well. It did seem ridiculous, that she would choose to trust a complete stranger over the police when they were just as likely to be involved with the kidnappers as anyone with the local authorities.
Her eyes immediately returned to Cade, and as she took him in once more, she realized it was true. She felt it in her bones. She did trust him. If he was involved in this, she couldn’t imagine what kind of game he was playing. She’d already admitted she wasn’t the sister the kidnappers were expecting, didn’t have the information they wanted and likely had no way of obtaining it. He had her in his house on his vast, isolated property. No one knew where she was and likely no one could help her if she needed it. There was no reason to continue pretending he was trying to help her if he wasn’t.
As for Matt Alvarez, she had to hope Cade knew him well enough to be right about him. There was no turning back now.
“I do,” she said in response to Alvarez’s question, directing her words at Cade so there could be no doubt who she meant. Cade gave her a small nod. The slight gesture, combined with the solemnity in his eyes, seemed to say he understood and took them as seriously as she did.
Turning back to Alvarez, she looked him straight in the eye. “If it was your sister we were talking about, is there anyone with the local police you would trust with her life?”
As soon as he grimaced, she knew she had him there, and he wasn’t the least bit happy about it. “All right,” he muttered. “So what are the two of you planning to do?”
It was a very good question, one Piper still didn’t have an answer for. She glanced again at Cade. He’d suggested coming here so they could figure it out. He’d been so quiet on the drive she wondered if he’d thought of anything.
“I figure they must be keeping her somewhere nearby,” Cade said slowly. “There has to be a reason they had Piper come all the way out here, and they wouldn’t want to have to transport the sister far to bring her to the meeting place.”
“Unless the sister’s already dead and they had no intention of returning her or producing her at the meeting,” Alvarez said, the words making Piper’s blood run cold. “If she—” he nodded toward Piper “—came all this way and had the information on her, they would have had her cornered and there would have been no reason to hold up their end of the bargain.”
“The man just told me I could talk to Tara the next time he calls, so I have to believe she’s still alive. I have to,” Piper repeated, her voice breaking slightly. She slammed her lips together as though that would somehow bring the sound back and turned her head away from both men, her eyes suddenly burning. The fact that she hadn’t been able to speak to Tara yet had never been far from her thoughts, the possible implications terrifying her.
“You can believe it,” Cade said quietly but firmly. “She’s their leverage. They’re not going to do anything to her until they have what they want.”
She looked up at him. He met her gaze and nodded again, the confidence and reassurance she saw in his eyes bolstering her courage. He’d clearly read what she was thinking, and the unexpected kindness in his response surprised her, touching something deep inside her.
“All right,” Alvarez said, his tone almost grudging. “So if the sister is alive where would they keep her?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Cade said. “What about the Emerson spread?”
Alvarez appeared to mull this over for a moment before nodding. “I guess that makes sense.”
Piper leaned forward in excitement. “Where’s the Emerson spread?”
“It’s the property next to mine to the east,” Cade said. “Everybody else in the area has been here for years. I can’t see any of them being involved in something like this. Jim Emerson had to sell last year. As far as I know, no one knows who bought the property and nobody’s seen the new owners. I’ve heard talk there’ve been people out there recently though.”
“I’ve seen movement over there,” Matt confirmed. “But whoever’s over there has pretty much kept to themselves. They sure haven’t come over to introduce themselves, and nobody in town has met them.”
“That’s suspicious, isn’t it?” Piper asked. “If they were living or ranching or anything out there, they would have to go into town for supplies and things, right? Unless there’s a reason they’re keeping a low profile.”
“Most likely. Some people have been wondering if there isn’t something illegal going on out there. Maybe a meth lab, or some other kind of drugs. It’s also pretty easy to get to Cartwright going through the back of the property. Wouldn’t even have to take any of the main roads.”
“What do you want to do?” Matt asked. “Go over there and talk to them?”
“No. If it is them, I don’t want to tip them off we’re on to them. It’ll only make them more careful than they’re already being. I was thinking we should start by finding out who does own the property if we can.” He raised a brow. “I thought you might give Abby a call, see if she could help you out.”
The look Matt shot him said exactly what he thought of that idea. Cade didn’t cave, simply looking back at him.
“Abby?” Piper asked carefully.
“She’s a friend of Matt’s.” Cade’s expression betrayed nothing, but it was pretty clear what kind of friend the woman was to Alvarez. Piper could only imagine this Abby had seen a softer side of the man than she had. She certainly hoped so.
“And she can help?”