Into Dust. B.J. Daniels

to you what happens. But first you have to convince him that you’re dying to live in the White House, dying being the key word.”

      “You would kill me—”

      “Why would we kill you?” Dr. Venable said as he handed her back her phone. “You and Joe are going to lead us. Just like you used to. When the time comes, you’ll know exactly what has to be done and you’ll do it.”

      “Is that what you told JD Hamilton when he was ready to quit the race for president?” she asked.

      “Unfortunately, JD disappointed us and had to be dealt with. You have too much to lose to let that happen.”

      * * *

      AS HE HEARD what Ed said into the phone, Jack no longer had to wonder if his father knew that he’d helped Cassidy escape. Nor did he have to speculate on whether his father would know that he was the one who’d broken into his desk and taken the metal box he now held under his arm in the dark of the closet.

      He’d been seen. Shaken, he watched Ed Urdahl through the crack between the door and jamb. When he’d told Cassidy that Ed was looking for both of them, he’d been hoping it wasn’t true. But it was.

      Had his father known already when Jack had called him? Had Tom Durand made up the story about being on his way to Catalina? Maybe the sound he’d heard in the background was his father’s private jet engine.

      Which meant his father could be back in Houston. In fact, he could be looking for Jack at this moment. Apparently, there were already men out at the ranch waiting for him to return. There was no place safe. He and Cassidy were truly on their own.

      “Okay, I’ll handle it,” Ed was saying into the phone. “I’ll let you know when I find them. I said I would find them. When I do, I’ll call and then you can tell me what you want me to do with them.” Ed held the phone away from his ear, but Jack could hear his father yelling, although he couldn’t make out the words.

      What did his father plan to do with them? He still didn’t know why he had wanted to abduct Cassidy. What had he planned for Ed to do with her? And now the big question, what had his father just told Ed to do about him?

      “Yes, I heard you. I’ll take care of it.” Ed finished the call without another word and pocketed his phone. He stood for a moment as if trying to remember what he’d been about to do before the call.

      Jack didn’t dare breathe. Behind him he felt Cassidy’s hand rest on his back as if like him, she feared that the man would head for the closet next. He thought about pulling out the gun, but he feared he would give away their position. It was tight enough in the closet, especially with him holding the metal container.

      Not only that, when Ed had reached to put his phone away, Jack had seen the gun in the man’s shoulder holster. Cassidy had, too, because he’d heard her startled intake of breath behind him.

      Ed stood for a moment looking down at the desk before he walked around it and out of the office. Jack listened to his retreating footfalls, still holding his breath. If Ed suspected that Jack was hiding in the building, he would wait and catch him when he came out.

      The sound of the old freight elevator clanked and groaned as if rattling the entire building as it descended. After a while, the night fell silent.

      “Jack?” Cassidy whispered.

      He shook his head, turning only slightly to motion for her to wait.

      She nodded, but her blue eyes were huge and she still had her hand pressed to his back. He could feel her trembling. He was shaking just as wildly inside. What the hell was going on with his father?

      Jack didn’t know how long they stood there. His mind was like a hamster on a wheel. What was his father involved in? Whatever it was, Jack and Cassidy were now up to their necks in it.

      The building sounded as quiet as a tomb when he finally pushed the closet door open a little wider and looked out. Ed had left the office door open, but he’d turned out the light as he’d left. The hallway was empty.

      Cautiously, he stepped out, motioning for Cassidy to stay where she was. If he got caught, he didn’t want her caught as well. He moved to the doorway and looked out. Nothing moved in the dim light of the hallway. No sound came up from the floors below.

      Ed had taken the elevator. That meant he hadn’t expected anyone to be in the building, otherwise he would have sneaked in as they had. Jack felt a little better at that thought, which meant there was a good chance Ed wasn’t waiting outside for them. Jack had parked the truck away from the building and on a side street. Ed would have taken the main street to the office, so he wouldn’t have seen it.

      At least that was Jack’s hope as he motioned that it was okay for Cassidy to come out now. He stepped close to her to whisper, “I think he’s gone, but we aren’t going to take any chances.” He held his finger to his lips and she nodded jerkily.

      He could tell that she was scared. It had been a close call. Also, he was pretty sure that she’d heard what Ed had said. The big man was still looking for her. But now he was also looking for the boss of T.D. Enterprises’ son—Jack Durand.

      From Cassidy’s expression, she hadn’t put that part together. At least not yet. He hoped she thought that the boss’s son was one of the men in the van.

      “He had a gun and he knows we have the box,” Cassidy whispered, eyes big and round with fear. “What do you think is in it?”

      He had no idea as he glanced at the battered and tarnished metal still tucked under his arm. It was a Pandora’s box. He feared what would come springing out the moment he opened it.

      She still looked scared, but he was terrified of what his father had hidden inside an old locked metal container he’d kept for years inside a locked drawer. “Let’s get out of here.” Shifting the metal box to his hands, he heard that faint metallic rattle again from within.

      Cassidy must have heard it as well. “Maybe we shouldn’t take it.”

      Did he really believe the answer to why his father would have the probable future president’s daughter kidnapped was inside this box? But he now knew that his father had secrets—and some of them were apparently in this beat-up metal box.

      Jack needed to know what he was dealing with—who he was dealing with.

       CHAPTER SIX

      “HOW IS SHE?”

      “Sarah’s shocked and confused right now,” Dr. Ralph Venable said into the phone. “It’s to be expected.” He’d been regretting making this call, fearing the outcome, ever since he’d left Sarah. Buck would be home by now. At this point, Doc could only hope that she didn’t confess everything. “She’s having a tough time.”

      Joe Landon sighed. “You know I never stopped loving her. When she went out to Montana to meet Buckmaster Hamilton and get close to his father, Senator JD Hamilton, I almost went after her, wanting to stop her. I was ready to run away with her and put The Prophecy behind us.”

      He thought of the young Joe and Sarah as they had been at nineteen. Such a beautiful couple. Joe had brought Sarah into the anarchist group with his handsome face and his passion, as well as his radical ideas.

      “Why didn’t you go after her?” Venable asked, thinking how different things would have been if Joe had.

      “Because she didn’t love me enough. She wouldn’t have renounced The Prophecy for me.” Venable heard the sharp edge of bitterness in the man’s voice.

      “You don’t know that.”

      Joe laughed. “Actually, I do. The night before she left, I told her I was in love with her. It didn’t make a damned bit of difference. She was determined to start a revolution and that meant going after the Hamilton who everyone thought would be the next