It could turn out to be a very long morning, she thought, leaning back against the cave wall. But at least they were dry, and safe for the moment. She would concentrate on those positive points for now.
She had never been very good at estimating passing time. She’d been sitting close to the cave opening, watching the rain fall in the woods outside, for what seemed like a very long time when she broke the silence to ask, “I wonder what time it is.”
Donovan roused from his deep introspection to reply, “Just guessing, I’d say mid-morning. Maybe ten, ten-thirty.”
“I hope Grace hasn’t heard we’re missing yet,” she said, vocalizing a concern that had been nagging at her all morning. “She’ll be frantic.”
“I suppose that depends on whether Bryan chose to contact her—and my prediction is that he won’t until he has more information.”
“So you think Bryan has been contacted by the kidnappers?”
“Probably. I expect that’s what the other two were doing while they were gone.”
“You’ve known Bryan a lot longer than I have. What do you think he’s doing now? Has he contacted the police? Called my sister?”
Donovan gave it a moment’s thought before he answered. “He hasn’t called the police. And he won’t take any chance of a media leak, so he probably hasn’t told your sister, either.”
“So what is he doing?”
“He’s looking for us. He has contacts. They’ll be on our trail quicker than any official agency would be.”
“What was it you learned when that man offered us water yesterday? When he left the room, you said you knew then what was going on.”
Donovan’s response caught her by surprise. “I recognized him.”
Wide-eyed, she scooted around to face him more fully. “You know him? Who is he?”
“I didn’t say I know him. I said I recognized him. I don’t think he realized it.”
“So you’ve seen him before, but you were never introduced?”
“Right. I saw him leaving an office that I was about to enter. It was a couple of weeks ago in New York. The guy probably never saw me—and if he
did, he probably doesn’t suspect that I recognized him.”
“How did you recognize him?”
One of his typical shrugs was followed by, “I have a good memory for faces.”
“You’re sure it was the same man?”
“Yes.”
“So he was in New York. Do you know who he works for—or do you think he and his two cronies cooked this scheme up on their own?”
Donovan shook his head. “I’d put my money on the CEO of the company Bryan’s been trying to take over during the past couple of weeks. It’s a hostile takeover, but everything was in place, all the details ironed out. That’s why Bryan and I were surprised by the last-minute glitches that cropped up to detain him in New York. They’re annoying and time-consuming, but they wouldn’t have stopped the takeover.”
“You think Bryan was deliberately detained so we could be taken?”
“Seems too coincidental not to consider that possibility.”
“So you think the condition of our release is for Bryan to stop his takeover attempt?”
“No, nothing that obvious. I’d imagine it’s a straightforward demand for ransom. Childers has been complaining that he didn’t get enough for his company shares, even though he got all he deserved, probably a bit more than he deserved. Looks like he decided to make a little extra on the side.”
“Childers—that’s the CEO you mentioned?”
Donovan nodded.