Category: Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Avalon Books, New York, N.Y.
ISBN-10: 0803499086
Type: Fiction
Pages: 265
Copyright: August 24, 2008
ISBN-13: 9780803499089
Late at night, the daughter of a prominent Vancouver businessman disappears. At first no one is aware that she has been abducted until her kidnapper calls to demand a ransom. Failure to comply with his instructions could mean death for an innocent soul. But there’s a problem. The kidnapper has made a terrible mistake that even he is not aware of.
Private investigator Jack Elton is called upon to unravel the mystery behind the missing youth and the late night caller. Along with his friend Val Cummins, he tries to track down the kidnapper.
The missing girl is the daughter of a well-known and influential Vancouver businessman. First, Jack has to find him. Then he has to gain his confidence and keep him from jeopardizing the case.
It is a game of beat the clock as Jack works with the police to reunite father and daughter, and to bring her abductor to justice.
Excerpt
“I have your daughter. Pay the ransom or she dies. No cops. I’m serious.”
Eric Howes sat on the edge of his rumpled bed, a look of shock and confusion on his face, as the line went dead.
Just after three in the morning, the phone had rung, and the voice on the other end of the line had delivered the terrifying message. The girl had been kidnapped. There was a ransom of one million dollars. Her life hung in the balance.
The problem for Eric was that he did not have a daughter. He had managed to remain celibate, despite valiant efforts to change the situation. He knew, for a certainty, that he had no children.
This was obviously a wrong number. Under ordinary circumstances, Eric would have cursed the caller loud and long, whether he was heard or not, and would have gone back to sleep. That was not an option this time. He would not get any sleep until he had discharged his duty. No matter what, he knew, in his heart of hearts that, to ignore this early-morning call, could mean the loss of a young life.
Unfortunately, his caller had been quite clear about the fact that there was to be no police involvement. The only details Eric had were those indicating that a kidnapping had taken place, and that a price had to be paid. The caller obviously intended to call back with details of where the ransom was to be left, and how the girl was to be retrieved.
“Who is this girl? Where is she from? And who does this pervert think I am? What am I going to do?”
Eric heard himself asking the questions. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he contemplated the consequences of inaction or a wrong move on his part. He hoped that there would be answers very soon—before it was too late.
Eric picked up the phone and called his friend. He knew he would have to endure a loud, angry, reception after rousing his buddy, but this was more important, and he was confident the friendship could handle the excitement.
Book eight in my Belinda Lawrence Classic Mysteries. Mysteries confront amateur sleuths, Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby in the Somerset village of Milford.
Among the eccentrics is the shadowy Madam Malefic.
While trying to make it big on Broadway, dancer Abby Fouchet finds herself falling in love, falling in rehearsal (!), and trying to outwit a clever killer out to destroy the man she loves.
