Read Online Her Stolen Son by Rita Herron - Free Book Online

grand.”
    Slade whistled. The others’ eyebrows raised.
    â€œDid Serena know about it?” Derrick asked.
    Colt jotted down the detail on the board and circled it. “No. She denies knowing it was there.”
    â€œIt’s a jump,” Gage said. “But maybe Rice had a history of priors or a drug problem and knew Stover. And maybe Rice had a partner who knew about the cash and kidnapped the kid to get the money.”
    Amanda pursed her lips. “Then we should expect a ransom call.”
    Colt nodded. So far, they hadn’t, though, which concerned him even more. “But if Rice’s partner wanted the money and thought Serena had it, why not wait till she was gone and search the house instead of chancing jail for kidnapping?”
    â€œDidn’t you say that a pair of her underwear was stolen from her house?” Brock asked. “Maybe he did search the house and when he didn’t find it, he concocted a plan to kidnap the child and ask for ransom.”
    â€œThat’s feasible.” Colt still felt like they were missing pieces of the puzzle. “Then who killed Rice?”
    Derrick cleared his throat. “The partner?”
    Colt nodded, considering that theory. He turned to Ben. “Have you found anything?”
    â€œNothing on that van or truck in Serena’s neighborhood,” Ben said. “And at first not much on Rice. But I used some facial recognition software to change his appearance and look what popped up.” Ben angled the computer to show Colt and the others his findings.
    Several photos of Rice in varying disguises and with different hair colors and styles flashed onto the screen.
    â€œLyle Rice wasn’t his real name,” Colt said as he skimmed the information. “In fact everything Rice told Serena was a lie. He has several aliases.”
    â€œAnd a rap sheet,” Ben pointed out. “He served time for fraud.”
    Colt’s heart hammered in his chest. “Just look who the arresting officer was.”
    â€œParker Stover,” Ben said.
    Colt whistled. “Looks like we just found our connection.”
    Â 
    â€œW HAT IF THEY don’t let me out on bail?” Serena asked.
    Kay Krantz pulled Serena’s hands into hers, then rubbed them with her own to warm her icy fingers. “Don’t worry. He’ll release you. Do you have access to cash for bail?”
    She remembered the money Colt had mentioned finding in her attic and cringed. That money was probably dirty, and she didn’t want any part of it.
    But she had her husband’s life insurance policy. Of course, she’d socked it away into savings for Petey’s college fund and hated to touch it. “Serena?”
    â€œI could put up the house as collateral.” She took a deep breath. “I’d like to save my cash in case I need to pay a ransom.”
    Kay nodded. “Right. I’ll make that argument. We’ll shoot for a low figure, but if we have to use the house, we’ll do that.
    â€œColt called and explained about your son.” Kay’s voice caught. “I’m so sorry, Serena. But I know the detectives at GAI, and they’re top-notch. They won’t give up until they find him.”
    Serena nodded, her throat thick. She prayed he was alive when they did. She’d seen too many news stories to not imagine the worst.
    Still, she had to remain positive. She had to do allshe could to find Petey. That meant being strong and helping Colt figure out who had abducted him.
    Ten minutes later, they stood in the courtroom facing the judge. Serena felt like she was in a fog as the charges were read.
    Kay requested bail be set at five thousand dollars, citing the fact that Serena worked in the community, had no passport, and that her son had been kidnapped.
    â€œSheriff?” the judge said, turning to Sheriff Gray.
    â€œThese are murder charges,” Sheriff Gray said. “We have no reason to