Free Wickingham Way (A Harbour Falls Mystery #3) by S.R. Grey Page B

Had I passed out? For how long?
    Stowe was leaning forward on the sofa, and Erin was crouched down next to Adam.
    Agent Lenehan touched my forehead with a cool washcloth. “Everything will be all right, Maddy,” she said.
    I held the washcloth to my head. Erin let go, and I sat up straighter. I took a sip of the water Adam pressed to my lips.
    Once I regained my composure, I sat up straight and demanded, “Who took my father? The organization you’ve been dismantling?”
    Adam nodded grimly as he set the glass of water on the floor.
    “How did this happen, Adam? Why would they take my dad?”
    Erin and Adam exchanged a meaningful glance.
    Adam exhaled loudly, then said, “Maddy, your father was a soft target, easy to reach. They made a grab for Nate, but he was too hard for them to get to.”
    “Nate’s under protection like you?” I asked, even though I suspected that was the case.
    “Yes,” Adam confirmed, “as is Helena.”
    So, Nate was as involved as Adam in the Wickingham Way project. Not really a surprise there. And Helena being afforded protection was due to her being married to Nate. But my father, who I had worried for since the start of this trouble, had been left to fend for himself. And he’d never even been made aware he was in any trouble.
    “Why wasn’t my father protected?” I snapped.
    Adam replied, “I’m sorry, Maddy. We had no idea anything like this would ever happen. Not to someone not directly involved with the Wickingham Way project.”
    “But Helena and I are under protection,” I argued. “We’re not directly involved. Why would my father be left unprotected?”
    Adam sighed. “Decisions were made early on, calculated decisions. We expected Ruslan’s organization to target spouses, girlfriends…but never their loved ones. You have to understand, Maddy, the only real threat left out there is Ruslan himself.”
    “And a few of his leftover henchmen,” Erin chimed in.
    Adam and I glanced at Stowe, and he put up his hands. “Not me. I’ve been out of it for a while now.”
    “So, why was my father taken?”
    Stowe replied, “Because Ruslan is desperate, Maddy. He’s grasping at straws.”
    Suddenly, all my anger, all my frustration, was redirected to the man who’d up until very recently been a part of this damn organization.
    “You,” I ground out, eyeing Stowe Hannigan. “This is all your fault, every last bit of it. You—you—you…bastard.”
    I couldn’t help myself; my nerves were frazzled. So I launched myself at the one person who maybe could have stopped my father from being taken. Landing squarely on my former neighbor, my small fists began to make contact with his solid form. I hit and hit, pummeling away, until Adam dragged me off of Stowe.
    “Shh, shh, Maddy, calm down,” Adam whispered soothingly into my ear while wrapping me up in his arms.
    He held me in place as I struggled to escape. “Let me go,” I panted, ready to attack whoever was near.
    When I finally calmed down, I glanced at Stowe. He appeared contrite but completely unharmed from all my punches. The only injury was the one to his jaw—still swollen from the punch Adam had thrown earlier out on the porch. And in that moment, I recognized that I wasn’t really angry at Stowe. He was just bearing the brunt of my frustration.
    “I’m sorry,” I mumbled as I cast my eyes downward.
    “No need to apologize,” Stowe said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to stop your father from being taken. But I promise from this point on that I’ll do whatever it takes to rescue him.”
    I nodded and relaxed into Adam.
    Adam sat down on the chair and positioned me on his lap. I curled up in his arms while he, Stowe, and Erin discussed where Ruslan and his minions may have taken my father.
    “I think Ruslan is probably holding Mayor Fitch somewhere in Harbour Falls,” Stowe stated, “or somewhere very close by.”
    Erin agreed and added, “Unfortunately, Maddy’s dad was taken from his home,