Spark of Hope (MacKenny Brothers #3) - Kathleen Kelly Page 0,2
when she came out to check.”
“What are we doing?” asks Sean.
“Do we think it was another MC?” Cutter questions.
I hold up my hands and point to Annie, who’s talking to a man I assume is Arthur Beetson.
“Mr. Beetson up there has a camera, and Annie is asking if we can watch the footage.”
Annie gestures for me to approach her and the gentleman. I jog up the path toward them, and Mr. Beetson takes a step back.
Annie pats his arm. “Arthur, this is Kyle… Kyle MacKenny’s grandson. It’s him who takes me to church on Sundays. Now, could we please look at the footage? I got home around eleven.”
Annie ushers him into his own home with a smile. I hold up my hand to the others, and they wait outside. Arthur takes us into a small room, I assume is his study. There’s a desk with a laptop, a single chair that he offers to Annie, and two huge bookcases filled with books.
Arthur opens the laptop, pushes his glasses back up his nose, and types on the keyboard. Within moments, he has the footage on the screen and stares over his shoulder at me.
“This should be it. I can fast forward if you like?”
I nod as I move closer to peer at the small screen. “Stop! There’s someone near Lola’s car.”
Arthur hits play, and we watch as Lola comes into view. Whoever he is, Lola isn’t happy to see him. Hands on her hips and lots of gestures, she points further down the road. The guy turns and shakes his head. Lola throws her hands in the air and goes around to the driver’s side of the car. As she unlocks the doors, he opens the passenger side. Lola walks around to him, yanking the door out of his hands then throws her handbag on the passenger seat, and slams the door shut. There’s more conversation between the two, and eventually, Lola heads to the driver’s side of the car. He once again opens the passenger door, and Lola bangs on the roof of the vehicle. My woman knows this man, and she’s not happy. A dark van comes into view, it stops, and the driver talks to Lola, who appears to wave him off. She has her back to him when the side of the van opens, and someone with a hoodie hits her hard from behind. I watch as my woman crumples, then the guy who was driving gets out, picks her up and puts her into the van. The first guy comes around the car, picks up what I assume is Lola’s keys, re-opens the driver’s door, and tosses them into the car, then he too gets into the van and drives away.
“Oh my!” whispers Annie, clutching her chest.
“We need to call the police,” states Arthur.
I glance at Annie and give a shake of my head. “Mr. Beetson, we can’t.”
Annie stands and touches Arthur’s arm, shaking her head at him. “No, Arthur. Kyle here has a way of dealing with these situations. Our best bet on finding Lola is to give him the footage and let him and his men handle it.”
“But, but—”
“No buts, Arthur. I need you to trust me, not him.”
Arthur looks from me to Annie and reluctantly nods his head. “I don’t know how to give him the footage. It’s all recorded on my laptop.”
“Mr. Beetson, could we please borrow your laptop? I promise, sir, we’ll return it tomorrow.”
Arthur glances at Annie, who’s nodding. He nods once and unplugs it, closing the lid.
As he hands it over, he says, “The password is death comes for all, one word with a capital D.”
I’m hoping the ominous password isn’t a sign of things to come. With a dip of my chin, I take the device from him.
“Thank you, Mr. Beetson.” I glance at Annie, who takes one of my hands.
“You go. I’m going to have a coffee with Arthur and catch up. But you let me know what you find out, you hear me?”
There’s a strength to her words, and if I don’t find out what’s happened to Lola, she and Arthur are going to go to the police.
“I’ll find her,” I state with confidence I don’t feel.
Annie smiles, then turns to Arthur. “Coffee?”
I turn and jog down the stairs to my men.
Sean is studying me, hands on his hips and eyebrows raised. “Well?”
“Lola’s been taken. Ring Angus, tell him we’re coming, and we…” I pause, searching for the right words, “… I need him.”
Kyle
This isn’t a