The Oaths We Keep

Chapter 16

Erin Harper looked as if every nerve in her body was on the verge of fraying. Barnes sat next to her trying to calm her as best she could. Checking his watch for the third time, Taylor saw it was ten minutes before the kidnappers would call. The waiting was excruciating. The last minutes were starting to erase all the confidence he felt last night and early this morning.

Tensions began to rise in the room as the minutes passed. Ten minutes passed, and still no call. Another five minutes passed, and still no call from the kidnappers. Taylor told himself they were purposefully making them wait. He did his best to show that he was not worried.

"They're not going to call, are they?" Erin asked. "They killed him, didn't they?"

"Don't think like that," Barnes told her. "They're making us wait. When they are ready, they'll call."

Nearly twenty minutes passed before the phone finally rang. Erin quickly answered it. The voice on the other end said, "Parking lot of Our Lady of Mercy St. Marina Church. Bring the files and the money in one hour. When we have what we want, we will release your husband. Anything goes wrong this time, your husband's dead." With that, the line went dead.

"Alright, people, we've got less than an hour," Taylor said. "McClendon, make sure to call the CHP and sheriff's office and keep them away from the area. Let's move."

Forty-five minutes later, Barnes and Taylor sat across from the church in his car. "Are you sure this is going to work?" she asked him for the third time. "They spot us, and it will be a bad day for the Harpers."

"Look, Corporal Malone stitched the tracking device into the bag's liner. Its signal is good, so we can still track them down if we lose sight of them. Now try to relax; you're starting to make me nervous."

"Yeah, I hope Erin can hold it together a little longer. She's on the edge of a breakdown.

"You seem awfully friendly with her," he responded. It had crossed his mind that Barnes had started to get close to Erin Harper. To a point, that was fine. Building a rapport with a suspect was part of the job, but there was a line to be drawn. "She's still a suspect in what looks like a pretty big financial crime."

"Tell me you're not questioning my loyalty, Taylor."

"I don't know, am I? Do I have a reason to?"

"I know what I'm doing. I know that she is a suspect, and I'm the cop. I get it. She would not be doing this on her own."

"Why? Because she has a beautiful family? Because she's a nice person? You know how many nice people I've put away over the years?"

"Yeah, I do. Do you think I haven't? I know what I swore to do, but I also know that people are innocent until proven guilty."

"That's not for us to decide. Guilt or innocence is for a judge and jury to decide. We are the ones who enforce the law. If we see that laws are broken, we act. We go on the facts we know, and if an arrest is necessary, we make it. What happens after that is out of our hands."

"I know that," she angrily responded. "Did you forget I brought you the information I found about her? I'm not getting too close, and my emotions aren't getting the better of me."

"You sure?" he shot back at her. "I know it's been tough getting over what happened with Davis. You liked him, might have even fallen in love with him."

"Are you serious? This has nothing to do with me and Davis or me getting shot."

"I know you want to have a family. I know you had high hopes for a life with Davis. Then it all went wrong. Everything seemed to crash down around you. It's everything you've ever wanted, so you find it hard to imagine someone throwing it all away. I know; I've been there too. I know it's easy to see your hopes and dreams in someone like Erin Harper. I get it. You want to help her, and in a way, so do I, but we can't let that blind us to reality."

"What reality?"

"The reality that she broke the law. She hurt people no matter her reasons and how little effect it may have had. Okay, the people she took the money from may be wealthy and can afford a loss, but this can affect people in ways you can't see." He lowered his voice before he spoke again. "Laura, we've discussed this before; you must separate your personal feelings from the job. I promise we'll do what we can for her, but ultimately, it will be up to the DA to decide how to proceed."

"Fine, Taylor, I get it. I really do."

"Do you? I'm not convinced. I would take you off the case if I had a choice. You got to promise me you'll keep your objectivity with her." He could see she was holding back on her anger. "Barnes, I'm trying to look out for you here. You have all the makings of a great detective, maybe even better than anyone on the force. Don't let this get personal."

Before she could respond, McClendon came over the radio. "I spotted a white van. Think it was the one from yesterday headed this way."

"Alright, everybody, sit tight. Let them come on in, but be ready," Taylor said into the radio. He looked at Barnes, "I meant what I said, Laura. You're the best detective I've ever worked with."

"Let's just get the bastards," she said.

The church's parking lot was mostly empty, except for a couple of cars parked near the entrance of the church's office area. The van soon passed by where Taylor and Barnes parked, seemingly unaware of their presence. Taylor felt a moment of regret about not calling the church staff ahead of time to let them know to stay away. He reasoned that it would be better if they didn't know. If something were different, it might tip off the kidnappers that something was wrong.

The van slowed and turned into the parking lot, slowly moving toward Erin's waiting vehicle. "Steady, everyone. Nobody moves until I say. " Stay calm," Taylor said, feeling his pulse rise. His heart seemed to beat uncontrollably in his chest as the van stopped. "Okay, people, get ready to move."

Barnes looked as serious as he had ever seen her. Her jawline tensed as she focused on the van. Unconsciously, she began to rock back and forth in her seat. She took a few deep breaths, tapping her fingers on the center console.

"Alright, people, here we go," Taylor said as they watched the van's side door open.