Tough Justice Box Set

by Carla Cassidy

  Nick’s eyes held no judgment, only support and encouragement for her to share more with him. And for the first time since Emily’s secret birth, Lara wanted to talk about it.

  “In the beginning I couldn’t imagine how I could ever love a baby who was part of him. But the first time I felt the stir of life inside me, I claimed that baby as all mine and mine alone, and from that moment on I had nothing but love in my heart and soul.”

  Her hand fell to her flat abdomen, but in her mind she caressed an ever-growing baby bump. The pregnancy had been an easy one. She’d suffered no morning sickness, no strange cravings or unusual tiredness. Rather, she’d been more alive in those nine months than she’d ever been before in her entire life.

  “It was the first time since my mother’s murder that I knew what it felt like to love,” she said. “I also knew that I loved the baby enough to know that, once she was born, I’d give her up for adoption.”

  “You never considered keeping her?” Nick asked.

  She hesitated a moment as a lump formed in the back of her throat. “Maybe in my wildest fantasies,” she finally replied and remembered how she’d dreamed of a baby room decorated with dancing bears and a rocking chair where she would sit each evening and rock her precious baby to sleep. She’d fantasized first steps, first words and all of the other wonderful firsts that a child brought into the world.

  They had been wonderful fantasies to entertain, but she’d always known they were just sweet imaginings that would never really come true.

  “Ultimately I knew the reality of the situation. Her very existence had to be kept a secret. I understood that she would be under threat every minute of every day of her life if it ever came out that Andrew Moretti was her father. I couldn’t take that chance. I loved her too much to give her that kind of life.”

  An unsettling memory flashed in her head, a memory of Sean Dunst’s girlfriend telling them that Sean had loved little Tina Cole so much that he’d had to kill her to save her from the kind of life she’d have if he sold her. What was wrong with this damned world that little girls were murdered and babies were given up in order to keep them safe?

  “And the Minnows? How did they wind up with Emily?” Nick’s voice pulled her back to the here and now.

  “That was Victoria’s doing. She arranged for me to meet them when I was eight months pregnant. I knew immediately that they were the right people for raising Emily. Not only was it obvious that they loved each other, but they were also willing to give up their own lives to disappear into the witness protection program.”

  She got up from the chair and once again walked over to the window, fighting against the heart-piercing ache of loss that always accompanied thoughts of her sweet Emily.

  “They stayed at the house with me for the last two weeks of my pregnancy,” she continued, talking around the lump that still remained in the back of her throat. “And the time I spent with them only confirmed to me that they were absolutely right. They were both mentally and physically prepared to do whatever needed to be done to assure Emily as normal a life as possible, yet move quickly if danger ever came near.”

  Tears pressed hot behind her eyes, and she swallowed hard against them. She hadn’t cried during the ten long hours of labor when she’d delivered Emily, and she hadn’t shed a tear when she’d handed the newborn baby girl into Faye’s awaiting arms.

  She closed her eyes to staunch the tears as she remembered the moment the doctor had placed Emily in her own arms. Lara had insisted she have a moment with the baby whom she would probably never see again. Emily had been cleaned up and wrapped in a soft pink blanket.

  She’d weighed in at six pounds, six ounces, a mere featherweight in the world of babies, but in Lara’s arms the weight had felt like nothing she had ever held before.

  Lara’s heart had expanded with the awe of birth, the wonder of the precious baby girl who smelled of innocence and new beginnings and endless possibilities.

  Emily had settled into the cradle of Lara’s arm, her dark eyes matching the tuft of dark hair on the top of her head, and her gaze had locked with Lara’s.

  Her rosebud lips had opened, as if to speak, and in her eyes Lara swore that she saw unconditional love and vast wisdom and the acceptance and forgiveness of the great sacrifice Lara was about to make.

  And then she had handed her daughter to Faye, and a piece of Lara’s heart had forever been ripped away.

  “I wanted to give her the very best possible chance at life. If I’d kept her she would have always been a potential target. I loved her too much to keep her.”

  Although she didn’t hear Nick move from his chair, she suddenly sensed his presence just behind her. She knew that if she turned around his arms would be there if she needed them.

  But she’d never needed anyone when it came to the emotional scars that would forever live in her soul, and she didn’t need Nick to offer her his comforting arms now.

  What she desperately wanted was for somebody to tell her that Moretti had been found and was now back in custody or that he’d been located and had been killed.

  Why hadn’t he called her yet? Deep in her soul she knew he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to let her know that he was free and had their child in his possession.

  Once again she was aware of the ticking of a clock...the minutes...the hours that had already passed. The Ghost’s words came back to haunt her. Tick tock, tick tock, Lara Grant.

  She whirled around to face Nick but before she could say anything, he grabbed her to him and held her tight against his muscled chest.

  She remained stiff and unyielding until he reached up and placed his hand on the back of her head and softly caressed her hair. She melted against him, feeling the burn of fresh tears.

  His scent was so familiar now, as were the contours of his body against hers. She might not have thought she needed comfort, but for several long moments she felt it radiating from him, and she reveled in it.

  “I swear, Lara, we’ll get Emily back,” he whispered in her ear. “We have so many people working at finding them, so many resources being used to catch him. We’ll find your baby and get her back where she belongs.”

  She nodded and then stepped out of his embrace. She narrowed her eyes as anger once again possessed her, sweeping away the vulnerability and sweet memories that she’d momentarily entertained.

  “We need to get back to the team,” she said curtly. She’d already wasted enough time traipsing back into her past. “We need to find this bastard, and when we do I hope I’m the one who puts a bullet between his eyes.”

  Could she do that? Could she look at the man she’d once thought she was in love with and kill him? She straightened her back and shoved away the self-doubts.

  Hell, yes.

  CHAPTER THREE

  All of the team was still gathered around the conference table except Christina Ruiz, who had apparently disappeared into the tech room.

  “We’re making a list of all of the real estate that might belong to or have meaning to Moretti,” Victoria said as Lara and Nick returned to their seats at the table.

  “He won’t go someplace familiar where the FBI might find him,” Lara scoffed. “He’s too smart to go back to any of his old haunts.”

  “We still need to check them out. We’ve already gotten a report from the Chicago FBI. So far there’s been no sign of any activity in Moretti’s old headquarters or anywhere around the area,” Victoria said.

  “But most criminals, when being hunted, do find someplace they believe is not only safe, but is also familiar to them,” Ty said.

  “Moretti isn’t most criminals,” Lara countered. She placed her cell phone on the table in front of her.

  The clock on the wall read ten minutes to eight. It had been just before dawn when Victoria had first called her to give her the bad news. That meant Moretti had made his escape from the prison sometime around two or so in the morning.

  Was Emily crying for her mommy and daddy right now? I
f she was, would Moretti lose his patience and snap? A dreadful shiver walked up Lara’s spine. She knew what happened when Moretti snapped, and it was never, ever good.

  “I’m assuming that there are people checking with any of the former members of the organization who might still be free,” Ty said. “And what about their old neighborhood? Is it possible there might be someplace there where Moretti could go?”

  “Why would he go there? The house where they grew up burned to the ground, and neither Moretti nor his presumably dead brother ever went back there that we know about,” Xander said.

  “What about Europe?” Nick asked. “We know that Mason was there. Maybe he had a place that his brother might think is a safe haven.”

  “Christina is monitoring plane flights and getting the word out to be on the lookout for a man traveling with a seven-month-old dark-haired little girl,” Victoria said and looked at Lara. “Andrew Moore’s mug shot has been sent out to all law enforcement agencies. We’re doing everything we can to try to find them. We have agents following up on anyplace we can think of.”

  “Surely you know where they might be or who might give them help,” Xander said to Lara. “I mean, you spent plenty of time with him. Maybe he said something during some of that pillow talk the two of you shared.”

  “Pretty crude even for you, asshole,” Nick said and cast Xander a dangerous glance.

  “It’s okay,” Lara said quickly, realizing the stress they were all under. The last thing she needed, the last thing she wanted right now was any infighting among the team. It wasn’t helpful.

  Besides, at this point everyone in the room knew that she’d slept with the man she’d believed to be Andrew Moore, the man who was in fact the evil head of a wicked crime syndicate. All of them knew that she’d lost all of her objectivity while undercover and had been taken in by Moretti’s lies.

  She looked at Xander. “The problem is that he fooled me completely. He told me stories about his past that weren’t true. He fed me a line of crap that was completely manufactured as a cover. I don’t know if there was any truth in anything he ever said to me.”

  Still, Lara knew the answer to Moretti’s whereabouts might possibly be buried someplace deep in her mind, shared with her by Andrew when they’d been so close. She had a year of conversations with him to try to remember everything he had ever shared with her and see if any one of those intimate talks held an important clue.

  “What about Mason Moretti? Has he been transferred to Rikers Island yet?” Nick asked.

  “He is still awaiting transfer,” Victoria replied. “But there’s no way the two brothers have had any contact or communication since Mason was taken into custody. In any case, there are a couple of agents with him now.”

  “You know, the last time I saw him in prison I told him that he’d be there for a long time. He just smiled. That bastard was already planning his escape. And he won’t make the same kinds of mistakes that we’ve seen other prison escapees make,” Lara said with more than a touch of frustration. Didn’t they all get it? After all this time, after everything they’d faced, didn’t they understand exactly who they were up against? “He’s too smart. You all should know after all we’ve been through that he’s cunning and sly.”

  “She’s right,” Nick replied. “We’ve got to think outside of the box.”

  “Hell, we don’t even have a box right now,” Xander replied dryly. He stood. “I’m heading to my desk to check the files on my computer to see if I can find anything that might point a finger as to where he might be.”

  Ty also stood. “I’ll call the cryptologist. He found nothing in Moretti’s sewer painting before, but now that things have changed, maybe he’ll see something.”

  “Good. If anyone thinks of anything we haven’t yet covered, let me know.” Victoria looked at the others. “I suggest you all go over every piece of evidence and information we have gathered since the day that Dunst crawled out on that hotel ledge. Lara, I’ll see you in my office.”

  As everyone got up from the table to go their separate ways, Lara picked up her phone and followed Victoria into her private sanctuary.

  She sat in the chair in front of Victoria’s desk and waited while her boss straightened the papers she’d carried in with her and then looked at Lara.

  “This is a mental health check. How are you really holding up?” Victoria held Lara’s gaze intently.

  “How do you think I’m doing, Victoria? How were you when Anna was kidnapped?” Lara’s voice cracked, and to her horror, Victoria’s face blurred with the tears that leaped into Lara’s eyes.

  “I just wanted to assure you that everything possible is being done. We not only have the FBI working on this, but also state and local law enforcement in dozens of other cities and states.”

  “I know you’ve called in all the troops,” Lara replied, aware of the taut tension in her voice. She felt brittle, as if she might shatter into a million tiny pieces at any given moment. But the last thing she wanted was for Victoria to know just how close to the edge she was.

  “Do you need to talk with Dr. Oliviero?”

  An unexpected bark of laughter escaped Lara. “Right now I’m aware that I am more than just a little bit crazy, but it’s nothing I need to discuss with a psychiatrist. As good as Dr. Oliviero is, he can’t get my complete sanity back for me right now. Nothing will do that, other than getting Emily to safety, and hopefully in the process, Moretti is caught or killed.”

  Victoria looked at her with open speculation. “Lara, I know how close you got to the man you knew only as Andrew. I know that you were falling in love with him...were in love with him. You must have some conflicting feelings where he is concerned. It would only be human nature.”

  Lara shook her head firmly. “Trust me, I’m not conflicted at all. I realize that the man I thought I was in love with when I was undercover doesn’t really exist. He never existed. Moretti is all there is, and he’s the lowest scum of humanity. Believe me, boss, there is nothing but hatred in my heart for that man.”

  Victoria studied her for several long moments and then nodded, as if she’d satisfied herself of some question she had about Lara’s mental well-being and capability. “I’ll let you know the minute anything breaks in the case.”

  “Thanks.” Lara started to rise, but then paused. “What about Katya Auerman? Do we have eyes on her?”

  Victoria nodded once again. “We’ve had eyes on her from the time that Cass was arrested. We considered bringing her in at that time, but decided it was better to leave her out there in case Andrew or somebody else from the syndicate might attempt to contact her. So far she’s just been leaving her apartment each day to go to work at the restaurant where she hostesses. To our knowledge she hasn’t had any contact with anyone that would raise our eyebrows. I don’t believe she has anything to do with what’s happened right now.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Even though she developed a relationship with Mason, that doesn’t mean she’d do anything to help the man who destroyed her life.” Lara stood. “I guess at this point I’m just grasping at straws. Are we done here?”

  “For now,” Victoria replied.

  Lara left the office. A glance at the wall clock let her know it was now eight-thirty. Time seemed to be both crawling and flying by. In truth, time had become meaningless to her. Her world was now measured in heartbeats of fear that would continue to pound inside of her soul until Emily was found unharmed and returned to her loving foster parents.

  Nick got up from his desk and thrust a cup of coffee in her hand. “I won’t even ask you if you’re hungry, but you should eat something, because I have a feeling this is going to be a very long day.”

  “I can’t eat,” she replied, knowing that her nerve-tightened stomach would revolt at a single bite of any food. “But thanks for the coffee.” She carried it to her desk and sat. Nick returned to his chair at the cubicle next to hers.

  She logged into her computer and then sat and stare
d at the screen. Was everything that could be done really being done? She had to trust that Victoria was coordinating teams and law enforcement professionals in a way that would yield an ultimate success.

  The answer might be in your head, a little voice whispered. Think, Lara.

  It had been over a year since she’d shared those personal, intimate talks with Andrew Moore. So many things had happened since then. There was so much clutter in her brain.

  Moretti’s arrest, the surprise pregnancy, the wonderful birth of Emily and the horror of Mei’s murder all whirled in her mind. The surprising discovery of Moretti’s twin brother, Mason, and the painful betrayal by Cass...there had been so much chaos. How was she supposed to remember everything that she and Andrew had discussed when they’d been alone together during the year that she had been undercover?

  She took a sip of the hot coffee and tried to ignore the headache that had begun to throb in the center of her forehead. All around her there was the clicking of computer keys as her teammates worked to find something, any tidbit of information that might provide a clue as to Moretti’s whereabouts.

  She knew Christina would be half-crazy in the tech room, trying to keep all of the balls in the air that she’d been handed. Everyone was working as hard as they possibly could, and yet she had the sinking feeling that nobody would find anything useful.

  Ultimately it was all up to her. She moved her focus from the computer screen in front of her to the phone next to it. Ring, she commanded. She couldn’t believe that Moretti would just disappear into the sunset with Emily without taking the opportunity to taunt her at least one last time.

  How had he found the Minnow family’s current location? Even Lara hadn’t known where they had been moved. She hadn’t wanted to know because she had feared she wouldn’t be able to help herself and would want to do a drive-by to catch a quick glance of the child she loved.