Texas Holiday Hideout

by Virginia Vaughan

  Melissa was refusing to go to the hospital, as was Kellyanne. They were both determined to stay at the sheriff’s office to help, but there wasn’t really anything they could do, since neither could recall seeing the person who had taken Dylan.

  He met up with Josh in the surveillance room for an update, but his brother didn’t have much to offer. “We’ve been through all the video footage and we can’t find any images of anyone leaving the building with Dylan. We expanded our search to the courthouse and the surrounding areas, too, but not all the video-surveillance equipment is working. We had a tornado that swept through here a few months ago and it did a lot of damage to video cameras that haven’t yet all been replaced. But we’re reaching out to the local shops in the square, as well as spreading the word in case someone in one of them saw something.”

  Miles rubbed a hand through his hair. How could someone just pick up a three-year-old boy and take off with him without someone noticing? For that matter, how could someone drug Melissa and his sister in order to make that happen? He glanced around the sheriff’s office. They’d been on minimal staff last night because of the sting operation, but this still should have been a safe place. Someone had to have been watching them, waiting for the opportunity to strike. But why take Dylan when Melissa was clearly Shearer’s target?

  “We’ve set up roadblocks in and out of town and I’ve got the sheriffs and local law-enforcement offices in the surrounding counties on alert, too.”

  Josh was doing all he could and Paul was already out searching for Dylan, but it wasn’t enough. This department was already stretched thin with the sting operation and processing the men they’d arrested. As Cecile had suspected, the men were low-level muscle, probably Shearer’s men but, so far, they weren’t talking.

  Miles should have had his agency, his marshal friends and his partner, Lanie, to call upon. The US Marshals Service had more resources to draw on than Josh and his county sheriff’s office, but he couldn’t call them for fear of bringing the danger to them. But then Shearer had found Melissa and Dylan already. Did it really matter now who the leak was when whoever it was had already sold them out and brought danger right to his family?

  “I need to call my boss,” Miles stated. He pulled out his phone and dialed Griffin’s number. “Something has happened.” He explained everything, including that they were staying at his family’s ranch. He endured the lecture from Griffin for diverging from procedure, giving his reasons for staying close to his family after the shooting and promising that he would accept any consequences for his actions. But then he dug into his real reason for calling—the fact that Shearer, Kirby or their associates had found a horrific new way to strike against Melissa. “Dylan has been taken. Melissa and my sister were drugged by whoever took him.”

  He heard his boss’s frustrated sigh on the other end. “We haven’t had any leads on the leak and so far we have no reason to believe anyone from the marshals service knew your whereabouts. If someone was able to connect you to the case, or track Melissa to your location, then they’ve managed to do it without raising any red flags. I can send you backup, but I’d be doing it blindly, since there’s no way of knowing who in the office can be trusted. If you feel like you need our intervention then you’ll have it, but remember your number-one priority is to the witness, keeping her safe from the men who are after her. Anyone I send might be the source of increased danger for her. I’m working on leaking some information to try to weed out the leak in the office. I’ll let you know if anything comes of it.”

  “Thanks, Griffin.” He hung up and walked over to Melissa. He sat with her and put his arm around her, and she leaned into him as tears flowed down her face. None of this made sense. If this was Shearer and he had Dylan, his only play now was to use Dylan to lure Melissa to him or threaten to kill him if she testified. But why take Dylan when he could have just killed Melissa right then and there? He couldn’t hold the boy indefinitely. None of this made sense. His plan had to be to lure her to him and, if that was the case, they would soon be getting a message from him.

  “I need to ask you a question,” he said. “Shearer might have taken Dylan to use him as bait to capture you. I need you to tell me if he calls you, Melissa. If he somehow manages to get a message to you, promise me that you’ll tell me. Promise that you won’t sneak off and try to rescue him alone.” He gripped her arms and she struggled against him. He should be gentler, but his fear was that she would leave him out of the loop.

  He’d seen how instinctively she acted to protect her son—whether there were bullets flying at them or horse hooves coming down near their heads. She didn’t stop to think and she didn’t hesitate. She’d see her son in danger and she’d jump to shield him in any way she could. If a threatening message came to her—“Meet me at this address or your son dies,” perhaps—then he worried she’d act automatically, without stopping to think of the consequences. Then they both would be gone and he knew what that meant. They would both be dead. “Promise me.”

  She cried out and jerked her arms from his grip. “Stop it, you’re hurting me.”

  He released her and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. I just need your word that you won’t leave without me. You won’t try to sneak away.”

  He saw her eyes darting back and forth. She was thinking, trying to figure out something. Finally, she looked at him, tears pooling in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Miles. I can’t make that promise. I’ll do whatever I have to do to get him back.”

  “No, you don’t understand. Giving in to that kind of blackmail won’t save anyone. Once Shearer has you, you’ll both be killed.”

  “I can’t risk it. I have to do whatever they say. They have my baby. My baby! You have no idea what it’s like to have your child jerked from your arms. I want him back! I want him back safely!”

  “I know you do. We will get him back. I promise.”

  Her eyes darted to his. “Don’t you promise that, Miles. You don’t get to make me any promises.” Her next words cut him to his core. “You promised to keep us safe and you failed! You failed, Miles. My baby is gone because of you! Because you couldn’t do your job.” She stormed into the office and slammed the door shut hard enough to rattle the pictures on the walls.

  He hung his head and took a long, deep breath to try to contain the anguish building up inside him. She was right about him. He’d failed to do his job. He’d failed to keep them both safe. Even though he knew she was just lashing out, she was still right. He was a failure. He put his head in his hands. His heart was breaking, ripping in two. He couldn’t keep her safe, couldn’t keep her from sneaking away, and still search for Dylan. He could let Josh and the others take the lead on finding the boy, but he didn’t want to. He loved that kid, had grown to love him so much that he wanted to be there, involved in the search for him. But what could he do? He couldn’t leave her alone, either, and risk losing them both.

  He stood and walked down the hallway, stopping at the door to Josh’s office. He saw her silhouette leaning against it and even from that angle he could see her shoulders shaking as she cried. He didn’t knock but leaned against the door and spoke through it. His voice cracked with emotion that he couldn’t hold back. “I’m sorry I let you down. I never meant to. I made you a promise to keep you and Dylan safe and you’re right, I failed. But I will find him, Melissa. I will bring him back to you. That’s a promise I will keep.” He turned and walked back to the command center.

  Right now, finding Dylan was his main concern. He could only pray that Melissa would give him one more chance to prove himself, that she wouldn’t try to take matters into her own hands.

  * * *

  Melissa couldn’t breathe. Anger and fear pressed against her chest and her arms ached to hold her baby. She couldn’t imagine the horror he was enduring and each moment that passed without news was devastating.

  That was why she couldn’t ma
ke that promise to Miles. She would go to Kirby or Shearer or whoever in an instant if it meant Dylan could live. She begged God for that phone call, but hours passed and it didn’t come.

  She knew they were doing all they could to find Dylan, but knowing that someone got close enough to spike their drinks meant they could get to her no matter where she went. No one could keep her safe from these men, not even Miles, no matter how much he tried.

  A figure appeared in the doorway and she turned and saw Kellyanne standing there. She fell onto the couch beside Melissa and threw her arms around her as her own set of tears erupted. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. One minute I was fine, and the next, someone was shaking me awake and Dylan was gone.”

  Melissa assured her she didn’t blame her. Someone had drugged them both, but it hadn’t been Kellyanne’s responsibility to protect Dylan. It had been hers. Hers and Miles’s. She pulled out her mother’s necklace and pressed it against her lips. She needed to feel close to her when everything was falling apart.

  Kellyanne sniffed and motioned at the necklace. “What’s that?”

  She opened her hand and let Kellyanne see the charm and chain. “It belonged to my mother. She gave it to me on my twenty-fifth birthday and I’ve worn it ever since. Now that she’s gone, holding it helps me to feel closer to her.” And she needed that comfort now with Dylan gone more than ever. She wished her mother was here to tell her what to do.

  Kellyanne looked confused. “The only thing I know about the witness protection program is you’re not supposed to keep anything that can be linked to your past, right?”

  Melissa felt her face redden with embarrassment that Kellyanne had uncovered her secret. “Yes, that’s true. One of the marshals saw me wearing it and tried to take it from me, but I completely fell apart so he said I could keep it as long as I kept it hidden.”

  “So Miles doesn’t know you have this?”

  She shook her head, realizing she’d been condemning him for his need for secrecy when all the while she’d been keeping this from him.

  “You should tell him,” Kellyanne commented. “He’s been going crazy trying to figure out how these people found you. It might not be connected to this, but you still owe him the truth about this necklace.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “But what if it isn’t?”

  Melissa glanced through the office’s windows at Miles, who was deep in conversation with his brothers. Perhaps even now he was trying to wrap his brain around how Shearer’s men had found them. The truth in Kellyanne’s insistence hit home for her. Kellyanne was right. She’d kept this necklace from him.

  At best, her necklace had nothing to do with any of this and she was about to tell him something unimportant. At worst, he would take the last possession she had of her mother and she would never see it again.

  Still, she felt a loyalty to Miles after all he’d done to protect them. She had to tell him the complete truth.

  She got up and approached Miles as he was talking to his brothers. “I need to tell you something,” she said when he saw her.

  His brothers moved away to give them some privacy and Miles turned back to Melissa. “What is it? Did you remember something?” He folded his arms, his presence distant and that hurt even though she knew he was only reacting to what she’d said earlier.

  “No, I didn’t.” She sniffed back tears and debated the best way to begin, finally deciding it was better to just get the words out there. “I did break one of the WITSEC rules.”

  Anticipation clouded his eyes. “You called someone? Who?”

  “No, nothing like that. It’s nothing that would alert anyone to where we are, but I haven’t been completely honest with you, Miles, and for that, I’m sorry.” Now, the tears managed to push through and she put her hands over her mouth to catch her breath before continuing. “I just missed her so much. I haven’t even had an opportunity to grieve for her.”

  “What is it, Melissa? Just tell me. What did you do?”

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace. “They said I couldn’t keep anything from my old life, but my mom gave this to me. It’s the only thing I have left of her. I couldn’t give it up. I’m sorry.” She placed it into his hand and turned away. Would he allow her to keep it, like the other marshal had? He was certainly more compassionate and caring than the other marshals she’d encountered, but he was also much more concerned about their safety and he followed the rules. They were an important part of his life and his job and she’d violated them.

  He was silent for a moment, then started to reprimand her. “Melissa—”

  “I know, I know. I should have given it up. I just...couldn’t. One of the marshals saw me wearing it and tried to confiscate it, but then he changed his mind when he saw how important it was to me. He said I could keep it as long as I didn’t wear it and kept it hidden. I thought it would be fine. It’s only a necklace. What harm could keeping it possibly do?”

  She turned to look at him and saw him peeling at something on the back of the charm. He separated it from the necklace and held it up. It was flat and tiny, small enough to hide against the back of the charm without her even noticing it was there. “What is that?”

  He gave a loud sigh. “It’s a GPS device. It’s how they’ve been tracking you all this time.”

  * * *

  Melissa gasped and put her hands over her mouth as the horrible realization hit her. “I did this,” she cried, having trouble catching her breath. “I did this. I led them right to us. I’m the reason they were able to capture Dylan.”

  He started to reach for her but pulled back, probably deciding after their talk earlier, she wouldn’t welcome it. “No, don’t do that to yourself. You didn’t know.”

  “I should have known. I broke the rules, Miles. I did this. It’s all on me.”

  “You didn’t know there was a tracker on the necklace. You just wanted something of your mom’s. I understand that. The real question is how did this tracker get on it? How long have you had this necklace? Has it ever not been in your possession?”

  “My mother gave it to me for my twenty-fifth birthday. Up until we entered WITSEC, I wore it all the time. I never took it off.”

  “Which means someone bugged it while you were in WITSEC. The question is who and when.”

  She shook her head, trying to remember. “No one even seemed to notice it until we arrived at the hotel where you met up with us. Once we were there, one of the marshals who brought us noticed it and told me he had to take it. I handed it over, but I was upset. I went into the bathroom and cried. When I came out, he handed it back to me and told me to keep it hidden.” That had to have been when the bug was placed. “I thought he was doing something nice, but he was just using me, wasn’t he?”

  He nodded and rubbed his jaw. “Do you remember the guy’s name?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”

  She tried to think back to recapture his image, but even that was futile. “He was nice to me and I appreciated that, but...” She sighed in frustration. “I’ve just seen so many marshals in the past month. They’ve all started to blur together.”

  “I understand.” He led her to the couch and sank into the cushions beside her. “Tell me about the necklace. I want to know its history.”

  “I’ve already told you. My mother bought it for me for my birthday. I hardly ever removed it. I haven’t worn it since the marshal gave it back to me—but I’ve kept it in my pocket.” Horror and grief shuddered through her. “I led them right to Dylan.”

  “No, stop it. This is a good lead. I’ll have my boss pull the protection-detail records. We’ll figure out who did this and why, and once we do, we’ll find Dylan and you’ll both be safe.”

  She leaned into him and he cautiously placed an arm around her. Sh
e heard the steady beat of his heart. He was a good man and she’d been wrong to blame him but this incident only proved that her initial opinion of secrets had been right all along. Secrets were wrong and she could never be with someone who couldn’t share his life fully and freely with her. That realization broke her heart. She’d fallen for him. She knew it. Despite her better judgment, his kindness had surprised her and opened her guarded heart enough to let him inside. Miles was everything she would want in a husband and everything she could ask for in a father for Dylan. But there were just too many obstacles between them.

  Beginning with her missing child.

  * * *

  Miles took out his phone and dialed his boss’s number. Finally, he had a lead—even if it was one that infuriated him. He hated that Melissa had been betrayed once again by the marshals service. They’d promised to protect her, but instead, someone had used her and tracked her location.

  He updated Griffin about the necklace and the marshal who’d allowed her to keep it and, in Miles’s opinion, had planted a bug on it.

  “She doesn’t remember the name of the marshal, but she did say it was a man.” Eliminating the female marshals was a good start and, at least, that meant Lanie was no longer suspect. That was some good news.

  “I’ll send you a photo outline of each of the male marshals who worked her detail. Maybe she can point him out to us.”

  “I also need you to run background checks on those marshals,” Miles replied. “Whoever this guy is, it’s clear that he’s the leak in our office.”

  “I’ve been doing my best to root him out, but so far I haven’t come up with anything. Let me know if Melissa points him out.”

  He hung up with Griffin, but heard his phone beep a moment later. He opened an attachment from his boss and glanced through the photo display of marshals he’d known and worked with for years. His gut clenched at the idea that one of them might be a turncoat, a patsy for a mob boss. One of these men, who’d sworn to protect Melissa and Dylan, had instead sold them out.