“A scumbag? Is that any way to talk to your best friend?”
“We’re not friends.”
Sebastian’s gaze narrowed. “No, I guess we’re not, considering you’re sleeping with my wife.”
“She’s hardly your wife any longer, and you’re not her husband. You don’t know how to be a husband.”
“And I suppose you do?” He smirked. “I never figured you one to settle for sloppy seconds, but then again, she is rather pretty. Still a looker like back in our college days, eh, Dylan?”
“Let her go.”
“No problem.” The knife sliced deeper and fire shot through Julie. The pain blindsided her and her hold on Thomas loosened. Before she knew what was happening, she found the baby yanked from her arms.
“Thomas—no!” Julie reached for Thomas and the locket fell from her grasp.
Sebastian’s free hand landed upside her head and she reeled to the side as he snatched up the locket.
“Game’s over,” Sebastian said, the locket and child in hand.
“No!” Julie cried as she grabbed for Thomas, but Sebastian stepped back, pointing a gun in her direction.
“Come any closer and you put your baby at risk.”
Julie froze, stunned as much by the cold fury in Sebastian’s eyes as the gun in his hand.
“Maybe it’s time little Thomas and I have a chance to get to know each other,” Sebastian said, holding the baby in front of him.
Julie felt Dylan tense beside her but she willed him not to move, not to jeopardize her baby’s life. Standing helplessly, she watched silently as Sebastian disappeared behind the cabin. Seconds later, the sound of a car engine broke the stillness.
“Dear God,” Julie breathed, watching Sebastian’s car flash through the veils of Spanish moss, headed for the dirt road. The roar of another engine sounded nearby.
“Get in.” Dylan pulled up beside her in his car and hauled her inside. A few seconds later, they sped down the road after Sebastian and Thomas.
“Hold on,” he said as he took a winding turn and the car tilted onto two wheels.
“Hurry. I can’t see him. I can’t see the car. I can’t see my baby!”
This couldn’t be happening. The thought flashed through her mind as panic beat at her senses. Sebastian had Thomas. He had her baby!
For the next few heart-pounding moments as the car careered down the old dirt road, Julie held on for dear life. Her own and her child’s. “Please. We have to catch him,” she cried. “We have to.”
“We will,” Dylan vowed, but just then a deep rut sent the car swerving toward the right. A tree rushed at them and slammed into the front grille. Julie was aware of two things happening at once—the air bag exploded and her head slammed against the side window.
“Don’t hurt my baby.” The desperate prayer was Julie’s last conscious thought before her vision faded and everything went black.
* * *
“I FOUND HIM.”
“Excellent.”
“Not so excellent. I found him, but then lost him.”
Silence settled as Mikey waited for a response. When he didn’t get one, he rushed on, his voice nervous, fearful.
Rightly so. Luke was angry.
“Cooper was furious that Pendleton let Garrett and his wife go,” Mikey blurted. “I—I think Cooper wanted Pendleton to conduct a little interrogation before Garrett and the woman reached that old midwife’s cabin. It didn’t work. The woman practically ran him over. Anyhow, I followed Pendleton to Cooper. The man was not happy. He headed out to Devereaux’s cabin himself and intercepted the two of them.”
“And?”
“All hell broke loose. Cooper ended up running away with the kid. I guess he figured his wife would keep quiet to protect her son. She and Garrett went after him, but they had an accident.”
“What happened?”
“I didn’t hang around to see. I tailed Cooper as far as I could, but he was going too fast and the road was too rough. I couldn’t keep up and so I lost him.”
“Find him,” Luke said after a long silent moment. “Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” came Mikey’s frightened voice.
Fear was good. Fear got results. Luke thrived on instilling the emotion in his subordinates. It was the only way to command their respect, as well as their loyalty.
“Find him,” he repeated. “Now.”
* * *
A DRUM BEAT at Julie’s temple, so loud and deafening she winced with each strike. She wanted to open her eyes. She needed to, but it hurt. She let the darkness pull her back into painless oblivion.
“Julie.”
The sound of her name drew her forward, back toward the pounding and the pain and the man who waited at her bedside.
She forced her eyes open, wincing at the overhead light that threatened to blind her. All her effort concentrated on breathing. Each ragged breath echoed in her head and made her temples hurt.
“Can you hear me, Julie? Come on, baby. Talk to me.”
Through the black fog suspended above her, she saw him. Dylan. He leaned over her, concern bright in his blue eyes. She wanted to keep her eyes open, to talk to him.
She couldn’t.
He turned away and she heard another voice.
“It’s just a minor concussion. She’ll be okay, but she’ll have one hell of a headache. She’s lucky the airbag released. At the speed you were going, the injuries sustained would have been much more severe. Yours, too. Speaking of which, I’d really like to get an X ray of your ribs. Just in case.”
“I’m fine,” Dylan said.
The sound of his voice compelled her to open her eyes once again. This time, she concentrated, forcing her lids up.
Blinking at the fluorescent lights, she tried to hold back the tears that instantly welled up. The lights brightened then dimmed, brightened then dimmed, matching the frenzied tempo of the drumming in her head.
Concussion? Impact? Injuries?
The questions raced through her mind a frenzied moment before reality hit and she remembered the car chase. The crash.
“Thomas.” Julie raised herself up a fraction. She had to find her baby. To help him.
She teetered to the side as white splotches danced in front of her. Slumping back to the pillow, she squeezed her eyes shut for one brief, calming moment, praying for strength. She had to get her composure and pull herself together. She had to go after her baby.
“When will she wake up?” Dylan asked.
She opened her eyes again focusing on the narrow hospital bed. There he stood, his face grave, his eyes guarded—completely in control as usual. She wondered if she had imagined the distraught look on his face, the anxiety in his voice when he’d pleaded with her in the car. Maybe she’d had a delusion—a crazy, pain-filled delusion.
“Dylan,” she murmured. He turned toward her. The moment her gaze locked with his, there was no mistaking the worry and anguish, and something else—a spark that warmed her and chased the shivering chills away for a brief moment before Julie remembered that she didn’t believe in sparks.
She’d stopped believing a long time ago when her love for Sebastian had turned out to be her worst nightmare. She’d been so wrong then.
But no more. She was older and wiser and she wasn’t going that route again. She wouldn’t risk the special friendship she had with Dylan Garrett.
Too late, a voice whispered as a vision of their night together pushed to the forefront of her mind.
“It looks like she’s awake,” said the man standing next to Dylan. Dressed in a white coat with a stethoscope draped about his neck, he gripped a clipboard in one hand while the other rested in his pocket. “I’ll just leave you two,” he said.
“So you finally decided to open your eyes?” Dylan asked once the doctor had left.
“Yes...” she murmured. “How long have I been out?”
“A few hours. You were knocked unconscious in the crash. I carried you to the main road.” At his
words, she noted the sling hanging around his neck, cradling one of his arms.
“It’s not broken,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I pulled the ligaments in my shoulder and the sling is to help keep everything stable. A trucker passed us on the road and called an ambulance. You were out the entire time.”
“My head hurts,” she said, closing her eyes.
“But you’re okay,” he reminded her. “Luckily, the wound to your neck was superficial.” A nerve-wrenching silence ensued as he studied her.
“What about my baby?”
“Thomas will be all right. Sebastian’s dangerous, but I can’t believe he would go as far as to...” He shifted and glanced away.
“Go on and say it.” Her gaze locked with his. “Say what you’re thinking.”
“Okay.” He held her stare. “I don’t think he’ll kill him.”
“How could you doubt it after what he did today? After what he had his men do to Hattie?”
Another thought struck her. “Oh my God, what about Nadine and the other girls who were back at Hattie’s? Did Sebastian...?”
Dylan rested a hand on hers to calm her. “It’s okay. When Nadine saw Sebastian sneak up on you with a knife, she jumped in the pirogue and went downriver to notify the sheriff.”
Julie shook her head, still not quite able to believe what had happened. “I never would have thought... I mean, I knew Sebastian was dangerous, but to use his own baby...”
“Thomas is the ticket to your cooperation,” Dylan reminded her. “Sebastian wants your silence, he knows you’ll do whatever he says as long as he has Thomas.”
“Which isn’t going to be for long. We’re going after him.”
“No, we’re not. I am.”
“If you think I’m staying here while you run after him, you’ve got another think coming.”
“Why do you have to be so damned difficult?”
“Because,” she snapped, then her anger faded into guilt and heartache and her voice softened. “Because it’s my fault. I risked Thomas’s life. If anything happens...”
“Nothing’s going to happen. I swear, Julie. I won’t let anything happen. Not to you. Not to Thomas.”
For the first time since she’d opened her eyes, she noticed his damp shirt and wet hair. His face looked haggard. Fine lines etched the corners of his eyes.
She reached out and touched his face. His skin was warm and stubbly beneath her fingertips. “I don’t know what I would do without you, Dylan.” She traced his bottom lip with her fingertip and let herself imagine what forever would be like with such a man—this man—if only circumstances had been different. If she’d lived her life differently and made other choices.
But she hadn’t, and so she let her hand fall away, refusing to think about what might have been. “You’re a good friend, Dylan.”
“No, I’m not.” He turned away from her, leaving her to wonder what he meant.
“So, what do we do?” She emphasized the we, determined to let him know that she wasn’t going to stay behind.
She couldn’t. Not with her child’s life hanging in the balance.
She expected an argument, but he said nothing. He simply turned and eyed her for a long moment before he shrugged. “We get smart, that’s what we do. We’re not going to find ourselves in the very same situation again, with just Thomas and the two of us.” He ran his good hand through his hair. “We need help, Julie.”
“The police?”
“Not just any police. Zach Logan.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EARLY THE NEXT MORNING Dylan walked into the office of the chief of detectives at the Dallas Police Department. A distinguished-looking man with dark hair and a mustache sat behind a large desk overflowing with paperwork and stained coffee cups.
Zach Logan had been Dylan’s boss when he’d worked for the department. Zach was still involved in an undercover operation to bring down the local mob, and only a few months ago Dylan had helped his former boss identify Sebastian, who’d been spotted by Zach’s men on J. B. Crowe’s estate.
Now it was Dylan’s turn to ask for help.
“This meeting is about more than catching up on old times, isn’t it?” Zach asked, getting up to shake Dylan’s hand.
Dylan nodded. “I need your help, buddy.” That’s why he’d hightailed it to Dallas when the doctor had discharged Julie from the hospital late last night. She’d wanted to go back to San Antonio, but he’d convinced her that they needed help. Sebastian could flee the country if he wanted to and they would never know. They needed resources to make sure he didn’t leave. Otherwise, they would never find Thomas.
Fear rippled through him, but he pushed it aside. They would find Thomas. He’d found each and every person he’d ever set out to look for, and he didn’t intend to break his record now. Not when Thomas meant more to him than anyone he’d yet to search for.
Except Julie, that is.
His ex-boss had been his best bet. After thirty years in law enforcement, Zach Logan had connections, especially when it came to the mob. Dylan had called and set up a meeting with the detective the second he’d rolled into town.
“What’s up?” Zach asked as he settled back in his chair.
“It’s Cooper,” Dylan stated.
Zach eyed him closely. “We’ve been trying to get something on him for months.”
Dylan’s voice was hard. “I think I can help you there—how about a couple of charges—murder and kidnapping?”
Zach straightened in his chair. “Okay, buddy, you’ve got my full attention.”
Dylan quickly filled Zach in on Julie’s situation, starting with the day she heard Sebastian talking with Luke Silva and went into hiding, afraid for her life and that of her baby. He told Zach of Hattie’s murder and Sebastian’s attempt to harm Julie for the locket.
“Once he had the locket, he basically kidnapped their eight-month-old son to ensure Julie’s silence,” Dylan finished.
“She file any charges?”
“She filed a missing persons report, but technically she can’t finger him for kidnapping because he’s the kid’s father.”
“No court orders granting her custody?”
Dylan shook his head. “She couldn’t file for divorce or custody. She was living on the run. Hiding. Any legal proceedings would have led him right to her.”
“The hiding’s obviously over,” Zach said after hearing Dylan out. “She should file for temporary custody right now. I can talk to Judge Mayfield over in family court. She’ll hear it right away, considering the circumstances. At least that will give Julie legal grounds to press kidnapping charges and get the police involved in the abduction.”
“Thanks.” Dylan ran a hand through his hair. “Then what?”
“We find him,” Zach said as he reached for the phone. “You think he’s in San Antonio?”
“Maybe. He’s got resources. He could skip the country. But that would defeat the purpose. He’s got the info he needs in the locket, and if he’s using the kid as bait, he’ll want to be accessible so that Julie will come to him. He’s got to be hoping she won’t go to the cops and risk Thomas’s life.”
Zach nodded. “Makes sense. I’ve got some friends on the San Antonio force. I’ll call and fill them in.”
“I’m going there first thing tomorrow and start looking myself.”
“That’s a good idea. Make Julie’s presence known. Maybe you’ll get lucky and Cooper will come after her again and expose himself.”
“I’m not endangering her safety. I’ll find him myself.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“What are you driving at?”
“You’re not on the force anymore, Dylan. You can’t arrest him. You need the authorities for that. And you need someone even bigger to make it stick. Cooper has major connections. The local authorities aren’t going to be enough to press a case against him. You need the big boys for that.”
“The FBI?”
Zach
reached for the phone. “The one and only.”
* * *
“YOU CALLED THE FBI?” Julie held the receiver and listened to Dylan’s voice float over the line.
“I didn’t, darlin’. That was Zach’s decision. Sebastian’s a powerful man. If we want him to pay for what he’s done, what he’s doing right now, we need to go all the way to the top. The Feds jumped right on this. They’ve been after Crowe’s entire organization. J.B.’s still running the show from prison. They’ve nabbed a few of the players, but they’re missing some key people like Sebastian and Luke Silva. This will give them the chance to bring Sebastian in and, if they can find the locket, the proof they need to put Crowe, Silva and him away for a long, long time.”
“What about Thomas?” Her fingers tightened around the receiver as memories flashed in her mind. Sebastian holding Thomas. Sebastian holding the knife. “He can’t get away with this.”
“He won’t, which is why I’m calling. At this point, it’s not kidnapping. Not until we see a lawyer and you file for custody. Now.” He gave her the address for the courthouse and told her who to see. “Zach’s already called the judge and she’ll hear the plea right away. All you have to do is show up and tell your story.”
“What about you?” She hated to sound so needy, but the past few hours spent pacing the hotel room had taken its toll. Her nerves were frazzled, her emotions raging like a Gulf hurricane. “Are you going to meet me there?”
“I can’t. The Feds need written details on everything that’s happened since you went on the run. I have to fill them in. I’ll call you if they need to talk with you. Otherwise I’ll meet you back at the hotel later.” There were no words of comfort. Dylan seemed distant, as if he were trying to hold back.
As if he regretted their night together and wished he could turn back the clock.
“Thanks for everything you’re doing.”
“Don’t mention it.” The dial tone floated over the line before Julie could respond and tell him half the things racing through her mind.
How sorry she felt. How appreciative she was. How much in love—
She forced aside the last thought. It was too late to start believing now. She wasn’t going to let emotion rule her decisions ever again. If she’d been logical where Sebastian had been concerned, she would have seen him for the man he was—competitive, heartless. A fake.
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