The Cradle Mission

by Rita Herron

  Cain’s stunned and angry gaze pinned her to the spot.

  She backed up slowly, ready to run, the news report echoing over and over in her head. They had made her out to be some kind of psycho who’d stolen Simon out of a sick need to possess a child. Why would the people at CIRP broadcast Simon’s disappearance? Weren’t they afraid she’d go to the police or to the media?

  No, they knew she would never expose Simon to such a circus. And now that she’d been put on the defensive, the police would never believe her.

  The scientists were smart—they intended to get rid of her and make themselves appear to be the good guys.

  She stumbled over a rough spot in the flooring and her back hit the wall. Cain stalked toward her, his six-foot-plus height filled with animosity. Panicking, she turned to run but Cain swung her around, trapping her against the wall. His dark eyes bored into her, and his broad jaw was clenched so tightly a muscle ticked at the corner of his mouth.

  “You’ve been playing me like a guitar string, Alanna,” he said in a deceptively calm voice. “You put my brother’s life in jeopardy and involved him in a felony kidnapping.”

  “It’s not like that—”

  “Really? Then you have five minutes to tell me how it is, or I’m turning you in.”

  “I…it’s not true. I’m not the sick woman they say I am.”

  “Then you admit that y Simon from that doctor?”

  She clenched her teeth, struggling with how much she dared tell him. “Yes, but it’s not the way they said on the news.”

  “Simon is not my brother’s son, is he?”

  A heartbeat of silence stretched between them. Long enough for her to see the anguish she’d caused him. He had wanted the baby to be his brother’s so he’d have something left of Eric.

  She shook her head slowly, tears pooling in her eyes. “No. I’m s-so sorry.”

  He closed his eyes, another pain-filled silence stretching between them as he fought for control. His breath brushed her cheek and the sound of his rapid breathing filled the air.

  “I didn’t want to lie to you about that,” she whispered. “But I…I didn’t know what else to do. I thought if you believed Simon was Eric’s son you’d help me.”

  He opened his eyes and searched her face, anger warring with anguish. “Help you kidnap a child from his rightful parents? I’m a cop, for God’s sake. I can’t be a party to a federal crime.” He reached for the phone but she grabbed his arm, near hysteria.

  “But wait, you can’t—”

  “Is that the reason you have a gun?”

  “You went through my things?”

  “Yes.”

  She tried to run, but he stopped her. “Why do you have the gun?”

  “To protect myself and Simon. He doesn’t have anyone but me.”

  “You have a license for it?”

  “It’s Paul’s gun.”

  “Paul?”

  “Dr. Polenta. He gave it to me when I took off with Simon.”

  “You’re not Simon’s mother. You’re a nurse who was hired to take care of him?”

  Her heart ached to have to admit that he was right. “Yes.”

  His sound of disgust was so sharp he might as well have spit in her face.

  “I’ve been the only mother he’s ever known,” she said in a rush, frantic to make him understand.

  “Those men who were chasing you at the graveyard were hired by the doctor to find his son?”

  She shook her head, knowing she had to trust him with part of the truth now. “No, Simon isn’t Paul’s son.”

  He arched a dark brow.

  “Paul is a geneticist. He…he helped me escape with Simon. He wanted me to take him.” She knew she was making no sense, but her pulse was clamoring. “I didn’t hurt Paul—he was my friend.”

  His dark gaze wavered, full of more questions.

  “That’s the truth. I would never hurt. I just want to protect Simon.” Desperation turned her voice into a high-pitched squeak. “Please, you have to believe me.”

  He leaned in so close his nose touched hers. “I don’t have to do anything, but you have to be honest.” His eyes darkened.

  “I’m telling the truth now. I just want to protect Simon.”

  “From whom?”

  She curled her fingers into her fists. “I’m not exactly sure.”

  His glare deepened. “Stop trying to avoid the truth and just spill it.”

  She examined his face, searching for some sign that he wouldn’t betray her if she did confide in him. Paul’s warnings about him replayed in her head, yet she had nowhere to turn. “Some people at the research center. They were going to take Simon away. He would never have had a normal life.”

  “Why would they want to take him away?”

  “I don’t know everything,” she whispered, shivering at the accusations in his eyes. “But I swear I didn’t hurt Paul. But they’ve obviously done something to him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They must have hurt or drugged Paul.” She dropped her head forward, the memory of the doctor’s face the last time she’d seen him burning through her.

  His gaze locked with hers.

  “I swear I’m telling you the truth. I wish I knew everyone involved, but I don’t.” His anger prompted her to rush on. “There’s a team of scientists, and I grew suspicious about their work, so I started asking questions. I heard whispers about a secret project that didn’t have government clearance. Something to do with the geneticist. Then the doctors started acting funny about Simon. They wouldn’t let me take him off the complex, not even to go to Savannah to the park. Then I found out they’d bugged my phone.” She gasped for breath. “When I asked about adopting Simon, they threatened to fire me. So I started snooping into files and one of the security guards caught me. Then they tried to kill me.”

  His questioning gaze wavered.

  She spent the next ten minutes answering endless questions about the details of the research center. When he finally seemed content that she actually did work there and had some medical knowledge, his gaze fell to her bruised wrists. “Did Eric know about Simon?”

  “Yes.” She tried to move from behind the wall of his body but he penned her in. “Listen, Cain, I know this sounds crazy, but Paul was a friend of Eric’s. He sent me to your brother. He said Eric had helped other women in trouble go underground. He gave me some cash and his car, then he told me to find Eric at the lake.”

  She saw the moment the implication sank in.

  Cain gripped her wrist. “So, there was no abusive boyfriend?”

  “No. Paul said that Eric worked with a local monastery to help women set up new identities. But when I drove to the monastery, it was closed. Then a man claiming to work with Ericed and told me to meet him at the graveyard. But those other men showed up.”

  “The phone call was a setup.”

  “I realize that now. They must have gotten my cell phone number from Paul.”

  Cain scrubbed a hand over his face. “If Polenta helped you, why would he give them your number?”

  “He wouldn’t. Not unless they forced it out of him.” She sighed. “They probably drugged him.”

  “So, if you’re telling me the truth, then they might have killed Eric.”

  Alanna’s throat closed. She could only nod her reply.

  SIMON’S CRY BROKE into the tense moment. At Alanna’s panicked look, Cain dropped his hands from the wall, temporarily allowing her to leave the imprisonment of his arms. So, the baby wasn’t his brother’s child. He should feel relieved, yet sadness engulfed him, the loss a palpable ache. The baby wouldn’t have taken Eric’s place, yet…

  His mind spun with questions. He hated the fear he’d put in her eyes by his brute force, but dammit, she’d lied to him, taken his emotions on a rollercoaster ride. And she might be a criminal.

  Was she telling him the truth this time?

  He’d heard the news report himself. She was wanted for question
ing on kidnapping charges, and had been accused of shooting Simon’s father and taking the baby because she couldn’t have a child of her own. He’d heard cases where women had breakdowns after learning they couldn’t have children and kidnapped babies from nurseries.

  That story was much more believable than her bizarre tale.

  Yet, in his military and medical background he had heard of other cases where scientists crossed the line and let greed and power rule their decisions. Once he’d even investigated a Middle Eastern terrorist group engineering biochemical weapons. Another team of scientists had infected prisoners with various germs to test their reactions—all in the name of science.

  He inched to the bedroom door and watched her through the doorway. She whispered tender loving words to Simon as she changed his diaper.

  Truth or not, she obviously loved the baby and Simon loved her. But whether or not she had a right to keep him was another matter.

  The monastery was the missing part of the puzzle in Eric’s operation. It made sense. He wondered why he hadn’t realized the connection before. The priests would definitely help protect abused women and keep their silence.

  Had Eric known that Simon wasn’t Alanna’s baby or had she lied to him as well?

  “Come on, honey, let’s get you some breakfast.” Alanna scooped the baby into her arms, a wary expression on her face as she approached the doorway where he stood. “I’m going to feed Simon, then we’ll leave. I don’t want you caught in the middle of all this, Cain.”

  “You’re not going anywhere, not unless it’s to the authorities

  Her forced smile looked grave. “I can’t do that.”

  The baby batted a hand at her cheek and she caught his fist, then pressed a kiss to it.

  “You have to believe me, I’m doing this for Simon.”

  He didn’t question the fact that she loved the baby, just her reasons for running off with him. And unless she gave him some definite proof that the baby was in danger, he had no choice.

  Simon didn’t belong to her, and he would have to turn her in.

  ALANNA PROPPED SIMON in her lap and fed him his morning rice cereal and applesauce, smiling as he cooed and tried to grab the spoon. Twice he helped her move it toward his mouth but missed, and applesauce dribbled down his chin.

  At least Cain hadn’t phoned the police yet. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. In fact, he had taken her car keys and his with him to the bathroom to keep her from fleeing while he showered.

  She tried to force images of him naked, standing beneath a spray of hot water, from her mind. It had been months since she’d even thought of a man in a sexual way or noticed a man’s looks, even longer since she’d met one with as much power and masculinity as Cain Caldwell.

  The pain of her husband’s betrayal still stung. She had finished school and returned to Macon, Georgia, to work at the local hospital. Donald Jacobs had moved there to take over his grandfather’s law practice. They’d met at a fund-raiser for the children’s wing and had instantly hit it off, their love of kids drawing them together. After a whirlwind courtship, she had a wedding band and a husband.

  Only later, when she’d given him her heart and soul, had she learned that he’d married her simply to get a baby.

  His grandfather had stipulated in his will that in order to receive his trust money, Donald had to have a wife and children. It had galled her husband to no end that though he’d become a lawyer he couldn’t break the will.

  She had been his answer.

  But then she’d failed…

  Bitter memories of the fertility treatments haunted her; the lengths she’d resorted to in order to conceive before she’d learned the truth, the hurt of knowing she’d done all that because she’d loved Donald when he hadn’t really wanted her or a baby at all. All he’d wanted was the money…

  Simon pushed away the spoon, and she wiped his chin, then grabbed a bottle and decided to feed him outside by the lake.

  Cain suddenly appeared, looking big and brawny. He smelled like soap and aftershave, a deadly combination. He stepped in front of her, blocking the door. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Outside. I thought Simon could use some air.” And so could she. She needed to put some space between her and this intimidating man.

  “That’s not very wise. After all, there are people after

  Fear pricked at her. “Do you think they followed us here?”

  “No, but you can’t go wandering off. And until I check out your story, you’re not leaving my sight.” He gestured toward a tree only a few feet away. “Stay in the thicket there. It’s close enough so if someone comes up I can get to you.”

  Nerves on edge, she glared at him. She had to start thinking like a woman on the run. Like a fugitive. But she didn’t like it.

  Sunshine bathed the lake, its breathtaking view of woods and nature offering a momentary reprieve from the tension in the cabin. Alanna found a dry patch of grass beneath a sycamore tree, sat down and propped Simon in her lap so he could watch the ripples in the lake water as he drank his bottle. A frog croaked nearby and the wind rustled the trees, lifting her bangs from her eyes.

  “Oh, Simon, Mama Alanna’s going to take care of you.” She smiled at the sound of his suckling, wishing she and Simon were a normal mother and child, out enjoying the day.

  But they never would be. There would always be the threat of someone behind them. Someone trying to take him away.

  Simon pushed at the bottle, letting her know he was full, then spit bubbles. She smiled and dabbed at his mouth with a napkin.

  “Ma…ma.”

  Alanna froze, lifting Simon so she could see his face. Simon was only four months old, not old enough to talk. “What did you say, sweetie?”

  He laughed, his little mouth parting. “Ma…ma. Ma…ma.”

  Alanna hugged him to her, her heart squeezing, her mind reeling in disbelief. “Yes, baby, I’m your mama for now.” Her voice broke as she glanced back at Cain Caldwell where he stood on the porch.

  But for how long?

  CAIN SHIFTED uncomfortably and watched Alanna playing with the baby.

  What the hell was he doing, harboring a fugitive? Did he really believe her story?

  The attack at the graveyard should have shaken her enough to make her realize that she couldn’t escape with a young child. He slipped back inside the cabin, keeping an eye on Alanna through the window.

  He had to check on the progress in Eric’s case and fill his partner in on this latest development. He couldn’t jeopardize his reputation as a detective for this woman. Especially when turning her in and finding out the truth about her story might lead him to Eric’s killer.

  He punched in his partner’s number. He had told Alanna he wouldn’t call the police, but he was a cop, sworn to uphold the law.

  After all, he didn’t owe the woman anything. But he did owe his brother….

  Chapter Eight

  “Wakefield, what did you find out about the bbing?”

  “It was a simple setup, trigger hooked to the ignition. I found evidence of black powder. Any Tom, Dick or Harry could have gotten it at a discount store.”

  “How about the witness in the Bronsky case? Any word on him?”

  “No.”

  The silence that followed his partner’s curt reply seemed deafening. Chances of learning Palmer’s whereabouts might have died with Eric. Eric’s brutal death would have destroyed any confidence he might have had that the police could protect him.

  “Is the search for Palmer active?”

  “You know it is. The feds need him or their case is dead in the water.”

  “Right.” Alanna raised Simon above her head and bounced him up and down. The baby cycled his arms and legs.

  “How are you holding up?” his partner asked.

  “All right.” He hesitated, his emotions ping-ponging in his head as Alanna placed Simon on her lap and blew on his stomach. “It’s hell just sitting around, though, having
to watch the news to find out what’s going on in the world.”

  “Yeah, nothing like getting a jump on crime through the force, is there?”

  Cain forced a laugh. “Saw a piece about that baby kidnapping in Savannah. Anything come in about that?”

  Wakefield made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Got an APB out on the woman across the state. Freaky stuff happens down there at the research facility.”

  “What’s the latest?”

  “Remember the bizarre story about that scientist Wells who was killed? Some of those doctors did an experiment on him and transplanted his memories into a cop’s head.”

  The hair on the back of Cain’s neck prickled. He’d been so busy fighting with Eric this past year he hadn’t kept up. Nighthawk Island housed confidential cutting-edge research projects for the government, but he had no idea the types of projects they worked on. He assumed it was counterterrorist tactics, biological warfare research, studies relevant since the September eleventh crisis. He’d investigated some mysterious incidents with government projects himself when he was in the Air Force. He’d thought he’d left those horrors behind. Had quit so his life would be simpler, so he’d have more time with Eric.

  Alanna’s story could have credence to it.

  Had she stumbled onto some kind of project that involved a baby?

  Genetic engineering, cloning, stem cell research, those were hot topics right now.

  Cain’s gaze shot back to Alanna. She was tickling Simon now, both of them laughing. But he remembered the gaunt shadows beneath her eyes, the fear, the bruises. If there was any possibility that her story might have some truth to it, he couldn’t turn her in.

  Not yet.

  But it was impossible for him to do the legwork and keep an eye on her and

  “Cain, you there?”

  “Yeah, just find that witness the feds lost, and help me nail the bastard who killed my brother.”

  FOR A FEW MINUTES, Alanna had almost allowed herself to believe that she and Simon were safe, but the sound of leaves crunching under the weight of boots drew her attention back to reality. She scanned the woods, praying the men from the graveyard hadn’t found her. Or that Cain had not called his cop buddies to come and take her into custody.