Reignited: Ensenada Heat Book 3

by Tess Summers

  That actually sounded fun.

  Sitting across from her in the little breakfast diner, Rachel’s face turned somber.

  “You need to let your parents know about the baby, sweets. Your mother would wring my neck if she found out I knew about her future grandchild and she didn’t. And I’m sure as hell not facing the wrath of your father. You need to call them.”

  Taren compromised and, after fishing her phone out of her purse, texted them instead. There were no new messages when she turned it on.

  That was a good thing, she reminded herself. He was honoring her wishes. She wasn’t disappointed at the empty mailbox. Not. At. All.

  The text was pointless in avoiding talking to her mother because her phone started ringing almost immediately after sending it. She looked down at the screen and scowled at a grinning Rachel across the booth.

  “Don’t you dare send your mother to voicemail,” her aunt chided.

  She tried to be quiet in the slow restaurant when she answered. Her mother was over the moon, and she had to hold the phone away from her ear at first.

  “My first grandchild! Oh, Taren. This is so exciting.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I’m pretty excited, too.”

  “Who’s the father? It’s not David’s is it, honey?”

  “No. Remember Jacob? The guy I dated in college? We kind of had a little fling—he was the one who bought my cruise.”

  “Of course I remember Jacob. You were head over heels in love with him. He was the one who bought your trip? Oh, that is so romantic. You two ended up together in the end, after all. And to top it off, you’re going to have a baby! Things have a way of working themselves out, don’t they, honey?”

  She didn’t have the heart to tell her they weren’t together, or that Jake didn’t even know about their child. Maybe she didn’t want to say the words out loud.

  “Yeah, they do, Mom.”

  “How are you feeling? Are you having morning sickness? I was terribly sick the first three months of my pregnancy with you, then it miraculously went away.”

  “It’s hit or miss most days.”

  “When are you due?”

  “March twenty-fourth.”

  Her mom was silent for a moment, and Taren knew she was doing some quick calculations in her head.

  “You’re just barely pregnant! Have you been to the doctor?”

  “I went to the doctor yesterday. I had my first ultrasound and everything looked fine.”

  Across the booth, Rachel was making a slashing motion across her neck and mouthing, “Don’t tell her I was with you.”

  It was Taren’s turn to grin. She had no intention of telling her mom because it would hurt her feelings, but it was fun to make her beautiful aunt sweat a little.

  “Have you talked to Aunt Rachel lately?”

  ****

  Monday morning, she was on her laptop paying bills and answering emails, when she received an email alert about a deposit to her bank. As she clicked open the website, she wondered if something had happened that delayed her paycheck, even though she’d received that email on Friday.

  Her totals came up, and she knew there hadn’t been a delay with the hospital’s payment to her. Her checking account had one hundred and twenty-five thousand more than it should.

  The line item read Misc—for baby.

  Her world started spinning. How did he know? It wasn’t possible.

  Yet, there it was in black and white on her bank statement. No one else had that kind of money to just put in her checking account for miscellaneous items.

  Then, she went to her car Tuesday evening after work and found a dozen roses in her front seat along with a mint green baby’s onesie with white lettering that read I get my charm from my daddy.

  The only reason she turned on her phone was to see if Rachel had texted her about needing her to pick anything up on her way home. The only reason.

  It wasn’t to see if there were any incoming texts from him.

  Saturday: Baby, please talk to me. There’s some things I need to tell you, and some things you need to tell me, too, apparently.

  Saturday: Tinkerbell, let me take you out to dinner. Please?

  Sunday: Good morning, beautiful. I miss waking up next to you. Can we get breakfast and talk?

  Monday: I deposited some money into your account. Please, just accept it. I have an obligation to our child, too.

  Monday: Dinner tonight?

  Nothing so far on Tuesday. Maybe he was trying a new approach, since she hadn’t replied to his texts, by breaking into her car and leaving her flowers and a baby present.

  “Doesn’t matter,” she said out loud as she started her car. “It’s not going to work. He should understand better than anyone why we can’t be together.”

  She waited until she was on the road before telling her hands-free app to, “Call Rachel.”

  “Okay, calling Jacob.”

  “No!” she yelled and quickly ended the call.

  Rachel was going to get a kick out of this.

  She tried again.

  “Call Ray—chelll.”

  “Okay, calling Jacob.”

  Again, she disconnected the call as soon as she could.

  She shook her head and smiled in spite of herself. That son of a bitch hacked my hands-free app. What else had he done?

  Just then her phone started ringing. Of course it was him; she’d called him twice—or, at least her phone had.

  Taren answered with, “Did you hack my phone?”

  “Did I hack your phone?” came the deep voice that she’d missed.

  “That was my question.”

  “Well, technically, no. I did not hack your phone.”

  “Jake, you can’t just pay someone to get what you want. What part of do not contact me did you not understand?”

  “The part before where I said I need to talk to you—in person. There are things I can’t talk about on the phone, Tink.”

  “There’s nothing to say. Being with you isn’t safe for our child, Jake. If people could get to Madison and murder her, you don’t think they could get to our baby? I’m not risking it.”

  He sighed. “I don’t want to talk about this over the phone, Taren. And, I don’t want you talking about me over the phone with anyone, either. That’s why I need to see you in person.”

  So that explained how he knew. He must have been having her followed and the P.I. overheard her conversation with her mom in the restaurant.

  “I have to go. Unfuck my hands-free so I don’t get in a wreck having to dial people I actually want to talk to.”

  With that, she disconnected the call. And promptly started crying—the unfairness of it all overwhelming her. The tears were flowing so hard and fast that she had to pull over into a parking lot until she was finished.

  Stupid pregnancy hormones.

  ****

  Jacob

  She’d fucking lied to him.

  It wasn’t a false fucking positive. She was pregnant.

  When the initial shock wore off over what his private investigator told him he’d heard in the booth next to hers in the diner Saturday morning, he made some phone calls. Yeah, he might have had her medical records hacked for confirmation, but he’d never admit that.

  All the feelings he’d felt that day in the bathroom in Ensenada when he’d looked at the picture with the two pink lines came flooding back to him. The excitement, the fear, the protectiveness, the wonder…

  They were having a baby.

  Her disappearing act made more sense now.

  He kind of adored her mama bear instincts. She was, after all, protecting his cub. It actually made him love his little sprite even more.

  But she needed to know that no one would protect their baby better than he would. He just needed to talk to her and convince her of that.

  He might need to call in reinforcements.

  ****

  “Jacob Smith. Were your ears burning?”

  Bella’s pretty fac
e appeared on the video screen, and he grinned back at her.

  “No. Should they be?”

  “Ortiz has been asking about you.”

  Ortiz was the code name they’d agreed upon for Madison. He had no idea why or how they came up with it, and he didn’t ask. Wendy was Taren’s code name, after Wendy in Peter Pan.

  “Maybe if you help me out with Wendy, we could come visit you.”

  Jacob then told her about the baby.

  “Holy shit! Congratulations! You were together, what, ten days? You’ve got some strong swimmers.” Bella grinned.

  “Except I haven’t seen her since I arrived after leaving Ensenada after Madi died. So…”

  “So she thinks her baby isn’t safe.”

  He shook his head.

  “Fuck, that’s not good, Jacob.”

  “No, it’s not, and she won’t take my calls so I can explain. She thinks she’s hiding out from me at her aunt’s—which she’s obviously not. So, I either show up at her work or show up unannounced at her aunt’s. Either way, I’m going to come off as a stalker, and she’s going to shut down before hearing me out.”

  “So, I’m guessing this is the part where I come in?”

  “If you’ll help me.”

  “Are you kidding right now? Of course I’ll help you. Not only am I indebted to you for, like, the rest of my life, but I freaking want to help because, who doesn’t love a good love story?”

  He sighed. “It’s not a good love story yet.”

  “Oh, it will be, let me handle it.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Ambush her—Jones sister style. Just let me run it by Dante, and I’ll be on a plane in the morning.”

  “Thanks, Bella. I really appreciate it.”

  “Name your baby after me if it’s a girl, and we’ll call it even.”

  Chuckling, he agreed. “If I have any say with this baby, consider it done.”

  They were quiet for a moment, his smile fading into a sigh. “If she’d just listen to me… I could clear this up in thirty seconds.”

  “We’ll get this fixed. I promise.”

  His laugh was humorless. “How can you be so sure?”

  “To quote Westley, from The Princess Bride, ‘This is true love; you think this happens every day?’ You two are meant to be together. No way is a little misunderstanding going to come between you two.”

  “I feel so fucking helpless. Like, if I could just get her to talk to me—”

  “That’s where I come in. I know it’s hard, but try to be patient. And don’t do anything to make this worse.”

  “No promises.”

  “Don’t make me hurt you. Because not only am I capable—I will.”

  “Thanks again.”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  He blew out a long breath when he hung up. I can be patient. He’d waited seven years for her—he could get through another day. But, she had to be scared and feeling alone, and that really bothered him. He could only imagine how much she was hurting, thinking Madison had been murdered and worried about their child’s safety.

  Don’t worry, baby. I’ll be there to protect you soon.

  He already had round-the-clock surveillance on her, but nothing could replace him being there to take care of her.

  The Jones sisters couldn’t get here soon enough.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Taren

  She opened the door to one of the triage rooms and almost fainted. There on the side of the hospital bed kicking her little feet back and forth was Madison Guzman while her mother, Bella sat in a chair next to her and her Aunt Reagan sat in a chair by the wall.

  “Madi?” Taren gasped before tears started streaming down her face.

  “Hi, Miss Taren,” the little girl said with a smile right before Taren grabbed both her hands in order to feel that she was really there and not some hallucination she was having.

  “Hello, mamacita,” Bella said with a polite smile. “This is what Jacob has been trying to talk to you about.” Bella’s tone sounded a lot like her mom’s when she was trying to refrain from scolding her. “He couldn’t tell you about this electronically. I’m sure you can understand why.”

  “So you came all the way from California?”

  “Well, technically, I came from South Dakota,” Reagan piped in.

  “I can’t believe this,” she said, stroking the little girl’s downy hair. “I was so heartbroken for you all.”

  “It was definitely a harrowing time.”

  Reagan stood and helped the little girl off the table. “Let’s grab a drink from the vending machine, little miss.”

  “How is she doing?” Taren asked, looking in the direction Reagan and Madi had just disappeared.

  “She’s okay. We’ve had a counselor out twice to do play therapy with her, and she seems to have settled back into a routine. Dante and I are still wrecks though, and it’s been a struggle not to camp out in her bedroom every night and make sure she’s safe. Of course my husband has put in cameras with night vision with a state of the art security system in our new house in California.”

  “I’m getting a new dog!” Madi proclaimed loudly when she walked back in.

  “You are? What kind of dog?”

  She glanced at Bella, who had just picked her daughter up in her arms.

  “The local PetSmart has rescue groups come and do adoptions every weekend. We’re going to go next weekend and see if we can find our next family member.”

  “Have you decided on a name yet?”

  “Uh huh,” the little girl nodded solemnly.

  “What is it?”

  “Jacob!” she said, erupting into a fit of giggles.

  Taren couldn’t help but smile.

  “Ever since he found her, he’s all she talks about.”

  Taren interrupted. “Jake was the one who rescued Madi?”

  Bella’s smile was wistful as she stroked her daughter’s hair “He did. He was relentless; God love him. He never gave up. None of the six did. I owe my daughter’s life to him.”

  “And that’s why you’re here.”

  “No!” she exclaimed as she moved Madi to her other hip. “Okay, yes, maybe. He’s one of the good guys, Taren. I’ve known Jacob for a lot of years, and not once he has not been true to his word.”

  Taren huffed out a laugh. “He continually lied to me for the first three years that I knew him.”

  Bella tsked at her as she set Madi down, and once again, Reagan disappeared with her.

  “You can’t hold the fact he didn’t tell you he worked for the government against him. That is something that is drilled into an agent—it was part of his training, and frankly, it’s a mandatory directive.”

  She shrugged. “I guess. He said the same thing.”

  The former agent’s face softened. “He saved my little girl, Taren. He’d never let anything happen to your child. I just wish you’d at least hear what he has to say. Then you can make your decision. But I’d hate for you to have regrets ten years from now because you didn’t at least hear his side of things—especially when you’re having a child together. Wouldn’t it be better to air things out now?”

  “But his job,” Taren said softly.

  “You think he gives a damn about his job?”

  “He gave a damn enough about it to leave me seven years ago.”

  “No. He gave a damn enough about you to leave you seven years ago. Do you really believe if he honestly thought he couldn’t keep you safe now—especially carrying his baby—that he wouldn’t just let you go?”

  “You’re probably right.”

  “Of course I’m right. I’m always right. Now, go get the next couple of days off. We’re going on a girls’ trip. Don’t argue with me.”

  “I need to talk to Jake.”

  Reagan reappeared and patted her back as they walked out of the room. “Don’t worry, honey. Wherever you are, I guarantee Jacob isn’t far behind. He’ll find you.”


  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Taren

  Luckily she’d changed her shifts to only eight hours a day and had been able to take a half day off, saying she wasn’t feeling well. Which would lend credence when she called in sick tomorrow.

  Reagan and Bella were already waiting for her at Rachel’s house with a bottle of champagne and a bottle of sparkling cider for her. Madison was safely with Reagan’s in-laws, who were also taking care of Brianna for the few days they were going to be gone.

  Her aunt came into the living room with two suitcases.

  “We’re all set,” she said with a smirk.

  “Yes! Let’s get this show on the road!” Reagan declared as she raised her glass.

  “Wait. Where exactly are we going?”

  “Mexico,” Bella said nonchalantly as she tried to usher her toward to the door. “Your mom and aunts are meeting us there.”

  She stood in the entryway, frozen in confusion.

  “We’re going to Mexico? Right now? And my family is meeting us there? Why?”

  Bella looped her arm through Taren’s right arm, while Reagan looped her arm through Taren’s left, and the two sisters escorted her out the door as Rachel locked up behind them.

  “Yes, mamacita. We’re going to have a baby shower for you in Mexico. It’s going to be two days of fun in the sun, and you’re going to have to a great time surrounded by people who love you—whether you want to or not.

  She smiled and took the glass of sparkling cider Bella offered her as they piled in the waiting car for the short ride to the airport.

  “We’ll have lunch on the plane,” Bella announced.

  “I’ve never ridden on a private jet before,” Rachel exclaimed with excitement.

  “Taren has,” Bella said, looking at her slyly. “Her baby daddy has one.”

  Rachel’s eyes got wide. “Oh really?”

  “I never rode on his plane,” was her only response.

  Jake. She needed to talk to him in person. She hoped Reagan was right, and he wasn’t far behind.

  Their time on the jet passed quickly and before she knew it, they had arrived at the Guzman estate. Security continued to remain tight, with the guards scrutinizing the women and checking the car before allowing them through the gates. Taren assumed that meant they hadn’t caught whoever had orchestrated Madison’s kidnapping, but decided it wasn’t an appropriate time to ask.