Maybe, if they could redeem their relationship when this nightmare was over, she might convince him to give her visitation rights. But Grace—no, Isabel—belonged with Jared.
“Jared, I want you to—”
The chime of her laptop cut her off as an instant message screen popped up. She turned toward the screen and caught her breath.
Jared surged off the sofa, crossing the floor in three long strides. “Is it her? Is it MysteryMom?”
“Yes.” Elise trembled as she read the short message.
Michael read over her shoulder, as well.
Elise, what’s happened? What’s your emergency?
Grace has been kidnapped. They’ve demanded money in the next 10 hours for her return.
She was shaking so hard with adrenaline and the swirl of emotions that she had to backspace and retype words a half dozen times.
“Here, let me.” Jared nudged her aside, taking half the chair, and with fingers flying across the keyboard, he explained how he’d been knocked out and Grace stolen. He laid out the terms they’d been given and the warnings the kidnappers had issued about contacting the police. Jared typed, We have most of the money ready to transfer to their account, but you have to pull your team back. Give us a chance to recover Grace before it is too late.
MysteryMom made no response for several nerve-racking seconds, then…
It’s already too late.
Elise’s heart stopped. With a gasp, she grabbed Jared’s arm and dug her fingers into his wrist. “No…”
Another message popped up, and together they leaned close to the screen to read.
There are agents carrying out arrest warrants in three states even now. I can’t pull anyone back without jeopardizing the whole mission. This case is bigger than just Grace. The people involved have side operations that include drug smuggling and human trafficking from Mexico, money laundering, bribery and intimidation of officials. They’re accused of murder, kidnapping and child pornography. This is huge!
Jared rocked back, expelling a shaky breath. “Good God.”
Elise typed, Dr. Arrimand is involved in all of this?
Heavens no. He was a pawn. His greed got him sucked into something bigger than he imagined and too dangerous to quit once he started. Same with his nurse.
Elise struggled for oxygen. What hope did they have for Grace against such odds, such a mammoth crime ring?
Jared stared at the floor, as still as a statue. His expression was pale, bleak.
Elise glanced at the framed ultrasound picture, the blurry white shape that was Grace at nine weeks’ gestation. For so long, Elise had gazed at that picture and grieved for a child she’d believed dead. But a miracle had brought her baby back into her life, and she was far from ready to give up hope of finding Grace now.
Maternal love and protectiveness jabbed her, firing her determination, shaking her from her self-pity.
Elise typed to MysteryMom, I will NOT give up hope of getting Grace back.
I would never ask you to.
Jared cast a side glance at what she was typing.
So tell me what I can do. I won’t just sit here while the clock ticks on the deadline the kidnappers gave us. I’ll do whatever I must to get my daughter back!
Hang on. Let me consult with some of my team, and we’ll come up with a plan. I’ll message you within twenty minutes.
Eighteen excruciating minutes later, Elise hovered over her laptop, willing MysteryMom to return with a miracle solution. Across the room, Jared paced, his muscles tense and his mouth clamped in a grim line.
Little had been said since MysteryMom signed off to consult her colleagues, and Michael had disappeared into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee no one wanted. Elise counted every tick of the clock, knowing each minute they waited was one less minute they had to find Grace before their deadline. Though she tried not to dwell on worst-case scenarios, her mother mind-set meant she couldn’t help but fret over what would happen to Grace if the deadline passed. Would they kill her baby? Take her out of the country to be sold again? Use her in child porn and prostitution?
Her stomach rebelled at the thought, and bile rose in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing hard to force down the bitter taste and saying a silent prayer. Please, oh, please, God, let Grace be all right!
The chime of her laptop shattered the silence, and Elise spun around on her chair to read the incoming message. Jared dashed over to sit beside her in a chair he’d pulled in from the kitchen. Their shoulders touched as they leaned in together to see the screen. Jared’s familiar sandalwood scent filled her nose and managed to calm her to a degree. Knowing she wasn’t facing this crisis alone mattered to her more than she could say.
What would it be like to always have someone beside her to face life’s challenges and heartaches? To share her joys and the simple pleasures?
If they didn’t rescue Grace in time, would she ever feel joy or savor any pleasures in life again?
Elise, are you there?
Jared and I are both here. What did you come up with?
We have an idea, but there are no guarantees it will work. It could prove costly to you.
Costly how?
We think, given our time constraints, that our best chance to track the men with Grace is to follow the money. Namely the ransom they’ve demanded. You said you could get most of it, right?
Elise glanced at Jared for confirmation, and he gave a quick, certain nod.
Between us, we can have all two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in a few hours.
Good. Before you authorize the money to be wired, we need the account numbers and bank information they gave you, so we can put a trace on the money and follow any subsequent transfers. We’ll put a dozen agents, all computer experts and forensic accountants, to work tracking the names associated with the accounts and cross-referencing them with what we’ve already learned about the crime ring.
How will that help Grace?
We can use the information we get to pull up an address, a rap sheet, a vehicle registration or driver’s license, a credit-card purchase…anything that can help us close in on where Grace might be. There is always the risk, however, that we’ll lose the trail of the money, and we won’t be able to recover it when this is over. We could wind up at a dead end with no useful information to help us rescue Grace.
Elise met Jared’s gaze. “It sounds like a long shot, but we have nothing else.”
“Are you all right with the idea of putting that much money on the line if it doesn’t work?” he asked her, covering her hand with his.
She gave him a weak smile. “Like you said, it’s just money, right? I’d do anything to get our little girl back.”
Our little girl. Elise hadn’t realized what she said until she saw the stunned and grateful warmth that lit Jared’s eyes. She gave his fingers a return squeeze and drew a deep breath. “Let’s do it.”
Elise and Jared spent the next several minutes instant messaging with MysteryMom and her team, sharing the information the kidnappers had given them about how to make the payment and getting last-minute instructions on how and when to wire the money. Because she would be heavily involved in tracking the case herself, Mystery-Mom told them she might not be able to update them until everything had played out.
When she signed off, Elise and Jared looked at each other, the weight of the stress they shared unspoken but obvious.
“Well…” Jared said, lifting his cell phone to punch redial, “Here goes nothing. Or rather, here goes a quarter million.”
Elise opened her mouth to thank him for his magnanimous gesture, but he turned his back as his broker answered.
“Yeah, Jared Coleman again. It’s a go. Make the transfer to my savings account,” he said into his cell phone as he strode across the room.
Elise felt the distance he put between them as a chill that sank into her bones. More than the loss of his physical presence beside her, she sensed a growing spiritual gap, as if h
e’d conceded defeat and was already withdrawing from her.
Could she blame him, after the heated words and bitterness they’d exchanged today? Had it all been today? It seemed eons ago she’d been dressing Isabel and found the birthmark on the girl’s shoulder.
“I made lunch if anyone wants some,” Michael said, coming back into the room with a plate of sandwiches.
Elise shook her head and lifted her cell phone to make her own call about transferring her savings to Jared’s account, preparing for the payoff to the kidnappers. “If your offer of ten thousand is still good, Michael, we need it now.”
Within minutes of the transfers reaching Jared’s account, MysteryMom’s team had electronically wired the ransom payoff to the kidnappers. The hunt was on.
Within an hour, Michelle, Peter and Jared’s parents had all arrived at Elise’s house to join the vigil, waiting to hear from MysteryMom and lending their moral support to Elise and Jared.
Seeing the family’s love and encouragement for Jared, Elise knew she’d made the right choice to let Jared retain custody of Grace. Her own brother tried to be supportive, but he was hit-and-miss at best. Grace deserved a big loving family, the family Elise couldn’t give her.
She tried several times to speak to Jared about her decision, but with so many people in her tiny house, privacy was hard to come by. Finally, when he excused himself to retrieve a jacket from his car, Elise followed him outside, hoping for a couple minutes alone with him.
A light drizzle was falling, casting a gray pallor over the autumn afternoon, but Elise ignored the rain as she walked across her small lawn toward the curb where Jared had parked. He turned, his shoulders hunched against the rain, but straightened when he spotted her.
His face blanched, apparently mistaking her serious expression for an indication of bad news. “Elise, what is it? Did MysteryMom call?”
“No, I…just needed a chance to talk with you. Alone.”
He held his hand out and tipped his face toward the sky. “And you chose here? In the rain?”
“There are too many people inside, and…” She licked the drops of rain from her lips and took a deep breath. “I wanted to thank you. For putting up so much money, all of your savings, to help bring Grace home.”
He shook his head and lowered his gaze. “Don’t thank me. It was no—”
She stepped close to him and covered his mouth with her hands. “Don’t you dare say it was nothing! It was huge. And it showed me…” Her voice cracked, and she paused to clear her throat. “It brought home to me how very much you love Isabel.”
He put a hand on each of her shoulders, and the gentle strength of his fingers sent ribbons of warmth through her. “Of course I love Isabel. Deeply. But that’s not the only reason I did it.”
Elise blinked as drizzle dripped from her hair into her eyes. “It wasn’t?”
He shook his head and held her gaze. His dark eyes drilled to her core. “Beside knowing I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do everything in my power to save Izzy, I saw how much you were hurting, saw the depth of your agony and remembered everything you said about how Grace’s death ripped out your heart. I couldn’t let you suffer that again. I love you too much to see you hurt like that.”
Elise caught her breath. “Wh—what?”
He stroked his hand along her cheek and captured her chin with his palm. “The other reason I gave all my money to save Isabel…to save Grace…is because I love you.”
Elise tried to speak, but her voice was trapped behind the lump of emotions that clogged her throat.
“I know I should have said something before now.” He lifted the corner of his mouth in a rueful smile. “Like when I proposed to you. I should have told you long ago how much you mean to me.”
Tears joined the raindrops filling her eyes and tickling her cheeks. “But…I came out here to tell you I wasn’t going to take Isabel away from you. I saw how much you loved her, and I could never hurt you that way.” Her chest clenched. “Because… I love you.”
He pulled his eyebrows into a dubious frown. “Wait, what? You’re not going to fight me for custody?”
She wiped futilely at the moisture on her face. “No. Though…I’m hoping, praying, you’ll be kind enough to allow me liberal visitation rights. I don’t want to lose touch with her. Whether you tell her I’m her mother or not will be your choice.”
He raked both hands through his wet hair and took a step back. He tipped his head back and shouted a laugh to the sky. “Elise, did you hear what I just told you? I love you.” He seized her shoulders again, and the smile on his lips shone also from his eyes as he enunciated each word slowly. “I. Love. You.”
Elise’s pulse seemed to slow as realization dawned, and a bubble of hope expanded in her chest. “Jared, are you saying…”
“I still want to marry you. I want your courage and compassion and beauty and intelligence and loving heart in my life for always…” he paused, his face darkening “…even…even if we don’t get Grace back.”
Elise slammed her eyes shut and shook her head. “No! Don’t even say that!” Now she pinned him with a hard, penetrating stare. “We can’t think that way. We can’t! MysteryMom’s team will find her and bring her back. We have to stay positive.”
He framed her face in his hands and brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Of course. You’re right. My point is I would love you and want you for my wife, even if we didn’t both love the same sweet baby girl with all our hearts.”
Elise fought for a breath, joy filling her chest so completely there was no room for air. After a lifetime of rejection and betrayal, loss and disappointment, Jared was offering her an unconditional gift of love and acceptance. A future.
But what kind of future would they have if Mystery-Mom’s agents couldn’t find Grace in time?
Her fingers curled into the damp fabric of his shirt. “And if we don’t get Grace back—”
“Shh!” He waved a hand, cutting her off. “We just said we weren’t going to think that way.”
Her grip on his shirt tightened. “I know, but…”
“Then I will stand by you and love you, and we will struggle through the loss together.”
Together. No matter what life threw at her, she didn’t have to be alone anymore. She nodded her head slowly, a tender ache flooding her heart, as tears of joy washed down her cheeks. “Yes.”
He smiled and arched an eyebrow. “Yes…what?”
“Yes, I love you, and I will marry you.”
An expression of bliss and relief crossed his face before a wide grin tugged his cheeks. Pulling her close and whispering her name, he captured her mouth with a deep, soulful kiss. As she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss, a sunbeam broke through the clouds and filled the sky with its buttery light.
The first purple shadows of evening had just begun to creep across Elise’s yard when her phone trilled. Not a text-message beep, but a ring that meant someone was waiting to speak to her at the other end of the line.
The stir of conversations and idle activity in her living room ceased, and six pairs of eyes turned expectantly toward Elise as she lifted her cell phone from the coffee table to read the caller ID.
“Out of area,” she reported, then cast an anxious glance to Jared. Fear crimped her gut, and her hand shook so hard, she nearly dropped the phone. “What if it’s the kidnappers again?”
Jared moved to her side, circling her shoulders with his arm and giving her a reassuring squeeze. “Go on. Answer it.”
She pulled in a cleansing breath and thumbed the answer button. “Hello?”
“Elise?”
The voice was a woman’s. Elise’s heart beat triple time.
“Y-yes?”
“This is MysteryMom.”
The whooshing of blood filled her ears, and a wave of panic knocked the air from her lungs. She’d never spoken to MysteryMom before. What did it mean that she’d chosen to call this time instead of messaging her
or texting?
She tried to speak, but all that escaped her throat was a choked-sounding whimper.
“First and foremost,” MysteryMom said, “we found Grace. She is safe, and she is unharmed.”
Relief crashed through Elise so hard and fast that her head spun and her knees buckled. She slumped against Jared with a sob of joy.
“I just wanted to tell you that up front,” MysteryMom said, “because I know how worried you’ve been.”
Elise felt the shudder that rolled through Jared, and when she raised her gaze to him, his devastated expression told her he’d misinterpreted her reaction. Swallowing hard to clear the emotion tightening her throat, she smiled broadly and laughed. “No, it’s good news! They found her, and she’s okay!”
A cheer went up in the room, and Jared hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe. Michael beamed at her and sent her a wink.
MysteryMom was telling her something, but the buzz of excitement in the room and rush of adrenaline in Elise’s ears drowned her out. She waved a hand at the room, signaling for quiet. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”
MysteryMom chuckled. “I know it’s a lot to take in. In a nutshell, because of the information we gleaned while tracking the money transfers today, we were able to issue a warning to airports, bus stations and border crossings.”
Operation Baby Rescue Page 18
