Bringing Benjy Home (Security Ops)

by Brant, Kylie

  The knowledge should have made him feel helpless. He was edgy in any situation until he’d decided the best way to manage it. This was a situation he was incapable of controlling. And yet he felt energized, ready to act. Her presence did that to him. He used to get the same feeling in the military when one of his carefully mapped strategies was about to go down. He’d been a civilian for years, but the edge hadn’t dulled; the instincts were still there. They were getting closer to Benjy. He could feel it.

  Jaida finally pushed the tray away, her appetite satisfied. No, it wouldn’t be much longer. She had the same feeling, but was helpless to tell him more. She could pinpoint Benjy’s location, but she didn’t have the power to see what was in store for any of them once they reached it. The sense of urgency was growing stronger. But she didn’t know if that was because they were on the verge of finding Benjy or because something else was about to happen. She knew only that time was running out.

  “After we drop off the blanket at the post office we need to head to the nearest airport.”

  Trey’s eyes widened. “You’re suggesting an airport?” he asked dubiously. Then swiftly comprehension dawned. “Do you have a particular destination in mind?”

  Her mind played back the surreal vision she’d had last night when she’d clutched Benjy’s blanket in her hands. It had been too soon. The vision had been out of focus, difficult to interpret. And then it had rushed upon her, flinging her skyward, and taken on a nightmarish quality. Looming medieval structures, huge lifelike figures from the Dark Ages that seemed more monster-like than friendly to an eighteen-month-old boy. Being whisked away in a seat that whirled faster and faster, awing Benjy, half frightening and half exhilarating him. A huge place with a continuous mob of people, an endless vista of characters in Renaissance dress and a carnival-like atmosphere.

  “Have you ever heard of Kids’ Kingdom?” she asked.

  Trey leaned forward in his chair, his eyes alight with fierce interest. “Sure. It’s a chain of amusement parks scattered across the country. Their theme is medieval times.”

  “I called the front desk. The closest one is eight hours away.”

  “Is that where you think Benjy is?”

  “We need to hurry,” she whispered. She couldn’t explain the sense of urgency she’d felt in the last vision, but it had been too strong to ignore. She shivered in dismay at what lay ahead. “Somewhere, in the middle of all those people, is Benjy.”

  The customary sickness was almost welcome as the jet screamed down the runway. At least concentrating on that meant she didn’t have to worry about where they were going. And how their destination would affect her.

  Her hand was peeled back from the death grip she had on the seat and encompassed in a warm, tight clasp. She gasped and tugged at it, but she was held fast.

  “Stop fighting me,” Trey advised in an even voice. “At least when I’m touching you you’re concentrating on something other than losing your breakfast. In comparison, I can’t believe I’m that unacceptable an alternative.”

  She stared at him, wide-eyed. He was right, the nausea was fading, to be replaced with sensations much more powerful, much more alluring. The electrical impulses jumped and sparked madly between them, and she watched his eyes grow shuttered.

  It was as if he were inviting it, daring the connection between them to prove itself again, and a satisfied smile curled his hard mouth when it did just that. Warm heat flowed between them, and Jaida slowly let her hand relax in his.

  “Do you feel that?” he asked hoarsely. “A few days ago you jumped three feet if my fingers so much as brushed yours. But you don’t anymore, do you, Jaida?” His voice was low, inexorable. “And it’s not because the connection is any weaker, because that’s still there, too. You’re becoming accustomed to my touch.” His thumb rubbed over the back of her hand, and she trembled in response.

  She couldn’t refute the truth of his words. She suspected that he enjoyed the reaction that leaped to awareness between them, that he savored it. And the thought of just why he’d want her accustomed to his touch made her heart beat madly and her mouth go dry. He wanted her. As badly as she wanted him. He wasn’t going to let his desire interfere with his search for Benjy, but afterward, then she knew as well as he that there would be nothing else between them. How would she go back to her quiet life in the valley after he’d jetted home again to California, to his family and friends? Somehow she knew that if she gave in to the passion that simmered between them she would have a terrible time dispensing with the memories.

  But then, the memories of him would linger, regardless. Would they hurt more or less if she just once followed her heart?

  He was right; his constant touch steadied her. She closed her eyes fatalistically and awaited another type of reaction, the transient visions that would transmit from him to her. For they would surely come. Passion masked them, made it impossible to concentrate on any emotions but her own. But in a moment such as this one, there would be no such barrier. She made no attempt to shield herself from them. Part of the price of loving him would be understanding him far better than he would dare to let anyone else.

  By far the highest price would be losing him when this was over.

  They were the last ones off the plane. Trey had noticed before the way Jaida tended to hang back, making excuses to avoid the melee of passengers jostling one another as they retrieved luggage and jockeyed for position to disembark. When they were finally off there was only a short wait for their bags, and then they rented yet another car.

  When Trey turned away from the rental window, she followed him wordlessly to the parking lot. As he led the way he used his cell to make a reservation at one of the many hotels near the park complex. They made the drive to the amusement park silently, energy smoldering between them. Unspoken was the knowledge that they were close to Benjy, closer than they had ever been. Trey pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car, addressing her for the first time.

  “This is a huge complex. The sign says it covers more than four hundred acres.”

  She swallowed. “I know.” There were several sections to the gigantic park, and she couldn’t be completely certain which one the vision had entailed. Their only option was to go inside and wait for her to feel something, anything, that would lead them to Benjy.

  Her eyes met Trey’s. Neither of them voiced the question that was uppermost on their minds. They were at the area’s largest tourist attraction at the height of the season. How were they going to find one small boy in the midst of thousands of people?

  Chapter 10

  “The day was a bust.” Trey delivered the pronouncement in a tight, flat voice. Jaida sat slouched in one of the chairs in the motel room. He paced by her, as if unable to stop moving.

  “It’s going to take time,” she answered quietly, exhaustion lacing her words. “It was impossible for us to cover the whole park in one day.”

  “How do we know they’re still around here? The kidnappers might have gone to Kids’ Kingdom for a day and taken off again. We could spend a week in that park and never run across Benjy, because he may no longer be there,” he said frustratedly. “This whole thing is getting more and more bizarre. Why in hell would someone snatch a little boy in California, drag him to the other coast and then give him a trip to an amusement park? They could have stayed in California if the kidnappers had a yen to take someone else’s child to a theme park.”

  Trey continued to prowl the large, comfortably furnished motel room. Jaida watched him from heavy-lidded eyes. Fatigue was rushing over her, and she would have liked nothing better than to give in to it. The park had been very close to sensory overload for her today. The skies had been bright and sunny, drawing record-number crowds. As skilled as she was, it was impossible to avoid being bumped into, brushed by. She couldn’t afford to spend the hours at the park with her inner defenses constantly raised. She’d needed to remain open to any sensations that would lead them to Benjy. Unable to guard against th
e unwelcome, intrusive peeks into the lives of strangers, she’d been bombarded by their mental and emotional states.

  “Perhaps there’s a reason that the kidnappers need to be here, in this area.” She sighed and leaned her head back against the chair. “All I can tell is they’re feeling more . . . desperate. As though time is getting short.”

  Desperate. Trey reviewed the word grimly, acid churning in his gut. Desperate people were driven to extreme acts. What could happen to his nephew if the kidnappers felt threatened didn’t even bear thinking about.

  “You’re certain two people are involved in the kidnapping.”

  She nodded. “A man and a woman.”

  “I think we can discount that he was snatched by a couple in search of a child of their own,” he said. That had been one scenario espoused by the detective in Los Angeles. “Such a couple might take a child across the country to make a new home, where no one would know them. But this journey of theirs has seemed more random than anything else.”

  “Benjy wasn’t kidnapped by a couple longing for a child,” Jaida remarked distantly. She recalled the earlier visions in which a man’s arm had yanked the child ungently and later delivered a stinging slap. No. She could tell very little about the man responsible for kidnapping Benjy, but she knew the boy was merely a means to an end for him.

  “Okay, if we accept that, what do we have left?” Trey demanded, half to himself. “The adoption black market? Babies are their usual prey.”

  “Benjy is a beautiful child, though,” Jaida said softly. She saw him clearly in her mind, his image branded into the visions. It seemed impossible for another human being to look so much like an adult, but he was a miniature of Trey, offering tantalizing clues to how Trey’s own children would look.

  The thought of Trey’s future children made Jaida’s heart ache. He would be a wonderful father; his devotion to his nephew proved that. Some men, unfortunately abused during their own childhood as Trey had been, were doomed to repeat the cycle of abuse. But whatever had formed Trey was more powerful than the blows his father had landed on him.

  She blinked rapidly, banishing the tears that had inexplicably welled in her eyes. More than likely her imaginings were as mythical as Trey’s children would be. She already knew how difficult it was for him to open his emotions. The idea that he would find a woman he could trust that much was unlikely. And the idea that the woman could be her was unlikelier still.

  And yet . . . she very much wanted to be that woman in his life.

  She watched him continue to pace, her vision blurring with exhaustion. She was miserably aware that whatever Trey felt for her would fall far short of what she would want from him.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Do you know how often you ask me that?” she replied, only half joking. She didn’t need a mirror to guess what she looked like right now. The day had taken a lot out of her, and she felt like a wrung-out dishrag. She imagined she didn’t look much better.

  He surveyed her grimly. Her appearance was alarming. Her face was almost the color of her hair, and even her brilliant blue eyes appeared dulled. Castigating himself for not noticing sooner, he said, “You’re white as a sheet. Are you hungry? We don’t have to go out. I can order room service.”

  She shook her head. “You are learning. Most times food will cure just about anything ailing me. But brace yourself for the shock, I’m really not hungry at the moment.”

  Now he really was alarmed. When Jaida wasn’t hungry it meant she was on the verge of being ill. Making a rapid decision, he strode to the phone. “I am ordering supper and you will eat. You’re frail enough. No telling what will happen if you don’t get your usual five thousand calories a day.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it. When Trey made a decision he was impossible to stop. She listened as he spoke on the phone, ordering enough food for five people. In spite of her recent protestations, she felt a spark of interest. Maybe he was right. She felt as weak as a newborn baby bird, and tomorrow promised to be a repeat of today. And perhaps the day after that. She was going to need all her strength to bring Benjy back home.

  She’d helped numerous families over the years, provided them with information to help find a loved one or even a pet or valuable object. The cases rarely had taken more than a day or two. Never had she been involved in a case this prolonged or this complex. One complication was that the kidnappers weren’t obliging them by staying put. No sooner did she pinpoint their location than they left again.

  Another complication was standing across the room from her, hanging up the phone with a satisfied look on his face. Trey Garrison was the biggest complication in her previously simple existence. And before this case was over, he was going to irrevocably change her life, for better or worse.

  When the food arrived in the next hour, she found she was glad he had ignored her wishes about ordering it. The aroma stirred her appetite. Jaida joined him without comment. They consciously avoided dining on the balcony, which gave a stunning view of the theme park. It would only have served to remind them of how close they might be to Benjy. And yet, so far away.

  “You’re looking a little better,” he said after they’d finished eating. The color was gradually returning to her cheeks. But those beautiful eyes were still shadowed, and she continued to look more fragile than he would have liked.

  “You seemed to know your way around today,” he remarked. “You’ve obviously been here before. Did your mother bring you? I can’t imagine your grandmother in a place like this.”

  Jaida smiled at the thought. “No, Kids’ Kingdom wouldn’t have appealed to Granny. As a matter of fact, she’s only left the valley once to my recollection.” The memory of that particular instance intruded, and she pushed it away firmly. “Actually, I was here about five years ago when my band was on tour.”

  His startled gaze met hers. “Band? What band? You said you were a songwriter.”

  “And so I am,” she mocked him softly. “I’ve written songs since I was . . . oh, eight or so. But I’ve always loved to sing, and my biggest dream was to be part of a successful group, go on tour, record songs . . . .” She smiled sadly at her naive hopes. She’d never allowed herself to consider just what it would all entail. And just how much it would demand from her.

  “What happened?” he demanded, when it became clear that she wasn’t going to say anything more. “Did the band break up?”

  “On the contrary, Pure Jade is alive and well. Currently on yet another tour, I believe.”

  “I’ve heard of them,” he said slowly. He regarded her with a fierce frown. “So why aren’t you with them? Were you . . . replaced?” he asked, searching for a delicate wording,

  “Your confidence is truly inspiring,” she said, her drawl more pronounced. “But, in a manner of speaking, I guess you’re right. I asked to be replaced, at least at most public appearances and on tour. I still record with the group, though, so that’s my voice you hear on the radio.” It annoyed her that it mattered in the slightest what he thought of her talent, but darn it, it did matter. “I still write most of the songs we record. I . . . I just didn’t want to do the public part anymore, that’s all.”

  “Why?”

  He was as demanding as an interrogator, and as relentless. She looked away, not wanting to go down that road again, and especially not with him. “It was . . . more difficult than I’d imagined,” she finally said. “Constantly traveling, waking up wondering what city I was in. I just grew tired of it.”

  “Bull.”

  His emphatic reply had her jerking to face him.

  “I know you better than that. You’re not a quitter. You wouldn’t let the band down by bowing out like that. Something must have happened, something big enough to cause you to give up the dream of a lifetime. Most singers fantasize of reaching the success you did. People don’t walk away from it easily. Not without a damn good reason.”

  “Well, I had a damn good reason,” she answered shortly
, glaring at him. Abruptly she pushed away from the table. She didn’t enjoy being subjected to his analysis or to his half-baked theories. The fact that he was right didn’t make it any easier to face it again.

  “What was it? Did you hate it that much?”

  “Some of it. Not all.” Parts of that life had lived up to every fantastic image she’d spun about it. There was no other experience on earth that matched the high she’d received from singing her heart out to sellout crowds. The energy that infused the fans returned to her, propelling her even higher. “It wasn’t too bad at first, but as we established a following, things got more . . . complicated. It seemed like I was never alone. I was with the group practicing, or we were traveling or, later, in meetings with our manager or accountants. At first I was able to return to the valley fairly frequently for short visits to regroup. But then those visits got harder and harder to schedule. When we grew more popular . . .” She hesitated. Even now the reality felt like a cruel trick of nature.

  “It became difficult even to get to the concert we were going to put on. And forget about getting out of it without being mobbed. No amount of planning could keep the crowds at bay. We insisted on the tightest security. But I came to dread every concert. Just the thought of having to brave that crowd as we left to go home at the end of the night was enough give me the shakes.”

  Trey listened quietly, comprehension dawning as he focused more on what she didn’t say. He knew what a single touch could do to her. What must it have been like to be mobbed by hundreds of strangers night after night? He could only imagine that kind of sensory bombardment.