by Lynde Lakes
Matt hung up, not at all confident about Molly’s protectors. He swung around in his chair and faced his computer. He searched FBI files and came up with pictures and every address Rico and Hermano ever had. Then, he did a crime profile inquiry. Hermano’s file wasn’t as long as Rico’s, nor were his offenses as violent. Rico had been accused of a dozen murders—one was the month-old baby of his live-in girlfriend.
Matt rubbed his tight neck muscles. He had seven days before the trial to find these guys. They weren’t using credit cards, at least not their own, and they weren’t renting cars, or staying in hotels under their own names.
The week went by without turning up anything. Tomorrow, the trial began. He had hired some guys to watch the Dallas hotels close to the courthouse. He figured the Feds would secure Molly in one of them for convenience. By evening, he knew where she was—and the exact room.
Matt showed Rico’s and Hermano’s pictures to the hotel staff. One of the maids thought she’d seen Rico on the fourth floor in room 498, but when Matt talked to the guest, he found it wasn’t him. Matt examined the registry for guys traveling alone and in doubles. There were lots of them, but none were the guys he was looking for.
He called his chief. “I found Molly and the baby,” he said. “And if I can find them so can Rico and Hermano.” He inhaled deeply to calm his escalating nerves. “Look, I know this hit is going down. I want Molly and my baby moved tonight.”
“Can’t be done. Convention in town. Hotels are full.”
“Put them up in someone’s house. In a church.”
“Tight security is set up where they are. Moving them will expose them to a hit and might get them killed.”
“Damn it to hell, Noel, you’re making a big mistake.” Matt slammed down the phone and called Molly’s room.
The line was busy. Damn. He waited about five minutes and tried again.
Ed wouldn’t let him talk to her. “You know the rules,” he said.
“Expect trouble between now and the time she walks into the court room in the morning,” Matt said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.
“The chief called about your concerns,” Ed said with resentment in his tone, “and we’re on top of it. We’ve kept her safe so far. Just relax.”
Matt slammed the phone down again. “Relax, hell.” He’d been afraid he wouldn’t get the results he wanted, and had prepared for it. With or without his chief’s sanction, he would get his baby away from the danger and protect Molly.
****
Edgy, and pumped up for the trial, Molly got up at dawn. Her sleeplessness wasn’t all bad. She wanted to spend extra time with Sara Jane. She’d expected the sequestration of witnesses and tight security, but she hadn’t considered that she’d only get to see her baby at night. Ed told her once they took her to the courthouse each day she would stay there until the end of the day’s session to cut down on the risk.
Molly fed Sara Jane cereal and fruit. Afterward they played patty-cake and catch the bubbles, using a round bubble wire and a jar of soap. Sara Jane was getting more personality every day, and she was as cute as a kitten as she pinched the air with dimpled fingers, trying to gather rainbow-filled orbs.
Ed tapped on Molly’s door. “The waiter brought pastries and fruit,” he said. “And I made some coffee. Come join us.”
Molly smiled and joined the agents in the living room, glad for the opportunity to get some answers. “Who’ll be watching my baby?”
“Gina Nogales,” Ed said. “She’s a highly skilled agent.” He patted Molly’s hand and grinned. “And she’s good with babies. Raised two of her own.”
“Only one agent?”
He laughed and gestured to the guys with his fork. “Ramon and Gordon will be with her, too. I’ll escort you to and from the courtroom. Two other agents will assist me. No one will get near either of you.”
“Is Matt one of the agents?”
“No. He’ll be busy. He has to testify, too.”
“Then I’ll see him today?”
“Don’t count on it. You may not be in court at the same time.” Ed sounded pleased at that prospect.
Molly frowned. Matt had sent only one note, then nothing. He’d said he loved her. She’d been through this with him before. Why didn’t he fight to be with her? At least get another message to her.
Ed touched her arm. “Buck up, kid. When this is over you can go back to your life, your job…if you want it. Or maybe…” He was looking at her in that way again, as if he wanted to be part of that future.
She met his gaze. “I can’t think that far ahead. I just want to get through this.”
Ed glanced at his watch, and then pushed his plate away. “Better get dressed. Showtime in forty-five minutes.”
A soft tapping came from the connecting door of the adjoining room. “It’s Gina,” a female voice called.
Ed unlocked the inner security lock, and Gina came through the doorway smiling. “Hey, what a beautiful baby,” she said with warmth in her tone. “I have everything set up next door. And don’t worry. This cutie pie and I will get along just fine.” Gina picked up the baby.
When she disappeared through the connecting doorway, Molly blinked, fighting the tears that pushed at the backs of her eyes. “Keep my baby safe,” she called past the constriction in her throat.
****
Matt took Luke’s call. His brother had been watching Molly and her guards from the hotel across the courtyard through high-powered binoculars. “It’s time,” he said. “Some woman took Sara Jane to the adjoining room. Just her, no agents.”
It was the kind of break the kidnappers would watch for, Matt thought. But he’d get there first. “Get over here now.”
“On my way,” Luke said.
Matt raced down the hall and knocked on the door adjacent to Molly’s suite. “Who is it?”
He recognized the voice. It belonged to Agent Gina Nogales. “Matt Ryan,” he said. “I have a court order.”
“Stand in front of the peephole,” Gina said.
He complied, and she opened the door, gun in hand. “You won’t need that. I’m alone.”
Gina tucked the gun back into her holster. Sara Jane was in the playpen, babbling happily. God, how she’d grown. How many special moments had he missed?
Matt showed Gina his temporary custody order.
She frowned. “No one told me about this. Hold on. Ramon and Gordon will be here in a moment. You can show this to them.”
Prepared for resistance, Matt lunged at Gina with a cloth permeated with chloroform and held it over her nose until she stopped struggling and went limp. “I’m breaking every kind of law here,” he whispered, “and I’m deeply sorry, but my baby’s life is at stake.”
****
He grabbed Sara Jane and hurried down the corridor to the room at the end where Tita and her son Roberto waited. Tita put a tiny dark wig of short curly hair on the baby and wrapped her in a serape, and then the little family of three rushed to a waiting cab.
Matt swallowed past the lump in his throat. He hadn’t had time to hold her, talk to her, tell his Sunshine how much her daddy loved her. But she’d be safe now. He looked at his watch. He only had minutes to make sure Molly was safe, too.
****
Molly was putting the final touches to her makeup when she heard window glass shatter. Unfamiliar men’s voices shouted orders. She ran and peered around the door-frame. Oh, God, no. There were five armed men with stocking masks over their faces. Del Fuego’s men!
She had to get back to the adjoining room where her baby was being cared for by the woman agent. Then escape to the corridor. She dropped to the floor behind the couch and crawled to the door of the connecting room. Easing the door open, she crawled through the doorway, softly closed the door, and locked it.
She stood and turned. The playpen was empty! Gina was unconscious. Or dead. Molly raced across the room. She stuck her head into the bathroom. Empty. There were no other rooms. Her baby was gone!
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She fell to her knees next to Gina and checked her pulse. She was alive. Molly spied Gina’s gun. She grabbed it from the holster and tucked it in the back of the waistband of her skirt beneath her jacket.
Through the door, she heard a man shouting. “Where is she? We want the woman now!”
She had to disappear. But how could she leave without Sara Jane?
A quick series of shots blasted a hole in the door. She froze. A large hand reached through and unlocked the door. Before she had time to draw the gun, a dark-skinned man appeared in the doorway with an assault weapon pointed at her.
He glanced at the body on the floor. “What’s going on here?”
Molly couldn’t speak. She shook her head.
He looked into the bathroom, then gestured with his weapon and shoved Molly back through the doorway. “Get over by the others.”
The FBI agents’ weapons were on the floor. Four men trained guns on the agents. Molly didn’t understand where her baby was. But she was glad she wasn’t here.
“What’s up, Rico?” a masked man asked.
“Not sure. There’s a body in there. Drag it in here.”
The man dragged Gina through the doorway by her feet. “Are you sure we got everyone?” he asked.
“Si.”
“Now what?” the man asked.
“We shoot them.” Rico’s eyes were wild. He kicked the body. “Her, too.” Then he pointed his gun at Molly’s head. “You first, señorita. You won’t be testifying today. Or ever.”
A small explosion blew the door to the corridor inward. Matt charged into the room and shot the weapon from Rico’s hand. Luke followed and shouted, “Freeze!
One of the masked men whirled and pointed a gun at Matt’s head.
Molly had already drawn Gina’s gun in trembling hands and aimed at the heart of the masked man about to shoot Matt. “Don’t even think about it, scumbag!” she said.
The man studied her for a full second, then slowly lowered his weapon and let it thud to the floor. The FBI agents scrambled for their guns and pointed them at the stunned masked men.
“You were great,” Ed told Molly.
“Sensational,” Matt agreed. “Thanks, Molly. I—”
“We owe you one, Matt,” Ed said.
“Tell Gina that. She’s going to be mad as hell at me when she wakes up.”
“You did that to one of your own?” Molly asked. “She was caring for my baby. Do you have my baby?”
“Our baby. And she’s fine. I sent her where no one will find her.” He glanced at his watch, then at Ed. “Better get Molly to court. Can’t keep the judge waiting. Time to convict Del Fuego, and lock him away for good.”
Molly frowned. That was Matt, always in control, commanding, issuing orders.
“I want to know where you’ve taken Sara Jane.”
“Tita and Roberto have taken her to a safe place until after the trial,” he said. “Tell you more later in private. Now go.”
She wasn’t satisfied, but he’d saved their child, and now it was her turn to save other babies by testifying against Del Fuego. Still, hurt welled inside her. She wanted Matt to hold her, kiss her, tell her how much he missed her.
As though he’d read her mind, he said, “There’s no time, Molly.”
****
Ed grabbed Molly’s arm and, stepping over debris from the explosion and leaving Matt behind, hustled her through the doorway to the corridor heading straight for court. On the way Ramon explained about Santina’s call to Matt and how the attack was Del Fuego’s last-ditch effort to stop the trial.
“Is Matt in trouble?” she asked.
“Nothing he can’t handle, but he had to report to the chief for his…unorthodox tactics.” Ramon looked at her with an unreadable expression. “Said he’d see you after the trial.”
“After the trial?” she shouted. She took a breath and closed her eyes a moment to calm herself. “Where’s my baby?”
“He wouldn’t say. However, he wants you to know that she is safe, and as proven in the past, she wasn’t safe in the hotel. He will get her back to you the minute the trial is over. He is doing this for you as well as the baby. He trusts you to be patient and accept that this is best until the trial is over.”
“I have no doubt that he means well, but this is killing me.”
“I’m sorry about your pain, but he has a point. We did foul up and keeping your baby safe has to come first. You don’t want to set a guy free who steals babies, a guy who has your baby on the top of his list to sell to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, if one of his cohorts whisked your baby out of the country she’d just disappear…forever..”
She glared at Ramon. He was right of course. But she hated it.
****
When the long, tedious day giving testimony was over, Ed and the other guards escorted her to the new hotel. Someone had moved her belongings to the new place. She hoped Matt would be there. He wasn’t.
The trial went on for two weeks. Every day, she longed for Sara Jane and wavered between being grateful to Matt for saving her and hating him for keeping her baby from her. She had to keep reminding herself that at least Sara Jane was safe. When the verdict was read, she sighed in relief. Del Fuego was going away forever for killing a federal agent, and his men would be so old when they got out that she wasn’t worried about them kidnapping other babies—or coming after her. She was free at last.
As she left the courthouse, news reporters stuck microphones in her face. “How do you feel?” a reporter asked.
“Numb, relieved,” she said.
Ed appeared from behind, flashed his badge, and grabbed her arm. “No more statements,” he told the reporters and waved them away. “May I give you a lift?”
“No. Thanks. I want to be alone for a while. I haven’t been by myself in a long time, and I need time to think.”
“May I call you?”
Molly touched his arm. “Not the way you mean. This is good-bye, Ed.” Her voice wavered. “And thanks. You were a good friend through all this, and I won’t forget you.” She turned and hurried down the courthouse steps, afraid she might cry.
Chapter Fourteen
A shiny red truck was parked at the curb, and Matt leaned against it. “Ready to go home, little darlin’?”
Her throat tightened. She stared at him, wondering how he dared to show up here after no word—and looking so damned good.
She cleared her throat. “You kept my baby from me. I’ve been going crazy without her. You have no idea what it’s been like not having her with me.”
“Don’t I?” He met her gaze. “For months, I didn’t know where either of you were. Or if you were all right.”
“So you paid me back?”
“No, I’d never do that to you. I kept her safe.”
“Where is she?” Molly fought the tears pushing at the backs of her eyes.
“At the ranch with Tita and my family.”
“And before that?”
“Tita’s sister, Maria, lives in a convent in San Antonio. Tita took her there.” He opened the door and motioned for her to get in.
She hesitated. “You know the way you did things put me through hell.”
“I’m deeply sorry about that. But for Sara Jane. I wasn’t about to take any more chances with her life.” He held the door open. “Come on, get in.”
Was he taking her home, or allowing visiting privileges? A cold lump formed in her stomach. Matt was the father. Would he try to take Sara Jane from her?
Molly had no choice but to get into the truck with him. To get Sara Jane back, she would play his little game, even if it meant going through the pain of losing him again.
He gunned the truck to life. It began to rain, and he flicked on the windshield wipers. The dust on the windows disappeared with the first strokes. The rhythm of the wide sweeps hypnotized her. Her spirit felt as gray and cloudy as the sky. The rain was short-lived, but it could start again at any moment. Leaving town, they seemed to
be driving into a storm. He drove a short distance, then stopped at the first rest stop. “I think we’d better talk.”
She nodded numbly.
The air smelled earthy. They walked beneath dripping oaks, dodging raindrops. He gently grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. “What is it? You don’t want to go back to the ranch?”
“I want my baby.”
“That’s the only reason you’re going with me?”
A raindrop fell from an oak branch and caught on her eyelash. She blinked it away. “Why else? You don’t want me. You dumped me on other agents. Just like last time.”
“It wasn’t like last time. I was in the hospital, unconscious when they took you from me. Didn’t anyone tell you?”
“Ed told me. But that doesn’t account for your showing up like gangbusters, then disappearing again with my baby.” She steadied her voice. “I haven’t heard from you since the trial started. Weeks of facing court and Del Fuego alone.”
Her heart had believed that Matt loved her, but her mind remembered he’d left her before.
“My boss ordered me to stay away from you until after the trial. If I didn’t, he would send me to jail for my unlawful rescue. He was afraid if we got involved during the proceedings it would jeopardize the outcome.”
Molly swallowed. “Are you going to try to take Sara Jane from me?”
He looked at her as if she had two heads. “Are you crazy? I’d never do that. I want us to raise her together. Be a real family.”
A real family. Her breath caught. Dare she believe it could work? “So you controlled things without a thought to what I might want.”
“What is it you want?” Confusion shadowed his expression. “I thought you wanted our daughter to be safe.”
“Of course I wanted that. But—” The lump in her throat swelled. Dare she just come out with it? Put her heart on the line again? She laughed without humor. “I want it to be like it’s supposed to be. You and me and baby makes three—our lives entwined forever. But you left before. Then you left me again with nothing but a damned note. I’m afraid you’ll hurt me again.”
“Molly, everything I did was to protect you and Sara Jane. Nothing else mattered. I know I’m controlling and I’ve hurt you. But—” He swallowed. “Do you believe I love you?”
