New Orleans— The newborn son of Emily and Joe Rialto, heir to shipping magnate Anthony Rialto, was kidnapped shortly after the baby was discharged from the hospital last week. The chief suspect in the kidnapping is Max Caldwell, an Orleans Parish firefighter. The police deny any report has been filed regarding the missing child, but an unofficial source confirms the family has mounted a private search for the baby. A statement released by the family on behalf of Emily Rialto pleaded for the safe return of her child….
Laura couldn’t breathe. Her lungs ached for air, but shock rendered her frozen.
Could it be true? She’d suspected in the beginning that Max had kidnapped Elmer. She had no proof Emily wanted Max to have her baby, no proof Emily was even Max’s sister. A sharp stab of pain pierced her heart. Had Max lied to her, used her?
She clutched the edge of the counter to steady herself as she swayed dizzily. When she lifted her gaze to Mrs. Parson and the woman who’d produced the article, she found them both eyeing her cautiously.
“Are you all right, dear? You look pale.”
“I…uh, since I had the b-baby, I get brief d-dizzy spells every now and then. I’ll be fine in a minute.”
Great. Max had turned her into a liar as well!
“Would you like to sit down?” Mrs. Parson came around the end of the counter and wrapped an arm around her. “You could lie down upstairs, if—”
“No, I’m fine. I…really. I just want to check out and get home to rest. But thanks.”
“Don’t you find it a rather…odd coincidence that your husband looks like the accused kidnapper and that you have a baby of the same age?” the woman with Mrs. Parson pressed, her lips pinched in disapproval.
Laura lifted her chin, though her knees shook and her gut swirled. “Yes. The coincidence is…unsettling. But…that’s all it is. An unfortunate coincidence. I—I feel terrible for the poor mother in New Orleans.”
Without giving the woman a chance to reply, Laura moved to the end of the counter where Mr. Parson had been entertaining Elmer with a rattle. She needed time to figure things out before she confronted Max. She jammed the newspaper in a pocket of Elmer’s diaper bag.
Dread and disappointment left her quaking. She tried to calm her trembling hands by squeezing them into fists.
“He’s a fine boy, ma’am. Alert and happy. You’ve a right to be proud of that one.” Mr. Parson handed her the rattle.
“I am.” She smiled weakly, her chest pinched by wistful longing and what might have been. “Very proud of him. Thanks.”
Did she really think that she and Max would fall deeply in love and live happily ever after, raising Elmer as their own? Real life was not a fairy tale. Her mother’s death, her years in foster homes had taught her that. Yet she’d let herself hope that with Max it could be different.
The inevitable heartbreak had caught up with her. She’d been naive to think she could outrun the specter that had haunted her life from the beginning. No happily ever after waited in her future; she was only saving herself while she could, protecting her heart from more abuse.
Quickly Laura paid for her groceries and hurried out to the car. Max was still on the phone, and after she loaded her groceries and buckled Elmer in the backseat, she watched Max.
His tall, muscular body, his rugged face and dark good looks still made her pulse go a little haywire. But if he was who the article said, a kidnapper, a criminal, how could she continue to aid and abet him?
She’d give him one last chance to come clean. Maybe there was some mistake, some error or another side of the story that he could shed light on and clear things up.
Please, let the article be wrong.
Chapter 14
“How did the kids do?” Max asked, turning his back to the brisk wind that buffeted him. “Did we win?”
“By a touchdown in the final seconds. It was a beautiful thing, Max,” his assistant coach replied. “The kids were so excited. I took them out for pizza to celebrate.”
Relief and pride swept through him, and he whooped. “That’s awesome. Tell the team I’m proud of ’em, okay?”
“When will you be back?”
Max raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. A lot depends on Emily’s recovery. It’s a long story, and I’m not going to go into it now, but…well, it could be another couple of weeks.”
He heard Charles sigh. “Well, family’s gotta come first. It’s just…”
“What?”
“The media has picked up your story. They’re saying…”
Max mumbled a swearword. “Forget what they’re saying. You know the truth. You know me.”
“Yeah, I do. I just thought you should know.”
“Thanks.” He hesitated. “Uh, Charles, I need a big favor.”
“Sure, what.”
“I need cash. For reasons I’d rather not go into, I can’t use my credit card right now. Could you wire me a few hundred bucks? I’ll pay you back with interest when this mess is over.”
“I…yeah. Okay. But the bank’s closed already and Monday is Columbus Day. It’ll be Tuesday, probably late afternoon before I can get the money to you. That good enough?”
Max frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. He hated the delay, would much rather head to a hotel tonight. But without cash, he had little choice. “That’s fine. Wire it to the Western Union at Parson’s. You remember the little general store near your cabin, at the foot of the mountain?”
“Right. Parson’s. Got it.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate this more than you know.” Max disconnected the phone call and waited for the dial tone before calling the hospital.
When the hospital operator answered, he asked to be connected with Emily’s room and was put on hold.
“ICU,” a woman’s voice answered.
“Uh, I’m sorry. I was supposed to be connected to Emily Rialto’s room.” Max noticed Laura was back at the car, and he appreciated the view of her backside as she leaned in to buckle the baby in the car. Lordy, the woman had a great body.
“Yes, sir. Can I help you?”
“Can you connect me with Emily’s room? I’d like to speak to my sister.”
“Um, sir, Mrs. Rialto is unable to speak to you.”
The hesitation in the woman’s voice set off alarm bells. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. “Why not?”
“I can’t give out that information, but—”
“Talk to me, damn it! I’m her brother. What’s wrong with Emily?” he shouted.
“Let me get her doctor on the line. He’s in with her now.”
Max squeezed the receiver with a death grip as he waited. His pulse pounded in his ears. Emily. Oh, God, don’t take Emily!
“This is Dr. Schubert.”
“Doc, this is Max Caldwell. I’m Emily’s brother.”
“Yes, Mr. Caldwell. I remember you.”
“I want to know what is happening with her, and don’t give me any bull about confidentiality. What’s happened with my sister?”
“Apparently something upset your sister this morning. When her heart rate and blood pressure went up, she threw a blood clot to her lungs. She became hypoxic.”
“Hypoxic? What does that mean?” Max raked his fingers through his hair, trying to absorb what the doctor was saying.
“That means the oxygen levels in her bloodstream and brain dropped. She lost consciousness and hasn’t wakened since.”
Max felt his heart rise to his throat. His stomach pitched, and he thought he might be sick. “Will…will she pull through?”
“Well, her heart rate and breathing have stabilized. Both good signs,” the doctor said. “We’ll run an EEG soon to see if she’s suffered any brain damage. This sort of thing is always a possibility following surgery.”
“Oh, God,” Max groaned, leaning against the booth for support. “What upset her?”
“I can only assume it had to do with her husband’s death or other family business. She crashed during
a visit from her father-in-law. Hopefully the tests we run will—”
“Her father-in-law?” Max straightened again, his heart pounding a wild rhythm. “You let Anthony Rialto in to see her?”
“Well, yes. Why?”
Max cursed bitterly and punched the wall of the phone booth with his fist. “Keep him away from her!”
“I don’t—”
“Keep the Rialtos away from her!” he ground out.
The line was silent.
Max sucked in a deep, fortifying breath. If Emily died…
Hell, he couldn’t imagine. The prospect terrified him. He’d helped raise her. She was as much his daughter as his sister. Life without Emily would be…bleak.
“Dr. Schubert?” Max’s voice sounded hoarse and strangled.
“Yes?”
“Don’t let my sister die.”
No one spoke on the trip back to the cabin. Although she didn’t know what had upset Max so that he brooded silently, she could only assume he’d had bad news about Emily.
Assumptions, however, were not good. She’d believed Max was Elmer’s uncle, that he had the baby with permission from Emily. But the article suggested she’d been wrong to believe Max. Wrong to trust him. Wrong to help him hide a child that didn’t belong to him.
She’d been an idiot, following her heart instead of listening to her head.
When he stopped the car in front of the cabin and cut the engine, no one moved. Max squeezed the steering wheel and stared out the windshield with a stricken expression darkening his face. Laura hated the pitter-pat of sympathy in her chest, the pang of longing to comfort him and ease his grief.
What if he’d lied to her, betrayed her trust? How could she feel anything but contempt for someone who’d kidnap someone else’s baby?
Somewhere deep inside her, a small voice cried foul. She wanted desperately to believe Max, believe that the love and tenderness she’d witnessed these past several days reflected the true nature of this man.
The information in the Charlotte newspaper had to be wrong.
“Max?” She swallowed and took a deep breath when she heard her voice wobble.
He turned toward her, his eyes bleak, desolate.
Her chest clenched tighter. “Are you really Elmer’s uncle?”
Max tensed and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why would you ask that?”
She gritted her teeth in frustration. “Just answer me. Honestly. Did Emily really give you custody of Elmer until she recovers or…did you kidnap him?”
Max glared at her, drew his shoulders back defensively. “Emily asked me to protect her son. I’ve explained this all before. Why would I lie?”
She handed him the article, tears burning her eyes. “Then explain this.”
He studied the article, his brow furrowing in consternation. “Laura, I didn’t kidnap Elmer. This article is obviously the work of the Rialtos, using their contacts and influence to sway public opinion or flush me out of hiding.”
“Can you prove your claims to me? That you have this baby with his mother’s permission and blessing?”
When he faced her again, his dark eyes drilled into her without mercy, pleading for her to believe him. “No. I have no proof. Just my word.”
Confusion, an internal battle between her conscience and her heart muddled her brain, twisted inside her like tangled vines. “I want to believe you, but—”
“Then do.” He seized her shoulders, and the article fluttered to the floor. “You told me the other day that you came back after ditching me because you knew in your heart I cared about Elmer. Has that changed?”
“I don’t—” Her voice caught on a sob.
“Have I done anything to make you believe I would hurt this child? Have I done anything to make you believe I’m lying about this situation?” The passion and raw honesty in his eyes raked through her. “The only proof I have is what you’ve seen, what you know from living with me and my nephew these past days.”
He sighed and closed his eyes, gritted his teeth. “What is your heart telling you, Laura? That’s the only truth you need.”
“I don’t know what to believe. I—” Her heart breaking, she pulled out of his grasp and bolted from the car. Ran. She needed time alone, time to think and to untangle the web of her emotions.
Tears blurred her vision as she ran along the narrow path toward the outcropping of rock where they’d picnicked. Low branches and scraggly weeds slapped at her as she hurried through the trees, punishing her for breaking her own cardinal rule.
She’d let Max in. She’d allowed herself to feel something for him, even though experience had proven such trust a risky gamble at best. Now he was asking her to dive into those dark, dangerous waters and believe him based on nothing more than faith.
How could she give Max her blind trust without also giving her heart? How could she risk so much pain for a man with whom she had no future?
Or could Max want the same fairy tale she’d foolishly pinned her hopes on?
Max watched Laura disappear into the woods, remorse hammering him with heavy, painful blows. The disappointment and hurt in her eyes when she’d shown him the article and voiced her doubts clawed through him, left him bleeding inside.
Learning of Emily’s setback had been bad enough. He didn’t need this confrontation with Laura. His battered soul longed for the kind of unconditional love and acceptance she gave Elmer. He needed her soft touch and soothing voice. He wanted to bury himself inside her, to drown in her soulful eyes and escape the awful grief that hounded him.
He could lose his baby sister, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He needed Laura’s warmth and support more than ever.
Instead she’d zinged him with suspicion and skepticism. The pain he’d seen in her eyes sliced to his marrow, reviving memories of another woman whose lack of faith in him, whose resentment for his failures had ended his marriage. Jennifer’s pain and disappointment lived inside him, a malignancy that ate away at him. He couldn’t help the fact that he had a low sperm count, couldn’t do anything to change it. But it still tore him apart knowing that his deficiency deprived his wife of what she wanted more than anything else. A baby.
His brain told him he couldn’t be blamed for the miscarriage when, after visits to the fertility clinic and expensive high-tech procedures, Jennifer had finally gotten pregnant. Yet he blamed himself anyway.
If he’d been a better husband, more supportive or understanding, maybe her grief wouldn’t have turned to resentment. If he’d been able to do something for Jennifer, to ease her pain, maybe he could have saved his marriage. But he’d given in, thrown in the towel when she asked for an out. The lingering ache of that failure reverberated in the empty spaces of his heart.
Max gripped the steering wheel and stared out the window without really seeing anything. Another thought filtered through his anguish and sat like a linebacker on his chest. A tremor raced through him.
Laura’s doubts could only cut this deeply if he’d done the unthinkable—he’d fallen in love. Somewhere over the course of the last two weeks, Laura had found her way past his defenses, slipped under the radar of his best intentions and past experience. She’d captured his heart.
Knowing how things had ended with Jennifer, why had he let Laura under his skin? Despite the bleak memories of his failed marriage, he’d fallen for another woman with hopes and desires for a family and children. Hell, he’d gone as far as to ask for her faith in him, knowing he had nothing but broken dreams to offer her in return.
Max ground his teeth until his jaw hurt. Self-reproach dug a pit in his gut. He’d known he had no future with Laura, known he couldn’t burden her with his infertility.
So what did he do now?
He refused to drag her or the fragile friendship blossoming between them into the kind of hell that had killed his marriage. He wouldn’t repeat the mistakes he’d made with Jennifer. He couldn’t relive the agony of watching another relationship, everything
he valued, a woman’s dreams, wither on the vine.
Because Laura deserved more. Much more.
Laura wiped her cheeks and stared out over the horizon. The mist that hovered over the mountains reflected her gray mood. After hours alone on the rock outcropping, she’d have thought she’d cried herself out, but years’ worth of pent-up tears fought their way out.
What is your heart telling you, Laura? That’s the only truth you need.
She knew what to believe about Max, about his relationship to Elmer and his right to have the baby. If she were honest with herself, she’d known the truth all along.
Max couldn’t hide the honesty of his affection for Elmer.
Her doubts, her fears had more to do with her own dishonesty. She kept Max at arm’s length when what she truly wanted was to be held close. She’d pulled away, hiding behind their hands-off agreement, because she was afraid of getting hurt. But the article and Max’s challenge to listen to her heart stripped away pretenses and forced her to look the truth in the eye. She was falling in love with Max.
When he’d believed she was in danger a few nights before, he’d valiantly rushed to her aid, towel and all. His loyalty to Emily was heartrending. He’d sacrificed so much to protect Elmer. He’d proven again and again the depth of his commitment to his mission to keep the baby safe. He was gracious, thoughtful and warm.
Over the past several days, she’d seen the real Max—a man she trusted and cared for, a man who deserved her loyalty and faith.
The quiet voice that had found the newspaper article so unbelievable shouted now. The voice of faith, the part of her that rooted for the underdog, the fiercely optimistic side of her soul.
Her heart seized. It was too late for caution, for distance or defenses. Max had become a part of her soul.
The cautious woman, the little girl who’d been hurt so many times, flinched from the reality. She couldn’t put her emotions, her very heart and soul in such obvious jeopardy.
But just as she was certain Max hadn’t kidnapped Elmer, she knew Max wouldn’t hurt or betray her. He wasn’t that kind of man. That truth rattled the protective walls she kept around her soul for years and dared her to take a risk, to place her faith, her heart in Max’s hands.
In Protective Custody Page 17
