WITNESS PROTECTION 02: The Baby Rescue

by Margaret Daley

  The only thing he focused on was getting out of the car and to the cabin. He fumbled for his cell phone, but it wasn’t in his pocket. He searched the water and found it submerged. Useless. After trying it in desperation, he tossed it away, pouring all his energy into getting out of the vehicle.

  The shattered driver’s side window, although scrunched, was his only way out. He kicked out the rest of the glass, then wiggled through the narrow opening, cold water lapping at him. Shivers shuddered down his length. He kept going.

  A vision of Lisette flashed into his mind. His heartbeat thumped against his chest.

  Lisette needed him. Neil and Saunders. The child.

  Halfway out of the car, he paused to listen. No gunshots. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? He resumed his struggles, more determined than ever to get to the cabin before someone was hurt. Before they lost Saunders and the baby.

  Free, he shoved himself to his feet, using the upside-down car as support. His legs weak, he clutched the bottom of the driver’s side door. Light-headedness attacked him, his sense of balance precarious. He took several composing breaths of the frigid air that seemed to freeze his lungs. Wet, cold, with his whole body throbbing as though he’d taken a beating and lost, Colton slogged through the six-inch-deep water with a layer of ice on top to the slope of the trench. Using the root of a tree, he pulled himself up onto the gravel road and surveyed the area.

  Where was the red truck?

  Gone? Or at the cabin? He rose as quickly as he could. His vision spun before his eyes, and he shut them for a few seconds.

  He took a step, then another. Still standing, he deemed that a positive thing and increased his pace. By the time he rounded the bend and saw the cabin, he was jogging, his body protesting the jarring motion.

  But he didn’t have a choice. No cell phone. No help on the way. He was it. Within yards of the black SUV parked in front of the safe house, the door to the cabin flung open and out dashed Saunders with a pink-blanketed bundle in his arms and an even bigger man behind him.

  Immediately the giant spotted him and, lifting his gun, squeezed off a shot before Colton could dive for cover, pulling his own weapon out of the holster. Pain seared through his arm. He scrambled for cover behind a fallen tree and returned fire, making sure he shot to the far right, away from the baby but he hoped close enough to stop Saunders.

  Still holding the baby, Saunders ducked behind the car, opening the driver’s door. The other guy shot a few more rounds, then climbed into the back of the SUV.

  The huge man rolled down the window and aimed his weapon out of it. More gunshots pierced the air, echoing through the otherwise quiet. The engine started. With Saunders in the front with the baby, Colton couldn’t risk returning fire by taking out the driver. He crouched behind the log while bullets pelted the trunk.

  Then suddenly it was silent—as if the giant was out of ammunition or reloading.

  The sound of the tires crunched on the gravel. Colton popped up to see if he could shoot out the tires before Saunders drove away.

  The guy in back was waiting, his gun aiming at Colton as the SUV moved forward.

  Gunshots rang out. A bullet whizzed by Colton. Then another. This one hit him, followed by a second one, sending him falling backward onto the ground.

  * * *

  Crack. The sound punctured Lisette’s blackness, demanding she do something, but a clanging pounded against her skull. Over and over. Sending pain fingering out to her whole body.

  Then through that intense sensation, she realized her cheek lay on something soft and cushiony. She squeezed her eyes as though that action would help her remember what happened. But when she tried, she met with a blank wall.

  One eyelid popped opened, then the other. It took a moment to focus. Slowly a massive coffee table with magazines and a deck of cards on it filled her vision. The throbbing in her mind clouded her thoughts. Then she latched on to a mug near the edge of the table. Hers. She’d used it.

  When? Where?

  All of a sudden her memory flooded back, and she bolted up on the couch. The movement pierced through her brain like a hot poker. She immediately groaned and fell facedown on the cushion. She stayed still for a moment to quiet the elephants tap-dancing in her head, then rolled onto her side, her hands tied behind her back.

  Saunders and his cohort were gone with the baby. She had to do something. She struggled to sit up, being careful not to make too many sudden, jerky moves. In a seated position, she shouted several times, “Neil, are you all right?”

  Nothing. Concern mushroomed in her. Neil wasn’t answering. Colton hadn’t arrived. Neither was a good thing. She needed to call for help. Her cell was in her front pants pocket. Leaning forward, she tried to bring her clasped hands around to that side to retrieve it. Five inches separated her fingers and the pocket.

  Okay. She’d bring her hands around to the front of her. She fought to get her bottom through the loop her arms formed behind her. They weren’t long enough for her to do that. She might as well have hit a ten-foot wall with no way over it.

  She lifted her head and searched the living area for something to use to cut the heavy plastic ties. Her gaze fastened onto the landline by the computer. She’d forgotten about that. The hit on the back of her skull must have really done a number on her.

  After she scooted to the edge of the cushion, she rocked and pushed herself to her feet. Then she hopped to the table where the phone was. When she managed to knock the receiver onto the tabletop, she turned with her back to it and fumbled to hit the right numbers―9-1-1―while peering behind her.

  She bent close to the mouthpiece when the operator came on. After explaining the emergency and the cabin’s location, she told the woman she couldn’t stay on the line but would leave the receiver off the hook.

  She had to see about Neil. Again she yelled out to him, but there wasn’t any reply.

  Her chest felt tight with each inhalation of air as though a plastic tie was surrounding her torso and Saunders had pulled the restraint taut. Her heartbeat thundered in her head as she bounced her way to the bedroom, praying Neil and Colton were all right. The jarring up and down movement was like a gong being struck over and over inside her skull.

  In the hallway, her foot tangled with the other, and she went down, crashing against the wall. Pain swamped her, nearly sending her into the black void hovering in the background. She didn’t know if she had it in her to stand. Instead, she belly crawled toward the open door.

  Creeping forward, she finally rounded the doorjamb and peered into the bedroom. Only a couple of feet away lay Neil, blood oozing from a head injury. Was he alive?

  * * *

  Through the haze Colton heard a car being gunned and the sound of gravel spewing probably from beneath tires. Lying on the ground, he groaned. His chest hurt. He lifted his head slightly and glanced down his length. Two bullet holes in his coat riveted his attention. Even wearing a bulletproof vest, the punch of the gunshots had bruised his chest.

  Saunders, with the baby, was gone.

  Escaped.

  He labored to his feet, gripping a nearby tree trunk to hold himself upright until he got his bearings. He felt as if he’d been flattened by a Mack truck, then it came back to repeat the action.

  Trudging toward the cabin, he needed a phone to get help. He needed to find Lisette and Neil. He refused to think the worst. His steps quickened as his mind cleared, but each rise of his chest when taking a breath flooded his body with pain. He tried inhaling with as little movement of his torso as possible but, with the higher altitude, that caused light-headedness. He endured the pain in order to function.

  When he entered the safe house and clutched the doorjamb, he surveyed the living room. Empty. His pulse increased its rate as he charged toward the short hallway and spied the open door.

  “Lisette. Neil.” He rushed into the room and came to a halt, nearly tripping over Lisette, sprawled on the floor a few feet from Neil. His heart lurched, his ga
ze frozen on Lisette. What if she were—

  Kneeling next to her, he checked her pulse. Beating. Strong. He took out his pocketknife and cut the plastic ties around her hands and ankles, then moved to Neil to see if he was alive.

  Lisette moaned behind him. He glanced back at her as he put his fingers on the side of Neil’s neck.

  “Is he alive?” Lisette shook out her arms, then pushed up.

  “Yes. But he has a nasty wound at the back of his head.”

  “That was Saunders’s buddy. He knocked me out with the butt of the gun. That’s what happened to Neil probably.”

  Colton stood. “I need to call for backup and a couple of ambulances.”

  “I already called for backup. I’m fine. We only need one ambulance....” She paused when her gaze latched on to his left arm. “You’ve been shot! We need two, then.”

  “It’s a scratch. Hurts and is bleeding but that’s all.” Okay, his arm and chest burned and throbbed, but he didn’t have time to be wounded.

  “That’s all. Have you looked at your coat sleeve?” Lisette crawled closer to Neil to check on him.

  “Do you have your cell phone?”

  She slid it out of her front pocket and handed it to him as the sound of sirens filled the air.

  * * *

  That evening Colton entered Lisette’s hospital room. “I hear they’re keeping you and Neil overnight. Actually, Neil will be here longer.”

  “Yeah, his knot is bigger than mine.” She attempted a smile that faded almost instantly, a dull ache pounding against her skull, the medication the doctor gave her slowly starting to take effect.

  “He had me worried at the cabin. He’ll be out of commission for a while.”

  “He’ll be okay, won’t he?” Lisette shifted on the bed, the movement reminding her why she was in the hospital.

  Colton settled into the chair near the bed, scooting it a little closer. He winced.

  “How’s your arm?”

  “It’s okay. The bullet grazed my arm. That’s all. They cleaned it and bandaged it up. My bruised ribs are entirely another matter, but neither will keep me from finding Saunders and Baby C.”

  “Baby C?”

  “She arrived at Denver Airport at Concourse C. It seemed as good a name as Jane Doe.”

  “Where did the plane come from?”

  “Houston originally with a few stops between there and Denver. How are you doing?”

  “I’ll be on the job tomorrow as soon as they release me from the hospital. I have a mild concussion, but the pain meds will keep the tapping elephants in my head quiet enough for me to help you find Baby C. And when I get my hands on Saunders, he’s going to regret taking her.” She remembered the smug look on the man’s face and frowned. “He told me she was his ticket out of here. I tried to get him to take me as a hostage, but apparently I might be too much trouble. It’s obvious he hasn’t been around children, especially babies.” Her laugh held little humor. Worry nibbled at her composure. “What if Saunders harms the child?”

  “If she’s his ticket out of Denver, then he’ll make sure she stays alive and in good condition.”

  Lisette studied Colton’s expression. Deep in his blue eyes, she saw the same concern she had. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” More like praying. “He had been planning this escape from the very beginning. He told me he wasn’t a fool to turn in the people running the ring.”

  “Then he knew who they were?”

  “I don’t know if he did. I think he knew more than he was saying, though. I feel like we’ve wasted the past week on the man.” Had they wanted this to work so badly that they didn’t see what Saunders was really up to?

  “I’m not ready to call it a bust. A sheriff deputy found the black SUV a mile from the cabin on a dirt road off the highway and a police officer in Denver located the red truck, abandoned in a warehouse area. It had been stolen from a man who lived outside Boulder. The crime lab is combing through it for any evidence. I’m praying they find something.”

  “I’ll join you on that. We need a break. If he’s using Baby C as his ticket out of here, I have a feeling he’ll be arranging to sell her to whomever wanted the child in the first place.”

  One of Colton’s eyebrows arched. “Cut Jackson out?”

  “What if there wasn’t anyone called Jackson and Saunders was the middleman?”

  “It’s possible. He went to a great deal of trouble to play dumb.”

  “Which means he has something to hide. I do know the huge man who was waiting in the cabin for us to return was following his orders. Also at the masquerade ball one of the reasons the lights went out was so Saunders could give his contact the directions to the cabin and the security code.”

  “That’s how his cohort found the cabin. Saunders told him. It’s hard to keep someone safe when they don’t want you to.”

  Lisette reached toward her plastic cup with water on the end table. “He had no intentions of taking the government’s deal.”

  Colton beat her to it and picked it up, then gave it to her. “I need you at one hundred percent tomorrow. We’ll be tracking down which person at the ball was the contact.”

  The cold water sliding down her throat relieved the dryness in her mouth momentarily. “The clown, the waiter, Little Bo Peep or someone entirely different?”

  “I’m hoping it’s one of those three. Quinn and Janice will be looking for the man who turned out the lights. We found where his coat came from. A ski lodge not far from Denver. It’s a coat their employees wear in winter.”

  “That might lead us somewhere. I haven’t seen the sketch yet. How detailed is the description the security guard and limo driver gave the artist?” She yawned. The doctor had given her something to sleep, and it was affecting her.

  “Not bad. Maybe someone will recognize the person at the lodge.” Colton rose. “The nurse outside warned me you might not be awake when I came up here. We’ll talk tomorrow. I’ll be here to pick you up in the morning.”

  “What about your car?” She hadn’t seen it in the ditch because she was in the back of an ambulance, but he had told her it probably was totaled.

  “I’ve rented a Jeep for the time being. When I can, I’ll buy a new car. My Firebird is gone, and Saunders will answer for that, too.”

  “Look out anyone who gets between a man and his car.”

  “We’ve known each other a week, and you know me so well. Good night.”

  When Colton left, Lisette relaxed back and closed her eyes, his last words teasing her. She knew the kind of law enforcement officer he was—thorough, dedicated and protective—but the person beneath that professional facade he presented to the world was a stranger to her. And yet, with what they had gone through together recently, she wanted to know that man. What made him hold himself back from others?

  * * *

  The next day Colton watched Lisette stroll out of a two-story building of stone and glass where her apartment was. Seeing her lifted his spirits after a night tossing and turning, in pain but mostly upset with himself for what went down. He’d gone over and over the scenario, trying to figure out what he could have done differently. Finally at five in the morning, he punched his pillow several times and decided losing any more sleep would only compound his problems. He couldn’t change the past. He had to look forward. He would find Baby C. End of story.

  The sun shone on the snow-covered ground. The main streets were clear and the secondary roads were passable, especially in the four-wheel drive Colton had rented. This was a good day to start fresh.

  When Lisette climbed into his dark green Jeep Grand Cherokee, she smiled. “I appreciate you bringing me by my place to change clothes. You should have come in.”

  “Another time.” He hadn’t because it would have made their connection more personal when he saw where she lived—what her possessions were. He learned a lot about a person from seeing their home.

  When he had seen her lying on the cabin floor, he didn’t like what
he’d begun to think. What if something had happened to her? In that moment he realized he cared for her. He needed to shut down those feelings before he began picturing himself staying in Denver to get to know her better.

  “Where are we going first?” Lisette’s question interrupted his thoughts.

  “To pay the clown—aka Harold Freeman—a visit at his job.”

  “What does he do?”

  “He’s a plastic surgeon.”

  “You’re kidding!” Lisette’s laughter sprinkled the air.

  Its sound sent a wave of merriment through him. He’d needed that. “I wonder if he started a fight with Saunders in order to drum up some business. Break his nose. Then fix it.”

  “Wasn’t he the one minus a nose?”

  “True,” he said with a chuckle, stopping at a red light. “He doesn’t work far from you.”

  “Have you tracked the waiter or woman?”

  “We’re going by the hotel to talk to the kitchen staff after Dr. Freeman.”

  “If he wants a second job, I hope he doesn’t apply at a circus. Clowns are supposed to entertain, not detain a person.”

  “I don’t think Dr. Freeman is the person we’re looking for, but while I’m interviewing him, I want you to have a look around. He works at a high-end medical center where the well-to-do go. Those people can afford to pay a lot of money for a child. If Saunders is looking for money to help him disappear by selling Baby C, then maybe Dr. Freeman could be involved somehow. Time is ticking down.”

  “I know. I’ve worked on a number of kidnappings.”

  “I’m banking on the child being kept alive because of her value to Saunders. I don’t want to miss anything like what...” He couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. He should have been able to prevent yesterday. Somehow.

  “What happened at the cabin wasn’t your fault.”

  “Then whose fault was it?” He locked gazes with Lisette.

  Her mouth firmed. “Saunders’s and his cohorts’. I wouldn’t put it past Saunders to have written that message from the contact, and there was no one giving him one at the ball—just a tracking device. He had access to paper and pen at the cabin. That’s what he used to pass on the security code.”