Snowbound Security

by Beverly Long

  He hugged his sister. “I’ll be in touch and if you need anything, you call me, okay?”

  She nodded. And switched her glance to Laura. “I’m glad that I got to meet you, Laura. And sweet little Hannah here. I hope I get to see you again.”

  “You will,” Rico jumped in.

  He looked at Laura and Hannah. “Let’s go say goodbye to my dad.”

  “Goodbye?” Hannah repeated. “Are we leaving?”

  “Yes,” Rico said.

  “Where are we going?” the little girl asked.

  He looked at Laura. She said nothing.

  “We’re going to pick up Lucky and then it’s back to the cabin,” he said. Whatever the ultimate decision, he thought he and Laura were on the same page that that was the first step.

  And it would give him a night so that he could close up the property before driving to Nashville.

  And a chance to have Laura in his bed one more time.

  Hannah stood, with her arm around her doll. “Ja-Ja is ready.”

  At the end of the hallway, Laura put her hand on Rico’s shoulder. “Hannah and I will kill a few minutes in the cafeteria so that you get some privacy with your dad and mom.”

  That might be for the best. Plus, it would give him the opportunity to call Seth. “Okay. I’ll meet you by the front door of the hospital in fifteen minutes.”

  She got five steps before turning to look over her shoulder. “Give him my best and tell him to do his physical therapy. It will make a difference.”

  He waved and then waited until she and Hannah had turned the corner. Then he stepped into the stairwell. After making sure that he was completely alone, he called Seth. “I need a favor,” he said, without preamble.

  “What?”

  “It’s a long story but I’m going to cut to the chase because I know you don’t have a lot of tolerance for extra detail.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ve met a woman. And she means a lot to me.”

  “You’ve been out of the state for less than a week and half of that time at your father’s hospital bed. A little quick, don’t you think?”

  “No. And you won’t either once you meet her. But she’s in a dicey situation. I need to know if there’s a warrant out for her arrest. Would have originated in Tennessee but might be a federal charge at this time.”

  “For?” Seth asked.

  “Kidnapping.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Seth said, disbelief in his tone.

  “No. Again, long story but it’s her niece and she did it as a protective measure. The child is fine. Wonderful. Just a great little kid.”

  Seth sighed. “So you’ve fallen for the kid, too. What’s the woman’s name?”

  “Laura Collins. It’s possible there might also be car theft.”

  “Kidnapping, car theft. What, no murder?” Seth asked. “Maybe a little armed robbery?”

  Rico let it go. He knew Seth was just concerned about him. “The child’s name is Hannah Collins. She’s four.”

  “I’ll call my friend Bobby.”

  “Thank you, Seth.”

  “Where are you going to be?” Seth asked.

  “I’m not sure yet. I’m trying to convince Laura to return to Nashville. We’ll see how that goes.”

  “I’ll be in touch,” Seth said, before hanging up.

  Rico put his phone away and opened the door. When he got to his dad’s room, his mom was sitting next to the bed, holding his dad’s hand.

  Rico thought his dad looked much better than he had earlier that day. And best of all, they’d removed the tube going down his throat. “How are you feeling?”

  “The incision is sore but all in all, I think I’m doing pretty good. If you can believe it, these nurses actually had me stand up next to my bed. A man has his heart worked on and they expect that. Crazy, I’m telling you.”

  “You’ll be chasing the nurses down the hall by the end of the week.”

  “There’s a couple that I’d like to catch,” teased the man who would no more consider straying from his wife than putting a wet finger in an electrical socket.

  “Oh, please,” Janice Metez said, rolling her eyes.

  “Listen,” Rico said, “I’ve got something to take care of and it means that I’m going to need to take off.”

  “I told you the other night, I don’t need a babysitter,” his dad said kindly.

  “I know. But I also want you to know that I’d stay longer if I could.”

  “We know that,” Janice said. She looked at her husband. “Which tells us that whatever it is that you have to do, it has something to with pretty Laura and that sweet little Hannah.”

  “It does. Laura wanted me to tell you both goodbye. She thought I might appreciate a minute of privacy with you so she and Hannah are going to meet me at the hospital entrance.”

  “She seems lovely,” his mother said. “And that little girl is really something. So smart for four.”

  He desperately wanted to tell his parents the truth but would not do that to Laura. She’d taken him into her confidence and was expecting that he could keep his mouth shut. But he could tell them this. “I want them to be part of my life.”

  Placido smiled. “I sensed as much. But there are complications?”

  “Yes.” Right now he didn’t have a clue which way Laura was leaning. Would she ultimately agree to go back to Nashville to make this right or continue to stay on the run?

  “Then you will have to be smart and fight hard.”

  It was the same thing that his dad had told him before his first overseas tour. “I want you to know that I won’t ever do anything that will endanger either of you or Charro and the kids.”

  “Rico, you think you need to tell us this?” his father said, frowning. “By the way, your mother tells me that you’ve offered Peter a position, that he’s going to help with your rental properties.”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “That’s good,” his dad said. “Very good. We do not want your sister to lose her house.”

  Lose her husband, maybe. But Rico doubted Placido even wished for that. He’d kept his own family intact and he’d hope for that for his children. Which was why Rico was going to figure out what the hell was going on with Hannah’s guardian. He wasn’t going to let some idiot rip Hannah away from Laura. Away from him.

  Because they were going to be his family.

  He just hadn’t told them yet.

  He leaned down and kissed his father’s cheek. “Behave. Do what the nurses and doctors tell you. Especially the physical therapy.”

  “You sound like your mother,” Placido said, waving a hand weathered by years of work picking fruit.

  “I love you, Dad,” Rico said.

  “And I love you, son,” Placido said. “Now go take care of those females who have stolen your heart. I know what it is to love a woman to distraction.”

  His mom patted her chest in mock adoration. “Be still my heart,” she said.

  Rico kissed his mom next. “Call me if you need anything. I mean anything.”

  “We’ll be fine. Be careful, Rico.”

  Chapter 17

  When Rico came back from visiting his mom and dad, his eyes were bright with emotion. “Everything okay?” Laura asked.

  “I think he’s going to be just fine,” Rico said. “I feel a lot better about things than I did.”

  Did she? Did she feel better now that she’d told Rico the truth? In a way, she supposed. It was nice not to have to lie to him.

  Rico’s cell phone buzzed and he glanced at it. “I need to take this,” he said and quickly stepped out. Hannah took that as permission to run back to the aquarium, where she’d just spent the last fifteen minutes. Laura followed her.

  In a few minutes, Rico joined them. He stood c
lose to Laura. “That was my partner Seth. He made some inquiries about your status.”

  She had a status? That was an ugly word. “And?”

  He looked around, as if to assure himself that nobody, including Hannah, was listening. “It’s weird,” he said.

  Her chest felt even tighter, if that was possible. “In what way?”

  “Hannah Collins has not been reported missing.”

  She opened her mouth, shut it. “What?” she said finally.

  “There is no report that Hannah is missing, that she’s a suspected kidnapping. Nothing.”

  “That makes no sense.”

  “Agree. It makes it even more imperative that we go back to Nashville, that we talk to Detective Phillips. Hell, maybe we even talk to Hodge Rankin.”

  Involuntarily, air hissed out between her teeth. “What about the Mustang?”

  “Reported as stolen by the owner.”

  “Nothing about me, that I stole it?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “We’re going to take that car back, honey. And park it on the street. It’s going to get found. Safe and sound. And I suspect the Nashville police aren’t going to give it too much more thought.”

  “I can’t drive it back,” she said. “It’s too great of a risk. It’s too recognizable.”

  “You’re right,” he said. “That’s why we’re going to put it in a covered trailer that we hook up to the back of my SUV. We’re going to tow it back. Out of sight. Low risk.”

  It might work. “Will we rent the trailer?”

  He smiled. “No need. Paddie and Jennie have one. They use it to haul snowmobiles and their other toys. I’m sure they’ll be willing to let me borrow it.”

  But now it would be impossible for him to claim that he knew nothing about her situation when he’d helped her.

  If it came to that.

  Which it probably would if she went back to Nashville.

  And if she went on to California and assumed a new life for her and Hannah, she would have to leave Rico behind.

  Either choice was dismal.

  But ultimately, it was Hannah’s welfare that was important.

  And to have this mess behind them was the best outcome. The worst would be if she was arrested and separated from Hannah.

  But at least if Rico was there, Hannah would not be all alone. And Rico’s family would be there, too. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s go east.”

  He leaned closely and kissed her. But Hannah, ever observant, saw him.

  “Rico kiss me, too,” she said.

  He swung her up in his arms and gave her a loud smooch on the cheek. “Rico loves to kiss pretty girls,” he said.

  Hannah giggled. “Rico kiss Ja-Ja.”

  He did it, proving that Hannah truly had him wrapped around her little finger.

  “Let’s go,” Laura said. Hannah might have him kissing strangers in the hospital lobby before long.

  The trip back to Janice and Placido’s house was quiet, probably because both the adults were lost in their thoughts, and Hannah, well past her naptime, fell asleep four blocks into the drive. Rico pulled into the driveway. “I don’t want to wake her,” he said. “How about I get your things and you can wait out here with her.”

  “That works,” she said. “All of our things are in the small bedroom, in our backpacks.”

  He got out, without his crutches.

  “How’s the ankle?” she asked, before he shut the door.

  “Feeling pretty good,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”

  How could she not? He was taking a tremendous risk by helping her. And she was heaping trouble at his door. She glanced at the sleeping child in the back seat. At the child who had lost so much.

  “I’m all you have left,” she whispered. “Please let me be enough.”

  She saw Lucky shoot out of the house and run to a bush. Rico followed, the two backpacks over one arm, and carrying Lucky’s food in the other. When they got in the car, Lucky, so excited to see Hannah again, promptly licked her face. The little girl opened her eyes, smiled and fell back asleep.

  “Lay down,” Rico told the dog, who made a production out of finding just the right spot on the seat next to Hannah. “Good thing you’re not germophobic,” he said.

  “I have a few worries ahead of that on my list,” she said, with some sarcasm. It was probably a good thing that he could tease her about it. Otherwise, it was going to be a really long drive back to Nashville.

  “I’m going to give Jennie a call and make sure we can borrow the trailer. Otherwise, we should rent one before we leave here.” He picked up his phone.

  She could only hear one side of the conversation but it appeared that Jennie immediately asked about Rico’s dad. Once Rico had given her the report, he said, “Jennie, if you still have your trailer, I’d like to borrow it for a couple weeks. Would that be okay?”

  There was no further explanation from Rico and based on Rico’s nod and smile in her direction, Laura figured it was a yes.

  He hung up. “We’ll swing by her place on our way to the cabin and pick it up.”

  “She didn’t want to know why you need it?”

  “Jennie and I have been friends for a long time. She would assume I have a good reason.”

  She was silent for a long moment, thinking. “I guess that’s what hurt me the most with my brother. That he didn’t assume I had good intent.”

  “He was wrong. You were simply doing what your parents had asked you to do.”

  “He was also wrong when he didn’t seem to understand what a difficult decision it was.” She felt good saying the words. For years, she’d felt so guilty about the way the relationship had ended that she hadn’t wanted to verbalize anything that was remotely critical of her brother. “He was wrong to not support me more. To not help plan the funeral. To only communicate with the lawyer about the settling of the will, to never once be in a room with me again. I needed someone.”

  “Of course you did,” he said, as if he understood completely.

  “When I found out he was dead, I was sad that I wasn’t ever going to be able to fix it. And then when I discovered that he had a wife and a daughter, that I had family that I’d never met and that I’d already missed years of Hannah’s life, all that old anger surfaced again.”

  She turned to look at him. “But something crazy happened when I met Hannah and was able to see her five days a week. I fell so in love with her that I wasn’t mad at my brother anymore. Through her, I saw all the good things about my brother and I was able to let go of the past. And I think he’d be happy about what I’m doing right now. He’d want me to have done everything I could to protect Hannah.”

  “Of course,” Rico said.

  “Which is why it’s driving me crazy that the police aren’t looking for her. Not that I want that additional complication, but it just isn’t right. What kind of person fails to let authorities know when a child is missing?”

  “I’ve also been thinking of that,” Rico said. “Is it possible that Hodge Rankin knew who you were the whole time? That he was, in fact, waiting for you to make your move? Maybe he intends to bargain with you over Hannah. Maybe he’s going to name a price.”

  “Sell me my niece?” she said.

  Rico shrugged. “I’m just coming up with possibilities.”

  “No, that’s good,” she said. “I don’t think so. I think something happened in that house to make my sister-in-law suddenly contact me and ask if she and Hannah could visit. Something that made her want to get out of town. I don’t think she would have arranged to come stay with me if it was a place where Rankin would have thought to look for her.”

  “Maybe it’s as simple as he recognized you at the daycare. Maybe there was a picture of you in the house. You said that your sister-in-law remarried within months. Perhaps
she still had pictures either on the walls or in boxes that he uncovered.”

  She shook her head. “When I knocked on the door and explained to Ariel that I was Joe’s sister, I could tell that she had no idea that I existed. It was a bizarre feeling, let me tell you. To know that my brother had so easily erased me from his life.”

  “That was probably more about him than about you. If he told his wife about you, perhaps she’d have thought less of him because of the decisions and actions he’d taken versus the decisions and actions you took.”

  “Perhaps. But we’re back to square one. If Rankin didn’t know about me, and didn’t have any reason to suspect that Hannah was with a caring relative, then why hasn’t what would clearly be seen as her abduction been reported to the police?”

  “Maybe he’s got all kinds of reasons to avoid interaction with the police. Maybe he’s got a rap sheet a mile long and he’s already on the cops’ radar?” Rico said. “I can see if Seth can get us any information on him. I didn’t make that part of my initial request because I didn’t want to muddy the waters too much.”

  “I don’t think he does. Remember, I had gone to the police about the suspicious nature of my brother’s and my sister-in-law’s deaths. Detective Phillips told me that he’d looked at Hodge Rankin and that there was nothing out of the ordinary about the man.”

  “That he was willing to tell you,” Rico said. “Cops hide information all the time.”

  “I suppose you’re right. Maybe you should ask your friend.” She glanced at him. “Although I hesitate to draw him into my troubles any further.”

  “Trust me on this. Seth Pike never does anything he doesn’t want to do. You can’t make the man do anything.”

  Rico picked up his phone. Pressed a button.

  “Put it on speaker,” she said.

  He seemed reluctant but did it. “Hey, Seth,” he said. “You’re on speaker and Laura is with me.”

  “Laura who might be wanted by the law but we can’t find any proof of that?”

  Rico looked at her, likely to see if she was offended. She held up a hand. “That’s me,” she said.