Hide and Seek

by Velvet Vaughn

  She was surprised when Maureen opened the door to see Jane Wallis standing on her porch. Jane had been a teacher’s aide in Grace’s class at the beginning of the year. She took an unusual interest in her daughter and it made Taylor uncomfortable. Taylor drove Grace to school on days she wasn’t under deadline and the first time she met Jane, her internal sensors went on alert. The woman was friendly enough and seemed to care for the kids, but the way she looked at her daughter made the hairs on her neck stand up. She almost took Grace with her when she left that day. Instead, she convinced herself she was overreacting. When she picked her daughter up in the afternoon, she was sitting on Jane’s lap laughing as they read a book while the other kids played amongst themselves.

  She pondered over what to do on the ride home. It wasn’t as if the woman had threatened her daughter, or even treated her poorly. The opposite, in fact. Grace was animated and happy on the way to dance class, so Taylor decided to give Jane the benefit of the doubt.

  A week later, Grace came home with a new backpack, her name embroidered on the pocket, and Taylor started to worry again. She asked if all of the kids got one and her daughter said no, she was the only one. Taylor drove Grace to school the next day and headed straight to the principal’s office. She didn’t want to get Jane in trouble, but she was afraid to leave her daughter in the woman’s care every day. The principal, herself a mother of three grown daughters, completely understood and agreed to move Jane to a different classroom. Taylor asked that her part in having the woman transferred was kept confidential. She didn’t want Jane to take out her anger on her daughter. The principal agreed and true to her word, Jane was gone the next day.

  Now here the woman stood, her eyes red-rimmed as if she’d been crying. Jane hugged her awkwardly and she had no choice but to hug her back. “I’m so sorry, Taylor.” Taylor murmured her thanks. Jane apparently knew Marla and Laurie and she hurried over to them.

  She glanced around the room, surprised to see Cassie was still here. Though they were only two years apart, they weren’t close at all, never had been. Nevertheless, her first instinct had been to run to her sister for support. She should’ve known from years of experience that her sister cared about no one but herself, not even her young niece. Cassie couldn’t get away from Taylor fast enough to flirt with Dante. Taylor was pretty sure the only reason she was still here was to revel in her pain and suffering.

  Maureen ushered a group of women over and Taylor gaped. Was that…

  “I’m so sorry about your daughter,” the woman said, pulling her into a hug. “My daughter was kidnapped last year, too.”

  That couldn’t be a coincidence. “Are you married to Logan Bradley?”

  She nodded. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself. I’m—“

  “Juliet LaRue. You won an Academy Award.”

  The woman flashed a Hollywood-perfect smile. “That’s my other life. My real name is Jade Bradley. This is April Dennis, Peter’s wife.” She indicated a pixie-faced woman holding a small baby who smiled shyly and nodded.

  An elegant woman with long flaxen hair stepped forward and hugged her. “I’m Rachel Colton, Luke’s sister-in-law. My husband Ben works with Dante but he’s out of town on a case.”

  Next was a stunning woman with long black hair and amazing eyes. “Violet Kincaid,” she said. “My husband Jake is working on the case with Ben. They’re torn up they can’t be here to help.”

  “I’m Kendall Buckley.” This woman was exotically gorgeous with long black hair pulled into a high ponytail and light blue eyes. She looked like a cheerleader…or a model. “I’m engaged to Dante’s best friend Dorian.”

  “Our connection is being one of COBRA Securities first clients,” an all-American blue-eyed blonde said. “My name’s Jac Dianetti and this is my step-daughter, Lauren.”

  “I read about your case,” Taylor said.

  The teenager threw her arms around Taylor. “I love Kai like a brother. I know he’ll take care of your daughter.”

  Juliet…no, not Juliet, Jade put an arm around the beautiful blonde girl when she stepped back. “When our daughter was kidnapped, Lauren risked her life to save her.”

  Taylor’s eyes widened. “Oh, Logan told me…you were shot.” She pulled the girl in for another hug. She stepped back and wiped her eyes. She hoped she’d be able to remember all of their names. “Thank you all for being here.”

  “I wish it were under different circumstances,” Jac said.

  “I know how you feel,” Jade said, grabbing her hands, “and the last thing I wanted to do when Bella was missing was put on a brave face and deal with people…and she wasn’t even my daughter at the time.”

  Taylor made a mental note to ask Dante about Logan and Jade’s situation when this was over and their children were home safely.

  “We’re here if you need us, but we’ll stay out of your way,” Violet said.

  Rachel hugged her again. “Please let us know if there is anything we can do.”

  “My mother-in-law-to-be is on her way over with a van full of food,” Kendall informed her. “She owns a Greek restaurant in town. We’ll get it all set up and take care of everything.”

  She thanked them again and leaned against the wall as they moved to the great room. Jade was right. The last thing she wanted to do was face all of these people who glanced at her with sympathy and concern. They meant well and she did appreciate their support, but she could barely focus, her worry was so overpowering.

  Maureen guided a man over who was movie-star handsome and impeccably dressed. She didn’t even have the energy to smile at him. He introduced himself as Special Agent Sawyer Oldham from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She pointed to the office where the COBRA Securities agents and local police were setting up shop.

  Another hour passed in painstakingly slow motion. She stood away from the others, watching but not seeing anything. It all seemed surreal. Worry for her daughter threatened to overwhelm her. She ignored the sympathetic looks and refused offers of food and drink. A hand rested on her shoulder and she spun around with a gasp.

  “Sorry.” Dante reached out to steady her. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “I’m just a little on edge.” His hands rubbed up and down her arms, chasing away the chills. She craved the touch. She almost cried out when he broke contact.

  “Can I talk to you a minute?” The worried look in his eyes sent off warning bells.

  Apprehension froze her in place. She finally managed to nod and follow as he guided her into the office/command center and closed the door. She turned and found herself face-to-face with his coworkers. Her heart picked up speed.

  “We found this inside your office,” Logan said, holding out a small black object in his hand.

  “What is it?”

  “A listening device,” Dante told her.

  Taylor’s mouth dropped open and she looked around at the men in the office. “Someone bugged my office?”

  “We do a routine sweep anytime we set up equipment,” Luke explained. “We got a hit right away.”

  “Are there more?”

  “Not in here. And your phone lines are clean. Do you want us to check the rest of the house? We can do it without alerting anyone.”

  “Carter and I will,” a petite blonde said as the door opened and she strode into the office. She offered her hand. “I’m Maggie McQueen and that’s my husband, Carter.” She indicated the big man talking on his cell, following in her wake. “We’ll do everything we can to find your daughter,” she promised.

  Taylor nodded, unable to speak. Maggie flashed a reassuring smile.

  “Maggie, what are you doing here?” Dante demanded, before pulling her in for a hug. “You’re supposed to be on your honeymoon.”

  Tears flooded Maggie’s eyes, making Taylor’s eyes fill, too. “Kai,” she simply said. Dante took a shuddering breath and gave her one last squeeze before releasing her.

  Maggie turned back to Taylor. “Yo
u don’t have to be brave in front of us.” She indicated the personnel around the room. “I can’t imagine how you feel. Kai’s not even mine but I love him, so we won’t rest until we bring them both home safely.”

  Taylor swallowed a lump in her throat. “Thank you.” She inhaled deeply, changing the subject before she broke down completely. “I didn’t realize there were any female security specialists…I’ve met only men so far.”

  Maggie blinked away her tears. “There are a few of us. Maya Turner and her husband Nick are working a case, as is Kayla Hepburn. Hillary Billings is recovering from her last op.”

  “What happened?”

  Maggie blew out a breath. “She was shot several times protecting Dorian’s sister.”

  Taylor’s eyes widened. “He told me she was abducted…I didn’t realize anyone was hurt.”

  “We knew there was a possibility the unsubs, or unknown subjects, would target his family. Dorian sent them on a trip to Greece and Hillary accompanied them. We all thought they would be safe an ocean away. Hillary was shot and almost died trying to stop the men from grabbing Daphne…Dorian’s sister.”

  “She’s okay now?”

  Maggie tilted her head side to side. “She’s getting better…stronger every day. Actually,” Maggie glanced around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation and guided Taylor closer to the fireplace. “I’m the newest female agent. I started out in the office. Both of my brothers work for COBRA Securities and I knew I could do the job, too. I practiced shooting and worked on my training and endurance. Dante spent hours teaching me combat skills. He made sure I could handle myself in any situation. Even after all of that, I had to badger my bosses to give me a chance but I finally changed their minds.”

  “Wore us down is more like it,” Luke groused.

  Both women gasped. Maggie smacked his arm.

  “Ow.”

  “It’s not polite to eavesdrop.”

  Luke rolled his eyes and handed her a device that looked like a small wand. “It’s set to vibrate instead of beep,” he told her. “I turned the lights off, too.”

  He handed her a sweatshirt with the COBRA Securities logo stitched on the front. Maggie pulled it over her head and then slid the instrument up her sleeve to disguise it. “It’s okay if we sweep the entire house, upstairs included?”

  “Please,” Taylor said. “You have free reign. Anywhere you need to go.”

  Her husband joined her and shook Taylor’s hand. “I’m sure you’ve heard this from Magnolia Blossom…” Maggie elbowed him in the gut. He grunted in pain and rubbed his stomach but Taylor knew it was an act. His abs were rock solid. “Sorry. I’m sure you’ve heard this from Maggie,” he stressed her name, “but we’ll do everything we can to find Grace.”

  “Nick’s right, we will.”

  Taylor was confused. “Nick…I thought you said his name was Carter?”

  “Oh, it is. Nick’s my pet name for him.” She patted her husband’s chest. “When we met, he was dressed as Santa.”

  Nick…as in St. Nicholas. Cute. Someday when Grace and Kai were home safely, she wanted to spend more time with Dante’s coworkers. They fascinated her. She watched as they left the office hand in hand. Magnolia Blossom. Pretty name. But she could understand Maggie’s response…Maggie sounded more like a security specialist than Magnolia Blossom, which had Southern Belle written all over it.

  She spun around to address Dante and his coworkers. “Did Sweeney do this? Did he break into my house? I have a security alarm.” It disgusted her to think of her sanctuary being breached, especially by that lunatic.

  “I’ll run a check on your system, see if someone disabled it,” Peter said, heading to his computer.

  Special Agent Sawyer Oldham spoke up. “We were able to pull a viable fingerprint from the device. The person was obviously a novice and didn’t wear gloves. We’re running it through the FBI’s NGI…Next Generation Interface system…right now.”

  One of Taylor’s thrillers centered around the FBI a few years ago. “What happened to IAFIS?” The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System was the FBI’s national fingerprint database.

  “NGI is an incremental replacement of IAFIS,” he told her. “It improves existing capabilities and provides new functionality.”

  Taylor nodded distractedly. She should make a note of that for future reference, but she just couldn’t seem to care. Her energy was waning. Dante noticed. “Why don’t you sit down?” He guided her to the sofa and then stepped away. When he returned, he pushed a glass into her hand. “Drink.”

  “I’m not thirsty.”

  “It’s diet Big Red. I found a stash in the mini-fridge under the bar.”

  She obediently took a sip, the liquid cooling her throat. “I have to hide them in here,” she admitted with a smile. “I don’t let Grace have soda but sometimes I need that kick of caffeine to get me going. She’d throw a fit if she saw me drinking it…Big Red’s her favorite.” Dante smiled back at her and yep, dimples. She couldn’t look away.

  Peter walked over, breaking the spell. He propped on the arm of the sofa. “I checked your security system. There are numerous hits during the past several weeks at all times of the day, but it hasn’t been disabled without the proper sequence.”

  “Who all has the code?” Dante asked.

  “A few people,” she admitted. “My parents, my sister, two or three of my friends, my mom’s friend Maureen. She watered the plants when we vacationed with my parents last fall.”

  “We could try to pull prints off of the keypad,” Peter said, “but we don’t know when the breach occurred, so it’s probably a waste of time.”

  They all turned at the sound of the office door opening. Maggie and Carter slipped inside. Maggie padded over and held out her hand. Three more of the small devices rested in her palm.

  Taylor was appalled. “Where?”

  “Great room, kitchen and your bedroom.”

  Taylor gasped. “He bugged my bedroom?”

  Sawyer lifted one of the devices and studied it. “These aren’t sophisticated at all. They’re cheaply made, probably purchased from the internet. The range couldn’t be more than a few hundred feet.”

  “So what would be the purpose of planting them in my house? My…bedroom?”

  Dante shrugged. “Keeping tabs on you. Listening in on your conversations.”

  Taylor zeroed in on the FBI agent. “You said the range was a few hundred feet?” At his nod, she said, “That means the person would have to be pretty close by to listen.”

  “Sweeney just escaped today,” Dante pointed out, grabbing her hand. She clung to it like a lifeline “You were home all afternoon?” She nodded in confirmation. “He couldn’t have planted the bugs.”

  Her eyes rounded in horror. “If Sweeney didn’t do it, who did?”

  Chapter Five

  Taylor paced the hallway outside of the office. Worry was eating a hole in her stomach. Someone had invaded her home, and it wasn’t Sweeney. Who could it be? She was a single mom, a writer. She didn’t think she had enemies…other than Sweeney. She couldn’t think of one person who would want to hurt her. She felt like the walls were closing in on her. When she saw Dante head for the sliding glass doors that led outside, she followed him. “Are you leaving?”

  He spun around to face her. “I need some fresh air.” He tunneled a hand through his hair. “As time keeps passing with no word, my worry intensifies. I don't feel like being around people right now.”

  “I feel the same way,” she admitted. “They mean well, but I don’t have the energy to deal with anyone. I just want Grace back.” She reached out and placed a hand on his arm. She almost gasped at the small jolt. It felt like she’d touched a live wire. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that she isn’t alone. Kai is an amazing kid.”

  “He’s very responsible for his age. He started up a little business helping people in the neighborhood…well, you know that.”

  She
smiled fondly. “He cleans the pool and shoveled our sidewalks. Grace is smitten.”

  “I tried telling him he was too young but he was determined.”

  “He’s a hard worker.” She just realized she was still holding on to his arm and she jerked her hand back. A hot blush crept up her neck to flood her cheeks…the bane of a fair complexion.

  “He’s upset that he won’t get to continue his venture this summer.” Thankfully he made no mention of her stroking his arm.

  “Why won’t he be able to continue?”

  “We’re moving in a couple of weeks.”

  “Oh?” The disappointment Taylor felt was disproportional to their relationship. She didn’t even know Dante a few hours ago. Now he would be moving out of her neighborhood and she felt strangely bereft. It was as if the sun disappeared behind the clouds, refusing to shine.

  She forced a smile. “Where are you moving to?”

  “Over by the lake. I bought a piece of property close to the COBRA Securities compound. The house is almost finished.”

  “I love that area. You’re still close to town but it feels like a world away with the water, trees and nature.”

  He nodded. “A short commute to work is nice, too.”

  “I know exactly what you mean. Mine couldn’t be shorter.”

  “Are you still practicing law?”

  “Not in the traditional sense. I write about it now…legal thrillers.”

  “No kidding? I love to read when I get a chance…wait a minute. I saw the books in your office. You’re T.A. Hudson.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why I didn’t put that together sooner. I’ve read all your books. They’re great.”