I'll Be Home for Christmas

by Dawn Stewardson

  He began to cry, and it was all she could do to hold back her own tears.

  “Darling,” she managed to continue, “listen to me. I want you to be a brave boy and try not to cry. More than anything in the world, I wish you could come home right now. But— Robbie, I know you don’t understand what’s happening, but I’ll explain it all to you once you’re here again. And I’ll come and get you just as soon as I possibly can.”

  There was a tiny pause, then he sniffled and said, “I have to stop talking now, Mommy. But can’t you please come get me today?”

  “Oh, Lord,” she whispered when a quiet click broke the connection. She hung up and buried her face in her hands, feeling as if the entire world was shattering around her.

  “Ali?” Logan said. He’d come around the table and crouched beside her, resting his hand on her arm.

  She gazed at him, her vision blurred.

  “Just take a couple of deep breaths,” he told her. “You’re going to be okay.”

  “No...no, Logan, I had myself convinced I would be, but now I just don’t think I am. I can’t take this. Robbie thinks I’ve abandoned him and...it all hurts so much I really can’t take it. And I’m not going to be able to talk to Bob when he phones. I want to kill him. I swear, if he was here right now I’d get a knife out of the drawer and try to kill him.”

  Logan reached past her and took the receiver off the hook once more. “There. Now he won’t be able to get through until you’re ready to deal with him.”

  “But I’ll never be ready. Logan, you don’t understand!”

  “Shhhh,” he whispered, drawing her up from the chair and wrapping his arms around her. “I do understand. I know how I’d be feeling if it was Cody. I know it’s the worst thing you could ever have imagined happening, isn’t it.”

  She nodded against him, her throat aching so hard she couldn’t speak.

  “I know...the worst possible thing. But it’s happened, so we’ve got to deal with it. As much as I want to help you, you’re the only one who can do some of it. For starters, you’ve got to be the one to talk to Bob. So we’ll just wait until you’re ready before we put the phone back on the hook.” He stopped speaking and just held her in his arms.

  A moment later, one of Ma Bell’s minions intruded, her mechanical voice filling the kitchen, saying, “Please hang up and try your call again...please hang up and try your call again.”

  They ignored the voice, but it was followed by a loud, insistent beeping that seemed to go on forever.

  When that eventually ended, the only sound Ali could hear was the beating of Logan’s heart. She rested her cheek against his chest and simply listened.

  It felt incredibly comforting to have someone who cared hold her. The very hardest thing about trying to raise Robbie on her own was never having any emotional backup, never having a shoulder to cry on. But that was what Logan was giving her now—when she needed it more than she ever had before.

  Gradually, listening to the reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat began to dilute the pain she was feeling. And the way he was holding her, his arms securely around her, made her start to think that maybe she could manage to talk to Bob.

  Maybe, if she just stayed in Logan’s embrace for a little longer, some of his strength would seep, osmosislike, from him to her.

  * * *

  LOGAN WANDERED from the fridge to the kitchen doorway and back, waiting for Bob Weyden’s call and trying to keep his eyes off Ali. Each time he glanced at her, the memory of her body pressed against his flooded his mind. And that was damned disconcerting under the circumstances.

  She was a friend in need, looking to him for comfort, and he was...well, hell, every time he tried to comfort her he ended up struggling not to think of her as a desirable woman. Even with her face tearstained and her hair messy she looked so gorgeous that...

  Dammit. He’d been a complete idiot not to find out, long ago, whether there could be more than friendship between them. If so, things would have been entirely different by this point. And if not, at least he’d know where he stood. Looking over at her again, sitting quietly at the table, he started thinking about how great she’d been with Cody earlier.

  He hadn’t been exaggerating, last night, when he’d told her she was the best mother he knew. She was really good with kids. And with adults, too. She was quiet and thoughtful, yet she had a great sense of humor that made him always want to be around her.

  So why had it taken him so long to click in on something so obvious? For almost an entire year he’d been telling himself he was only semi-interested in her, when all along he’d been falling in love with her.

  He exhaled slowly, realizing it was the first time he’d actually admitted that to himself. Then the phone rang and his entire body tensed.

  Leaning back against the counter, he did his best to hide his anxiety. When Ali’s nod confirmed it was Bob, he gave her a thumbs-up for encouragement, then stood wishing he could hear what the guy was saying. He’d far rather be upstairs on the bedroom extension than down here, but he and Ali had decided he’d better not try that. Anyone listening carefully could always hear the click of a second line being picked up. And Bob would be listening carefully.

  Besides, with the recorder, Logan would be able to hear every word later—as many times as he wanted. But he’d like to be hearing both sides of this conversation in real time.

  Bob did most of the talking for the first minute; Ali barely uttered a word. But when she did start speaking she sounded surprisingly calm.

  “I can’t get it that fast,” she said. “It’s invested in mutual funds and it’s going to take five days to free up.... Yes, I’m absolutely certain. I’ve already looked into it.... Bob, don’t be ridiculous, where would stalling for time get me? You know how much I want Robbie back. Listen, I swear I’ll get it for you. Don’t you think you could let him come home now and... My word! That’s what guarantee you’d have... Dammit, that’s just not fair. I’d give you the money this minute if I could. But I just can’t have it for you until Friday.”

  Logan watched her when she fell silent again.

  After a few moments her face suddenly grew even paler and she said, “What?”

  A second later she flashed him a distressed look. It made him wish even more that he was listening in.

  “But last night you said I’d be giving you the money. I thought you meant I’d hand it to you and I’d get Robbie back right then and there.... I am cooperating, Bob. I’m giving you two million damned dollars! But I want my son in exchange for it, and this way...”

  Logan could see she was fighting for control now and his heart began to pound. He had an almost overwhelming urge to grab the phone and threaten to tear Bob limb from limb.

  “All right,” Ali snapped. “All right, give it to me.” She grabbed the pencil she had ready and started writing.

  It took serious effort to stay where he was. He wanted to read what she was jotting down, but she sure didn’t need him peering over her shoulder.

  Ali glanced at Logan once more as she finished writing. He looked worried, but he gave her another thumbs-up.

  She nodded and took a deep breath. She had to get through the rest of this conversation, because she still hadn’t established the most important thing. “Fine,” she managed to say. “I’ll set things up this way. But exactly when do I get Robbie back?”

  There was a fraction of a moment’s silence, then Bob’s voice came over the line again. “You’ll get him as soon as I have confirmation the money’s in my account. They’ve been told to fax me once it’s been deposited.”

  She felt herself slipping into utter panic and clenched the receiver like a lifeline. “But...but what about the time difference? Europe is hours ahead of us. So what if my broker can’t process this early enough on Friday? Or what if they don’t fax you right away? What if they leave it until after the holidays? Bob, Sunday is Christmas Day. You just couldn’t—”

  “I’ll do whatever I have to, Ali. S
o you’d better tell your broker to make sure things get done fast enough at both ends. Otherwise, Robbie won’t be home for Christmas, will he?”

  “All right,” she replied. “All right, I’ll do everything I can. And in the meantime, Robbie still phones me every day, right?”

  “Sure. It’s all arranged.”

  “And when will I hear from you again?”

  “You won’t. You know what to do, and I’ll just have Robbie sent home once I know the money’s been transferred. So stick around the house on Friday, eh? I wouldn’t want him sitting outside in the cold.”

  “Dammit, Bob, if you don’t send him home then, if you screw around with me, I’ll—”

  Logan stood waiting for Ali to go on but she didn’t. Instead, she slammed down the receiver and looked over at him, saying, “He hung up on me. And Logan, the way he’s got this set up...”

  He could see she was almost in tears, but she waved her hand in the direction of the recorder, saying, “Play it back. Listen to what he told me to do. He’s got things arranged so...oh, just listen to it.”

  Logan switched the recorder to Rewind, then to Play. The first bit on the tape was Robbie’s call. Hearing both sides of the conversation brought a lump to his throat. He glanced across the table at Ali. She was listening with her fingers pressed to her lips, as if she could hold in her feelings that way. But when Robbie said, “Can’t you please come get me today?” and the line went dead, tears began streaming down her cheeks.

  Then the conversation with Bob began. When he started in on his instructions, Logan realized the guy hadn’t missed a trick. He’d probably never even considered playing things straightforward, never even thought about a direct trade—Robbie for the money. And there was no way he’d be leaving any trail of what happened to that money once he had it. Ali’s broker was to electronically transfer the funds into a numbered Swiss bank account.

  That’s what she must have been writing down, information on the account. And Swiss banks were so secretive even Interpol couldn’t pry information out of them. He’d looked into that once, for a book.

  “I’ll do whatever I have to, Ali,” Bob was saying on the tape. “So you’d better tell your broker to make sure things get done fast enough at both ends. Otherwise, Robbie won’t be home for Christmas, will he?”

  Logan clenched his fists. Never mind just tearing the guy limb from limb. That would be too damned good for him. Logan listened to the last bit of the conversation, then switched off the recorder. He hadn’t picked up on any clue about where either Robbie or Bob were, but he’d play the tape again later and double-check.

  At the moment, though, the last thing Ali needed was another run-through. He unplugged the recorder and plugged in her answering machine once more, giving her a little time.

  When he finally looked over at her she said, “I’ll call that brokerage firm in a minute or so.”

  “You’re going to be okay?”

  “Yes,” she murmured, even though she looked anything but. “I just need a few minutes to... I just need a few minutes. And once I’ve phoned...”

  She paused, her gaze flickering to the transmitter he’d removed from the phone. “Are we still going to visit Vinny?”

  He hesitated and she said, “I thought of it, too, Logan. If Bob bugged my phone, maybe Vinny isn’t involved after all. Maybe he doesn’t know a darned thing.”

  “But maybe he does, so we’ve still got to talk to him. Ali, Bob might have had nothing to do with the bug. And even if he did, don’t forget that Vinny—or the company, at least—got five million bucks because Bob played dead. Hell, from everything you’ve said, I still think Vinny’s got to know what’s going on. We should pick up your car before we go see him, though.”

  For a second, Ali didn’t realize what Logan was talking about, then she remembered he’d driven her home in his Jeep last night—that they’d left her Probe in the clinic’s parking lot.

  Last night. How could that party have been only yesterday? It seemed forever since she’d seen Robbie. She blinked back fresh tears and concentrated on what Logan was telling her.

  “We’ll drive to Vinny’s office separately,” he was saying. “I’ll leave ten minutes before you, park down on College and watch when you turn off Palmerston—just in case Bob has somebody tailing you. Then I’ll follow you the rest of the way. If I hang back a few car lengths, and keep an eye out, we’ll be sure we’re on our own.”

  “And if we’re not?” she asked uneasily.

  “Then I’ll pull up ahead of you. That’ll be your signal to park and go into a store or something.”

  “Good thinking,” she murmured. “But we’ve still got to figure out how to make Vinny talk.”

  “I had an idea about that. It involves your doing a good acting job, though.” The way Logan eyed her as he said that, she could tell he wasn’t sure she was up to it.

  But she was. At least, she would be once she’d had time to pull herself together. “I’ll do the best acting job you’ve ever seen,” she assured him. “When I was talking to Bob...Logan, I’m even more certain now that we have to try to find Robbie ourselves. I got the feeling...I’m just not sure Bob has any intention of giving him back.”

  Chapter Six

  Ali finished applying her makeup, then scrutinized the results and added more blusher. If Vinny realized how pale and drawn she actually was he’d know she was scared spitless. And she could hardly pull off an effective bluff if he knew that.

  She was going to pull it off, though. After all, she was on a roll. Talking to Bob had undeniably upset her, but she’d made it through his call without completely disintegrating. And when she’d phoned the broker, she’d managed to sound so self-assured that she might have been giving him instructions about two hundred dollars, rather than two million.

  So she’d be fine with Vinny, especially since Logan’s plan was simplicity itself. They were just going to explain that Vinny had to tell them where both Bob and Robbie were. Otherwise, they’d call the police. They’d point out that if they did, Vinny would end up being charged as an accessory to a kidnapping, and also with defrauding the insurance company of five million dollars. If he was involved, even remotely, surely that would make him spill whatever he knew—as long as he was convinced she really would resort to calling the cops, when he undoubtedly knew Bob had told her it would be game over if she did.

  But Vinny would be convinced, because she was going to put on an Academy Award-winning performance. She turned away from the dresser and checked her image in the cheval mirror. The tailored gray jacket, black pants and short, flat boots were perfect—serious, nonfrivolous clothes that said she meant business.

  Reassured by that, she hurried out of the bedroom and down the stairs. By the time she and Logan had gotten back from picking up her car, the morning had been half-gone, and they wanted to arrive at Vinny’s office well before noon. Not that they were too tight for time. Custom Cargoes was on Wellington, housed in one of the hundreds of ancient brick office buildings that sprawled to the west of Toronto’s glass-and-steel financial center. As long as traffic wasn’t bad, she could shoot down there in ten minutes or so.

  Unless someone was following her, of course. She took her coat from the coat tree, reflecting on how many possibilities Logan had thought about that would never have occurred to her. It was probably because of his crime writing. But regardless of the reason, without him she’d have...

  She’d have what? She considered that for a second, but she didn’t have the slightest idea what she’d have done without him. He was as solid as a rock, and without his support she’d have been ready for a rubber room by now. If she’d fully realized what a great guy he was, right from the start...

  She managed to force the if away, but seconds later an imaginary voice whispered, “Shoulda, woulda, coulda.” It was too late, though, to think about what she should have done, or would have done, if she’d let herself get to know Logan better when they’d first met. The past was p
ast. And, as for the future, until she got Robbie back her present was on hold, never mind her future. After that...well, after that Logan would be in L.A.

  Before unlocking the door she gazed cautiously out to the street. Given the way things had been going, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see an ominous-looking car with black windows parked in front of the house. But none of the parked cars seemed even slightly ominous. In fact, nothing seemed ominous. Sunlight was still dancing cheerfully on the snow. A pair of jays were calling raucously from the winter skeleton of the next-door neighbor’s maple tree, and across the street Santa’s reindeer were still poised to take to the sky. Everything seemed perfectly normal, so she clicked the dead bolt open and turned her attention to searching through her purse for her car keys—until she remembered she’d left them on the kitchen table.

  Imagining Logan parked and waiting on College, wondering what on earth was keeping her, she hurried down the hall to retrieve them. When she walked back out of the kitchen there were two men standing on her front porch. They saw her the same instant she saw them.

  For a moment she was frozen in place, like an animal caught in the glare of headlights—her throat suddenly dry and her palms wet, despite the fact that the men were doing nothing menacing. They were simply standing at her door in broad daylight. But she was certain they hadn’t come canvasing for Greenpeace or anything like that. And even though they were both wearing suits beneath their expensive-looking winter coats, something about them said they weren’t average, run-of-the-mill businessmen. In fact, something about them said they were serious trouble.

  Forcing herself to start walking toward the door, she assessed them. The fortyish one was a little under six feet tall and a few pounds overweight—a man she’d pass on the street without noticing—except for the long faded scar down his left cheek.

  The younger one was in his late twenties and was someone she definitely would notice. Bearded and extremely large, he stood head and shoulders taller than Scarface. As ridiculous as it was, he made her think of Charles, the lowland gorilla who’d entranced Robbie on their last visit to the zoo. Like Charles, this human gorilla had a pushed-in nose and beady brown eyes. He also had eyebrows that joined together and an excessive amount of brown hair on his head, as well as his face.