She froze. There was no one there. The engine car was empty. She grabbed the phone from the wall and was greeted with a dull emptiness of silence. She lunged for the radio. It was down, too. She considered using the internal walkie-talkies she used to communicate with other train staff, but it was hardly private and anyone with a walkie-talkie on the right channel could listen in. Then a flicker of motion caught her eyes. The security cameras were still on, scrolling through the camera feeds, showing her row upon row of sleeping passengers and the empty dining car. Then the first-class lounge area flickered into view.
There, in black and white, was a small, unmistakable form curled into Tommy’s side-sleeper chair. Her breath caught in her throat. Zander. He was still in Nick’s helmet and bulletproof vest. It looked like Zander and his uncle were quietly playing cars together, while Clark sat on the sleeper chair opposite with his head in his hands and Mr. Grand and Lou stood armed by the door.
Lord, keep him safe until we figure out a way to get him out of there and back into my arms safely.
There was a bang, loud and deafening, like thunder and lightning crashing inside the train behind her. She turned just in time to see the rear engine door crash open. She spun back with her hands raised. It was Nick.
“It’s done,” he said. “He’s been neutralized. I bound his hands, gagged his mouth and put him in the same place he’d put us. It seemed like the most humane, kind way to deal with him until we can get help and call the authorities. I also locked the baggage door from the inside and shoved one of the storage lockers in front of it. So, basically, we’re barricaded in. Really hoping there’s some way we can call the authorities from in here. Also, when I did a weapons check, I found two knives, a gun and also a dummy weapon. Why he’d be carrying both a real and a fake replica gun is beyond me.”
What? It was beyond her, too.
Nick’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”
“The phone’s dead...” She took a breath, somehow finding the next thing she needed to tell him so hard to say that her mouth didn’t want to form the words.
“And?” Nick asked.
“They never got off the train. Mr. Grand and his gang of thieves still have Zander...”
“Oh, Erica. I’m so sorry.”
Compassion flooded his green eyes. He glanced past her to the security camera feed. Then his gaze returned to her face. He stood there for one long moment, just looking at her. He ran his hand over his head as if feeling for the shaggy hair that was no longer there. His mouth opened, then closed as he shrugged as if failing to find words. And all of a sudden it was like she was looking through time at the old Nick, the boy who’d been her best friend, the boy she’d loved with all her youthful heart.
Suddenly she found herself running toward him. His arms parted, and she tumbled into his chest. His arms slid around her. She heard a simple and short prayer for God’s help and guidance murmured under his breath. Then she felt his hand stroke the back of her head. “Don’t worry. We’ll rescue Zander. We’ll get help. It’ll all be okay. I promise.”
“No, don’t say that.” She shook her head. He’d promised he’d always be there for her the night she’d fallen into his arms. But the moment her overprotective brother had shown up and stared yelling, Nick had bailed. “Don’t make promises you don’t know you can keep.”
She pressed her palms into his chest and pushed him back, gasping like she’d come up for air. He let her go. She turned away from him and ran her hands over her eyes. She hadn’t fought long and hard to build a life for her and Zander to fall into a man’s arms and expect him to protect her.
Especially not if that man was Nick Henry.
Nick cleared his throat. She knew that sound. It was the sound he’d always made when gearing up to say something emotional, as if he had to summon the courage to find the words to say anything real. Then she’d always wait, her hopes up, as he’d stumble through half a sentence before deflecting, making a silly joke and changing the subject. Well, this time, whatever he had to say, she wasn’t going to stand around and wait.
She rolled her shoulders back and turned toward the monitors.
“The phone is down,” she said, forcing out words to keep the anxiety at bay. “Which means we’re going to have to hope that somebody on this train has a satellite phone. I know it’s a total long shot because they’re very expensive and rare. But a regular cell phone won’t cut it. We’ll never get a cell signal up here. Like I said, the criminals have not left the train, the train staff is still missing, and my son is still in danger. Thankfully some of the security cameras seem to be working. The system only lets you scroll back about half an hour. But if we watch, we can get a better idea of what exactly happened on this train. Hang on.”
Her fingers moved over the controls. This was good. This was something practical she could do, something she could control. She didn’t have the front engine or the dining car, but she could scroll through the economy cars and watch as passengers slept and stretched.
“Are there cameras in the sleeper cabins?” Nick asked after a long moment.
“No, only in the first-class lounge.”
“Where are the other first-class passengers?”
“Besides Mr. Grand and his crew, Clark was the only other person who booked a first-class ticket, which isn’t unheard-of at this time of year,” she said. “He apparently had some big meeting up North and so asked Tommy if he wanted to bring Zander up with him. Said it might be fun for Zander to get to see his mommy at work. Hang on...”
She watched as Mr. Grand approached another one of the train attendants in the economy car and pressed a gun into his side. One by one, Mr. Grand or one of his thugs stalked her coworkers, waiting until the train staffer was isolated and alone and then pointed a gun at them and escorted them into one of the first-class car’s sleeper cabins. What Nick had said about Fox carrying a fake replica gun flashed through her mind. Were all these weapons real? Had all the weapons that had been aimed at her in the dining car been real? The one Fox had fired at them most certainly had been.
It was like watching a slowly unfolding black-and-white horror movie, as the two conductors, the rear engineer and the other three attendants were rounded up and led into one of the cars, terrified, forced to their knees, their mouths gagged and their hands bound. Why? What was he going to do to them? Then she watched as a slender, dark-haired passenger was roused from her seat by Julie, who it seemed was asking her for some kind of help. Julie led the woman into the dining car, where Rowan and Mr. Grand met her at gunpoint.
“I’m pretty sure that’s the woman who checked in the North Jewels Diamond Mine laptop.”
Erica’s voice fell silent as questions she didn’t want to ask filled her mind. Then she watched on the playback as the train stopped and Mr. Grand ordered them to walk single file out the door and into the night. Through the gap in the open door captured by the camera, she watched as they fell to their knees on the ground, in the rain and the darkness. The door closed. The train went on its way.
No. Please, Lord, no...
She turned to Nick.
“The train stopped,” she said as the full impact of what she’d seen washed like cold water over her limbs. “But not at Coral Rapids. It stopped a days’ walk from the nearest town. Somewhere with no roads or electricity. He tied up my colleagues, forced them out of the train and left them stranded, without food or coats or any way to get help, in the middle of nowhere.”
FOUR
In an instant, she felt Nick’s strong hand on her back, between her shoulder blades, like a backstop.
“They’ll be okay,” Nick said. “They’ll get themselves untied. They’ll find shelter in the woods. The storm will stop eventually. They’ve got rainwater to drink and the human body can survive weeks without food. All they have to do is stay by the tracks. Rescue teams will search for them and find them.”
<
br /> “But how long will it take?” she said. “Nobody knows we’re in danger. Nobody knows they’re out there. They cooperated, exactly like I did, and were forced off a train in the middle of nowhere.”
She’d agreed to take them to the baggage compartment and get the case. She’d agreed to leave Zander in Tommy and Clark’s care. She hadn’t struggled when they’d bound her hands, and agreed to crawl into the storage locker. What if he’d forced her off the train without Zander? Or him off the train without her?
“Does this mean you’re the only member of the train crew left on board?” Nick asked.
“The only person I didn’t see them order off the train is Bob Bass, the front engineer.”
“Maybe they needed somebody to drive the train?” Nick suggested.
“Probably,” she said. “But if I’d been planning on hijacking a train, I’d be sure to bring someone with me who could drive one.”
“You would.” Nick chuckled softly. “Is Bob a good man? Could he be in on the heist? Is he open to being bribed or blackmailed?”
“Maybe,” she said. “He’s lazy and crass. He shows up late, overshoots the platform and tells inappropriate jokes, stuff like that. But I’m going to assume he’s being held hostage and forced to drive the train until I know otherwise.”
She watched until the cameras caught up to real time, then switched back to live feed.
“I’m done cooperating,” she said. “I took Mr. Grand to the case and unlocked the cabinet for him because railway policy is to de-escalate the situation and put people’s lives above anything else. But as far as I’m concerned, policy no longer applies. Right now the only thing that matters is keeping everyone on this train safe.”
Especially Zander. And if there was even the smallest possibility that telling Nick he was Zander’s father would lead to him running off, half-cocked, doing something reckless and stupid, then that would have to wait. Zander was a part of her. Her impetuous, little bundle of energy that had seemingly exploded into the life she had planned for herself, turning it upside down and sending it down a whole new track. The camera feed scrolled, the first-class cabin appeared. Her finger slid up against the screen.
Don’t worry, Little Soldier. I’m coming to save you with the help of the soldier you were so smart to find to help. Who’s also your daddy.
She heard Nick clear his throat again. She turned, but his eyes scanned past her, their green depths searching the screen. His voice deepened. “You’re right that I shouldn’t make promises I don’t know I can keep. But I can promise I will do absolutely everything in my power to protect your child, Erica. I promise.”
Our child.
The words wrenched inside her like someone had physically taken her heart and twisted it. It wasn’t right to keep the truth from him, even if she was worried telling him would make things worse. “Nick, there’s something I have to tell you—”
“Me, too.” He grabbed both her hands and squeezed them. “Let me go first.”
“No.” She shook her head.
“Yes—”
“This can’t wait—”
“Erica, I am so incredibly sorry for how I treated you,” he said, blurting the words out so quickly it was like he was tumbling down a hill, kicking words up as he went. “You deserved so much better than me. You were the best person I’ve ever known. You were kind and sweet and caring. You were there for me and listened to me. You gave me an opportunity to grow up and be a better man. And I wasted it. I blew it. You deserved a better man than me. I’m just so sorry I wasn’t him.”
“Nick, I—”
A buzzing sound took over the air, like an unseen mosquito or the distant murmur of voices, the sound cutting off the swelling of whatever it was she felt building like a balloon inside her chest. Then she heard a voice, too faint to make out the words.
“That’s the walkie-talkie receiver!” She dropped his hand. “We have it set to low volume so internal chatter between the train attendants doesn’t disturb the engineer.” She turned up the volume on the receiver and grabbed a walkie-talkie to reply. She pressed the button, trying to block out the feeling of Nick’s shoulder brushing against hers as he leaned in. “Hello?”
“Erica Knight?” Mr. Grand’s voice dripped like a melting icicle down the line. “I see you made it out of the locker. And as you can clearly see on the monitors, I still have your friend, brother and your son. So when you’re done holding hands with your soldier friend, how about we discuss just how much your son’s life means to you and what you’re willing to do to keep him safe?”
* * *
Mr. Grand could see them! The thought pounded through Nick’s mind as he scanned the rear engine for the security cameras. Sure enough, two small black orbs sat on either end of the car. He could’ve kicked himself. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? Why hadn’t Erica?
Because she was worried about her son.
He couldn’t blame her. If he ever had a child, and that child was in danger, no power on earth would be able to stop Nick from getting to him. Including logic.
“What do you want?” Erica asked, her voice every bit as calm and steady as her hands had been back at the shooting range when he’d taught her how to shoot a target.
“You are going to stop playing games and come here,” Mr. Grand said.
“Why didn’t you leave the train?” Fear battled defiance in her face. “You got what you wanted.”
Mr. Grand let out a noise somewhere between a cough and a laugh that contained neither mirth nor warmth. It reminded Nick of an irritated rattlesnake.
“Come here,” Mr. Grand snapped. “Now!”
A shiver ran down Nick’s spine. There was a quake of frustration in the thief’s voice. For the first time since he’d encountered Mr. Grand, he had absolutely no doubt that his mask was slipping and his real feelings were leaking through. The man was frustrated. Nick suspected that he had definitely planned to leave the train but something in his plan had changed or something had gone wrong. But what? And what did it mean?
“You have one of my men locked in the storage compartment,” Mr. Grand said. “You will go set him free, return his weapon to him and walk with him through the train to me, nice and slowly. You will not do anything to alert anyone that anything is wrong. Is that clear? Otherwise...”
The sentence ended with threats that made Nick’s blood boil as Mr. Grand’s words grew ugly and vile. But Erica’s eyes turned to Nick. And despite the wall of pain and doubt he’d thrown up between them, somehow there was still that same something there that had kept drawing his heart and mind deeper toward hers, no matter how many times he’d pushed her away.
Fierce determination shone like firelight reflected on her face. Just how impossibly strong was this woman? Her child had been kidnapped. Her brother and his friend were being held hostage. She’d been threatened at gunpoint. Her colleagues had been ordered off the train and stranded in the middle of nowhere. But here she was, still standing, still holding it together, still trying to find a way out. And for a fleeting moment it hit him that maybe, just maybe, she’d have been strong enough to forgive him if he hadn’t given up on them, after he’d blown up what they’d had and smashed it to smithereens.
“Yeah,” Erica said when Mr. Grand took a pause in his swear words and threats. “We’ve got it. You want us to get your guy, bring him to you and not alert any of the passengers or anyone else on the train that anything is wrong.”
She said the last few words with added emphasis, as if saying them for Nick’s benefit. Yeah, he’d caught that, too. Despite the size of his crew, it didn’t seem taking a whole train hostage was Mr. Grand’s plan. That would almost be comforting if it wasn’t for the chilling reminder in the form of the rest of the crew being forced out into the night that Mr. Grand meant business.
“Come alone!” Mr. Grand barked. “Just you.”
“But I need his help to—”
“You. Will. Come. Alone!” Mr. Grand’s voice rose. “If I so much as see that soldier step one foot beyond the baggage car, I’ll shoot a hostage. You have exactly fifteen minutes to free my associate and get here or I start shooting people. Have I made myself clear?”
Nick turned to Erica, his eyes pleading. She could not agree to go alone to the criminal, without him. She just couldn’t.
But Erica didn’t answer. Instead she just stood there, the walkie-talkie in her hand, shaking slightly. Her gaze rose to the ceiling.
“Erica?” Nick squeezed her fingers. “Are you all right?”
Erica’s head shook. Her hand went limp in his. The walkie-talkie began to slide from her hand.
“I’m in charge here!” Mr. Grand shouted. “You got that? I have all the power. I’m the one holding the gun and holding the people you care about hostage. You are nothing but a train waitress.”
Erica’s body crumpled suddenly, like a marionette whose strings had just been cut. The walkie-talkie fell from her hand. She collapsed to the floor.
FIVE
“Erica!” Something lurched in Nick’s chest. He dropped to the floor beside her crumpled body. He could still hear Mr. Grand’s muffled voice shouting threats into the walkie-talkie. But all that mattered was the woman now curled on the ground. Why had he believed she was strong enough to take this? He was the military corporal, not her. He crouched low and brushed his hand across her face. “Erica...are you okay?”
“Nick, I’m fine.” Despite the fact she was lying on the floor, her voice was as strong and steady as steel. “Don’t move. Just stay here.”
“What? No.” He pushed back and started to pull away, but then, to his surprise, she threw her arms around him.
“Stop!” she whispered. “Just hold me. Wrap your arms around me and whatever you do, don’t look up.”
Rescuing His Secret Child Page 5
