Before He Vanished

by Debra Webb

  Halle ran.

  She lunged deeper into the woods and darted first one direction and then the next. Burke screamed at her to stop but she kept going.

  A shot rang out.

  The bullet hit a tree not more than a few inches away from her.

  She ducked and ran deeper to her left.

  Another shot and then another.

  Her heart was racing. Fear burned inside her but she didn’t slow down. Ignored the limbs slapping at her face and her body.

  She had to keep going.

  Another shot.

  She thought of the way Liam had looked at her this morning when he kissed her before heading to his hotel.

  She thought of her parents.

  A scream and then shouting echoed through the woods.

  She skidded to a halt. Hid behind a tree. The voices were louder now.

  “Halle!”

  Liam.

  She started to shout back at him but she was afraid that would only draw him closer to the trouble.

  “Halle, it’s okay,” he shouted. “We’ve got him. You can come out now!”

  “Ms. Lane!”

  Was that...?

  “This is Chief Brannigan, it’s safe now.”

  Tears streaming down her cheeks and her heart pounding like a drum, she rushed toward the sound of their voices. She’d run so blindly and so fast from Burke she wasn’t even sure how to get back to the dirt road.

  Then she spotted Liam. She raced to him. His arms went around her.

  “God almighty,” he murmured against her ear, “I am so glad you’re all right.”

  She drew back and smiled at him. “I am now.”

  Burke stared at her, his face red with fury. A plug was missing from the right sleeve of his jacket. The rip was soaked with blood.

  “How did you know to come?” she asked the chief.

  “Liam called me.” He hitched his head toward the man holding her.

  “I had no idea how to get to the road you mentioned and I couldn’t make the damned navigation system in the rental work, so I called the chief. His was the only number I had. He knew the area and was suspicious. He wanted to come with me.” Liam shifted his gaze to the chief. “I am very grateful he did.”

  “Thank you,” Halle agreed.

  Brannigan gave her a nod. “Thank you. It’s always nice to take criminals off the street.” He jerked Burke toward the road. “Let’s go. I’ve got a car coming for you, Mr. Burke. Let’s talk about your rights.”

  Liam hugged Halle again. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest.

  When he drew back again, he smiled sadly. “Penelope and Claire are at your place. Penelope told me everything.”

  Halle swiped her eyes. “I’m sorry I caused all this to happen to you and your family.”

  “No.” He touched her cheek. “You gave me the rest of my family. And I never want to lose you again.”

  He kissed her on the nose. “Now, let’s get you home.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  LATER

  Saturday, June 20

  Winchester

  Halle stared at her reflection. The wedding dress fit like a glove. It was perfect.

  Her mother appeared next to her. She smiled. “You look so beautiful, sweetheart. Now aren’t you glad you didn’t damage that dress when you sneaked it out of my keepsake trunk?”

  Halle laughed, used the tip of her ring finger to swipe a tear from her eye before it messed up her makeup. “I sure am.” She sighed. “I have waited to do this day right for a very long time.”

  “Twenty-five years.”

  Halle turned to face her mother. “I am so glad you and Dad want to move to Napa with us.”

  Her mother’s face lit up. “Are you kidding? I’ve always dreamed of living in a Tuscan-style villa surrounded by vineyards. It’s perfect, sweetie. It really is. I can’t wait to spoil my grandchildren. And your father is determined to learn the art of winemaking from Liam.”

  Halle was so grateful there wouldn’t be a trial. Burke had confessed to everything. He’d gone for a deal that kept him from getting a death sentence. Not only had he provided the information on all the children he and his minions had stolen, he’d provided the location of Liam’s mother’s remains, as well. A private service had been held in Napa last month and she had been buried next to his father.

  They could all get on with the rest of their lives now.

  Halle kissed her mother’s cheek. “You’re right. It’s like a dream come true. A fairy tale that’s finally getting its happy ending.”

  Her mother nodded. “The right ones always do.”

  The door opened and Claire slipped inside. She looked stunning in her maid-of-honor dress. “It’s almost time.”

  Her dad stepped into the room next. “I’m not sure my heart can take the sheer beauty in this room.”

  Halle gave him a hug. “Let’s do this.”

  Moments later as the wedding march played, Halle, holding her father’s arm, walked up the aisle toward the man she had loved since she was a little girl.

  He smiled at her and she knew without doubt that her mother was right. Some fairy tales did come true and this was one of them.

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Mysterious Abduction by Rita Herron.

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  Mysterious Abduction

  by Rita Herron

  Prologue

  They say that you forget what labor is like the moment you hold your baby in your arms.

  Cora Reeves Westbrook would never forget.

  Still, her little girl was worth every painful contraction.

  Cora leaned back against the pillow in the hospital bed and gently traced a finger over her daughter’s soft cheek. Alice smelled like baby shampoo and all things good and sweet in life.

  Her husband, Drew, dropped a kiss on her forehead. It had been a rough eighteen hours, and she hadn’t slept in almost two days, but she’d never been happier.

  Her little girl was perfect.

  She memorized every inch of her small round face, her little pug nose, her ten little fingers and toes, and that dimple in her right cheek.

  “She’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen,” she whispered.

  “She looks like an angel,” Drew murmured.

  Cora smiled, grateful he seemed happy, too. When she’d first told Drew about the pregnancy, he hadn’t been thrilled. He was worried about finances and had his goals set on a partnership at his law firm. She’d assured him they could handle a family, but he’d still obsessed over the possibility of not being financially secure.

  His cell phone buzzed, and he gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry, I need to get this.”

  He hurried from the room, and she pressed a kiss to Alice’s cheek and rocked her back and forth, whispering promises of love.

  A few minutes later, Lisa, the nurse who’d helped her during delivery, appeared again.

  “We need to take her to run some tests.” She patted Cora’s leg. “I’ll bring her back in a bit. You should rest. Those night feedings can wear you out.”

  Cora hugged Alice one more time, then handed her to the nurse. She was so excited that she didn’t think she could sleep, but exhaustion overcame her the minute the nurse left the room, and she drifted off.

  She was dreaming of carrying Alice home to the nursery she’d decorated when the scent of smoke woke her. Suddenly the fire alarm sounded, and the door burst open. Lisa raced in.

  “Come on, we have to evacuate!�
��

  She raced to the bed to help Cora, but panic sent Cora flying off the bed first. “My baby! I have to get Alice!”

  “The neonatal nurses are already moving the infants outside,” Lisa said. “We’ll find her out there!”

  Cora pushed the nurse aside and ran into the hall. Thick smoke fogged her vision, chaos erupting around her. The staff was hurrying to help patients out, pushing wheelchairs and beds, and assisting those who needed help. Someone grabbed her arm.

  “Go down the stairs!”

  “My baby!” Cora pushed at the hands, stumbled and felt her way to the window of the nursery. Screams and cries echoed around her as firefighters raced into the hall.

  She pressed her face to the glass partition and peered inside, searching for her baby.

  But the room was empty.

  A sob caught in her throat. Her mind raced. Outside. The nurse said they were moving the infants outside.

  She tore away from the window and stumbled toward the stairs. The hall was full now, patients and staff frantic to reach the exits. Someone pushed her forward, and she was carried into the stairwell. She clawed at the railing to stay on her feet as she raced down the stairs.

  When they reached the landing, someone opened the door to the bottom floor, but heat blasted her. Flames were ripping through the hall. A terrified scream echoed in her ears. Another patient’s—or her own? She didn’t know. Maybe both.

  A fireman appeared and pointed toward a back exit. She covered her mouth, coughing as smoke filled her lungs, then followed as everyone crouched low to make it outside.

  Lights from the fire truck and police twirled in the sky. Beds, wheelchairs filled with the injured and those too weak to walk, patients, family, visitors and hospital workers poured onto the lawn. Doctors, nurses and medics were circulating to tend to the hurt and sick. Flames shot from the building and firefighters scurried to douse the blaze. First responders rushed inside to save lives.

  A coughing fit seized her, but she brushed aside the medic who approached her. “The babies? Where are they?”

  He turned and scanned the area, then pointed to a corner near the parking lot. Cora took off running; she was so weak that her legs wobbled unsteadily. She searched faces for Drew but didn’t see him, either.

  God, please, let him have Alice.

  Praying with all her might, she staggered through the mess, the terrified and pain-filled screams of the injured filling the smoky air. Finally she spotted a row of bassinets.

  Tears blurred her eyes, but she stumbled forward and frantically began to search the bassinets. Other parents were doing the same, two nurses trying to organize the chaos and failing as frightened mothers dragged their infants into their arms.

  Cora finally spotted the bassinet marked “Westbrook—Girl” and gripped the edge of it.

  She reached inside, but her baby was gone.

  Chapter One

  Five years later

  Cora’s phone beeped as she let herself into her house, but she was juggling a grocery bag and bottle of Chardonnay and couldn’t reach it. She and her ex-husband, Drew, had bought the little bungalow nestled in the mountains of North Carolina six years ago when they’d first married—and were happy.

  Before Alice was taken.

  That day the world stopped for Cora.

  Sometimes she wanted to give up. To die and be rid of the pain.

  But every time she reached for the razor blade to slit her wrists, she saw her baby’s face in her mind. Sweet, precious Alice with the little round face and a cherub nose and a gummy smile.

  A tiny six-pound infant who’d trusted her mother to take care of her.

  But Cora had failed.

  Her baby was out there somewhere. Cora wasn’t going to give up until she found her.

  Unlike Drew, who’d abandoned Cora a few months after their baby had disappeared.

  Cora wanted to hold Alice and assure her that all she’d ever wanted was to be her mommy. She wanted to rock her when she didn’t feel good and clean her boo-boos and pick her up when she fell.

  Her phone vibrated again, indicating she had a message. Maybe it was the principal of the elementary school where she taught, saying he’d changed his mind and she hadn’t been fired.

  When the last bell had rung today, he’d summoned her into his office.

  “Cora, I understand how painful losing your daughter was, but you frightened Nina Fuller. Her mother called me to complain.”

  “I heard she was adopted—”

  “I’m well aware of the family’s situation, and you overstepped.”

  “But I thought—”

  “You thought about your own obsession,” he said, cutting her off. “Not about how that woman had three miscarriages and was on a wait list to adopt for three years before they got Nina.”

  Cora’s heart squeezed. She hadn’t known about the miscarriages and was sure the woman had suffered.

  “I’m sorry,” Cora said sincerely. “I’ll apologize to Nina and her mother.”

  He held up a warning hand. “No, you are to leave them alone. Enough is enough. You need to take a break from teaching and get some help.”

  He meant psychiatric help. She had already done that. It hadn’t worked.

  The only thing that would make her whole again was to find her daughter. To tell her how much she loved her. That she’d been looking for her every day since that awful fire when someone had stolen her.

  At first she’d been terrified that her baby had died in the fire. But after a massive search of the hospital and grounds, the police found Alice’s hospital bracelet tossed on the ground near the parking lot.

  That bracelet led them all to believe that someone had abducted Alice during the chaos.

  “I promise I’ll be more careful—”

  “You don’t understand, Cora,” he said firmly. “This is not a suggestion. I’m terminating your employment.”

  Panic stabbed at Cora. He wasn’t renewing her contract for the fall?

  Oh, God, what was she going to do? Teaching had been her salvation the last few years. Her connection with children.

  Her way to search for her missing daughter. Every year when the new students piled in, she studied the girls’ faces for any detail she’d recognize. Some part of her that her offspring had inherited.

  She did the same thing on the street, and at the mall and even the market she’d just left.

  She dropped the grocery bag on the counter along with the bottle of wine. Summer break was always difficult as it meant endless hours alone, hours of reliving the past and praying that one day she’d find her little girl. Endless hours of the what-ifs that plagued her and threatened to steal her sanity.

  She fished her phone from her purse. Sweat beaded on her forehead when she saw the number for Kurt Philips on the caller ID.

  Kurt was the private investigator she’d kept on retainer for the last four years. She’d hired him the day after the police had declared that her case had gone cold.

  Drew had left a few months after Alice went missing, and within a year, he’d remarried and started another family. His desertion and the fact that he’d had a son with his new wife had almost broken her.

  Maybe Kurt had news.

  Too afraid to hope, she uncorked the wine, poured a glass and carried it to the deck off the kitchen. Her backyard overlooked the beautiful mountains and Whistling River, the river the small mountain town of Whistler was named after. A summer breeze ruffled the pines as she sat down on the wrought iron glider and checked her voice mail.

  “Cora, it’s Kurt.” His gruff voice was familiar, but he sounded different. Tense. Worried.

  Then he was cut off.

  She started to call him back, but a text came through.

  Sorry, lead didn’t pan out. It’s time we give it a rest
. You should move on.

  His words sent pain searing through Cora. Kurt couldn’t give up. He was her last hope.

  With a shaky finger, she quickly pressed Call Back. But the phone rang and rang and no one answered.

  Desperate to talk to him, she carried her glass of wine back to the kitchen, grabbed her keys and purse and jogged outside to her car.

  Kurt had not only worked for her. He’d been her friend the last year.

  He’d also cautioned her to prepare for the worst. Had he learned that something bad had happened to her baby and he didn’t want to tell her?

  She jumped in her vehicle, started the engine and peeled down her driveway onto the street. She couldn’t go on without answers.

  She had to know why he was abandoning her and the search for Alice.

  * * *

  SHERIFF JACOB MAVERICK parked in the strip shopping center on the edge of town, grimacing at the flames shooting into the sky. The fire department was already on the scene, rolling out hoses and spraying water to douse the blaze.

  His brother Griff, a firefighter and arson investigator, was suited up and heading into the building.

  Déjà vu struck Jacob and he froze, fear gripping him. He’d lost his father, the sheriff at the time of the horrific hospital fire that had nearly destroyed the town five years ago.

  He couldn’t lose one of his brothers.

  But he couldn’t stop Griff from doing his job any more than his brothers could have stopped him from taking over as sheriff after their father died. They all wanted to know who set that fire. They suspected arson. So far, though, they didn’t have answers.

  But one day he would find the truth.

  His father’s heroic behavior had inspired each of his brothers to become first responders. Griff had joined the fire department. Fletch, FEMA’s local Search and Rescue team. And Liam, the FBI.

  Lights from the ambulance twirled against the darkening sky. His deputy, Martin Rowan, had cordoned off the area to keep people away from the blaze. Jacob climbed from his vehicle and strode toward Martin.