Harley took off on foot after it, shouting Jade’s name, as though he had a chance in hell of catching it. But as the taillights disappeared into the distance, he came to a stop. His lungs burned in his chest even as his heart ached just as fiercely. He’d promised Jade he would keep her safe. He’d promised he would solve the case quickly so she wouldn’t have to live in fear of the threats any longer.
Turning on his heel, he ran back to the house, yelling for the valets to call the police and report the abduction. He couldn’t take back what had just happened, but he could redeem himself in her eyes and his own by doing everything he could to bring her home safely.
She’d thought she was safe with him. He’d taken his eye off her for only a moment. A big mistake, especially after she’d asked him to leave with her.
But Jade was right. He’d chosen the job and the glory over her. He just hoped he wouldn’t regret that decision for the rest of his life.
Twelve
Jade rolled around the back of the van and hit her head against the metal wall with a dull thud. At least she thought it was the wall. It was hard to tell with the blindfold over her eyes. She wasn’t thinking too clearly anyway. Her head was already throbbing from the strong whiff of chloroform they’d used to disable her. They hadn’t given her enough of a dose to knock her out cold—that took a few minutes and some dedication—but it did its job in disorienting her enough that they could drag her into their vehicle. Now she was dizzy, with a pounding head and a bad attitude.
“Ow!” She groaned loudly as she felt the knot rise up on her forehead and a warm trickle run down the side of her face. It was probably blood. And with her hands tied together, she was unable to stop the bumping and brace herself as the van sped around corners. She was like a rag doll back here, feeling the beading of her dress catch and snag as she slid across the unfinished floor.
Abduction aside, the thought of the beautiful gown Harley had bought her being ruined brought angry tears to her eyes.
“Slow down or we’re gonna get caught,” one man hissed, presumably at the driver. His voice was gravelly, like he’d smoked three packs a day for thirty years.
“If I slow down, we will get caught. We’ve got to get the hell away from the Steele mansion first. That guy is crazy enough to follow us.”
“I don’t see his Jaguar behind us. I think we’re safe.”
“You’re an idiot,” the second man said. His voice was deeper, but smooth as silk. “There’s no such thing as safe until we’ve got the money in hand, the woman is back with her rich family and we’re chilling on a beach in Puerto Vallarta. Then and only then will I take the first deep breath I’ve taken in thirty years.”
Jade tried to ease back until she was leaning against the side of the van for some stability. She didn’t make a peep, not wanting to interrupt her captors’ conversation. She intended to memorize every word so when she got out of this mess, she could turn all of it over to Harley and the police.
Provided she actually got out of this. She didn’t know what these guys wanted with her, but it couldn’t be good. One of them had mentioned money, so maybe this was just about ransom. That seemed a stupid choice. Her family didn’t have any money. At least, not the family who had raised her. Maybe these two knew even more about Jade than she did.
“Here’s the turn,” the man with the gravelly voice said.
“I know where the damn turn is. I don’t need you to tell me how to drive. I’ve got this under control.” The van slowed and went over a bump. “I learned my lesson after the last time, when your sister screwed us both.”
“Screwed us? She’s the one who died, not you.”
“Yeah, well, if she was feeling so guilty that she was thinking about doing something like that, she should’ve turned over some crucial information first. Like which damn baby was which. We’ve sat on our hands for three decades because of her stupid conscience and I’m not taking that risk a second time. I want my money and I want this done.”
“Do you think they’ll pay for her? They don’t even know who she is.”
“She’s their blood. They’ll pay. And if not, well, maybe we go after the big guy. Did you see how long he ran after us? Like he was gonna catch the van. That dope is in love. I’m willing to bet he’ll shell out whatever we ask.”
Jade’s breath caught in her throat. They had to be talking about Harley. She hadn’t seen him outside. Had he followed her out in time to see the men take her? She hoped so. He’d chased after her. She didn’t know if she could take these thug’s word for it, but they seemed to think Harley was in love with her. She couldn’t believe it.
They’d better hope they were wrong. If he did love her, these men better pray the cops found them first.
She heard the sound of a metal garage door going up as the van came to a stop. The vehicle inched forward and finally the engine shut off. The metal door started creaking again, likely closing this time, trapping her in whatever garage or warehouse they’d chosen to take cover from the cops.
They’d probably be headed to the back of the van to deal with her soon. Jade took a deep breath and hoped she had the strength to get through this. To see Harley and her parents again. Her real parents. The Steeles might be lovely people, but the faces she wanted to see belonged to Arthur and Carolyn Nolan.
“All right, we’re here,” the driver said. “It’s time to make the call.”
* * *
Harley marched back into the ballroom, and casting aside any pretense of being a normal guest or donor, went straight up to Trevor and Patricia Steele. “Are you behind this?” he asked, unable to keep the anger from his voice.
The couple turned to him with wide, surprised eyes. They didn’t look as though people took that tone with them very often. “Are we behind what, sir?” Trevor asked, with a sharp edge to his voice.
“Someone just abducted Jade from your driveway. If you’re behind this, tell me now.”
“Abducted?” Patricia said, bringing a hand to her chest in dismay. “Jade who?”
“Your daughter, Jade. The one I’ve been trying to call you about for the last week.”
They looked genuinely confused by the entire conversation. As much as he wanted to leap ahead, it seemed as though he’d have to go backward. “My name is Harley Dalton, with Dalton Security. I’ve been calling you both repeatedly this week about a case at St. Francis Hospital. Did you not get any of my messages?”
“No,” Trevor said, looking mildly irritated, albeit not with Harley. “Although the week leading up to the gala is usually so hectic. My staff might’ve been remiss in passing your messages along. They tend to filter out what they deem unnecessary when we’re so busy. We get a lot of calls. You’re working for St. Francis Hospital, you say?”
“Yes, where your wife gave birth to a daughter during Hurricane Hugo in 1989.”
“Our daughter, Morgan, is right over there.” Patricia gestured to her. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Harley didn’t want to be the one to say this, but the sooner they all got on the same page the better. “That is not your biological child. Two of the infants in the nursery were switched during the storm. Your daughter was raised by the Nolan family, who recently uncovered the mix-up during DNA testing. The woman you know as your daughter, Morgan, is actually their daughter, Jade.”
Harley watched Trevor Steele’s face blanch for a moment as he absorbed the news. Before he could gauge any more of their reactions, a man ran up to the two of them with a wild-eyed expression on his face. “Mr. Steele, the police are here. They said they got a call about an abduction.”
Harley was about to step in, but Trevor collected himself and beat him to it. The CEO instantly began barking orders at everyone around him. “See them into the library, please. We will be there momentarily.” He turned to his wife. “Patricia, go get Morgan and meet us in the libr
ary. I’ll have the boys clear out the room. The party is over.”
Harley breathed a sigh of relief that the family was taking this seriously. He watched as Patricia escorted a confused-looking Morgan out of the ballroom, while her father went in search of his sons to handle the other guests. Trevor appeared at Harley’s side a moment later. “I’m sorry that we didn’t get in touch with you sooner, Mr. Dalton. I will be having words with my staff once this is cleared up. Let’s head over to the library. A flood of people are about to come through here once my oldest makes the announcement.”
The Steeles were cool and collected in the face of drama, something that both confused and concerned Harley. It wasn’t until they reached the library and sat down with the detectives that he understood why.
“This isn’t our first kidnapping, Mr. Dalton, so I’m sorry if we seem unaffected by this. We’ve learned the hard way to save emotions for later, once what needs to be done is done.”
Harley made his statement to the police, letting the family listen in anxiously as he recounted the threats, the break-in and finally Jade’s abduction from the property. She and the Steeles were related; they had to be. And if the Steele family wasn’t trying to keep Jade quiet, he had no leads on who the kidnappers could be.
The police were sending a crew to the house to set up a surveillance team in case the kidnappers called in a ransom request. In the meantime, every cop in the city would be looking for a white van with South Carolina plates that started with the number 7.
“This is our fault,” Patricia said, once the police stepped out and left them alone together in the library. She’d been sitting on the couch, holding a dumbfounded Morgan against her side for the last hour. Harley couldn’t begin to imagine how the young woman was processing everything under circumstances like this. “It’s happening again, just like with Tommy.”
Trevor came around the couch and placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “We got Tom back safe and sound, and the same will happen here. We will get Jade back, and then we will find out what happened at the hospital and why.”
“So someone switched babies, then thirty years later, they kidnapped the one who’s really our sister?” one of the twins asked. It was either Finn or Sawyer, Harley wasn’t sure. The young man stood by the window looking confused.
“Morgan is your sister,” Trevor insisted, pointing to the woman on the couch. “In every way that is important. But yes, if this man is correct, your biological sister, Jade, was taken because she was trying to find her family and someone didn’t want that to happen.”
Morgan stood up from the couch, her eyes red, but tearless. “I’m going upstairs,” she said. She rushed from the room.
“Let her go, Patricia,” Trevor said. “This is a lot for her to take in. What’s important for her to know—and for all of us to impress upon her—is that she is no less a member of this family because of what happened.”
Harley was pleased to hear them say that. He was equally hopeful that they would welcome Jade with that same attitude. She deserved that much, especially after he’d basically forced her into going through with it all tonight. What if he’d just taken her home instead of arguing with her? They’d be in bed, holding each other, instead of him waiting anxiously for a phone call or news from the police about Jade’s whereabouts.
“I wish they would just call already,” Patricia said. “The waiting is the worst part.”
As though the kidnappers had heard her plea, a phone started to ring. They all expected it to be the Steeles’ home phone, where the police had the lines tapped, but it was Harley’s cell phone.
He didn’t recognize the number, but he answered, putting it on speakerphone so everyone could listen in. “Hello?”
“Ten million dollars,” a raspy male voice said. “Small, unmarked bills. Fill a black tote bag with the money and leave it in locker 17 at the bus station downtown by ten tomorrow morning. If you follow my instructions and we’re able to pick up the money without police interference, I will text you the location of the woman. If the cops are waiting for us, or we get intercepted in any way, you’ll never see her again.”
“I want to talk to Jade,” Harley insisted, but the man just laughed and hung up. As the line went dead, he felt a sense of hope rise up to battle the ache of dread in his stomach. They just wanted money. He had plenty of that. He’d happily comply with their instructions to get Jade back safely. He just had to hope that the kidnappers played by their own rules.
“Ten million is a lot to get our hands on in less than twelve hours,” Trevor said.
“I know,” Harley said. He’d learned early that to make money he had to keep his cash tied up in things that would continue to earn for him. Untangling that was not a quick job. “I’ll have to think of something. I can easily get my hands on maybe a third of that.”
“How much do we have in the safe, darling?” Patricia asked her husband.
“Four, I think. Maybe four and a half. We could get more wired over without a problem. It’s morning in Switzerland, isn’t it?” Trevor walked over to where Harley was standing and patted him on the back. “Between the two of us, we’ll get Jade back safely. Never fear, she’s one of us now. And in this family, we live by the strict motto of No Steele Left Behind.”
* * *
Jade heard a noise and shot to attention on the cold steel wall she was slumped against. She wished she could pull off her blindfold and see what was happening, but it was impossible with the zip ties on her wrists and ankles.
She’d been alone for a while, but she wasn’t sure how long. She’d heard the men talk about going to get the money and then they left in the van. They didn’t say much to her while they kept her captive, but they left her with parting words that chilled her to the core... The next thing she saw would either be her rescuers if all went well, or the two of them before they put a bullet in her head.
If someone was here, wherever she was, she was about to find out which it would be.
“Jade!”
“Harley? Harley!” Jade heard his heavy footsteps pounding across concrete toward her. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice and felt the tears start rolling down her cheeks. She hadn’t allowed herself to panic; she didn’t have that luxury. But now all her emotions were pouring out of her at once.
She felt someone drop to the ground beside her and rip off her blindfold. Her eyes struggled to adjust to the light after hours in total darkness, but she could make out Harley crouched beside her. He made quick work of the ties on her ankles and wrists, allowing the blood to flow into her extremities again.
“Oh my God, baby, I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so sorry. I never should’ve let you out of my sight.” Harley clutched her to his chest and she happily curled up against him.
She’d spent a long night with her thoughts, reliving what had happened before and after the abduction. She knew she’d overreacted. And in this dire situation, her dangerous bad boy was the only man qualified for the job. He was up to the task, and for that, she would be eternally grateful.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she croaked with a hoarse, dry throat. “You saved me.”
“Of course I saved you.” He sat back and cupped her face in his hands. “I love you, Jade. More than you can ever imagine. I would do anything to bring you home to me.”
He loved her? Jade was overwhelmed by everything going on, but she couldn’t let that detail pass by unnoticed. “Did you say you loved me?” she asked.
Harley smiled. “I did. I love you, Jade Nolan. Very much. I only wish I’d gotten to tell you before all this happened. For a while last night, I thought I might not get the chance.”
Jade brought her hand to his cheek. It was very stubbly, as he probably hadn’t shaved or showered. He was still wearing his tuxedo, minus the bow tie. His eyes were lined with worry and he looked as exhausted as she felt. And yet he w
as the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “I love you, too, Harley.”
He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was loaded with emotions they’d both held in. Now it all poured out at once. Love, relief, need, happiness. She pulled away from his kiss only when she had to cough. She’d been hacking most of the morning.
“I’m sorry. My throat is so dry. I haven’t had anything to drink since the champagne at the party.”
“I can fix that.” Harley lifted a phone to his ear. “She’s here. Yes, she’s safe. Bring the blanket and the water.”
As Jade looked up, she noticed there was a virtual crowd of people rushing over to her. She recognized the silhouettes of her parents immediately. Arthur and Carolyn swooped in, practically nudging Harley aside to hold their daughter. She had never been happier to see her family.
“Are you okay, honey?” Carolyn asked. She brushed the hair from Jade’s eyes and studied the bump on her head. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine, Mama. I’m just happy to see you.”
Arthur squeezed her shoulder and smiled. “There’s some other people here that are happy to see you, too.” He stood and stepped aside to reveal another couple hovering nearby.
It was Trevor and Patricia Steele. They were standing awkwardly at a distance, obviously wanting to help somehow, but not wanting to intrude on her moment with Harley and her parents.
Patricia stepped forward at last, crouching down to hand Jade a bottle of water they’d brought with them. “Here you go, dear. I’m so glad you’re safe. We were worried sick all night.”
Those were words she wasn’t expecting. A lot must have happened while she was tied up in this warehouse. “Really?”
Harley smiled and rubbed her back encouragingly. “They know everything. They even helped pay the ransom.”
Trevor came up beside his wife and got down onto one knee. “No Steele Left Behind,” he said with a smile. He studied her face for a moment, then shook his head in amazement. “You look almost exactly like your mother did at that age. It’s uncanny.”
From Mistake to Millions Page 14
