by Barb Han
She’d traveled two blocks from Rylan’s house before she snapped out of her mental walk down memory lane. There was a school playground at the end of the street, so she picked up the pace.
“You’ll probably like going to the playground, right?” Amber was keenly aware that she was enjoying a conversation with a little one who had no ability to talk back. She was trying to distract herself from thinking about Rylan too much. He was never far from her thoughts.
The playground could use some updating, Amber thought as she climbed the four metal stairs to the smallest slide. She held on to a rail as she positioned herself at the top and then slid down. Brooklyn laughed. The park consisted of a slide, three swings and a seesaw. The wood chips needed replacing, she thought as she made her way to the swings. She made a mental note to tour other parks and see if she could form a neighborhood beautification committee. Everyone in the community would benefit from updated playground equipment, and there’d been great strides making the features safer in the last five years. A committee could evaluate parks across Jacobstown, identify the ones in the most need of new equipment and start from there.
Amber also needed to call home and let everyone know she wouldn’t be back tonight. She had a load of hay in the bed of her truck that needed to be taken home at some point. Their bulk order was delayed and this would be enough to get them by until it’s delivered.
“You like the swing, don’t you?” Amber asked, pleased with herself for being able to make the little girl happy. Besides, she needed to keep her mind busy because her thoughts kept wandering to Rylan, and that was as productive as milking a boar. Get close enough to one of those and she’d end up hurt, too.
She half expected to hear from Rylan at some point. That he hadn’t called so far was probably good news, but also worried her. Was he that lost? Or that embarrassed to ask for help? Her brothers wouldn’t stop for help unless the car was on fire.
“You ready to go again?” she asked Brooklyn, and Amber’s heart melted a little more when the little girl with the big eyes smiled up at her.
If the slide was popular, the swing was like Christmas morning to Brooklyn. Amber held on to the little angel while swinging so long her arms felt like they might fall off.
“Okay, little miss. We better head home.” She figured the baby would be hungry soon.
It was chilly outside so they’d had the entire park to themselves, which was good given the size. There were enough houses nearby to warrant further digging into an expansion.
Amber held Brooklyn to her chest and marveled at the warmth from the little bundle. As she turned the corner toward Rylan’s house, the hairs on the back of her neck pricked. She had a strange feeling that someone was watching her, but it was probably just her imagination. Her nerves were on edge.
Amber glanced behind her and quickened her pace. She heard a car in the distance. It was otherwise a quiet Saturday afternoon. She surveyed the sidewalk across the street, looking for movement. There were tall pines and mesquite trees lining the street. It was windy, and the temperature felt like it was dropping with every forward step she took.
Something or someone moved down the street. The person was too far away to get a good look. Amber quickened her stride, needing to get to Rylan’s house as soon as possible. It felt like fire ants crept across her skin. She’d feel more comfortable behind a locked door at this point. Unfortunately, that meant moving toward the person—and she was certain the object was a him now—who’d ducked behind a tree.
Amber hugged Brooklyn tighter to her chest. The baby didn’t seem to mind. She happily cooed and blew raspberries on her fist, unaware of the possible danger.
Another twenty feet and Amber would have the baby inside.
This probably wasn’t the time to think about the fact that she’d left Rylan’s door unlocked. Of course, she didn’t have a key.
The figure moved. It was tall and broad, so her initial guess was right. He had to be male.
Brooklyn stirred and let out a sad little cry. Amber’s heart battered her ribs as she soothed the baby. She hoped that Zach could get a hit from the description Rylan gave of the man who’d dropped Brooklyn off and ran.
Who did that? Granted, people could be desperate for money. She’d been blessed to grow up in a house where she never wanted for anything. But this was a life, a child. Who could be so cold as to drop a baby and run?
Amber couldn’t get inside the house fast enough. She’d lost visual contact with the male, and her nerves were pulled taut. Rylan’s house was close. So, Amber broke into a run. Brooklyn fussed louder as she was bounced up and down so Amber slowed her pace to a fast walk.
“It’s okay,” Amber soothed.
She cut across the front lawn, praying the man was gone. She wasn’t exactly fast with a baby in her arms, and Brooklyn was most likely picking up on Amber’s stress. She’d read somewhere that babies could do that. They could absorb emotions and react. She willed herself to be calm and soothing.
It was too early to be relieved, but making it onto the porch felt like a win. Noise from behind startled her. She spun around to investigate.
Her back thudded against the door when she saw him. He was too close. There was no way she could get inside before he got to her.
The tall male wore a hoodie, scarf and jeans. Sunglasses shielded his eyes. Amber couldn’t make out the details of his face.
“Fire,” she screamed at the top of her lungs. She’d been taught by her law enforcement cousin never to yell for help in a situation such as this. He’d taught her that people reacted to hearing the news of a fire. It might be self-preservation instinct and them wanting to make sure their property wasn’t about to burn, but she didn’t care.
Brooklyn went into full-on crying mode, and Amber could only pray someone heard her own screams over the sound of the baby.
The male sneered at her as he closed the gap between them, his mouth and nose were the only things visible. As he neared, she smelled tobacco and figured the scent would be burned into her nostrils for the rest of her life.
“Fire,” she shouted again, but feared the neighbors were too far away to hear. It was cold enough for windows and doors to be closed, and the wind howled. She had to think of something. She had to assume the man was there to take Brooklyn, and no way was she letting him walk away with the innocent child without a fight.
Running would do no good. Amber wouldn’t get far while holding a baby. Besides, this guy had to have run behind the houses in order to sneak up on her like that, and he didn’t seem winded. He was tall, maybe six feet, with a runner’s build.
When the male was close enough to reach for the baby, Amber started memorizing details of what little she could see of his face. His skin was light, pale. His eyebrows red. He had a small mole on the left side of his nose.
“I don’t have anything for you,” she shouted with more authority than she owned. “Step away.”
His gloved hands were reaching for the baby. No doubt he’d be stronger than her. Amber had seconds to make her move.
She let him get close, so close she could smell his awful breath. In one quick motion, she stepped into him and brought her right knee up hard into his groin. She ducked out of his grasp as he winced and coughed.
She’d barely bought a few seconds. Making a run for her truck was her best option. She’d left the keys under the mat on the driver’s side and maybe could make it inside without him catching up by some miracle. Driving with a baby in her arms was not ideal.
Brooklyn was screaming at the top of her lungs as Amber hopped off the porch. She made it all of two steps when his hands gripped her arms. She struggled against his grasp, but it was like being locked in a viselike grip.
All she could think to do was to drop down, but he stopped her. He was strong. Too strong. Brooklyn was fussing and fidgeting. It was all Amber could do to hang on to the
little girl.
In the next second, Amber was being spun around and the baby pulled from her arms. She couldn’t let this happen. She couldn’t let this man get away with Brooklyn. And she couldn’t stop him, either.
He ripped the crying baby from her arms.
It dawned on Amber that he would have the same problem she did. Trying to run with a baby was next to impossible. So, Amber grabbed onto his neck. She didn’t want to risk hurting the baby, but if she let this criminal take off with Brooklyn, the child’s life could be over before it got started. What kind of a person tried to steal a baby?
Amber fisted his metal frame sunglasses as she was dragged forward a few steps. She crushed them against his face.
He ground out a few curses before giving a shake that was so hard she lost her grip. She kept repeating the word fire at the top of her lungs, praying someone would hear her.
Amber clawed at his right arm until she was able to get in front of him. She grabbed Brooklyn and before he could rip the baby out of her arms again, she heard the sounds of an approaching vehicle coming. She risked a glance and saw a Jeep.
The assailant must’ve seen it, too, because he sprinted in the opposite direction.
Amber held Brooklyn to her chest as she checked the little girl for any signs of being hurt. Tears streamed down Amber’s face at the thought of what had just happened, what could’ve happened.
The Jeep came roaring up and came to an abrupt stop. In the next second, Rylan was out the driver’s door and giving chase to the attacker, who’d disappeared behind the neighbor’s house.
Amber wasted no time locating the keys. She wouldn’t give that jerk an escape route if he doubled back.
Heart pounding, she darted toward the house and locked them both inside.
Hands shaking, she managed to calm the baby by rocking her.
Stomach lurching, she conceded to being rattled as she sat down and balanced the baby in her lap so she could call Zach.
Chapter Six
Rylan lost track of the hooded male two blocks east of the park down the street from his house. The guy was a good sprinter, and Rylan figured that he had a vehicle tucked away over there on the ready. He must’ve planned for the run scenario, which meant there was premeditation on his part. Any thought this could have been a spur of the moment decision, however minuscule, died.
Frustration was a gut punch. The only reason the jerk got away in the first place was because Rylan had hesitated at the get-go, wondering if he should stick with Amber and the baby in order to protect them.
The decision to run was predicated on two things. Trying to find out who that little girl was and who she belonged to. Both of those might still be a mystery, but someone seemed determined to take her from Amber.
Blood ran hot in Rylan’s veins. The kid didn’t need to belong to Rylan for him to want to make sure she wasn’t put in harm’s way.
Was this the reason the girl’s mother had found him? More questions surfaced as he broke into a run back to his place. Was he even the father? Or had a desperate woman sought him out for his ability to keep her baby safe? Had this been the move of a woman who had no choices left?
Rylan of all people couldn’t judge another person for those actions. He’d been in his fair share of circumstances that had caused him to act out of character. Hell, he’d taken and run with a lie and tangled his best friend in it, too. That had cost him—he’d lost someone who he’d considered to be the brother he’d never had. Will Kent wasn’t a liar, but he’d lied to keep Rylan out of jail. Rylan had been young and stupid. He’d made too many mistakes thinking he wasn’t worth anything. Not even his best friend could convince him otherwise.
Rylan had a stubborn streak a mile long. And just to prove his friend wrong, Rylan started drinking and hanging around with the wrong crowd in nearby Collinsville. He’d done things to be ashamed of. Yeah, he could play the abandoned kid card all day long. Down deep, he’d known better. The military had helped him get his anger out. He’d gone in looking for a fight and found one. He’d hoped that he’d come out a better man for it.
If that baby turned out to be his child, he wouldn’t shy away from the responsibility. He did need to find the kid’s mother and learn what the drop-and-run routine had been all about.
“Rylan, what happened? I was scared half to death. Get in here.” Amber’s eyes were wide as she stood in the open doorway, the baby fussing in her arms.
“I lost him.” He stepped inside, chest heaving, allowing her to usher him in.
“At least he didn’t get her.” Amber closed and locked the door behind him. “Zach’s on his way. I called him immediately. He should be here any minute.”
For the moment Rylan needed to catch his breath.
“He was wearing sunglasses, and I couldn’t get a good look at his eyes. He wore a hoodie and scarf, too. His skin was pale, and his eyebrows were red. And he had a small mole on the left side of his nose.” Stress lines creased her forehead. “I smashed his sunglasses into his face to stop him from running away. Maybe there’s a piece out there. It might give Zach some DNA to work with. I’m pretty sure I scratched his face up, so he’d be easily identifiable if he showed up in public. Plus, there should be some of his DNA under my fingernails.”
“That was smart thinking, Amber.” He should have known she’d be savvy enough to leave a trail for Zach. Facial marks would be difficult to hide in a public place. If this person was part of the Jacobstown community, he wouldn’t be able to walk around freely until his face healed. All law enforcement would be on the lookout.
“What about prints? It looked like you two were struggling for the baby,” he said.
“Zach won’t have any luck there. The guy wore gloves.” She shook her head for emphasis.
“You know what?” Rylan paced. Nothing inside him wanted to say these next words. “After you give Zach your statement, I want you to go home. Brooklyn and I will make it through the night okay. We’ll figure it out.”
The thought of being alone with a baby for an entire night sent an icy chill up his back. He had no knowledge of babies and no particular skills with them, either. Hell, he hadn’t been around any until this little one.
“Absolutely not, Rylan.”
“Look. I have more supplies in the Jeep. I’ll get those and take over with her.” He could be stubborn when he needed to be, and this situation called for it. Putting Amber in danger was never meant to be part of this deal. Now that he realized his mistake he needed to fix it ASAP.
“Don’t go out there yet,” she warned. “And I’m not leaving you alone with her. Do you even know how to change her diaper?”
“How hard can it be?” he asked.
She harrumphed and her jaw set, like when she was determined about something.
“Don’t go digging your heels in the sand, Amber,” he warned. “When I called for help earlier, I had no idea what I was committing you to. If anything happened to you it would be my…”
The look of understanding that overtook her features stopped him dead in his tracks.
“You called me because you knew I could help. How could you have known there’d be an attempted kidnapping?” She stared at him. “I’m not leaving you stranded when you need a friend, Rylan. I’m not built that way, so it won’t do any good to argue. Besides, she’s taken to me and I won’t abandon her until we know who this angel’s mother is and why she saw fit to drop her on your doorstep. Now that that’s settled—”
A knock at the door interrupted her speech.
“That’s probably Zach. I got this.” Rylan knew Amber well enough to know when he’d lost an argument. It might’ve been years, but that same stubborn streak he’d noticed when they were teens seemed to have grown.
Zach stood on the porch. Rylan opened the door and invited him inside.
“Is the baby okay?” Zach asked
before crossing the threshold.
“Yes.”
“And how about Amber?” Zach didn’t miss a beat.
“She is.”
“Make sure she stays that way.” Zach’s tone issued a warning.
“Hold on there, Zach.” Rylan put his hand on the sheriff’s shoulder. “I just spent the past five minutes trying to convince her to leave. If you think I brought her into this knowing it could turn into a cluster—”
“Don’t put words in my mouth, Rylan.” The welcome home tone was gone from Zach’s voice now. The man’s words had hit hard.
“I didn’t.” Rylan heard the defensiveness in his own tone—defensiveness because the conversation he needed to have with her brother Will was on Rylan’s mind.
AMBER DESCRIBED THE ATTACKER the best she could as she recounted her story to Zach. Her cousin nodded and scribbled down a few notes while she spoke. She could almost see his wheels turning, and he did a heck of a job not freaking out that she’d been part of the attack.
Rylan had already warned her about sticking around. After spending a little time with Brooklyn, Amber was hooked. She couldn’t step aside while that little girl’s future was so uncertain. Besides, Kents weren’t made to walk away from danger. Kents stuck together and Kents stuck around. Her brothers and cousin hated to admit it during times like these, but she was no different from them. Not one would turn a blind eye to someone in need or in danger. Granted, she was the baby of the family and that fact had her siblings trying to play protector from time to time. Lucky for her, she’d grown up with five brothers to ensure she could handle herself in almost any situation.
Case in point, the attempted abduction had been stressful and her nerves were still shaky, but she’d managed to ward off the attack. Brooklyn was safe because Amber had been there.
“I broke his sunglasses, and I’m hoping something is left of them in the front yard.” Before she could finish, Zach was on his way to the door. His back was turned so she couldn’t see the look of panic she knew would be there at the admission.