by Barb Han
After hearing an earful of baby talk, Alice ended the call and refocused on Isabel, desperately needing to redirect her attention or risk crumbling into a ball for how much she missed her family.
Alice had considered every angle she could think of for the marks. There was something familiar about the pattern but she couldn’t figure it out. Could it spell out a name? It was a stretch and a fairly long one. Isabel would be smart enough to make it difficult for the men in the next room to be able to tell what she was doing and that could account for the fact that the markings were different. Alice spent a good two hours skimming every document that came up with no luck. Her stomach growled, convincing her to get up so she could eat.
Isabel’s birthday loomed. The boys’ birthdays were early into the New Year. No way did Alice want to make it through the holidays without Isabel home. Where are you?
Glancing around Joshua’s place, she noticed that he didn’t have a tree or much of anything else for that matter be it Christmas or otherwise. Pretty typical of a man’s house, she thought. Except for the fact that there were unopened boxes stacked in almost every room. She thought he’d said that he came back there to live but another thought struck. Was he planning to stick around? From the looks of the place the answer to that question was no.
* * *
JOSHUA SHOULD BE the happiest guy in the world, he thought as he unlocked the door to his home. The house was dark, which meant Alice was already asleep. It was good to be back. He stepped inside and punched his security code into the pad near the back door. He rearmed the alarm before quietly setting down the paper he’d carried with him. The interview had gone well. Better than well. He’d been offered his dream job—a job that would be waiting after a few more steps in the process. So, why did he tell the director he needed time to think it over?
On the trip home, he’d told himself that he wanted to run it by his brothers before he accepted. He didn’t want to acknowledge the real reason was that he wanted to talk it over with Alice. His feelings confused the hell out of him but nothing in his world felt right without her.
After a shower, he slid under the covers and Alice, still asleep, rolled over and curled around him. There were other problems stewing in the back of his mind. Isabel was first and foremost and then there was trouble brewing between Aunt Bea and Uncle Ezra. According to Ryder, the two of them were fighting worse than usual. Joshua chalked it up to the fact that his father had been the one to keep things settled between them. Ezra was making moves to push her out, but then he wanted Janis out as well. The two of them were known for fighting but was something else going on between them besides sibling rivalry?
Aunt Bea was getting flustered and the boys were quick to jump to her defense. Everyone dismissed Ezra as harmless, saying he was a sentimental old fool. But was he?
He’d been using his ranch money to finance other projects, unsuccessful ones. But that wasn’t the most disturbing news. Dad would roll in his grave if he knew that Uncle Ezra was involved with the McCabe family, their father’s rival.
After the meeting, they’d resolved to keep Uncle Ezra in check and start digging around in his personal affairs to make sure he wasn’t in over his head somewhere.
Joshua tossed and turned, unable to give over to sleep. Was it really family business keeping him awake or was it something more? His guilty conscience?
All he needed was a few hours of sleep to get through a day. He checked the clock as his phone buzzed.
“I shouldn’t be making this call,” Tommy whispered and he sounded anguished.
“What is it?” Joshua shot up. Alice was already up and hopping into a pair of jeans that had been laid out on the dresser.
“Perez has been seen in town. The informant said to watch out for a white van. He’s on a mission and Fischer thinks he’s back to take you down. He’s sending someone your way to intercept Perez. Keep your guard up,” Tommy said. “I have to get back in my office so the task force can see me. They’ve been keeping close watch on my every move.”
“Do you have a general vicinity for Perez?” Joshua asked, already half-dressed.
“He’s outside the city limits, heading east.” A shuffling noise came through the line before Tommy ended the call. He was smart enough to handle his end, so Joshua wouldn’t worry about that.
“What did he say?” Alice asked, already buttoning up her shirt.
“Perez is here.” From the time of the call to sitting in the Jeep was less than a minute-and-a-half. He could fill her in on the road.
* * *
“THE HEAT IS ON. Looks like Perez is making a run for me. I’m guessing that also means he’s cashing out his interests in this area and about to disappear for a while,” Joshua said to Alice as soon as they were on the two-lane highway outside the ranch.
He cursed.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I need gas,” he said.
Alice’s thoughts raced. Perez could not get away. A cold chill trickled down her spine. She didn’t want to hope that Isabel could be with him because that would be too much of a coincidence and, frankly, Alice wouldn’t be that lucky. He could give answers, though. He would know where she’d been sold. She could force him to talk. He was finally within reach and she couldn’t allow this chance to slip through her fingers.
“There’s a shotgun tucked behind your seat,” Joshua said, eyes on the road, pedal to the metal. “My Glock’s in the glove box. Which one do you want?”
“I’ll take the shotgun,” she said, figuring she could get a wider spray that way in case she had to give chase. “But I need Perez alive.”
“I know we do.” Joshua’s focus stayed on the patch of road ahead. He slowed as he approached a gas station and then turned in.
At the second pump, there was a white van.
“He’s here.” She expected him to say they should call it in and wait. The man at the pump was pushing on the van, shaking it, holding the dispenser in his hand while trying to squeeze out that last little bit of air in the tank. Another few seconds and it would be too late.
Joshua pulled in front of the van, blocking it, like he was getting in line for the pump. His headlights would keep the driver from getting a good visual on them.
Pump Man glanced around, caught on to what was going on, and fiddled with the lever on the dispenser. Alice realized the guy was engaging the lock mechanism that would keep gas pumping before he tossed it toward the Jeep and then hopped into the van. The engine hummed and he must’ve put the gear shift in Reverse. Gravel spewed toward them as the van peeled out and then spun backward.
Joshua ran toward it, took aim and nailed the front tire. The van turned so hard it tilted to one side and Alice was half afraid it would roll over. She had no idea who might be in the back or how many people but she knew in her heart that innocent girls were in there.
She ran into the stretch of highway that would put her directly into the line of the van.
All it would take would be one shot, she thought, as the van’s headlights stared her down.
The driver could gun it, and he might do just that, so she spread her feet in an athletic stance and took aim, her finger hovering over the trigger mechanism.
If she went down, she was taking the driver with her.
The shell was engaged in the chamber and she was good to go. She could get off a shot and, hopefully, roll out of the way into the ditch before the van hit her. Unlike in Hollywood movies, a man who’d been hit didn’t immediately drop. There was only one shot capable of instant death and it was nearly impossible to pull off even for a trained sniper. That was a bullet straight to the brain stem.
No way were her boys becoming orphans.
Alice was a decent marksman, especially for a cop. But she wasn’t that good. Almost no one was. And she didn’t exactly feel lucky. Besides
, if she believed in luck she figured she’d used all hers to get to this point.
No, the kind of shot she could get off was different. With a direct hit, it would take a while for Pump Man’s brain to catch up with the news that he was hit, and essentially already dead. He’d keep on doing whatever it was he’d been doing before the shot had been fired. In this case, that meant he’d floor the pedal while locked on to her. Buckshot would spread and Alice could end up killing innocent girls in the back of the van.
Staring at the white van, she realized what seemed so familiar about the markings in the picture... Isabel was giving her a license plate number. Roman numerals I, III, II, so 132. And then the others B / I-I, BVH. The license plate was 132 BVH.
The engine revved, threatening her. This whole scene had been reduced to a game of chicken.
If her plan worked she’d be safe. Her boys would have a mother. Alice thought about that as the van kicked toward her. It took a few seconds for the wheels to grab the blacktop.
Alice couldn’t risk killing anyone else inside the van, so she jumped toward the ditch and rolled, came up with the shotgun so she could shoot the driver at closer range as he blew past.
As it turned out, she didn’t have to. The cowboy took a shot from the gas station side of the street and pegged the driver, who wasn’t Perez. He never saw it coming because he was too busy looking at Alice with his foot on the brake.
There was no one in the passenger seat. If Perez was inside that van, he was in the back.
Alice darted around the side of the vehicle just as Perez rounded it. The shotgun barrel was too long and it was too easy for Perez to knock it out of her hands. He was strong, aided by adrenaline. He swung his right fist, connecting with her left cheekbone. Alice’s head shot right and she felt warm liquid in her mouth—blood.
His elbow came up to her throat and he slammed her into the van. She coughed, her lungs clawing for oxygen.
No way was he getting away. Not this time.
Perez was stronger than her, no doubt at it. Trying to overpower him physically would be a mistake and possibly cost her life. Alice dropped to the ground and swept her left foot, catching his legs as he attempted to flee. She twisted her legs around his ankles in a scissor-like grip and then rolled like an alligator. He bit the dirt hard, trying to wrangle his way out of her grasp.
Too bad, jerk.
She folded forward, reared her fist back and then fired a punch, connecting with his stomach before he knocked her out of the way. She threw another punch, determined to inflict as much pain as she could and hopefully wear him out enough to cuff him. This scumbag was going to jail.
Just as he managed to wriggle away, she caught the butt of the shotgun with her hand. She gripped it with both hands and then pumped the handle. And then a thought dawned on her. Shoot him and Isabel could be lost forever.
Perez spat in her direction, those snakelike eyes bearing down on her. Chicken. He was daring her to shoot.
And then, Joshua whirled around the van and tackled Perez.
Alice pushed up to her feet in a swift motion, shotgun in hand. Joshua had Perez on the ground in front of her. She fired off a kick, connecting with Perez’s thigh as he writhed on the ground underneath the bigger man’s heft. She tossed the shotgun aside and pulled zip cuffs from her hip pocket.
Joshua shifted position enough to allow her access. She jammed her knee into Perez’s back and hauled his arms behind his back. He spat and cursed as she zip cuffed him. When the dust settled, he was going to have a nasty headache. And he was going to spend the rest of his life in jail.
“I’ll be right back,” Joshua said and she knew he’d be securing the driver and checking for additional threat inside the van.
“Where is she?” Alice asked, forcing Perez onto his knees.
“You think I’m telling you, bitch?” Perez spat.
Alice walked around to face him, needing to look into his eyes. Then she remembered the license plate number and she knew in her heart that she would find Isabel. “You don’t need to.”
“I have three girls in the back of the van,” Joshua shouted.
There was a faint wail of sirens in the distance. She picked up the shotgun and aimed the barrel at a spot on Perez’s forehead. “Give me a reason to shoot.”
* * *
THE SUN WAS rising and the forecast said the cold front would break later that morning. Warmer weather was on its way.
Fischer had run the license and produced an address. The address belonged to a middle-aged dentist.
Perez and his men were in the minivan in front of Joshua’s Jeep as they blazed toward the home of the dentist across town.
“We’re bringing her home today,” Joshua said quietly, his gaze focused on the road ahead.
She wanted to believe those five words so badly her heart ached.
“I sent Ryder for the boys,” he added.
“There are no words to thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” Alice said and she meant it.
“She’ll want to see them and your family deserves to be together.” He turned right behind the minivan.
The street was quiet and in the part of town with expansive front yards and large two-story houses. Disgust rippled through Alice as she thought about the horrors going on behind the doors of at least one perfect-looking house with a manicured lawn.
“I need to tell you something,” he said.
“Okay.”
“I’ve been offered a job at the FBI.”
“Is that why you went out of town? To interview?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” she asked, trying to block the hurt that came with him keeping a secret.
“Before I met you that was my dream job. Now, I’m not so sure.” Red brake lights illuminated in front of them as the minivan stopped in front of a huge house with white siding and black shutters. There was a large concrete porch. Everything looked so peaceful, so suburban.
Men exited the minivan and circled the house as Alice jumped out of the passenger seat of Joshua’s Jeep. She barely heard him say something about them talking later over the sound of her hammering heart. For one, Joshua could be leaving soon for a new job. Her heart didn’t even want to go there. And then there was the obvious anxiety that came with a bust.
The dentist was about to go down.
Fischer stopped Alice before she walked onto the property.
“Let me go in,” she pleaded.
“I’m not here to stop you. I’m here to thank you,” he said.
She bit back her shock. “Okay.”
“I mean it,” Fischer said. “The devotion you have toward this girl who you obviously love tells me that you’re an amazing mother to the boys.”
“Thank you,” she said, noticing he hadn’t said our boys. And it was just as well. Her heart belonged to another man anyway.
“If you ever need anything, you know where to find me. Now it’s my job to warn you to stay back,” he said and then turned toward the house.
She understood what he was really saying. He couldn’t technically allow her to be part of what was about to go down but he could look the other way.
Alice stalked around the porch, trying to get a view of the layout of the house. Joshua was right behind her, his calming presence keeping her from losing it. This was it. Isabel was here. And she was taking her home. Only where was that now? Her heart said with Joshua.
Bam. Bam. Bam. The sound of an agent banging on the front door echoed in the crisp morning air. The sun warmed her back as she heard the door open.
A man cried out as agents stormed the place, pushing past him, searching for Isabel. One of the men stayed back to deal with the dentist.
Alice was supposed to wait, but she couldn�
��t. With Joshua’s steadying force behind her, she flew toward the front door.
The dentist was already on his knees, his hands clasped on top of his head, and it took everything inside Alice not to hurt him the way he hurt others. He looked like someone she’d see at the library browsing, not a child molester. But then, experience had taught her that there was no type.
“I never meant to hurt her,” he repeated over and over again as he must’ve realized his life was going to be spent behind bars.
Isabel might be in one of the bedrooms and all those would most likely be upstairs, so Alice darted toward the staircase. As she ran up the first stair, she saw her and froze. Isabel looked frightened and weak next to the agent helping her at the top of the stairs. But when she spotted Alice, her face changed.
They met in the middle of the stairwell and embraced.
“You’re safe now,” Alice said, tears streaming down her face as she held Isabel in her arms.
“I knew you’d find me,” Isabel said softly, crying.
“You’re coming home.”
With those words, the teen sobbed.
* * *
JOSHUA WANTED EVERYTHING to be perfect for Alice, Isabel and the boys. He called ahead to the ranch and made arrangements for everyone to stay there a few days while waiting outside the hospital room.
Isabel needed to be examined by a doctor for forensic evidence purposes and there was a counselor on hand to begin the process of guiding her toward recovering from the horrible ordeal she’d endured. She was strong and that girl deserved to have the world at her fingertips. He would do everything in his power to ensure she got it.
Then there was Alice. Also strong and so tough on the exterior with such heart and tenderness on the inside. He’d never met a woman like her before and his heart said he never would again. Which was why he was determined to keep her in his life one way or the other.
The flurry of activity in her room had slowed and a nurse finally exited, saying she was ready to leave.
He stepped inside Isabel’s room. She was smiling through tears and talking quietly with Alice, who had introduced them earlier.