Out of Uniform

by Catherine Mann

  Even the thick swaddling of a bedspread couldn’t ease the cold that thought brought.

  She bit her lip to keep from asking questions. If she interrupted him, the information would only come slower from whoever had called.

  Jacob extended the phone toward her. “It’s Spike.”

  “The border patrol? He found something?” She could barely allow herself to hope everything could be resolved this quickly.

  He shook his head. “Your home phone. Someone called and left a message, someone claiming to be Evan.”

  She forgot to breathe. Something she didn’t realize until the room grew dim and Jacob grasped her arm. She gasped in air.

  “Spike wants to play the tape over the phone for you to identify the voice.”

  Dee grabbed for the receiver and cradled it to her ear, a lifeline to her son. Please, please, please. “Agent Keagan? This is Dee Lambert. I’m ready whenever you are.”

  She kept her eyes focused on Jacob’s face, needing the contact. The strength. Oh God, she couldn’t face another letdown if this wasn’t her baby boy.

  “Yes, ma’am, hold on just a second while I patch through the recording.”

  A crackle sounded then cleared. “Mommy?”

  The one word squeezed the air from her lungs. She gripped the phone as if she could somehow strengthen the connection.

  “Mommy? I don’t feel so good. Please come and get me….”

  A dial tone echoed as the call faded away. A click sounded, followed by Keagan coming back on the line to ask her a question she could barely hear over the roaring in her head.

  Now she couldn’t stop breathing, gasping, shaking. She forced her lips to move. “It’s him. It’s Evan.”

  Chapter 16

  H e stared out his bedroom window at his parents’ silver Suburban and wished like hell he could just drive away from here.

  Chase punched his pillow and imagined he could sock Jacob Stone for putting him in this crappy situation. He flung the goose down lump away, envisioning it was Emily, getting the hell out of his life once and for all. No more trying to trap him with her clingy demands to spend time with her. He liked the kid, sure, but he just wasn’t ready to be a dad yet. He wanted to play the field awhile longer. He was only just turning eighteen tomorrow, for God’s sake. There were so many women out there.

  Like Dee.

  Man, she was hot and didn’t even know it, a big part of her appeal. He flopped back on his bed, remembering the time he’d snuck into her room while she’d been bathing. He’d only wanted to freak her out a little to rattle Jacob. So he’d used some of his mom’s lipstick to write on Dee’s mirror.

  He’d hoped to shake up Jacob and yeah, while he’d been watching, he’d seen the man get totally pissed off. He should have felt victorious…. But afterward, nothing had changed. Jacob hadn’t bolted back to Charleston with Emily in tow. Chase’s world was just as junked up as before and ready to explode.

  For nearly a year the pressure in his head had built and built. He’d been about to break up with Emily this time last winter so he could go out with this other girl.

  Then Emily had told him she was pregnant and now he had to make like he was a devoted dad when he was dying to bang this chick in his study hall. He could have walked away from Emily easily enough, though, at first, but his parents had put the screws to him about doing the right thing, blah, blah, blah.

  He had to be free of her, and if that meant he had to leave the kid behind, too, then so be it. Now would be a good time to make his move, anyway, with all the local cops in a tizz because of Dee’s ex-husband.

  Lucky bastard. Nobody seemed able to turn up squat about him. The guy had done a kick-butt job of covering his tracks. Disappearing into thin air.

  Chase sat up, an idea sparking. Maybe that’s what he should do. Screw it all and leave this place. Sure he would miss Madison, but it wasn’t like the cops were letting him see her, anyway, since the misunderstanding at the Lodge. He’d only been helping himself to some money from the cash drawer, his due for things like shoveling the walk and helping out with the kid.

  He swung his feet to the floor and opened his bedside table. There it was. His passport. He’d heard about tons of jobs with the oil pipelines coming out of Alaska. He could use the rest of the money he’d taken from the Lodge—enough for a bus or train ticket.

  Eighteen tomorrow, he could start a new life in Canada, just like that “Mr. Smith” who’d been smart enough to offload his excess baggage.

  And if Emily was wise, she would stay the hell out of his way or she would find herself in Dee’s shoes—dumped for dead by the side of the road.

  So close.

  Squinting her eyes against the early morning sun, Dee could hardly believe her child had been so close all along. Less than an hour away according to the phone trace on the cell call that had gone through. Thank goodness Evan had left the phone turned on long enough for authorities to trace the location.

  Amazing how little time it took these days, but then maybe Jacob’s friend Spike really did know the “superspy” tricks Crusty had credited him with. Her heart warmed whenever she thought about the outpouring of support from those men she barely knew, men who’d dedicated all their time and energy into helping her find Evan.

  Now Jacob drove as fast as he could, given the crummy conditions on the rutted, icy back road. The police wanted her to go to the station and wait while they pursued the matter.

  Not a chance would she sit around. She was closer to the target location than the police and her child had said he was sick. Nothing would keep her from finding him as quickly as possible. She gripped the EpiPen in her pocket and prayed Blane hadn’t accidentally fed Evan anything with peanuts.

  Dee was willing to meet authorities at the site—if she could see Evan and reassure herself he was well. She had to be there the minute they found her son. How frightened he would be to ride in a cop car. As much as she respected the local police, she knew the hoops they had to jump through sometimes to stay within legal boundaries. And frankly she didn’t trust that they would get their paperwork together before Blane had a chance to bolt away. She couldn’t take that chance with Evan’s life at stake.

  Seconds whipped past with each jostle down the weathered road deeper into the forest north of Rockfish. Anticipation, tentative hope and more than a little fear spiraled inside her as they drove deeper into the cluster of icy firs. They hadn’t seen a house in at least ten or more minutes.

  Jacob slowed, turning off the engine to coast silently downhill as the seasonal road narrowed to nothing more than sludgy dirt.

  Dee held up her hand. “I know. Don’t get my hopes up.” As if she could actually control that. Still, she tried to be logical so Jacob wouldn’t worry about her wigging out. “It was just a cell call and the phone turned off shortly after that. They could be gone now.”

  He simply nodded, his eyes on the road, keeping his silence.

  Even as they coasted, engine soundless, every crunch of the tires over the irregular road overly loud. She knew intellectually their approach was stealthy. Still, she couldn’t stop wincing at every little noise.

  When the clump of towering firs began to thin, he pressed the brakes and pulled out binoculars, scanning in the morning light filtering through the evergreen branches. She watched his expression for a hint….

  His jaw flexed.

  “What?” She couldn’t keep the hope from her voice. “What do you see?”

  He passed the binoculars to her. The casing still warm from his hands, she whipped them up to her eyes, pointed them where Jacob had looked last and found…

  A blue truck with a camper attached to the back.

  Someone was actually here, in the deserted area where a cell phone call had come through. Blane and Evan? The curtains were closed, so she had no way of knowing if anyone was inside, but still…

  She prayed the camper didn’t hold a group of hunters. “I guess we have to wait for them to step out or fo
r the police to show up.”

  “That would be wise.” He reached to squeeze her arm before taking back the binoculars. “We can still watch. If they are inside and he tries to leave with Evan, we can stop him.”

  The conviction in his voice left her with no doubts. Jacob would die before letting her son get away again.

  Die?

  For the first time she realized she’d pulled him into a potentially lethal situation. Blane had already tried to kill her once, had tormented her with the lipstick incident. And she gave far more credence to those moments when she’d felt someone was watching her. But she knew Jacob wouldn’t turn away now. She also knew he wouldn’t be going into this alone.

  Hopefully neither of them would if the police showed up soon.

  Jacob sat up straighter in his seat.

  “What do you see?” She tugged at his arm. Damn it, why hadn’t he brought two sets of binoculars?

  “Stay here.” He turned to leave. “I’ll be right back.”

  She grabbed his shoulder. “Sit here? You’ve got to be out of your mind. I’ve had enough of sitting and waiting to last a lifetime. Two lifetimes even.” She thought of how often her parents had made all the decisions, and later how Blane had pushed her into the life he wanted for her. She wouldn’t be shoved aside to a passive role any longer. “I will not lounge around while you play Rambo.”

  Jacob’s mouth twitched in an almost grin.

  Dee swatted his arm, frustration leaving her nerves tattered. “Don’t laugh at me. I’m serious.”

  His face smoothed into genuine concern. “I know you are, but so am I. There’s a man walking around, a guy wearing some kind of parka with a hood up, but he looks like your ex-husband.”

  She grabbed the binoculars from his hands and peered through until she saw…the back of a man in heavy winter gear. His height was right, but she couldn’t tell anything more unless he faced her, which, damn it all, he didn’t do before disappearing behind the camper.

  She dropped the binoculars to her lap. “I can’t tell if it’s him.”

  Jacob reached for his door. “I’ll try for a closer look, then.” He turned back for the binoculars. “I’ll be right back. I promise. Lock the doors.”

  She realized she wouldn’t be able to sway him. And Evan might not be there, in which case she was wasting valuable time arguing with Jacob.

  “Be careful.” Dee flipped up the collar of his coat and kissed him, hard.

  All the shared passion of the night before linked her to him. She could have sworn his kiss held the same for those hungry five seconds until he broke away.

  Before she could find the breath to speak, Jacob ducked out of the truck and strode away. His boot prints in the snow left lengthy-strided reminders of his strength.

  How long would she have to wait? Long enough to go stir-crazy, no doubt. She eased her door open so she could listen better.

  Wind whistled through the evergreens in gusts. Snow-laden branches swayed in a creaking dance overhead. The occasional icicle crackled, snapped, spiraled down to spike into the snow inches away from Jacob. He circled left, ducking around a fir. To her right, wind chimes tinkled on the breeze like a child’s sweet laugh.

  A child’s laugh?

  Dee held herself immobile and strained to listen, half certain her intense wishful thinking made her imagination play tricks on her. The high-pitched lilt sprinkled the air again. Definitely a wind chime. Was there someone singing along in time? Her hope burned so intensely she worried about trusting her own ears.

  She tipped her head to the wind and listened…. Again, she heard a young voice singing along. A strong, healthy voice. Her breath caught in her chest. Did Jacob hear, too, even though the voice came from the opposite direction he’d taken?

  Dee’s gaze skated left. Should she follow Jacob and tell him—or track the voice herself before it faded away?

  She didn’t even have to wait for the answer. Blane wasn’t going to defeat “Dee” the way he had “Deirdre.” She had to be there for Jacob and Evan.

  Jacob had helped her trust herself, to take an active role in going after what she wanted. Never again would she be the Deirdre who’d run away from Blane so intensely she lost herself in the process.

  Dee stepped from the truck. Her tennis shoes crunched against the hardpacked snow. She winced, as if Blane might hear and somehow know she’d come for their child.

  Quit being ridiculous.

  Dee picked her way through the sinister beauty of the frozen branches. The tinkling notes lured her closer, chimes and something else. Like those late-night infant whimpers and whispers that only a mother heard, each elusive sound sent Dee’s maternal instincts on full-scale alert.

  Then she heard it. Precisely. Chimes followed by the unmistakable giggle of a child.

  Her child. Every cell within her cried out for her baby, a voice she’d recognized since hearing his first tiny wail.

  Adrenaline pumped stinging heat through her as she wove past another fir. She ducked behind a towering trunk and listened. Again, Evan’s laugh kissed the air. Dee pressed herself against the ice-slicked bark and peeked around.

  Air whooshed from her lungs. Behind the camper where their binoculars couldn’t have seen, Evan danced through the snow in his navy-blue snowsuit with energy and health to spare. Scooping up a fistful from a drift, he packed it into a ball and pitched it at the wind chimes abandoned on the branches of a twisted oak tree by some long-ago camper. He giggled as his aim proved true.

  That laugh wrapped around her soul and squeezed. Love pounded through her with an intensity that rivaled labor contractions, along with a relief so intense she could hardly contain it all. Tears chased each other down her cheeks. Her arms ached with an emptiness she would soon fill.

  Evan.

  She almost bolted forward before she remembered the inherent danger. Where was Blane? And Jacob? Dee scanned the small clearing and found no one.

  Adult-size boot prints left twisting paths, some older and half-filled with fresh snow. The deepest, most recent ones led to the cab of the vehicle. Through the window she saw…Blane was inside.

  Cranking the engine.

  He couldn’t be leaving Evan. No way. He must be warming the car, in which case, time had run out for them. God, where was Jacob?

  This could be it, a sliver of time to regain her child. If she waited for Jacob, Blane might come retrieve Evan before they could stop him. He could step out at any second.

  She couldn’t afford to wait. Tears froze on her cheeks as she sprinted from behind the tree trunk’s protective cover. Her heart slammed against her ribs with each pounding footstep. Only a few more yards and she would have him.

  Evan turned. His laugh rose into a squeal. “Mommy!”

  What a beautiful word, a name she feared she would never hear again. Her arms locked around him and held tight. The sweet smell of him filled her senses.

  “Evan!” Her breath hitched on a sob, and she hugged tighter. “I have you, baby. Mommy’s got you.”

  “Missed you, Mommy.” His sweet words puffed clouds into the subfreezing air. “You was gone a long time, so I snuck Daddy’s phone away and called you.”

  With a familiarity that broke Dee’s heart all over again, Evan clutched a lock of her hair and nuzzled it to his face. So often as a baby he’d done that very thing, like clasping a security blanket. How frightened and confused he must have been during his time away from her.

  “I’m here now and nothing’s going to make me leave again.” The sound of the revving engine sent shivers down her spine. Blane was so close. Enough of happy reunions. She needed to get Evan away, fast. “We’re gonna go for a ride.”

  “What about Daddy?” Evan glanced over his shoulder. He gripped her hair until she winced.

  “Shh, sweetie,” Dee whispered as she stumbled back toward the cluster of trees. Evan’s extra weight threw her off balance. She forced herself to sacrifice speed for a more surefooted pace. The last thing she needed
was to sprawl in the snow. “It’s Mommy’s turn to see you for a while.”

  “Okay.” He smiled, innocently oblivious to the trauma all around him. “I was sick from the candy bar but Daddy gave me a sticky pin.”

  Thank God Blane had remembered about the extra Epis she always kept around Evan. “Good, that’s great. But I need you to be very quiet. We can talk all you want once we get to the truck.”

  Hugging her son closer, she started back toward where she’d come. If she could just make it back out of the clearing, she would have cover. Where was Jacob? Taking on life solo stunk. She could have used his clear-thinking steadiness.

  And suddenly, there he was, tall, strong, dependable. Only a few yards away with his back to her he darted around a thick evergreen. Did she dare call out to him and risk alerting Blane? What choice did she have? She would have to take the chance.

  “Jacob!” she called, gasping, stumbling as her feet hooked on a root. She twisted to protect Evan as she tumbled into the snow.

  “Dee!” Jacob shouted as he broke through the trees, one arm outstretched. The dread on his face broadcast far greater concerns than a simple fall in the snow.

  “Deirdre,” a chilling voice echoed from behind her.

  Chapter 17

  T en yards too far away to help, Jacob watched Dee tumble to the snow with her son clutched to her. A medium-build, blond man who matched Lambert’s mug shot with eerie accuracy approached her, gun in hand.

  Jacob felt as if his brain had been cleaved in two. One part of him assessed the situation with a calm of old. The other part urged him to fling himself on top of Dee and her child, shield them from the evil only three steps away. Why the hell had she left the truck?

  “Deirdre,” the man beside her called, each step toward her a menacing promise. He kept his eyes fixed on Jacob, his gun trained on Dee.

  Her body jerked as if she’d been slapped. Dee’s face tightened and she squeezed her eyes shut as Evan whimpered in her arms.