Sweet Reward: A Last Chance Rescue Novel

by Christy Reece

  Was Philippe talking? What had he told the police? Did they believe him? Or were his reputation and wealth going to get him out of this somehow?

  Just when she didn’t think she’d be able to stay away any longer, the study door swung open and Jared stalked out. He’d changed back into the clothes he’d had on the previous day, which had been found along with his bike. Other than his bruised face, still swollen eye, and the bandages on his wrists, he looked like Jared—indomitable and unwavering.

  Mia leaped toward him. “What’s going on?”

  He held up a piece of paper. “Want to go rescue a baby?”

  Squealing with glee, she flew into his arms. “Yes!”

  He held her tight for a second, then loosened his arms. “Let’s go.”

  They stood at the door of Alberta and Marcel Rennard’s home. Three police officers stood behind them. Jared knocked. A sour-faced woman answered. “Oui?”

  “We’re here to see Monsieur and Madame Rennard.”

  “Who may I say is calling?”

  “Just tell them it’s about their child.”

  A knowing look came over her face as she backed up and allowed them to step inside.

  Jared had given little thought to the people who’d purchased Lara’s baby or to the couples who’d purchased the other children. He now felt a small dose of sympathy for them. But he, better than anyone, knew that thousands of children were available for legal adoption. Yes, some had physical or emotional problems and some were older, but that didn’t make them any less deserving of good homes and loving parents. Perhaps these people had tried to take the legal route and it hadn’t worked out for them. He didn’t know. All he knew was that the child the Rennards had did not belong to them. He had promised Lara he’d bring her baby back to her, and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

  “Who’s there?”

  An attractive, middle-aged woman stopped in the middle of walking down the stairs. She didn’t look like a criminal; she actually seemed to be a pretty decent person. But the child she held in her arms gave him another viewpoint. Mandy Dennison’s chubby little arms clung tightly to the woman’s neck. Relief swept through him, and he swallowed around an odd lump in his throat. Lara was going to get her baby back.

  As the police explained why they were here, the woman’s expression grew grim, then revealed a resignation blended with grief. It was almost as if she had known this was going to happen.

  One of the officers, a policewoman, went up the stairs and gently lifted the baby from her arms. Alberta’s eyes followed the child as she disappeared out the door. Then, as if all will had left her body, she dropped onto the stairs and covered her face with her hands.

  Jared hadn’t expected this part to be difficult. Mandy didn’t belong to this woman, and what she had done was a criminal act. Still, as he looked at her shoulders trembling with grief, a part of him wanted to turn around and pretend that they hadn’t found the child.

  Unable to leave without knowing, he said, “If you wanted a child so badly, why didn’t you go the legal route?”

  She raised her head, tears pouring down her face. “It was taking so very long to get an infant. We were assured the child’s mother didn’t want her.”

  What these people had done was wrong, but he’d seen too many unwanted children in his life not to have a semblance of sympathy for someone who obviously wanted one.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Jared said and turned away. He’d made a commitment, and he planned to keep it. He could do nothing more.

  Outside the home, Jared was handed the little girl. Mandy had no idea of the excitement she had created. With blond, curly hair, green eyes, and pale, delicate skin, she looked very much like her mother.

  “The Dennisons have been notified,” the female officer said. “They’ll be at the police station.”

  Jared nodded his thanks. “We’ll follow you.”

  He headed to the car they’d borrowed from McCall, which had a baby seat in the back. Since Mandy had a tendency to kick with glee and grab at any hair within her reach, it took them over five minutes to get the child in the seat and buckled up.

  Once she was secure, they got in the front seat. Both were silent … the joy of finding the child had palled considerably. Finally, Mia asked, “What do you think will happen to them?”

  “They’ll go to jail. I don’t know for how long.”

  Mia felt Jared’s sadness, and it mingled with her own. Though he had stoically kept any emotion off his face and had done what he had said he would do, she knew he’d had sympathy for the woman who’d paid thousands for Lara’s child. What she and her husband had done was wrong, but after seeing the woman’s pain, it was difficult not to feel for her.

  She glanced toward the backseat; Mandy was looking out the window and playing with her fingers, completely unaware of the surrounding drama. What a lovely child she was—with an English rose prettiness, very much like Lara Dennison.

  Mia regarded Jared out of the corner of her eye. They had talked little since their escape. As far as LCR was concerned, the case was over. Jared had filled her in on the way over. Philippe had opened the safe, revealing the papers he’d kept as his insurance policy. The police now had all the information they needed to find the other missing children. And Philippe was in police custody, along with his band of thugs.

  Her case was officially over, too. Sandi Winston’s baby was in the southern part of France, just outside Toulouse. On the way to rescue Mandy Dennison, Mia had phoned the Toulouse police. They had already been notified by Parisian officials and had assured Mia that she would be called when the baby was located. They had declined her offer of assistance. She didn’t blame them; however, with LCR’s help, she would do everything she could to make sure the baby was placed with parents who loved her.

  They pulled into the police station and parked. Jared got out and lifted Mandy from the back and held her in his arms. It struck Mia as odd how very comfortable he seemed to be with the little girl. He held her as if he’d held many children in his past. The man continually surprised her.

  He headed inside the building, and Mia followed behind him, feeling somewhat like a third wheel. Her part in the op was officially over. There was no real reason for her to accompany him inside, no real reason for her to be here. Insecurity suddenly swamped her—a feeling she despised.

  The moment they stepped into the police station, Lara and Carter rushed toward them. The tears of joy on both their faces made Mia feel better. Though Philippe had insisted that Lara didn’t want her daughter, she saw nothing but love and extreme happiness on the woman’s face. Philippe had used the natural complaints of an exhausted mother to justify hisown hideous behavior. It was her sincere hope that the man would rot in jail.

  Jared handed the little girl to her mother, who kissed her and held her tight. Then she handed the child to her husband and turned back to Jared. And with surprising ease, she threw herself into his arms, and Jared held her close.

  Feeling even more like an intruder, Mia drew a ragged breath and backed away. Two people who’d hurt each other deeply were sharing a private moment. She didn’t belong there.

  Unnoticed, she turned and walked out the door. As she stood on the sidewalk, outside the station, she debated for only a moment before she raised her hand to hail a taxi. Jared would fill Lara and Carter in on what had occurred. Mia felt a sudden need for a long, hot shower and solitude.

  A cab pulled to a stop in front of her, and Mia jumped into the back. She gave her address to the driver, and then, despite everything telling her not to, she turned around and stared at the police station, willing Jared to come out and stop her. The taxi turned a corner, and the building disappeared from view.

  She had vanished. Just like that. He’d been in the middle of a conversation with Lara and had felt Mia back away. He’d figured she was going to wait for him outside, but when he finally got loose from Lara and came to find her, she was gone.

  He coul
d remember few times in his adult life when he had been unsure of himself. With his training and abilities, self-doubt rarely came into play. When lives were at risk, questioning himself could lead to disaster. Having played different roles for most of his life, once he got into character, he was totally that person. But now, he wasn’t playing a role. He was just a man named Jared Livingston in love for the first time in his life. And he was scared spitless.

  What did Mia feel? Since she had arrived in Paris, they’d been together almost every moment. He’d told her things no other living soul knew. She now knew him better than anyone. Problem was, how did she feel about what she knew? Could she see herself spending her life with a man who’d made a living out of being anyone but himself?

  Disgusted with these new, insecure thoughts, Jared jumped into the car. Something had happened back in that toolshed. They’d shared something he’d never felt before—a connection and a bond. She had felt it too, hadn’t she?

  There was only one way to know. He had no doubt that she had returned to her apartment. She was wearing borrowed clothes and, other than the dousing from the garden hose, hadn’t showered in two days. A small, rational part of his brain, where emotion rarely entered, told him to let her get some rest. She’d been through a traumatic event—she needed time to process what had happened. He should give her time, then go to her in a few days.

  Another part of him, one he’d only just discovered, said that he needed to hold her … to touch her. He needed to know that she was all right. He needed.

  Jared parked on the street and raced up to her apartment. Fear, nervousness, anticipation, and hope blended and jostled to create an odd mass of feelings and an uncomfortable adrenaline rush. What if she didn’t feel the same way? What if she was already packing, getting ready to go back to Chicago?

  What if, now that she knew the real Jared Livingston, she didn’t like him?

  Suddenly furious at her and himself, Jared pounded on the door.

  At the startling noise, Mia whirled around. It could be no one other than Jared. She turned back to the bathroom mirror and picked up the cold washcloth she’d put over her eyes after her crying binge. She had known he’d be here at some point and had thought to erase the signs of a weepy, overemotional woman. Though being emotional was part of her makeup, this was totally different. There was a huge fear factor in the mix now. What if he was here to say goodbye? What if he wanted to continue seeing her, but only when they could arrange it? What if he was just here to get his clothes? What if—

  The pounding began again, and he shouted, “Mia, let me in. Now!”

  She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She had never backed down from anything in her life. Damned if she’d back down from this. Her steps strong and determined, Mia went to the door and swung it open. And faced a large, infuriated man.

  “Why the hell did you leave?”

  “You had everything under control. I didn’t need to be there.”

  He advanced into the room with such force, Mia jumped back before he slammed into her. “So that’s it? The job is over? You’re just going to walk away?”

  She wanted so many things right now. To leap into his arms, to tell him she loved him, to ask him to move in with her, to ask him to marry her, to ask him to have children with her. So. Many. Things.

  “Was there another reason I should have stayed?”

  They stared at each other, both breathing heavily as if they’d run a race. Emotions bubbled within her, aching to explode. The tension mounted. Was he going to say anything? Could she tell him she loved him without first knowing what his response and answer would be?

  Soft as a whisper, the answer came. Yes, she could. Even if he didn’t feel the same way, telling this wonderful, heroic, beautiful man that she loved and adored him suddenly felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  Gentle, tender words of love formed in her mind, but what she planned to say wasn’t exactly what came out. “Dammit, I love you, Jared Livingston, and if you’re too dense to know it, then that’s your problem.”

  Incredulous joy crossed his face a half second before he jerked her into his arms and growled against her mouth, “I love you, Mia Ryker Maxwell, and you damn well better love me back.”

  Her sobbing laugh smothered beneath his kiss, Mia wrapped her arms around this gruff, wonderfully giving man and knew that at last she’d found what she’d been searching for her entire life. She had found her very own hero.

  epilogue

  Two weeks later

  Rome, Italy

  Jared stood beside Mia at the guardhouse and waited as security inspected their identification. This would be his first official meeting with Mia’s parents. He’d talked to both of them briefly after the news had broken about Ricard. He’d answered the phone while Mia was asleep one afternoon. Though neither of them realized what the bastard had done to their daughter, they’d been appalled at the charges and had wanted to make sure she was all right. He had introduced himself and assured them that she was fine. When Mia woke, she had called and told them she would be coming for a visit. As she’d said those words, she had looked at him with a question in her eyes: would he be coming with her?

  He’d met only one other set of parents before, and that had been Lara’s. The couple had arrived only moments before their daughter’s wedding; barely an hour later, they were gone. Lara had told him that she and her parents weren’t close. After that experience, he’d believed her. He hoped this meeting would go better, because it meant a lot to Mia. And anything important to Mia was important to Jared, too.

  Though he’d met her father years ago, he doubted the man would remember him. Hopefully, he wouldn’t. Jared had been undercover at the time, and those kinds of meetings were best forgotten as soon as they ended. Even if the man remembered Jared, he most likely wouldn’t reveal that he did. Quinton Maxwell had been around for a long time. He knew how to keep secrets.

  Jared glanced at the woman standing beside him. Every time he looked at her, his chest tightened with emotions he could barely comprehend. Sometimes he’d wake in the middle of the night, reach over, and pull her to him just so he could confirm that she was there beside him. He, who for most of his life could barely stand to be touched, couldn’t seem to stop touching this woman. He could have so easily lost her.

  Ricard was in jail, awaiting trial. The papers in his safe had been his initial downfall. Then, when Ricard had been questioned about the murders of Josette Fitzgerald, André Baldwin, and Paul Raymond, he’d blamed everything on one of his employees—Garwood Kinsey. On hearing that his employer was throwing him under the bus, Kinsey, one of the men involved in his and Mia’s torture, had turned the tables on his employer and sung like the proverbial bird. So far, eight children had been found and seven had been returned to their parents or relatives. One little girl, Sandi Winston’s daughter, had no relatives and no home to be returned to.

  Jared had known that this wouldn’t be a happy ending for everyone. His years in foster care hadn’t been good. But there was one thing he could do that no one had done for him: he could and would keep up with Sandi’s child and any of the other children who ended up in the foster-care system. They wouldn’t fall through the cracks, as so many others had.

  The couples who’d knowingly purchased the stolen children would most likely serve time in jail; that was a given. However, Jared had seen firsthand that the Rennards had taken good care of Mandy. Both he and Mia had offered to testify on their behalf. It was up to the authorities now.

  Jacques Ricard, Philippe’s cousin, had taken over the running of the Ricard Foundation. The publicity had damaged the charity’s reputation, but an investigation into its spending had revealed that if nothing else, Philippe Ricard had indeed put the tainted money back into the foundation. That didn’t mean the man wasn’t crazy, but at least people knew that all donated funds had been used for what they’d been intended for.

  Mia shifted restlessly beside him; he glan
ced down at her again. “You okay?”

  Her smile was bright but slightly nervous. “I’m still not sure I should tell them about Nadia.”

  He disagreed but said, “Then don’t do it. It’s your choice.”

  “What will it accomplish for them to find out the truth?”

  “For one thing, they’ll keep a closer eye on her. She almost got you killed, Mia. I don’t take too kindly to that.”

  “Okay, I agree. I just don’t know if it’ll serve any purpose to tell them about Lewis or any of the other times she’s screwed with my life.”

  Nadia’s interference in Mia’s life was permanently over. He’d seen to that. Not only did he intend to be around to protect Mia from the bitch’s viciousness for the rest of his life; he’d also placed a private phone call to the woman. Jared never made empty threats. He had told her exactly what he would do to her if she ever hurt Mia again. At first the woman had been belligerent and threatening. Five minutes later, she’d hung up sounding shaken. He’d scared the shit out of her because she had realized he meant every word.

  “Tell your parents as much or as little as you like.”

  She smiled her appreciation and then turned when a feminine voice trilled, “Darling!” An elegantly clad woman ran toward the gate. Phoebe Maxwell looked like an older version of Mia. Taller and with a slightly heavier frame and blue instead of dark brown eyes, but there was no doubt that she was Mia’s mother.

  Finally getting the nod of approval from the guard, Mia and Jared passed through the gate. Mia was immediately enveloped in her mother’s arms. Jared stood a step away, waiting for the reception to end.

  Seconds later, Mia held out her hand for him and said, “Mom, I’d like you to meet Jared Livingston.”

  Phoebe Maxwell was gracious and warm as she took his hand. “Welcome, Jared. It’s so good to finally meet you.”

  Standing between them, Phoebe Maxwell linked arms with first Mia, then Jared and led them into the stately three-story, light brown brick house. “Your father had to go in to work this morning, but he should be here any minute.” She frowned slightly. “I had hoped Nadia would fly in from Milan today, but she says she’s too busy.”