Hard to Hold

by Karen Foley

  So Colton had grown up in what he considered to be the best of two worlds. He’d spent the school year living with his father in Monterey, and his summers on the reservation with his mother. When he was eight years old, she had married a rancher and moved to Pyramid Lake, about three hours north of Reno, where they had started their own family. But they’d never made Colton feel like an outsider, and he felt equally comfortable in his mother’s rustic ranch house as he did in his father’s sprawling seaside villa.

  He also had two best friends—Aiden Cross, his childhood buddy from Monterey, who now served as a navy SEAL, and Siyota Fast Horse, a patrolman on the reservation. Colton found it ironic that both he and Siyota had chosen careers in law enforcement, considering they’d done nothing but raise hell as kids.

  With a deep sigh, he stretched out on the sofa and bunched a throw pillow behind his head. The air-conditioning was cool against his still-heated skin, and he welcomed it. He thought of Madeleine in the other room, and how she had felt in his arms.

  How she had tasted.

  He recalled again the sweet sounds she’d made as he’d used his hands and mouth to bring her to orgasm. Just the memory of those noises made him groan in frustration. He was beyond exhausted, but knew he wouldn’t sleep.

  He needed to develop a plan to free Madeleine’s brother, without putting her in danger. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the small key that he’d retrieved from the tin box at the cabin and studied it closely. He’d seen enough similar keys to know it went to a safety deposit box. He could only imagine what Maddie’s grandfather might have kept locked away. She hadn’t given the key a second glance as she’d sorted through the items in the tin box, so he knew her grandfather hadn’t shared the information with her. As Colton slipped the key back into his pocket, he decided part of his plan would include finding the bank and deposit box that this key belonged to.

  He knew Cooper would help him, and his friend Aiden had just returned from Afghanistan for three weeks of rest and relaxation before he needed to report to duty in San Diego. As a navy SEAL, he had some seriously bad-ass skill in hostage rescues. Both men were in California, and could be in Reno within a matter of hours. But as a plan slowly began to formulate in his head, Colton knew he would need more manpower than just himself and two other guys.

  He’d need a tribe.

  8

  “WHERE ARE WE GOING?”

  Colton didn’t so much as glance at Maddie, instead keeping his focus trained on the dark highway ahead. “Somewhere safe.”

  He had woken her up early that morning by turning on the bedside lamps and telling her brusquely that he wanted to be on the road in thirty minutes. He’d retreated into the living room before she was fully awake.

  Maddie had been wrenched by anxiety as she’d quickly dressed. Would he mention the previous night? Did he regret what they had done? Did she have the courage to face him? But when she’d finally ventured into the living room, he’d occupied himself by packing his duffel bag, gesturing toward her breakfast on the table. She’d glanced at his discarded dishes. From all appearances, he hadn’t had much of an appetite.

  Maddie had picked at her omelet and fruit, and had gulped down two cups of strong coffee before Colton abruptly told her they were leaving. She felt more than a little intimidated by his attitude, and self-conscious enough that she couldn’t quite bring herself to meet his eyes. But he was so cool and remote, she thought she might have imagined what had happened the previous night if she hadn’t known better.

  But while they could avoid talking about it, the knowledge of what they had done hung in the air between them. It was there in the set of his shoulders and the way he deliberately avoided any physical contact with her. She decided she was fine with that, but every time she glanced at him, she was reminded of how his hands had felt on her body, and a little shiver went through her.

  Outside, it was still dark, and Madeleine had at first been afraid he was taking her to the authorities. But he’d left the city and turned onto Highway 80 again. She had tried to figure out where he was taking her, but the best she could determine was that they were headed north.

  Away from Reno.

  Away from her brother.

  “I don’t need for you to take care of me,” she said quietly. “I can do this without you, but only if you leave me in Reno. I need to be in Reno.”

  He spared her one swift, hard glance. “Is that where he’s being held? Your brother?”

  She hesitated, not wanting to tell him anything. Her greatest fear was that the law would somehow become involved, and the kidnappers would kill Jamie rather than risk being caught.

  “Madeleine, right now I’m your best chance at saving your brother.” Impatience edged Colton’s voice, making it sound harder.

  “You could get him killed.”

  “Not if you tell me everything.” He glanced over at her. “Together, we can get your brother back, but you need to talk to me, Madeleine.”

  Maddie turned to stare blindly out the window. He was doing it again, lulling her into believing that she could trust him. But she had no reason to mistrust him, not after all he had done, and especially considering the horrible things she’d put him through. And he still hadn’t dragged her to the nearest sheriff’s station.

  Then there was last night. She would willingly have had sex with him. She’d wanted him badly, even after he’d brought her to orgasm, but his entire focus had been on her pleasure, and he’d taken none for himself. After he’d left, she’d felt rejected, but now she wondered if perhaps he’d retreated out of some sense of honor.

  “Okay, let’s start with what I know,” he suggested quietly. “Your brother’s name is Jamie. You were both raised by your grandfather in that cabin. You went to college in Elko, and at some point during that time, your brother came to live with you, and he finished high school there. Now he’s a senior at the California Institute of Technology, and like you, he’s something of a math whiz. A real genius, by all accounts, and his specialty is counting cards. My guess is that he’s gotten himself involved with some bad moneylenders. If they’re who I think they are, Jamie’s life is in real danger.”

  Maddie turned to stare at Colton. He’d said that with one call he could find out everything about her, but the knowledge that he’d actually done so was disconcerting.

  “What else did you find out?” she asked waspishly.

  A ghost of a smile touched his mouth. “Relax. I have no idea when you first got laid, if that’s what you’re wondering.” He was silent for a moment, and Maddie could see a muscle working in his lean jaw. “About last night—”

  “Forget it.” Her voice came out sharper than she intended. “I already have.”

  He slanted her a swiftly assessing look. “Really?”

  “Yes.” She sounded defiant.

  “I haven’t forgotten.” He watched her with heated eyes. His voice dropped an octave. “I haven’t forgotten one damned thing. In fact, it’s all I’ve thought about since I left you last night.”

  “So why did you leave?” As soon as the words left her mouth, Maddie regretted them. They made her sound pathetic.

  Needy.

  “Madeleine—”

  “Forget it,” she said again bitterly. “I don’t care. The only thing I care about is getting my brother back safely.”

  “I want the same thing,” he insisted. “That’s why you need to tell me what you know about these men. How did your brother become involved with them?”

  Maddie was silent for several moments, weighing her options, before she blew out a hard breath. “Do you remember I told you that my father taught me how to play blackjack and poker?”

  Colton gave a brief nod.

  “Well, my grandfather taught Jamie. He taught both of us how to do more than just play. He showed us how
to game the system.” She turned again to stare out at the dark landscape. “I was good at it, but Jamie was really good. He got himself in trouble a couple of times during high school, buying into private games and then cleaning out players who were twice his age, and ten times meaner. The last time he did that, he ended up in the hospital. When he left for college, I made him promise to give up gambling.”

  “But he didn’t.”

  Maddie snorted. “If you discovered anything about my background, you know that addiction runs in my family like a virus. Addiction to alcohol, gambling, the thrill of the game. Call it whatever you want. My brother has it in spades, just like my father and my grandfather.”

  Colton surprised her by reaching across the seat and covering her hand with his own, gently squeezing her fingers. “We’ll get him back.”

  Maddie drew in a trembling breath and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. What Colton didn’t understand was that Jamie was all she had left. Sure, he’d been in trouble before, but never anything like this.

  “Do you know if he was with anyone else when he came to Reno?”

  Maddie shook her head. “I don’t know. He belonged to a group of blackjack players at school. I think he traveled with them, but I can’t be sure.” She gave Colton a brief smile. “He knew I disapproved, so he never talked about it.”

  “But you knew he was still gambling?”

  “I didn’t know for sure, but I suspected. The last time I visited him at school, I was shocked by the expensive things he had. You don’t afford brand name clothing and top of the line electronics on a college work-study salary.”

  “Tell me how you learned he was in trouble.”

  “Someone delivered a funeral arrangement to my house the other morning, along with a note.” She shivered. “A few hours later, I got a phone call from Jamie. He wasn’t actually crying, but I could tell he was close to it, and that he was afraid. Really afraid. I think they were hurting him.”

  “What did he say?”

  “That he was sorry. That he’d had a bad run of cards and had lost some money. He’d given the men my name, and told them I was good for the amount he’d lost.”

  “How much?”

  “Fifty thousand dollars.”

  Colton swore softly. “How long did they give you?”

  “Seventy-two hours. Which is why we need to go back to Reno. We’ve already burned almost forty-eight of those hours. If I don’t bring the money to the drop area by tomorrow morning, they’ll kill Jamie.”

  “Did he give you any information about the men who were holding him?”

  “No. They only let me talk to him for a few seconds.”

  “Do you have an address for the drop site?”

  Maddie shook her head. “No. They gave me a phone number and told me to call it tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”

  “Do you have the number?”

  She gave him a tolerant look. “Of course I do.”

  “Okay. Tomorrow morning, you can make the call, but there’s no way you’re going to the drop site.”

  “Colton—”

  “Trust me,” he said grimly. “Nobody is going to hurt your brother.”

  They drove in silence after that until the sun began to lighten the edges of the sky, washing the horizon in streaks of pale gold and orange and casting the mountain peaks in stark silhouette.

  “Where are we going?” Maddie ventured. They had left the highway and were winding their way steadily through the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.

  “Pyramid Lake.”

  Even as he said the words, they passed a road sign. Maddie read the words as they swept past, and then swiveled in her seat to stare at Colton in disbelief. “You’re taking me to an Indian reservation? Why?”

  He spared her one hard glance. “I grew up on Pyramid Lake.”

  “You’re Paiute?”

  “Shoshone. At least, on my mother’s side.”

  Maddie shook her head. “I still don’t understand. Why are we here?”

  “Because I have a plan, and I need you to be safe while I’m gone. And the safest place I know is here, with my family.”

  Electrified, she stared at him. “Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

  He compressed his lips. “I have a plan to get your brother back, but I need you to stay here.”

  “Whatever your plan is, I’m coming with you. They’ll be expecting to see me, not a U.S. marshal.”

  “You’re out of your league, Madeleine. I know the kind of men your brother is involved with, and I don’t want you anywhere near them. This is bigger than you realize. If I’m right, the men who have your brother run an illegal gambling ring that extends from coast to coast, and even outside the U.S. borders. They’re professionals. Besides, what are you going to bring? You have no money.”

  “No thanks to you,” she retorted, on the verge of tears. “If you hadn’t gotten involved, I’d have won enough money from the casinos to pay his debt, and my brother would already be home.”

  Colton made a scoffing sound. “That’s bull and you know it. First of all, there’s no way you could have won that much money without the casino figuring out what you were up to. Second of all, if I hadn’t gotten involved, you’d be dead or in jail. Not to mention if you hadn’t flashed that gun back at the diner, I wouldn’t have had to get involved at all. You got me into this, and now you have to live with it.”

  “He’s all I have.” She hadn’t meant to blurt out the words that had been drumming through her head since this nightmare had begun. But if anything happened to Jamie, she didn’t know what she would do. He was all she had left in the world, and she was terrified that he would be injured or worse.

  To her surprise, Colton pulled the truck to the side of the road and thrust it into Park. Reaching across the seat, he hauled her into his arms.

  “I know what he means to you.” His voice was gruff against her ear. “I promise you I won’t let anything happen to him. I have a plan, but it means leaving you for a short time. I won’t be gone long, but I need to know you’ll be safe—that you won’t do anything stupid.” Pulling back, he bracketed her face in his hands and searched her eyes. “Okay?”

  Maddie stared at him, her throat tight with emotion, and managed a brief nod. His expression relaxed fractionally, and his gaze drifted over her features. She could see the concern that lingered in his dark eyes and the lines of tension around his mouth, and guilt stabbed at her. If not for her, he’d be enjoying his fishing vacation.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice catching. “I never meant to get you involved. You’ve done so much for me, and all I’ve done in return is lie to you, steal from you, drug you....”

  To her surprise, Colton grinned. “Hey, every relationship has its problems.”

  Maddie stared at him, too surprised by his irreverence to immediately respond.

  “Look,” he said softly, stroking his thumb across her cheek, “try not to worry so much. This is what I do best, okay?”

  “Colton—” She broke off, unsure how to continue. She was unaccustomed to revealing her feelings, and wasn’t certain Colton would want to hear about them, even if she could find the words.

  “What is it, darlin’?”

  His thumb still moved sensuously against her cheek, and his expression was so warm that Maddie felt her heart turn over in her chest.

  “I lied.” She swallowed hard. “I haven’t stopped thinking about last night, either.”

  Colton’s expression softened, and he drew her toward him. “Ah, Madeleine...”

  “No, don’t be nice to me,” she begged. “I don’t deserve your kindness.”

  He smiled again, a tender curving of his lips as he drew her inexorably closer. “No,” he agreed. “You deserve much more.”

  His mou
th came over hers in a kiss so sweet that Maddie felt tears prick the back of her eyelids. He coaxed a response from her, pushing past her lips to taste the inside of her mouth, his tongue teasing hers. Maddie sighed in pleasure, acknowledging that this was what she had been wanting.

  All too soon, Colton pulled back. “We should get going,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

  She nodded and watched as he paused with one hand on the shift. He angled his head to look at her.

  “I know what your brother means to you, Madeleine. I have two brothers of my own, and I’d do anything for either of them.” He paused again, as if considering his words. “But I want you to know that you’re not alone in this. You have me now.”

  He pulled onto the road, and Maddie settled back into her seat. Her mouth still tingled where he had kissed her, and she could still feel his hands on her, as if his touch had been imprinted on her skin.

  She knew he was sincere in wanting to help her, but while she might have him now, she knew she wouldn’t have him for long.

  9

  KISSING MADELEINE HAD been a mistake, but Colton couldn’t bring himself to feel sorry about it. Her reluctant admission that she couldn’t stop thinking about last night had given him a fierce sense of satisfaction, but her belief that she didn’t deserve kindness bothered him. Her sweet response to his kiss made him want to take her to bed and show her just how much she deserved, but he hadn’t been kidding when he’d told her they didn’t have much time.

  Now he drove past the sign that signaled their entry onto Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation. He hadn’t visited his mother or brothers in over seven months, and the familiar landscape brought a stab of nostalgia. At a fork in the road, Colton ignored the sign that directed travelers to the visitors center and tribal headquarters, and instead turned down a narrow, deeply rutted road that bisected the nearby prairie. Sensing Madeleine’s curiosity, he slanted her a reassuring smile.

  “My mother and stepfather have a ranch about two miles down this road.”

  “What kind of ranch?”