by Rita Herron
The implication of the words he’d intentionally omitted slammed into her with blinding clarity. Tears filled her dark brown eyes, the moisture sliding down her cheeks in trails that tore at his heart. “You think he might hurt the baby if he knows you’re the father?”
“I don’t know what he’d do,” Gavin said gruffly, forcing the possibility from his mind. “But I won’t take any chances, Linds. Not with our son’s safety.” He gave her a pain-filled look, knowing he couldn’t hide the feelings in his eyes. And for once not caring.
He loved his son.
Maybe he’d never seen him or even known he had existed until it was too late, but he sure as hell loved him. And he didn’t care who knew it.
LINDSEY BARELY had time to let his words sink in before they’d veered onto the long drive to the penitentiary. But the minute the fierce possessiveness of Gavin’s tone registered, her tears overflowed again.
He slowed the car, paused on the embankment, and gently wiped them away with his thumb. Their gazes locked, his full of regret as he gently brushed his lips across her forehead. Lindsey felt the pull of emotions deep inside. She ached to have him hold her, craved the strength of his arms. At the same time she wanted to console him and reassure him everything would be all right. But a car swerved around them and blew the horn, shattering the moment. Gavin frowned, then turned his attention back to the drive, wound down the mile long road and pulled up to the guard stand.
Police vehicles filled the parking lot, the spaces empty of civilian cars, solidifying the fact that it wasn’t visitor’s day. Tall wire fences and armed guards surrounded the entire acreage. For the first time since she’d testified against her ex-husband, Lindsey allowed herself to think about the reality of his situation. He probably hated her for putting him here….
When she’d first met Jim, he’d been handsome and confident, an energetic man who’d finished law school at the top of his class, a man to admire. He’d swept her off her feet with his wicked charm and constant flattery. But he’d undergone a metamorphosis during the brief time they’d been married. He’d become controlling and selfish to the point of telling her how to dress, selecting her friends, monitoring her phone calls. Jealousy had become his best friend, her worst enemy. The final straw for her was when he’d insisted she resign her teaching sition. She’d balked. His violent temper had forced her to face the true Jim Faulkner—a controlling, manipulative, self-centered man who wanted her as a trophy wife, not a man who truly loved her.
“Lindsey?”
She shook herself back to the moment, faintly aware they’d been parked for several minutes. Either Gavin was collecting himself or he’d simply been giving her time to gain her courage. Thankfully the rain had softened to a light drizzle, but the murky gray of the sky painted a dreary mausoleum atmosphere.
“I’m ready.”
He slid out, hurried to her side and opened the door. Lindsey followed up the steps to the yellowed brick structure. She could practically hear the clang of metal doors shutting as they entered, prisoners rasping tin cans across the iron bars. Clichéd, she thought, but her nerves were so wrought, she couldn’t conjure up any images that hadn’t originated from television or movies.
Once inside, she instantly felt the coldness of confinement closing around her. Guards ushered them through a set of heavy double doors and security. Finally a guard escorted them into an empty room with a few long, cafeteria-style tables and hard vinyl chairs. The near-bare room smelled of fresh paint, sweat and cigarettes. She gripped the edge of the chair, suddenly wondering how her ex-husband would react to her visit. Would he be surprised? Angry? Shocked to see her?
Gavin stroked the indentation of her spine. “I know this is hard, Linds. But remember, he can’t hurt you. I’m right here.”
She nodded slowly, but the door squeaked open and they jerked apart. The moment her ex-husband recognized her, hatred sparked in his eyes. Then that familiar cocky grin slid on his face as he swaggered toward her. His hands were cuffed, his golfer’s tan long since faded. His eyes bore through her. Steely cold gray, the color once she’d thought so unique, the color she’d grown to despise. His brown hair was a little longer, not as neat, certainly not styled with the expensive mousse he preferred. Gray tinged the edges and age lines had created grooves beside his eyes. Jim Faulkner was such a vain man, he must hate the change.
The guard, a beefy man with leatherlike skin and a tattoo of a lizard on his forearm, kept a hand on his arm as shoved her ex-husband into a chair.
“Watch what you say and do,” the guard stated flatly.
Jim smirked. “Did you miss me, baby?”
She shook her head and dropped her gaze to the number on his generic prison uniform. He immediately stiffened. Then Gavin emerged beside her and Jim actually rose in his seat, the heat from his eyes firing daggers at Gavin.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Venom laced his voice as he stood, his arms dangling down in front of him, his hands balled into fists. The guard stepped forward in warning, but Gavin shook his head, signaling he had things under control.
The two men faced each other, almost toe-to-toe. Gavin’s impressive stature dwarfed her ex. The tension between the two men stretched taut and thick. “We have to talk, Faulkner.”
His sour gaze scanned the room. “You have my undivided attention.”
Gavin pulled out a cha for her and another for himself and she willingly sank into it.
“What’s wrong, baby? You’re skin and bones. Single life not as great as you thought it would be?”
Lindsey couldn’t miss the sarcasm in his voice. “I’m sure it’s better than this place,” she said quietly.
His sharp gaze cut to Gavin, then back to her. “Is that why you came here? Worried about me?”
“Dream on,” Gavin muttered gruffly.
Her ex reached for her, but Lindsey pressed her back as far into the chair as possible, unwilling to allow him to touch her.
“I’ve never seen you at a loss for words. You sure didn’t have any trouble speaking your mind in court.”
How could she ever have been blinded by this man’s charm? “We came because I needed to talk to you.”
Her ex leaned back in the chair, his expression almost amused. “Talk away, honey. I’ve missed the sound of your sexy voice.”
“I’ll do the talking,” Gavin said.
Faulkner stood. “Then I’m out of here.” He motioned to the guard. “I’m ready to—”
“No, Jim, wait.”
Faulkner hesitated, his lips twisting into a smug smile. “All right. But he has to stay out of it.” He sat back down, a swarmy look on his face. “So, honey, what can I do for you?”
Lindsey’s lips pinched together in a frown. “I had a baby about six weeks ago. But the doctor said he died.”
“Then again, you already know that, didn’t you, Faulkner?” Gavin asked.
Faulkner shot Gavin a lethal look and let his gaze slide over Lindsey suggestively. “I know a lot of things about my little ex, don’t I sweetheart?”
Tears instantly burned Lindsey’s eyes, but she blinked them away furiously, determined not to let her ex intimidate her. “I think my son is alive and I want to know what you had to do with his disappearance.”
“What I had to do with our baby?” Faulkner puffed up his chest. “Why, darling, I planted the seed. Or have you forgotten that night?” He reached out to trace a finger over her hand but Lindsey pulled her hand away in revulsion.
“And you didn’t have the decency to even let me know you were pregnant. You were a naughty girl, Lindsey. You sent the father of your baby to jail. What did you plan to tell our little boy when he got old enough to ask about me?”
“You never wanted a child so what difference does it make?” Lindsey clenched her hands together. “I just wanted to raise the baby in peace. But then…”
“Then the little tyke died,” Faulkner said in a deep voice. His grin faded, a moment of almost-remorse dar
kening his features. “I really was sorry to hear about that, babe. But if you want, we can try again, you could request conjugal visits—”
“Sup,” Gavin snapped. “What did you have to do with the baby’s disappearance?”
Faulkner frowned. “I thought the baby died right after birth.”
“We have reason to believe he’s alive, that he was kidnapped,” Gavin said.
Faulkner’s cold eyes stared at them unblinking. “And you think I kidnapped my own son—from prison?”
Lindsey swallowed, fighting her emotions. “Someone’s been sending me notes. They mailed me his…footprint,” she murmured brokenly. “Did you hire someone to take him to hurt me?”
“You’re crazy,” Faulkner growled in contempt.
“You had someone following Lindsey during the trial, that’s how you found her at the safe house. They tried to kill her, so she couldn’t testify against you,” Gavin said. “And your parents hired a P.I. to follow her when she moved to Raleigh. They kept you informed. Were they the ones who set everything up?”
“This is all bullshit.” Faulkner stood, knocking his chair over in his haste. The guard grabbed his arm but her ex-husband jerked it away. Gavin held out a hand in warning and nodded toward the guard. “First, you put me in jail, now you come here and accuse me of something else,” Faulkner snarled. “What the hell are you doing, trying to screw up my chances of parole?”
“If you had something to do with this baby’s disappearance, you won’t ever see parole,” Gavin said.
“I know you hate me, Jim,” Lindsey said. “But if you know where my son is, you have to tell me. Please don’t do this to me. I know he’s alive. I can’t explain it, but I can hear him crying for me at night.”
He stared at her long and hard, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “I did know about the baby. But think about it, Lindsey. My parents could have taken you to court, sued for custody, and, with their connections, would have gotten it. So, you see, you’re off base here.”
Lindsey’s mind reeled. She couldn’t tell if he was sincere or not. He’d lied to her so convincingly all those other times.
“You wanted revenge,” Gavin said. “And you’re heartless enough to do something like this, just to hurt Lindsey.”
“I’m not as heartless as you think.” He turned to Lindsey. “Let me know if you find out the baby’s alive. And if you get a ransom note, call me. I might be able to talk my folks into paying it.”
In exchange for visitation rights? Lindsey wondered.
Faulkner gestured to the guard, turned and walked through the heavy concrete doors without even looking back.
A few minutes later, Lindsey’s legs wobbled as she and Gavin exited the prison. As soon as she climbed into the car, she sagged against the seat, her emotions flying into a tailspin of guilt and frustration and concern.
If her ex hadn’t kidnapped her baby, who had? And if her baby had been kidnapped and the kidnapper wanted a ransom, why hadn’t they already contacted her with demand
GAVIN TWISTED sideways in the front seat of the car, instinctively pulling Lindsey into his arms. Had he put her through seeing her ex for nothing?
“You think he’s telling the truth?”
Lindsey clutched the front of his denim shirt with her fingers, pressing her face into the comfort of his arms. “Yes. I…I don’t know.”
He nodded, then set his chin on top of her head, and stroked her back. Trouble was, he thought Faulkner was telling the truth, too. His nostrils hadn’t flared once.
“I know seeing Faulkner was difficult, but I still think we had to confront him.”
She remained silent, motionless, except for the small quiver of her body. The soft wispy strands of her hair tickled his jaw, reminding him of the night they’d slept together. He felt her chest heave against his and knew she was fighting for control. He hugged her closer, his hand rubbing the back of her spine, roving up to her neck, then sliding into her hair. The scent of that lavender body wash she loved mingled with her own sweet female scent, resurrecting a need that had gone too long unfulfilled. He pressed a tender kiss into her hair and felt her breasts swell, her nipples straining against the thin cotton of her blouse.
One of the side doors swung open and he spied a group of prisoners being led outside. He gently eased her from his arms, rerouting his mind and libido to the present.
He tipped Lindsey’s face up, offering her a benign smile. “You okay?”
She smiled, that gut wrenching brave smile she’d wielded like a coat of armor during the trial.
His heart rolled in his chest. “We’d better get out of here before someone spots us.”
She glanced out the window, saw the prisoners and nodded, suddenly withdrawing and sliding back to her seat. He started the car, shifted into gear and eased down the drive. A few minutes later, he settled the radio station on a soft rock station to fill the silence. When his cell phone rang, he readjusted the volume so he could hear.
“McCord here.”
“Gavin, it’s Simon. I have some news.”
“Yeah?”
“Word is Johnson’s still pretty hostile. His wife had a nervous breakdown after they buried the boy.”
Gavin stewed over the information, wondering if there could be a connection.
“And Danny Swain, seemed he held an ice-pick grudge against you while he’d been in the slammer. Mouthed off about what he planned to do to you after he finished his sentence.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“It gets worse.”
His partner’s tone sounded so bleak, he braced himself for the worst, his gut tightening. “He’s out, right?”
“As of three weeks ago. Bought a bus ticket to
Gavin muttered a curse. “Anything else?”
Simon sighed. “’Fraid so. His cellmate said he kept a newspaper photo taped to his wall.”
“Yeah. Of who?”
“You and Lindsey Payne.”
Chapter Nine
Although an icy chill had seeped into her body, Lindsey struggled to control her panicked reaction when Gavin explained his partner’s findings. Horrid as it sounded, she’d rather her former husband have kidnapped the baby than some strange criminal who wanted revenge on Gavin. Or her.
“But if that man you arrested kidnapped my baby, why hasn’t he contacted us for some sort of ransom? How would he even know you and I had been together?”
“Good question. I only wish I knew the answer.” Gavin turned into downtown Raleigh, maneuvering through traffic with ease, his face a mask of frustration.
Lindsey bit down on her lip. “Oh, my god, the letter.”
“What letter?”
“The one I told you I’d written about the baby. I took it to the courthouse that day. When you told me to go away, I tossed it in the trash on the way out.”
Alarm sprang in Gavin’s eyes. “So Swain could have found it.”
“But if he kidnapped Cory, why wouldn’t he have contacted you by now?”
Gavin averted his gaze, wondering about the note, An Eye For An Eye… “I don’t know. He’s a long shot. I want to talk to Faulkner’s folks.”
“What?”
“Even if your ex didn’t arrange to kidnap the baby, there’s a possibility his parents did. They hired the P.I. And they made no bones about how they felt about you at the trial.”
Lindsey nodded, remembering the elderly couple’s animosity. “They thought I should have supported my husband, no matter what.”
Gavin reached over and covered her hand with his. “You did the right thing, Lindsey. Faulkner had to be stopped.”
“But you said the Faulkners thought the baby might not be Jim’s?”
“That’s what they told the P.I., maybe to throw him off. Whether or not they believed it, we can’t be certain. We have to question them, see their reactions when we confront them the way we did Jim.”
Lindsey’s fingers tightened around his palm. “What if I brought this on myself
? What if our son is in danger because I turned against Jim?”
“Don’t do that, Linds.”
“What?”
“Don’t blame yourself. None of this is your fault.”
Lindsey lay her head back and tried to rest. Maybe there was something else she could do.
“Gavin, one of my teacher friends has a sister who’s an anchor for the local noonday news on channel eleven.”
“And?”
“Maybe she’d let me go on air and make a plea for help. You know, do one of those human interest pieces where I could tell my story, beg people to call in with information.”
Gavin’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know, Linds. Sometimes public pleas draw prank calls that can be misleading. We haven’t brought in the FBI yet.”
“Maybe it’s time we did. The more exposure the better.” Lindsey began rehearsing her plea in her head. “Gavin, please, I have to do something. Maybe someone has seen something, knows something that can help us. Or maybe Janet or that girl will see me and call in. We have to try every possible way to find our baby.”
He gave her a grim look and he handed her the cell phone.
“You’re right. Go ahead and call. And see if you can set up the interview for today.”
A FEW MINUTES later Gavin veered his car down Bristow Drive to the gated country club/polo community of Saddlebrook, the elitist neighborhood where the Faulkners resided. His mind, however, had checked out miles back down the road with Lindsey’s question. If Danny Swain had kidnapped his baby, why hadn’t the man let Gavin know? Gavin had been unable to answer her, unable to speak his worst fear. Maybe he had let Gavin know. Maybe Swain had sent the note—An Eye For An Eye…
Had he been hoping Lindsey’s ex would have the answer and he wouldn’t have to explore the other possibilities? Of course, the more probable explanation was that the other woman Lindsey claimed to have delivered the same night as she had kidnapped her baby. Dealing with a distraught grieving mother seemed much less threatening than dealing with Swain—a cold-blooded killer.