by Rita Herron
Outside, the skies had turned a dark gray, and the wind had picked up as if a storm was brewing. Mila stumbled as he pushed her forward, then caught herself and walked on.
A white van pulled up in front of the emergency room door, and the man shoved her toward it. A second later, the side door opened and he pushed her inside. As soon as she fell onto the floor, someone dragged a bag over her head.
Then she felt a hard whack to the back of her skull, and the world went black.
* * *
LUCAS STAYED WITH Reeves’s body until the ME arrived while Brayden checked in with Dexter. Nothing new. Dammit.
Lucas’s cell phone buzzed. “Charlotte,” he said, then connected the call.
Maybe one of the girls at the hospital had offered some new information.
Lucas scowled, then cursed. “All right. I’ll see if we can trace her phone.”
A bad feeling shot through Brayden.
“Call me if you hear anything.” Lucas hung up, his expression grave.
“What’s going on?” Brayden asked.
“Mila’s gone.”
Brayden’s lungs tightened. “What do you mean gone?”
“She and Charlotte had breakfast on the way to the hospital, then split up to talk to the girls,” Lucas said. “When Charlotte went to find Mila, she saw her at the end of the hall leaving with a man.”
Fear robbed Brayden’s response.
“Charlotte called security, but by the time they showed up, Mila was outside. The guard saw a man push Mila into the back of a van.”
Brayden released a string of expletives. “Did security get the license plate?”
Lucas shook his head. “Apparently there wasn’t one.”
Brayden pinched the bridge of his nose. This couldn’t be happening. He’d promised Mila he’d protect her and bring Izzy back to her, but now DiSanti’s men had them both.
“What now?” Brayden said. “We’ve exhausted our leads.”
Lucas gave him a big brother look. “Don’t give up. I’ll call our analyst and see if she can trace Mila’s phone. Charlotte said Keenan mentioned hearing the men talk about a private airplane. I’ll get our people looking into that.”
“Don’t you think it’s time to go wide with the media on this?” Brayden said. “We kept quiet because of Mila. But we need any lead we can get.”
“That would help,” Lucas said. “Or it could spook DiSanti into killing Mila.”
Emotions crowded Brayden’s chest. “We both know he’s probably going to kill Mila anyway. If DiSanti knows Izzy is his child, he’s probably furious and out for blood.”
Lucas nodded. “You’re right. I’ll issue an Amber Alert for Izzy and send her picture and Mila’s out to the media and all the authorities.”
Desperation made sweat break out on Brayden’s neck. They had to find Mila and Izzy before it was too late.
* * *
MILA’S HEAD THROBBED as she roused from unconsciousness. She rolled to her side and realized she was still in the back of the van, the hood over her head.
The van bounced over potholes and tossed her against the side of the vehicle. The floor was cold, hard.
She forced herself to listen for sounds that might indicate where they were taking her. A bus? Train? Traffic? Planes?
Nothing but dead quiet and the chug of the engine.
Fear mingled with relief that she would at least get to see Izzy again. But what would happen then?
Her phone vibrated in her pocket, but her hands were bound, and she couldn’t get to it. Had Charlotte realized she was gone by now? Was Brayden looking for her?
The van rolled to a stop, brakes squealing, then the door screeched open. Cold hard hands grabbed her and she fought, but he dug in her pocket, grabbed her phone, then slammed the door again.
Tears pricked her eyes. Brayden and Lucas could have traced her with the phone, but the brute had probably tossed it.
The engine started up again and roared away, throwing her across the back of the van. They rode for what seemed like forever before tires ground on the graveled road, and the van bounced to a stop.
She waited on it to start up again, but it didn’t. Instead, the van door screeched open, and the brute yanked her from the back of the vehicle. She stumbled, willing him to remove the hood, but he dragged her forward, keeping her in the dark.
Thunder rumbled, then another male voice echoed in the distance.
She struggled to remain upright, her feet slipping and clawing at the rough gravel as they climbed a hill. A minute later, she heard another door open, then the man pushed her forward. The ground turned to a wooden floor, and they were walking. A hall?
Another male voice echoed in the distance, but her abductor yanked her arm again. Her feet grappled for control as she struggled to keep up with him.
A door creaked open, then he pushed her again, this time so hard that she stumbled. With her hands tied and face covered, she lost her balance and completely collapsed onto the floor.
The door slammed shut.
She cried out in frustration, but a low whisper rose from the corner. She went still.
Then shuffling and someone was lifting the hood from her head. She blinked into the darkness, disoriented, heaving a breath.
The person who’d removed her hood slowly slipped into focus.
“Dr. Manchester,” the girl whispered.
Shock hit her like a fist in the gut. “Carina?”
Tears trickled from the young girl’s terrified eyes. She was bruised and battered, but she was here.
“How? Why?”
“He found me,” she said on a ragged whisper. “He knows everything.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mila tried not to react, but then she saw Izzy curled in the corner, trembling, curled in a fetal position, and her composure crumbled.
“Untie me,” Mila cried. “I have to get to Izzy.”
Carina moved behind Mila and worked the knots in the rope.
“Are you hurt?” Mila asked. “Did they hurt Izzy?”
“We’re both okay,” Carina said softly. “They didn’t hurt her. She’s just scared and misses you.”
The tenderness in the girl’s eyes made Mila’s heart ache. Carina had probably earned those bruises protecting Izzy.
“She’s beautiful,” Carina said as she finished untying Mila.
Mila shook the feeling back into her fingers and hugged Carina. “Yes, she is. Now we have to get her away from DiSanti and his men.”
How she was going to do that she didn’t know.
She crawled toward her daughter, her heart racing. “Izzy, it’s Mommy,” she whispered. “I’m here.”
She gently stroked Izzy’s soft hair away from her face, and Izzy lifted her head. When she saw Mila, her eyes widened, and she threw her arms around Mila, her little body shaking.
Mila cradled her daughter against her, then rocked her while she cried. Her own tears blended with Izzy’s, then Carina was beside them, and she pulled the young mother up against them.
* * *
“WE HAVE AN ADDRESS,” Lucas said as he and Brayden sped down the road. “Mila must have left her phone on so we could trace it.”
Thank God she was smart. He just hoped she was still alive.
He said prayer after prayer as Lucas careened around a corner and sped onto a graveled road.
Brayden’s phone buzzed. He checked it, hoping for a miracle. Not Mila though. A number he didn’t recognize.
He pressed Connect. “Brayden Hawk.”
Silence. Breathing.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Mr. Hawk?”
Brayden stilled. The voice sounded familiar. “Yes.”
“It’s Jorge.”
The ranch hand that worked for C
orley. “I’m really busy, Jorge, so unless you called to help—”
“I did,” Jorge said in a muffled voice as if he didn’t want anyone to hear him. “Did you mean what you said about helping my family?”
Lucas glanced over at him with a raised brow, then slowed as they neared an abandoned stretch of land. Boulders created a natural landmark where the road forked.
“Yes, I meant it. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure your family is safe and you’re with them,” Brayden said.
“I saw the news. Is it true that this man DiSanti kidnapped Dr. Manchester?”
“It’s true. She and her daughter are both in danger. Now, tell me what you know.”
Jorge cleared his throat. “I heard Mr. Corley talking on the phone. He said they needed to move the merchandise, to get the contacts in Juarez ready.”
So Corley was involved. “Did he say where the merchandise is being held?”
“No. But Mr. Corley told him to take care of his problem before he flew out.”
Keenan had mentioned a private plane. “Anything else?”
“He said he didn’t want the feds breathing down his neck.” Jorge paused again, static on the line as if he was muffling his voice. “He’s back. I have to go.”
“Thanks, Jorge. I’ll be in touch about your family.”
The phone clicked silent.
Lucas screeched to a stop at the group of boulders, then climbed out.
“What are we doing?” Brayden asked as he joined his brother.
Lucas’s dark scowl tracked the area as if searching for something. “This is where the trace ended.”
Brayden’s heart clamored. Either Mila’s phone had been tossed here... Or her body had.
* * *
MILA WIPED AWAY Izzy’s tears. “I’m here now, honey. I’ve been looking for you, and I’m going to find a way to take us home.”
Carina was watching Izzy with a mixture of love and sadness in her eyes.
“All of us,” Mila said, knowing she couldn’t abandon the girl who’d given birth to Izzy.
The door suddenly opened, and a big barrel of a man with black hair and black eyes strode into the room. He was heavily armed.
Without a word, he jerked Mila to a standing position. “DiSanti needs you, Dr. Manchester.”
Mila fought a cry of terror. Was he going to kill her now? If so, what would happen to Izzy?
She and Carina traded an understanding look—they would both protect Izzy with their lives.
She held up a finger to the man. “Just one second.” She jerked away, then stooped and gave Izzy another hug and a kiss. “I love you, sweetie. You and Carina hang tight while I take care of my patient.” She squeezed Carina’s hand, déjà vu taking her back to the night Carina brought Izzy to her door.
If she died, Lucas and Brayden would keep looking for Izzy. Maybe they could help Carina, too.
The man grunted, then motioned it was time for her to go. She grappled for courage, then stood and followed him out the door on wobbly legs.
Without the bag over her head, she took inventory of her surroundings as they walked down the hall. The house was an older ranch, wood floors, rooms on both sides of a kitchen in the center. Through the windows, she spotted acres and acres of farmland.
They were in the middle of nowhere.
How would Lucas and Brayden ever find them?
A noise sounded, and she hesitated, then realized it was the sound of a small airplane. DiSanti’s private jet.
The brute with the gun gestured for her to walk down the hall, and she entered a large room with a king-size bed. The double window offered a view of a landing strip.
Against the wall stood a steel table with medical supplies and bandages. A woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform was jotting notes on a clipboard. She must have been caring for DiSanti. But the bed was empty.
Then Mila saw DiSanti. He was sitting in a chair in the corner, hidden in the shadows. His face still looked puffy and slightly red, but she had to admit that he was some of her best work. If she didn’t know who he was, she wouldn’t have recognized him.
DiSanti looked up at her with cold, rage-filled eyes, then stood and walked toward her, his shoulders rigid. “You stole my daughter,” he said. “Now you know what that feels like.”
Mila inhaled a fortifying breath. “Her mother wanted her to have a future, to be raised in a normal, safe environment.”
The man raised his hand and slapped her across the face. She stumbled backward.
“She’s mine and she belongs with me,” he growled.
“Why?” Mila asked sharply. “So you can sell her or turn her into a sex slave for a monster like yourself?”
Another blow, this one so sharp and hard that her face stung, and she tasted blood. Then another one and another until Mila fell to her knees, the world spinning.
* * *
BRAYDEN RELAYED HIS conversation with Jorge to Lucas, and Lucas phoned his analyst at the FBI to search for a location that might house a private runway. While he spoke with her, Brayden began to search the area for Mila’s phone, praying she was still alive.
The land was parched, although gray skies above threatened a downpour. He had to hurry before the clouds unloaded.
Tumbleweed blew across the terrain, miles and miles of desolate land stretching before them. He checked around the boulders, but didn’t find a phone or any signs of Mila. No footprints either, meaning the men hadn’t gotten out of the vehicle.
Of course, they could have simply slowed and pushed her body out of the van, but why would they do it in an open area? Granted, this property was off the grid, but DiSanti’s men would most likely have found a ravine or wooded area, someplace not easily detectable.
God... He had to stop thinking like that. Mila was not dead. She couldn’t be.
He loved her too much to lose her.
Love?
He kicked gravel from his boot. He had no time to think about love when Mila’s and Izzy’s lives hung in the balance.
He walked along the edge of the road, searching the bushes and weeds and the ditch, then crossed the road to the opposite side. About six feet down, something shiny glinted against the dirt.
He jogged toward it, then knelt and dug the phone from the foliage. A quick examination confirmed it was Mila’s.
He brushed it off and yelled to Lucas that he’d found the phone as he headed back toward his brother.
Lucas nodded. “I don’t think Mila’s here. They probably just dumped her phone to throw us off.” His phone buzzed and Lucas skimmed a text, then motioned for Brayden to get in the car. “Let’s go. I have the location of an abandoned ranch equipped with its own runway. It’s not far from here.”
Brayden’s pulse hammered as he buckled up, and Lucas sped away. Gravel spewed behind them as Lucas careened down the road. The scenery whisked by in a blur.
Minutes dragged into half an hour, making Brayden’s nerves more frazzled. He thought they’d never get there, but finally the property appeared in the distance. The ranch was enormous, with acres and acres of unused land. Wild mustangs galloped on a hill in the distance, the land beginning to roll into hills as it stretched for miles.
Lucas slowed as he turned down the drive, he and Brayden alert in case DiSanti’s men were watching.
A mile onto the property, and someone shot at the car. Lucas swerved to the right, and Brayden rolled down his window and fired. One shot, two. He hit the bastard who was perched on the back of a flatbed truck.
Anger coiled inside him, and Lucas was stone-faced, his hands clenching the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip. Another mile and Brayden spotted the farmhouse, a giant rambling structure that had seen better days.
Set back here in the middle of nowhere, it was the perfect place to hide. Another reason DiSanti had chosen Texas.
Its vastness alone offered a multitude of remote locations, undeveloped properties and abandoned farms.
Lucas parked a half mile from the house, and the two of them got out, both armed and alert.
A gunshot blasted the air, and Brayden ducked. Lucas spun to the left and fired, nailing the shooter, who’d been hiding in a thicket of trees.
They crept closer, weaving between the bushes bordering the drive, then slipped up to the house.
More gunshots. Two men firing from the barn by the house. Lucas fired back and had to roll in the dirt to dodge a bullet.
An engine sounded from the back of the house. The plane.
Dammit.
Lucas shook his head, warning Brayden to stay put, but Brayden ignored him and raced around the side of the house. Lucas was right on his tail, and they made it to the back just as three big gunmen emerged, guarding DiSanti.
Brayden wanted to shoot him then, but they had to find Mila.
The back door opened, and two men hurried out, dragging someone with them.
Dear God. Mila. She was beaten and limp, her hair tangled around her bloody face.
Behind them another man hauled a too-thin teenage girl beside him. She looked frail and frightened but clutched a little girl—Izzy, it had to be—in her arms. Izzy had her head buried against the teen, obviously terrified.
If DiSanti had hurt Izzy, Brayden would kill him with his bare hands.
Lucas motioned for Brayden to follow his lead, then Lucas identified himself and ordered the men to halt or he’d shoot.
They didn’t listen. They opened fire, and all hell broke loose. Lucas took cover behind a bush and fired at the men while Brayden aimed his gun at the man holding the teenage girl and Izzy.
He didn’t take time to analyze what he was doing. He was going to save that kid.
He fired at the bastard and nailed him in the head. The big man’s body bounced back with a grunt, then he dropped to the ground like a rock.
Brayden motioned for the girl and Izzy to run. Just as they did, Lucas fired at the men holding Mila, but the men dodged the bullet and dragged Mila toward the plane.
Two more shooters fired from behind barrels stacked next to the hangar, forcing Brayden and Lucas to duck to avoid being hit.