by Force, Marie
“I love you, too. Hurry, Brandon. I need you.”
Chapter 36, Day 172
His brothers insisted on coming with him to Kansas, and they piled into Daphne’s SUV for the ride to Hyannis, where Aidan had leased the plane. They picked up Colin at the office and hit the road.
“Are we going to be able to fly in this?” Colin asked, casting an eye at the pea-soup fog that was a staple of Cape Cod summers.
“Worst case, it should burn off in an hour or two,” Declan said from the driver’s seat.
Brandon groaned at the thought of a delay. Since it wasn’t a beach day, they were sharing the busy road with cyclists, runners, and couples pushing baby strollers. Declan sped around a rotary and cut off two angry motorists in his haste.
What should have been a forty-five-minute ride took nearly ninety minutes as they fought the summertime congestion.
Distressed to discover the fog was worse in Hyannis than it had been in Chatham, Brandon moaned.
At the airport, Aidan walked across the terminal to consult with the pilot he’d hired.
Watching the pilot shake his head, Brandon’s stomach fell.
“The airport’s closed,” Aidan said when he came back to where his brothers were waiting. “They had some sort of incident on the runway. It’ll be an hour or two.”
“Can we go to Boston?” Brandon asked desperately.
“In this traffic, by the time we get there, this airport will be open,” Colin said.
“This is unfuckingbelievable,” Brandon moaned.
Five interminable hours later, a cab deposited them at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka.
Brandon raced inside and up to the fourth floor, where he’d been told Daphne was after having been admitted. He burst into her room and suppressed a gasp when he found her asleep, pale as a ghost, and dwarfed by the big hospital bed. It didn’t matter how pale she was, though. She was alive, and that was all that mattered.
Wiping away tears, he reached for the hand that wasn’t attached to a monitor.
When he pressed his lips to the palm of her hand, she stirred. “Brandon?”
“I’m here, baby,” he whispered. “I’m sorry it took so long.”
She held out her arms to him, and he crawled onto the bed to hold her.
“God, I thought I’d never see you again.” Blinded by tears, he buried his face in her hair. “I’ve never been more afraid in my life.”
“Have they found Mike?”
“Not yet. They’ve searched the Monroe’s house twice but didn’t find her. I talked to the agent in charge an hour ago, and based on what you overheard, they’re bringing Eleanor in for questioning. They want to talk to you, too, when you’re up to it.”
“I’ll do it now. Today. Whatever I have to do to get Mike back.”
“Let me just hold you for another minute, and then I’ll call him.”
“You look so tired, hon.” She caressed his face. “You didn’t drink, did you?”
“No. I wanted to, though. I came close last night, but Colin stopped me, thank God.”
She combed her fingers through his hair. “Oh, Brandon.”
“It’s all my fault, Daph. I should’ve listened to you and left it alone. I led them right to you.”
“Shhh,” she said with her fingers to his lips. “This would’ve happened eventually. She wouldn’t have rested until she got her hands on Mike.”
“Are you okay? What did the doctors say?”
“I lost the baby,” she whispered. “Whatever they gave me killed our baby.”
Red-hot rage blasted through him, but he showed her none of it. Rather he just held her closer. “She won’t get away with this. I don’t care who she is.”
“I wanted it so much,” she said, weeping into his shirt.
“So did I, honey. But we’ll have others—lots and lots of them. We’re going to find Mike, go home, get married, and have a ton of kids.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, and you know I always keep my promises.” He leaned in to kiss her and was surprised by the burst of passion that hit them the moment their lips met. “I love you so much. I couldn’t have lived without you.”
“I won’t be able to live without Mike. We have to find her.”
“We will. I promise.”
After two days of intense searching by law enforcement officials they were no closer to finding her. When Daphne was released from the hospital, Brandon flew her to her parents’ home in California since the FBI was certain Mike would be found somewhere in the Monroe’s home state. He tried to send his brothers home, especially Colin, whose wedding was just a week away, but they refused to leave until Mike was located. They holed up in a Sausalito hotel to be close to Brandon and Daphne.
She was able to give detailed descriptions of her abductors, but the snippets of their conversation she recalled weren’t enough for the FBI to arrest Eleanor, who was questioned and released without giving any useful information.
Brandon finally convinced his brothers to go home when it appeared there wasn’t going to be a quick end to the case. They stopped by Daphne’s parents’ house to say good-bye before they left on a commercial flight to Boston. Aidan insisted on leaving the chartered plane in case Brandon needed it.
“We’ll be home with Mike in time for the wedding,” Brandon said to Colin with more confidence than he felt. “But if we’re not, I want you to focus on Meredith and your big day, do you hear me?”
Colin looked away from his brother as he nodded. “I wish there was something we could do.”
“I know, but there isn’t. So go home and get ready for your wedding. I’ll be okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. Thank you for what you did for me that night. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking…”
“You weren’t thinking. You were terrified.”
“I’m so glad you were there to stop me, Col.”
“So am I.”
Brandon hugged him. “Don’t let this ruin your wedding, please? Mike would hate that.”
Colin blinked back tears and nodded.
“Where’s the best man?” Brandon called.
“Right here,” Declan said.
“He’s all yours.” Brandon shook hands with both of them. “Thanks for everything, you guys.”
“We’ll be praying for you, Brand, and for Mike,” Dec said, hugging his brother. The two of them walked away and left Aidan to say good-bye.
“You know how to reach me—day or night—if you need anything, right?” Aidan asked.
“I’ll never be able to thank you for everything you’ve done. You came in and took charge, which was exactly what I needed. After everything that’s happened between us that you could be so totally there for me…” Brandon stopped and shook his head when emotion overtook him.
“That’s all in the past.” Aidan rested his hands on his brother’s shoulders. “What matters now is the future. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Brand.”
“Including being my best man in September?”
Aidan smiled. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d love to.”
“I’ll see you next week at Colin’s wedding. Mike would never miss a wedding.”
“That’s right.” Aidan hugged him. “Hang in there, man.”
“I’m trying.”
They got a break the next day when the three men who abducted Daphne and Mike were arrested in San Francisco’s Chinatown. All of them pointed to Eleanor as the mastermind, and the large recent deposits to their bank accounts were all the proof the FBI needed to arrest her. She was taken from her home in Pacific Heights, fingerprinted, booked, and charged with kidnapping, kidnapping a child, attempted murder, and kidnapping for hire.
Later that morning, a drawn and subdued Harrison Monroe held a press conference at which he resigned from the campaign and the Senate. He claimed to have no knowledge of his granddaughter’s whereabouts and pledged
to stand by his wife until the “baseless” charges against her were dropped.
The media went wild, broadcasting the images of Eleanor being led from her mansion in handcuffs over and over again. Daphne was bombarded with requests for interviews and finally agreed to talk to the NBC affiliate, hoping it would generate some leads. She and Brandon watched the broadcast that night on the sofa in her parents’ family room.
“You did great, baby,” he said, kissing her hand.
“I look like death.”
“You look beautiful.”
“You have to say that.”
“Was it hard to talk about Randy?”
“Not really. It was such a long time ago, and it’s time people knew how he died and why.”
“Hopefully, someone will see it and help us find Mike,” Brandon said, his heart hurting when he pictured her alone and scared. The image was almost more than he could bear, and it sent a shudder through him.
“What is it?” Daphne asked.
“I miss my little girl.”
“I can’t stand to think about what she must be going through, wondering why we haven’t come to get her.”
Brandon buried his face in his hands so she wouldn’t see his tears.
She put her arm around him and rested her face against his back.
When he felt warm wetness through his shirt, he realized she was crying, too.
He reached for her, and they fell together, sobbing.
“You don’t have to hide it from me.”
“I’m so scared,” he confessed.
She kissed away his tears.
He captured her mouth in a deep, soulful kiss that chased it all away for a brief moment.
The phone rang, startling them. Brandon reached for it.
“We’ve got a lead,” Agent Jackson said without preamble. “A maid in the house heard about the reward and came forward claiming there’s a secret room on the third floor that Eleanor had built for her granddaughter. Mr. Monroe says he has no knowledge of it, and Eleanor’s not talking. We’re sending in a team now.”
“We’ll be right there,” Brandon said.
“No, stay put. It’s going to happen fast. I’ll call you the minute I know anything.”
Brandon hung up and relayed the information to Daphne.
“Oh, God,” she whispered. “What do we do? We have to do something.”
He reached for her hand. “Pray with me.”
Twenty of the longest minutes of their lives later, the phone rang again.
“We’ve got her, and she’s fine,” Agent Jackson said. “She said her grandmother was nice to her.”
Brandon whispered the news to Daphne and kept his arm around her as she dissolved into tears. “Can we talk to her?”
“The paramedics are taking a quick look at her, and then we’ll bring her home. You should’ve seen this room, man. It was hidden behind a panel in the wall, and it looked like FAO Schwartz exploded in there. There were clothes hanging in the closet from infant size up to teen. Eleanor built the room when Harrison was in Washington and paid off everyone to keep quiet about it. Without that maid having a burst of conscience—and a thirst for half a million bucks—I don’t know if we would’ve ever found her.”
Brandon’s heart skipped a crazy beat at how close they’d come to losing her forever.
“We’ll have her home within the hour,” Agent Jackson said.
Brandon, Daphne, and her parents were on the front porch waiting when a police cruiser pulled up forty minutes later. Still weak from her ordeal, Daphne was wrapped in a blanket Brandon insisted on.
He walked down the stairs as the back door of the cruiser flew open.
Mike bolted from the car wearing a frilly dress that was all wrong on her.
Tears streaming down his face, Brandon held out his arms to her.
She flew into his embrace. “I missed you,” she said, sobbing and clinging to him.
“It’s okay, baby.” He wept into her soft hair as he carried her to Daphne. “You’re okay now. Daddy’s got you.”
Epilogue
Brandon faced the mirror to adjust his bow tie and brush some lint off the shoulder of his black tuxedo. He ran a trembling hand through hair streaked with the strands of silver that began appearing after the kidnapping.
The butterflies that had stormed around in his stomach for days had grown into bats overnight. He reached for the roll of antacids in his pocket. How will I ever do this?
“Dear God,” he said to his reflection in the mirror, comfortable now with the daily requests he made to his higher power. “Please help me get through this day without embarrassing myself.”
He made one last unsuccessful attempt to straighten his bow tie and left the men’s room in the back of Holy Redeemer Church.
His mother came out of the room reserved for brides, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “She looks beautiful, love.”
“So do you, Mum.”
“Thank you,” she said. “She’s making us all cry in there.”
He smiled. “She’s holding up okay?”
“Cool as a cucumber. Just what you’d expect of her. How’re you?”
He popped another antacid into his mouth. “I’m kind of a wreck, to be honest.”
Colleen patted his face. “You can do it, love. I’ll be pulling for you.”
“Thanks, Mum.” He kissed her. “I’ll see you in there.”
The door to the bride’s room opened again. Seventeen-year-old Isabel and fifteen-year-old Emily emerged in strapless dark green gowns. Isabel’s chestnut curls were swept up into a glamorous style that left him breathless. When had she become a woman? Emily’s light blonde hair, so much like her mother’s and Mike’s, was twisted into the same elegant style as her sister’s.
“Daddy, she’s asking for you,” Isabel said, kissing Brandon’s cheek and adjusting the wayward bow tie yet again. “You look dashing.”
“And you, my ladies, are stunning. The maids of honor are not supposed to outshine the bride.”
They giggled.
Daphne, exquisite in a dusty rose silk gown, emerged from the bride’s room wiping her eyes.
“Hey.” Brandon kissed her. “Are you okay?”
Daphne nodded. “She’s ready for you.”
Brandon glanced at the closed door and then at his wife. “Am I ready for her?”
She laughed. “I doubt it.”
“You’re still a goddess,” he whispered in her ear, curling a lock of her now shoulder-length hair around his finger. “Love you.”
She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “Love you, too.”
“Well, here goes nothing.” He knocked on the door and went in.
Her back was to him, so the first thing he noticed was the six-foot embroidered train and her bare shoulders under the light film of her veil.
She looked up then, and their eyes met in the full-length mirror.
“Oh, God, look at you, baby,” he whispered, staggered by her. “You’re gorgeous.”
She turned to him, all grown up at twenty-five—his little girl, his Mike—or Michaela as she was known these days, but still and always Mike to him.
He moved toward her, wanting to hold her, wanting to stop time and go back to when she was learning to ride a two-wheeler, scraping her knee, flying a kite with him on the beach, skiing on Mount Mansfield, learning to drive… But she was so perfect, he didn’t dare touch her.
“Have you seen Josh? How’s he doing?”
“He’s just fine and waiting for you. In fact, he’s been waiting for you since you bumped heads at five and eight.”
“Was I terrible to make him wait until we established our careers?”
“You were right to wait until you were ready, even if it took twenty years.”
She laughed. “Do you suppose people think it’s weird? I mean we all know Josh and I aren’t technically cousins, but others…”
“You’ve never thought of yourselves as cousins. Even when you wer
e kids, there was something special between you. Anyone who knows either of you knows that.”