Operation Baby Rescue

by Beth Cornelison

  He opened his mouth, made a noise as if to reply, then fell silent as he met her level gaze.

  She flipped the lid of the ring box closed and pushed it back toward him. “And don’t pretend you’re proposing marriage for any reason other than because it’s what’s best for you.”

  Disappointment and frustration lined his face, and he shook his head in confusion.

  “Elise, how can you say—?”

  She shoved to her feet, pushing past him and scrubbing the tears from her cheeks with a sleeve. “Committing yourself to a relationship because it will spare you a custody fight may be enough reason for you to get married, but I can’t do it. I need more from a marriage than convenience or simplified parenting.”

  “But Isa—Grace—” he lifted a hand in appeal as if his concession on her name would win him points “—needs both of us. I know I should have told you what I suspected sooner, but I was terrified of losing my daughter.”

  Elise shook her head, giving him a sorrowful look. “You’re still scared. That’s the only reason you’re here. And that’s why I have to say no.”

  “Elise, that’s crazy. At least think about—”

  She stiffened, insulted by his insinuation that she was acting irrationally. “I want you to go now. We have nothing left to discuss.”

  He didn’t move, but his jaw tensed, and she could see him mentally scrambling for an argument that would change her mind. “Elise, don’t—”

  “No. Leave.” She aimed a finger at her door. “Now.”

  He straightened to his full height, whether to intimidate her or not she wasn’t sure.

  “Elise, what else do you want me to say?”

  Say you love me.

  “I’ve apologized for not telling you—”

  “Goodbye, Jared.” She stalked to the door and yanked it open, hiding behind her anger so that she didn’t crumble in front of him. “My lawyer will be in touch. Please don’t make this any harder than it already is for either of us.”

  His hands fisted, and he tightened his mouth to a grim line. “Not a chance.” He stormed to the door and stopped in the threshold to lean in close to her and growl, “If this is the way you want it, fine. I don’t care how hard it gets. I will fight with everything I’ve got to keep Isabel.”

  Jared drove home with his hands clenching the steering wheel and his gut roiling with fear, disappointment and self-disgust. Why had he let Elise provoke him to say such argumentative things? He didn’t want her as an adversary.

  He wanted to marry her. He cared deeply for Elise. More than he thought he’d ever care for another woman after losing Kelly.

  Elise’s skepticism and anger were understandable considering the way he’d misled her and avoided telling her the truth as soon as he realized who Isabel was. Antagonizing her was not a good game plan.

  Jared parked in his driveway and dropped his forehead to the steering wheel. Why had he issued that parting shot about fighting with all he had for Isabel? Defensiveness was hardly the best way to work out an amicable custody agreement. Stupid, stupid!

  His fear of losing control of the situation, of losing time to change her mind—hell, his fear of losing Isabel—had colored his response to Elise.

  You’re still scared. That’s the only reason you’re here. And that’s why I have to say no.

  Elise had seen the truth, had known where his heart was. But why did she think his desperation to keep Isabel was grounds to reject his marriage proposal?

  That’s the only reason you’re here.

  Not so. Marriage made sense for them. It was the obvious solution.

  I need more from a marriage than convenience or simplified parenting.

  But…their marriage would be about more than shared custody. They had a good relationship, a growing friendship and sexual chemistry to spare. At least, he thought so. What had he done to make her think he wouldn’t be a good husband?

  Gritting his teeth, he shouldered open the car door and stalked inside. Isabel was playing on the living-room floor, and Michelle was folding laundry on the couch.

  “Where’s Peter?” Jared dropped his keys on the sofa table and peeled off his jacket.

  “He’s picking us up a pizza.” Michelle’s face lit with anticipation. “Well? What did she say? Can we reserve the church for a wedding?”

  “No.” He dropped heavily in an armchair and scrubbed a hand over his jaw.

  Michelle frowned. “No…meaning no church, or—”

  “No, meaning she said no. She turned me down flat.” The disappointment that had gnawed at him in the car swelled into a sense of loss and defeat that left a hollow ache in his soul. He hadn’t considered for a minute that she would refuse him, but her rejection stung more than his pride. If he didn’t save his relationship with Elise, he stood to lose so much more than just his daughter. He’d lose the woman he’d come to love.

  “How could she say no?” Michelle pressed, shock filling her expression and her tone. “It’s such a simple and obvious solution. You love each other, and you both love Isabel…what’s the problem?”

  He shrugged. “Hell if I know. I knew she was mad at me about the way things played out, and I apologized but…she wouldn’t hear of it.” He leaned his head back and shut his eyes, weary to the bone and heartsick. “Maybe she doesn’t love me. I thought we were on the same page, but we never talked about our relationship in those terms.”

  “But you did tell her how you felt when you proposed…right?” Michelle asked hesitantly.

  Jared’s pulse skipped a beat as he replayed the conversation in his head.

  “Jared Coleman—” Michelle’s tone was stern “—please say you told Elise you loved her when you asked her to marry you.”

  His breath lodged in his lungs. “I…guess…not. I—”

  The doorbell rang, interrupting his train of thought. Michelle stood, and he waved her back to the sofa. “I’ll get it.”

  He hurried to the door, praying it was Elise. Praying he still had a chance to convince her of his feelings for her.

  His heart in his throat, he yanked open the door. But instead of Elise, a linebacker-size man he’d never seen before stood on his porch.

  Jared tensed. “Can I help you?”

  The man looked past him to the living-room floor where Isabel played. “Jared Coleman?”

  Jared raised his chin. “Who wants to know?”

  “You have something that’s not yours.”

  Before Jared could reply, the man lifted his hand and touched Jared’s chest with a small black device. A Taser!

  Every muscle and nerve in his body screamed in pain. Convulsed.

  Michelle shrieked in terror.

  Jared’s vision dimmed, and he slumped to the floor.

  Chapter 14

  Pain.

  Jared fought the light that stirred him. The light meant pain. In the darkness, he’d known sweet oblivion. He dragged a sore arm over his eyes to block the intruding light.

  But with the light came sounds. Muffled noises that made the hair on his neck stand up. Whimpers. Frightened tears.

  Adrenaline shot through him, reviving him with a jolt. “Isabel!”

  He sat up quickly. So quickly his head rebelled with a throb that made him think his skull would explode. When the spots quit dancing in his vision, he blinked Michelle into focus.

  She sat on the sofa, tied and gagged, with tears streaming from her eyes. She tried to talk, and he recognized the muffled sob that had woken him. He scanned the room, fear grabbing him by the throat.

  Isabel was gone.

  Fumbling to his knees, he crawled to Michelle and eased the gag from her mouth. “Where’s Isabel?” he rasped.

  “He took her,” she cried. “I tried to stop him, but he was too strong for me. He overpowered me and tied me up.”

  “Pizza delivery!” Peter called as he breezed into the house. “Isn’t it a bit cold outside to leave the door op—” He stopped short and frowned at Michelle. “Hon
ey, what the hell is—”

  “Isabel’s gone. She’s been kidnapped.” Jared clambered to his feet, though his legs still felt rubbery. “Call the police!”

  Eyes wide with alarm, Peter tossed the pizza box on the coffee table and picked up the cordless phone. “Is Elise behind this?”

  Jared shook his head, then grabbed his temples. “I wish I could say she was. At least then I’d know my daughter was safe.”

  “Then who—?”

  The phone in Peter’s hand rang, and he answered it. “No, this is his brother. Hold on.” He held the phone out to Jared with a scowl. “It’s Elise. She says it’s an emergency.”

  Sitting on her bathroom floor beside the commode, Elise rocked forward, clutching her stomach. She fought another wave of nausea as she waited for Jared to come on the line. Dear God, she had to get herself under control if she was going to be of any use to Jared or herself…any use to Grace.

  “Elise? Talk to me.” Jared’s voice sounded strained, hoarse. Oh, God, it was true!

  “Jared.” Her voice cracked as she sobbed. “I had a call. They said they had Grace. I heard a baby crying and…tell me it wasn’t her. Tell me—”

  “I can’t. A man showed up here and used a stun gun to knock me out. He overpowered Michelle and took Grace.”

  With a strangled cry, she leaned over the toilet and dry heaved.

  “Elise? Are you there? What did they say in your call?”

  She swiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “They want money. A lot of it. To fund their escape.”

  “Money. Of course.”

  “He said w-we only have twelve hours. The feds are hot on their trail, and…and they’ve got a plan to l-leave the country. Tonight. But they need cash.” Elise drew a shuddering breath. “Oh, God, Jared…he said if we called the cops o-or didn’t get the money or interfered in their escape in any way—”

  A sob choked Elise.

  “Tell me,” Jared said.

  “We’d never see Grace again.”

  Elise tensed when the doorbell rang, and she gnawed her lip as Michael answered it.

  “Are you Jared?” he asked, blocking her view of the person on her porch.

  “Yeah. Who are you?”

  The sound of Jared’s voice had Elise on her feet and racing to the door. She pushed Michael aside and threw herself into Jared’s arms, all bitterness between them shoved aside in light of her terror for Grace. She needed the strength and reassurance his embrace offered more than she needed her next breath. He clung to her with the same fierce intensity that she squeezed him, clearly as distraught as she was.

  “Have you reached MysteryMom yet?” he rasped.

  “No,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. She angled her head back to meet the stark expression in his eyes. “I replied to her email, but she hasn’t answered. Michael and I have been watching the Parents Without Children message board. So far, she hasn’t signed on.”

  “You would be Michael, I presume?” Jared said.

  “Yeah, her brother.” Michael’s tone was cool, but he offered a hand in greeting.

  Jared released Elise in order to shake hands with Michael, then stepped inside, one arm around her shoulders.

  “So what’s our next move?” Michael asked, closing the door behind them.

  Jared guided Elise to the couch and drew her down beside him. They exchanged a look of mutual worry and impatience, and her stomach knotted. Knowing Jared was just as helpless to save Grace as she was left an icy apprehension in her soul.

  “I hate to say it, but given the deadline, we’d better start gathering the money they asked for.” Jared rubbed his hands on the legs of his jeans. “We don’t have time to wait for MysteryMom.”

  Nausea swamped Elise. “Jared, they want a quarter of a million dollars. Even if I wanted to pay them off—and I would if it would bring Grace home safely—I don’t have anywhere near that much. I spent most of my savings on the treatments to get pregnant and have Grace in the first place.”

  Jared sighed. “Yeah, the adoption fee we paid Second Chance stripped most of our savings, too.”

  “I have about ten thousand saved up that you can have, Elise.” Michael sat down in a chair across from them. “It’s not much but…”

  Tears flooded her eyes. “Thank you. Every little bit helps.”

  The room fell silent, a pervasive sense of the terrifying conundrum they faced hovered over them like a looming storm cloud.

  “Maybe it’s time we call the police,” Michael said.

  “No!” Jared and Elise said in unison.

  Elise’s chest tightened, fear battling common sense. “He said no cops.”

  Michael scoffed. “They always say no cops.”

  “We can’t risk having them hurt Grace in retribution.” Her voice shook, and she lunged to her feet to pace, to burn off restless energy. “They have to think we’re cooperating.”

  “Elise, think about it. The police have experts in handling cases like this. If we don’t—”

  “No.” Jared drilled a determined stare at Michael. “Not with Grace’s life on the line.”

  Grace. Despite the turmoil facing them, the disquiet in her soul, Elise noticed Jared’s use of Elise’s name for her daughter.

  Michael spread his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “Look, I know you both are scared for Grace, but you need to bring the authorities in on this.”

  “Not yet.” Jared’s tone matched the unyielding set of his jaw.

  A cold tremor shook Elise to her marrow. She knew her brother was right, but she couldn’t break free from the grip of terror. She kept replaying the menacing warning in the kidnapper’s voice, and she hugged herself as a fresh wave of agony washed through her. Legs shaking, she dropped on the edge of a chair and put her head between her knees. “Ohgodohgodohgod,” she moaned, her grief and worry a living thing clawing inside her. “My baby. They can’t hurt my baby!”

  She felt a warm hand on her back and raised her head to find Jared crouched beside her. She reached for him, and he drew her against his chest again.

  “Please, Jared…please, don’t let them hurt Gracie. Oh, God…”

  His arms squeezed her tighter, and he kissed her head. “We’ll find her, honey. Whatever it takes. I promise.”

  She wanted to ask how he could make such a pledge when the situation was so far out of their control, but instead, she grabbed his reassurance with both hands and held tight to it, needing to believe he was right.

  After indulging in a few tears, Elise scrabbled her composure back together and swiped her cheeks with her sleeve. “I’m sorry. I’m just so scared.”

  “I know. Me, too.” Jared dug his cell phone from his pocket and waved a hand toward her computer. “Why don’t you check to see if MysteryMom is online yet, and I’ll call my broker and see how much money I can raise if I sell my portfolio and cash in my retirement funds.”

  Michael scowled and massaged the back of his neck, but he said nothing.

  Elise moved numbly to the table where she’d set up her laptop and refreshed the web page for the message board. No MysteryMom.

  She drummed her fingers impatiently and racked her brain for another way to reach her anonymous patron. They were down to ten hours and change before their deadline with the kidnappers. Every minute of inaction ate at Elise, sawing her frazzled nerves.

  She moved her hands to the keyboard and typed a pleading message to MysteryMom.

  MysteryMom, help! EMERGENCY!!

  With a click of the mouse, she posted the appeal and sat back in her chair.

  All she could do was wait.

  “I don’t care if it bankrupts me!” Jared shouted into his phone as he stalked her living room like a caged tiger. “I’d pay twice that amount if it will bring my daughter home safely. Hell, I’d give my life if it would save hers.”

  Elise’s breath snagged in her lungs. She watched Jared pace with her heart in her throat and a tender ache swelling inside her.
>
  “Just do it, Henry.” Jared’s tone was grim and final. “Transfer all of it to one account, so we can wire it to their account when I give the go-ahead.” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I understand. Just get it ready.”

  He thumbed the keypad on his phone and slumped back down on the couch, his body language full of defeat. “If I liquidate all my accounts, I can cover most of the ransom.” He raised a weary gaze to Elise. “But we still need fifteen thousand.”

  Elise could only stare, dumbfounded.

  “You’re emptying all of your accounts?” Michael asked, his tone as stunned as Elise felt.

  Jared nodded mutely, his attention still locked on Elise. “It’s just money.” He drew a deep breath and released it, his eyes growing damp. “Of course, this means I won’t have the money to hire a lawyer. I won’t be able to fight your custody suit.”

  Elise absorbed his admission like a fist to her gut. The breath she’d been holding wheezed from her, leaving her lungs aching and starved.

  “But I’d give you custody a hundred times over to save her from these thugs,” he said, emotion strangling his voice.

  A sob hiccupped from her throat.

  King Solomon. Cut the baby in half. The real mother’s sacrifice.

  The love behind Jared’s gesture dug deep into Elise’s soul. His was the love of a parent, a father. A real father in every way that mattered. The sacrifice of all his funds, and thereby his means to claim custody, could be the difference between getting Grace back or not. The difference between life and death for her daughter. Their daughter.

  Hollow acceptance of his fate darkened Jared’s penetrating gaze, burrowing deep into Elise’s heart. She knew the heartache he was suffering, because she’d lived it herself when she’d thought Grace had died. She lived it now, fearing for Grace’s safety with the kidnappers. Jared was in a living hell. In a pain too deep and personal for words.

  And she knew she couldn’t be responsible for inflicting that level of agony and suffering on someone she loved.

  Her pulse quickened. She loved Jared.

  Maybe she’d known that all along, but she was certain now. She loved him if for no other reason than the depth of character and the love for his daughter that his generosity showed. Something shifted inside her, bringing a certainty she couldn’t ignore into sharp, if painful, focus. She couldn’t take his daughter away from him. No matter how much she loved Grace—perhaps because of how much she loved Grace—she could no longer justify removing her from the only home she’d ever known, from a father who adored her.