by Raye Morgan
It was time to go.
Jake woke up almost an hour later. He stretched, yawned and glanced around. There was no one in sight. Suddenly, the eerie quiet of the apartment was ominous. It didn’t sound as though someone had left the apartment and would be back soon. It sounded as though someone had left and was never, ever coming back. How he could tell the difference, he wasn’t sure. But he knew it.
Rising from the chair, he hobbled to the bathroom, then did a quick tour of the room. Kim had taken the big bag she used to carry Dede’s things in. That didn’t necessarily mean anything. She took it everywhere. But something didn’t feel right.
And then he saw the note. He went quickly to the table and dropped into a chair before he picked it up.
Dear Jake,
I think it’s only fair if I let you know, I’m taking Dede to the pediatrician. We’re going earlier than I told you. Sorry that I felt I had to lie to you. I won’t be coming back. You won’t be able to find me again, so you might as well go back and give Pellea my regrets. Once again, I must refuse her generous offer.
Goodbye, Jake. Take care.
Crumpling the paper in his fist, he growled his anger. Rising slowly, he tested his leg. It was still painful, but that was just too bad. He wasn’t going to let it hold him back. Not this time.
Then he hesitated. He couldn’t go anywhere with his jeans pants cut almost to the crotch. His gaze fell on the pants Kim had snagged for him at the hospital. Quickly, he tugged off his jeans and put on the stretchy pants. They weren’t stylish, but they would do the job. He grabbed his coat and slammed out of the apartment, heading for Dr. Harve’s place.
He found it at the second door he tried. Dr. Harve opened the door and immediately looked as though he regretted it.
“Oh. Hello. I was just…”
Jake didn’t wait for niceties. He used his forearm as a bar at the doctor’s throat and pushed him back against the wall.
“Give me the address,” he demanded coldly.
The doctor sputtered, choking. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He jammed his arm at the throat harder, in no mood for mercy. “You know she’s in danger. Give it to me.”
The doctor turned bright red, choking and gasping for air. “No, no, I gave her the name of a friend of mine. He’s a fine doctor, really….” He was now almost turning blue.
Jake relented long enough to let him get a breath. “Good men can turn bad when they get desperate,” he pointed out harshly. “And from what you’ve said about this guy, he’s desperate.”
“Oh no.” He grabbed at his bruised neck, his voice sounding as if it was coming from the bottom of a food mill. “Not Henry.”
“Give me the address. Now.”
His eyes flared and he tried to pull away, looking frightened. “I can’t give it to you, I promised.”
Jake’s hand grabbed his throat and he picked him up by it, smashing him against the wall behind him.
“Give me the address, you bastard,” he snarled. “You just sent Kim and her baby into a trap and you probably suspect it yourself.”
“No, no! You’ve got it all wrong.”
He pushed him back harder. “Give it to me now or I’ll break your damn neck.”
Dr. Harve made a strangling sound, flailing like a rag doll, but Jake could make out parts of a word that sounded like acquiescence. He let him drop, but stood close enough to threaten him, and Dr. Harve reached into his jacket and produced a crumpled paper.
“Here,” he said, his voice sounding ruined. “Now get out of here. I’ve got a gun, you know.”
“Really?” Jake took the address and put it into his pocket, then looked down at the man with contempt. “I wouldn’t bring it out if I were you. I’d probably just use it to kill you.”
And without another word, he was gone.
He had no idea where the address was. His leg ached, but he didn’t care. He was driven by time, and he was afraid it might already be too late.
The street outside was empty, and when he got to the main street, a block away, it wasn’t busy. Still, there were a few pedestrians who looked like they might know a thing or two. He only had to ask three before he found someone who could tell him where the address would lead him. It was only about a mile away.
“Not a good part of town, however,” the man who was helping him warned. “You’d better watch your back in that neighborhood.”
“Don’t worry,” Jake said through gritted teeth. “I’m ready for that.”
To his amazement the motorbike was still chained to the bus bench, just as Kim had said it was. He’d have thought someone would have sawed off the chain by now. Maybe that was the advantage of having a bike so old and disreputable that no one else wanted it. He found the key in his coat pocket, and in minutes he was on his way. He had no idea how long ago Kim had left the apartment, but he was pretty sure she either had to walk, carrying Dede, or take the bus. Either way, he was just hoping there was a chance to catch up since he had the advantage with the bike.
Until it ran out of gas.
At first he just stared at it, unable to believe the timing. He had to restrain himself from giving it a kick. But there was no other option than wheeling it along the road until he found somewhere with gas for sale. And he knew from experience that wouldn’t be easy.
He kept up a steady chain of swear words under his breath as he walked, angry at himself, angry at fate, angry at Kim, angry at the whole medical profession. And at the same time, he pushed himself to walk as fast as he could on his bum leg. The pain was stabbing now, every time he took a step. It was just this side of impossible to stand, but he felt the urgency of time passing drumming at his back and he had to hurry. He had to get there before…
He tried to tell himself that he didn’t know for certain that the man was a crook and a kidnapper. But he was pretty sure that was the case. If Kim lost Dede just because he ran out of gas, he wasn’t sure he would be able to live with himself.
Another thing bothered him. He was regretting that he’d left Dr. Harve in one piece. What if he found a way to call his friend and warn him? That would not be good. He had to go faster. If only the stupid bike hadn’t crapped out on him.
And then—a miracle! A gas station that actually had some gas. He wheeled his bike up to the pump and filled the tank. New life—for him and his motorcycle. Another moment and they were off through the winding streets.
“Hold on, Kim,” he muttered into the wind. “Just hold on a few minutes longer.”
It took much too long to find the address. He went up and down streets, asking everyone he could find. But as his original helper had said, it was a bad neighborhood. People weren’t very forthcoming in a place that smelled like too many people used the sides of buildings as a lavatory.
He retraced his steps, knowing it had to be there somewhere but unable to pin it down, and panic started to claw at his gut.
“I’m coming, Kim,” he muttered, almost in despair. “If I could just find the damn…”
And suddenly, there it was, the street sign hidden behind a large parked truck. He turned and found the building right away, stashing the bike and taking the crumbling stairs two at a time, biting back the cry of pain that tried to come up his throat. He found the number and he didn’t bother to knock, thrusting the door open and staring into Kim’s wide eyes.
“You’re still here,” he panted out, struggling for breath. “Thank God.”
She was furious, her face strained, her eyes huge with anger.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “How dare you interfere with my life this way? How did you find me, anyway? Did you hurt the doctor?”
But he didn’t answer any of that. Looking around, he realized she didn’t have her baby.
“Where’s Dede?” he demanded hoarsely.
“Jake, you can’t…”
He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Where the hell is Dede?” he yelled.
She looked at him blankly. “The doctor took her into the examining room, just to weigh her, while I fill out these papers. They should be back any second.”
Something about Jake’s tone and the look in his face was finally communicating the seriousness of the situation to her. She still didn’t believe anything was wrong. But if Jake was this worked up, maybe she ought to check.
Jake couldn’t wait for her to decide what was important and what wasn’t. He pushed past her into the area she’d called the examining room. It was empty. He flew to the window and just caught sight of someone disappearing down the outside fire escape.
Kim was screaming behind him but he couldn’t stop. He tore out of the doorway and down the metal stairs, jumping the last portion. He’d never run so hard before in his life. His entire being, every part of him, was focused and determined. He was going to get Dede back.
And then he fell, tripping over a cement boundary in a parking lot and coming down hard. He cried out in pain, but a part of his consciousness wouldn’t accept it. He had no time for pain. Leaping back to his feet, he ran again, more determined than ever.
He saw a long black car ahead, a driver waiting, and he knew that was the destination. He could see the snatcher, judge their relative distances from the car, and he knew he would never catch him in time. He had to think fast. Another few seconds and it would be too late. Dede would be gone forever.
They would never find any police who would help them in time. The snatcher would have her out of the country before they even found someone who would take a report.
He knew he would never catch the snatcher by following behind. He had to take a chance. Instead of running down the sidewalk behind him, he took a short cut, leaping on the back of a parked car, and from there, onto one that was moving.
The people inside began to yell and the driver looked for a place to pull over, but he got a good start and when he leaped from the stopping car onto another that was moving in the right direction, he got another boost.
He was gaining, but not enough. He could see the so-called pediatrician about to jump into the long black car. Everything in him made a surge. He almost thought he could fly, if he just willed it. And this time he took a wild, insane short cut across three cars, and from there he dove, tackling the snatcher around the legs just before he stepped into the car.
He felt bones crunch and heard the yell of injury from the snatcher, but his focus was all on Dede, and he saw the man let her go as he fell. She was wrapped in a blanket, but she landed hard on the cement. Jake aimed for her, leaving the man behind as he sailed across the space between them and grabbed her. She was crying, hiccupping in hysterics, and he held her close, then turned to see the snatcher disappear into the car and the car take off like a bat out of hell.
He suddenly realized that he hadn’t been breathing enough. His chest felt as though it had caved in. He gasped for air and the pain from his cracked ribs was excruciating. But he held Dede, cooing sweet comfort into her tiny baby ear, and thanking every spirit and god he could think of for the victory.
Suddenly, Kim was there. She didn’t say a word, just opened her arms for her baby, and he handed her over. There was a bump growing on Dede’s forehead and a bloody scrape right beside it, but she stopped crying once her mother was holding her.
And Jake collapsed in a heap on the sidewalk.
“Crazy insane. Both of us were crazy insane. Me, for trying to convince myself it would be okay to go to that awful man. And you for saving Dede the way you did.”
She shook her head, staring at him in wonder again as she had been for the past half hour.
“You flew. I saw you. You were in the air, flying, as though just the force of your will could make it happen.” She threw up her hands, shaking her head. “It was like in a movie. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t believe it.”
Jake didn’t say anything. His head was back and his eyes were closed. They were in a small coffee shop, sitting in a corner booth, drinking iced tea and trying to recover from what had just happened.
“By all rights, I should have broken my neck,” he said, pretty much in awe of it all himself. “Or at least my leg. My bad leg. The one I can hardly walk on. But somehow, it all worked.”
“Adrenaline,” Kim said, nodding. “That is what it had to be.”
“Maybe. Or just a little magic.” He straightened and looked at her, then looked down at a sleeping Dede in her arms. A feeling of overwhelming happiness washed over him and he frowned, forcing it back.
Okay, so he saved this woman and her baby. He was lucky. And no, it didn’t make up for not saving his own wife and his own baby that awful day. Nothing could make up for that.
But it was still good. So good. He took a deep breath and then he sighed. Okay. He was going to allow himself a little happiness. Hey, he deserved it. Didn’t he?
“How did you know?” she asked him, dropping a kiss on Dede’s downy head. “How did you know he would turn out to be a crook?”
“I didn’t know for sure. But the signs were all bad.” He shook his head. “This is what it’s often like when you lose a war. It brings the best out in some people, but too many lose sight of their humanity and resort to any means to survive.” He glanced at her sideways. “And those roving bands of child snatchers you said appeared in Dorcher Cliffs a few months ago have shown up all over the island. It’s just that on the Granvilli side, law and order is breaking down. You see it everywhere.”
She nodded. She knew it was true.
“You know there are plenty of people on the continent who want babies and can’t have them for one reason or another. A lot of them will pay plenty for a child they can adopt. And many don’t care where they came from.”
She sighed. “I know that. It’s just hard to believe when it comes this close to you.” She shook her head. “To think of Dede in that man’s control.” Her voice broke and she looked down at her child. The lump was going down and she’d cleaned up the scrape with water in the bathroom. But it could have been so much worse. She shuddered.
Jake was thinking about the same thing, just thankful that he’d taken out after her when he did. If he’d slept another half hour…
He glanced up at Kim. She was looking thoughtful and his antennae went up.
“What now?” he said softly. “What’s the plan?”
She looked at him, her dark eyes candid. “I want to go home,” she said.
“To the castle?”
“No!” She glared at him. “That’s not home. Dorcher Cliffs is home. I told you, I have a cottage there. I was raised in it until…until I went to the castle.”
He nodded slowly. “Great,” he said. “Let’s go.”
She started to laugh. “I don’t remember inviting you to come along,” she noted.
“That’s where you’re wrong. There was the distinct element of invitation in your voice. I heard it loud and clear.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” He reached out and grabbed her hand in his. His eyes were dark and serious as he gazed into hers. “Do you think I’m going to let you go anywhere by yourself after what happened today?”
She was shaking her head, but she was still laughing.
But he wasn’t amused. “You’ve got to stop running from me,” he said. “I’m not the enemy, Kim.”
“Okay.” She sobered. “I won’t run away from you. But…”
“I know.” He nodded. “You don’t want me to think you’ve given in. I understand. That doesn’t mean I’m going to quit working on it.” He flashed her a quick smile. “But I don’
t expect you to cave in. Not yet.”
She sighed. She knew she was supposed to be guarding herself against him, but after what he’d done now, how could she hold him off the way she had before? Impossible. She leaned toward him.
“We’re partners now, right? I need to go where I can think about things. I’m going to decide what’s best for me to do. But I’ve got to get some stability, some peace and quiet. I need to go to the cottage.”
“I agree. I think it would be good for you—and for Dede.”
“Yes. We can stay there. We can talk things over and…we’ll see.” She gave him a warning look. “But I want your word that you won’t pressure me. You’re not going to try to grab me and throw me over your shoulder and drag me to the castle, are you?”
“Mixed metaphor, kind of,” he noted. “I can’t drag you if you’re on my shoulder.”
She punched his arm. “You know what I mean. Are you?”
“I swear to you I won’t do that.”
The waitress brought the sandwiches they’d ordered. Jake ate his ravenously, but Kim couldn’t eat. She was still in shock, at least emotionally, over what had happened.
What if Jake hadn’t arrived when he did? What might have happened? It made her hold her baby closer and whisper a little prayer of gratitude.
She glanced around the shabby little café. Someone had strung multicolored lights around the edge of the counter and there was a small Santa Claus by the cash register. At least someone had remembered what the season was. She shivered and looked down at Dede. She wanted an old-fashioned Christmas for her, with snow and Yule logs and horses pulling sleighs.