It happened so fast. The car behind them suddenly sped forward, then screeched to a halt. The driver flung the door open, and moving like a predator he snatched Jonathan off his bike, thrust him into the backseat and sped away.
Will and Nick, who were riding behind him, crashed into the fallen bike and dominoed onto the asphalt. Jesse screeched the van to a halt.
Lilah was already out of the car. “Leave the bikes!” she screamed. “Get into the house right now and call the police!”
She slammed her accelerator to the floor and went after Bruce.
Daniel had heard the noise and was already on the drive when Nick reached him, sobbing hysterically and flung his arms around Daniel’s knees.
“Daniel,” Will said shakily, “JJ’s been kidnapped!”
“Don’t wait for me,” Jesse shouted from the street. “Call the police!”
DANIEL HAD NEVER BEEN so scared in his life. He hadn’t been this scared when the Canadian guards had cuffed him and taken him into custody as a teen. Frustrated, but not scared.
“What kind of car was it?” He was running toward his truck.
“A station wagon like Maury’s and Uncle Mike’s,” Will said, sprinting along beside him. “Lilah went after it.”
Great. Thirty percent of the cars in Vermont were Subaru station wagons. “Go into the house and stay there with Jesse. I’ll call the police from the truck,” he said, and sped away.
He called the chief’s direct line. “Bruce Jamison has kidnapped his son,” he said succinctly. “My best guess is he’s taking Route 30 over to I-91, and I’m seven, eight minutes behind him.”
“I’ll get a car out right now, then I’ll alert the state police,” the chief said. “You get any more information, call 9-1-1.”
He should also have told the chief to look for Lilah and stop her from pursuing Bruce and her son. He’d deserted her, rejected her when she needed him most. How could he have been so selfish as to put himself, the boys, the center, first? Too wrapped up in his own feelings at having been lied to, he hadn’t stopped to consider how much trouble she was in. Because he’d been so self-centered, now she was going to try to face down her ex-husband alone, and he knew she couldn’t handle it. His panic escalated with every second that went by. He wasn’t catching up to her, and he hadn’t seen any gray station wagons.
In an agony of regret, Daniel drove like a maniac. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he came upon cows being herded across the road, blocking his path. The road out of the valley was rough, but it would be rough for Bruce, too, and he wasn’t as familiar with the terrain as Daniel was.
He had a chance. There was hope. He chanted the thought to himself as he drove and drove and drove—toward what, he dreaded to find out.
THERE WAS NO HOPE. She couldn’t catch Bruce’s car. Sobs choked Lilah’s throat and tears streamed down her face. For a few seconds she’d had the station wagon in her sights, and then it was gone, too far ahead to see.
This was all her fault. She should have gone to the pool, commanded Jonathan to get in the car and then fled the valley with nothing, not even the near-nothing with which they’d left Whittaker. She knew how cruel and resourceful Bruce was. She should have been ready for anything.
Now he had the most precious person in her life. Jonathan, probably scared to death, was under his control. She wouldn’t give up until the last shred of hope vanished, but the road had twisted and turned, smaller roads had forked off in this direction and that. She had no idea if she was actually following Bruce anymore, but the one thing she couldn’t do was go back to the apartment above the carriage house where she’d once been so happy to sit and wait. She’d go crazy.
In the distance, she heard the wail of a siren. She told herself the police were on their way to rescue Jonathan, and felt a second’s relief until she realized the sound wasn’t behind her, but off to one side. They were aiming for the freeway, and Bruce had gone in a different direction.
She had to call the police and tell them.
She braked and pulled over to the side, and just as she opened her phone, it rang. It could be Daniel, saying Jonathan was home safe and sound. Shaking with nerves and exhaustion, she answered the call.
“Mom?”
She had to calm down for his sake. “Jonathan. Are you all right?”
“I’m scared.” He was crying. She felt as if she were bleeding inside.
“Lilah. Lilah, the good mother. Do you want your beloved son back?”
Bruce had taken the phone. He actually sounded amused. She leaned her head on the steering wheel and willed her voice to level out before she said another word. “What have you done to him?”
“Absolutely nothing except pick him up from the pool, just as any dad would. He’s fine.” Airline-pilot drawl. “But he sure misses his mommy. He’s hoping you’ll join us, so we can be the happy family we used to be.”
“Where?” she said. It wasn’t the moment to lash out at him. All that mattered was getting Jonathan back.
“We’re up in that place where you took your boyfriend this afternoon.” He delivered a stagy sigh. “I wish I’d thought to bring a camera to that meeting. The look on your face…Anyway, I followed the two of you when you took off, of course. And the rest is history. Oh, Lilah, poor woman, you’ve always underestimated me. I know how to get what I want.”
“What do you want?” She bit her hand, just to keep from screaming.
“Like I said, meet us here, and the three of us will go away together. We’ll go to another state, start all over. You are such a good bookkeeper, considering that you’ve only had one course in bookkeeping, but this time, Lilah,” and now he dropped the fake country tone, let his innate cruelty show, “you will work with me, because you know what I’ll do to you if you don’t. And to Jonathan. By the way, come alone. No police, no boyfriend, just you. If I hear sirens, we’re out of here.”
If Bruce had called a second later, she would already have called the police and the cruisers would even now be exiting the freeway, heading in his direction with sirens screaming.
She felt faint. “I’ll come alone. If Jonathan isn’t all right when I get there, I’ll kill you, Bruce, with my bare hands.”
“As if.” He chuckled, and hung up.
He’d always underestimated her, too, but he didn’t know it. That was her trump card. Hands shaking, she dialed Daniel’s cell. The voice that answered sounded as panicked as hers. She spoke rapidly. “Bruce has taken Jonathan to our hideout in the woods. Call the police and tell them they’re on the wrong track, just to go back to the station and call off the search, because Bruce said I had to come alone.”
She slammed the phone shut, turned the car around and drove as if a pride of lions was chasing her.
DANIEL SWORE AS HE HADN’T sworn in years. He’d almost reached the freeway, far from where Bruce held Jonathan captive.
He made a screeching U-turn, then called the police dispatcher. He wouldn’t call them off, he’d tell them where to go. “Here’s where they are,” he said, and tersely gave directions, “and no sirens!”
LILAH LEFT THE CAR BLOCKING the bottom of the logging road and hid the keys in the crook of a small tree. Bruce would find it difficult to escape with Jonathan. Halfway up the hill, she made a megaphone of her hands and called out, “Jonathan, everything’s going to be okay. I’m here.”
“Come on down,” Bruce said, doing a passable impression of a game show host. “Or up in this case.”
She entered the clearing. It was darker in the woods than it had been on the road, but she could see Bruce standing beside his car and holding Jonathan in front of him. Not holding him so much as containing him. Jonathan wriggled, trying to run to her, but Bruce got an even tighter grip on him.
Jonathan was crying, holding out his arms to Lilah. She couldn’t stand it. She rushed toward him fiercely. She’d rip him away from Bruce, run down the road with him, get him into the car—and Bruce would catch up with them in about fifteen se
conds, probably before she’d even started the engine.
No, she had to ignore Jonathan’s distress, startle Bruce with her calm, collected behavior, take the upper hand. “Don’t worry, baby,” she said soothingly. “Dad and I are going to talk. We’ll work things out.” She smiled at Bruce, enjoying the surprise on his face.
How had she dredged up that even smile? No time to think about it now, just keep using it on Bruce.
Several feet away from them, she said, “Okay, Bruce, I give up. You’re right. We should all be together again.”
The startled look Jonathan sent her broke her heart. Trust me. Go along with me. She said the words over and over in her mind as she went toward him, hoping he’d somehow receive the message.
Miraculously, he calmed down. Maybe he knew, or maybe he just felt better the closer she came to him.
“You are so smart!” she said to Bruce. “How did you get my cell number?”
“It was no trouble at all. Jonathan was happy to call you for me.” His tone was teasing.
“And I was happy to hear from him,” Lilah said smoothly. “So, here we are. Tell me again, Bruce, what do you have in mind for us?” She’d stall him until she could make a plan of action, because whatever she came up with had to work. She’d only have one chance.
He tilted his head toward the sky. “I’ve always liked the idea of settling into one of those midwestern states. You know, good schools, polite people. People with a certain…innocence.”
“Oh,” she breathed, “I see where you’re going. Do you already have a new money-making scheme?”
“Yes.” He looked smug. “But you don’t think I’m stupid enough to tell you about it yet, do you?”
“Heavens, no. But I know it will be a good one.” She gave him a thoughtful look, moving another step closer. “What will we live on while you’re just starting up?”
“I managed to stash away quite a bit of money before you—” He halted. “But that’s in the past, isn’t it?” he said genially. “We’re moving forward now.”
She was, at least, inch by inch. “Bruce, if we do resume our former lives, we have to agree on a couple of issues. You have to treat me nicely. You can’t use verbal or physical abuse. No secrets this time, either. We work together as a team.”
Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll be like Bonnie and Clyde,” he said. “I’ll do the scamming and you’ll fix the books. We’ll look like everybody else in Podunk until somebody uncovers us, and then we’ll move and start all over again. Jonathan will be a well-traveled young man, won’t you, son?”
Lilah felt sick. But she had to maintain the act. Bruce seemed to be buying it. “It sounds as if you’ve thought it out well.” She took one more small step. “So let’s start by being friends again. We can work out everything else later.”
He let go of Jonathan, which was all she’d hoped for, and he ran straight into her arms.
DANIEL’S HEART WAS THUDDING when he reached the bottom of the logging road and found Lilah’s car blocking it. He parked the truck and started up the hill. He wanted to run, but he knew he had to move slowly and silently.
At last he heard voices, two voices at least, and it gave him hope that at the end of his quest he’d find all three of them, Lilah, Bruce and Jonathan. When he was as close to the clearing as he could get without making his presence known, he saw the scene ahead of him.
Jonathan was behind Lilah, clutching her waist. She stood close to Bruce. She was smiling. Bruce seemed to be taken by that smile. What was going on here?
Daniel wanted to throw himself into the space remaining between the two of them, somehow get both Lilah and Jonathan behind him and destroy the man, but something held him back. Could she actually be making a deal with Bruce, or was she conning him in the way he’d conned so many innocent people?
He wouldn’t blame her for making a deal to save her son. He supposed he’d do almost anything to save one of his brothers, one of his boys—or Lilah and Jonathan.
He crept closer, ready for anything.
“So you agree to my conditions? You get your temper under control, we cooperate with each other, and above all, we do the best thing for Jonathan.”
“Whatever works for you, baby, works for me.”
She was conning him! His head spinning, Daniel crouched down, ready to leap forward when he needed to. He couldn’t count on the police to arrive in time. When he moved, he’d have to move fast.
LILAH’S ONLY CONNECTION to reality was the tug of Jonathan’s hands on her waist, the stifled sounds of his sobs. Except for that, she was in another sphere, where the real Lilah had ceased to exist and a stranger had taken her place. Confidently, she took yet another step toward Bruce.
I’m almost there. She had a plan in place now. “When I said we’d start by being friends,” she said, batting her eyelashes, “you know I didn’t mean just friends.”
Surely she’d gone too far. He sounded wary for the first time. “Hey,” he said, “what’s made you so friendly all of a sudden?”
She sighed, held out her hands in a defeated gesture. “Well, Bruce, I’ve had to admit you’re smarter than I am. You’ve won. I want Jonathan to have a happy life, so I might as well try to make it work with you, turn this back into a happy marriage. You are his father. I’m sure that with a lot of attention and affection he’ll grow to admire you as much as I have. Besides,” she said, daring a smile again, “I’ve tried being poor, and I found out it was a lot more fun to be rich. And you know how to make us rich better than anybody I know.”
He seemed mollified. “I can sure do that.”
Now. Do it now. Fighting down her disgust, she took that last crucial step. “And I know that once we’re working together toward a common goal, we’ll become closer, in every way—”
A glance at his leering smile was all she needed. When he held out his arms to her, she gathered up all her strength and drove her knee hard into his groin.
He yelled in pain and fell to the ground. She delivered a solid kick to his shin and then, for good measure, another one to his shoulder.
Footsteps thundered close behind her, but there was no fear left in her anymore. She had only had one person to fear, and he was down for the count. She’d won the match.
DANIEL LIFTED JONATHAN off his feet and wrapped his arms around both of them. “Oh, Lilah, Lilah,” was all he was able to say. Her adrenaline sapped, she was shaking like an aspen tree in fall. He held her upright. On her own, she would have collapsed. She buried her face in his chest, and he held them both, whispering comfort, delivering love.
“I’ve been so unfair to you,” he choked out. “I’m not the person I seem to be, either. Mike and Ian aren’t my brothers in the way you think. I’ll tell you everything later. Now all I want to do is tell you how much I…”
“Daniel,” Jonathan interrupted him. “Mom did it. She saved us. All by herself! With the soccer moves we taught her.”
His eyes were so wide, shining in the gathering dusk, and his pride so evident, that Daniel had to smile down at him. “She sure did. She’s wonderful, isn’t she?” Lilah made a slight movement against his chest.
“Awesome,” Jonathan breathed. “You are, too,” he said kindly. “But I was sort of thinking if you married her, she could take care of both of us.”
Lilah’s head shot upward. “Jonathan!”
Daniel snuggled her back against him. “I’ve never had a finer proposal, Jonathan, and I accept. Lilah, is there any reason we three should not be joined in holy…”
Her soft laughter echoed in his heart. She gazed up at him. “No matter what’s happened in your past, no, absolutely none.”
Jonathan’s arms tightened around Daniel’s neck, Lilah’s around his chest and his heart beat with a love so strong that it overwhelmed him. Inches away, the chief of police and one of Churchill’s two deputies were handcuffing a groaning Bruce and reading him his rights, but the scene couldn’t get inside his head.
Only one thing m
attered to him now. At long last, Daniel had a real family.
Epilogue
Three weeks later…
“How do I look?”
Lilah smiled. How Jonathan looked was very grown up in his navy suit, white shirt and blue striped tie.
“Movie-star handsome,” she told him, bursting with pride in her son.
“I feel kinda dumb,” he said, fiddling with his tie.
Lilah pointed out the back door. “You’re dressed exactly like the other boys.”
And like Daniel. She caught a glimpse of him and wanted nothing more than to rush into his arms. She loved him, she loved Mike and Ian, the boys, Jesse. She’d be marrying all of them—gladly.
She gazed affectionately at the boys as they escorted guests to the folding chairs that filled the backyard, each of them so prim and proper as he held out an arm for a female guest. The yard was green, manicured and lovely. The arbor where she and Daniel would take their vows was surrounded by vases of white lilies mixed with dark-blue flax. A thrill went through her. She’d be standing before that arbor soon, saying, “I do,” and thinking, Oh, yes, I do.
Quite a crowd had come to see him get married. Rightfully so. He was the most wonderful man she’d ever known.
“You know, Jonathan, I have you to thank for this.”
“Because I proposed?” he said. “Well, somebody had to.”
She laughed. “That, too,” she said. “If you hadn’t wanted to spend the night with Nick so badly, we’d have gone back to the forest and we would never have seen them again.”
“Hey,” he said, “I did do it, didn’t I?”
Dana, who would be Lilah’s only attendant, rushed into the room, resplendent in a long, lovely blue-flowered dress that complemented Lilah’s pale-blue organdy one. She put her arms around Lilah. “I’m so happy for you,” she said. “I’m even happier for Daniel.” She stood back and looked at Lilah. “When you ran away,” she said softly, “I’m so glad you ran away to us.”
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