Holy Night

by Colleen Coble

  She got to her feet and brushed flecks of grass from her hands. “I trusted you not to tell them. See, this is why I kept it from you in the first place. You law enforcement types stick together. If Eva dies, it’s your fault!”

  Shaking, she started to walk away, but he grabbed her forearm. “That’s a lousy thing to say, Leia. I’m trying to save your sister. I love her too, you know. Statistics show bringing in the police is the best way to retrieve a kidnapped victim. You think you’re capable of getting her back by yourself? I thought that’s why you finally told me. You knew you couldn’t do it alone. Well, I can’t do it alone either.”

  He was right. His touch on her arm made her skin tingle. She pressed herself against him and buried her face in his shirt. His heart pounded hard under her ear. She tipped her face up to his. “I’m sorry, but I’m so scared.”

  His hand smoothed her hair. “Shh, shh. It’s going to be all right, Leia.” His lips brushed hers.

  Her hands bunched into his shirt, and she kissed him back, drawing in the strength she needed. Bane was here. His sheer force of will would make sure Eva survived this.

  He lifted his head and cupped her face in his hands. “As soon as Ron gets here, we’ll go in. She’ll be back with us very soon.”

  She nodded. “We have to move fast. She called me just before you came to get me and said he’d hurt her.”

  His hand fell away. “Wait a minute. Eva called you? Why didn’t you tell me? How badly is she hurt?”

  “We had a lead, so that was more important.” She bit her lip. “I think he just squeezed her arm. She sounded panicked but okay.”

  “What’d she say? Did she give you any clues on her whereabouts?”

  She shook her head. “She said there were no other houses around, so it was somewhere out of town. There are close neighbors here. She sounded so scared and kept begging me to come get her.” Her voice broke. “She’s depending on me to save her, and I’m so afraid he’ll kill her if we don’t do what he says.”

  Her cell phone rang, and her heart plunged when she pulled it out and looked at the screen. Unknown. “It’s him.” She swallowed hard, then answered the call. “Hello.”

  A scream reverberated through the phone, then her sister cried out, “Leia, help me!”

  “Eva!” Her sister’s voice was loud enough for Bane to hear too. “Let her go!”

  He winced and looked toward the house. I’m going in, he mouthed.

  She shook her head and held up one finger. He’d need backup. “Are you there?”

  “Just remember, everything that happens from here on out is your fault,” the electronic voice said. “You’re with Bane now, aren’t you? You told him, didn’t you? All the wedding cancellations were just a trick to throw me off, but I’m too smart for you.”

  The phone went dead. Leia stared up at Bane. “He’s hurting her! I bet he caught her with his cell phone.”

  Bane looked over her shoulder. “There’s Ron. We’re going in. Stay here.”

  “I’m coming with you!”

  Ron’s car door opened and he got out. “This the house?” His gaze flicked to Leia, then back to Bane.

  Bane nodded. “And Leia just got a call from Eva. She was screaming.” His jaw flexed and his eyes narrowed. “He’ll pay for that.”

  Leia could still hear her sister’s screams. “Let me go to the door first. You two can circle around the back. I don’t think he’ll feel threatened if I go up alone.”

  Bane began to shake his head but Ron nodded. “Makes sense. We’ll wait until you’re inside. Keep him away from the back of the house if you can.”

  “I don’t want her hurt,” Bane said.

  “I’m not going to stand here and argue. I want my sister back.” Please, God, let her be okay.

  Leia headed up the driveway with more confidence than she felt. Keeping her gaze fastened on the door, she marched up the steps and rang the bell.

  At first there was no answer. She rang again, then rapped hard on the door.

  “Coming,” a gruff voice called out.

  The door swung open, and she saw a burly man about six feet tall. He had thick black hair that was unruly as though he’d just gotten out of bed, though it was afternoon. He wore a T-shirt and loose-fitting denim shorts. His feet were bare. She thought he was probably in his early forties.

  “I’ve come for my sister.”

  His hazel eyes clouded. “Your sister? Who the heck are you? There’s no woman here.”

  “You’re Dennis Zimmer, right?”

  He nodded. “So what?”

  “You kidnapped my sister. I know she’s in there, and I want her back right now.”

  He held up his hands. “Kidnapping? Whoa, listen, I’ve turned over a new leaf. In fact, I’m only here to apologize to a guy. I don’t know anything about a kidnapping.”

  She believed him. Her heart sank. “Then you won’t mind if I look around the house and make sure?”

  He stepped out of the way. “Suit yourself. You won’t find anyone here but me.”

  Bees buzzed around the pikake and gardenias lining the wide plantation porch, and the scent of flowers filled the air. Bane stood on the wide porch with his hands in the pockets of his shorts. He couldn’t deny he was tense just being in Zimmer’s presence, even though Leia assured him he didn’t have anything to do with Eva’s disappearance.

  Zimmer stood by the door, next to the Aloha sign hanging on the siding. He looked older and more sober than the last time. Prison had changed him. Gone was the devil-may-care light in his eyes and the contemptuous sneer he usually wore.

  Leia touched Bane’s arm. “He has something to say to you.”

  Zimmer took a deep breath. “Yeah, I just want to tell you I’m glad I went to prison. So I came here to thank you for making sure I paid for my crimes.”

  Bane blinked. “I don’t get it. You swore to get even with me for sending you there.”

  Zimmer shuffled a little in his bare feet. “I know, and I’m sorry. I was a different man then. I’ve changed. Started going to a Bible study at the prison and, well, I see things differently now. I caused harm to a lot of people, and I can’t make amends for most of what I did, especially for Dalton’s death.”

  Ron was beside Bane, and he glanced at his friend but said nothing.

  Bane nodded. “Have you seen his family?”

  Zimmer winced, his hazel eyes filling with pain. “Yeah, his wife didn’t want to hear anything I had to say. I don’t blame her. Not much I can do to bring her husband back.”

  The guy seemed genuine. “I’m glad to hear you’ve changed. How long are you here for?”

  “A week. Figured if I was going to spend the money to come, I’d see the island.”

  Where had he gotten that kind of money? “You here alone?”

  “Yeah, though I’m seeing someone. She’s coming tomorrow and staying in a condo on Shipwreck Beach. She paid for my trip.” He looked down at the floor. “She, uh, she’s my lawyer, and she had a lot to do with turning my life around.”

  The last of Bane’s suspicions melted away. “I hope you have a great trip. We’d better be going, though. We still need to find Eva.” He took Leia’s hand, and they started down the steps with Ron on their heels.

  They reached Ron’s car. “I was sure he’d slashed my tires. You think it was a random act, Ron?”

  Ron shook his head. “Anything’s on the table now.”

  “It happened the afternoon Eva was kidnapped, so it seemed likely they might be related.”

  “And it’s the reason you assumed whoever has done this is after you, right?”

  Bane nodded. “So it’s possible I was on the wrong trail all along. Actually, I was since I thought it was Zimmer who slashed my tires.”

  Ron glanced at Leia, who’d been unnaturally quiet. “You have any enemies, Leia? Where are you from?”

  Leia’s fingers curled more tightly around Bane’s. “I live on Moloka’i. I don’t have any enemies I know
of.”

  Ron shrugged. “Okay, it was just a thought. I’ll poke around and see if I can find out anything.”

  Bane looked back at the house. “You know it’s not entirely true you have no enemies, Leia. We share a couple of common enemies from that fiasco about the artifacts. The henchmen might be out of jail now. Their sentences were lighter.”

  She went white, then nodded. “Moe Fletcher and Gene Chambers. Can we find out if they’re out of jail?”

  Ron nodded. “Let me make a call.”

  Bane glanced back toward the house. “They were in the same prison as Zimmer. Let’s see if he met either of them. Wait here. He might know something about them.”

  Birds chirped from the avocado trees as he hurried back to the house. Zimmer was sitting at the lanai table and rose when he saw him.

  Bane stopped on the bottom step. “I had one more question. I thought of someone who hates both of us, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already out of prison. Did you meet Moe Fletcher or Gene Chambers?”

  Zimmer’s eyes widened. “Fletcher was my cell mate. Bad character, very bad. We got into a few scuffles, and I thought he’d kill me in my sleep some night.”

  “Is he still there?”

  Zimmer shook his head. “He was released the month before me.” His mouth hardened. “He talked about making a couple pay for putting him behind bars. That wouldn’t be the two of you, would it?”

  “Probably. I’ll see if I can find out if he’s on the island. Mahalo for your help.” Bane bounded down the steps to the walk.

  “I’ll call if I hear anything. I know the kinds of places he’s apt to hang out,” Zimmer called after him.

  Fletcher would pay for hurting Eva.

  Seven

  Bane was quiet as they drove toward Lihue to meet with Ron. Leia gazed out the window at the mountains rising on either side of the road as they left the tree tunnel. A light rain splattered the windshield, and she pressed her forehead against the glass. Dark clouds rolled in atop the mountaintops, and the wind picked up, stirring the palm fronds and the monkeypod tree leaves. The weathermen had predicted a cold front with accompanying rain. She could only pray Eva was safely inside somewhere. Her sister’s screams reverberated in her head. Was she being tortured? Was she dead?

  Leia couldn’t tell what Bane was thinking. He’d been different since he found out she’d kept the kidnapper’s call from him. Still concerned and solicitous but in a remote way, as if she was just another woman he was trying to help.

  She turned back around to look at him. He stared straight ahead at the road. “Talk to me, Bane.”

  He glanced from the road, then back. “What do you want to talk about?”

  The lump in her throat felt like a conch shell. “Us. There is still an us, isn’t there?”

  He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, then shrugged.“You sure you want to get into this now, Leia?” His voice was tight as though he had hold of his emotions in a death grip.

  “We have a twenty-minute drive before we get to the police station, so yes. We have time to discuss the way you’ve hardly looked at me or touched me, let alone kissed me. If I touch you, you kiss me back, but you haven’t initiated anything.” She laid her hand on his arm and could feel the response through his skin. He might not want her touch to mean anything, but it still did.

  She wished the car were stopped so she could grab him by the shoulders and make him look her in the eye. She wanted to see into his heart, into the depths of his soul the way she used to.

  He pressed his lips together, then exhaled. “It’s been hard getting past being abandoned again.”

  Her cheeks burned as if he’d slapped her. “I never abandoned you.”

  “It felt like it. It was my mother all over again. One minute she was there and the next she’d run off with some guy. The way I saw things changed. I thought she loved me, then she walked away.”

  She removed her hand from his arm and clasped her hands together in her lap to keep them from trembling. “What does that have to do with Eva’s kidnapping?”

  They passed several houses decorated for Christmas, the lights shining out in the storm. Christmas. This felt like anything but Christmas. He still hadn’t answered her. “Bane?”

  His jaw clenched. “You shut me out the same way. I realized I didn’t know you as well as I thought I did. Just like my mother, you were hiding things from me. If you want the truth of it, I’m hurt, Leia. Hurt you wouldn’t tell me your deepest fears and feelings, and I’m afraid of what that means. I thought we had a bond that was special. Now I find it wasn’t anything nearly as unique as I thought. We have passion, not denying that. Anytime you touch me, I want you close. But passion is nothing without trust.”

  Her eyes burned, and the boulder in her throat grew. She’d never thought how this might hurt him. “I’m sorry, Bane. I panicked. Can’t you understand how that could happen?”

  “Your first inclination should have been to turn to me, but it wasn’t. And that kills me inside, just kills me.” His voice was low and hoarse.

  He shot a glance her way, and she nearly groaned from the pain in his eyes. What had she done? “I love you, Bane. You know I do. I’m only whole when we’re together. It was my first inclination to talk to you, but I was so scared of what he might do. I wanted to tell you.”

  He grimaced. “It doesn’t look that way, babe.”

  At least he was still calling her babe. “Do you love me?”

  He gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles went white. “You know I do. But what kind of marriage will we have if I’m always worried you’re going to run out on me like my mom?”

  She reached over and touched his forearm. It was rock hard from his grip on the steering wheel. “I would never leave you! You have to know that.”

  He shot her another look. “Do I? You sent me away once before. And you haven’t exactly been pushing to get to the ‘I dos.’ This has been the longest engagement on record.”

  “It’s only been a year.” When she moved her hand to his face, he flinched a little. She brushed his thick black hair out of his eyes. “You’re my world, Bane. I can’t lose you. Please, you have to understand. I panicked, pure and simple. It made sense to follow what he said to get Eva back.”

  “Did it?” At least he didn’t move his head away. “I’ll have to take some time and think about this. There hasn’t been an opportunity with our search for Eva. Right now, I guess you could say the wedding is truly off unless I can wrap my head around all of this.”

  She let her hand fall away as she absorbed the shock. On one level she understood his hurt, but why couldn’t he see this was her sister, a sister who was really a child in spite of her actual age? “You don’t think my first responsibility should have been to Eva?”

  He skewered her with a glance. “We are supposed to be one. You split us into two when you shut me out. That’s rejection, Leia. I’m trying to assimilate it, but it’s hard to swallow.”

  An unspoken if ever hovered between them. The hurt went deep in him, deeper than she’d realized. All his childhood abandonment pain had resurged, and it was her fault.

  Christmas revelers lined Rice Street waiting for the parade and the kickoff of the annual Festival of Lights. The sun hung low in the sky, and Bane drove on through town out to Kalapaki Bay where they were to meet with Ron. He parked down the street.

  Leia hadn’t said much after they’d talked. He still felt raw and unsettled. There had been tears in her eyes, and he had to admit his heart had leaped when she said she loved him. And he knew she did, in her own way maybe. But he no longer was sure her kind of love was the lasting kind that would see them through ups and downs. At least it didn’t appear to be.

  He pulled the key from the ignition and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Her long brown hair was in a braid that hung over one shoulder. He’d hoped to see it spill over a white nightgown on their wedding night. That might not happen now.

  H
e opened his door. “Ron said he’d meet us at his house just down the street. We’ll walk instead of park in his drive, just in case it tips off the kidnapper.”

  “There he is.” Leia pointed out Ron standing along the side of the road.

  When Ron saw he had their attention, he started off at a brisk pace down the street. They waited a couple of minutes, then followed. When he entered a small single-story house, they went up the walk and rang the bell.

  He opened it immediately and ushered them into a small living room. The sofa and chairs were leather, and seashells and other beach decor lightened the dark furniture. A small Christmas tree was on a table by the window. The seashell decorations were all white.

  “Have a seat.” He motioned to the sofa. “I have a lead on your guys. They both arrived here last week from Honolulu. They did not fill out the line of the form with their location here, but Fletcher has a cousin who lives here.” Ron held up his hand when Bane started to speak. “The cousin lives in Waimea. Even if Fletcher’s not there, we might get a lead on his whereabouts.”

  Bane frowned. “But wouldn’t his probation officer have to know where he is?”

  “You’d think so, but I called his probation officer. He had no idea Fletcher or Chambers left O’ahu.”

  “So they’re both in violation of probation,” Leia said.

  “Yep. Which is good for us. I ordered a warrant for their arrest for violation of parole.” Ron’s voice was grim. “I’ve got an officer on his way to the house now.”

  Leia leaped to her feet. “What? I want to be there to protect Eva. You should have called us and told us to head that way instead of here.”

  “Calm down,” Ron said. “All the guy is going to do is ask if the cousin’s heard from Fletcher. It will be all about probation. The other reason I didn’t send you that way is I read the report of a brawl in a bar here in town last night. The perp who started the fight escaped, but his description sounds a lot like Fletcher. And I have a picture from the surveillance footage at the bar.” He pulled out his iPhone and showed a photo to them.