The sun had been up well over thirty minutes when exhausted, sweating, and hurting Stacey reached the top of the ridge. Cord seemed to be in a foul mood and was several yards down the slope. Too tired to worry about it right now, Stacey dropped her load and stretched her sore muscles. The view from the ridge was spectacular in the early morning light. She could hear planes and see human activity over toward Lolo Pass.
Cord reached the top and quickly activated the transmitter. He placed it in the center of the clearing. “We need to wait in the trees until the chopper shows up. No sense taking a chance of being spotted now.”
Twenty minutes later the red and white chopper passed their location then circled back. The pilot carefully lowered the bird onto the top of the ridge. The blades slowed but didn’t stop turning as he waited for them.
Cord caught Stacey’s arm before letting her leave the trees. “Don’t mention what’s in the packs. All he knows is that it’s something important. If he asks, I’ll take care of it.”
Stacey nodded her agreement, jerked her arm loose, and readjusted the extra two packs. When they reached the chopper Cord took them from her to stow behind the seats. They removed their own packs and placed them there as well. Then he helped her climb in.
“Hey darling. Glad you could make it.” The pilot winked and grinned at her. “Soon as we’re in route you can have the headphones.”
Stacey smiled back and gave him the thumbs up.
Cord fastened his seat belt and signaled he was ready for the pilot to take off.
“Where to, Boss?” the pilot shouted at him.
“Lowell. We’ve got business there.”
The pilot nodded, checked the skies visually, and listened to his radio before lifting off the ridge. Taking a west-south-westerly heading, he stayed low over the mountains. “There’s a lot of traffic up here this morning. I’d just as soon stay out of their way.”
“Yeah, what’s going on? We saw a good bit of foot traffic, too,” Cord shouted back.
“They got a tip that one of those criminals who robbed the Denver Exchange was seen in the area several days ago. They’re going in with dogs this morning.” The pilot saw that Stacey was very still with her eyes tightly closed and removed his headphones. He passed them to Cord, who adjusted them on Stacey’s head. “I’ll have to get those back when we get near Lowell. I have to get permission to land and monitor the position of other aircraft.” The pilot adjusted the dials and grinned again at the obvious look of relief appearing on Stacey’s face.
Stacey appreciated the decrease in rotor noise providing a measure of relief from her phobia. The low automated voice repeating the weather into her ears helped to distract her. Before long she drifted off to sleep, her head swaying to the motion of the chopper.
Cord caught hold of her as she swayed toward the pilot then leaned her gently against his own shoulder. He was glad she was catching some rest. Neither of them slept much the night before.
As the chopper approached Lowell the pilot needed his headphones. Cord woke her while removing them from her head. Within minutes they landed at the small community airport on the edge of town. Cord asked the pilot to stay on standby in case they needed the chopper quickly. Then he arranged a ride into town with a mechanic hanging around in the small hangar. They loaded the packs into the bed of an old pickup truck and the driver gave them a ride to the Lowell Inn.
Stacey signed her name to the register. “I need to leave a very important message for Mr. Brooks,” she told the desk clerk. He handed her a notepad and pen asking her to write it down.
Once upstairs in the double room, Cord placed the backpacks containing the bonds in the small closet for safe keeping.
Stacey placed a quick call to the Lodge and spoke with Sam. “Hello, dad. I just wanted you to know we’re back safely with what we went after. I can’t stay on the line because we’re waiting for an important call. Anything we should know?”
“Glad to hear from you, daughter. Nothing much, except a few people recognized Thompson and several already knew Marcus but couldn’t remember seeing the two together. No help with a location at all. I’ll pass on your message. You and Cord need to be careful, you hear? We’ll see you soon. Love you, Stacey.”
“I love you too, dad. Tell mom I love her. Bye.” Stacey hung up and turned to Cord. “They didn’t have any luck finding out where Thompson might be keeping Marcus. No one saw them together. Now, we have to wait, right?”
“Yeah, but it shouldn’t be too long. I think I’ll shower while I have a chance. Or would you rather go first?” Cord offered.
“No, go ahead. I think I’ll order some coffee.”
“Have them add a steak and eggs to mine.”
Stacey smiled slightly and picked up the phone to order breakfast. The nervous butterflies in her stomach wouldn’t let her eat, but the situation didn’t seem to affect Cord’s appetite. She switched on the TV and turned it to a local news station before taking down her ponytail, kicking off her boots, and generally getting more comfortable. A shot of the wilderness area they recently left caught Stacey’s eye and she hurriedly turned up the volume. Pictures of Marshall Thompson, Daniel Brooks, and Foster Smith were flashed on the screen as the suspects in the robbery of the Denver Federated Bonds and Securities Exchange. The stolen plane and kidnapping were covered briefly, but the boys’ names were withheld. The reporter went on to say the manhunt was continuing in the vicinity of Lolo Pass and special dogs were brought in after reports of a sighting in the area. Additional planes and manpower were being brought in for an intensified search. The reporter finished by saying the FBI had everything under control and anyone going into or out of the area could expect to be stopped and questioned.
Stacey caught a movement from the corner of her eye and turned to see Cord, wrapped in a towel and water droplets covering his chest, standing in the bathroom doorway listening to the report. Stacey swallowed hard while trying not to stare at his powerful chest and arms. But the sight of him did funny things to those butterflies in her tummy.
She couldn’t stop sneaking peeks at him from under her lashes and was glad when he went back into the bathroom and closed the door. Her relief was short lived when he came back carrying his clothes and tossed them on one of the beds.
“Your turn. The water’s hot and there’s plenty of it.” He sat on the end of the bed to rub his hair with another towel.
Stacey longed to go to him and dry it for him. There were scars on his ribs and another high on his right shoulder. She wished she could touch them as Marie had touched the scars on his face. Realizing she was staring, practically drooling on her chin, Stacey shifted her glance but her eyes locked with Cord’s. She saw the question in his and quickly broke the contact, forcing herself to grab what she needed and hurry into the bathroom, closing the door firmly.
Leaning back against the door she pressed a hand to her stomach in an effort to control her breathing until the longing passed. Stacey stripped, started the shower, then let the hot water pour over her tired, achy muscles. Wearing her tee shirt and jeans, she came out of the bathroom to find their food and coffee waiting. “You should have started,” she told Cord. Stacey stifled a frustrated moan when she saw he wore black trousers, but no shirt.
“It just came. I heard the shower stop and knew you’d be out soon.”
Stacey looked everywhere but at Cord’s taut chest, flat stomach, and muscular arms while she added cream to her coffee. “How long do you think we’ll have to wait before he calls?”
“I guess someone will check several times a day. Brooks may have already checked before we got here this morning. It may be lunchtime or after before they check again.” He took a plate of food and sat down on the other bed to eat.
“What should I say when he calls?” In spite of the tense situation and her fear for Marcus, Stacey could not stop longing for Cord’s touch. She needed to force her attention to the coming exchange and stop itching to stroke his firm back or curl her fingers in the hair scatt
ered across his chest. I’m going to lose my mind if he doesn’t put on a shirt.
“We need to decide where we want the meeting. Is there a public place that’s not too closed in? It has to be somewhere he’ll know we’re not setting him up but where we won’t get hemmed in or caught off guard.” Cord ate hungrily as he talked.
“There’s a shopping center, a park, and Main Street. That’s about it.” Stacey couldn’t face the thought of food. Watching him wolf down his eggs caused her stomach to roll uncomfortably.
“Tell me about the shopping center. It might do.”
“Well, it has a couple of fairly large stores, one at each end, with some small shops in between. There’s a central area with a stage in the center and tables scattered around where people eat or watch special events,” she explained.
“Are there security guards?”
“Usually a couple. Some of the stores have off duty deputies, sometimes, to keep down shoplifting. Since this is Sunday it’s only open from one until six.”
“It’s out anyway. If he saw a uniform, even a rent-a-cop, he’d take off. Fill me in on the park,” Cord put his empty plate back on the tray and poured more coffee.
“With the nice weather, there will probably be a softball game this afternoon. It has public restrooms, a baseball field, two small tennis courts, and a nice playground with a picnic area.” Stacey held out her cup for a refill when Cord offered. He held out the plate holding one last cinnamon roll then took a large bite after she shook her head no.
“What about police?” Cord chewed and watched her thoughtfully.
“I’m sure they probably patrol to keep down trouble, but I don’t remember seeing any on the days I’ve been there with the twins. You have to remember this isn’t a big city. There may not be but a couple of deputies on duty all day for the entire town.”
“Okay, then the park is a good prospect for me to check out. What about Main Street?”
“On Saturday and Sunday in nice weather, the shopkeepers move tables out to the sidewalks. It’s sort of like a big bazaar or flea market. The Chamber of Commerce lets them put barricades across each end of the street and only let pedestrians in.”
“And police?”
“Same as with the park. It’s just a chance whoever’s on duty will come by. There could be off duty cops around with their families.”
“It will only take one cop in the wrong place to mess things up. It still sounds like the park will be the best and least conspicuous place to set for the exchange,” Cord decided.
“Okay, so when he calls I tell him I want to make the exchange in the park. He’s going to say no. What then?” Stacey didn’t see how she could make this work.
“You’ll insist. Tell him we’ll set the meet for anytime he wants during daylight hours and he can check it out. State several times you need to be sure you and Marcus can get away safely. Better yet, talk him into negotiating with me. Tell him you’re too upset.”
“No, Cord—I won’t do that. I don’t want to antagonize him. Plus if he recognizes you as the one who took the boys from him in the mountains, he might get angry and hurt Marcus. I just can’t take that chance,” Stacey shook her head, jumped up, and paced the room.
“Well, you can’t carry all five of those packs when you go to meet him. Besides, I’m not letting you go alone. I can’t look after you from here,” Cord argued.
“You’re not letting me!” she almost yelled at him. “I don’t remember asking your permission. I told you all along I would do whatever it takes to get Marcus back safely. I’ll drag those packs behind me if I have to.” Stacey stared at him with her hands on her hips and a defiant look on her face.
Cord stood too and reached out to grasp her by the shoulders. “Listen to me. Your parents have lost one child and I don’t intend to see them lose another. If you get hurt, tell me how that’s going to help Marcus.” He spoke loudly at first to make sure she was listening.
She tried to jerk away then glared up at him when he held tight.
He lowered his voice and went on, “Stacey, it was dark and I had my face blacked out the night I recovered the boys, remember? Chances are Thompson won’t recognize me. Besides, they may already know I’m involved. They could have someone watching us. Thompson has contacts too or he could never have pulled off the robbery in the first place or escaped being caught for this long. He knew all about you and how to get you to cooperate. Who’s to say he doesn’t know about me?” Cord tried to reason with her.
“Alright, I’ll accept that,” she bit out. “But I handle setting up the exchange. Marcus is my godson and I have to do this. I absolutely will not take any chances with him. I’ll decide when it’s gone far enough to be too dangerous for him. If I tell you to back off, I fully expect you to.” She took several deep breaths letting the tension leave her stance.
Cord let her go and backed away a step. “The best thing to do then is to tell him your father hired me as your bodyguard because he didn’t want you dealing with this alone. Tell him you need help with the packs. It will sound convincing because it’s true. Give him my name and have him call Harper Security Services in Dallas. They’ll cover for me. Then he’ll believe you’re being up front with him.”
“I—I’ll have to think about it,” she wasn’t giving in that easily even though her anger was already gone. What she really wanted right now was for him to hold her and swear everything would turn out okay.
“Where is the park? I’ll go scope it out while you wait for the call.” Cord needed some space and suspected Stacey did too.
“Go past the bank and turn right. It’s a couple of blocks. You can’t miss it.”
“I won’t be long.” Cord finished dressing. Leaving his shirt-tail hanging out, he concealed the holster he automatically clipped into his belt at the middle of his back.
“What if Thompson calls while you’re gone?” Stacey asked.
“You’ll handle it. I should be back before then. Lock the door and don’t open it for anyone except me.” Cord hesitated then left quickly, fighting against the urge to kiss her.
Stacey flipped the night latch then went to rest on the bed to wait for the call. Her mind was busy as she tried to decide what would be the best way to insure Marcus’ safety and her own. Cord was right. She shouldn’t take the chance that her parents might lose their last child. But she wouldn’t risk Marcus at all. Granted there was a certain risk every time she went on a job.
But she chose her life, complete with the problems and the risks. Marcus was a pawn, without a choice in any of this. Only a child, he was supposed to be loved and protected by the adults in his life. That thought immediately led her back to Cord and the way he grew up.
She couldn’t imagine how awful it must have felt to be shuffled from one place to another after being dumped by his mother. With no parents, no one to go to with his problems, no permanent home, and no one to hug him when he was hurt or afraid. Stacey could tell it was the prime force still driving him. What he suffered during those years made him determined to return children or parents to families who loved them, regardless of the danger to himself.
Stacey fully believed he chose his job to reunite families and to keep kids from suffering the agonies he had faced. Most people probably thought he took such risks for the money. She was sure he took money from the clients who could pay and used it to pay expenses on jobs when parents couldn’t afford his services. Deep down she also knew he would never do anything to hurt Marcus, but his attitude toward her might cloud his judgment. No, he would never let that happen, either. When did I lose sight of all he’s done to help so far?
The tension and pressure were getting to her a lot more than she wanted to admit. The sexual frustration was growing to unbearable proportions. She began to wonder about giving up her dream of forever and grabbing for the here and now with both hands.
I want him to love me so much. She moaned and punched the pillow trying to get comfortable. I can’t give him up, I jus
t can’t. Oh mercy, I’m in love! She sat up straight as the thought sunk in. I’m really in love with the macho jerk. She smiled as she became used to the idea. Stacey lay down again and hugged a pillow wishing it were Cord. She finally dozed
off to dream of Cord’s kisses.
* * * * *
Cord walked to the park and scouted it for a safe exchange site. A cardboard sign on the gate at the baseball field announced a softball game would begin at 2:00 p.m. A bit further on near the other end of the park, stood a variety of playground equipment. Another sign hung on a covered picnic shelter saying it was reserved all day for the Farmer Family Reunion. Several teens were hitting balls on one of the tennis courts and a few families were watching children play or strolling through the park. Public, open, and with several ways in and out, it made a good choice for the meeting. If, and it was a big if, Stacey could convince Thompson to agree.
It hurt to find out she didn’t really trust him to put Marcus as his top priority. His heart definitely skipped a beat when she said she would go alone. The thought that something might happen to her shook him to his core. Maybe he did momentarily forget the child in his determination to keep her safe. He had lost sight of the prime objective which usually never happened. A definite sign he was way too involved with Stacey Parker.
Leaving the park, Cord watched for police presence as he walked. There was a single police car parked in front of an ice cream stand. Stacey was right about this small sleepy town where Sunday was still a day of rest or family time for most. Walking an extra few blocks, he stopped at a couple of spots where storekeepers were setting out their sidewalk tables ready for the afternoon. He talked about the weather and made a few purchases before moving on toward the Lowell Inn where Stacey waited.
CHAPTER 14
A constant banging finally woke Stacey from vivid dreams of heated kisses shared with Cord McConnell. Walking groggily to the door, she swept the hair off her face and looked out the peephole. She saw Cord shift around impatiently as he knocked again.
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