Proof of Life: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 4)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  Alex seemed to mull that question over for a bit as he ate another bite of his meal. “We don’t do much in the winter. In fact, they usually head south to Florida once Christmas is over. But in the summer, we try to make time to go fishing together.”

  “Jordan’s never been fishing before. He might enjoy doing that with you. If you don’t mind taking him along.”

  Alex stared at her for a moment, his gaze intense. “I would never mind taking him along. As long as it is safe for him, I don’t mind taking him with me anywhere. It’s just that so much of my life is wrapped up in BlackThorpe, and aspects of what we do are dangerous. This is a job that requires Marcus and me to be available twenty-four/seven. I will try my best to be there for Jordan, but there may be times when I just can’t.”

  Rebecca wondered if that was at the root of everything that Alex seemed to be struggling with. The feeling that parenting Jordan had to be all or nothing. She understood about work sometimes needing to take precedence over family. There were times she had to ask Jordan to wait while she worked on something, but then there were times when she set aside work to focus on Jordan. Perhaps Alex felt that because his job was so demanding, he wouldn’t be able to give Jordan the attention he deserved.

  “Jordan knows that you have a job to do. He knows that I have a job to do. In fact, I didn’t come here right away because I needed to finish things up with my latest book. Maybe I should’ve dropped everything and came, but I knew that he was safe and I would get to him as soon as I could. I didn’t raise Jordan to think that he was the center of the world. But when he really truly needs me, I’m there for him. There are times, when it is something less important, that he has to wait. And he does. It doesn’t make him doubt my love for him because he knows I’m working to provide for our family. I don’t think he’ll expect anything different from you as long as he knows that you will make time for him when he needs you. And even more than that, he needs to know that you want to make time for him. That you want him in your life.”

  Alex seemed to be considering what she said, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I appreciate your thoughts on that. You have to understand, after we…split up, I never really had to take another person into consideration. I made decisions based mostly on myself. Yes, I had my parents, Adrianne and Melanie, but I usually didn’t have to take them into account when it came to priorities in my life. I had dinner once a week with them, but the rest of my time was devoted to work or sometimes church. I never had to weigh what was more important because my job was the most important thing. Now I have something else in my life that is of even greater importance than BlackThorpe, and that’s taking some adjustment for me. But I do want to try.”

  Rebecca took a sip of water and set the glass down, her gaze slipping away from Alex’s. “So in all this time, there was no one else?”

  When Alex didn’t answer right away, Rebecca looked up to find him watching her, his brows drawn together. “How could there be anyone else? We’re still married. I could never date anyone while that commitment was still in place.” He paused, his gaze growing even more intense. “Was there someone else for you? Is there someone else for you?”

  Regretting having even asked the question, Rebecca shook her head. “No. There hasn’t been anyone for me.”

  Before he could respond to her comment, the waitress approached them to see if they were finished. As their conversation had grown more involved, they had stopped eating. At that point, however, Rebecca didn’t really feel like finishing her meal. Alex apparently felt the same way since he also nodded when the waitress asked if she could clear their plates.

  “Could I interest you in some dessert?” the waitress asked just as Alex pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at the display.

  He looked at Rebecca. “I’m sorry we don’t have time for dessert. I need to go.” He glanced up at the waitress. “Everything has been great, but I have an emergency so we need to leave. Could you just bring me the bill, please?”

  They were out of the restaurant and into the truck within five minutes. As he backed out, he glanced over at her. “I really need to get to the office. Can I just get someone to give you a ride home from there?”

  “That would be fine,” Rebecca said.

  The tension coming off Alex was palpable. And clearly his mind had switched gears because there was no conversation between the restaurant and the office. Once they were cleared through the main gate, Alex maneuvered his truck into the basement parking lot. She climbed out of the truck without waiting for him to come to her door, not wanting to slow him down. Rebecca was surprised when he reached for her hand and began walking quickly toward an elevator not far from the truck.

  Rebecca wondered if he was even aware that he was holding her hand. He remained silent as the elevator rose to the second floor from the top. Once the doors opened, she tightened her grip on his hand as they walked rapidly down the carpeted hallway. He opened a large door, and suddenly she found herself plunged into chaos.

  ~*~*~

  As his gaze swept the room, Alex registered everyone present. Marcus was there as well as Trent, Than, Tyler, and Ryan. There were a few more of Trent’s guys who were there helping to monitor the computer screens. The room was dark except for the light cast from the large screen on the wall facing the door. The screen was divided into six smaller displays. One for each of the men on the team.

  The monitors didn’t just display what the men were seeing but also their vital signs. Alex looked at each screen, noting who it belonged to. Eric’s was in the top left corner, and Alex wasn’t surprised to see his increased pulse rate since he was pretty sure his rate was right up there too, thanks to the adrenaline that was pumping through him.

  Alex moved to stand next to Marcus, and it was only then that he realized he held Rebecca’s hand. Without letting her go, Alex bent his head to her and murmured, “If you can just wait a minute, I’ll get someone to take you home.”

  She lifted her face, her expression only faintly illuminated by the light cast off by the monitor. “Would it be okay if I stayed here?”

  Without hesitation, Alex nodded and turned his attention back to the monitor. “What’s the status?”

  “Eric reported a vehicle that turned onto the road about twenty-five minutes ago,” Marcus said. “The car made several passes in front of the house before pulling in and parking. The men have followed the plan as you and Eric decided. They stopped the signal interference as soon as he walked into the house. And Chet took the opportunity while he was inside to plant the tracker on his car. We’re waiting now for him to exit the house. We are prepared to track the vehicle when he leaves.”

  Alex watched the movement on the various screens. Right now the men were in waiting mode. They wouldn’t do anything until Craig was a significant distance from the house.

  “Have we contacted the FBI?” Alex asked. He knew that they probably should’ve run this whole mission past their FBI contact, especially since Justin’s brother-in-law worked for the agency. But when it came right down to it, Alex refused to trust Alana’s life to anyone but his men. The agency could have Craig, but BlackThorpe was going to get Alana.

  “Yes, I spoke with them and had a somewhat tense conversation regarding what we have done,” Marcus said, his tone hard. “They’re not too happy we moved forward with something like this without informing them of our plans. It didn’t seem to matter to them that we were operating on a fairly flimsy lead.” Marcus crossed his arms. “Personally, I think they just like to be in control.”

  “And we wouldn’t know anything about liking to be in control ourselves,” Than said dryly.

  There were a few chuckles around the room, a welcome relief from the tension that still hung in the air.

  “Well, I updated them with the latest developments, and they agreed to have a team ready to arrest Craig,” Marcus said. “However, I made it very clear that we would be taking responsibility for Alana ourselves. If she requires hospitaliza
tion, we will choose the hospital and we will get her there. If she is fit for travel, she will be returned here on our private jet. Once we have her safely home, they are welcome to interview her.” Marcus paused. “I believe it is of the utmost importance that we reunite her with her son and Justin as soon as possible.”

  For some in the room, it was a rare glimpse of a softer side of Marcus. Alex was well aware that that side of the man existed though he knew his friend did his best to keep it under wraps when around anyone but his sister Meredith or Alex.

  The tension in the room edged up when the front door of the house opened, and a figure appeared on the porch. The team member closest, the one who had tagged the car, was currently waiting behind the house so as not to be seen by the person they assumed was Craig. So that meant that it was the ones in the field across the road who had eyes on him. Within a minute, the figure had climbed into the car and backed away from the house. The countdown began as the car moved down the road away from the house and, hopefully, away from Alana.

  They stood in silence for a few minutes, watching as the GPS put Craig further and further away from the house. Of course, they were assuming it was Craig. Given the darkness of the night, they had not been able to get a visual confirmation. If it did turn out to not be Craig in the car, the person would still be arrested as an accessory to kidnapping. Hopefully, that individual would, in turn, lead them to Craig.

  Rebecca shifted next to him but made no effort to tug her hand free of his. Alex knew that the men in the room were curious about her presence. Most knew who she was from their visit to the office, but her presence at his side that night was likely a surprise.

  “You still okay with staying here?” Alex asked softly, not feeling the need to have the whole room hear his conversation.

  Her cheek brushed his arm as she moved closer and also spoke in a soft voice. “I’m not sure you could drag me away at this point. I really want to see how this works out. I’m just standing here praying that Alana is in that house and that she’s fine.”

  Alex squeezed her hand. “Thank you for praying. There’s a lot riding on this.”

  “Looks like he’s making good time,” a voice said through the speakers in the room. Alex recognized it as Eric’s. “We’re going to approach the house now. Move out.”

  They had decided that for Alana’s sake, Eric would be part of the team searching the house while the rest stood guard. She would probably react best to a familiar face.

  Alex watched as the camera views on the screens showed the men approaching from different angles. He flicked his gaze to the GPS monitor, relieved to see that the vehicle was still headed away from the house. On the off chance that Craig was monitoring the house as he traveled, they had to wait until the last possible second to turn on the signal interference once again. Hopefully, they would have enough time to find and rescue Alana if he headed back in their direction.

  Once the men had formed a perimeter around the house, they paused again. They didn’t think there would be any surveillance on the outside of the house, but to be sure they waited to see if their approach prompted any change in his direction. This time, Alex watched the GPS display more closely, but there was no change in speed or direction of the green dot on the screen.

  “Okay, team, let’s do this,” Eric said.

  Several things happened at once as two of the team members led by Eric climbed the front porch steps to the door. One other team member moved into surveillance position at the front of the house while another once again activated the signal interference. The remaining member had returned to get their vehicle and bring it closer to the house in case they needed a rapid getaway.

  On the monitor, Alex could see the men make quick work of the front door. Once inside, they moved their heads from side to side giving the control center a view of the interior of the home. Without knowing the setup of the home, it took the men several minutes to locate a locked door just off the kitchen.

  Alex’s heart began to beat rapidly as his gaze kept going between the GPS monitor and the screens of the guys inside the house.

  Please God, let us find Alana. Please let her be safe.

  There was still no sign of change on the GPS monitor as the guys breached the locked door and began to make their way down a steep wooden staircase into the inky black room below.

  “Alana? This is Eric from BlackThorpe. Are you here?”

  There was no response, and the room appeared empty. Alex’s heart began to sink. Had the lead really been too flimsy? Then what had that person been doing here? Surely they hadn’t been wrong.

  Eric’s camera night vision camera view continued to sweep the room. It moved across a pile of laundry on the floor in the corner and then jerked back. Eric ran toward the pile and dropped to his knees. A band tightened around Alex’s chest as he watched on the screen as Eric pulled back a blanket to reveal a figure huddled on the ground. The person didn’t move or respond to Eric’s presence, and Alex bit his lip to keep from crying out.

  Were they too late?

  They couldn’t be. Alex refused to believe that God would’ve brought them this far in their search for Alana only for them to find her dead. There was absolutely no sound in the room as they waited for some indication from Eric of her condition.

  “Alana?” Eric called her name again as he pulled off his glove and pressed his fingers to the pulse point in her neck. Her head lolled back, the tangled mass of her long hair sliding away, giving them their first view of her face. Suddenly, Eric was moving, shouting out commands as he scooped Alana into his arms and headed for the stairs. “Into the vehicle now.”

  Rebecca’s hand tightened around his, and Alex was suddenly very glad he had her by his side for this moment. She moved closer to him, her shoulder pressed firmly against his upper arm as they watched Eric race up the stairs and through the house to the front door.

  By the time Erik and the other two made it to the front porch, the vehicle was already waiting, its engine running.

  Once Eric and the two team members were inside with Alana, the vehicle shot towards the highway. A quick glance at the GPS showed that the other vehicle continued to move away from the house.

  “She has a pulse, but it’s weak,” Eric said, tension clear in his voice. “I think he’s drugged her.”

  Best case scenario would’ve been to find her alive and well. Right then, Alex just hoped she would hang on until they could get her to the hospital. Next to him, he could hear Marcus on the phone alerting someone to an incoming medical emergency. Than was also on the phone with Lucas Hamilton. Since the BlackThorpe jet was in Tennessee with the team, they had made alternate arrangements to get Justin to Alana if she had needed to be hospitalized. These were all the plans that had been put into place since he’d spoken to Eric the night before with the anticipation of finding Alana within the next two days.

  Alex let go of Rebecca’s hand as he reached for his phone. With trembling fingers, he scrolled through his contact list for Justin’s number. He tapped the screen for speaker mode then reached again for Rebecca’s hand.

  “Alex?” Justin’s voice came through the speaker, confusion evident in his tone.

  “You need to get to the airfield, Justin. There’s a plane waiting for you, to take you to Alana.” Alex knew that his voice had cracked as he shared the news, but he didn’t care. Emotion was running high for all of them in the room.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  YOU FOUND HER? You really found her?” Justin’s voice was tight with emotion. “Is she okay?”

  Alex wished with all his heart he could tell him that she was. “When Eric found her she was unconscious. We think she may be drugged. But they’re on their way to the hospital now. You need to get on the plane so you can be there when she wakes up.”

  “Okay. Where is she?” They could hear rustling in the background as Justin prepared himself to leave.

  “She’s in Tennessee. Eric’s there with the team from BlackThorpe as well as
the plane, so Lucas Hamilton has arranged to have his jet fly you down there. Than will meet you at the plane and go with you.” Alex swallowed hard around the tightness in his throat. “We’re continuing to pray for Alana. If you need anything at all, you be sure to let us know.”

  “I will. And thank you for praying.” Justin paused. “Thank you to all of you who were involved in finding her. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for bringing her back to me.”

  “She’s one of ours, Justin. And we always take care of our own.” As he hung up the phone, Alex’s gaze went back to Eric’s monitor. His head was down, so his camera could clearly show Alana’s face. Her eyes were closed as she laid there motionless. “Come on, Alana. Hang in there. Your love is coming to you. Just hang on.”

  He felt a tug on his hand and turned toward Rebecca. There were streaks of tears down her face as she let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around him. Alex froze for a moment then as the emotion he’d been trying to hold back swept over him, he slipped his arms around her and pulled her close.

  All the uncertainty of the past few weeks, all the loneliness of the years gone by, all the pain when they had been driven apart by his words. It went from seeming so important to being almost totally irrelevant. In the light of what was happening with Alana and Justin, Alex wanted to hold his family as close as possible.

  As he pressed his face into the fragrance of Rebecca’s hair, Alex realized that now more than anything, he wanted his wife back and he wanted his son in his life. It was frightening to think about. He still wasn’t sure he was going to be any good at being a husband or father. But he had to try. If Rebecca would let him, he had to try.

  When Eric’s voice came over the speakers again, Alex lifted his head and turned to look at the monitors. He kept one arm loosely around Rebecca as they stood side-by-side. If she stepped away from him, he would’ve released her immediately, but as long as she stayed there, pressed against him, she was right where he wanted her.