Kate backed over the edge of the window. Nathan knelt, stifling a groan from the sharp pain in his knee. He took her hands, lowering her as far as he could before letting go. He looked down, saw Kate pick herself up and wave. Nathan dropped backward from the window, and the moment his feet hit the mattress he rolled to one side, trying to protect his knee. He pushed himself up, and as they fled around the corner, the lower window behind them exploded, sending shards of glass flying into the air.
“Where’s Tommy?” Kate screamed when she saw the empty yard.
She started toward the door and Nathan pulled her back. She struggled but he maintained his grip.
“Under the bed. He’ll be under the bed.”
Nathan’s heart pounded. The last thing he wanted to do was go back inside.
For all he knew, Tommy was with Jack.
“He’s still inside.” Kate yanked herself free.
“I’ll check.”
Nathan dragged the towel through the snow and limped back to the door. He used the wet cloth to turn the handle and then lay on his back and booted the door open with his good leg. A cloud of flame and smoke shot out. He had one chance. Tommy had one chance. Nathan flipped over, took a deep breath and crawled in with the towel over his head.
He kept low and moved as fast as he could around the wall to Tommy’s room.
The door was closed and on fire. If Tommy wasn’t in there Nathan knew he couldn’t look elsewhere. The blaze was too powerful, the heat searing his body. If he took one breath, it would kill him. He lay on his back and kicked the door open, flipped over and crawled inside. His eyes were squeezed almost closed against the acrid smoke. He felt for the bed, reached underneath, swinging his hand around. His pulse jumped when he touched a leg. He pulled and Tommy slid out, one hand clutching a soft toy. Nathan scooped him up into his arms, draped the towel around them both and crawled out.
Nathan breathed in so deeply when he got outside the cold air paralyzed his throat. Kate thumped his back. He gasped and was engulfed in a violent fit of coughing. Great wracking spasms seized his body as he tried to clear his lungs.
He felt Tommy lifted from his arms, and he lay on his back, closing his eyes for a second before snapping them open. “Where’s Jack?” Kate tipped Tommy’s head back and breathed into his mouth. Nathan rolled toward her, checking she was doing it right, wondering if he had the strength to
take over. Then Tommy gasped and Nathan sighed with relief. Kate sobbed, tears rolling down her sooty face. She pulled Tommy into her arms.
Nathan looked around for Jack. He didn’t believe he was still in the house, though if he was, he didn’t fucking care. Nathan took deep breaths of cold, clean air, filling his lungs. Tommy was crying and coughing as Kate wiped snow over his face.
“Kate?”
She turned to look at him.
“You did well.”
She smiled and for the first time looked him full in the face for more than a split-second. She had beautiful eyes. Then the smile went and the hurt came back.
His own eyes stung and watered as if grit had been thrown at them. Nathan rubbed his face with snow and looked at the house, engulfed in flames, then glanced toward the white propane tank. “We need to get clear. Get in the car with Tommy and I’ll have a quick look to see if I can spot Jack.” Nathan circled the house but the only new footprints were the ones left as he and Kate ran from the deck.
The guy deserved what he got. Nathan retrieved his spare keys from a magnetic box under the left back side, used the car to pull himself upright and brushed off the worst of the snow before got in. On the back seat Kate cuddled a weeping Tommy.
“There’s no sign of him,” Nathan said. “We need to get out of here.” He set off with a skid down the snow-covered road and kept glancing in the mirror. Kate was staring back at the house, so he knew she saw what he did.
Jack watching them drive away.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Nathan’s mind spun like a twister. What the fuck was Jack thinking? He’d not only tried to kill him, but left his wife and kid to die in the fire. Why? He opened his mouth to talk to Kate and the noise of an explosion shook the car. Nathan looked in the mirror and saw a dirty ball of smoke billow high into the air.
“The propane tank,” he muttered.
Kate paled under her soot-encrusted cheeks. Everything about her screamed abused wife, but that didn’t mean she wanted Jack dead. Nathan still wasn’t turning back. When he was a cop, he’d been called out to a number of domestic disputes and knew wives rarely ended up testifying against their husbands. Kate wanted to leave Jack, which was a start, but for all Nathan knew, tomorrow she’d jump back in his arms. The longer she was out of them, the better.
The highway was clear of snow, and Nathan stopped to remove the chains he’d bought. The effort brought on another coughing fit and he spat out a wad of dirty phlegm. He ached all over. His head pounded as if Jack was still hitting him and his knee was so stiff he could hardly bend it. As he tossed the chains in the trunk, his eyes began to blur and he worried he’d pass out. They all needed medical attention. He wasn’t sure whether to find a hospital first, the police or the fire department.
Nathan didn’t need to report the fire. A county fire vehicle with lights flashing and siren blaring rushed toward them as they neared the town limits. Everything went black in front of Nathan and he slammed on the brake.
“Kate, I can’t drive. Can you take over? Find a phone.” Nathan slid onto the passenger seat. He put his head against the window and passed out.
Kate lifted Tommy from her arms and put the seatbelt around him. He was too small without a booster, but it was better than nothing. She got in the driver’s seat and pulled back onto the road. She felt as though she had a knife in her chest. It had been there from the moment she realized the house was on fire. She knew she wasn’t having a heart attack but the pain hadn’t changed, neither worsened nor improved. Her pulse continued to race. She could feel her heart beating all over her body, and hear it in her head, a persistent drumming.
Why did she feel so bad? She was free of Jack, so why was her heart feeling so heavy? Maybe it was the thought of having to talk about what he’d done. She’d tried as hard as she could to get away but people wouldn’t understand. They’d only see that she’d stayed. Jack had done things she could never talk about. Made her do things she didn’t want to remember. He’d left his marks all over her body, and in her mind.
***
Jack opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. He was cold, lying on his back in the dark, with something stretching out just above his face. He groaned and moved his head. A strip of light ran down his left side. Then the pain came, slamming into him like a truck. It hurt when he breathed. His chest felt crushed.
Jack struggled to remember. He’d been by the side of the Suburban, hiding the gun beneath the seat. Now he lay beneath the car. He didn’t recall crawling under but guessed he must have. Why was he on his back? He took shallow breaths, trying to piece the rest together.
He remembered hiding at the back of the broken patio table, burying his burned arm in the snow. He’d thought if by some fluke Nathan and Kate got out the house, he’d persuade Nathan to go back for Tommy. At gunpoint if necessary.
Once Nathan was inside, he wouldn’t be coming out.
Jack had heard the sound of glass smashing and seen Nathan and Kate escape from the upper floor. He’d been about to follow them when the lower window exploded. That was the first time he’d been knocked out. He had a vague memory of staggering back to the yard only to see Nathan’s Camry disappearing in the distance. The bastards had driven off and left him.
He tried to move from under the SUV and couldn’t. They’d left him to die. The bastards had fucking left him to die! The rage rose inside him like boiling lava.
This was not supposed to happen. If Kate talked, everything would be ruined. He tried again to slide out and the line of light went black.
***
When the voice filtered into his mind, Jack thought it was Nathan.
“There’s a child seat.”
“Oh, Christ. You think they’re still in there?” Not Nathan. A cop? Fire department? Jack knew he had to tell them where he was. He couldn’t survive without help. Something was seriously wrong with his head and his chest. But when he opened his mouth to call, nothing came out but a wet gurgle.
“Is that blood?” a voice asked.
Then Jack saw a face staring at him.
“Hey, there’s somebody under here!”
A hand touched his burned arm and Jack whimpered.
“Don’t worry buddy, we’ll soon have you out of there.”
“We ought to wait and lift the car,” someone said. “If he’s injured his spine….” Just get me out of here, Jack wanted to scream. In the end, they dragged him out. Two of them worked on him, asking where he hurt, poking him with needles, ripping his shirt. Jesus! They were hurting him. Jack glimpsed cops standing a few feet away.
“Was anyone in there?” they kept asking.
Jack had to get this right. Think! By the time they had an IV in place, he had the glimmerings of an idea.
“Kate,” he mumbled. “Why’d you do it? Where’s Tommy?” Once he’d told the paramedic in the back of the ambulance what he wanted him to know, the guy called the police and repeated what Jack had said.
“Call my father,” Jack pleaded. “Please?”
“What’s the number?”
***
Nathan woke to find his cheek pressed against the cold window of the car. He sat up and groaned. “Where are we? How long have I been out?” Kate was focused on the highway, traveling fast. Too fast. Nathan rubbed his forehead and looked around at the black and white landscape. They sped along on a highway, snow-covered meadows on either side, mountains beyond, but no sign of any habitation. She had to have driven through a town. Nathan glanced back at Tommy. Eyes closed, he had his thumb in his mouth.
“Kate, slow down. Where are we going? Why aren’t we somewhere talking to the police or in a hospital?” He looked at her face, wondering what was wrong.
“I’m getting us away from Jack,” she said in a quiet voice.
Her grip on the wheel was so tight, the bruises stood out on the backs of her hands, dark uneven smudges on white knuckles.
“Have we passed a town?” Nathan asked.
“He’ll come after us.”
He sat up straighter. “Kate, pull over and let me drive. I’m okay now.” He wasn’t, he felt like there’d been an explosion in his head, but she worried him.
“He hurt me,” she whispered.
“But you’re safe now. There’s no one following.” He saw her eyes flick to the mirror and he glanced back to check. The car slowed a little.
“Did he hit Tommy?”
“No.”
Well, that was something. “How long has he been hurting you?”
“From the moment he met me.”
Nathan couldn’t stop the question spilling out. “Why the hell did you marry him?”
“I didn’t.”
Nathan thought of the wedding photo. Oh Christ, had she flipped?
“I don’t remember. He said…I don’t remember.”
The words were so faint, he almost missed them. The date rape drug Jack gave the waitress—is that what he’d done to Kate?
“Kate, let me drive for a while.”
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not. Pull over.”
“I wanted to leave. He wouldn’t let us. He nearly killed you. But it’s okay now because I can keep us safe.”
Nathan tried again. “Kate, pull over right now. You’re driving too fast. You’re going to have an accident and hurt your boy.” She slowed to a stop at the side of the road. Her hands tightened on the wheel.
“Tommy’s not mine.”
Alarm bells went off in Nathan’s head. Shit!
“Jack took him from a McDonald’s in Las Vegas.” She muttered the words under her breath.
“Jesus.” Nathan’s mind began to sprint, running through the consequences of what she’d told him. “What the f—why did you do it?” She glared at him. “I didn’t. Jack did.”
“But you went along with it. He’s calling you Mommy.” Nathan glanced back at the sleeping boy and dropped his voice. “Do you realize how serious this is?” Kate shrank into the seat. “Jack wanted me to think Tommy was mine.”
“How the hell could he do that?”
Her gaze slid to her lap. “Three years ago, I had a baby, but I was sick.” She slid her wedding ring up and down her finger. “My mother told me he died. Jack said a family in Las Vegas adopted him. A little part of me wanted to believe it.” She spoke so quietly Nathan could only just hear her. He wanted to grab her hands and stop them moving.
“Even if it was true, you can’t snatch a child back after he’s been adopted. It’s not fair to him or his new parents.”
“I tried to make Jack take him back.”
“We need to go to the police right now.”
“I’m sorry I got you involved,” she whispered. She didn’t look at him. “Thank you for saving us. I know you could have died. Sorry I gave you the note. Sorry about everything.”
Before Nathan could say another word, she got out of the car. He wondered if she’d try to walk away, if he’d have to chase her, but she climbed in the back with Tommy. Nathan scooted into the driver’s seat. He’d stop at the first place they came to and call the police.
He didn’t go more than a couple of miles before he saw the flashing lights in the rearview mirror. He was below the speed limit but he slowed anyway, expecting the cruiser to pass. Nathan wondered whether he could flash his own lights and get them to stop. He didn’t need to. They indicated he should pull over.
The first squad car stopped about twenty feet behind, offset from his car. The other vehicle pulled alongside. A felony stop. Shit, they knew who they were. They thought Nathan had a gun and there was a kidnapped child in the car. His mouth went dry. He kept his hands in full view on the steering wheel.
“Just do exactly what they say,” he muttered, as much to himself as to Kate.
Through the mirror, he saw officers emerge from each vehicle with their weapons drawn.
“Fuck,” Nathan whispered.
“You in the car,” came a voice over a PA system. “Lower your window. Take your keys from the ignition with one hand, keep the other on the wheel. Any sudden movements will be considered aggressive. Wave your left hand if you understand.”
Nathan lowered the window and waved.
“Drop your car keys outside the car.”
Nathan tossed them out.
“With your left hand, reach out of the window and open the door. Then step out of the vehicle with your hands above your head.”
“Kate, just do exactly what they say when they ask you to move. Nothing more, nothing less,” he said and got out of the car into the cold air.
“With two fingers, lift your shirt above your chest and turn in a circle.”
“I’m unarmed,” Nathan called.
“You make any wrong or sudden movement and you will be shot. Do you understand?”
Nathan heard the strain in the guy’s voice. Fuck. “I understand.”
“Remain facing away from me and slowly follow my voice. Step back toward me. Do you understand?”
Nathan hoped his knee didn’t give way and make them think he was trying something. Moments later, he flinched as his arms were yanked down. The cuffs snapped into place and cold metal encircled his wrists. He was efficiently patted down but there was nothing to find.
“Where’s your gun? Does she have your gun?” the cuffing officer demanded.
“No. My gun was stolen. We were on our way to the police.”
“Yeah, right. I’m arresting you on suspicion of kidnapping Sammy Howe and attempting to murder Jack Thompson.”
That hit Nathan like a thump to the
gut. “What?” He began to cough.
The officer maneuvered him into the back seat of the first squad car and the door slammed. The driver’s window was part open and Nathan heard them shouting at Kate.
“Ma’am, open the door and step out of the car. Leave the child where he is.
Keep your back toward me.”
Nathan silently pleaded for Kate to do as she was told.
“Leave the child where he is,” the officer shouted.
Nothing happened. Nathan could see the pair of them in the back of the car.
“Ma’am, I need you to come out now. If you don’t, we’ll be forced to get you.
Please get out of the car. You won’t be harmed. Do you understand? Your husband’s going to be fine. He’s in the hospital. Please get out of the car.” Nathan saw Kate moving, heard Tommy crying and then they got out together.
Tommy had his hands tight around Kate’s neck. She looked ready to collapse.
“Put the boy down,” shouted the cop nearest to her. “Put your hands above your head.”
Nathan watched her try, but Tommy wouldn’t let go. “Shit.” This could go wrong very quickly. He wanted to shout and tell the officers she was scared and
sick but knew he might make things worse. Tommy tried to turn and Kate caught his head, stopping him from looking toward the guns pointing in their direction.
“Arms in the air,” someone shouted. “Put him down.” Two cops approached, weapons trained on her. Nathan saw the panic in her eyes. Then it all happened very fast. One officer snatched Tommy and the other threw Kate on the ground. He drove his knee into the middle of her back and cuffed her before hauling her to her feet. She looked like a ghost. Part way through the Miranda warning, Kate turned her head and threw up.
This was Jack’s work. Nathan wished he’d killed the bastard.
***
Hedley had tried to keep his team positive. They’d had one break. An assistant working at Lenscrafters thought she recognized the sketch. A guy buying new glasses for his wife. He’d paid cash and brought in a broken pair. If this was the guy who had Sammy and he really had a wife, it was a lead. Hedley was on his way to the store when the call came from Breckenridge PD to say they had an injured man admitting he and his wife had snatched Sammy. The not so good news—the police still didn’t have the boy.
book Page 24