“Well, these are the terrible toddler years.” She pointed to her soapy head. “I’ll be done in a few minutes.” She grinned at Miguel’s panicked expression. “Welcome to fatherhood. You’ll think of something.”
She whipped the shower curtain back in place and stuck her head under the water to rinse. When she finished her shower, she dropped the towel on the floor and slipped into some clean underwear.
She opened the bathroom door a crack and put her eye to the space. Two lumps, one large and one small, moved beneath the covers of the bed.
She swung open the door. “Everything okay?”
Miguel lifted one edge of the blanket. “We’re under the ocean waves here, swimming.”
Mikey’s muffled voice echoed Miguel’s. “Swimming.”
“In your diaper?”
Mikey wriggled from beneath the covers. “Swimming.”
“I see that, but now you have to get dressed so Mommy can drop you off at Ms. Lori’s room.”
“Does he need breakfast?”
“They feed him there.”
“What about you?”
“If I get moving and leave a little early, I can pick up something on the way.”
“We.” Miguel shrugged off the blanket and held Mikey’s arm as he clambered off the bed. “I’m taking you to school, and I’m picking you both up.”
She nodded, a pinprick of fear needling the back of her neck. “What are you going to do all day or at least until noon? We get out early today since the kids just have graduation practice.”
“I’m going to do some research.”
“On?”
“Moles.”
* * *
AFTER THEY DROPPED off Mikey and picked up some breakfast burritos, Miguel parked around the corner from the school.
Jennifer peeled back the yellow paper from her burrito and pointed to the bag. “Any hot sauce in there?”
“Thought I saw some.” Miguel plunged his hand into the bag and pulled out two packets of hot sauce. He ripped one open with his teeth and handed it to her.
“Who do you think broke into my house and firebombed it? Same group for both actions?” She squeezed the red sauce onto the end of her burrito and took a bite.
“Not sure.” He raised his hand and ticked off the recent events on his fingers. “You think someone’s been following you. Someone broke into your place and planted those bugs. Someone threw a Molotov cocktail into your house, but it wasn’t a big one.”
“Yeah, I feel so much better that someone threw a fiery rag in a glass bottle into my son’s bedroom, but it was just a little, bitty one.”
Miguel dabbed at a spot of hot sauce on his chin. “What I meant was that act could’ve been more of an attempt to warn and not kill.”
“It could’ve killed.” The hot sauce burned in her belly. “It could’ve killed Mikey.”
“I know.” He grabbed her hand. “I’m just trying to figure out motivation here. Is it the CIA trying to scare me back to Maryland or is it some terrorist cell trying to kill me?”
“And us.”
Miguel’s jaw tightened. “Maybe I never should’ve come back to you.”
“We’ve been through this already. Before you even got to Austin, someone was following me and bugging my house.”
“Probably just because they knew I’d return here. If I’d never come back, they probably would’ve lost interest in you and continued their search for me.”
She dropped her burrito and dug her fingers into the denim covering his thigh. “Do you think you could’ve kept your return from me? I’m sure I would’ve found out somehow, and then nothing would’ve kept me from your side.”
Drawing her toward him, he kissed her with his spicy lips. “I love you, Jen, more than anything, but that means keeping you safe.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that line before.” She cupped his jaw flicking her fingers through his longish hair. “This is no military cut, sailor.”
“They weren’t offering and I wasn’t asking. Had more important issues on my mind.”
She glanced at her cell phone. “I have one more question before I head off to class. How could one mole in the intel community get to you?”
He jerked his thumb at the laptop stashed in the backseat. “That’s what I’m going to try to find out.”
“Can Josh Elliott help you?” She crumpled up the waxy paper around the rest of her burrito and tossed it into the bag at Miguel’s feet.
“No. He’s headed out for another deployment. He had a little time off after his last assignment. Guess he met a woman.”
“Josh?” Miguel’s sniper teammate was more intense than Miguel. “I hope she’s tough as nails.”
“She’s...” Miguel shrugged. “I hope so, too. I’m going to be waiting right here for you at noon, and then we’ll pick up Mikey.”
“And then?”
“We should find another house. Mikey can’t stay in a motel forever.”
“Tomorrow is the last day of school. Let’s deal with it then.”
A bell rang in the distance, and Miguel raised his eyebrows. “Are you late, teacher?”
“That’s the first bell. I’m not late until the second bell.” She kissed him again just because she could and he was inches away from her. “Noon.”
Before she turned the corner, she glanced back at the car and waved. She still felt like she was moving through some crazy dream. Miguel alive, back home—and their lives in danger. When would they catch a break?
She had no time to pop into the teachers’ lounge like she usually did, so she headed straight for her classroom.
The first bell had called the kids to class, and they jostled and nudged each other as they lined up in the hallway outside the door.
“You’re almost in middle school. Behave yourselves.” She jingled her key chain at them and then opened the door.
“What’re we doing today, Ms. Lynch?”
“I must’ve told you a hundred times, Chase.” She dropped her bag on the floor and nudged it under her desk with her toe. “Cleaning up the room. You guys are going to take all your stuff home, projects, papers, supplies, and then we’re going to walk to the high school to run through the promotion ceremony.”
The morning passed quickly, and at ten thirty Jennifer got her class ready for the walk to the high school. As she gathered the kids in the hallway, Olivia sidled up next to her.
“What happened at your house last night? I heard there was a fire.”
“That news spread quickly.” Jennifer snapped her fingers. “Girls, stop talking. There are classes in session across the hall.”
“Are you and Mikey okay?”
“We’re fine. M-my friend discovered it quickly, got us out of the house and called 9-1-1.”
“Thank goodness. When you didn’t make it to the teachers’ lounge this morning, I got worried. Do you have a place to stay?”
“Motel for now. I’ll start looking for a new place soon. I was done with that place anyway.”
“It’s a good thing it’s the end of the school year.” Olivia took Jennifer’s arm. “One more day until freedom.”
Freedom? Jennifer had been feeling a noose tightening around her neck ever since Miguel appeared—no, that wasn’t fair. She’d been feeling that noose even before. She just hadn’t understood its significance.
Just like they had the day before, the fifth-grade teachers herded their students through the park and across the street to the high school. The school had reserved its auditorium for their practice.
Once inside, the students were assigned a place in line alphabetically. The teachers gathered in the back while the principal and vice principal ran the kids through their paces.
Olivia took a sip from her coffe
e cup. “Are you and Mikey still going to visit your sister in San Francisco this summer?”
“Maybe.” Olivia knew all about her dead navy SEAL fiancé. When would she be able to tell everyone the good news about Miguel? She was pretty tired of being the poor, young fiancée, left to raise a child by herself.
She wanted to shout the news from the rooftops. She wanted to tell Troy that Mikey no longer needed a father figure—he had his own father.
Jennifer sighed. “You still going out to visit the in-laws?”
“God, yes, for two long weeks.”
A buzzing sound had Olivia patting her pockets. “It’s not mine.”
Jennifer reached for her purse hanging over the back of a chair in the last row of the auditorium and scrambled for her cell phone in the side pocket.
Her heart did a little flip when she saw the number for Mikey’s day care. She held up one finger to Olivia. “Excuse me a minute. I have to take this.”
“Hello?”
“Oh, Jennifer. I—I...” Franny, the owner of the day care, dragged in a ragged breath. “First of all, let me assure you that Mikey is safe.”
The blood rushed to Jennifer’s head all at once, and she grabbed the edge of the seat. “What does that mean? What happened?”
“Mikey’s fine and we already called the police.”
“The police? Franny, tell me what happened.”
“A man broke into the center, into Ms. Lori’s room. Jen, he tried to take Mikey.”
Chapter Five
Jennifer gulped and pressed two fingers to her throbbing temple. “Where is Mikey now?”
“He’s in my office with me. We’re waiting for the police right now.”
Shifting the phone away from her mouth, Jennifer tapped Olivia’s arm and said, “I have to leave. Mikey’s okay, but something happened at his day care. Tell Sandra I’ll be gone the rest of the day.”
Olivia’s eyes grew round. “Go, go. I’ll get your class back to the school and dismiss them.”
As Jennifer hustled from the auditorium, she continued with Franny. “What happened? What do you mean someone tried to take him? Was it someone who tried to sign him out and pretend I sent him?”
Had Miguel tried to pick up his son, not realizing the security measures in place at the day care?
“I mean take, Jen, as in forcibly try to remove him from the center.” Franny released a little sob.
A blast of adrenaline shot through Jennifer’s body and she quickened her pace back to the school. “Are you sure Mikey’s okay?”
“He’s fine, sitting here having a snack. I don’t know what we would’ve done if that other man hadn’t charged into the play area and challenged the man who had Mikey.”
“What? Another man?”
“As the man ran into the playground with Mikey under his arm, another guy leaped over the fence and knocked the kidnapper down. He got Mikey away from the man and handed him over to us. The kidnapper ran and the last I saw of Mikey’s protector, he was going after him.”
Mikey’s protector? It had to be Miguel. He’d saved his son’s life twice in two days.
Jennifer’s heart was still beating erratically by the time she jogged the two blocks to Mikey’s day care. When she got there, a police cruiser was stationed out front.
She bolted through the front gate and ran to the play yard, where two cops were talking to Franny and Lori. Panic stabbed the back of her skull when she didn’t see Mikey with them.
“Where’s Mikey?”
Franny hugged her. “He’s back in Ms. Lori’s room. Ms. Tina is watching the class. We thought it best not to isolate him from the other kids to get things back to normal for him. Is that okay?”
Jennifer clung to Franny for a few seconds before nodding. “Yes.”
One of the officers stepped forward. “Ms. Lynch, I’m Officer Grady. The teachers were telling us that there are no custody disputes or family issues, is that correct?”
“That’s right.”
“And the father is...?”
“Deceased.”
“His family?”
Jennifer blinked. This cop would have a field day with Miguel’s family, but she already knew who was behind this attempted abduction, and it wasn’t Miguel’s brother, Roberto, or any of Roberto’s enemies. “Mikey’s paternal relatives are not involved in his life.”
“Do they wanna be?” The officer chewed on the end of his pen. “Kidnappings like this usually end up being family members.”
“Not in this case.”
“What about the man who stopped the abduction.” The other officer turned to Franny. “Was he a parent?”
“No, never saw him before.” Franny shook her head so that her long, gray braid flicked back and forth.
Jennifer sucked in her bottom lip. Would Miguel want to be outed to these police officers? Probably not. He didn’t seem to know whom to trust, outside of his sniper team. She wouldn’t put him at risk now.
Jennifer pressed a hand against the knots in her belly. “Maybe he was just a passerby who saw what was going on. I’m going to see my son.”
She broke away from the group and entered the building. She had to tiptoe through the infant area to get to the toddler classroom. After all the excitement, most of the babies had conked out and were nestled in their bassinets.
Jennifer poked her head around the doorway into the toddler room and waved at Mikey, who was sitting at a table playing with blocks of different shapes and colors.
He waved a red square at her, a big grin on his face, punctuated by a few cookie crumbs.
Rolling her shoulders, she took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face. “Hello, big boy.”
“Hi, Mama.”
She swooped in and lifted him from the plastic chair. She hugged him so tightly, he squirmed in her arms. “Are you having fun?”
“Yes.” He put the corner of the block in his mouth. “Red square.”
“That’s right. Good job. Are you ready to go home?”
Mikey’s little face crumpled and he showed her his elbow. “Boo-boo. I fell.”
Tears stung the backs of her eyes while she kissed her son’s scraped elbow. “I heard. Are you okay?”
Mikey put up his fists. “Boom, boom. The mans were fighting.”
She clasped her hands over Mikey’s fists and pressed her lips against his knuckles. Had he recognized Miguel? Had the teachers and the police asked him anything about the other man?
“I heard about the fight. You can tell me all about it when we get home, okay?”
“Policemans?”
“Yes, we can see the police officer again before we leave.” She didn’t know exactly how they’d leave, since Miguel had her car. She didn’t want to call him to pick them up in case the day-care teachers recognized him.
She collected Mikey’s things from Tina and walked back out to the play yard, squinting in the midday sun.
The police officer who’d been questioning the teachers had put away his notebook and the other seemed to be scouring the rubber surface of the playground for clues.
Officer Grady asked, “Ah, Ms. Lynch. How’s your son?”
“He’s fine, thanks.” She approached the group, holding Mikey against her side. “He wanted to say goodbye to you.”
“Bye-bye, Mikey.” The officer waved. “Let us know if you think of anyone who would do this, Ms. Lynch. I’ve already asked the teachers to call if the man who interrupted the...ah...incident comes back. We’d sure like to talk to him.”
The officer searching the ground popped up, holding a white napkin in his hand. He held it up, the bright letters of the fast-food place where she and Miguel had eaten that morning blazing yellow and orange against the white backdrop. “Does this belo
ng here?”
Franny sniffed. “We don’t allow fast food at our day care.”
“That place isn’t far from here. It could’ve come from anyone’s pocket.” Jennifer lifted and dropped her shoulders quickly. “It might even be mine since I ate there this morning.”
The eyes of the officer holding the napkin narrowed. “Is that right?”
As the heat crept into her cheeks, Jennifer rested her face against Mikey’s head. “Maybe it fell out of my purse. It’s not much, is it?”
“Maybe, maybe not, but it’s something.” He whipped out a plastic bag and placed the napkin inside. “I’m sure you’re happy we found something.”
“Of course, and I’m going to talk to Mikey tonight to see if he’ll tell me anything.” She patted Mikey’s head against her shoulder. “D-did he tell you anything?”
Officer Grady answered, “I asked him a few questions, but he’s pretty young. We didn’t expect much from him.”
“Maybe I can find out something tonight.”
“If so, let us know.” The suspicious officer with the napkin pressed his card into her hand, even though Officer Grady had already given her his card earlier. “Don’t go anywhere, Ms. Lynch.”
“For how long?” She glanced at the card before pocketing it. “I’m a teacher and tomorrow is the last day of school. We have vacation plans.”
“Just keep us posted, so we know where to reach you—in case something comes up.”
“I’ll do that.” She hugged Franny again. “Thanks for everything.”
“I’m afraid we didn’t do much. If we ever locate that Good Samaritan, you can thank him yourself.”
She would, personally.
Readjusting her bag over one shoulder and Mikey’s bag over the other, she walked through the gate and landed in the parking lot, looking both ways. As she started making her way back to the school, she pulled out her cell phone and called Miguel.
He picked up after a half a ring. “Thank God. Is Mikey okay? Are you okay?”
“We’re both fine. It was you, wasn’t it? The man who saved Mikey?”
“Make a right at the first block. I’m parked across the street from the park. Did you tell the police anything about me, about your hunch?”
Point Blank SEAL Page 5