“Of course not. I know you’re trying to keep a low profile.” She cranked her head around to make sure the police were still at the day care and then veered to the right.
Before she could utter another word, her car rolled backward on the street and idled next to her, Miguel at the wheel. She opened the back door and secured Mikey in his car seat. Then she slid into the passenger seat next to Miguel and slammed the door.
“Why are they after Mikey?”
“Because they’re after me.”
“But you don’t even know who it is, do you?” She gripped her knees with both hands, tension lacing her shoulders. “Are you trying to tell me the CIA is going to kidnap a child, an American child from a day care center, to bring a navy SEAL into line?”
“I told you, Jen—” he wheeled around the corner and pulled up to a signal “—someone has infiltrated the Vlad task force. That person may be calling the shots or maybe has gone rogue. And then again...the people who just tried to take Mikey may not be with US intelligence at all.”
Her nails dug into the fabric of her slacks. “I don’t know which prospect is worse—a rogue CIA agent or a terrorist group.”
Mikey shouted from the backseat, “Boom, boom. Mans fighting.”
Miguel’s brows shot up and he reached into the backseat to squeeze the toe of Mikey’s light-up sneakers. “That’s right, big guy. Your daddy had to take care of some business.”
Mikey rewarded him with a big grin and started kicking the back of Jennifer’s seat.
“Great. He’s getting all aggressive.” She turned and cinched Mikey’s ankle above his sock. “Stop kicking, Mikey.”
He gave the backseat one more shot from his toe, and then started singing.
“I’m sorry he had to be a part of that fight, but there’s no other way I would’ve been able to get him out of that man’s grasp—unless I pulled a gun, and I wasn’t about to do just that.”
“I’m sorry, Miguel.” She brought her hand to the base of her throat. “I know you did what you had to do. If you hadn’t wrestled Mikey from that man...”
“I wish I hadn’t lost him, but he got away when I grabbed Mikey.”
“Tell me what happened. Why were you at the day care?”
“After I dropped you off, I started thinking about the day care and how easy it would be for someone to walk right in there.”
“You already figured Mikey was in danger?”
“If someone didn’t care about firebombing your house with a child inside, I knew we were dealing with some hard-core people.”
Her jaw tightened and she felt as if she might break into a thousand brittle pieces. “You went back to the day care?”
“I parked around the corner and took up watch across the street.”
“Across the street? There are houses across the street.”
“I saw a husband and wife leaving for work, so I hopped their fence and tucked myself into a corner next to a tree. I knew nobody could see me from the street.”
She studied his profile, more angular than she’d remembered. “How long did you sit there?”
“Dropped you off at eight, slipped into that yard around eight thirty and the guy showed up at the day care around eleven—about two and a half hours.”
“In the same position for two and a half hours?”
He quirked one brow at her. “You forget what I do, Jen?”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s nothing for you.” She grabbed his forearm. “I’m so glad you were there. I knew it was you as soon as Franny told me a man had jumped in to rescue Mikey. When did you notice what was happening?”
“As soon as the guy walked up to the day care, my sensors went on high alert. He just had a look. Didn’t look like a dad.”
“Really?” She glanced in the backseat at a drowsy Mikey and turned down the radio. They didn’t need to drown out their words now. “Dads come in all shapes and sizes.”
“I know. I guess I’m stereotyping, but this guy looked tense, alert.”
“Takes one to know one.”
Miguel grimaced. “When I saw him, I jumped onto the sidewalk. It didn’t take him long to come barreling out of that building with Mikey under one arm and a gaggle of teachers on his tail.”
“Maybe this will prompt the day care to put some barrier between the open front door and the kids.”
“I’m not sure any barrier would’ve stopped this man. Nothing but a bullet would’ve stopped him...or a well-placed fist.”
“That’s what you did? Knocked him out?”
“Like I said. I was afraid to come in with a gun blazing. I tackled him, and he held onto Mikey as he fell. I was able to apply enough pressure that he had to release Mikey. I rolled over to shield Mikey, and that’s when the man got up and started running. I think he saw the gun in my waistband, and that made his decision for him.”
“You went after him?” Her knees had started bouncing in some sort of delayed reaction.
“Once I secured Mikey with his teacher, I chased him. I saw him go around the corner, but he must’ve had a car waiting because he just disappeared when I rounded that corner.”
“H-how was Mikey when it happened?”
He took her hand. “He was scared, crying. I don’t think he recognized me or realized it was me. His teachers did a good job of calming him down. I don’t know that he even realized what was going on, but the violence had to have frightened him.” He slammed a fist against the steering wheel. “It’s just that type of violence I want to protect him from.”
“I think you had a good excuse, Miguel.” She traced a finger over his knuckles. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. My God, you saved his life.”
“Jen, we’re going to have to leave here.”
“Here?”
“Austin. We have to leave Austin.”
She pulled on her earlobe. “I figured we would.”
“At first I thought it would be good enough if I left.” He held up his hand as she opened her mouth. “Not forever. I would’ve been back once I resolved this...problem. But now they’re onto you and Mikey. It’s not going to matter if I stay with you or not. If I don’t stay with you, I have no way of protecting you—and you need protection.”
He’d hit the freeway and took the exit back to the motel.
“I’m glad you see it that way because I’m not letting you out of my sight, Miguel Estrada.”
He squealed into the parking slot in front of the motel room. “Pack your stuff, and we’ll return to the house so you can pick up a few more things.”
“Everything is still pretty much packed from our escape from the house. I’ll go through our things tomorrow after school to see what else I can salvage.”
He cut the engine and stared straight ahead, gripping the steering wheel. “You don’t get it. We need to leave right now.”
She jerked her head toward him. “Now? I can’t leave now. I have one more day of school.”
“You said it’s graduation or promotion or whatever tomorrow.”
“It is, but I still need to be there.”
“Are your grades done?”
“Yes.”
“End-of-the-year party, picnics, conferences all over.”
“Yes.”
“Then you can leave—and you have to.”
“I suppose I can call in sick.” She eyed the cell phone in her lap. “I hate to miss the ceremony.”
“I’m sure you do, but Mikey’s safety is more important, isn’t it?”
“Of course, if you think...”
“Jen, someone found out where he attended day care, knew when he’d be there, knew there was light security and attempted to snatch him from beneath the teachers’ noses. I think we need to leave—now.”
�
�All right.” She released a deep breath. “Where are we going to go?”
“I think I have a plan. Can you just get your stuff ready right now? I need to turn in my rental car. We’ll get back to your house to get your things, and maybe you can call a packing and moving service to have the rest of the house boxed up and moved to storage. Is that possible?”
“I can do that. In fact, the management company would be thrilled if I took care of that, and then the insurance adjusters could move in and do their assessments of the damage.”
He flipped the door handle and stopped, glancing at her frozen in the passenger seat. “Are you okay? I know this is all a huge shock and disruption to your life.”
“I guess I’m just being a princess.” She folded her arms. “Remember when you used to tease me that I came from a perfect world with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids?”
“I was a cocky idiot because that’s exactly the world I want with you right now, except maybe we could have three kids instead of two and a half.”
She gurgled and punched his arm. “I knew what you meant though. I’d never faced any adversity growing up. Mom had even been clean and sober for a few years before she had me and my sister. For a few seconds there I was just wishing that your homecoming could’ve been different.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I wish it could’ve been different, but I’ll take what I can get.”
“So will I—I’ll take what I can get if it means having you.” She flung open the door. “So let’s get going.”
As she ducked into the backseat to retrieve a sleeping Mikey, Miguel stood guard over them as if he thought a car might come screeching up at this very minute—and maybe he was right.
He hustled them into the room, bolted the door and took out his weapon. “I’ll pack up what little I have. We can buy anything Mikey needs on the road.”
She settled Mikey in the middle of the bed and went into the bathroom to collect her toiletries. She called over her shoulder. “You said you had a plan? What is it? Where are we going?”
Miguel loomed in the doorway of the bathroom. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. I thought we could go to Roberto’s.”
Jennifer dropped her bottle of shampoo in the tub. “You thought we’d be safe with a criminal?”
Chapter Six
Miguel gripped the doorjamb, his knuckles white. “I think it’s our only option right now.”
“You’re kidding.” Jennifer bent forward and swept up the shampoo bottle. She waved it at him. “You avoided Roberto like the plague. You even had the bright idea to break up with me to protect me from your family. Now we’re running straight into the lion’s den?”
“It’s different now. Roberto’s different.”
“Oh, right. He gave up committing petty crimes with your father to be some kind of fixer. I’m sure he’s completely legitimate.” She snorted and fired the bottle of shampoo into her bag.
“It’s because he lives on the edge that I thought he could help you—us. Think about it. Security is so tight at his compound, I doubt the mail carrier even gets through.”
“It feels like we’d be swapping one dangerous situation for another.”
“It’s not my first choice.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But I’m not sure where else Mikey and you would be safe from these people. There’s a mole, Jen. I don’t know who to trust. I’m not even sure I can trust Ariel.”
“Who’s Ariel?” She tipped her head to the side. “I thought all your sniper buddies were male.”
“I honestly don’t know if Ariel is a male or female, but she—or he—has been running the show in regards to Vlad. She coordinated three different missions Stateside, and Austin, Slade and Josh all worked with her. Josh told me to contact her.”
“But you think she could be the mole?”
“I don’t know.” He stepped aside to let her out of the bathroom with her toiletries hastily tossed in a bag. “Maybe it’s not her, but it could be someone close to her. I don’t trust anyone. That’s the problem. The CIA or the FBI might offer you protection at this point, but how do I know it’s not some trap?”
Dropping her toiletry bag on top of her suitcase, Jennifer sighed. “If you can’t trust the FBI, who can you trust?”
“Roberto.”
“The criminal.”
“The fixer.”
“Can he fix this?” She spread her arms out to her sides to encompass the dumpy motel room.
“He can keep you and Mikey safe. I know that.”
“Will he want to?”
Miguel’s eye twitched. “My big brother has been wanting to get back in my good graces for some time. I cut him out of my life when he chose to go down the wrong path with Dad. I’d always looked up to him. Since he was ten years older than I was, he always did play the protector. He always took the brunt of Dad’s anger to shield me. I even think that’s why Roberto joined our father in his criminal pursuits—to keep the pressure off me.”
She crossed the small room in two steps to stand in front of him and brushed her hands over his face. “I know that, and I know how hard it was for you to disown him. Is this some kind of plan to make it up to him?”
He cupped the back of her head and pressed his forehead against hers. “I’m not driven by emotions like that, Jen. This is a cold, hard business deal. He can offer protection, and we’re going to take advantage of that.”
She gave him a quick kiss before breaking away. “I don’t even know where he lives these days.”
“In California. Palm Springs.”
“We’re going to Palm Springs for the summer?”
“It could be worse.” He glanced at the door of the room and the knots tightened in his gut. They’d been here too long. “Let’s get moving. Is Mikey a good traveler in the car?”
“The motion puts him to sleep, but we’ll have to make plenty of stops. Toddlers cannot stay strapped in a car seat for long stretches of time.”
“We can do that. I’ve got a bum hip that I need to keep stretching, so I’ll be right there with Mikey. Maybe this road trip will give me an opportunity to get to know him under somewhat normal circumstances. You think?”
“You’ve saved his life twice. I’d say you’re already his hero.”
Miguel glanced at his sleeping son, sprawled out in the middle of the bed, and his chest tightened. “I want to be more than his hero. I want to be his father.”
* * *
TWO HOURS LATER, after collecting the rest of Jennifer’s belongings, turning in Miguel’s rental car and renting a storage unit, they hit the road.
For the first hour in the car, Mikey called out all the words he knew in his developing vocabulary, including Daddy. When Mikey first tried out that word from the backseat, Miguel got a lump in his throat.
Mikey finally got tired of the game and after a quick stop for dinner and a diaper change, he drifted off to sleep.
Jennifer grabbed her soda from the cupholder. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive for a while?”
“I’m used to staying awake and alert. I can handle it.”
“How far are we going tonight?”
“It’s another six hours to El Paso. I figured I can drive straight through.”
“That means we won’t get there until almost two in the morning.” Jennifer tapped on the digital clock display on her dashboard. “Where are we going to sleep?”
“Do you want to look up a hotel on your phone? Find someplace where we can check in late.” He nudged his wallet on the console between them. “There’s a black credit card in there. Use that to secure the room.”
Jennifer retrieved her phone from her purse, dropped it in her lap and flipped through his wallet. She clicked on the dome light and held the card beneath the soft yellow glow
.
“Raymond Garcia.” She peered at him over the edge of the card. “That’s you?”
“Yeah, but I’m replacing that ID as soon as I can. It was assigned to me at the debriefing center in Maryland and I’m the only one who’s supposed to know that identity, but I have my doubts. I wouldn’t even use it, but we can’t use your cards and we really need to get a place for the night.”
“Does that mean I get to be Mrs. Garcia for tonight?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.” She started tapping the display on her phone. “At least we can pretend we’re married since we missed out on that other wedding.”
He reached over and squeezed her knee. He’d already put her through hell, and it hadn’t ended yet. Would it ever?
He almost hadn’t returned to her, thinking she’d be safer without him in her life, but when he discovered she’d had Mikey and that the FBI was already monitoring some suspicious activity surrounding Jennifer, he didn’t have a choice.
His hands curled around the steering wheel. He’d never forgive the FBI for keeping the knowledge of his son from him. A man shouldn’t have to discover he’s a father by reading it in a stolen file by flashlight in the dead of night.
Jennifer finished speaking into the phone and then ended the call. “I got us a room just outside of El Paso, twenty-four-hour check-in, and they’ll even have a crib in the room for us.”
“Sounds good. Why don’t you get some sleep? We’ll be on the road for a while.”
“I cannot sleep in a car, sitting upright—not even slouched over. I’ll keep you company. Besides—” she ran her fingertips across his knuckles “—I feel like we haven’t talked at all. I mean really talked.”
“You’re right. We haven’t.” He’d been so damned worried Jen would want to know the details of his captivity—and he couldn’t go there, wouldn’t go there with her. “Tell me everything about your pregnancy. I want to know when you found out, how you found out, how you felt. Was it physically easy for you? Did you have cravings? Who held your hand when you got sick or when you were scared? Who was there for you when Mikey was born, when I should’ve been?”
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