Delta Force Daddy

by Carol Ericson

  Paige skimmed through the emails once to satisfy herself that no secret files jumped out at her. Tabitha had over four hundred emails downloaded to her phone. Asher was right—it could take her a while to go through those.

  She flicked to the texts. “There aren’t many. One from a Dr. Evans asking her where she is.”

  “He’s a doctor at Hidden Hills. He’s obviously not clued in.”

  “Are any of them? When Linc saw me at the boathouse, he thought I might be Tabitha.”

  “Linc didn’t know much. Maybe they didn’t bother to tell him, and maybe they didn’t want to tell the doctors at Hidden Hills, either.” Asher rolled from the bed and returned to the bathroom. He called out, “Do you want some clothes in here? It’s hard for me to concentrate on Tabitha’s texts and emails when you’re sitting on the edge of the bed naked.”

  With a smile, Paige said, “Bring me my camisole and underwear.”

  “That’s almost as sexy as your nudity.” He returned to the bedroom and tossed the garments at her. “Anything else?”

  “Doesn’t look like she had many friends. Not even her parents have texted her over the past few days.”

  “Why would they? She’s supposed to be working. They don’t know she was at their cabin and maybe they didn’t even see the news about that other cabin.”

  “Her texts haven’t told me a thing. It’s not like this shadowy network was sending her texts asking her to return to Hidden Hills...or to return you, if they thought she had you.”

  “How about the emails?” Asher sauntered to the desk in the room and flipped open the pizza box.

  “What are you doing?” She peered at him over the top of Tabitha’s phone.

  “Sex makes me hungry. Told you this pizza wouldn’t go to waste. Do you want some?”

  “No, thanks.” She held out the phone. “I’m busy here.”

  “Does she have a lot of emails?”

  “Over four hundred.”

  “Do a search. Search for emails with attachments. That should cut down on the number. Search for Hidden Hills, although she might have a lot from her employer.”

  “I’ll search for attachments. If she forwarded your file to herself, it probably would’ve been as an attachment and not a link.”

  Paige entered the search for emails with attachments. “That’s better.”

  Folding her legs beneath her, she brought the phone close to her face and started scrolling through the emails. “She has several with work-related material here. Maybe that’s why she was able to hijack your file without the knowledge of Hidden Hills.”

  “For a while, but they caught on.”

  “Only when they realized the depth and scope of her obsession for you spurred her on to assist you in your escape, or at least follow you.”

  Asher joined her on the bed, bunching a few pillows against the headboard behind him. “That escape was all you, superwoman.” He pointed to the phone. “Just like accessing Tabitha’s phone.”

  “I should’ve figured out that password earlier.”

  “Stop.” He put a finger over her lips. “Don’t downplay your success. I’m sure I never would’ve figured that out. What the hell is a tabby cat, anyway?”

  “That’s right. You’re a dog person. A tabby cat is just a standard orange cat. Her nickname was Tabby and it was on the website. Makes sense to me.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Speaking of dogs, Ivy really wants one now.”

  “She’s not afraid anymore?”

  “We saw some puppies and now she’s...” Paige caught her breath. “I think this is it.”

  Asher scooted closer to her on the bed. “You found the email? The file?”

  “Looks like she tried to disguise the attachment by putting medication notes in the email, but this attachment popped up when I searched for your name.”

  “Before you even open the attachment, forward it to your own email address, forward it to mine, forward it to your mother’s. If I had Cam’s personal email memorized, I’d have you forward it to him, too.”

  “What about someone official in Delta Force?”

  “Let’s see what the file has in it before we do that. What if it just confirms my accusations against Major Denver? Sending it to Delta Force could just make things worse for him.”

  “Okay.” Paige forwarded Tabitha’s email to her own email address, Asher’s and Mom’s. She’d warned Mom enough times about phishing emails that she just might delete it, so she added a short note indicating herself as the sender and asking her mother to save the email.

  “The moment of truth.” Paige clicked on the attachment, her eyes glued to the circle spinning on the display as the file downloaded. “I wish I had my laptop.”

  The file finally opened and Paige enlarged the text on the display. Leaning into Asher’s space, she shared the phone with him. “Here it is.”

  They read it silently, side by side, Asher nodding each time she indicated she wanted to move on.

  Asher turned and kissed the side of her head before they’d even finished the file. “You did it. That’s it. Proof that the memories were implanted in my mind.”

  “No explanation of why or on whose orders though.”

  He tapped the phone. “Not yet. We haven’t read it all.”

  Paige rubbed her eyes. “Not sure I can get through any more. It’s been a crazy day. We thought we were going to get some info from Linc and head out with a car packed with food, cash...and my laptop.”

  “Instead we’re here, and my amazing fiancée got us the info we needed to get me back on the right side of the US Army and get us home to Ivy.”

  She snuggled against Asher, the phone still clutched in her hand. “I can’t wait.”

  He flicked off the light beside her and pulled her close. “Let’s get some sleep and figure out where we’re going to deliver this file tomorrow. Once it’s in the hands of the proper authorities, I’m sure the orders for Hidden Hills will change and we’ll no longer be in danger. They’re the ones who are going to be in trouble now.”

  “I’ll go to sleep once I get through this file. There’s not much more.”

  Asher yawned. “And I don’t think you’re going to find anything of importance. The rest just looks like a so-called treatment schedule to me.”

  Blinking, Paige refocused on the display glowing in the dark and read the rest of the attachment with drooping eyelids. Nothing she read could keep her from falling asleep.

  They’d succeeded—she and Asher together.

  As light crept through the gap in the drapes, Paige’s hand tingled. She flexed her fingers and realized Tabitha’s phone was buzzing.

  Maybe Tabitha finally got a meaningful text. Paige squinted at the green digits of the alarm clock and nudged Asher’s shoulder. “It’s eight o’clock already.”

  Rolling to her side, she turned on the light and pushed up against the headboard. She entered the password for the phone and tapped the incoming text message from a Dr. Evans.

  She read the text once, her head tilted to one side. She read it again, the fog of sleep beginning to clear. Then it cleared all at once to devastating clarity.

  She dropped the phone on the floor and doubled over, gasping to get air into her lungs.

  “Paige?” Asher gripped her upper arm. “Paige, are you okay?”

  She turned to face him, her lips trying to form the words that would destroy his world. She’d failed him again.

  “Paige? What’s wrong?”

  “They took Ivy.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Asher stared at Paige’s pale face, her mouth still hanging open after delivering the nonsensical words.

  “What are you talking about? Ivy’s with your mom in Vegas.”

  “N-no, she’s not. They have her. The people who are s
till after us have taken our daughter.”

  One part of Asher’s mind shut down. Another part began manufacturing denials.

  He snorted. “How would you know that? Your mother’s not in contact with you. Nobody is.”

  She dipped her chin. “They contacted Tabitha, or rather they contacted me through Tabitha’s phone. Ivy’s gone.”

  Fear galloped through Asher’s body and he leaped from the bed and fell to the floor on Paige’s side of the bed. He grabbed the phone that had been the source of so much satisfaction only hours before.

  He tapped the text and read it aloud. “‘We have your daughter. Any moves from you and you’ll never see her again.’”

  A sob broke from Paige’s throat and white-hot rage thumped through Asher’s body. He sat on the edge of the bed, and she collapsed against his chest.

  “We don’t even know if this is true, Paige. They could be lying.”

  “There’s one way to find out.” She reached for the other phone on the nightstand, the one they’d kept powered down for fear of being tracked.

  Paige tapped the display. Her body stiffened and she choked out more words he didn’t want to hear. “Oh my God. I have about twenty texts from my mother—Ivy’s gone.”

  Asher caught Paige as she began to slump forward. “It’s going to be okay, Paige. I’ll make it okay. I’ll give them whatever they want to keep Ivy safe. What does your mother say?”

  He pried the phone from Paige’s stiff fingers and read through Cheryl’s texts, each one more frantic than the previous one. “They’ve ordered your mother to keep silent, and it looks like she’s complied so far. Call her.”

  Paige stared at the phone in his hand, her bottom lip trembling. Then she snatched it from him and made the call.

  Asher reached over and put the phone on speaker as it rang.

  Cheryl picked up before the first ring ended. “Oh my God, Paige. Where have you been? Somebody kidnapped Ivy and I think it has to do with whatever is going on with you and Asher.”

  Paige took a long shuddering breath and drew back her shoulders. “It does, Mom. What do they want you to do?”

  “Me?” Her mother’s voice cracked and it took her several seconds to continue. “Nothing, nothing at all—no police, no FBI, no Terrence. I haven’t even told Terrence, who’s off somewhere hiking. They want you and Asher. They want to make some kind of deal with him.”

  Asher rubbed a circle on Paige’s ramrod-straight back. “Don’t worry, Cheryl. I’m going to get her back. I’ll give them what they want.”

  “What do they want, Asher?”

  “Me. They want me.”

  “They’re not going to get you.” Paige flicked back her messy hair and clenched her jaw.

  “Paige.” Her mother sniffled. “Let Asher handle it. This is Ivy we’re talking about. Of course Asher’s going to do whatever it takes to save her.”

  “They’re not going to get Asher, and they’re not going to keep Ivy. They have no idea what they walked into. They’ve just made a big mistake.”

  Asher massaged Paige’s neck. He knew she’d turned into a fierce lioness when it came to Ivy, but he didn’t see any other way out. He’d have to forget about his Hidden Hills file and let them use him to help bring down Major Denver. Just as long as they sent Ivy home to her mother.

  Cheryl choked out, “Paige, I’ve done everything they’ve asked of me, even keeping this from Terrence. Now it’s your turn. You and Asher have to follow their orders to protect Ivy.”

  “Don’t worry about a thing, Mom. We’ll rescue her. When are you expecting Terrence?”

  “He’ll be gone for another few days. If he were here, there’s no way I could hide this from him.”

  “Good. Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll let you know when we have Ivy.” Paige ended the call with her mother and turned to Asher, her eyes wide, her lips parted, her breath coming out in short spurts.

  Asher took both of her hands. “What do you have in mind, Paige? I don’t plan to make any moves until Ivy is home safe, and then I swear I’ll make them all pay.”

  “We can find her, Asher. We can get Ivy back and you don’t have to surrender yourself.”

  “I don’t see how that’s going to happen, Paige. We know nothing about these people. We don’t have any idea what they’ve done with Ivy.”

  “Not yet.” Paige slipped her hands from his and grabbed his shoulders. “As soon as I get my hands on a computer, we’ll know exactly where they’re keeping Ivy—because I had her microchipped.”

  He jerked back from her. “You did what?”

  “I had Ivy microchipped when she was a baby—the first time you left me alone with her.”

  “Why would you do that? Is it even legal?”

  “Elena’s ex-boyfriend, the doctor, he did it for me. As to why...” She hunched her shoulders. “You know why. I was afraid, afraid I’d lose her again. I didn’t want to tell you or my mom I’d done it. It wasn’t going to be forever.”

  The enormity of Paige’s confession flooded his senses all at once and he grabbed her face and planted a kiss on her mouth. “Finally your self-flagellation over your sins resulted in some good. You’re amazing. You must’ve known this day was coming.”

  Paige blinked her eyes. “I-it is amazing, isn’t it? We’re going to be able to pinpoint Ivy’s location without their knowledge—I just need a computer. I have a log-in to the website, and we’ll be able to track her from that.”

  “If the service has a website, they must have an app for your phone. Have you ever tried that?”

  “I’ve never even used the service, Asher. I hope it works.”

  He swept up her phone from the floor where she’d dropped it. “Do a search. Do you remember the name of the service?”

  “Of course. KidFinder.” She took the phone in her hand and froze. “Tabitha’s phone is going off. It’s a phone call.”

  “Let me.” He picked up the call. “Yeah?”

  “Lieutenant Knight himself. Memories all back in place, I presume?”

  “Enough to know I was used to set up Major Denver. Why?”

  “Tsk, tsk, Knight. Don’t we have more important issues to settle? You must’ve verified by now that we have your daughter.”

  “Verified, but how do we know she’s okay?”

  “I’ll have her...caretakers do a face-to-face session for you on the phone, this phone, and then you’ll do as we say.”

  “You want me to go back to my original false story about what happened during that meeting with Denver and his contact.”

  The voice hardened. “We want you back at Hidden Hills, under our control.”

  Paige stiffened beside him.

  “Who are you? Who are you working for? What do you have against Denver?”

  “Maybe all will be revealed when you join us.”

  “We need our daughter back with us before I go anywhere.”

  “Understood. We’ll do a trade.”

  “Where?”

  “Las Vegas—she’s not far from there. We weren’t going to try to get her on an airplane. We’ll give you a location for the trade...when you get here. You and Paige will come together. We’ll send your lovely fiancée off with your daughter, and we’ll take you back to Hidden Hills.”

  “What’s to stop me from escaping again or turning on you once we have our daughter back?”

  Paige punched his thigh, and he put a finger to his lips.

  “You won’t have that opportunity ever again, Knight.”

  Paige’s fingers had uncurled on his leg, and now her nails dug into his flesh.

  Asher understood. Once he served his usefulness to the cause, he’d commit suicide or have some other kind of accident.

  “And what reassurances can you give me that my daughter and my fiancée won’t be in dange
r from you again?”

  “Why would we want to harm them? We’ll get what we want from you, and once we do, your family will never hear from us again. We don’t like exposing ourselves in this way—unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

  Sounded like a pretty good deal to him—except the part where he’d have to die.

  “How are we going to get to Vegas? I don’t have my ID, my wallet, nothing.”

  “We’ll get those back to you, and we’ll give you the day, time and location of the meeting place.”

  “I’m not coming anywhere near you until my daughter is safe.”

  “Tell us how to get your belongings to you and we’ll deliver them.”

  “Leave them at the front desk of the Ambassador Hotel in DC, near Dulles. I’ll make sure I get them.”

  “It seems that we’re all on the same page now, Knight. We’ll have your possessions waiting for you at the Ambassador by five o’clock tonight. Be in Vegas by ten o’clock tomorrow night and we’ll text you the location for the trade.”

  “We’ll be there. If anything happens to our daughter in the meantime, I’ll blow your plans sky-high.”

  The man on the other end of the line chuckled. “I doubt that, Knight. You do know that Nurse Tabitha Crane is no longer around to help you.”

  “She wasn’t much help.”

  “Then you won’t miss her, either.”

  The man cut off the call before Asher could even respond. It was just as well if nobody suspected he had his file from Hidden Hills. If their rescue of Ivy didn’t go as planned before the trade, Paige didn’t need the specter of that file hanging over her.

  Almost immediately after that call ended, another came through.

  Paige tugged on his sleeve. “It might be Ivy.”

  It was. As soon as Asher accepted the call, his daughter’s sweet face filled the display. A golf ball–sized lump formed in his throat and his eyes stung with tears.

  “Hey there, Ivy.”

  “Daddy!”

  “Mommy’s here, too.”

  Paige leaned her head against Asher’s. “How are you, little bunny? Are you having fun?”

  Ivy’s face slipped away, replaced by a blank wall and a hushed voice. “That’s enough. She’s alive, healthy and will be waiting for you tomorrow.”