“You’ve been to many of your friends’ birthday parties and my friends’ dinner parties with me, and you said you didn’t like being dressed up.”
“That was before.”
“Before what?”
“You know. I’m big now. So, it’s different.”
What could be different now?
Other than the fact that he’d spent a great deal of time at Sarah’s house with Annie and Timmy.
Annie.
Just this morning Danny had asked if he could take an extra cookie to school for Annie. When she’d asked if he wanted one for Timmy as well, Danny acted as if Timmy, his best friend, was an afterthought. Last Saturday night, when the kids had all watched Finding Nemo at Sarah’s house, Cate had thought Danny had lingered at the door talking to Annie a bit longer than normal.
Duh. Bingo. Cate exhaled through her nose. She’d been so concentrated on her own problems that she hadn’t seen what was going on right in front of her very eyes.
Danny had a crush on Annie.
“You know, sweetheart. You’re right. We have to make sure your clothes look good.” She checked the clock on the dashboard. “Once we get home, we’ll try everything. Shoes. Shirt. The works. If it’s not right, we’ll go get you something new.”
“Mom? Are you sure? Can we afford it?”
Cate clutched the steering wheel. Ten thousand ifs ran through her brain. All of them boiling down to the real and frightening fact that if Brad had his way, she and Danny wouldn’t have a tomorrow. Money was the least of their worries. “Remember that guy I told you about? The firefighter? Rand Nelson? Well, I closed on his house this morning. So, yes. We can afford it.”
Danny exhaled loudly, closed his eyes and leaned his head against the headrest like a man who’d just come through a very tough battle. He opened his eyes. “You’re the best mom in the world.”
She was far from the best mom. She was about as bad as they came. What if the police protection wasn’t enough and something happened to her? Who would care for Danny? Was she doing the right thing? She wanted to help keep the town safe. She did believe there were times when a person had to stand up to evil. But at what cost?
Fear had infiltrated Danny’s world. She couldn’t ignore the fact that her little guy had been forced to alter his schedule to accommodate her commitment. She’d had to tell him the awful truth about his father.
Nope. She was far from a good mom.
* * *
BEAMS FROM A harvest moon filtered through the maple and oak trees surrounding the brick patio at the Mattuchi farmhouse. A drape of gauzy material formed a canopy over six violinists, a guitarist and a cello player who filled the night air with rhapsodic strains of “The Shadow of Your Smile.” A portable wooden dance floor extended past the patio behind the farmhouse. Wooden barrels, clay pots and square wooden planters were overflowing with potato vine, blue cornflowers and red geraniums.
A half dozen round tables, seating ten people each, were covered in bright floral prints in yellows, reds, blues and pinks. Each was accented with enormous vases filled with the sunflowers from Sophie’s grandmother’s garden.
Dripping from the trees were long strings of clear lights.
Trent had arrived early in the evening while all the guests were at the church. He’d had two of his undercover men watching Cate and Danny as they drove to the church with Mrs. Beabots and Sarah’s family. Trent received nearly minute-by-minute reports and updates from his men via text or radio as they ran surveillance around the church, the route to the Mattuchi farm and all of the surrounding area. Trent had posted a man at the neighboring Crenshaw Vineyard. If he’d had the resources, Trent would have requisitioned a helicopter to patrol from the air. As far as he was concerned, no measures were too extreme.
The cars arrived in a ribbon of headlights streaming along the country road toward the farmhouse.
Trent had arranged for a rental car for Cate, which she was to exchange every week. In the event that Le Grande himself or one of his minions tailed her, the change would throw them off the track. He wanted Cate hidden and under his care until the time came when they were ready to spring their trap. Until then, he wished she were invisible.
Le Grande was cunning, devious and possessed the kind of criminal mind that twisted down paths of reasoning that defied logic. It was Trent’s job to push his own brain to the edge of reason in order to outwit him.
As much as Trent wanted to believe he was a match for Le Grande, all it took was one tiny miscalculation, one missed clue and Cate would pay the price. And that was utterly unacceptable.
The massive buffet table groaned under the weight of butternut squash ravioli, eggplant parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs, penne and shrimp, and a mountain of Italian bread. The cake was five layers of traditional Italian wedding cake studded with small clusters of sunflowers. It sat on a round table skirted with yards of lace under which tiny crystal lights had been lit. It glittered as Trent passed behind it, his eyes scanning the shrubs and the shadows around the dance area.
There was no telling how far Le Grande would go to take what he believed was his.
Trent knew the drug lord had to want revenge for the bust and the subsequent confiscation of his half million in heroin and fifty grand in cash. Little things like that were not taken lightly in his world. Things like that got a cop killed.
“Hi, Trent!” a child’s voice shouted from the distance. Danny.
Trent touched his earpiece. “They’re here,” he was informed by the undercover man he’d assigned to follow Cate.
Trent smiled as he looked to the pathway that led from the front of the farmhouse to the backyard. He saw Sarah and Luke coming toward him with their kids. Trent had spent an hour that morning working the barbells with Luke at the Y. They saluted each other.
“Hey, Trent,” Luke called, thrusting his thumb over his shoulder. “Cate’s right behind Liz and Gabe.”
Sarah winked at him. “I like her new look. She was pretty as a brunette but blond really suits her. All these years I never guessed she was wearing brown contacts. She’s like a new person. It’s really fun.”
He looked over Sarah’s shoulder, trying to see Cate, but couldn’t make her out in the crowd. “Thanks,” he said. “See you later.”
Trent spied Liz, walking with her arm hooked through her husband’s. In his other hand Gabe held a baby carrier.
“Gabe,” Trent said to the eldest of the Barzonni clan of four brothers, who looked like mirror images of each other.
Gina, the stunningly beautiful mother of Gabe, Rafe, Mica and Nate, walked with Sam Crenshaw, Liz’s father.
Trent cocked his head. Was there something going on between them that he’d missed?
“Buonasera, Trent,” Gina said sweetly as she passed. Then she immediately looked at Sam, who winked at Trent.
“Evening, son,” Sam said in his gruff voice.
Nate followed his mother with his arm around his wife, Maddie.
“Dr. Nate,” Trent said.
Nate stopped and shook Trent’s hand. “Perfect night for a wedding, huh?”
“I’d say so.”
Nate looked at Maddie. “And some moonlit dancing.”
“Now you’re talking,” Maddie said as they walked away.
Lastly, he saw Austin McCreary and his new bride, Katia, walking toward him.
Austin shook Trent’s hand. “Nice night for a wedding. No storm clouds.”
Trent had to laugh. “The fact your wedding took place in the middle of the worst thunderstorm in Indian Lake history is already legendary.”
“Not as much as his proposal during a tornado,” Katia said, beaming as she put her head on Austin’s shoulder.
“You got that right,” Trent said. “Good to see you both.”
Finally, at the very end of the group, he saw Cate. He felt his heart trip. She wore an aqua dress with a matching long gauzy coat that fluttered around her legs, causing him to question whether she walked on the earth or above it. Her hair was blond, and even with just the moon for light, it shone softly. This transformation was mesmerizing because it suited her. It was authentic, honest. No more disguise, and that made her look vulnerable to him.
At the moment he’d thought how beautiful she was, she raised her head and looked at him with aqua eyes.
He held his breath and wondered why and how she had such an impact on him.
Cate had taken Mrs. Beabots’s arm and was leading her down the walkway, chatting quietly. Though Cate smiled and chuckled at Mrs. Beabots, she never took her eyes from him.
Trent forced himself to breathe. She was beautiful, yes. But in her eyes he read a thousand emotions and thoughts—all of them stealing into his being like moths around a flame. He was bewitched, and he didn’t know how to react.
Danny wove in and out of the group, moving forward until he met up with his friends, Annie and Timmy. Then Danny waved. “Trent! I was hoping you’d be here!”
Danny rushed away from Annie and up to Trent. He wrapped his arms around Trent’s thighs. “Hi!”
Trent ruffled Danny’s thick hair. “How’re you doin’, kiddo?”
“Great! Mom already said I could have two pieces of wedding cake when they cut it. Do they do the cake first?” Danny asked with so much anticipation, Trent couldn’t stifle his laugh.
“I think it’s last.”
“Darn,” Danny groused, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked toward Luke and his kids.
Trent raised his eyes and Cate filled them.
“Hi,” she said.
That was all. Just a hi and he was toast. Burnt to a crisp on the spot. His tongue swelled in his dry mouth, and his words caught somewhere deep in his throat. “Hi,” he managed to croak.
Mrs. Beabots unwound her arm from Cate’s and said, “Here, Trent. Take care of Cate. I want to talk to the bride and groom.”
Before he knew it, his hand was wrapped around Cate’s soft fingers. “You look lovely tonight.”
A slow smile, like dawn rising, filled her face, and her eyes glistened like moonbeams on a summer lake. “Thanks.”
What was happening to him? He was on the job. On duty. Working. But he didn’t feel that way. He had the odd sensation that the most prudent action for him was to grab Cate and Danny, race to his car and start driving...to Brazil. Or Marrakech. Some fantasy place.
What was he thinking? Not thinking, that’s what he was doing.
“Isn’t this amazing?” Cate asked. “I love that waterfall of lights over there.”
“Just don’t go beyond the curtain,” Trent warned, suddenly back on the job, feeling the tingling in his nerves that he always felt when anticipating a sniper, an IED, a suicide bomber dressed as an innocuous old woman or worse, a child strapped with timers, detonators, C-4 and Semtex. He closed his eyes and willed the vision away.
“Why not?” she asked, withdrawing her hand from his and crossing her arms.
Trent recognized the move. Protective. Anxious. And wary.
He knew instantly that she felt his caution and apprehension. This rural area was the perfect setting for a kidnapping. Le Grande’s men could slip in through shrubs and grapevines, snatch Danny or Cate while the guests were distracted. A professional could do it in seconds. They would disappear in the middle of the night. He’d never see her again.
Trent shook his head. “I shouldn’t have allowed this.”
“This?” Cate asked. “What? Me and Danny attending my friend’s wedding?” She jammed her face close to his. “You listen to me. This is my life. My son’s life. I understand you want to get your man, but there are some places where I draw the line. If Brad shows up here, I swear, I’ll kill him myself. It’s only been a couple days of this—terror—and I hate it already. I won’t let him control any more of my life than he already has.” She stepped back and took a deep breath, rubbing her arms.
Trent was aghast. No charge of his had ever blasted him like that. Ordinarily, he would have given it back to her.
She had a point. A valid one.
All terrorists stole lives. They did it to intimidate. Threaten.
That was precisely what Brad had done to her.
So had he. In a legal, professional kind of way. Still, it had nearly the same result. Was he trying to control her? And why? Because of his reaction to her? What had happened to his training? His by-the-book mentality that had been drummed into his head from army boot camp through Afghanistan? Where was all that?
Turned to dust the minute she’d incinerated him with those eyes. He should demand she put the brown contacts in. He didn’t know if she’d be safer, but he might be.
She smiled. He felt his stomach flip.
She folded her arms across her chest, the aqua gossamer coat floating in the breeze. “I should go,” she said anxiously.
He didn’t blame her. She had a lot to risk by being with him. He should tell her about his PTSD and why he was a bad choice for any woman. He should tell her about the treatments he’d undergone during his time in the military.
But it always came back to unexpected, rogue wave triggers that took him back there. Set him off and frightened others.
He didn’t want any of that to affect Cate. She was too precious to him.
“Yeah, you should probably see to Danny.” He said the excuse aloud for her.
“Listen, Trent, I should be honest with you.” She pierced him with a look so earnest and strong he held his breath.
“Please.”
“I should never have kissed you. Or let you hold me that night at my house. I don’t want you to think I’m...well, a maiden in distress. I can take care of myself. One of the things I’ve realized is that I’m a magnet for guys who...are inappropriate for me.”
“That’s diplomatic.” He frowned.
“I can’t stand losing control. You have to know that, and right now I can’t let you take over my life—”
“I wasn’t trying to do that.”
“Sure you were. Our situation gives you a control over me and Danny that isn’t healthy...in the long run, I mean.”
He nodded but let her continue.
“Listen, I admit I’ve been attracted to bad boys. Adrenaline junkies like Brad. Like cops can be—sometimes. I think it’s best I take a step back.”
Best for whom? She was right and he hated it.
He was without a doubt the absolute wrong guy for her, but as she stood bathed in moonlight, the orchestra playing an old Johnny Mathis ballad, he caved.
“Before you take off, can I have just one dance?”
He held out his hand.
Unsmilingly, she said, “Absolutely not.”
She turned and walked away.
And Trent was alone. Again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE BAND TOOK a break, and Trent watched the dancers applaud. Cate stood not far from him, watching as well.
Jack rang a steel wind chime that sent peals of sound echoing across the farmland. He and Sophie together announced that the dinner was being served. Four women, dressed in white shirts and black pants, immediately went into action pouring wine at the tables as the guests lined up for the buffet.
Trent felt a tug on his jacket and looked down. “Danny.” He noticed that Annie was standing next to the boy—with a very wide smile on her face. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and her full skirt swished as she rocked from side to side. At first, Trent couldn’t get a take on what the two were up to, then he realized Annie wasn’t looking at him at all. She only had eyes for Danny.
“Have you seen my mom?�
�� Danny asked.
“She’s right over there.” Trent pointed and noticed Cate walking toward him. She was looking at Danny, too.
“There you are, Danny,” she said.
“Mom. You didn’t see us?”
“I did,” Cate answered, putting her hand on Danny’s shoulder. “You two look like professional dancers.”
“Annie, tell her,” Danny urged with a slight jab of his elbow.
Annie’s smile grew to a grin. “I think Danny and I should enter the city dance competition. He’s really good. He said you taught him, Mrs. Sullivan.”
“I did,” Cate said, beaming at her son. “He’s been dancing with me since he could walk. I didn’t know there was a competition. How did I miss that?”
“It’s new,” Annie said. “My mom thought it up to raise money for the school. She’s always doing that, you know. She’s pretty good at it.”
“Yes, I know,” Cate replied.
Trent heard a voice in his earpiece as one of his team members addressed him. “Detective. North slope. Eleven o’clock. We have intruders.”
“Copy that,” Trent replied smoothly.
He addressed Cate formally. “Why don’t you all get some dinner? Sit next to Luke as we planned.”
Cate stiffened. “What is it?”
He knew his face was calm. He’d practiced this look for years. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be back. But stay close to Luke.”
Trent leaned down to Danny. “Do as your mother says until I get back.”
“Yes, sir.”
Trent moved out of the glittering lights and into the shadows in a nanosecond.
Trent signaled to Sal Paluzzi to circle up the left side of the hill and flank the perps, while he and Bob Paxton took the right. They were all dressed in dark suits, dark shirts and ties. The other two wore work shoes. Trent’s shoes were dress wing tips, as he’d hoped to blend in with the rest of the guests. Now, he wished he had soles that gripped the ground.
Crouching low through a line of grapevines, Trent knew he was well-covered. A cloud moved away from the moon, and then he saw them. There were three men. All dressed in dark jeans and black hoodies.
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