by Dana R. Lynn
Ryan’s tension shot up another notch. Who else would be looking for her except those who wanted to harm Elise? Leaning forward, he said, “Can you tell me about this man? Please, it could literally mean life or death.”
The man paled slightly, his eyes widening, but he answered. “Jah, his face was—” he made a motion with his hands, as if he was searching for the correct word “—damaged?”
“As if he’d been in a fire?” Ryan held his breath.
The other man thought for a moment, then nodded. “Jah, maybe so. He had a hand-sketched picture of Leah, drawn with pencil. My name was written on the side.”
At those words, Ryan’s blood ran cold. The image he’d scanned had gone out to precincts, but Elise had kept the original. So how had he gotten it? If Elise had taken it to the motel with her—
Urgency pounded through his veins. Elise needed him. Thanking Ivan for his time, Ryan ran back to his cruiser. He was still half an hour from Elise. He checked the time and relaxed slightly. She should still be at work. Although it couldn’t hurt...
Punching the button for the phone, he barked, “Call the station,” then drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while the phone rang.
When the receptionist picked up, he asked to speak with Chief Kennedy. A few seconds later, the chief’s familiar drawl came on the line.
“Chief Kennedy here.”
“Chief, it’s Parker here. I have a bit of a situation.” Succinctly, he informed the chief of his conversation with Ivan Byler. “I am on my way back to LaMar Pond. I can’t make it in time to meet Elise as she gets off work, and I’m not comfortable letting her walk out without an officer there.”
“I concur. Listen, Parker, I will send someone to escort her back to her motel. Then you can meet them there.”
Disconnecting, Ryan felt a little better. Not completely. Though he would trust his fellow officers with his life, he needed to see Elise for himself. An image of her popped into his brain. Her brown curls with their honey-gold highlights, her wide hazel eyes that sparkled yet always seemed to be sad. And that sadness was from more than Mikey being missing. He’d noticed the first time that he’d seen her how sad they were. He would give much to see those eyes sparkle with joy instead.
Well, now she was depending on him, for herself and her nephew. If there was ever a case where failure wasn’t an option, this was it. Even if he didn’t sleep until she was reunited with Mikey, it seemed like a small price to pay to see her happy.
The drive back to LaMar Pond had never seemed so long. Not only did he get behind a slow, chugging farm machine, but he couldn’t pass it for miles. Not when they were on the winding, hilly roads where one could never see far enough ahead to tell if there were oncoming vehicles. Maybe if there had been oncoming traffic, he might have at least felt better. But they didn’t pass a single moving vehicle. Finally, the machine turned into a field. Without hesitation, Ryan pressed his foot down on the gas and sped up. And then he hit LaMar Pond. And proceeded to catch the red lights. Every. Single. One.
His jaw hurt from clenching it by the time he finally arrived at the motel. To his relief, Elise was there. She was waiting in her room with Sergeant Claire Zerosky, fondly called Sergeant Zee by her colleagues.
“Hey, Parker. Good to see you. I didn’t think you were coming, you took so long to get here.” Zee flashed him a teasing grin as she passed him. He rolled his eyes, but he could feel his ears grow warm. He looked at the clock. He’d actually made really good time. Even with the farm machine he’d trailed. Fortunately, she didn’t ask how fast he went, because he’d gone plenty fast once he was able to. “I gotta go,” Zee said. “It was nice talking to you, Elise.”
“Same goes, Claire.”
“Once things have settled down, let’s do lunch.”
“Absolutely. Let’s.”
Zee closed the door behind as she let herself out. Ryan turned to Elise with raised eyebrows. She shrugged in response. “Claire and I have been friends since I moved here.” She tilted her head. “So why did I need the escort today? I thought that someone would meet me here.”
He drew in a deep breath, hoping she wouldn’t freak out on him. Not that he’d blame her if she did. There was only so much one person could take. “Elise, I visited Ivan Byler today. He’s Leah’s cousin.”
“Yes.” She drew the word out, narrowing those gorgeous eyes slightly, making him think of a cat.
“He described a man matching Hudson’s description coming around and asking after Leah.” Those eyes widened. Her mouth fell open. He hurried on. “He said the man had a hand-drawn image of Leah.”
“The picture Rebecca drew!”
“Exactly. Did you bring that picture with you?”
He hoped she’d say no. If she said no, then that would mean this man hadn’t been in her motel room.
She bit her lip as she pondered the question. “I don’t remember packing it. In fact, the last time I saw it, it was lying on the kitchen counter. I set it there when I got home, and forgot about it, what with everything else that happened.”
It made sense to him.
“That means that Hudson had to have gone into your house after we’d left for here.” He stepped closer to her. “Elise, he knows what Leah looks like.”
She spun and stalked away, before spinning to face him again. She wasn’t mad at him, he knew that. Still, her hazel gaze sparked with anger as she glared at him. “Does he know where she was headed? Did Ivan say anything about my nephew?”
He held up his hands in an instinctive calming gesture. “No, but if he was looking for Leah, he had to have suspected that she had Mikey. The fact that he doesn’t seem to know where Leah is headed is good. At least, we still have that in our favor.”
“For now. But what happens when someone spots them?”
* * *
Ryan’s silence unnerved her. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t patronize her by lying or trying to pretty up what was happening. Unlike her ex-fiancé, Ryan had shown her the respect of treating her like an equal.
Why was she thinking about Brady now? She’d pushed his memory out after the way he’d betrayed her. Gotten rid of all the pictures, all the memories. She wasn’t about to go through that again. And here she was, once again relying on a man.
But this is different. This time it’s for Mikey.
She wasn’t fooling herself. She’d wanted to stay in his arms last night. It had been so long since anyone had comforted her, had held her just because she needed it. And it had helped. That short-lived hug had helped her to feel God’s peace, even if only for a few brief moments. She could get used to that feeling.
If she let herself. Which she wouldn’t. The emotional cost of trusting a man, of loving a man, had nearly destroyed her before. It wasn’t worth the risk. As soon as she had Mikey back, she’d walk away from whatever hold Sergeant Ryan Parker was starting to have on her. In the meantime, she needed to keep her distance.
That was going to be difficult.
It was more than how handsome he was. She’d learned how good looks could cover up a host of bad qualities such as cruelty and secrecy, in Hudson’s case. And bone selfishness. That was Brady’s weakness. That and his need to climb the social ladder. And anyone who he deemed a hindrance, including his adoring fiancée, well, they were shoved out of the picture.
“Elise? Um...you okay?”
“What?” She shook herself free of her memories. “Yes, I’m good. I was just thinking about something. Nothing important.”
The look he gave clearly said he wasn’t buying it, but he didn’t push. Part of her really wanted to tell him about Brady. Of course, she didn’t. And just the fact that she wanted to let him know about her past told her she was getting in further than she should.
“So what should we do? About the picture, I mean.”
Ryan frown
ed, deep furrows knitting into his forehead. “Well,” he began, “I am thinking we should go back to your house and look around, to see if there are any other clues. Maybe Hudson left something behind. Something that will give us a hint of where he’s staying.”
She interrupted him. “Or maybe Leah did come back and leave me a note or something. If he was still looking for her yesterday, then I think we can assume he didn’t find her. Which means she’s still alive out there.”
He nodded. She didn’t like the look on his face.
“Ryan Parker, don’t even think of leaving me here while you search. You don’t know my house like I do. If there’s anything different or out of place, I’d see it before you. You know I would.” It sounded like a logical argument. It wasn’t likely to hold water, though. Who took a civilian to a crime scene? But she couldn’t stay here. She just couldn’t. She’d crack if she had to sit here and wait, knowing that every minute her baby got farther and farther away. She knew that time was critical in missing-children cases. The one thought that kept her going was knowing that the kidnapper in this instance was trying to save her baby, not hurt him. But Leah was only sixteen years old. How much hope was there for a young teenager from a small Amish community to protect Mikey against seasoned criminals?
Ryan opened his mouth to respond. She knew before he said anything that he was going to deny her request. His phone rang before he could answer her, delaying the inevitable.
“Yeah, Thompson. What’s up?” His frown grew deeper as he listened. Several times, his gaze flickered to her, concern flaring in their depths. “That’s okay, buddy. Don’t stress about it. I have the situation under control until you or someone else can take over.”
He listened to whatever Thompson was saying for several more seconds. When he finally hung up, his face was perturbed. His mouth tightened. Whatever Thompson had said to him, it wasn’t good.
“I’m not saying that your argument isn’t a sound one. It has some merit, though I think the officers at the department have the experience to locate clues.” She opened her mouth to argue, but he ignored her and continued talking. “That being said, Thompson was supposed to take over your protection so I could check the house, but there was another call that he needed to respond to. I am not leaving you here unguarded. It looks like you’re getting your wish. I just hope I don’t regret this decision.”
She snapped her mouth closed so fast her teeth clicked. She wasn’t about to argue when it might make him change his mind.
Instead, she went meekly with him to his car. He placed a warm hand on her elbow, his gaze continuously moving as they walked. Her elbow tingled where he held it. It was silly, but the tension shimmering between them made her a little breathless. She flicked her eyes up to his expressionless face. Was he feeling the connection?
It was hard to tell, but she didn’t think so. At least, he didn’t appear to be affected by her like she was by him. Annoyance zipped through her.
Stop it, she told herself. You don’t want him to be attracted to you. You and he have no future. Even if he did like you that way, it would never work. You know that you can’t be any man’s wife. Not with your flaws.
Ryan opened the car door for her, still looking around. She thought he wasn’t going to look at her at all. She was wrong. As she stood by the door, ready to enter the vehicle, his eyes snapped back and met hers. Her breath caught at the electricity that flared between them. For an instant, they were both caught, snared in the same web.
Then she broke the connection, folding herself into the passenger seat. She placed her hand over her heart, trying to slow it down.
When Ryan entered his side, she couldn’t look at him.
“Alrighty, then. Let’s go.” She could hear the forced cheer in his voice. Huh. Apparently, he was going to ignore whatever had just passed between them. She was good with that. Which didn’t explain why she felt so annoyed.
The ride back to her house was again silent. But this trip was different. She could feel the thick tension crackling between them. Her shoulders bunched up. Who knew what they’d find at her house? Or if anyone would be waiting for them.
As they drove up the lane, Elise clenched her fists, the nails digging into her palms. She startled when Ryan placed a warm hand on one of hers. Despite her earlier resolution to distance herself, she gripped his hand, accepting the comfort.
A minute later, he pulled up in front of the house and stopped.
They exited the vehicle. The walk up to the back door felt like she was walking a gauntlet. At any moment, she expected something to happen. It was eighty degrees outside, a perfect July afternoon, but she was shivering with apprehension. The hair on the back of her neck tingled. She couldn’t see anyone or anything, but every fiber of her being was screaming that they were being watched.
SEVEN
Ahead of him, Elise’s muscles were so taut he expected her to snap.
He casually moved her faster, pushing her through the doorway. Once they were inside, he instructed her to lock the dead bolts. After pulling out his service revolver, he quietly searched through the premises, opening every closet and looking through every nook to make sure they were the only ones there. Once he was convinced that no one else was inside, some of the tension melted and his nerves settled.
Back in the kitchen, he peered out the windows. The sun was making it hard to see. He lifted a hand and held it in front of him to shade his eyes and help him see better.
Wait a minute. What was that? Ryan squinted and eyed the area behind the house. His gut knotted and a chill flashed through him.
Something was in the trees. Drawing his service weapon again, he flipped on his body camera. “There’s something in the trees,” he told Elise. “I’m going to investigate.”
“No!” Elise caught at his hand. “Ryan, what if you get hurt? Or worse.”
Warmth spread through him at the concern in her rich voice. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. Those eyes that continued to draw him in widened. A pretty flush spread over her face. He carried on as if nothing had happened. “I have to go, Elise. We need to catch whoever is behind these attacks. You stay in the house.”
He started to take a step, then stopped. If something dangerous was there, and if he was incapacitated, that would leave Elise vulnerable. He reached for his phone and called the station for backup. When he was assured that it was on the way, he eased himself away from Elise. “I’ll be back. Lock the door behind me.”
Despite the mutinous set to her mouth, he heard the bolt slide into place once he was outside. He started toward the trees. He had barely gone half the distance when his phone rang. It was Elise.
He answered, keeping his voice low. “Elise? What’s wrong?”
“Ryan? Is that you outside?”
The tremble in her voice caught at him. Then he frowned. Why was she asking? She’d watched him go outside.
“You know I am. I’m almost to the tree line. Are you okay?” The sense of foreboding spiked as he heard her take a harsh breath.
“I can see a shadow through the blinds. Someone is standing on the other side of the house.”
He froze. Then the adrenaline kicked in. He sprinted around the corner of the house. A young man wearing a leather motorcycle jacket was standing next to the window, a large hammer in his hand. His intent was clear. He was preparing to break the window to gain entry.
“Police! Hands in the air!”
The man dropped the hammer, spinning in shock. He didn’t put his hands in the air. Instead, Ryan saw the man raise his arms straight out, at shoulder height. He knew what that meant. Ryan fired his gun as the man went for his own weapon. Missed. A loud crack came from behind him. There were two of them. Ryan dove to the ground as a second gunshot filled the air. A bullet whisked past him, slamming into the tree at his left.
Lying on his stomach on the wet grass, he
aimed quickly at the assailant he could see and fired back.
The man in front of him shouted and crashed to the ground. He’d hit his target, but the man still held on to his gun, which meant that he was still a threat.
Feet were pounding up from behind him. The other shooter was coming to join in the fight. Ryan was in a pickle. He had two armed men coming at him, one from each side. Sweat broke out on his brow. Scooting back so he had a view of both men, he didn’t know how he’d get out of this one and still save Elise. He recognized the men facing him. Boys, really. Neither of them was more than twenty. They were both gang members wanted for several hits. Word on the street was that they took jobs for money.
Elise. If someone had put a contract out on her, she wouldn’t be truly safe until those gunning for her were caught. All of them.
He prayed she’d stay away from the windows. If he didn’t make it, she’d be targeted next. Raising his gun, he tried to get both assailants in his line of sight. It was a useless effort, and he knew it. He was only one against two. And he only had one weapon. But he wouldn’t go down without giving his best. The first man made a move to raise his own gun again. Ryan squeezed the trigger, his hands jerking slightly as the gun kicked back. This time the man abandoned his gun and let it fall, grabbing his upper arm and swearing. The second man came closer, and Ryan held the gun on him. Why hadn’t that man shot again? Not that he was complaining, but it didn’t make sense.
Until he saw the man trying to fire. Nothing. The gun was jammed. Ryan jumped back to his feet, keeping his eyes on both men.
He might make it out of this crisis alive, after all.
A siren split the air. Ryan could see the strobe effect as the red-and-blue lights rushed closer. Without delay, the assailant standing before him bolted, abandoning his wounded partner and heading for the trees.
A cruiser screeched to a halt. It was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. Jackson jumped out, leaving the motor running. “Police! Halt!”