“What’s going on with you? Why the strange behavior?”

Colin’s gaze drifted to her stomach and Danielle braced herself for the question. If Colin did indeed ask if she was pregnant, she wouldn’t be able to tell him a direct lie. Not about that.

But there was no question from him, just a fire in his eyes that she recognized. Just like that, her body started to soften. Actually, it started to insist that she move closer. She didn’t.

But Colin did.

He leaned in. Until he was so close that a warm tingle ran through her. His gaze dropped to her mouth. Danielle tried to get away, but Colin held on to her.

“Okay, so we’re both still attracted to each other. So what? We always have been, and we both know where that got us, right?”

She’d meant it as a stinging jab to get him to back off, but it came out steamy and more like an invitation for him to continue moving closer.

And just when Danielle thought—finally!—the kiss would happen, it didn’t.

Because a deafening blast changed everything.

DELORES FOSSEN

SHE’S POSITIVE

To all the wonderful folks at the Hudspeth Center.

Special thanks and acknowledgment to
Delores Fossen for her contribution to the
Kenner County Crime Unit miniseries.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Imagine a family tree that includes Texas cowboys, Choctaw and Cherokee Indians, a Louisiana pirate and a Scottish rebel who battled side by side with William Wallace. With ancestors like that, it’s easy to understand why Texas author and former air force captain Delores Fossen feels as if she were genetically predisposed to writing romances. Along the way to fulfilling her DNA destiny, Delores married an air force top gun who just happens to be of Viking descent. With all those romantic bases covered, she doesn’t have to look too far for inspiration.

Books by Delores Fossen

HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE

990—UNDERCOVER DADDY*

1008—STORK ALERT*

1026—THE CHRISTMAS CLUE*

1044—NEWBORN CONSPIRACY*

1050—THE HORSEMAN’S SON*

1075—QUESTIONING THE HEIRESS

1091—SECURITY BLANKET**

1110—BRANDED BY THE SHERIFF†

1116—EXPECTING TROUBLE†

1122—SECRET DELIVERY†

1144—SHE’S POSITIVE

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Colin Forester —A top FBI hostage negotiator called in when a child is kidnapped by a notorious hit man. But Colin’s toughest challenge on this job is working side by side with his soon to be ex-wife, Danielle. The attraction is still there, but after a stormy marriage, are they ready for a reconciliation?

Danielle Connolly —A child psychologist who’d been unable to have a child of her own. However, now with her marriage only days from ending, Danielle has a secret: she’s pregnant with Colin’s baby.

Luke Vaughn —The three-year-old boy who’s been kidnapped.

Boyd Perkins —The hit man who’s holding Luke at the Vaughn’s mountain estate. But Boyd has a second agenda: he’s after something hidden away in the tunnels beneath the estate, and he’s not giving up until he finds it.

Dylan Acevedo —He’s searching for a fellow missing FBI agent but offers to help with the case.

Rusty Cepeda —The new lab assistant at the Kenner County Crime Unit who might have dangerous secrets of his own.

Ava Wright —A forensic scientist whose husband is missing. Does she unknowingly have information that Boyd Perkins wants?

Jerry Ortiz —A veteran FBI agent assigned to assist Danielle and Colin.

Callie McBride —The head forensic scientist at the Kenner County Crime Unit who gets some shocking personal news while trying to help Colin and Danielle secure Luke’s release.

Griffin Vaughn —He’s one of the richest men in the state but would give every penny he owns to get his son back.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter One

“The hostage is Luke Vaughn, a three-year-old boy,” Colin Forester heard the tech explain.

Colin didn’t react. Not on the outside anyway. Inside, however, there was a firestorm of emotions. Colin had been an FBI hostage negotiator for seven years, and he’d seen the worst of the worst.

A kid hostage was the worst.

This one was hardly more than a baby. And the boy was in big trouble because this wasn’t an ordinary hostage situation.

According to the preliminary info Colin had gotten from his director at the Durango FBI office, the hostage taker wasn’t the usual perp for this sort of crime. He was a professional hit man. That’s the reason Colin had left Durango as soon as he got word of the kidnapping, so he could get to Kenner City and try to put a stop to this.

“Tell me about the hit man,” Colin said to Rusty Cepeda, the young Kenner County Crime Unit lab tech who was driving him to the estate. Rusty was obviously a rookie tech since he wasn’t on scene but rather playing chauffeur to Colin.

“His name is Boyd Perkins. Age forty-one. His rap sheet goes back nearly two decades, and he works for Nicky Wayne, a Vegas crime boss.”

So, not just a hit man but a career criminal.

Rusty continued to maneuver the four-wheel drive up the rain-slicked steep mountain road toward the Vaughn estate where the child was being held. It was a fifteen-minute trek from Kenner City to the estate, Rusty had told Colin when he’d picked him up in town. Colin wanted to use every second of that time to learn whatever he could about the persons involved.

“Boyd Perkins,” Colin repeated under his breath. When he made contact with him, he would call him by his first name. He’d try to establish a rapport while he diffused a situation that could turn deadly. “And Boyd’s ties to the Wayne crime family have been verified?”

“Oh, yeah,” Rusty confirmed. “And I guess you heard Boyd murdered an FBI agent?”

“I heard.” Colin had to take a deep breath. That alone made him want to take Boyd down, but arresting him for murder would have to wait. “Go over the details of the kidnapping again.” And Colin shut out the summer wind and the rain that were assaulting the vehicle. He shut out everything so he could focus.

“About ten hours ago, the boy’s father, Griffin Vaughn, reported that his son had been taken hostage inside the estate. The sheriff then called the Kenner County Crime Unit and the FBI, and we all hurried out to the scene. The estate has a gate, and it was locked up tight. Boyd’s controlling the gate from the inside. One of the FBI agents, Tom Ryan, was able to make phone contact with Boyd, but Boyd wouldn’t negotiate.”

Not yet anyway. Colin would have to change the hit man’s mind. “What about demands? Has Boyd made any?”

“Only that he wants us to move away from the house. We figured you could help with getting him to tell us what he’s after.”

It was near the top of the list, and then Colin could start to work on a compromise. “Did Boyd say if the child was okay?”

“He says he is. But Boyd warned us if Luke’s parents and the officers didn’t stay far away from the place, the boy would pay the consequences.”

That clenched Colin’s gut into a tight knot. The threat of violence. God knew how the kid was reacting to that. He didn’t know much about three-year-olds, but Luke probably realized he was in danger.

The Jeep crawled up the last leg of the road, and Colin spotted the house next to a lake that reflected the iron-gray sky. The place deserved to be labeled an estate because it sprawled out in front of them, seemingly taking up most of the mountain top. It’d be a bear to secure a place that size, but on the upside, the lake and the rugged terrain surrounding it might make it impossible for Boyd to escape.

“Any idea where Boyd’s holding the hostage?” Colin asked.

“We’re not sure, but he seems to be using the security system to monitor what we’re doing, and that system has cameras. Lots of them. He knows when we get too close to the fence, for instance. That’s why we set up operations on the east side of the property. The owner, Griffin Vaughn, said that’s a blind spot for surveillance. We’ve been bringing in the team that way so Boyd won’t know we’re putting agents in place in case we have to rush in for a rescue.”

A rescue. That was being optimistic. Because if it came down to the point where agents had to storm the house, Luke Vaughn’s chances of survival were slim.

“I heard you saved a kid over in Mesa Ridge about a year ago,” Rusty commented.

Colin settled for a “Yeah.” But that hadn’t been one of his success stories. Yes, he’d gotten the child out of the domestic violence situation. But he’d lost an adult hostage in a murder-suicide. Colin hadn’t been able to talk the twenty-eight-year-old man out of putting a bullet in the child’s mother.

He always remembered the failures.

Those were the ones that ate away at him and made him want to work ten times harder so that it wouldn’t happen again.

Rusty stopped about thirty yards from the estate fence and right at the edge of the activity. Even though everyone was dressed in rain gear, Colin spotted two fellow FBI agents and a man with a Kenner City sheriff’s hat. In addition, there were two Kenner County Crime Unit members carrying field kits.

Rusty opened the driver’s-side door but then turned and snared Colin’s gaze. “You’ll get this boy out of there?”

“I will.” With that promise he wasn’t sure he could keep, Colin threw open his own door. The rain came right at him, like razors whipping through the air.

“Colin?” someone called out.

Colin recognized the man walking toward him. Tom Ryan, FBI, and the commander for this particular crime scene. The lanky, somber-faced agent made his way to Colin, and they shook hands. “Damn glad you’re here.”

Colin nodded. “What’s the latest situation report?”

“Hell in a hand basket probably isn’t what I’d put in an official statement, but things aren’t good. There are no injuries, but the kid’s three years old, Colin.”

“Yes, I heard.” And Colin couldn’t let the emotion in Tom’s voice get to him. Focus. Shut out everything but the job. Because emotion wasn’t worth spit right now. The job, his training, his experience—those were the things that would free little Luke.

“My wife, Callie, is over there with Luke’s parents. She’s trying to keep them calm.” Tom whipped his thumb toward the woman carrying a field kit. She had dripping wet blond hair and was looking around on the ground. Trailing behind her, with their gazes fixed on the estate, were no doubt the Vaughns. “Callie’s the head forensic scientist at the crime unit, and she’s looking for any trace evidence so we can try to verify that Perkins is working alone.” He paused. “We’re supposed to be on a romantic getaway,” he added in a mumble.

Tough timing, but Colin wanted all of them there. Anything at this point could be valuable in dealing with Boyd Perkins, and maybe Callie or her team would find something that would help him with this negotiation.

Rusty left them to join two others who were hovered under umbrellas outside a police cruiser and a black four-door FBI standard-issue vehicle.

Tom led Colin toward an older-model white van. “We’ve set up a command post in here out of Boyd’s line of sight, barely. We wanted to get as close as possible in case he tried to escape through the front,” the agent explained. “Boyd’s using a prepaid cell phone to communicate. No way to trace it. And so far he’s refused to answer the house phones.”

The prepaid cell phone could indicate this was premeditated, but then a man with Boyd’s record probably used phones like that all the time. “You said we could see the front, but what about other escape routes?”

“All covered, and that’s no easy task. We have an agent at the back of the estate, but there are miles of tunnels beneath this place. Boyd has the tunnel entrances on his end blocked off so we can’t get to him that way. But I’ve put barricades at the end of each one, so he can’t use them for escape. And Boyd knows that.”

Good. Colin didn’t want the man to have any options other than dealing with him. The job started now. And Colin took a deep breath, cleared his mind and stepped up into the van.

His clear mind suddenly got very cloudy.

Right there in front of him perched on the dull brown leather van seat was the last person on earth he wanted to see right now.

“Colin,” she said as if she’d been expecting him.

Well, he sure as hell hadn’t been expecting her. “Danielle,” he greeted once he got his teeth unclenched.

“You two know each other?” Tom asked, apparently not realizing that was the mother of all loaded questions.

“Oh, we know each other,” Colin snarled. “Danielle is my ex-wife. Or at least she will be…” He checked the date on his watch. Not that he needed to. It was for show. He knew exactly when the divorce would be final. “In three more days.” He stared at her. “What are you doing here, Danielle?”

She spared him a glance with those cool green eyes. Eyes the color of an Irish four-leaf clover, he used to say, adding that she was his lucky charm. But that was the old days. He wasn’t feeling nearly as generous with the sappy compliments since she’d walked out on him three months earlier.

“Callie and I are old college roommates,” Danielle volunteered. “She thought it’d be good to have a child psychologist on the scene, so she called and asked me to come out and help.” Danielle held out her hands, palms up. “And here I am. I take it you’re the negotiator they called in.”

There went the clenched teeth again. “They wanted the best.” Colin made sure he sounded as cocky as he could.

Since she was seated across from a narrow table that held phones and other communication equipment, Colin plopped down next to her, bumping his hip against hers to nudge her over. It wasn’t the brightest idea he’d ever had. Danielle and he might want to claw out each other’s eyes, but his body still reacted to her. Probably always would. Because even though their marriage had been a disaster, the sex had been the best ever.

His body obviously wasn’t going to let him forget that.

The hip-to-hip contact earned him a little glare, but Danielle didn’t budge. Colin gave her another nudge. This time, a verbal one. “I don’t need a child psychologist. I can handle this myself. And you’d only be in the way.”

Those green eyes suddenly weren’t so cool. She mumbled something under her breath and shoved some wet wisps of hair from her face. Then he noticed her left hand.

No wedding or engagement ring.

Just the faint imprint where they’d once been.

Colin kept his own left hand hidden away. No need for her to see that he hadn’t gotten around to taking off his ring yet. But he would now. He slipped it off and put it in his pocket.

He tossed her another stony glance. Got one from her in return. The glances turned to glares, and they sat there, staring at each other.

The rain had obviously gotten to her mop of shoulder-length caramel-brown curls. Not in an unattractive way, either. Much to his disgust. She looked as if she’d just stepped from a warm shower. Her face was all dewy, and her cheeks were flushed with color. She looked healthy and content and probably hadn’t lost a minute of sleep over their breakup.

“Any time you guys are ready, I’d like to get started,” Tom said. He was standing outside the van volleying glances at both of them. And probably questioning if they were real professionals. They certainly weren’t acting like it, and that was Colin’s cue to get to work. Later, after he’d established contact, he’d figure out a way to give the boot to his soon-to-be ex-wife, and she could take her dewy fresh look and get the heck out of there.

“Do we have any long-range eavesdropping equipment so we can monitor what Boyd’s doing?” Colin asked Tom.

“Equipment’s on the way. Should be here any time now. We’ve requested an infrared thermal scanner, too.”

Good. Because they’d need both. The estate was a big place, and they’d have to pinpoint Boyd and Luke’s exact location if the worst happened and negotiations didn’t work. Then, they might have no choice but to move in.

Colin picked up the cell phone from the table and looked at what was written on the manila notepad. “Is that Boyd’s number?”

Tom nodded. “I’ve tried to keep him talking, but he always hangs up.”

Well, Colin would see if he could fix that. “Make sure the parents stay at a distance. I don’t want them in on this conversation.” He turned on the recorder, punched in the numbers and put the phone on speaker to free his hands so he could take notes and start creating the hostage taker’s profile.

The first ring seemed to take several minutes. Waiting was the hardest part. Colin slowed his breathing to keep himself calm. Took another deep breath.

Boyd Perkins answered on the fourth ring.

“Boyd?” Colin didn’t wait for the man to confirm it was him. He also jotted down the start time of the call. “I’m Special Agent Colin Forester.”

“What do you want?” Boyd growled. But it wasn’t overly emotional. More the tone of a man who’d been inconvenienced than one who was angry.

“I just want to talk. And I want to know how Luke’s doing.”

“The kid’s fine. For now.”

Colin wasn’t immune to that threat, but he eased it aside. “Good. That’s good, Boyd. Now, I need to know how we can keep it that way. You must have demands, but so far you haven’t let anybody know what those are.”

“I want time to finish up some things in here.”

“Time?” Luke repeated. That sent an uneasy feeling through him. “For what?”

“Nothing to do with the kid,” Boyd readily answered. “I’m looking for something. When I find it, I’ll let you know. But for now, I want all you badges to back off and go back down the mountain.”

“We have backed off.” What they couldn’t do, however, was leave the area. “But Luke’s parents are worried about him, and I’m sure Luke misses them. He’s a good kid and has no part in this. Why don’t you let him go and then we can talk about giving you that time you want?”

Boyd made a sarcastic grunt. “If I let him go, you’ll just storm in here and kill me. Not gonna happen. As soon as I find what I’m looking for, I’ll get back to you.”

“Wait,” Colin said, since it sounded as if Boyd were about to hang up. “I want to talk to Luke. I want to make sure he’s okay. Before you say no, think about it this way. We badges will be a lot more cooperative if we know the boy hasn’t been harmed.”

Silence.

The moments crawled by.

Oh, yeah. Waiting was the hardest part.

“I’ll get back to you on that, too,” Boyd snapped, and he hung up.

Colin turned off the recorder, jotted down the end time of the call. Just a little under two minutes. It was a start, even though he doubted Boyd would call back any time soon.

“Any idea what Boyd’s looking for?” Colin asked Tom.

“We think he’s after fifty million dollars. The previous owner might have hidden the money in the estate or in those tunnels I told you about.”

Fifty million? Whoa. So, this was a crime of greed, not passion. In some ways that made it easier. Boyd likely wouldn’t harm Luke because the child was the very thing that would give him the time to search for all that money. But Colin had to wonder—what would happen if Boyd got his hands on the cash? That, however, was an issue for later.

First, he had to settle another concern before it went any further.

He turned to Danielle. “This isn’t going to work,” he let her know.

Her chin came up. “I can help.”

Maybe she could. She was a darn good psychologist, but Colin couldn’t do his job if he had to sit side by side with her. Too bad he couldn’t just tell her that, but that would mean admitting that she’d slashed his heart to bits. No way did he want her to know that. Better to let her believe that the only thing left between them was the bitterness.

And not this ridiculous attraction.

“Danielle,” he started. It was his negotiator’s voice. Calm, friendly, but with just a hint of detachment. “This standoff could go on for days. Weeks, even. You don’t want to be here with me for that length of time, do you?”

She opened her mouth. Closed it. Repeated the process, adding a defeated sigh, before she shook her head and prepared to exit the van. “I need to talk to Callie.”

Colin scowled. She was giving up with hardly a fight. Yep, she didn’t want to be there. It was really over between them.

He gave a crisp nod and was about to tell Tom to locate another psychologist, but the phone interrupted him. On the caller ID screen, he saw that it was Boyd.

“Boyd,” Colin answered, turning the recorder back on. “You’ll let me speak to Luke.” He tried not to make it sound like a question.

Boyd didn’t answer. There was a shuffle of movement on the other end of the line. Colin listened, trying to make sense of every sound. After several seconds, Colin realized the person now on the phone had a different breathing pattern than Boyd’s.

“Luke?” Colin said. “Are you there, buddy?”

“I’m here,” the boy answered.

God, he sounded so little.

And scared.

Colin’s pen snapped under the pressure of his grip, and he grabbed another so he’d be ready to write. “Luke, are you okay?”

“I guess. But I wanta see my daddy and my mom. Please.”

Danielle pressed her fingertips to her lips, and Colin saw her blink back tears. He’d never seen her break on the job. Never. But the little boy’s plea would have gotten to anyone.

Well, anyone except Boyd.

There were more muffled sounds, and Boyd returned to the line. “He’s still whimpering,” Boyd complained.

“I’ll talk to him,” Colin insisted. “I’ll calm him down.”

“No. You’re done talking to him. I want somebody else. Somebody that knows how to handle kids, and I don’t mean his parents. Don’t want to talk to them. Put Dr. Danielle Connolly on the phone.”

Colin’s heart went to his knees. Apparently so did Danielle’s. She froze, and her eyes widened.

“Dr. Connolly,” Colin repeated. “What makes you think she’s here?”

But Boyd ignored that. “Dr. Connolly?” Boyd said in a much louder voice. “I know you’re in that white van. Get on the phone now.”

Danielle stared at Colin. Waiting. Her eyes pleaded with him to do something. And since he had no choice, he gave her the nod to go ahead.

“I’m here, Boyd,” Danielle immediately said. “How can I help?”

“You can calm down this kid for me, that’s what you can do. You can make him understand that his whining is making me crazy.”

“Of course, I’ll talk to him. Please put him on the line.” Danielle swallowed hard, and the waiting began again.

Colin mentally groaned and cursed a blue streak.

This shouldn’t be happening. They were in a blind spot. Boyd shouldn’t be able to see them or monitor what they were doing, though Tom had said barely.

His gaze fired toward Tom. “How did he know she was here?” Colin mouthed.

Tom shook his head, grabbed a pair of binoculars and aimed them at the estate. After several moments, he shook his head again. “Boyd hasn’t reangled the security camera.”

“What about the police scanner?” Colin whispered. “Did anyone say a thing about her coming here?”

Another shake of his head. “She drove straight up without going into town. No one other than those of us on the scene should have known that she’d arrived.”

Oh, hell.

Not good. Because either Boyd had found a way around the blind spot, or they had a leak, and someone was a traitor.

Chapter Two

Danielle was aware of the possible security breach, also aware that a leak could compromise everything, but all of those concerns faded when she heard Luke’s voice.

“I don’t like doctors,” he told her. It wasn’t said in a bossy way. The boy was frightened.

“Don’t worry. I’m not that kind of doctor. I don’t give shots.”

“Good. ’Cause I don’t like shots, neither.”

Colin was whispering something to Tom, but Danielle shut that out. “What do you like, Luke? Do you like to watch TV?”

“Yeah. I like Spider-Man, too.”

Danielle smiled in spite of the situation. “Why is he your favorite?”

“He kinda gets to fly. That’d be fun. I could fly up high with the birds and not fall.”

Danielle was relieved that he seemed to be relaxing a bit. “I’ll bet it would be fun. Do you play video games, too?”

“Sure. I got lots of ’em, but the funnest is Safari Explorer. I play with my daddy.” He paused. “Can my daddy come and get me?”

“Soon,” she assured him. She heard the tremble in his voice and knew she had to pull him away from that reaction. Judging from Boyd’s comments, the tone could set him off. Danielle wanted them both calm. “Luke, have you found the lost baby giraffe in Safari Explorer?”

“Not yet. The purple hippos knock my boat over.”

She mentally went through the levels of the game. “Ah, there’s a trick to that. Want me to tell you what it is?” Danielle glanced out of the corner of her eye. Colin was staring at her now.

“Yes, please,” Luke said. She’d found her connection, and now she had to make the most of it.

“How about I just give you a hint about how to get to the baby giraffe? That way, it’ll still be your game, and I won’t really be helping you too much.”

“Okay.”

The hopeful little voice cut her to the bone. She wanted to get him out of there. But she couldn’t. Creating a distraction and keeping the situation calm was the only thing she could do right now. “Here’s the hint, Luke. When you cross the river, don’t go in a straight line. Do you know what that means, not to go in a straight line?”

“Sure, I do. I’m smart, and I can do it. This time, I bet I get away from those hippos.”

“I’ll bet you do, too. You’ll get to the other side, and you’ll be one step closer to finding the baby giraffe.” She took a moment and thought out her next move. “Luke, why don’t you put Mr. Perkins back on the phone?”

That earned her a raised eyebrow from Colin. “What are you doing?” he mouthed.

“What I need to do,” she mouthed back.

Oh, yes. There it was. The inevitable tension. When Callie had called her and asked her to come to the Vaughn estate, Danielle hadn’t known that Colin would be there. But if she had, it still wouldn’t have stopped her. She wanted to help this child, even if she had to go through the emotional roadblock that Colin would create.

Besides, she needed to talk to Colin.

At least Danielle thought she did. She was in her element talking to Luke, but her soon-to-be ex was a different story. Communication had never been their strong suit. Ironic, considering their jobs both hinged on excellent verbal interaction.

“Yeah?” Boyd snapped when he came back on the line.

“I need a favor,” Danielle calmly explained. “This is something that’ll help all of us, you especially. A three-year-old child gets bored easily, and if Luke’s bored, he’ll keep thinking about what’s going on. He’ll keep whining.” She nearly choked on the word. It wasn’t whining when a child was being held hostage. It was a natural human reaction.

“So how do I keep him from not being bored?” Boyd wanted to know.

“Let Luke play his video games. No matter where you are in the house, the system shouldn’t be that hard for you to set up. In fact, he’ll probably be able to help you with that because Luke’s very smart.” She needed to remind this monster that he was dealing with a precious life. “While you’re at it, give him some books, crayons—”

“And that’ll keep him quiet?”

Danielle decided to push a little. “Well, the only sure way to keep him quiet is to release him so he can be with his family.”

“You’re wasting your breath, Doc.”

Fine. That was Colin’s area anyway. She’d leave that to him. “Just please give Luke the activities to do. And make sure he’s eating right. Not too many sweets, or it might make him hyper or irritable. Do you have a good supply of food at the estate? If not, we can have some brought in—”

“I’ll give the kid his video games. That’s all you need to be concerned with.”

“How do you know me?” Danielle asked before he could end the call. “Have we met before?”

Boyd laughed. Not from humor, though. It seemed as if he was taunting her. And then he hung up.

Colin reached over, turned off the recorder and made some notes. “I think he has a visual on the van. Maybe some hidden camera that the owner didn’t know about.” He seemed to be talking to himself. “If he saw us get inside here, he could have used a laptop to do a computer search.”

Yes, but that wouldn’t explain how he knew her name so he could do such a search. And that only added to all the other questions and concerns.

Danielle tried to control her reaction. She tried to tamp down her breathing and her racing heart. But she failed. Her breath shattered, and she got up, despite the sudden dizzy spell. She had to get out of there. She couldn’t come unglued, not in front of Colin.

“Are you…okay?” Colin asked.

“Fine,” she lied.

Danielle knew she couldn’t go far in case Boyd called right back, but she maneuvered herself around Colin. No easy task in the converted van. She had to squeeze herself between him and the table while she was hunkered down so her head wouldn’t hit the ceiling.

It put them face-to-face.

So close, she took in his scent. The clean smell of the rain. His musky aftershave. The wet leather of his black jacket and Lucchese boots. Unfortunately, even with the slight scowl he was sporting, Colin was as hot as ever. He had a face that women noticed, with those classic good looks, midnight-black hair and sizzling blue eyes.

Well, she noticed anyway.

Always had. For better or worse. Colin Forester knew how to make her body beg. But at thirty-eight she was old enough to know that she needed more than great sex. She needed a husband. A family. And while Colin was a pro at his job and in the bedroom, they hadn’t seen eye to eye in other facets of their lives.

And that was the very reason Danielle quickly moved away from him.

That scent, those eyes, could pull her back in, and she couldn’t go there. He obviously didn’t want to do that, either.

The rain had turned to a light mist so Danielle didn’t bother getting an umbrella. Besides, she was already damp from the earlier trek from her car to the van. She stepped onto the soggy ground, the mud squeezing over her heels—again. She’d made the mistake of dressing for work in a skirt suit, but this obviously wasn’t a normal work situation.

That was true on many levels.

Luke’s parents came rushing toward the van. Her friend, Callie, was right behind them, trying to stop them, but it was a losing battle.

“Stay back,” Colin warned. “We think Boyd might have a visual on the van.”

That stopped the parents, and Colin got out so he could go over to them.

“You talked to Luke?” Griffin Vaughn asked her. She felt the concern in both Griffin and his wife, and the worry was etched on their rain-soaked faces. They wanted their boy back.

“I did. Your son is okay. He’s a very brave little boy, and he’s holding up well.” Because Danielle had to catch her breath, she tipped her head to Colin. “Special Agent Forester will give you the details of the conversation.”

Danielle stepped away, leaving them with Colin. She needed just a minute. But she didn’t get it. Callie stepped right in front of her.

“Okay. What’s wrong?” Callie demanded.

Since Callie and she were nearly the same height, it was impossible to avoid eye contact. Her old friend might be a forensic scientist who preferred to deal with facts and evidence, but Callie was no dummy in the emotional arena. Plus, Danielle doubted she was being very secretive. Talk about wearing her heart on her sleeve.

“It’s always emotional when a child’s involved,” Danielle said, figuring Callie would see that it was a ploy to change the subject. “And it doesn’t help that I’m in the van with Colin. Before the last call, I was about to get out and ask you to scrounge me up another vehicle.”

Callie caught on to her arm and moved her to the end of the van. “Never met a shrink who could dodge the truth. Must have something to do with all that empathy and connection to other people.” She shook her head. “Look, I didn’t know the FBI was sending in Colin, and if this is too much for you, then I’ll get someone else.”

“I’ve already established a rapport with Luke. And maybe with Boyd, too. It’d be a setback to replace me at this point.”

Callie took in a weary breath. “Colin, then—”

“No.” God. Danielle hated that she had to say this, but she had no choice. “Colin’s the best, and Luke needs the best right now.”

“I don’t doubt that Colin and you are both good at what you do. But I can’t have you two at each other’s throats. That won’t help Luke. That won’t help any of us.”

The dizziness hit her again, and Danielle had to grope behind her to catch on to the van. “Trust me, Colin won’t let anything personal get in the way of doing this job. Especially not anything personal that has to do with me.”

But she was talking to the wind because Callie was just staring at her. “What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?”

“No,” Danielle answered as quickly as she could.

Callie just kept staring. “You’re not doing fertility treatments again, are you?” She didn’t wait for Danielle to deny it. “Because I figured after all this time, you’d given up on having a child.”

“I did give up.” Danielle hadn’t meant for that to sound like the start of a confession, but it was. “Callie, I’m pregnant.”

The words rushed out of her before Danielle could stop them. Mercy. She needed to tell someone this secret.

“Pregnant?” Callie’s mouth dropped open.

She looked at Danielle’s stomach. There was a slight baby bump there, probably not even noticeable to anyone else, but even so it was concealed behind the sapphire-blue business jacket. However, she couldn’t conceal her swollen fingers. She was retaining water like crazy, and just the day before her fingers had reached the point where she’d had to use soap and then oil to remove her wedding and engagement rings. Of course, with her divorce looming, the rings would have had to come off anyway.

That didn’t explain why she was wearing them on a chain around her neck.

“The doctor said it’s a miracle baby,” Danielle told Callie. “That there was only a one in a million shot I’d ever conceive.” But she had. And she was carrying that miracle inside her. “I’m nearly four months along,” she added. And held her breath. Because Callie could and would do the math.

It didn’t take her friend long. “Colin and you split three months ago. It’s his child.” And there was no doubt in her tone or expression.

Danielle didn’t even try to lie. “Yes.”

Callie grabbed on to her shoulder as if she were about to whoop for joy, but the joy went south in a hurry. “You haven’t told him.”

“No. I meant to. I mean, I tried. I phoned him right after I found out, but he was away on assignment. Days later, when he finally got around to calling me back, the divorce papers had just arrived, and he was in the worst of moods.”

“Oh, damn.” Callie groaned. She glanced around, probably to make sure their conversation was still as private as it could be, considering their location. Callie moved her even farther behind the van. “How do you think Colin will take the news?”

That was the million dollar question. There were times when he’d seemed indifferent during the fertility treatments. Times when he’d asked her flat out to stop. Coupled with his long hours and intense assignments, Danielle wondered if he had truly ever wanted a child.

“I don’t know how Colin will feel,” Danielle admitted. And she certainly didn’t know how he’d feel about her being his baby’s mother. He was finished with her. He hadn’t made one attempt to stop the divorce. So, he might see the baby as some kind of trap that would keep him connected to her.

Danielle didn’t want this baby to ever feel that kind of resentment. Like she had. Before her parents’ divorce, how many times had she heard her father say that her mother had trapped him into marriage? She wanted better for her child, even if that meant having only one parent.

Callie touched her arm, rubbed lightly. “Look, I’m your friend, Danielle, but I have to think of Luke first. He has to be the priority here.”

“I understand.” Danielle had already had this argument with herself and knew what she had to do. “Now isn’t the time to tell Colin I’m carrying his baby. Best to wait, until all of this is resolved.” And even then she wasn’t sure she’d go through with it. Maybe it was better if Colin never knew.

Callie nodded. “You can do that? You can work with Colin and keep this secret to yourself?”

“What secret?” someone asked.

Danielle was glad that Callie caught on to her or she might have fallen on her face. Because the someone was Colin, and she didn’t know how he’d gotten so close without Callie or her noticing, but he’d managed it. He was only a few feet away.

Close enough to have heard everything.

“What secret?” he repeated, putting his hands on his hips.

“Just girl talk,” Callie volunteered.

Colin looked at Callie. Then, at Danielle. He wasn’t buying it, and that would make this assignment even more uncomfortable. Colin was like a bulldog with a bone when he thought he was on to something.

Callie excused herself and headed toward one of the vehicles. Danielle sprang into action, too.

“Did you calm down Luke’s parents?” Danielle asked, forcing herself to move. She should return to the van. To the job. She had to be more like Colin now and concentrate only on what had to be done.

But Colin caught on to her when she tried to walk past him. The eye contact came, and he examined her face with those intense blue eyes. “What secret?”

Best to try to keep it light. “It wouldn’t be a secret now if I told you, would it?”

He still didn’t let go of her, and it seemed as if he changed his mind a dozen times about saying anything. “Are you seeing someone else?”

“God, no.” She saw the surprise go through his eyes, and she wanted to smack herself. The denial had come much too adamantly and quickly. She should have let him think that he was right, and he wouldn’t have pressed about the secret.

But she didn’t want to hurt him.

Or maybe that was wishful thinking on her part—that Colin would be hurt or jealous if she had another man in her life. It wasn’t logical, but even though their marriage was over, the thought of him with another woman would hurt her to the core. That was something she’d have to work out eventually, because if he hadn’t already, Colin would find someone else. Someone not obsessed with having a baby. Someone more sympathetic to the ever-increasing dangerous assignments that he volunteered to do.

She glanced at his left hand.

No wedding ring. He’d already removed it, and he didn’t have the same swollen-finger excuse that she did. Colin had removed the ring because for him this divorce was a done deal. No more negotiations. Just the cleanup.

So that there wouldn’t be any more questions, Danielle eased out of his grip and headed toward the Vaughns, who were about thirty feet from the van. Griffin, the father, was trying to talk Tom into calling Boyd again so he could speak to him. Which wouldn’t be a good idea. It was best to keep Boyd calm, and a conversation with a terrified, angry father definitely wouldn’t help.

“Boyd has agreed to set up some video games for Luke,” Danielle told them. They stared at her and hung on to each word. “As I build a rapport with Boyd, I’ll try to make the conversations longer with Luke, while Colin works for your son’s release.”

“But I have to talk to Boyd. I’ll pay whatever he’s asking.”

“Right now, he’s not asking for money.”

“Then offer it,” Griffin insisted. “And I want to talk to Luke. I have to hear my son.”

Even though her child wasn’t born yet, Danielle understood that. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Both Colin and Tom looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. And maybe she had. Unless Griffin could totally keep the fear out of his voice, the call might upset Luke. It might make things worse. But Danielle couldn’t stop herself from seeing this as a parent. If their situations were reversed, she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

She would do anything to talk to her child.

Tom led the couple away, back toward the fence. Danielle climbed into the van. Colin was right behind her and dropped down on the seat next to her. Not by choice. It was the only place for him to sit so he’d be right next to the phone.

“You shouldn’t have given the father that kind of hope,” Colin grumbled.

“Hope is about all he has right now. And us. Colin, we have to get this little boy back to his parents.”

“Us?” he repeated. “Does that mean you’re staying?”

“I’m staying.” But the real question was, could she get through this without having a total meltdown? She was already a hormonal mess.

Danielle tried to change the subject again. “Any word on how Boyd knew I was here?”

He stared at her so long she didn’t think he would drop the subject. Finally, though, he did. “Tom thinks he might have some kind of equipment that allows him to tap into the on-site communications system. Or the van might be in his line of sight after all. Griffin Vaughn insists this is a blind spot, but that doesn’t mean Boyd couldn’t have found a way around it.”

“Either of those possibilities is better than having a mole among us.”

Colin lifted his shoulder. “We can’t rule that out yet.”

The relief was obviously short-lived. “You really think someone out here could be a traitor and feeding Boyd information?”

Another shrug. “Boyd works for a powerful criminal, Nicky Wayne. Wayne has a lot of money, and money can corrupt people. Even people who wear a badge.”

She looked around and prayed he was wrong. They had enough on their plates without worrying if someone was aiding and abetting the enemy. “So, what do we do—move the van farther back?”

“Too late for that. If Boyd’s manipulated the security camera, then he knows we’re here.”

Yes. That included Tom and Callie, too, since they had stood close to the van.

“Plus, I want to stay in the immediate area so that when the eavesdropping equipment arrives we’ll have a chance of hearing what’s going on inside,” Colin added.

It was a good plan. One that would likely cause extreme stress. She didn’t know if she could hold her tongue if she heard Boyd yelling at the already frightened child.

“So, how’d you know about that video game?” Colin asked.

It took a moment to switch gears. “Part of the job. I use games sometimes in therapy, to help a child relax. If we can get Luke to concentrate on the game, he’ll be less likely to get on Boyd’s nerves. A calmer Boyd is what we all want, right?”

Colin looked at her. Full eye contact. She felt the muscles tense in his right arm, which was pressed against her left one. “Right,” he grumbled.

But he wasn’t talking about Boyd. They were back to the secret.

Danielle braced herself for more questions and was in such a high state of anticipation that she jumped when the ringing sound shot through the van. Because she was so close to Colin and therefore close to the phone, she saw it was the same number as before. Boyd’s number.

Round two was about to start.

Colin flicked on the recorder and answered the call on speaker. “Boyd, it’s me, Colin.”

“Yeah, I know who it is, Colin.” It sounded as if he were mocking the friendliness that Colin was trying to establish.

Still, Colin stayed calm. “What can I do for you, Boyd?”

“You can tell me what the hell you think you’re doing.”

“What do you mean?” Colin still sounded calm, but she felt him tense again.

“I said no badges and no parents near the fence or the gate. You didn’t listen. You didn’t obey. Now, somebody’s gonna pay for that.”

“Boyd, just calm down. I’ll get them out of here.”

“Not just the parents,” Boyd barked. “Everybody but the doc and you.”

That sent a chill through Danielle.

“I want you two nearby, just in case I need some, uh, what do you call it? Yeah, leverage,” Boyd joked. “That’s what you two can be—my leverage in case your friends are stupid enough to try to storm the place.”

Colin glanced at her. “Are you asking Dr. Connolly and me to trade places with Luke?”

“No. I’m thinking I got the best leverage of all with the kid. You and the doc will be my backup of sorts.”

Colin was shaking his head before Boyd even finished. “I’m a federal agent. You can’t get better leverage than that. Dr. Connolly doesn’t need to stay.”

“Yeah. She does. Grab your binoculars, Colin, and have a good look at the west side of the house. Not the house itself. I’m in the garden.”

Oh, God. Outside. Not where they’d expected a hostage taker to be. The usual pattern was for the perp to remain concealed.

“That’s where I am right now,” Boyd continued. “Watching you. Oh, and save your bullets because the kid is right here with me, and you wouldn’t want the little fellow to get hurt, now would you?”

Danielle heard Luke then. He was asking for his father again. Mercy. This could turn very ugly fast.

Colin did look through the binoculars and cursed under his breath. “He’s watching us,” he scribbled on the notepad. “And he has a rifle.”

“Tell them to leave,” Boyd insisted. “And no tricks, no dragging their feet. They got five minutes to clear out.”

“Evacuate now!” Colin called out to Tom. “The situation’s escalated. Boyd’s not in the house. He went onto the grounds, and he can see us.”

Tom cursed. So did Colin under his breath. And the place turned to chaos. Everyone began to scramble toward their vehicles. Except Tom. He raced to the van, took the notepad and wrote, “We’ll go to the other side of the mountain, out of his sight but not too far.”

However, it would be far enough so that Colin and she wouldn’t have immediate backup.

“I don’t want Dr. Connolly here,” Colin said. It took her a moment to realize he was talking to Boyd again. “I want her to leave with the others.”

“No way, Colin. I’m calling the shots.”

“I know you are, but it’ll be easier if you only have Luke and me to watch—”

“Oh, the doc won’t give me any trouble, and since she’s your wife and all, I’m thinking she’ll be able to keep you in line. Because, after all, you being the do-gooder Boy Scout kind of man that you are, you’ll do anything to keep the little woman safe, won’t you?”

The muscles in Colin’s jaw turned to iron. “Boyd—”

“Enough of this!” Boyd yelled. “I’m opening the front gate. Now, here’s what I want you to do. No guns. No equipment or bags of any kind, except for the cell phone you’re using right now. Leave your wallet and the doc’s purse in the van. Both of you put your hands in the air and start walking toward the estate.”

Colin and she glanced at each other, both trying to figure out how to handle this. But their time for decision making was cut very short.

“Just come, Doctor,” Luke said. His voice was shaky, and he sounded scared again. “Mr. Perkins wants you to come really, really bad.”

“You want me inside the estate?” Colin asked. He fished out his wallet and personal cell phone and dropped them onto the table.

“No. See the guesthouse just inside the fence?”

Danielle had already noticed the small building that had a similar facade to the estate itself. But the guesthouse wasn’t the problem. It was getting there. Colin and she would be out in the open.

“You can wait here,” Colin told her. He climbed behind the seat and took off his shoulder holster. What he didn’t do was remove the backup pistol that Danielle knew he always carried in an ankle holster. “I’ll talk to Boyd. I’ll make him see there’s no reason for you to be on scene.”

But there was a reason. A huge one. Even if Colin figured out a way to keep Boyd calm and get him to back off his demand that she be there, it would mean she wouldn’t be around for Luke. He needed her, and she wasn’t going to abandon him.

“Please come now,” she heard Luke say. His voice filled the van and seemingly the entire mountain. He hadn’t shouted, but he might as well have because his words slammed through her. “Please.”

“I’m coming,” she let him know. “Just think about your video game. About those hippos. Think about saving the baby giraffe.” Danielle got out of the van and lifted her hands into the air.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Colin mumbled in a gruff whisper.

“We’re doing the only thing we can do. We’re saving a child,” she reminded him.

And she started for the guesthouse. Still cursing, Colin hurried to maneuver himself in front of her.

Danielle could feel Boyd’s rifle trained right on them.

Chapter Three

This nightmare had just taken a bad turn.

Colin knew letting Boyd dictate the situation was a mistake. He had to figure out a way to stop this from spiraling out of control.

“Stay behind me,” he warned Danielle.

And by God she’d better listen. She should have stayed in the van and let him talk to Boyd. Not that it likely would have helped. Boyd seemed hell-bent on getting them out of that vehicle and into the open. But he might have been able to convince Boyd to allow anyone other than Danielle to walk into what could essentially be a trap.

“We didn’t have a choice,” she whispered.

Colin cursed because he knew she was right.

He lifted his left hand, a show of surrender, but he kept the cell phone in his right. If necessary, he could get to his backup weapon that he’d moved from his ankle holster to the back waist of his pants, but he might not be able to get to it in time if Boyd starting shooting. If that happened, Danielle and Luke could be hurt. Or worse.

“Boyd, I’m asking you man-to-man to send Dr. Connolly back,” Colin insisted. Danielle and he slowed when they approached the high metal gates. “If you do, it’ll prove to me that you want to work toward a peaceful resolution. You don’t need two more hostages.”

“Well, you won’t exactly be hostages. You’ll just be staying in the guesthouse. Nearby but not underfoot. I’ve got a camera fixed on the place, and I’ll know if you try to leave or if you try to bring in any badges.”

The explanation sounded almost logical, but Colin immediately found the weak spot in Boyd’s argument. “But why risk having us so close at all? You can obviously watch us in the van, too.”

But Colin knew the answer before Boyd even spoke.

“True. I can see the van, if I stand outside. I’d prefer not to do that. Plus, you wouldn’t be in rifle range there, now would you? I want you close by. Because soon, very soon, I’ll have some…chores for you two to do.”

Since the phone was on speaker, Danielle obviously heard that, and her sharp intake of breath caused her lips to tremble. Colin didn’t want to think of what a hit man would consider chores.

The only thing good in all of it was that perhaps this meant there was no mole. Boyd seemed to have found a way around the blind spot by going outside. That still didn’t explain how the man had figured out who Danielle was. She wasn’t exactly a public figure. But maybe Boyd had access to profiler or facial recognition software. If so, he could have spotted her when she arrived and gotten a picture of her to feed through the software. Colin hoped that’s what had happened.

Because the alternative made him damn uneasy.

“This is a waste of time,” Colin tried again. “Just give us your demands, and we can end all of this.”

“Demands can wait,” Boyd said, causing Colin to mentally curse. Colin couldn’t offer up all of Griffin’s bankroll, not on his first try of negotiations anyway, but he needed to get something on the table that he could use to bargain with. Once Danielle and he had some cover, he could do that.

“Luke?” Danielle said, aiming her voice toward the phone. “You doing okay? Are you still thinking about the hippos?”

“No.”

Oh, man. That little voice had a way of cutting to the bone.

“Well, you should think about them,” Danielle continued. “Because Agent Forester and I are here. We’re on the grounds. We’re walking through the gate right now. And we’ll do whatever Mr. Perkins tells us so that he won’t be upset. How does that sound?”

“Okay, I guess. Is Agent For-ster good or bad?”

“Oh, he’s very good. His job is to help little boys like you, and he’s the best.” Her mouth was still trembling, but she said that with a boatload of confidence.

Confidence that Colin wasn’t sure he deserved. He should have gotten her out of this before it even started. He thought of the other woman, the one he hadn’t been able to save. That couldn’t happen again.

It. Couldn’t. Happen.

“Stop right there,” Boyd ordered, his voice slicing through the silence.

They were still a good twenty feet from the guesthouse. Literally with no place to hide or duck for shelter if Boyd started shooting.

“Take off your jackets,” Boyd demanded.

Colin had anticipated the demand, but Danielle obviously hadn’t. She gasped and mumbled something. Colin wasn’t happy with the demand, either, but Boyd wasn’t stupid. This was a weapons check. Colin only hoped it didn’t extend to the gun he was trying to keep hidden.

Danielle slowly unbuttoned her jacket. Like her lips, her hands were shaking now. That only made him curse more because she shouldn’t have to be going through this.

Colin dropped his jacket onto the ground in front of him. Danielle did the same. And she stared down at it, completely dodging his gaze.

“Now take off your shirts,” Boyd added.

This time, Danielle’s gasp was a little louder.

“Rethink that,” Colin insisted, aware it wasn’t his negotiator’s voice. But hey, he wasn’t speaking as an agent now, but a man defending his wife’s, well, whatever. Honor and modesty seemed insignificant compared to the hostage situation, but he didn’t want Danielle to have to strip down in front of a hit man.

Colin unbuttoned his shirt, popping a few buttons in the process, and he threw the garment onto the ground with his jacket.

“Prove to me that neither of you are armed,” Boyd countered.

Colin’s hands went to his hips. “I don’t mind taking off all my clothes, but think of your young hostage.”

“He’s not watching. Strip!”

Hell. Boyd wasn’t going to give them any breaks. “Keep your clothes on,” he mumbled to Danielle, and he passed her the phone so his hands would be free. He needed to do some maneuvering.

Colin pulled off his boots, socks and empty ankle holster, and he put them on the growing heap of clothes. Next came the pants. This was the tricky part. He slipped the snub-nosed .38 into the back pocket and eased off his pants so the gun would stay in place. His wedding ring was in that pocket, too, and he didn’t want either falling out. He dropped the pants onto the heap, as well.

Leaving him to stand there in his boxers.

With Danielle staring at him.

Since he’d been married to her for over three years, she’d obviously seen him buck naked, but for some reason, it felt damn uncomfortable. And even more uncomfortable that she’d probably have to strip, as well.

“Satisfied?” Colin said, turning toward the phone that Danielle still held.

“Yeah. Now, it’s the doc’s turn.”

“She doesn’t even know how to fire a gun,” Colin protested. To diffuse this, he needed to go on the offensive.

Too bad Danielle wasn’t going to like it.

But it was better than a strip-down.

Colin stepped slightly away from her so that he was still partly shielding her, and he met her concerned gaze. Concerned being a massive understatement.

“I’m going to lift your top a little just so he can see you’re not carrying concealed.”

She blinked. “Turn around. I’ll do it.”

Colin blinked, too. “Jeez. I’ve seen everything you have beneath those clothes.”

“Turn around,” she insisted. And she dodged his gaze again.

Great. Was she hiding some kind of body hickey that she’d received from a lover she’d adamantly denied having. He’d gotten a God, no from her when he’d suggested that she had found someone else. Still, it wasn’t his business anymore.

Even if it felt as if it were.

Danielle didn’t budge until he turned his back. Colin faced the direction where he thought Boyd was still standing, and he heard Danielle’s movements behind him. A moment later, her shirt dropped into her clothes pile. Followed by her shoes.

Then, her skirt.

Which meant she was standing there in her bra and panties. He hoped it wasn’t the skimpy underwear she preferred to wear. The woman certainly had stimulating taste in undergarments. His favorite was a devil-red set, with the bra barely covering her nipples and panties that left nothing to the imagination.

Unlike now.

He was imagining.

And cursing himself.

“No gun,” Danielle announced. “And I’m getting dressed now.”

“Take your things into the guesthouse,” Boyd insisted. “Dress there. I’ll call you after you’ve had time to get settled.”

“Get Luke those video games,” Danielle added, but Boyd had already hung up. She scooped up her clothes and held them in front of her like a shield.

She hurried toward the guesthouse, and even though Colin moved to her side after he gathered up his own clothes, he still caught a glimpse of the underwear.

It was the devil-red set.

Thankfully, the door to the guesthouse was unlocked, and she started to dress the moment they got inside. Not slowly, either. She was breaking some kind of speed record. Colin dressed, too, as he looked around to see what potential security hazards the place might have.

Windows for one thing. Two of them faced the estate, which meant Boyd could use them for surveillance. Colin went to them and shut the plantation-style blinds. He also locked both the front and back doors.

He strapped on the ankle holster and put the gun back inside, and after he put on his pants, he checked out the rest of the guesthouse. There wasn’t much to it. The main area had a sofa, two chairs and a small kitchen off to the right. On the left was a large bedroom suite with a bath. The decor was crisp and clean, the kind of place he would expect for the guests of a multi-millionaire like Griffin Vaughn.

“You think he has the place bugged?” Danielle asked.

“Maybe. But I doubt it.” He took the phone from her and made sure the end call button had been pressed so it would save the battery. Colin didn’t want to think what would happen if they lost use of the cell. The guesthouse had phones, but he couldn’t rely on those since Boyd had so far refused to use any of the estate phones.

“Check and see if we have food and water,” he instructed.

She finished buttoning her blouse but not before he caught a glimpse of her breasts. Yeah. That bra really didn’t hide much.

Danielle went to the kitchenette while Colin searched the place for bugs. Not that an eavesdropping device would be easy to find, but he looked in the obvious places. Under the phones. On the lamp bases. Beneath the coffee table and bed. He was just getting up from the floor of the bedroom when Danielle came in.

“There’s plenty of bottled water and canned goods.”

So, they wouldn’t starve. Of course, that was the least of their worries.

Danielle made a sweeping glance around the room, and her eyes landed on the bed. “Uh, how long do you think we’ll have to be here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” But he understood her hesitation about the bed. “If we’re still here tonight, I can take the sofa.”

“Oh. Sure.” She didn’t sound relieved, exactly, but he didn’t know what that tone meant. His ex was certainly acting funny. “Maybe when Boyd calls back with his chore list, he’ll give his demands and you can continue with the negotiations.”

Yeah. And Colin was betting that eventually those demands would include lots and lots of money, especially if Boyd didn’t find those millions he was searching for. Griffin Vaughn was probably already gathering together as much cash as he could manage.

He looked at the way Danielle was gripping the door, and he tipped his head toward the sofa. “Why don’t you sit down? It might be hours before Boyd calls back.”

She didn’t argue, but what she did do was stagger a bit when she turned around. Colin went after and caught up with her before she reached the sofa.

“You okay?” he asked. He turned her toward him so he could study her face.

“Sure,” she said in the same tone and speed as God, no.

And that made Colin suspicious. “You and Callie were talking about your secret.” He knew there’d be fallout from this question, but he rationalized that since they were now a team to save Luke, then he had a right to know her mental and physical state. “Are you taking those fertility drugs again?”

“No.” Yet another quick response. But then, she shook her head. “I’m just a little dizzy, that’s all. I saw some crackers in the cabinet, and I think I’ll have one.”

She stepped away from him and walked across the room. Oh, yes. She was unsteady. But maybe it was just nerves. He hoped so because he knew those fertility drugs were hell on wheels when it came to Danielle’s health. They made her raw and jumpy. She didn’t need either with all the other stress.

She opened the pack of crackers and nibbled on one while she rested her back against the countertop. The silence came. Closing in around them. Making the situation more awkward than it already was. They didn’t dare talk about anything important or anything that would help Boyd because even though Colin had looked the place over, it didn’t mean the hit man couldn’t hear their every word.

Danielle finished off the cracker, had another one and then made her way back to the sofa. Toward him. But she didn’t sit. She stopped only a few inches away, came up on her toes, and put her mouth to his ear.

“Did you manage to keep your gun?” she whispered.

He nodded. Tried not to react to her warm breath and the closeness. He failed and reacted anyway.

Colin switched positions and put his mouth to her ear. “The next step is to negotiate you out of here.”

She shook her head. Probably because she didn’t realize it would send his mouth brushing across her cheek. Like a kiss. She stepped back. Continued to shake her head. “I can help,” she mouthed.

“So you’ve said.” Because their eyes were now locked and they were still very close, he debated whether he should just tell her the truth. Or at least part of it. He went for a partial. “You distract me.”

“What?” she said with a little whispered outrage.

“You still have that red underwear.” And he added a smile to ease the tension between them.

The corner of her mouth lifted, too. Almost a smile. Before she waved it off, as well. “Colin, I can’t.”

He didn’t want that clarified, but he had to wonder—was she talking about sex or something else? Since the best part of their marriage had been sex, he figured he had his answer.

The phone rang, and Colin actually welcomed the intrusion. Especially since it was Boyd. “This is Colin,” he answered.

“All settled in?”

“As much as we can be settled in. Now, it’s time for action, from you. We’ve cooperated with everything you’ve asked. I need your cooperation in return. What will it take to get you to release Luke?”

Boyd hesitated so long that Colin wasn’t sure he’d answer. “I want a helicopter when it comes time for me to leave.”

“A helicopter,” Colin repeated. He went to the other side of the room where there was a desk and wrote that down, hoping there’d be more details. “When and where?”

Again, he hesitated. “Noon tomorrow, I guess.”

“Don’t guess. Let’s nail down a time because I’ve got to run this past my boss.” It was a standard ploy not to give in too quickly. Always leave room for negotiation.

“All right, noon. You can have the pilot land in the open space at the back of the garden. No one else other than the pilot will be in the chopper, understand?”

“I understand.” Though the pilot would have some kind of backup. Colin didn’t know whom or what just yet. That was an issue to be worked out with the FBI office.

“I’m not finished,” Boyd let him know. “I also want fifty million dollars wired to an offshore account in the Caymans.”

“Fifty million.” The same amount that was supposedly hidden somewhere in the estate. Did that mean Boyd was giving up his quest to find it and settling for Vaughn’s money instead?

“When I confirm the money’s been transferred and the helicopter’s here,” Boyd continued, “I’ll tell you where and how you can find the kid.”

“I don’t know if Griffin Vaughn has access to that kind of money,” Colin bargained. Though he probably did. Thankfully, the man was rich and was willing to pay to get his son back. Once they had Luke safely out of there, they could work on apprehending Boyd and retrieving the ransom money.

“Then he’d better find access,” Boyd barked.

“I’ll let him know what you said. But before any funds are transferred, I’ll want proof that Luke is all right.”

“Oh, you’ll get proof. And remember, don’t do anything stupid. Because you might not be in that van, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know exactly what you’re doing. Got that?”

Boyd hung up before Colin could even respond.

Danielle checked her watch. “Will the Vaughns be able to come up with that much money so soon?” she whispered.

“Probably.” Heck, they might even have it ready.

And Boyd would have known that.

So, why the delay? Why not request the helicopter and the money immediately? Maybe because he hadn’t given up his search after all.

Because Colin wanted to save the cell battery, he used the house phone to make the next call. He didn’t have Agent Tom Ryan’s number, but he called the Durango office and had them do the transfer.

Tom answered on the first ring. “What happened?”

“Danielle and I are in the guesthouse, on the grounds. Boyd says he has visual, and who knows—he might even be listening. But we finally got some demands. Fifty million in an offshore account and a helicopter. He wants them by tomorrow at noon.”

Tom made a sound to indicate he was thinking about that. Colin understood that sound. Tom was wondering about the delay, as well. “Talk to Griffin Vaughn and work out the details,” Colin suggested. “See if this is even possible and get back to me.”

“I will. Are you and Danielle safe there?”

Colin glanced around, and his attention landed on Danielle. She looked pale and uneasy. “Yes, we’re safe.” But that was for her benefit. He had no idea if that was even true.

Colin hung up and made a note of the time of the call because when this was all said and done, he’d need to do a thorough report.

Danielle stood, her hand gripping the sofa. “I need to go to the bathroom. I won’t be long.”

“Wait. Let me check the place first.” He’d done a cursory, but if she was going in there, he wanted to be as sure as he could be.

Colin stepped in ahead of her. He looked in the medicine cabinet, the linen closet and around the toilet area. The shower was massive, built for two, and he examined the sprayer head and the knobs. Nothing dangerous there. It all looked clean.

Danielle was still in the doorway, but he didn’t miss it when her grip tightened on the frame. He also didn’t miss that she’d gotten even paler.

“What’s wrong?” And by God, this time he would get an answer.

He walked toward her but only made it one step. Before he heard the sound.

A thump.

Colin stopped. Listened. Danielle listened, too, turning in the direction of the sound. It’d come from the living area, and Colin brushed past her to see if he could find the source.

Another thump.

This one, louder than the first.

Even though it was a risk if Boyd had visual access, Colin drew his gun and positioned himself in front of Danielle.

The third thump was more of a bashing sound.

And that’s when Colin knew.

Someone was breaking in.

Chapter Four

Despite her sudden dizzy spell, Danielle looked around for something—anything—she could use as a weapon. Of course, Colin had his gun, but she didn’t want just to stand there while he had the responsibility of protecting both of them.

Mercy, was Boyd trying to get inside?

Or maybe this was someone who was helping Boyd. Someone already on the grounds of the estate that the FBI didn’t know about. It made sense, especially considering Boyd was looking for that hidden money and might have brought help with him.

But why would Boyd come after them now?

Colin and she had followed his rules to a T. Well, except for Colin’s gun. Perhaps Boyd had the place bugged and knew about the weapon. If so, there was no telling what the man would do.

Danielle grabbed a heavy onyx candlestick from the dresser, and she followed right behind Colin as he made his way into the living room. At first, she’d thought the sound had come from the front door, but she realized she was wrong. It was coming from the closet next to the door.

There were more sounds of someone shuffling around. A bash of what she thought might be something slamming against the wall.

Colin took aim at the closet, and because she was so close she was touching him, she felt the muscles in his body turn to iron.

“Who’s there?” he called out.

“Special Agent Dylan Acevedo,” someone whispered. “We came through the tunnels.”

Colin glanced at her, and she could see the surprise and questions that were no doubt mirrored in her own eyes.

The closet door opened, and there indeed was Agent Acevedo. And he wasn’t alone. He stepped from the closet and following him were two other men. One was middle-aged with a blond buzz cut and stocky build. The other was much younger, with dark hair and eyes. All the men carried equipment bags and had small flashlights clipped to their collars.

“Are you being monitored?” Dylan mouthed. He set two bags on the floor and turned off his flashlight. The others did the same.

Colin shrugged. “We’re not sure,” he answered in a barely audible whisper.

The young dark-haired man took out a piece of equipment from one of his bags, turned it on and walked around the room, pointing the wallet-size device in every direction.

“No bugs,” he announced several moments later.

All of them let out breaths of relief. Colin holstered his gun so he could shake hands with Dylan.

“This is Special Agent Jerry Ortiz,” Dylan said, pointing to the older man. “He’s the senior agent for FBI operations at the Kenner County Crime Lab.” He then tipped his head to the other man. “And that’s Bobby O’Shea, a forensic analyst. We were on our way to deliver supplies to you when Boyd ordered everyone but you two off the mountain.”

“How did you find your way through the tunnels?” Colin asked.

“We used some thermal equipment and literally followed the heat source—you two.”

Colin glanced at her. “Then, you’ll be able to use the tunnels to get Danielle out of here.”

Dylan nodded. “Sure.”

“Wait a minute.” Danielle put the candlestick aside and stepped between Colin and the other agent. “I’m not leaving until we get Luke away from Boyd. What if Boyd calls and asks to speak to me again?”

“We can have the call transferred to you,” Colin readily answered.

Danielle slapped her hand on his chest when Colin started to move around her. He was acting as if this were a done deal. And it wasn’t. “At any minute Boyd could come down here to the guesthouse and demand to see me,” she reminded him. “Or there could be a problem with a call transfer. If I’m not here or if he can’t speak to me right away, he could take it out on Luke. Or you.”

She hated that she sounded so emotional, especially with that or you part. Worse, her chest slap suddenly seemed a little intimate so she drew back her hand.

“I’m not leaving,” she insisted. And she repeated that to Dylan, Bobby and Jerry.

“She has a point,” Dylan agreed. Bobby and Jerry mumbled an agreement, too.

Colin scowled at all of them.

Probably because the mood suddenly seemed more than just awkward, Dylan cleared his throat and turned to Bobby. “Go ahead and set up the long-range eavesdropping equipment.”

“You brought the equipment with you?” Danielle asked at the same moment Colin asked a variation of the same question.

Dylan nodded. “We figured you’d want to hear what Boyd’s saying and doing.”

Of course. This way, they could possibly pinpoint their location, and Danielle would be able to listen and make sure Luke was okay.

“We need to monitor Boyd, too,” Dylan added. Bobby got to work setting up the equipment on the coffee table. “We know Boyd’s trying to find the fifty million dollars that was probably hidden by the former owner, Vincent Del Gardo.”

“So I’ve heard. Del Gardo, another mob guy,” Colin added. “Well, he certainly had fifty million and probably a lot more to hide, but Boyd probably hasn’t found it yet. Just a little while ago, he demanded a helicopter and fifty million in an offshore account. Does that mean Boyd’s giving up the search for the cash?”

“Maybe.” This time, it was Jerry who answered. The older agent propped his hands on his hips and watched Bobby put on some headphones and adjust the controls on the equipment. “Or Boyd could be planning to collect both the Del Gardo money and the ransom for Luke.”

Danielle hoped not because if Boyd were still looking for that money, it could delay Luke’s release.

“I’m in,” Bobby announced.

That sent all of them in the young agent’s direction. There was no visual feed, but Danielle could hear something. Beeps and sounds of a video game. But not just any video game. She recognized a familiar lion’s roar. Good. Boyd was letting Luke play Safari Explorer.

“I want you to record everything,” Dylan instructed Bobby.

“And report anything suspicious you hear back to me,” Jerry added. Though Jerry was a senior agent, that earned him a bit of raised eyebrow from Dylan, and Danielle wondered if there was some kind of power struggle going on here. She hoped not. “Remember, Boyd’s a killer and a liar. We can’t take anything he says as gospel.”

“What’s going on?” Colin demanded, taking the question right out of her mouth.

Dylan glanced at Jerry who nodded before Dylan explained, “We think Boyd might know something about Ben Parrish.” Since Colin started to bob his head as if he suddenly knew what this was all about, Dylan looked at her to deliver the rest of the details. “Ben is an FBI agent, and he’s missing.”

“Probably dead,” Jerry interjected.

Dylan shrugged, though the shrug didn’t convey the emotion in his eyes. “If not dead, he could be hurt and unable to contact us. We need to find him. In addition to needing lots of answers, his wife, Ava, is a forensic scientist, and she’s pregnant. She’s scared, and she wants to know what happened to her husband.”

Danielle felt instant empathy. Other than being pregnant and scared, she didn’t have anything in common with this woman, but she wanted to help. Maybe this was another side effect of pregnancy hormones.

“We don’t want to take anything away from your primary mission,” Jerry continued, talking to Colin. “We want you to negotiate the boy away from Boyd, but we can’t just let this opportunity go, either. Finding Ben is critical.”

Colin glanced at the equipment. “Will the audio feed go directly to the crime lab?”

“No.” Jerry didn’t seem pleased about that, either. “Transmission is spotty out here at best and will have to be sent to us via disks. Once the disks are in the lab, I’ll analyze them and try to enhance them so we can get every word of conversation.” Jerry hitched his thumb toward Bobby. “So, the plan is we’ll leave Bobby here to monitor Boyd, while Dylan and I go out and try to find this missing agent.”

Danielle immediately thought of a concern. “What if Boyd figures out Bobby is here?”

“Bobby will have to avoid that at all cost,” Dylan explained. “If Boyd comes down here, Bobby will just have to use the tunnels to hide. In fact, that’s where we’ll put the extra supplies just so there aren’t equipment bags lying around.”

“Maybe Boyd won’t go into the tunnels and find the bags,” Jerry mumbled.

Mercy. She hoped this didn’t come back to haunt them, but on the upside, she could hear Luke playing the video game. He wasn’t whining, and Boyd wasn’t fussing. Maybe it would stay that way, and maybe Boyd would stay out of the tunnels.

“What about the helicopter Boyd requested?” Colin wanted to know.

“We already have someone working on that,” Jerry confirmed. “And from what I understand, Luke’s father is gathering funds as we speak. He wants to give Boyd the money.”

Of course he did. He wanted his son back.

Danielle automatically slid her hand over her belly. Just for reassurance that her own child was safe and well. But it was a mistake. She realized that Colin was looking at her. Probably because he thought she was cramping from yet another round of fertility drugs.

“Has anyone said anything about Boyd maybe having a mole in the FBI or maybe at the crime lab?” Colin asked.

Dylan and Jerry exchanged glances again. “We’re looking into it,” Jerry finally said.

Danielle didn’t intend to let that go. “But you think there might be one?”

Jerry shook his head, but it wasn’t a very convincing denial. “We have a new lab assistant. Rusty Cepeda. He just started work a couple of days ago.”

“Rusty?” Colin questioned. “The kid who drove me up to the estate this morning?”

“Yeah,” Dylan verified. “We didn’t know there was an issue about a possible mole.”

“And Rusty might not have anything to do with this,” Jerry quickly added. “But because he’s new, Callie wants us to take a hard look at his background.”

“Please do,” Danielle insisted. They had enough issues without adding a mole to the mix.

“We brought you a cell phone charger, an extra phone, a laptop and a weapon,” Jerry continued, pointing to the equipment bags. “If you need anything else, give us a call, and I’ll get it to you.” He turned back to Dylan. “We should get out of here.”

“You might want to wait a minute,” Bobby said. He turned up the volume on the eavesdropping device.

Danielle heard Boyd’s voice, though there was some static that made it difficult to understand exactly what he was saying.

“He’s talking to his boss, Nicky Wayne,” Bobby supplied.

That got everyone’s attention. It was a long shot, but she hoped that the notorious Nicky Wayne would insist that Boyd release Luke immediately.

“Still no money,” Boyd said. And whatever else he added was lost because of the static.

“Can you make the reception better?” Colin asked.

Bobby shook his head. “This is the best I can do.”

Boyd said something else that wasn’t clear, and Danielle could barely hear the beeps of Luke’s game. It sounded as if Boyd was moving farther away from the boy. Maybe so Luke wouldn’t overhear the conversation.

“You’re sure you want me out tomorrow?” Boyd asked. He paused. “All right. Consider it done.” Another pause and Boyd ended the call.

Well, that certainly didn’t give them any revelations, but it was a start.

“If I could get closer to Boyd, that might help,” Bobby said, turning down the device. The young analyst looked at Jerry. “Sir, what if I move the equipment deeper into the tunnels toward the estate?”

Jerry pulled back his shoulders, perhaps because he figured this could be dangerous if Boyd detected what was happening. It certainly sounded risky.

“I think it’s worth a try,” Dylan spoke up.

Jerry didn’t look as if he wanted to agree, but he finally nodded. “Just be careful and remember to report back to me everything Boyd says.” Jerry shook his head. “This guy is bad news, and I want him put away.”

Colin and the men shook hands, and Jerry and Dylan grabbed the equipment bags. They left the two others sitting on the floor but those would have to be tucked out of sight. The men made their way back through the closet and into the tunnels. Bobby picked up his eavesdropping device, as well, and turned on his flashlight.

“If I get better reception in the tunnels, I’ll move all of my stuff down there,” Bobby told them, and he disappeared down the steps behind the other men.

Colin and Danielle stood there. In silence. Both of them staring at the closet.

“If Boyd finds out about this…” she mumbled. She couldn’t finish. She didn’t want to think of what might happen.

“Yeah,” Colin verified. He stayed quiet for several moments before he looked at her. “You don’t owe me an explanation, but I’d like one.”

Danielle didn’t intend to jump into an answer. Any answer. But the request certainly caused her to swallow hard. “An explanation about what?”

His gaze landed on her stomach.

Oh, God. Colin knew about the baby.

She tried not to panic, though inside that’s exactly what she was doing. “I’m fine, really,” she lied, hoping the lie would be enough. Now was not the time to tell him that he was going to be a father.

Danielle tried to move away from him, but he caught on to her arm. “What’s going on with you?” he demanded. “Why the secret comment to Callie? Why the strange behavior?”

She forced her chin up. It was time to go on the offensive. “Strange behavior? Maybe because a boy’s well-being is at stake, and I’m having to work next to my estranged husband. That’s worth a moment or two of strange behavior, don’t you think?”

Apparently not. Because his gaze drifted back to her stomach again, and the only thing Danielle could do was brace herself for the question. If Colin did indeed ask if she was pregnant, she wouldn’t be able to tell him a direct lie. Not about that.

But there was no question from him. Just his glare, which started to soften. There was still plenty of fire in those blue eyes. Plenty of emotion, too. But it started to change. Slowly. Subtly, at first. However, she recognized that look.

The fire wasn’t all from his anger over the lack of answers.

Just like that, her body started to soften, too. Actually, it started to insist that she move closer. She didn’t.

But Colin did.

He leaned in. Until he was close. So close that his shirt brushed against her breasts and sent a warm tingle through her. His gaze dropped from her eyes.

To her mouth.

His breath touched her lips. Not a kiss exactly, but it was just as intoxicating as the real thing. And that’s why she couldn’t stay put.

Danielle tried to get away from him, but Colin held on to her. Of course, she wasn’t trying that hard to move. Her feet seemed anchored in place, and her body was screaming for that kiss to happen. Probably because her body knew a kiss from Colin was a prelude to hot sex.

“Okay,” she said, just to be saying something. “So, we’re still attracted to each other. So what? We always have been, and we both know where that got us, right?”

She’d meant it as a stinging jab to get him to back off, but because her voice was still reacting to the near kiss, it came out steamy and more like an invitation for him to continue.

And that’s what he did.

Colin leaned in even closer. Danielle still didn’t move. She just stood there waiting for the inevitable. She wasn’t any better at resisting him now than she had been months earlier.

He took his hand from her arm and slipped it around her waist. It was gentle. Coaxing. Something that Colin was especially good at doing. And just when Danielle thought—finally!—the kiss would happen…

It didn’t.

That’s because a deafening sound blasted through the room.

Chapter Five

What the hell was happening?

That was Colin’s first reaction, and it was quickly followed by the realization that he needed to protect Danielle. He pushed her behind him and drew his weapon, but his gun wouldn’t be much defense against this.

There’d been an explosion.

The blast shook the guesthouse and sent pictures and other items crashing to the floor. Colin moved Danielle aside before a heavy framed oil painting came crashing down on her. He got them to the center of the room, away from the falling debris and out of the path of an overhead light fixture that was swaying and looked ready to drop.

Colin looked around to see if he could identify the source and origin of the explosion, but there was nothing to indicate that the blast had occurred in the guesthouse itself. However, there was dust rising from the tunnel opening where Bobby and the others had exited only minutes earlier.

“The tunnel,” Danielle said on a gasp, and she headed straight toward it.

Colin caught on to her again. “Wait. Don’t go any closer. There could be a secondary explosion.”

Or the tunnel could be damaged to the point that it was ready to collapse. He didn’t want to speculate on what’d happened to Bobby, Jerry and Dylan, but Colin had to consider that the men had been hurt or even killed.

He waited several moments, to make sure everything had stopped shaking, and then Colin began to inch his way toward the closet opening that led to the tunnel. He didn’t get far because the cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID screen and saw it was Boyd.

Colin cursed. Took a deep breath to steady himself. And he answered it.

“I didn’t figure you for a stupid man, Colin,” Boyd greeted. “Maybe I should have made it clear about staying put. Maybe I should have also let you know that I set explosives in the tunnels.”

Oh, man. So, that’s what had happened.

“There’s no good reason for you or Dr. Connolly to be in the tunnels,” Boyd continued. “So, tell me? Is she hurt?”

Colin debated his answer. Boyd obviously didn’t know who’d been in that tunnel, which meant he didn’t have visual surveillance and he had assumed that Danielle had been the one to trip the explosive. It sickened Colin to think that could have happened. After all, he’d tried to force her to leave via those very tunnels, and they could have become a death trap for her.

“I should check on her,” Colin finally said.

“Right. And if she’s alive and well, tell her not to go down there again. Got it?”

Colin had to bite his tongue over Boyd’s flippant attitude. “I’ll tell her.”

“Oh, and Colin? No ambulance if she’s hurt. You’ll just have to deal with the consequences yourself. Consider it her punishment for acting like a fool.”

“I’m sure she’s sorry.” Colin somehow kept his voice calm. He looked at Danielle. To see how she was holding up, and he could have sworn she was paler than she had been just minutes earlier. “How’s Luke?” he asked Boyd.

“Those video games work like a charm. The kid hasn’t made a peep since he started playing them.”

“And you can thank Danielle for that.” Colin needed to do a little damage control because he didn’t want Boyd to sever communication between Danielle and Luke.

“Thank her for me,” Boyd barked. “And tell her next time I might not be in such a generous mood and forgive her for disobeying my orders to stay put. Don’t forget I’m holding all the cards here, Colin.”

“I won’t forget. Neither will Danielle. We both just want Luke back safe.”

“Yeah, yeah.” And with that taunting farewell, Boyd hung up.

Colin clicked the end call button so he could try to get in touch with Dylan. However, the phone rang again before he could do that.

It was Jerry Ortiz.

“What happened?” Jerry frantically asked the moment that Colin answered.

“An explosion. Are you okay?”

“Dylan and I are fine. We’d just made it out when we heard the blast. What about Bobby?”

“I was about to check on him.” And God knew what he’d find.

Colin made his way to the opening and looked down into the dark hole. There were stairs leading down, and Colin could see just a glimmer of light. “Bobby?” he called out.

“I’m here,” the young man said. His voice was shaky. No surprise there. He’d likely just come very close to being killed.

“Are you hurt?”

Bobby didn’t answer right away, causing Colin some uneasy moments. “I’m fine. Just shaken up a little. I was still a good twenty yards away from the explosive device when it went off.”

“He’s fine,” Colin relayed to Jerry. “I’ll check him out and call you back if he needs help.” Though with Boyd’s no-ambulance rule, it might be hard to get Bobby away from the estate.

Colin ended the call and handed Danielle the phone so he could help Bobby up the stairs. The young man was covered with a fine powdery dust, but Colin didn’t see any cuts or gashes. Thank God. Bobby had gotten lucky.

Bobby clicked off his flashlight and brushed off some of the dust. “I’m guessing Boyd did this?”

“Yeah. And there might be more explosives.”

With his breath gusting, Bobby carried his equipment back to the coffee table. “Guess I’ll have to settle for poor reception up here.”

Now that he was certain that Bobby was okay, Colin turned his attention to Danielle. Yep. She was still pale. Still trembling. And he didn’t think it was because of their near kiss. Either this stress was getting to her, or she was sick.

Colin took the phone from her. She had the cell clutched in a death grip. “Why don’t you get some rest? It could end up being a long day, and night.”

Danielle’s chin came up, a sign that she was about to argue with him. But she didn’t. She wearily pushed her hair away from her face. “I’ll pick up the things that the explosion knocked down.”

“I’ll do that later. Rest,” he insisted.

She looked around as if deciding what she should do. Rest obviously wasn’t something she planned to consider. “Jerry said they brought us a laptop. I think I’ll use it to see if I can figure out a way to contact Luke through the video game.”

“You can do that?” Colin asked.

“Maybe, if he’s playing online. But it’s a long shot. Most kids his age only play with their game system, but I know some parents who set up the game online so they can play with their kids even when they go away on trips. Besides, I doubt Boyd would let him go on the Internet, though.” She took the laptop from one of the equipment bags. “Still, I have to try.”

Danielle carried the laptop into the bedroom. She didn’t shut the door, and instead of sitting on the bed, where she might be able to take a nap, she took the straight-backed chair in the corner of the room.

“Nothing’s going on inside the estate,” Bobby relayed to Colin. “It sounds as if the boy’s still playing his video game.”

Good. So, Boyd hadn’t taken his anger out on Luke. That was something, at least. Colin sank down onto the sofa next to Bobby and called Jerry back. However, it wasn’t Jerry who answered. It was Dylan.

“Everything okay?” Colin asked.

“Maybe not. Jerry and I just checked the tunnel, and the one leading to the road is fine, but the others, well, it’s probably best if we don’t go back down for a while. I’m pretty sure some of the support beams are cracked. Plus, there was another trip wire leading off one of the side tunnels. There’s no telling how many explosives Boyd has set down here.”

Great. Just great. That tunnel could have been an escape route, and Colin was very much afraid he would need one for Danielle before this was over.

“I don’t think Boyd wants to blow up the place,” Dylan continued. “But he’s definitely trying to deter anyone from coming down here.”

Then that meant Colin had to do everything to make sure this standoff ended with the arrival of that helicopter tomorrow.

“We’re headed back to town now,” Dylan added. “But we’ll get an expert up here to check out the tunnels.”

“Thanks.” Colin hung up and made another call to Agent Tom Ryan for an update.

Tom answered right away. “Jerry Ortiz just called about the explosion. Is everyone okay?”

“For now.” He’d try to keep it that way. Colin considered mentioning that Danielle wasn’t feeling well, but he knew that would only rile her. Besides, he couldn’t get her out until the tunnels were checked, and that might take a while. “What’s the latest on the helicopter and ransom money?”

“The helicopter is firm, and we have an agent who can pilot it. Griffin Vaughn will have all the money together by tonight.” Tom paused, and Colin knew what that pause was all about. Just because Boyd might get his demands, it didn’t mean this would result in a smooth transfer.

“I’ll do whatever I need to do,” Colin promised. Paused. “Talk to me about Dylan and Jerry. Are they men you both trust?”

“I’d trust Dylan with my life.”

Well, that was a start. “And Jerry?”

Tom cleared his throat. “He used to be the best, but he’s had a tough time recently with a bad divorce.”

Ah, something Colin knew a little about. A divorce could certainly affect a man’s concentration. “Thanks for the info. And call me if there’s a hitch with either of Boyd’s demands.” Colin hung up in case Boyd phoned back. He had call-waiting on the cell, but he didn’t want any delays when it came to Luke.

Colin slipped the cell into his pocket and got up so he could pick up the pictures and other items that had fallen during the explosion. He started with the broken glasses and worked his way around the room. He had his hands full when he glanced in the bedroom at Danielle.

She was in the chair, computer on her lap. She’d unbuttoned her jacket. The top of her blouse, too. And she was asleep. Man, she looked exhausted.

He put the broken items into the trash and went back to the bedroom, quietly closing the door so that the transmission from Bobby’s equipment wouldn’t wake her. He eased the laptop aside and put it on the dresser. She didn’t wake up. Didn’t even flinch. So, he picked her up to move her to the bed.

Colin only made it one step.

Her eyes fluttered open, slowly, and her gaze drifted to him. She shook her head as if trying to fight off the effects of sleep. Wait. Not sleep. Her eyes widened. Her breath went thin. And because he was holding her, he felt her body go soft and warm.

She was fighting it, he could feel that, but she slid her arm around his neck. Her mouth came to his. Not willingly. This seemed to be the last thing on earth she wanted to do, but she didn’t stop.

That kiss jolted through him.

She made a sound of utter frustration and deepened the kiss. She tasted as good as she always had. Maybe better. Because Colin suddenly felt starved for her.

And that meant this had to stop.

“Danielle,” he warned.

She made another of those frustrated sounds and turned slightly so that her left breast was pressed right against him.

“Colin,” she warned back.

But then, her eyes widened. And widened some more before she groaned and forced herself to move away from him.

“Don’t read too much into that,” she said, as if that explained everything. She wiggled out of his arms, and in doing so wiggled against him.

He was toast.

She stood, fixed her clothes that in no way needed fixing. Fixed her hair, too. And tried to look indignant and unaffected by that kiss.

“I’m sorry,” she added, turning.

But because he was aroused and apparently stupid, he caught on to her and stopped her from putting any distance between them. “I’m not sorry.” Though he should be. Obviously, being aroused made him say dumb things in addition to doing them.

She drew in a shallow breath. “Colin…”

Uh-oh. He felt another lecture coming on, and since that wasn’t going to make him want to kiss her less, he decided to nip the lecture in the bud. “I know you don’t want to be married to me, but that doesn’t kill the attraction. You’ve already admitted it’s still there.”

She didn’t say anything, but she did concede he was right with a shrug. Still, that didn’t stop her from turning away and starting for the bathroom.

Colin saw it then.

Because her jacket was open and the top three buttons of her blouse were undone, he saw the gold chain. And the wedding and engagement rings that hung on the chain.

She followed his gaze, and her hand flew to cover the rings. It was too late.

He reached out and caught on to the rings. Despite the gold and diamonds, they were warm because they’d been next to her skin.

“Don’t read too much into this, either,” Danielle said. She pushed his hand away and went into the bathroom.

But he did read a lot into it. Why was Danielle wearing her rings around her neck? Did that mean she hadn’t given up on their marriage?

Colin intended to find out.

He went after her and grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her back around so she was facing him. Yeah, it was stupid. But he didn’t care. He had to know why she was still wearing the rings he’d given her. Rings that symbolized their marriage.

“Why?” But that was as far as he got with his question.

Their eyes met. The fire that was always there between them went off like a powder keg. Colin shoved his hand into her hair, hauled her to him.

And he kissed her.

There was nothing dreamy and sleepy about this one. It was hot, hungry and filled with months of longing and need. His need. And hers. Danielle proved that need when her arms went around him, and she kissed him back.

Just like every other kiss they’d shared, this one quickly got out of control. Her hands were on him. Touching his chest. Something that couldn’t happen because her touches made him crazy, so he grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them against the doorframe.

That didn’t stop her. She fought to get closer and played dirty. She ground against him. Her sex against his. While they played that crazy erotic dance with their mouths. It didn’t take long before Colin knew he was out of control.

Did that stop him?

No.

He caught her leg, lifting it so that it slid along the outside of his thigh. The sliding created some interesting sensations, but they were paltry compared to the hard contact that happened with her sex against his. That’s because, with their new sex-against-the-doorframe stance, her skirt hiked up.

Nearly all the way up her thigh.

And those silky red panties skimmed right against his zipper.

Oh, man. He wanted her bad. And that couldn’t happen. He repeated that to himself several times. Managed to regain a little control. But that control went south when Danielle shifted her body. He reacted to that shift and his hand went from her leg to her thigh.

His fingers curved along the inside of her thigh.

So close to those red panties that he stood no chance of resisting. He touched her. Barely. His fingers skimmed over that warm, damp silk, and he felt her respond. She responded in other ways, too. Her breath raced. Her hips arched forward and his skimming fingers turned into a full-fledged touch.

He couldn’t have sex with her. His brain knew that, though this was such familiar ground for his body that he had a hard time convincing certain parts of himself. Well, one part anyway. No sex. But he could give her a little relief from this pressure cooker that their kisses had created.

Colin adjusted and slid his hand up, so he could move his finger down her stomach and into her panties. But she stopped with his fingertips nearly touching her skin.

Actually, she froze.

And she latched on to his wrist and pushed his hand away.

“I can’t,” Danielle said through rough gusts of breath.

She drew down her leg, as well, and shoved her skirt back in place.

He mentally skidded to a halt, and Colin stared at her. It took him a moment to gather his thoughts. More moments before he managed to speak. “You’re right.”

And she was. They had to stop, but what he couldn’t figure out was why it’d come at that exact moment. She’d been fine—translation: she’d been on fire—until the kiss had turned to more intimate touching.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. She looked away. Frowned. Sighed. And generally looked as uncomfortable as she could possibly look. “We need to talk. After Luke is rescued.”

He studied her puzzling expression and nodded. “Okay. About what?” And he hoped to hell this wasn’t a confession that she’d found someone else.

But she didn’t answer. Danielle just stared at him with her mouth poised to say something apparently pretty darn important.

The knock cut off anything she’d been about to confess.

“Colin, you need to come out and listen to this,” Bobby said from the other side of the door.

Since Bobby’s request seemed more than a little urgent, Colin turned and went right away. Danielle was right behind him. Good thing, too, since this might involve her trying to keep Luke calm. However, it wasn’t Luke’s voice that Colin heard when he went back into the living room and walked closer to the eavesdropping device.

Boyd was talking to someone.

“You should have warned me that somebody was going into the tunnels,” Boyd said.

That got Colin’s full attention. “Who’s he talking to?” he asked Bobby.

“I don’t know. And we can’t hear the other side of the conversation. So far, Boyd hasn’t mentioned anyone’s name.”

No, but it was clear he was talking to someone who should have insider knowledge of the tunnels. And therefore, the estate.

Hell.

This meant they might have a mole after all. Or else Boyd had someone positioned near the estate. Someone he was relying on to do surveillance.

Colin really hoped it was the latter.

“That’s not an excuse,” Boyd snarled to the person on the other end of the line. “We pay you to help, and you’re not helping if you can’t or won’t tell me what’s going on.”

Colin moved even closer to the device. Danielle, too. And with her attention pinned to the conversation, she sank down onto the arm of the sofa.

“What about the helicopter?” Boyd snapped.

Colin wished he could hear what’d prompted that question. And what caused Boyd to pause. Maybe when the disk was sent to the lab and enhanced, they’d be able to figure out who this person was. One thing was for sure, Colin didn’t want the new lab assistant, Rusty Cepeda, to have anything to do with the disks.

And he wanted to make sure Jerry was on the up-and-up. From everything he’d heard about Dylan, the man was trustworthy, but he wasn’t so sure about Jerry.

“No,” Boyd said, his voice slightly calmer now. “Don’t worry about the negotiator and the doc. I’ve got plans to take care of them.”

Danielle raked her fingers over her eyebrow and shifted slightly. Colin had a slightly stronger reaction. Every muscle in his body knotted. Boyd’s comment sounded like a threat.

“I said I’d take care of them,” Boyd repeated. He paused. “No. I need them alive, for now, so they can do a few chores for me.”

And with that, Boyd laughed. “I hope they get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow…well, let me just say there’ll be hell to pay.”

“HELL TO PAY,” he repeated under his breath. He slapped the phone shut and cursed.

He hated to admit it but Boyd was on some kind of power trip. Or else he’d gone crazy. Maybe both. But it was clear that Boyd was working his own agenda.

Which could be dangerous.

He couldn’t afford for Boyd to start blabbing, and the man seemed way too close to doing just that.

The game plan had been simple. Find the fifty million dollars that Del Gardo had hidden, get out, and the two of them could split the generous “finder’s fee” that Nicky Wayne would give them. But had Boyd done that?

No.

Instead, Boyd had gotten himself into a half-assed situation where he had to take a kid hostage. Nothing like having agents and crime lab workers combing the estate and finding that money.

Yeah, Boyd had really screwed things up.

And he could do worse than that.

Boyd could give away the identity of the so-called “mole.”

He cursed again. That couldn’t happen. Because he was the mole, and one way or another, he had to stop Colin, Danielle and anyone else from finding out. And if he had to kill them, so be it. He would.

Hell to pay, indeed.

He took a moment to compose himself, wiped the concern off his face and went into the Kenner County Crime Unit so he could get to work.

Chapter Six

Hell to pay.

Boyd’s words went through Colin’s head as he poured Danielle and himself cups of coffee. So did the other part of that conversation.

I need them alive, for now…

That had kept Colin up for most of the night.

From the moment Boyd had ordered them from the van to the guesthouse, Colin had feared for Danielle’s safety. For her life. And Boyd had made it crystal clear that Danielle and he were mere pawns in this. Boyd would kill them—or at least try—if and when he decided they were expendable.

Colin grabbed the two mugs of black coffee and walked past Bobby, who was essentially monitoring silence. Luke had gone to bed around nine, and other than Boyd rattling around in the estate, there’d been no other sounds. Definitely no other phone conversations. It’d made for a quiet night. Too bad none of them had managed to get much sleep despite the uneventful hours.

Bobby had stayed in the living room, with the monitoring equipment on so he wouldn’t miss anything. Danielle had taken the bed, and Colin had ended up on the floor. He didn’t mind the discomfort, because he knew he would just toss and turn anyway. And besides, it hadn’t seemed a smart idea to climb onto that king-size bed with her. His brain was on autopilot when it came to Danielle.

The kiss had proven that.

Colin went back into the bedroom where Danielle was sitting with the laptop. She’d showered earlier, and even though she’d had no choice but to put back on the same clothes, she now smelled like strawberry shampoo.

“No luck with the video game,” she told him. “Luke didn’t play any of it online.”

“Well, it was a long shot anyway.”

She still looked frustrated that she hadn’t been able to make the online connection. “What about the arrangements for the helicopter and the money?”

“All done,” Colin assured her. He checked the clock on the nightstand. “If all goes well, in about five hours, we’ll have Luke out of there.”

“If all goes well,” she mumbled.

Yeah. Boyd was still calling the shots, and Colin didn’t trust the man. Still, Boyd couldn’t stay holed up on the estate forever, despite his threat that there’d be hell to pay.

He set the mug on the table next to her. “I thought you could use this.”

Danielle looked at the brew, slightly turned up her nose and eased it aside. “Thanks, but I gave up coffee.”

“You what?” Because he was sure he’d misheard her. Danielle could empty an entire coffeepot by herself.

She gave him a forced smile. “I decided I could live without caffeine.”

He silently groaned, because she had given up coffee in the past, during those frantic attempts to get pregnant. The caffeine combined with her fertility meds had made her too jittery.

Danielle studied his expression. “No, at the risk of my repeating myself, again, I’m not on fertility drugs,” she said as if reading his mind.

The woman knew him too well.

“Good.” Except he should have given that answer some thought because her mouth tightened a bit. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

She shrugged and stared at her computer screen, though he was certain she wasn’t seeing anything there. He’d hit a very big raw nerve.

“It’s okay,” she shot back at him. “I never felt as if you were that committed to fatherhood anyway.”

Okay. This was an old argument, and it wouldn’t lead to anything but a new argument. In the past, he’d just let the argument blow up so it would end and they could get on with their lives. But this morning, Colin just wanted to erase that tension he saw on her face. Danielle already had enough tension with the Boyd situation without their personal stuff being involved in this.

“I never had any objections to fatherhood,” Colin clarified.

That caused her head to whip up. “Really?” she said with total disbelief.

“Really. It was the treatments that I had issues with. They were painful for you.”

Danielle put her focus back on the computer and mumbled, “Sometimes. But I knew a baby would be worth all of that and more.”

Yes, it would have been if Danielle had gotten pregnant. She hadn’t. And that had made all the pain and discomfort seem pointless. Heck, he could say the same for these discussions about the treatments. Nothing good had ever come of them.

“About that kiss,” he said so he could change the subject. Though he certainly hadn’t picked one that was less volatile. “Want to talk about it?”

“Do you?” she countered. Now, she turned those cool green eyes on him.

Except they weren’t so cool.

The heat was still there, and she must have realized that, because the corner of her mouth lifted. “Hormonally speaking, I’ve always had a weak spot when it came to you.”

“Hormones, huh?” He shared a smile with her. “But at least you stopped when the kiss got too hot. If you’d left it to me, we would have had sex. And I think both of us know the timing would have sucked.”

She made a small sound of agreement. Barely an agreement at all. And that got Colin to thinking. If the attraction was still there and that strong, was that enough for them to try again? But he shoved that question aside.

The timing still sucked.

“Anything else about our possible mole?” she asked. Obviously, he wasn’t the only one who wanted to change the subject.

“Nothing. I’d worried that maybe the mole had told Boyd that Bobby was here. But so far, Boyd hasn’t mentioned anything about it.”

Danielle made that agreement sound again. “Maybe that means the mole didn’t know about Bobby.”

Maybe. That was the most logical explanation, and if so, then maybe Dylan and Jerry hadn’t mentioned to anyone that they’d brought the young man with them. Of course, there was another possibility.

Maybe Boyd did know.

Unfortunately, Colin couldn’t think of any good scenarios as to why Boyd would stay quiet about that.

“Luke’s awake,” Bobby called out from the other room. “Boyd’s having him phone Dr. Connolly now.”

That caused Danielle to spring to her feet, and she practically tossed the laptop onto the bed. Colin put his coffee aside and grabbed pen and paper from the nightstand so he could take notes.

“Is Luke okay?” she asked Bobby.

But Bobby’s answer was drowned out by the ringing of the cell. “I’m about to pick up,” Colin told Bobby so that he’d stay quiet. And then Colin answered. “Good morning, Boyd.” Best not to let the man know that Bobby had relayed that it would be Luke calling.

“Agent For-ster,” Luke said, his voice small and sleepy. “Can I speak to Dr. Connolly?”

“Of course.” Colin put the phone on speaker and passed it to her.

“Hello, Luke. How are you this morning?”

“Okay. I guess. I played Safari Explorer a long, long time last night, and I found the baby giraffe. He was lost in the jungle, and I took him back to his mom.”

“That’s great, Luke. I knew you’d be able to find him.”

“Well, it wasn’t easy, and I’m still real sleepy. But Mr. Boyd woke me up ’cause he said I had to call you and then eat breakfast. Not a sugar breakfast, either. He said you said it had to be good for me so I’m gonna eat oatmeal with raisins that he’s making in the microwave.”

“Good. Oatmeal’s healthy. But what were you supposed to call me about?” Danielle’s voice was friendly and calm, but Colin could see the tension in her face.

“He didn’t say it in a mad way or anything, but Mr. Boyd wants you and Agent For-ster to do something for him. Chores, he said. I have to do chores, too, like picking up my toys, but he said these chores were bigger than that.”

Chores. Something Boyd had mentioned in the same context with there’d be hell to pay. Colin hoped like the devil that this wouldn’t delay Luke’s release.

“What are the chores he wants us to do?” Danielle asked.

“I gotta put him on the phone so he can tell, but I’m supposed to tell you something else. I’m supposed to say that you need to do just like he says or else he won’t let me play Safari Explorer.” Luke paused. “Please do like he says, Dr. Connolly.”

Danielle’s bottom lip trembled a bit. “I will.”

Colin only hoped that they could follow through on that assurance. Both Danielle and he waited. Breaths held. And finally Boyd came on the line.

“Just wanted to let you know how important it is for you two to cooperate,” he said. “I figured it’d sink in better if you heard it from Luke’s own mouth.”

“We know how important this is,” Colin assured him. He moved closer to the phone. “Now, what’s this about chores?”

“I need both of you to go into town for me. You can use the van that the crime scene folks left behind.”

“Town?” Colin questioned. And he got yet another bad feeling about this. “For what?”

“Get a pen and paper because you’ll want to write this down.”

“I’m ready.”

“I need some more peanut butter, the crunchy kind. The kid eats a lot of it. I also want a metal detector—a good one that the crime lab should have. Not some piece of junk you can get from a discount store. And Luke wants Safari Explorer Two because he finished all the levels of the first game.”

Colin guessed that maybe the metal detector was to find the money. Maybe Del Gardo had hidden it in chests or some other containers that the device could detect. But the other two items confused him.

“Luke will be going home in about five hours,” Colin reminded him. “He won’t have a lot of time to eat peanut butter or play another video game.”

“Five hours is a long time for a kid.”

True, but Colin prayed this didn’t mean that Boyd intended to delay the release just so he could continue to search for that money.

“It’s seven-fifteen right now,” Boyd continued. “Get going and be back here no later than ten-fifteen.”

Three hours. That was plenty of time to make the trip and collect the supplies, but that wasn’t Colin’s concern. “How about I send Dr. Connolly to get the things, and I stay here just in case Luke or you need something?”

“Nice try, but then I figure you’ll say she’s had an accident or something, anything that’ll keep her in town and away from here. No. You’re both going, and you’ll both be making the return trip. Call me when you get back.”

Danielle shook her head. He knew her objection, and it was different from Colin’s. He merely wanted her away from the danger, but she didn’t want to be that far from Luke in case something went wrong.

“But what if Luke wants to talk to me while I’m gone?” she asked.

“Simple,” Boyd answered. “If you’ve done exactly as I say, without bringing in any badges or anything, then I’ll let him call you. Even if you’re in town. See? No more reasons or excuses for you not to go.”

Colin didn’t like the whole idea of this trip, but apparently Boyd wasn’t giving Danielle and him a choice, especially since two of the three items on the list were for Luke.

“Oh, and Colin?” The smugness in Boyd’s voice caused every nerve in Colin’s body to go on full alert. “One last thing. You leave now. I’m timing you, and you gotta be in that van in exactly one minute.”

“Or what?” Colin challenged.

“You don’t want to know or what,” Boyd challenged back.

Colin cursed because he wasn’t sure he did want to know. Besides, this wasn’t the time to push Boyd into doing something that none of them wanted.

Danielle put on her shoes and hurried for the door. Colin was right behind her, and he held the cell phone so both of them could hear anything else Boyd had to say.

Apparently, the man wasn’t finished.

“Don’t lock the front door,” Boyd said the moment they were outside. “Remember that one-minute rule about getting out of there,” he added. “Don’t stop. Get to the van.”

Colin glanced back at the door. And at Danielle. She motioned for him to hurry, and that’s what he did. Jogging, they went through the gates and to the van.

“By the way, while you two are gone, I’m gonna do a little inspection of the guesthouse.”

Hell. That put a tighter knot in Colin’s stomach and nearly caused him to turn around and go back.

“I’m heading down there right now,” Boyd added. His smugness was still there, and it came through as a threat.

Danielle looked at him, and she saw the concern and the fear in her eyes. Colin had that same fear and concern. The only silver lining in this was that Bobby was almost certainly eavesdropping on this conversation.

“Why an inspection?” Colin asked Boyd as calmly as he could manage. He handed Danielle the phone, they buckled up and he got the van started, though he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to warn Bobby. But he couldn’t. Because disobeying the “rules” might cause Boyd to take Luke and run. Or worse.

“I just want to check and make sure you’re not hiding anybody in there,” Boyd said. “Nothing to worry about, right? Because I know you wouldn’t risk something like that.”

Colin had a split-second debate with himself and knew he had to leave. He couldn’t risk Boyd nixing the deal.

Was this a bluff? Or did Boyd know that Bobby was inside? Either way, this could be a dangerous turn. Colin prayed that Bobby could get himself and all the equipment down into the tunnel before Boyd reached the guesthouse.

“Now, get the van moving or the whole deal is off,” Boyd threatened. “The helicopter, the ransom. Everything will be off, and I take Luke and run.”

“Run?” Danielle and Colin said in unison.

“You heard me right. Despite what you might think, there’s another way out of here. And if you don’t play nice, the Vaughns will blame you for never being able to see their kid again.”

Chapter Seven

With the cell phone now clutched in her hand, Danielle waited for Bobby to call. She didn’t dare risk calling him for fear that Boyd would hear the sound of the incoming call and put his crazy backup plan into motion.

“You really think Boyd can escape with Luke?” she asked.

Colin had stopped on the side of the road, just out of sight of the estate but close enough that they could respond if Bobby needed them. “It’s possible.”

Even though she already knew that was the answer, it still sickened her. They had to get the child back to his family. She couldn’t fail at this.

Colin grabbed another cell phone from the van’s glove compartment and keyed in some numbers. To the Kenner County Crime Lab, she soon realized. He explained what was going on and asked them to gather the three items that Boyd had requested. Good. That would save them some time. Except time was the one thing they seemed to have a lot of. After all, Boyd had given them three hours, and even if they hurried, it would take at least an hour of that. An hour was more than enough for Boyd to be able to go through the entire guesthouse and comb the place for any sign of Bobby.

The phone in her hand rang, and the caller ID indicated it was from the Kenner County Crime Unit. Since Colin was on the line with the lab itself, she prayed this was from Bobby.

“Yes?” she answered cautiously, just in case it was Boyd who was making the call.

“It’s me, Bobby.” He not only sounded safe, he sounded calm. “I grabbed everything I could and went into the tunnel. Just in case Boyd comes down here looking for me, I’m going out to the exit on the road and will hide there. Let me know when and if it’s okay to go back.”

Danielle blew out a long breath of relief. “We will. Just be careful in case there are any more explosives hidden down there.”

“I will,” Bobby assured her. As soon as he hung up, Danielle let Colin know what was going on.

“Bobby’s okay,” Colin relayed to the crime unit, and he ended the call with them and started the drive toward town.

That was one bullet they’d dodged.

Heaven knew how many were ahead.

“Remember,” Colin reminded her, “there might be a mole at the lab. Rusty Cepeda. Or maybe even someone else. Don’t say anything important in front of anyone that you don’t trust completely.”

She nodded and wondered who that would be. Other than Callie and Colin, she didn’t have anyone on her trust list.

Danielle replayed Bobby’s words in her head. He’d definitely been calm. Not the tone of a man who’d barely escaped possible death. Of course, she didn’t know him well at all and maybe this was normal for him. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check and make sure he didn’t have any skeletons that would make him become a mole.

For that matter, it wouldn’t hurt to do the same to Dylan and Jerry. Sometimes people who volunteered to be close to the crime scene were part of the crime. But Danielle didn’t know how Colin would react to having his fellow agents investigated.

Even though they had plenty of time, Colin didn’t waste any of it. He drove down the mountain on the winding road and went straight to the crime lab. Callie was outside waiting for them, and the moment Danielle stepped from the van, Callie engulfed her in a big hug.

“Are you all right?” Callie whispered, dropping her gaze to Danielle’s stomach.

“I’m fine.” And since Callie seemed to be waiting for more, Danielle whispered, “I haven’t told him yet. If I tell him, it’ll be after Luke’s rescue.”

“If?” Callie questioned.

She didn’t explain further because Colin walked over to her and put his hand on Danielle’s shoulder to get her moving inside. Jerry Ortiz was there, along with six others. Since she’d seen three of them at the estate, Danielle narrowed down which one had to be Rusty. He was no doubt the blond-haired young man working at the computer.

Was this Boyd’s mole?

“We’ve got the metal detector ready,” Callie let her know. “And I’ve sent someone for the video game, peanut butter and a change of clothes for both Colin and you. Everything should be here within the hour.”

Good. That should get them back to the estate with plenty of time to spare. Danielle checked her watch—they’d only been gone about twenty minutes.

“What if Boyd puts eavesdropping devices in the guesthouse while we’re gone?” Danielle asked. “Do we need any extra equipment to detect them?”

Colin shook his head. “Hopefully, Bobby will be able to detect anything with the equipment he already has—because I doubt we can sneak in something like that, and I don’t want anyone to have to risk bringing us equipment through the tunnels.”

He was right. And they didn’t want to do anything to upset Boyd. They’d just have to watch their conversation to make sure they didn’t say anything about Bobby’s presence—if Bobby could make it back. It was entirely possible that Boyd would figure out the young man had been there and send Bobby running back to the lab.

Colin took the phone from her hand. “I’d better hang on to this just in case Boyd or Luke calls,” he commented. He, too, glanced at Rusty. “While I’m here Jerry wants me to go over some of the details of the helicopter and the money transfer, but I’ll come and get you the minute the supplies arrive.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Why don’t you ask Callie about Rusty?”

Maybe Colin had come to the same conclusion, that the man had been a little too calm under fire. “I’ll ask her about Bobby, Dylan and Jerry, too.”

Colin shook his head but then shrugged. “I don’t know about Bobby, but Tom Ryan vouched for Dylan, and I trust Tom. He wasn’t so praiseworthy of Jerry, though.”

“So, be careful around him,” she warned. But didn’t move. Neither did Colin. And for a moment, she thought he was going to put one of those husbandly pecks on her cheek. It would have been totally inappropriate, but for some reason, she braced herself for it anyway.

It didn’t happen.

Colin tore his gaze from hers and followed Jerry toward the back of the lab. Callie motioned for her to go into her office, and once they were inside, Danielle shut the door so they’d have some privacy when she asked about Rusty.

Callie’s desk was littered with photos and reports, including pictures of possible escape routes around the estate. Hopefully, there were photos of all escape routes, especially considering Boyd’s latest threat.

“Boyd said if we didn’t do this errand, he’d take Luke and run,” Danielle explained, sinking down into the chair across from Callie’s desk.

“I figured there was a chance of that. He’s got to be getting desperate by now. Don’t worry, the FBI and the local sheriff will do their best to keep the tunnels locked down,” Callie assured her, but they both knew that was nearly impossible.

If Boyd truly wanted to get out with Luke, he just might succeed.

“I need to ask you about Rusty. And Bobby,” Danielle started. “Any chance either of them could be feeding info to Boyd?”

That improved Callie’s posture. Her shoulders went back. “Why? Do you have any proof they can’t be trusted?” Her voice took on a cool, detached edge. A boss defending her people.

“No proof. Not even anything circumstantial. But someone is giving Boyd information, and Colin and I need to know who’s doing that.”

“So do I.” Callie’s shoulders relaxed a bit. “Rusty’s fairly new here, but neither Bobby nor he has given me any reason to distrust them. No red flags in their background checks, either, but I’ll run them again.”

“Thanks.”

Callie rummaged in a small fridge behind her and came up with two bottles of orange juice. “So, how have you handled being in such close quarters with Colin?”

Danielle opened her mouth to lie and say everything was fine, but the lie would stick in her throat. “I kissed him.”

Her friend had the decency not to laugh or say something about that being a stupid thing to do. But Callie’s left eyebrow rose a fraction.

“It meant nothing.” Well, nothing other than the fact he could still get her hotter than fire. “The issues that ended our marriage are still there.”

“Well, minus the whole fertility thing,” Callie reminded her. And now she smiled.

“Colin and I will be divorced in less than two days,” Danielle reminded her right back.

“It’s not over until it’s over.”

“It’s over,” Danielle assured her and wondered if that was the biggest lie of all.

The emotion and feelings weren’t over, but she couldn’t go through more waiting and watching for Colin to be hurt on the dangerous assignments he seemed to thrive on. She wanted stability. A home for her unborn child. And right now, Colin didn’t seem interested in becoming a traditional father in a traditional family.

“What about that if you used earlier?” Callie questioned. “Please tell me you’re not thinking about keeping this a secret from him.”

Danielle groaned softly. “I know I shouldn’t even consider it, but this is where my old baggage comes into play. My mother forced my dad into marriage because she was pregnant with me. My father hated her for it. And I don’t want Colin to feel the same way about me.”

Callie leaned closer and met her eye to eye. “You have to let Colin decide for himself if he’ll feel trapped. And for that to happen, you have to tell him.”

Callie was right, but Danielle didn’t know how she could make him understand that she had no expectations about his role in all of this. Colin was a problem solver. The kind to jump headfirst into a difficult situation, and she didn’t want him to make a hasty decision that he couldn’t live with.

Just so she wouldn’t have to continue this conversation, Danielle picked up one of the photos from Callie’s desk. Not of the estate or the kidnapping crime scene. It was the picture of a man with dark brown hair and brooding brown eyes.

“That’s Ben Parrish,” Callie supplied. “The missing FBI agent that everyone’s looking for. He’s also a close friend,” she added with heavy emotion in her voice.

“The one with the pregnant wife,” Danielle mumbled.

Callie nodded and rubbed her fatigue-weary eyes. “We’re not even close to finding him. There’s no physical evidence, other than a single piece of fabric and some broken tree branches taken from his last known location.”

And those things could be signs of a struggle. Or perhaps even an indication he’d been killed. His wife had no doubt already come to that horrible conclusion.

Danielle stared at the photo and thought of Colin. Of how she would feel if he were missing and maybe even dead. Tears filled her eyes before she could stop them, and she silently cursed her overly hormonal reaction. This had to stop. She couldn’t continue to let her feelings for him bounce around.

Callie handed her a tissue and would have likely launched into a Q&A about the tears. However, the knock at the door stopped that from happening. The door opened, and Danielle expected to see Colin. But it wasn’t him. However, she did recognize the tall, dark-haired man from photos she’d seen in the newspapers.

This was Elliot Hennessey, the attorney for the late crime boss, Vincent Del Gardo. Since it was Del Gardo’s money that Boyd was searching for, Danielle was suddenly very interested in why Elliot was at the crime lab.

Did he have anything to do with Boyd and the kidnapping?

“Mr. Hennessey,” Callie said, getting to her feet. “I understand you were here yesterday looking for me?”

“Yes. You were out.”

“And you refused to leave a message or tell anyone the reason for your visit. So, what can I do for you?” Though it wasn’t a warm offer from Callie.

He glanced at Danielle first. “I have something for you.” He handed Callie a thick padded envelope. “Under the terms of Mr. Del Gardo’s will, I’m to deliver that to you. Your people have already scanned it, to make sure it’s not a bomb or anything.” Elliot turned to walk away.

“Wait.” Callie looked at the envelope. “What’s this all about?”

“When you read it, I think you’ll know. If you have questions, give me a call.” And with that vague answer, Elliot left.

Danielle peered outside the door to make sure the man wasn’t hanging around. He wasn’t. However, he did stop when Jerry said something to him. She couldn’t hear what, but she wasn’t pleased to see that Rusty joined in on the conversation, as well.

“Open it,” Danielle insisted when Callie just stared at it. “It might have something to do with Boyd and the kidnapping.”

She doubted it. Boyd and Del Gardo were on opposite sides since Boyd was working for Del Gardo’s rival, Nicky Wayne. However, that didn’t mean the two men hadn’t collaborated on a crime, especially one that might be worth so much money.

Callie opened the envelope and silently read the first page. After several moments, she dropped back down into her chair, and the color drained from her face. With her hand trembling, she passed the paper to Danielle.

Oh, mercy. Danielle wasn’t sure she wanted to know what had caused her friend to have that kind of reaction.

It was a letter, and according to the signature, it was from Vincent Del Gardo himself. Not a document with legal terms. This letter was personal.

“‘Callie, years ago, I met your mother, Brenda,’” Danielle read aloud, “‘and we had an affair.’” Danielle stopped. “Whoa. Did you know about this?”

Callie shook her head. “Keep reading.”

Danielle did. Del Gardo went on to explain he’d been married at the time of the affair, and that’s why Callie’s mom and he had kept it secret. And then Danielle got to the next part, and she understood the reason her friend had gone pale. “Vincent Del Gardo is your biological father?”

Callie didn’t answer. She downed the juice as if it were hard liquor, and she was probably wishing that it was.

“Your mother never mentioned this before she died?” Danielle asked.

“Not a word.” Callie’s hands were shaking as she took out the rest of the items in the envelope.

Then, this was indeed a bombshell for Callie.

Danielle kept reading. “Del Gardo says that he’s always loved you and that’s the reason he bought the estate in Kenner City. So he’d be near you.” Even though these were the words of a former crime boss, the next part still touched Danielle. “He said he’s sorry you were scared of him, that he only wanted to get to know his daughter.”

Callie blinked back tears. “I couldn’t figure out why he kept coming around. And yes, I was scared of him.”

Danielle reached out and slipped her hand over Callie’s. “Of course, you were. You didn’t know he was your father.”

That hit Danielle like a ton of bricks. How ironic she’d be reading this now, when she had her own doubts about telling Colin that he would soon have a child. Trapping him wouldn’t be good, but keeping her pregnancy a secret couldn’t happen, either.

Callie brushed the tears from her cheeks. “He might not be telling the truth,” she said. She pushed aside the envelope and the other items she’d taken from it and logged on to her computer. “Because he was murdered, Del Gardo’s DNA will be on file. Mine, too. All the crime lab employees have DNA profiles in the system because of their background checks.”

Callie actually seemed hopeful that this was all some big lie. But Danielle didn’t think so. The tone of Del Gardo’s letter wasn’t that of a liar, but a father who’d desperately wanted to get to know his child.

With the sound of Callie’s frantic computer keystrokes clicking through the room, Danielle leaned against the desk. There were other papers in the envelope, and she only hoped they didn’t contain unsettling information like the first.

When Callie finished typing, the tears filled her eyes again. “Why wouldn’t my mother have told me that Del Gardo was my father? Why did she let me believe a lie all these years?”

Danielle walked around the desk, leaned down and hugged her. “Maybe your mother thought it’d be easier for you this way.”

“Easier?” Callie snapped. “And in doing so, she made it a lot harder.”

Yes, Danielle could see that. She held Callie until there was a dinging sound on her computer. Callie turned, looked at the screen and shuddered.

Danielle soon saw why.

CALLIE STARED AT THE SCREEN. The DNA comparison was there. Plain as day. Her DNA was a statistical match to Vincent Del Gardo.

The man was her biological father.

“Callie?” Danielle questioned. “Are you okay?”

No. Far from it. But Callie managed a nod. “Could you give me a minute alone?” Callie asked. Even though a minute wasn’t nearly enough. She might need a lifetime or two to come to terms with this. God. How could this be happening? She’d devoted most of her adult life to solving crimes, yet her father was a criminal.

Danielle brushed a kiss on her forehead and thankfully walked out, easing the door shut. Callie tried not to cry. She failed. And the tears began to stream down her cheeks. As soon as she wiped them away, more came. Somehow, and fast, she needed to come to terms with this because she didn’t have time for an emotional meltdown.

She forced herself to look at what remained in the envelope and prayed it wasn’t another bombshell. She’d already had her quota for the day. But she soon realized it was a bombshell of a different variety.

It was another letter from Del Gardo. From her father, she amended. “‘I’ve put money in an offshore account for you,’” she read aloud.

Callie instantly got a bad feeling about this.

“‘I didn’t want to risk putting this information about the account in my will,’” Del Gardo continued to say, “‘so I had parts of the offshore account number put on three medals that were sent to three different people.’”

“The medals,” Callie mumbled, recalling the mysterious medals that Tom and Ben had received from Julie Grainger. And she continued to read the letter, the words seemingly echoing through the room. “‘The first is the St. Raphael, the patron saint of nightmares, because I hope to never be the cause of another one of your nightmares. The second is the St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, so you’ll be safe no matter where life takes you. Finally, there’s the St. Joan of Arc medal, the patron saint of imprisonment. That represents a prison of my own making. A prison that prevented me from knowing my own daughter.’”

She had to read the last line three times for it to sink in. It sounded as if he loved her.

Maybe he had.

More tears threatened, but Callie choked them back and forced herself to keep reading. “‘Each of those medals contains a series of numbers. Put them all together, and you have the offshore account that I left for you.’”

An offshore account and a covert way of hiding the account numbers. Del Gardo was probably accustomed to doing business this way, but Callie hated all this subterfuge.

She stared at the papers that had changed her life. Money, medals and paternity. None of that mattered right now. Freeing Luke was the only thing she wanted on her mind. She wouldn’t even bother her husband with this now. It could wait. Besides, she wasn’t even sure she wanted her father’s money.

Callie grabbed the envelope, shoved the papers back inside and crammed it into her desk drawer. There was no good reason to tell anyone right now about her father and what he’d left her.

DANIELLE LEANED AGAINST Callie’s office door and waited. The minutes crawled by, and Danielle was about to knock, to ask Callie if she was okay, but she heard the footsteps. Colin and Jerry were walking straight toward her. Colin had changed his clothes and now wore black jeans and a black shirt. He had his badge clipped to his belt.

Colin handed her a leather overnight bag. “This is a change of clothes for you. But you should probably dress here, because Boyd might not let us take the extra items onto the grounds.”

True. She took the bag from him.

Colin looked at Danielle, and then at Callie’s closed office door. “What’s wrong? Why are you out here?”

Danielle thankfully didn’t have to answer because the door opened, and there was Callie. Both Jerry and Colin looked at her and then at Danielle. It was obvious that Callie had been crying, and both men would want explanations.

“I just got some tough personal news,” Callie volunteered, “but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Danielle studied her friend’s somber face and hoped that was true.

“Does this have anything to do with Elliot Hennessey’s visit?” Colin asked.

Callie nodded, and Danielle wondered how much she would tell him, especially in front of Jerry.

Colin mumbled some profanity. “I wish I’d known Elliot’s visit would upset you, and I would have stayed put while he talked to you. I know him. I’ve had some long interrogations with one of his clients. During those, he always seemed, well, reasonable. Guess I had the wrong opinion of him.”

“He was just the messenger.” Callie looked at Jerry. “Could you excuse us for a minute?”

Jerry mumbled, “Sure,” and walked away. Maybe because Danielle was suspicious of everything, she thought he seemed a little angry at being dismissed from a private conversation.

Callie then turned to Danielle. “Why don’t you go ahead and change your clothes? I want to talk to Colin about the plans for the helicopter and ransom money.”

“You’re sure?” Danielle asked. “I can wait.”

“I’m sure.” Callie gave her a reassuring pat on the arm. That was Danielle’s cue to get moving. Besides, she didn’t want to hang around much longer. Best to get back to the estate so she’d be near Luke in case he needed her.

Danielle went to the bathroom just up the hall. It was unisex and small but thankfully the door locked. She went inside and started to strip down. Colin’s old clothes were there, in a folded pile on the floor. Danielle decided to do the same with hers.

She took the clean clothes from the bag and had a moment of panic. There was a loose beige Bohemian style skirt. The stretchy waist was no problem for her slight baby bump. Ditto for the underwear, though her breasts practically fell out of the bra. She panicked when it came to the top. It was dark purple and stretchy, as well, but it clung to her far more than her business suit.

Danielle tried to look in the mirror. No easy task, since it wasn’t full-length. And finally she just gave up. If Colin noticed the bump, then that would open up the conversation they needed to have anyway.

She quickly folded her old clothes and stooped down to put them next to Colin’s. The glint of metal caught her eye, and she saw the ring sticking out from his back pocket.

His wedding ring.

Strange. Why would it be there? She picked it up and headed back to Callie’s office.

Colin was still with her, talking about the helicopter arrangements. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice her slight belly bulge.

But Danielle did notice something.

Rusty was hovering near the water cooler. Only a few yards from Callie’s office. He had his attention fastened to a paper in his hand, but because she was already in a suspicious mood, she had to wonder if he was trying to discreetly listen in on the conversation.

When Danielle walked past him, Rusty looked up. Nodded in greeting. And turned his attention back to whatever he was reading.

“We might have an audience,” Danielle whispered to Colin.

Colin stepped out of Callie’s office and glanced out at Rusty. “How long has he been there?” And he didn’t exactly whisper it.

“I don’t know.”

Colin stared at the man, and when Rusty noticed them, he quietly walked away.

“We didn’t say anything about Boyd or Luke,” Colin muttered.

Good. Because Rusty might be on the up-and-up, but she didn’t want to take any chances. “Is Callie okay?”

“I think so. She told me that Del Gardo’s her father.” Colin cursed, shook his head. “That won’t be an easy pill to swallow. She also said there was something she might need my help with. Something about an offshore account and some religious medals. She’ll give me the details just as soon as Luke is free.”

Danielle nodded. And maybe it wouldn’t be long before Luke was indeed free. “What about the other items Boyd wanted? Do we have everything we need to take back to the estate?”

“We have all but the video game. The nearest store was out, but the clerk remembered selling one to a kid who lives about a mile from here. Dylan called the family, and they’re going to let us have the game. All we have to do is pick it up.”

Colin’s cell phone rang, and he glanced at the screen and answered it. “Boyd,” Colin said. He checked his watch and put the phone on speaker. “Is everything okay?”

“I guess you could say that. I locked the kid in his room so I could search the guesthouse. I didn’t find any badges in the guesthouse. That’s good.”

Danielle pressed her hand to her chest to steady her breathing. This was the news she’d wanted to hear. It meant Bobby was safe. Now, if she could only decide if Colin and she were safe from him. A glance at Callie confirmed that the woman would be making those background checks soon.

“The arrangements for the helicopter and money are final,” Colin explained. “In fact, if you want to move up the time for Luke’s release—”

“No. I want to spend a few hours with the metal detector first. In fact, I want to spend some time now.”

“Now?” Colin repeated.

“Now,” Boyd confirmed. “I’m giving you and the doc thirty minutes to get back up here. If not, I’ll delay Luke’s release until tonight. Better hurry.” And he hung up.

Colin cursed and latched on to Danielle’s arm. They raced toward the van.

Chapter Eight

He was out of breath by the time he made it to the curve on the mountain road. Dead Man’s Curve, the locals called it. The name suited it because one wrong jerk of the steering wheel, and a car would plunge right down the mountain.

With luck, that might happen today.

Running, he got into place behind one of the massive outcroppings of rocks that littered the road. He got his rifle ready.

And he waited.

It shouldn’t be long. Mere minutes.

“Medals,” he mumbled. He smiled just thinking about them.

Specifically, medals that would lead to an offshore account, and thanks to the bug in Callie’s office, he’d learned all about it. There’d be tons of money in the account. He had no doubts about that. Vincent Del Gardo had cash to burn and instead of hiding it in the Vaughn estate, maybe he’d put it in that account instead.

For his illegitimate daughter, Callie.

That was touching, but Callie didn’t need her late daddy’s cash. He did. The last turn at the blackjack table had cost him a fortune. A fortune he didn’t have and one he’d have to pay back before the end of the week.

Or else.

This time, that or else would almost certainly be his own murder. He wouldn’t die because of this sickness, this obsession he had with blackjack. Any shrink worth his salt would say that the gambling was a disease, beyond his control. But the men that he owed money to would only laugh at the idea. They wouldn’t care. They’d kill him if he couldn’t pay.

That’s why the medals were a godsend.

All he had to do was find them. Three people had them. He’d heard Callie tell Colin that she might need his help with the medals and the offshore account—so she’d be able to get the money she didn’t even need.

Or deserve.

Vincent Del Gardo had likely gotten all that cash from years and years of illegal deals, years of robbing people at places like blackjack tables, and that meant the money was ripe for the taking. He could use it to save his own life, and that was certainly a better use for it than anything Callie might do with it. Hell, she’d probably just donate it to a charity or something anyway.

So, he had to get his hands on the medals. But first, there was something he had to nip in the bud.

He had to stop Colin Forester and Danielle Connolly.

THIS HAD TO END. Somehow, Colin had to get control of the situation with Boyd.

But how?

He couldn’t push too hard or risk upsetting Luke, but he also couldn’t let a man like Boyd continue to call the shots.

Colin stopped at the house to grab the video game. Thankfully, the boy’s mother was waiting on the porch for him so he practically snatched it from her hands and thanked her as he ran back to the van. The detour had cost them about ten minutes, but a half hour was plenty of time to do this errand and then make it back. Still, he didn’t want to be late. God knew how Boyd would react to that.

“If Boyd’s trying to make us crazy,” Danielle commented, “then he’s doing a good job of it.”

Yeah. He was. But the trick was for Danielle and him to stay calm. Boyd might be feeding on the panic that he was creating by issuing orders, only to change them. And maybe there was some logic to this seeming madness. Boyd no doubt wanted them off-kilter so he could ensure that he was the one who stayed in control.

Danielle put the video game into the equipment bag with the other items Boyd had requested. She also retrieved her personal cell phone from her purse that she’d left in the van the day before, and then she checked her watch. “Three and a half hours until the helicopter and the exchange. We’ll just have to do as Boyd says until then.”

Colin mumbled an agreement and took the road leading to the estate. He didn’t object to kowtowing to Boyd during that time, but he kept getting a bad feeling that all of Boyd’s ploys had a deeper, more sinister intent. Had all of this been a ruse just to get them away from the guesthouse? And if so, then what had Boyd hoped to accomplish?

Because he didn’t want to risk making the call from the guesthouse, he grabbed his personal cell that he’d left in the van and called directory assistance to get Elliot Hennessey’s number. Colin called the man, but it went straight to voice mail. It wouldn’t be wise to leave a message, especially since he didn’t want Elliot trying to call him back. So, Colin would have to try again later.

A sound alerted him. Danielle dropped something into one of the cup holders. It landed with a metallic ping.

His wedding ring.

“It was in the pocket of the pants you left in the bathroom at the crime unit. I wasn’t sure what would happen to the clothes, so I decided to…well, get it for you.”

“Oh.” That was all he said for several moments. “And your rings are on a chain around your neck.” He didn’t actually say it, but the “Why?” was there.

She didn’t respond to that unspoken “Why?” Nor did she pick up on the previous conversation about Boyd. The silence between them became awkward, and Danielle merely looked away and used the moment to shove her cell phone in the pocket of her skirt.

Colin considered an explanation, but when he mentally went through it, he decided it best that he stay quiet, as well. It’d be a bear to explain to Danielle that he’d removed the ring the day before when he’d noticed she wasn’t wearing hers. An explanation like that would only make him sound petty.

He fished the ring out of the cup holder and shoved it into his front jeans pocket. Colin didn’t look to see what her reaction was to that. He didn’t care. He was keeping his ring, even if he never wore it again.

There was a sharp bend in the road, and Colin eased off the accelerator so he could make the turn. He was halfway into it when he heard the loud pop. Before he had time to register what was happening, the steering wheel jerked to the left.

Straight toward the flimsy looking guardrail.

“The tire blew out,” Colin told Danielle. Luckily, she was wearing her seat belt, but she also caught on to the armrest and the console.

Colin grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and used every bit of his strength to keep it away from the guardrail. He didn’t want to bump it even a little because beyond that was the steep drop down the mountain. There was little chance they’d survive a fall.

There was another loud popping sound.

And with that sound, the adrenaline roared through Colin. Because he knew. This wasn’t an ordinary blowout.

Someone had shot out the tires.

“Oh, God,” Danielle mumbled.

The van jerked violently to the left again. Someone had shot out a back tire, and that someone was obviously trying to kill them. If Colin didn’t do something immediately, the person would succeed.

Colin wrenched the steering wheel toward the right, and he pumped the brakes. But he essentially had no control. The steering wheel felt cemented in place, and they were headed for that guardrail.

Beside him, Danielle arched her back, trying to brace herself for an impact, but there was no way to brace for this.

Colin pinpointed all that adrenaline into one last attempt. He groaned from the strain of his muscles, and he gave the brakes one last pump.

The van skidded to a stop, the front bumper slamming into the guardrail.

Danielle gasped. Colin held his breath.

And with his heart pounding like a war drum, he glanced down. The front left tire was off the road and literally hanging in midair.

“Get out,” he told Danielle, though it was risky. After all, someone had shot the tires, and that someone might still be out there.

Waiting to finish the job.

Danielle grabbed the equipment bag that held the supplies, unbuckled her seat belt and threw open the door. The van rocked, threatening to plunge down the mountain.

“Just go,” Colin insisted. And he unhooked his own seat belt so he could try to scramble out after Danielle.

She glanced at him, and he saw the terror in her eyes. There wasn’t time to reassure her. There wasn’t time for anything. One gust of wind could kill them.

“Now!” he shouted.

With the equipment bag in her hand, she plunged out. The van wobbled. As Colin had expected. Without Danielle’s weight on the passenger side, the vehicle was off balance.

And about to fall.

He dove across the seat, scrambled out, and the moment his feet landed on the ground, he caught on to Danielle’s arm and got her away from the van. It wasn’t a second too soon. The van tipped to the side, and it broke through what was left of the damaged guardrail.

It plummeted over the side, bashing against the rocks before it crashed onto a narrow ledge below.

“We could have been killed,” Danielle whispered.

Yeah. And it might not be over.

Colin drew his gun and dragged her to the other side of the road so that the mountain itself would give them some measure of protection. He looked around, but didn’t see a gunman.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t there.

The mountain wasn’t a smooth surface but instead was littered with rock outcroppings and crevasses. Someone could be using those to hide.

But who?

Was this the work of the mole?

Or was Boyd behind this?

He could have asked his boss, Nicky Wayne, to send someone in to finish them off. But why would Boyd want them dead?

Colin fired glances all around. And listened. The only sounds he heard were their racing breaths and the wind.

“How far to the estate?” Danielle asked, looking down at her watch.

“Not far. A half mile at the most.” He did a time check, too. They still had a little over fifteen minutes before Boyd’s deadline was up, but they needed to get moving. He doubted Boyd would care that they’d nearly died. And Colin didn’t want the man to use their being late as an excuse to do anything stupid.

Colin positioned Danielle to his side, and they started walking. They didn’t get far.

A bullet slammed into the rocks just above their heads.

Colin pushed Danielle behind those rocks, just as another shot came at them. It landed close to where the first shot had landed and sent an angry spray of sharp fragments raining down on them.

Another shot.

Then another.

Each one allowed Colin to pinpoint the direction of the shooter. The person was using a long-range rifle and was ahead of them, higher up the mountain. And in the direction of the estate.

“The gunman might be using the tunnels,” Colin heard Danielle say.

Possibly. After all, the tunnels weren’t exactly a secret. Everyone in Kenner City no doubt knew about them, including a mole. But Boyd also knew. And Bobby. Colin hated to suspect the young man without cause, but it was obvious that someone wanted them dead.

The shots continued, and Colin knew he had to do something. They couldn’t just lie there and hope they continued to be lucky. He levered himself up slightly so he could do another visual check.

There.

He saw it.

A glint of metal coming from another rock outcropping just up the road.

Colin couldn’t see the gunman. The person was wearing a dark gray raincoat, and the hood and the shadows concealed the person’s face.

The gunman popped off three more shots in a row, causing more rock fragments to pelt them. With Danielle face down on the ground, Colin crawled over her so that he was hovering above her back. This way, he could try to protect her. She probably wouldn’t appreciate the fact that he was risking his life to save her, but he didn’t care. He was an FBI agent and had been trained to deal with situations like this.

Except he’d never envisioned a situation where he’d have to protect Danielle.

Colin waited for the next round of shots. Like before, there were three more. And he knew he had to act now. He levered himself up again.

Took aim.

And fired.

The blast was deafening and echoed through the mountain.

Colin waited, breath held, and he kept his attention fastened to the area where he’d seen that glint of metal. The seconds ticked off in his head, and just when he was ready to fire a second shot, the hooded gunman dropped out of sight. Like a gopher going into a hole.

Oh, yes. The person had definitely used the tunnels.

“He’s gone,” Colin relayed to Danielle.

She practically went limp and then tried to get up. But he stopped her. He also kept watch around them. He didn’t want the gunman using another tunnel to get closer to them so he could have a better shot.

“We have to get back to the estate,” Danielle reminded him.

Yes. But they weren’t going to blindly do that without taking precautions. Colin waited several more minutes. Still no sign of the gunman. So, he stood. Waited some more. But no shots came. He helped Danielle to her feet but kept her sandwiched between the mountain and him so that she wouldn’t be in the direct line of fine.

Well, unless the guy managed to backtrack.

“Let’s go,” Colin instructed. He hooked the equipment bag over his shoulder and got them moving.

They started up the mountain, not using the road, but the narrow easement. Danielle was wearing flat beige shoes that obviously weren’t made for walking up mountains. She wobbled on the uneven surface, and he caught on to her arm to steady her.

“We need to hurry,” she reminded him. And despite her unsure footing, she fell into a quick pace. Not a run, exactly. But it wasn’t a leisurely pace, either.

He checked his watch. This was going to be close. Too close. But Colin wasn’t about to call Boyd to give him a heads-up as to what’d happened. What if Boyd was the shooter?

Danielle was out of breath when they reached the top, and he prayed she didn’t have another of those dizzy spells. If she was even slightly light-headed, she certainly didn’t show any signs of it.

Colin put his gun in the back waist of his pants so that Boyd wouldn’t see it, and Danielle and he made a beeline for the front gates. The gates opened as they approached.

The phone rang, and Colin handed Danielle the equipment bag so he could get the cell from his pocket to answer it.

It was Boyd.

“You’re late,” the man greeted.

“A minute or two. Someone shot out the tires of the van and nearly sent us over the side of the mountain. Would you happen to know anything about that?”

And Colin didn’t bother asking it nicely, either. He was pissed that someone had put Danielle in that kind of danger and even more upset that he hadn’t been able to stop it.

“Don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” Boyd insisted. “But I did hear the shots. It doesn’t appear that either of you are hurt.”

Boyd sounded so cavalier that Colin wanted to crawl through the phone and knock some sense into the guy, but he forced himself to stay calm.

“We have the supplies you requested,” Colin informed him.

“Yeah, I can see the bag.”

Which meant Boyd had to be somewhere at the front of the house. Colin checked the gardens where Boyd had surfaced before, but he didn’t see him. Finally, he spotted a flutter in the curtains in one of the front-facing rooms. Too bad Colin didn’t have a clean shot because he could end this here and now. No more negotiations with this moron.

“Leave the bag on the front porch,” Boyd instructed. “And strip down so I can see if you got a gun while you were in town. Because I could have sworn I heard two sets of shots on the mountain.”

Colin ignored that last comment, and they started walking toward the porch. “We’re not stripping down. Danielle and I have been through hell and back to get you these supplies. Well, we got them, and I’m a little tired of you using this situation to get your jollies at having us strip.”

It was a gamble. Because it could enrage Boyd, but if that happened, Colin would deal with it. After all, Boyd needed them if he had any hopes of escape.

The seconds crawled by, and finally Boyd laughed. “Jollies? Well, maybe I got some from the doc. She’s a knockout, Colin, and that makes you one stupid man for letting the likes of her get away.”

Danielle started to say something, but Colin nudged her so she’d stay quiet. He wanted to continue this banter if possible.

“Yeah. I can be stupid when it comes to relationships,” Colin admitted. He went up the steps and dropped the equipment bag onto the porch.

“Many thanks,” Boyd said, his voice way too cheery considering the gravity of the situation.

“How’s Luke?” Colin asked.

“Finishing up his second bowl of oatmeal. The kid eats like a horse.”

Good. Colin certainly didn’t hear the little boy complaining or anything. He hoped that was a good sign. “Speaking of Luke, his folks will want proof he’s okay before they transfer those funds. So, why don’t you bring the boy to the window so we can see him?”

“I’ll do that. In an hour or two.”

Colin shook his head. “But the helicopter is due in less than three hours. No need to cut it close. I wouldn’t want any delays in you getting the ransom money.” Colin had to speak through clenched teeth to get out that last part.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll get the money. Both the ransom and what I’m looking for here at the estate. And you see, Colin, that’s a problem. Because now that I have a metal detector, I need a little more time.”

“Time?” Colin snarled.

Hell. No. This couldn’t happen.

“Time,” Boyd confirmed. “I figure you’re not gonna like this, but you’ll have to do it anyway. ’Cause I’m not really giving you a choice.”

“What do you want now?”

“Call off the helicopter and the money transfer,” Boyd said. “I don’t want either until tomorrow. And, Colin? Do as I say, or the delay will be permanent. You don’t want to know just how long I can stay holed up here with Luke Vaughn.”

Chapter Nine

Danielle couldn’t stop shaking.

It wasn’t just her hands. Her entire body was trembling. It was probably a reaction to nearly being killed and then getting Boyd’s latest bombshell about the delay. That was more emotion and danger than she’d ever been asked to deal with.

“Come on,” Colin said. He grasped her arm to get her moving off the porch and toward the guesthouse.

She wanted to dig in her heels, to stay put and demand that Boyd release Luke immediately, but she knew it wouldn’t help the situation.

“What should we do?” she asked Colin.

He glanced over his shoulder at the estate. “I’ll ask Dylan and Tom to try to work their way through one of Boyd’s barricades so we can get someone into the estate.”

She immediately thought of a problem with that. “What about the mole?”

Colin stopped on the other side of a tree just outside the guesthouse and took out his phone. “I won’t call them from inside the guesthouse.”

“Because you don’t trust Bobby?”

“No. I trust him. Dylan said he was a good guy.”

She thought about that several moments. “And you think Dylan is right?”

“Who knows? When I was at the lab, I called my office and asked them to do financial checks on Bobby and Rusty Cepeda. Nothing glaring came back. Neither of them have a lot of unexplained cash in their bank accounts.” He glanced back up at the house. “My main concern right now is Boyd. He may have managed to bug the guesthouse, and Bobby’s equipment might not detect it.”

God, Danielle hadn’t even thought of that. If it was true, they basically had no privacy.

The only silver lining in this was that they still should be able to listen in on Boyd’s calls if they kept the volume down on the monitoring equipment. Not that the man would say anything to incriminate his mole, but at least they could hear Luke and make sure he was doing okay.

She waited as Colin called Dylan and gave him an update of what had just happened. “No, we weren’t hurt, no thanks to the gunman,” Colin said. “I want that area searched for footprints, shell casings, anything that will help us fry this SOB.”

Dylan apparently promised he would look for those things because Colin issued a “Good” and proceeded with Boyd’s latest demand. Or rather his withdrawal of his demands. “It could be that he’s still looking for the Del Gardo money inside the estate,” Colin concluded. “But I think it’s time for us to give Boyd a push.”

She listened as Colin requested another check of the tunnel. He kept the call short, under a minute, probably so that Boyd wouldn’t be suspicious if he was still watching them, and then Colin ended the call.

“Dylan will check the tunnels,” he relayed. “But there’s a problem. Apparently when Del Gardo built those tunnels, he installed blast-proof doors on the entryway that would lead directly to the estate. If Dylan has to use explosives to get through one of the doors, then Boyd will almost certainly hear it.”

And then he might set off some explosives of his own. After all, he’d admitted to booby-trapping them.

“What about the tunnel from the guesthouse?” she asked. “How did Dylan and the others get through that door to us?”

Colin shook his head. “There wasn’t a door on that one. Only the ones that lead directly to the estate. Dylan’s been working on getting through one particular tunnel at the back of the house. That door isn’t as thick as the others. Still, it might take a while to get through it without alerting Boyd.”

So, this might be another dead end, and it could be a deadly search for Dylan.

Colin slipped his phone back into his pocket, checked around them and then led her back inside the guesthouse. The place looked exactly as it had when they’d left.

Except there was no sign of Bobby.

Colin locked the door and looked around. “I don’t think Boyd left anything,” he said aloud, though they both knew he could have. But it was a cue to Bobby to let the man know they’d returned.

She heard the movement then from the closet, and a moment later the door opened. Bobby was there, at the entrance to the tunnel. “I’ve set up my equipment down here at the bottom of the stairs,” he whispered. “Just in case Boyd makes another unplanned visit.”

“What about the explosives?” she whispered back.

“I won’t go deeper into the tunnels. And if Boyd says anything or makes a call, I’ll let you know.”

It couldn’t be comfortable down there, but Bobby was right to want to stay out of sight. Boyd wouldn’t hesitate to kill him or all of them if he found the young CSI there. And this also worked for Colin and her. Since they couldn’t be positive that Bobby was the mole, this kept him out of earshot as long as Colin and she whispered the conversations they wanted to keep private.

Bobby shut the closet door, leaving them in the suddenly quiet room. Danielle didn’t like the quiet because it made her think about what had just happened. She didn’t want to think about any of it because she kept going back to the images of the van dangling on the side of the mountain.

Colin stepped away from her and went to the sink. He wet some paper towels and came back toward her. At first, she had no idea what he was doing, but then he wiped some mud from her face and hands.

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

He put his finger beneath her chin, lifted it and looked at her. Correction: he examined her. And that made her wonder if she had some injury that she was too numb to feel.

“Still dizzy?” he asked. He tossed the soiled paper towels onto the counter.

She shook her head. That was another silver living. Her pregnancy symptoms hadn’t interfered with her ability to run and get away from those bullets that had come at them nonstop. The running itself wasn’t bad—she’d already discussed exercise with her obstetrician—but she doubted her doctor would approve of the danger and the stress that came with it.

Obviously, neither did Colin.

The examination was apparently over, and judging from his expression, he had moved on to the guilt phase. And he would feel guilty, no doubt about it, even though he’d risked his life to protect her and his unborn child, who he didn’t even know existed.

Danielle sighed. The timing was off. Everything about this was off. But Colin needed to know that she was pregnant. Wishing that she had rehearsed it, she opened her mouth to tell him. However, she didn’t manage to say a single word.

Colin kissed her.

Hard.

With a groan rumbling deep within his chest, he hauled her to him and kissed her as if this would be the last kiss he’d ever give or receive. In some ways it was punishing. So rough. With all the emotion of the moment. He poured everything into that brutal kiss.

But then it changed. He changed. The grip he had on her arm softened. So did his mouth. He eased her to him, into his arms, so that he was embracing her. He kissed her cheek. Then, her forehead. Before landing another of those emotional kisses onto her lips.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Yes, this was the guilt playing out, and it reminded her of the other times he’d no doubt had to dodge bullets while on the job. He carried two scars on his body for the times when dodging hadn’t been possible.

Those scars had tormented her.

Until today, she hadn’t been able to understand the toll the danger could take on a person. She’d only been able to see it from her point of view, and in the past, she’d reacted out of fear of losing him—while he had been dealing with the strain that she had now experienced firsthand.

“You saved my life,” she reminded him. In the back of her mind, she considered that Boyd might be hearing this intimate conversation, but she didn’t care.

“You shouldn’t have been out there in the first place,” Colin mumbled. He groaned, stepped back and scrubbed his hand over his face.

He probably would have added more about that, but his phone rang. “It’s Boyd,” he said, glancing at the screen. He answered it, put it on speaker and headed for the desk where he’d left his notes.

“Put the doc on the phone,” Boyd insisted.

That immediately alarmed her. “Is something wrong with Luke?” She hurried toward Colin and the desk so she’d be able to hear Boyd better.

“Nothing’s wrong. The kid just wants to talk to you.”

There was a shuffle of movement on the other end of the line, and a moment later she heard Luke. “Thank you for the video game.”

Despite the horrible situation, Danielle smiled. Unlike the other times she’d spoken to Luke, this time he was clearly happy. “You’re welcome. Have you opened it already?”

“Yep, and it’s in the PlayStation, ready for me to start. You got any good hints like you did last time?”

Danielle thought of the various levels and the obstacles he might face. But there was one real obstacle that she needed to work into the conversation. With Boyd’s decision to delay the exchange, there was no telling how all of this would play out. She needed to prepare Luke for the worst.

“There aren’t any rivers in this game,” she said, keeping her voice calm. She hoped. She didn’t want Boyd to suspect anything. “But there are some dangers. You know what danger means, right?”

“It’s like when things aren’t safe. Like playing with matches and stuff like that.”

“You’re right. Well, in the game there might be some levels where the explorer isn’t safe. Maybe there’s a mad lion or something out there, and you want to get your explorer away from him.” And she hoped she wasn’t scaring or confusing him. “Anyway, if that happens, have your explorer hide.”

“Hide?” Luke questioned. “But won’t that be like cheating?”

“No. It’d be the smart thing to do.” She paused. “Do you understand?”

Luke didn’t answer right away, which hopefully meant he was thinking about it. “Sure. I guess. But maybe he won’t have to hide.”

“Maybe not.”

He paused again. “I really like the game, but I want to see my dad. When can I see him, Dr. Connolly?”

“Soon. Agent Forester and I are working on it. And we’ll tell your dad that you’re okay, that you’re ready to start Safari Explorer Two.”

“Yeah. He’ll like that.” Luke sounded happy again. “Tell him I’m brushin’ my teeth, and I’m sleeping in my sleeping bag in the basement. It’s dark down here, but Mr. Boyd puts on the lights for me so I won’t be scared.”

“That’s enough,” Boyd interrupted, obviously snatching the phone. Unlike the happy Luke, he sounded concerned. And probably was. After all, Luke had just told them where they were spending the nights. That info might come in handy if Dylan did find a way in through the tunnels.

“What you trying to do?” Boyd challenged. “Pump the kid for information?”

“Not at all. We were just talking about his new video game and what he wanted me to say to his father.”

“Right. Well, not to worry. We won’t be staying in the basement tonight. In fact, there’s no telling where I’ll have the kid in this big ol’ house.”

Yes, no telling, and that was the problem. Still, she was betting that Boyd would stay close to the basement and tunnels while he looked for that money. For now, however, she needed to make sure her conversation with Luke hadn’t left Boyd riled.

“Luke seems to like using the sleeping bag,” Danielle remarked.

“Who cares what he likes,” Boyd snarled.

“You should. Remember, the happier Luke is, the easier he’ll make things for you. Maybe you can pretend that using his sleeping bag is a game. Like camping. You could even give him his own flashlight to make sure he doesn’t get scared of the dark.”

“I’ll do that,” he said in a tone that indicated he had no intentions of carrying it out.

“Don’t hang up, Boyd,” Colin insisted. “We need to talk about this helicopter situation. There’s a chance of bad weather tomorrow, and I want to bring in the chopper tonight. That should give you plenty of time to use the metal detector.”

“Bad weather, huh? I hadn’t heard about that.”

Neither had Danielle, and she wondered if it was true. Maybe Colin was bluffing to get the man to move.

“Look,” Boyd said a moment later, “my boss wants this money. Heck, it’s his cash in a way since Del Gardo was always stealing customers and such. Anyway, my boss won’t be happy if I waltz out of here with nothing.”

“But you’ll have plenty of something. You’ll have the ransom. Certainly your boss won’t care whether the fifty million comes from Del Gardo or Griffin Vaughn.”

“Maybe.” And for the first time, it sounded as if Boyd was actually giving that idea some thought.

“Why don’t you call your boss and see what he has to say?” Colin persisted. “Tell him that things are getting uncomfortable with Luke, that you’re worried the FBI might try to storm the place.”

“You wouldn’t,” Boyd snapped.

“Not unless we thought Luke was in imminent danger. If that happened, then we wouldn’t have a choice. You, on the other hand, have choices. My advice? Convince your boss to take the fifty million that the Vaughns are willing to pay, you give us Luke, and then you ride the helicopter out of here tonight to the destination of your choice.”

“Not tonight.”

Colin didn’t question that, and Danielle sat there with her breath held, waiting to see where Boyd would go with this.

“Not tonight,” Boyd repeated. “But tomorrow for sure.”

Colin huffed. “You promised noon today. So, why should I believe you’ll go through with it tomorrow?”

“Because I will.” Gone was his usual snarky tone. The man was serious, and even though she hated to believe anything a monster like Boyd would say, this was the first time she had any real hope that the release would actually happen.

Boyd hung up, and Colin and she stood there. “This doesn’t get easier,” Colin mumbled.

“No, but I think you made some headway there. I really think he’ll let Luke go tomorrow.”

Colin made a sound to indicate he wasn’t so sure.

There were footsteps in the direction of the closet, and the door flew open. Bobby stuck out his head. “Boyd’s calling his boss, Nicky Wayne.”

That sent Colin running for the closet, and Danielle was right behind them. They went down some steep steps and into the tunnel. There were two halogen lights illuminating the area, and Bobby led them to the equipment that he had sitting on the floor. It was obvious he’d been using the equipment bag as a seat.

“Forester might have a point, Nicky,” Boyd said. “Maybe it’s time to cut our losses and get the hell out of here.”

Silence, because they couldn’t hear Nicky Wayne’s side of the conversation. The only thing they could do was wait and pray.

“All right,” Boyd finally said. “Tomorrow at noon I’m out of here. When I get to the pickup point, I’ll give you the account number for the ransom money, and then you can get me to the place we discussed. I figure I’ll need to be out of the country for a long while.”

Danielle wanted to cheer. Obviously, Colin did, too, because he hooked his arm around her and gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek. Hardly the hot, sexy lip-lock they’d experienced earlier, but it soothed her as nothing else could have.

And that wasn’t good.

Once this was over, she really did need to take the time to sort out her feelings for Colin.

Boyd ended the call, and Colin and she were about to make their way up the steps, but Boyd’s phone rang, and they stopped to listen. Danielle started praying again. Hopefully, Nicky Wayne wasn’t calling back with second thoughts.

“It’s you,” Boyd greeted the caller. He hadn’t used the caller’s name, unlike the conversation he’d had with his boss.

So, who was this?

The caller obviously had a lot to say because Boyd stayed quiet for at least a full minute. “Well, I’m betting it’d be a lot of money. How close are you to making this happen?”

Danielle stooped down, hoping to hear the caller’s response, but she couldn’t. Maybe this had nothing to do with Luke or the kidnapping.

But she had a sickening feeling that it did.

“Excuse me?” Boyd said, surprise in his voice. He paused, obviously waiting for an answer from the caller. “That’s what I thought you said. You gotta be kidding me.”

Colin edged closer and stooped down next to her.

“Risks? What risks?” Boyd challenged. “I’m the one taking the risks here. My face is on wanted posters in every FBI office in this country, and you’re sitting back feeding me information while nobody knows you’re doing it.”

Oh, mercy. The caller had to be the mole. And it couldn’t be Bobby because he was there with them. Of course, the call could perhaps be a ploy to throw suspicion off Bobby, but Danielle was beginning to believe the young CSI was innocent.

“Is there any way to trace this?” she mouthed to Bobby.

Bobby shook his head.

“When this is said and done,” Boyd continued, “you won’t have badges trying to hunt you down. So, don’t talk to me about risks.”

Obviously, he was having a few differences with his mole. Now maybe Boyd would slip and call the person by his name so they’d know who they were dealing with here.

“No way,” Boyd said. “You want me to kill Forester and the doc for you? I don’t think so.”

Danielle pressed her fingers over her lips to suppress a gasp. Despite the shooting incident, this was the first time she’d ever heard anyone say they wanted to kill her.

Colin put his hand over hers. His muscles were hard and tight. As was his expression.

“You want ’em dead, then kill ’em yourself,” Boyd challenged the mole. “After I’m out of here, they’re all yours.”

“‘KILL ’EM YOURSELF’?” he repeated. He cursed. “Didn’t you hear what I said, Boyd? I already tried to kill them, and you saw where that got me.”

“Well, nobody told you to go after them like that.”

“I didn’t have a choice!” He took a moment to calm himself down. He was literally racing down the side of a mountain in his car, and the last thing he needed was an accident. “Look, Boyd. I need money. Lots of it. And you know that.”

“I know you played a few too many blackjack tables when you shouldn’t have. That’s a nasty habit you got there.”

“Yeah, yeah. And watch your words because you damn well know they’re listening to you.”

Boyd laughed. “I do at that. But a guy’s gotta find fun wherever he can. I’m bored with all this waiting and looking.”

Damn. Bored? The kidnapping had alerted every agency in the state. The man was a lunatic. This wasn’t the time to play mind games, especially with a federal agent listening in. Colin Forester was no dummy, and he could dissect anything Boyd was saying, and even the smallest clue could come back to bite them in the butt.

And that’s why this entire conversation was a mistake. He’d gone to Boyd for help, and the only help he was apparently going to get was some of Boyd’s smart-mouthed remarks.

“All I need you to do is sneak down to the guesthouse and take them out. They’re loose ends as far as I’m concerned because they might have seen me when I was shooting at them,” he confessed.

“Really?” Boyd sounded more curious than alarmed.

“Really. And to make matters worse, the head of the crime lab is running background checks on any-and everyone who works in the lab or has visited recently.”

“I see where you’re going with this. She might find out about all that money you owe…people.”

Well, thank God he hadn’t said Callie or Nicky Wayne’s names. But Nicky was only part of the problem. He owed others a lot more than he was in debt to Nicky. And he couldn’t pay those others off with bits and pieces of information he got while in the line of duty. No.

These men would demand every drop of his blood.

“The interest on the so-called ‘loan’ has tripled,” he told Boyd. “And now I owe nearly ten million dollars. If I don’t have that money within four days, I’ll be dead.”

“Sorry to hear that, but it sounds like a personal problem to me.”

“A personal problem?” He didn’t bother trying to keep his voice down.

Boyd had obviously forgotten they were on the same side here. But what had he expected from a glorified killer? Boyd was an animal, not capable of thinking of anyone but himself.

Well, now he knew where they stood.

They might be working for the same man, but he wouldn’t get any help from Boyd. Hell, even if by some miracle Boyd found Del Gardo’s missing money, then there were no guarantees he’d share it as promised.

So, that left the medals.

It’d been a bad mistake to tell Boyd about them. He should have kept it all to himself, but he’d thought that if Boyd knew what was at stake, he’d be willing to take care of Colin and Danielle to ensure there were no witnesses and no one to interfere with his finding the medals.

Now, he had to get all three of the medals before Boyd made any arrangements to do the same.

It hadn’t been easy, but he’d managed to plant a bug in the attorney’s car when he’d visited the crime lab the day before.

That bug had led him to a gold mine.

So had Elliot’s personal e-mail accounts that he’d accessed with Nicky Wayne’s help. His part-time boss had a host of “experts” on his payroll, and through one of those experts, he’d learned that Elliot apparently had orders to personally deliver the letter to Callie on this specific day. The anniversary of the date that Del Gardo had learned Callie’s mom was pregnant.

How touching.

Of course, Del Gardo had probably wanted to wait until his estate was settled before telling Callie she was his daughter and that he had left her a ton of money in the offshore account. Too bad though he hadn’t just given her the account number, but then Del Gardo hadn’t been a man who trusted easily. He probably thought all these measures were necessary.

And they were.

Because if they hadn’t been in place, he would have already gotten the account number and the cash. He still would get his hands on it, but it would take some doing. At least he knew who the recipients of the medals were: Dylan Acevedo, Ben Parrish and Tom Ryan.

Tom and Dylan’s medals would be fairly easy to get. He’d just break into their houses while the two were tied up with searching the tunnels at the back of the Vaughn estate.

But that left the third medal.

Once he found Ben’s, he’d have all the numbers so he could drain that offshore account before anyone realized what was happening.

Then, he would walk right into the guesthouse and kill Colin and Danielle himself. No more loose ends. No one to tie him to the shooting on the mountain. No one to tie him to the medals that would save his life.

Finally, he had a way out.

Chapter Ten

Yawning, Colin forced himself to get up off the sofa. He needed to hit the bathroom before he went back into the tunnel to relieve Bobby.

Well, if you could call it that.

Relieving Bobby meant the young man stayed put in the tunnels where he took a nap. Since he hadn’t wanted Danielle down in that tunnel alone with Bobby, it meant Colin was the only one who was doing relief duty.

Of course, Bobby wasn’t their number one suspect now that they’d heard the conversation of Boyd talking to the mole. But Colin wasn’t taking that call at face value because Boyd could have faked it to throw suspicion off the young man. For that reason, Colin had taken the extra ammunition and weapons while Bobby was sleeping and hidden them in one of the kitchen cabinets. If the lab tech planned to attack them, he would have to do it without a gun.

Half asleep and more than half exhausted, Colin stumbled into the bedroom to make his way to the adjoining bath, but he came to full stop when he saw Danielle.

She was on the bed, face down, no doubt the way she’d landed after finally agreeing to get some sleep. Her skirt and shirt were both hiked up, exposing a lot of skin. Her midsection. The backs of her thighs. Even a bit of her left butt cheek.

The sun was just rising, and the golden rays spewed through the edges of the blinds and seemed to spotlight her. Not that he needed anything to do that. He would have noticed her without the well-positioned light.

He walked to the bed and eased down her top. He reached to do the same to her skirt, but Danielle moaned, rolled over and peered at him through her squinted left eye. The corner of her mouth lifted, she closed the eye and pulled him onto the bed with her.

Well, not exactly onto the bed.

She pulled him onto her.

Right between her legs.

“Mmm,” she mumbled.

He knew that sound. Had heard it frequently. Right before Danielle and he had had some great first-thing-in-the-morning sex. Colin knew for a fact it was one of her favorite ways to wake up. She liked it rough and fast and even though it wouldn’t last long, it would leave them both sweaty.

And very satisfied.

“Danielle,” he whispered.

He was about to tell her she was dreaming, or something, but she kissed him. Oh, man. Not just any old kiss, either. She used her tongue, and while she was occupying his mouth with his weak spot of foreplay, she wrapped those long legs around his hips and maneuvered him into a great position.

If they’d been about to have sex.

But they weren’t.

Colin kept reminding himself of that.

His body wasn’t listening. It was reacting as if he were about to get really lucky. She felt so good in his arms. Like old times. Well, almost. She’d apparently put on some weight, and she was curvier in her hips and middle. He liked that.

Colin tried to move off her, he really did, but her legs tightened, and she mumbled something really dirty that she wanted him to do. He wanted to do it to her, too. Hard, rough and fast. But she was caught up in the sleep and their old routine of morning sex.

“Danielle,” he tried again.

He levered himself up just a little, just so that mind-blowing body contact with her panties wouldn’t weaken resolve that was fading fast. But Danielle only used the space to run her hands between their bodies.

She unzipped him.

And took him from his boxers.

“Danielle!” Colin ground out, though how he could manage speech, he didn’t know.

She opened one eye. The left one, again. And he could see her trying to focus, but her hands didn’t stop while she did that. She shoved down her panties. Thankfully, she couldn’t get them far because he was lying between her legs. But she shoved the front of them down.

Just enough.

For the tip of his erection to slide an inch or two inside her.

Colin cursed. And bit his lip. If he could have hit himself in the head with the lamp, he would have. Anything to cause pain so he’d stop this. More than life, more than his next breath, more than anything, he wanted to be all the way inside her.

The next sound she made wasn’t mmm. It was more like huh?

“Yeah,” he said when her eyes fully opened. He didn’t have a clue what it meant. Or what he should say. He was still trying to talk his brainless erection out of doing something really stupid.

But highly enjoyable.

Even with his response, she didn’t move. Neither did he. They lay there with him as hard as granite and partly inside her.

It got worse.

He actually saw the debate in her eyes, and because her legs were still wrapped around him, he felt her muscles tighten as if she were trying to stop herself from thrusting her hips up. And if she did that, well, sex would happen.

“Yeah?” he repeated, waiting.

“Uh,” she said. And her muscles relaxed. Her butt went back down onto the mattress, easing him out of her.

Colin still didn’t move. He couldn’t.

“Sorry,” Danielle added. “You know I’m a hard sleeper.”

Yes, he knew all about hard.

He fixed his pants, shoving himself back into his boxers, and grimaced at the extreme discomfort. His body was punishing him, and he needed a cold shower—bad.

“Needless to say, I’m out of it.” She adjusted her panties and shoved down her skirt.

“Well, that’s what getting only a couple of hours of sleep will do to you. You didn’t get to sleep until past three, and you’re exhausted.”

He’d meant it as a wise explanation to what had just happened, but the wisdom went south when her gaze drifted down to his erection. Her body certainly wanted him. Well, her body wanted sex from him anyway. Her mind was probably screaming for her to run the other direction.

Danielle looked away from him, rolled to the side of the bed and got to her feet. “You probably noticed that I gained some weight.”

“A little. It looks good on you.” Really good. Her breasts were bigger, and she had more curves.

Colin had to tear himself away from the stored images that his male brain was suddenly providing of her breasts. There was nothing wrong with his memory.

Or the rest of him.

“I need to hit the bathroom,” he said, and before he could change his mind, or hers, that’s where Colin went.

Since his body was burning, he stripped down and got in the shower as fast as he could. The water was ice-cold. Just what he needed, though it might take a decade or two for him to forget the sight of an aroused Danielle lying beneath him. When they were together, he’d taken mornings like that for granted. He knew now that each one had been a gift.

Colin had hardly had time to take a miserable trip down memory lane when there was a knock at the door. “Yeah?” He turned off the shower so he could hear.

“Bobby just came up,” Danielle said. “Boyd’s on the phone with Nicky Wayne.”

“Again?” Boyd had already called his boss three times throughout the night.

Since that could be a bad signal of a million things he didn’t want to consider and because Colin wanted to hear what he could of the conversation, he hurriedly dried off and threw his clothes back on. He grabbed his boots and decided to put them on in the tunnel. Danielle was ahead of him, racing down the steps.

Colin heard Boyd’s voice right away. The man sounded as tired as Colin felt. Obviously no one had gotten much sleep.

“No. He claims he doesn’t have any of them,” Boyd said. “Between you and me, I think he’s lying. That’s why we gotta act fast.”

“Does this call have anything to do with Boyd’s not going through with Luke’s release?” Colin asked Bobby while he put on his boots.

“No. The opposite. From what I can tell from the other two calls, Nicky wants Boyd to end this hostage situation as soon as possible.”

Good. Because Boyd might need some prodding to finish this, and Nicky was probably the best guy to do that.

“You don’t already have one of our men in the area?” Boyd asked his boss. Another pause. “Well, we obviously can’t send him.”

Him. They were almost certainly talking about the mole. Boyd and Nicky Wayne needed something done, and they couldn’t send the guy already on their payroll. Why? Maybe because the something that needed to be done would expose the guy as a mole.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get it, but in the meantime, get somebody down here to deal with our desperate rifle-shooting friend.”

Another reference to the mole? If so, Nicky and Boyd no longer trusted him. That was good. Well, unless the mole was about to go renegade and come after Danielle and him again.

“You want me to leak his name to the badges?” Boyd asked. “They’ll take care of him.”

Colin would love for that to happen. After all, it was most likely the mole who had nearly killed them.

“You’re right,” Boyd said a moment later. “No leak. If the badges got him, he’d just spill his guts. And we can’t have that. God knows what kind of stuff he’d tell them about you.”

Even better. They could bring down Nicky Wayne and at least one of his hired guns. Of course, if Boyd did indeed know they were listening in on his conversations, he could be feeding them only what he wanted them to know. And he could be doing that to steer them in the wrong direction.

“Okay. I’ll get the ball rolling,” Boyd continued, and then he ended the call.

Colin was about to speculate what that conversation might have been about, but his phone rang. It was Boyd. The man was certainly having a busy morning.

“I have one more chore for the doc and you,” Boyd greeted when Colin answered.

Colin automatically scowled. “The last chore nearly got us killed.”

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Boyd said, as if that clarified everything and negated the fact they’d nearly died on that mountain. “Only a few hours until this ends, Colin. But it could be less than that if the doc and you do good on this one last errand.”

That didn’t ease Colin’s suspicions. “What’s the chore?”

“Ever heard of Ben Parrish?” Boyd asked.

Well, Colin certainly hadn’t expected that name to come up in this conversation. “He’s an agent and he’s missing. Know anything about that?”

“Not me. But my boss says there might be something at Ben’s house that he wants. If he gets it, I’ll move up Luke’s release.”

That grabbed Colin’s attention. He’d consider anything to get Luke out of there sooner. “What does your boss want?”

“I can’t say, exactly. We don’t intend to go broadcasting stuff we need to keep secret, but if Parrish has it, it’ll be something that somebody gave him in the last couple of months.”

Colin shook his head, not believing this conversation. “Who might have given Parrish this something?”

“I’d rather not say, other than it’s connected to Vincent Del Gardo’s money.”

“You mean the fifty million he hid at the Vaughn estate?”

“Let’s just say, he might not have hid it here after all. He might have entrusted it to the care of one Julie Grainger.”

That turned his blood cold. “The agent you murdered.”

“Now, now. You can’t prove that, and besides, that’s not exactly what we’re talking about here.”

Colin didn’t want to get into a contest of words about that, but the FBI could prove it. Boyd would be charged with Julie’s murder. It was just a matter of time.

“How is this something connected to Julie Grainger?” Colin asked.

“It might be something that Julie had and she sent it to Ben. But it wasn’t really Julie’s to send.”

Colin glanced at Danielle, who had folded her arms over her chest and was shaking her head. Oh, yes. This sounded fishy.

“Let me get this straight,” Colin started. “You want Dr. Connolly and me to go to Ben Parrish’s wife and ask her to give us something that was sent to her husband and is connected to a murdered FBI agent and crime boss?”

“That’s it. If Parrish got this thing, then it should be at the house. You badges are real good at finding things so look in all the places where someone would want to tuck a little something out of sight.”

Colin rolled his eyes and tried to work through all the possibilities. “Is this something a biological weapon that’s going to kill us all?”

Boyd laughed. “You got an imagination there, Colin. But my boss isn’t into terrorist stuff. He just wants his money, and this something is valuable.”

Well, if it was an item a Mob boss wanted, Colin didn’t like the idea of it being with Ben Parrish’s wife. After all, he’d heard the part about Boyd requesting that Nicky send someone down. Colin didn’t want a hired gun going after a missing agent’s wife.

“Do you actually know what this item is?” Colin questioned.

“I do. But I can’t tell you. I can’t risk leaks, and there are people who’d really want it if they knew about it. Just look for it, hard, and let me know if you find it. Leave now.”

“We don’t have a car,” Colin reminded him.

“Call one of your badges, one you trust, and have them come out and get you. No coming inside the gates. The doc and you will meet them at the start of the mountain road.”

That part might be reasonable, but another wasn’t. “Why does Dr. Connolly need to go with me?”

“I was doing you a favor, Colin. Come on. Do you really want her here at the estate alone?”

No. He didn’t even have to think about that. But he did give more thought to this latest chore.

“It’s seven o’clock,” Boyd reminded him. “One of your badges could be here in fifteen minutes. Find the package that’s been delivered and bring it here. And if you do that, Luke Vaughn goes home on time. Guaranteed. Should I wake the kid up and ask if he wants to go home today?”

“No,” Colin and Danielle said at once.

Boyd chuckled. “That’s what I thought you’d say.” He ended the call.

Colin hung up, still wondering what the heck he was going to do. He had to get to Ben’s house, of course, to save Luke three more hours with his kidnapper. But the question was, did he trust Danielle to stay put with Bobby?

No.

Even if Bobby wasn’t the mole, he was a lab rat, and he probably wouldn’t know how to defend Danielle if Boyd came in there with guns blazing.

“I’m going with you?” Danielle asked.

Colin nodded and hoped like the devil he didn’t regret this decision. He could be damned if he did or damned if he didn’t.

And worse.

He could be taking Danielle right into a death trap.

Chapter Eleven

Danielle tried to ease up on the tight grip she had on the car’s armrest. It wasn’t that Dylan was a bad driver. Nor was he speeding. But he was taking them down the mountain.

The same mountain where they’d nearly been killed.

She gave up her attempt to lighten her grip and just closed her eyes when Dylan drove past the section where the van had plunged over the side.

The sky was a dull gunmetal-gray, and the clouds were heavy. It would rain, that was for certain, but she hoped it held off until after Luke’s rescue. She didn’t want weather to play a part in this.

“Did anyone find shell casings out here?” Colin asked Dylan. Colin was sitting in the back, next to her, and he had his gun drawn and on his lap. He obviously wasn’t any more comfortable with this drive than she was.

“Not yet,” Dylan answered. “We’ll keep looking.”

Good. Because those shell casings could lead them to the gunman.

And the mole.

It was hard to know whom to trust with someone out there leaking information and trying to kill them. For her, that distrust extended to everyone except Colin and her old friend, Callie.

Colin didn’t have too many names on his people-to-trust list, either, because when he’d called Dylan to arrange for a car to take them to Ben Parrish’s house, he’d asked that this visit, search and any information about it be limited to only FBI agents.

No one from the lab.

That meant no Rusty Cepeda in on this search. Or Bobby. This would be restricted to Dylan, Tom, Colin and her. She was a little concerned, however, that Jerry could have overheard Colin’s call to Dylan. After all, Dylan and Jerry were in the same office.

But even with that precaution, Danielle knew this visit could turn dangerous. After all, the person who’d shot at them knew how to handle a rifle, and all agents knew how to do that. Probably plenty of the crime lab folks, too. Even though they’d tried to keep this trip hush-hush, Boyd could have informed the mole what was going on.

“Someone broke into my house last night,” Dylan volunteered. “It wasn’t ransacked, but I could tell someone had been there.”

“Was anything taken?” Colin asked.

“Not that I could tell, but it was too clean to be kids or an amateur burglar. Plus, everybody around here knows it’s my place, and it takes a lot of nerve to break into an agent’s house.”

“Yes,” Colin agreed. “You think it’s related to this search Boyd wants us to do at Ava’s?”

“Could be. Maybe Nicky Wayne, Boyd or someone else thinks I know something about the money. I don’t.” But then Dylan lifted his shoulder. “At least I don’t believe I do. Who knows what could be a link to that money. Investigation notes. Photos. You name it.”

“And maybe there isn’t a link at all,” Danielle offered. “Maybe this is just Boyd being desperate.”

Well, the man certainly was that.

Danielle forced herself to finish eating the peanut butter sandwich that she’d slapped together while waiting for Dylan to arrive. She wasn’t hungry. Not in the least. But she had to eat for the sake of her baby.

Dylan drove them through town and to the outskirts, right at the point where the land turned hilly. He stopped in front of a brown frame house that had massive glass windows across the entire front.

There was another vehicle already in the driveway, and Tom Ryan was waiting on the front lawn. In the doorway of the house stood an attractive auburn-haired woman with a large baby bulge. Ava Wright-Parrish, no doubt. Danielle figured the woman had to be in the last trimester of her pregnancy.

Danielle finished the last bite of her sandwich before Dylan, Colin and she got out and made their way to the others. Colin and Tom shook hands. A closer look at Ava’s face, and Danielle saw the concern and the fatigue—two things that Danielle was certain were on her own face. Tom’s, too. But then she’d heard him tell Colin on the phone that Callie and he had spent the night trying to find a way through those tunnels. Tom had come straight to Ava’s and his jeans and shirt were speckled with dirt and dust.

Ava offered a weak smile to Danielle during the introductions, and then stood to the side so they could all enter. The house was chilly, the cool air from the air conditioner spilling over them. Either Ava liked the coolness or her pregnancy had caused her to lower the temperature.

“I don’t suppose you could be more specific about what you’re looking for?” Ava asked.

Colin shook his head. “Boyd was intentionally vague. But he did indicate that whatever it is, it might be connected to Julie Grainger and Vincent Del Gardo.”

That caused Ava’s blue eyes to widen. With good reason. Julie Grainger had been murdered by the very man who was holding Luke hostage.

“Ava, this something could be Del Gardo’s missing fifty million dollars,” Danielle added.

“Fifty million?” she questioned. “I thought that was hidden at the Vaughn estate.”

“Maybe.” Colin answered so quickly that it meant he’d already considered it. “Or maybe Del Gardo just planted false clues to let people believe that. And maybe Nicky Wayne learned the clues were false.”

“How?” Ava wanted to know.

Danielle wanted to know the same thing, and she only hoped that didn’t mean that Nicky had gotten the information from Ben. Maybe he’d tortured Ben into telling him.

“Why would Del Gardo have hidden the money here?” Ava continued.

Colin shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe he figured no one would look for the money at an agent’s house. Maybe he tricked Julie into hiding it for him. But that something might be here. Something big, or Boyd wouldn’t have sent us after it, and I’m thinking that fifty million qualifies as something big.”

“You’re right,” Tom agreed. He glanced around the room. “I’ll check the attic. Everybody needs to look for loose floorboards, too, because Del Gardo would have needed a lot of space to hide fifty million.”

They all started to fan out into various parts of the house. Tom went up the stairs to the attic. Ava went into the master bedroom. Dylan, into the living room.

Since the other agents were searching, Colin and Danielle went into the other room. A nursery, Danielle realized the moment she stepped inside.

Oh, mercy.

Talk about getting hit with a reminder that soon, very soon, she’d have to create a nursery for her own child. Nothing would make her happier, but it also meant first having to deal with Colin and his reaction to becoming a father.

That sleepy incident on the bed had reminded her of old times. It had also left her wanting more. Which she couldn’t have. Sex with Colin would no doubt be as great as it always had been, but it would complicate a situation already too complicated. No. It was best to keep sex out of the picture until they’d resolved everything about the baby. And that wasn’t going to happen until Luke was safely back with his family.

Even though she really didn’t expect to find anything in the nursery, she went to the closet and looked around. Normal stuff. Shopping bags with new baby items. A changing table ready to be assembled.

They looked through the room and tested every part of the floor for loose floorboards. Nothing. Colin started a wall search, and he knocked on each section of the room, listening for the sound to indicate there was a hollow space.

Still nothing.

Danielle and Colin went back into the living room to find Tom doing the same thing. The men lifted the sofa and chairs and looked underneath them. Definitely no money. And the fireplace was clean, as well.

“I might have found something,” she heard Dylan call out from the loft. “But it’s not money.”

That sent everyone hurrying in that direction, including Ava. When they got to the top of the stairs, Dylan was standing in the middle of the room holding an envelope and a single sheet of paper.

His weary eyes went straight to Ava. “I’m sorry,” Dylan said.

Ava shook her head and walked past them to get to Dylan. She reached for the envelope and the paper. Only then did Danielle see that it appeared to be a short handwritten letter.

“It’s from Julie Grainger,” Dylan explained. But that was all he said. He kept his attention fastened to Ava.

The woman’s lips moved as she read through the letter, and at the end of it, Ava shrugged. “What does it mean?”

“Look in the envelope,” Dylan instructed.

Ava did, but she opened it as if it were fragile and might break. She froze for several moments when she looked at the first picture, and then she frantically rifled through the others.

“Oh, God,” Ava said.

She staggered a bit, and Tom caught her. He caught the paper and envelope, as well. He read the message and looked at the same photos that had caused Ava’s reaction. His gaze flew to Dylan’s.

“What’s going on?” Tom demanded.

“I don’t know.” Dylan turned to Colin. “The message is from Julie to Ben, and it’s her handwriting. I recognize it. The message says, ‘I know who you really are.’”

Tom passed the pictures to Colin, and after one glance Danielle knew the reason for Ava’s reaction.

There were three pictures, all taken from long range as if the photographer were spying on the people being photographed. Ben Parrish was in all the pictures. Danielle recognized him from the photo she’d seen on Callie’s desk. But Ben wasn’t alone. He was with Boyd in two of the shots, and in the other one, he was with Nicky Wayne himself.

“It’s some kind of mix-up,” Tom concluded. He forced Ava to sit down.

She did sit, but she didn’t look as if she believed him about this being a mix-up. “Why would Ben be in those pictures?” She looked at Tom first. Then, Dylan.

None of the men apparently had an answer for her.

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Julie obviously thought Ben was a corrupt agent.”

Tom stooped down and met her eye to eye. “Julie could have been wrong. All we know at this point is that Ben is missing. That’s it. We don’t know why, and we certainly don’t know that he’s working for Nicky Wayne.”

Ava wiped away the tears, but Danielle figured more would follow. The woman stood, and she tried to look stronger than she probably felt. She lifted her head high and snagged Colin’s gaze. “Do you think this is what Boyd wanted?”

Colin shrugged. “Maybe.”

Those photos possibly incriminated Ben, but it also pointed the finger at Boyd, too. What kind of connection had he had with Ben? And maybe Boyd didn’t want his connection to the agent to become public knowledge.

“I’m betting Ben met with Boyd and Nicky so he could get answers about Julie’s murder,” Tom concluded. “And someone, maybe one of Nicky’s own men, took those photos to make Ben look like an agent on the take.”

Of course, what Tom didn’t add was that Ben might also be dead. Danielle hated to even think it, but here was Ava, pregnant and worried, and Ben was nowhere to be found. If he had dealings with the Wayne family, one of them might have murdered the agent.

Ava blinked back more tears and tipped her head to the copier in the loft office. “Why don’t you copy everything and take it to Boyd. Since he’s in the pictures, he obviously knows he met with Ben.”

With that, Dylan took the items to the copy machine in the home office and began to copy them. While he was doing that, Tom put his arm around Ava and led her back down the stairs. “I’ll call Callie,” Tom said. “She can come out and stay with you.”

Ava was already shaking her head before Tom had finished. “No. She’s too busy to babysit me. It’s more important for her to concentrate on rescuing Luke. Or finding Ben.”

Dylan finished the copies and put them into an envelope. He handed it to Colin. The men just stared at each other.

“Ben, Tom and I were all close,” Dylan explained. He cursed under his breath. “This’ll hit Ava hard.”

“You think it’s true?” Danielle asked. “Is Ben Parrish really a dirty agent?”

“I think the Wayne family framed him.” But Dylan didn’t sound totally convinced.

Neither was Danielle, and she had to consider this from a different angle. What if Ben was the mole? What if he still had access to communications equipment? He could possibly be feeding info to the Wayne family.

Colin tucked the envelope under his arm. “Let’s get this back to Boyd.”

“Of course.” Because the sooner they did that, the sooner Luke might get to go free.

Ava and Tom were in the living room when the rest of them made it back down the stairs. Tom was trying to comfort her, but Danielle figured that wasn’t possible.

“Come on,” Dylan said to her and Colin, “I’ll get you back up to the estate.”

“Go ahead,” Ava insisted when everyone looked at her. “I know you need to get back to work. I’ll be fine. I promise.” And to make sure she got her point across, Ava caught on to both Tom and Dylan’s arms and led them to the door.

Tom waited until Ava gave a firm nod before he started toward his car. And Colin, Dylan and Danielle went to the other vehicle. Danielle reached for the door handle.

And then stopped.

She glanced back at the thick trees behind Ava’s house, and she saw something.

Colin stopped, too, and looked at her. “What’s wrong?” he asked Danielle, and he followed her gaze.

She took a few steps closer and tried to pick through the branches and see what was there.

A car.

“You need to check on Ava,” she told Colin.

Dylan tossed the envelope with the pictures and letter onto the car seat and raced back toward the house. Danielle and Colin were right behind him.

“What’s going on?” Tom asked.

Danielle didn’t answer. She ran. Ahead of her, Colin threw open the front door, and he drew his gun. But Danielle was already on the steps before she saw what was going on.

Her heart went to her knees.

Because Jerry Ortiz drew his gun, too.

The man shoved Ava in front of him. Like a human shield. And Jerry put his gun to her head.

Chapter Twelve

A dozen questions went through Colin’s mind, and none of them were good.

An agent’s wife had been taken hostage by another agent, and Colin could only guess why. Was Jerry after the something that Boyd had sent them after?

And was Jerry the mole?

Colin tightened his grip on his gun and braced himself for whatever was about to happen. Because if Jerry was the mole, he was the man who’d tried to murder Danielle and him. And now, he had a pregnant Ava at gunpoint.

“Put down your gun,” Colin told Jerry.

Behind him, Colin heard Dylan and Tom draw their weapons, as well. Either the show of force would cause Jerry to surrender, or it would send him over the edge.

He looked out of the corner of his eye. Danielle was too close. Practically right in front of one of those massive windows. If Jerry started shooting, she could be hurt by a stray bullet.

“Back up, Danielle,” Colin mumbled to her. “Go to the car.”

Whether or not she would listen was anyone’s guess, and it surprised him when she did as he’d instructed. Tom moved, too, and Colin heard him making his way around the house. Hopefully, to the back. They needed to cut off any escape routes.

“Jerry,” Colin said, keeping his voice calm. “Think this through. Think about what you’re doing.”

Jerry’s eyes were wild, and the sweat had popped out all over his face. He certainly looked like he was about to implode. Colin didn’t mind taking the guy out, but he couldn’t do that until he had Ava out of harm’s way.

“I need money, or they’ll kill me,” Jerry admitted. “So this is how things have to work. All of you will step back and give me a few minutes alone with Ava. She’ll tell me what I need to know.”

Ava shook her head. “I don’t know what you want.” She wasn’t crying, but Colin could see that she was trembling, and she had her left hand clutched protectively over her pregnant belly.

“Sure you do,” Jerry insisted. “Julie Grainger sent it to Ben.”

“You mean the photos?” Ava questioned.

“No!” Jerry growled. “Not the letter and the pictures. You damn well know what I’m looking for.”

Since Jerry was obviously getting more agitated, Colin interrupted whatever Ava had been about to say. “Jerry, you’re scaring her, and that’s not good for the baby. You really don’t want to hurt a pregnant woman. Not Ava. You know her. You’ve worked with her. She’s a good woman, and she doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.”

“Well, I don’t deserve it, either.” The sweat slipped into his eyes, and he blinked hard, probably because it was stinging. “I have a disease. I’m sick. And if I don’t get that money, they’ll kill me.”

“Who’ll kill you?” With his gun ready and aimed, Colin stepped inside, slowly, and maneuvered himself to the right so that Dylan could do the same.

“It doesn’t matter who wants me dead,” Jerry insisted. “The only thing that matters is the money.”

“No. The only thing that matters is Ava’s safety. Let her go, and we’ll deal with this the right way. We’ll figure out how to stop the people who want you dead.”

And the best way to do that was with Jerry behind bars.

Jerry pushed the gun harder against Ava’s head. “You’re the ones threatening Ava’s safety. I won’t kill her, not unless you make me. I just want to talk to her. Now get out and close the door.”

Jerry’s hand was shaking, and it was clear to Colin that he wouldn’t be able to talk the man into surrendering. But Colin didn’t give up. He couldn’t.

“Look at Ava, Jerry,” Colin said, remaining calm. “She’s scared. You don’t want her like this. Put down the gun, and we’ll figure out a way to get you the money you need. Maybe we can take some from the FBI evidence room and create a sting operation for the people who want to kill you.”

That wouldn’t happen, but Colin wanted Jerry to start thinking like an agent and not a hostage taker.

Colin saw the door ease open in the kitchen. With Jerry’s position, he wasn’t able to spot Tom tiptoeing inside the house. Tom quietly made his way toward the man.

“Well?” Colin prompted Jerry. He needed to talk to cover the sound of Tom’s footsteps. “What do you say? Should we all go back to town and work this out? Think about it, Jerry. You need to get these people threatening you off the streets. It’s what we do as FBI agents. We stop bad guys from hurting others.”

But Jerry only shook his head. “Get out now!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. The veins in his head were bulging, and the sweat was even worse. He kept blinking as he held the gun firmly against Ava’s head.

“All right, we’ll get out,” Colin lied. “We’ll give you a few minutes alone with Ava.”

Ava’s eyes widened, and he saw the terror. She didn’t want to be left alone with this monster. Colin wanted to reassure her that all would be well, but he couldn’t.

Because it might not be.

Dylan eased back toward the doorway. Colin did, too. Tom continued to make his way across the kitchen. A few more feet, and Tom would have a shot at Jerry. Maybe. If they could get Ava out of the way.

“Why don’t you have Ava sit down?” Colin suggested to Jerry.

Ava stared at Colin, and she seemed to be examining his face to determine what was really going on. After all, she was the wife of an agent, and she likely knew they wouldn’t just leave her there.

Without taking her eyes off Colin, Ava opened her mouth and moaned. A sound of pain. And she clutched her stomach. “Oh, God,” she wailed. “I’m going into labor.”

Her voice was certainly convincing enough, but because Colin could see her face, he knew this was a ploy. Smart woman.

And Jerry reacted.

He eased up just a little on the grip he had on her, and Ava slid down as if she were about to sit on the floor.

Everything happened at warp speed after that.

Tom bolted from the kitchen. Jerry turned toward him and aimed his gun. But Tom didn’t give the man a chance to get off a shot. Tom fired, just as he’d been trained to do, and two bullets slammed into Jerry’s chest.

Jerry dropped to the floor.

Ava rushed toward Colin, and just in case Jerry wasn’t finished, Colin moved Ava behind him. Danielle hurried back to the house, latched on to the woman’s arm and pulled her in the direction of the car.

“Call an ambulance,” Colin told Danielle.

With their guns still drawn and ready, all three agents went toward Jerry. The man was bleeding out fast.

Colin kicked Jerry’s gun out of the way and stooped down so he could question him. This might be the only chance he got because Jerry probably wouldn’t make it.

“Are you working for Nicky Wayne?” Colin asked.

For a moment Colin didn’t think Jerry would answer, but he finally nodded. “I had to. Gambling debts.” His gaze came to Colin’s. “I was a good agent. Once.”

“I know you were.” But Colin wasn’t about to cut him any slack. “Were you feeding Boyd information?”

Another nod.

Then Jerry was definitely the mole.

“Were you working alone or did someone else in the KCCU or FBI help you?”

“Alone,” Jerry whispered.

That left one more question that Colin wanted answered. “Did you fire shots at Danielle and me?”

“Yes.” He swallowed hard. Shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for things to get this far out of hand. It wasn’t personal.”

Well, it’d felt damn personal to Colin, especially since Danielle had been right in the line of fire. Those memories would stay with him for a lifetime. And God knew how many nightmares this would create for both of them. He could thank Jerry and his gambling habits for that.

Because Colin was having a hard time hanging on to his temper, he stepped back.

Tom moved closer to continue. “What did you want to get from Ava?”

Jerry opened his mouth but then clutched his chest. He tried to speak but no sound came. There was a rattle in his throat, and the last breath Jerry would ever take rushed out of his body.

“Hell,” Tom mumbled.

The others cursed, as well.

Colin put his gun into the back waist of his pants and turned to check on Danielle and Ava. His phone rang, and he groaned when he saw that the call was from Boyd.

“Yeah?” Colin answered.

“Did you find something for me?”

Colin looked at the dead man on the floor. “We found something.” In the distance, Colin heard the ambulance.

A sound he didn’t want Boyd to hear.

“We’re on our way back now,” Colin assured him, and he hung up.

“You won’t tell Boyd his coworker is dead?” Danielle asked.

“No.” Colin glanced at Dylan and Tom. “We need to keep this as quiet as we can. Until after Luke is released.”

If Boyd found out that Jerry had been shot and killed, then who knew how the man would react.

Luke could be put in even more danger.

“REMEMBER,” Colin warned her in a whisper. “Don’t say a word about the shooting when we’re in the guesthouse.”

Danielle simply nodded.

This was the first time Danielle had ever seen anyone shot and killed. She didn’t regret the outcome of that standoff. The man had been willing to hurt or even murder Ava. All so he could pay off his gambling debts. No. She was glad Jerry was dead, but she would never forget those images.

Images that Colin had no doubt seen too many times.

“Are you okay?” Colin asked.

“Yes.” He knew that wasn’t true. But there was nothing he could do to make things better. Right now, the only thing that mattered was Luke, and that’s what she had to focus on so she wouldn’t fall apart.

They walked up the hill to the estate. Dylan had dropped them off at the end of the road, and they’d hurried and hoped that the photos and Julie’s letter would be enough to get Boyd to go through with Luke’s release time. It had to be enough because she was at her breaking point. No doubt Luke was, too. This couldn’t go on any longer.

“Stay back,” Colin told her. It was starting to drizzle, so he positioned her just beneath the awning and hurried up the steps and dropped the envelope onto the porch. The moment he did that, his phone rang. He answered it and put it on speaker.

“So, what do you have for me?” Boyd asked.

“A letter and photos that seem to implicate Ben Parrish as a dirty agent. Seem being the operative word.”

And Danielle held her breath, praying that this was what Boyd wanted. Later, Tom and Dylan could sort out Ben’s guilt or innocence, but right now, the potentially incriminating photos would have to work.

“Pictures?” Boyd questioned.

“Yeah. Of you, Ben and Nicky Wayne. Any idea who took them?”

“No. But it’ll be interesting to find out. What about money? Did you find out anything about Del Gardo’s missing cash?”

“Nothing. We went over every inch of Ben Parrish’s house, and there was no money.”

Boyd didn’t say anything, and the moments dragged by. Danielle had thought she would be numb by now, but she was far from it. She could feel every nerve in her body.

“All right, then,” Boyd finally answered. “Leave the envelope on the porch and go back to the guesthouse.”

“What about Luke?” Colin immediately asked.

“Don’t worry. He’s fine. He’s playing that new video game. And I’ll release the kid like I promised.” Boyd didn’t sound cocky today. Just tired. “That gives you enough time to make sure there are no hitches with the helicopter and the ransom money. And don’t you dare think about using weather as an excuse.”

“There’ll be no hitches of any kind,” Colin promised him. He came back down the steps, and they started for the guesthouse.

The moment they were inside, Bobby raced up the steps. “Boyd’s on the phone with Nicky Wayne,” he whispered.

Colin slammed the door and hurried down into the tunnel. Danielle tried to hurry but realized she wasn’t moving very fast. She was still shaken from the shooting, and she was certain that she was about to have one heck of an adrenaline crash.

“No. They didn’t get us what we needed,” Boyd said to his boss. “Maybe because it wasn’t there. If Ava had it, she would have given it up when she saw these pictures. She must hate her husband by now.”

Yes. And things would likely get worse for the woman. After all, she was pregnant and her missing husband now had connections to a crime family.

“No. I don’t want to send them back to the Parrish house to keep looking, especially since we don’t know if our mutual friend was even telling the truth about it being there,” Boyd continued. “I want to get out of here. I don’t know how much more I can take being holed up in here with everybody just waiting to gun me down.”

Danielle had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from cheering. But that’s exactly what she wanted to do. This was the first time she could see an end to this nightmare.

“Everything’s a go with the helicopter and ransom money?” Bobby asked.

“Yes,” Colin answered.

Colin pulled Danielle into his arms for a celebratory hug. Of course, it wasn’t really over because the FBI would no doubt try to stop Boyd from escaping, but they wouldn’t do that until Luke was safe.

“The pictures?” Boyd said to Nicky. “Yeah. That was some surprise that Parrish’s wife had them. I got no idea why Parrish saved them. Or who else might have seen them. Still, no matter.”

Boyd paused. Cleared his throat. “Well, you know where I stand when it comes to him. He helped me a lot. If it hadn’t been for Ben Parrish, I wouldn’t have been able to kill Special Agent Julie Grainger.”

Chapter Thirteen

Boyd’s admission brought their mini celebration to a grinding halt, and Colin felt Danielle go totally stiff. Bobby froze, as well, and stared at Colin.

Hell.

This was not what they wanted to hear, and it would almost certainly devastate Ava. After everything she’d been through today, she didn’t need this news about her husband.

If it was true.

Since Boyd likely knew they were listening, he could be playing mind games with them. Maybe it was a distraction to stop them from focusing on the hostage situation and have them tie up some of the agents and resources to investigate the allegations.

But Colin had to accept that it also might be true, and even though he didn’t want resources diverted from this case, he couldn’t stand by and pretend he hadn’t heard it. Coupled with those pictures and Julie’s letter, they were damning words indeed. Had Ben Parrish helped Boyd kill Julie because she’d learned that Ben was working for the Wayne family?

“Call Tom Ryan,” Colin instructed Bobby. “Let him know what we just heard. He’ll also need a copy of the recording of that conversation.”

Bobby nodded, and judging from his somber expression, he knew where this would lead. There’d be an investigation into a dirty agent, and it wouldn’t be pretty.

After this hostage situation was over, Colin might be able to lend Tom and Dylan a hand in sorting this all out. But right now, his hands were full.

Colin led Danielle back up the stairs and into the guesthouse. He checked his watch. A few hours to go. That was it—if all went well. But Colin wasn’t going to borrow trouble. Boyd had made it clear that he was ready to bring this to an end. Colin certainly was. He wanted both Luke and Danielle far away from Boyd and anyone connected to the Wayne crime family.

He glanced at her to see how she was holding up. Not well, apparently. Danielle had gripped the closet door, her hand was shaking and she looked well beyond exhaustion. She was on her way to a serious crash.

“I don’t know how you live with seeing death all the time,” she mumbled. She stared at him. “Look at you. You’re not even falling apart.”

Oh, yes he was. Inside, anyway. It hurt to see her like this, to know that this would be part of her forever, and there was nothing he could do to take it away.

“Now you know why I don’t like to talk about my job,” he said. He went to her. Scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He eased her onto the mattress. “Rest until it’s time for the exchange.”

Danielle opened her mouth to protest, but he pushed his fingers against her lips.

“Rest,” he ordered. “I need you to be a hundred percent when Boyd releases Luke because you’ll be the one to get the boy away from here and back to his parents.”

Colin was betting he would have to go after Boyd once the man surrendered Luke. He couldn’t discuss the details with Danielle, not with Boyd perhaps listening, but the plan was to use the GPS on the helicopter and follow it. Boyd would probably head to an airport or maybe even an open area where he’d already arranged to have a getaway vehicle waiting. Colin and the rest of the agents would somehow have to stop Boyd. And as for the money, well, they’d put tracers on it, too, if Boyd somehow managed to transfer it before they caught up with him.

Boyd would fry for this kidnapping and Julie’s murder.

Colin started to move away, but Danielle grabbed his hand. “Stay with me,” she insisted.

She was still shaking, but her eyelids were already heavy and drifting closed. Hopefully, she would sleep whether she wanted to or not.

He shut the door, climbed onto the bed with her and pulled her into a spoon position so that his front was against her back. It was her favorite sleeping position, and she settled into him, as she always had.

This was familiar ground.

Too familiar. And it brought back memories that he shouldn’t be having. After this was all said and done, he needed to take the time to sort out his feelings. For her. For their marriage.

For his life.

Maybe it was those kissing sessions he’d had with her and the near sex earlier that morning, but there seemed to be a renewed intimacy between them. Of course, intimacy had never been their problem. The problem had been getting them on the same page when it came to her fertility treatments and his job. Well, the fertility treatments appeared to be a thing of the past.

That left the job.

He wanted to tell her that he was no longer going to volunteer for the most dangerous assignments available. That wouldn’t undo all the arguments and the pain they’d had in the past, but it might be enough of a start that she would rethink the divorce.

He was certainly rethinking it.

Colin was rethinking a lot of things.

The rhythm of Danielle’s breathing changed, and he realized she’d fallen asleep. Good. He could thank the exhaustion and the soothing rain that was hitting softly against the windows and roof. But for him, there was nothing soothing about being so close to her. It reminded him they’d done more than spoon while in bed.

Much more.

Once he was certain she was asleep, Colin eased away from her and moved to the head of the bed so he could prop himself against the headboard. He grabbed a pen and some paper from the nightstand and started the notes he’d need to make for the incident report involving Jerry’s death.

The paperwork for the shooting would be a bear to complete, and once Luke was free, there’d be paperwork and reports for that, as well. Best to get started rather than gawk at Danielle. Colin forced himself to get busy, and he jotted down times and details so he wouldn’t forget them.

But his attention kept going back to Danielle.

How the hell could he possibly want her this much?

She lay on her side, breathing peacefully. However, her left hand was clenched into a fist, so sleep obviously hadn’t afforded her the opportunity to relax completely. Still, the tenseness didn’t detract from her looks. She was certainly beautiful. He’d thought so the first time he laid eyes on her, and he thought so now.

The fatigue was starting to catch up with him, too, and he scrubbed his hand over his face, hoping that would help. It didn’t. But he continued to make notes and then his summary of the incident. He had to include the part about finding the pictures of Ben Parrish with members of a crime family. There was no way to get around that.

His eyelids were suddenly heavy, and Colin closed his eyes for just a minute. He immediately thought of Danielle and knew this would turn into some raunchy fantasy about her. And he was right. That early incident of the near sex had left him primed and ready, and he didn’t think a cold shower would help this time.

He felt the movement on the bed and looked down. Danielle was awake, and she was crawling her way to him. At first, he thought it was part of that raunchy fantasy going through his head, but nope, she was coming straight toward him. Maybe so she could resume their spooning position.

But Colin had something else in mind.

Something he was sure he’d regret.

He grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. She landed exactly where he wanted her, with her legs apart and straddling him. Before either one of them could protest or say why this shouldn’t be happening, he kissed her.

She had just started to say her usual foreplay mmm, but he caught that sound with his mouth.

Danielle didn’t resist, which told him they were both going to do something stupid. Fun and satisfying, yes.

But stupid.

The timing was all wrong. Heck, everything about it was wrong. But that only made him want her more. It reminded him of the days when they’d dragged each other to the floor or the most readily available surface, even though they should have been on their way out the door to work.

Danielle and he had made quickies into an art form.

He kissed her hard. Too hard. He always felt rough and clumsy when it came to her. But she never seemed to mind. In fact, she seemed to get off on it, and today was no different. She returned the kiss, and it was just as hot and hungry as the one he was giving her.

This wouldn’t last. The fire was already too hot, and he’d been four months without her. He wanted to promise that he’d do better by her next time, but in the back of his mind, he wondered if this was a gift that he wouldn’t get again. That nearly caused him to slow down.

Then, she pressed her breasts against him and kissed his neck. Oh, man.

He was a goner.

He shoved down her top, unhooked her bra and nearly died when her breasts spilled out into his hands. Her position was perfect for him to taste her nipples. He remembered that taste, and it went straight to his head. And his groin.

He became hard as a rock.

Danielle noticed. She always did, and she moved against him, pressing her sex against the hardness of his. After he got his eyes uncrossed, he shoved up her skirt and stripped off her panties.

She did her part. Danielle unzipped him and freed him from his boxers. Colin tried to brace himself for what was coming next, but he couldn’t brace himself against the avalanche of sensations and emotions.

With her mouth on his and her fingers wound into his hair, she lowered herself onto him, taking him inside her. She paused, just a moment, and she pulled back from the kiss and looked at him.

She smiled.

And Colin knew there’d be plenty of things about this experience that he would catalog and remember, but that smile would be at the top of his list.

Then, she moved, and the moment was lost. But a new moment began, and Colin caught on to her hips and guided the thrusts that would send them both flying. First, though, they’d both go crazy.

With each thrust, they moved faster. Harder. But they moved together. The friction and the movement brought them closer to the edge. But somehow, the fire just kept building. It kept getting hotter.

Until the primal need was too much for either of them to take.

Danielle came in a flash. She wasn’t a screamer. In fact, she hardly made a sound, but he felt her orgasm ripple through her. To every part of her. And it was those ripples and that hazy, satisfied smile of hers that pulled him in right along with her.

Colin kissed that smile to see how it would taste, and he let Danielle take him with her.

WHAT THE HECK HAD SHE DONE?

That was Danielle’s first thought, but it was quickly followed by the realization that she didn’t regret this, no matter how much she told herself that she should. But she was also aware enough to know that this could complicate things beyond belief. Still, she was going to pull a Scarlett O’Hara and think about this tomorrow, after Luke was safely home with his parents.

And after she’d told Colin about the baby.

If he was still speaking to her after she’d taken so long to tell him, then she’d try to make some sense of what all of this might mean.

Her position on his lap made it so they were right in each other’s faces. For sex, that’d been great. But now, it seemed beyond awkward so Danielle eased away and got off the bed. She located her panties on the floor and headed to the bathroom so she could freshen up.

Colin got up, as well, and fixed his clothes. What he didn’t do was say a word. Neither did she. Danielle had intended to give him the silent treatment, but she honestly didn’t know what to say. This might have been great sex, but it certainly wasn’t leading to a reconciliation.

She closed the bathroom door and decided to take a quick shower. It was crazy, but she didn’t really want to wash Colin’s scent off her.

Definitely crazy.

In a few hours, she’d need to get Luke back to his parents. She’d have to debrief the child and make sure he wasn’t experiencing severe mental trauma, as well as have him examined by a doctor for any physical harm. She would also need to talk with the parents and encourage them to make an appointment with a therapist for the whole family, not just Luke. As Colin had said, she would need to be a hundred percent, and she didn’t feel anywhere close to that at the moment.

Danielle stripped down, stepped into the shower and quickly washed in case Colin or Bobby needed to use the bathroom. When she dressed and went back into the bedroom, she found Colin sitting in the chair in the corner, and he was making notes again.

He stopped writing. Looked at her. Obviously waiting for her to say something about what had just happened. However, before she could say anything, she heard Bobby calling out to them.

Colin jumped up from the chair and opened the bedroom door. Bobby was already in the living room, and he was carrying the eavesdropping equipment in his hand.

“Sorry to bother you, but you really need to hear this. And I didn’t want to waste time with you getting downstairs.” Bobby spared them a questioning glance, but he looked away and put the equipment on the coffee table. “Boyd’s talking to Nicky Wayne again, and it doesn’t sound good.”

Both Colin and she walked closer, and it didn’t take long, just a couple of seconds, for Danielle to realize that Bobby was right. This didn’t sound good. Boyd was obviously agitated.

“No, I’m not calming down,” Boyd snapped. “Jerry Ortiz has been shot. And he’s dead.”

Oh, mercy. He knew.

“How did he find out about Jerry?” Colin asked.

Bobby shook his head. “From what I can determine, Nicky Wayne told him. I don’t know how Nicky found out, though.”

Any number of ways. After all, when Colin and she had left the Parrish house, an ambulance had been on the way. That would have alerted people, and in a small town like Kenner City, it was very hard to keep a secret.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Boyd continued. “They killed him. No. I’m not doing that.”

Whatever Nicky said to Boyd obviously didn’t get him to change his mind or calm him down because Boyd ended that call, and within seconds Colin’s phone rang.

“Yes, Boyd?” Colin answered, putting the call on speaker.

The first thing Danielle heard wasn’t Boyd, but Luke. It sounded as if he was crying. Oh, God. What was going on?

“You failed to mention to me that Jerry Ortiz was killed while you were at Ben Parrish’s house,” Boyd said to Colin. This certainly wasn’t the cocky tone they’d been dealing with over the past two days. Boyd sounded on the verge of a meltdown.

“I didn’t know you’d be interested,” Colin calmly answered.

“Well, I am. Why’d you kill him?”

“I didn’t. Another agent had to shoot him because he had someone from the crime lab at gunpoint.”

“Parrish’s wife,” Boyd spat out.

Luke’s sobs got louder.

“I need to speak to Luke,” Danielle whispered, tugging at Colin’s shirtsleeve. With Boyd’s short fuse and obvious agitation, she didn’t want Luke’s crying to set the man off.

“How’s Luke?” Colin calmly asked, though there was nothing calm about his body language. His jaw was so tight she was surprised he could speak.

“The kid’s upset because I made him stop playing his video game when I made some calls. All those beeps and noises were driving me crazy.”

“He’s crying,” Colin supplied. “Dr. Connolly is here, and she should talk to him.”

“No. No more talking. I want out of here. You’ve got thirty minutes.”

Colin didn’t groan out loud, but she saw that silent groan in his expression. “Thirty minutes isn’t enough time.”

“Well, that’s all the time you’re getting. No games, Colin. No attempts to gun me down the way you did Jerry. Get the helicopter and the money up here now! Or it’ll be Luke who pays the price.”

Chapter Fourteen

This was not how Colin wanted things to go down.

Even though Boyd had already hung up, Colin handed the phone to Danielle. “Try to get Boyd to talk to you. While you’re doing that, I’ll call for the helicopter and money.”

She nodded and took the phone. It would take a miracle for her to keep both Boyd and Luke calm, but if anyone could do it, it was Danielle.

While she made the call, Colin used Bobby’s cell to phone his office so they could dispatch a secure call to Tom Ryan. The agent answered on the first ring.

“We have a problem,” Colin started. “I need the chopper and money ASAP. Boyd learned that Jerry was killed, and he’s panicking. I have to get the hostage out of there.” He swallowed hard. “Boyd only gave me thirty minutes.”

“That’s not enough time.”

“Yeah. I know. How soon can you make everything happen?”

“An hour. Maybe forty-five minutes if everything falls into place.”

“Make everything fall into place, and get some men down here for backup,” Colin insisted. Tom sprang into action. Colin heard him tell someone to dispatch the chopper.

“Danielle’s on the phone with Boyd now,” Colin explained when Tom came back on the line. “I’m hoping she can stabilize the situation with the boy, and then I can get Boyd to accept that we need more time.”

But Colin didn’t hear Tom’s response because it was at that moment that Danielle said something that grabbed his complete attention.

“What do you mean Luke’s missing?” she asked Boyd.

“Hold on a sec,” Colin told Tom, and he stepped closer so he could hear what was going on.

Danielle put the phone on speaker. “The kid’s hiding or something,” Boyd snarled. “So help me, God, he’d better come out now, or he’ll regret it.”

“Luke’s probably scared,” Danielle said. “He’s just a little boy, and he knows something is terribly wrong. He can’t help his response.”

“Well, he’d better damn well help it. I’m not playing around here—”

“I know,” Danielle interrupted. She was trembling, but that didn’t come through in her voice. “Just stay calm.” She paused, glanced at Colin. “Maybe I can come closer to the estate, maybe onto the porch, and that way I can call out to Luke. He might come to me.”

Now, it was Boyd’s turn to pause. “You’d do that?”

Hell, no, she wouldn’t. Colin started to grab the phone and tell Boyd that Danielle wouldn’t be making a trip to the estate, but Tom’s voice interrupted him.

“Having Danielle go makes sense,” Tom said. He’d obviously been able to hear the other conversation since it was on speaker.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Colin snapped, and since he didn’t want Boyd to listen in on this argument, he moved to the bedroom and lowered his voice. “Going up to the estate could be beyond dangerous for her.”

“Colin, you’re thinking like Danielle’s husband and not like an agent. Luke could be hurt if Boyd finds him. You just said you had to get the hostage out of there.”

“Yeah. But I didn’t mean by sending in Danielle.”

Tom mumbled some profanity. “You and Danielle have made several trips to the estate, and Boyd hasn’t hurt either of you.”

It was a lousy argument. One that wouldn’t work. Boyd was armed, dangerous and desperate. “She’s not going up there. End of discussion. I’ll get back on the line with Boyd and make him calm down. Just get me that chopper and the account number for the ransom. And get Dylan or somebody down here now. I want backup I can trust.”

“I already have agents and a SWAT team on the way,” Tom assured him. “Dylan should be there in less than ten minutes. He was up there trying to clear out a tunnel.”

Colin latched right on to that. “Any luck with that?”

“Some. He managed to get one of the barricade doors open on the tunnel that leads to the back of the estate house, but we haven’t had a chance to check for explosives. We certainly can’t risk sending a SWAT team through there. Don’t worry, Colin. We’ll sort all of this out and get you some backup.”

But he was worrying. Colin hung up and went back into the living room to take the cell phone from Danielle.

But she wasn’t there.

Bobby was standing in the room, looking poleaxed, and he pointed to the open door. “She left.”

Hell!

Colin raced to the door, but Danielle obviously had a head start. She was already making her way up the steps, and Boyd was there. Standing in the doorway. Waiting for her. Boyd was armed, but didn’t aim his gun at her.

For now, anyway.

Colin put his right hand on the gun tucked in the back waist of his pants, and he hurried up the hill. But Boyd stepped from the doorway when he spotted him. Now, Boyd aimed his gun. At Colin.

“Don’t come any closer,” Boyd yelled. “The doc is the only one I want up here. You just concentrate on getting me that money and helicopter.”

Danielle looked back at him and gave him what she probably meant to be a reassuring nod. It didn’t work. The only thing that would reassure him at this point was for her to go back into the guesthouse.

“I’ll try to find Luke,” Danielle said. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out to the little boy. “It’s me, Dr. Connolly. Luke, I need to talk to you.”

If the child answered, Colin couldn’t hear him, and to make matters worse, the cell phone in his hand rang. From the caller ID, he could see that it was the Kenner County Crime Unit. There sure as hell better not be more bad news because he already had enough.

“Agent Forester,” he answered. Even though it was only drizzling, it was heavy enough for him to have to wipe the rain from his face.

“Colin, this is Callie. Tom just called and said Danielle was thinking about going to the estate so she could talk with Boyd.”

“It’s true. She’s already there.”

“Oh, God.” And Callie repeated that several times. Judging from her tone and choice of refrain, this sounded like a lot more than just concern for a friend. “You have to get her out. Now. It’s too dangerous for her.”

“I know. I’m about to talk to Boyd.”

“Do whatever it takes to get her out. Danielle shouldn’t be doing this in her condition.” Callie stopped and cursed. Other than some static, there was no other sound for several moments. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Everything inside him went still.

“Her condition?” Colin questioned.

Callie didn’t answer right away, and even though this conversation had become critical, Colin kept his attention nailed to Danielle and Boyd. She was still calling out Luke’s name.

“Danielle wouldn’t have wanted you to find out this way,” Callie continued. Another long pause. “But she’s pregnant.”

“Pregnant?”

Danielle was pregnant?

That knocked the breath out of him.

Hell. Everything suddenly started to make sense. Her dizzy spells. The slight weight gain. The secret he’d overheard her mention to Callie. He’d known something was wrong, but he’d never suspected this.

Pregnant!

“Colin?” Callie questioned. “Are you still there?”

“Oh, I’m here, all right,” he managed to say. “It’s my baby?” But he already knew the answer.

It was his.

“Yes,” Callie verified. “She’s nearly four months. She said it happened just about the time you guys broke up.”

No more stillness inside him. It took every ounce of his resolve not to crush the phone in his hand.

How could Danielle have done this to him?

How could she have not told him that he was going to be a father?

How!

Colin groaned and pressed the phone so hard against his ear that he would have a bruise. He didn’t care. The pain stopped him from yelling at Danielle. But the desire to yell at her didn’t last long.

Danielle stopped calling out Luke’s name. Boyd had latched on to her arm.

“No!” Colin shouted, but he couldn’t hear the sound of his own voice because of the pounding in his head.

Boyd didn’t listen. He didn’t even look down at Colin. Danielle did, though.

Her startled gaze connected with Colin’s for just a split second before Boyd put the gun to her head and shoved her inside.

DANIELLE HAD KNOWN that Boyd was upset, but she hadn’t realized he was desperate. Without Luke, he didn’t have a hostage.

Well, not until he’d put that gun to her head.

She had to get out of this. She couldn’t panic. Couldn’t overreact because she had to think of Luke and her baby. She had to calm Boyd down and get this situation under control.

With the fierce grip he had on her arm, he dragged her toward the massive window in the living room. She couldn’t see the guesthouse because of the sloping grounds, but she could still see Colin standing on the front lawn. He seemed oblivious to the rain and was staring at the house. She didn’t think it was her imagination that he was furious.

At her, no doubt.

He hadn’t wanted her to try to talk to Boyd, and maybe he’d been right about her walking into the lion’s den. But she had to do something to help Luke.

Boyd’s phone rang. It was clipped to his belt, and he glanced down at it. “It’s Colin,” he let her know. He flipped it open and said, “Get back to the guesthouse now. We’ll talk when the chopper arrives.”

Boyd didn’t wait for Colin to answer. He hung up, hooked the phone back on his belt and stared out the window with her. Colin was mumbling something. Probably profanity. And then he turned and hurried back to the guesthouse. He wouldn’t wait quietly there, she knew. Colin was probably already planning a way to get Luke and her out. She prayed he’d succeed.

“Call out to Luke again,” Boyd insisted. “Make the kid come out from wherever he’s hiding.”

Danielle opened her mouth to do that but then stopped. “Let Luke go.”

Boyd moved directly behind her, and she couldn’t see his expression. Hopefully, he couldn’t see hers, either, because she was certain she looked terrified.

And was.

Her unborn baby was in serious danger, and worse, it was only a matter of time before Colin did something drastic to get her out. He might even storm the place, and that could be disastrous for all of them.

If she could talk Boyd into releasing Luke that might make it easier for her to escape. She wouldn’t have to worry about what Boyd might do to Luke if she didn’t cooperate. This was the first step to her own freedom.

Besides, she’d gotten Luke into this by suggesting that he hide, which was obviously what he was doing. So, in a sense this was her fault, too. She’d only meant to help him. In case he needed to get away from a dangerous situation. She had no way of knowing that it would be turned against him.

“A child is only going to weigh you down,” Danielle said. She cleared her throat to get rid of some of the strain in her voice. “And a boy his size won’t make a very good human shield. Think about it.”

Boyd apparently did think about it because he stayed quiet. What he didn’t do was agree.

“I’ll make a better hostage,” she pressed. “Besides, the helicopter and money will be here soon. Things will go a lot smoother if you don’t have to bother with releasing a three-year-old.”

“All right,” Boyd finally said. “Call out to him. Tell him to go into the yard and then to the guesthouse.”

Danielle nodded and prayed that this would work. “Luke? It’s Dr. Connolly. You have to trust me because I’m going to get you back to your dad. So, if you can hear me, come out so I can see you.”

There was no response, and then she noticed the intercom on the wall. “I need to use that,” she told Boyd. “This is a big place, and he could be hiding anywhere. He might not be able to hear me from this room.”

“Make it quick,” he snarled, shoving her toward the intercom.

Danielle pressed the button and got ready to call out Luke’s name, but then she heard the sound behind them. Boyd whirled around, dragging her with him.

And there was Luke.

The little blond-haired boy climbed out from the massive stone hearth fireplace and brushed off his jeans and his Spider-Man T-shirt. He certainly didn’t look as if he’d been through a horrible ordeal. Well, not until she studied his big brown eyes. There was the fear. And she could tell he’d been crying.

“Hi,” Danielle forced herself to say. “Are you okay, Luke?”

He nodded. “I was hiding.”

“Yes, I noticed.” She glanced back at Boyd. “But you can leave now, so you don’t need to hide anymore.”

His eyes brightened immediately. “I can really go to my daddy?”

“You can really go,” she assured him, even though her words were broken and clipped with emotion.

“Leave through the front door,” Boyd instructed. “Go to the guesthouse. And tell them to stay put. Got that?”

“Yup. I tell them to stay put.” He ran straight for the door but then stopped and looked back at Danielle. “Are you coming with me, Dr. Connolly?”

“No!” Boyd snarled.

“Not right now,” Danielle explained. She forced a smile. “Go ahead. I’ll talk to you soon, Luke. Say hi to your dad and mom for me.”

“I will.” Luke waved at her, opened the door and hurried out.

Boyd was right there to shut the door and lock it. He also took out his phone. He was so close that she could hear the ringing when he made a call.

Colin answered.

“Luke’s on his way down to you,” Boyd told him.

“What about Dr. Connolly?” Colin immediately asked.

“She’s staying with me until the chopper gets here.”

Danielle heard Colin’s silence and knew what he was thinking. They couldn’t trust Boyd, and he might intend to take her on the helicopter. In some ways she would be a preferable hostage to a child. But that also meant he might be more inclined to kill her when she was no longer needed as a human shield.

“I want to talk to her,” Colin insisted.

Boyd cursed under his breath and pushed the phone against her ear. “Make it quick.”

“Can Boyd hear me?” Colin asked, his voice an angry whisper.

“Probably.” Though Boyd had moved several inches away so he could look out the window. “Did Luke make it to you yet?”

“He’s almost here. He’s just outside the guesthouse.”

Thank God. Luke was safe. Now, she could concentrate on her own situation.

Which wasn’t looking especially good.

“I’m getting you out of there,” Colin insisted, his voice still low but heavy with emotion. “Oh, and Danielle? I know about the baby.”

Oh. God.

Colin knew. He knew! How the heck had he found out?

The timing couldn’t have been worse. And that explained the anger she heard in his voice. He was furious with her for not telling him.

“I’m sorry,” she said, but she was talking to herself because Boyd jerked the phone from her ear and jabbed the end call button.

“Come on.” Boyd latched on to her arm and started moving again.

“Where are you taking me?” Danielle asked.

“To a place where I can watch the badges. Especially Colin. Because here’s the deal.” Boyd jammed the gun against her head. “If he tries to pull a fast one and rescue you, then both of you will die right here, right now. And that includes the baby you’re carrying.”

Chapter Fifteen

Since he was in earshot of Bobby’s eavesdropping equipment, Colin heard the threat that Boyd made to Danielle.

And that includes the baby you’re carrying.

Even more, Boyd was expecting an attack of some kind and had no doubt gone to watch the security cameras.

Colin had to get Danielle out of there. But first, he had to deal with the boy who was making a beeline for the guesthouse. The kid looked so little, too little, to have been put through this ordeal.

Colin threw open the door, and Luke came to a skidding halt on the wet grass. The kid didn’t trust him. With good reason. After nearly three days with the likes of Boyd Perkins, Colin wouldn’t have been in a trusting mood, either.

“It’s all right,” Colin assured him. “I’m Agent Forester.”

Luke nodded. “Dr. Connolly said you’re okay.”

“I am.”

But Colin wondered if that was true.

After all, his own wife hadn’t been able to tell him one of the most important things that would ever happen to a couple. Danielle obviously didn’t trust him. Still, that was a thought he had to save for later. He needed to get the boy inside and out of the potential line of fire. Danielle had risked her life to make sure Luke was safe, and Colin wasn’t going to do anything to cancel out her sacrifice.

Without trying to alarm the boy, Colin gently ushered Luke inside and made a visual check to see if he was all right. Definitely no signs of trauma.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Colin asked.

Luke shook his head. “But I really don’t want to be with Mr. Perkins anymore.”

“I know you don’t, and you won’t have to be. You’re safe now.” Colin pointed to the sofa where Bobby was sitting with the equipment. “That’s Mr. Bobby O’Shea, and he’s going to watch you until your daddy gets here.”

“My daddy’s coming?” The kid sounded so hopeful that it nearly broke Colin’s heart.

“Yeah. He’s coming.” Bobby had already called Luke’s father, Griffin Vaughn.

One day, if he got very lucky, he’d be there for his own child when it really mattered. Though he didn’t know how any father could endure this.

There were some bumping sounds by the closet door, and several seconds later, Dylan emerged from the stairs. He was out of breath and had probably raced through the tunnel to get to them. Dylan spotted Luke and smiled, but the smile was short-lived.

Dylan whipped his attention to Colin. “How did you get him out?”

“I didn’t. Danielle traded places with him.”

“And you let her?” Dylan practically shouted.

“No. I didn’t let her. She went on her own when I was talking to Tom.” Colin nearly cursed but then remembered the little boy in the room. “Did you know that Danielle’s pregnant?”

Dylan shook his head and mumbled the profanity that Colin had bitten off. “Boyd says he’ll let her go?”

“Yeah.” But they both knew that wasn’t worth the breath Boyd had used to make that assurance. No, Boyd would try to take her with him so that the badges would back off. And when Boyd was free and away from there, he’d kill her.

But Colin intended to stop that from happening.

“The helicopter is about twenty-five minutes out. If the weather doesn’t slow him down,” Dylan explained. He handed Colin a piece of paper. “That’s the number of the offshore account with the ransom money.”

Colin took the paper and shoved it into his pants pocket. He took out his gun and checked the clip. He was loaded up, but he still grabbed two other clips from the kitchen cabinets where he’d hidden them. Colin shoved those into his pocket, as well.

“Where’s the SWAT team?” Colin asked Dylan.

“Assembling on the road. They’ll be ready in ten, maybe fifteen minutes.” Dylan paused and watched Colin position the gun in the waist of his pants. “Why?”

“Because I might need them.” He turned to the boy sitting next to Bobby. “Luke, where did Mr. Perkins take you when you were watching the security cameras?”

“You mean the boring pictures of the yard and places like that?”

Colin nodded. To a kid, those would be boring pictures, and who knew how long Boyd had made Luke sit there watching them. But to Colin, he was hoping those boring pictures would be a distraction, one that would prevent Boyd from realizing that his plan was about to fail.

“They’re not like TV. They don’t show cartoons or anything, and they’re in my dad’s little office. Not the one upstairs where he does work,” Luke explained. “This one is by the kitchen.”

It was a lot to ask of a three-year-old to give him specific directions, but Colin desperately needed them. “If you go through the back door, where is this room?”

“Well, if you go in the back door, you gotta be careful ’cause it’s raining, and the floor might be all slippery. But you wipe your feet and walk through the kitchen and go that way.” He pointed to his right. “The office is on that side.” And then he pointed to his left. “It’s got a whole bunch of little TVs, but I’m not allowed to touch ’em because they’ll break.”

“Thanks. Dr. Connolly will really appreciate you telling me.”

“Mr. Perkins locks the door,” Luke added.

Of course he did. Boyd wouldn’t make any of this easy.

Colin looked at Bobby. “Go ahead and take Luke through the front tunnel to the road. And call his dad so he can get out of here.”

He wanted that reunion to take place soon, and Colin didn’t want Luke this close to the estate in case something went wrong. The guesthouse had windows, and bullets could easily eat their way through the glass.

“What do you think you’re going to do?” Dylan asked.

“I don’t think it. I will do it.” Colin pointed to the eavesdropping equipment. “I need you to monitor that. If something goes wrong inside the estate, call me. I’ll have my cell set to vibrate.” And he did just that so that Boyd wouldn’t be able to hear the phone if it rang.

Bobby caught on to Luke’s hand and helped the boy down the stairs and into the tunnel. Within minutes, maybe less, Luke would be safe.

“What are you planning?” Dylan demanded.

Colin ignored his question. “How do I get to the tunnel that you cleared, the one that leads to the back of the estate?”

Dylan’s hands went to his hips. “You mean the tunnel that might have explosives in it?”

“Yeah. That one.” Colin got right in his face. “And before you say I’m not going, just think of it this way. What if it were your pregnant wife in there with Boyd?”

A muscle stirred in Dylan’s jaw. And he finally nodded. “Go down into the closet tunnel and head right. It’ll take you to the road where you’ll see a small yellow flag to mark the other tunnel entrance. It leads directly under the estate.”

“Thanks.” Colin started for the tunnel steps but stopped when he remembered one final detail. “I might need the SWAT for a diversion so have them ready to respond.”

“I will.” Dylan slapped him on the arm. “Good luck.”

Oh, he needed good luck and then some. He had to do everything humanly possible to get to Danielle before the helicopter arrived. Because if Boyd managed to get her off the grounds, Colin knew in his heart he’d never see her alive again.

And with that thought, he barreled down the tunnel steps and started to run.

BOYD FORCED HER INTO A ROOM filled with security monitors. He shut the door, locked it and shoved her into one of the two chairs. The floor was littered with empty bags of chips and other snacks, and there were dirty dishes on the desktops. Boyd had obviously spent some time in here.

“Don’t move,” he warned Danielle.

She didn’t, but she did look around for a possible escape route. Since there were no windows, the only way out was the door, and Boyd was between it and her. Besides, he had his gun, and Danielle knew he wouldn’t hesitate to use it on her.

There was no movement on any of the screens, even though they seemed to display every angle of the property. Including the guesthouse. No sign of Luke, which meant he’d already made it inside.

God knew the chaos that was going on in the guesthouse. Colin was no doubt scrambling to come up with a solution to get her out. There was only one problem with that. Boyd wouldn’t hesitate to kill Colin, either.

Boyd’s phone rang, and while he volleyed nervous glances between the screens and her, he answered it and put it on speaker.

“Boyd, it’s me.”

Colin. Just the sound of his voice made her feel better, though he did seem out of breath.

“I’m kinda busy here,” Boyd barked.

“I know, but I wanted to give you an update. I have the numbers for the ransom account in my hand. And the helicopter should be here any minute. I’ll meet you at the chopper to give you the numbers, and you can give me Danielle.”

“I don’t want you or any other badges near the chopper. I already made that clear.”

“Then how is the exchange going to happen?” Not a question exactly. More like a challenge.

“Easy. You’ll give me the numbers over the phone, and I’ll release the doc.”

Boyd was lying, and the icy glance he gave her confirmed that.

He wasn’t planning to let her go.

“Did Danielle tell you she’s pregnant?” Colin asked.

Boyd shrugged. “It didn’t come up in conversation.” Though he still had a panicked look in his eyes, that was similar to the same cocky comebacks he’d been giving throughout this hostage situation. “Does that mean some rug rat will be calling you daddy soon?”

“It means that I’ll kill you if you hurt her.”

The threat caused Boyd to snap to attention. And because she was watching him so closely, she saw the panic go up a notch. For just a second. And then Boyd tried to wrestle it back under control.

“That’s not your negotiator’s voice, Colin. You having an emotional moment here?”

“I’m not just a negotiator. I’m a federal agent. I know how to kill.”

“So do I,” Boyd reminded him. “And unlike you, I’m not bothered by a pesky conscience or an oath sworn to a badge.”

“But you have no reason to hurt Danielle. We’re giving you every demand you’ve requested.”

“Right, no reason. Just don’t give me one, okay?”

She heard the sound of the helicopter approaching and knew that time was running out. “May I say something to Colin?” she asked.

Boyd debated it and finally nodded, along with a smile. He knew there was an intimate connection between Colin and her, and if it worked to his advantage, Boyd would exploit it.

“Colin?” she said, leaning in closer to the phone.

“I’m here.”

She opened her mouth and rethought the goodbye she’d been about to say. Because she didn’t want to make it sound as if she were giving up. She wasn’t. Couldn’t give up. Her precious child’s life was at stake, and she had to do whatever was necessary to stay alive.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the baby.”

“Oh, this is so touching,” Boyd snarled before Colin could respond. “But I’m already tired of this conversation. When the helicopter lands, I’ll phone you with final instructions.” He hung up and clipped the phone to his belt.

Boyd looked at her. “Don’t think for one minute that your pregnancy means anything to me. Because one way or another, I’m getting out of here alive, and if I have to sacrifice somebody to make that happen, that somebody will be you. Got it?”

Since she didn’t trust her voice, Danielle settled for a nod.

“Good.” Boyd returned the nod. “When we go outside to get on the chopper, you’ll need to make it clear to your hubby to back off. Got that?”

She nodded. But Colin wouldn’t back off. And he might die trying to save her.

The helicopter came into view, and the sound of the blades whipped through the air. Boyd snatched her arm. Forced her to stand. “It’s showtime, Doc.”

He unlocked the door and shoved her into the corridor ahead of him. They headed toward the kitchen and the back exit.

His phone rang, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Boyd glance down. Danielle also saw something else. In the kitchen.

Colin.

Somehow, he’d gotten into the house without being seen.

“Get down!” Colin yelled.

She automatically dropped to the floor, protecting her stomach from the fall.

Colin fired.

But Boyd dove to the side. He fired, too. And Danielle watched in horror as the bullet slammed into Colin.

Chapter Sixteen

Even over the deafening noise of the chopper, Colin heard Danielle scream.

He couldn’t call out to her, because of the searing pain that robbed him of his voice. He had to clamp his teeth over his bottom lip to keep from groaning.

He scrambled behind a kitchen island. Not easily. But he got out of the immediate line of fire and clamped his left hand over his leg. Boyd’s bullet had sliced through the outside of his lower thigh. He didn’t think it’d hit the bone but instead had gone clean through. That was the good news.

The bad news was that he was bleeding, bad.

Colin forced aside the pain and tried to pick through the chopper noise so he could hear whatever was happening to Danielle. He’d gotten just a glimpse of her when Boyd had shoved her out of the surveillance room. She appeared to be unharmed, but that might not last. Boyd was on the offensive, and he would kill whoever got in his way.

Colin thought of another hostage situation. The one in Mesa Ridge where the woman had been killed. He hadn’t been able to save her.

He’d failed.

But he couldn’t let that failure affect this. He squeezed his eyes shut for just a second and tried to put those fatal images out of his mind.

“Colin?” Boyd shouted.

Two things happened simultaneously. Colin’s phone buzzed, and the noise from the helicopter stopped. The pilot had obviously already landed and had turned off the engine. And the call was probably from Dylan. However, Colin couldn’t risk answering it. He didn’t want Boyd to hear the sound of his voice and use it to pinpoint his exact location.

Colin was going to play dead.

That was his best defense right now, since it might lure Boyd out. After all, the man needed to get to the helicopter and get the account numbers.

“Call out to him,” Boyd snarled. No doubt talking to Danielle.

Colin prayed that she would cooperate.

She didn’t.

Because a few moments later, Boyd repeated the order, this time in a much sterner voice, and Colin heard Danielle make a sound of pain.

Colin couldn’t just lie there and let Boyd hurt her. Trying not to be heard, Colin inched his way to the end of the kitchen island. Hell. He couldn’t see them.

“Colin?” Danielle said. Man, her voice was so shaky, and she had to be terrified. He certainly was. Someone like Boyd killed as easily as he breathed, and he had Danielle at gunpoint. “Are you…all right?”

He wished he could assure her that he was. Well, he was close to being all right anyway. He’d need a doctor soon but not before he took care of this piece of slime who was holding his wife hostage.

“If you can, answer me,” Danielle added, no doubt following Boyd’s whispered instructions.

Since this angle wasn’t working, Colin maneuvered himself to the other end of the kitchen island. He could finally see them, thank God. Boyd was in the corridor, and he had Danielle positioned in front of him.

He had the gun pressed to her head.

Danielle was too pale, and her bottom lip was trembling. She had her left hand clasped protectively over her stomach. The gesture tore at his heart because they both knew if bullets started flying her hand wouldn’t be much protection for the baby.

“Colin!” Boyd shouted. “Last chance. Come out or your wife pays the consequences.”

It was a bluff. Boyd needed Danielle alive and mobile for now so he could use her as a shield to get to the helicopter. However, after that, well, Colin didn’t want to think beyond the moment.

Colin watched Boyd, waiting for the man to move. Once he started for the door, maybe he would turn and put Danielle in front of him. Then, Colin might have a shot.

Might.

Boyd was about five or six inches taller than Danielle so that meant unless Boyd ducked down to completely conceal himself, Colin or another agent would possibly have a clean kill. But not without risks. Because when it came to Danielle, a bullet only five or six inches from her head was too damn close.

Boyd’s phone rang, the sound rifling through the otherwise silent room. Colin used the sound to muffle his own movement, and he maneuvered himself from the island to the edge of the kitchen cabinets.

Another ring.

Then another.

Finally, Boyd answered, and he put the call on speaker.

“Boyd?” the caller said. “This is Special Agent Dylan Acevedo.”

“Where’s Colin?” Boyd asked, knowing full well that he was somewhere in the kitchen. Either alive or dead.

“I’m not sure,” Dylan responded. “Last I saw him he was taking Luke Vaughn back to his parents.”

“Well, he made a detour. My guess is he used the tunnels and somehow got into the house.” Boyd paused. “I killed him a few minutes ago.”

A sob tore from Danielle, and even though Dylan didn’t react, Colin figured the man was probably having plenty of reactions that they couldn’t hear. For one thing, he was likely calling for the SWAT team. Colin only prayed that the team did a silent approach. He didn’t want to give Boyd any excuse to start shooting.

“You got the account number for my money?” Boyd asked Dylan.

“Yes. I’ll give it to you as soon as you’ve released Dr. Connolly.”

“The release will happen when I’m in the chopper. But remember, I want no badges anywhere around. That includes you. When I’m on board, call me with the account number. Once I confirm it, I’ll release the doc.”

“I’ll release all but the last two numbers until Dr. Connolly is free.”

“Nice try,” Boyd tossed back. “But I keep the doc until I have the full account number and have verified that the money doesn’t have any tracers on it.”

“Then what assurance do I have that you’ll really let her go?” Dylan asked.

“None. Other than my word,” Boyd added. “Stay away from the house because I’m coming out now.”

That was Colin’s cue to get ready. Boyd put his phone back in place and hooked his left arm around Danielle’s neck, putting her in a choke hold. He moved toward the back door, pushing her and keeping her ahead of him.

Colin used Boyd’s steps to muffle the sound of his own movement. Inch by excruciating inch, he got into place.

And then he waited.

It seemed to take an eternity for Boyd and Danielle to walk those ten feet or so to the back door. Boyd kept Danielle in front of him while he unlocked the door. He didn’t open it. Probably wouldn’t. Because there was no way Boyd would want to back his way out onto the porch and the yard. Instead, he turned to the side and pressed Danielle right against him with her back to his chest.

Colin didn’t have a shot.

Yet.

Boyd peered out into the yard, but he also kept glancing back into the kitchen. Colin prayed the man didn’t look in his direction because he needed the element of surprise. And plenty of luck. While he was praying, Colin added that he hoped Danielle would see what was happening and dive safely out of the way.

Still sideways, Boyd stepped through the doorway with Danielle, and he started to turn, so he could place her in front of him.

Colin got to his feet and ignored the pain in his leg. He took aim. But something must have alerted Boyd because he spun back around. Before Colin could get off a shot, Boyd shoved Danielle in front of him again.

Hell.

He’d failed.

Colin met Danielle’s gaze, and in her eyes he saw all the fears and the emotions that were no doubt mirrored in his own.

Boyd, however, smiled. But it wasn’t a smile of triumph or even confidence. The man looked ready to snap. With reason. He was standing outside and no doubt realized the possibility of other agents nearby who were ready to descend on him.

“If you shoot me,” Boyd warned, “the last thing I’ll do is pull the trigger and put a bullet in her. No more wife. No more baby.”

And with that warning, Boyd put the gun right to Danielle’s temple, and he started across the porch toward the helicopter.

“COLIN,” Danielle said under her breath.

She didn’t dare shout his name for fear he would take it as a call for help and come rushing after her.

Then Boyd might shoot him again.

God, Colin was already hurt and bleeding, and even though he’d been able to stand, he needed to get to the hospital. Fast. She had to do something to help because the thought of him in pain or dying nearly brought her to her knees.

Danielle tried to dig in her heels, but Boyd dragged her right along with him. The porch spanned the entire width of the house, but it wouldn’t be long before he had her in the yard and on that helicopter.

That couldn’t happen.

Boyd turned to the side again, probably so he could watch both the back door and the yard. “Keep moving,” he snarled.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Colin peer out from the door. Boyd apparently did, too, because he immediately turned his gun in that direction and fired.

Danielle yelled for Colin to get down, but she wasn’t even sure he heard her over the deafening sound of that shot. Boyd’s gun was so close to her ear that the blast pounded through her head.

Colin ducked back out of sight, and Boyd didn’t waste any time getting her to move again. He dragged Danielle to the edge of the porch where there was a set of stone and concrete steps. He made it to the first one before Colin darted out again. He didn’t fire.

But Boyd did.

The bullet tore through a chunk of the wooden doorframe right next to where Colin had been standing before he ducked back out of sight.

“You want her dead?” Boyd shouted, hauling her down onto the second step. “Because that’s what’ll happen if you don’t back off.”

There were only three more steps to go before Boyd would have her in the yard. Danielle knew she had to do something now to stop this.

But what?

Anything was a risk, and she didn’t want Colin leaving cover to rush out into what would be a suicide mission. She couldn’t lose him. He was too important to her for that. And even though the timing was horrible, Danielle realized something else.

How much she still loved him.

But she might never get a chance to tell him.

Boyd went down another step. And Danielle decided to make her move. Such that it was. It certainly wasn’t some grand plan, but she had no weapon, no way to defend herself against this much stronger man. The only thing she had going for her was gravity.

“Colin!” she shouted again, hoping that it would distract Boyd for just a second.

Whether it worked, she didn’t know. Danielle didn’t look back. Nor did she give herself time to have second thoughts.

She dove to the side of the steps.

And hit the ground. She landed on her right side and shoulder, and the pain shot through her. She ignored it and scrambled away from the steps.

She didn’t get far.

Boyd cursed and reached down for her. His hand was mere inches away from latching on to her and using her again as his shield.

“Boyd!” she heard Colin yell out.

Boyd turned. Aimed his gun. At Colin.

And he fired.

Colin fired, too. Two shots. The bullets blasted one right after the other.

Both shots went into Boyd’s chest.

But he didn’t fall.

Danielle had no idea how he could continue to stand after taking two bullets to the chest. However, he did. She could only lie there and watch in horror as Boyd re-aimed his gun. Not at Colin.

At her.

Danielle turned to try to brace herself for the impact, but it didn’t come. There was another blast. Colin had fired another shot. This one hit Boyd in the head.

The man froze. For mere seconds. But his eyes were blank and lifeless and blood trickled down his face. He tumbled into a limp heap at the bottom of the stairs, his equally lifeless hand landing against her arm.

She struggled to get up from the ground, and she saw the movement all around them. SWAT team members. And Dylan. He was racing across the yard right toward her.

“Colin?” she called out.

But he didn’t come. Dylan got to her first. “An ambulance is on the way,” he let her know.

“For Colin. He needs a doctor now. He’s been shot.” She tried to get up again, but Dylan gently held her in place.

“The ambulance is for you, too,” Dylan said.

Danielle looked up at him and blinked, not understanding.

“The fall,” he said, “it could have hurt your baby.”

Chapter Seventeen

“Can you hurry it up?” Colin asked the doctor again.

“Almost done,” Dr. Barnwell mumbled, though the craggy-faced MD in the small-town hospital didn’t seem to know the meaning of the expression. He’d been “almost done” stitching Colin’s leg for a half hour now.

Each of those minutes felt like an eternity.

Colin didn’t have a cell phone. He’d lost that in the gun fight with Boyd. Or maybe it’d happened on the ambulance ride or while they’d been rushing him into X-ray to make sure the bullet wasn’t still inside him.

Either way, he didn’t have a way to call anyone and find out how Danielle was.

And Colin hadn’t seen her since the shooting.

Two ambulances had arrived at the estate at the same time, within minutes after Colin had fired the last shot, and the medics had whisked Danielle away while they were stabilizing Colin’s own injury. But he didn’t care about his gunshot wound to the leg. He only cared about seeing her.

Yes, he was mad at her for not telling him about the baby. And he was furious with her for going into the estate so that Boyd could hold her hostage.

But he was more furious with himself.

He only hoped she would talk to him and let him explain why he’d acted like an idiot.

“I have to get out of here,” he told the doctor. Maybe if he reworded his urgency, the man would understand.

“Yes. You’ve made that clear.”

Colin scrubbed his hand over his face. “You don’t seem to understand. I’m worried about my wife.”

“I’ve already told you she’s fine. The nurse gave me a report before I came in here to see you.”

Colin knew that, but he had to see for himself. Besides, that was a half hour ago. She might have started bleeding. She might be losing the baby.

And if so, it would be all his fault.

He hadn’t been able to kill Boyd before Danielle had been reduced to taking drastic action. That fall from the porch steps could have hurt her and the baby.

Thankfully, the doctor finally stood up and peeled off his latex gloves. “You got about two dozen stitches, but the wound is clean, and I don’t think you’ll have any problems if you stay off it for a while. I’ve already given you a shot for the pain, but I’ll write you scrips for antibiotics and oral painkillers.”

Yeah, yeah. Colin got off the examining table and tried to stand. The pain shot through, but he ignored it and groped for the wheelchair that was next to the bed.

“Hold on,” the doctor growled. “You shouldn’t be on that leg.”

“I need to find my wife.”

“Not a chance. You’ve already been admitted to the hospital, and with your injuries, you have to stay in bed. Hospital rules. I’ll find her, and bring her back here to see you. Stay put,” the doctor ordered. “I’ll also get someone in here to help you change into a hospital gown.”

Colin glanced down at his jeans. The medic had cut the denim to expose the wound, and there were bloodstains on both the jeans and his shirt. He was a mess and would likely scare anyone in his path, but even that wouldn’t stop him.

“Stay put,” the doctor warned, and he headed out the door and disappeared down a corridor.

Colin didn’t intend to listen to that order. He reached for the wheelchair, and though the pain watered his eyes, he worked his way into it. To hell with hospital rules. To hell with anything that got in his way.

Since he’d never been in a wheelchair, it took him a few minutes to get the hang of maneuvering it. He bashed into the door, twice, but finally got out into the corridor. There was no sign of any of the agents, or Danielle, but he spotted a pay phone. He made a beeline to it, only to realize he didn’t have a wallet or any money.

Cursing, he was about to shout out Danielle’s name when he looked up the corridor and saw her walking toward him.

Was she real?

Or was this some hallucination brought on by the painkiller the doctor have given him?

“Please,” he mumbled, “let her be real.”

He wasn’t sure she was until she rushed toward him, and he readied himself to pull her into his arms. But then she stopped. And stared at him.

“Are you speaking to me?” she asked.

The relief was instant. Not only was she real, she also didn’t appear to be hurt. But this was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Is the baby all right?” he asked.

“Yes.” She nodded along with her response. “They did an ultrasound, and he’s fine.”

The painkiller might have been making him woozy, but Colin didn’t miss that. “He?”

Another nod, and tears sprang to her eyes. “I didn’t think they’d be able to tell the sex this soon, but they did. I hope it’s okay that I told you. I mean, I should have asked if you wanted to keep it a surprise.”

A son.

He was going to have a son.

“I’ve had enough surprises,” he mumbled.

Her lip quivered, the tears misted, and he realized she’d misinterpreted that.

“You’re angry,” Danielle said. “You have a right to be. I should have told you sooner.”

Oh, man. He didn’t want to put her through this. “You have a right to be angry, too.” Colin caught her hand and eased her closer. “I wasn’t a good husband to you. I put the job ahead of you. Ahead of us.”

She shook her head. “Because I was making your life hell with those fertility treatments.”

He eased her closer still until she was right next to him. “You never made my life hell.”

She stopped shaking her head and stared at him.

“Okay, maybe a few times, you did.” And because he didn’t want her to misinterpret his sick attempt at humor, he pulled her down for a kiss.

It was a simple touching of their lips, but it slammed through him and dulled the pain far better than any medication could have.

So, he kissed her again.

“Hey, you two, get a room,” someone called out. It was Dylan, and he was coming up the hall toward them.

Dylan glanced at both of them. “I’m guessing you’re both okay.” He tipped his head to her stomach. “And the baby?”

“He’s fine,” Colin announced. “He, as in a boy. We’re having a son.” And Colin grinned from ear to ear. In fact, he might never stop grinning.

Danielle smiled, too, and he hoped those tears streaming down her cheeks were of the happy variety.

“Congratulations,” Dylan said. “To all three of you.” He glanced behind him. “There’s someone who wants to see you both. Are you up to having a visitor?”

Dylan stepped to the side so Colin could see Luke. The little boy was at the end of the hall, and he was holding both his mom and dad’s hands.

“I’m up to seeing that visitor,” Danielle answered.

Colin felt the same way.

Dylan motioned for the boy to come closer, and Luke did. He practically sprinted up the hall, and his little face was beaming with happiness.

“Dr. Connolly and Agent Forester,” he said, enunciating Colin’s last name. He pointed to the pair who was slowly making their way to join him. “That’s my mom and dad. And I get to be with them now again ’cause of you.” He pointed first to Danielle and then to Colin. “Daddy said I should thank you, but I thought a hug would be better. Don’t you?”

“Much better,” Colin agreed.

Luke didn’t wait. He managed to maneuver himself around the wheelchair, and he gave Colin a fierce bear hug. He was gentler when it came to Danielle, and he pressed a quick kiss on her cheek. He turned, waved goodbye and hurried back to his parents.

“Thank you,” Griffin Vaughn mouthed. His wife did the same. Unlike their son, they were both obviously overcome with emotion.

Colin understood how they felt. Now that he had his own son on the way, he got that whole parent thing, and he knew just how thrilled Luke’s parents were to have him safely back with them.

“I need to get back into the office to deal with the paperwork,” Dylan said as they watched the Vaughns walk away. “Bobby O’Shea has volunteered to drive you anywhere you need to go, once the doctor has released you, of course. Oh, and you’re on medical leave.” He pointed to Colin. “Your boss says he doesn’t want to see you in the office for at least six weeks.”

“Make that two months,” Colin supplied. “And no more overtime.” He wanted to play catch up on all the things he’d missed in life.

If Danielle would let him, that is.

“Two months,” Dylan concurred, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile. “Good job, both of you. You rescued the hostage, took out a Mob hit man, and you’re both still in one piece. Well, sort of.” He shook hands with Colin and left.

And that left Danielle and him in silence.

She was nibbling on her bottom lip, something he should be doing, so Colin decided to do a major air clearing.

“I’m not mad at you,” he said. “In fact, I’m in love with you, Danielle.”

“You are?” Her voice was all breath, no sound. She grabbed him hard and kissed him. “Because I’m in love with you, too.”

Those words were pure magic, and a miracle Colin thought he might never hear again.

Smiling through the tears, she started to sit in his lap, and Colin braced himself for the pain, but she sat gingerly on the wheelchair arm instead.

“I swear, I’ll make things better in our marriage,” he promised.

“Things are already better,” she insisted. And she was so right.

She moved in for another kiss, but then she stopped. Froze. Her eyes widened. “The divorce.” She checked her watch. “It’s supposed to be final today.”

Danielle jumped up and reached for a cell phone, which obviously wasn’t there. Frantically, she looked around, but the only person in the hall was a tall brunette nurse.

“I need to use your cell,” Danielle told the nurse. “It’s an emergency. I need to call my attorney.”

Obviously alarmed, the nurse took a phone from her pocket and handed it to Danielle. She didn’t waste any time. With her hand trembling, she pressed in some numbers, and her attorney must have finally answered.

“Stop the divorce,” Danielle practically shouted into the phone.

Colin couldn’t hear the attorney’s response, but he saw Danielle’s face. And it wasn’t a happy expression.

She ended the call, handed the phone back to the nurse and shook her head. The tears started again. “I’m sorry. The judge signed the divorce papers about an hour ago.”

Colin rolled the wheelchair to her and moved to the edge of the seat so he could pull her into his arms. It hurt like the devil, but he didn’t care.

“We’ve divorced,” Danielle said. She dropped her head onto his shoulder and cried.

“So?” Colin challenged.

“So?” Her head left his shoulder and she stared at him with suddenly accusing eyes.

“So,” he repeated, “it just means I ask you to marry me again. And your answer is…?”

Danielle looked at him as if it were a trick question. Then, the smile started to lift the corner of her mouth. “Yes. My answer is yes.”

He’d expected to feel relief. And he did. He’d also expected to feel the love. He did. But he’d never felt it this strong and this unconditional.

“We’ll have another marriage ceremony,” she whispered. Then, her smile widened. “And another honeymoon.” She touched her tongue to her lip and winked at him.

“Oh, I love your dirty mind. Actually, I love everything about you. And you,” he added. He lifted her up a little so he could kiss her stomach.

And their unborn child.

“There’s only one condition,” he said. He pulled her back down to him and looked right into her eyes. “This time, it’s forever.”

“It always has been,” Danielle promised him.

And Colin knew that was true.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-3604-6

SHE’S POSITIVE

Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

www.eHarlequin.com

**Texas Paternity

*Five-Alarm Babies

*Five-Alarm Babies

*Five-Alarm Babies

*Five-Alarm Babies

*Five-Alarm Babies

†Texas Paternity: Boots and Booties

†Texas Paternity: Boots and Booties

†Texas Paternity: Boots and Booties