Hill Country Holdup

Stopping at the window, he watched the steady downpour of rain. Rising water would soon be their enemy, just like time. The longer the kidnappers took to return her son, the less likely he’d be found.

God, he was convinced. It surprised him how easily Jane had persuaded him. Yet, he knew she was holding something back.

“What’s next?” he asked her. “You said you were waiting to surface in San Antonio. When?”

“I need to be at the Alamo tomorrow morning at ten. They’re supposed to give me Rory,” she said.

Steve heard another choked sob, and his chest constricted tighter.

During their whirlwind romance, Jane had never cried. Their days and nights had been completely filled with laughter and love. Keeping his back to her now and maintaining his distance was one of the most difficult things he’d ever done. He tightened his grip on the window frame, but could only focus on her reflected image in the glass as she slipped the blanket from her shoulders. No woman’s tears had ever affected him this way.

“Steve—” her voice shook near the point of breaking “—you said the other little boy hadn’t been returned. Does that mean they won’t…that they may hurt Rory?”

Turning to her, he tried to reassure her, refusing to think about the possibilities connected to this strange MO. He wouldn’t stop until he found both boys. “He’ll be fine. We’ll find them both.”

“But—”

“No buts. We’ll leave as soon you can get some of Mom’s clothes and shoes, before the flooding gets worse.” He looked pointedly at the towel around her neck and smiled as reassuringly as he could. “The phone is out. I need to try my cell again since I couldn’t get a signal earlier.”

“What will happen if the police think I kidnapped the Brant child?” Her eyes widened and pleaded as she shook her head. “You can’t tell them I’m with you, Steve. Promise me. Rory needs me.”

“I promise to do everything I can to find him.”

She rose and the towel fell behind her as she walked to him with her shoulders back and face tilted to look him in the eyes. Her small hand flattened on his chest covering his heart. The rest of her body followed until he could rest his chin on the top of her head. He wanted to kiss her so badly he could barely get air into his lungs.

Would he ever be able to think straight around her?

“Please tell me I’m doing the right thing by trusting you,” she whispered. “They said not to let the FBI know, but I need you. I can’t do this alone.”

He put his arms around her, loving every miserable minute of agony it caused him. At that moment he didn’t care if it would jeopardize the operation. He didn’t care if his attachment was too strong and would cloud his judgment. He wanted Jane right where she was.

“We’ve got to call. It’s our only choice, Jane. Dallas doesn’t have any leads except you.” He let his words hang in the air a moment, but she didn’t respond. “They don’t know your neighbor is missing. If we find her, she may be able to give a description of the kidnappers.”

“I can’t let you take me back.” Barely shaking her head, she tightened her grip on his shirt. “Not until I’ve done what they said I have to do.” Her body trembled, an imperceptible tremor that could be associated with tears.

“It’s okay to cry, Jane,” he whispered in her ear.

“No, it’s not. It achieves nothing and keeps me from thinking. But I miss Rory. What if he’s scared and is crying for me?”

“You can’t think of that.” He could say the same for himself. It impaired an agent’s judgment when he got too involved. Like he was right now, cradling Jane. “We have to concentrate on getting him back. And we will. I promise.”

But he couldn’t make promises that excluded the best way to find the Brant kid. Somehow, he’d contact his team and protect Jane. By harboring and abetting a suspected felon? Him. Steve Woods, hard-nosed, by-the-book FBI agent.

Yeah, shot down with one look from the only woman who’d ever meant anything to him.

Chapter Three

The storm raged outside. Whitecaps on the lake splashed over the boat dock. A perfect scene for Jane’s turbulent feelings and emotions. She was drowning in guilt. Guilt over leaving Rory, guilt over not telling Steve straightaway he was a father.

Even now, she couldn’t wrap her mind around any words good enough to explain why she’d waited so long to tell him. Nothing she formed in her mind convinced her to say the words aloud.

“What’s he like?” Steve asked near the top of her head.

“Rory?” She couldn’t breathe. Of all the things he could have asked, she wasn’t prepared to describe his son to him. Not right now.

“Yeah, Rory. Your son.”

Your son. Simple words she didn’t know how to correct. The lie gave her a nauseous feeling. His son, too. Was it too late to tell him?

Just do it. Say, “Steve, you’re Rory’s father.” Tell him why you kept his son away from him for almost four years. Tell him you were an idiot and scared to death of losing everything. Tell him why you came back to Texas.

Tell him!

“I thought you said you needed to make a call,” she said instead, too much of a coward to try to convince Steve of anything else.

“Calling will wait.”

Jane searched his face for Agent Steve Woods. He was as reliable as a Swiss Army knife when it came to the Bureau. He’d never put off work before. He’d chosen his job over a possible future with her.

Granted, four years ago they’d only been together several weeks and he’d been between assignments. But the fervor he’d used when talking about his job made her more than a little envious.

She’d yearned for that passion. It was part of what drew her to him. It would be so nice to get lost in Steve’s enthusiasm for life. To forget about all her worries for just a little while. But Rory’s kidnapping was her first priority.

Lightning lit the sky and thunder shook the windows. The weather wasn’t working in her favor. The longer she waited to tell him the truth, the less he’d believe her. What would he say when she admitted she’d kept knowledge of his child from him?

“Maybe this conversation should wait. It’s getting worse out there.” He nodded his head toward the window. “Why don’t you get cleaned up? I’ll hit my mom’s closet for some clothes. You can at least start out mud-free before we take off again.”

His breath moved tendrils of hair across her face. It tickled her skin, but she wasn’t about to move from his arms. She needed to feel connected to someone, anyone, but was grateful it was Steve.

“What’s going to happen?” She tried to remain calm, to keep the shakiness from her voice. “If they have the money and the formula, why not give Rory back?”

“I don’t know, Janie. I really don’t know.”

“WE HAD…LEAD…OPERATIONS…moved…San Antonio.”

“I’m only getting every other word, George.” He was soaked to the skin after standing on the covered porch, but it was the only place his phone halfway worked. Steve glanced through the window to an empty living room as he spoke into his cell. “Can you hear me? She’s innocent.”

“I can have a team…evacuation point…approximately two hours…local PD to pick her up.” George’s distorted voice punched through the static on the connection.

“No.” He hated the thought of Jane in handcuffs. “George, trust me. I don’t need any help to get her to San Antonio. Set up around the Alamo like I asked so we can catch these bastards.”

“You…way over your head. You know…and McCaffrey hit the roof…you were gone.”

“I’m losing the connection, man. We’ll meet you in San Antonio. Give me your word.”

“You’re wrong. You can’t trust…”

“Just check it out for me.”