Bravo, Tango, Cowboy

“Like hell.”

“It’s nothing really.”

“You’re a wreck. If you tell me what’s going on, I might be able to help.”

“No one can help. Please, just go home, Hawk. Just go.”

“Who’s Lucy?”

“This isn’t your concern.” Her voice dropped to a shaky whisper.

Right. And he didn’t need a strange woman’s problems. So why wasn’t he rushing out the door?

He took both her hands in his and waited until her gaze locked with his. “Who’s Lucy?”

“My daughter. She was abducted two years ago.”

Chapter Two

Alonsa pulled away from Hawk and walked to the kitchen window, staring out into the darkness but seeing nothing. She felt as if someone were scraping away the lining of her heart. The phone calls always had that effect on her.

The sound of breathing behind her was the only sign that Hawk was still in the room. She gathered her resolve slowly, giving her mind a chance to crawl out of the black abyss into which the call had sucked her. When she turned around, Hawk was only a few steps away, staring at her with concern etched into the lines of his face.

He leaned against the counter. “What’s with the phone call?”

“A cruel hoax. It sounds like Lucy’s voice, but it’s not her.”

His brows arched. “You sound sure of that.”

“If it is her, it’s a recording made right after she was abducted. She sounds exactly the same every time.”

“How often do you get these calls?”

“It varies. In the beginning they came every week or two. Then they slowed down to every few months, but they’ve picked up again over the last two months.”

“Do you have a tracer on your phone?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t help. The calls last only a few seconds and the ones they have been able to trace only match prepaid cell phones from locations all the way from Florida to California.”

“Strange. Where did the abduction take place?”

“In Houston.” Alonsa seldom talked to anyone about the abduction anymore, though it had been all she could talk about for the first year. But tonight the memories were razor sharp and the need to put them into words was suddenly all-consuming.

“Give me a minute to check on Brandon,” she said, “and I’ll tell you about it.” She paused. “But I should warn you. I still can’t talk about it without getting upset.”

“I have a broad shoulder, great for collecting tears.”

“I’ll try not to drench you.”

Brandon was curled up in a soft knit throw, laughing at the DVD he’d seen dozens of times, apparently with no repercussions from his fall. She watched him for a moment, letting the reassurance of his safety sink into her troubled soul. She knew she was overprotective with him, but how could she not be under the circumstances?

Hawk was sitting at the table when she returned. She refilled both their coffee cups and joined him. It was more caffeine than she normally drank this late at night, but there was little chance she’d sleep anyway.

“Are you sure you want to hear this, Hawk? It’s not as if talking about it changes anything.”

“It could, if talk leads to the right action.”

He only thought that because he didn’t know the whole story. For that matter, neither did she. She thought back, trying to find a place to begin.

“It was five weeks to the day after my husband had been killed in New York. I buried him here in Dobbin and decided to stay on with the kids through the winter. I thought a change of scenery might help us all handle things better.”

“Makes sense.”

“I thought so at the time. My mistake. Everyone here was friendly and went out of their way to welcome us, but the only one I’d really connected with was Cutter’s Aunt Merlee. She’d taken me under her wing. Have you met her yet?”

“No, but I’ve heard about her. Linney adores her.”

“Everyone adores her. Anyway, that weekend she’d invited me and the children to visit her in her Houston townhouse so that I could take Lucy to some of the museums and child-oriented activities without having to make the long drive back to Dobbin at the end of the day. Brandon was only a year old and fussy that day, so Merlee had offered to watch him while Lucy and I took in the zoo.”

“So it was just the two of you?”

“Yes, mother-and-daughter time and Lucy was thrilled that she wouldn’t have to share me. Between the trauma of Todd’s death, the move and taking care of Brandon, I’d given her far too little of myself.”

“It must have been a hard time for all of you.”

It was still a hard time, all but unbearable on nights like this, with the sound of that voice on the phone echoing through her senses.

Keep talking, Alonsa. Get through this. You should be able to talk of it without falling completely apart. It’s been two years.

Her mind fixated on the events of that heartbreaking day, and she found small solace in remembering her daughter’s enthusiasm and laughter. “Lucy loved all the animals, but the sea lions were her favorite. It was nearing two when I told her we needed to go back to Merlee’s. She begged to see the sea lions one more time. I gave in, of course.”

If she hadn’t…No. Going over the ifs didn’t help. The counselor had worked for months to get her to move beyond that and the personal recriminations. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“While we were watching the sea lion antics, a large school group arrived and we were inundated by first and second graders. Someone pushed someone and a fight broke out. A little girl was shoved to the ground and started wailing. I went to help her up while the teachers stopped the fight. When I looked for Lucy, she wasn’t there.

“I wasn’t worried when I first lost sight of her, but then after minutes passed and I couldn’t locate her among the children, I started to panic.” Alonsa’s voice grew shaky.

Hawk stood and rounded the table, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Maybe tonight’s not the best time for this. Why don’t you get some rest, and I’ll come back tomorrow morning?”

“I’m okay.” His touch and sympathy were disconcerting in the quiet kitchen. “Do you have children, Hawk?”

“No. I was married for a while once, but no kids. I’m sure I can’t begin to understand what you’re going though.”

Yet he was here and a good listener. Or else the pain was just so overwhelming tonight she had to have the release of talking about it.

“I haven’t seen my daughter since that day at the zoo. All I get is the phone calls, the torment of her voice asking for me when I can’t go to her.”

“Surely the investigation uncovered some leads.”