Chapter Thirty-Three

The alarm on Lena’s phone rang, interrupting whatever might have happened next. Dane didn’t know whether to be grateful or…well, confused.

“It’s time for my call to Viktor.” She wiped the tears away and let out a determined breath. “I never knew I could hate someone this much.”

He understood completely. He’d hated her that much at one time. But no longer.

She dialed the number and held it to her ear. “I’m here.”

Dane could hear Viktor’s silky smooth voice. “How is our guest?”

“Upset and angry.”

“Is he closer to finding Vanderhook?”

“I think so. He’s not telling me anything.” She glanced up at him, and he frowned at the truth of that statement.

“Has he tried to escape?”

“No.” She rolled her eyes. “But I’m not letting my guard down.”

“Very well. Call me at ten.”

“Oka—” Before she had the chance to hang up, Dane seized the phone from her and addressed her boss. She reached out to take it back. As if she could stop him from doing anything.

“Dane!” She winced.

“Viktor,” Dane said, unfazed by her alarm, “I want to hear Tobey’s voice. I want to make sure you haven’t done anything to him.”

Lena squeezed her eyes shut, and whispered, “Oh God.”

Viktor surprised them both by answering, “Stay by the phone. I’ll have them call you.”

He couldn’t believe Viktor had relented so easily. There had to be an angle. Or maybe he just wanted to remind Dane who held the cards, the way he did with Lena.

Dane kept the phone and paced around their room. She followed along behind him, not saying anything. The tension was building to dangerous levels when the phone rang.

“Hello?” His voice cracked with tension.

“Dad?” Tobey’s voice was loud and clear.

Oh, thank God!

“Tobey, are you okay?” Dane wasn’t sure he’d ever felt such relief before. But hearing Tobey’s voice just about broke him.

“I’m good. Do you know when I’ll get to go home?” he asked, and Dane felt the shooting pain Lena had described.

How did she do this every day? How did she answer this unanswerable question? Tobey was older than Kenzie, so Dane decided to go with the truth.

Or as close to it as he could without upsetting his son even more.

“I don’t know just yet,” he said, “but it shouldn’t be that long. Are you okay? Have they fed you? Are you safe?”

“I’m okay. They get a lot of pizza. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of eating pizza, but maybe I am, a little. There are a few other boys here, too. I get a top bunk. We get to play video games all day long. Don’t tell Mom. Oh. I guess you can’t tell her. Because you’re dead.”

Despite everything, Dane smiled at his son’s reasoning. He was safe, fed, and even having fun. Or as much fun as a person could have when being held captive.

Dane’s heart relaxed a little more.

“Your secret is safe with me,” he said. “Play as many games as you want. She won’t find out.” But he would find a way to tell Caroline their boy was safe. “I love you. I’ll see you…soon,” he said, and realized he’d said the same thing Lena had told her daughter.

“Bye, Dad. Love you, too.”

He handed Lena the phone without bothering to disconnect the call.

She seemed to be waiting for him to break down, but he didn’t. He felt slightly numb.

His son was safe. For now.

“He’s okay?” she asked, her voice small. She moved to touch his arm, giving it a light squeeze before pulling away again.

Just as well. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to touch him. Yes, he’d just held her in his arms and comforted her, but he wasn’t ready to be comforted himself. He’d been so angry at her before… But he knew she felt terrible. And knowing Tobey was doing okay, and knowing the reason she’d gotten Dane into this…well, how could he not forgive her?

However, given the volatile situation, and his unbidden attraction to her, it was probably best to keep his distance.

Using his own phone, he called someone who could help him with his next task.

“Hello?”

“Angel, I need to get a message to someone, and it has to be untraceable.”

“My specialty is usually the reverse of that. I’m the one who traces the untraceable.”

This was true. No one could hide from Angel. She was the master of tracking someone down. But she was also pretty good at hiding things. Last year when she was on the run, she’d virtually dropped off the planet…and fallen in love while she was at it.

“What level tracking would the receiver have at hand?” she asked.

“Local law enforcement. It’s a missing persons case.”

She let out a sigh. “Dane, are you contacting your wife?” Angel had always been too smart for her own good.

“Yes. I need to let her know Tobey is safe.”

“Is he?”

Dane didn’t want to think about that. “For now. I just spoke with him. He’s being taken care of.”

“Do you think Caroline will believe a random message from an untraceable source?” Best friends didn’t bother to hide their skepticism.

“You’re a mother. Wouldn’t you want any bit of good news you could get?”

“I wouldn’t believe it. Not unless I spoke to him myself.” There was a pause and she gasped. “Wait. You just spoke to him? Do you have the number?”

“No. It was a blocked call.”

“Blocked.” She snorted as if it was not that big of a deal. “What’s the number of the phone you took the call on?”

Dane rattled off the numbers.

“How are you holding up?” she asked. This was not business. This was Angel caring about him.

“I’m not,” he admitted, noticing Lena had gone in the bathroom to offer him some privacy. “I feel like I’m going to fall to pieces any minute. But I know if that happens, I won’t be able to help him, so I force myself to keep it together a little longer.”

“I can’t even imagine what it must be like.” Sympathy poured through her voice.

“It seems like it shouldn’t be this bad for me. I mean, I don’t see him, or talk to him. Not like Caroline and Randy do. But even though I wasn’t able to be with him, I still knew he was at home. Safe and loved, you know? I feel so useless.”

“Don’t worry about being a hero. Let the team work on coming up with a plan while you work on getting to the meet site.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Text me the message you want sent to Caroline, and I’ll make sure she gets it. I don’t know if I would believe it, but it would give me hope. Maybe it will help Caroline, too.”

“I hope so. She must be a mess.”

And rightfully so. Separating a mother from her child was the worst kind of torture. He glanced over as Lena walked out of the bathroom.

“I’ll start working on tracing the number so we have a lead. Be careful, okay?”

“I will. Give John a kiss from his godfather.”

“Will do.”

Lena was sitting on the edge of her bed with her chin on her knees when he tossed his phone on the nightstand next to hers.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Her eyes moved in his direction, but her posture remained the same. “You mean am I over my little drama?”

He let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling. “No. You and I are in a situation that no parent should ever be in. I’m trained for high-stress missions, and I’m still not sure if I’m doing the right thing.”

“I want to apologize again,” she whispered, “but I’m not sure if you’ll accept it.”

He sat on his bed across from her and nodded. “Go ahead. Get it out.”

“I’m sorry I lost it. I’m sorry I cried all over you. I won’t let it happen again, I swear.”

He’d expected another apology for Tobey. Not for crying on his shoulder.

So much for the not touching thing.

He went to sit next to her. He put his arm around her, and she allowed her head to fall to that place on his chest where she’d cried her heart out. She didn’t cry now. She’d probably cried herself out earlier. She seemed to be in a better place now.

“I accept your apology. Can you accept mine? I’ve been nothing but rude and hateful. I didn’t even stop to consider you might be dealing with something as bad as I was.”

“I understand. I don’t blame you.”

“Thank you,” he said, and held her out so he could look her in the eyes. “I want you to let it go, this whole situation with Viktor. I want you to stop blaming yourself for everything. You’re doing your best. That’s all anyone can ever do.”

She nodded, but he didn’t think she’d be able to give up the guilt. He wouldn’t.

“Get dressed. We have some kids to save,” he said, and she smiled.

The real smile.