“I’ll do whatever you say,” Macy muttered as she walked stiffly toward the exit. “Just don’t hurt Addie.”
The man behind her shoved the gun harder into her back. “Oh, don’t worry. I have no intention of hurting the child. We need her.”
What did that mean?
The man had appeared out of nowhere. Macy hadn’t even seen his face. One minute, she’d been standing there watching Tanner help the gentleman back into his wheelchair. The next moment, something pressed into her side, and she was pulled away.
No one had to tell her the man was holding a gun. She instinctively knew. She also sensed he was wearing a large coat that concealed the weapon. No one else would suspect anything.
As her fight-or-flight response kicked in, Macy had decided she had to be compliant. But what if that was the wrong decision? She didn’t know and would have to trust her gut. She had no other choice.
Macy felt rigid as she walked. Her mind raced. What should she do? Most likely, the best thing to do was just to be acquiescent. On the other hand, she’d read the statistics about what happened if you got into the car with someone. You were less likely to ever be seen again alive.
Tanner…where are you? What am I supposed to do?
All it had taken was a few seconds for this man to find her and grab her. Now he led her out the store with Addie snuggled in her car seat.
Maybe Macy could make a run for it in the parking lot.
But as they stepped outside, Macy’s stomach sank. A car pulled up at the entrance of the store. The back door opened.
Before Macy could stop the forward motion of events, the man shoved her and Addie into the back, and the driver squealed off.
Macy looked back just in time to see Tanner run out from the store.
Was it too late for him to reach them? Her heart pounded uncontrollably when she realized the answer. Yes, it was too late.
Working quickly, she strapped the seat belt across Addie’s car seat, desperate to protect the baby from whatever storm would soon be bearing down on them. She had to keep the child safe.
Work with what you’ve got in front of you, Macy.
She placed her hand on Addie’s chest, trying to keep the baby calm, and glanced into the front seat. A woman sat there. Was that… Deborah? The supposed aunt to little baby Addie? No longer was her hair auburn and neat. No, now it was short and blond.
A man sat beside her. Where Deborah was cultured and elegant, this man looked like a hired gun with his battered jeans, faded shirt and untrimmed hair.
She shivered. Macy wouldn’t easily forget the barrel that was still aimed at her. Addie might be “safe” here, but Macy wasn’t.
“Where are you taking us?” Macy asked.
“You’ll see,” Deborah—whatever her real name was—said.
“Why are you doing this?”
“That’s none of your business. But Addie is our relative, not yours. You’re the one who should be charged with kidnapping. You wouldn’t give that precious baby back to us, and you’ve caused unnecessary trauma to her.”
“If she’s so precious to you, why haven’t you even looked at her since we’ve been in the car? You haven’t asked how she’s doing even,” Macy said. “She has a double ear infection. We were picking up some medicine for her. Medicine she needs to get healthy. What are you going to do about that?”
“Shut up!” Deborah shouted. “We’ll figure things out. We always do. We just need to get back to the lake house first.”
At the woman’s loud voice, Addie burst into tears. Macy rubbed her hands in circles over the baby’s belly, trying to keep her calm before things escalated out of control. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay.”
“Stop talking to her like she belongs to you,” Deborah snapped.
“I’m just trying to make her feel better.”
“I’ll do that,” the woman growled. “As soon as we get somewhere I can take her from you. I’ve got to make sure your boyfriend isn’t following us first.”
“You’re putting Addie’s life in danger,” Macy said. “I don’t know how you can claim to love her and then put her in this situation.”
“I never said I loved her.” The woman threw a malevolent grin toward Macy. “I love what she can do for us.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s not important.” Deborah nodded at the man beside Macy.
The next instant, the butt of his gun came down on Macy’s head, and everything went black.
* * *
Tanner pulled his sedan off the side of the road and hit his palms against the steering wheel. He’d lost them. He’d lost Macy and Addie.
He rubbed his temples.
Think, Tanner. Think. There’s got to be a way to find them.
How could he have let them slip away like that? Had the elderly man been a plant, only meant to distract him? He didn’t think so. But these guys had obviously been looking for an opportunity to swoop in, and they’d seized it.
At this point, Tanner had no choice but to call this in. He still didn’t know who he could trust at the FBI field office, but it didn’t matter now. Those men had Addie and Macy.
“Saul, it’s me,” Tanner started. “I wasn’t entirely honest with you earlier. The truth is that I think someone at the FBI is a mole. I don’t know who.”
“What?” His boss’s voice tightened. “Why would you say that?”
“It’s the only way to explain how these guys keep finding us. I don’t want to believe it, either, but nothing else makes sense. But listen, that’s not why I’m calling.”
“What’s going on?”
“Someone grabbed Macy and Addie,” he said.
“What? I thought that’s why you went rogue? To stop this from happening.”
“We had to take Addie to the doctor. I’m not sure how someone found out and tracked us, but they did. I need an APB out for a car with this license plate.” Tanner told Saul the plate number and vehicle description.
“Why should I do this for you?”
“You shouldn’t do it for me,” Tanner said. “You should do it for this baby. These people couldn’t have gotten too far away at this point. We still could catch them.”
“Fine. But don’t think I’m going to let this drop.”
“I understand. After this is over. Please.”
Tanner hung up and tried to sort through his thoughts. He’d seen the sedan come in this general direction. But there were multiple ways it could have turned. Too many side streets and neighborhoods were in this area.
Lord, what should I do?
Tanner eased onto the road. He would canvas these streets one by one if that was what he had to do to find them. And he’d pray that the APB would provide some sort of lead that would help him locate Macy and Addie.
Because there was no telling what these guys might do to Macy. They’d shot at his colleagues. Burned down their safe house. Chased them with a baby in the car.
These guys wouldn’t blink an eye at harming Macy.
At the mere thought of it, emotions welled up inside Tanner. He and Macy had a lot of water under the bridge. But he’d seen glimpses of the old Macy he knew and loved. And he missed that Macy.
He only wished he could go back and change things. That he could somehow get through to her. That he could have told her back then that Pruett was wrong. Tanner wouldn’t have resented her or blamed her for holding him back from his dreams.
Was it too late to tell her that now? To somehow try and convince her to believe him?
He prayed he would get that opportunity.
At that moment, he spotted the burgundy sedan he’d seen at the shopping center. His eyes zeroed in on the license plate.
That was it! He’d found them.
Thank You, Lord.
As the sound of an alarm registered in his mind, the truth hit him. His eyes moved from the sedan to what surrounded it.
Red flashing lights. A crossbuck. A gate.
He sucked in a deep breath. But someone had left the vehicle on a train track…and a train was headed right toward it.
* * *
A loud noise rousted Macy. She sat up and tried to reach for her head—which pounded furiously—but she couldn’t.
Her hands were tied behind her.
At the realization, panic raced through her. She tried to move her legs, but her ankles were also bound.
The loud noise sounded again.
She jerked her head to the left, and her eyes widened.
A train was coming right at her.
She was in the sedan. Where was Addie? Deborah and the other two men with her?
They must have jumped out and climbed into a different vehicle. They’d left her here to die, she realized.
Macy tried to scoot near the door, but she couldn’t. Her hands were stuck on something.
She looked behind her, straining to see what held her in place. The rope that bound her hands together was also tied to the seat belt clasp.
Her breath caught. There was no way to get out of this car.
She looked up at the train as it got closer and closer.
She jerked her arms, desperate for the ropes to break or come loose. She had to do something. She couldn’t just sit here and wait to die.
She glanced at the train again. The locomotive still charged toward her. If she had to guess, she’d say she had one minute or less until impact, at most. Sweat sprinkled across her forehead.
Oh Lord, please help me.
Just then, she heard someone jiggle the door handle.
She looked behind her.
Tanner! Tanner was here. He’d found her! She’d never been so happy to see the cowboy.
“Open the door,” he yelled, pounding on the glass.
“I can’t.” She moved forward so he could see her hands behind her back.
His gaze darkened. “Stay back!”
She scooted away from the window. Tanner bent down and, when he reemerged, he was holding a rock in his hands. He slammed it into the window, and the glass shattered.
He reached inside and his hand found the lock. He jerked the door open and climbed in beside her.
Sweat poured down Macy’s back. She glanced over her shoulders again at the approaching train.
One minute tops, she realized.
They weren’t going to make it, were they?
“I’m going to get you out of here.” Tanner worked with the ties at her hand.
“You’re going to get yourself killed, too.” The train was so close, she could not only hear it but she could feel it barreling down the tracks. The air was filled with tension. Certainly, the conductor had seen her by now. But she knew he wouldn’t be able to brake in time.
Tanner pulled out a pocket knife and worked the rope behind her.
“I’ve almost got it,” he told her.
She looked at the train once more.
It was mere feet away.
There was no way she was getting out of this alive. No way.