24

Nikki was curled in the back of the van, blindfolded, groggy, and unable to move. Don’t panic. She forced her mind to focus. Help me, God. Clear my mind. When she’d climbed in the van, someone had poked her with a needle. They’d drugged her again. She wouldn’t be much help to Cassie trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. But this wasn’t the right time to put up a fight.

First, she had to find Cassie. Then she could fight.

She prayed. She suspected it hadn’t been that long since they’d drugged her. Perhaps just long enough to confuse her—keep her off balance. She was grateful they hadn’t used duct tape to bind her hands. She rattled the handcuffs around her wrist.

The van slowed down, then came to a complete stop. A hand shook her. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. Time to die.”

She kicked at the man, but only managed to move her leg through the air.

He laughed. “Sorry, you missed me.”

“I can pay you more money than whoever is paying you now.”

He laughed again. “Sure you can. I almost believe that.” The van door squeaked open and then he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her out. Someone grabbed her other arm.

Her arm throbbed. “I will. I promise I’ll pay you anything you want. Just let me go and walk away. Before it’s too late.”

“Tough talk from someone who’s about to die.”

Nikki squeezed back the tears and stumbled along as they dragged her up steps.

A knock and then the door opened. Unseen hands pushed her hard.

She tumbled to the floor.

“Here she is. Delivered just as you requested. Now, where’s our money?”

“Stay there and don’t move,” a voice whispered. “Or you’ll die right now. Gentlemen, you’ve done your job well and I thank you. Here’s your payment.”

A moment later, Nikki heard two pings—gunshots from a gun with a silencer. Then moans. Apparently, that was the men’s payment. This guy wasn’t taking any chances. No witnesses. He didn’t want anyone to be able to identify him. Not good. He didn’t mind killing people, not even ones who’d helped him.

Please, God, let me get Cassie out of here alive.

Two more pings. Apparently for good measure.

The bag was pulled from her head.

Nikki squinted up at the kidnapper, but his face was hidden with a ski mask.

Slight of build, no wonder he’d needed help to pull this off. He didn’t look as if he had the strength to take on Cassie or her.

Nikki blinked in the hopes of getting her eyes to focus. The drugs were still affecting her. She looked past the kidnapper, searching for Cassie. Her daugh—niece was crumpled up in the corner.

Please, God, don’t let her be dead.

“Don’t worry, she’s not dead yet. I had to make sure you were here before that happened. After all, she was the bait to lure you here.” The voice wasn’t whispering any longer. It was a woman. No one she recognized. “But now that you’ve joined the party, I can take care of both of you. And then get on with my own life. I’m so tired of all this drama.”

That was one thing the two of them agreed on.

“Why are you doing this? What did Cassie ever do to you?”

“Nothing. It’s really all your fault. You should never have reinserted yourself into Lucas’s life.”

So this was about him.

“He came to me for help, not the other way around.”

“Oh well. Guess you should have just said no.” She aimed the gun at Nikki. “So, you want to go first or should I let you watch Lucas’s daughter die? I think that’s a good idea. You have been quite the aggravation to me. You deserve to suffer.”

Every moment counted. Nikki had to keep her talking.

Lucas was somewhere hunting for her—for them. She had to prolong this. Give him time to find them. “How did you know she was Lucas’s daughter?”

“One look at her was all it took. She’s the spitting image of his sister. That’s when I knew I had to get rid of both of you. Otherwise, you’d be dragging him back into your life all the time. I wasn’t going to put up with it.”

Who was this woman?

“At least take off your mask and look me in the eye. So I know who I’m dealing with.”

“Stop trying to stall. This will all be over in a minute.” She walked towards Cassie.

Nikki slipped one hand out of the cuff and then the other, letting them quietly drop to the floor. That trick had been the talk of the police force when she’d worked there. Her slender wrists made it easy to get out of the cuffs. In one fluid movement, she jumped up, charged towards the woman, and then jumped on the kidnapper’s back.

The two of them tumbled to the floor.

Nikki hit the woman in the stomach with all the strength she could muster.

The woman tried to fight back, but she fought like a girl with no strength. A moment later, the woman pressed the gun against Nikki’s stomach. “Stop or I’ll shoot you right now.”

Who would help Cassie if she was dead? Nikki relaxed.

“Good choice. Now let go of me.”

She loosened her grasp and the woman rolled away.

The ski mask had fallen off during their struggle.

Nikki stared.

The puzzle shifted. The pieces dropped into place. It made so much sense.

****

Lucas had been driving the back streets of Charlotte for no less than thirty minutes. No sign of the black van or the FBI. He didn’t want to admit he’d lost the only lead to Nikki and Cassie. He’d expected the FBI to show up. Elizabeth should have called them by now. Why hadn’t they shown up?

He didn’t have any solid information to give them. No location. Not even a license plate for it. He’d search for ten minutes and then he’d call Sarah Goode himself. Tell them what was going on, let them handle it. She wouldn’t be happy, but she’d figure out what to do next. The FBI had resources he didn’t have. Like traffic cams and manpower. They could do a street-by-street search for the van. It had to be somewhere around here. And that might be the only thing that would save Cassie and Nikki.

Changing his mind, he decided to call them now. He turned the corner and pulled over. As he reached for his phone, he saw the black van. He hesitated. He should call the FBI first. But that would take too much time. Nikki and Cassie needed him now. Besides, Elizabeth had already called. They would be here any minute.

He jumped out of his car, running towards the van. He opened the doors and peered inside. Empty. No Nikki. No Cassie. His gaze landed on a set of keys. Nikki’s keys? He picked them up and stared at them. He was sure they belonged to Nikki.

Where had they taken her?

The van was parked directly in front of an old house. Probably abandoned since the windows were boarded up.

He ran up the steps, but approached with caution. He didn’t want to alert anyone who might be inside. He put an ear to the door. He’d call the FBI if Nikki was in this house.

“Please don’t kill her.” Nikki’s voice. Pleading for Cassie’s life.

That was all he needed to hear. Lucas opened the door and walked in.

Elizabeth stood there with a gun pointed at Nikki.

“Elizabeth. What are you doing here?”

Elizabeth looked at Lucas and then at Nikki. Slowly, she moved closer to Cassie.

“She’s behind all of this.” Nikki sounded more angry than scared.

Two men were lying on the floor. The small hole in the center of each man’s forehead confirmed they were quite dead.

“You…you did this? Why, Elizabeth?”

“Why? You have to ask me why? All these years, I’ve waited for you. I took care of you. I helped you. I was more of a wife to you than Victoria ever was. But you stayed with her year after year. I got tired of waiting.”

“Victoria?” His mind was numb. What did Victoria have to do with this?

“She died, and you still ignored me. I loved you and you should have loved me. Instead, you went to her.” She pointed the gun at Nikki and shot.

Nikki fell to the floor.

His heart thudded with fear.

“Then…then I saw her at the hospital.” Elizabeth pointed the gun at Cassie. “I knew if you ever saw her, you’d know the truth. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to put a stop to it—a stop to them. Or you would never love me.”

“Give me the gun, Elizabeth.” Lucas’s stomach churned as he stepped over a dead body. “It’s all over now. Give me the gun.”

She stepped closer to Cassie. “No. It’s not over until I say it’s over.” Her voice verged on hysteria. The gun moved away from Cassie and towards him.

Nikki was creeping towards Elizabeth.

Thank You, God. He had to keep Elizabeth focused on him. He moved closer. “You won’t shoot me, Elizabeth. You would never hurt me.”

“I will. I will shoot you if I have to. I promise I will. Stay back.” Her hand shook, but the gun stayed aimed at his heart. Good. Keep her attention away from Nikki and Cassie. He moved sideways towards the door.

Elizabeth turned towards him.

He moved backwards a few more steps.

“I can’t let you leave, Lucas. Don’t you understand? You’ve ruined everything. Now you have to pay. It’s all your fault. If only you’d loved me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t understand, but now I do. It’s not too late for us. We can still be together. Give me the gun. We’ll make up a story about what happened to the men. We’ll go away together. Nikki and Cassie mean nothing to me.”

“I’m not that stupid. I don’t believe you.”

“You’re the one I want.”

“You lie. You lie.” Her words came out as screams.

Nikki stood up.

Lucas’s heart was in his throat.

Blood covered her shirt. She must have been shot. Still, she hadn’t given up. She’d keep trying to save Cassie, to save their daughter.

Elizabeth turned towards Nikki and aimed the gun.

Lucas charged forward and grabbed. He wrestled it from Elizabeth’s grasp.

“FBI,” a voice called from the still-open door.

A moment later, the room filled with FBI agents.

****

Nikki lay on the hospital bed, irritated at the world. She would not stay here this time.

“Is she OK?” Lucas asked.

“She’s fine. Her stitches ripped out. She wasn’t shot again.”

“I told you so,” Nikki snarked. “Can I get up now? I need to go check on my…my…Cassie.”

The doctor nodded. “You can. I’m done with you.”

“I’ll show you the way.” The nurse helped her off the bed. “Your niece is still unconscious, but her doctor said it was from the drugs. They’re waiting for them to wear off naturally. Nothing to worry about. Come along. I’ll show you where she is.”

“Thanks.”

Lucas grabbed her hand as they walked to another cubicle.

Nikki didn’t resist. She was too exhausted, and besides, it felt good that he’d cared enough to not give up. If he hadn’t shown up when he did…Nikki shook the negative thoughts away. It was over now. He’d made good on his promise.

Why had she ever thought he wasn’t trustworthy?

The nurse took them to ICU. Before she left, she told the nurse in charge who they were. They were asked to sit in the waiting room.

With a gentle voice, Lucas said, “Sit down, Nikki. You look as if you’re ready to collapse.”

“I don’t just look it. I am ready to collapse.”

He put an arm around her and helped her to a chair. “You’ve been through a lot. I called Bethany and Ray. They should be here any moment.”

“That’s good.” Closing her eyes, she put her head on his shoulder.

“It’s all over now.”

“Almost.” She straightened up and stared at him. “Cassie doesn’t need to know we are her parents. Ever. It may not have been the right choice back then. But the truth would tear her life apart now.” Would he agree? Or would his ego force him to tell her the truth?

Their gazes met.

“I get it. Don’t worry. I will never do anything to hurt her—to hurt her family.”

Nikki smiled as she nodded. “Good. She’s been through enough.”

“I promise I’ll never say anything to Cassie, ever. You and Mama are right. They are a family and that’s the way it will stay. I’ll leave it up to you whether you tell Bethany and Ray that I know. But you can assure them I won’t ever interfere. But if she needs anything ever, I’ll be there to help her.”

“I know you will.” She put a hand on his arm. “Thank you, Lucas. I know how hard it was to make that choice. You’re such a good man. The country will be blessed to have you as a senator.”

“I don’t know about all that. But I do know that the last thing Cassie needs is another shock. She’s been through enough.”

“I’m so sorry. I handled everything all wrong. You must hate me for keeping your daughter from you.”

He didn’t respond.

Her heart broke. She looked over at him.

His smile was so sad. “I don’t hate you. You did what you had to do. I understand that, but it still hurts. I won’t tell you that it doesn’t.”

“It gets easier.” Enough of this. Time to change the subject. “Did you find out how the FBI found you?”

“When we both disappeared, they figured one of us had been contacted by the kidnappers. The FBI started tracking both our movements, through our phones and Mama’s car’s GPS system as well. Obviously, Elizabeth had never called them. I still can’t believe she did all this.”

“Love can do strange things to people.”

“She hurt so many people. I had no idea she was capable of such violence.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out. It all makes so much sense. She had access to your computers—your phones. It was probably a piece of cake to get remote access to all your gadgets.”

“She probably didn’t even call a tech guy.”

“Or if she did, she simply uninstalled the software she was using and then reinstalled it after he checked it out. Lucas, I just…there’s no way for you to have known she was behind all this. I hope you won’t take the guilt on once again.”

“I won’t. But I’ve got plenty of guilt about what you had to go through alone. It must have been so hard for you.”

“I made my choices. That’s nothing to blame yourself for.”

He picked up her hand. “No wonder you freaked out when I walked into your office that day. It’s not too late for us, Nikki. We can still—”

“We can’t, Lucas. It wouldn’t work. We’d always be afraid that Cassie would figure it out. You both have the same beautiful blue eyes. She’s a smart girl. We can’t take a chance.”

“But—”

“My mind’s made up. Cassie is more important than—”

“Nikki. Nikki.” Bethany ran up with Ray following behind her. “Is Cassie…is she OK?”

Nikki rushed over to her sister. “She’s fine. They’re just waiting for her to wake up from the drugs she was given.”

Bethany hugged her. “Oh, thank God. They’d told us that, but I wasn’t sure if they were lying.”

A doctor walked out from the ICU. “Are Cassie’s parents here?”

Lucas and Nikki looked at each other. Then both pointed at Bethany and Ray.

“Great. She’s awake, and she wants her mom and dad.” He looked at Lucas and her. “Are you family?”

Bethany looped her arm through Nikki’s. “This is her aunt. She needs to come in too. She’s the one who saved her.”

“Actually, that was Lucas.”

“All of you go, but only for a few minutes. We’ll monitor her for the rest of the night, and if all goes well, she can go home tomorrow.”

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Nikki told Lucas.

He nodded but said nothing.

The doctor led the three of them to a curtained area.

Cassie looked tired but awake.

Bethany rushed to her. “Oh, my baby. My baby.”

Cassie smiled. “I’m not a baby, Mom.”

“You will always be my baby.”

Nikki walked to the other side of Cassie. She bent over and hugged her. “The doctor said I could only stay for a second. I love you and I’m so glad you’re OK.” Nikki walked away.

She couldn’t stay one more moment anyway without saying something she would regret. A part of her wanted so much to tell Cassie the truth. Then she could be with Lucas and have her happily ever after. But that wasn’t to be. When she got to the waiting room, it was empty.

Lucas was gone.