“It wasn’t a local call,” he said quietly. “A cell phone probably.”
Rachel stood a few feet away, watching the agony manifest itself in the lines and angles of his strong body. He’d pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, but hadn’t bothered to button either. The holstered weapon hung loosely over his left shoulder. Pain and weariness etched itself across his handsome face. What could she do or say that would make that kind of suffering tolerable?
“You’re sure it was him?” she asked hesitantly. She had awakened to Sloan standing naked next to the bed staring down at the telephone. She had never seen that much devastation in anyone’s eyes. When she touched him, he’d trembled as if unable to bear even that slight human contact.
Sloan stared at the small, framed photograph he held in his hand. It was the first and only picture of his son Rachel had seen anywhere in the house. He’d had it tucked away in the right bottom drawer of his desk.
“It was his voice.” He caressed the smiling face beneath the glass with his thumb. “It was the same recording Angel used seven years ago.”
Rachel shuddered with the sudden, overwhelming urge to strangle Angel with her bare hands. How could he do this? Hadn’t Sloan suffered enough? She shook her head slowly. He had agreed to help her and Josh, that decision had put him back in the line of fire.
“I made a mistake,” he murmured.
Rachel wasn’t sure if he was speaking to her or to the little boy with the curly blond hair and big blue eyes in the photograph. She only knew she had to reach out to him, to comfort him somehow. She moved closer and placed her hand on his arm.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
He stared at her hand for a moment, then turned his attention back to the child in the photograph. “I should have stopped.” He exhaled a shaky breath. “But I didn’t. I wanted to bring Angel down. To do what no one else had been able to do.” He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers. But nothing was going to make those haunting memories go away. “That mistake cost me everything.”
“You were only doing your job.” Rachel slid her arms around his waist and held him. His arm went automatically around her shoulders, pulling her closer. Hope bloomed in her chest at that simple gesture.
“It was supposed to be between him and me.” He closed his eyes against the horrifying images Rachel knew were replaying in his head. “I was following another lead on Angel late that night when I got the call.” He fell silent for several long seconds. “I should have been at home with my family. Cops were everywhere when I got there. I pushed my way into the house and she…she was dead.”
“I’m sorry.” Rachel pressed her face against his warm chest. Moisture spilled past her lashes. She didn’t try to stop it, there was no point.
“The detective in charge wanted to know where our son was. He wasn’t in the house. He wasn’t at the neighbor’s.” Sloan swallowed hard. “He wasn’t anywhere. Angel had taken him.”
She felt him shudder, and she held him tighter.
“We searched for days, hoping we’d find him. Ran pictures of him in the newspaper and on the news. Somebody had to have seen something.” His voice grew distant and lost all inflection. “No one came forward. Then the calls started. Every night.” He laughed a mirthless sound. “At that point, I even prayed…but God wasn’t listening. Or maybe I wasn’t worthy of his ear.” He exhaled a shaky breath. “For weeks we followed every lead, searched that damned city from top to bottom. While Angel continued to call and haunt me with my son’s voice.”
Rachel braced herself for what he would say next. The tension drained from his big body, leaving the hopelessness she knew had engulfed him seven years ago. She couldn’t help imagining how she would feel if she lost Josh. She trembled beneath the immense anxiety of the mere thought.
“Two months, one week, and three days later we found his body,” he continued. “For almost a year after that I searched for Angel,” he said through gritted teeth. “I wanted him dead, but he’d vanished without a trace. I pushed harder and harder…until I lost it. And then there was nothing.”
She swiped her eyes and struggled to keep her voice even. “Why is he doing this now? This is about my son, not yours.”
“Payback for what I did today.” Sloan placed the precious photograph on his desk and turned to her. “We’ve got his attention now. You can bet he’ll be here soon.”
Rachel thanked God that Josh was hidden safely away. At the same time, she worried that Angel might kill her and Sloan, leaving Josh alone. No, she affirmed. That wasn’t going to happen. Fate couldn’t be that cruel again. But, if the worst did occur, Pablo would care for Josh. Rachel was certain of that. He would keep him hidden away until Angel stopped looking.
She leveled her gaze on Sloan’s. “What do we do?”
He brushed her cheek with his knuckles. Concern flickered in his gaze. “You should get some sleep.”
She shook her head adamantly. “How can I sleep knowing he may show up at any moment?”
“There’s no way anyone is getting in here without me knowing it.” He gifted her with a weary smile. “Trust me. I have a backup system for my backup system. He won’t get in without setting off an alarm.”
“I don’t think I could sleep anyway.” She shivered, suddenly cold wearing nothing but his shirt. “How about some coffee?”
Before Sloan could respond to her offer, a single chime sounded. His head went up. She recognized the tone as the warning that someone had opened an exterior door. “Stay right here,” he ordered.
Fear gripped Rachel by the throat. She tunneled her fingers through her hair and tried to slow the pounding in her chest. She had to stay calm. Becoming hysterical would not help. She stood statue still as Sloan moved silently toward the door on the other side of the spacious office. He drew his weapon and paused before moving into the hall to listen. Pablo burst into the room, Josh in his arms.
“What’s wrong?” Rachel flew to him, reaching for her child.
“Sorry, señora,” Pablo said breathlessly. “The fever started this afternoon. The healer could not bring it down. I had no choice but to bring him to you—”
“My God he’s burning up.” Rachel touched his cheeks, his forehead. A new kind of fear twisted inside her. She took Josh into her arms. His body was on fire. Hysteria climbed into her throat and lodged there. “We have to do something.”
“Run a cold bath,” Sloan instructed Pablo. “I’ll get the ice.”
Sloan disappeared before Rachel could gather her wits and comment.
“This way.” Pablo ushered her into the hall.
Rachel followed him, Josh cradled in her arms, to their room. While Pablo ran the bath, Rachel stripped Josh down to his underwear. He whimpered but didn’t rouse from the heavy sleep. There was no sign of any kind of injury. A virus? Something from the water or maybe the food? Was there a doctor in Florescitaf? What if he—? Rachel slammed the door on that line of thinking. She had to stay calm. She couldn’t help Josh if she became hysterical.
Sloan came with the ice. Rachel carried Josh to the bathroom and watched as the two men readied the water. This couldn’t be happening, she argued. But it was. Nausea burned the back of her throat, her knees felt suddenly weak.
“Let me have him.” Sloan scooped Josh from her arms before she could react.
Rachel didn’t want to let him go, but Sloan was already crouched in front of the tub with her son in his arms. She knelt beside him as he lowered Josh into the icy water. Her baby cried out. Rachel’s heart squeezed painfully and a new rush of tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Shh, baby, it’s okay,” she soothed. His thin little body trembled and he sobbed softly. Rachel prayed like she had never prayed before. Sloan’s words echoed inside her head. I even prayed…but God wasn’t listening. God would listen tonight. He had to.
“Pablo,” Sloan said over her head. “Take the Jeep into town and roust Doc Hernandez from his bed. Bring him back here with you if you have to do it at gunpoint. We can’t risk leaving the house with the boy. Angel may be close by.”
Pablo placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. “He will be fine, señora. I will bring the doctor.”
Rachel nodded, she couldn’t speak. She could only watch her baby fight Sloan’s efforts to keep his little body submerged. His feeble cries ripped her heart to shreds.
Five minutes or maybe fifteen passed, she couldn’t say which, before Sloan jerked her from her near catatonic state by asking for towels. Rachel grabbed two from the cabinet and quickly wrapped them around her son as Sloan lifted him from the icy water.
“We need to get plenty of water down him,” he told her as he carried Josh to the bed. “Do you have any Tylenol or anything like that for him?”
Her responses sluggish, Rachel nodded and tried to remember what she had done with her bag. The closet. She hurried to the closet and grabbed the bag and immediately uprighted it. She fished through the items until she found what she needed. With the chewable Tylenol in hand, she sat down on the side of the bed next to her baby. Sloan had pulled a sheet over him. The wet towels and underwear lay in a heap on the floor.
“I’ll get a pitcher of water and a glass.”
Rachel opened the small, plastic bottle and tapped out tiny, pink tablets. Her baby’s drawn, pale face made her want to cry all over again. But she had to be strong for him. He would be upset if he saw her crying.
“Josh, sweetie, Mommy needs you to take your medicine.” His dark eyes fluttered open and she held one tablet close to his chapped lips. He made no move to take it. “Please, baby, you have to chew it up and swallow it. It’ll help you get better.”
He opened his mouth and took the tablet. Rachel waited until she was sure he had chewed and swallowed it before she offered the next one. By the time the tablets were ingested, Sloan appeared with the water.
Rachel coaxed Josh into drinking as much of the water as possible before he fell into another heavy sleep. His temperature felt much lower now. Sloan produced a digital thermometer and according to it, his temp was only slightly above normal. Rachel breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. Now, if they could only keep it that way. But he would still need to see the doctor. She wanted to be sure he was all right.
Sloan smoothed a comforting hand over her hair. “Get some sleep, Rachel, I’ll check on the two of you in a little while. If Josh’s temperature starts to rise again, I’ll wake you.”
Too drained to respond verbally, Rachel nodded. She climbed into bed next to Josh and closed her eyes. Sloan stayed in the room awhile before leaving. Though she was too exhausted to talk to him or even to open her eyes, she was glad he was there.
Just before she drifted off, she remembered to say another little prayer. This time to thank God for listening.
* * *
WHEN RACHEL WOKE again it was five in the morning. She smoothed her hand over Josh’s face and was pleased to find his skin only slightly warmer than it should be. She sat up and reached for the medicine bottle on the night table. After tapping out more tablets, she roused Josh enough to chew and swallow them. She managed to get a few sips of water down him as well.
Reaching to the night table again, she pulled his favorite pajamas from the top drawer. He wouldn’t like it if he woke up naked. He loved his pj’s. After slipping the soft cotton outfit on him, she kissed his cheek.
Easing off the bed, she stretched her neck and shoulders. She must have slept in an awkward position. She should probably get dressed and find Sloan. She frowned when she considered that Pablo should be back by now. It wasn’t that far to town. Surely the doctor hadn’t come into the room and checked Josh without her realizing it. She was tired rightly enough, but not that tired.
She licked her lips and cringed at the bad taste in her mouth. Noticing the water still standing in the tub as she entered the bathroom, Rachel flipped the lever to drain it. Those frantic moments whirled in her head. Sloan had taken charge of Josh’s care. Surely that meant something. He had to feel something for the child, no matter who his father was. Grimacing, she raked the brush through her tousled hair and scowled at the dark circles under her eyes. She looked a mess.
After washing up and brushing her teeth, she dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. She needed to talk to Sloan and see what the plan was for hiding Josh. Though she was thrilled to have him with her again, this new turn of events definitely required a new strategy. Josh was not safe here. Maybe not anywhere. Before leaving the room, she smiled down at her son and switched off the lamp on the bedside table.
Her stomach rumbled and Rachel suddenly remembered that she hadn’t eaten dinner last night. Warmth glowed inside her when she considered what she had been doing. She hadn’t been hungry earlier, by the time she decided she could eat she had been otherwise occupied. Sloan had attempted to prove that she didn’t need him. Heat flushed her cheeks when she thought of the way he’d given her physical satisfaction without actually touching her himself. But he was wrong, it was his nearness, the sound of his voice that had pushed her over the edge. She closed her eyes and relived that moment when he filled her. She had thought she would surely die from the pleasure of it.
Rachel scolded herself for getting sidetracked. She checked on Josh once more then padded down the long hall in search of Sloan. She smiled when the scent of fresh-brewed coffee tickled her nose. She found him in the kitchen staring out the window at the lingering pre-dawn darkness.
For one long moment she could only stand there and look at him. His arms crossed over his chest, one lean hip propped against the counter. Her body responded to him instantly, growing warm and moist. His hair was loose around his shoulders, the tawny length tempting her fingers. He turned to look at her and her pulse skipped when that mesmerizing blue gaze collided with hers.
The hint of a smile that touched his lips melted her bones. She was so in love with him. If she could spend the rest of her life right here with him, she would. All he would have to do is ask. But he wouldn’t do that. Though she had seen with her own eyes the tender moments he shared with Josh, he could never love him the way she loved him. Josh was Angel’s son, that was the cold hard fact. Rachel closed her eyes and turned away from what she knew would never truly be hers.
“Is Josh okay?”
Rachel jerked back to attention and produced a smile. She focused on his mouth, his hair, anything but his eyes. “Yes. His temp’s still at a safe level.”
“Good.” He sounded distracted.
The frown that claimed his features snapped her gaze to his. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
He sighed as if contemplating whether to worry her with his concerns. “It’s Pablo. He should have been back long before now. There’s always the possibility that the Jeep broke down, but that’s not likely. He would have walked back or into town. He has a sister there that he could have gone to for transportation.”
Rachel stilled. The hunger she had felt only minutes ago fled. “You think something has happened to him?”
He leveled his gaze on hers. “I don’t think it, I know it. The only thing that would keep Pablo from coming back is someone putting him out of commission.”
No further explanation was required. He thought Pablo was dead. The realization hardened like a rock in her stomach. Despair swooped down and tore at her chest.
“What can we do?”
Resignation clouded his angular features. “Nothing, but wait.”
Rachel suddenly needed to be with her son. “I think I’ll…I’ll check on Josh.”
Angel was close.
She couldn’t be sure why she abruptly sensed that reality. But she could feel it. Some instinct that erupted out of nowhere. She had to get to Josh. The urge consumed her. When another of those odd chimes sounded she wondered if Sloan had gone outside to look for Pablo or if maybe he had finally arrived with the doctor.
She stepped quietly into the bedroom, not wanting to wake her son. The French doors standing wide open captured her attention. Ice filled her veins. She flipped on the overhead light with numb fingers.
“Surprise, Mommy!”
Josh sat on the edge of the bed with a stranger. A woman. The long, dark-haired woman.
“It’s the lady who gived me the bear from my daddy,” he explained happily. He frowned then. “But I forgotted him in the mountains.”
The woman stood, her moves catlike, and expertly leveled her weapon on Rachel. “I think we should step outside, don’t you agree?”
Josh looked from one to the other, his face still flushed with his fever. “Mommy?” Uncertainty filled his little voice.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she assured him.
“Unless, of course,” the woman continued, “you’d like to settle this in here.”
The woman was taller than Rachel, and thin. She looked every bit as menacing as Angel. Forcing herself to comply, Rachel started toward the French doors. “Outside is fine,” she urged. She had to keep Josh out of the line of fire. Whoever this woman was, she might be crazy enough to do anything.
“Good thinking,” the woman cooed saccharinely.
Rachel paused at the door and gave her son what might be his final smile from her. “Josh, you stay right here and Mommy’ll be back soon.”
He nodded hesitantly.
The woman shoved Rachel through the open doors and into the night air. “Move,” she snapped.
“Who are you?”
She shoved Rachel again, toward the center of the courtyard. “Shut up.”
“Did Angel send you?” Rachel demanded, trying not to show her fear. She prayed Josh would not wander outside when she didn’t return quickly enough.
“Oh, he sent me all right,” she sneered.
Rachel turned around, making the woman pull up short. “Where is he?” Her anger kicked up, chasing away just a little bit of the fear. She was going to die anyway. “Was he afraid to come himself?”
The woman laughed dryly. “I think you know better than that, little Miss Goody Two-shoes.”
“Then why are you here?” If she was going to die, she at least had a right to know the reason.
“Don’t you know? I came to kill you,” the woman said tartly.
Rachel blinked. “Is that what Angel ordered you to do?”
“Not quite.” She smirked. “I’m supposed to keep an eye on you, like always.”
“Like always?” Rachel had never seen this woman before in her life.
“Whenever Angel is on an overseas assignment, I keep an eye on you and the kid.”
So that’s how he kept up with Rachel’s business and attempts to elude him, besides using the bank transactions Sloan had pointed out. “Are you his partner?” she wanted to know.
She laughed again. “He doesn’t have a partner, honey. I’m Tanya.” She quirked a brow. “His lover.”
“I don’t understand.” If Tanya was supposed to be watching their every move, why was she holding a gun on Rachel now? “Where is Angel?” Rachel insisted. “He’s not man enough to do the job himself?”
She gave Rachel a knowing look. “You know as well as I do how much man he is,” she said pointedly. “That’s the problem.”
Tanya wasn’t just his lover, she was his jealous lover. She wanted Rachel out of the way. This was crazy. Please, Rachel prayed, help Sloan keep Josh safe.
“Angel will be here soon enough, but it’ll be too late for you, I’m afraid. I’m sick of hearing about sweet little Rachel,” Tanya said vehemently. “I want you out of the picture.”
Rachel shook her head in disbelief. “He doesn’t want me, he wants Josh.” How could she think that Angel wanted her?
“He wants you all right,” she argued, “in some sadistic way. He could’ve killed you long ago. I’m not risking that he’ll pick you over me when it gets down to the nitty-gritty.”
“Then he doesn’t know you’re here?” The big picture cleared in Rachel’s head.
Tanya waved her weapon. “I told you, I’m supposed to keep an eye on you until he gets here. But when he gets here I’ll just tell him that Sloan offed you, and that I took care of Sloan to save him the trouble.”
“He won’t believe that,” Rachel countered, renewed fear rising inside her. “Why would Sloan want to kill me?”
“Revenge, of course,” she said triumphantly. “Angel was seething after I told him about your little escapade in town yesterday morning. He even cut his time in Europe short. He’s coming in this morning, rather than later in the afternoon. I won’t have any trouble convincing him that Sloan went ballistic and killed you. And that he would have killed the kid if I hadn’t intervened. He knows how close to the edge Sloan is.”
Rachel realized then she had overlooked one important detail. “How did you get in here?”
She made a disparaging sound. “Pablo has a sister who lives in town. It was simple. He didn’t want to watch her die a slow and painful death so he gave me the code to get inside.”
“Where is he?” Fury swept over Rachel, vanquishing her fear. This woman was just as evil as Angel.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about that,” she patronized. “Pablo’s beyond anybody’s help now.”
“You’re making a mistake,” Rachel warned. How long would it take Sloan to realize she was no longer in the house? Would Josh go to him? “Angel will figure out what you did.”
“He’ll be too busy grieving,” she said with obvious disgust. “And raising his son.” She smiled, enjoying Rachel’s visible distress.
Anxiety hurdling through her, Rachel went for broke. “Why can’t we come to some sort of mutually advantageous agreement?” There had to be some way to reach the woman.
Tanya rolled her eyes. “Don’t be absurd. Why would I want to make a deal with you?”
“If you let me and Josh go, I swear we’ll disappear and you’ll never have to worry about us again.” She mentally crossed her fingers. Surely the woman had a price. “I have money,” she added quickly.
Tanya narrowed her gaze suspiciously. “I don’t need your money. I have money.” She shrugged. “Besides, Angel would only find you. You know that. You can’t hide from him.”
She knew that better than anyone. “Look, leave my son and Sloan out of it. Your problem is with me.” The thought of Josh being taken by Angel and Sloan being hurt was more than Rachel could bear. She had already cost Pablo his life. She winced at the realization. “All you want is to get rid of me,” she urged. “Leave Sloan and Josh out of this.”
Tanya laughed. “Oh, this is rich. You’re in love with the man. Did he tell you what Angel did to him?”
The phone call. “It was you,” Rachel accused. “You played the tape.”
“I’ll bet that freaked out the poor bastard,” she said proudly. “I thought the bear and the ribbon were pretty ingenious as well. The bear was an almost perfect match for the one his kid had.”
“How could you do this?” Rachel searched the woman’s face, her eyes, for some glimmer of goodness. Cold, calculating evil stared back at her.
“Easy. I had a good teacher. As soon as I discovered that you had come to Sloan, I rounded up Angel’s bag of tricks designed specifically to trip this guy’s trigger and followed you here.”
Rachel felt sick to her stomach. Tanya actually derived pleasure from torturing Sloan. Would this woman be raising her son when Angel was off doing what he did? The thought made Rachel faint with panic.
“Please,” Rachel pleaded, “there has to be a way to work this out.”
“No more talking.”
Tanya moved closer, she pressed the barrel of the weapon directly against Rachel’s forehead. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for death.
“Time to send you where all good little girls go.”