Chapter Thirty-Two
The baby was fussing, sensing her mother’s fear. Missy held her gently, twirling from side to side, bouncing her a little, trying to comfort her. “It’s all right, sweetheart. Mama’s right here.”
“Get the kid ready. We’re leaving.” After the police arrived, the man who had broken into their home had removed the ski mask he’d been wearing. He was average height, with olive skin, heavy eyebrows and a long, pointed nose. He’d told her to call him Franco.
“You’re letting us go?” Hope rose inside her. She knew Beau had just arrived in his helicopter. Maybe everything was going to be okay.
“Not yet. Once we get to Mexico, I’ll let you go.”
A jolt of fear tore a strangled sound from her throat. “Mexico! You can’t take us to Mexico! How will we get home?”
“Look. I wasn’t gonna take you, okay? But now the cops are here, so I don’t have any choice.”
“Please. I’m begging you. Evie’s too little for a trip like that. She might get sick. She might even die.”
His black eyes swung to her face, taking in her long blond hair and blue eyes, slid down over the curve of her breasts beneath the robe and nightgown she was wearing, took in her slender bare feet.
A shiver ran through her. She’d had a boyfriend in high school. She’d slept with Stewart. She knew when a man looked at a woman that way, he wanted to get between her legs.
“So . . . if you want,” Franco said, “we could leave the baby in the house and you could come with me. Just you and me, you know? With all that money, we could have some real fun in Mexico.”
Missy bit back a whimper. She couldn’t imagine leaving her baby. She was too tiny, still breastfeeding. She needed her mama. But if Franco took them to Mexico, Evie could die. Missy’s eyes filled. No matter what happened, her mom would take care of Evie. And Beau would make sure she had everything she needed. He was protective of Evie. Protective of both of them. She had to put her baby’s safety first.
She pretended to smile but her lips trembled. “Okay, I’ll go with you. I’ve got to get dressed. Then I’ll just put Evie in her crib and get my things.”
“Make it snappy. We don’t have much time.”
Missy started shaking. She fought not to cry as she left the room, but tears streamed down her cheeks. She swallowed against the thick lump clogging her throat and tried not to think she might never see her tiny baby daughter again.
* * *
“Try to stall him,” Chief Warren said. “We aren’t ready. We need to wait for SWAT, get men in position, be ready for this guy when he comes out.”
“I don’t think you’re going to have time for that,” Beau said. “I’m going in there and talk to him.”
Warren clamped a hand on Beau’s shoulder, stopping him before he could move. “You’re a civilian, Beau. I can’t let you do that.”
Beau shook off the chief’s hand. “Let me help you, dammit. This is my fault. They wouldn’t be in trouble if I hadn’t been digging around, trying to find my father’s killer.”
“Sorry, that’s not the way it works. We wait, hold our positions. We’ve already replaced your pilot with one of our men, in case gunfire breaks out. Once SWAT arrives, we can put a sniper in place, take him out if we have to.”
At least his pilot was safe. One worry less. Beau’s cell started ringing. He brought up his phone and held it so the chief could hear. “I’m listening.”
“You’ve got five minutes to get the cops to back off. If I see even one of them when I open the door, I shoot the girl.” The line went dead and Beau cursed. He thought of the young woman and her baby trapped in the house with a killer, and his mouth went dry.
He looked at Warren. “You heard what he said. You need to pull your men back. Get them far enough away that he can’t see them.” Movement off to the left caught his attention. A tall, broad-shouldered man materialized out of the darkness, moving toward him with long, confident strides. A rifle case hung from one of his big hands.
Joshua Cain. Linc’s brother. Ex-military, former Marine special ops sniper. Beau had never been so glad to see anyone in his life.
“Linc thought you might need some backup,” Josh said.
“How did he—”
“Guy named Marino called him, explained what was going on. Linc’s in New Mexico or he’d be here with me.”
Beau flicked a glance at Frank Marino, who shrugged but didn’t apologize. At the moment it was impossible to be mad at the guy for overstepping his bounds.
“You’re Cain,” Chief Warren said to Josh. “Everybody in town knows what you did to protect our soldiers.” Josh was a war hero. He was currently living at Blackland Ranch, trying to get his life back together after a brush with death that had ended his military career.
According to Linc, Josh wanted to leave his soldiering days behind and start over. Beau felt another stab of guilt for dragging Linc’s brother into this.
“Your timing couldn’t be better,” Chief Warren said. “We’ve got a woman and baby held hostage in that house. The subject’s just about to come out and head for the helo. SWAT isn’t here yet and we’re out of time. We could really use your help.”
Something flickered in Josh’s deep blue eyes. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Good. Joshua Cain, you’re hereby deputized as an officer of the Pleasant Hill police force.”
Josh just nodded. He turned to study the house, looked at the position of the helicopter sitting on the grass in the park, rotors spinning. He appeared to be drawing a mental line from the front door to the aircraft.
Without a word, he walked off toward the trees, moving as soundlessly as a ghost in the night. Beau blinked and Josh was gone.
“Where is he?” Warren asked.
“He’s out there,” Beau said. “Wherever he’s supposed to be.”
Chief Warren didn’t argue. They had less than sixty seconds until the five-minute deadline was up. Warren checked to be sure his men, weapons drawn, were out of sight. The last police officer had just disappeared when Beau’s phone rang.
“We’re coming out,” Franco said. “I better not see any police.”
“No police,” Beau said. “The chopper’s ready to go just the way you wanted.” He doubted the police officer at the controls was actually going anywhere. This would be resolved one way or another before the helo left the ground.
“I need to see the money,” Franco said. “The girl’s with me. I’m leaving the kid in the house.”
Beau felt a trickle of relief. “That’s good. Now you’re being smart.” At least the baby would be safe. Unfortunately, the money was in the bag on the floor of the chopper. The guy would have to board the aircraft to see it.
“Ready or not, here we come.” Franco’s voice held an odd lightness, almost a note of excitement. Then the line went dead.
The front door opened and a man with shaggy black hair stepped out on the porch, Missy in front of him, his arm clamped around her neck. A gun was pressed into the side of her head. In the moonlight, her face was as white as the sweater she was wearing. Her eyes were wild and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Guilt swamped him. She was just a kid. The mother of a newborn baby.
He felt Cassidy’s presence beside him. She reached for his hand, laced her fingers with his. The warmth of her touch centered him, gave him a moment’s peace. He squeezed her fingers, then he let go and started walking.
* * *
Cassidy’s heart nearly stopped beating when Beau stepped out of the shadows, his hands in the air. Positioned behind a tree, she drew her weapon and went into a shooting stance, her gun aimed at the hostage taker.
“I’m Reese,” Beau said, walking into the moonlight where Franco could see him as he approached the house. A few feet away, Chief Warren quietly cursed. Cassidy’s palms went damp. She tightened her hold on the pistol.
“I’ll get the money out of the chopper,” Beau said, “show you it’s all there. But you can’t leave till you let the girl go.”
“Fuck you, Reese. I’m taking her with me. She’s going of her own free will. Right, baby?”
Missy made a strangled sound in her throat, and Cassidy’s chest clamped down. She kept her gun pointed at Franco, but she was too far away to risk any sort of shot.
Franco kept walking, forcing the girl in front of him as a shield, his arm still locked around her neck, gun pressed to her temple. “Stay back or I shoot her.”
Hands held high, Beau froze where he stood. “The helicopter will have to land before you get to the border. It can only travel a little over four hundred miles without refueling. Piedras Negras and Nuevo Laredo are the closest Mexican towns. They’re five hundred miles away.”
Franco paused. “I don’t believe you. You think I’m a fool? We’re leaving and you better not try to stop us.”
“Let the girl go and I’ll arrange for you to refuel in San Antonio. No cops. The pilot will land and refuel and you’ll be on your way.”
“She’s my insurance policy. She’s going.” Franco glanced around. He was still a good distance from the helicopter in the park across the street.
Franco started walking. As he stepped off the curb, a string of vehicle headlights appeared. Two sheriff’s SUVs and a SWAT Bearcat careened around the corner, sirens blaring, roared down the road toward them, and slammed to a halt. Deputies in full tactical gear streamed out from the vehicles.
“I told you no police!” Franco screamed. Panic had him turning, swinging his big black semiautomatic pistol toward the deputies, firing off a string of bullets. Then the gun swung back toward Missy.
Cassidy watched in horror, too far away to make the shot, and the deputies were not in position. Franco was going to kill Missy and there was nothing anyone could do.
A rifle shot sounded, the roar echoing into the darkness. Franco’s head exploded in a rush of blood and bits of skull, and his lifeless body crumpled to the ground, the gun flying out of his hand as he hit the pavement. Missy started screaming, the sound a high, eerie wail of horror.
Beau raced toward her and the girl flew into his arms. She was covered with blood and hysterical. Cassidy ran toward the house.
“You’re okay, Missy,” Beau said, hugging her close, trying to calm her. “You’re okay.”
“My baby! I want my baby!”
“I’ll get her!” Cassidy ran into the dwelling, but Evie wasn’t in the living room. She ran for the bedroom, spotted the baby in her pink bassinet, waving her tiny arms and gurgling softly. Cassidy’s heart clenched. She blinked back tears as she picked up the infant and cradled the baby in her arms.
“It’s all right, sweetheart. You and your mama are safe.” She loved babies, could imagine the beautiful babies she and Beau could make, felt a wave of sadness that it was never going to happen.
By the time she carried the infant outside, Josie was there, shouting for her daughter and crying. The café was close enough to hear the sirens. Apparently she figured she had waited long enough.
Beau handed the hysterical girl over to her mother and Missy began to sob in Josie’s arms. Spotting Cassidy approaching with her infant daughter, Missy gave a soft cry and reached for her baby girl.
“Evie’s fine,” Cassidy said. “You’re both okay.”
“Evie . . .” Missy sobbed, carefully cuddling the infant in the crook of her arm. “My sweet little baby.” Tears ran down her cheeks. She looked up at Beau. “I knew you’d come. You saved us. You’ve both been so good to us.”
Beau just nodded, his features grim. Cassidy knew he blamed himself that Missy and Evie had ever been in danger. “They’re okay,” she said to him. “They’re both okay.”
Beau reached for her, pulled her into his arms. “It’s over,” he said, a shudder rippling through his tall, lean body. When he buried his face in her hair, Cassidy hung on hard.
“Missy and Evie are safe,” she said. “Everybody’s okay.”
He swallowed. “If it hadn’t been for Josh . . .” The words trailed off. If it hadn’t been for Josh, Missy would be dead.
Chief Warren walked up and they broke apart. “Josh is giving a statement. You’ll both need to do the same.” He gave them a weary smile. “I’m glad the girl and her baby are okay.”
It was over. Missy and Evie were safe and the hit-and-run driver who had tried to kill Cassidy was dead. The police knew his name now—Franco Giannetti. She breathed a sigh of relief.
“One down, one to go,” Beau said, reminding her there was still a contract killer out there. Cassidy felt like collapsing on the ground, curling into a protective ball, and crying till she ran out of tears.
Instead, she walked next to Beau toward the waiting police.