“Holy shit.” Heath leaned over and lifted her eyelid. “What the hell did they give her?”
She was drugged. Denver took a deep breath and checked her pulse. “Slow, too slow, but steady.” Whatever it was, the crap was working its way out of her system. The warmth started to permeate, because her teeth began to chatter. “Let’s get out of here, Ryker.” Denver let Heath help him out of his vest so he could hold her closer and let his body warm hers.
The heaters beat heavily as Ryker drove away from the airport.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I couldn’t find her, Denver.” Tears clogged her voice. “Talia. I looked everywhere, and she was gone.” A sob escaped her. Then her body went limp, and she dropped into a drug-induced sleep.
Denver barely kept from losing his mind. He held her close, trying every technique he’d learned through the years to stay calm. If he’d been just ten minutes later, he would’ve lost her. Or if she’d fallen into a snowbank, he never would’ve found her. “I’m going to kill that bitch Madison,” he muttered darkly. He was grateful to have Noni back, but his mind wouldn’t leave Talia. Where was the baby? He kept rubbing Noni’s back, trying to push warmth into her.
Heath paused, fury glittering in his gaze. “Dude,” he breathed, tugging down the blanket.
“What?” Denver asked, fear gripping him again.
Heath reached up and turned on the interior light. “Her back.”
Denver swallowed and slightly turned Noni over to see black marker written on her. Madison had left him a message? Fuck. He sucked in air and read the entire thing.
DENVER. YOU WANT THE BABY, AND I WANT YOU. IT’S TIME TO COME HOME. I’LL TRADE THE BABY AND LEAVE HEATH AND RYKER ALONE. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN YOU, MY BOY. XOXO ME
* * *
Noni woke up with a gasp, her entire body feeling like somebody was pricking her with needles.
“You’re all right,” Denver said, his voice low and controlled.
She blinked several times and took inventory. Soft sheets. Warm male. No clothes. “Denver.”
“Yeah.” He held her tight, her back to his front, his body warming hers. “Are you back with me?”
That quickly, flashes from the entire night went through her head. “Where are we?”
“The cabin at the lake.”
She closed her eyes as dread rolled down her to land in her stomach. “She took Talia.”
“I know.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her head. “I promise you, I’ll get that baby back. No matter what.”
Noni bit her lip and slid her feet along his calves. She was still chilled. “I can’t remember everything,” she whispered, her heart feeling like somebody had stabbed her. Why was everything still so hazy?
“You were drugged,” he said, holding her even tighter. “If you’re up to it, you can tell me everything. Anything you remember might help.”
Her shoulders jolted, and she shoved against him. Panic tried to take hold of her. “We have to go find her. We can’t be in bed.”
He didn’t relent and easily held her in place. “We don’t know where to go yet, and you need rest. You have to warm up, baby.”
She curled her toes, still feeling the pain. “Why am I so cold?”
“You don’t remember?” His breath brushed her hair.
She blinked and tried to remember. Moments and pictures wound through her memory. “There was a unicorn.”
He caressed heat into her hip. “Maybe start before that.”
Good point. “I can’t just lie here, Denver.” There had to be something she could do.
“I have multiple searches going on right now on the Internet. I’m tracing Cobb’s movements a week ago as well as those from yesterday. We have buddies in the FAA looking for the plane. There is nothing you can do right now but heal. I promise.” He kept caressing her as if he couldn’t stop touching her. “What you can do is tell me everything. Just tell me what happened, and maybe something will spark. Trust me.”
She wasn’t sure she could remember. For Talia, she’d try. “After the hotel, they gave me something. I fell asleep and woke up in the hangar with Dr. Madison, and she injected me with something else.”
He stiffened and then slowly relaxed behind her. “I know. Did she tell you anything?” A fine tremor rode his hard voice.
“I didn’t see Talia. Not once. Madison said she was in the plane, but I never saw her.” Noni’s throat clogged, and her heart curled in. “I don’t know where she is.”
“Madison said she has the baby, and she’s telling the truth,” Denver said firmly. “The baby is leverage. She’s safe.”
Tears gathered in Noni’s eyes. “That poor baby has been leverage since she was born.” God, it hurt. The fear was so real she could taste it. “What does Madison want? Why not take me?”
“Madison is crazy and wants all of us. She didn’t take you because she has the baby.” Denver moved Noni’s hair out of the way and kissed the nape of her neck as if trying to give comfort. There was nothing sexual in his touch or kiss. It was all promise and comfort. “Seeing you in pain is supposed to motivate me,” he said quietly.
Noni swallowed. “Is it?”
“Hell yes, it is,” he said quietly. “Keep talking. Was there anybody else with her?”
Noni blinked and tried to remember. “There was a soldier and I guess pilots. Um, I can’t remember much after she shot me full of stuff. Some weird drug. Everything turned sparkly.”
“Did she ask questions?”
“I think so.” Noni reached up and rubbed her aching eyes. “I think she did.” It was all such a bewildering blur. “I think she asked about Ryker and Heath?” None of it was coming back. “Maybe something about Franny being in Montana?” God, had she told Madison where everybody was? “We have to warn them.” She tried to move again, but her body just wouldn’t cooperate.
Denver continued rubbing feeling into her arms, his movements gentle. “My brothers are here at the cabin, so even if you told her about South Dakota, it doesn’t matter. Nobody is there.”
Noni’s breath caught. “What about Zara, and, um…”
“Anya,” he murmured. “They’re here as well. Everybody is safe.”
She tried to focus again. It was like a blanket across her brain. Nothing. “What about Montana?”
“They’ve been given a heads up,” Denver said, his lips near her ear. “Everyone is safe there. Not only do they have land mines and missiles, they also have escape routes that are undetectable.”
Wow. That was a little crazy. She took a deep breath, surprised that even her throat felt cold. “I can’t remember what I told Madison.”
“All right. At what point did she untie you from the chair?” he asked, his tone soft and soothing.
Noni shook her head. “No. That’s not right.” It’s like the entire night was one dark pit in her head. “She left me, and I rolled over to the letter opener.” She coughed, her brain fuzzing. “I think I ran out trying to follow the plane.” God, she felt stupid. “I was so out of it.” Her chest felt like it was trapped in a vise. “Denver.” His name came out on a sob.
He turned her, pressing her face into his neck and rubbing his broad hand down her back. “Let it out, baby.”
She couldn’t help it. While she wanted to be tough, she needed this moment. The tears started and wouldn’t stop. She cried for Talia, for fear, for everyone being hunted by Madison and Cobb. She cried because she and Denver might not win.
She was cold and scared, and her daughter was lost.
In the end, she just cried.
Chapter
30
Denver let himself out of the bedroom quietly, noting the snow billowing around outside in the cloudy daylight. His brothers used twin laptops, typing and reading the screens while sitting on the sofa, legs extended, in front of the crackling fire.
Ryker looked up first, his bluish green eyes weary. “How is she?”
“Terrible but asleep,” Denver said, mo
ving to the fresh pot of coffee on the counter. His body still felt like it had gone through a cement mixer, and his heart hurt. There was no other way to describe it. “I’m pretty sure she told Madison about South Dakota, so we need to scrub that place.”
“Already did,” Heath said, tilting his head toward his screen. “Fried the entire security system and then changed all ownership documents. There’s going to be a house fire in about an hour. Had to hire local muscle, but they don’t know who we are, and they’ll get out of there soon.”
Ryker rubbed his hands down his face. “I liked that house. Too bad we have to burn it.”
Denver poured himself a large mug of the thick brew. “There will be an investigation.”
Heath shook his head. “These guys know what they’re doing. It’ll look like an accident. Faulty wires in the garage next to paint cans. And paint remover.”
Denver took a big drink and grimaced at the strong taste. Ryker enjoyed his coffee in a jet-fuel type of way. “I can tell Ry made the coffee.”
Heath grimaced. “No shit.”
Denver took another big gulp, over the rim of his cup watching his brothers watch him. “What?”
“You okay?” Heath asked, his greenish brown gaze narrowing. “You can’t be.”
“Of course not,” he said, gravity seeming to pull him down with more force than usual. “But she’s asleep and doesn’t seem to have frostbite, so I’ll take the win for a second.” He leaned back against the counter. “I now have no problem killing Madison, however.” Sometimes even a woman needed to be killed. That one did.
Ryker leaned forward to study his screen and then settled back. “Why do you think her soldiers left you at the hotel?”
Denver shrugged. “There were only three soldiers, and I killed one and incapacitated a second, while the cops were fast to arrive. They couldn’t get me as well as Noni and the baby in time with the police arriving. So she sent Cobb to take me from the hospital, and he had his own plan.”
“He didn’t even bring backup?” Heath asked.
“No. He wants me dead too badly,” Denver said, his mind turning things over. “I think they’re working against each other at the moment.”
“Do they know it?” Ryker asked thoughtfully.
Denver nodded. “Madison knows it, of course. Cobb? Not sure. He probably doesn’t realize she’ll sacrifice him in a second to get what she wants. It’s who she is.”
Heath typed what looked like a set of commands. “She needs him right now, I think. She’s lost the commander and several of her top soldiers lately.”
That psychopath didn’t need anybody. “How are the searches going?”
“Good,” Ryker said. “We’re hacking all traffic cams, bank cams, and security cams from the area of the hospital you were in and tying them to the shots we have of Cobb when he visited Detective Malloy in Snowville. We’ll find him on one of these feeds. I just know it. That’ll help us trace Madison’s current base of operations sometime today.”
Heath gestured toward the silent phone on the table. Cobb’s phone. “The message on Noni’s back has me confused. Why does she want just you?”
“I don’t know,” Denver said, having thought of nothing else for hours. “She’s playing yet another game. I don’t know what it is. Maybe she’s bluffing and just trying to catch us off guard.” Though she’d always treated him as special. Why? He didn’t see it. He looked around. “Zara and Anya are sleeping?”
“Yeah.” Ryker tilted his head toward the other bedroom. “I figured they should get rest while they can. This is about to become crazy.”
Cobb’s stolen phone rang.
Denver jumped. He took several deep breaths as his brothers stood and moved toward the table. “Well, shit.” His body went on full alert, but he forced himself to move slowly and pick up the phone, then push the speaker button. “What?”
“Who is this?” Madison’s voice came clearly over the line.
“Denver,” he said without preamble.
“Did you get my gift?” she asked on a giggle.
Rage rushed through him so swiftly he could barely think. “Your gift? You mean my girlfriend half frozen in a snowbank? She hasn’t woken, you crazy bitch.” He had to see how much the evil doctor really knew.
“What in the world are you talking about?” Madison asked.
Denver lowered his head and tried to listen through the line. Was there any sound of a baby anywhere in the background? He couldn’t tell. “Noni was half naked in the snow out on the tarmac. Did you do that?”
Silence came for a moment. “Interesting. No. I left her on the chair for you. The silly twit must’ve gotten loose and gone walking. In bare feet.” Madison tsked through the line. “You really could do so much better, Denver.”
Denver’s hand tightened on the phone with enough force the screen started to crack. Heath grabbed it and placed it on the counter, his own jaw tight with what looked like raw fury. Denver cleared his throat and tried to sound unaffected. “Well, I found her in the snow, and she’s still in bed trying to get warm enough. That was quite the message you wrote on her back.”
Madison giggled. “I know. It was like being back in college and doing a prank.”
Denver reached for the phone, fury consuming him.
Ryker walked right into him, using his body as a block. Denver fought for two seconds and then regained his fucking brain. He gave a short nod, and Ryker moved to the side. “Why the hell do you want me so badly? Why me?”
“Why you? Come on. You know you’re special.” Madison sounded almost gleeful.
Denver barely kept the rage out of his voice. “Special my ass. This is just another of your mind games.”
“Language,” she admonished. “Be polite.”
Polite? His fingers curled into a fist he would’ve loved to plant through the nearest wall. “What the fuck do you want?” he hissed, his chest filling.
She sighed heavily. “Sometimes you’re so blind.”
Did she sound miffed? “Then enlighten me. Please.”
“Stop playing games,” Madison snapped. “You forget. I have the baby.”
“Do you?” Denver tried to sound bored. “Not sure I believe you on that one.”
Movement sounded, and then high heels clicked on concrete. The gurgle of a baby came through the line, and then the phone dinged. Denver pushed a button, and a picture of Talia appeared, her dark eyes looking up from some sort of crib.
His knees almost buckled.
The screen went black, more heels, and then silence. “Are we finished playing games?” Madison asked, her voice cool and so damn cultured.
“I’ll exchange myself in a heartbeat,” Denver said, shocked when his voice remained steady and calm.
Ryker shook his head.
Madison exhaled. “Why? Because you know you belong here with me? Or just for that stupid baby?” For the first time, maybe ever, her voice had risen with what sounded like emotion.
What was her problem? Denver fought down nausea. “For the baby.”
“You’ll pay for that,” she said.
What kind of game was this? Denver pounded his closed fist against his forehead as quietly as he could. He didn’t trust a thing she said. “What makes you think I won’t just turn you in to the authorities for kidnapping a baby?”
“We’re past that, and you can’t find me. Take me off speaker. I can tell the difference.”
He glanced at his brothers, and Heath gave a short nod.
Denver swallowed. He clicked the speaker button off and slowly lifted the phone to his ear. “Whatever you tell me isn’t a secret.”
She laughed, this time the sound low. “Haven’t you wondered? Through the years?”
He blinked. His stomach clenched. “Wondered about what?” His voice broke.
“You know. You’ve always known,” she crooned.
His lids half lowered, and he braced himself. He wiped a hand across his eyes, and it trembled. This was happening.
His worst nightmare. “Say the words.”
She sighed. “Fine. I’m your mother.”
* * *
“You let the woman go?” Elton Cobb burst into Isobel’s office, his pale face flushed a deep red.
Ah. She’d heard he’d secured transport back to Boise. She sat back in her chair and lifted her legs to the desk, crossing her ankles to reveal high-heeled red shoes. “I did. Yes.”
He slammed the door and leaned back against it, impressive muscles flexing in his arms. “I told you I wanted time with her.” Rage sizzled in his overly blue eyes, giving him the look of a shark circling a swimmer.
Isobel pushed her keyboard to the side and faced him directly, her heartbeat so calm she didn’t need to even take a deep breath. “And I told you I wanted Denver retrieved from the hospital. It was the perfect plan.” Having the local cops assist Elton in securing Denver would have put to rest the national manhunt, and then all of her boys could have just disappeared into her program. Yet Elton had disappointed her. The son of a bitch had tried to murder her son. Against her direct orders, no less. “Instead, you tried to kill him.”
“The bastard killed my brother,” Elton said, his hands in fists.
“Yes, I know.” She barely kept from rolling her eyes. “I truly don’t understand why you want a quick kill. He hurt you, thus you destroy him. You can’t do that if he’s dead.” Why did she have to explain things in such simple terms? The commander had understood nuances. Lord, she missed him. Although he’d never known of Denver’s lineage, he wouldn’t have wanted the kid dead.
A vein pulsed across Elton’s forehead. “Hence, the woman. I want to take my time with her and teach Denver a lesson.”
Elton was completely missing the fact that if he’d killed Denver, then Denver could no longer care what happened to Noni, so torturing her wouldn’t hurt Denver. “Elton, if you want to pursue your own agenda, I can’t stop you.” Isobel tapped her red nails on the desk. “However, I shall just pursue my own as well.” She had been willing to keep Noni for Elton to play with if he’d brought in Denver. Since he hadn’t, she would employ her own strategies. “This has been your choice.”