Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

February 17th

10:17 A.M.

Was that what he thought it was?

Panther clicked on the file, opened it, and stared at it as though it were suddenly going to start shouting answers.

Maybe it wasn't shouting, but the file was whispering them.

Going through Jimmy Hillier's life with a fine tooth comb was harder than it sounded. The man's life appeared to have three completely separate parts. As a young child, Jimmy was intelligent, had a good sense of humor, worked hard in school, had lots of friends, and was described as sweet and caring.

Up until the age of around fourteen, then all of a sudden seemingly overnight things changed.

Going through puberty had done something to him, or there had been an unreported trauma that had altered the young man's life dramatically. Grades started slipping, he lost his place on the football team, and kids started distancing themselves from him because he was displaying erratic and violent tendencies. School counselors recommended he speak with someone, concerned about the possibility of mental illness, but none of the doctors Jimmy was sent to were able to diagnose anything.

For eight years, he moved from one obsession to another, culminating in the attempted kidnapping that finally got him charged.

Despite no diagnosis, a judge sent him to receive treatment, believing that Jimmy could be rehabilitated and would have a better outcome in a hospital than in prison.

To all appearances it worked.

When he was discharged two years later with a degree in computer sciences, there were no more stalking instances. The man set up his own business, developed a good reputation with clients, and now ran a company with several other employees working for him, and enough income to live more than comfortably.

But Jimmy hadn"t turned a corner, he hadn"t changed in his time in the psychiatric hospital, he'd just gotten smarter, more patient, and better at hiding who he truly was inside.

Evil.

That's what he was.

While he was receiving treatment, there was one doctor in particular who worked with Jimmy the most. An older woman, who appeared to have become a sort of mother figure to Jimmy. Even after he was discharged she kept in touch with him, and he with her. In fact, it looked like he kept up more communication with her than with his own family, even though both his parents and three siblings had all stood by him through his legal issues.

Was it possible that Jimmy was using the woman even now?

According to records, Dr. Francis Wells had retired around ten years ago at the age of seventy-three. Widowed at just twenty-six she had never remarried, had no children, no siblings, and no other close family. Although from what he could find, she had lived an active life up until around five years ago, when she seemed to just disappear.

Five years ago was right around the time Jimmy met Elle.

Had he been planning all along to abduct Elle and her daughter? Had he decided that no one would think to look for him at the house of his elderly doctor?

So far, this was the best lead Panther had been able to dig up and he wasn't going to let it pass by. Best case scenario, he and his team checked out the house, found and arrested Jimmy, and brought Ruthie home to her mother. Worst case scenario, it was a dead end and he got Elle's hopes up for nothing.

There was a part of him—a big part—that didn"t want to tell her about the lead until he knew whether or not it was going to pan out. Especially after last night when they had both acknowledged the attraction simmering between them, and decided to do something about it once Ruthie was back home where she belonged. Sleeping with Elle snuggled against him had soothed old lingering hurt about not being wanted by his parents, and his wife walking out on him. It filled him with a protectiveness that would fuel his hunt for her daughter for as long as it took to find the little girl.

Elle had to know, he'd promised her he'd tell her anything he found because it was what she wanted. What she needed.

"Guys, I might have a lead," he called out, shoving away from his desk. Today, he was working in his office in the main building on the compound, while Elle and Andy played at his cabin. She had yet to leave, although he had asked one of the guys to go to her house and pack her a bag so she had more than one outfit to wear. Kind of a shame though because he liked seeing her in his clothes when she was sleeping or washing her own. What was with that? Some kind of caveman-like satisfaction seeing your woman covered in your scent he guessed.

"What did you find?" Tank asked, sticking his head into the office. While Panther worked on finding Ruthie, the others did another pass through all the intel they had on Leonid Baranov. It wasn't their second go through the information, wasn't even their tenth, had to be about the twentieth time they'd laid everything out and reread it all, hoping that something new might pop out at them this time around.

"Possible location where Jimmy might be hiding out. House of the doctor who worked with him while he was hospitalized. She was elderly, kind of abruptly fell off the grid right around the time Jimmy met Elle."

"You think he killed her so he could get access to her house?" Scorpion asked.

"So far, he hasn't been violent, just obsessive. He could have escalated or maybe he's just keeping her there drugged so she can"t resist him," Panther replied.

"All right, let's gear up," Axe said.

"We going to call in the cops?" Rock asked.

"Hell no," Panther said vehemently. The cops had failed Elle and Ruthie, bungled the entire case, and then all but given up on the missing child, marking it a cold case just a month after the little girl had been abducted. "They gave up on Ruthie. We're not bringing them in now so they can try to claim the glory if we're right. Eagle can smooth over any ruffled feathers if there are any." Eagle Oswald, former SEAL, billionaire powerhouse, founder and CEO of Prey, had never met a problem he couldn't solve.

None of the guys offered any protests to that plan. They all knew the cops didn"t have a leg to stand on. They'd turned Elle away and told her there was nothing else they could do. She was well within her rights to seek help elsewhere. And even if they did try to cause trouble for Prey, Eagle would handle it, the man had too many connections to let something like this ruffle a single one of his feathers.

"I'm going to update Elle then we can leave," he informed the guys. Usually, they walked around the compound, although roads connected all the buildings. Today Panther wished he'd driven over to the main building because then he could drive back and get to Elle quicker. Since he hadn"t, he took off at a run toward his ten acres and the cabin where his son was hanging out with his woman.

When he approached his cabin, he could see the two of them bundled up in a ridiculous amount of clothes, chasing each other through the remains of the slushy snow left on the ground. Spring was a few weeks away, and there was still a bite of cold in the air, would likely be well over a month before there was any real warmth. Not that the cold had deterred these two. They were so engrossed in their game that he was almost on them before Elle finally noticed him.

Immediately she froze. Fear warred with hope on her beautiful face.

"Rafe?" she asked as he closed the remaining distance between them.

Damn, he loved the sound of his name on her lips. Who knew it was so intoxicating to have the woman you were interested in call you something different than everybody else? He'd never gotten why the guys loved hearing their women use their given names until now. Until Elle.

"You asked me to keep you in the loop," he said as he placed his hands on her shoulders, gently kneading the tight muscles.

"I did. And …?"

"I might have a lead on where Jimmy is holed up with Ruthie," he told her.

Her knees buckled, and he quickly shifted his hold from her shoulders to her elbows, keeping her from collapsing into the cold slushy snow. "Y-you really think R-Ruthie is there?"

"I don't know, honey. But even if she's not I won"t give up on her. Won't give up on you," he promised.

"I believe you. If anyone can find my daughter it's you, Rafe. It's only you. Please find her, please bring my baby home to me."

Tears shimmered in her eyes, and the trust that she was placing in him humbled him like nothing else ever had. He was a father, he knew how he would feel if their roles were reversed, and he understood that she was putting her faith in him to protect the most precious thing in her life.

Leaning down he touched his forehead to hers. "I'll bring Ruthie home to you."

February 17th

11:42 A.M.

"Again?" Elle groaned.

Andy giggled, and she couldn't not smile. Was there any sweeter sound on earth than that of a child's laugh?

"Maybe you'll win this time," the little boy said, a small, encouraging smile on his face, and her own smile grew.

"Yeah, maybe, but I won"t get my hopes up too high." Giving an exaggerated mock sigh to make Andy laugh again, Elle went to the cupboard filled with games. "What do you want to play this time?"

"Hmm … maybe Monopoly?"

"Monopoly?" This sigh was completely genuine. She sucked at Monopoly. Andy might only be eight, but there was little to no chance she was going to beat him. "Which one, you guys have like a dozen different variations?" she asked with an amused chuckle. Just because board games weren"t her thing didn"t mean she wasn't more than happy to spend the morning playing them with the little boy. Anything to put that smile on his face.

"The Pokémon one," he replied immediately.

"Pokémon Monopoly it is." As she pulled the game from the stack in the playroom cupboard and carried it back over to the table, she heard her phone ring in the other room.

Rafe?

Wherever he had gone, she didn"t think he would have had time yet to find Ruthie and rescue her, but since she didn"t know exactly what the lead was she didn"t really know. Maybe he already had her daughter in his arms. Maybe he was climbing into a car to bring her home.

"Be right back, ‘kay, Andy?" she said as she set the game on the table and hurried into the kitchen where she'd left her phone.

"'Kay. I'll get everything set up," Andy called after her.

"Sure thing, buddy boy." When she reached the kitchen table where she'd left her phone, she saw that it was an unknown number calling.

Dread took hold deep in her stomach.

Rafe hadn"t just programmed his number into her phone but the numbers of his teammates as well. If there was some reason Rafe himself couldn't call, one of the other guys would, and their name would currently be on her screen.

She had all the numbers for the detectives and agents assigned to Ruthie's case as well, and it wasn't any of them. Wasn't her agent or anyone else she worked with.

Unknown.

Danger.

Her stomach cramped painfully with tension, and if Rafe was there she would have called out to him and asked him what she should do.

But he wasn't there.

Just her.

Hand shaking so badly she almost dropped her cell phone, she lifted it to her ear and accepted the call. "H-hello?"

"Why haven't you been home?" a voice demanded angrily.

Now that she knew who had taken her daughter, she knew this was Jimmy, and from the sounds of things he wasn't just angry he was boiling mad.

What should she say?

What should she do?

What if she said the wrong thing and stoked his rage making him hurt or even kill her daughter?

The pressure was too much, her knees buckled under it and she grabbed the table with her free hand just in time to stop herself from collapsing.

Wherever Rafe had gone he'd been wrong. Her daughter wasn't there because if he'd been right then Jimmy wouldn't be calling her right now.

"I thought you understood," he continued, seemingly not caring that she hadn"t offered an answer to his question. "I thought you would be here waiting for us when we got home. You said you needed time and I"ve given you plenty, but time is up. I"m ready for the three of us to be a family."

"A family?" she squeaked. When family was mentioned in the same sentence as her, Ruthie, Rafe, and Andy it sounded so perfect, like being wrapped up in a warm fluffy blanket, all cozy, safe, and happy. But family in the same sentence as her, Ruthie, and her stalker it made her feel frozen inside.

"I"m done waiting," Jimmy snapped. "You come home now or the kid dies. I didn"t want to hurt her—I didn"t want to hurt anyone—but I"ve been patient, and she's not essential to our happiness. We can always have more children and this one doesn't even belong to us. I was only keeping her around because I love you and she's important to you. Come home, Elle. Now."

"H-home?" Did he mean her house or his? Or some place entirely different that he had bought or rented for the three of them to live in together.

"Yes. I have a fire in the fireplace, and the table is all set for a special dinner, I used your good china, I didn"t think you'd mind."

Okay, so her house. She'd been to Jimmy's once and knew it didn"t have a fireplace, and she doubted he'd gone to her place just to pack up her china.

"I expect you hear within an hour," he added.

One hour?

Even leaving now and forgetting the speed limit that was pushing it. An hour wasn't long enough for her to call Rafe, find out what she should do, and get to her place.

"One hour. Oh, and, Elle. I'm inside your phone, I want it destroyed before you leave. I don't want anyone messing with us. We need family time, and after the kid goes to bed you and I need time alone together. I"ve waited a long time for you and I"ve made sure everything is going to be perfect. I won"t let anything ruin it. I"m hanging up now and if I don't see on my end that your phone is disabled I kill the girl."

With that, the call ended, leaving Elle with nothing but her fear and panic.

There were no other phones in the house for her to use to call for help.

How could she leave Andy there alone?

She had to tell the boy to go to the closest cabin. How was she going to explain that to him? And she had to leave him with some sort of message that would tell Rafe where she was so that when he came home he could come for her and Ruthie.

"Andy?" she called out as she picked up the phone, threw it onto the floor then stomped on it as hard as she could. Scooping up the pieces she dumped them in the sink and turned the tap on. Hopefully, that destroyed the phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he came into the room.

Before she could ask him to put on his coat and go to Trick and Stephanie's cabin, the front door was thrown open, and the other women came bursting in, all big smiles and bright laughter.

"Mason is going to be so mad, but I can"t wait until he gets back to tell everyone else first," Jessica called out as the women practically ran into the room. "Guess what?"

From the smile on the other woman's face it was pretty obvious. "You got the DNA results back," Elle said.

"Yep. And Mason is the father. Mason is the father," Jessica said again, this time her smile fading and she burst into tears.

Everyone rushed to comfort the soon-to-be mother, and Elle ached to join them, but she had to put her daughter first. Ruthie's life was on the line, she could apologize to Jessica later for not being more supportive.

As badly as she wanted to tell the others about the phone call, if she did they would try to stop her from going. If she wasn't there soon then Jimmy would kill Ruthie. Elle didn"t have a single doubt that he would follow through on the threat.

Already she'd wasted more time than she should.

Dropping to her knees she pulled Andy against her. "My favorite Andy, can you remember one thing for me. It's really important, okay?"

Serious hazel eyes stared back at her as the child nodded.

"There's no place like home. Remember that, please. Tell your daddy when he gets home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home." If only she could be like Dorothy and simply click her heels together and turn up at her house.

"There's no place like home," Andy echoed.

"Perfect, thanks, buddy boy." Standing, she approached the others. "I"m sorry to do this. I"m supposed to be watching Andy but I"m not feeling well and need to go and lie down."

Tillie stepped forward, took her hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry about it, we got him. We got you, too, okay?"

Lying felt awful, but Ruthie was always going to come first, Elle was a mother before anything else.

Whispering her thanks, she hurried up the stairs to the bedroom to grab her purse. Then she snuck back downstairs, thankful everyone was still in the kitchen so she could slip unnoticed out the front door. Her car was in Rafe's garage, and she was sure the cameras would capture her leaving the property, but she didn"t have time to try to sneak off unnoticed, already she'd wasted almost five minutes of her allotted time.

I"m coming, Ruthie, just hold on for me. Mommy is coming.

Rafe, please come after us.

We need you.