Chapter 2

Chapter

Two

February 14th

7:09 P.M.

This had to be her.

She had the code to the gate and fit the description he"d been given. Long chocolate brown hair that hung halfway down her back and light brown eyes that were full of intelligence and strength, but also heartbreaking pain.

Pain Panther could much too easily identify with.She was a mother, he was a father. They both knew what it was like to have your heart walk around outside of your body, and to have that heart snatched away …

That was something he didn"t even want to consider.

But whether he wanted to consider it or not, he could empathize with it, and that was the only reason he had agreed to help in any way he could.

The strength he"d seen in the woman's eyes was echoed in the way she struggled against his hold. She couldn"t break out of it, he was a former Delta Force operator who could keep a grown man from breaking out of this hold, and even though he"d kept it gentle, not wanting to harm her, there was no way this small woman could get free.

Didn"t stop her from trying though and he respected that.

Even though he didn"t want to add to what this woman was already going through, and he was ninety-nine percent sure she was who he believed her to be, he had to be sure. This was where his son lived, where the women his friends loved lived, he wouldn't—couldn't—do anything to jeopardize their safety.

"It's her, fingerprints confirm it," Rock's voice in his ear told him.

Good.

Now that he knew this was indeed Elle Cavey, he could stop scaring the life out of her.

"Shh, I'm here to help you," he said softly, holding his lips just above her ear.

It took a moment for his words to penetrate her panic, but he knew the second they did because she went completely still. Still, he waited a moment longer before removing his hand, not wanting her to scream and disturb the other person inside his cabin.

"Panther?" she asked when he finally released his hold on her and stepped back.

He expected her to scurry away from him in fright like a timid little rabbit. With his height, his muscle mass, his thick dark hair, and golden-brown eyes, he knew that he could be an intimidating sight, especially to a woman who had already gone through so much and was teetering on the edge.

But that's not what she did at all.

Instead, she did the opposite. Elle moved closer as though seeking his protection, his reassurance, the help only a man like him could give her.

"Yes," he replied, somehow managing to tear his gaze away from her expressive face long enough to remember that he was supposed to be helping this woman, not ogling her.

Again, the woman did the absolute last thing he expected. Bursting into noisy tears, she launched herself at him, throwing herself into his arms. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You"re the last hope I have left of getting Ruthie back. Thank you so much for agreeing to help me."

Her garbled words did something to him. They stirred up something in his heart, twisting it inside his chest. Something he hadn"t felt in a long time, not since he was young and na?ve. Something he remembered from the first time his son had been placed in his arms. He hadn"t wanted to be a father then, hadn"t been ready, the timing had been all wrong, and yet the moment he had been given his son, his heart had swelled with this deep, dark protectiveness. A knowledge that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to protect the tiny bundle in his arms.

Now, as he held this fragile woman in his arms, a woman he knew was a whole lot stronger than she felt—had to be to have gone a whole month knowing her child had been taken from her—he felt a glimmer of that same protectiveness.

Panther didn"t date, didn"t have the time nor the inclination. Even though he had been thinking about it lately as he'd watched his teammates getting bitten by the love bug one by one, he hadn"t intended to just jump on in with the first woman he met. But this woman was provoking all sorts of completely inappropriate protective urges.

She was a client.

Nothing more.

A stunningly beautiful client but still just a client.

Clearing his throat, suddenly feeling every bit the geeky kid he'd been in school, Panther released his hold on the woman and took a step back, putting a little space between them as though that would help with these possessive feelings he was having.

"Uh, why don't we walk to my cabin? It's only half a mile down the driveway, and it looks like you could use the fresh air." His voice came out a little harsher than he'd intended, but this woman and her beautiful, pained strength were messing with his head. He could not look at her and not see himself in her position. If someone took Andy from him he didn"t know how he would survive, yet this woman was still standing, still fighting, and he respected the hell out of that.

"Okay, sure." She nodded so fast he actually worried she might snap her neck. It was clear that she would do whatever he asked her to, probably out of fear that his help would be withdrawn if she refused.

Panther found he didn"t like the idea that she didn"t trust him to help her just because he could. There were no strings attached. She could tell him no, or disagree with him, and he would still do everything within his power to find her daughter. His help wasn't—and never had been—conditional.

Following his lead, she started walking down the driveway, not even bothering to check on her car, which he stupidly realized they'd left running on the other side of the gate.

"Hold up," he said.

Elle stayed exactly where he'd left her as he returned to her car, drove it through the gate, turned the engine off, snagged her purse, and then locked both the vehicle and the gate before returning to the desperate mother.

"Fresh air will do you good," he mumbled as he started walking again, Elle trailing along behind him like a lost little puppy. Actually, she looked like she needed a whole lot more than some fresh air. Beneath the dark circles under her eyes and the blotchy red skin that told him the tears she'd shed in his driveway weren"t the only ones tonight, she was pale as the snow. It was obvious in the way her clothes hung off her that she'd lost weight since her daughter's abduction. Elle looked like she was hanging on by a thread, and surprisingly, Panther found he didn"t just want to return her child to her, but take care of her as well.

What was going on with him?

Despite believing he wasn't ready for kids, when his girlfriend wound up pregnant, she'd talked up how great it would be with the three of them as a little family of their own, and he'd fallen for the whole idea. And it had been great for the first year at least. Then his wife had announced she wasn't ready for motherhood after all and dumped both of them.

That was seven years ago, and in all that time there had never been another woman who had caught his attention. There had been a couple of brief affairs that were more to do with satisfying his needs than anything else. But with a son at home, he hadn"t wanted Andy to get the impression it was okay to use women for your own needs, so as his son got older, Panther had taken to attending to his needs himself.

Now, in just a couple of minutes, this woman had him all tied up in confused knots. It wasn't appropriate to want her sexually, it wasn't what she'd come there for. Her child was missing, and he might be able to help. It also wasn't appropriate to want to take care of her, again she was there for his help finding her child, not for him to worry over her getting sleep and a decent meal.

So why couldn't he shake the need to wrap her up in his arms, carry her inside, and make sure she was taken care of while he did what he could for her little girl?

Panther liked order and structure. He'd never liked anything he couldn't explain or understand. Even as a small child, he had been compelled to figure out all the things he didn"t know, eventually leading him to his love of computers. This woman and the protectiveness she stoked wasn't something he could explain, and that made him feel compelled to figure it out.

Just as they reached his place, the door to his cabin creaked open, light spilling out onto the porch as a small figure stood shadowed in the open doorway. "Is everything okay?"

February 14th

7:27 P.M.

"Who"s out there?" a sweet little voice called out.

The voice clearly belonged to a child. A little boy.

Panther"s child.

Elle didn"t need to see the boy to know she was looking at his father. It was written into every nuance of the man standing beside her. The way his body had gone stiff, and his hands flexed and then curled into fists at his side. It was the way his face went impassive but his eyes remained a swirling pit of emotions.

Panther was a father.

No wonder she had been sent specifically to him. If he had a child, then he would be able to imagine what it felt like to have them ripped away from you.

It was like losing a piece of yourself.

Not just a piece, but the biggest piece.The only piece that mattered. Your reason for existing.

"Y-you have a s-son?" she stammered.

He hesitated as though deciding how to respond. Since he knew she was no threat to him or his little boy, it was probably because he didn"t want to upset her given that her daughter had been abducted.

She was sure he didn"t want to hurt her more by reminding her that his son was safely at home while her daughter was out there someone, terrified and alone.

But his little boy couldn't hurt her any more than she could hurt him. Knowing how much having her baby ripped away from her hurt, she would never wish that kind of feeling on another parent. Not even someone she hated, let alone a man who seemed good, kind, and honest, if a little gruff, although she could hardly blame him for not being thrilled that she'd thrown herself at him.

It was just that he was the first real solid thing she'd had this last month. The first thing that gave her real hope after those first few days when she was so sure the police would find her daughter and bring her home. Even though it had been the same team of cops working Ruthie's case, none of them had done anything to try to connect with her on a friendly level. To them, she was just the woman with the missing kid.

In the few minutes she'd known him, Panther had shown her more compassion. It wasn't anything he'd said, or even anything he had specifically done, it was just his eyes. So pretty, and golden, they had practically glowed with empathy and a determination that stopped her from losing all hope.

Elle couldn't be more thrilled that his little boy was safe and sound, she hoped he never felt the pain of losing his son.

"Please," she whispered. For some reason she couldn't explain, it felt important to her to know this was Panther's son, to know that this man would truly do everything he could to find her daughter.

"Yes."

"How old is he?"

"Elle, we don"t …"

"How old?" she repeated.

"Eight."

"Just a year older than Ruthie," she murmured. "What"s his name?"

"Elle …"

"Please." Begging wasn't above her right now. Heck, nothing was above her. Anything she was asked to do to bring Ruthie home she'd do without hesitation. Panther probably felt like he was torturing her, imagining it must be awful for her to be around children given her own had been taken. Elle might have thought that would be the case, but for some reason, this man and his son provided comfort with their presence not torment.

"Andy. His name is Andy."

The boy chose that moment to jump down the cabin steps as only a small boy could do, completely free and with abandon. Walking cautiously toward them, the little boy stopped beside his dad. While the child had lighter hair than his father's, and his eyes held more of a hazel gleam than the golden-brown of Panther's, there was no mistaking that the pair were father and son. It was in the confident way they stood, the protective vibe they both gave out.

For a book she'd been writing last year, she'd actually wound up calling Prey and asking if she could speak with someone to get some thoughts and ideas to make sure her story was as accurate as possible. Meeting one of the infamous billionaire Oswald siblings, Sparrow and her husband Ethan, along with their two children, then thirteen-month-old Connor and two-month-old Charlotte, had been a whole lot of fun. The family were so sweet and held nothing back, both Sparrow and Ethan sharing their experiences in the military without reservation.

Given that she had met Sparrow and Ethan she knew what these types of people were like, the kind who joined the military, who wanted to protect and save, and she could already see that one day little Andy was going to be a hero like his daddy.

"Who"s this?" Andy asked, looking up at her with curiosity.

"This is Elle," Panther made the introductions. "And this is Andy."

Andy studied her with serious hazel eyes, and when he spoke his voice was gentle and seemed so much older than his eight years. "Is my daddy going to save you?"

Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks at the child's innocent words. So sweet, so confidently spoken, like he couldn't imagine that his daddy wouldn't save someone.

Elle hadn"t shed this many tears since the first few days after Ruthie had been kidnapped. "I hope he is. He"s the only chance I have of ever seeing my little girl again. It's my fault he took her," she said, turning her attention to Panther. He'd agreed to help her, but he had to know everything, including that this was all her fault. If he decided that he didn"t want to help her after that, she would have no choice but to leave. "The man who took her, he is … was … is … I don"t know anymore … but he is or was a fan of mine. He thinks we"re in love, he took my daughter because I rejected him and I"m terrified of what he"s going to do to her." She swallowed hard and made herself say it even though she didn"t want to. "What he's already done to her."

Admitting that her daughter had already been harmed beyond repair tore at her skin as effectively as if she'd walked through a rose bush. Trying to figure out exactly what the man had done to her sweet little girl was like picking off one of those thorns and using it to gouge away at her own skin.

If nothing else, Ruthie had been terrified, but what else? Had he starved her? Deprived her of water or sleep? Was he keeping her warm? Ruthie had always been a cold body. As much as she loved winter and playing in the snow, it always took her ages to warm up again afterward. The two of them would snuggle on the couch in front of the fireplace and watch movies, curled up under blankets, drinking hot chocolate, and eating cookies fresh from the oven.

Now her little girl was gone, and there was no way she could make sure that Ruthie was okay.

Even if the kidnapper was taking care of the basics like food, and water, and a bed, what else had he done to Ruthie? Had he hit her? Cut her? Whipped her?

Had he … raped her?

The thought of that happening to her innocent seven-year-old daughter was too much, and a new wave of tears streamed down her cheeks. Panther hadn"t asked her any questions or made any comments, but he had to be thinking she was a terrible mother to have allowed someone to hurt her child.

A glance at him told her nothing of what was going on inside his head. All she saw was a huge man standing ramrod straight beside his son, with his fingers curled into fists so tight that even out there in the dim light from the cabin, she could see his knuckles had blanched.

He had to hate her.

Had to blame her because she blamed herself.

Maybe he didn"t want her anywhere near his son.

Elle worried that she had ruined this before it even started, but when she forced herself to meet his gaze it wasn't anger, blame, or even empathy that she saw there. Instead, it was impotent fury. Panther wanted to help her, but he didn"t know how. He couldn't magically produce her daughter for her, and that was really the only thing that was going to provide her with any meaningful help.

It was all she wanted and she would make a deal with the devil if that was what it took to get her baby girl home.

In the end, it wasn't Panther who found a way to comfort her, it was his son. Taking a step toward her, little Andy reached out, touched her hand with his own small one that reminded her so much of Ruthie's.

"My daddy will find her, don"t be sad," he said with such confidence and compassion that a part of her believed him.

With tears still streaming down her cheeks, Elle reached out and ruffled Andy"s hair. "You know what, Andy? I think you"re right. I think your daddy is going to find my daughter."