Chapter 15

15

“You poor little thing,” Odalie cooed to her still-flat stomach, “to have such a low-down, cold-blooded animal for a father!”

She’d actually phoned Tony, thinking she might as well tell him what was going on.

She didn’t get a chance. The minute he heard her voice, he went on the attack.

“Why didn’t you go back on the stage that night?” he asked angrily. “They said you actually went home!”

“Of course I went home! It was useless to go back when they’d already replaced me!”

“You can get your place back,” he said stubbornly. “This is your big chance. Don’t blow it!”

She felt her heart dying in her chest. She’d hoped that he might have missed her, that he might want her back. She’d hoped that Mauve had been nothing more than an impulse to push Odalie toward the Met.

But it was obvious that Tony’s only interest in her was her voice. He didn’t want her, so he was encouraging her to go back to the Met and get out of his life. At least, it felt that way to an unwed mother at a crossroads in her life. She’d thought that she had choices. But she didn’t. Tony was telling her so.

“Listen, kid, you and I had fun for a few weeks,” Tony said, and she couldn’t see that he was grinding his teeth as he lied to her. “But we both know your future is on the stage. You have a beautiful voice. You’ll go far.” He drew in a breath. “I know you had a crush on me, but that was just physical. We burned out the passion, didn’t we? Had a good time. Enjoyed each other. But now it’s time to get back down to reality. We don’t belong together. It’s like oil and water. You’ll realize that one day. Meanwhile, you go back to the Met and patch things up. I’ll help. One day, you’ll be a famous opera star, and I can say I knew you when you were just a nervous beginner... Hello? Odalie?”

She hung up. It was useless to talk to him. He’d had his fun with her, and now he only wanted to see her as someone he’d known on the way to fame. He didn’t care. Probably he never had. He wanted her and she wanted him. So they had a few weeks to burn out the passion and now he was over it.

But she wasn’t. She’d taken everything seriously. She’d been thinking of a future with him. He’d been enjoying a brief affair. It was likely that he’d had many of them since his wife died. He certainly knew his way around a woman’s body.

So here was Odalie, pregnant and deserted and alone. She got up from the sofa and packed a bag. She wasn’t calling Ben or Tony or anybody else. She was leaving town. She wanted to get away from everybody and everything and just...just get over the past miserable weeks. Then maybe when she came back she’d be able to cope. Maybe.

Tony was just finishing lunch when his cell phone rang. He answered it immediately when he saw the number, with his blood running cold.

“What’s happened?” he asked Tanner without preamble.

“I just started the wheels turning to have Phillip James busted and his whole crew indicted for what happened in Iraq,” Tanner said. “I found a representative who was actually there at the time and took pics, ones I didn’t even know about. His photos were confiscated, but he remembered that I’d made waves at first, so he contacted me. We went on the attack in DC through his political contacts.”

“Good for you!” Tony said. “But why call me...?”

“Odalie,” he said at once. “You need to watch her like a hawk. She’s the most vulnerable right now, and James will be out for revenge. This is going to cost him his career once we get it to the right people. He knows that.”

“Oh, boy,” Tony said heavily. “Okay. We’re not exactly in contact right now, but I’ll make sure Ben doubles her protection.”

“Why aren’t you in contact?” Tanner asked without thinking.

“I want her to get that career she’s spent her life working for,” he said tautly.

There was a pause. “So you made the choice for her,” he guessed.

“Look,” Tony said wearily, “I’m older than she is. I’ve got a background that no sensible woman would want to live with. Even without the career thing, she deserves better,” he added flatly.

“Shades of my parents,” Tanner said.

“What?”

“My mother was famous,” he replied. “She had to choose between my father and a career. Given the choice, she didn’t even hesitate.”

“The circumstances were different,” Tony said.

“Not that much,” Tanner replied. He laughed softly. “Why don’t you ask Odalie what she wants?”

“She’s spent her life working...”

“Just ask her, Tony.”

There was a smoldering pause.

“On that note, I’ll hang up,” Tanner said. “But please, double that scrutiny. James will be out for anybody’s blood he can get. Don’t let it be Odalie’s.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Tony promised.

At least, he thought when he hung up, she was somewhere that he could protect her. That was a blessing. Maybe he’d think about what Tanner said.

Phillip James was high on cocaine, but even higher when his top agent, Peters, gave him the news.

“I told you having a tail on her would pay off,” James exclaimed. “Where is she going?”

“Nassau,” Peters said. “If I leave now, I’ll get there before she does.”

“Get on the plane. Take her to some little motel, off the beaten track. Take two of the new agents with you,” he added. “Tell them she’s an industrial spy or something. Hold her there until I make arrangements,” he added, his face flushed with delight.

“Boss, her dad’s rich and he’s got political ties.”

“No threat at all,” he scoffed. His face hardened. “Now I’ll make Tanner Everett pay for what he’s trying to do to me. I’ll get his sister and then I’ll go after his wife. I’ll kill everyone I can get my hands on!”

Peters felt sick. The man was obviously out of his mind. Someone would pay for these bloody vendettas, and he was willing to bet it was himself James would throw under the bus for them. He was trapped. He’d have to do what he was told. But if he could find a way, he’d try to save Miss Everett. Pity to hurt such a pretty young woman.

“Get going!” James shot at him.

“Yes, sir. On my way.”

“And don’t you forget what I’ve got on you,” James added in a soft, cold tone. “I can put you away for twenty years.”

Peters took a long breath. “Yes. I know that.” He went out and closed the door behind him.

“What the hell do you mean, you can’t find her? You didn’t have somebody watching?!” Tony raged.

Ben held out both hands, backing up a little, just in case. It had been a long time since he’d seen the boss this mad. “I did have people watching. I always have people watching. The guy went to the bathroom, that’s all. She must have gone out while he was indisposed...”

“Indisposed.” Tony ran a hand through his thick black hair. “James is out there just salivating at the thought of getting any one of the Everett women in his hands for revenge, and we’ve got one missing, and we can’t find her!”

“I’m working on it,” Ben said. “I’ll have something any minute!”

Tony stared out the window. “She called me. I told her... I told her a lot of lies,” he said to himself, his voice torn with pain. “I never should have done that. I was sorry the minute I said it, but she hung up. Now she won’t answer her phone.” He turned to Ben. “What the hell are we going to do if James finds her first?!”

“He won’t. I swear he won’t,” Ben assured him. “I’ve got men checking manifests for every train, bus and plane out of New York...!”

Tony’s phone rang.

He saw the number, thanked God and answered it. “Where the hell are you?” he exclaimed.

“What do you care?” Odalie asked furiously. “You had your ‘fun’ with me, didn’t you? So now it’s off to somebody else for more ‘fun’!”

She was standing in the shadows of the grand hotel near the wharf, among the tall palms a little out of sight. There were only a few passersby. One gave her a curious look, but then he smiled and nodded, turned around and walked back the way he’d come.

“I lied,” he said. “I didn’t mean a word of it! I was trying to...well, never mind. For God’s sake, where are you? Don’t you know that Phillip James has agents looking for you right now?!”

“He’ll never look for me in Nassau,” she said smugly. “And you won’t find me, either! I have reservations at a place way out in the boonies as soon as I can get a cab to take me there.”

“What are you doing in the Bahamas?” he demanded.

“I’m deciding whether or not to keep my baby,” she almost yelled at him.

“Your...what? A baby?” Tony exclaimed with hushed wonder. His head started spinning. Joy bubbled up in him like an exploding volcano. “A baby? A baby!” There was such tenderness in his voice that it calmed her at once. “Oh, my God, a baby!! You’re pregnant?!” he whispered, his voice choking with feeling.

He didn’t sound as if he didn’t want a baby. She paused, confused by the joy in his deep voice.

“You...you said you were sterile, didn’t you? Well, guess what, you’re not!” She looked around. That man who’d passed her was coming her way, with another man. She lowered her voice. “And now here I am with my whole life turned upside down while you carouse around with your mistress... Oh! Oh! Don’t you dare...! What...what are you doing? Who are you...?!” Her voice faded out at once.

Tony’s heart stopped.

Just a minute later, another voice came on the line. “Hey, Garza, that you?” a voice demanded.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said icily. “Where is she?”

“You don’t need to know that. We’ll give her brother a call in a few days. Maybe we’ll call today, just to let him know how bad things are going to get.”

Tony took a slow breath. “You will pay a high price for this,” he said, and his voice was as cold as a tomb.

“You wish.” And the line went dead.

Odalie was bundled into the back seat of a car by a man she recognized as the agent who’d delivered Tanner’s backpack to her when he’d been presumed dead. Two other men jumped into the front seats and the car took off.

“What...?” Odalie cried out hoarsely.

“Just sit still and don’t make a fuss,” he told her. “We’re going to take a little trip.”

“Where to?” She wanted to know. Inside she was shivering because she knew who was responsible for this and its likely outcome.

“Just to DC,” the man replied.

“Will I be alive when we get there?” she asked with false bravado.

“Of course.”

“Your boss is a weasel,” she said coldly.

He just sighed. He knew that already.

She was terrified and doing her best to hide it. It was highly unlikely that they were going to ask for ransom. She knew that Phillip James had scores to settle with her brother and that she was one of the two “soft targets” she’d been told about when her security had been tightened by Tony.

She prayed silently as she and the agent, Peters, got aboard a plane bound for the States. It was a private plane. Nobody else was on board except her companion, Peters, the pilot and copilot, and two other men who looked as if they could wrestle alligators. She prayed even more as she was taken to an office in a building inside the Beltway and locked in. They had her in handcuffs, and there she stayed, sitting in a chair, while they made preparations for whatever unspeakable act they were going to perform on her.

She closed her eyes, wishing that she’d stayed in New York, where she was protected. Nassau had been an impulse, a response to Tony’s painful summary of their relationship. Here she sat, pregnant and about to die, and that worm had turned his back on her and their child. Except that she couldn’t get past the sound of his deep voice soft with wonder as he’d acknowledged the baby. He’d sounded as if she’d offered him the world. He hadn’t seemed angry or dismissive.

He knew how beautiful her voice was. He knew about her ambition and what she’d sacrificed for it. He’d only been furious when he knew that she’d left that first performance at the Met to rush to the hospital when she thought he’d been fatally injured. He’d wanted her to realize her dream. So, if that was the case, wasn’t it possible that he’d deliberately brushed her off, thinking that he wasn’t going to be the cause of her losing her one chance at singing in the Met?

That would be like him, she thought. He would want what was best for her, not what was best for himself. And only now, facing death, was when she’d realized it. She was going to die, and he’d blame himself forever as being the cause of it.

She wished she had some dark skill, like being able to pick locks, so that she could escape. But, although she was strong and she knew her way around ranch work, she couldn’t get out of handcuffs. Even if she could, she had no idea where she was, or even where Tony was.

Oh, Tony, she thought miserably, it’s just not fair that it has to end like this!

“You’ve got her? You’ve got her?!” Phillip James was high as a kite, but this took him even higher. His men hadn’t let him down. He had a way to pay Tanner Everett back for all the misery the stupid man had caused him. And as a bonus, he got to torture Tony Garza, who liked the girl he’d had kidnapped. He laughed. He was on top of the world. He was going to play this like a perfect sonata. It would be beautiful.

It was good that Stasia had Tony’s private number. Tanner punched in the numbers with fingers that didn’t want to work. The past five minutes had been hell on earth.

It rang once. Twice. Three times. “Come on, damn it, Tony, answer the phone!” he muttered. Four rings...

“Garza” came the gruff reply.

“Tony, it’s Tanner Everett...”

“Who called you?” Tony asked.

“A contact in Nassau. He says...!”

“Yeah,” Tony said, confirming his worst fears. “Listen, your phone is going to ring soon. It will be James. Don’t answer it. In fact, don’t answer any phones until I get there. Do you understand? Tell me.”

Tanner swallowed, hard, exchanging looks with the rest of the family. “I understand.”

“They may think it’s a ransom call. But it won’t be. I think you know that already. He’s set on revenge. He doesn’t need money. If you answer the phone and he gets to tell you what he’s planning, he won’t call back, and that will be the end of any chance we have to save Odalie. You get me?”

“I do,” Tanner said gruffly.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Keep everybody in the house. Have eyes everywhere. Remember about the phone. No matter how tempting it is, do not answer it.”

“We won’t,” Tanner said.

“I’ll get there as quick as I can.” He hung up.

Tanner turned to the rest of the family, scattered around the living room. “He said not to answer the phone under any circumstances.”

“But it might be a ransom call,” Heather said, fighting tears.

“Tony knows what he’s doing,” Tanner said. “We have to trust him.”

Cole made a rough sound in his throat. “I don’t like dealing with animals, either, but not answering the call might cost Odalie her life. If they want ransom, we’ll pay it, no matter what it is!”

Tanner didn’t want to say it in front of the women, but Cole was unpredictable, and he might grab for the phone if it rang.

“Okay, this is how it is,” he said, then drew a deep breath. He met Cole’s eyes. “He won’t be asking for ransom.”

Cole stared at him. “Then what does he want?”

“Vengeance,” Tanner said simply. “I’m threatening his little empire. He doesn’t like it. So he’s going to...torment someone close to me as a warning to the others.”

Cole’s silver eyes flashed. “Revenge.”

“Exactly,” Tanner replied. “Cold and savage.”

“The damned coward,” John muttered.

“My poor Odalie,” Stasia said, pressing close to Tanner for comfort.

“Oh, my poor baby,” Heather whispered almost to herself.

Cole drew her close and held her. “We’ve been through storms before, honey. We’ll weather this one, too. Through thick and thin...” he began.

Heather looked up at him and smiled through her tears. “And even thinner!”

They both smiled. It was a catchphrase from a TV show they’d both loved many years ago. They did that a lot, Tanner thought. They spoke in a private language of taglines, remembered dialogue from movies and TV, quotes from famous soldiers, lines from songs. The kids were amused by it, although none of them ever understood it. Perhaps they weren’t meant to. Cole and Heather were so close that one of them was almost never seen separately. It was always the two of them, together.

Just as Tanner sat down, his cell phone rang. He looked at the number. He didn’t recognize it. Heather looked at him with real pain. So did Cole and John, and Stasia. He drew in a long breath and just sat until the ringing stopped.

“What will Tony do, do you know?” John asked.

Stasia turned her head. “Whatever it takes to get her back safely,” she said quietly. “Most of what he does these days is legitimate. But he can walk into a room back in Jersey even today, and the meanest man in the room will step aside.”

“Some bad situations call for a bad man,” Tanner told them.

“Fire with fire,” Cole agreed. He sighed. “Tony may have been a bad man, but he saved my baby from a rattlesnake bite the last time he was here. He’s okay in my book.”

“Mine, too,” Heather said, smiling.

The others smiled as well.

Meanwhile, a furious Tony was getting things done with methodical efficiency. He sent three men to a bar near a famous college in New England. He sent another man to the airport in Dallas. A fifth man walked into the room with an armful of burner phones.

“Here, take the damned things,” the man said. “I think five cops followed me home! And I’m on the right side of the law!”

“Oh, stop bellyaching, Hunter,” Ben chuckled. “You know you loved being mistaken for one of us.”

Dane Hunter chuckled. “Maybe so.” He studied Tony. “How sure are you that this agent can be turned?”

“Ninety percent,” Tony said, pocketing two of the burner phones. He handed the rest to Ben. “He had a drunken escapade with severe results that his boss, Phillip James, was holding over his head. It might have meant a very long jail term. We, uh, sort of helped the evidence and the arrest reports get mislaid...”

Hunter had both fingers in his ears. “I’m not aiding and abetting. No more disclosures!”

Ben made chicken noises.

“You’d cover your ears if you had my boss,” Hunter assured him. “Anyway, if you can turn this guy, we can put James away for a very long time.”

“I’ll do my best. If I can convince him, he’ll call you when he leaves Dallas.”

“Fair enough,” Hunter said.

Tony turned to Ben. “Reimburse him for the phones. Then call Teddy and tell him it’s the fed’s birthday and we were giving him a cake.” He glanced at Hunter with twinkling eyes. “Just so nobody thinks we’re in cahoots with you.”

Hunter chuckled. Ben rolled his eyes as he went to look in the petty cash drawer.

“I do envy you the people you keep around you,” Hunter told Tony when he was ready to leave. “Loyalty these days is a rare commodity.”

“It is.” Tony shook hands with him. “Thanks for the help.”

“I was already in the store looking for a new cell phone.” He showed his. It was scarred, the screen was cracked and most of the protective case was gone.

“You should stop throwing it at walls,” Tony advised.

Hunter shrugged. “I’m a troubled man.”

Tony just laughed.

When Tony and Ben landed in the private jet at Big Spur, the whole family met them at the landing strip, in two vehicles.

“Truck or Jaguar, pick one,” Stasia teased, hugging Tony.

“Truck,” he said at once. “I very rarely even see one. I love trucks,” he chuckled. They were trying to sound cheerful, but he could see behind the fake smiles. “Any calls yet?” he asked.

“One,” Cole said as he and Tony climbed into the pickup truck. Ben vaulted into the bed. “But we let it ring.”

“Hey, you could eat off this floor,” Ben called through the back window.

Cole chuckled as he headed the truck toward the house. “I like to keep my vehicles clean and maintained. They last longer.”

“They do.” Tony looked out at the landscape. He worried about Odalie. Were they hurting her? How much danger was she in? She could lose the baby if they roughed her up. The baby. His heart lifted like a helium balloon. He was going to marry her the minute he got her back, no matter how bad he was for her. At least he could protect her and his child.

“You’re quiet,” Cole remarked as they pulled up at the house.

“I’ve got a lot going on,” he replied with a faint smile. “Now all I have to do is pull enough strings to get it together in time.”

Cole just nodded.

They were all gathered in the living room. The grandfather clock was loud. Outside, a dog barked. Inside, you could hear a pin drop.

The sudden music blaring from Tanner’s phone was enough to make people jump.

Tony held out his hand. Tanner gave him the phone.

Tony answered it only after the fourth ring. By that time, the family was chewing off their fingernails.

“Hello,” Tony said.

There was a shocked pause. “Garza? Where’s Tanner Everett? What are you doing with his phone?” James asked, his voice skipping a little at the unexpected voice.

“You’ll be dealing with me,” Tony said. He leaned back in the armchair and crossed his long legs. “Take down this number.” He read it off the burner phone. “Call me back,” he said, and he hung up.

There was a collective gasp.

“It’s all right,” he assured them gently. “Believe me, he’s not about to hang up.”

“Okay,” Heather said, letting out a breath.

After a minute, the burner phone rang. And again, while everyone fidgeted and bit nails, Tony waited until the fourth ring to answer.

“I’m here,” he said.

“Well, I need to talk to Tanner Everett,” James said, gaining authority in his voice.

Tony smiled. “You know, I could use a drink. There’s a little bar about two blocks from here,” he said, and named the college.

There was a stunned silence on the end of the line.

“Nice place,” he added. “Small, cozy, dartboard on the wall. Sexy waitress with red hair...”

“How would you know about that?” James asked curtly.

“Picked up a package there earlier,” he said, and his voice chilled. “The package is currently waiting in a room. You might want to call and have somebody check on that package, at the bar.”

“You wouldn’t...dare!”

“Call me back. You know the number.” He hung up again.

They all stared at Tony. His face was like stone.

“It’s not a real package, right?” Heather asked.

Tony nodded. “It’s something our friend likes very much.”

“Should we ask what it is?” John asked.

Tony smiled and shook his head. “We don’t want too many accessories, now do we?”

John laughed.

The sound of the grandfather clock grew louder and louder. It was only a few minutes, but nerves were at breaking point.

Suddenly, the phone rang insistently. This time Tony let it ring five times before he answered it.

“Hello,” he said.

“You give him back! You get him back...where you found him...right now! I’ll call in every damned agent east of Memphis...!”

“For a package?” Tony asked lazily. He toyed with the doily on the telephone table. “Why would you do that?”

“He’s all I’ve got,” the other man said through his teeth.

“Yeah. And she’s all I’ve got,” Tony said, and his voice chilled to the bone.

There was a long silence. “What do you want?”

“You get one of your boys to bring my package to the Dallas Fort Worth Airport,” Tony said quietly. “When it arrives, I’ll stay with it, and I’ll call to have your package put back where it was found. I won’t leave the airport until you’ve confirmed that your package is intact. Then your boy goes back to DC.”

“So simple,” James spat.

“One more thing,” Tony said, and his voice softened and deepened. “If my package is damaged, in any way, your package will be delivered to you in a shoebox. Do you understand me? Say it!”

He could hear the other man swallow. “I understand,” he said in a ghostly tone.

“Furthermore, if any of the Everetts are ever persecuted by you or any of your agents, ever, you will receive any number of shoeboxes with the same package, divided, inside.” He paused. “And I’ll be watching.”

“I understand” came the defeated reply.

“We’ll wait for the package at the international concourse in the airport. I assume you won’t be stupid enough to send more than one agent on this assignment. I’ve told you the possible consequences.”

“I’m sending one agent,” James said heavily. “Just one.” His voice shook. “He’ll call you...when he gets there.”

“Same number,” Tony said. And he hung up.

“What was all that about packages?” Cole asked.

“If you say it’s a person, all sorts of troublesome laws stand up and scream at you,” Tony told him.

“As in kidnapping?”

“Bingo,” Tony said.

“Well, I’m never playing poker with you,” John chuckled. “Damn, what a bluff!”

Tony looked at him with an odd expression. “It wasn’t.”

“Wasn’t what?”

“It wasn’t a bluff,” Tony told him. His dark eyes narrowed in a face like stone. “I never bluff.” He noticed the curious faces. “Look, in my business, you never make a threat you can’t back up. You never promise something you don’t deliver. James knows my reputation. It’s the only thing that got Odalie out of there alive tonight. He knew I’d do exactly what I told him I’d do. He only has one weakness, and I knew what it was.” He smiled ruefully. “You don’t promise to plant rosebushes over somebody if you don’t have any rosebushes,” he added with sparkling dark eyes.

John chuckled. “Now I’m really not ever playing poker with you,” he said, and everybody grinned.

Hours went by before Odalie heard voices outside the door. One was angry and very loud.

Phillip James was fuming. “I’ll get him if it’s the last thing I do in this life! He’s already messed up too many of my plans. Listen, you make sure she’s not harmed, not a scratch, you hear me?” he growled at Peters. “I won’t risk my son even for revenge.”

There was a pause and some murmuring. “Just don’t mess up the wire. I might get something out of this, even if it isn’t much. Hurry and get to the airport. I’ve got a plane waiting. Damn Garza! He’s always one step ahead! Well, don’t just stand there. Get going!”

There was another brief bit of conversation. Footsteps died away. Then the door opened, and the familiar man came in. He unfastened the handcuffs and led her down the hall to a bathroom. “Be quick,” he said gently, and looked ashamed and unsettled.

She thanked him. It had been a long time between bathroom breaks. It was a minor kindness, but one that had been unexpected. She was quick. She didn’t know where she was going, but it sounded like they were giving her back to Tony. Her heart lifted like a bird in flight. She was alive and Phillip James had lost this evil game he was playing. She didn’t know how Tony had done it, but he’d saved her life. And his child’s.

Tony turned and looked at his watch. “We’d better get to the airport. We could grab a burger or something while we wait,” he murmured absently. His mind was still on the baby. He wasn’t going to tell the others just yet, but it was a delicious secret. And he couldn’t wait to share it.

He’d been uncertain before about the future, but now it was as clear as polished glass. He knew exactly where he was going.

He and Odalie were never going to be apart again. The baby was a bonus, but he’d have married her if there could never be a baby. Despite his drawbacks, she loved him. And he loved her. Love would be enough to overcome all the obstacles. He’d never been more sure of anything.

Now all he had to do was save her...

Ben had vanished when they got to the airport, but he soon joined them at the burger stand. He nodded and smiled at Tony, who also nodded.

The others figured that something was going on, but they had no idea what. Anyway, the burgers were delicious.

The plane from DC was announced. They all moved to the international concourse to wait for Odalie.

She came into view slowly, her arm held by a familiar man. It was the agent who’d delivered the bloody backpack with photos of the family in it. Everyone assumed that it was Tanner’s and that he was dead. This man had secretly advised them to look deeper, and they had. They’d found Tanner alive.

The agent, Brock Peters, let go of Odalie as they reached the family. She ran straight into Tony’s arms, and was wrapped up tight, and held and rocked while he whispered to her as the others looked on.

“You’re okay? You’re sure?” Tony asked softly as he kissed her eyelids closed.

“I’m fine. I’m just tired and sleepy and hungry.” Her eyes opened and she looked up into his. “Can I have a hamburger?”

He bent and kissed her nose. “You can have anything you want. And I mean anything,” he whispered huskily.

She smiled at him and pressed close. “I’m so happy to see you. All of you,” she added quickly as she turned to hug everyone else before she nestled back into Tony’s arms.

“I have to make a call,” Tony said, noting the agent’s plaintive look.

He pulled out the burner phone and spoke in riddles to his men. They waited some more. The burner phone rang. Tony answered it, nodding and smiling. He told his men to leave the package where they’d found it, and they did.

Next, Tony had the agent, Peters, call Phillip James and tell him to check on his own package. He did, and reported to Tony that his package was fine, only a little inebriated.

“So now we’re square, right?” James asked in a sullen but subdued tone.

There was a long pause. “For right now, yes. But if you’re ever tempted to hassle the Everetts, remember this. I have people everywhere. If I don’t, I know people who do. You have no idea at all how connected I really am. And if you’re very lucky, you won’t have to find out.”

“I’ve still got enough on your senator friend to send his daughter up for twenty years,” James said suddenly.

“So you said.” There was a pause. “But we have some interesting news for you. There was an extra eyewitness in Iraq. And he was a professional photographer.”

“You’re lying!!” James burst out.

“You’ll find out in a couple of weeks.”

“The senator wouldn’t dare...”

“You’re right, he wouldn’t. But this is a US representative, and he served in Iraq with a spec ops team.” Tony smiled. “Just for the record, do you really think it was worth it for nothing more valuable than money and drugs?”

“That’s power,” James said curtly. “And it’s the most valuable commodity on earth!”

“No,” Tony said. “It’s not.” And he hung up.

With Odalie still clinging to him, he walked over to the agent, Brock Peters, with Ben.

“Give it to him,” Tony told Ben.

He handed the agent an envelope.

The agent looked at Tony with surprise. “What’s this?”

“A one-way ticket to New York City and ten thousand in cash,” Tony said. “Here.” He handed the agent a slip of paper. “That’s Dane Hunter’s private phone number. He’s a US marshal. If you’re willing to testify against James, he can get you in the witness protection program and you’ll disappear.”

The agent was torn. He looked at Tony with consternation.

“If you go back to DC tonight, you’re a dead man,” Tony said flatly. “James probably already has somebody ready to off you. Not only are you a witness to what he did overseas, you’re a witness to a kidnapping.” He indicated Odalie. “You’ll take the fall for him.”

Peters sighed. “Yeah. I’d already figured that out.” He looked at the slip of paper. “This guy, Hunter. You trust him?”

Tony nodded.

“Okay. I’ll see what he can do for me.” He closed his eyes. “Boy, I’d like to know what it’s like to sleep with both eyes closed.”

“Hunter may have some ideas about that.”

“You could have turned me in,” Peters told him. “Made a lot of money.”

“You can’t take it with you,” Tony said.

Peters laughed. “Well, no. I don’t suppose you can.” He glanced at Odalie. “Sorry for the less than gentle treatment, Miss Everett. It wasn’t my idea.”

She smiled. “I know that. Thanks for getting me here safely. And thanks for what you did when you brought Tanner’s rucksack. Because of what you told us, we were able to find him alive.”

“You’re welcome.” He shook hands with Tony. “I may see you around.”

Tony chuckled. “You may not. Take care.”

“Sure. You, too.”

“One more thing,” Tony added.

Peters’s eyebrows arched.

“The wire...?”

Peters burst out laughing. “Damn, Tony, you don’t miss a trick. But I honestly forgot I had it on. It’s been a stressful night.”

He pulled off the wire and handed it to Tony, who stepped on it. Just to make sure.

They all waved Peters off as he headed toward the concourses.

Then Tony turned to Odalie. “We need to get you to a hospital and get you checked out.”

“But I’m fine,” she began.

He put his finger against her lips. “I’m scared,” he said softly. “Humor me.”

She sighed. She knew why he was worried, even though nobody else did. Not yet, anyway. She smiled. “Okay.”

While she was being examined, the family stood outside the building so that the hopeless smokers could have a cigarette.

“We owe you more than we can ever repay,” Cole told Tony.

“No, you don’t,” he said quietly. “The light in the world would go out if she left it. I would have done anything to keep her safe.”

“Then could we ask why you sent her home alone at Thanksgiving and told her she was just a passing fancy?” John asked solemnly.

“Sure. Go ahead,” Tony said.

John frowned. “Go ahead...?”

“Go ahead and ask. I said you could ask. I never said I’d answer you,” Tony added with twinkling eyes.

John glared at him. “Now...” he began.

“She sings like an angel,” Tony said quietly. “I’m almost thirty-eight years old. My background—well, you know about that. I may get arrested one day for some things I did when I was younger. I grew up poor, in a neighborhood where you became either a cop or a criminal. And I think we had about two cops total in our gang. She wanted to sing at the Met, and I wanted that for her.” He looked away. “I thought I was the obstacle. So I removed it.”

“So she could sing at the Met,” Cole surmised.

“Yes.”

Cole smiled. “Heather was a recording artist. She was famous. She sang like an angel, too, and she and her band played gigs all over the country. But when it came to a choice between performing and me, I won hands down.”

“You’re saying something.”

“I’m saying that there are things more important than fame and fortune. And your background doesn’t matter to a woman who loves you.” He indicated Odalie, walking toward them. “Case in point. She doesn’t even see anybody except you,” he added with a smile.

It was true. Odalie went straight to Tony without deviating a single step.

“How are you?” he asked her softly.

She smiled. “I’m fine. And he even gave me something for the nausea. Plus some high-powered vitamins. And the name of a specialist.”

He smiled back. “The baby’s okay?”

She smiled with her whole heart. “The baby’s okay.”

“What baby?!” exploded in a chorus behind them.