Special Forces Father - By Mallory Kane Page 0,8

a few seconds as if she weren’t looking at him at all. Then she took a deep breath that hitched at the top like a sob and sat up.

“Travis?” she said tentatively. Her hand lifted toward him.

He caught it in his. “Hey,” he said, smiling at her. To his horror, her face crumpled and she started crying, pulling her hand away. The crying was a tortured, desperate weeping, totally silent, except for the short, sobbing breaths. Tears streamed down her cheeks, which already appeared chapped. She clasped her hands, the fingers intertwining like a nest of snakes.

Travis felt impotent, helpless. He had no idea what was the matter with her and no idea what to do. But he knew all this was a lot more than just a reaction from seeing him at her door. He went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. In the dim light from the one lamp, he stumbled over something on the floor. He looked in the cabinet for a glass, pushing aside small, colorful plastic cups with cartoon logos on them to reach a tumbler. He navigated a maze of plastic things on the floor to get back to the couch.

She’d blotted her tears with the cuff of her suit jacket and was sitting calmly. Every so often a little sob would shake her.

After handing her the water, Travis sat down on the coffee table again, avoiding a big pile of picture books and DVDs. He watched as Kate drank the water. Once it was gone, he took the glass and set it down beside him.

Her gaze locked to his. “What—what are you doing here?” she asked, entwining her fingers again and squeezing until the knuckles turned white.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “What’s wrong with you? Has something happened?”

“Oh,” she gasped, pressing both hands to her chest as if the pain there was too much to bear.

“Kate, tell me.”

He watched her gather strength from somewhere. She sat up and wiped the tears away from her face, then took a deep breath. It still hitched slightly, but she ignored it. “They’ve taken Max,” she said. Her gaze wavered for a second. “My son.”

Her words hit Travis like a blow to the gut. “Your what?” he said stupidly, as his brain repeated what she’d said. They’ve taken Max. My son. If he had any further doubt that he’d misheard, the look on Kate’s face convinced him. She was terrified and sick with worry. No wonder she’d collapsed.

Then, suddenly, something clicked in his brain. All the things he’d been dodging and tripping over since he had come into the house suddenly made sense. The plastic things on the floor were toys and the picture books and DVDs on the coffee table were children’s stories. Now the little neon-bright cups with cartoon logos made sense, as well.

“Who, Kate? Who took him?” He wanted to ask more questions, different ones. Whose son is he? Why didn’t you let me know? Where’s his father now, when you need him? But those questions could wait.

“I don’t know,” she said desperately. “They— The man called.”

“Have you phoned the police?” he asked, knowing the answer. If she had, they’d be here.

“No, no, no,” she said, shaking her head. “If I do, he’ll be gone forever.” She wasn’t crying now. She sat still, stiff as a board, and kept her eyes on her hands clasped in her lap. “He said so.”

Travis took them in his. “Listen to me, Kate. Whatever they told you, whatever you think they might do, we have to call the police. They know how to deal with these things—”

“No!” she snapped, pulling away. “No police! I just have to do what they say. It’ll all be over soon if I just do what they say.”

“You said you don’t know who they are?”

She shook her head. “No, but I know what they want. All I have to do is declare that Myron Stamps was temporarily insane at the time of the shooting, so he can be acquitted. Then they’ll bring Max home.” She nodded. “They will—” her breath hitched again “—won’t they?”

“I don’t know, Kate.” Travis studied her. “Look, I’ll call Lucas—my oldest brother. He’s a detective with NOPD. He’ll know what to do.”

“No!” she cried, vaulting up. Her face was a mask of desperate fear. “I said no. You can’t say anything to anybody. They’ll kill my baby. They said so.” She wrung her hands. “Please.”

“Okay.” He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

She stared