Special Forces Father - By Mallory Kane Page 0,9
at him suspiciously, tears glittering in her eyes. “Please, Travis. You have to promise me you won’t say anything.” She wrung her hands. “Oh, why did I tell you? They said if I told anyone— I was just so surprised to see you standing there.”
Travis remembered what she’d said when she had first seen his face. His chest felt as if a massive fist had reached in and squeezed his heart. “You said my brother’s name when you first opened the door. I didn’t think you knew any of my family. Is Harte—?” His voice quit on him.
“What? Harte?” She stared at him uncomprehendingly.
“Is he—?” He gestured vaguely around. “Is he your son’s—?”
Understanding lit her blue eyes. Understanding and frustration. She frowned. “No! Of course not. I know Harte from the D.A.’s office.”
Travis waited but Kate didn’t offer up any further explanation. He didn’t want to pry—Lord knew he had no right to—but he needed to know one thing. “Kate, does your son’s father know? Is he coming?”
She looked up at him, then back down at her hands. “No.”
“What about your family? Any of them coming down to help you?”
“I haven’t called anybody. Didn’t you hear what I told you? They said not to tell anyone.”
“Yet you told me,” he said quietly.
She nodded dejectedly. “And now I wish I hadn’t. I didn’t mean to. You—surprised me.” She gasped. “What if they’re watching the house? They’ll think you’re the police. They’ll think I called you. You have to go.” She shot to her feet and grabbed his shirtsleeve. “Get up. You have to get out of here, right now, before they find out you’re here.”
Travis stood. “Kate, calm down.” He took her hand off his sleeve and held it. “I’m not leaving you here by yourself.”
“No!” she snapped, jerking her hand away. “You don’t understand. They will kill him. Kill him. You have to go. Go!”
“Kate, listen to me.” Travis wrapped his fingers around her upper arms. “You’ve got to calm down right now. You’re panicking and not thinking straight. We need to think about this rationally. Figure out the best thing to do. I’ll guarantee you one thing. I am not leaving you here alone.”
Kate just squeezed her arms tighter around herself. “But what about Max? I can’t take the chance—”
“Think about it. They’re not going to hurt him. They know that the only reason you’ll agree to help them is to save your son. They wouldn’t dare do anything to him now.”
She stared at him and slowly, under his fingers, her arm muscles relaxed. “They won’t? How do you know that?”
“They don’t have a choice. They have to make sure he’s safe and cared for.” God he hoped he was right. The people who had taken her child weren’t asking her to decide if someone lived or died. All they wanted was for her to say that some guy had been temporarily insane when he’d shot someone. Surely they had no intention of harming the child. Now, if he could only make her believe it.
She nodded.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Now I’m going to call Lucas—”
She grabbed his hand, digging her nails into his palm. “No! I told you, no police!”
“I thought we agreed they’re not going to hurt him.”
“Travis, I hope you’re right,” she said, those aquamarine eyes staring intensely into his. “I pray you are, but until my baby is back in my arms, I have to believe what they told me. I am not telling anyone anything.”
He knew that look in her eyes and that tone of voice. She’d reached her limit. She wouldn’t budge.
He shrugged. “Okay. Well, you’re not getting rid of me. I don’t care if I have to camp on your lawn—I’m not leaving you to face this alone.”
Her face fell apart again. Her eyes closed and she swayed. Travis caught her and pulled her into his arms. Holding her, taking care of her, was what he’d dreamed of during the long months he’d spent in captivity. Dreamed of, but never believed would happen. He’d been afraid he would die in that hellhole. So he’d fortified himself and stayed sane by reliving his memories of the people he loved.
He was holding the best part of those memories in his arms right now, but his reasons for coming here no longer mattered. Kate’s limp, trembling body was testament to the torture she was experiencing. Her child was missing. His goal now was to lend her what little strength he had and help