Bringing Benjy Home (Security Ops) (4 page)

“Lauren, you’re not supposed to be out of bed.” Upon reaching her, he took her by the elbow and led her gently to the love seat, where she sat down next to Raine.

“Don’t fuss at me, Trey,” she responded a little breathlessly. It was clear that the short walk had winded her. “And don’t change the subject. From what I overheard you’ve offended our guest. That isn’t like you.” Her attention switched to Jaida then, and she offered a shy smile. “You must be Jaida. You don’t know how much I appreciate your coming like this. I know it’s a terrible imposition.”

“I’d like to try to help, if I can,” Jaida returned. “I am a little curious, though, about how you heard of me.”

“You helped a relative of a friend of mine several years ago. I believe it was in New York City. Do you remember Shannon Davis?”

Jaida nodded. “Her teenage daughter had run away,” she replied quietly. “We found her after she’d been missing for three months.”

Nodding, Lauren said, “I worked with Shannon’s sister after college. She told me the whole story. After I . . .” She swallowed, then continued with difficulty, “After I regained consciousness . . . Trey told me what happened to Benjy.” Her eyes closed tightly for an instant, as she visibly strove for control. “I was dazed at first. I couldn’t believe this had happened. In the days that have passed, every lead the police have followed has gone nowhere. And then one night I thought of Shannon. I remembered you and the part I heard you’d played in her daughter’s return.” Her gaze met her brother’s. “I badgered Trey unmercifully until he promised to go and find you. I have a great deal of faith in his word, you see.”

Jaida was fascinated by the trace of visible discomfort that crossed Trey’s face. Obviously the man did have a conscience, though he kept it deeply hidden.

“I apologize for the inconvenience you’ve undergone on our behalf,” Lauren went on, addressing Jaida. “But I can’t honestly say I’m not excited about your being here. We’ve tried more conventional means for locating my son. You might be our best hope of getting him back.” Her voice faltered a little. “You might be our
only
hope.”

“I want to try. I was just telling . . . your brother . . . when you came in that I would need something of Benjy’s to focus on.”

The smile Lauren turned on her then was tremulous and full of expectancy. “Of course. Trey can—” She broke off, frowning a little when she spotted the stuffed bear that had fallen, forgotten, to the floor. “What’s that?”

The room grew unnaturally still in the wake of her question. Mac finally answered in a strangled voice, “It’s just something I bought. For Trey. I mean . . . for Benjy.” He crossed the room rapidly and scooped it up. “I’ll put it away.” He hurried out of the room.

Lauren studied the expressions on the faces of the room’s occupants, but said nothing. Mac returned, carrying a toy.

“I thought we could use this,” he said, holding it up for Lauren’s approval.

She swallowed and clasped her hands together, before nodding jerkily. “That’s Benjy’s favorite,” Lauren said huskily. “Trey brought it to the hospital the day he was born. Remember, Trey? You swore he smiled at you for the first time. I tried to tell you that wasn’t possible but you insisted . . . .”

“I remember,” Trey said gently.

“He slept with it every night,” Lauren whispered. “Every night until—” Her voice broke.

Trey crossed swiftly to his sister and sank down in front of her, taking her hands in his. “And he will again,” he told her firmly. “I need you to believe that. We both have to believe it. Lauren?”

She raised her eyes slowly to meet his gaze, and her fingers tightened in his.

The look the pair exchanged was so anguished that Jaida shifted her gaze, shaken by the raw emotion. Whatever else she thought of Trey Garrison, she couldn’t deny the evidence of his love for his family. She focused on the toy. It was a stuffed elephant, a whimsical creature wearing a pair of red corduroy overalls. It was not adorned with buttons or small items that a baby might swallow, but its cloth trunk looked as though it had endured several vigorous chewings from a small mouth.

“Mac?”

Jaida’s voice had all eyes turning in her direction. She reached for the toy, and Mac glanced at Trey. The other man nodded almost imperceptibly.

As she took the toy, Jaida was immediately rocked by the sensations she’d expected the last time. Reality receded, and her inner world seemed to stop for a moment, before speeding up to surreal rapidity. Images flooded her mind, snippets of visions that made a brilliant collage. Then the mental barrage slowed, and she was able to view the images more as she would a movie being played inside her head.

A dark-haired toddler was huddled in the middle of a bed that seemed much too large for his small shape. A neon light flickered outside the window. The light fascinated the boy, drew him closer and closer to the edge of the bed, as he craned his neck to look at it. Then a woman walked before him, blocking his view as she gazed out the window. The little boy crawled down from the bed, making his way over to where the bright colors lit the night so invitingly. A large hand yanked the boy backward. The toddler jutted out his bottom lip mulishly, his chin quivering.

Jaida caught her breath sharply, and the familiar pain started in her temples, the muscles in her back and neck knotting painfully. Aching tendrils radiated across her back and shoulders. She squeezed her eyes more tightly closed, blocking out the pain, beckoning more of the scene to unfold.

The woman turned back toward the room, letting the curtain fall into place. A child’s cry split the night.
Jaida trembled, feeling the boy’s fear and loneliness. Her empathetic reaction to Benjy’s plight made her head ache unbearably, until the images began to blur and fade, leaving only the hammering at her temples in their wake.

“Did you see anything?”

Lauren’s anxious voice sounded as though it were coming from a great distance. Jaida opened eyelids that seemed weighted, and even that small motion was enough to turn the pain into a snarling beast.

Blinking several times, Jaida brought the room into focus. Lauren’s face was a contradiction of hope and despair. Trey was watching her, openly sardonic. “I saw a little boy,” she said, her voice sounding rusty. “He has dark hair and . . .” Her breath shuddered with aftershocks. “And his uncle’s chin.”

“Benjy.” Lauren’s voice was a reverent whisper. Her hands went to her brother’s shoulders, and her fingers clenched there. “Oh, my Lord, it’s Benjy. She can help us, Trey. I knew it. I
knew
it.”

“Slow down, Lauren.” His voice was soothing. “This doesn’t really prove anything.”

“Doesn’t prove anything?” Lauren’s voice was incredulous. “It proves everything—everything I told you. You have to let her help, Trey. You
have
to.” Several moments ticked by. Then Lauren looked away. “Would you help me back to my room, Trey?” she asked weakly.

He sprang immediately to his feet and helped her rise. “You never should have gotten up in the first place,” he scolded her. “This was too much for you.”

She declined to argue, leaning against him until he settled her in her bedroom. She reached for his hand, preventing his departure. “Stay, please.”

He sat on the side of the bed. “You should take one of the sedatives the doctor ordered.”

She made a face. “I don’t need a sedative. I need to talk to you.”

“Take the pill first,” he replied firmly.

Lauren’s lips tightened and then she gave an exasperated sigh. “Trey Garrison, you’d bargain with the devil himself.”

He smiled slightly. “Only about the living arrangements.” He welcomed the return of Lauren’s strong will. For too many days she’d lain listless and unresponsive, scaring him half to death with the alteration in her personality. She might be more difficult to handle when she regained her stubbornness, but it was a welcome change nonetheless.

She snatched the pill, downed it with the water and raised her eyebrows. “Satisfied?”

“Yes,” he responded imperturbably.

Lauren’s gaze dropped, but she didn’t relinquish his hand. He waited, knowing she wouldn’t rest until she’d had her say. But he wasn’t prepared for the subject she broached.

“It’s funny what we remember from our childhoods. I don’t have any memory of our mother at all, and what I remember of Dad . . .” She shrugged. “Isn’t pleasant. But though I was only three when we were removed from our home, my strongest memory is of you.” Her voice grew softer. “Only of you.” When she looked at him again, her eyes were filled with tears. “You were my hero then and that hasn’t changed. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come back into my life when you did.”

“Don’t, Lauren,” he said dismissively. It wasn’t her emotion he shied away from, but the patent untruth of her words. He was nobody’s hero. Benjy’s disappearance was proof of that.

“You have to accept the fact that you aren’t responsible for the whole world, Trey. Benjy’s kidnapping wasn’t your fault. Stop heaping blame on yourself for things you have no control over.”

He returned her look steadily. “I never wanted to be responsible for the whole world, Lauren. Just our little part of it.”

She sighed, fighting a losing battle with the medication, her muscles relaxing as they succumbed to sleep. “I have to believe that Benjy will come back to us,” she whispered. “And I have greater faith in you and your efforts than I do in those of the police. I think you can find him, Trey, just as you found me.” Her voice was beginning to slow. “I want you to promise me something.”

“You need to rest . . . .”

“No!” Her objection was not above a murmur, but its lack of volume didn’t affect its intensity. “Not . . . until you promise.”

“All right.” He took her hand in both of his and held it comfortingly.

“Promise . . . you’ll let Jaida . . . help you.” She saw the shuttered look come over her brother’s face and could have wept with frustration. “Please . . . for me.”

The minutes crawled by, and still Trey remained silent. Lauren eventually lost the struggle with the medication. When her breathing was deep, he released her limp hand and rose from the bed. But it was several more moments before he left the room.

The headache had increased in intensity until Jaida’s head felt ready to shatter. Her eyes burned with strain, and it was an effort to keep them open. She fumbled with her purse, putting it on her lap and opening it. She shook two capsules into her hand and swallowed them dry.

Sighing, she dropped her purse to the floor. She was dimly aware of Raine’s concerned voice, but couldn’t summon the energy to concentrate on her words. She let her head rest against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes. Several minutes passed as she waited for the pills to work their magic, but she knew from experience that only sleep could make the headache abate completely. Twelve or fifteen hours of deep, uninterrupted sleep. And she couldn’t afford that yet. She still needed all her wits about her to face Trey. She didn’t fool herself into thinking he had changed his mind about her. The clamoring ricocheted inside her head, echoing and reechoing until thought was almost impossible. The pain was relentless. As relentless as—

She opened her eyes. She was not surprised to see Trey standing in the hallway, although he’d made no noise. She surveyed him blurrily, her vision affected by the headache. He moved toward her, and without conscious decision she sat up straight. Despite her less than clear state after the session, something inside her gathered all her resources to face him. The realization would have frightened her if she’d been thinking more lucidly.

He sat down next to her, keeping a careful distance between them. “Your little production earlier put my sister on the verge of hysterics. She isn’t a great judge of character at the best of times, but right now she’s incapable of being sensible.”

“Meaning she refuses to let you send me packing.”

His jaw tightened at the accuracy of her statement. “She’s frantic at the slow progress of this case, and she’s clutching at straws.”

“Haven’t you forgotten something, Trey?” Raine interjected. “Jaida described Benjy to a tee.” She indicated the room around them. “How did she know what he looked like, when you had Mac remove all the pictures of him?”

“I’m sure Ms. West has a great deal of experience with situations like this. And the resemblance between Lauren and me is pretty startling. She made an educated guess, that’s all. But she really didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.”

Jaida blinked rapidly, trying to keep Trey in focus. But her vision refused to cooperate, and his image blurred and doubled. One Trey Garrison was more than enough to handle. The agony in her muscles and inside her head were settling into a howling chorus. She knew from experience that she didn’t have much time before the pills she’d taken would have her body sinking into the unconsciousness it demanded. “He’s in a motel room, sitting on top of a bed,” Jaida said. Thinking was an effort, talking even more so. “There are two people in the room with him. One is a woman.”

“You said there were two people,” Raine reminded her. “Was the other a man?”

Jaida hesitated, sifting through the images that had sped across her mind. “I’m not sure. I think so. All I saw of the second person was a hand pulling Benjy back up on the bed.”