Found Wanting (12 page)

Her jaw tightened, and she stayed on her feet. "Fine. Turn me over to the police and get it over with."

He froze, surprised. That made no sense. She should have wanted to avoid law enforcement at all costs. Was she trying to trick him? Did she think he was so easily manipulated? "I'm turning you over all right," he said. "But it isn't to the police. We're going to D.C., where your ex gets to decide what to do with you."

With her free hand, she grabbed the links between the cuffs to stop him. "Wait. The police have to start looking for Jonah."

"Now you want to go to the cops?"

"Look, whatever you think of me, don't make him pay for it. If he's hurt or he's been kidnapped --"

His sharp bark of laughter cut her off. "Kidnapped? If he's been kidnapped? You're the one who kidnapped him."

"I'm begging you --"

"Save the begging for your former lover."

She flinched as if he'd struck her, and he turned away quickly, not wanting to see her eyes.

"You think you know him, but you don't," she said.

"I don't need to know him, or you, to understand what's happened. You two had a kid, and you stole him. That pisses me off. That pisses off a lot of people. You're going to pay for that, lady, and I'm happily going to help." He dropped his jacket over their linked hands to hide the cuffs from passersby. "Come on."

* * *

He walked fast, and Alaina struggled to keep up, the handcuff biting into her wrist. Her breath sawed through her aching chest, but it was the least of her worries.

Where are you, Jonah? Where the hell are you?

In the parking garage, Mitch picked up his pace until Alaina stumbled and went down on her knees. Agony sliced through her shoulder as he inadvertently dragged her forward by the wrist before he could stop. Biting back a cry of pain, she braced her free hand on the gritty pavement and fought to breathe.

Mitch made no move to help her up. He probably thought she was trying to slow him down. Tears of pain and frustration burned behind her eyes, but she fought them. He would see them as a ploy.

"Whenever you're ready," he said, his tone dispassionate.

Alaina looked up at him through hair that had fallen into her eyes. "If there's a decent bone in your body, you're going to regret this."

His eyes, curiously veiled, narrowed. "I regret it already."

"Did he tell you I seduced him?"

"He didn't tell me anything about how you two hooked up, except that it was a mistake."

Her laugh was bitter, hollow. "Hooked up. That's an interesting way of putting it."

Mitch bent forward so their noses nearly touched. "I'm going to give you some advice. Don't try to convince me that Layton Keller is the bad guy here. I've watched him in action for two years. You, I've only just met, and so far you haven't done a whole lot that impresses me. All you've done is put your child's welfare at frightening risk. And, now, instead of asking for help from the man who can and will do everything in his power to find your son, you're disparaging his good name. You know what that tells me? You're a selfish woman. You think the rules don't apply to you. Well, sooner or later, what goes around comes around, and it just came around on you. So get over it and get up."

There was no reasoning with him. If she told him now that Layton probably planned to kill her for revenge and to protect his pristine image, Mitch wouldn't believe her for an instant. And besides, it didn't matter what this man thought. Nothing mattered but finding Jonah. Gritting her teeth, she pushed to her feet.

At a black Mustang, Mitch opened the driver's door and motioned for her to crawl across the emergency brake and console to the passenger seat. The awkward maneuvering left her breathless and hurting.

Mitch started the car. "Fasten your seatbelt."

She started to reach for it but dropped back on an involuntary moan.

Stretching across her, he grabbed the buckle and fastened it for her. Still close, smelling of soap and pine, he paused and searched her eyes. He had the darkest eyes she had ever seen, and their intensity unnerved her. "What?" she asked.

"Is something broken?"

"I don't know. I didn't wait for X-rays."

"Great." Sitting back, he shifted the car into gear, her hand dangling from his wrist.

She decided she had nothing to lose to try again to reason with him. Jonah's well-being depended on it. He wasn't with Layton or Mitch would have known. That meant he was still out there somewhere. "Please, we have to go to the police. They need to be searching for him."

"They could have been searching for him hours ago if you hadn't wasted precious time."

"I didn't plan to get hit by a car."

"No, but there was nothing stopping you from asking for help when you were in the ER."

"I didn't know what I was dealing with then. I thought it was just the FBI. I was going to pick up Jonah at the Maxwells' and get out of town. I didn't know what had happened there." Her voice broke on a surge of emotion, and she pressed the back of her free hand to her mouth to help hold it in. Hang on. Hang on. Just a little bit longer.

Mitch glanced over, but instead of snapping at her, he looked away as he downshifted for a turn. "And what did happen there?"

"We already went over this. Layton sent his men to get Jonah. Grant's a good man." She paused, swallowing as she imagined what it had been like for him to face a gun with two teenagers counting on him to protect them. "He wouldn't have stood by and let someone take my son."

"I told you before that Keller doesn't know where you are."

"You think all this is just a big fat coincidence?" she asked.

"If he knew, he would have contacted me to let me know Jonah was accounted for. He's not a man who lets people waste their time, or his."

"You saw that my home was trashed, didn't you? Not just ransacked, but destroyed."

"And what would be the point?"

"Revenge would be the point," she said, trying hard to keep her patience under control. She didn't mention the paperwork that had been burned, making it extremely difficult for her and Jonah to run away easily.

"I find it hard to believe that a man like Layton Keller would --"

"Are you his friend?" she cut in.

He glanced at her as he braked at a stoplight. "He's my employer."

She saw it, the glimmer of doubt, and hope flared. "Then you really don't know what he would or wouldn't do."

"I'm a good judge of -- why am I defending myself or anyone to you?"

"Because you're a reasonable man, and you want to do the right thing."

The light turned green, and the car leapt forward. "I'm done with this conversation."

"When Jonah was nine, Layton tracked me down --"

Swerving onto the shoulder of the road, Mitch slammed on the brakes. Turning in his seat, he sank his fingers into the front of her shirt and yanked her forward. Her handcuffed hand dangled from his, trapped between them, and in the darkness of the car, his eyes were black holes. "You act like you think you have a shot at turning me on him," he said, his voice low. "You don't. I've already chosen a side, and if I'm anything, it's loyal. Got it?"

She let her held breath out slowly. His anger vibrated through his arm against her, and she realized that Layton must have wanted her alive so he could kill her himself. Otherwise, this man would have murdered her long ago. And he probably would have enjoyed it.

He gave her a shake. "Got it?"

She managed not to wince. "Yes."

After releasing her, he steered the car back into traffic.

Deflated, Alaina looked out at the passing night. Perhaps she could signal to another driver that she needed help. Maybe they would pass a police officer.

She let three cars go by without making an effort to get their drivers' attention.

The truth was, Mitch was right. If Layton really did want to find Jonah, he would spare no expense. She, on the other hand, had nothing. She couldn't afford to hire a detective. If she went to the FBI or the police, they would find out that she was the one wanted for kidnapping him in the first place. Worse, they might connect her to the man she had been forced to kill in self-defense many years ago, if they hadn't already. Awful as it was, Layton was probably the only one capable of locating Jonah quickly and efficiently.

And then what?

Jonah would be found. He'd be safe.

He'd no longer be hers. The pain that squeezed her heart took her breath away.

He would know how she had lied.

Chapter 11

On the highway, with nothing but the hum of the engine to fill the silence, Mitch fished his cellphone out of the leather holder strapped to his belt. After thumbing the button to get to the phone's directory, he pushed the speed-dial number for Layton Keller. Beside him, his passenger remained quiet, but he sensed the sharpness of her attention.

His boss answered. "Keller."

"It's Mitch."

"Ah, Mitch. How are you?"

"I've got her."

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Mitch began to wonder if the phone had lost its signal. Then Keller said, "She's there with you now?"

"Yes. But I'm afraid your son is unaccounted --"

"Tell her I've got him."

Mitch hesitated, uncomfortable, and a bit surprised at the glee he heard in his employer's voice. He glanced sideways at Alaina, found her watching him intently. He didn't know what to say to either of them.

"Are you there, Mitch?" Keller asked.

"Yes. I, uh, that's good news. I trust he's unharmed?"

"I haven't seen him yet. Some of my associates put him on the corporate jet this afternoon. It was delayed a couple of hours because of weather, but he's due in in the next hour."

"How, if you don't mind my asking, did that happen?"

"It's a long story," Keller said. "One I'll tell you when you get here. The PCware jet will be in use in the morning, but I'll send it to Chicago in the afternoon to pick her up."

"We can take a commercial flight tonight --"

"No, no, that's not necessary."

"It's no problem," Mitch said.

"The thing is, I'd like some time with my son. Do you understand?"

Mitch felt Alaina's gaze boring into the side of his face, felt her holding her breath, hanging on his every word. "I understand."

"Good. I knew you, of all people, would. I'll call you tomorrow to let you know when to bring her to the airport. No need for you to accompany her back here. I'll have the feds meet her at Dulles. Once you drop her off, your job is done."

Mitch disconnected the call and slipped the phone back into its slim pocket. "Jonah's okay. He's flying into D.C. on the PCware jet."