Childfinders Inc - Hero For Hire Part 20

She threw the cell phone back into her purse. "So where is he? Why hasn't the kidnapper called again?"

Chad's voice was quiet, soothing, when he answered. "I told you, he wants to play mind games with you. The more on edge you are, the less likely the chances are he'll be caught." Chad made a right at the next corner. "We're going to your house to regroup."

"Regroup? I don't need to regroup." She wanted to take whatever was the next step, do whatever he thought needed doing. Anything to get her even an inch closer to Casey.

"Well, I do," he told her tersely, then added, "Humor me."

She had no choice. He was driving.

Chapter 9.

The door swung open before Veronica could finish turning the key in the lock.

Angela stood in the hall, her compa.s.sionate smile greeting both of them. The housekeeper asked nothing, but her eyes conveyed the foremost question on her mind.

Very slowly Chad moved his head from side to side. Angela's smile only grew more compa.s.sionate, more determined. She could offer a great deal of solace to Veronica, Chad thought. In his experience, women like Angela were rocks. He felt a surprising stirring of grat.i.tude that she was there for Veronica.

"I have coffee, sandwiches," Angela informed them briskly, leading the way into the living room. She glanced over her shoulder to see if Veronica was following.

Feeling drained, Veronica walked into the room. She looked at the coffee table where Angela had placed the tray.

Coffee, sandwiches. As if this was some sort of social gathering she was organizing, instead of waiting to pay the ransom for her son. Tension overwhelmed her. Veronica stared at the neatly stacked, crustless quarters and broke down.

Reacting, Chad was by her side immediately. "Get me some brandy," he instructed a concerned Angela.

Then, because it was the only thing he could do, he put his arms around Veronica and held her. Held her until the sobs she'd allowed to escape dampened his shirt and faded. A strange, inviting warmth formed where her face pressed against his chest.

Angela hurried to the wet bar, taking out a decanter and a gla.s.s. "For you?" she wanted to know.

"No, it's for her."

Realizing that he was talking about her, Veronica tried to pull herself together.

"I'm all right," she protested with more conviction than she felt.

"The h.e.l.l you are." He held out his hand to Angela, waiting for the gla.s.s. When she gave it to him, he placed the rim to Veronica's lips. "Drink this."

She drew back her head, her eyes meeting his. The kindness there took her a moment to absorb. "It's just after noon-"

Why did she have to argue with him? "Veronica, you need this." His eyes held hers, conveying things more eloquently than words. "Trust me."

Trust me.

The phrase echoed in her brain. Didn't he realize that she did? That she trusted him with the most precious being in her life? Her son. And she did not give her trust easily. But somehow this man with the stony expression and kind eyes had gotten to her.

Squaring her shoulders, Veronica took the gla.s.s from him. Holding it with both hands, she tilted her head back just enough to take a sip. The liquid swirled and burned a trail through her, waking up everything in its path. She felt less like crying.

"Better?"

She took a deep breath. Surprisingly, she felt less shaky, more capable of going on. The smile that graced her mouth was grateful. "Yes."

"Good." He took the gla.s.s from her and placed it on the coffee table. "Now sit down and have one or two of those undersize sandwiches." He saw resistance in her eyes. "Or I'll force-feed you."

Something told her that wasn't an idle threat. When she looked over her shoulder at Angela for help, she discovered that the housekeeper had retreated from the room. Resigned, Veronica sank onto the sofa. She still felt a little light-headed, but knew that the brandy hadn't much to do with the sensation.

She moved the napkins to the side but made no effort to comply with his latest directive. "Do your duties extend to baby-sitting?"

"They extend to whatever it takes to keep the client conscious and functioning whenever possible." Since she wasn't helping herself to any of the sandwich quarters from the tray, he selected one for her. Taking one of her hands in his, he opened it and placed the sandwich quarter into it.

The amus.e.m.e.nt bloomed, reaching her eyes. He was awkward but gentle at the same time, and it touched her in ways she couldn't begin to put into words. "Are you going to make my jaw go up and down, too?"

He never hesitated. "If I have to."

She smiled in response. "You don't have to." Veronica took a bite. The bread stuck to the roof of her mouth. Because there was nothing else to drink, she took a sip of brandy to wash it down. He remained silently at her side. The word faithful whispered across her mind. "You're being very kind."

"Not a hardship."

The slight p.r.i.c.k of self-conscious embarra.s.sment had him looking away. Chad picked up a sandwich quarter himself, contemplating it before finally taking a bite. He was eating to keep her company while searching for a way to word something he didn't want to say.

Funny, wording things had never troubled him before. He'd always said what he had to say, directly and to the point, allowing the consequences to take care of themselves. Though he would never have been consciously cruel, diplomacy was something he never bothered himself about.

But she seemed so fragile he found himself worrying about the way she might perceive something if he was too blunt about it. Still, this needed to be said, needed to be cleared up.

"When the kidnapper calls, before you agree to make the drop-" he indicated the briefcase he had placed by the side of the sofa in case she wasn't following him "- I want you to ask him to take a picture of Casey holding up today's newspaper."

Veronica stopped eating. Very slowly, she set down the half-finished section and looked up at Chad with eyes that forbade him to continue. Forbade him to say why the photograph was necessary. She looked away from him. "All right." Her voice was reedy.

He wasn't exactly certain what came over him, why he suddenly found himself wanting to go the extra distance. A distance he'd never gone before, not with a client. He had no clue why this woman's tears were falling into his soul. But they were. He cupped her face in his hands, raising it until her eyes met his.

And, he made her a solemn oath. "It's going to be all right, Veronica. I swear to you, we'll get him back."

Silently, in the recesses of her mind, she blessed him for the pledge. She needed to believe him, to hang on to something until this ordeal was finally over.

Otherwise, she wasn't sure she could make it.

Leaning forward, she brushed his lips with hers, her grat.i.tude unspoken but not unfelt.

To say he was surprised was one of the biggest understatements of his life. So

was his reaction to her kiss. A fire licked at his belly the likes of which he'd

never felt before. Not wild and out of control, just deep. Bottomlessly deep.

Like the thirst he'd once had for belonging.

Caught unawares, Chad didn't drop his hands from her face. Instead, he held her there as the simple kiss deepened just a bit.

It might have gone deeper still, had the phone not rung.

The sound exploding in her brain, Veronica jerked back, her eyes darting around for where she'd dropped her purse. Chad was on his feet, retrieving it for her.