Love Inspired Suspense September 2015 #1 (16 page)

As the paramedics came down the hall, Connor's eyes popped open. “He wore black. Even black gloves.”

Thomas followed the paramedics into the bedroom. Jesse stood and made his way to him. “All he could tell me was the man was about his size and wore black. He had on a ski mask and used gloves so I doubt there are prints.”

“Do you know how he got in?”

“I think he picked one of the locks on an outside door. That's how I got into the house when I saw the kid on his floor.”

“Brutus checked for a bomb?”

“First thing. None of us, including my dog, wants a repeat of the other day. My body is still healing.”

“I think the best use of our manpower right now is to go house to house and see if anyone saw something. Have you called Lydia?”

“I was going to after you all came.”

“Not a call you want to make?” Thomas's mouth twisted in a frown.

“No. She's going to blame herself. This wouldn't have happened if Kate hadn't left school. But in Lydia's mind it will become her fault
her
sister is in danger. I'll also call Connor's parents. I'll get the contact information from school.”

“Tell her it's the bomber's fault.” Thomas left to organize a door-to-door canvas of the neighbors at home.

The first task Jesse did was to inform Connor's parents about what happened at their house and where their son was being taken. Finally he had no choice but to call Lydia. If he wasn't needed here to help find Kate, he'd rather tell her in person, but that wasn't an option. He let her phone ring until it went to voice mail. She hadn't slept well last night. She must be taking a nap.

He gave Williams a call, and the officer answered on the second ring. “Is Lydia asleep?”

“Yeah.”

“How long?”

“An hour. Mary was about to wake her up.”

“We haven't found Kate, but we know some of what happened. I need to tell her.”

“Kate is missing?”

Jesse gripped his cell phone tighter. “She called me about Kate being gone when the school called her. She was supposed to tell you.”

“She didn't say anything to me or Mary.”

Why didn't Lydia tell the officers guarding her?
His gut knotted. Something was wrong. “Kate went to her boyfriend's house at lunch. It seems yesterday and today they sneaked off campus. The doors are locked to prevent people from coming into the building but not going out. I found Connor knocked out and Kate gone. A man in black came in and took her. As much as I hate it, you need to wake Lydia up.”

“I'm making my way to her bedroom now.”

Jesse heard Williams knock on the door. There was a long pause, then another knock, louder this time.

“She's not answering. I'm going inside,” Williams said as Jesse heard a slight creaking sound as he opened the door. “The window is open. She's gone.”

Jesse went cold. “I'm on my way. Check the whole house and let me know what you find.”

* * *

“Where's Kate?” Lydia stared at the bomber dressed in black, not ten feet from her.

“Somewhere safe and alive.”

“And why should I believe you?”

“Because you don't have a choice, if you want your sister to live. I have no issue with Kate, but I do with you. I know you were remembering. I could tell by the direction of the police investigation, but mostly from the bug I placed in Calvin's dog collar. I didn't think you were going to take him home with you. That was a bonus. I just hoped to get some info when the police realized the bomber brought the animal in.”

“Calvin could have died.”

He shrugged. “You could ID me. I took care of the waitress who served me. If you'd died like you were supposed to, I'd have stopped. Now I'll have to set off another bomb just to throw the police off. They need to think it's a lunatic who is doing this.”

He was a lunatic. Anyone who did what he had done wasn't in his right mind. “Why are you setting off bombs?”

“Because I had to kill my girlfriend. She purposely got pregnant with my child. She actually thought I would leave my wife. She's coming into a lot of money soon when her father's estate is finally settled. I've stayed married to her for years. I'm not walking away from all that wealth now.”

What a sicko! Lydia pressed the arm with the syringe against her side. Somehow if her plan was to work, she had to get close to him. Once she tranquilized him, she could tie him up with the rope she brought from her house and call the police. Then he wouldn't be able to set off any more bombs, and she and Kate would be safe.

“So you killed all those people to cover up one death.” She couldn't keep the contempt from her voice.

He ignored her statement and said, “Toss the phone to me.”

She did as instructed but hit him in the chest hard, then whirled around and ran for the door. She wanted him to come after her, but she had to make it look like she was genuinely fleeing. As she raced toward the exit, she lowered the syringe so one end was cupped in her palm. Then she stumbled on purpose and went down, using the commotion to free the shot completely.

He grabbed her and jerked her to her feet. “Stupid woman. If you escape, I'll just have to kill your sister.”

Before he had a chance to push her forward, she lunged at him and stabbed the needle into his upper arm. He backhanded her, sending her flying into the door. When she struck it, all the air whooshed from her lungs.

He took a step toward her. She'd given him enough tranquilizer to put a horse down. He kept coming toward her, but he weaved from side to side.

It had to work.

He stopped in front of her, his eyelids sliding closed. As she fumbled for the door handle, he put his hands around her neck and squeezed.

* * *

As Jesse drove toward his house with Brutus, he put a call in to headquarters to track her cell phone.

He was turning into his driveway when he received a call about the location of the phone. He ran to his house to get the two officers and grab something with Lydia's scent on it. Then he headed toward the location he'd been given. The signal was stationary. He tried to think what was in that location. Not a house—it wasn't residential. A building?

He reached the short street and pulled over to the curb. A vacant lot stood where the cell signal was emanating. Not a good sign. “We need to find the phone. Maybe there's something on it that can help us.”

Jesse let Brutus out of the rear of the SUV and let him smell the sweater. “Find.”

When his K-9 sat and looked at him, Jesse hurried over. The cell phone was hidden in the tall weeds. He put on a pair of gloves and looked at the calls she'd received recently. When he read the text message, he figured the phone would be a dead end, but he called headquarters to see if the number of the person who called her last could be traced. While he waited, he surveyed the street. Not the best part of town.

After he received the call informing him the cell couldn't be traced, he turned to the two patrol officers. “We need to check around here to see if anyone saw her.”

But as each minute ticked by, Jesse couldn't forget the words, “Throw it out now or your sister dies.”

In that moment he realized he might lose the woman he loved.

* * *

Before Lydia had a chance to knee the pharmacist, his hands slipped from around her neck as he swayed on his feet, then crumbled to the concrete floor. She shoved him to the side, opened the door and ran to her car for the rope. When she came back to the warehouse, she retrieved his cell phone and called Jesse.

“Jesse, this is Lydia.”

“Are you okay? Where are you?”

She gave him the address and told him which warehouse she was in. “I'm tying up Phillip Keats. Hurry. He has Kate somewhere. We have to make him tell us where.”

“I'm not far away. I'm heading there now. Stay on the phone.”

“First I'm putting it down to tie him up.”

After she secured the bomber, she picked up the phone and stood. “This guy isn't going anywhere. He'll be out for a while. I'm searching for Kate.”

“Wait. I'm pulling up behind the row of warehouses. Brutus is with me, and I have something from school with Kate's scent.”

Lydia moved toward the opened door, went outside and waved at Jesse. “I'm so glad to see you.”

Jesse parked, said something to Williams, then rushed toward her. He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her. “I love you. I can't lose you again.”

“I love you, Jesse.” She gave him a quick kiss. “That hasn't changed in all these years. But right now I have to find Kate. She's here because of me.” She stepped away and saw Don bringing Brutus with Kate's backpack. Mary was behind them.

“We will find her and then we'll need to talk about why in the world you came to meet him alone and without letting us know.”

“I left a message on my nightstand.”

Jesse looked at Williams.

He shrugged. “I didn't see it, but the window was open and the wind was blowing into the room. It's probably on the floor by the bed or under it.”

“I only told you the general location because that's all I knew, but I think he was following me so I had to come alone. Oh, and he had put a bug in Calvin's collar so he knew what was going on.”

“How did you knock him out?” Mary asked as she examined the pharmacist while Don handed Jesse a flashlight.

“I gave him a tranquilizer. That's one of the perks of being a vet. I had some lying around my house.”

Jesse held the backpack up for Brutus to smell. “Find.” He gave his Rottweiler a long leash and he and Lydia followed. He yelled back to the officers, “Call this in and guard him.”

Brutus headed for a rickety staircase and started up. Her heartbeat thundering in her head, Lydia held the light on the area in front of the dog. He entered a room, and she prayed Kate was alive and unharmed.

Jesse went in first and came to a stop. He called Brutus to his side. Lydia peered around Jesse to see her sister tied up with duct tape, some of it over her mouth. Her wide eyes, full of fear, were all Lydia could focus on.

Until Jesse said, “She has a bomb strapped to her.”

FOURTEEN

J
esse handed Lydia the leash. “Leave with Brutus. I'll stay but everyone else needs to get out.” He glanced at her. “No argument, Lydia. I have experience disarming bombs, but I can't be distracted with you being here. Go. Now.”

“I can't leave you.”

“Now. If there's a timer on it, I'm wasting valuable seconds.”

Kate nodded as though indicating there was a timer. Lydia pulled Brutus toward her, took one last look at Jesse and Kate, then hurried down the stairs.

Jesse realized how much he had to live for.
Lord, we're in Your hands. Please keep us alive
.

Remembering how he triggered the bomb in the house, Jesse approached Kate sitting in a chair with duct tape securing her along with the bomb. He saw the timer. In red numbers, it indicated he had four minutes, twenty-three seconds to get her out of the chair and out of the building. Or to disarm it.

With his pulse racing, he squatted next to Kate and studied the bomb, similar to one he'd handled before. “We're going to be all right. I'm not letting anything happen to you. Lydia would never forgive me.”

He dug into his pocket and removed his Swiss Army Knife. Then holding his breath, he cut the wire he thought would stop the timer. It did at two minutes, forty-one seconds.

After swiping the sweat from his brow, he removed the tape over Kate's mouth first.

* * *

Sirens blasted the air as Lydia stood at the end of the row of warehouses. She kept repeating her prayer to bring Jesse and Kate out alive.

Then she spied Jesse and Kate emerging from the building, and she raced toward them as the first responders arrived. Williams had called the bomb squad, and they were in the lead.

She threw her arms around Kate and held her tight. She pulled back, tears running down her face, the biggest smile on her face. “You are grounded for the rest of your life.”

Her sister's eyes watered, and she hugged Lydia and sobbed. She stroked Kate's back, telling her she would be all right. Lydia's gaze connected with Jesse's, and she wanted to kiss him senseless.

* * *

On the drive home from visiting Connor at the hospital, Lydia looked at her sister while stopped at a red light. “We need to talk about what has been happening. You could have died.”

“I'm so sorry, Lydia. I honestly didn't think anyone would be after me or watching me like that.”

“How many times have you sneaked out of school?”

Kate lowered her head and twisted her hands together in her lap. “Four times.” Her gaze reconnected with Lydia's. “But that was the first time we went to his house. I wasn't going to let anything happen. I was...” Tears glistened in her eyes. “He wanted to show me his room. We were gonna be back at school by our next class. That's only half an hour.”

“As you can see a lot can happen in half an hour.”

“He'd been so mad we hadn't spent any time alone together in a while. I was trying to please...” Kate sucked in a deep breath, tears streaking down her face. “I was an idiot.”

The light turned green, and Lydia crossed the intersection, not far from Jesse's house. “I hope you never make the mistake I did. I paid dearly for it. I know sex doesn't seem like a big deal to some, but there can be big consequences.”

Kate remained quiet for a few minutes, but when Lydia pulled into Jesse's garage, her sister asked, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think you lost your daughter because of what you did?”

“I can't answer that. She contracted a virus and died in my womb. That can happen to anyone. I do know that I lost Jesse because of what I did. I loved him—still do—but I did the ‘right' thing and married Aaron. That was such a mistake, and for a long time I was mad at God. But I've come to realize in this last year I'm a stronger person, and my faith is deeper now because of what I went through.”

“Did Mom leave because of me?”

Lydia twisted toward her and took her hands. “No. She left because of her. She didn't want her life. It really had nothing to do with us. It's taken me a long time to realize that, too. We were abandoned, but our father did the best he could.”

Kate's eyes grew round. “You can say that even after what he did to you?”

“Yes. I know he forgave me when he left me his practice and guardianship of you. Our dad was never a man of many words. He kept things inside.”
So much like Jesse
. “But that action spoke volumes to me.”

“Even though I've been a pain.”

Lydia pulled her sister to her and hugged her. “You are my sister. I love you.”

* * *

After a long afternoon and evening wrapping up the case, Jesse was glad to be home and to see Lydia. She'd wondered why Keats had gone to such lengths to cover up his mistress's death, and right before he left the station, Thomas had discovered Keats had a major gambling debt. He was using his wife's inheritance as a way to buy him some time with the collectors.

Jesse came into the kitchen from the garage and saw the two pieces of luggage sitting near the door. He could have lost Lydia today forever. He had no intentions of letting her go again.

He strolled into his living room. Lydia and Kate sat side by side on the couch, talking, smiling. Lydia glanced at him and whispered something to her sister.

Kate chuckled. “I'll be out back with Calvin, Mitch and Brutus. I want to say goodbye to them.”

After she left, Jesse took her place on the couch. “Okay, what did you say to her?”

“We had a long talk together. I think we finally understand each other.”

“No, I mean just now.”

“I told her I was going to make sure you understand how important you are in my life.”

One of his eyebrows lifted. “Oh, you are. Just how important am I?”

“This much.” She held her arms out as far as she could. “I love you—always have, and I'm going to prove it to you.”

His fingers delved into her hair, and he held her head still. “You don't have to prove a thing. I know you love me. I love you—always have.”

His lips touched hers softly at first, then settled over her mouth as the kiss lengthened. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her against him.

When he leaned back slightly, he gazed at her for a long moment. “I've always been so afraid to lose someone else important to me that I shut myself off from others. I promise not to, and if I do, let me know. I won't change overnight, but I want you to be with me for all the changes. Will you marry me?”

She cupped his face. “I've been waiting for those words for years. Yes. And soon.”

He kissed her long and hard. “As soon as we can. I'm not waiting any longer.” He'd finally found the family he'd been searching for.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
RODEO RESCUER
by Lynette Eason