Still The One (Family Stone #4 Jack) (Family Stone Romantic Suspense) (12 page)

Marshal Garrett was still speaking in her ear. “Thank goodness we got the techs there before it went.”

Maria clung to Bliss, shivering, likely in shock. “Sorry, Garrett. I’ve got to go.” She didn’t want him to know that she had Maria right next to her, not safely tucked away somewhere else in the country after he took the initiative to get her to DC.

But Garrett wasn’t finished. “We’ve got to wait until we get the DNA results back. We should have them tomorrow. But we can’t make a move until we have definitive proof that she is Maria.”

Bliss knew that. But now that they had Maria in custody again, Bliss was antsy to get the confrontation with Fernandez out of the way. “Let me know as soon as you’ve got the results. You can call me on this phone.” And she disconnected the call.

Dammit.

“Do you think they knew we were there?” Bliss asked Jack and Shane the question that was weighing on her mind. They hadn’t seen any evidence of surveillance cameras and the crime scene techs from the marshal’s office hadn’t found any but what were the odds?

“I think my brother spooked Fernandez. The groundwork was likely already laid so that they could torch the house as soon as it looked like they needed to. They probably set it up as soon as they discovered she was missing.”

Which would have been only three days ago. After the crime scene techs were done.

Shane said, “I didn’t even smell the gasoline until I decided to check the back of the house. The ground was saturated. I think it was dumb luck—”

“Or something,” Jack muttered.

“—that we were there when they set it off.” Shane sped down the dirt lane, his gaze cutting to the fireball that rose behind them.

Bliss flinched as an explosion boomed behind them. She felt as if this whole operation was cursed. She thunked her forehead on the headrest behind Shane.

With her right hand, she held on to Maria.

“Where to?” Shane asked.

“We need to get back to our hotel,” Bliss directed him. “And get Maria hidden.”

There was no way she could let Maria out of her sight. It was imperative that Fernandez not get a lock on Maria’s location.

“Well, boss, where to?” Shane asked Jack again.

Bliss fumed. Really?

“You heard the lady,” Jack deferred to Bliss. “Back to the hotel.”

Bliss relaxed.

“And then we’re calling in backup,” Jack said in a firm tone.

As much as she wanted to argue, he was right. They had their witness. But before they could set up the confrontation that would bury Fernandez, they had to get all the evidence and their ducks in a row. And Bliss was going to need help guarding Maria.

They needed to make sure Maria didn’t bolt, again.

“You need to talk to us, honey.” Jack’s voice was unbelievably gentle as he stared at Maria.

“At the hotel,” Bliss interjected.

“Okay,” Jack agreed. And then he brought up back up again.

While they drove back to the hotel, they argued about who they were going to call as backup. Shane navigated the back roads, and watched Bliss and Jack hash out who they were going to call for help like it was a match at Wimbledon.

Bliss wanted Marshal Garrett. Maria was comfortable around Garrett.

Jack wanted Connor and Ava.

The worst part of arguing with Jack was she saw his point, she just didn’t think it was safe. She could tell by the way Maria reacted when Jack told Maria that Ava remembered her, that seeing Ava Sanchez would be a good thing.

But the fact remained that they couldn’t call them. “We can’t have Ava Sanchez or your brother anywhere near Maria until we can go public. Fernandez has to be totally spooked by what your brother and Ava did yesterday. So he’s getting rid of evidence. And he’s got to know now that the house is a dead end. We want him to relax, not get more stressed.”

As their conversation escalated, Maria interrupted. “No Ava.”

That shut them both up. “Why not?” Jack asked.

“I don’t want her in any danger.” And with that plea, Maria sealed Bliss’s argument. But the fact remained that they needed help.

Jack snapped his fingers. “Keisha.”

“Who?”

“She works for GHR.”

“Great, Jack. A relief worker?”

“She’s got...other skills.”

“Um, Jack.” Shane tried to interrupt.

“Not now, Shane.”

“But—”

“We’re good.” Jack cut Shane off. But Bliss had had enough.

“I’m curious what Shane has to say.” Bliss balled her fists and put her hands on her hips. “Please continue, Shane.”

“She’s a scary woman.”

Shane, the giant badass, thought this Keisha was scary? That didn’t sound good.

But Jack dismissed Shane’s words with a flick of his hand. “She can be. She can also be a total marshmallow.”

“We talking about the same woman?” Shane’s eyebrows rose along with his voice. “She’s a total ball buster.”

Jack snorted. “Keisha is perfect. She can guard Maria and keep her safe.”

“How are we going to get here?”

“Easy.” Jack bared his teeth. “Shane is going to call and invite her over.”

Ten

Shane called from the car and arranged for Keisha to meet him at the hotel. By tacit agreement, he didn’t mention Jack at all. They had been back in their room less than five minutes when there was a decisive knock at the door.

Shane peered out the security peephole in the door. “It’s her. I just want to reiterate, she is going to be
pissed
.”

Another loud bang on the door had Shane jumping back. “Shit.”

Jack watched Bliss stifle a laugh. It startled him. It was the first genuine smile he’d seen on her face since they reconnected.

Shane yanked open the door. “Hey, Keisha. Come on in.”

“Oh, hell no, I want answers first,” Keisha shot back. “What’s this about?”

“We really need privacy.” Shane pulled her into the room.

“What is wrong with you?” Even though she was a foot shorter, she twisted to break his hold, jabbed him in the stomach, and was reaching for the doorknob when Jack stepped into her view.

“Hey, Keish.” Jack smiled broadly. She had been one of his absolute best hires. Keisha Johnson had attitude in spades. She topped out at five foot five but her personality was so big, he never noticed how short she really was. She had tight, dark brown curls with streaks of gold. Her skin and hair always seemed to shimmer with bronze. Even better, she was a killer logistics manager but wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. And while she did have a bit of a chip on her shoulder, she also had a soft center that most people never noticed.

Shane slammed the door shut with an oof. For an infinitesimal moment, some raw emotion flashed in Keisha’s eyes. Disappointment. Hurt. What? Hell if he knew, but he did understand that somehow, something had just hurt her.

“Jack?” Keisha noticed Maria on the sofa, and Bliss standing behind her with a soft expression on her face. “I thought we were supposed to be on vacation.”

“Yeah. You are. But I needed you,” Jack said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Shane rubbed his large hand over his abs. “Sorry for the subterfuge.”

“What’s going on?” Keisha demanded answers, her attitude firmly in place, chin up and curls shaking, as she looked at the two women. “Who are the two chicks?”

Bliss held out her palm and introduced herself. Keisha scanned her, raised an eyebrow at the suit, and then shifted her attention to Maria. Bliss put a protective hand on Maria’s shoulder. “This is Maria Torres.”

Shane had faded into the background. But if Jack was right, Keisha seemed to be consciously avoiding looking in that corner of the room.

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Keisha split her focus between Jack and Maria.

“She’s one of the girls who were abducted eight years ago.”

“Hol-ee shit. Is this why Connor and Ava were accused of harassing—”

“Kind of. But you can’t say anything to anyone.” Jack cautioned. “They don’t know she’s alive yet.”

Keisha’s head snapped toward Maria so fast her curls hit her in the face. She was moving before Jack could say another word. Keisha threw herself down on the sofa. “It’s a fricking miracle.” She lifted her hand as if she was going to stroke Maria’s hair then paused. “Okay if touch you, baby?”

Maria nodded.

“You’re a survivor.” Keisha wrapped her arms around Maria and hugged her tight. “Don’t you forget it.”

Shane’s jaw dropped. Jack’s heart swelled. He’d been right. Keisha was perfect.

Maria seemed to just crumple in Keisha’s arms. She dropped her head to Keisha’s shoulder and began to cry silently.

Bliss had wrapped both arms around her waist and was watching the scene play out between Maria and Keisha with pure distress. Jack wanted to hug her tight too. She was shaking and he could tell that Maria’s acceptance of the physical comfort had shocked her. And she was beating herself up over not anticipating what Maria needed.

“So what do you need from me?” Keisha pulled out her smart phone and sat poised, body tense and fierce, even as she kept one arm loosely wrapped around Maria’s shoulders. Jack knew he could ask her to take someone out right now and her only question would be: soft or hard?

“Damn. I knew you’d be perfect.” He chose great employees. “We need you to protect Maria. So we can go after the man who did this.”

Her hazel eyes sparkled with determination. “On it.”

“And we need to get her clothes for the press conference.”

Maria stiffened.

Keisha bent and murmured in her ear. “You gotta do it. I know it’s goin’ to be hard but he needs to
pay
.”

“Bliss and I will set up the logistics. Your job is to take care of our guest.”

“You don’t need to worry about a thing.” Keisha smiled at Maria, everything about her radiated peace and determination.

Shane was still propped up against the wall, his gaze glued to Keisha as if he’d never seen her before.

Jack could understand. He and Keisha had met during Basic at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. He’d only seen the surface of Keisha for years until they’d happened to work together and he’d seen the sweet beneath her gruff. “Maria. We let you have your time. But now we need to know everything you told the marshals. We need every single detail you can remember so that he doesn’t get away with what he did.”

Keisha said, “You need to tell us all about it.”

Maria began in a halting monologue. Her voice was like sandpaper on rough wood. Jack realized she’d likely not spoken much in the last eight years.

She spoke for hours. She told them about the abduction. How scared the four girls had been. About how Fernandez had taken one look at Maria and freaked. “Why did you take her? It was only supposed to be the three.”

Jack broke out into a sweat when Maria admitted that normally she walked to the fields with Ava. She shot him a beseeching look.

“I promise you that you will see Ava tomorrow. We need to make sure she stays safe.”

It was as if he said the magic words. Maria’s whole body relaxed, she nodded her short chin length hair bobbed against her neck. “We must keep Ava safe.”

Jack’s heart swelled at the thought of Ava reuniting with Maria again. He couldn’t wait to make that happen.

“So you were a mistake?” Bliss spoke evenly.

“Yes.” Maria smiled sadly. “But the other three, apparently they were dispensable.”

“What happened to them?” Jack asked softly.

Maria started shaking again. “The two men, they came to take them away.”

Jack stiffened. This was going to be bad.

“Sofia, she was a virgin and the one…he hurt her.” Maria started to cry again.

“Bastard,” Keisha whispered.

“
Dios mio
, the blood it was everywhere.” Maria wiped the tears from her face with trembling fingers. “And then she didn’t move.”

One of the captors had raped her. It sounded like she’d hemorrhaged to death. Fuck. Jack wanted to rage and shout but that wouldn’t help Maria right now. “Do you know what they did with her?”

“They buried her in the forest.”

“Which one?” Jack’s brain was working at hyper speed. If they could find Sofia’s body, it would be one more nail in Fernandez’s coffin.

“Point Lobos.”

That was on the coast, but there was the meadow. Jack thought about the Lace Lichen Trail. With the moss and shadowy, muted light, it would be the perfect place to hide a body. They might never find her.

Bliss asked softly, “What about the other two girls?”

Maria pursed her mouth. “I never saw them again.”

“And you only saw Fernandez one time?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re sure it was him?”

“
Si
. Yes. He was a friend,” she spat the word. “Of my parents.”

That must be why Fernandez was so upset when they’d grabbed Maria.

Jack had one last question for her. He knew it would hurt. And he hated to have to ask. Dammit.

But Keisha beat him to it. “Why’d he leave you in that hole, baby?” Keisha stroked the damp hair away from Maria’s face.

Maria began to rock back and forth. “I don’t know. Why me? Why me?”

Only Fernandez could answer that question. Jack couldn’t wait.

***

“Shane and I will be back as soon as we can.” Keisha reassured Maria. They had seemed to bond.

Maria nodded.

“Why don’t you get some rest?” Bliss suggested.

“I can’t. I can’t sleep.”

“Why don’t you at least lie down on the sofa.” Jack patted the cushions.

Maria shuffled to the sofa, her movements like a woman three times her age. She settled in the corner against the arm.

“I want to nail that bastard,” Keisha said fiercely.

“We have to wait until we have Maria’s DNA confirmation.” Jack caught his employee in a one armed hug. “And then we will.”

“How long do we have to wait?”

“We should have the results tomorrow.” Bliss was still beating herself up over the fact that she hadn’t realized that Maria needed touch, affection. She would have preferred to go get Maria her new clothes, but she’d lost her once and couldn’t take the chance that Maria would bolt again.

“You two need to get to the clothing store before it closes,” Jack directed.