Lonestar Angel (23 page)

“You should have known that before you called,
chica
.”

“Don’t hang up. Please.” She wetted her lips. “Th-This is Eden Davidson.” When silence answered her statement, she thought he’d hung up. “Hello?”

“I am here. What do you want from me?”

“Nothing. I have information for you.”

“Perhaps I do not want this information. Especially if there are strings attached. I gave your mother all the money she is getting from me.”

“I have something you want.”

“Which is?”

“Your missing pendant. The one with the woman and baby.”

There was a thump on the other end as though his feet had hit the floor. “You have my pendant?”

A foreboding touched her spine and she shuddered. “I do.”

“How is it that you are in possession of this item?”

She was tired of dancing around the truth. He had to know. “My husband has it. We didn’t realize its significance in my daughter’s kidnapping until yesterday.”

The tinkle of ice in a glass came through the phone. “I do not understand.”

“I . . . I suspect your son kidnapped my daughter, thinking to get this item back as a ransom once he lured us out for the switch.”

“So you killed my son.” Irony was in the undercurrent of his words.

“It was an accident.” This wasn’t going the way she’d thought it would. “Listen, you can have your pendant. We just want to be left alone now. Which child is my Brianna?”

“I know nothing of this matter other than that my son kidnapped a child and died. I never knew what his plan was.”

Her hope deflated. Was he lying? “Maybe he wanted to bring the pendant to you as a surprise.”

“Perhaps that is so. Thank you for your call. I will send someone to fetch my property.”

The phone clicked in her ear. “He hung up.” She swallowed hard. “He made no promise to leave us alone.”

Clay’s face was grim. “He claims to know nothing about Brianna?”

“So he says.”

“I’m not sure I believe him.”

She chewed her lip. “I don’t know for sure, but he appeared to be telling the truth. His son could have been doing it on his own, hoping to gain some favor with Hector. He sounds like a tough and scary man.”

“So we’re back to square one. But if Hector is the one who has been targeting you, then the harassment will stop.”

“Somehow I don’t think he’s been targeting me. Why scare me? Why not just come and get his property? Kill us if he has to. There is more going on than we know.”

“I mean to find out what it is,” Clay said. He rose. “I’m going to run these to Rita. She’s going to town and can drop them at the post office.”

“In a couple of days we’ll know which girl is Brianna.”

The waiting was almost over.

21

T
HE BED WELCOMED HER LIKE AN OLD FRIEND
,
THOUGH SHE DIDN
’
T EXPECT TO SLEEP WELL
.
She was beginning to get used to Clay’s presence on the other side of the mattress. She waited subconsciously for another scratch on the window or a sinister phone call, but all was quiet.

She was nearly asleep when a shriek tore through the air. She and Clay leaped from the bed at the same time and collided in their haste to get out of the room.

He yanked open the door. “Wait here.”

“It’s one of the girls!” She followed him down the hall.

When he thrust open the door to the girls’ room, light spilled from the hall onto the nearest bed. Katie was sitting upright with her eyes open. Scream after scream tore from her throat.

“Check her.”

Eden ran to pull the child into her arms while Clay stepped to the window and peered outside. “It’s okay, honey,” she said, smoothing the little girl’s tangled hair from her face.

Like a monkey, Katie wrapped both arms and legs around Eden. She buried her sweaty face in Eden’s neck and burst into tears. Eden rocked her back and forth, shushing her. “I’ve got you,” she said against Katie’s hair. “No one will hurt you.”

When the child’s sobs tapered off, Katie pulled away and a last shudder rippled through her. Eden glanced around to see all the girls sitting up with wide eyes. “Did you see something?” she asked Katie.

Katie shook her head. “I was dreaming. That man came.”

“What man, honey?” A nightmare. Her gaze locked with Clay’s over the top of Katie’s head as he soothed the other girls and they settled back into bed.

“I don’t know. Daddy hid me in the closet. But he never came back to get me. The policeman took me away.”

“You didn’t see the man?”

Katie put her thumb in her mouth and shook her head. She pulled it out shamefacedly, then put her hand in the pocket of her pajamas. “Just his back. I peeked through the keyhole. He had a blue jacket.”

Eden hugged her. “It’s okay. No one will hurt you.”

Katie shivered. “What if he comes back? Maybe he thinks I saw him. But I didn’t.”

“I don’t think he’ll be back. Mr. Clay will protect you if he does. I bet he’s bigger than that man.”

A ghost of a smile lifted the little girl’s lips, and she nodded. “He was skinny and not nearly as tall as my daddy.”

A little more of a description but still not much. “Could you see his hair?”

She nodded. “It was red like mine. I only ’member because I never saw anyone with my color hair before. Daddy said it was because I came from the angels.”

“The angels? What about your mommy?”

“I don’t have a mommy.” She nestled against Eden’s chest. “I want a mommy!”

The words made something nameless swell in Eden’s heart. Longing, regret, and pain all mixed to form some emotion that was harder to put her finger on. Maybe
helplessness
was the right word. She’d been caught in a maelstrom and was drowning in all the events that kept slamming her under the water.

“You’re a sweet, sweet girl,” she whispered against Katie’s hair. She inhaled the fragrance of little girl and choked back the lump in her throat. She glanced at Clay. “Anything?”

He shook his head. “Guess it was just a nightmare.”

Katie went limp against Eden, and her breathing evened out. Eden reluctantly let Clay lift the child from her arms. On the other side of the bed, Eden pulled back the covers, plumped the pillow, then covered Katie after Clay laid her down. When Eden kissed the soft cheek, she detected a slight smile on Katie’s face. Even in sleep, she knew when she was loved.

The other girls were snuggled back in their pillows. She and Clay made another round, comforting each one and bestowing kisses on every face. She would miss this ritual when she was gone from here.

They backed out of the room. “Is that someone at the door?” Clay asked.

She heard the knock then. Not timid, but not loud either. Authoritative. She followed Clay to the door. The man peering in the window was in his forties. His black hair curled over his collar. He looked dangerous to Eden.

“Are you sure you should open it?” she whispered. “He hasn’t seen us yet.” But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Clay flipped on the light.

“Stay here,” he said. He crossed the room in four strides and opened the door. “Can I help you?”

“Santiago sent me.” The man didn’t wait for an invitation but brushed past Clay to stand in the living room.

That was fast. “I’ll get it,” Eden said. Anything to get away. The man’s gaze seemed to see through her cotton pajamas.

She rushed back to the bedroom and snatched up the pendant. Before she took it to the man, she pulled on a robe and tied it. One last time, she ran her fingers over the precious piece and allowed herself to regret that she had to give it up. It had been such a symbol of the family they wanted to build.

He and Clay were silent and tense by the door when she returned. The sooner they got this guy out of here, the happier she would be. “Here it is.” She handed him the pendant.

He inspected it, then grunted. “You were telling the truth. I will tell Santiago.”

What if they hadn’t? Would her own father have murdered her?

Clay could lie and watch her sleep for hours. He propped himself on his elbow and studied the even rise and fall of Eden’s chest. So relaxed in sleep. All guards down. Every care eased from her face.

He could only pray turning over that pendant last night would make a difference in the attacks that had been directed at Eden, though she might be right to think there was no connection between the threats and the jewelry. He eased out of bed and went to the kitchen to make coffee. The girls all still slept as well. The late night had worn everyone out. Except for him. He was alert and eager to learn more today from Brendan.

The sun had just begun to peek over the mountain’s jagged silhouette when he took his coffee out to the porch. He watched the sun chase the purple shadows from the peaks, exposing the cholla and prickly pear. A blooming cactus or two brought a little color to the hillside. Sipping his coffee, he rocked in the chair. The motion soothed him and let his mind wander. Only God could heal his relationship with Eden. The cracks went deep, and they needed the right foundation.

Boots crunched on gravel, and he saw Rick’s familiar form. The other man mounted the steps and dropped into the chair beside Clay. “Want some coffee?” Clay asked him.

“Not that stuff you’re drinking. A spoon could stand up in it by itself. I can smell how strong it is from here.” Rick grinned and stretched out his legs. “Nothing like early morning for talking with God.”

“My thoughts too.” Clay felt a real connection with Rick. After rolling his suitcase around the world, Clay didn’t have many close friends. His defenses were down with this guy. “Too early to hear from Brendan.”

“Actually, I just got off the phone with him.”

“That guy ever sleep?”

“He’s a panther. Always on the prowl.” Rick propped a booted ankle on his knee. “He watched that video from Walmart last night.”

“And?”

“The two guys were Hispanic. Maybe Colombian, maybe not. But the interesting thing is that he thought he recognized one of them as a thug who works for Santiago.”

Something kicked in Clay’s chest. “So Paige is my daughter!”

“Whoa, don’t go jumping to conclusions. We don’t know that. For one thing, Brendan only thinks it might be him. He’s going to run the tape through some programs and see if he can get a definite match.”

Clay rubbed his eyes. “This is going to hurt that nice family. We’d hoped for one of the other girls.”

“Like I said, don’t assume anything.” He stared at Clay. “The kidnapper lured you here. Why? He could have taken you out anytime and gotten that pendant, if that’s what he’s after. Good grief, man, you carried it in your pocket! All he had to do was knock you upside the head and take it.”

“I know. Eden seems to be a personal target, which makes no sense. She wasn’t even with me in Colombia. Or when I received the picture of the girls here at Bluebird.”

“Any idea who might want to hurt her?”

“I had my suspects.”

“Had? No longer?”

“Eden called Santiago. He sent a guy to pick up the pendant.”

“And you’re sure it’s over?”

Clay sipped his coffee. “I don’t know. Something still feels off about it. Look, there’s something we haven’t mentioned.”

Rick sighed and put his boot back on the floor. “More danger?”

“No, nothing like that. But after Brianna was taken, our marriage fell apart.”

Rick’s eyes held sympathy. “It happens. Hard to endure so much pain.”

“Eden blamed herself. I blamed myself. We blamed each other. Toxic combo. I headed out for a mission, and she wasted no time in ditching me.” He hated the derision in his voice.

“I’m sorry.”

“Eden filed for divorce. The papers came while I was overseas. I shoved them in a drawer and ignored them. Always thought eventually I’d come back and talk her into trying again.”

“And you did.”

“Only after I was shoved into it by the picture.”

“Bet she was surprised.”