Relief shuddered through her. He was alive. Her father was alive.
Burying her face against her brother’s chest, she continued to cry softly. Jim just held her, touching her hair, whispering, “It’s okay,” over and over again. Her tears stained the front of his shirt, her cold hands, still in restraints, clung to his neck. A myriad of emotions swirled inside her. She’d almost lost her dad. Almost lost her own life. Her baby’s life.
The baby.
Deacon!
She jerked out of Jim’s arms, her gaze darting anxiously around the crowded area. Where was he? He wasn’t by the van, where he’d shielded her from harm. Her head swiveled, eyes searched, heart thumped wildly.
And then she saw him. Two federal agents were shoving him into a black car. A flash of silver caught her eye. Handcuffs. Deacon was being arrested.
Ignoring Jim’s shocked expression, she staggered forward, trying to get to Deacon, but he was already inside the car. Doors slammed. An engine roared to life.
“No!” she shouted when the taillights blinked and the car began to move.
Jim’s hand clamped down on her shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.
The car sped past them. Lana caught a glimpse of Deacon’s face in the back window. He looked stoic, sad, and then she could no longer see him.
She spun around to face her brother. “You can’t let them arrest him!”
Jim frowned. “Who?”
“Deacon Holt. He saved me.” Her voice held a note of urgency. “They have to let him go, Jim! I’d be dead if it weren’t for him.”
The frown curling her brother’s mouth deepened. “What exactly is he to you, Lana?”
A dozen lies sprang to her lips. She could say Deacon was an undercover cop. A kidnapper who’d defected. A friend. A total stranger.
She took a breath, opened her mouth and what came out was, “He’s the father of my baby.”
The waiting room of Helena General Hospital was packed to the gills with Kelleys. Lana couldn’t remember the last time her entire family was gathered in one small space like this. Cole, Dylan, Jim. Her mom, Uncle Donald, his wife Bonnie Gene. Along with the family, several others occupied the uncomfortable plastic chairs. Cindy and Bethany, the twins’ respective loves. Hank’s bodyguard, Gage, and his girlfriend, Kate. Even Lana’s best friend, Caitlin, had come to the hospital, despite the fact that she’d apparently gone through an ordeal of her own just recently.
Lana only managed a brief smile in Caitlin’s direction. She would speak her to later, after the adrenaline pulsing in her blood dissipated. After she was able to take a breath without her entire chest squeezing with pain and regret. Deacon had been arrested. No matter how up in the air things were between them, she felt that she’d failed him. She’d promised she would make sure he escaped punishment, and instead, she’d stood by and watched him being driven away in handcuffs.
It didn’t help that her brothers kept shooting cloudy and suspicious looks in her direction. Her confession to Jim had been passed along to everyone in the waiting room by now, and more than once she’d noticed her uncle Donald glancing at her tummy. None of them approved of, or even understood, this pregnancy, and the disappointment emanating from the mob of bodies in the room had been so unbearable she’d had to leave.
Now she sat in a smaller waiting room near the nurses’ station, which she’d discovered after pretending she needed to use the restroom. It was nice to be alone. Her father was still in surgery, would probably be there for several more hours, and the last thing she wanted to do was face her family’s questions and displeased faces.
“There you are.”
Lana lifted her head as her mother entered the room. With her long blond hair, porcelain skin and eyes the same shade of blue as Lana’s, Sarah looked more like her older sister than her mother. Only the faint wrinkles around her eyes and mouth revealed her age.
Suppressing a sigh, Lana watched her mom approach, searching the familiar face for any hint of reproach or accusation. But her mother’s expression radiated softness and warmth and deep compassion.
“May I join you?” Sarah asked quietly.
Lana managed a nod.
The second Sarah settled into the chair next to hers, she wrapped a protective arm around Lana’s shoulder and pulled her close. “I’m so happy you’re safe, honey. I was going out of my mind the past couple months.”
Lana looked over to see tears glistening in her mother’s eyes. She immediately took her hand and clasped it tightly. “I’m all right, Mom. They didn’t hurt me.”
Sarah’s gaze dropped to Lana’s belly.
“It wasn’t like that,” she said quickly. “It happened before I was taken.”
“Jim said that you told him he saved you…the father of your baby.”
She nodded. “Deacon helped me escape. He was bringing me back to Maple Cove when Le Clair and his men found us.”