Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold #10)

Justice wasn’t making sense. How could his father not be dead? Why would he have taken Lillie? She pressed her hands to her stomach and wanted to be able to scream her fear and frustration. Take me. That was the answer. She should have been the one, not Lillie.

She stood in the center of her living room as people moved around her. They all had purpose and all she could do was be afraid. Ava and Steve raced in.

Patience went to her mother and they held on to each other.

“I don’t understand,” her mother said over and over again.

Patience told her what she knew, which wasn’t much, and they clung to each other. Less than fifteen minutes later, the phone rang.

“We’re not ready,” Felicia said. “I can’t trace the call or tap in to it.”

Ava straightened. “We’ll use the phone in my office. It has a speakerphone.”

Patience realized everyone was waiting for her to answer. She walked into her mother’s office, both eager and reluctant to hear whatever Bart Hanson had to say. She felt more tears on her cheeks and pushed the speaker button.

“Hello?”

“You must be the mother. He’s there, isn’t he? My boy?”

“I want to talk to Lillie,” Patience said, her voice more firm than she would have expected. “I want to talk to my daughter right now.”

There was a short, humorless laugh. “You think you can boss me around? I don’t think so. You can’t talk to your daughter, but you can hear her.”

There was a moment of silence, followed by a short scream of terror. Patience lunged for the phone. The room spun, but she refused to give in to weakness.

“Stop it!” she screamed. “Stop it!”

The screams ended and there was only a soft whimpering sound.

Patience hung on to the desk. Arms came around her. She wasn’t sure who held her and she didn’t care. She needed to crawl through the phone lines and get to her daughter.

Justice moved closer. “You know this isn’t about Patience or her daughter.”

“No, it’s not, son. It’s about you. It’s always been about you. I’ve waited a long time to find you, and now I have.”

Patience was mindful of both Chief Barns and Felicia in the living room, frantically talking on their cell phones. The part of her brain that was still rational wondered if they were trying to trace the call. To find Bart so they could rescue Lillie.

She realized Steve was the one hanging on to her. She wanted to tell him she was fine, but she knew she wasn’t. She would never be fine again.

“Take me,” she whispered. Maybe she could talk Bart into an exchange. He could do whatever he wanted to her.

“Let her go,” Justice said. “I’m ready to take her place.”

Bart chuckled. “Where’s the fun in that? You come find me, and then maybe I’ll let her go and maybe I won’t. I waited a long time for you to show your hand, son. A long time.”

The phone went dead.

Patience screamed and reached for it. Steve held her back.

“What does he mean?” Ava asked. “About you showing your hand.”

“He waited for me to care about someone,” Justice said flatly. “He’s been out there watching. He took Lillie to hurt me.” He turned to Patience. “I’m sorry.”

* * *

FELICIA HELD OUT the bulletproof vest. Justice pushed it away.

“You think getting dead changes anything?” she asked, her green eyes cool. “That Lillie will be safer with you bleeding out? You have to be alive to get her away from him.”

He couldn’t deny the logic of her argument. Of course, his father could take him out with a head shot, but that was a problem he would deal with if it became an issue.

He stripped to the waist and slipped on the vest, then pulled on his shirt. Bart would probably guess he was wearing one, but there was no need to advertise the fact.

Less than thirty minutes had passed since his father had hung up. In that time equipment and backup had arrived. There was a large map of the town and the surrounding areas on the wall. The police were setting up a phone and computer system. One of the police officers had been sent to CDS for a sniper rifle.

“Hell of a time for Angel to be out of town,” Justice muttered. “I could have used the help tracking him.”

Felicia sighed. “I’d offer, but I know you’d refuse.”

“I need you here, handling this. Chief Barns does a good job, but she has no experience with a man like Bart.”

“They’re calling in the feds.”

“By the time they get here, it will all be over.”

Felicia grabbed his arm. “You can’t let him beat you. He’ll try to get in your head. That’s the only way he wins. You’re not him. You’ve never been him.”

“I’m going to kill my father today, Felicia. What does that make me, if not like him?”

“You’re doing what you have to. You’re saving a child. You take no pleasure in the act.”

She was right about that. But he also knew the price he would pay. He wouldn’t hesitate, wouldn’t second-guess himself. He’d killed before, but this was different. Killing Bart meant crossing a line, and once he did, there was no way back.