Corbin (The Mavericks Book 17), page 14
When the vehicle turned into the parking lot of a motel. Corbin pulled around the block and came back to see it now appeared to be parked. “Would he take her to a hotel for the night? That’s hardly a safe place.”
He pulled into the back of a lot, hopped out, and casually walked up to the truck. But as he walked past the main door of the reception area, he saw the kidnapper getting keys to a room.
Nellie stood beside him, calm and sedate. She hugged her belly, and Corbin realized that she really was okay. And, with that, he took a deep breath and relaxed even more. This guy was giving Corbin a perfect opportunity to collect her.
As Corbin watched, the kidnapper took Nellie outside to their motel room door, got her inside. But he stayed outside, did something to the door, and then raced down to his vehicle, hopped in, and took off.
Swearing, as he ran up to her hotel room, Corbin called Hatch. “He’s taken off, but he’s left her in the hotel room. I’ve got to get her.” He turned to see her face peering out the window.
He immediately kicked open the door and opened his arms. She threw herself into his arms, crying out, “We’ve got to go. We’ve got to go.”
“Why? Where’s he going?”
“He’s going back to get the kids.”
“Well, that’s good. Let him.”
“Why?” She stared up at him, horrified.
“Because we’ve already got the kids.”
“Jewel’s daughter?”
“No, that exchange already took place.”
She stared at him fearfully. “Oh my, that poor little girl. Poor Jewel.”
“I know. I know. We’re looking for them. We’re searching for any vehicles that were in the area.”
“This guy said they were Asian. The brokers were Asian, and he’s kind of scared.”
“He should be.”
“He killed his buddy because he thought he let us out.”
“Did you tell him that’s what happened?”
“No, I made him believe that he killed his buddy unnecessarily.”
“Did it bother him?”
“No, I think he was just looking for an excuse that he didn’t have to pay him, but, at the same time, he’s kind of out of his depth, and he’s sinking quickly.”
“Yeah, he’s devolving. I need to call Hatch and update him.”
“Or we could track him down.”
“We could, but your father is already in a major panic. I’ll take you to the hospital and drop you off to stay with Jewel.”
“No,” she argued. “I think, once he finds out that the kids are gone, he’ll go after the brokers.”
“Why?” He stopped at the stairs and looked at her.
“Because he hasn’t been paid yet.”
“That was Frankie’s deal too. He hadn’t been paid, and neither had the kid on the ground.”
“So this guy, he’ll try to run, and, in order to run, he needs the money from the broker. He called me—my baby—his big payday. We have to follow him.”
Corbin made a sudden decision and said, “Let’s go.” He raced out to his truck.
“I knew it was you,” she cried out. “This was the truck that followed us.”
“Yeah, I wanted to cause an accident and get you out of there, but I was afraid of hurting the baby.”
She nodded. “Believe me. I thought about causing an accident too, but I just didn’t want to take the chance.” She looked over at him and smiled. “Thank you.”
“Now we have to find him.”
“Well, I can tell you that he’s gone back to the warehouse.”
“Or he’s gone to meet the brokers.”
“They need the other kids too though.”
Corbin phoned Hatch. “I need a location and a direction for that truck.”
“There’s also been a newsbreak. Somehow it got leaked to the press that the kids at a warehouse were found by the cops.”
“Shit, if this other guy heard that …”
“Yep, then he’s on the run. But he still needs money. So the brokers are next.”
“I need Nellie taken to a hospital, where her father can find her,” Corbin said.
At that, his phone was snatched from his hand. “Like hell,” Nellie snapped. “We’re going after this asshole, and we need to find that little girl of Jewel’s. I don’t know if Jewel is still alive or not, but no way in hell that little girl will go off with whatever assholes have bought her.”
“I get it,” Hatch replied calmly. “We already have the other kids. And we’re looking for Jewel’s daughter.”
“Find the brokers and find whoever bought her,” she said in a hard tone. “With everything else you guys pull off, that should be a piece of cake.”
Hatch snorted. “Yeah, while we’re on it, put Corbin back on.”
“Only if you promise to get that little girl.”
“We’re doing our best. Now back to Corbin.”
She handed his phone back to him and slumped in the corner of her seat.
“She’s a firecracker.” Hatch chuckled. “Sounds perfect for you.”
“Don’t even go there,” he muttered, looking over at her, hoping she hadn’t heard, but she was staring at him in surprise. With that, he quickly hung up.
“What was that crack about perfect for you?”
He shrugged, embarrassed. “Nothing.” He gave a half laugh. “Just several of the guys on our teams have ended up finding partners in the craziness of our jobs, so they thought maybe I would find one too.”
“Wow, you’re not married?”
He frowned. “No. Why would I be married?”
“I don’t know. I figured all the good men were.”
“Well, I’ll take that as a good sign”—he laughed—“but no. Besides, you already have a partner.”
She stared at him. “I don’t know what Kool-Aid you’re sipping from, but I do not have a partner.”
He stared at her. “You’re pregnant.”
She snickered. “True, and sorry, I tend to forget about that.”
“How can you forget about it?” He motioned at her belly, protruding in front of her.
She smiled. “When it comes to relationships, I forget how unusual and messy it gets for me.”
“Do you want to explain that?”
“Yeah, artificial insemination.”
He stared at her, wide-eyed, as he drove down the highway at top speed. He heard his phone beep. “Take that, will you? It should be an address. Punch it into the GPS, please.” Once that was done, Corbin asked her, “Why? Why go the artificial insemination route?”
“Because I couldn’t find a decent guy, and I kept failing at relationships, so I figured, why not just skip that phase?”
“I’m not sure what you’re calling decent, but we’re not all assholes.”
“No, not all of you apparently,” she murmured, “but lots of you are.”
He nodded. “I won’t argue with that, but an awful lot of bitches are out there too.”
“Isn’t that the truth. Anyway,” she muttered, “I decided that I would have a child regardless. I’m thirty so my biological clock was ticking.”
“How do you feel about it now?” he muttered.
“I feel good. Yet also like I could have waited a little longer,” she admitted.
He looked at her curiously, and she added, “As long as nobody else gets their hands on my child,” she said fiercely, “I am good.”
He looked over at her, smiled. “Nobody will.”
After a moment, she asked, “I guess that makes me somebody you don’t want anything to do with, huh?”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m pregnant with another man’s child.”
“Even if you were, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be interested in you.” He grinned. “Obviously it’s not my child, and you know that could have been fun getting you there.”
She burst out laughing. “Well, I never had a problem with the fun part. It was always the weight of the days after that, when there just didn’t seem to be anything else in the relationship.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “You know that an awful lot of relationships are based on sex.”
“Well, I don’t want one like that. Not only about the sex. I want one where I know I can wake up in the morning and see a good man beside me every day and not just on good days. Maybe that’s asking for too much. I don’t know.”
“I don’t think so. This kind of sounds similar to what I want, which is to wake up the next morning to have the same woman and to know that she’s there because she wants to be there, because that’s what her heart wants,” he murmured quietly.
She looked over at him in delight. “Exactly.”
“Yet you went ahead without me.” He pointed at her belly, with a grin on his face.
She smiled. “I did, didn’t I? Still, I don’t regret it. Once this child became real to me, I can’t regret anything about his or her existence. It’s too precious.”
“How can you regret it?” He looked at her in astonishment. “You’re carrying another human being. I mean, somebody who’s special and is counting on us to look after it right now, while it’s in danger. You can’t ever regret something like that,” he murmured by her side. She stared at him, but he shrugged. “I was an only child. My mom tried very hard to get pregnant a second time for a long time and then finally gave it up. As it was, they were both killed in a car accident and left me alone all too soon. Yet I was old enough not to be a ward of the state and immediately signed up for the navy. That kind of changes how you view the world and how precious it is, especially to have family around.”
“I’m sorry.”
“How did your father feel about Baby?”
“He’s beyond angry, and he wants to know who the father is, and I haven’t told him.”
He smiled. “Are you hiding that from him?”
“I was, which is childish of me, but, at the time, I didn’t have the backbone needed. Somewhere along this lovely adventure, I’ve grown an awful lot of backbone.”
“Trauma and strife will do that,” he murmured. “Besides, it’s for Baby, so it’s all good.”
“You haven’t met my father.”
“No, and I’m trying to avoid him on the phone too. When we lost you again? Believe me. More than a few heads rolled.”
“Yeah, that sounds like him.”
“On the other hand,” Corbin added, looking over at her closely, “he’s seriously worried. So I know he really cares.”
“I know, and I need to call and to make peace with him. If nothing else, he’ll be a grandfather.”
“That’s often enough to change everything. Most people can’t wait to become a grandparent.”
“Well, he just wanted me to become a wife first.”
“His loss.” Corbin smiled. “You needed to do something for you, and you stepped out and did it, fully prepared to accept the responsibility. If nothing else, he should be proud of that.”
“I don’t know about that, but thanks, I think.”
“You’re welcome. I respected everything I’ve seen about you so far,” he murmured. “There’s been nothing easy about these crazy last two days.”
“A couple days for you seemed much longer for me.”
“Exactly, and you’re still holding up. It’s Jewel and her daughter that you’re concerned about. Absolutely no need for you to be doing anything other than what you’re doing.”
“I have to make sure that Jewel’s daughter is okay,” she said fiercely. “Jewel already had a pretty shitty life. I don’t even know if she’s alive or dead.”
“She’s in surgery.”
Nellie stared at him and whispered, “Dear God.”
“I know,” he said quietly. “Let’s hope she makes it.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
“I don’t know what to say, but, if so, there’s a good chance that her daughter will end up in foster care.”
“Oh, my God, then isn’t it better to let her have a family where she’s loved?”
“But do you want a family where they murdered the mother to get the child?”
“No.” She stared out the windshield. “And Jewel’s daughter is not ending up in foster care either.”
“Yeah, what will you do about it?” he asked curiously.
She smiled. “I’ll adopt her as mine,” she murmured. “Jewel went through hell with me. She did everything she could to save her daughter and to survive. Her daughter deserves that much.”
“Ah. See? That’s what I mean. I can respect that too.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy?”
“Hell no, and you have to do what you think is right.”
“Yeah, well, you know my father won’t agree.”
“It doesn’t matter about your father, does it? You have to do what you think is right for you.”
And, with that, she settled back and closed her eyes, smiling.
Chapter 10
Nellie bolted upright as the vehicle took a hard left turn. She grabbed a hold of the dash and looked over at him.
“Change of location,” he said, his voice tight. “Your kidnapper is heading in a different direction.”
“Do we know why?” she whispered, brushing the hair off her face. Apparently she’d dozed off. She couldn’t even imagine, before getting pregnant, just how tired she would constantly be.
He shook his head. “We’re still getting details.”
“The fact that you’re even getting details is something.”
He smiled. “It is, indeed. It’s just not enough.”
“It’s never enough.” she murmured. “Is it?”
“Sometimes, yes. Sometimes all of this just plays out beautifully, … but too often there are problems.”
She hung on to her seat belt and shifted into her seat slightly, so she was a little better prepared for the rough corners. But she still didn’t regret coming. She would prefer to be home, curled up in her own bed, with this whole nightmare over, all this as a distant dream. She knew everything was supposed to look better when she got a little bit of time and distance to it, and she needed that rather desperately at the moment. Just thinking of Jewel in surgery was enough to make Nellie sick to her stomach.
She looked over at Corbin, as he took another hard turn. Something was so familiar and yet not so familiar about him, and she couldn’t quite shake it out of her mind.
He took another hard angle, and now they were heading back the other way that they had come.
“I hope this intel is good,” she whispered.
He nodded. “Me too.”
She realized that, of course, he trusted the people who were behind him too. She sank back into her seat. “God, I hope this is over soon,” she whispered under her breath.
“I heard that. I still think I should have taken you back to the hospital.”
“And I wouldn’t go, so this is on me.”
“I don’t care if it’s on you or not. I don’t want this to be something that you come to regret. Or me.”
And she knew what he meant. Her hands instinctively held her belly, as she gently massaged it and murmured to the child within, telling her or him that everything would be okay. She was kind of hoping for a little girl, but was okay with either. She’d heard stories about women seemingly knowing exactly what they were having and others having no clue. She’d be in the no-clue category. But then she’d only ever had this one pregnancy, so maybe she’d get more intuitive as time went on.
Corbin took another hard turn, and suddenly, up ahead, she saw the vehicle of the kidnapper. She leaned forward. “That’s him,” she gasped.
He nodded. “Yeah, and the thing is, … he’s moving really slow. He’s looking for an address.”
“But why?”
“Probably a new location. A new meeting place, based on the fact that the other kids have been picked up, and the brokers probably had to change everything.”
“Does he really think he’ll get paid?”
“Well, he thinks so. Now that he’s lost the other kids, he may be hoping that the brokers haven’t heard that yet. And, of course, he also has to realize that, although he took shots at his buddy, he probably doesn’t know if he’s dead or not.”
She looked over at him. “But he is, isn’t he?”
He nodded. “Yes, he definitely is.”
“I’m almost sorry about that.”
“Yeah, I hear you. That’s a prime example of wrong-crowd, wrong-business, and a one-way street into trouble.”
She winced. “Not what any of us want.”
“He did tell me that he had no family to be ashamed of him and that he was grateful for that.”
“How sad to think that we’re grateful to die with shame on our head if nobody knows about it.”
“I think, in his case, it’s more that he’s ashamed of what and where he went in life. He did say something also about needing to, … you know, pay the price when he died. I’ve seen so much death, anguish, and pain that it’s all about doing the best that you can because, before you know it, something happens without any warning, and it’s over.”
“That sounded like you’re quoting somebody.”
“A friend of mine told me that.” His laughter fell away, and he pointed. “Look.”
And she watched, the vehicle that they were following slowed, then slipped into a big warehouse. “Similar to where we were but still different. If it worked once, it should work twice, right?”
“I guess.” Corbin stared at the vehicle.
“I still don’t have a good feeling about it.”
“No, neither do I. At least I don’t get a good feeling for him.”
She nodded. “I guess that’s what I meant. I don’t want you going in there either.”
“That’s nice of you, but we have to find out who’s got the little girl.”
“And how will you do that?”
“Somebody in there is lying in wait for this guy.” At that, his phone buzzed, and, as he answered it, Aiden was asking for Corbin’s coordinates. Corbin quickly gave him the address where they were. “Backup is needed. Kidnapper has gone for a meeting. and I don’t think he’ll meet what he’s expecting.”
