Betrayal of Trust (8 page)

M
atthew carried his sleeping daughter inside the house and up the stairs—thanking God that he still had her to hold close after today’s near-kidnapping. Images of what might have happened sent shards of fear into his heart.

Jamie adjusted herself in his arms. Her soft sigh tickled his neck. Instinctively, Matt pulled her warm body closer. He couldn’t hold her tight enough. When he reached her room, he pulled back the covers and reluctantly lowered her to the bed. He didn’t want to let her go. Needed to feel her against his heart. With a sigh, he adjusted the comforter around her shoulders and stood back.

Tears stung his eyes as he watched her beautiful, sleeping form. Such a tiny creature, full of fun and life. And more spunk than any two little girls had any business possessing, let alone one—especially at eight years old.

How could she have been duped into walking away with a complete stranger? Hadn’t he drilled all the dangers into her head since she was a toddler? If only she had been able to give a detailed description of the guy, maybe they’d have some sort of chance to find him. But by the time the police had questioned Jamie, she was too
shaken herself to be of much help and had merely described the man as having red hair and wearing shiny—which Matt had taken to mean mirrored—sunglasses. And he was dressed as a park guard. Otherwise there was no way Jamie would have gone with him. He’d drilled safety rules into her head too many times. All the police could do was take a statement. The park issued an alert, and P.D. manpower devoted some time to searching. But nothing had turned up. The man was most likely wearing a stolen uniform and a possibly a wig. They’d never find him now.

Matt walked to the windows and checked the locks, pulled the shades, then with one more glance toward his daughter, he stepped into the hallway.

“Matt, honey, I thought I heard you come in.”

Matthew turned to find his mother gliding toward him, her steps a mix of the grace and confidence that encompassed her personality and made her so popular with men and women alike. He bent and kissed her smooth cheek. “Jamie fell asleep on the way here. I just put her to bed.”

She patted his shoulder. “You’re home earlier than I expected you would be. Have you eaten supper?”

He shook his head. “I’m not hungry. Jamie may wake up hungry later, though. None of us ate much today.”

“Anything wrong?”

Hesitating only a moment, Matthew nodded. “Come into my office so we can talk.” There was no point in trying to spare her the details. As soon as Jamie woke up, everyone in the household would know about her ordeal—which had only become an “ordeal” for the little girl after she’d realized that Matthew hadn’t, nor would he ever, instruct anyone she didn’t know to take her to get cotton candy or anything else.

His mother’s face drained of color as he relayed the details. “Oh, my.” She lifted a trembling hand to her throat. “We need tighter security. How could Raven have allowed that child out of her sight?”

“Don’t blame Raven, Mother. She took every precaution. She doesn’t know our Jamie like we do.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “What would you have done?”

His mother scowled, but nodded in concession. “I suppose you’re right. Honestly, something needs to be done about that girl’s disobedience.”

“I’ve wrestled with whether or not to punish her for disobeying Raven, but I didn’t have the heart. Once she realized what might have happened, she was pretty subdued the rest of the day.”

“Little wonder.” She heaved a sigh. “Do you think she should stop playing baseball this summer?”

“I couldn’t take that away from her. I’ll just have to be careful never to be late picking her up from practice.”

“Yes.” A frown made a V between her eyebrows. “Do you have any idea who might have taken her, or do you think it was random?”

Matthew shook his head. “I wish I knew. I suspected Ray.”

“Ray?” A gasp escaped her lips. “Do you really think he might?”

He scrubbed at his chin and expelled a frustrated sigh. “I think he’d do anything for a buck. Even try to use his daughter against us.”

“Your daughter,” his mother said firmly. “She will never be his.”

Affection surged through Matthew. He smiled. “I know that. But he could try to use her against us for profit.”

“We’ll never allow it. I’m calling the police.” She
rose from her chair and reached for the phone on Matthew’s desk.

“Wait, Mom. Don’t. The St. Louis police have already got all this on file. We’ll be more careful with Jamie from now on.”

She dropped back into her chair, her face awash in color. “Do you really think it might have been Ray?”

“I don’t know. James described him with the same hair as Aunt Casey.”

“Red, huh? Well, that rules out Ray.” She sucked in her cheek and held it there with her teeth—the only nervous habit Matt had ever observed in his mother. “Unless he was wearing a wig.”

Matt gave a somber nod. “I know. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure no one ever has the opportunity to take her again.”

“Dad?” Jamie’s sleepy voice halted their conversation. Matthew glanced up to find his daughter standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing out of bed, sport?” He rolled his chair away from his desk and patted his lap. Jamie came to him willingly. He pulled her close, breathing in the soft scent of baby shampoo.

“I’m scared,” she whispered. “I dreamed a man took me away from you and Grams and Aunt Casey.”

“Well, don’t you worry your sweet head about that.” Matthew’s mother moved around the desk and caressed the child’s hair. “Your daddy and I are going to make sure nothing like what happened today ever happens again. Now. Are you hungry? Your daddy said you barely ate anything today.”

Jamie nodded. “Can I have chicken fingers?”

Matthew hid a grin against the top of Jamie’s head. His mother was appalled at the very sight of processed
food in her freezer, but Matthew insisted they keep it around for the times when they needed quick calories on a busy day. Jamie instinctively knew her grandmother would deny her nothing after what had happened today, especially after what
might
have happened.

Predictably, his mother gave a loving smile and held out her hand. “Chicken fingers it is, my sweet,” she said.

Matthew watched them leave, his heart nearly splitting in two with love, worry, relief. Becoming a parent had been the most incredible experience of his life and the most terrifying. And never more so than this moment. The thought of losing his little girl was intolerable and he wouldn’t allow it.

His thoughts shifted to Raven. She’d barely spoken a word during the rest of the day, except to encourage him not to pull up stakes and head home immediately after the incident.

“Matt,” she’d said, “Jamie feels badly enough. Don’t take the park away from her. The guy’s long gone. And if he’d wanted to kidnap Jamie, she’d be long gone too. Deal with this later.”

It was a crazy idea. He’d wanted to snatch Jamie up and take her home, lock her in a tower like the princess she was, and keep her safe forever. The last thing he wanted to do was expose her to thousands of strangers, hundreds of miles from home. But the remorse in his daughter’s eyes had melted his heart. They’d stayed, gone on rides, pretended to have a great time. But all day, he’d sensed watchful eyes upon them. He wasn’t sure if the creeped-out feeling came from the power of suggestion, or if his instincts were actually working for him. Either way, he’d made sure Jamie didn’t leave his sight except for the most necessary moments, in which case, Raven stood watch with the tenacity of a guard outside Buckingham Palace.

On impulse, he grabbed the phone and dialed Raven’s number. The machine picked up on the second ring. A grimace tightened his lips. He definitely was not in the mood to talk to technology. With a sigh, he dropped the receiver back into its cradle.

He tapped his computer keyboard to clear the screen saver, then downloaded his e-mail. He noticed it immediately. A user name he’d never seen in his box. Nothing in the subject line. His heart thundered in his ears as he double-clicked and a new box appeared on his screen.

How did Jamie enjoy the cotton candy? Do you understand now how serious I am?

Matt sat back and read and reread the e-mail.
Lord, what does this guy want?
He wasn’t asking for anything. Just making cryptic threats. If he asked for money and signed his name, Matthew could take this to the police, but without anything to go on, they’d never believe it was Ray.

The phone rang.

Raven. His heart gave a lurch.

“Hi,” she said, sounding a little breathless. Nerves? Or exertion? “I saw your name on caller ID. You should block your name, you know. Anyone can get your number.”

A jolt shot through him at her words. “Raven, how would someone get another person’s e-mail address?”

“Who are you looking for?”

“No one. But I got an e-mail just now from the guy at Adventure Park today.”

“What? Are you kidding me?”

“I wish I were. When I tried to e-mail back, my server showed no record of that address.”

“Forward me the e-mail, I can find him.”

“How?”

“There are all kinds of e-mail-tracking methods and software. And if all else fails I’ll call a contact at the Kansas City P.D. We’ll find this bozo and get him off your back.”

Relief swept through him, a sense that everything was going to be okay. “Thank you, Raven. I’m glad you’re around through all of this.”

A pregnant pause bloated the air between them until an intake of breath signaled her intention to speak. “I’m glad I am, too. Jamie is…”

He chuckled. “A brat?”

“I was going to say ‘a real keeper.’ You two are lucky to have each other.”

“She needs a mother.” The words left his mouth before he thought.

“Yeah, so do I.” Her snappy comeback flashed an image across Matt’s mind—Raven receiving the news of her mother’s death. The cry of despair, the phone crashing to the floor. She’d dropped to her knees, holding her head between her arms. Guttural moans had wrenched from her body. Animalistic, and yet grief that only the human soul could express. Matthew had never before or since observed such explosive emotional pain.

“Hey, you still here?” Raven’s voice cut into the image, drawing Matt from the horror of that day, the heartbreak of a couple of weeks later, when he’d watched her walk away.

“I’m here.”

“I’m sorry for making it about me. Of course a little girl needs a mom. But don’t sell yourself short. You’ve done a great job with Jamie.”

“I’m afraid I’ve treated her too much like a son. She’s such a tomboy.”

“She’d have probably been a tomboy anyway. If you had tried to dress her in pink and ribbons she’d have probably fought you tooth and nail. Look at my sister Keri. She could fish, play ball and climb trees with the best of them. Still can—which comes in handy with twin boys to raise. As a matter of fact, I imagine she could take most men in a one-on-one fight if she had to. And she still managed to snag her Prince Charming.”

“Okay, you’ve made your case. I feel better.” He smiled into the empty room.

“Good. Glad to hear it. Okay, I am looking at the e-mail you forwarded. This guy is really spooky, isn’t he?”

“Very.”

“Listen, any chance this is a personal thing? I mean not just some crazy stalker, but someone with a real reason to threaten your family? Personal vendetta stuff? What about Jamie’s biological father?”

Raven was too good. No sense keeping Ray’s extortion from her. Especially if she could help. “I don’t know. It’s possible. But I don’t want to go into it over the phone.”

If nothing else, today’s incident followed by this e-mail message had convinced him that he was not as secure as he’d once believed.

“Gotcha. How about meeting for breakfast tomorrow? We can go over everything and decide how to go about finding this creep.”

“Breakfast won’t work. We have church in the morning.”

“Oh, yeah.” Church.

Raven grimaced at the flatness of her own tone. The only times she’d stepped inside a church during the
years since her mother’s funeral were for Keri’s and then Denni’s weddings. But of course, Matt would still attend.

“Okay, then…”

“Why don’t you join us and then come over to the house for Sunday dinner?”

Warning! Warning! Red lights and sirens strobed through her. “Uh, that’s a little too much like…”

“Me taking you home to meet the folks?” Matt chuckled.

“Sort of.”

“How about throwing caution to the wind and doing it anyway? I promise to inform the family that it’s a strategy lunch and they are not to read any white lace and promises into it.”

“Oh sure, just like you promised to tell Jamie I was nothing more than an old college chum?”

“Are you doubting my integrity?” His feigned offense brought a quick smile to Raven’s lips.

“Highly questioning it, as a matter of fact.”

“Look, what does it matter what conclusions they draw? I want you here. For any reason. Will you come?”

Raven hugged her knees to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Okay,” she breathed out before her refusal could form on her lips.

“Okay? Just like that? Are you sure?”

Recovering a bit of composure, Raven nodded. So maybe no one else was in the room, but the physical confirmation bolstered her courage. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“I’m glad. I’ll be there at ten o’clock to pick you up for church. Oh, hey, I have to go. Jamie’s back in here and I need to tuck her into bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Panic seized Raven. “Matt, wait!”

Too late. The line went dead.

Her throat tightened and her pulse quickened with the beginnings of what could only be an anxiety attack.

She’d only agreed to lunch at the Strong mansion. Never, ever, in million years had she planned to go to church. Raven glanced at the clock, debating whether to call Matt back and set him straight. But no. He was busy with Jamie.

Gathering a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and resigned herself to a pew-sitting, hymn-singing, head-bowing church service.