In Hawke's Eyes (3 page)

“I-I-We need to get Meechi,” she stuttered, fixing her hair.

He turned away. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have attacked you like that. We should go.” While she grabbed her purse, he adjusted his cock, which had gone hard in his pants. The woman couldn’t know how badly he wanted her or how long it had been since his last lover. Stephanie deserved more than a quick roll in the hay.

He escorted her to his car and pulled out. Stephanie sat with her head bowed somewhat, not looking out the window. When he had asked about it previously, she’d told him it gave her a headache to see so many colors zipping by because she had a tendency to squint. He didn’t tell her the many times she crinkled her nose squinting at him. He thought she was cute.

“So you’re okay with me meeting her?” he asked.

“Well, I’m a little nervous about it. I don’t bring men home, and we’ve been out only a few times, but I didn’t have much choice today. My neighbor runs me to get Meechi, and sometimes she babysits her like on the night we first met, but her son broke his leg snowboarding or whatever in Vermont. She had to pick him up from the airport.”

“Vermont, huh?”

She turned her head toward him, but he kept his eyes on the road. “Yeah, have you been there?”

“Once or twice.”

A half hour later, they pulled into the parking lot before a building that looked like it had lost a fight with a few buckets of brightly colored paint. Not that the building appeared disordered. Just that someone thought the more color, the better for kids. With what little he knew of Meechi, he imagined she’d view the place as being for babies. Stephanie had told him her daughter wanted to stay home after school, to which Stephanie had said no. He didn’t blame her.

Hawke hopped out of the car and went around to help Stephanie. She placed her hand in the crook of his arm, and then walked up to the door. As he allowed her to go ahead of him, he remembered what it felt like to touch her, so he held himself as far back as possible. This was not the place to have a rise in his pants because Stephanie turned him on.

“Ms. Martin, what are you doing here?” A thirty-something woman smiled as she rose from behind a desk and walked into the hall.

Stephanie went still. “What do you mean? I’m here to pick up Meechi.”

“But…” the woman began. “Let me get Ms. Turner.” She disappeared, and Stephanie clenched his arm until her nails cut through the shirt material and dug into his skin. The woman returned with another older one, and the concern on both women’s faces did not bode well. Hawke moved closer to Stephanie.

“Ms. Martin, we had a new girl working here this afternoon. She got off half hour ago, but I’m calling her now. The sign-in sheet indicates that Meechi’s dad picked her up. I know myself that her father passed away, so we will get to the bottom of this.”

Stephanie cried out. “How the hell could this happen? Where is my daughter? Meechi!”

Hawke removed a pen and a sheet of paper from his jacket. “What exact time did they leave, and give me a description of the man. Better yet, give me the number of the woman who saw him. I will call her myself.”

“I’m calling the police,” Stephanie blurted. Hawke saw that tears had already started down her face, and she fumbled with the display on her phone. He knew she had no idea what buttons she pressed.

“Come over here, baby, and sit down,” he instructed, taking her hand. If it weren’t for the situation, he would not have used the endearment. The word slipped out.

“I don’t need to sit down, Hawke. We have to find her, and I want someone to tell me how the hell they hired some person who doesn’t know what she’s doing? Meechi has been coming to this daycare for five years, damn it. Where is my baby? You know what, forget it. Hawke, let’s go look for her.”

He caught her hand and forced her to stay by him, and then turned to Ms. Turner. “The number.”

The woman rang her hands seeing Stephanie’s panic. “I can’t give you—”

“Two seconds to give it to me,” he said. “I work as a private investigator. I
will
find Meechi, but if you hinder me in any way, you
will
regret it.”

“Sir, there’s no need to threaten me. I’m not the enemy here.” He heard the tremor in her voice.

He waited a beat, and she gave him the number. He punched it into his phone, and with a dead calm that he knew was a lot more effective than shouting, he obtained all the information from the aide. The question was, at ten years old, why would Meechi go with a man claiming to be her father when she knew her father was dead?

He disconnected the call and pulled Stephanie close to him. She turned her big brown eyes up to him, and he felt his heart stir with a need to protect her and her child. “Does your late husband have a brother?”

Her eyes widened. “Yes, two of them. Why?”

“I’m guessing they look a lot like him?”

She frowned. “The oldest is a dead ringer.” She froze. “You don’t think—”

“I’m pretty sure. Give me his address, and you stay here to wait for the police.”

“I’m coming with you, Hawke. If that bastard has my baby, I’m going to crack his head open. Trust me.”

He kissed her lips briefly. “I do trust you. Now trust
me
to go. You will need to give a report to the police so they can begin their search. If he did take her, it’s possible he didn’t go home. The police will need to put an APB out on him.”

She didn’t appear to like it but acknowledged his logic. “Okay, but please stay in touch. I can’t bear sitting here, Hawke.”

“I promise. I will find her.”

He left the daycare on the run and jumped into his car. Rather than head over to the brother’s house that way, he found somewhere off the beaten track to park, where he wouldn’t be seen. If he flew, he would make it faster, but something told him Michael Ward didn’t take Meechi to his house, and the only solution in that case was a bird’s eye view.

Hawke shed his clothing and stuffed them in the trunk, and then he stretched his arms to the side and called to the animal deep inside. As easy as shedding skin, he shifted, his bones cracking and morphing, breaking down and then rebuilding until he became the hawk. With a loud cry, he took to the air, pumping his wings. After gaining a height of a mile up, he headed toward Michael’s house. Flying all over the city on a regular basis, he had a good grasp of the layout and knew which direction to go. Stephanie had given him a description of the car, but he saw few that would match in the area. A quick training of his vision on the couple of drivers told him they weren’t his targets. He had to keep moving, because the longer it took him to find Michael the bigger the gap to catching them.

On a hunch, Hawke took a scenic route out of town that few people used because it was at least five miles to get back to civilization. The moment Hawke crested a hill blocking the road, he knew he was on the right track. The golden Porsche 911 gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight like a beacon. The man had pulled over to the side of the road and was pacing. Hawke swung around so he flew over the right side of the car. Meechi sat in the back seat, her cheek tucked against her hand and sound asleep. Nothing could be more convenient for him.

In one fell swoop, Hawke landed, changed, and dragged the man up by his neck. Michael choked and struggled. His eyes grew wide.

“What do you think you’re doing with her?” Hawke snapped. When scarcely a croak escaped Michael’s throat, Hawke let up a little. “Speak!”

“I’m not going to hurt my niece, but I had to take her. I had to or—

Hawke shook him hard enough for his head to bob back and forth on his neck. Red stained the man’s face, and it took almost as much self-control as Hawke had not to push until the fool passed out. “Or what?”

“Why are you naked?” Michael demanded. “Are you some kind of perv?”

Hawke drove his fist into Michael’s face and let him fall to the ground. The satisfying crunch and howl did little to lessen his anger. He bent and slapped a hand over Michael’s mouth.

“Keep it down, you idiot, or you’ll wake her.” He jerked Michael to his feet and assessed his size for clothing fit. Michael had enjoyed one too many dinners out having a slight paunch around the middle. “Take off your pants.”

“Don’t do this. I need to get out of here.”

“Oh you’re going to explain everything to me as soon as I’m dressed. Make no mistake about it. If you even think of holding any information back, I will gladly beat it from you. Now, off!”

In a few moments, Hawke was dressed in Michael’s pants. He put on the shirt and left Michael with his suit jacket and shoes. Barefoot, Hawke walked over to check on Meechi once more. She seemed okay, and now that he met the man face-to-face, something told him Michael wouldn’t hurt Meechi, just as he said, but someone out there would, or he wouldn’t be running with her.

Hawke leaned on the back of the car and crossed his arms over his chest. “Explain yourself, fast.”

Chapter Three

Stephanie fought nausea, panic, and myriad thoughts while she waited for Hawke. For what felt like centuries, she explained to the police about her husband’s family and about Hawke. “I don’t know why you’re standing here asking me the same questions over and over again when you could be out there looking for my daughter,” she railed at the policeman with the notepad. All she wanted to do was snatch it from his hand and throw it on the floor before she kicked him in the nads. That probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

“Ma’am, please calm down. You gave us the description, and we’ve called it in. We’re just trying to get all the details so we can do our job. So this man, Hawke Cooper, how long have you known him? Is there any possibility that he might have been involved with your daughter’s kidnapping?”

“Are you serious?” The words elicited doubt. She hadn’t known Hawke long, and he didn’t want her to go with him. The longer she dated him, the more certain she was that she’d picked up his scent before. The night Hawke approached her was not the first time he had been nearby. Stephanie rung her hands and drew in a shuddering breath. She turned to find a seat, and one of the officers took her arm. She jerked it free. “I don’t need your help. I’m not handicapped.”

She sat down and put her head in her hands.
Please, Hawke, you promised.

“Mommie!”

Stephanie’s heart skipped a beat. She looked up, and Meechi was there thrusting herself into Stephanie’s arms. She dragged her daughter nearer, sobbing. When Stephanie blinked away tears, she found Hawke in front of her, and she put a hand out to him. He took it, lacing his fingers with hers. “Thank you so much.”

The statements and explanations took half the evening. At last they could leave, and Hawke drove her and Meechi home.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to look around the apartment and make sure everything is okay,” Hawke said.

She nodded, fear stirring in her belly. They walked up together, and he unlocked the door. Stephanie instructed her daughter to shower and play in her room for a while. Then she went to the kitchen to make herself and Hawke a drink.

“Can I help?” he offered.

“There’s a corkscrew in that drawer right there. I’m going to try this Amusant Bubbly Pink Moscato. I’m not much of a drinker, but maybe it will calm my nerves a little.” They sat side by side, and she drew her knees up to her chest. Hawke stroked her neck, working out some of the tension. Stephanie moaned. “I’m sorry.”

His hand stilled, but he shifted a bit in his seat as if uncomfortable. “What do you have to be sorry about?”

“I doubted you while you were gone.” She rubbed a hand over her eyes, brushing a few stray tears. “The police kept asking me questions about you as if you were the one behind everything.”

He started rubbing again, and she melted into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. Hawke took her glass from her hand and placed it on the table alongside his. When he slipped a hand under her legs and put her on his lap, she didn’t complain.

“I understand. We haven’t known each other long, but I hope I proved myself by keeping my promise.”

She ran her hand along his cheek and felt the beginnings of stubble, wondering if he had to shave every day. While she had wanted to touch him many times, she never dared, not sure she was ready for more between them. “I trust you. Hawke, what did Michael mean when he said there were others who would look for Meechi?”

His muscles tensed beneath her, and she tried to remain calm. Before this incident, she never would have thought Michael would take Meechi. Her Raymond was the best of the three brothers for whatever reason, and Michael might be the oldest, but he seemed weakest to Stephanie. The two brothers and their sister were ruled by Melanie, their mother, and Stephanie wanted nothing to do with any of them.

Before Hawke could answer, her cell phone rang, and she picked it up to answer. Rather than strain to see the display, she answered. “Hello?”

“Stephanie! Explain to me why you’ve had my son arrested,” Melanie demanded.

Stephanie swiped her finger over the screen to disconnect and put her phone on silent. Hawke’s arms tightened around her. “I assume that shrill voice was that of your mother-in-law?”

“
Ex
mother-in-law,” she said. “I don’t lay claim to that woman. She didn’t ask me if Meechi is okay. She just wanted to know about Michael, but since she knows he’s in jail, I assume he called her with his one phone call.”

Hawke made a noise of agreement. “Apparently, the one time he doesn’t consult her on what he should do, he gets into more trouble than he bargained for. I don’t know how she would have advised him though. He admitted their corporation is in trouble, and they need funds fast. He decided to get the money any way he could rather than make sound business choices and ended up owing a lot more money to the wrong people.”

A shudder passed over Stephanie, and her emotions threatened to take control again. With her mind full of decisions on what to do, she almost didn’t hear the rest of what Hawke had to say. He jostled her a little and then pulled her tight to his chest. She couldn’t believe the comfort she derived just having him hold her. He kept her from leaping over the edge.