Secret Delivery (6 page)

Alana silently cheered. She was willing to do what he asked. “Anything.”

“You won’t leave the hospital until the doctor releases you. No more attempts to escape.”

“Agreed.” Besides, there was no place she wanted to be other than with her son.

“I’ll bring Joey here for a short visit. I don’t want you holding him because of the virus.”

That would be hard, but she wouldn’t do anything to put Joey at risk. “What else?”

Jack looked her straight in the eye. “You won’t take him from me.”

She could have sworn that her heart stopped. “I can’t agree to that.”

“I mean, you won’t do anything about the custody issue, not until I’ve discovered what the heck is going on.”

“Sean probably set up that phony Sauder institution. He’s the one who’s behind all of this.”

“Maybe. But until I have solid proof of that, I want you to promise me that you won’t challenge me for custody. I can’t handle that kind of distraction when I’m trying to work on this case.”

Because she had no choice, she nodded. “But you know that eventually I
will
challenge you. I’ll do whatever it takes to get him back.”

“I know. And I’ll do whatever it takes to stop you.”

So they were at a stalemate. Well, sort of. Jack had the power. He had physical custody of her son. “Will you still bring Joey to see me?”

“Yes.” Judging from the set of his jaw, it’d taken a lot for him to say that. “But I’m warning you, Alana, if you try to escape or try to pull anything funny, the visit is off. No more playing nice.”

She had no intention of going anywhere. After the emotional firestorm she’d just endured, Alana felt drained and raw. But she also felt hope. Soon, she’d get to see her son up close. He would be in the same room with her.

This would be the beginning.

She’d follow Jack’s rules. She wouldn’t try to escape. And she wouldn’t do anything to break this tenuous, temporary agreement.

“So, how soon can I see him?” she asked.

He checked his watch, rubbed his eyes and mumbled
something. “Aunt Tessie’s heading back to the ranch. I’ll give her a call and have her return.”

“You mean now?”

“Now,” he verified. He headed for the door and delivered the rest of what he had to say to her from over his shoulder. “Just don’t make me regret it.”

Alana couldn’t promise that she would be on her best behavior. She couldn’t speak. Soon, she would get her own version of a miracle.

She’d get to see her son.

Alana thought of the day she’d learned she was going to have a child. Even though the pregnancy wasn’t planned, she’d been thrilled. But not Neil. He hadn’t wanted children, and the pregnancy had ended their relationship. Good riddance, was what Alana thought at the time. She still felt that way now. Neil was dead, out of the picture.

But not Jack.

Jack had stepped up to raise a stranger’s child. He’d prevented her son from going into foster care. And now it was all those good deeds that she’d have to challenge if she wanted custody. Which she did. But then, Alana glanced around the hospital room and considered her predicament. She wasn’t exactly in a good place to be fighting for her child, even though that’s exactly what she had to do.

Since she was still feeling light-headed, Alana lay back on the bed. No one had brought her clothes yet, so that meant she’d meet her son while she was wearing a hospital gown. Since Joey was only eight months old, he wouldn’t notice. She, on the other hand, would commit every little detail about him to memory.

The door flew open. Her heart jumped. But she didn’t even have time to make it off the bed before someone turned off the overhead light.

“Jack?” she called out. She was about to ask why he’d done that, but a hand slid over her mouth.

Her instinct was to scream, but the rough hand prevented that. Adrenaline ripped through her. Everything sped up. Her heart. Her breathing. The need to fight and stop whatever was happening to her.

God, what was happening?

“Make a sound, and you’ll die right here,” someone said. A man.

A stranger’s voice.

At least she thought he was a stranger. It was hard to tell—his voice was hoarse and whispered.

“What do you want?” she asked, her own voice muffled beneath his hand. He wore a latex glove.

“You’re coming with me,” he insisted.

She was about to assure him that she wasn’t, but then she felt a sharp jab in her left arm. A shot. He’d given her some kind of injection.

Alana shoved at him, but whoever he was, he was strong. He latched on to her as if she were a rag doll and picked her up from the bed. He forced her to stand. She was weak and dizzy, and he trapped her into the crook of his left arm. Imprisoning her.

“We’re leaving,” he said in a growl, “and if you don’t cooperate, I’ll take your son instead of you.”

Oh, God. He couldn’t hurt Joey. She couldn’t let that happen. But how could she stop him?

How?

She forced herself to stay calm. That wasn’t easy to
do when her son’s life was at stake. Still, she had to come up with some way to prevent him from taking her. Alana didn’t know who this man was or what he wanted, but she figured he was taking her to another private mental institution.

And this time, she might not escape.

Moving almost soundlessly, the man carried her to the door and peeked out. Unlike her room, the hall was well lit, and she got a good look at her attacker. Tall, dark haired. His faced was pocked with acne scars. She’d never seen him before. So why was he doing this? Was he working for someone who wanted her back under lock and key?

She was being kidnapped.

Or worse.

He could murder her.

Alana saw someone at the other end of the hall. The person’s back was to them. She opened her mouth to call out, but her mouth was numb.

So was the rest of her.

Whatever drug he’d given her had acted fast, and she feared she would soon lose consciousness. If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to put up a fight, and even though there were lots of people in the hospital, he might be able to get her out of there without anyone noticing.

Knowing she had to do something, she tried to ram her elbow into his stomach. That didn’t work, either. And even though she fought the numbness and the haze, she knew the exact moment she failed.

Alana went limp, and the man scooped her into his arms. The last thing she saw was the bloodred exit sign before everything faded to black.

What the heck was he doing?

Jack stopped just outside the doors of the hospital entrance and went through everything that’d just happened with Alana.

He cursed again.

Why had he agreed to let Alana see Joey? Why?

Legally, he was Joey’s father. Legally, he could control when and if Alana saw him. Of course, he couldn’t control that forever. She’d soon file a petition to regain her parental rights. And eventually if she could prove she’d been kidnapped and that she was sane, she would get at least joint custody.

He might lose his son altogether.

That was one of the reasons he’d agreed to let Alana see the baby—Jack had hoped to keep things as amicable as possible between them. Another reason was the blasted compassion he kept feeling for her. He was a sucker for a damsel in distress, and Alana had
damsel
written all over her.

He’d gotten her reassurance that she wouldn’t try to escape. Not that she would at this point. If the court
order that had put her in the institution wasn’t real, and she obviously thought it wasn’t, then she probably was already planning her next move to get her son back. Heck, she might be talking to her attorney right now.

And here he had been about to deliver Joey to her.

That wouldn’t make her less committed to getting custody. It would cause her to leap at it.

Jack didn’t think she’d consider his feelings or think of him with compassion. Nor would she let attraction play into it. No. She’d come after him with a legal team and a lot of money to back up her custody fight.

He needed to have another chat with Alana before he allowed her to see Joey.

Jack turned around, the doors swished open and he retraced his steps through the lobby. Best to get this conversation out of the way. Several people greeted him, but Jack didn’t stop, didn’t slow down. He went straight for Alana’s room.

The door was ajar.

He’d shut it only minutes earlier. He was sure of it. Of course, that wasn’t enough reason for concern since this was a hospital where doctors and nurses came and went all the time. Jack peered into the room and spotted the empty bed.

“Alana?” he called out.

Nothing.

He shoved the door wide open and looked around. There was no sign of her. He checked the bathroom, but she wasn’t there, either.

Damn. Had she escaped after promising him that she would stay put?

Furious that he’d believed her, he went back into the
hall and saw Dr. Bartolo coming out of one of the other rooms.

“Where’s Alana?” Jack asked.

The doctor lifted his shoulder. “She’s not in her room?”

Jack cursed again. He’d only left her five or six minutes ago, and he’d been certain that she would sit there and wait for him to return with Joey.

Which is exactly what she would have done.

He stopped and considered that. Alana might have an overwhelming need to escape so she wouldn’t be returned to the mental institution, but he was betting that need was paltry compared to the desire to see her son.

And that meant something was wrong.

He pulled out his cell phone and called his deputy. Reyes answered on the first ring. “I need you back at the hospital. Especially the parking lot. We might have a situation with Alana Davis.”

“What’s the problem?”

“I have a bad feeling her brother might have decided to force her to go with him.”

He shoved his phone back into his pocket so his hands would be free. In case of what, he didn’t know. Five minutes wasn’t that long for Sean to have gotten her out of there, especially if Alana was trying to fight him off, which she would be doing.

They might still be in the building.

But they wouldn’t be for long.

Jack glanced around and spotted the nearest exit. It was at the end of the corridor and led to a waiting room. It was usually a busy place, so he looked in the opposite direction. At the emergency exit. Not much foot traffic there, and it led directly to the parking lot.

Oh, man. That bad feeling got a lot worse.

He raced toward the exit and threw open the door. The hot, muggy air engulfed him. So did his concerns as he picked through the sea of cars and saw something he didn’t want to see.

Alana.

A big, hulking guy was in the process of cramming her into the backseat of a tan four-door Ford.

Jack drew his gun and barreled down the steps. The position put him at ground level. He could still see the man, but there was a row of cars in between them.

“Sheriff Jack Whitley,” he called out to identify himself. “Don’t move.”

The man practically threw Alana onto the seat and reached for something. The handle on the driver’s-side door. Hell.

He wasn’t going to stop.

“Rethink that,” Jack yelled. “Because I’ll shoot. You’re not leaving with her.”

The man froze and eased his hands into the air. Surrendering. Thank God. Jack didn’t want a shoot-out in the hospital parking lot where Alana or an innocent bystander could be hurt. The man didn’t seem to be armed. At least there wasn’t a weapon visible in either of his hands. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t have one hidden inside his bulky shirt and jeans.

“Who are you?” Jack demanded.

With his gun ready and aimed, he started toward the Ford. He could see Alana, but she didn’t appear to be conscious. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t moving.

Hopefully, it wasn’t something more serious.

He didn’t take the time to blame himself for not real
izing she was at risk. But he would do that later. After he’d stopped the kidnapping or whatever the heck this was.

“Who are you?” Jack repeated when the guy didn’t say a word.

But Jack had hardly finished the question when the man dropped to the ground. He was fast, a blur literally jumping down out of sight.

Jack’s body was already primed for a fight, and that caused his adrenaline to soar. He didn’t fire. He didn’t want to risk hitting Alana. Plus, if the guy was unarmed, then he needed to try to apprehend him first. He might be able to get some answers from him about what was going on.

Jack heard the man was shuffling around. Just in case he was trying to grab Alana from the car, Jack went closer, keeping his own steps light so he could hear what was happening. The shuffling continued, and by the time Jack reached the Ford, the guy wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Jack fired his gaze all around the parking lot. Other than the vehicles, there weren’t any places to hide. No trees or shrubs. Just a half dozen light poles. While he was looking, he tried to see if he could spot Reyes. He’d told his deputy to head to the parking lot, and Jack knew that Reyes wouldn’t let him down.

While he watched for a possible ambush, Jack reached in the car and put her fingers to Alana’s neck. She had a pulse. That was the good news. But she wasn’t moving, and her color wasn’t good. There was a dab of blood of her left arm that looked to be the site of an injection. The guy had drugged her with God knows what, and she might need medical attention.

“Don’t make this hard on yourself,” Jack called out
to the man. He needed to get this guy under control so he could see to Alana.

Jack eased away from the car and repositioned himself so he could do a visual search. He couldn’t go far from the Ford. He couldn’t risk the would-be kidnapper doubling back, getting into the car and driving away.

“What’s going on?” he heard Reyes yell. Judging from the sound of his voice, the deputy was behind him.

Jack was about to give Reyes a brief description of the perp, but the next sound he heard had him cursing.

It was the sound of a car engine.

Jack turned, reaiming his weapon. It was already too late to respond. At the far end of the parking lot, a dark green car pulled out. The driver slammed on the accelerator, causing the tires to squeal over the concrete surface.

The car sped away.

“Follow him,” Jack called out to Reyes, who was already sprinting across the parking lot to get the cruiser he’d left out front. “And call for backup.”

That would mean bringing in Kirby Ward, the night deputy, but Jack didn’t have a choice. He didn’t want Reyes to do this on his own, and he couldn’t leave Alana.

While keeping watch, Jack grabbed his cell phone and pressed in the numbers for the hospital dispatch. “I need a doctor in the parking lot
now!
”

He moved closer to Alana and touched her face, hoping it would wake her. Alana stirred, trying to open her eyes, but the attempt wasn’t successful.

Alana mumbled something he couldn’t understand,
but Jack hoped she could tell him the identity of the man who’d just sped away. If they knew that, then he could figure out who was responsible for this. Someone wanted her away from the hospital, fast, and to accomplish that they’d been willing to risk a kidnapping in broad daylight.

That gave him two bits of critical information.

The person behind this was desperate. And he or she wanted Alana alive. Because if the kidnapper had been able to drug her, he could just as easily have made it a lethal dose. She could be dead by now. But instead, he’d risked taking her through the hospital to a car.

Desperate all right.

And usually when desperation was that huge, it meant this had to do with love or money. Since her brother, Sean, was now at the top of his list of suspects, it could be both.

Sean could have paid the man to take Alana. Why, was the next question. Jack swore he’d find the answer to that soon.

Dr. Bartolo came out of the hospital. He didn’t look like a man with fire under his feet, so Jack yelled, “Alana’s unconscious. I’m pretty sure somebody drugged her and then tried to kidnap her. She needs help.”

That got the doc moving a little faster, but Jack didn’t like the lack of urgency. Mercy. What was wrong with the man? Just because Alana was Joey’s birth mother, Jack didn’t want the town to square off against her.

She had enough enemies.

Dr. Bartolo finally made it to them, and like Jack, the first thing he did was check her pulse. Then he lifted her
right eyelid and looked at her pupil. “Yes, she’s been drugged. Any idea what she was given?”

“No. The guy who tried to take her didn’t say a word.”

“Hmmm.” The doctor reached for his phone. “I’ll have the medics bring out a gurney. She doesn’t appear to be injured but better safe than sorry.”

Jack couldn’t agree more.

The hospital wasn’t safe, and he didn’t have the manpower to provide round-the-clock protection for her. Willow Ridge was a small town with just him and two deputies. Jack had often pulled double and even triple shifts.

Now he was going to have to take it one step further.

He’d have to take Alana in his protective custody.

Maybe then he could request assistance from the Texas Rangers. Or convince the city council to pay for a bodyguard service or a temporary deputy. But for now, the only solution he could see was to take her to the ranch.

Where she’d see Joey.

It wasn’t his first choice. Or even his second. Heck, it wasn’t even on the list. But it was his only choice.

He couldn’t let her get hurt. He couldn’t let that kidnapper come after her again.

“Joey,” Alana mumbled.

Jack leaned over her. “He’s not here.”

Frantically, she shook her head and tried to say something. What, was anyone’s guess.

“You’re safe now,” Jack told her, and to try to reassure her of that, he touched her arm with his fingertips. Rubbed gently. “We’ll get you inside, and the doctor will examine you.”

She shook her head again, and her face twisted as if she were in pain. “Joey.”

It was her hysterical tone and expression that grabbed his attention. “What about him?”

“That man…the kidnapper…he threatened me. He said if I didn’t go with him, he’d take Joey.”

Jack’s heart dropped.

Not this.

Please, God, not this.

“See to Alana,” Jack instructed the doctor. And he practically ripped the phone from his pocket. He forced himself to stay calm. Which was impossible. But somehow he managed to stab in the numbers without breaking his cell.

“I think I lost him,” Reyes announced when he answered the call.

That didn’t get Jack’s heart back in his chest, and it kicked up his adrenaline. “Get to the ranch,” Jack ordered. He started to sprint toward his car. “I’ll meet you there.”

“What’s wrong?” Reyes asked.

Jack almost hated to say the words aloud. Because the words were a father’s nightmare. “The kidnapper’s going after Joey.”