Delivering His Gifts: A Mountain Man's Baby Christmas Romance(37)

“Greg.”

“Skyler wanted to talk to you.”

“Well, thank you for letting her call me.”

“I know it must be hard for her to be away from her mom. She’ll have to get used it.” My heart jumped. He quickly added, “I will be seeking more time with my daughter, I hope you know.”

“We’ll see what the courts have to say.”

I was tense. It was beginning already. I could hear the way he spoke to her, the way he commanded her to do what he said instead of being patient with her. Maybe if it had been any other man, I would have given him the benefit of the doubt, but Greg thought of people in his life as possessions and had to control everything. He’d talked to me the same way, and once I started defying him, things got ugly.

“You won’t be hearing from us again, since it’s my time with her,” Greg said.

A knot formed in my throat. The idea of my daughter not being able to reach me when she needed me filled me with dread, but what could I do?

“Please let Skyler call me if—”

“It’s my time with her, dammit. There’s no court order stating she must be able to call you, Dani. The girl needs to learn to live without you.”

My insides felt empty and cold. “She will always have me.”

“Goodbye, Dani,” Greg said haughtily.

“We’ll see you on Sund—.”

He hung up before I could finish.

Mason must have sensed something was wrong, and he wrapped his strong arms around me, holding me close.

“We have to get custody of her,” I whimpered.

“We will, Danielle. I promise you, we will.”





Mason





After a romantic week in the mountains, it was hard to return to reality. Sunday approached, and even though we hadn’t heard anything from Greg or Skyler since the first day, we were at the ice cream shop in Liberty as previously discussed.

The ice cream shop seemed like the best, most neutral place to meet. It was in public, so no issues with Greg causing Danielle any trouble. And then we’d grab some of their favorite ice cream before going back home.

“Where are they?” Danielle muttered, snuggled up beside me.

“It’s just now one o’clock,” I said.

“Greg is never late, though.” She nibbled on her nail and began scrolling through her phone, checking the time every two seconds.

“The roads are pretty bad. It’s possible he’s just going slow,” I said.

A few more minutes went by, and she straightened up to look out the window of the shop at a passing car. “I thought that was him, but it’s not. I think I better call him.”

She pressed some buttons on her phone and held it to her ear. Her jaw fell and her hands began shaking. “No, that can’t be right.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It said his number has been disconnected, but it can’t be—” She tried it again, and I swear, her face turned as white as the snow outside. “It still says disconnected.”

I took the phone from her hand and double checked that she had called Greg’s number. His name was in her call log. Even though I believed her, I tried it again, just to be sure and to hear the message. It specifically said the number had been disconnected.

Danielle was already out of the booth and on her feet, pacing the ice cream parlor. “What am I going to do? Should I call the cops?’

“Yes, call the police,” I said. “Is there anyone else you can call? His brother, maybe?”

“Yes, his brother. Let me have my phone back.” Danielle called and waited for what felt like an eternity. “Hi, Tony? It’s Danielle. I’m trying to reach Greg, but his phone is disconnected. He was supposed to drop off Skyler today…” Danielle slipped into a chair nearby, her entire body shaking as her jaw nearly hit the table. “Are—are you sure?”

Her voice was pitched and panicked. It sent me into fight mode immediately.

“Where is that bastard?” I growled.

Danielle handed me the phone. “I can’t talk. I can’t think straight. Talk to him, please? We need to find out where they’re going.”

“Hello? Where are Greg and Skyler?”

“As I told Danielle, the last I heard from Greg, he requested the private jet for this afternoon. Said he was taking Skyler to Paris for the holidays and—”

“Do you know when they’re leaving?”

“He said they were flying out at three this afternoon,” he said.

Two hours. We had two hours to get to her.

“Where’s the jet located?”

“What’s going on?” Tony asked.

“Greg isn’t supposed to be taking Skyler anywhere, especially out of the damn country,” I growled. “He’s supposed to bring her home today. He’s kidnapping her.”

“Are you sure? My brother—” Tony stopped himself from finishing the sentence. I had a feeling he knew his brother more than I did, and something in his head seemed to click.

“Where is the jet? We need to get to them.”

Tony relented and gave me the information. The jet was housed at an airfield outside of Salt Lake City. It was an hour or more drive, especially in these conditions. We had no time to delay.

I hung up the phone without saying goodbye and headed for the truck. “Can you get someone to pick you up?” I asked Danielle.

“I’m going with you. She’s my daughter.”

“You’re also seven months pregnant with twins, Danielle. You can’t—”

“She’s my daughter, Mason,” she interrupted, glaring fiercely at me. “Waiting around here will only stress me out. I’m going with you.”

We didn’t have time to argue, and I knew this wasn’t an argument I could win. Even if I left her behind, she’d likely find some way to get there. And the last thing I needed was her driving in her own vehicle on these mountain roads.

“Call my brothers while I drive, tell them what’s going on,” I said, handing her the phone as we climbed into the truck.

Danielle called my brothers, her voice shaking as she put Eli on speakerphone. Tears were running down her face and she was a sobbing mess.

“We’re going to get her back. He’s wealthy and connected to family here. There’s no way he can simply disappear,” I assured her.

“Mason? What’s going on?” Eli asked.

“Greg is trying to leave the country with Skyler. We’ve got the address for the hangar where he keeps his family’s private jet. We’re headed there now. I’d appreciate the backup.”

“Send me the address. We’ll be there.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it,” I said.

“We’re family, and family sticks together.”



Ooo000ooo



The mountain roads leading to Salt Lake were perilous at times, especially with the snow. As we got closer to the city, the windy, mountain roads calmed a little at least. I still couldn’t drive as fast as I would have liked. We needed to arrive at the hangar alive and in one piece. Especially since it wasn’t just my life at stake here.

I kept checking on Danielle, who spent a lot of the drive going over every worst-case scenario. I did my best to calm her, to remind her that disappearing wasn’t as easy as Greg might like to think, and there was the Hague Convention to consider too. He couldn’t just run away to France with his daughter and expect to get away with it. We’d have the flight log, credit card statements. Unless he was willing to change his entire identity and live in hiding, it would be a breeze to find him.

“But what if he does that?” Danielle asked.

“Does what?”

“Changes his identity and lives in hiding?”

“We’d still find him. Because that’s what we do, Danielle.” I placed a hand on her knee and squeezed. “But I doubt a man like Greg would be able to do all that. And besides, we’re going to get there in time, trust me.”

She nodded her head, resting her hands on her massive belly as she stared out of the window.

It was hard to believe that soon I’d be responsible for three kids. Not just Skyler. Both her and the twins. My stomach was already in knots but imagining having all that responsibility still scared the living shit out of me.

I maintained a calm demeanor for Danielle’s sake, and I did trust myself and my brothers to get Skyler back, but there was a part of me that feared the worst. What if I let everyone down? I pushed those thoughts out of my head. Two different scenarios. Two entirely different scenarios. At least here, I knew what we were working with.

“We’re almost there,” I said.

Danielle stiffened in the seat beside me as I turned onto the road leading to a private airfield and hangar. I could hear her breathing deeply, trying to calm herself, as we searched for the correct one.

“I think this is it,” I said, parking the truck. I removed my seatbelt. “Stay here and—”

She was already removing her seatbelt and getting out of the truck. “I’m going with you.”

“Danielle.”

“We don’t have time for this, Mason. Come on.”

She was waddling toward the entrance to the hangar. I glanced behind me, hoping my brothers were almost there. I would likely need the backup.

A jet sat on the runway, which filled me with relief. There was a good chance that was their jet and it hadn’t left yet. It was almost two forty-five, so we were cutting it close. The engines were loud, and the smell of jet fuel filled the air, so they were close to leaving.