Her Mistletoe Protector(16)

She had to do this.

The big dilapidated barn loomed ominously as they approached. This was it. The moment she'd been waiting for and dreading at the same time. In less than forty minutes the kidnappers would drive up with her son, demanding money in exchange for his freedom.

Please, Lord, please keep Joey safe!

The calm she'd felt before after praying seemed to have deserted her now. Maybe because her prayers betrayed the depth of her desperation. Despite Nick's reassurances that she was worthy, she couldn't help feeling that maybe God thought she was a big fraud. But she hoped He wouldn't punish her son for her previous lack of faith. She took another deep breath.

Nick backed up the dirt road so that the car was facing outward toward the road. The minute he shut off the car, he and Jonah jumped out to see what they had to work with.

She was still trying to pull herself together. But when she stared down at the duffel bag, she realized she couldn't sit here. She had to be in the driver's seat, as if she'd just driven here by herself. Swallowing hard, she shoved open the door, hauled the duffel bag up so that it was on the seat, and then slammed the door.

Nick had Jonah's car keys, so she went to find him. She needed the kidnappers to believe she'd followed their instructions to the letter.

The barn door was open only about a foot, so she turned sideways to slide inside. The interior was surprisingly dim. She's expected it to be brighter considering there were several missing boards and glassless windows. The place reeked of fertilizer mixed with musty old hay, thanks to the piles that looked as if they'd been there untouched for years.

Nick stood, looking up at the loft. She followed his gaze and gasped when she saw Jonah carefully going up a rickety old ladder that didn't look strong enough to hold his weight.

"Are you sure that's safe?" she whispered.

"Not really, but he insisted on giving it a try."

There was a loud noise as Jonah's foot broke through one of the rungs of the ladder. Her heart lodged in her throat as he hung there for a moment before he regained his balance. In a few minutes, Jonah was safely on the loft.                       
       
           



       

"Wouldn't he be better off down here?" She couldn't imagine the rotted wood that made up the loft floor would be any sturdier than the ladder.

"I'll be down on the ground level, and he's going to try and get some leverage from up above. See that window up there?" He indicated the open space in the wall of the barn located above the loft. "It overlooks the front of the barn, and that's our best option."

She felt dizzy watching Jonah ease his way into position, so she lowered her gaze and tried not to sneeze. Despite the cold December air, the moldy hay was making her eyes water. "Where are you planning to be?"

"Outside, as close to you as I can manage," he said grimly. "There are several stacks of hay outside along the north side of the barn. If I drag a few more out there, I should be fairly well hidden."

She helped Nick carry a couple of stacks of smelly, musty hay outside. They had to open the barn door wider and it groaned loudly in protest. She froze, hoping it wouldn't fall off.

After two trips, they had a decent-size stack of hay along the side of the barn. Nick carefully closed the barn door and then used a bunch of hay like a broom to brush the dirt, covering up their footprints.

The north side of the barn seemed too far away for her piece of mind, but she bit her lip so that she wouldn't complain. After all, she couldn't very well expect Nick to hide in the backseat of Jonah's car. Truthfully, she was lucky to have any backup at all.

"You might want to give me the car keys, just in case they want me to go someplace else," she said.

Nick scowled and dug them out of the front pocket of his jeans. "Here you go. But don't follow those guys someplace else, Rachel. There would be nothing to prevent them from killing both you and Joey, while still taking off with the cash. Your best option is to stay right here, where Jonah and I can protect you."

"I know," she said, taking the keys from Nick. As much as she knew he was right, she wasn't sure she'd be able to say no if it came to the kidnappers giving her an ultimatum. Her greatest weakness was her son's safety. If they threatened to hurt him, she knew she'd go along with whatever they asked of her.

She turned to walk away, but suddenly Nick grabbed her hand to stop her. Glancing over her shoulder, she found him staring at her intently. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. Just-be careful, okay?" he said gruffly. Then, before she could respond, he pulled her close and gave her a quick kiss.

The kiss was over before she had a chance to register what had happened. But she longed to throw herself into his arms, absorbing some of his strength. This wasn't the time or the place, though, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "Remember your promise," she blurted. "No matter what happens, save my son."

He stared at her for a long moment. "I won't forget my promise, Rachel. But my goal is to get both of you out of here safely." He turned away and began digging a hole for himself in the hay.

She turned and hurried back to the car. By the time she'd slid into the driver's seat, she couldn't hear him any longer. He must have gotten himself hidden very quickly.

Her lips tingled and she wondered if Nick had kissed her on purpose to distract her. If so, his ruse had worked. For a couple of minutes her stomach hadn't hurt, although now the pain was back with a vengeance. She took another deep breath and focused on the task at hand, anxious to be ready if the kidnappers showed up early.

The driver's seat was all wrong, so she scooted the seat up so that she could reach the pedals and adjusted the mirrors to accommodate her smaller frame. From the way Nick had parked the car, she couldn't see much of the north side of the barn, which was back and to her left. Using the rearview mirror, she could just barely catch a portion of the stacked hay.

Nick and Jonah were both armed and ready. She tried to find comfort in the fact that if she couldn't see Jonah or Nick, then the kidnappers couldn't see them, either.

The minutes ticked by with excruciating slowness, and she resisted the urge to turn on the car to warm up. If she was cold, surely Jonah and Nick were even more so.                       
       
           



       

Within five minutes of waiting, she spotted a black Jeep coming down the highway from the same direction they'd come. With a frown, she followed the Jeep's progress. If this one belonged to the kidnappers, they were fifteen minutes early.

Rachel clutched the steering wheel and strained her eyes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of her son. She thought there might be someone in the passenger seat, but the Jeep was too far away to be certain.

At the last possible moment, the Jeep slowed and then turned onto the dirt road. She held her breath as the vehicle approached. The driver was the same big dark-haired man who'd snatched Joey out from the car crash. There was a smaller person in the passenger seat and when the Jeep came closer, she could tell the small person had a dark hood over his head. The Jeep pulled to a stop about thirty feet from her vehicle.

Panic threatened to overwhelm her. What if the person in the front seat really wasn't Joey? What if this was nothing more than a horrible trick? What if they planned to kill her and take the money, while keeping her son to sell him in the black market of human trafficking?

Her pulse thundered in her ears as she pushed open the car door. She grabbed the duffel bag of money and dragged it over the console so that it was right next to her, as she stepped out of the car.

"I want to see my son!" she said in a loud voice.

The driver, who had to be Morales, reached over and yanked the hood off her son's head. Joey squinted and ducked his head, shying away from the light. He reminded her of a prisoner who'd been locked in a cell for days, unable to bear normal daylight.

Cold fury swamped her. It was all she could do not to rush over to grab Joey and yank him out of there. She narrowed her gaze and stared, waiting for direction.

Morales slowly and deliberately pushed open his door and stood. Her heart dropped to the soles of her feet when he leveled his gun directly at her son. "One wrong move, lady, and I'll shoot to kill."

"I have the money," she blurted out. "You can have it. All I want is my son."

"Hold on, now," he said, sweeping his gaze around the area. She never flinched, trusting the men behind her to stay well hidden. "You'll get your kid soon enough."

"I'm not armed and I'm here alone, just like you asked," she said, drawing his attention back to her. "Here's the money. If you'll just let Joey out of the car, we'll make the swap."

His expression turned ugly. "Listen here, lady, I'm the one who's in charge. The kid doesn't move until I say so."

Her fingers clenched on the duffel bag as the seconds drew out to a full minute. He approached her with slow, deliberate steps, rounding the front of the Jeep. With every step closer, she grew more nervous. She came out from behind the safety of the driver's door, lugging the duffel bag.