Her Mistletoe Protector(17)

"Set it down, where I can see it," he said in a low, guttural voice. So far, his movements had been slow and cautious, but the glint of excitement in his eyes betrayed his greed.

Ironically, that glimpse was enough to make her relax. She was certain he wasn't going to do anything foolish if that meant risking the money. But she didn't set the duffel bag down the way he told her to. "I will, but only if you let Joey open his car door."

He glared at her for a minute before giving a little wave of the gun. "Open your door, kid, nice and easy."

She tried not to divert her attention from the gunman, but she couldn't help sneaking a sideways glance at Joey. He was still squinting, as if he couldn't see very well but managed to open his passenger-side door. She could see his feet dangling outside the car, in the familiar basketball shoes she'd bought for him earlier in the school year. They were bright orange, his favorite color, and her eyes stung with the memory of how excited he'd been when he'd worn them for the first time.

The Jeep was high off the ground, and she wanted to call out a warning to Joey to be careful. But with the gunman so close, she didn't dare. Instead, she opened the duffel bag, holding it awkwardly against her chest, to show him the cash inside.

The gleam in his eyes got brighter, and she was struck by the fact that this guy obviously wasn't very smart. Nick was right-there had to be someone else acting as the brains of this operation. Morales was nothing more than a pawn. Right now, though, all she cared about was her son.                       
       
           



       

"Get out of the car, kid," Morales shouted. When she glanced over at her son, the thug lunged forward in an attempt to grab the money, but Rachel was faster. She snatched the handles of the bag, whipped it around and threw it at Morales, hitting him directly in the chest. "Run, Joey!"

While Morales was grappling with the bag, trying to make sure he didn't lose any of the cash, she leaped forward and grabbed her son. With a herculean effort, she hauled him up and ran toward the car, using her body to protect him as best she could. "Get inside," she urged.

"Stop!" Morales shouted. The sound of gunfire erupted and she ducked behind the open driver's door and threw herself over Joey, squashing him against the front seat.

"Stay down!" Nick shouted, coming around the corner of the barn, looking like a madman with straw sticking out of his hair and clinging to his clothes.

Morales turned and fired again. Panic-stricken, she glanced sideways and caught a glimpse of Nick hitting the ground. "Nick!" she screamed.

More gunfire, this time from up above, but Morales had already thrown the duffel into his Jeep and taken off, his tires churning up clouds of dust as he barreled down the dirt road.





NINE

Nick ignored the burning pain in his left arm as he crawled across the ground to reach Rachel and Joey. She held her son in a tight hug as if she might never let him go. Every instinct in his body was clamoring for him to follow Morales, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Rachel and her son. Or take them along, putting them in more danger.

"Are you all right?" he asked, pulling himself upright and leaning against the car. "Any injuries?"

"No injuries," Rachel murmured as she lifted her tear-streaked face from her son's hair. She barely glanced at Nick, her attention focused solely on her son. She brushed his hair away from his forehead. "Joey? Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere?"

Joey shook his head but didn't say anything, burrowing his face once again against his mother. The boy's silence was a bit concerning, but not completely unexpected considering the trauma he'd been through.

"Nick, you're bleeding!" Rachel reached out to touch his arm. "He hit you?"

"Winged by a bullet, nothing serious," he said, glancing around for Jonah. His buddy shoved open the barn door and came out, limping.

"I tried to take out the Jeep, but I fell through a hole in the floor," Jonah said with disgust. "I'm sorry I let him get away."

"Nothing more you could have done, Jonah," Nick assured his friend. "And the way you shot at him from up in the loft obviously scared him off, which is probably a good thing. He was armed, and the way things were going down, I doubt he intended to leave any witnesses once he got the cash."

"Yeah, I got that same feeling," Jonah muttered. He looked at his car and scowled, fingering the bullet hole in the back door along the driver's side. "Now I know why you wanted me to take my car. Hope he didn't hit anything in the engine."

The bullet holes in the back door of the driver's side were sobering, proof of how lucky they were to get out of this with a gouge in his arm and nothing more serious. "I'll reimburse you, Jonah."

"No biggie," his friend said, waving him off. Joey lifted his head and gazed at both him and Jonah with suspicion. Nick belatedly realized they were both strangers to the child, so he dropped to his knees and smiled over at the boy. "Hi, Joey, my name is Nick Butler and I'm a detective with the Chicago Police Department. And that's my buddy Jonah Stewart, who is a police detective, too, from Milwaukee. We've been helping your mom find you."

"Thank you," Joey said in a wobbly voice, his curiosity apparently satisfied. "Can we go home now? I'm hungry."

Nick was trying to figure out a way to let the boy know it wasn't safe to go home yet, when Rachel interrupted. "You're hungry? Did they give you anything to eat or drink?"

Joey shook his head. "No. They kept me in a room in the basement. It was dark and I think there were big hairy spiders, too. The door was locked and I had a mattress and a toilet but nothing else," he admitted, his lower lip trembling with the effort not to cry.                       
       
           



       

Rachel's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry, Joey. So sorry..." Once again, she hugged him close as if she could erase the horrible memories by will alone.

"We'd better get out of here," Jonah said quietly. "In case they decide to come back."

Nick couldn't agree more. "Rachel, do you have the car keys?"

She sniffled and used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe away her tears. "Here you go," she said as she handed them over. "Joey and I will take the backseat."

He understood she couldn't bear to let go of her son. "You'd better drive," Nick told Jonah, as he loped around to the passenger side of the vehicle. "I'm going to call my boss and put an APB out on that Jeep. And I don't suppose you have a first-aid kit in here somewhere?"

"In the glove box," Jonah said. He slid behind the wheel and grunted as his knees hit the steering wheel. He adjusted the seat back and then started the car.

Nick called Ryan Walsh, quickly filling his captain in on the details. "I'm fairly certain the driver was Ricky Morales and the Jeep's tag number is JVW-555."

Walsh wasn't entirely thrilled to hear what had transpired. "I'm glad you got the kid back, but we need to keep looking for the link to the Mafia," he said. "When are you coming in to file your report?"

"Soon," Nick hedged. "Just let me know as soon as you hear anything about Morales or the Jeep, okay?" He disconnected from the call.

"Where to?" Jonah asked, as he turned off the dirt road and back onto the highway.

"That's a good question," Nick muttered, as he rummaged around for the first-aid kit. "We should probably pick up my car first."

"No, we need to stop for something to eat, first," Rachel said from the backseat. "Joey's hungry."

"Is he all right? Or should we get him checked out by a doctor?"

"Physically, he looks fine," Rachel said after a moment's pause.

He knew she was already worried about the emotional trauma Joey may have suffered. "You're right, eat first and then pick up my car."

From there, he wasn't sure, other than he wasn't going to take Rachel or Joey back to their home.

Not until he knew for sure they were safe.

* * *

Rachel knew she was smothering Joey, but she couldn't seem to stop touching him-his hair, his arm, his knee-to remind herself that he was actually sitting right here beside her.

Thank You, Lord, for keeping my son safe!

There was a tiny voice in the back of her mind telling her that there was a good chance God didn't have anything to do with getting Joey back safely, but she was too emotionally drained to listen. Right now, she found an odd comfort in believing God had been with them through those horrible moments when she'd faced Morales.

"Can we eat at Mr. Burger's?" Joey asked in a soft, hesitant voice. His lack of confidence broke her heart.

"Of course," she agreed, even though she normally avoided those types of fast-food joints like the plague. "Nick, let me know if you see a Mr. Burger's."

"There's one up ahead," Jonah pointed out. She wasn't surprised, as they were everywhere. A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot. Jonah swiveled in his seat. "Inside? Or drive-through?"