Nora Roberts Land(102)
“Come on, sweetheart.”
“Hey! Wait.”
“Sorry, Deputy. My son needs to use the bathroom real bad.”
“Why didn’t you stop?”
“Have you ever had a kid who needs to go potty?”
“Mommy, I need to go,” Keith whined.
“He’s going to have an accident if we don’t hurry. Besides, I wasn’t speeding. What were you pulling me over for?”
“You were speeding a little,” Barlow announced.
“I don’t speed. If you want to write me a ticket, fine, but I need to get my son to the bathroom right now.”
Tanner heard a door chime and some overhead music.
“Almost there, honey,” Peg encouraged. Another door creaked. “Tanner, we’re in the bathroom. Come here for a sec, Keith, and let Mommy hold you.”
Tanner rubbed the bridge of his nose when Keith started crying. So close. Oh, Christ.
“There’s my brave little boy. We’re safe now. It’s all right.”
“Mommy, I’m scared.”
“I’m right here, and I would never let anything happen to you.”
Tanner didn’t say anything as she continued to comfort her son. He fell back on the sofa exhausted, his body made of lead. His mind played images of what could have happened in vivid Technicolor.
“Okay, now. We need to go back to the car.”
“I don’t want to! I want Uncle Tanner.”
Tanner’s heart tore.
“We can’t do that,” Peg answered. “We need to go home. Trust me, everything’s going to be okay. You trust me, right?”
He heard Keith blow his nose.
“Now, am I the toughest cop in the world or what? Don’t I make bad guys go to jail all the time?”
“Uh-huh.” He sniffed.
“Then take my hand.”
“I wet my pants, mommy,” Keith cried.
“That’s great acting! You’re the best actor in the world.”
He gave a sob. “I am?”
“Absolutely. Isn’t he Tanner?”
He cleared his Sahara-desert-dry throat. “You’re the best, buddy. I was so impressed.”
And terrified. Bone-chillingly terrified. His scalp tingled like someone had held a gun to his head.
“Okay, we’ll change your pants in the car. Don’t worry. I’m here.”
“You have your gun?”
“Right here.”
“I love you, Mommy.”
“Oh, I love you too. Big hug.” She made a squeezing noise and gave him an audible smacker. “Let’s go.”
The door jingled.
“See, the bad man’s gone now. Hear that, Tanner? Everything’s fine.”
Tanner fell back against the cushions. Right, fine.
“Who’s the best cop in the world?”
“You are,” Keith responded, but without his usual enthusiasm.
The car door slammed.
“Tanner? Are you still there?”
“Yes.” He bounced to the couch’s edge.
“I think everything’s okay now. Barlow was trying to make a point. We’ll leave here in a little while. I’ll call with updates.”
“Peggy—”
“Don’t say it. It’s not your fault. We’re going to get these guys, Tanner. You have my word. No one messes with my family.”
“You stole my line,” he managed.
“Watch yourself. I’ll be in touch. Tell Uncle Tanner goodbye, Keith.”
“Bye, Uncle Tanner. I…I miss you.”
His eyes burned. He rubbed them fiercely. “I miss you too. Take care of your mom,” he said, realizing how often people had told him the same thing when he was growing up. “I love you guys.”
“Love you too.”
He set the phone aside, feeling beaten and bruised. How dare they go after a woman and child? Fuckers. Cowards. He kicked the couch and resumed his pacing. He wanted to tear the front door off with his bare hands.
They probably suspected Peggy was helping him since they knew she was a cop. Thank God, she’d put the samples in her bra, thinking it was a good hiding place. If Barlow had tried to search her car while she was in the gas station, he wouldn’t have found them.
Hugo darted to the front door, barking. Meredith had arrived. He wished he could send her away, but he didn’t have the strength.
He needed her. God, so much.
But Barlow’s pursuit of Peg and Keith had changed everything. She wasn’t safe. She’d been dead wrong about there being safety in numbers or about certain people being off limits. If a cop and kid weren’t safe, a Hale wasn’t either.
He’d have to make her see she couldn’t keep helping him. He had to make it clear to Barlow she wasn’t involved anymore.