Protecting Her Secret Son Read online

  Daniel was as impatient as the whiner, wanting an answer on her status.

  “Doesn’t matter,” the leader rumbled. “The covered route is out and left, left again.”

  In his head, Daniel saw the path they were planning. They’d take Aiden around the building on the side opposite Shannon’s position. He didn’t need verbal confirmation that the shooter would take her out if she showed herself.

  Aiden whimpered about going home.

  “Got him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Stay right behind me and don’t let him go.”

  Outside, the shooter suddenly started up again in three round bursts. Cover fire, Daniel and the kidnappers realized at about the same time.

  The men came down the stairs, boots pounding. If they made it out the door, the odds shifted back to their favor. Daniel didn’t care what happened to the kidnappers; he only wanted the boy.

  Holding the brick, he slammed into the leader, taking him out at the knees and rolling with the impact into the far wall. The man tried to raise his gun and Daniel used the extra weight of the brick in his hand to knock the gun away. He plowed his weighted hand into the man’s stomach and, standing up, moved toward the man holding Aiden.

  The man had frozen, staring at the scene from his vantage point on the last step. With Aiden wriggling in his grasp, he couldn’t get to the gun at his side.

  “Put him down,” Daniel ordered. “Gently.”

  The man cooperated. “Take him. He’s a pain in the ass.”

  “Come here, Aiden.” Daniel held out his hand. Smart, the little guy darted away from his captor. He hesitated there, lower lip quivering, rather than run straight to Daniel. “It’s all right, buddy. Your mom sent me. Let’s go see her.”

  Aiden scrambled to Daniel’s side. From the corner of his eye, Daniel caught the first man moving again, heard more shouts coming over their radios. He saw the gun rise and take aim.

  Scooping up Aiden, he ran down the hallway toward the back door as the police stormed the front of the building, buttoning up the planned escape route.

  The narrow hallway filled with light as the door slammed open. Tucking himself to the wall, he cupped Aiden’s head, turned the little face to his chest, protecting the boy from what he expected to be tear gas or some other technique used to suppress suspects.

  “Jennings?” Two silhouettes in tactical gear came through the door. “Call out!”

  “Here! I have the boy.”

  “This way.”

  Squinting against the bright sunlight, he let the team move around him, putting themselves in the path of any remaining threat. They kept him surrounded, escorting him away from the office building as shouts and cheers rippled across the pier. Just as loud as the panic earlier in town, but he heard the relief and joy in the noise this time.

  Removed from the immediate danger, Daniel took stock of the little boy in his arms. He smelled of cigarettes, beer and the salty grease of a fast-food joint. “You’re safe now,” he promised. “Did they hurt you anywhere?” he asked as they walked along the pier toward the cluster of emergency vehicles.

  Aiden shook his head, his eyes wide in a face that needed a bath, his small hands clinging to Daniel’s shirt. “Where’s Mommy?”

  He scanned the faces for Shannon, marveling that anyone had managed to pry her from her post near the building while she believed her son was inside.

  “Where’s the mother?” he asked the group in general.

  “Safe,” the nearest man replied. He wore a sergeant’s rank on his shoulder. “We pulled her back for her protection.”

  Daniel didn’t find much comfort in the answer. He’d left her out there with an active shooter. To save her son, but still. “What did she do?”

  The sergeant cocked an eyebrow. “Sounds like you know the woman.”

  He did and was proud to say so. “She’s had a tough week.”

  “I bet.” The man smiled at Aiden. “You doing all right?”

  Aiden dropped his head to Daniel’s chest and nodded in the affirmative.

  “She’s right over there,” the sergeant said to Aiden. “And she can’t wait to see you.”

  The police department had circled an ambulance with other vehicles, much as they’d circled him on the walk over. There in the middle of it all, Shannon stood, rocking impatiently from foot to foot, her hair glowing in the sunlight. Someone had given her a clean shirt and a windbreaker to ward off the brisk air.

  At her side, Grant held up a police radio between them, and Daniel knew he’d been giving her every update and assurance.

  And none of it would matter until she held her son again.

  “Mommy!” Aiden pushed hard against Daniel’s chest, eager to get down. “Mommy!” he shrieked.

  Shannon turned, her face alight as she saw her son.

  “One second.” Daniel barely avoided taking a foot to his crotch as he set the boy gently on feet that were ready to run. “Easy.”

  The protective circle split for Shannon at Aiden’s first call. Running forward, she dropped to her knees and let him barrel into her, those small arms wrapping around her neck as she held him close.

  Joyful tears rolled down her face, into Aiden’s platinum hair as she rocked him back and forth, said his name over and over. When she raised those wide brown eyes to Daniel, he thought he’d never seen anything so beautiful.

  Grant clapped him on the shoulder. “Nice job.”

  “Happy ending’s all that matters.” Daniel swiped away a tear with the heel of his hand. “What happened at the warehouse?”

  “A mess. Fire was showy, but no one is badly hurt. The three men inside slipped through a hatch to the river. Coast guard caught them. We’ll soon figure out if they were connected to Stanwood or just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “They’ll get no sympathy from me.”

  “Boy looks to be okay,” Grant observed.

  “Told me nothing hurts.” Daniel cleared his throat as he watched mother and son. Aiden would chatter, then bury his head in her neck, then chatter some more. “They’ll take him to the hospital anyway.”

  “You, too, by the looks of it.” Grant lifted Daniel’s wrist so he could see the slice on the back of his forearm. “There’s a reason they issue protective gear.”

  “Left it in my other wallet,” Daniel quipped. “I’ll get it cleaned up,” he promised, only now noticing the sting of the laceration. “What the hell happened out here?” He didn’t think he’d been in the building long enough for all of this.

  “The shooter tried to clear a path. Didn’t end well for him,” Grant said.

  “More good news.” Daniel watched Shannon settle Aiden on a gurney while the paramedics started the evaluation. She kept smoothing a hand over his hair, around his ear, an endless cycle of comfort. His mother had done the same when he and his little brother were sick or hurting. “Do you think he’s hurt?”

  “No. She’s soothing herself as much as the boy. Daniel, they took the men who held Aiden alive, but we don’t have Stanwood. Can you keep an eye on her until we do?”

  “No problem.” He started forward as they loaded Aiden into the ambulance, stopped. “Do me a favor?”

  “Sure.”

  “Send the cops to the hospital. Get the statements there. She won’t want this coming into her home if she can help it.”

  “I’ll do what I can. Better get moving.” Grant raised his chin in the direction of the ambulance. “Looks like she’s not leaving without you.”

  “Get my truck to the hospital?” He tossed Grant his keys and turning quickly, nearly plowed into Shannon. He caught her, and she melted against him with overwhelming gratitude. Much as she’d done with Aiden, he just hung on for a long moment.

  “Thank you. Oh, Go
d, Daniel.” She stepped back and gripped his hands hard, her gaze steady. “There just aren’t enough words.”

  “He’s safe. You’re both safe now.” Daniel intended to keep it that way.

  Her bright smile wobbled as more happy tears threatened. “They said you could ride with us.” She noticed the blood on her hand. Daniel’s blood this time. “Looks like an excellent idea.”

  “Just a scratch,” he said, pulling himself into the back of the ambulance.

  Aiden’s eyes were so like his mother’s Daniel couldn’t help feeling as if he’d known the kid for more than the past few minutes. “You doing okay?”

  The little boy bobbed his chin, took his mother’s hand as the ambulance started rolling.

  “Mommy?” He crooked his finger to ask her to come closer. “He saved me,” he whispered. “He’s a good guy. Like Superman.”

  “Yes, he is.” She kissed his hair and reached back for Daniel’s hand. “His name is Daniel.”

  Aiden peered at him over his mother’s shoulder. “Hi, Daniel.”

  “Nice to meet you, Aiden.” Daniel stuck out his fist for a bump. “I hear you like trucks.”

  “You did?” Aiden’s face lit up with excitement under the smudges of dirt and grime. “Dump trucks are the best!”

  “Ever ride in one?”

  “No.” He stretched out the word.

  “It’s cool,” Daniel admitted. “Bouncy when they really get going. What do you think about fire trucks?”

  Shannon burst out laughing, her grin infectious as they all talked trucks for the entire ride to the hospital.

  Daniel knew it had been a dreadful week for all of them, but he had high hopes that the joy of this moment would be what they remembered most.

  Chapter 7

  Late that night, Shannon stood at the open doorway, watching her son sleep. In the watery moonlight spilling through the window, she reveled in the miraculous opportunity to enjoy each gentle rise and fall of his chest. With the floppy blue rabbit clutched to his face, he sighed a little and snuggled deeper under the covers.

  Oh, how she’d missed the sweet smell of innocence that clung to his skin, the silk of his hair right after a bath. Thanks to Daniel’s support she had believed to the best of her ability, though she’d never quite banished the fear that she’d never have the chance to savor these small, amazing moments again.

  “Doing okay?” Daniel whispered at her shoulder.

  “Never better,” she whispered back. “I might stand here all night.”

  She breathed in the spicy scent of the man as well as the boy. Gratitude filled her, hadn’t stopped since he’d walked out of that combat zone carrying her son in his arms, the last traces of gunfire and smoke an ominous echo behind him.

  “Maybe you should save that for tomorrow. You could use some sleep, too.”

  They both could. Even with the police watching her house, she was grateful he was willing to spend another night on her couch rather than in a real bed. “Daniel, I can’t ever thank you enough. You walked out with him and saved us both.”

  “Team effort.”

  He’d said the same thing at the hospital, waiting with her while the doctors examined Aiden and confirmed he hadn’t been seriously injured.

  Aiden had been mildly dehydrated, sported a nasty bruise on his shin, a black-and-blue handprint on his upper arm and a scraped knee. All in all, not a bad outcome considering he’d spent nearly a week with two violent men unaccustomed to caring for a four-year-old.

  Daniel had survived the rescue remarkably well. The gash on his arm had been cleaned and closed with a line of butterfly bandages glowing white against his tanned skin.

  She’d kissed every boo-boo, Daniel’s included, while doctors administered fluids to Aiden and Detective Hertz took statements from the three of them. He showed Daniel and her son pictures and they both identified Aiden’s captors. To her immense relief, her son showed no recognition of Bradley, Gary or the men captured by the coast guard.

  “I want to put every mark they put on my boy on Bradley,” she said, through a clenched jaw. “With a little more emphasis.”

  “You may have to wait in line,” Daniel said darkly.

  She shouldn’t have been amused, definitely shouldn’t have been aroused, by the comment. She dragged her gaze away from her sleeping son and smiled up at Daniel. “And here I thought I’d be first in that line, should the chance present itself.”

  “I’ll let you go first,” he allowed, “if you promise to let me bat cleanup.”

  “It’s a date.”

  “It was supposed to be,” he said under his breath.

  She laid a hand on his chest, nudging him back into the hallway, drawing Aiden’s door not quite closed. “Care to explain that?”

  He shook his head, shoved his hands into his pockets. “Another time. Maybe.”

  “You know, now’s good for me.”

  He sighed. “You’ve got that mom voice down pat. All I meant was the day he was kidnapped I was planning to ask you out. So I think I should be first in line,” he said. “Since your ex wrecked my plan.”

  “All right.” She thought back to that conversation over pewter touch-up paint and smiled a little. “You get first crack. I’ll bat cleanup.”

  “I’m sure you can,” he said, lips tipped up at the corner. “I’m convinced you can do anything.”

  If only that were true. If she could do anything, she’d stay right here with him.

  Before the melancholy could take root, she kissed that sexy corner of his mouth, rubbed her lips along his to kiss him fully.

  His mouth opened over hers and she gripped his shoulders as his hands stroked up her spine in one fluid motion. Heat burned away the last chill of her fear, left only desire pooling low in her belly.

  She thought she could stay just like this, exchanging hungry kisses in the dark forever. If only. She broke the kiss and enjoyed the struggle to catch her breath as much as the feeling of being breathless.

  “I probably would have said no,” she said. “To the date.”

  “I probably would have let you,” he replied. “Then.”

  The answer shot another thrill through her system. “Things are different now?”

  “Now?” He smoothed his hands over her hips. “Oh, yeah. We’ve been living together for almost a week. I may have to insist on a date. I’m thinking a predictably calm dinner at an above-average restaurant followed by a movie.”

  “What kind of movie?”

  “Chick flick,” he said, grinning at her. “We’ve had enough action and drama.”

  She smothered her laughter with her hands. What a joy to be home and able to laugh and joke about it already. She thought dinner and a movie with Daniel would be a wonderful experience before she had to move on and change her name again. She couldn’t stay in Philly unless they caught Bradley and managed to keep him in custody.

  The reality seeped in and put a damper on the pleasure. As of the time they were released from the hospital, no one had seen him since the Loffler shooting.

  “We could start that dating ritual with a beer downstairs,” she suggested.

  “Sure.” He brushed her bangs to the side, traced the line of her jaw with his thumb.

  If they didn’t get downstairs soon, she’d drag him into her bedroom, to hell with consequences and regrets. She held the rail tight and deliberately moved to the stairs.

  Maybe another woman could sleep with Daniel and still walk away. She wasn’t sure she had that in her, not after so many months idealizing him, thinking about what it might be like to know him better. To have someone special in her life, a man who could be her friend and lover, a man willing to stand as a role model for her growing son.

  She wouldn’t deny her heart the wishing, tho
ugh her mind knew this was only an interlude. No matter the circumstances that had thrown them together, no matter how his kisses set her off, this was temporary. Had to be. As supportive and solid as Daniel had been through her crisis, she couldn’t lead him on. She wasn’t free to promise him a lasting relationship while Bradley was in the wind.

  In the kitchen, he opened a beer while she poured herself a glass of wine, taking a seat at the table. She couldn’t sit on the couch with him as they’d done on other nights, didn’t trust herself to keep her hands off him with so many emotions swirling through her. Gratitude, love and relief with a beautiful joy layered over all of it. Unable to separate one from the other, she thought it best to maintain a safe distance. No sense muddling up things now that Aiden was home and might pick up on any weird vibes.

  If they ever wound up in bed, she didn’t want any doubts between them about why. Sex wasn’t a weapon or a gratitude tax in her mind. Between two healthy, consenting adults, intimacy and pleasure should stand on its own merit, a private sanctuary apart from the outside world.

  “After all my fussing about keeping to a routine, I can’t wait to get Aiden back on his schedule,” she said. “It’s going to be a challenge not to just spoil him rotten for the rest of his days.”

  “You wouldn’t do that and ruin your good parenting record.”

  “Hope you’re right.” She sipped the wine, letting the cool flavor roll over her tongue. “I’m hoping being normal will settle him and assure him the worst of that nightmare is over.”

  Daniel walked over and turned the chair backward, straddling the seat. “You’re not thinking of being on the job tomorrow?”

  She shrugged, avoiding his gaze. She’d gone back and forth with the decision since they’d left the hospital. Going to work would be perfect for her, except she’d have to drop off Aiden. She wasn’t ready to let him out of her sight. And what if the police needed to speak with her about Aiden’s case or Loffler’s death? On top of that, the doctors had warned her Aiden might become distressed or agitated, returning to the place where he was taken. All of those added up to instances where she’d have to leave the crew to cover for her.