The Christmas Clue (13 page)

Cass heard the panic room wall slide shut behind her. And then she heard the shot.

Sweet heaven, someone had fired a gun.

But she tried not to think about Matt getting trapped, wounded or worse. Right now she had to concentrate on getting to the tunnel so she could escape with Molly. Because if she failed, Matt would be risking his life for nothing.

Since she wasn’t sure exactly where that tunnel was, she went to the only other door in the room and tested the knob.

It was locked.

Frantically, she examined the door frame and finally located the tiny button. She pressed it, and the door slid open. It was a tunnel all right. A dark one.

The panic continued while she searched the immediate area for a light switch or a flashlight. Time wasn’t on her side, and she had to get out of there before those guards doubled back and realized the baby was missing. At least one or more of those guards would likely know how to get into the panic room.

Cass felt along the wall of the tunnel and practically cheered when she located the switch. She turned it on, fluorescent light spewing down the gray stone walls, and began to run.

Molly stirred in her arms. Cass expected it. The baby’s ear was right next to Cass’s heart, and she knew for a fact that her heart was pounding like a drum. No one, including a baby, could sleep through that.

She glanced down at the baby to see Molly staring up at her. Molly’s bottom lip quivered, and her eyes filled with tears. Oh, no. If she didn’t soothe her and fast, Molly was going to cry and alert the guards.

Cass started to hum the first song that came to mind—“Hush Little Baby.” It was appropriate for the situation.

It was also useless.

Molly obviously didn’t care to heed the song, and her quivering lip turned to a full-fledged cry.

The sound echoed through the tunnel.

Cass shifted the baby to her shoulder and tried to hurry. Not easy to do with a now squirming baby who obviously didn’t approve of some stranger taking her out of her crib.

She reached a door at the end of the tunnel, and Cass noticed another tunnel that funneled into this one. It was probably the one that led from the panic room off Dominic’s office. She might have to use it if she couldn’t get safely outside. Of course, going back inside, especially to Dominic’s office, wasn’t her first choice to escape, but she might not have a choice.

Cass put her ear to the door to listen for anyone who might be standing guard outside. But it was impossible to hear anything over Molly’s cries. So, rather than rush out into the cold and darkness, where anything could be waiting for her, Cass stopped and regrouped.

First, she tucked her tranquilizer gun in her coat pocket. She didn’t want anyone to see the gun and shoot first. In fact, she would go in a surrendering posture just in case.

And then she’d run like crazy to get to the car.

Where hopefully Matt would be waiting. He had to be waiting. He had to be safe and out of the house. Because she couldn’t live with the alternative.

When the tranquilizer gun was in place, Cass took a moment to soothe Molly. She didn’t have the benefit of experience with caring for nieces or nephews, but she went on instinct. She cradled the little girl close to her, snuggling her inside her coat so she could keep her warm.

“It’s all right,” Cass whispered. She rocked her gently. “I’m going to keep you safe.” And she prayed that she could do just that. “Your daddy is going to be very happy to see you.”

Molly’s cries softened. So Cass continued, whispering whatever came into her mind. Silly things, like bits of fairy tales and old nursery rhymes.

Finally Molly stopped crying.

She looked up at Cass, blinking hard, and then her eyelids lowered and she fell back asleep.

Cass didn’t wait to spring into action. She tested the knob. Another locked door. But because of what she’d gone through in the panic room, she had an easier time finding the mechanism that would unlock it.

She opened the door, slowly, and peered out. The estate was literally lit up like a massive Christmas tree. The wind was howling, swirling snow all around, but there didn’t seem to be any guards waiting for them.

She zipped Molly inside her coat so that she’d be protected from the cold, and Cass stepped outside. It took her a moment to get her bearings.

Thankfully the grounds were lit with thousands of tiny colored lights, and she used those lights to navigate her way around the back of the house. She hurried, but it still seemed to take a lifetime to make it to more familiar ground—the garden room. From there it was a straight shot to the car parked in the woods.

In theory, anyway.

She kept near the building, where it was warmer, and she started to cross the recessed porch that served as one of the garden room’s entrance.

“Hold it right there,” she heard someone say.

Cass froze. She prayed that it was Matt speaking.

But no such luck.

One of Dominic’s many guards stepped out from the corner of the garden room. He wore bulky winter clothes, including a parka and ski cap. But what Cass noticed most was the assault rifle. He didn’t have it aimed at her. Not yet anyway. However, she didn’t doubt he would do just that if she couldn’t convince him otherwise.

She decided to go on the offensive, especially since every second that passed was a second that Molly could wake up and start crying again. Best to try to defuse the situation right away.

“I’m in a hurry,” she said in a hoarse whisper. Maybe he’d think she had laryngitis and she wouldn’t have to explain why she was whispering. “I need to run an errand for Annette.”

The guard stepped closer, and she got a better look at him. His long thin face was red from the cold, and his lips were caked with chapped skin. He’d obviously been out there for a while, but it couldn’t have been too long in that particular spot, or he would have seen her when she entered the house fifteen minutes earlier. That likely meant he’d been patrolling the grounds, hopefully alone. One guard was more than enough to deal with.

“An errand, you say?” He eyed the lump that Molly was creating in her coat. “Well, why don’t I call her to verify that?”

“You could,” Cass readily agreed. “She’s taking a quick nap before the party and made it clear that she doesn’t want to be disturbed. But go ahead and call. I’m sure she won’t be that upset when you wake her.”

It worked. He stood there and seemed to think about it. But he didn’t think long. The man took out his cell phone, and with her luck, Cass figured he was about to call Annette.

“I hope you have another job lined up,” Cass mumbled. “Because she’s going to fire your butt.”

“I’m calling Dominic,” he clarified.

Cass’s heart went to the ground. This was not what she wanted to happen. And then she felt something that she knew would make this situation go from bad to worse.

Molly squirmed.

If she started to cry or fuss, there was no way that guard would hold her at gunpoint and investigate what she had beneath her coat.

Somehow, she had to get out her tranquilizer gun. Or even, God forbid, her real one that was tucked in the back of her jeans. But either was a huge risk with Molly in her arms. Still, standing there wasn’t a safe option, either.

“Mr. Cordova,” the guard greeted the person he’d called. Maybe it was Dominic. Or maybe this was some kind of ploy to see how she’d react.

Cass couldn’t wait for the man to find out that there was no errand for Annette so she glanced around to figure out what her options were. Her best bet was to run while he was occupied with the call and try to get to the other side of the garden room. Maybe then she could shoot him with the tranquilizer gun when he rounded the corner.

There were a lot of maybes in that scenario, but it beat facing down a gunman while she was holding Matt’s baby.

The guard looked at her, and his eyes narrowed. When he reached for his gun, she turned to run. But Cass stopped when she saw the arm reach out from the light-strewn shrubs. That arm vised around the guard’s neck, and within seconds the man collapsed onto the ground.

Matt stepped out and hurried to her.

She’d never been happier to see anyone in her life.

“You’re alive,” she whispered, though her throat had snapped shut, and her voice hardly had any sound. “I heard a shot fired earlier. How did you get out of the house?”

Though he was the answer to her prayers, Matt didn’t respond. Instead he caught her and pulled her deeper onto the porch with him. Molly wiggled again. Matt peeked inside the coat to see for himself that his baby was okay.

“Thank you,” he whispered to Cass. “Now let’s get out of here.”

But that thank-you must have tempted fate because they’d only taken a few steps from the cover of the porch when Cass felt something was wrong. She didn’t know what exactly. Until she glanced over her shoulder and spotted a man to their right.

Dominic.

He didn’t look especially harried, though he’d probably had to run to make his way around the house while dressed in a tux. Still, despite the freezing temperatures and the wind, Dominic managed to look calm and collected.

Except for his gun.

He was carrying a semiautomatic pistol rigged with a silencer. Probably so his guests wouldn’t hear their host firing shots.

“Cassandra,” he mocked, snaring her gaze. “You’re looking lovelier than ever. I love what you’ve done with your hair.”

Matt tried to push her behind him, but it was too late. Dominic lifted his gun and took aim at Matt.

T
HIS WAS NOT THE WAY
Matt wanted his daughter’s rescue to play out. Dominic was a dangerous, cold-blooded killer, and he was the last person that Matt wanted involved in this.

Matt kept a firm grip on his Glock and calculated when and how he needed to lunge at the man. His chances of not being shot were slim, but he really didn’t have a choice.

“I would like to have an excuse to kill you, Agent Christensen,” Dominic warned. Another guard came rushing around the house to join his boss. “But I don’t want it to happen here.”

Matt froze, not just because of the guard but because of Dominic’s comment. “You know who I am?”

He nodded. Smiled. The facial gesture looked totally out of place.

“Mind telling how?” Matt asked.

“It’s not important.” Dominic turned that frosty gaze back to Cass. “I’m guessing that beneath your coat you have the baby I adopted for my sister. So, without doing anything else that’ll make me more irritable than I already am, bundle Molly in your coat and put her on the garden room porch, in the corner.”

Matt didn’t know what to make of that order. On the one hand, it would take Molly out of the line of fire. But it would also put her out of Matt’s reach. When Cass and he finally made a run for it, he would have to figure out how to get Molly.

Next to them, the guard that Matt had choked unconscious stirred, and the man struggled to get to his feet.

“Go inside,” Dominic ordered the man. “Later, you can explain to me how you allowed these two to get into the house in the first place.”

“We were shorthanded,” the guard explained. “You said you wanted everyone searched before they came into the party. That’s why there were only two of us back here.”

“I said later,” Dominic snapped. “Though I doubt your excuse will sound any better then.”

Once the guard was back inside, Dominic returned his attention to Cass. “Put the baby on the porch,” he repeated, sounding impatient now.

Cass looked at Matt, apparently waiting for him to give her the okay. Matt nodded, and she did as Dominic said. She eased off her coat, careful to keep Molly wrapped snugly inside. His daughter thankfully didn’t wake up when Cass placed her on the porch. He hoped the heat seeping from the house would keep her warm, and at least Cass’s coat and the porch sheltered from the wind.

“Thank you for being concerned about Molly’s safety,” Cass remarked. But there was no gratitude in her voice. Just hatred for the man who’d destroyed her life.

Dominic shook his head. “Me, concerned for Molly? Not on your pathetic little life. The only reason I adopted the kid was because Annette kept harping about it. So, being the good brother that I am, I conceded. And look where it got me.”

Though it was freezing, Matt could practically feel his blood boil over at that. This was his child, more precious to him than life itself, and Dominic didn’t care one iota about her.

“The adoption was illegal,” Cass pointed out.

Why, Matt didn’t know, but he didn’t think he would like where this conversation was going.

Dominic nodded and brushed away some snowflakes that whirled onto his face. “A pity, that. Because without the adoption, Special Agent Christensen wouldn’t be on my estate causing me such distress.” His oily smile returned. “But then, perhaps neither would you, Cassandra. And unlike the agent here, I very much wanted to see you.”

“The feeling’s not mutual,” Cass fired back.

Matt nudged her arm with his equipment bag, hoping it would keep her quiet. He didn’t want her to egg Dominic on, especially since he needed her focused on what had to be done. Somehow he had to tackle that guard and Dominic at the same time.

But Cass didn’t stay quiet.

“What did you do with the surveillance disks that prove you’re a killer?” she asked.

“You tell me. They’re missing.”

“Yes, and you put them someplace I wouldn’t find them.”

He clucked his tongue. “I have better things to do with my time than cover tracks that don’t need to be covered. Perhaps you haven’t heard—the authorities like me these days.”

“Oh, I’ve heard,” Cass grumbled. “But that has nothing to do with Molly. You’ve already said you don’t care about the baby. And I doubt you care that Agent Christensen came here to collect his child. I’m the one you want.”

Dominic’s eyebrow lifted. “True. So, what do you have in mind?”

“Let him take Molly. Let them leave. Then, you can call the local sheriff and have him arrest me.”

His eyebrow lifted higher, and amusement danced over his face. “You’re trading your life for theirs?”