The Last Bride (DiCarlo Brides #6) (22 page)

“There’s so much to do.” He felt overwhelmed by grief and stress. “Natalie is still being held by murderous criminals, there’s a funeral to plan and people to notify.”

“Shhh.” Jonquil caught his gaze and held it steadily. “Don’t think about the big picture. Think about the next step. Just one tiny step, that’s all. When you’ve had time to sleep and you have Natalie back safe, there will be time to deal with the rest of it. And you have a lot of people in your corner. We’ll talk to this person now, make some arrangements for your mom tonight. Then we’ll go back to your place where you can sleep and get ready for the step after that.”

She was right. He took a few deep breaths despite the tightness in his lungs. He could handle it one step at a time. He’d done it before.

A woman came into the room and sat with them. She had paperwork and discussed arrangements for his mother’s remains. Gage told her which funeral home to call and she promised someone would contact him the next day with anything else—or rather, later in the day since it was already after 1 a.m.

When she left, Gage and Jonquil headed back to his home. He reminded himself that he’d been through all of this when his dad died, making all of the arrangements and handling the details. He’d barely been out of college then and his mom hadn’t helped with much of anything. If he could do it then, he could do it now. Of course he hadn’t been worried about a ransom demand and his sister’s life at the time.

When they reached his home, Jonquil walked back into his house with him. “You need to get some sleep,” she said. “You’re exhausted.”

“I don’t know if I
can
sleep.” He rubbed at the pain in his forehead, overwhelmed by everything that had happened that day.

“Are you hungry?”

“No, thanks.” It had only been a few hours since dinner and food did not appeal to him at all.

“Okay. You should get some rest anyway.”

He looked at the stairs leading to his bedroom, and then the big leather sofa nearby. “I think I’ll just sleep down here.”

“I don’t think so.” Jonquil led him up the stairs to his room and pulled off his shirt.

“I thought we were just going to be kissing friends,” he said, interest flaring inside him.

“Don’t get any bright ideas,” she said, dryly. “You’re holding yourself like a piece of cooked spaghetti. I’m just helping you get into bed. I’m not joining you there.” She nudged him to sit on the edge of the bed and started on his shoes and socks.

“Too bad. I could use some company.” She was so beautiful, and thoughtful, and sassy all at once. Why had he been pushing her away all of this time? He couldn’t remember, and right now he really didn’t want to. He wanted to be surrounded by her warmth and softness, to block out everything else around him and pour every ounce of his concentration on something lovely.

Jonquil set down his foot; they were both bare now. “I won’t say I’m not tempted, but I don’t want to be a convenience for you, someone you turn to physically because you’re in distress and then walk away from in a few days when you’re back under control. I’m not willing to go there unless it’s going to actually mean something to you. So you’ll sleep here and I’ll go back home and tomorrow you’ll be ready to face the day again.”

He couldn’t help but feel disappointed, even if she was right. “There’s some Tylenol PM in my bathroom cupboard. Can you get me some?”

“You honestly think you’ll need help to sleep tonight?” One of her perfect eyebrows lifted at him.

“Trust me.” Falling asleep would be cake. Staying that way with everything rolling in his head would be another issue. And the headache needed some attention as well.

She nodded. “I’ll be right back.” When she returned with a glass of water and two white tablets, he downed them both gratefully.

“I’ll call the guys to let them know what’s up, okay?” Jonquil pushed the hair back from his face.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” He’d thought about it on the drive back, but had been too tired to think of anything after reaching his house. Anything but how good she smelled and how sweet she was.

Yeah, she was probably right about waiting on the physical stuff for now. Except this. He scooped his hand behind her neck and drew her close for a goodnight kiss. It was long and languid, passion building as an urgency for more rose inside his chest.

Realizing he was only moments from pulling her down to the blankets, he made himself end it. She’d said no, so he’d respect that. Even if it killed him. “Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll call you in the morning.”

He shucked off his jeans and drifted off to sleep as he heard the front door close a moment later.

Though nightmares had plagued his sleep, Gage still felt better when he got up at eight that morning. He could hear noises downstairs and reached for the gun in his nightstand, then Vince’s laugh filtered up to him and he relaxed. If Vince was there, everything was fine.

Gage was hit by the memory of his mom’s death the previous night and leaned back against the headboard, the pain in his chest stealing the breath from his lungs. Gasping a little at first, he forced himself to breathe in and out a few times as he pushed back the ache enough to function. He got out of bed to take a shower.

There was a full day ahead of him and he was going to face it head-on.

When he came down the stairs fifteen minutes later, Vince, the detective and a couple of other guys Gage didn’t recognize stood around the kitchen drinking coffee and munching on donuts someone brought in. Vince must have used his key to get in and let the others in.

“Hey,” Vince said, walking over to him. “Sounds like last night was pretty awful. You should have called me.”

“It was a crapfest,” Gage corrected as he poured himself the end of the coffee. Jonquil’s words the previous night echoed in his head. “I was too tired to move by the time we got back here. Jonquil went down with me.” He took a sip of his coffee and fought back his emotions, needing to be in control today, at least. “Let’s focus on today. One step at a time. We’ll get Natalie home safe and go from there.” Jonquil had been right, it was the only way to deal with what lay ahead of him.

Jonquil called to check on him around nine and Blake and Joel showed up with the full hundred grand in twenties and fifties as directed. The duffel they brought with them was smaller than the one he took to the gym, and weighed about twenty pounds.

“Any news yet?” Joel asked as his eyes automatically quartered the room, checking out the men and equipment they’d brought with them.

“Nope or you would have heard.” Gage was glad Vince was handling phone calls and text messages from concerned friends, though it left Gage with too much time to worry. He cracked his knuckles. “I’m all tied up in knots. I want to be doing something.”

“All right, then let’s do something.” Joel pulled him aside. “I know the cops are going to try to do the drop-off for you, but if the guy on the phone doesn’t let you do that, we should discuss a few things to watch for.” Joel went on to run Gage through several scenarios that could happen, what could go wrong, and the kinds of things he could control to prevent that.

Gage would have expected the discussion to make him more uptight, but it calmed him instead, giving him something to focus on, something he might be able to handle and control—at least a little. All the same, he hoped one of the cops could do the drop off instead of him. He was afraid he would screw something up that would get Natalie killed.

When Jonquil arrived at lunchtime with a selection of food from the hotel kitchens, Gage’s anxiety about the call had risen again from waiting and was reaching the breaking point.

“Thanks for bringing food in,” he said when she had set down her load and walked over to join him.

“No problem. Rosemary organized it all and packaged it up for you.” She slid into his arms. “Everyone’s sending you positive thoughts or prayers or whatever works for them.”

“Thanks. I can use it.” He pulled her close, appreciating the warmth and comfort she so easily offered.

“Have you contacted people about your mom? Do you need me to make calls or anything?”

“Vince and Jeremy helped me call close family and a couple of her friends. They’ll spread the word for me.” He couldn’t think about that right now, though, needing to focus on today instead. “When do you have to go back to work?”

“Not for a few hours. We got everything set up except for a few last-minute items and my assistant is handling that. I’ll go back before the ceremony for a last check tonight. Let’s get you something to eat.” She pulled him back to the counter and they filled plates for him and the rest of the men.

Another hour was coming to a close and Gage was pacing the living room when the phone finally rang.

He waited for the second ring before answering it—the call was from a blocked number. “Hello, this is Gage.”

“Do you have the money ready?” the male voice from yesterday asked.

“Yes, I’ve got it. You said I could talk to my sister.”

“She’s right here.” There was a moment of silence and Natalie’s voice came on the phone, high pitched and scared. “Gage, I’m fine, they didn’t hurt me yet. But they will if they don’t get the money. Please pay them.”

“I will, it’s okay. I—”

“That’s enough,” the man’s voice interrupted. “You know she’s okay, so you’re going to follow my directions exactly, aren’t you? You and nobody else. I better not see any cops.”

“I understand. Where do you need me to meet you?”

“There’s a maintenance road on your ski resort. It passes over the stream and then moves into a clearing with a stand of maple trees.”

Gage knew the area he was talking about. Maples weren’t common in that area and these turned a flaming red against the yellow aspen leaves every fall. “I know where that is.”

“Good. Drive through, drop off the money in the clearing. As soon as we have confirmation that the money is in the bags, we’ll release your sister on the south side of town.”

They wanted the money first? “How do I know you’ll really do it and not keep her or something?”

“You’ll have to
trust me
.”

“Not good enough. I need to know she’s going to be all right.”

“Too bad. I have her. I’m in charge. We’re doing it my way. Meet me in fifteen minutes and come alone. Don’t be late.” The phone call ended.

Gage swore several times before shoving the phone back into his pocket. “That part of the resort doesn’t get cell reception because of the hills on either side.”

“Then they’ll have radios,” Deputy Oliver said.

“I’ve got your resort up on Google Earth. Show me where the spot is,” the detective said.

Gage moved to his screen, shifting the view and then pointing to the spot. “The trees make this area totally cut off from everywhere else. If you were going to watch, you’d have to be there already, you can’t possibly have backup there this fast.”

“Take me with you,” Joel said, looking over Gage’s shoulder.

Gage shook his head. “He said to come alone.”

“You can drop me over here, out of sight,” Joel pointed to the map. “I can come in the back way to cover you.”

“You’re not going in,” the detective denied. “It’s the job of the police.”

Joel turned his dark, fathomless eyes on the detective. “You ever do something like this before? I know you’ve trained now and then, but it’s not the same. I’ve done it dozens of times with my work as a SEAL. I can slide in without being seen and get out on my own if I need to. I know what I’m doing.”

“One of my men—”

“I can’t take the chance of having a cop there.” Gage checked his Glock in the holster at the small of his back while he considered Joel’s offer. “I can drop Joel there,” he pointed to a bend in the road that would make the hike in pretty short. “But that’s it. He’s just there to cover me, not to take any risks with my sister’s life. And if they see you, they could kill her.” He shot Joel a dark look.

“You think I don’t know what I’m doing?” Joel’s face was flat and expressionless.

Gage shook his head. “I know you do or you wouldn’t be coming. We have to go if I’m going to get there in time.”

“Take these radios.” The detective fitted Gage with an earbud that was almost invisible, then handed a similar one to Joel.

“Thanks.” Gage shot Jonquil a glance, saw her smile and nod, and knew that would have to be enough.

They went out to the garage and Joel slid down in the back seat so the kidnappers wouldn’t know he was coming along if they had someone watching the house. When they got out on the road, Joel sat up on the back seat and adjusted the radio. “Look, they just want the money. If they wanted more, they would have asked for it to begin with. Hand it over and everything should be fine.”

“Yeah, so you say. We didn’t cover this scenario this morning.” Gage’s hands clenched on the steering wheel.

Joel patted him on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine. Just follow their directions and remember, I’ve got your back.”

Gage nodded and focused on getting to the drop-off location on time.

The dirt road could stand to be re-graded—though with their other expenses, that wasn’t happening for another year. The washboard surface had Gage clenching his teeth as he rushed over it, checking his watch and wondering how much longer it would take to arrive. He slowed and let Joel out around a bend, then continued in the rest of the way, taking it slower to give Joel a chance to get into position on a rise to the north of the clearing.