Susan Sleeman - Christmas Conspiracy

“I—” Jake said, but the door opened and the nurse entered, taking his attention.

She didn’t seem to notice the tension in the room, but smiled and marched across the small space. “Let’s take that IV out so you can get going.” The nurse cocked an eyebrow at Jake and the detective. “If you’ll excuse us...”

“I’ll wait in the hall to give you a ride to the center,” Jake said.

Rachael nodded, but she wasn’t sure if she should be glad for his help or concerned about spending more time with him. Especially if he thought her capable of kidnapping an innocent little baby.

THREE

Jake hated leaving Rachael behind, but he stepped into the hallway anyway, the Christmas music playing overhead barely registering as Rachael lingered in his thoughts.

Skyler followed him from the room, grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out of the bustle of hospital staff scurrying down the hallway. They must have made a sight, the small, slender woman dragging him across the hall. People often took one glance at her stature and girl-next-door look, and then underestimated her skills as a law enforcement officer.

She planted her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “What’re you doing? You want to sabotage this case before it begins?”

He’d expected her to pounce the minute they’d entered the hallway. She was fierce at her job and worked tirelessly to close her cases. He owed it to her to do a better job of containing his feelings and not getting in her way.

Still, he would voice his opinion. “I told you before. I’m not liking Rachael for this.”

“I’ll ignore the fact that you’re choosing to call her Rachael instead of Ms. Long, but physically holding her hand? That’s going a little far, isn’t it?” Skyler sharpened her gaze, and he felt like a suspect under her watchful eye in an interrogation room.

“She was worried, and I helped her through it,” Jake said to downplay his role that had gone beyond professional.

Law enforcement officers held victims’ hands all the time, but he knew in his heart that he didn’t take her hand for that reason. They had a connection and he wanted to offer her comfort.

His need to protect her had hit him the minute he’d seen her on the video when she’d bravely stood in front of a gunman, risking her life for a helpless baby. It took a strong woman to stand up to such a threat, and yet, at that moment and even later, he’d seen an extreme vulnerability in her eyes. He wanted to do whatever it took to help her.

Maybe when the medic asked if they could call anyone for her, and Jake had learned that she had no one, he’d wanted to make sure she had support. Or maybe he’d transferred his thing for protecting kids onto her. But as a law enforcement officer, especially a supervisor who should set an example for others, he had to step back, put up a professional wall and not let her distress get to him.

And, of course, Skyler picked up on that.

“You better make sure that’s all it is,” she continued. “Because despite what we think about Ms. Long, she has to remain a suspect. Especially since she admitted to a special bond with Kelly, and she often takes care of her. Maybe she thinks since her husband died, she’ll never have a child of her own. Maybe she thinks she’d be a better mother than Ms. Baldwin, that she’d be doing Kelly a favor by taking her.”

“If that’s the case, she wouldn’t go about it in such a violent way, and she certainly wouldn’t risk being drugged.”

“Maybe not, but unless you stop with the whole protective thing and allow me to question her thoroughly, we won’t get anywhere in this case.”

“Did you consider the fact that as a child care director, she couldn’t possibly have a sketchy past? Not with the way child care workers are vetted in Oregon.”

“Be that as it may, I need to do a thorough job, and you’re getting in my way of finding this creep.” The color in her face drained away, and she looked like she might be ill.

“Are you okay?”

She grabbed the wall and took long breaths as she ran a hand over her face. “I’m fine, and let’s not change the subject. I need your help, Jake. Not your interference.”

Jake leveled his gaze on her. “When the nurse is finished, we’ll talk to Rachael again.”

“No, I’ll talk to her.” Skyler raised her shoulders, which she often did to make herself seem bigger, but one hand lingered on the wall. “You may be my supervisor on the team, but you have no say in my detective duties, and you’ll stay out here.”

Jake smiled wryly at Skyler putting him in his place. “I’ll come with you, but you can do all the talking.”

“It’s best if I go in alone.”

He knew he should stand down. Take off. Leave Rachael behind as he did with victims on all other callouts, but he couldn’t make his feet head in the opposite direction. He could temper his actions, though, and move closer to toeing the official line.

“Tell you what,” he said. “I’ll find out where Rachael keeps her iPad, and then, while you question her, I’ll head over to the center to pick it up so she can make her calls. When you’re finished, I’ll escort her home and stay with her until we can assign a protection detail.”

Skyler’s gaze didn’t lighten up. “I know the kidnapper said he would kill her, but do you think he’ll keep coming after her?”

“It didn’t sound like an idle threat. As long as we aren’t showing up at his door to arrest him, he has to know we haven’t identified him, giving him a chance to stop her from doing so now or accusing him in a trial.”

“You’re right. She needs protection.”

He held out his hand. “Then we have a deal?”

“Deal.” She sounded reluctant but shook his hand.

“Let me just tell Rachael about the change in plans, and she’s all yours.”

As they stepped to the door, Skyler’s phone rang. “I need to take this, but I’ll make it quick.”

He pushed through the door and found Rachael lying back on the bed, her eyes closed. He studied her face, the high cheekbones and long eyelashes lying on them. Her face hadn’t regained much color, and her breathing still seemed shallow. He wished she would wake up so he could get a read on how well she was coping before Skyler came into the room.

The wish mimicked the one he’d made at the US embassy in Nairobi. A wish for his parents and his younger sister and brother.

Even in twenty-plus years, the incident hadn’t faded from his memory. He could still hear the earth-rending explosion, feel the ground rumbling under his feet and taste the dust filling the air. He’d been only thirteen, but in that instant, he knew his family was in trouble. He’d charged down the road only to learn the rubble trapped his family, and he could do nothing to help. He hadn’t been there when they’d needed him, and the bomb ensured they wouldn’t ever wake up again.

If he’d been at the embassy instead of slipping out to hang with friends his parents didn’t approve of, he could have helped. Sure, he was only a teenager, but he lived every day with the certainty that he could have done something to save their lives. At the funeral, he’d promised his parents that he’d make up for not being there for them, and he’d devoted his life to helping others in need.

An ache in his chest caught his attention. The deputy-inflicted bullets bruised his flesh, but the loss of his family overtook the pain. He’d managed to keep the familiar ache at bay for many years. Today, though, the sting raked through his body as intensely as the day they’d died.

“Why you, Rachael Long?” he whispered. “Why, after all these years, are you bringing out feelings I thought were long gone?”

“Did you say something?” Skyler asked, stepping up behind him.