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  “Oh, that’s okay.”

  “It’s more than okay. Thank you all. I’d like to come back again in a day or two.”

  “Anytime,” Julia told him.

  “We’re just going to give you a police escort home.” Red winked at Cate. “No sirens, but how about we run the lights?”

  She grinned at that. “Okay.”

  Outside, Red got behind the wheel, waited for Michaela to get in beside him. Hit the lights.

  He headed down the ranch road behind the fancy sedan. “We’ve got us an inside job, Mic.”

  “Michaela,” she muttered, then blew out a breath. “Yes, sir, we sure do.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Snuggled in her father’s arms, Cate fell asleep before they reached the end of the ranch road.

  “She’s exhausted,” Aidan murmured. “I want to have a doctor look her over, but . . .”

  “She can sleep first. I can get Ben to come to the house. He’d do it for us.”

  “I was afraid . . . I know she’s only ten, but I was afraid he—they—might—”

  Reaching over, Hugh squeezed his arm. “So was I. But that didn’t happen, they didn’t touch her that way. She’s safe now.”

  “She was close all the time. Just a few miles away. God, Dad, she was so brave, so damn clever and brave. She saved herself, that’s what she did. My fearless little girl saved herself. And now I’m afraid to let her out of my sight.”

  Hugh slowed when they approached the gates securing the peninsula, waited until they opened for him. “They had to have a way in and out. They couldn’t have done it without the security code, or clearance. All the people coming and going today of all days.”

  Lights bloomed along the road winding up, winding away from the sea toward the multileveled house on the rise.

  A house, Hugh thought, his parents had built as a sanctuary for themselves, their family. Today, on the day they’d honored his father, someone had invaded that sanctuary, despoiled it, and stolen his grandchild.

  The sanctuary would be his now, and he would do whatever he could do to make certain no one ever marred it again.

  “Let me get your door,” Hugh began as he pulled up, but family already streamed out of the house. While his wife, his sister, his brother-in-law rushed to the car, Hugh walked to where his mother stood, at the entrance portico.

  She looked so frail, so tired.

  He caught her face in his hands, used his thumbs to brush away tears. “She’s safe, Ma. She’s sleeping.”

  “Where—”

  “I’ll tell you inside. Let’s go inside, and let Aidan get her upstairs to bed. Our girl’s had a hell of a time, but she’s safe, Ma, and she’s not hurt. Some scrapes and bruises, nothing more.”

  “My legs are shaking. It’s always after my legs start shaking. Give me a hand.”

  He helped her inside, into her favorite winter chair by the fire, with the view of the sea beyond the wide window.

  When Aidan carried her in, Cate’s head on his shoulder, her body loose in that rag-doll way of a sleeping child, Rosemary pressed a hand to her lips.

  “I want to put her to bed,” Aidan said quietly. “I need to stay with her in case she wakes up. I don’t want her to be alone when she wakes up.”

  “I’ll bring up some tea, some food,” Maureen told him. “I’ll look in on Charlotte to make sure she’s still asleep. If she’s awake, I’ll bring her right in.”

  “Let me help you get her settled, Aidan. I’ll turn the bed down—and I’ll check on Charlotte, Mo, while you see Aidan gets some food.” Lily hurried to the stairs and up ahead of Aidan.

  “We’ll wait until Lily and Maureen are back,” Rosemary decreed. “Then I think we need to hear the story from Hugh before we try to get some sleep.”

  “It’s a hell of a story. I just want to let everyone know the police are on it—and they’ll be here to talk to us in a few hours. So yeah, we’ll need to try to get some sleep.”

  While Aidan slipped off Cate’s sneakers, Red and Michaela drove up another steep road on the hillside.

  “You have to figure, if she hit the field, the fence, the cows coming out of the trees, she was likely coming from south of the Cooper place.”

  “Or she got turned around, circled around, even ran down from higher up.”

  “All possible,” he agreed. “But up this road? There’s a high-class, two-story cabin. Not much else for another mile south, and the Cooper place about three miles north. It’s worth swinging by.”

  “You know the owners, who lives there?”

  “When you work this area, it pays to know who’s who. Just like I know the people who live there are in Hawaii right now.”

  Michaela shifted in her seat, looked up the snaking road. “So it’s unoccupied. That would be damn handy.”

  “That’s my thought on it. I don’t see any outside lights on, and right there’s a little buzz. They’d have left the security light on.”

  He slowed, silhouetting the cabin in the headlights.

  “Looks like a light on in the back. There’s a truck under that carport on the north side. Theirs?”

  “One of them. They’ve got an SUV. Probably drove that to the airport. Keep your weapon handy, Mic.”

  She unsnapped the safety on her holster as they got out of either side of the car.

  “Let’s do a little circle around first. The kid said they had her in a room in the back, facing the hills.”

  “And she could see taillights when he left. The way the cabin’s situated, the switchback down to Highway 1? Yeah, she could’ve seen taillights.”

  “If this is the place, they’re likely long gone, but . . .”

  Red paused, looked up at the white cloth rope hanging out of the window above. “Looks like this is the place. Christ on a crutch, Mic, look at what that kid pulled off.”

  Shaking his head, he approached the back door. “Unlocked. Let’s clear it.”

  Weapons drawn now, they went in the door, one heading right, the other left.

  She noted an open bag of Doritos—Cool Ranch—a cardboard box holding some empty beer bottles. She smelled weed in the air as she cleared a laundry room, a powder room, a kind of hobby room before she crossed with Red again in the living area.

  They went upstairs, cleared the front-facing master suite with its big walk-in closet, its really big en suite. A guest room—with its own bath. A second guest room, then the last.

  “Smallest of them,” Red observed, “facing the back. They aren’t completely stupid.”

  “And long gone.” Michaela checked the windows. “They took off as soon as they realized she got out. One window here’s still nailed shut.” She pointed to the floor. “And there’s the one she pried out, with the spoon. Spoon’s bent and scratched. She worked at it.”

  Red holstered his weapon, looked out the window at the drop. “If that kid was of legal age, I’d buy her a beer. Hell, I’d buy her a goddamn keg. That’s guts right there, Mic. Let’s do her proud and catch these fuckers.”

  “I’m on board with that.”

  While Aidan dozed in the chair beside the bed, the sun crept through the window. And Cate tossed in her sleep, began to whimper.

  He woke with a jolt, struggled through the layers of fatigue that weighed down on his mind, his body. He rose quickly, sat on the side of the bed to take Cate’s hand, to stroke her hair.

  “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay now. Daddy’s right here.”

  Her eyes flew open, wide and blind for a moment. On a little sob she lunged into his arms.

  “I had a bad dream. I had a scary bad dream.”

  “I’m right here.”

  She curled into him, sniffling, snuggling. Then went stiff as she remembered. “It wasn’t a bad dream. The bad men—”

  “You’re safe now. Right here with me.”

  “I got away.” On a long, long breath, her body relaxed again. “You and Grandpa came to bring me home.”

  “That’s right.”
He tipped her head back, kissed her nose. It broke him a little more to see the bruise on her face, the shadows under her eyes. “I’ll always come for my best girl.”

  After pressing her cheek to his shoulder, she frowned. “I tore my sweater. And it’s dirty, too.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” To soothe both of them he ran his hand up and down her back. “I didn’t want to wake you up, but since you’re awake now, why don’t I help you get a bath, get some clean clothes?”

  “Daddy!” Genuinely horrified, she pushed back from him. “You can’t help me take a bath! I’m a girl, and you’re not. And I like showers now.”

  So normal, he thought, and found his throat clogged with tears. So completely normal. “How could I have forgotten? Tell you what, I’ll go check if your mom’s awake. She was so scared and worried, I finally made her take a pill to sleep. She’s going to be so happy to see you.”

  “Look at this!” Lily, a cashmere robe over tailored pajamas, beamed from the doorway before she went in to gather Cate in a hug. “Wide awake, are you, sweets?”

  “And too big for baths and my help.”

  Lily arched those bold red eyebrows. “I would say so. I was just coming in to spell you for a bit, Aidan. Let me and our girl deal with our girl things.”

  “I ruined my sweater, G-Lil.”

  Since Cate still wore it, Lily trailed a finger down the tear. “I call that a badge of honor. Come on, sweets, let’s get you cleaned up.” Again, she arched her eyebrows at Aidan, put a little exaggeration on southern lady. “You will excuse us, sir.”

  “I’ve been dismissed.”

  He gave Cate a big grin that fell away once he left the room. Would his little girl wake with nightmares now, and cling to him shaking from them?

  How much of her childhood innocence had those bastards cost his baby? And how much deeper than the cuts and bruises did the wounds go?

  He stepped into his own bedroom, found Charlotte still sleeping. He’d pulled the curtains over the windows himself so the rise of the sun wouldn’t wake her, and found himself relieved she’d taken the pill, still slept.

  When she woke, Cate would be showered, dressed. Here. They could celebrate that, hold that, before they talked about what to do next. A private detective if the police didn’t find the kidnappers quickly? A therapist for Cate—for all of them, he corrected as he walked quietly into the bath for his own shower.

  A reevaluation on security at their home, at Cate’s school, whenever they traveled.

  He felt sick and sorry they’d have to let Nina go. He didn’t believe, not for an instant, she’d been careless, deserved blame. But Charlotte wouldn’t rest easy until she was let go.

  As he showered, as he let the pulse of hot water pummel the worst of his fatigue away, he considered the new project he’d signed onto.

  The location shoot in Louisiana, in just two weeks.

  Should he back out of the film? Should he pull Cate out of school, take her and the tutor with him?

  Should he simply clean his plate, stay home, until he could feel certain Cate was safe, stable?

  When in uncharted territory, he thought, take one careful step at a time.

  He dressed in jeans and a sweater before he slipped back into the bedroom. No romantic long weekend in Cabo, he thought. Not now. No quick getaway without their daughter right there with them.

  Charlotte would say exactly the same.

  He left her sleeping, quietly closed the door behind him.

  It lifted his heart to hear a quick giggle behind Cate’s bedroom door, and the quick rumble of an answering laugh from his stepmother. Thank God for Lily, he thought, as he went downstairs.

  Thank God for family.

  Even thinking it, it surprised him to see his father out on the back terrace, drinking coffee, studying the hills. Aidan poured a cup for himself, went out.

  The breeze, whipping through the chaparral, the redwoods and pines, brought the scent of both hills and sea. Snow iced the tops of the mountains, and morning fog crept along the ground below.

  “A little cold out here yet, Dad.”

  “I needed the air. I sometimes forget to appreciate the mountain view. Cate?”

  “Lily’s with her. She woke up scared, but . . . resilience.”

  “Did you get any sleep?”

  “Some. You?”

  “Some.”

  “Dad, I want to thank you for what you were prepared to do. It’s not just the money, but—”

  “You should know better than to thank me.”

  “That it’ll irritate you. Yeah.” The smile didn’t come so hard this time. “But I have to anyway. Just like I have to say I love you, Dad.”

  “That doesn’t irritate me.” Hugh clamped a hand on Aidan’s shoulder. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for family. You’re the same.”

  “I’m trying to figure out now what the best thing to do for family is. I’m supposed to leave for New Orleans in two weeks to start on Quiet Death. Even if I brought Cate and Charlotte with me—or Charlotte for part of it, as she’s got Sizzle shooting in L.A. next month—the long hours . . . I’m thinking of backing out.”

  “Ah, Aidan, I hate to see you give up that role. It’s a gem. I know why you’re considering it, I just hate it. All of this. You know Lily and I would keep Catey with us while you’re on location.”

  “I don’t think I can go without her, not now.”

  No, he thought, he knew he couldn’t go without her. As much for himself as for his daughter.

  “Charlotte worked so hard to land Sizzle,” he continued. “I can’t ask her to give it up and base in New Orleans while I shoot.”

  Hugh stared up at the peaks, at the way the clouds hovered over them as if they’d drop and smother them.

  “You’re right. I’d do the same in your place.”

  “I’m thinking of taking six months off, maybe a year. I could take Cate to Ireland, help Nan settle in. They’d both love that.”

  Though it hurt his heart, Hugh nodded. His mother, his son, his precious granddaughter, an ocean away. “That might be best.”

  “I want to hire a private detective if the police don’t find these bastards, find them quick. I could offer a reward.”

  Hugh turned to his son. He hadn’t shaved, and more gray than black grizzled his chin and cheeks. “There our thoughts align.”

  “Good. Then I’m on the right track. And I want a good family therapist. Resilient or not, I think Cate needs to talk to someone. All three of us do.”

  Aidan looked at his watch. “The police will be here soon, and that’s the next step. I need to wake Charlotte.” When he turned, he saw Cate at the breakfast counter, her ankles hooked together as she watched Nina sift flour into a bowl.

  “Take a look,” he told his father.

  “Squeezes my heart,” Hugh murmured. “In the best way.”

  Hugh walked to the door, opened it, walked in with Aidan.

  “Here’s my girl.”

  He stepped over to kiss the top of her head, sent a grateful look at Lily, who leaned against the big fridge with her own cup of coffee.

  She’d pulled Cate’s now shiny fall of hair into a high, bouncing ponytail, helped her pick out jeans with flowers on the pockets, and a bright blue sweater.

  She would have looked like any pretty ten-year-old girl, except for the bruise on her temple, the dark circles under her eyes.

  “Nina’s making pancakes.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Caitlyn asked for them, so . . .” Nina sent a pleading glance toward Aidan, one out of shadowed and tear-swollen eyes.

  “I’m all about the pancake.”

  So he’d wait just a bit longer to get Charlotte.

  He caught a signal from Lily before she stepped out of the kitchen. He followed her out, and into what had been his grandfather’s study.

  Liam Sullivan’s Oscars and awards gleamed; framed stills from his movies, candid shots with actors, directors, Hollywood lumin
aries graced the walls.

  The wide glass doors led out to the garden he’d loved.

  “Aidan, you know I love Cate more than I love red velvet cake.”

  He had to smile. “Yes. And I know how much you love red velvet cake.”

  “Nina,” she began, in her blunt way. “She’d moved to the room off the kitchen because she knew Charlotte didn’t want to see her. But she heard us when we came down. She just wanted to see Cate, to have a moment. I’m going to say Cate was so happy to see her, and before you know it asked for pancakes. Aidan, that girl wasn’t careless, she wasn’t irresponsible, she—”

  “I know it.”

  At the interruption, Lily drew in a breath. Topaz eyes against her milk-pale skin managed to transmit both relief and disappointment. “But you’re still going to let her go.”

  “I’ll try talking to Charlotte again, but I don’t see her changing her mind. And the fact is, Lily, I don’t think Nina’s ever going to be comfortable working for us again.”

  “For Charlotte again.” The southern drawl only added to the bite of the words.

  He adored his stepmother. And knew he couldn’t claim Lily and Charlotte shared that same level of affection.

  “Okay, yeah. I’m going to do what I can to help her get another position, and give her a good severance.”

  “I’ll throw my weight into getting her another job. People listen to me.”

  “Because you don’t give them a choice.”

  She poked her finger in his chest. “Why would I?” Then she kissed his cheek. “Cate’s going to be all right. Some time, some love, she’s going to be just fine.”

  “I’m counting on it. Want some pancakes?”

  “Honey, at my age in this profession, I shouldn’t be in the same room as a pancake.” She tapped her own ass. “But this morning I’m making an exception.”

  Aidan kept an eye on the time as she ate in the kitchen, noted Nina quietly sliding away.

  “I’m going to go wake up your mom, baby. It’s going to be like Christmas morning for her, and you’re the best gift under the tree.”

  Cate smiled a little, pushed at the pancakes still on her plate. “Is Nan still sleeping, too?”