Kevin.” Then, still holding her near, he took out his phone and reported everything she’d just told him. “Yes, sir. We’ll be there as soon as we can get back to my vehicle.”
He ended the call and turned to her. “Let’s get you back to the inn.”
She tugged at his arm and pointed toward the road. “We need to go after them. They went that way. I...I have to find Kevin.”
She started to go around him and tried to reach for her backpack.
“I’ll get it.” He snatched up the flower-encased bundle, their gazes locking for a brief moment. “Let’s go.”
Zeke pulled her with him across the rocky terrain at a furious trot. “My SAC—special agent in charge—Max West, and another agent are already headed to the Wild Iris, and the whole team is here and scattered throughout the woods. We’ve put out a BOLO on the van and we’ve got Jake’s face plastered all over the news and social media outlets. Max made sure the locals put out an APB.”
“So you didn’t see him anywhere?”
“No,” Zeke said. “But I did find blood on some of the rocks. I gave Max the locations so the crime scene techs can do a sweep of the area.”
We had him. Penny wished they could have stopped Jake but everything happened so fast. She prayed Kevin was safe, prayed she’d been imagining those wails. She had shot toward that van but thankfully, she’d missed.
Dear God, please, please. I couldn’t bear it if my child were kidnapped. She wished this was just a horrible nightmare. Each step seemed like an eternity and each time she glanced back, she expected Jake to be trailing them.
Then she halted and gasped. “I remember something Jake said earlier.”
“What?” Zeke queried, swiping at buzzing bugs.
“He said he had a van waiting. ‘We’ll have Kevin.’ Then he went on talking about how we’d leave together.”
Realization filled Zeke’s eyes. “That does make it sound like Kevin would already be in the van.”
She bobbed her head. “Yes, yes. I think I heard my baby crying.” Putting her hands to her mouth, she tried to take another breath. “Zeke, what if Jake holding me here was all a distraction so that man could get to Kevin? And now...he could be hurt or—”
Zeke let out a frustrated sigh and took her into his arms. “Penny, think. Where did the shot land?”
She closed her eyes. “It hit a few feet in front of the van, thankfully.”
“So if Kevin was in the van, he’d probably be in the back, maybe in a crib or a seat, or you could have heard something else.” Softening his tone, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t think the worst until we can get to the inn, okay?”
She glanced up at him, wanting to believe him. “Okay. Hurry anyway. We need to find out.”
Zeke started going over things, his voice calm while her heart screamed in agony. “We know someone else was with Jake. I have an eyewitness for that. And they were in a black van. Then you probably saw the same van. The locals and the FBI are searching for it right now.”
“That person could have Kevin already and they could be leaving right now. Can you check? Talk to your person?”
Zeke took out his phone again and made the call. “Yes, sir. Tell them to hurry.” Then he turned to her. “We’ve got people at the inn. We’ll hear soon.”
Penny felt sick, her knees weak. “Hurry, Zeke. Please. We’re wasting time. He went west on the main road.”
He urged her forward. “We can’t get anywhere without my vehicle.”
When they reached a clearing, Zeke scanned the entire area and watched his canine for any signs of a scent. The dog sniffed the air and the ground and looked toward where they’d been before.
“I’ll get you there,” he promised her, his eyes as dark as the tree bark. “I can’t let you out of my sight now.”
She nodded, glad he’d moved quickly. “I need to call Claire.”
He guided her to the SUV and came around to the driver’s side.
Before she could dig for her cell phone, Zeke pulled the official-looking sleek black phone out of his pocket. “Make the call.”
Penny dialed the number to the inn and waited. “She’s not answering. Something’s wrong.”
Zeke took the phone back and pressed on the gas pedal. “We’ll be there in five minutes. In the meantime, we’ve got people already going over the area where I found you with Jake. They’re searching for the van and they might find something we missed.”
Penny nodded and listened while he spoke to someone about the location. She was still shaking and the blast of cold air coming from the vehicle’s air-conditioning made her shiver even more. Interrupting his conversation, she said, “I think we should have tried to find the van. I can identify it. Should we turn around?”
Zeke noticed her discomfort and hit the button to turn down the airflow. After discussing the situation with his superior again, he dropped his cell phone into a cup holder between them. “I have to protect you and Kevin. He’ll keep coming for you. I’m to get you to the inn first. It’s too dangerous to go chasing after that vehicle.”
Frustration roared through Penny. “I was right there! I should have killed that man and looked inside myself.”
Zeke reached over and gripped her arm. “Listen to me, Penny. In situations like this, it’s always best if the parents stay out of the way and let us do our jobs. My team is one of the best. You need to take a breath and trust us.”
“I know,” she said, wondering how she’d ever find her next breath. “I know.” She couldn’t voice the terror ripping her apart. What if it’s too late? What then?
Zeke zoomed the sleek SUV around curves and along dirt roads and watched the rearview mirror. Cheetah stayed in the back in a roomy kennel. She felt safe with these two, but Penny couldn’t relax until she knew Kevin was safe.
When they got to the Wild Iris and saw a local police officer standing with two FBI agents holding canines on leashes, her heart sank. “I have to find my baby,” she cried, hopping out of the vehicle before Zeke could turn off the motor.
She ran toward the big, two-story house, every cell in her body on overload. “Kevin? Kevin, Mommy’s here.”
An officer stopped her at the wide stained glass front door. “Ma’am, you can’t go in there.”
“She’s with me,” Zeke said, showing the officer his ID. “Her two-year-old son could be in danger.”
“He’s gone,” Rex Harmon said when Penny rushed inside, shaking his head. Rex, an avid hiker, had a room across from hers. “That man—he had a gun and he took the little boy.”
“No!” Penny put a hand to her mouth and moaned, a sick feeling pooling inside her stomach. “No...”
“What did he look like?” Zeke asked, pulling out a picture of his half brother. “Is this him?”
“Nah,” the older man said. “This thug was short and muscular with long, greasy blond hair and funky eyeglasses. He got into a beat-up old black van.”
Zeke’s eyes flared with awareness, his gaze hitting on Penny. She grabbed onto a chair, her worst nightmares coming to the surface. The same man she’d seen in the woods. Kevin had been right there, inside that van. She could have saved him.
“Do you know that man?” she asked Zeke, each word a struggle, each beat of her pulse a condemnation.
He nodded. “Possibly. But we’ll figure that out later.”
“Was