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Christmas Conspiracy
Robin Perini
“Are you okay?”
“I’m great.” Logan shifted so Kat wouldn’t see the bullet tear just above his shoulder blade. The wound wasn’t bad, and he welcomed the pain. Better the one in his body than the one ripping through his heart.
“Logan—” she began.
“Don’t, Kat. Not yet.” He didn’t know what to feel except that he had two kids out there who could be in danger and their mother had lied to him for three years. She could have found him any time she wanted. Lived like the princess she apparently was in real life.
The SUV pulled up to a small, wood-sided house.
Kat clutched at the door handle but Logan gripped the latch to keep her from opening it.
Kat glared at Logan. “I’m going in. They’re my kids.”
His temper blew. “Get this straight, princess. Those are my kids, too, and we’re going to have one hell of a talk about that once everyone’s out and safe.”
About the Author
Award-winning author ROBIN PERINI’S love of heart-stopping suspense and poignant romance, coupled with her adoration of high-tech weaponry and covert ops, encouraged her secret inner commando to take on the challenge of writing romantic suspense novels. Her mission’s motto: “When danger and romance collide, no heart is safe.”
Devoted to giving her readers fast-paced, high-stakes adventures with a love story sure to melt their hearts, Robin won the prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award in 2011. By day she works for an advanced technology corporation, and in her spare time you might find her giving one of her many nationally acclaimed writing workshops or training in competitive small-bore rifle silhouette shooting. Robin loves to interact with readers. You can catch her on her website, www.robinperini.com, several major social-networking sites or write to her at PO Box 50472, Albuquerque, NM 87181-0472, USA.
Christmas
Conspiracy
Robin Perini
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For the real Lanie and Hayden—and their amazing
big sister, Haley. You are the light of my heart,
dear ones. I love you. Always and Forever.
Sometimes a book takes sheer grit and will to finish.
I’m blessed to have a best friend who stood beside me.
This one is yours, Claire. Because you not only
had my back, you carried me!
Prologue
“We start again,” the voice echoed down the hall, sliding through the bars to reach Daniel.
He hated the perfect English accent, could feel himself sweat awaiting his own daily interrogation.
“Why did King Leopold hire Logan Carmichael again?”
A gut-wrenching howl echoed through the prison’s stone passageway. Daniel flinched. If only he could manage to escape, but beaten and bound to a chair, he was at the sadist’s mercy.
“Traitor,” the unknown prisoner down the hall challenged.
“Silence! I have more than one way of getting this information, and you are not that important to me. The so-called security expert should be disgraced for not preventing the massacre in the throne room, not trusted with more assignments.” A whip cracked across flesh. “What has Carmichael been commanded to do?”
Daniel tried to force his eyes open, but they’d swollen shut, and dried blood sealed the lids tight. He yanked on his ropes. A warm trail of liquid coursed over his hands and fingers. Maybe he just imagined the sensation. He’d lost feeling in his arms hours ago and his shoulders had gone numb.
The sharp lash of a whip sounded again and again.
“Why is Carmichael in Texas? Answer me.”
The beating didn’t stop.
If Logan was really in Texas, Daniel was doomed. No one else knew he’d been in Bellevaux. No one except his boss’s enemy. A sour burning scorched Daniel’s throat.
The man screamed.
“Carmichael is not at his ranch in Carder. Where is he?”
Daniel jolted. His torturers knew too much. Daniel knew too much. God, he wished he could forget. He’d been a fool. He should’ve told Logan his suspicions from the beginning. Logan wouldn’t know the betrayer was so close. Daniel couldn’t break or he would betray Logan, too.
An ominous silence fell, and foreboding gripped Daniel’s chest like a fist. He couldn’t breathe as he waited. No sound came from the room.
Crack!
A teeth-clenched groan.
“Not ready to talk? You have one hundred twenty-six bones in all. Do you have a preference?”
Crack!
An unholy scream.
Daniel shuddered.
Finally, one word.
“Princess.” The man moaned. “Heir to throne.”
A sharp curse exploded with the whip’s next slash. A loud crash splintered through the prison. “Revive him! I want to know who the princess is and where she is.”
“No,” Daniel whispered. “Don’t tell.” He had to get word to Logan. But how?
With a clang, the metal door down the hall banged open. Sweat slipped from Daniel’s brow, and his gut tensed, the response instinctive now. Heavy boots pounded toward his cell, then slowed and paused at his cell. Daniel clamped his swollen eyes tighter, using pain to sharpen his senses. He would fight them. They wouldn’t get what they wanted. He’d die first.
He prayed he’d die first.
Murmurs filtered from outside the cell. “Open it, and let me know when the other one is conscious. Although … I may be here for a while.”
With his vision impaired, at least Daniel didn’t have to look at the satisfied expression on his interrogator’s face. He hated the guy’s icy smile. Hated that the man and his cohorts had killed so many people and no one suspected.
More than that, because of their torture, the bastards knew more than Logan did and had planned accordingly. Without intel, even a legendary former CIA operative like Logan Carmichael could be ambushed. Daniel’s capture was proof of that.
“So, the silence has been broken,” his tormentor taunted.
The squeaking iron door made Daniel’s stomach lurch. His thighs clenched, his shoulders hunched. He wanted to shrink into nothing, but fought his weakness. Even so, each soft sound of the whip slapping against his captor’s hand stung like a burning welt against Daniel’s skin.
“I’ve discovered you work for Logan Carmichael. You shouldn’t keep such secrets from me, but I guarantee you won’t keep many more.”
Heavy metal clanged on the iron table beside Daniel’s chair.
Oh, God.
The interrogator trailed the leather grip of the whip across Daniel’s cheek. “Give me what I want, my friend, and maybe you’ll live. Right now, you are the suspected terrorist who bombed the Bellevaux throne room and killed Prince Stefan. I produce your body and I’m a hero. No one will question what shape you’re in when found dead. You’re assumed dead now.”
The man leaned closer. “Only I can clear your name. Now, where is Carmichael going and who is this princess?”
“Go to hell.” Daniel braced himself. The whip came crashing across his face and the force of the blow sent the chair toppling. Daniel’s head slammed into the floor. Logan, be on guard. Protect her.
“Prepare him!”
The guards grabbed Daniel’s shoulders. Knife blades of pain shot through his arms as they cut the ropes binding him to the chair. They rammed him against the stone wall, face-first, then tethered his wrists to metal rings high on the wall. Daniel arched in agony as the whip slashed his already raw back.
“Where is Carmichael and who is the girl?” The man’s voice was deadly cold.
“I don’t know.”
“Bring the wrench.”
Daniel went cold inside, then laughed bitterly. At least if the guy stuck to this line of questioning, Daniel wouldn’t betray Logan. Daniel didn’t know where his boss was or who the princess could possibly be. The first blow of the wrench smashed his left hand. His tortured scream filled his mind and body like an air-raid siren set at the highest decibel, but no sound ever escaped his clenched lips.
Please, God, let me die fast.
Chapter One
Logan Carmichael catapulted into the fiery barn, sparks and large embers singeing his leather bomber jacket and burning through his jeans. He could barely see through the black smoke billowing from his right, but its heat scorched his lungs. Desperation clawed his insides as he raced toward the woman who had broken his heart three years ago. Now that he’d finally found her, he wouldn’t lose her again. Not this way.
“Kat!” He grabbed her bare arm. “What are you doing? The barn won’t last much longer.”
She spun around, her eyes frantic at first, then widening in shocked recognition. “We’ve got to save the horses,” she yelled over the roar of the fire and the shrill sounds of the frantic animals.
“I’m getting you out of here.”
“We can still rescue them.” She tugged against his hold. “Take your shirt off and cover their eyes. If they can’t see the fire, you can lead them out safely. Please, Logan.”
The inferno exploded through the roof on the far side. More sparks rained down. It wouldn’t take long to engulf the entire building.
Barely visible through the thickening haze, two horses whinnied in fear. Logan cursed. They were running out of time. “I’ll do whatever you say if it gets you out of here.”
Kat twisted away and dove into the first stall. She stripped down to her tank top, then tied her plaid flannel shirt around the filly’s head. Offering words of encouragement between hacking coughs, Kat backed out of the stall, hauling the terrified mare with her.
Logan took the reins and shoved Kat toward the barn door. Heat seared his hands and face the closer he got to the fire. He fought with the huge animal every step. “Call for help. I’ll get them both out.”
For the first time since he’d met Kat three years ago, she didn’t argue. He stripped off his jacket and shirt, then went back for the second horse, while she ran to the open door. When he glanced up, he could barely make out the blue winter skies through the smoke-filled opening. The fire was moving fast.
Just before she reached the barn door, it slammed shut.
She skidded to a halt, then tugged at the door. It didn’t budge. “It’s locked!” Kat shouted over the roar of flames. “We’re trapped!”
She pounded on the wood, screaming for help, then dissolved into fits of coughing as the toxic smoke swirled thicker.
Logan knew no one would come. This fire was no accident. That was clear the moment the door closed. Someone wanted them to burn.
“Cover your mouth with your bandana and come with me,” he shouted across the large room. He used his black T-shirt to filter the sooty air and squinted through the roiling flames that licked the back and side of the wooden structure. They couldn’t risk going out the front now, anyway. No telling who waited.
Logan cursed King Leopold as he threw his jacket on and pulled the two horses to the intact side of the barn. He tied them off. The conniving ruler had obviously kept more than a few secrets from Logan when he hired him to find Kat for the second time. This one might cost them their lives.
The blindfolded horses reared, then stomped down, panic-stricken, but Logan couldn’t calm the animals now. Kat would have to take care of them. Fortunately, she had a mesmerizing effect on animals, because the two were crazed right now. The fire had engulfed the front of the barn in the past few minutes. He didn’t have long to break through the side of the structure and get Kat and the horses out before the place collapsed or became one giant inferno.
He grabbed a sledgehammer from a stack of tools in the corner and swung the heavy mallet against the siding. Wooden boards shattered and a small hole yielded daylight. Fresh air streamed into the foggy barn. Again and again, he cracked the old beams, then kicked them free until the resulting gap was big enough for Kat and the horses to pass through. The large cool rush of air fed the fire. Flames licked closer and hotter. The horses screamed in fear as burning rafters and boards toppled and crashed closer and closer.
“Kat, the barn is going! We have to leave now!”
Coughing violently, Kat grabbed the two horses and dragged them toward the opening. At the last minute, she yanked off their blindfolds and the animals bolted through the ragged gap to freedom.
Logan had just reached for her when, with an ominous creaking sound, the metal roof directly above Kat’s head gave way and a heavy sheet fell.
“Watch out!” Logan dropped the sledgehammer and leaped at her.
Kat ducked, but the metal slammed her head and knocked her to the ground. Logan lifted the hot corrugated sheet and shoved it aside.
She lay still. Far too still.
Logan scooped her into his arms and held her close against his chest as he carried her to the opening that he could barely see through his blurred vision. He tried to convince himself that his eyes only watered from the heat and smoke, and not from the sheer terror he felt at the limp form of the woman cradled in his arms.
She couldn’t be dead, but she would be if they didn’t escape. The fire was nearly on them now. He yanked his Glock free and almost rushed outside, but an odd sound made him hesitate at the last instant. Was that an engine? Was the person who trapped them leaving, thinking they were dead? Or had the killer seen the horses escape and moved closer?
Another rafter fell, just missing Logan and Kat, and setting the area next to them on fire. No choice. They had to leave or die. He hauled Kat over his shoulder, then palmed the gun and edged through the opening.
He didn’t see anyone, but every instinct screamed imminent danger. A grove of oak stood a few hundred yards away. They’d provide cover. If he could get her there.
Just as he rushed out of the barn with her in his arms, a bullet thwacked into the wood over his head.
Hell.
Around the corner of the barn, a man in a black mask took aim from the window of a beat-up red truck. Mud covered the plate.
Logan turned sideways to shield Kat and fired in one fluid motion. The bullet ripped into the man’s shoulder.
He swore and his gun dropped to the ground outside the truck.
Logan quickly set Kat down away from the barn and headed for the vehicle, his gun in hand. “Get out of the truck!” Logan yelled over the roar of the blaze behind him. “Face in the dirt. Now!”
The masked man’s eyes squinted at the Bowie glinting on the dashboard, then at the gun lying in the dirt. Logan could see the cogs rolling in the shooter’s mind, gauging the layout between them. Logan’s finger tensed against the trigger, but they both knew it wasn’t a clean shot.
With a quick move, the guy dove away from the window, out of Logan’s line of sight, and slammed the truck in gear. Within seconds, Texas dust kicked up as the tires spun out.
Logan took a few more shots, but the truck had gone too far for the handgun to be accurate. Heat seared Logan’s back. He glanced behind him at the burning barn, redirecting the remaining adrenaline from his anger, and carried Kat to the stand of oak trees.
He sank in the grass and dirt and knelt next to her. Her head lolled to the side. The light hit her face. Her lips were tinged blue. Despite the heat pouring at them from the burning barn, everything inside him froze. “No.”
In seconds, he’d slanted her head back and forced breath into her lungs. Once. Twice.
She remained still.
He clasped her face in his hands. “Don’t do this, Kat! Stay with me.”
The fire and shooter had almost got them. He wouldn’t lose her now. He slammed two more breaths into her, willing them to be enough, then clutched her to him, rocking her against his body. “Come on. Breathe, dammit.”
Suddenly, she sucked in a deep breath, shuddered and started coughing.
“Kat?” He cupped her cheek, his touch tender, his hand trembling.
Her eyes fluttered. “Look after them,” she whispered. “Promise….”
“The horses are out, Kat. You saved them. You’re going to be fine.”
She opened her lips as if to say more, then groaned and her head fell back.
He sent up a prayer and felt for her pulse. The regular thud restarted his heart.
She was breathing more regularly, but beneath the soot, her face had gone pale as cream. He gently touched the goose egg on her head, and his gut twisted. She could’ve been killed. How had this happened? Logan looked around the deserted Daughtery ranch where she worked. Why hadn’t anyone shown up for a burning barn?
Well, one thing was for sure. He and Kat couldn’t stay here in case their attacker had friends to finish what he’d started.
“Kat, honey, wake up.”
Logan willed her to regain consciousness. Her chest rose and fell, but those icy baby blues remained closed. She’d been out too long. He needed help.
He sent a code through his unit’s pagers to have the doc and a full security team meet him at the rendezvous hotel. He wished he could take her to a hospital, but he couldn’t risk the exposure. If she didn’t wake up soon, though, he’d have no choice.
Quickly, he swept the car for bombs, grabbed the attacker’s gun for evidence, then lifted Kat high in his arms. Her softness settled against him. Memories of holding her assailed his mind. He hugged her close before carefully placing her in the truck.
As he pulled out of the ranch, Logan tugged his cell phone from his pocket and tapped out a number.
“Yes,” a harsh growl answered through the earpiece.
“Sergei, get His Majesty on the phone,” Logan said, his own voice raspy, but his tone brooking no argument from the flunky on the other end of the call. “Now!”
A few whispers sounded in the background.
“You dare command me, Mr. Carmichael?”
Logan could imagine the tic near King Leopold’s eye. The man’s obvious tell showed his anger, but he had nothing on Logan’s current fury. He should’ve known the ruler of Bellevaux was up to something when King Leopold ordered Katherine Nelson brought to him. The assignment didn’t make any more sense now than when he’d instructed Logan to find her three years ago, then the king had abruptly ordered Logan to drop the investigation after he’d sent in the preliminary report.
“You better start talking, Your Majesty. You lied to me. There’s nothing simple about this job, and Katherine Nelson isn’t coming near you without an explanation.”
“Your contract is with me. I sign your paycheck. Therefore, your loyalty is mine.”
“You’re not getting this. An innocent woman was nearly burned alive this morning and then shot at. You held out on me.”
“Someone tried to kill her?” The king gasped. “Nothing can happen to her, Carmichael. If she dies, all is lost.”
“She’s not going to die,” Logan snapped. “But if I’m to protect her, you have to let me in on your big secret. What’s your interest in her? Why does someone want her dead?”
The king let out a frustrated sigh. “What I’m about to tell you goes no further than us. No one in your company or your government must learn of this. Do I have your guarantee?”
Logan tamped down his urge to reach through the phone and choke Leopold. Logan’s international security firm had handled dozens of highly sensitive issues for the family in the five years since he’d left the CIA. “You’ve never doubted my word before.”
“You promised to protect my dead son,” the king said flatly. “His assassination is on your head.”
Logan stilled at the truth.
Prince Stefan had died in the throne room bombing. The M.O. had matched Logan’s top operative and good friend, Daniel Adams. Rumors of terrorists’ payoffs and betrayal still raced through the intelligence community.
For Logan, it was personal. Prince Stefan had been more than an assignment. He’d been Logan’s friend, too. He didn’t know what to believe. Logan found Daniel’s complicity impossible to grasp, but the mounting evidence had been hard to ignore.
If the accusations were true, Logan was ultimately responsible. He’d personally sent Daniel to Bellevaux, undercover, to infiltrate the king’s ranks and find the ruler’s enemies.
“You have my word I’ll keep Kat safe,” Logan said, softly. “Your trust in me is not misplaced.”
“Very well.” The king took a deep breath. “With Stefan dead, I need to designate an heir by Christmas. If I do not choose someone with a royal bloodline, my country loses its sovereignty and will be divided between Germany and France.”
Awareness of what the king was about to say hit Logan like a fist to the gut. His dream of a second chance with Kat destroyed before he acknowledged wanting it. “You don’t mean that Kat is—”
“Katherine Nelson is my daughter,” the ruler of Bellevaux said. “She is the sole surviving heir to the throne.”
Logan’s hand reached over and caressed Kat’s smooth cheek. She was still beautiful, but now out of reach. He had only one job. Protect her. With two attempts on her life in the last half hour, Kat might be the sole heir, but someone didn’t intend for her to survive for long.
THE PILLOWS WERE SOFT, the blanket plush and thick—nothing like the cheap, scratchy wool throw on her bed at home. Kat ran her fingers over the mink-soft cover. She didn’t want to open her eyes. She’d been having the weirdest dream. She had to wake up, though. Something was wrong. She just couldn’t remember what. She groaned, hating the headache that made her dread opening her eyes. Everything within her rejected the idea of letting in the light.
Her head throbbed, and her throat was raw. She raised her hand to her forehead, then slid her fingers over and pressed them against the bandage covering her left temple. She winced as she probed the injury. She tried to move her other hand, but something weighed it down.
Kat forced her eyes open, blinking painfully as light speared into her skull. A quick glance revealed an IV pole hanging beside her, hooked to her arm. Panic hit. Was she in a hospital? She couldn’t afford one. How long had she been out? Where were her children?
She struggled to a seated position and tried to make sense of the room spinning around her. This looked more like a hotel than a hospital.
What was going on?
She couldn’t think clearly. Something important. She had to remember. Her thoughts scattered. She felt drugged. Whatever medication was in that IV had to go. She pulled at the bandages until she freed herself from the tube and the needle.
A voice filtered in from the next room.
“Rafe, I want you and Hunter on this one. I need people who know the players and the stakes.”
It couldn’t be. The voice from three years ago. A voice that made her shiver with longing—and hurt. She’d thought never again to see the man who’d nearly stolen her heart. Logan Carmichael.
His velvet tones had whispered in her ear in the dark. She’d shuddered under his touch, then she’d run, overwhelmed by what she’d felt for him. When she’d finally tried to reach him, she’d been turned away. Life, she’d learned all too well, gave no second chances.
“You still have surveillance on the king and his entourage?” Logan listened, then let out a low curse. “The fool. I’ll be ready.”
Logan’s voice was so cold, so deadly. Kat shook her head to clear it, then groaned. Why was she here in a hotel? She’d been at her weekend job. She’d been dreaming about Logan. Crazy dreams. Dangerous dreams about horses … and fire.
Memories flashed. The fire! She gasped for air. “Logan!”
She struggled to her feet and the room swirled around her.
Someone had locked them in the barn.
Someone had tried to kill them.
Logan dashed into the room, catching her as she fell against the nearby bureau. “What are you doing out of bed?”
She clung to him, hating the way the room spun in crazy circles. “I don’t know what we’re doing here, but I have to leave. Now. Oh, God, how long have I been out?”
“A couple hours. You’ve been sedated.”
“I have to go home.” The twins. They’d be upset. It had to be at least noon. And Paulina, the babysitter. Kat was so late. She tried to push past Logan. “I have responsibilities.”
Logan placed her back on the bed, and pressed her shoulders into the down pillow. He hovered over her. “You were severely dehydrated, suffering from exhaustion, thrashing and crying out in your sleep. I couldn’t take a chance that you’d hurt yourself.”
She stared into his face, struggling to keep it in focus, stunned he wasn’t a dream. She’d had enough over the past three years to wonder. She blinked. He was real. He’d changed. Oh, his brown hair was still cut short, a tad longer than a military cut, and he’d lost some weight, but more than that. His hazel eyes were stressed and tired in his lean face, but she also saw something in them she didn’t expect. Concern? Worry? For her?
Feeling woozy, unable to help herself, she let her hand hover over the scar marring his cheek, a scar that hadn’t been there three years ago. She wanted to touch him, but she couldn’t let herself. She had more than her own wishes to think about now. “I need to go home. You have to take me there.”
He clasped her hand in his. “Kat, it’s going to have to wait.”
“Not happening, Logan. I need to leave and there’s something I have to tell you on the way. You’re not going to li—”
The bedroom door slammed open.
“What do you think you’re doing, Carmichael? You will not touch her.”
A distinguished man, his salt-and-pepper hair perfectly styled, and dressed in a suit that must have cost two years’ salary, strode in. He acted as if he owned the world, and two hulking figures trailed behind him like mindless minions.
Logan turned, shielding her from view. Kat shoved at him to move aside but he planted his feet and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Are you trying to get her killed?” Logan’s soft voice dripped ice from every word. “I told you not to come here. What if you were followed?”
One of the burly bodyguards pushed to the fore. “You will not speak to His Majesty in that tone.”
Without moving, Logan stared the man down. “Back off, Sergei. I’m in no mood to play protocol games. I said I’d arrange the meet.”
“And no one commands the King of Bellevaux,” the ruler snapped, his accent deepening. “My business cannot wait. I have less than two weeks to ensure my daughter doesn’t embarrass me or her country.”
Kat leaned against the bed, the king’s words swirling in her mind. Okay, the sedative might still be wreaking havoc in her system, but the royal invasion had been doing a fine job of clearing her head until that bizarre comment. Who was this guy’s daughter?
Logan’s voice turned lower and deadlier. “And I’m responsible for making sure Kat stays alive, which you don’t seem to care about since you kept her true identity from me until it was almost too late.”
The king’s face reddened. “You found her. I’m here to claim her. Now step away from my daughter!”
“Excuse me? I’m not an object, and I am definitely not your daughter.” Kat peered around Logan and tumbled over the side of the bed, landing in a heap. He knelt to help her, but she shoved him aside and stood, fighting the dizziness. “Logan, what’s going on? Who is this joker?” she asked, praying her head would stop pounding.
Her ex-lover turned, and she gasped at the tension in his jaw making his scar stand out in relief. Logan let out a stream of air. “He’s your father. King Leopold of Bellevaux. You are Princess Katherine, his only heir.”
No. This couldn’t be happening.
“That’s why you showed up out of nowhere this morning? For him?”
The truth flickered in Logan’s guilty gaze.
A fledgling hope that he’d come for her after all this time went up in flames as hot and deadly as the barn fire. More and more of the sedative’s effect faded. She turned away from Logan to stare at the stranger who was supposedly her father. King Leopold. Impossible. She felt no bond with him.
The man, wearing Armani, looked her up and down as if he were studying a filly to purchase. “Good cheekbones. Passable figure. Maybe we can gloss over the cowgirl foolishness. I think we can make something of her. Bring her,” he said to the man at his side and turned his back. “We’ll begin her training on the plane.”
“Now hold on a minute—”
Sergei started toward her and Kat stepped back, looking for an escape. “I’m not going anywhere, and you can’t make me.”
“I can do exactly that,” the monarch said, his expression dangerous. “I am your father. And your king.”
Kat’s knees quaked, but somehow she remained upright. “No. My father is dead. Mom told me—”
“Your mother lied.” King Leopold raised his chin and narrowed his gaze, looking down on her. “You will come with me now and fulfill your duty. You will be announced as my successor in two weeks. As the future Queen of Bellevaux, there are naturally security concerns, so it’s best we get you to the palace immediately.”
Kat could barely breathe. “Security concerns?” Her mind whirled as the morning’s events became clearer in her mind. “Like people coming after me, trying to kill me because I might be a stupid princess?”
Logan’s words finally made sense. Kat turned on the king. “We were locked in that burning barn because of you?”
“You will be the next queen.”
“No way. I gave up tiaras for cowboy boots when I was six. Find someone else to play dress up.” Kat shoved Logan aside and stalked to her scuffed boots, propped against an elegant mahogany dresser. “I’m not putting my children’s lives in danger for anyone.”
“Children?” Both Logan and the king shouted at her.
Kat whirled around. “Yes. My children. And I need to get to them now. If a killer came after me, he could go after them, too.”
Kat grabbed her Ropers and stuffed one foot in, then the other. She ignored her shaking hands. She had to get to Lanie and Hayden. She needed to see her kids, hug them, hold them, make sure they were okay. They were her family. Her only family.
Her eyes stung. She didn’t need some father who didn’t bother coming around until she was full grown, bringing danger into her life. She didn’t need anyone.
She chanced a glance at Logan. His expression had turned stone still. She wouldn’t have been able to recognize how badly her words had shocked him if she hadn’t watched his index finger scratching against his thumb. She recognized the sign. She’d seen it the last time while she’d hidden from him. He’d come to her house right after she’d run. He’d cursed the empty building, then left. Kat had wanted to move, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t let herself hope.
A few months later she’d learned the hard way that she’d been right. Logan didn’t really want her.
The king interrupted her thoughts.
“Your offspring. Do you have a son?” A small smile tilted his lips.
She didn’t like the predatory gleam in his eye. “What does it matter? This facade is over. Go back where you came from, and leave me and mine alone.”
She stalked to the door, grateful the sedative had worn off so she didn’t resemble a drunk on a Friday night bar crawl.
“Stop her,” the king ordered his flunky.
Sergei lunged at Kat. She stumbled away from him.
Logan stepped between them, cutting the man off. “I don’t think so.”
“You dare—”
“I dare a lot,” Logan said. “Move away. Now.”
Sergei didn’t stop coming. Kat braced herself. She’d fight. For her kids. With a single swipe Logan laid the man on the ground with a Taekwondo move. Logan pressed his arm against the man’s windpipe. “Don’t think about crossing me. You won’t win.”
Sergei’s eyes bugged out. He coughed and nodded his head.
Kat had never seen Logan this way. He was swift and deadly. She had no doubt he could maim or kill Sergei if he wanted to. The muscles in Logan’s arms tensed as he pressed against Sergei’s neck once more, then let him go with a warning glare.
“You’ve made your point,” the king announced. “Which is why I didn’t fire you when my son was murdered on your watch.”
Kat gasped.
“Yes, young woman. Both of your half brothers were assassinated. Now do you see why you need protection?”
Kat’s body went numb. “Logan?” She looked toward him, wanting nothing more than reassurance, but seeing none in his gaze.
“I’m sorry. You do need protection. This morning proves it.”
She couldn’t listen any longer. “We have to get my kids now.”
“As my heir, you are coming with me,” King Leopold commanded, his face and voice stubborn. “Logan, retrieve the children and meet me at the plane. We’ll leave for Bellevaux at the earliest opportunity.”
“No!” She’d fought too hard to take control of her life—for her and her children. She raced across the suite, yanked the door open and bolted down the hall.
“Kat!” Logan bolted after her, jamming the door to the suite. A spew of curses rose as Sergei and his men slammed against the wood. She didn’t know how long it would hold.
Kat threw open the door to the stairwell. She had to get away. She’d go home, grab the twins and disappear. Someway, somehow. She’d never let her children around the man who claimed to be her father.
Heavy footsteps pounded after her, getting closer and closer. Within two flights Logan caught her by the arm and pulled her against him.
She shoved at his chest. “Let me go.”
He pressed her to the wall. “Calm down. I just want to talk for one second. We need a quick plan.”
She stilled. “We?”
“Yeah,” he said, touching her cheek. “We.”
“I’m not going with the king.”
“We’ll work something out, but you need to listen to me.”
She gritted her teeth. “Why should I trust you? You drugged me.”
“I didn’t know about your children. If I had, I would have done things differently. I would have taken you to get them first.” Logan dropped his forehead against hers. “Please, Kat. I won’t let anything happen to you or them. I promise.”
She took a deep breath. “You’ll get me out of here?”
Logan lifted his head and met her gaze. “I’ll find a safe place for you and your kids.”
The truth of his words hung in the air between them.
She finally nodded. She needed help.
He kept his Glock ready. “Let’s go. We have to keep moving.”
They raced down the stairs. “If the king finds us, you won’t just hand over my kids?”
Logan stiffened beside her. “How could you ask me that?”
“I knew you for one week three years ago and you said you were a rancher, but you work for a king now.”
“I am a rancher. One who’s done some jobs for King Leopold over the years,” Logan conceded. At the next level, he checked the small window to the hallway, before moving on. “I own a private investigation and security firm.”
Kat’s breaths came harder, but a flicker of hope glimmered. “Can you take us where I don’t have to worry about him coming after us?” She grabbed his wool sweater. “I won’t take any chances. Not with my children.”
“I understand needing to protect your family, Kat.” He helped her round the next level. “We’ll have to make preparations. How old are your kids?”
Kat hesitated. She’d never thought to face this moment. Not after he’d had his ranch hands turn her away. “They’re two and a half,” she whispered softly, not wanting to meet his gaze, but knowing she had no choice.
Comprehension flashed across his face, and he tightened his grip on her arm. “They’re mine?”
“I tried to tell—”
Above them, a door slammed open, and he cursed. “Save it. We need to get you out of here.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs before she could argue. She’d tried to tell him when she’d found out. He was the one who hadn’t wanted her.
When they reached the second to the last landing, a masked figure, pistol in hand, rammed through the door beside them. He aimed directly at Kat.
Logan tackled her and twisted his body to shield her. Both men’s guns went off.
Logan sucked in a sharp breath. “Stay back,” he snapped.
Faster than she could comprehend, he twisted his legs into a scissor lock around the assailant’s knees and ankles and tripped him. The man tumbled down the stairs and slammed into the wall headfirst. Logan raced to follow, then stopped.
“Damn,” he muttered.
The attacker stared sightlessly back, his neck at an unnatural angle.
Logan bent down and removed the balaclava that masked the man’s features, then swore. “This is one of Leopold’s guards. I warned him he’d been infiltrated. If you’d gone with the king …”
“What if he’d gotten near the children?” She couldn’t stop her voice from shaking.
Logan grabbed Kat’s hand and pulled her to him. Kat huddled against Logan’s chest, unable to stop trembling. Please let this be a nightmare. Please let me wake up. Please let my babies be all right.
Logan looked as if he wanted to say something, but he sighed and tapped his phone.
“Meet me at the back entrance. We’re going to Plan B.” A Russian curse sounded above them. “Sergei.”
They hurried out the stairwell and around the corner.
“I’m late,” Kat said. “I need to call my kids.”
“You mean our kids?”
Kat nodded, a feeling of dread spreading inside her. “Yes. Our kids.”
“You have one minute.” He slipped a small metal tool into a locked maintenance closet door, closed them in and handed the phone over. She fumbled so many times he finally took the cell back.
“What’s the number?”
Kat told him, then waited as he held the phone to his ear for a long time.
He hit a button and waited again.
“What’s going on?”
Logan frowned. “It just keeps ringing. Do you have an answering machine?”
Her heart stopped. “Yes, but Paulina should have picked up by now. She’s the babysitter and she wasn’t planning on taking the kids out today.”
“Well, the machine didn’t answer and neither did anyone else.”
THE THRONE ROOM WAS EMPTY.
It wouldn’t be for long.
The double doors whispered open and cautious footsteps crossed the marble floors toward the spot where the duke stood admiring the way the gold-plated walls glistened.
He ignored the simpering fool behind him and continued his perusal.
After the redecoration in the wake of the recent massacre, this was now a room befitting his future plans for Bellevaux. No longer would it simply be a tourist destination wallowing in a glorious past. Countries would be courting Bellevaux’s resources for the first time in a half century.
Rare earth metals were prized on the black market for weapon development. All he needed to take his place in Bellevaux’s history were the right partners. The man who could parlay the metals into money had landed in his lap. His greater dilemma—a princess with a royal bloodline accepted by the people. Leopold’s daughter was perfect, no matter how common. Once he had an heir off her, the American cowgirl could be disposed of. Everything was falling into place. As long as he maintained control.
“We have a problem, Your Grace.”
The Duke of Sarbonne turned. “Did I grant you permission to speak, Niko?”
His advisor swallowed. “I beg your pardon.”
“Very well.” The duke nodded. “I’m beginning to believe our friends in America are not as competent as they claimed. Too many mistakes. Too long to gather information. Perhaps they have no stomach for what is required.”
“There is news,” Niko’s voice rushed out. “The princess has children. One is rumored to be a boy.”
The duke stilled.
“Your Grace?”
“Leave me,” he snapped.
“As you wish.” Niko bowed, his entire body shaking.
The doors whispered shut. The duke placed his hands behind his back and studied the exquisite tapestry from the Middle Ages depicting his ancestor in ruthless battle as that duke defeated his brother and seized the crown of Bellevaux. The sword the man had used hung prominently behind the throne now. Luminal would probably still reveal the ancient blood of those fools who sought to challenge.
Modern-day warfare required a different manner of weapon, but the duke intended the present outcome to be no less lethal. He retrieved his cell phone from his pocket.
“I assume you’ve heard about the … complications?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Or should I say Your Majesty.”
“Soon.” He liked the way the title sounded. Before too long, the entire country would embrace him as such. “Eliminate them, but the princess must live.”
“Your Grace—”
“I told you, Victor, I need a princess. Take care of her illegitimate litter and you’ll have all the rare earth metals you can mine.”
“Then it will be done … Your Majesty.”
“Victor, I’m not finished. Any mistakes, and I will be … disappointed.” Sarbonne smiled at the memory of his morning’s activities. “A state which has proved … most unhealthy … for others in the past.”
Chapter Two
Logan pulled Kat around to the service elevator and punched the basement button. He didn’t want to meet anyone else. One bullet wound near his shoulder was enough for now. Good thing it wasn’t bad. He couldn’t deal with first aid until later, so the cloth napkin he’d stolen off a breakfast tray would have to suffice for a bandage.
Logan’s mind spun at the strange new truths shoved at him over the last few minutes. Kat was a princess. He was a father. No one was answering the phone where his children were supposed to be.
He had children.
Twins.
If he’d only known he could have sent a security team for them. He’d spent hours watching Kat sleep while horrible things could have been happening to his kids. The realization made him shake. He’d faced terrorists in Afghanistan and Iran, double agents who wanted him dead, and that didn’t come close to his fear at the responsibility for two innocent lives. Lives he should have been protecting all this time.
The service elevator doors slid open and Logan pressed Kat behind him. He peered into the hallway, looking for Sergei, or rogue gunmen. Maids and kitchen staff bustled toward two large sets of swinging doors.
“This way,” Logan said.
They followed a waiter and wove through the chaotic kitchen, then out through a delivery door.
Stepping into the bright winter sun behind the hotel, Logan’s tension eased a fraction as a familiar black SUV with its window slightly down screeched to a stop in front of them.
Kat pulled back, her glimpse of the driver’s stern visage and eye patch obviously scaring her.
“It’s okay. Rafe’s one of my best men.”
The certainty in his words niggled at Logan’s gut. He’d believed Daniel to be his closest friend and ally. Despite his trust, Logan had to keep his guard up.
He bundled Kat into the backseat and slid in beside her, his Glock on his lap. The darkened windows hid their identity, and he gave their surroundings a quick scan. Nothing tripped his alert wire. “Get us out of here fast, Rafe. Evasive maneuvers and keep your gun ready. I’m running red.”
Logan met Rafe’s intent gaze in the rearview mirror, but his right-hand man didn’t hesitate or question how badly Logan was wounded.
Rafe pulled out, constantly checking the special mirrors set up to accommodate the temporary patch over his left eye. “Where to?”
Kat grabbed the seat in front of her. “We have to go to—”
Logan interrupted her. “Just lose anyone following us for now. We can’t chance a tail.”
At the stricken look in her eyes, his own stress surged. “Soon, Kat. This is a precaution for their safety, too. It’ll just add a few minutes.” His heart pounded at the thought of what could happen in a few minutes. Then again, if he led the killers to Kat’s house, they’d all end up dead.
Logan’s cell phone rang. He checked the number, not surprised to see the king’s identification. Logan touched his earpiece. “I’m not bringing her to your hotel. I’ll get back to you when I’m sure she’s safe. By the way, if you’re missing a bodyguard, he broke his neck in the hotel stairwell.”
Logan ignored the tirade directed at him. “Yeah, well, your �faithful servant’ tried to kill Kat as we left. The background checks of your royal guards suck, Your Majesty. Think about that.”
Logan ended the call and tapped another line.
“Hunter here.”
Thank God. Logan couldn’t have asked for a better operative to shadow the king. Hunter was on leave from an organization that was so far out of reach even the CIA couldn’t pin them down. But his friend was based in Europe. He knew Bellevaux—and its politics.
“Keep the royal entourage in your sights. I need to know who’s communicating with whom. Someone leaked our location. Twice.”
His children’s existence could have already made its way to the wrong people. Just the thought and Logan’s stomach churned. If they’d been willing to burn Kat alive … He couldn’t let himself think of worse possibilities.
“You want to bring the rest of your team in?” Hunter asked.
“No,” Logan said. “Don’t call anyone until I know where the mole is. For now, it’s just you and Rafe.”
“Got it. Hunter out.”
Logan pocketed the cell, fighting the urge to call Kat’s house again. He could see her trembling beside him, her eyes wide and fearful, her knuckles whitened. Did she realize—as the SUV twisted and turned through downtown Houston getting lost among the traffic until they reached the third ward—that Rafe was bringing them nearer to her house all the time?
Logan had found her address while she’d been sedated. Would it scare her that he knew where she lived? If he found it, surely those searching for her had, too.
Unable to resist, he tugged her hand from her lap. “We’ll get there.” He stroked her soft skin. She heaved a shuddering breath and nodded, her fingers relaxing slightly under his caress.
Rafe took another turn aiming toward the 601 loop. “No one is following us. Where to?” he asked, giving Kat a curious glance.
“Can I tell him?” she asked.
“Yeah, I trust him.”
“But you don’t trust all your men.” She said it more as a statement of fact than as a question. “You just said as much to the man on the phone.”
Logan hesitated, hoping she didn’t hear about Daniel anytime soon. No need to worry her more than she already was. “I do trust them, and I don’t think the leak is from my camp, but I’m not willing to take chances with our children’s lives.”
Logan met Rafe’s shocked gaze in the rearview mirror for a half second, but that’s all it took for the man to understand how much the stakes had changed.
Imperceptibly, the SUV sped up and headed in the right direction.
“The address?” Rafe asked again.
“Pasadena,” Kat said quietly. She gave the location in a Houston suburb. They crossed south through some tough neighborhoods. Logan looked around, feeling his tension rise as he took in the sights. His kids were living in this area? Maybe in houses like these? Neighborhoods like these?
Places where walking to the grocery store could become a lesson in danger.
While he had a sprawling ranch, with dogs and horses and acres of land, and he lived the loneliest life a man ever had. All because Kat never told him he was a father.
Never gave him the chance to offer his kids something different.
Never gave him a chance to be something different …
Kat kept looking at him, waiting for him to speak and suddenly Logan didn’t trust himself to say a word. If he opened his mouth he’d tear into her for the grief and betrayal she’d bubbled to the surface.
Women left men. They even left kids. He knew that.
Hell, it seemed to be a Carmichael family tradition to be walked out on.
He turned away from Kat, and a sharp pain sliced through his right shoulder. He hissed in a breath as the cloth rubbed across the bullet wound. Logan could feel it starting to bleed again. At least the dark leather would hide most of the blood.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m great.” Logan rubbed the back of his neck and shifted again so Kat wouldn’t see the bullet tear just above his shoulder blade. The wound wasn’t bad, and he welcomed the pain. Better the one in his body than the one ripping through his heart.
“Logan—” she began.
“Don’t, Kat. Not yet.” He didn’t know what to feel except that he had two kids out there who could be in danger and their mother had lied to him for three years. It’s not like he’d kept his identity a secret. He’d told her about his ranch. She could have found him any time she wanted. Lived like the princess she apparently was in real life.
Kat straightened up when Rafe turned the car into an older neighborhood. The homes were well kept, though outdated, but his babies deserved better than this.
Logan’s temper flared as he readied his Glock. Stupid blood loss was making him crazy, that was the problem. It was time to shape up and concentrate on the situation at hand. Volatile emotions weren’t helping now. He had to remain cool, calm and rational.
The SUV pulled up to a small, wood-sided house.
Kat clutched at the door handle but Logan gripped the latch to keep her from opening it. “I’ll go in first and make sure it’s clear.” He turned to Rafe. “Go around back and check things out.”
“Got it.” Rafe hopped from the vehicle.
Kat glared at Logan. “I’m going in. They’re my kids.”
“Get this straight, princess.” He bit the words, holding a tight rein on his temper. “Those are my kids, too, and we’re going to have one helluva talk about that once everyone’s out and safe.”
Kat’s face paled, but Logan ignored it. Okay, so he’d blown cool and calm. Maybe he still stood a chance with rational.
He slipped out of the vehicle and took another deep breath. He had to maintain control, but dread churned in his gut. The house was dark and ominously still, with no sign that two active toddlers lived there. He didn’t want to look at Kat right now. How could he forgive himself—or her—if something had happened to the twins?
He scanned the area, and when Rafe gave Logan a thumbs-up, indicating that the back of the house was clear, Logan opened the car door. “You can get out now, but stay with me.”
She didn’t argue, just hurried across the yard.
Logan kept vigilant as they reached the door. “It won’t take long for the king to discover your address. He and his men are probably on their way.”
She tugged keys from her jeans pocket and Logan took them from her.
“I go in first,” he repeated as he unlocked the door. “I’ll check the house, then you’ll pack what the kids will need for a couple of days and go. Fast.”
He pushed the door open and stepped into the small hallway. His stomach roiled. A sparsely decorated Christmas tree lay on its side, the homemade ornaments broken and scattered across the scarred wooden floor.
“What’s the matter? Why are you stopping?” Kat shoved in beside him.
“Stay back.”
“Oh, no.” She clutched his arm. “Logan, where are my babies?”
He held her and she clawed at him, trying to get past.
“Be quiet. If they’re still here, they’ll hear you.”
Tears of terror filled her eyes. Logan flicked his earpiece, signaling Rafe. “We have trouble. I need you inside.”
In seconds, Rafe appeared behind them, his movements stealthy.
“Guard her,” Logan said. “Don’t let her follow me.”
Despite her protests, Rafe firmly took Kat’s arm. Logan turned away, his Glock ready. Slow and easy, he entered the house, his movements silent and careful. They were safe. Nothing was wrong. He repeated it like a mantra. Life couldn’t be so cruel to take away the innocent children he hadn’t met yet.
Kat moaned softly. “Hayden. Lanie.”
Logan whipped his head around and held his finger to his lips.
She nodded, tears streaming down her face.
His entire body on alert, Logan rounded a corner and scanned the tiny kitchen. The remains of two tiny bowls of soup and a nearly finished grilled cheese sat on the table. Two small glasses of milk were half empty. He opened a sliding closet containing a stackable washer and dryer. Nothing. He eased down the hall checking out a small bathroom—clean and vacant. Only two more doors, both closed.
Logan put his ear to one. A grunt and sniffles sounded from behind it. His movements cautious, Logan eased it open, trigger finger ready.
A grandmotherly Hispanic woman sat in a rocker, her eyes closed, toys scattered all around the nursery. In a crib, a small girl lay sleeping, snuggled in a pink blanket. A towheaded boy hung over the edge of the crib, dangling. Before Logan could even speak the little one dropped to the floor, turned and stared up at Logan.
His eyes grew wide and serious. “Are you a bad guy?”
Logan blinked. “No.”
“Why do you look scawy?”
Flummoxed, Logan scanned the closet, trying to concentrate on finishing the security check and not grabbing his son and holding him tight. “I’m looking for bad guys. Have you seen any?”
“No. Just you.”
Logan turned back to find the kid holding a toy gun on him.
“Reach for the sky!”
Logan couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing and lowered his weapon.
Paulina’s eyelids flew open and she screamed, struggling to get out of the rocker.
So much for keeping things quiet.
“Clear,” Logan called into the other room. “I’m not here to hurt you,” he said softly to Paulina. “Kat’s with me.”
She raced into the room.
“Mommy!” The little boy leaped at Kat and she hugged him tight.
“How’s my big boy?”
“I caught the bad guy—” he pointed to Logan “—wif my gun.”
“Hayden, he’s not a bad guy.”
“He’s not?” The little boy stared at Logan, a little disappointed. “He’s on my side?”
Logan froze, his gaze meeting Kat’s. “You bet. I’m definitely on your side.”
“Hayden.” Kat swept his blond hair off his forehead. “He’s a very special man. He’s your daddy.”
Hayden turned around and glared at Logan. “Bad Daddy. Where’d you go? You’re s’posta live with us.”
KAT COULDN’T GET Logan’s devastated expression out of her mind. Hurriedly, she zipped up her son’s puffy blue coat while Hayden squirmed in her lap. Lanie, on the other hand, stood quietly, staring at Logan, her thumb in her mouth. Kat’s daughter had an old soul. She watched everything. Unlike her brother who found trouble no matter how safe Kat tried to make things.
While Rafe patrolled outside, Logan stood guard at the window, his hand near his gun, his entire body alert and stiff. Tension vibrated in the room. Every look he gave her shot daggers, even while his expression softened and a smile tilted his lips when his gaze lingered on Hayden and Lanie.
“I’m so sorry, Katerina,” Paulina repeated for the tenth time. “They’re so … lively. They chased each other and Hayden rammed his fire truck into the tree. It just toppled over. I had hoped a nap would calm them. And me. The only time to rest is when they do.”
“Believe me, I understand, Paulina. They’re a handful.” Kat pulled out her last twenty and placed it in the woman’s hand. “Thank you for watching them. We’ll be away for a few days.”
“Longer.” Logan strode over to Paulina. “Do you have someone you could visit out of town?”
The babysitter looked surprised. “I have a sister … in Mexico. Why?”
“It might not be safe in this neighborhood for a while.” Kat didn’t know what else to say without explaining too much.
“I cannot afford a visit,” Paulina said, her look uncertain. “Do not worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Go see her.” Logan handed her a thick envelope. “This will help. I never meant to scare you, and, after today, you could use a vacation. Merry Christmas.”
Paulina opened the packet, shocked as she thumbed through the bills. She looked to Kat, who smiled and nodded her agreement. “Thank you,” the woman said quietly. “I have missed mi hermana. It will be a good surprise to see her.”
“Leave today.” He gave Paulina a serious look and she agreed nervously. Logan picked up the kids’ bags. “We need to hurry, Kat.”
At his deep voice, Hayden twisted around. The boy couldn’t stop looking at Logan. Kat understood. His intensity commanded attention, and despite their lives being in danger, Logan’s presence made her feel protected and safe. But every cool glance flayed another layer of her heart open.
Kat grabbed a diaper bag from the floor and quickly added the three small stockings hung on the wall near the tree. Three. Not four. Would that change this year?
The babysitter hugged Lanie, then Hayden ran over and Paulina kissed the top of his head. “Goodbye, niño. Be good if you can.”
She hugged Kat and hobbled out the door.
Hayden grabbed his white-and-red engine from next to the fallen Christmas tree. He raced over to Logan, stared at him, then offered him his treasured toy.
“I can’t cawwy it to the car. You do it. Don’t let the bad guys get it.”
Kat’s heart jolted at the gesture. “Logan, I think you’ve been forgiven.”
She recognized the wonder in Logan’s eyes as he whispered into his earpiece that they’d be out in a minute. Slowly he knelt to take the fire truck from his son. His movements were hesitant, wary, so very different from the certain, decisive moves he’d used against the men who’d attacked them.
“I’ll make sure it gets to the car, Hayden.”
“Me, too?”
“Yeah, buddy. You, too.”
She’d known Logan as a sensual man and she’d seen him as a warrior today, but she’d never seen him like this … open … vulnerable … awed by a little boy’s trust. He ran a trembling hand over her son’s blond head. She’d never imagined Logan’s touch could be so achingly tender. Kat swallowed back tears. She hadn’t expected Logan to connect with Hayden so quickly—or to be so cautious with and amazed by Lanie.
Logan looked up and she pretended not to notice the sheen in his eyes, but she lost part of her heart to him then and there.
Or was that the part that had always been his?
“We need to leave now.” His voice broke a bit.
She lifted the diaper bag with the stockings, then remembered the kids’ presents. “Will we return in time for Christmas?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then I’ll be right back.” Kat handed Lanie over to Logan and raced into her bedroom.
She tugged a small bag from her closet, filled with a few toys and clothes she’d collected at yard sales over the summer. It wasn’t much, but at least they’d have something for Christmas. She hurried back to the living room where a panicked Logan held their screaming daughter, tears raining down her face. Hayden ran in circles around them.
Logan tried rocking Lanie, his movements awkward, but she just wailed louder. “She won’t stop.”
Rafe knocked on the door, then stepped inside. “Hunter called. Sergei and three men are heading this way. ETA fifteen minutes.”
“Take the bags and put them in the SUV,” Logan ordered Rafe.
His certain tone stopped Lanie’s tears. She blinked up at him.
Logan stroked her cheek. “You like your men more decisive, huh? Okay, we’re out of here.”
She cocked her head sideways and plopped her thumb in her mouth.
He held out the baby to Kat, who had grabbed a kicking Hayden. “Trade you.”
“Gladly.” She took Lanie, and they ran out the door. “We need car seats.”
“Done. Rafe put them in the backseat.” An identical SUV idled behind the black monstrosity Rafe had driven.
She sent him a questioning glance.
“Decoy.” He put Hayden into the backseat, nearly smacking his son’s head on the underside of the roof in his rush, then fumbled with the latches. “These are not meant for fast getaways, and we’re out of time.”
Kat shoved him aside. “Give Hayden his toy. I’ll do it.”
She settled the kids and slid into the front seat. Her heart raced. “How far away are the king’s men now?”
“Ten minutes.”
Logan quickly pulled out and took an indirect route back to the highway. He glanced at the kids. Hayden’s eyes had closed almost as soon as they started driving.
“He’s already asleep?”
“Hayden has two speeds. Dangerous and comatose.”
Lanie snuggled with her blanket and stared out the window at the passing winter landscape. Eventually, her head started to nod, too.
Logan turned the SUV north on a secondary road, leaving the heavy Houston area traffic behind. Despite frequent mirror checks, he became increasingly edgy.
After a few miles of silence, his knuckles had turned white. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” he asked. “I could have been here to help you before this. I could have protected the twins and you.”
“Don’t put that on me, Logan,” she whispered, the past hurt peeling away at her heart. “You sent me away.”
He shook his head. “That’s not the way I remember it. You left a note at the hotel! A damn note—” Logan looked over his shoulder at the kids.
Lanie stared back, her eyes bright with tears.
He lowered his voice. “A note that said nothing. You vanished, Kat. I tried to find you. I tracked down where you used to live. You’d quit your job, left your apartment. You went into hiding. What was I supposed to think? Please, Logan, keep looking for me?”
Lanie reacted to the tension in the car and whimpered, her bottom lip quivering.
Kat glanced back at their children. “Logan, please, we can’t do this now.”
“You’re right,” he said, staring into the rearview mirror. “We have company.”
“What?” She whipped around. A large SUV barreled up behind them.
Logan sped up, but the other vehicle matched their speed then slammed into the back with a jolt. Hayden and Lanie cried out in fear. Logan held the steering wheel tight and somehow managed to keep them on the road.
Everything in Kat called to comfort her kids, but saving their lives came first. She squinted through the back windshield. “I can’t see who it is,” she said. “Their windows are tinted.”
Her entire body shook with anger. Her children were innocent. She gripped Logan’s arm. “What can I do?”
He looked at her, a flash of approval in his eyes. “A van just cut them off. Switch places with me before they catch up again. I’ll try to take them out from the backseat.”
Logan shoved the center console up so they could maneuver across the bench seat. He scooted from behind the wheel. Kat unhooked her seat belt, scrambled over him and took control.
“Floor it,” he said, lifting his foot from the accelerator. He bent down and pulled a military-looking rifle from beneath the seat. He shoved a clip into it and pocketed a second.
The truck rammed them again. The kids screamed louder.
“Hayden, Lanie, there’s going to be some loud noise and bangs so we’re going to hide. Okay?” Kat said.
Hayden curled over his truck, then looked at his sister. “We playing seek and go hide,” he whispered. Lanie put her thumb in her mouth and curled down like him.
“They’re amazing,” Logan said as he reached over her to flip a switch. The back window rolled down partway while Logan crawled over the second seat and into the back.
Hayden popped his head up to watch his father. “Daddy gots a big gun!”
Kat’s stomach dropped at her son’s curiosity. She struggled to keep the vehicle on the road and maintain her cool—for the kids’ sake.
“Hide, Hayden. Hide for Mommy.”
Hayden rolled up into a small ball. “Daddy �tect you, Lanie. Don’t be ascared.”
Kat wanted to hold them in her arms, but she couldn’t. Her gaze swept back to the road and she gasped. She bore down on a slow-moving station wagon and swerved around it. A semi barreled toward them. Her heart lurched and she screeched back into her lane. The truck blared its horn.
“Keep it steady,” Logan yelled over the icy winter wind whistling through the vehicle. “They’re coming up fast.”
Bullets sprayed from his rifle. The kids cried out in terror. Smoke billowed from the engine of the car chasing them and it whirled off the side of the road.
“You did it.” Kat eased her foot off the gas. “We escaped.”
“Temporary reprieve,” Logan said. “Roll up the window.”
He climbed into the backseat. With gentle hands he comforted his screaming children. “You’re okay now. I’m sorry for the bad noise. It’s gone.” He hugged them close and closed his eyes, rocking them until only hiccups and sniffles remained. “It’s okay. Don’t be scared. Daddy’s got you.”
Kat swallowed back a tumult of emotions.
Finally, after a few minutes, Hayden squirmed. “Too much hugging.”
“Sorry, little buddy.”
“I like it,” Lanie said, and buried her face into Logan’s chest.
He kissed their cheeks and adjusted them in the car seats. His jaw tight, he snagged his phone from his pocket and tapped it. “Rafe, I left you a mess on highway 34. Take care of it.”
Logan drummed his fingers on the seat back while he listened to Rafe’s response. “We’re being tracked somehow, and if that wasn’t the king’s men, things are worse. I’m dumping the vehicle. I’ll be in touch when I can. Find the leak that’s making it possible for these people to find us.”
Kat brushed the tears of relief from her eyes and swallowed as this new reality hit her. She met Logan’s gaze as he closed the phone. “Is this latest leak in the king’s camp or yours?”
“I don’t know,” he acknowledged, “but until I find out, we’re on our own.”
PAULINA PEERED OUT the curtain and stared at the black SUV and the terrifying man with the patch over one eye. He hadn’t moved from in front of Katerina’s house. Why was he staying there? La familia was gone with the other man with the gun. So many scary people. She wouldn’t babysit in that house anymore. She was even afraid in her own house now. What if someone learned what she’d done?
Paulina’s hands trembled and she twisted her shawl, unraveling the stitches. A chilling fear had gone through her when the big man warned her of danger and demanded she leave today. She still couldn’t get warm. Maybe she should go to her sister’s house. They wouldn’t follow her across the border. Would they?
She hurried toward her bedroom to pack, but she’d only made it partway when the back door slammed open.
Paulina trembled with fright.
A huge man entered her living room, his face red with anger, blood staining his right shoulder.
“Who are you? Please go. I have no money,” she lied.
“You should. I paid you, but you failed me.”
Paulina gasped. She recognized the voice. The phone call she hadn’t been able to ignore. “But I … I … did what you wanted. You said you would leave me alone.”
“Well, they escaped. And someone has to pay.”
“Please, don’t hurt me.” She glanced at the bloody shirt. “I’ll take care of your wound. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Sorry, but I’ve been shot and the family got away. They will die, and you’re the only one who can tie me to them.”
Paulina backed toward the window, and the giant smiled, his expression evil. He pulled a huge, serrated knife from a leather sheath wrapped around his leg. He slid his thumb along the shiny blade.
Paulina gulped, her heart galloped, skipping beats. Her head swam and she swayed. “Please, no,” she whimpered. “I’ll be silent.”
“Yes,” he said softly and raised the blade. “You will.”
Chapter Three
Logan stayed in the backseat with the kids, his rifle loaded in case of another ambush. He hadn’t recognized the other SUV or the shooters, but they’d been out to kill the entire family. And they’d been tailed too easily. Only one possibility. There had to be a tracking device.
Hayden clung to one arm, Lanie to the other, their small bodies pressed up against Logan. His heart swelled with an all-encompassing need to care for and protect them. He smiled down at them, and they blinked up, their tear-streaked faces caging his soul. They had him. He’d do anything for them.
He studied the terrain. Before the vehicle went much farther, he needed to do a sweep. He hated to risk stopping, but he didn’t think their attackers would quit after one attempt. He wouldn’t make it easy for whoever followed them.
Several miles passed before he identified a relatively safe stopping point.
“Pull over,” he ordered Kat.
“Here?” She gave him a shocked look.
“Now,” Logan insisted. “Take us behind those birch trees. Out of sight of the highway.”
She turned down a dirt road, gripped the wheel tightly and guided them over the bumps and deep ruts.
Logan hated to move. He’d been in heaven, holding his children against him. He hadn’t known what to expect, but even though they’d known him only a few hours, they burrowed against him. They apparently trusted him a lot more than their mother ever had.
He met Kat’s gaze in the rearview mirror briefly. Every second with his children raised his frustration with her. It shouldn’t be this way.
Lanie stirred beside him as Kat eased the car into a hidden spot. The little girl was a strange creature, so delicate. He’d felt like an oaf holding her. He was a guy. He understood Hayden and his daredevil instincts, but this fragile baby? He worried he’d break her. Maybe if he’d been there from the start it would be different, but he’d missed everything. He’d make it up to the twins, though. That, he promised.
He didn’t know what to do with Kat, except save her life. Trusting her wasn’t going to come easy.
The SUV rolled to a bumpy stop, startling Lanie from sleep. Her wide eyes met his gaze in panic. “It’s okay, sweetie. Daddy’s got you.”
She patted him. “Daddy,” she whispered.
Hayden, on the other hand, looked like he’d had enough.
“Down,” he ordered, his expression mutinous.
His kid was right. Logan had to move quickly.
“Why are we stopping?” Kat asked, shifting in her seat.
“I’m checking the SUV for bugs. Get them out of their car seats.”
He passed Lanie to Kat then lifted Hayden. As he did, he caught the whiff of a distinctly toxic odor. “Whoa.” Logan stared at Hayden as recognition hit. “You wear diapers?”
“Good thing for us or we’d be stopping every ten minutes. They’re not potty trained,” Kat said, biting her lip, but humor danced in her eyes. “They’re considering it.”
Logan clutched his squirmy son. The imp just grinned at him, tugged at the waist of his small jeans and started pushing them down his legs.
“Uh, Kat. He’s taking his clothes off.” Logan fought to keep his son from undressing but within seconds Logan had clearly lost the battle. As much as he wanted to ignore Kat’s laughter, he was way out of his league here. Give him a bomb that needed disarming, a grenade launcher or room full of terrorists any day over these two.
He shot her an exasperated look. “Take him. I’ll learn the intricacies of diaper changing later. For now, I need to check out the SUV’s rear end, not Hayden’s.”
Logan leaped out of the car and sucked in a breath of fresh air. Man, the kid was ripe. Logan yanked the tailgate, but it wouldn’t budge. He moved to the front and turned the key, rolling down the back window as far as the damaged back allowed.
“What are you looking for?” she asked, as she quickly changed both kids, then sat them down on a blanket with juice boxes and a snack.
“My equipment bag. I have a bug sweeper in there. Those men knew where we were,” he said. “I need to check for a transmitter.”
He rounded the SUV and reached in. Part of his duffel was caught in the crumpled metal of the rear tailgate and it had been littered with bullets. Great. He unzipped the bag and rifled through its contents. The case containing his electronic detector had been decimated. Holding his breath, he pulled out the shot-up equipment. The bug detector was beyond hope.
He grabbed his phone, another link to the outside world. Supposedly secure. Only his computer expert, Zane, should be able to trace his location with it.
Logan hesitated. His gut told him to remain incommunicado. He pulled the battery from the phone and unhooked the GPS power source. He wasn’t taking any more chances. Not with his kids’ lives.
He looked over at them. Each child sipped on a juice box while Kat sang softly to keep them entertained. He wanted to watch and listen, but they couldn’t afford to stay anywhere for long. He needed to find that transmitter. Nothing else explained how the gunmen had found them.
Logan rifled through the equipment, searching for anything out of place then checked the kids’ seats before beginning a swift visual search on the vehicle’s exterior.
“What are you doing now?” Kat asked. “I thought you had a detector.”
“It’s ruined. That makes us vulnerable.” He rose quickly and dusted off his jeans. “Get everything else out of the SUV, Kat. Fast. If we don’t absolutely have to have it, we’re dumping it and getting the hell out of here.”
Logan stripped the vehicle of anything not nailed down except for his most sensitive high-tech equipment, the diaper case and one toy each to distract the kids. He grimaced at Kat’s dismay as she dumped a garbage bag of clothes and toiletries, but when he grabbed the small bag from the floor of the backseat and threw it on the trash pile, she clutched his arm.
“No,” she hissed. “Those are Christmas presents. It’s all they’ll have. Please don’t.”
At her desperation, Logan stopped and peered inside. A used train and doll lay alongside two tiny packaged toys and one outfit for each child. His knuckles whitened on the bag as he viewed the meager items. He’d known money was tight for Kat, but this? He raised his head. Embarrassment laced her gaze. Silently, he checked the toys out and handed her the bag. She clutched it, looking away.
He wanted to comfort her, but what could he say?
He slid under the car and, using telescoping mirrors, checked the undercarriage, front to back. After a few minutes, he cursed. “Gotcha.”
He showed her the bug, then smashed it. “Okay, we’re out of here. They could be close by for all we know.”
They buckled the kids into the car, but remained silent. For a brief few moments earlier, they’d experienced the initial ease that had existed between them three years ago. From the moment they’d first met, they couldn’t stop talking or touching each other. Being with her then had felt so natural. Now, the awkward silence made his chest ache.
Logan forced his mind from the past and quickly covered the pile of equipment and Kat’s belongings with dead branches and leaves. She stared at the mound, then, without speaking, climbed into the passenger’s seat. Holding herself stiffly, she peered out at the flat landscape beyond the birch trees.
Sighing, Logan took one look at his sleepy children and started the vehicle. He waited until the kids had finally nodded off before broaching the subject he’d wanted to talk about for hours. “I would have helped you any way I could, if you’d just come to me.”
Her eyes flashed with anger and residual embarrassment. “I did come to you.”
“When?”
“Once I found out I was pregnant, I tracked you down. I came to your ranch and pleaded to see you. Your men wouldn’t even let me through the gate. They said you were indisposed and nothing I said would get you to talk to me.” Pain punctuated every word. “After that heartwarming welcome, I didn’t have to be told twice that you didn’t want me around.”
Logan looked at her in shock. “I never turned you away.”
“So what? I’m lying?” she shot back. “You think I would make up a story about going to your ritzy ranch in Carder, Texas?”
He glared at her. “You don’t exactly have a great track record for reliability and honesty, Kat. Point in fact—me meeting my kids for the first time today.”
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