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“I’m feeling some of that, myself,” Wyatt said. “I think the best thing we can do for the kids is to hold ourselves together. We don’t know what they’re going to need from us when they’re found. We need to be ready to give them all they need.”

Bridget reached up to kiss his weathered cheek, letting him know she realized how right he was. “How did you get the Williamses to talk?”

“That was your mother.”

She turned to stare at Audra, who’s expression turned stubborn and angry.

“I appealed to them as one grandparent to another, though I’m not sure they deserve the title, trying to tear my grandbabies apart like that. I hope they’re ashamed of themselves. They should be.”

“Grief makes people do crazy things, sometimes.”

Audra whipped her head around to stare at Bridget. “Oh, no, don’t you do that. Don’t make excuses for them. They don’t corner the market on grief. I lost my daughter that day too. Their son was like a son to us. We’re all hurting, but we’re dealing with it. Grief doesn’t give them the right to tear apart those kids’ lives any more than they already have been.”

“I know you’re right. I still feel sorry for them. I don’t think they’ll ever understand what they’ve missed out on.”

“Learn a lesson from them then,” Wyatt said. “Don’t let yourself miss out on something special because of things which are beyond anyone’s control. If you want to blame someone, blame the bastards who kidnapped my grandkids and the nice woman who watched over them while you were at work.”

Bridget rested her head on her father’s shoulder as she squeezed her mother’s hand. “Oh, I do, Daddy. Believe me, I do.”

∞∞∞

Zane’s stare fixated on the doorway through which Bridget disappeared with her parents. Even as he tried to explain to his sisters what happened, he noticed the Kincaids leave the room and couldn’t stop wondering what was going on. Did her parents blame him too? They had every right too, but he desperately hoped they didn’t. If they didn’t, they could help him convince Bridget to forgive him. Especially when it didn’t seem like his sisters were going to forgive him anytime soon.

“Dammit, Zane! I thought you guys were professionals. If you thought for one minute Momma was in danger because of backlash from one of your cases, why did you only have one man watching over her? Why didn’t you tell us, so we could keep an eye out too? Of all the irresponsible things…” Zoe’s voice trailed off, her flailing arms coming to rest at her sides. But she paced, faster and with heavier footsteps than Zane when he paced. Zoe was the mother of the bunch when Maggie wasn’t around, so Zane felt his sister’s disappointment was more painful than a proverbial trip behind the woodshed for a spanking.

“There was no evidence, until today, that my true identity had been leaked, and without that, there was no danger of tracing my connection to you guys or Momma.”

“You can’t have it both ways, Zoe.” His older sister shot a withering glare at Zaida, who wasn’t the least bit fazed. “You’re always bragging about your baby brother who saves the world. I’ve heard you tell people how awesome he was for serving in the military and now he’s like a superhero working in the private sector. You can’t have a super brother with a job like his and not accept the risks which come with it. Momma would be the first one to tell you that, and you know it.”

Zaylee ignored the other two and placed a hand on her brother’s arm. “You’ll find her? And Bridget’s kids? Won’t you? I can’t stand the idea of what they must be going through, but I know Momma. She’ll hold on to the hope you’ll find her. So you have to, Zane. Whatever it takes, you have to.”

The tears shimmering in Zaylee’s eyes was his undoing. He wrapped his sister in a bear hug, blinking back his own tears. He couldn’t let them see him upset. He had to be strong for them because they were counting on him to bring their mother and Bridget’s niece and nephew back. Then he glanced at Zaida and realized she saw through his tough guy façade. She stood and joined their embrace. After a moment’s hesitation, Zoe eventually joined in too. He drew strength from his sisters, all special women like their mother. He would bring their mother home for them. Whatever it took…even if it meant his life.

They jumped apart when Zane’s cell phone rang. He almost dropped it trying to pull it from his pocket. The screen showed the call came from an unknown number. Considering what they were dealing with, he should deny the call, which probably came from a telemarketer. But his gut churned, forcing him to take a chance and answer it.

“I’ve been waiting for you to find me, Black. Or should I say Wilder.”

Zane moved away from his sisters, waving to Jay to alert him to the phone call, knowing his team leader would understand. He stepped outside for privacy. “How did you get this number?”

He’d heard many sinister sounds over the course of his career, but the laugh which bounced in his ear sent a chill down his spine. “You should know by now how deep my resources go. If not, then I overestimated you.”

“And I underestimated you, Reggie. Was it your idea or Joe Albert’s to come after my mother?”

“Your mother got in the way. It was the kids we were after. I would have thought you guessed that.”

Zane’s fist itched to pulverize Reggie Singer, and he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t the next time he saw him. He heard the door open, and Jay and Cole stepped out on the porch. Cole was on the phone, probably to someone at KSI to try and trace the call. He could hear pandemonium inside as people tried to talk over each other to find out what was going on, but once the door closed, he had enough quiet to hear the call.

“Let’s be real, Singer. If you only wanted the kids, you had several opportunities to jump us and take them. I’m guessing Albert convinced you to seize the opportunity when they were alone with my mother because he wanted the maximum impact possible. He does know I wasn’t the one who shot his cousin, right? That guy’s in jail.”

“We know exactly who played what role in everything. But that’s not why I’m calling.”

“Let me guess. You want a ransom for my mother and the children, right? How much do you piles of shit want to be paid?”

“It’s not money I’m after, Wilder. I have plenty of that from my line of work. I want something else.”

“What the hell is that?”

“I want the heads of Armando and Elian De la Peña on a silver platter. And I want you to be the one to kill them and bring me proof of their execution. Then you might get your mother and these brats back in one piece.”