“You do that, asshole. You just do that. I’ve got kids to save.” He waited, but nothing else came through the headset, and August relaxed in his seat, phone still pressed to his ear, but his alert posture lessening. “Is he gone?”
August nodded as Alace spoke to Owen, her voice a balm after the past few minutes of tension. “Yeah, he’s gone. I got within two miles of his location, and he shut down his transmitter and repeater. I got the MAC address of both, so if they come back online as a pair anywhere, I’ll know. Unfortunately, with the transmitter or repeater alone, they’ll pick up new virtual addresses.”
“Who is he?”
“I missed the first part of the conversation. Clue me in?”
Owen repeated the back and forth, noting how Alace allowed him to continue to the end, either in an attempt to ensure he remembered everything, or so she could experience the continuity of communication in case of a latent clue.
“Ideas?”
“I don’t like that he picked up your alias.” Alace’s grumble was barely audible.
“Yeah? Me either. Who is he?” The GPS beeped, and he glanced down to see a turn coming up. “Should we continue with the plan for tonight? Are these phones compromised?”
“Nothing is attached to your signal or August’s. I packed a scanner in your duffle. Once you stop, you should run it over the RV, but my guess is it’s going to come back clean. His point is well taken about how isolating your devices at the compound would have made them stand out like a beacon if he were already watching. If he had video and got the RV’s plates, he could have tracked back to when you got gas or anything where you used the card I gave you and picked up your name there. I don’t think he got beyond that. From his manner, he clearly thought he could ruffle you, but you bested him in that arena.” Alace’s even tone went a long way to settling him, her calm assertions of minimal exposure helping bring things into perspective. “He didn’t have August’s or Doc’s names, and I think both of them parking outside the compound are the reason why. We’re good as we can be, Owen. If he had ongoing surveillance, you’d have seen something by now. He doesn’t know where you are but took a chance you were still in the area. He’s hoping we’ll make a mistake.”
“We won’t.” Owen braked and turned the wheel, guiding the RV onto a smaller road that would lead directly to the mothballed camp that was their destination. “Not with your hand at the helm. It’s straight sailing.”
“You give me too much credit.”
“Nope.” Owen let the corners of his mouth creep up, his face still so tense it felt as if it would crack in half. “You don’t give yourself enough.”
Chapter Fourteen
Alace
Shifting Lila from her shoulder to a breast to begin the post-burp second half of her feeding, Alace found herself concentrating on the scene outside Owen’s living room windows instead of the miracle in her arms.
Eric stood in full sunlight next to Owen, August, and Doc, the men engaged in building a massive piece of playground equipment Owen had determined needed to live in their backyard. The large structure was going up about as quickly as the nursery furniture had last weekend, and with the four of them working in tandem, it looked as if they’d have it completed in no time.
Off to one side, a barefoot Kelly and Shiloh rested, their shoes lined up neatly next to the quilt. Spread on the grass in the shade of a canopy, that tiny oasis would be Alace’s destination as soon as Lila was done nursing.
She glanced down and teased the edge of Lila’s hand with a finger, smiling as the baby captured the annoying digit, holding on tightly.
This moment wasn’t one she had ever believed possible, and at times Alace still wondered if it was a dream from which she’d wake.
“I love you so much. I’ll never let anything hurt you.” Her whispered promise didn’t disturb Lila, those long curving lashes that were so adorable on a baby scarcely fluttering on cheeks so soft they demanded only the tenderest of caresses.
The screen of her phone lit up with an incoming call. Alace shifted only enough to see the name on the display, and then eagerly grabbed the phone with her free hand. “Bebe,” she greeted with a smile. “Your granddaughter is eating dinner right now.”
“Oh my darling girl, sketch in the scene for me, make me believe I’m there.”
Alace loved Eric from the top of her head to the depths of her soul. She loved Lila entirely, every ounce of emotion coming from every cell of her body.
But she adored her mother-in-law, the feeling so effortless and light it made her giddy. Phoebe had declared them best friends during her monthlong visit right after Lila was born, and Alace had preened to know the affection she felt was returned.
“We’re over at Owen’s so the men can build this huge fantasy castle for the kids. Everyone else is outside, but Lila and I are in this Victorian armchair Doc found at some auction. It’s covered in hideous brown velvet but is the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in, outside of my rocker. We’re positioned so we can see outside and listen to their laughter and chatter as it drifts in through the open windows.”
“Secluded, not isolated.” Phoebe summed it up effortlessly. “Sheltered but included.”
“Yeah. They all made sure we’d come back out soon. Even the kids. Oh, you’d love Kelly and Shiloh. Especially Kelly.” Alace liked both kids, but the way Kelly was with Lila set her heart soaring. “I know you got to meet them, but if you had a chance to be around them more, you’d fall in love.”
“Good kids are like that. They collect the adoration of adults because in them, we see the best possibilities we’d wished for ourselves.” Phoebe made a soft, wistful sound. “You must come to Malibu and bring everyone with you. Must, not should. Make it happen, Alace.”
“I will.” A promise she could gladly make.
“Give that darling child a kiss from her Bebe.”
Another promise easy to keep. “I surely will. I love you.” Alace didn’t hesitate to give her mother-in-law affirmation of something she already knew. “I’ll remind Eric to call you later.”
“I’d love that.”
The call ended without goodbyes, Phoebe having learned long ago it was Alace’s preference, and even if it wasn’t her own, she adopted it when speaking to Alace because that was the kind of supportive person she was. Without being asked, she found her place beside those she cared for and lifted them up in a thousand tiny ways. Together her actions amounted to a tsunami of love Alace was still becoming accustomed to.
When she looked outside again, Owen had separated from the group, head bent over his phone as he stood to one side. He straightened and turned to stare at the house, face set in an easy smile, and she knew exactly what he’d been watching.
She’d received another video from the hospital source in Georgia this morning, had watched it, and uploaded the file to Owen’s folder.
Rodney’s parents had been interviewed by a local news outlet. His mother had spoken eloquently of the anguish from Rodney’s kidnapping that had never faded, of being swept hither and yon in the waves of hope and despair as months and years passed without news of her child. In a scene set inside their house, she’d shared the couch with her husband, the couple somehow beating the odds and remaining a source of strength for each other. The background of the room had changed from the first video Alace had seen, detritus of Rodney’s absence scoured from existence. The doorframe leading from the living room to the kitchen held a mark for his current height right alongside his siblings. The photos on the mantel filled, no more holes to remind the viewer this couple had more children than could be seen and held.