LITMIR.BIZ

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never showed, so they headed to the hospital, a two-hour drive from Caracas.”

      He and Keri had argued that first time he’d met her, but that wasn’t something he would tell Joe. In the end, she hadn’t taken his advice, had specifically gone against it, in fact, because she felt she had to, that Escobar’s survival depended on it.

      “She didn’t call you?” Joe asked.

      “They hadn’t hired me, but when the copter didn’t show, she did call me.” He’d told her to stay put, but she’d insisted the transplant team wouldn’t wait long before contacting the next person on the list. “What was I supposed to do? Let her take Escobar alone? Unfortunately, for medical reasons, she refused to wait. I met them on the road to Caracas, but it was too late. We were accosted by armed men, forced into their van, blindfolded and taken to a location miles away.”

      Jake dumped his coffee down the drain, the taste suddenly bitter. “It was an inside job, involving someone at the hospital who knew all the details—Escobar’s address and when he would be on his way. The helicopter was prevented from taking off. My presence was a surprise, but everything else was according to plan. They knew they could get a lot of money for Escobar anytime, but especially right at that moment, when his life depended on it.”

      Joe joined him at the sink. “So he was ransomed?”

      “Within hours.”

      “But not you?”

      “Or Keri.” The leader of the gang, a loose cannon named Marco, had taken a fancy to her. They’d decided to demand a ransom for Jake but keep Keri for a while. Jake wouldn’t give them a contact for himself. He wouldn’t leave Keri alone, period.

      “What happened?”

      “One of the kidnappers got us out.” There was much more to it, of course, an internal power struggle, a disgust of Marco’s intentions by José, the man who helped Jake and Keri escape. José had been killed for it.

      “So, when you were home over Labor Day last year,” Joe said, “this had already happened? That was why you were keeping to yourself so much?”

      “Yeah.”

      “How does Keri fit in? Why didn’t she come back with you?”

      Jake rested a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “That’s all I want to say about it for now. And it’s between us, okay?”

      “Hey. Goes without saying, Jake.”

      The sound of the front door stopped further conversation.

      “Where are my boys?” Aggie’s voice filled the house.

      “In the kitchen, Mom,” Joe called out, then fired a “good luck” look at Jake.

      Aggie breezed through the doorway. She was a vibrant sixty-seven-year-old widow of ten years with a great laugh and a big heart. The McCoy children had been raised to know unconditional love—and little privacy, which some of her children handled better than others.

      “I saw your car out front,” she said to her oldest son, passing him a plastic container. “Apple turnovers.”

      “I was coming to see you next,” Jake said honestly, giving her a hug.

      “Isn’t this a rare treat, having all my boys here at the same time.” She accepted the mug of coffee Donovan handed her. “I expect you’ll be gone soon, though, hm, Donny?”

      He shrugged. “I’m thinking I’ll hang around a while longer, if Joe doesn’t mind. Or maybe I’m cramping your style?”

      Joe looked over the rim of his mug at Donovan. “Nana Mae’s going to need some help now that Keri has moved out.”

      Jake laughed. He’d missed this, being with his family, the comfort of familiarity, even as he didn’t know them as well as he used to or should.

      “Didn’t you hear?” Aggie said. “Dixie’s moved in with Mama to help.”

      All eyes turned to Joe. Jake wondered why his youngest brother and the love of his life, Dixie, hadn’t managed to find their way back to each other this time. They’d never stayed apart more than a month before, and this made six months.

      “Good of her.” Joe turned away as he spoke. He rinsed out his mug and set it in the sink, the motion deliberate. “Well, some of us have to work.” He kissed his mother’s cheek and grabbed a turnover from the container Jake opened and held out to him. “See you all later.”

      Donovan excused himself, as well, after also snagging a turnover. Jake set the container on the counter. He didn’t think his stomach was ready for the high-fat, high-sugar treat. “Do you want to go into the living room?” he asked his mother.

      “Sure. Bring those things along. You need to eat, Mr. Skin and Bones.”

      He guided her out of the kitchen. “Not now, Mom. I appreciate your making my favorite, though. I’ll take them home with me.” They sat on the sofa. He saw the unspoken maternal concern in her eyes. “You look like you’ve dropped a few pounds, too.”

      “Not too much room for food in a stomach when it’s full of worry.”

      He took her hand. “I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve gotten word to you.”

      “Where were you, son?”

      He debated how much to say. “Helping take down a kidnapping ring.”

      Her face paled but her gaze held steady. She wasn’t one to crumble. “One you infiltrated, I suppose. I’ve seen enough movies and TV shows about that kind of thing.”

      “Then you have an idea.” Although she really couldn’t. No one could imagine what went on unless they lived through it.

      “And that you probably can’t say more than that,” she added authoritatively.

      “You got it.”

      “We kept your Christmas presents,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “I figure we can have a Christmas-in-May party.”

      He smiled at that. “Give me time to shop first.”

      She squeezed his hand. “Your being home is gift enough. And the new grandbaby you’re giving me.” She settled herself in the sofa cushions. “How’d it feel seeing Keri? I’ll bet you were surprised at how big she is.”

      The understatement of the year. “Yes.”

      “We think the world of her, you know.”

      “She told me you all adopted her. I appreciate everything you did.”

      “She’s a sweetheart. And so brave.”

      Those particular traits of hers, along with extreme stubbornness, were what had led to their capture. “You’ll get no argument from me.”

      “So when’s the wedding?” Aggie asked, lifting her mug.

      Wedding? “Uh, we haven’t talked about it yet.”

      “Don’t you think you need to get to it? She could pop any second. She’s already had two false labors.”

      “She has?” He didn’t know exactly what that entailed.

      “A real trouper, that one.” Her eyes, deep blue and direct, took aim at his. “We’ve had a few ‘early’ babies in our family, but none as close to the wire as this one.”

      And no divorces. Jake didn’t say the words out loud, but they clanged in his head like the bell at Notre Dame, reverberating, deafening. “When Keri and I decide what we’re going to do, you’ll be the first to know.”

      Aggie pursed her lips. “I don’t see how there could be any hesitation—or doubt.”

      “Just give me a chance to breathe, okay?” His jaw hurt, his hands clenched.

      After

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