Twin Threat Christmas: One Silent Night / Danger in the Manger

Eric waited on the porch, watching her as she ran back, examining the keys.

“I took Jeff’s keys.”

“What do the keys go to?”

“Lots of things. His office building, his office—these look like they might open some files. I know he had files, incriminating files. He was extremely protective of them whenever he had to bring some home. He never wanted me to touch them.” She paused on the porch, holding the keys between them, and looked into his face, awaiting his verdict, wondering what he would think of her idea. Jeff always hated her ideas, hated that she ever thought for herself, but Eric wasn’t Jeff. “Those files would expose Jeff. We might even learn who the real head of the monster is.”

“Do you know where Jeff’s office is?”

“Yes. I’ve been inside the building several times when he needed to run in for something. Assuming he still works in the same place, I can find it again. I made it a point to remember, if only because I knew he didn’t want me to.”

“Good for you.” Eric gave her half a smile.

“So, you think it’s a good idea?”

“To let you walk into the dragon’s lair?”

“How else am I going to cut off its head?” She met his eyes, challenging him, hopeful for the very first time. Could she really find and destroy the head of the crime ring that had ruined her life? If it was possible, she’d do whatever she had to do. It was either that or spend the rest of her life hiding in fear.

“You’re not going.” Eric shook his head, everything on his face saying he thought she was crazy. Then he finished, “Not alone, not without someone to stand guard, to watch out for you. And you’re definitely not taking your kids. They can stay here with Debbi. We can’t take your Sequoia—it’s all over the news. We’ll hide it in the garage and take my car, but we need to do it tonight, while it’s still dark, before they have a chance to realize we might come looking and destroy the evidence before we get there. I’ll drive.”

Hope surged inside her, and Vanessa’s arms flew up, ready to hug Eric for agreeing with her plan—for wanting to be a part of it, even. But she caught herself just in time, and instead she gripped the keys harder and turned, following him back into the cabin.

“Stop right there,” Debbi ordered as they entered.

Vanessa looked up to see Eric’s sister, now in her early twenties, dropping a pair of buckshot shells into the hunting shotgun Eric had been holding earlier.

Debbi clicked the barrel into place and stared them down. “Neither of you is going anywhere. I’m calling the police.”

FOUR (#ulink_b7b5014f-a7bc-5901-8ae9-81bcde4423d8)

“Debbi, no.” Eric addressed his sister in a calming tone. She wouldn’t shoot. She didn’t even like hunting. The gun shook in her trembling hands. He’d known she was terrified about having Vanessa at the cabin, but he’d hoped she’d give him a little more time before her fears caught up to her.

“Harboring a criminal is illegal.” Debbi’s voice wavered unsteadily. “We could go to prison because of her.”

“She didn’t kill her husband,” Eric explained.

“I didn’t,” Vanessa echoed.

Eric continued, moving slowly closer to his sister. “He wasn’t even her husband—legally, maybe, but not in the traditional sense of the word. He kidnapped her. She’s the victim of a human-trafficking ring. We have to help her.”

Debbi gripped the gun with both hands. “The police can help her.”

“No,” Vanessa pleaded with the same note of panic Eric had heard in her voice when he’d mentioned the police before. “The guys who killed Jeff are professionals. While I’m trying to convince the police to believe me, these guys will cover their tracks so thick the police will never find them. But they’ll find me and get their revenge.”

“Debbi, please.” Eric piggybacked on Vanessa’s words. “Vanessa has keys to her kidnapper’s office. We can go tonight and get evidence to put these guys away for good. But we have to go now, before they catch up to her.”

Debbi narrowed her eyes warily but lowered the gun a few inches. “Once you get the evidence, we can call the police?”

Eric looked to Vanessa for the answer.

“Yes. Once we have evidence against these guys, we’ll call the police. We can go and be back in a matter of hours if we leave now.”

“Please, Debbi?” Eric reasoned with his sister, praying she’d understand, or at least give them a chance to prove Vanessa’s innocence. His sister was scared, that was all. Normally, she was a very kind person.

Debbi shifted her weight, planting the gun against the floor like a walking stick, leaning against it as she eyed them conspiratorially. “Fine.” She blew out a breath that said she might still regret caving. “What’s our plan?”

Together, they quickly assembled everything they’d need. Eric wasn’t surprised, given Vanessa’s story, to hear she didn’t have a cell phone. Eight years before, she’d been too poor to afford a phone of her own.

“I’ll stand guard outside while you go in the building,” Eric decided. “But I’ll need some way to contact you if someone’s coming.”

Debbi pulled her phone from her purse. “She can take mine. Nobody ever calls or texts me in the middle of the night.”

“But what if we need to reach you? The cabin’s never had a landline. We don’t have any other phones.”

“You’re going to stand watch while she goes inside, right?” Debbi clarified. “You’re going to need a phone to call her while she’s inside, or there’s no point in you standing watch. Who do you think needs it more?”

Vanessa blew out a thoughtful breath, then spoke slowly. “I brought the girls here to keep them safe. I don’t have a phone. I didn’t figure we’d have a phone. So leaving them here with Debbi isn’t really any different than being here myself, without a phone.”

“It might be risky going inside the office. Riskier than staying here.” Eric accepted the device from his sister and passed it to Vanessa. “I’ll text you if someone’s coming. Do you know how to answer a text on this phone?” He sent a text between the phones so she could see how it worked.

“Got it.”

“If this thing goes off, you’ll need to get out of sight.” His fingers brushed hers as he spoke, imparting an acute sense of awareness.

Vanessa’s glance fluttered from his fingers to his eyes and back again. Her cheeks colored slightly as she thanked him and agreed to his plan.

So she’d felt it, too, then. The old chemistry, the teenager-like nervousness he’d thought he’d lost the night she never came home. He’d been crazy for her for years, but equally terrified she’d find out how he felt. He’d never told her, never let on to his feelings...and regretted it ever since. He’d prayed for a second chance....

A surge of emotion welled inside him, but he swallowed quickly, pushing it back before it could creep into his voice. “Okay, then, I think we’re ready. You’ve got your key-chain flashlight. Debbi will stay here with the girls—”

“They should sleep until after I get back,” Vanessa predicted. “They won’t ever know I was gone.”

Eric nodded, not trusting his voice anymore, the reference to her absence too much, the reality of her presence slowly eclipsing his surprise. She was alive, she was here. She looked great, but she’d been through so many awful experiences, scars buried deeper than he could see. He wanted to throw his arms open wide and embrace her, but he was terrified of how she might respond.

Debbi insisted he take the hunting shotgun and a box of buckshot. While Vanessa hastily left instructions for what Debbi should do if the girls awoke before they returned, Eric carried the gun outside and put it in his car. He hoped he wouldn’t need it, but these men had killed a man today already. He had to be prepared for the worst. They couldn’t hurt Vanessa, not again, not if he had any say in the matter.

He couldn’t think of anything else to bring, but moved the Sequoia out of the way, backed his Mustang out of the garage and then parked the wanted SUV out of sight inside.

By the time he pulled the garage door closed, Vanessa stood by his car, ready to go.

How many times had he wished for such a simple thing, to see her standing by his car, leaving with him? They’d never gone out on a proper date. He’d been too nervous to ask, and then it was too late.

At least tonight, he was able to open the door for her. Their eyes met briefly as she stepped past him and took a seat inside the vehicle.

In spite of the darkness of the northern Illinois woods at night, he could see the fear clearly on her face. Unsure what he could possibly say to reassure her, he closed her door, then climbed in behind the wheel.

“You’ll have to tell me how to find this place,” he reminded her as he navigated the twisting gravel driveway.