Her Mistletoe Protector. Laura Scott

of sitting here another minute. If she didn’t take some sort of action to help find her son, she’d go stark, raving mad.

      She tapped her fingers impatiently on the table, as Nick finished his meal. “I bought a dark sweatshirt for you, since that pink one is too easily seen at night, and a new pair of athletic shoes,” he said between bites. “Also hats and gloves. Why don’t you change while I finish up?”

      “Okay, thanks,” she said, reaching down for the bag of clothes. The shoes were a welcome sight, and while she loved her pink sweatshirt, she realized Nick was right about how it stood out. The black sweatshirt beneath her jacket would blend far better with the night.

      She disappeared into the bathroom and quickly changed. Her left ankle was swollen, but she managed to get that shoe on by loosening the laces. The pain in her foot was nothing compared to the gaping hole in her heart.

      When she emerged from the bathroom, she was grateful to see that Nick had finished his meal, disposing of all the garbage in the trash can by the door. He’d pulled on the matching black sweatshirt, too, before zipping up his jacket. He shut down the computer and then turned to her. “Ready?” he asked, rising to his feet.

      “Yes.” She was more than ready. She tucked her room key into her back pocket and followed Nick out to the car. Once she was buckled in, he set his phone in the cradle where he could easily read the GPS directions.

      “Where are we going first?” she asked.

      “Morales lives closer,” he said, glancing over his shoulder as he backed out of the driveway. “We’ll go there, first.”

      She didn’t argue with his logic. Granted, it wasn’t likely that Morales would abandon his truck and take Joey to his home address listed on the registration, but, then again, criminals weren’t always known for being smart.

      The minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness as Nick drove through the night. She tensed when she noticed they were heading straight into a seedy part of town. Her stomach roiled at the thought of Joey being kept in a place where he was likely to be assaulted, or worse even, if he managed to escape.

      “There it is,” Nick murmured. “Second apartment building on the right.”

      “Do we know which apartment might be his?” she asked, leaning forward to see better. The dilapidated building sure wasn’t comforting. “Do you really think he would have brought a kidnapping victim here to his place?”

      “Doubtful, especially if he’s working for someone else,” Nick said. “I’m going to get out here to see if I can find out if he’s still living here. Slide into the driver’s seat and head around the block. This won’t take long.”

      “All right.” As soon as Nick pulled over and climbed from the vehicle, she slipped over the console and adjusted the seat so she could drive. “Be careful,” she added before he shut the door.

      He nodded and then pulled his sweatshirt hood over his head and hunched his shoulders as he loped across the street to the apartment building. As much as she wanted to watch, she forced herself to put the car in gear. At the end of the block was a stop sign and she turned right. There was a small group of tough-looking kids smoking cigarettes as they gathered at the street corner, beneath a streetlight where a small Christmas wreath was hanging. As she watched them she saw the gleam of silver. A knife? Or a gun? Several of them hid their hands in their pockets as she went past, giving her the distinct impression they were hiding something. Drugs? Maybe. Swallowing hard, she made sure the doors were locked before she gripped the steering wheel tightly.

      As she came around the last corner to the street where Morales’s apartment building was located, her heart sank when she saw the group of teens had moved down closer to the apartment building. Had they noticed Nick getting out of the car and going inside? What if they planned to rob him when he came out? This was a bad neighborhood, where crime ran rampant. She knew Nick carried his service weapon, but the odds were still stacked against him, especially since all six of them were likely armed, too.

      She was fumbling with her cell phone, intending to call Nick to warn him, when he slipped out of the apartment building and headed down the steps. Her heart hammered in her chest as the group of kids stepped forward, cutting him off.

      Nick kept his hand in the pocket of his jacket and she assumed he had his gun ready. He sidestepped the kids, but they crowded closer and once again, she caught sight of a flash of silver.

      Rachel unlocked the car and leaned on the horn. The group of kids swung around in surprise, and in that split second, Nick ran around them and jumped into the car. “Go!” he shouted as he slammed the door shut.

      She stomped on the accelerator and the car leaped forward. In her rearview mirror she saw the group of kids begin running after them. Did they still intend to rob them? Or worse? As she approached the stop sign up ahead, she glanced frantically both ways before ignoring the sign and going straight through the intersection without stopping.

      “Take it easy,” Nick said, putting a hand on her arm as she took another turn a little too fast. “They flashed a few knives and demanded money, but we’re safe now.”

      She couldn’t speak, could barely calm her racing heart enough to take a deep breath. Her entire body was shaking in the aftermath of their close call.

      “Pull over up ahead,” Nick instructed.

      She knew he wanted to drive and couldn’t blame him. She did as he requested, trying to hold herself together. She dragged herself out of the driver’s seat as Nick came around to meet her. He lightly clasped her shoulders, peering down at her. From the streetlight behind her, she could see the concern etched on his handsome face.

      “Are you all right?” he asked.

      She tried to speak, but her throat felt frozen. It abruptly hit her how much she was depending on Nick to help find her son. If anything had happened to him, she’d be lost.

      As much as she longed to lean against his strength, she forced herself to step back, putting distance between them. “I’m fine, but I was afraid they were going to hurt you,” she confessed softly.

      “Me, too, and I didn’t really want to shoot any of them. Thanks to your quick thinking, I didn’t have to. Now let’s get going, okay?”

      She nodded and went around to the passenger side of his car. “Did you find anything?” she asked, hoping the stop at the apartment building hadn’t been in vain.

      “Yeah. Morales still has a place there, apartment number 210 according to the mailbox. I spoke to the manager, but he claims he hasn’t seen Ricky in weeks.”

      She tried not to be too discouraged by the lack of information. Truthfully, he’d found out more than she’d hoped. “I guess that means he’s not likely keeping Joey there.”

      “I doubt it. There are too many nosey people around, like those thugs back there.”

      “I hardly think they’d be the types to turn Ricky in to the police,” she said with a sigh.

      Nick didn’t say anything to the contrary, which only made her more depressed. “Are you still up for heading over to the ex-wife’s place?” he asked, changing the subject.

      “Yes.” Granted she’d been terrified back there at the apartment building, but nothing was going to stop her from searching for Joey.

      * * *

      Nick glanced over at Rachel, marveling at the depth of her strength. Granted, she’d been scared to death back there at the apartment building, but that hadn’t stopped her from doing what needed to be done.

      He used his radio to request a search on the Morales apartment related to the hit-and-run case. The dispatcher agreed to send a couple of uniforms over. He didn’t really think they’d find anything useful, especially since the manager had been all too willing to talk once he’d seen Nick’s badge.

      If Morales had been around, the manager would have told him so.