isn’t she?” Rachel’s smile was so tender as she gazed at the napping little girl that Kyle’s heart clenched almost as tightly as his fists. Visions of another little girl, of his precious Wendy, melded with the current image of Natalie and gave him a jolt. He hadn’t been there for his own daughter or for his wife when they’d needed him, and that failure had eaten away at him for four long years.
Was God giving him a second chance to protect an innocent little girl who had no other champion? Perhaps, but the opportunity was bittersweet. How much better it would have been if his little family had never been torn apart by that drunk driver in the first place.
And how much more he would have trusted in his Christian faith if his prayers for their survival had been answered that awful winter night. He hadn’t wanted to let them go, to lose them forever, yet he had. It had been a terrible struggle to go on without them, to accept his loneliness and live with it. He’d made a new life by returning to the air force, where he knew he could do the most good, and had kept his emotional distance from fellow officers as well as the enlisted personnel assigned to him. Until now.
Kyle knew he was entering uncharted territory and his misgivings were almost strong enough to cause him to back off. Almost. But not quite.
His innermost thoughts were directed to God while he continued to fidget and inch the SUV forward in line. Why, God? And why at Christmastime? You know how this hurts so why a woman and little girl? And why me?
He didn’t need an audible reply to know the answer. The trauma of the past made him particularly suited to this task. He had lost to evil once by not being totally diligent, not making himself available when his gut told him he should. It would not happen again. No matter what developed in regard to his vet tech and her niece, he was going to be there for her. For them.
He would not make the same mistake twice.
A horn honked behind them as the space at the very front of the line was vacated. Rachel jumped at the noise. So did Kyle. Checking for cross traffic on the street, he also glanced toward the hospital and caught his breath.
“Rachel,” he said abruptly. “Look over there. Is that...?”
She followed Kyle’s gaze, then immediately whirled to face him. Her complexion paled and her lips parted. She didn’t have to speak to tell Kyle who they were seeing. Peter VanHoven had somehow figured out what they were up to and was racing for his battered red truck.
Accelerating as much as he dared without drawing undue attention, Kyle angled the black SUV into a spot in front of a slow-moving gray sedan and joined passing traffic.
He saw the red truck come to life and start down the same crammed exit lane that had delayed their departure. Rachel swiveled in the seat to watch so Kyle made it her assignment. “Let me know how long a line he gets stuck in, okay?”
“Oh, no!” Her gasping reply sent a shiver the length of Kyle’s spine.
His hands gripped the wheel, his senses on full alert as he angled to check his mirrors. “What? I can’t see him anymore. Where did he go?”
“Over the curb,” she shouted. “He’s already in the street. Ahead of us!”
Rachel couldn’t breathe. Every muscle in her body knotted, and she felt trapped in the kind of nightmare where she opened her mouth to scream and no sound emerged. The only thing remotely functional was her brain’s ability to call out to her heavenly Father. There were no apt words. Just a silent plea for divine help.
Thankfully, she was braced against the dash with one hand, the other on the back of the seat, when Kyle whipped the steering wheel and accelerated. The SUV bumped up over the right-hand curb with a twist of its chassis. All wheels were spinning when they hit the lawn. Grass churned and clumps flew out behind them.
Horns honked. Bystanders put cell phones to their ears. She finally found her voice. “What are you doing?”
“Getting away.”
“You’re causing a scene. People are staring at us.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he countered. “Peter already knows where we are or he wouldn’t have jumped the line to get ahead.”
“But...”
“Just hang on. Is Natalie okay?”
“Yes. She’s stirring but still asleep. She must be exhausted.”
“No doubt.” His next turn was so abrupt the rear of the SUV fishtailed. Straightening out the vehicle and dropping its tires back onto the pavement, Kyle asked, “Do you still see him?”
“No, I...” Her breath caught. “Yes! He’s turning off like you did. I hear sirens but they sound far away.”
“Could be for some other reason,” he said. “Keep watching.”
She had no intention of doing anything else. The old red pickup was on their tail all right, but it apparently didn’t have four-wheel drive, because it was doing a lot of slipping and sliding while digging curved trenches in the turf. That was an unexpected plus.
“He’s losing traction on the grass,” she shouted. “We’re pulling ahead.”
“As soon as he hits the asphalt again he’ll have power,” Kyle yelled back. “I’m going to head for the highway so we don’t cause an accident on these city streets.”
“Will we be able to outrun him?”
“Temporarily. But the hospital found you, so he’ll be able to, too.”
“If it was just the two of us I’d say stop and have it out with him.”
“So would I,” Kyle agreed. “We can’t take a chance with Natalie. Once you—we—took off with her, we stepped across a line. Involving the police at this point won’t help us. And it might help Peter.”
Rachel was nodding. “Right. If it was only foster care she faced I wouldn’t worry too much. We can’t trust Peter to leave her alone. He’s likely to kidnap her and disappear.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Two more sharp turns and they were starting up the on-ramp to the highway. Rachel spotted a problem. “This is east. We want to go west.”
“All I care about is speed and safety,” Kyle said flatly. “Keep watching.”
“I am, I am.” She had swiveled to face forward again so she could peer into the right-hand outside mirror. Blue car, white car, semi, space, Peter! She screamed. “He’s hiding behind that truck in the far right lane.”
“I don’t see him.”
“Hang on. You will.” One of Rachel’s hands was fisted around the door handle. The other grasped the edge of her seat. In the mirror’s reflection the big truck was falling back. A flash of red swerved out to pass and nearly collided with a second semi. Rachel gasped as that truck driver laid on
