shouted at her, banging on the windows. The twins knew something was wrong and began to cry. Tracey gripped the steering wheel with one hand and blared the horn with the other. Someone had to hear them. Someone would come by and see what was happening.
“Lady, you get out of the car or I’ll blow you away through the window.” Gunman One pointed the gun at her head.
“You don’t want these kids. Their dad’s the head of the Texas Rangers in this area.”
With a gun stuck in her face, Tracey didn’t know how she was speaking—especially with any intelligence. Her hands were locked, determined to stay where they were. That’s when she had the horrible feeling it wasn’t a random carjacking.
“You’re wrong, sweetheart. That’s exactly why we want them,” Gunman Two said.
“Shut up, Mack!” Gunman One screamed, hitting the top of the car. “You!” he yelled at her again. “Stop blabbing and get your butt out here before I blow your brains all over those kids.”
One of the drivers got out of his box truck with a bent pole. Not a pole. It looked like it had a climbing spike on the end.
“No!” She leaned toward the middle, attempting to block what she knew was coming.
The new guy swung, hitting the window, and it shattered into pebble-size glass rocks. The kids screamed louder. She tried to climbing into the backseat. The locks popped open and three doors flew wide.
Gunman One latched on to her ankles and yanked. Her chin bounced against the top of the seat. Jarring pain jolted across her face. Before she could grab anything or brace herself, her body tumbled out of the car. Twisted, her side and shoulder took most of the fall to the street.
She prayed someone would drive by and see what was happening. She looked everywhere for help. Wasn’t there anyone who could intervene or call the police? Her small purse was still strapped across her chest, hidden at her hip. Her cell phone was still inside so maybe she could—
Gunman One flipped open a knife and sliced the strap, nicking her neck in the process. “We wouldn’t want you to call Daddy too soon. You got that tape, Mack?” He jerked her to her feet, hitting the side of her head with his elbow. “You just had to play the hero.”
“Here ya go, Mack.” Gunman Two, already in the car, tossed him duct tape.
Gunman One smashed her face into the backseat window, winding the tape around her wrists. Both of the children were screaming her name. They knew something wasn’t right. Both were trapped in their car seats, clawing at the straps then stretching their arms toward her.
“It’s okay, guys. No one’s going to hurt you.” She tried to calm them through the glass. “Please don’t do this. Jackson has diabetes. He’s on a restricted diet and his insulin level has to be closely—”
Gunman One rolled her to her back and shoved her along the metal edge of the Mazda to the trunk.
Oh my God. They knew. She could tell by his reactions. She was right. It wasn’t a carjacking. This was a planned kidnapping of Josh Parker’s twins. Gunman One knocked her to the ground. The other men cut the seat belts holding the kids, took them from the car in their car seats, grabbing their tiny backpacks at the last minute.
How could men in ski masks be assaulting her in broad daylight and no one else see them?
“Please take me. I won’t give you any trouble. I swear I won’t. I...I can look after Jackson. Make sure he doesn’t go into shock.”
Gunman One pulled her hands. “You won’t do, sister. It’s gotta be somebody he loves.”
“Let him have crackers. Okay? He has to eat every three or four hours. Something,” she pleaded. “Sage, watch your brother!”
When this had all started, Tracey hadn’t paid attention to what the man coming to her window had looked like. An average guy that she couldn’t swear was youngish or even in his thirties. They were all decked out in college gear. She searched this man’s eyes that were bright and excited behind the green ski mask, memorizing everything about their brown darkness.
The tiny scar woven into his right eyebrow would be his downfall. He raised the butt of the gun in the air. She closed her eyes, anticipating the blow. The impact hurt, stunning her. Vision blurred, she watched them carry the twins, running to the back of the moving van. Her legs collapsed from the pain, and she hit the concrete without warning.
I’m so sorry, Josh.
How were you supposed to tell someone you’d allowed their kids to be kidnapped? Tracey would have a doctorate in nutrition soon, but none of the courses she’d taken prepared her to face Josh. Or the future.
When someone found Tracey unconscious on the sidewalk and the paramedics revived her, she’d cried out his name. She could never articulate why she was calling to him. Once fully awake and by the time anyone would listen, the twins had been missing for almost an hour. Tracey hadn’t been able to explain to Josh what had happened. The police did that.
“He’s going to hate me,” she mumbled.
“I don’t think he will. I’ve dealt with a lot of kidnappings. This isn’t your fault. Major Parker will realize that faster than most.” Special Agent George Lanning had answered her with an intelligent response.
The problem was...
“Intelligence has nothing to do with emotional, gut-wrenching pain. I lost his kids. He’ll never trust me again and I don’t blame him.”
After she awoke in the hospital, she’d only been allowed to talk with one police officer, her nurse and a doctor. The door had been left open a couple of inches. She’d recognized rangers passing by, even heard them asking about her. But the officer had refused her any visitors. At least until this FBI agent showed up.
Two hours later she was sitting in a car on her way to the Parker home to face Josh for the first time. Where else was she supposed to go? She’d refused to return to her apartment as they’d suggested. “How bad is my face?”
“As in? What context do you mean?”
She flipped down the passenger mirror to see for herself. “Well, I don’t think makeup—even if I had any—would help this.” She gently touched her cheekbone that felt ten times bigger than it should. “I don’t want to look like...”
“Tracey. Four men yanked you from a car and hit you so hard they gave you a concussion. They kidnapped Jackson and Sage. No matter what you think you could have done differently, those men would still have the Parker twins.”
She wiped another tear falling down her cheek. Agent Lanning might be correct. But nothing anyone said would ever make her feel okay about what had happened.
Nothing.
The road to the house was lined with extra cars and the yard—where they needed to park—filled with men standing around. The police escort in front of them flipped on the squad car lights with a siren burst to get people out of the way. Tracey covered her ears.
Everything
