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“No, no, it’s nothing like that. What happened is his parents suddenly announced they were coming to visit him. And they wanted to see their grandson. So there’s no real problem, it’s just that everything happened awfully fast.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, tell Max I hope he has a good time.”
“I will. And thanks. Bye.” She hung up, then looked at Sloan.
“Good,” he said. “That was perfect.”
“Now, let me talk to my son,” she demanded.
He nodded, dug a cell phone from his pocket and punched in a number.
She watched him, unable to keep from thinking that something awful had happened and he was going to hear about it right now.
“It’s Sloan,” he said when someone answered.
“Put the boy on. His mother’s waiting to talk to him.”
After listening for a few seconds, he passed her the phone. Her hands were shaking so badly she almost dropped it.
“Max’ll be a minute or two,” he said. “He was watching TV in another room.”
She exhaled slowly. He was all right, then.
He’s all right so far, a voice inside her head whispered.
“Don’t ask him any questions about where he is or the men he’s with,” Sloan warned her.
A moment later, Max’s reedy little voice said, “Mommy?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Yes, I’m here, darling.”
“Is your leg okay?”
Her leg? Oh, Lord, what did they tell him? “My leg’s fine, Max. Did someone say something was wrong with it?”
“Uh-huh. The policemen you sent to get me. I said I couldn’t go with them ‘cuz they didn’t know the secret word. But they said you forgot to tell them ’cuz you fell and hurt your leg. And they were gonna take me to the hospital. But then they said it would be better to come here and wait for you. So when are you comin’ to get me?”
“Well...I can’t come just yet. But you’re okay? The...policemen are being nice to you?”
“I guess. They gave me ice cream. Chocolate. And one of them said he’ll play catch with me after. But I want to go home. So when are you gonna come?”
She closed her eyes against more tears. “Darling, I’m going to come just as soon as I can. But I have something very important to do and—”
“More important than me?”
“No,” she said, wiping her eyes. “No, nothing’s more important than you. But it’s something I just have to do. So I really need you to stay where you are for a little while.”
“With the policemen?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Well...at least until tomorrow.”
There was a silence. Then, his voice quavering, Max said, “You mean sleep here? Without you?”
“Yes.”
“But I don’t want to. Why can’t I stay at Mrs. Kelly’s?”
“Because she’s going out tonight.”
“But I don’t have my jammies,” he whined. “And Satchmo won’t have me to sleep with.”
“Max...darling, I know it’s scary to stay in a strange place, but you’ve done it before, remember? When I went to that conference a few months ago? And you stayed with Peggy and Pace?”
“Yeah,” he admitted slowly. “But that was different.”
“Well, it was kind of different but kind of the same. And I need you to be brave and do this for me. Okay?”
There was another silence before he said unhappily, “I guess.”
“Good. And I’ll phone you again just as soon as I can.”
“In the morning?”
She looked at Sloan, blinking back tears, and said, “Can I call him in the morning?”
“I’ll have them phone you at home. Early. Before you leave for work.”
Leave for work. It suddenly struck her that they expected her to carry on as if everything were normal. But she’d have to, of course, if she was going to help Billy Fitzgerald. The question was, would she be able to function even seminormally?
“Max?” she managed to say. “The policemen will let you phone me in the morning, okay?”
“And then you’ll come get me?”
“As soon as I can, darling. I love you. Bye.”
“Bye, Mommy.”
Her heart feeling as though it were in a vice, she handed the phone back to Sloan.
“He’s fine?” he asked.
“Fine? He’s a six-year-old child. He’s in a strange place with two men he doesn’t know and he isn’t sure when his mother’s coming to get him. How fine do you think he can be?”
Sloan raked his fingers through his dark hair. “I’ve arranged to visit Billy first thing in the morning.”
So he could give a play-by-play account of today’s events, she thought bitterly.
“I’ll do my level best to convince him to let you see your son,” he added.
But he hadn’t been able to convince Fitzgerald not to kidnap Max in the first place! If he’d actually tried to.
He pushed back his chair and rose. “Tuesday’s your regular day at Poquette, right?”
She nodded, knowing he didn’t really have to ask.
“Then I’ll stop by the psych area after I’ve seen Billy. Let you know where things stand. Oh, and I probably don’t have to warn you to keep quiet about what’s happening, but I’m mentioning it because of your detective friend.”
Lord, they even knew who her friends were!
“I’m sure it’ll be tempting to ask her for advice, but don’t. Being a cop, she’s liable to steer you wrong. Or, worse yet, take the matter into her own hands. And if Billy learns you’ve been talking out of turn...well, I’m sure you know how this would end up if you made him unhappy.”
With a brief nod, Sloan opened her door, stepped out into the corridor and disappeared. That left her staring at the blank wall in the hallway. And thinking that if he was lying to her about trying to convince Billy, or if his level best wasn’t good enough, she might never see Max again.
Doing her damnedest not to cry, she tried to decide which she hated more—the fact that Sloan Reeves represented her only potential source of help, or the man himself.
HAYLEY DIDN’T SLEEP a wink all night, and seventhirty the next morning found her sitting at the kitchen table—numb with fear that the kidnappers hadn’t called yet because something had gone wrong. Because her son was dead.
Fiercely, she told herself that couldn’t be. Billy Fitzgerald needed Max alive to make her cooperate, so his men would be taking good care of him. For the time being, at any rate. Until Billy Fitz got what he wanted. But after that...
Even though she’d already cried a river of tears, fresh ones started spilling over. She didn’t even try to stop them until Satchmo began winding himself around her ankles, loudly reminding her she’d forgotten to feed him.
She pushed herself up and poured some dry food into his bowl, then went back to waiting for the phone to ring, focusing her thoughts on having to help Fitzgerald.
The prospect ran counter to every principle she’d been raised believing in. And to her professional integrity, as well. But as important as her work was to her, Max was her world. If she didn’t go along with Fitzgerald, if she went to the authorities, instead, would they be able to find her son and get him back alive?
She doubted the odds on that were very high. Far more likely, they’d barely start working on the case before Billy’s boys would learn what she’d done. And then...
Wiping her eyes, she turned her thoughts to her other option. She’d promised Sloan Reeves she’d do what she could to help. But if she actually did that, would Billy live up to his side of the bargain?
Sloan had assured her he would. “All you have to do is help him out,” he’d said. “And even his enemies admit he’s a man of his word.”
The problem was that she didn’t know whether she could believe Sloan any more than she could believe Fitzgerald. So even though Sloan had told her to not to say a word about what was happening, she had to find out if she could trust Billy. And since she didn’t have any friends who were members of the New Orleans organized crime establishment, the obvious person to ask was Peggy. Regardless of what Sloan had said.
It would have to wait, though. She couldn’t call from home when Billy’s people might have her phone bugged.
Glancing over at it, she wondered whether she should take it apart and have a look. Just as she was deciding that was a good idea, it rang.
She jumped a foot, then rose so quickly her chair toppled behind her. After racing the few steps to the counter, she picked up and said hello.
“Hi, Mommy,” Max said.
“Hi, Max.” She closed her eyes and offered up a tiny prayer of thanks. Then, reminding herself that if he could tell she was worried it would only upset him, she said, “How are you doing?”
“Okay.”
“Are the... men being nice to you?”
“The policemen?”
So they were going to continue that ruse. “Yes, the policemen.”
“Their names are Tom and Dick.”
“Oh.” And if there was a third one, she knew his name would be Harry.
But their not telling him their real names was a good sign. If they had, it might mean they figured it didn’t matter—because they knew he was going to end up dead.
That thought sent a shiver through her. Doing her best to ignore it, she said, “And do you like them all right? Now that you’ve gotten to know them better?”
Please say yes, she added silently. Please don’t tell me they’re mean, or that you’re scared of them.
“Uh-huh. You know what?”
“What, darling?”
“They got me that good cereal Jimmy’s mom buys. The one that tastes like candy. ’Member I told you?”
“Yes, I remember.” And she didn’t care if they fed him pure sugar for breakfast, just as long as they didn’t harm him.
“So are you comin’ to get me this morning?”
The question made her feel as if someone had reached inside her chest and was pulling out her heart.
“No, I can’t come this morning, darling. This is a workday.”
“Then after work?”
“Well, I’ll try. I’ll try my very best, but I can’t promise yet.”
Lord, somehow she had to make him understand what was going on. But she didn’t want to even attempt explaining until after Sloan had talked to Fitzgerald this morning. Until after she knew if there was even a chance he’d go along with her demand.
“Tom said you might not be able to come for a while,” Max told her. “‘Cuz if your leg was still sore you’d have to go to the doctor. But if you’re goin’ to work it’s not sore, right?”
“Well...actually, Tom’s right. I might have to get it looked at. And that just might keep me from coming as soon as I’d like to. But...Max, I’ll be there as soon as I can. And in the meantime, you be a good boy today, huh? And do what the policemen tell you.”
“And you’ll come after work? If you can?”
“Yes, darling. But don’t be too disappointed if I can’t.”
“But I want you to,” he insisted, his voice quavering.
“I know, Max. And...honey, I’ve got to say bye now. I love you, darling.”
“If you love me then you should come.”
