Falling For The Enemy

“Just hear me out,” he said. “Unfortunately, when you deep-sixed that transfer—”

“Look, I don’t want to hear you out.” Her opinion of Sloan Reeves, not high to begin with, sank lower each time he opened his mouth. “In fact, I don’t want to listen to anything more at all. I’d like you to leave.” She had better things to do than waste another minute with him.

“Not until I’m finished. Trust me, you need to hear the rest.”

She didn’t trust him any more than she respected him, but something in his expression made her decide against calling Security.

“All right,” she said, slowly sitting back in her chair. “What’s the rest?”

“Billy wants you to help him. As you know, breaking out from inside Poquette is practically impossible. He’d likely end up dead if he tried it.”

“He wants me to help him escape.” She could scarcely believe that was what Reeves was saying, even though it clearly was.

“Yes. We had a solid plan, but you screwed it up. So he wants you to help figure out some other way of getting him on the outside.”

“Are you insane? Why on earth would I?”

When he didn’t reply, she just sat watching him. If he seriously thought she’d—

“Hayley...is it okay if I call you that?”

She nodded. For all she cared he could call her Lady Godiva—just as long as he finished what he was obviously determined to say and left.

“Good. And please call me Sloan, because we’ll be seeing quite a bit of each other for the next little while.”

In your dreams, she said silently. She intended to blow the whistle as soon as he left.

“I’ve got to tell you something that will frighten you. But try not to panic, because it isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds.”

He hesitated, eyeing her, then continued. “A couple of Billy’s men have your son. They picked him up just a few minutes ago, while he was out riding his bike.”

The world froze around her and her heart froze inside her chest.

“Max is perfectly safe,” he added quickly. “I swear he is. And I promise he’ll stay that way as long as you cooperate.”

She almost couldn’t hear his words over the thunder in her head. A couple of Billy Fitzgerald’s men had Max! She’d never felt such utter terror before, and when she tried to speak the words caught in her throat.

“Look...I can’t tell you how sorry I am this has happened,” Sloan said. “But—”

“I want my son back,” she whispered fiercely. “Right now.”

“I know.”

“Then get him back for me!”

“I can’t. Not—”

“What kind of man are you!” Her entire body trembling, she pushed herself out of her chair and stood glaring across the desk at him. “You’re trying to help Fitzgerald plan a prison break? You let his men kidnap an innocent child? Are you a monster?”

He shook his head. “I don’t ‘let’ either Billy or the people who work for him do anything. Sometimes he tells me what he’s thinking about and asks my opinion. But even then my advice doesn’t always carry much weight with him.

“Your son’s going to be fine, though. I’ll ensure you get him back safely. I just can’t do it until Billy. gives the okay. And that won’t be until he gets what he wants.”

“Oh, God,” she murmured, choking back a sob.

“Hayley, all you have to do is help him out. And as long as he can count on your silence, no harm will come to either you or Max.”

She ordered herself to calm down. As frantic as she felt, it was essential she think straight.

All she had to do was help Billy out. Enter into a conspiracy to help a convicted felon escape from prison. Betray the trust the State of Louisiana had placed in her. Knowing that if anyone ever learned what she’d done, the career that meant so much to her would be over.

Her career would be over? How about she’d end up in prison herself if she got caught? After all, she’d be breaking a hundred different laws.

But what would happen to her didn’t matter. All that mattered was what would happen to Max. And if by agreeing to go along with this...

“No one will ever know you played any part,” Sloan said. “I guarantee that. However it gets set up, Billy will arrange things so it doesn’t look like an insider was involved.”

She took a slow, deep breath. Helping with a prison break wasn’t something she’d ever in a million years have thought she’d consider. But right this minute that was exactly what she was doing. Because if she didn’t agree...

“Just help him out and you’ll get Max back safe and sound,” Sloan was saying. “That’s the deal he’s offering you, and even his enemies admit he’s a man of his word.”

Was that true? Was it something she could believe, something to give herself a ray of hope? If she did conspire with the devil, would it really save her son? Or would they simply kill both Max and her in the end anyway?

Was William Fitzgerald actually a man of his word or not? Think. What was the likelihood?

Most psychopaths were consummate liars, yet that didn’t mean they were compulsive liars. And she’d run across a few who’d actually taken pride in keeping their word. They’d just been careful not to give it very often.

Staring down at her desk, telling herself she wasn’t going to cry, she tried to stop her fears from tumbling all over one another. She simply couldn’t fall apart.

“Hayley,” Sloan said, “I tried my damedest to convince Billy that taking Max was a bad idea. But when I couldn’t, I volunteered to act as go-between. You’ll be better off dealing with me than with some of the others he might have chosen.”

“I see.” She took a deep breath, still not looking up. Before she met Sloan’s gaze again, she had to recover enough control to keep from telling him that she’d like to see him hung by his thumbs and flayed. If he was the go-between, angering him would be a very bad move.

What would be a good move, though? Calling the police the minute he left? Or the FBI?

No. How could she do that when Max’s life was at stake? How could she do anything other than what Fitzgerald wanted?

For the moment, at least until she pulled herself back from the edge of hysteria, the only smart thing to. do was say she’d try to help. Then, when she was thinking more rationally, she could figure out if there was any other realistic course of action. One that wouldn’t end up with her and Max dead. In the meantime, she had to see if she could make what was happening less traumatic for him.

Desperately wishing she had more bargaining power than she did, she focused on her visitor once more.

When Hayley finally looked at Sloan again, her eyes were filled with foreboding. And pure, unadulterated hatred.

Even though it was exactly what he’d been expecting, it made him feel hollow inside. There were aspects of his job he downright loathed.

“All right,” she murmured. “I’ll do what I can.”

“Good.” He breathed a sigh of relief, even though he’d been certain she’d agree. “The men who have Max, who’ll be looking after him, have kids of their own,” he offered. “He’ll be just fine with them. But would you like to talk to him? Assure yourself that he really is all right?”

“Of course I would!”

“Then we’ll call him. I want you to phone your sitter first, though. So she doesn’t start worrying. And before you do, we’ve got to agree on a story. One that’ll explains why Max will be gone from home for a while.”

“A while,” she repeated. “How long is a while? How long is this going to take?”

“That’ll depend. The sooner Billy’s out, the sooner—”

“But there’s no guarantee he will get out, no guarantee I’ll be able to help him.”

Her voice was shaky, as if she were hanging on to her self-control by nothing more than her fingernails. Sloan tried to ignore the pang of sympathy he felt.

“Even if it turns out I can help, it won’t happen overnight. And I can’t go indefinitely without seeing Max. At the very least, I want to spend a couple of hours with him every evening.”

“Billy’d never agree to that.”

“Dammit, the man’s sitting in a prison cell and he wants me to help get him out of it. He wants me to risk my job. Maybe risk my life, depending on what happens. And I might do that. But I don’t want Max suffering any more trauma than he has to. And being separated from his mother for any length of time... Sloan, you just have to make Fitzgerald understand I won’t try to help him unless I get to see my son. That simply isn’t negotiable.”

He knew she was bluffing. Now that she’d said she’d go along with them, she’d do whatever she had to. And if that included not seeing Max for the duration, she’d accept it.

She was right about nothing happening overnight, though. It could be weeks, possibly months, before they managed to spring Billy. And hell, it wasn’t hard to imagine how tough having no contact would be on both her and the boy.

He tried telling himself that was just the way kidnappings worked, but it didn’t do any good. He might have to help Billy but he didn’t have to like what the man was doing. And if he could make this nightmare easier for Hayley and her son to get through, why shouldn’t he?

If he couldn’t, at least he’d feel better knowing that he’d tried. “All right,” he said at last. “I’ll speak to Billy and see what I can do.”

CHAPTER THREE

STILL SHAKEN TO THE CORE, Hayley dialed Anne Kelly’s number, not at all sure she’d get through the conversation without breaking down.

But she had to. If Anne realized something terrible had happened to Max, she might call the cops. And if that happened, Lord only knew what would become of him.

As Anne’s phone began to ring, Hayley looked across her desk at Sloan, thinking she’d never despised a man more. And that included every single murderer and rapist she’d encountered in the course of her work.

Almost without exception, they’d had everything going against them from birth, whereas Sloan Reeves had everything anyone could ask for—brains, looks, an easy manner and a good education. So how could he be warped enough to be part of Billy Fitzgerald’s sordid scheme?

“Hello?” Anne answered.

She took a deep breath, then said, “Hi, it’s Hayley.”

“Oh, hi.”

“Anne, I did something so absentminded I just can’t believe it. I forgot to tell you I asked a couple of friends to pick up Max from your place this afternoon.”

“Well, that’s all right, you’re telling me now. He’s out riding his bike but—”

“No, what I mean is my friends already got him. They saw him down the block so they didn’t bother going to your house. Max is here with me now, and it wasn’t until they walked into my office that I realized I’d forgotten to call you.

“I guess things have just been in such a turmoil that I wasn’t thinking straight. You see, my custody agreement gives Max’s father the right to have him for part of the summer. And...well, it’s a long involved story, but the bottom line is that his father phoned late last night and I’m putting Max on a plane to Pittsburgh at four o’clock. So he’ll be away for a while. Exactly how long’s still kind of up in the air. But as soon as we decide when he’ll be coming home I’ll let you know.”

“Hayley? Your ex isn’t trying to get custody, is he?” Anne asked, her voice filled with concern.

“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.”

“As soon as I can,” she told him once more, blinking back tears this time. “Bye, darling.” Difficult as it was, she made herself click off then, before her emotions completely wasted her.

After taking a few deep breaths, in a futile effort to make herself feel better, she grabbed her car keys and headed out. The burger place she and Max usually went to had a pay phone; she’d stop there and call Peggy.

Getting into her car, she tried to figure out exactly how she should explain why she was asking her question. It would be tricky, because Detective Peggy Fournier was no dummy. And since she knew about Sloan’s initial visit, she’d be suspicious as hell.

There had to be a way of sounding casual, though, and she spent the drive trying to come up with one.

At the restaurant, she parked and hurried inside, ignoring the people catching breakfast on their way to work and making her way straight to the phone. She wasn’t sure what shift Peggy was on, but with any luck she’d be able to reach her either at home or at the Ninth Division.

She tried the home number first, her pulse leaping when her friend answered. “Hi, it’s Hayley,” she said, making an effort to sound normal.

“Hi, how’s it going?”

“Good. Terrific. Except that Max’s father decided he wanted him for part of the summer, so I had to send him to Pennsylvania and I’m feeling a little lonely.”

“Oh? I thought you said his father wasn’t interested in maintaining contact. They’ve never had a summer visit before, have they?”

“No, but...” Taking a calming breath, she launched into the explanation Anne Kelly had bought—about Max’s grandparents wanting to see him.

Then, without giving Peggy a chance to ask any more questions, she said, “But Max has nothing to do with why I’m calling.” Not exactly a lie. He had everything to do with it. “Remember I mentioned I’d be doing an assessment on Billy Fitzgerald?”