Cowboy In The Crossfire(53)

He couldn't do any of it. He was stuck, waiting for the men who'd killed his son and his mother to play cat and mouse.

Regret suffocated him, smothering his heart. Maybe if he'd brought her with them... No, he couldn't let himself give in to the guilt. Not yet. He had to stay focused. He had to think of Ethan. His mom would have wanted him to save Amanda's son.

She hovered in the door of the bathroom, her eyes red and haunted, the bruises turning darker with each passing hour.

To distract himself, he filled another thin washrag with ice. He handed it to her.

She accepted the ice pack from him and pressed it against the side of her face. "Why won't you talk to me? It's not good to keep it in."

He gave her a sad smile. "What is there to say? They took Ethan, they killed Mom. Parris is probably dead. Smithson, too. And we have one lead. A pair of boots."

She set the ice on the bathroom sink and walked over to him. "This isn't your fault."

"They committed the murders, but I didn't stop them," Blake said softly. He let his hands drift over her soft curls. Why wasn't she railing against him, blaming him for her son? Why was she cuddled against him? It didn't make sense.

A sharp knock pounded on the door. Blake tensed. He pushed Amanda into the bathroom. A pause, then two more knocks.

He relaxed a bit. "It's Rafe."

The ex-Green Beret could take her to safety. Blake would take the ransom call. Then he would finish this.

With his Glock in one hand, Blake cracked open the door. The man outside nodded slightly, his visible eye studying Blake with a practiced gaze.

"Blake Redmond?"

He opened the door and let the other man in. Rafe hauled in a heavy duffel, scanned the room, then stared at Amanda. "Safest place," he said. "In the bathroom."

"I want you to take her out of here, Rafe. Find a place to hide her."

"No!" Amanda ran to Blake. "I'm not hiding while Ethan is in danger."

Blake grabbed her. "I need you safe."

"Logan ordered me to back you up," Rafe said. "There's at least three of them from what we can tell. Maybe more. You took out two in the chopper. Going in alone is suicide."

"Gee, thanks, Rafe."

The man smiled. "You're welcome. Besides, I brought a computer and secure internet access. Zane locked it down tight. They can't track it. Your lady can check out the emails. Maybe unlock that file."

Blake didn't have much confidence she'd break the code. They needed Ethan for that. Vince knew what he'd done with the file. He didn't leave a message. Ethan was the key.

Blake forced a look of confidence. "Things are looking up."

A slight hope entered her eyes. He met Rafe's gaze. The man understood the truth. But at least the computer would keep Amanda occupied. And maybe they'd get lucky.

"Set it up," Blake ordered Rafe.

He heaved the duffel onto the bed and unzipped the bag. Blake glanced in and a deadly smile settled in the cold anger of his eyes. "Thank God for firepower."

"That's not the good stuff," Rafe muttered as he took out the laptop. He pulled out several other electronic devices, too. One he attached to the phone. "This will record any conversations and give us the number and location of the originating call. As long as they're not bouncing signals everywhere."

"It's so small," Amanda said.

Rafe handed her the machine and hot spot. "Have at it."

Blake kept glancing back at her while he and Rafe organized the weapons.

"How's your focus?" Rafe asked softly.

Blake pulled a box of ammo for his Glock and set it aside. "I'm fine."

"I could take lead," Rafe commented. "Logan told me about your mother."

"Would you let someone else take charge?"

"Point."

It didn't take long to organize the ammunition and equipment.

Rafe settled down in the corner next to Leo and ruffled the dog's ears. "Once we know the plan, I'll find a way to get him to a vet." The dog licked Rafe's hand. "He's a good one."

"Don't think about it," Blake said. "He belongs to Ethan."

Amanda's fingers stilled on the keyboard. Blake touched her shoulder and squeezed lightly. She gave him a shallow smile.

Blake didn't know how long he'd paced when the phone on the bed rang. Amanda looked at it and stilled. She walked over to the bed, her body curved into Blake's.

He picked up the phone. "Redmond."

"We have the boy. Bring the evidence and he lives. Play games with us, he dies."

"How do I know he's okay?" Blake said.

"You don't." The man laughed. "You'll hear from us." He hung up the phone.

"Proof of life?" Rafe said as he fiddled with the recorder.

Blake shook his head.

"Damn." Rafe turned a few knobs. "Not long enough." He glanced at Amanda. "I'm sorry."

Amanda sank to her knees. "I couldn't find anything in the emails. They're just jokes and chitchat. What are we going to do?"

Blake wrapped his arms around her to prop her up. "We'll find him." He glanced at Rafe. "We need a way to open that file."