Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold #10)(86)

He swallowed hard, muttered, “Sure,” then knew he was totally out of his league. He needed help, and fast. Then he saw it. A ring that seemed to sparkle more than the rest.

“That one,” he said, pointing to one in the case.

Jenel nodded. “Nice. It’s one of my favorites, too. One and a half carats, it’s a modified cushion-cut diamond with a double row of bead-set diamonds surrounding it. There are also some diamonds on the band, as you can see.”

Little of what she said made sense to him. What he saw was a large, somewhat square diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds. The whole thing was held up by a V structure.

She returned the other rings and pulled out the one he liked, along with several bands with diamonds.

“With this style, they can nestle together, and she’ll have a flat ring for work.”

He knew this was the moment where he decided to let go of the past and believe in his future. Together he and Patience could make it. He loved her. He’d probably loved her for the past fifteen years. Felicia was right—Patience was the reason he’d come back to Fool’s Gold. Now that he’d found her again, he never wanted to let her go.

He looked at Jenel. “That’s the one.”

“It’s beautiful, but if Patience doesn’t like it, I’ll happily exchange it for something else.”

His phone rang. He glanced at the screen and saw Patience’s name and number.

“Excuse me,” he said, and stood. “Hello?”

“Justice?” The sound was more of a sob than an actual word. Patience sucked in breath. “Justice?”

He could hear the tears in her voice. The panic. His body went very, very still.

“What’s wrong? Tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s L-Lillie. At school. A man c-came. He had a gun and he took her. Justice, please.” She began to cry.

In less time than it took him to absorb the words, he began the process of disconnecting from all that was around him. There was only the moment and the mission. He didn’t know what had happened or why, but he knew how it was going to end.

“You’re at the school?” he asked.

“Yes, but Police Chief Barns wants me to go home.”

“I’ll be right there.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“I DON’T understand.”

Patience didn’t know how many times she’d said the words, but they remained the truth. She didn’t understand. How could she? Things like this didn’t happen in real life. They were the stuff of crime shows and movies. She lived in Fool’s Gold. There was no way a man walked in to an elementary school and kidnapped her daughter.

Only it had happened and Lillie was gone.

Fear was cold and dark and clung to her like a giant leech. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. She wanted to scream she would do anything, give all she had, if only Lillie would come home.

She stood in her kitchen, shaking and fighting tears. Felicia was with her, as was Police Chief Barns. There were other people, too, but she couldn’t focus on them right now. Not when it was so hard to breathe.

“Why?” she asked.

Felicia put her hands on her shoulders. “You’re in shock. You need to keep your breathing steady and even. I’ll get you some water. I don’t know why, but offering water is what we do and drinking it is surprisingly helpful.”

Chief Barns shook her head. “I’m with you, Patience. None of this makes sense. We have a roadblock in place and are contacting state authorities. Every person in my department is out looking for Lillie. We’re interviewing her teacher. What we know is that a man walked into the classroom and took Lillie. He wanted her specifically. Can you think of a reason why? It’s not your ex-husband, is it?”

“Ned? I haven’t had contact with him in years.”

“Is there anyone new in your life?”

“Just Justice and he would never—”

“What did the kidnapper look like?”

Patience turned toward the speaker and saw Justice walking into the kitchen. She rushed to him and threw herself at him.

“You have to help,” she said, tears pouring down her cheeks.

“I will.” He lightly kissed her. “I’ll get her back, Patience. No matter what it takes, I will find her and bring her home.”

There was certainty in his eyes. A promise. She knew she could trust him with her child and was able to draw in a breath.

Chief Barns flipped open her small notebook and began to read from it.

“About five-eleven. Graying hair, brown eyes. Mid-to-late fifties. Black or dark jeans, a black T-shirt.”

Patience felt Justice tense.

“Did he have a scar on his cheek? His left cheek? Almost like a question mark?”

The police chief stared at him. “How did you know?”

Justice ignored her and turned to Felicia. “It’s Bart. We need to set up a command post and fast. Help the police. They’re out of their league on this one.”

Patience watched wide-eyed as Felicia crossed to the police chief and started talking about phones and computers and personnel. Then his words sank in.

“You know who took her?”

Justice’s expression tightened. “I do. I’m sorry. This is my fault.”