Dream a Little Dream (Chicago Stars, #4)(236)

An hour later, he was jarred awake by the sound of door chimes, along with a furious pounding. Jane bolted upright next to him. “What’s that?”

“Stay here.” Cal was already out of bed. Grabbing a robe to cover his nakedness, he thrust his arms in the sleeves as he rushed out of the bedroom and down the stairs. When he reached the front door, he looked through the peephole. Relief rushed through him as he saw Gabe on the other side.

He threw open the door. “Where the hell have you been?”

Gabe looked terrible, red-eyed and exhausted, with stubble covering his jaw. “I can’t find Rachel.”

Cal stepped back to let him in. “You have a key. Why didn’t you let yourself in?”

“I forgot. And I needed to talk to you.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “Have you seen Rachel? She was supposed to be staying at Kristy’s condo, but nobody was there. I drove to the cottage. It’s empty. Jesus, Cal, I can’t find her anywhere. I’m afraid she’s taken off.”

“Cal, what’s going on?”

Both of them looked up to see Jane coming down the stairs. She’d pulled on her pink nightshirt with a picture of Tinker Bell on the front. The fact that one of the most brilliant female physicists in the world had a fondness for cartoon nightwear usually made Cal smile, but not now. He wanted to keep her out of this.

Cal’s uneasiness grew as Gabe rushed to the bottom of the stairs. His brother had always been a man who moved slowly—an easy walk, contained gestures. Now his movements were frantic. “I can’t find Rachel. Like a fool, I walked out on her at the drive-in, and I haven’t seen her since.”

Jane looked confused. “She’s in jail.”

Gabe stared at her. “Jail?”

Jane touched his arm, her expression mirroring her concern. “I don’t understand. Cal told me how Rachel vandalized the drive-in, and that you had her put in jail.”

Seconds ticked by, then Gabe and Jane both turned to him, the motion so synchronized they might have been attached at the head.

He shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t actually say that it was Gabe, sweetheart. You just assumed . . .”

She was getting her squinty-eyed look, and he quickly turned to Gabe, keeping his voice calm and comforting as he spoke. “Rachel’s the one who destroyed the drive-in, Gabe. I’m sorry. We found the money from the register, along with some other things, hidden in the Escort. I knew you’d want Odell to press charges, so I did it for you.”

Gabe’s voice sounded as if it had been dragged over sandpaper. “You had Rachel thrown in jail?”

Cal pointed out the truth as gently as he could. “She broke the law.”

The next thing he knew, he was flying across the foyer. As the back of his leg hit the rim of the Las Vegas fountain, he lost his balance and fell, ass-first, into the water.

Gabe watched the water splash over the edge of the fountain while he tried to suck enough air into his chest to breathe. Once he could do that, he was going to kill his brother.

Cal struggled to sit upright, his robe swimming around him. “She trashed your drive-in! She belongs in jail!” Gabe erupted and shot toward the fountain, but before he could get there, Jane threw herself between them. “Stop it! This doesn’t help Rachel.”

“Help Rachel, my ass!” Cal exclaimed, wiping the water from his eyes. “Gabe’s the one who needs help!”

Gabe shot around Jane and reached down to grab his brother by the collar of his robe. “It’s my drive-in, you son of a bitch, not yours! And you didn’t have any right!” He shoved him back into the water.

God . . . He’d broken out in a sweat. Rachel was in jail, and that might be Cal’s fault, but it was his fault, too, because he’d run. At the time, all he could think about was getting away. He’d been too much of a coward to stay right there and deal with what had happened.

He had to get to her, and he spun toward the door only to freeze in his tracks at the sound of a small, familiar voice coming from the top of the stairs.


“Gabe?”

He looked up and saw Chip standing there in his Macho Man T-shirt and little white cotton briefs. A rooster tail of light-brown hair stuck up from the back of his head, and silvery tear streaks glistened on his cheeks.

“Gabe?” he whispered. “Where’s my mommy? ”

Gabe felt as if his heart were cracking open, but this time it didn’t spill bile. This time it spilled fresh red blood, full of life and need and love. He took the stairs two at a time and swept the child up in his arms. “It’s okay, buddy. I’m going to get her right now.”

Brown eyes stared into his own. “I want my mommy.”

“I know you do, son. I know.”

He felt Chip trembling beneath his palms and knew he’d started to cry. To protect his privacy, he carried him into the guest room. There wasn’t a comfortable chair, so he sat on the side of the bed and cradled him in his lap.

The little boy’s tears were mostly silent ones. Gabe held him against his chest and stroked his hair. As much as he needed to get to Rachel, he had to take care of this first.

“Something bad’s happened to my mommy, hasn’t it?”

“There’s been a misunderstanding, a big mix-up. Your mom’s safe, but I think she might be scared, and I have to go get her.”