“Has anyone seen anything? Said anything?” she asked no one in particular.
“Let’s step into the bedroom, Miss Cassidy.” The agent by the window took a step toward her.
“She stays,” Josh ordered, holding up a hand to halt him. “I want to hear everything firsthand. Same for anything you have to say to me. She can hear it, so she stays.”
“All right. I’m Special Agent in Charge Leo McCaffrey and this is Agent Kendall Barlow. No, the kidnappers haven’t called. There’s been no ransom demand.” He pointed to the woman at the table and crossed his arms. “Have you remembered anything else that might help?”
“Not really. A van was broken down. Two men came to my car to help me back up. It seems like one purposely let me reverse into the rental van. Then one came to the passenger window and tapped. I thought they needed my insurance or license or something. They looked like college students until they pulled the masks over their faces. I have to admit that I didn’t pay any attention to their faces when they were uncovered.” Tracey latched her fingers around the edge of the kitchen chair, hoping she wouldn’t fall off as the world spun a little on its side.
“You didn’t think that was unusual?” the woman asked.
“Not really. Students walk a lot around here. That part of Waco isn’t far from downtown.”
It was weird what she noticed about Agent McCaffrey. Average height, but nice looking. His short hair had a dent around the middle like Josh’s did when he wore his Stetson. Or after an afternoon with his ball cap on. She glanced at his feet. Sure enough, he wore a pair of nice dress boots. And then she remembered the men abducting her had worn work boots.
“Wait. The men who got out of the moving truck. They both wore an older Baylor shirt from about five years ago. And they all wore the same type of work boots. I could almost swear that they were new and the same brand. The man who...who pulled me from the car...” Everyone looked at her, waiting. “He had dark brown eyes and thick eyebrows. Not thick enough to hide a scar across the right one.”
“That’s good, Miss Cassidy. Anytime something comes to you, just make sure to tell Agent Lanning. Anything special about the others?”
“I wasn’t close to the other two. It all happened so fast that I didn’t know what to do.” She choked on the last word. She hadn’t known. Still didn’t.
“When you were questioned at the hospital, you had a hard time remembering the small details, but they’ll probably come back.” The woman spoke again, pushing a pad toward the center of the table. “You should keep a notebook handy.”
“I...uh...couldn’t get to the hospital,” Josh said loudly. He swallowed hard and shook his head, looking a little lost.
Tracey had never seen that look on his face before. “I didn’t expect you to.”
“It’s just... I haven’t been there since Gwen...” Josh looked at her asking her to understand without making him say the words. “I guess I had to have been there once with Jackson.” He pushed his hand through his short hair. “But I can’t remember when for some reason.”
“I know. It’s okay,” she whispered, wanting to reach out and grab his hand. “You needed to be here.”
Major Parker was her employer, but she couldn’t stand it. Someone needed to help him. To be on his side like no other person would be. This time she shoved back from the table and her chair was the one that hit the floor. She pushed past Agent McCaffrey and covered Josh with her arms. He buried his face against her, wrapping his arms around her waist as if she were the only thing keeping him from falling off a cliff.
Until two weeks ago, they hadn’t hugged since Gwen had died. Had rarely touched each other except for an accidental brush when handing the kids to each other. Then there’d been that kiss.
An unexpected kiss after an impromptu surprise birthday party with several of his friends. A kiss that had thrown her into so many loop-de-loops, she’d been dizzy for days. But it must have thrown Josh for a loop he didn’t want. He hadn’t spoken to her except in passing. Which was the reason she’d accepted the out-of-state position.
She held him, feeling the rapid beating of his heart through the hospital scrubs they’d given her. They had so much to face and right now he needed to be comforted as much as she did.
Someone at the hospital had said she was just the nanny. She didn’t feel like just the hired help. She’d avoided that particular title and thought it demeaning when Josh’s friends referred to her that way. Months when the rent was hard to come by, her friends asked her why she didn’t move in to take care of the twins.
At first it had been because she thought it was a temporary job. Eventually Josh would hire a real nanny. Then she’d been certain Josh would eventually date and remarry, so she hadn’t wanted to complicate the situation. And this past year it had been because she was falling in love with him.
Now the word nanny didn’t seem complex enough for their situation. She’d been a part of the twins’ lives from infancy. She’d been told to go home and stay there with a protection detail so she could be easily reached if needed. She was just the nanny.
Just the person who provided day care—and any other time of the day care when Josh was on a case. But his lost look was the reason she hadn’t obeyed the order.
Technically, Tracey knew she was just the nanny. Yet, her heart had been ripped from her body—twice. Once for each child.
She held Josh tight until Agent McCaffrey cleared his throat. She sat in the chair next to Josh. Bryce brought the bottle of water he’d offered when she first arrived and dropped back to the living room doorway.
“Is this a vendetta or revenge for one of the men you’ve put away?” Tracey asked Josh, who finally looked her in the eyes. “I tried to convince them to take me instead. They said it needed to be someone you loved.”
Someone you loved...
Did she know? Josh searched her face, seeing nothing but concern for his kids. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her they would have gotten it right if she’d been taken.
That sounds ridiculous.
He didn’t want her abducted any more than he wanted the twins to be gone. He reached out, touching her swollen cheek.
“They hurt you.” Stupid statement. It was obvious, but he didn’t know what else to say. “Of course they did. They took you to the hospital.”
He noticed what she was wearing, the streak of blood still on her neck, the bandage at her hairline. Hospital scrubs because her clothes had been ruined.
Time to shed the shaking figure of a lost father. Tenoreno had hit his family—the only place he considered himself vulnerable. But he was stronger than this. He needed to show everyone—including himself. Gathering some courage, he straightened his backbone and placed both palms flat on the table to keep himself there.
He knew what McCaffrey was thinking. The agent had repeated his questions about Tracey’s possible motives more than once. Agent Kendall Barlow had been ordered to run a thorough background check on “the nanny.” If Tracey heard them call her that she’d let them know she was a child care provider and personal nutritionist.
Definitely not the nanny.
The FBI might have doubts about Tracey—he didn’t. First and foremost, she had no motive. They might need to rule her out as a suspect. No one in the room had mentioned Tenoreno by name. But Josh knew who was responsible.
Drawing air deep into his lungs, he readied himself to get started. Ready to fight Tenoreno or whoever he’d hired