SEAL's Pregnant One-Night Stand (Bronte Security Services)

“Told you a million times not to exaggerate,” Charlie replied, tongue-in-cheek.

“Seriously, couple of aspirin from the go-bag in my trunk and I’m good,” Eric vowed. “You’re going to get these bastards, right? No way am I missing that.”

Charlie took his key fob to open the trunk and rifled through Eric’s bugout bag for the first aid pack and its painkillers. He brought Eric a bottle of water too.

“Cheers.” Eric gave him an ironic salute with the bottle and downed half of it in one swallow. “So what’s next? Get the CCTV from here? Gotta be working over here, with this space being for visitors, right?”

“Get the security footage from the school too.” Charlie eyed the huge building. “Work out the route the guy took when he was dragging Sofia from her classroom, I presume, out of the place, and question security personnel there. Also see if we can get a clear visual on the guy. Maybe if we ID him, we can figure out where he’d be likely to go.”

“I couldn’t get into the place.” Eric capped the empty bottle. “If I couldn’t get a visitor badge, how could this guy? He got contacts in the place that he bribed or threatened? Or someone else signed out a badge for this bastard to use?”

“Could be a good place to start,” Charlie agreed. “We’ll question everyone we can, too. There must have been people around who saw something. Ian? Any more ideas?”

“Yeah.” Without appearing to be paying attention in that direction, Ian was checking out the figure across the parking lot. Young, blond, he was half-concealed by a pickup truck and looking at them. Ian gave Charlie and Eric the signal not to look. He didn’t want the person spooked. “My idea is we could question a possible witness here in the parking lot.”

The kid took a step out from behind the Tacoma and Ian suddenly recognized the light hair and dark glasses. It was the dealer Gavin had been hanging out with at that party, the guy they called S-Man. Then, when he took off his sunglasses, Ian got a glimpse of his face. He looked too scared to be a threat.

It was then that recognition hit Ian, hard, like a punch to the gut. This was the boy whose yearbook photo Sofia had shown him—her former student, Scotty Wagner. The kid they suspected of setting Sofia’s house on fire…and also saving her from the blaze.

“Scotty?” Ian called. “Scotty Wagner, right?”

Yeah, he was right, if the way the kid jammed on his glasses and started running, his messenger bag flapping against his torso, was any indication. Ian knew the layout of the parking lot and threw two quick hand signals to Eric and Charlie, telling them which ways to go to pen Scotty in. “He’s mine,” he told them, setting off after the kid.

He didn’t need Charlie and Eric’s help—he caught up to the boy in seconds. He grabbed the back of his jacket before the kid reached the grass verge separating the parking lot from the sidewalk. Scotty froze, like a small animal before a predator.

“I bet you’re thinking you could shuck the jacket and take off again, right?” Ian remarked. “But think how easily I just caught up to you. I’d catch you again, and I’d have a new denim jacket as well.”

Scotty slumped and Ian dropped his hand. “Scotty Wagner?” he asked. “Turn around for me, nice and slow, and keep your hands where I can see them.” Kid could be armed. Charlie and Eric hovered nearby, ready to charge in if needed, but Ian gestured for them to stay back.

Scotty obeyed.

“Good. You remember me? I’m Gavin’s father, Ian,” Ian continued. “Take off the glasses, slowly, and we can talk.”

Scotty removed his shades and slotted them into his top pocket, his hands shaking. “Not talking to you,” he replied, a tremble in his voice.

“Scotty, I’m betting that you were out here earlier, dealing.” Gavin had mentioned that he’d been hanging around outside with a friend—Ian was suddenly certain that Scotty had been that friend. “And you saw what went down. Am I right?” He applied a little more pressure. “You witnessed Sofia Popov being kidnapped. She was dragged along, probably at gunpoint, and very, very frightened, Scotty.”

“Stop talking to me about it!” Distressed, Scotty looked about to put his hands over his ears. “I can’t help you. I’m sorry.”

“Why can’t you?” Ian had to work hard to keep his tone level and his body language non-threatening. A large part of him burned to shake the information from the kid, but spooking him was too likely to backfire.

“Mateo would kill me if he found out I narced,” Scotty burst out.

“And that’s what those men are going to do to Sofia if we don’t find her. They’re going to kill her, Scotty.” Even saying the words felt like a betrayal of his vow to keep Sofia safe.

“Nothing I can do about that, bro.” Scotty attempted a shrug, but couldn’t make his shoulders cooperate. It came out like a shiver. He inched back toward the street.

“So you don’t care about what happens to her? I don’t believe that. You wouldn’t have called her after setting her house on fire if you didn’t care,” Ian said.

He didn’t miss the tear that sprang to Scotty’s dark blue eye.

“Ms. Popov was a cool enough teacher, yeah.” Scotty took another step away.

“Then help me bring her home. What do you know?”

Scotty refused to look at him, staring at the ground with his body tensed. Ian could tell the boy was weighing his options again, wondering if he could make a break for it again. Ian needed to make him understand exactly what was at stake.

“Scotty, she’s pregnant.”