Her Mistletoe Protector

Fear swelled in her throat, choking her as tiny red dots swam before her eyes.

“Breathe,” Nick commanded, giving her shoulder a shake.

She didn’t even realize she was holding her breath. She took a shaky gasp of air and lifted her tortured gaze to his. “They’re always going to know where we are, aren’t they? We’re never going to be able to escape.”

“Not unless we ditch your phone,” he said grimly.

She clenched the phone so hard she was surprised she didn’t break it in half. “No. No way. This is the only connection I have to Joey. This is the number they’re going to use in order to contact me for the ransom demand. I’m not giving it up, Nick. I’m not! I can’t!”

He stared at her for a long moment before releasing a heavy sigh. “Okay, if you’re not getting rid of it, then we need to figure out our next steps. Because the kidnappers are going to be able to find us, no matter what we do or where we go.”

“What if we buy a new phone, but keep the same number?” she asked suddenly. “Wouldn’t that work? I mean, the GPS is linked to the device, not to the actual phone number...right?”

Perking up, Nick flashed her a smile. “You’re brilliant, Rachel. That’s exactly right. Now we have options.”

“Do you think the stores are still open?” she asked.

“There are plenty of twenty-four-hour superstores. Here, use my smartphone to find the nearest one....”

“Okay.” She took the phone and used the search engine to find the closest superstore. “There’s one about seven miles away,” she told him.

“Perfect.”

They arrived at the superstore and quickly made their way over to the electronics section. She stayed back as Nick purchased the phone, along with a car charger, explaining to the clerk how they wanted to keep the same number.

“We can do that,” the clerk said. “But it can sometimes take up to twelve hours to get the number transferred over.”

“Twelve hours?” she echoed in shock.

The clerk shrugged. “It might be quicker, but I can’t say for sure when.”

Nick’s expression was grim but he purchased the new phone and car charger, paying for a full year so that there wasn’t any way to trace the contract fee. He gave her the phone and she stared down at it.

Twelve hours. She had to hang on to her old phone and evade the kidnappers for the next twelve hours.

And they were no closer to finding Joey.

She wanted to scream in frustration but forced herself to take several deep breaths to fight off her rising panic instead. She had to believe the kidnappers would keep Joey alive in order to get the payout. They had to.

She followed Nick to the car. When he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, back onto the road, she plugged the new phone into the charger and then glanced at him. “Where are we going?”

He shrugged. “I think it’s better to stay in the car and keep moving for now. We’d only be sitting ducks in a motel.”

She couldn’t argue his logic. “Would you be willing to split up so one of us could go and check out Margie’s house? I need to know for sure Joey’s not in there.”

Nick was silent for so long she thought he was ignoring her. “Rachel, you’re not a cop...so no, I’m not willing to split up. Let’s just worry about staying alive tonight, okay? Unless you’re having second thoughts about going to the FBI?”

She shivered. “No, I’m not having second thoughts. I heard what you told your boss about dirty cops at the local and federal level. I can’t risk losing my son, Nick. I just can’t.”

He sighed. “I know what I said, but I can’t help wondering if God isn’t trying to tell us something the way these obstacles keep getting thrown in our way.”

She was a little uncomfortable by his reference to God, but just the thought of calling in the police made her sick. “Your boss is willing to give us some time, so why are you still pushing the authorities on me?” When he opened his mouth to protest, she held up her hand. “I trust you, Nick, and I don’t have much choice but to trust your boss, too. But I can’t take the chance of trusting the wrong person. It could end up costing my little boy his life.”

Truthfully, it was hard enough to trust Nick. But the fact that he’d been so angry with her for not giving him details about Anthony’s involvement with the Mafia a year ago had gone a long way in convincing her that he was one of the good guys.