Her Mistletoe Protector

“Absolutely,” he agreed. “Sharing my burdens with God always helps me feel better.”

“I wish I knew more about God and faith and prayer,” Rachel said. “I feel like I’m not worthy of His help.”

“You are worthy, Rachel, and so is Joey. But if you’d really like to learn more, I’d be honored to teach you.” He didn’t want to push her too hard, but he was thrilled that she had opened her heart and her soul to God and faith. “Once we have Joey back, I’ll be happy to study the Bible with you.”

“After we have Joey back,” Rachel repeated. “I’m going to hold you to that, Nick.” She was twisting her hands together in the way he knew meant she was worrying again.

“We’re going to be okay, Rachel,” Jonah chimed in from the backseat. “God will guide us through this. We’ve been in other tight spots before, right, Nick?”

“Right,” Nick agreed drily.

There was so much more he wanted to say, but off in the distance he caught sight of an abandoned barn at the end of what looked to be a hard-packed dirt road. That must be the meeting place. His heart sank as he realized it was out in the middle of a wide-open space, where it would be difficult to hide any backup.

“Take a look, Jonah,” he said, gesturing toward the barn. “They sure didn’t leave us many options.”

“We’ll find something,” Jonah replied with confidence. “I doubt they’re going to take the time to search the entire barn. I suspect they’ll make this a quick exchange and get out of Dodge.”

“I hope you’re right,” Nick muttered, pushing down harder on the accelerator. He couldn’t help constantly looking at the clock on Jonah’s dashboard. It seemed that time was slipping away from them.

The kidnappers would be there in forty-two minutes. Unless, of course, they decided to show up early. In that case, there was no way to judge how much time they had to prepare.

* * *

Rachel’s stomach hurt so badly she feared she might be sick. She took several deep breaths and wrapped her arms tightly across her middle. She could do this.

She had to do this.

The big dilapidated barn loomed ominously as they approached. This was it. The moment she’d been waiting for and dreading at the same time. In less than forty minutes the kidnappers would drive up with her son, demanding money in exchange for his freedom.

Please, Lord, please keep Joey safe!

The calm she’d felt before after praying seemed to have deserted her now. Maybe because her prayers betrayed the depth of her desperation. Despite Nick’s reassurances that she was worthy, she couldn’t help feeling that maybe God thought she was a big fraud. But she hoped He wouldn’t punish her son for her previous lack of faith. She took another deep breath.

Nick backed up the dirt road so that the car was facing outward toward the road. The minute he shut off the car, he and Jonah jumped out to see what they had to work with.

She was still trying to pull herself together. But when she stared down at the duffel bag, she realized she couldn’t sit here. She had to be in the driver’s seat, as if she’d just driven here by herself. Swallowing hard, she shoved open the door, hauled the duffel bag up so that it was on the seat, and then slammed the door.

Nick had Jonah’s car keys, so she went to find him. She needed the kidnappers to believe she’d followed their instructions to the letter.

The barn door was open only about a foot, so she turned sideways to slide inside. The interior was surprisingly dim. She’s expected it to be brighter considering there were several missing boards and glassless windows. The place reeked of fertilizer mixed with musty old hay, thanks to the piles that looked as if they’d been there untouched for years.

Nick stood, looking up at the loft. She followed his gaze and gasped when she saw Jonah carefully going up a rickety old ladder that didn’t look strong enough to hold his weight.

“Are you sure that’s safe?” she whispered.

“Not really, but he insisted on giving it a try.”

There was a loud noise as Jonah’s foot broke through one of the rungs of the ladder. Her heart lodged in her throat as he hung there for a moment before he regained his balance. In a few minutes, Jonah was safely on the loft.

“Wouldn’t he be better off down here?” She couldn’t imagine the rotted wood that made up the loft floor would be any sturdier than the ladder.

“I’ll be down on the ground level, and he’s going to try and get some leverage from up above. See that window up there?” He indicated the open space in the wall of the barn located above the loft. “It overlooks the front of the barn, and that’s our best option.”