Wicked and True (Wicked & Devoted 4)

It wasn’t impossible.

Tessa wasn’t willing to take the chance that if Zy and the bosses planned a rescue for Hallie, the enemy wouldn’t find out and make good on their threat. And she would never see her precious daughter again.

She couldn’t live with that.

Besides, were there even enough operatives available to save Hallie? The bosses and most of the company resources were tied up finding Kimber.

Oh, god. Had the same criminals who had taken her friend taken her daughter, too?

Probably. These hard-core animals were willing to do whatever it took to get what they wanted. Hallie meant nothing to them. Her baby being at their mercy terrified Tessa.

She didn’t dare cross them. She would never be able to live with herself if her failure to follow simple instructions resulted in her daughter’s end.

Tessa was in way over her head. But she didn’t see any choice except to play by the kidnappers’ rules—at least for now.

Sucking in a shuddering breath, she reached up to close the open window. Her hand shook uncontrollably. Despair threatened to close in. But she had to stay strong and keep it together. If Hallie had any chance of staying alive, and if she ever wanted to see her baby again, she had to make the right choices.

That meant she had to stop the bawling threatening to take her to her knees. That meant she had to tell the daycare that Hallie was with family for a few days. She had to go to work and do her best to act as if her world wasn’t falling apart. She had to close herself off from everything and everyone. As of now, she only had one concern and one goal: to recover Hallie.

Whatever these people wanted, Tessa vowed to give them. As long as she got her baby back alive, whole, and well, she’d do whatever they wanted.

An hour later, Tessa stared at her computer screen, waiting for some word—any word—from the kidnappers.

Around her, One-Mile was on the phone, his growl an indistinct mumble muted by the whirling of her thoughts. His voice was like sandpaper abrading her nerves. She wanted to curl into a ball and make the world go away.

God, she couldn’t take this. The pain of missing Hallie was literally killing her.

Pictures of her baby covered the walls and desk. Her daughter’s bright, smiling face and innocent eyes flooded her with anguish. Tessa barely managed to hold in her sobs. She’d already had a terrible cry in the car on her way to the office and had to repair her mascara so no one would know. But Zy had known anyway. He’d seen her puffy eyes and red nose. When he’d asked what was wrong, she’d said she had allergies and turned away.

If she’d had any feelings to spare, she would have been gentler when she replied to him.

But she didn’t. And right now, she didn’t have enough emotions left over to worry about his. All her concern was for Hallie.

“I’m going to lunch,” Zy said. “I’d ask you to join me, but I need to run a personal errand.”

Why was he telling her? Unless his errand was to bring her daughter back, she really didn’t care. “Okay.”

“You want anything? A burger? A sandwich?”

She shook her head because even trying to carry on a conversation was painful. “Thank you.”

“Text me if you change your mind.”

She wouldn’t. Food was the last thing she wanted.

Tessa wished she could throw herself into Zy’s arms, tell him everything, and beg him to bring her baby back. He would do it—or die trying. He loved her and he adored Hallie, so he would give it his all.

But she’d already been over this in her head. She couldn’t.

Tessa knew her standoffishness might ruin the relationship developing between her and Zy. But she truly couldn’t look at him and pretend everything was all right. Worse, she felt useless because all she could do to save her daughter was sit and wait for her kidnappers to reach out. She had no illusions; if Zy ever found out she’d kept something as major as Hallie’s kidnapping from him, he would think she didn’t trust him. He would feel betrayed. There might not be any coming back from that.

“I will,” she murmured.

“Baby.” His voice dropped as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you sure you’re all right? Did I say or do something to upset you? I hated being away from you last night—”

“It’s not that.” Her voice croaked.

God, she was barely talking at him, and he was trying to take responsibility for her grim mood? If she didn’t already love him, she would love him so much more.

But some irrational part of her wanted to blame him for Hallie’s abduction, too. If work hadn’t called, if Zy wasn’t so good at his job, if he hadn’t answered his phone, he would have been at her place last night. He probably would have heard someone rustling around her daughter’s bedroom and stopped them before it was too late.