Darkness Before the Dawn (Maggie Bennett 2)

The light of humor vanished as quickly as it had come. “Maggie,” he said meditatively, “the fact that you’re a woman isn’t enough to stop me from punching you in the mouth for asking something like that.”

“Try it.”

“What’s going on, Maggie?”

“It just occurred to me that I’ve been awfully trusting. Someone has known just what we were up to, someone has been on our trail from the very beginning. And I wondered if you hadn’t been using me as part of a smokescreen to cover your own involvement.”

“You’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Did you come to any conclusions?” His voice was flat, unemotional.

Maggie watched him out of weary eyes. “Yes.”

“You want to tell me what they are?”

All his defenses were up. He was watching her out of those stormy gray-blue eyes and his expression was blank, slightly wary, waiting.

“I decided that I had no choice but to trust you,” she said, and his expression didn’t change.

“Your vote of confidence is inspiring,” he said, and she suspected he still wanted to punch her in the mouth. “Does that mean you’re going to tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Chrissie’s been kidnapped.”

“No, she hasn’t.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Randall, she most certainly—” The words died in her throat as she stared up at him, incredulity and rage warring within her. “What have you done with her?”

“She’s with my sister. I had her fly in from Boston last night. They’ve got a suite three floors down from your mother at the Mandrake, and Chrissie’s having a wonderful time playing with my three-year-old-nephew.”

“Why?”

“I had to do something to protect the kid, Maggie. This isn’t a parlor game we’re playing. People use real bullets, they’re desperate, and a baby would be a wonderful pawn. It would have been their next move—I just got there first. Would you rather Caleb or Alicia had gotten her? It looked as if it might come to that.”

“So the Almighty Randall decided to make his move, without asking anyone, without telling anyone.” She spat out the words. “You couldn’t trust me enough to tell me, to save my sister and my mother the anguish of thinking Chrissie might be in danger—”

“It didn’t seem to be a risk worth taking.”

“You heartless bastard,” Maggie said calmly. “Who the hell gave you the right to interfere in our lives? If I had a gun, I would shoot you.”

“Then let’s be thankful you left yours in New York,” he said. “Are you going to stand around in that transparent nightgown, or are we going to see how my plan worked?”

“The very first thing I’m going to do is tell my sister what you’ve done.” She headed for the door, but his tall, lean body was ahead of her, blocking her.

“No, you’re not. Chrissie’s absolutely fine, and Kate will survive the next few hours. I’m sure you’ve already told her that Alicia took her, and she thinks Alicia isn’t really dangerous. We can’t afford to have anyone guess what’s going on.”

“Are you going to move, Randall?” Maggie asked sweetly.

“Not until I have your word that you won’t tell your sister,” he said.

Randall was good, and he was fast, but Maggie had the element of surprise on her side. Without a moment’s hesitation, she kneed him in the groin.

He moved fast, but not quite fast enough for her to miss entirely. He doubled over with a muffled grunt of pain, and forced herself to move past him into the hallway and raced toward Kate’s bedroom. Randall had recovered enough to come after her, but she had a head start. She yanked the door open and burst into the room.

“Kate, Chrissie’s safe …” The words trailed off as she surveyed the empty bedroom, the still-made bed.

“Flown the coop, has she?” Randall inquired from the doorway.

Slowly Maggie turned to look at him. His face was still slightly pale around the edges, with just a hint of pain lingering around his grim mouth. “She’s probably gone after Alicia,” Maggie said in despair. “You see what you’ve done with your damned game-playing? Even if Chrissie’s safe, Kate’s in danger. If anything happens to her, I’ll kill you.”

“You’re probably right,” he said, showing no remorse. “Are you just going to stand there threatening me, or are we going after her?”