Wicked and True (Wicked & Devoted 4)

With a little smile, she stretched and reached for her phone to see if he’d left a message. Nothing, but that didn’t surprise her much. Whatever he’d been working on last night had seemed both important and involved, and he probably hadn’t wanted to wake her up.

As much as she’d love to hear his voice, she resisted the urge to call. She’d see him in the office soon, and if she got on the phone with him, she wouldn’t pull herself together for work on time. Hallie might be happy for the extra sleep. The child hadn’t stirred all night, but they had a schedule to maintain. Sundays were for lazy mornings. It was only Wednesday.

She slid out of bed and showered, put on a light touch of makeup, then hopped into her slacks and a warm sweater. She was zipping up her boots when she frowned. Hallie was still asleep? By now she was usually either fussing or making noises in her crib as she played. Poor baby must have been really worn-out last night.

Tessa gathered her phone and her purse, got all of her baby’s things together for daycare, so she’d only have to change and dress the girl before tucking her into her car for their short drive. As soon as she’d wrangled everything, she started the teapot and shoved a piece of bread in the toaster. If Hallie was going to give her a few extra minutes to eat, Tessa intended to take advantage of it.

Five minutes later, she wiped her mouth and cleaned up her mess, tossed Hallie’s things into the car, then headed into her daughter’s room with a smile.

Instantly, she knew something was wrong.

It was freezing inside. The window was open. The screen had been slashed and was flapping with the wind. What the hell?

Her heart began pummeling her chest as she groped for the light switch and flipped it up. “Hallie?”

Nothing. The crib was empty.

She blinked. No. This wasn’t happening. Her baby was here somewhere. She had to be. But Hallie was too little to climb out of her crib, much less open a window and cut the screen.

Fear strangled Tessa. She couldn’t breathe. Terror burned her veins. Panic punched through her chest and ripped out her heart.

She flung herself to the crib and looked for anything that might tell her what had happened. All she saw was the empty mattress. One of her daughter’s favorite stuffed animals had been discarded at the bottom of the crib. But no sign of her baby.

Oh, my god… “Hallie!”

But she heard nothing in return except the eerie echo of silence.

Hallie was gone.

No. No! There must be some simple, logical explanation.

There was. Last night she’d slept like the dead, so she hadn’t heard a thing. And someone had taken her daughter.

Who? And why would anyone want her baby?

The dark-eyed man in the ball cap who had accosted her yesterday streaked through her memory. The one with the smooth voice, shrewd eyes, and repugnant words. Had he taken Hallie?

We have ways of…persuading you to comply.

Tessa screamed. Tears flowed. Irrationally, she yanked the mattress from the crib and tore away the blankets, hoping against hope that Hallie lay underneath. Instead, she caught sight of something flat and white that had blended in with the pale sheet.

Shaking, tears stinging her eyes, she lifted the piece of paper.

We have your daughter. If you want to see her again, give us the information we want today. Tell no one or the girl won’t make it to her first birthday. We’re watching you. We will contact you with instructions.

Tessa gaped. Her gut told her that who or whatever that stranger yesterday had represented? Those people had kidnapped her baby girl. Lifted her through the window and stolen her to God knew where…and left everything behind except the pajamas she’d been wearing. Oh, god. They hadn’t even taken diapers, toys, or food with them. How would they take care of Hallie?

Did they even intend to?

Panic froze her, but she couldn’t stop shaking. Grief stabbed her chest. The pain was more than she knew how to bear. How could anyone do this? Hallie was just a baby. Innocent. Sweet. She hadn’t hurt anyone.

Tessa’s stomach threatened to heave. She forced it back. Hallie needed her. She had to think. What was she going to do?

Call the police? No. Officers would come. The kidnappers had said they were watching. They would know. And they would hurt her baby.

What about Zy and the rest of the team? They could help. They handled situations like this for a living. She was lucky to work for people with the know-how to rescue her baby. They could end this nightmare.

But before she even reached for her phone, she stopped.

If the kidnappers were watching, was it possible they had eyes and ears everywhere, even inside EM Security Management? Oh, god, maybe they did. Several of the firm’s recent missions had gone horribly wrong. Zy had been injured just before she’d met him. One-Mile had been captured and nearly killed by a ruthless cartel. She’d overheard whispers that the enemy seemed to know in advance when, where, and how the operatives were coming. Was information somehow leaking from EM?