A Warrior's Mission

“The baby’s name is Schyler?” His voice sounded more hoarse than normal, strains of his Native heritage filtering through.

She nodded, her heart breaking. “North Schyler Langworthy.”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. The flare of anguish that deepened his brown eyes to black sucked the air from her lungs.

Now, he knew the baby was his.

He remembered telling her that romantic story about his ancestors.

How could he even think she’d been with another man after that incredible evening?

“I’m sorry, Night…I—” her voice broke, the pain of the last week, of her father’s humiliating accusations the evening Night had walked out of her life resurfacing. Her father had never let her forget the depth of her sins for taking Night to her bed. Especially when he had discovered she was pregnant. And Night had never looked back. She had needed him….

“Did you ever plan to tell me I had a son?”

“I…wanted to,” Holly said, knowing her excuse would sound weak to his ears. But she had to try to make him understand. “You left and you never called, you never came back. I didn’t know how to contact you.”

“You didn’t try.” Steely rage underscored his softly spoken words.

She shook her head violently. In spite of her father’s fury, she had tried to find Night. “I did look for you, but you just disappeared, and then I…I was ashamed that I’d seduced you. You’d told me all along that you didn’t want me, that you would never be tied down, that you were like a wild wolf, free forever.” Her words rushed out, the contempt in his expression seemingly mounting with every word she spoke. “I didn’t think you’d want to be trapped into marrying me. And I was afraid you’d think I got pregnant on purpose.”

He squared his shoulders, fisting his hands by his sides as if fighting for control. “You were going to marry Sanders and let him raise my baby as his? Were you seeing him before the night we were together?”

“No.” Holly felt the color drain from her face. He couldn’t know the truth.

“Did Sanders kidnap the baby? Is he working for your father?”

“What?”

“Did your family arrange this kidnapping to get publicity for Joshua’s campaign?” He pinned her with a look that burned straight through to her soul. “Did you help them or did Sanders? Are you hiding our baby somewhere until after your brother is elected governor?”

She staggered backward at the depth of his distrust. “No,” she whispered. “Heavens, no. I swear it.” Defenses she hadn’t known she possessed flourished, then anger followed. “How can you suggest such a horrible thing? You have no idea the hell I’ve been through. You walked out of here the night we were together and left me alone to deal with everything, my father, the pregnancy. You never once looked back or tried to contact me. What was I supposed to think?”

“I had no idea you were pregnant because you didn’t bother to tell me,” he ground out. “Your family kept it a secret until the baby was kidnapped.”

“They were trying to avoid a media frenzy,” Holly argued. “And Daddy wanted to protect me. It’s not like you actually cared. I didn’t think you wanted me, much less a baby.”

“I do want my son,” he said, his words cold and clipped, leaving no doubt in her mind that he didn’t want her. “And make no mistake, Holly, when I find our baby, he will know his father. And his heritage.”

He gave her one last look of disgust, then turned and stalked down the stairs, his booted feet clacking on the marble foyer just before the door slammed behind him.

Holly leaned over the crib, tears overflowing.

Another reason she hadn’t contacted him—her father had warned her that Night might try to take the baby from her, that the laws might even give him custody, let him carry their son to live on one of the reservations. She’d even wondered if Night might have discovered she’d had his baby and kidnapped him himself. And when her worst fears had overwhelmed her this past week, when she’d pictured her helpless infant at the mercy of a crazy person or a killer, she’d actually hoped that Night might have taken him. At least then she would know her son was safe.

But Night obviously hadn’t.

Her world spun, crumbling around her.

Where was her precious little boy? Was he still alive? She looked up through the window at the inky sky.

Was he out there somewhere, alone and scared, crying for his mother?

Chapter One

Late November

Where was her baby?

It had been four months since he’d gone missing. She’d thought for sure she’d have him back in her arms by Thanksgiving. Now Thanksgiving had come and gone.

Holly sat on the edge of her seat in her father’s study, twisting her sweating hands together, as she waited on him to finish the phone call.

Something was wrong.

She saw it in the way her father pulled at his chin and angled his face away from her. Between his hushed phone calls with the FBI and local police the past few days, the barrage of extra security on the house, the press hounding them and the claustrophobic feel of hiding out between the walls of the mansion for the past four months, her nerves had reached the hysteria level.

Why hadn’t they received a ransom note?

Why hadn’t someone called with information? And why didn’t her father tell her everything that was going on?

With every day that passed, the chances of finding her son grew slimmer and slimmer. She wasn’t sure she could take it anymore.

Her father dropped the phone into its cradle, sighed and pivoted in his leather chair to face her. His expression looked worried, but commanding, as always. Once again, she sensed he was holding back, hiding things from her. Why?

“Did they find anything?”

Her father shook his head slowly, drumming fingers on his chin. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. There’s no news.”

“There’s something,” Holly said, her voice a mere whisper. “I can see it in your eyes, Daddy. Now, tell me.”

He hesitated, then looked back at Holly’s mother, who had moved to stand behind him, one delicate hand placed on his shoulder. Her mother—the weaker one on the surface, but behind the scenes, the rock of the family, the one always offering support.

“I’m afraid the FBI’s ready to call this a cold case. They’ll leave the phone surveillance intact, but may have to pull back some on the investigation. Other cases…”

He let the sentence trail off and Holly sucked in a sharp breath. “They can’t give up.”

“I didn’t say they were giving up,” her father said. “Just pulling back. And ICU is still on the case.”

Holly glared at her dad. “What are you keeping from me? They found him, didn’t they? They found him and he’s dead, but you’re afraid to tell me.”

“No, Holly, good Lord. Calm down.” Her father raked a hand over his face. “There’s really no other news. I wish there was.”

She pressed a hand to her mouth to calm her emotions. She couldn’t stand the waiting. And her father knew more than he was confiding in her. She was certain of it.

The tension between them had been almost unbearable, since her confrontation with Night. During her pregnancy, Holly had suspected that her father had had some part in keeping Night away from her. Lately she had even wondered if he had orchestrated Schyler’s disappearance to punish her or teach her a lesson for seducing Night, or to gain sympathy for Joshua’s campaign. Politics meant everything to her father. But now Joshua had won the election. If that had been the motive for the kidnapping, there was no longer a reason to keep Sky from home.

Sometimes, her dad seemed genuinely concerned, as if he was really worried about her and his grandchild. As if he feared some horrible thing had happened to her baby. But he had been keeping the details of the case from her, treating her like a child, and she couldn’t stand it any longer.

“You know, sweetheart,” he said in a low tone, “you…we all might have to come to terms with the fact that we might never find Schyler.”

“What?” Holly gasped. She must have heard him wrong.

Celia pressed a shaky hand to her mouth, then moved toward Holly, reaching out her arms. “I don’t want to hear that either,” she said. “But your father’s right. This ordeal is killing you, I can see it—”

Tears burned Holly’s eyes. “You don’t care if we get my baby back!”

“That’s not true and you know it, Holly,” Celia said in a more forceful voice. “But it’s tearing us all apart, the three of us are on pins and needles. I can’t handle watching you suffer so. I see you wake up every day with hope, then go to bed with it shattered at night. You’re not eating, not sleeping.”

Holly’s throat constricted. “How can I sleep and eat when my son is missing?”

Her father stood, shook his head and stared out the window at the gardens beyond. “We’ve done everything we can do.”

“No!” Her heart broke at his words. “I will never accept that my baby’s not coming back. Never.”

Holly backed toward the door, then spun around and ran from the room, tears blinding her as she took the steps two at a time to the empty nursery.

HER BABY NEEDED HER..

Holly rolled over and squinted through the darkened interior of her bedroom, the sound of her son’s cry warming her. He was safe and sound in his crib, but he needed feeding. Again. She hadn’t realized how often infants ate, how exhausting it would be to care for a baby.

How precious every moment she had with him was until she’d lost him.

She appreciated it now—now he’d been found and brought back to her.

Regardless of the fact that she’d just fallen asleep, Holly tossed the duvet aside, shoved her feet into her bedroom shoes and grabbed her robe. She cinched it at her waist, shoving a tangle of unruly hair from her face as she hurried through the adjoining bathroom to her son’s room. The pale glow of the night-light bathed the room, her son’s whimpers a soft blip in the otherwise quiet nursery.

She could already see his chubby arms waving, his legs cycling the air, kicking off the covers, his dark brown eyes scrunched, searching through the darkness for her. She began to sing his favorite lullaby in a low voice to let him know she was there, and crossed the room, anxious to hold him to her breast, the tingle of anticipation already seeping through her, making her feel giddy.

She had never known she could love a baby so much. Had never known she could feel so much pain when he had been ripped from her life.

He lay curled on his side, covered in the crocheted blanket her mother had given him when Holly had brought him home. She gently eased it aside. “Come on, sweetheart. Mommy’s here. We’re never going to be separated again.”

A scream lodged in her throat.

Her baby was gone! Nooooo. Not again.

Tears swam to her eyes as she frantically searched every corner of the crib. But her efforts were useless. Her baby hadn’t come back. They hadn’t found him at all.

He might be lost to her forever….

HOLLY’S EYES flew open, a sob wrenching from deep inside her as she leaned over Sky’s empty crib. How many times in the past four months had she been entrenched in this nightmare and walked in her sleep to her son’s room? Tears flowed down her cheeks and dripped onto her hands as she dropped her head onto the railing and cried.

Why hadn’t they found him? Who had stolen her baby from his crib? Why would someone torture her like this? Maybe she had been spoiled, a rich girl, had played with fire by seducing Night, but she loved Sky, and he…he didn’t deserve this.

Her chest heaved with her sobs, the hope she’d clung to the first week he’d been kidnapped dwindling every day. And now the FBI and her father were practically giving up. Even the P.I.s working on the case hadn’t caught the kidnapper.

A shrill sound cut through her misery and she jerked her head toward her bedroom. The phone was ringing. Not a house phone though, her cell phone. Who would be calling this time of night?

Someone about the search? Night maybe? She’d barely talked to him since he’d stormed out. But she knew he had been watching her.

Knew he blamed her, as she blamed herself.

The price she had paid for her passion…would her misery ever end?

The sharp ring drowned out her thoughts, and she dashed through the bathroom and flipped on a light, scanning the clumps of clothes and accessories littering the dresser and her chaise lounge for the phone. Where was her purse?

Panicked now, she tossed items haphazardly onto the floor, digging beneath the rubble until her hands landed on the oversize leather bag she’d purchased to double as a small diaper bag. She’d wanted to be a fashionable young mother.

Now, she would trade every cent the Langworthys had to hold her baby again.

The phone trilled again and she turned the bag upside down and dumped the contents. Lipstick, brush, wallet, powder—cell phone. Sighing with relief, she punched the button and held it to her ear. “Hello.”

“Holly Langworthy?”

“Yes.” She frowned, the hair at the nape of her neck rising. She didn’t recognize the gruff voice.

“If you want to see your son again, listen carefully.”

Her heart hammered against her ribs. This was the phone call they’d been waiting for. Her legs gave way and she collapsed onto the plush carpet, unable to believe it—she might get Sky back. “Wh—what do you want me to do?”

“Meet me at the Langworthy cabin at dawn.”

Her hands trembled as she fought her emotions. “Is my son all right?”

“Just show up. And, Holly…” His breath wheezed out. “Come alone. If I see a cop, or even a hint of one, you’ll never see your baby again.”

REGARDLESS OF the late hour, Colleen Wellesley had called a meeting at the Royal Flush to discuss the Langworthy baby kidnapping. Most of the key Confidential agents were there—Shawn Jameson, Ryan Benton, Colleen’s brother Michael, Fiona Clark, Conrad Burke, and Night.

The Confidential operatives had been working round the clock for the past four months. Although the FBI was pulling back, Samuel Langworthy still wanted Colorado Confidential, known to him as ICU, on the case. Thank God.

But even if Langworthy or Colorado Confidential gave up, Night wouldn’t.

His co-workers had no idea how powerless he felt without answers. Or how Night wanted them to use the Walker name instead of Langworthy when they referred to his son. Not that Samuel Langworthy would ever allow that to happen….

“Okay,” Colleen said after calling the meeting to order. “Let’s recap what we’ve learned so far.” She gestured toward her brother Michael. “Traces of wool, dirt, and egg shells were found by the baby’s crib. The wool fibers were from Merino sheep. I sent Michael undercover to the Half Spur, a Merino sheep ranch partially owned by Senator Gettys, to see if there might be evidence to connect him to the kidnapping.”

Michael took the floor first. “The atmosphere at the Half Spur was secretive and strange. Blood was collected from the flock at regular intervals. We lifted one of the blood samples and sent it to the Fort Collins CDC for testing. The sheep’s blood tested positive for a strange virus and antibodies for a bacteria called Coxiella burnetii, which causes Q fever. It seems the sheep are a test flock for a self-spreading vaccine for Q fever.” Michael paused.

“I received an e-mail from Wiley Longbottom, the director of the DPS,” Colleen added. “He saw those CDC results and suggested we check out a flu that hit Silver Rapids early this year.” She indicated for Shawn to continue.

“About five months prior to the kidnapping, a flu hit Silver Rapids. The people were treated at Gilpin Hospital in Denver. Two died.” Shawn pressed his hands on the table. “At about the same time the kidnapping occurred, Gilpin’s records room was damaged in a fire.”

“Too much of a coincidence,” Night said.

“Exactly. We caught the arsonist but he claims to know nothing about the kidnapping,” Shawn explained. “But we’re sure that the experiments being done on the sheep ranch are connected to the Silver Rapids flu. Dr. Kelley Stanton—” Shawn flushed as he said the name of the woman Night knew had captured his heart “—discovered that the flu was actually a Q fever outbreak. The people of Silver Rapids were probably exposed to a live version of whatever was being tested on the Half Spur flock.

“Senator Gettys still insists that Samuel Langworthy staged the kidnapping for publicity for his son Joshua. Former governor Todd Houghton seems to be in agreement.”

With Holly’s knowledge or without? Night had watched her from a distance these past four months, had seen the strain on her face, the dark circles beneath her eyes that showed she wasn’t sleeping. Even though she loved her brother Joshua and Night still resented the fact that she had kept his son from him, he didn’t believe she’d be a party to such a plan.

Ryan Benton jumped in. “While Michael was at the Half Spur, I investigated Helen Gettys, the senator’s former wife.”

Night turned his attention to Ryan, who explained that the senator was under investigation by the FBI for experimenting with biological weapons. Helen Gettys had given Ryan computer disks, copied from the Half Spur, that all but proved Gettys was involved in experiments that were likely illegal.

“When Senator Gettys was questioned about the experiments being done on the ranch, he was sweating,” Ryan stated. “He definitely supports bio research and wants to make Colorado the location of a premier research facility once the 1972 bio weapons treaty limitations are reassessed. But he insists there is no connection between the germs tested on his sheep and the Silver Rapids flu.”

“What about Joshua Langworthy?” Night asked.

“He’s clear,” Fiona said with a sly grin. While investigating Joshua, Fiona had developed a personal relationship with Holly’s half brother, the governor elect. Now she and Joshua were engaged.

“And Houghton probably isn’t too happy about losing the election,” Night noted.

Fiona shrugged. “He’s a little bitter toward Joshua and Samuel Langworthy. Joshua admits that his father has been acting strangely and thinks we should keep an eye on him.”

Night frowned. Back to Holly’s father. Would he kidnap his own grandson to gain publicity for Joshua’s campaign? Or perhaps he had orchestrated the kidnapping to punish Holly for getting involved with Night? What if Langworthy had decided he didn’t want a half-breed baby tainting the image of the Centennial family and decided to get him out of the picture completely? That would explain the reason there had been no ransom—and how someone had breached Langworthy security.

“Helen Gettys confirmed a connection between Senator Gettys and mobster Helio DeMarco, now deceased,” Colleen continued. “As you know, DeMarco’s web of illegal activities reached worldwide. A suspicious relationship for a senator. The FBI believes that one of Helio’s corporations may be the other owner of the Half Spur.”

Conrad stood, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “We also discovered that DeMarco’s nephew Tony used Holly’s half sister, Marilyn, to steal germ stock from Mills & Grommett, the pharmaceutical company affiliated with the Langworthys. Before he died, Helio implied that Holly might have inadvertently been a subject of germ testing herself.”

Night nearly bolted up from the table. “What?”

Con’s expression turned grave. “Tony tricked Marilyn into bringing Holly to Silver Rapids during her pregnancy. We think Holly was exposed to the germ test that caused the Silver Rapids flu.”

Night inhaled to control his emotions, although his pulse raced as he realized the implications. Both for Holly and their son. How many people had died of the Silver Rapids flu? “Has she been ill?”

“Holly suffered from symptoms during the Silver Rapids epidemic, in her seventh month of pregnancy, and was sick for four days,” Con answered. “Her symptoms also matched Q fever.”

“What are the long-term effects?” Night asked.

“None that we know of, but she’ll definitely need follow-up tests.”

Night nodded.

“And the baby?” His son?

“We have no way of knowing.” Colleen gave him a sympathetic look.

“Why subject a pregnant woman to germ testing?” Night asked. “And risk the life of an unborn child?”

Con released a troubled sigh. “I may have the answer there.” He met Night’s concerned look with one of equal measure. “As a young child, I used to stay with Holly’s mother, my Aunt Celia, when my family was out of town.”

“What does that have to do with Holly?”

“Celia was married to a doctor then, Theodore Grace. Dr. Grace earned his Ph.D. in microbiology at Yale where he met Celia and Samuel Langworthy. At one time, Grace was recruited to work at the federal government’s biological weapons research center in Frederick, Maryland. He made breakthrough discoveries and was working on highly promising experiments in combining viral and bacterial DNA when President Nixon shut down bio weapons research in 1969.”

A deathly chill invaded Night’s body. He had heard the name before. “But he didn’t give up the research?”

Con shook his head.

“No, he became obsessed, moody and abusive to my aunt. He built a home laboratory, locked himself in it for days and continued testing.” He sighed. “One weekend, when I was sick and Aunt Celia was taking care of me, Grace gave me an experimental bacterial concoction to boost my immune system. That was the last straw for Aunt Celia. When she discovered he’d used me as a guinea pig, she divorced him shortly after.”

“No surprise there,” Colleen said. “And later, Celia married Samuel Langworthy.”

Con nodded. “Teddy Grace is one of the few people capable of producing the designer germs Helio DeMarco liked to play with. Grace is connected to the Langworthys through Celia. He’s certainly capable of testing germs on an unknowing public, such as the people of Silver Rapids.”

And on Holly and his son. But why them?

To get revenge on Samuel Langworthy and his wife, Celia?

“For now, all our leads go back to Grace,” Colleen said. “Not only does he hate Samuel Langworthy for stealing Celia away from him, but, if he was involved in the Silver Rapids flu, he might want to follow up on the germ test to see how it affected Holly’s unborn child.”

Night folded his hands in front of him, his calm demeanor a mere smoke screen. Inside, his heart was raging, his anger like a bomb ready to explode.

“So our next step,” Colleen said, “is to find Teddy Grace.”

“I’m taking this assignment.” Night stood, ready for action. “Any idea where he is?”

Colleen shook her head. “Not yet, but we’re looking into it.”

Night headed toward the door. “I’ll go to the Langworthys and see if Celia has heard from him. Maybe she can give us a clue where to find him.”

Hopefully, finding Grace would lead Night to his baby.

“We’ll pinpoint areas where his lab might be,” Colleen said. “The dirt found by Baby Sky’s crib may have come from Southeast Colorado.”

“I’ll call you from the Langworthys and get the coordinates,” Night said.

Colleen hesitated. “All right. But once you find the location, wait for backup. You are not to go in to Grace’s laboratory alone. We have no idea what we’re up against.”

He nodded.

Good God. With all that he’d just learned, Colleen was crazy to think he’d wait for backup. If he found the lab and thought his son was inside, he would do whatever he had to do to rescue him.

SHOULD SHE tell someone where she was going?

Come alone. If I see a cop or even a hint of one, you’ll never see your baby again.

The caller’s words echoed in Holly’s head, nearly making her legs buckle. But she couldn’t be weak now. This was her chance to save her baby. To redeem herself for her son and prove to Night that she deserved to have his child.

Still, what if the call had been a setup? The man hadn’t mentioned a ransom, which was odd in itself. She’d been certain the kidnapper would want money. But as time passed, when she hadn’t received a ransom note, she’d wondered…