Ranger's Baby Rescue

He’d been worried about the baby, but Jennifer hadn’t wasted any time. The door had barely shut behind him before she started seeing the baby’s real father again. Last he’d heard, they were a cozy family of three, living the American dream in the suburbs. Matt felt a pang of jealousy every time he thought about them. That should have been his life; he’d signed up for the wife, the child, the dog, the house. Hell, he’d even looked forward to driving the standard-issue minivan. It was a vision that had kept him going throughout his time in the army, and coming home to find out Jennifer had lied to him had ripped the rug right out from under his feet. Seeing her holding a baby had been like a dream come true. Realizing the boy wasn’t his child had been a kick in the gut. It had shaken him to the core, and he was still trying to recover.

Matt ran a hand through his hair and sighed, trying to brush off the shadow of his memories. He heard the faint sounds of his supervisor speaking, and based on the snatches of conversation he was able to make out, Paul Anderson, the chief ranger in the office, was only too happy to have Matt cooperate with the police. It seemed he was going to have a new focus, at least for the foreseeable future.

Time to go give Ms. Foster the good news.

Chapter 2

Emma wandered over to a poster mounted on the wall and stopped, staring at the glossy pictures of animals without really registering what she was seeing. He has to help me. The thought circled round in her brain, drowning out everything else. If she kept repeating it to herself, it would have to be true, right? There simply wasn’t another possibility. She couldn’t search the park alone, and she didn’t have the money to hire a private guide. The ranger was her only hope, and if he refused, she didn’t know what she was going to do.

He didn’t believe her story, that much was clear. She’d seen the skepticism in his eyes and known he was writing her off as crazy. But Detective Randall would vouch for her, and then the ranger would have to understand. After discovering she was the real deal, surely he couldn’t refuse to help her find Christina, even though that wasn’t something a park ranger normally did.

She still couldn’t believe Joseph had taken her baby. He’d called a few weeks ago, asking for money to pay off some debts. When Emma had told him she didn’t have any cash to spare, he’d simply said, “Okay.” She figured that had been the end of it.

But when she’d found Christina’s empty crib, she’d called the police and then her brother. She’d wanted him to tell their mother what was going on—Emma hadn’t had the emotional energy to break the news to anyone else.

Joseph had sounded unconcerned at hearing his niece was missing. “She’s fine, Em.”

“How can you say that? You don’t know where she is!”

“Actually, I do. She’s with me.”

Joe’s confession had turned Emma’s blood to ice. She’d begged and pleaded with him to return her daughter, but her brother had refused.

“I told you, I need money.” He’d sounded exasperated, as if he was tired of repeating himself.

“And I told you, I don’t have it.”

“We both know that’s not true. You got a fat settlement after Chris’s death.”

“It wasn’t a lump sum,” she’d protested. “I don’t have a pile of money gathering dust in my bank account.”

“Anyway,” he’d said, ignoring her. “Christina and I will be fine. You can have her back once you get me what I need.”

He’d hung up then, leaving Emma feeling even more distraught. The police had tried to trace his phone, but to no avail.

“He probably dumped it already,” one of the detectives had told her.

The police and the FBI thought Joseph would stay in El Paso, figuring it was his home base and he wouldn’t want to stray far from the familiar. But Emma wasn’t so sure. The two of them had spent a lot of time in Big Bend as children, camping with their parents. Joseph had used the park as an escape before, when he’d needed to clear his head or take a break. It was a long shot, but Emma thought he might have run here again.

The thought of her baby girl out there in the wilderness sent a shiver down her spine. Big Bend was a huge park; God only knew where Joe had taken her. But the little one was here. Emma felt it in her bones, a tingling of her mother’s intuition that gave her a sense of certainty despite everyone else’s overwhelming doubt. And even though she was looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, Emma wasn’t leaving until she had her daughter in her arms once again.

Fortunately, the hospital had been understanding about her need for a leave of absence. There was a pool of nurses happy to step in and take her ER shifts while she focused on finding Christina.

“Take as long as you need,” her supervisor had said.

With that worry taken care of, Emma had been free to focus solely on the search for her baby.

She wouldn’t have picked this ranger had there been another option. But he’d been the only one in the lobby when she’d walked in, so she hadn’t had much of a choice. He seemed competent enough—tall, with broad shoulders and lean, muscled arms. She had no doubts he could handle the physical aspects of the search with ease. But there was a hardness about him that gave her pause. It was as if he wore an invisible suit of armor. She’d seen a glimmer of wariness in his blue eyes, even before she’d told him about Christina. Maybe she was mistaken, but he seemed to regard the world with a hint of suspicion. It was this air of reserve that worried her now. Would he be sensitive to the dangers facing her little girl, or would he decide she was too much trouble and send her back home?

“He can try,” she muttered. But if he thought she’d simply turn around and walk away, he was sorely mistaken.

Resolve stiffened her spine. If he refused to help, she’d ask another ranger. And another and another, if need be. She’d go through the whole damn roster of them until she found one who would search with her. And if that didn’t work, she’d call a reporter. Not that she knew anyone in the media, but it couldn’t be that hard to find somebody who worked at a news station or wrote for a paper. She’d raise holy hell until she got the help she needed. Beg, borrow or steal—Emma didn’t care what she had to do at this point. She had no pride left. All that mattered was bringing Christina home safely.

Indignation bubbled in her chest, the leash on her temper growing shorter with every passing minute. What was taking so long? It shouldn’t be that difficult for him to call Detective Randall. He wouldn’t be happy to learn she was here—he’d encouraged her to stay in El Paso while they searched for Christina, but Emma couldn’t sit in her empty apartment twiddling her thumbs while her baby was missing. Despite what the detective thought, Joseph would feel comfortable in Big Bend, and more importantly, he probably figured no one would think to look for him so far from home.

“But I know,” she whispered to herself. “And I will find you.”

The clop of boot heels on tile sounded in the otherwise quiet lobby. She turned to find the ranger emerging from the back offices, his expression inscrutable. As he approached, she saw that a hint of worry had replaced the skeptical glint in his blue eyes.

Good, she noted with satisfaction. He believes me now.

“Ms. Foster,” he said, his deep voice reminding her of tires on gravel. “I spoke with Detective Randall. I’m so sorry for your situation.”

She nodded, appreciating the comment. Under normal circumstances she would have let her manners dictate her response, but she had little patience for the expected niceties at the moment. “Will you help me?”

He hesitated, sending her heart plummeting to her toes. Her fear must have shown on her face, for he reached out and placed a hand on her arm. “It’s okay,” he said kindly. “I’m going to do my best, but I can’t promise anything.”

A wave of relief washed over her, making her feel a little light-headed. “I know,” she said. “But I need to try.”

He nodded as if he understood. “Why don’t we start from the beginning? Detective Randall told me some of the details, but I’d like to hear your side of the story.”

“That’s fine,” Emma said. It suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t know his name. “Uh, we haven’t actually been introduced yet. You know my name. What’s yours?”

Twin pink spots appeared high on his cheeks, making him look suddenly boyish. “Matt,” he said. “Matt Thompson. I’m sorry I failed to introduce myself before.”

She shrugged off the apology. “Is there someplace we can talk?” The lobby of the ranger station was nice enough, but she’d prefer to sit for this conversation.

Matt ushered her past the desk into the back room, which housed several desks and chairs. The far wall sported a large map of the park and a whiteboard full of text, but Emma didn’t bother to read any of it. He led her to a counter that ran under the board and gestured to the coffee maker. “Need a cup?”

“Yes, please.” Emma normally didn’t drink coffee, but she’d learned over the last few days that it helped to have something to hold on to while she told her story over and over again.

Matt poured two cups, adding cream and sugar at her nod. Then he guided her to a desk and chair and sat, gesturing for her to do the same. He pushed the mug across the desk and looked at her expectantly.

Emma wrapped her hands around the cup, appreciating the warmth leaching through the porcelain. A familiar heavy weight settled over her as she gathered her thoughts. Talking about the night she had discovered Christina was missing never got any easier. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d repeated the story to the police and the FBI. Unfortunately, the repetition didn’t dull her emotions or help her process what had happened. Her heart still pounded the way it had when she’d realized the crib was empty; her stomach still cramped as she relived the horror, as fresh as the first time.

Matt nudged a box of tissues toward her, as if sensing she might need them. She sent him a grateful smile and took a deep breath. “Three nights ago, I woke up at one thirty in the morning because I felt like something was wrong.” She told him about searching the apartment but finding no signs of anything amiss, and how she’d nearly gone back to bed. “But I had to check on Christina. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep until I made sure she was okay.”

He nodded, his blue eyes full of understanding. Emma appreciated the fact that he was simply listening and not bombarding her the way the police and FBI had done. She’d barely been able to get a sentence out before an officer had fired another question at her, which had made it difficult to get through the telling. But Matt remained quiet, apparently content to hear what she had to say before talking himself.

His silence was oddly encouraging, and she felt her shoulders relax. “That’s when I discovered my baby was gone.” Her throat tightened on the last word, and she felt the familiar prickle of tears. She blinked hard, dismissing them before they had a chance to fall.

“I called the police immediately,” she continued. “They thought that since there were no signs of forced entry into the apartment, whoever took her must have a key. My brother, Joseph, is the only one with a spare, but I didn’t think he would ever take Christina.” Disappointment and anger swirled in her chest as she recalled her naive assertion that her brother would never kidnap her child. How wrong she’d been!

“Then I called Joseph, and he actually answered. At first, I was relieved. I figured if he had taken Christina, he wouldn’t have answered the phone.”

Matt lifted one eyebrow. “He didn’t try to hide the fact that he’d kidnapped your daughter?”

Emma shook her head. “I think he was preparing to call me himself, to let me know she was safe.”

“Why did he take her?”

“Money,” she said simply. “Joseph has a gambling problem. It’s something that developed over the last several years. I’d helped him once before with a small debt, but told him never again. He agreed, and for a while I thought he had stopped gambling. But he’d just been hiding it. Now he owes some bad people a lot of money, and he’d come to me about a week ago asking for help. I told him I didn’t have anything, but he didn’t believe me.”

Matt tilted his head to the side, his eyes narrowing a bit. “Why would he think you’re lying?”

The question hit close to home. Emma shifted in her chair, not really wanting to get into the details of Chris’s death and the subsequent lawsuit. “I was involved in a lawsuit about two years ago that resulted in a settlement. Joseph thinks I have a lot of money. He doesn’t understand I haven’t seen a dime. He accused me of holding out on him, of deliberately abandoning him.”

“So he took your baby to try to force your hand,” Matt said. The words dripped with disgust, as if he couldn’t believe anyone would stoop so low.

Emma nodded. “Exactly. But I still don’t have the money. And I don’t know what he’s going to do once he realizes that.” Fear bubbled up in her chest as she wondered again how her brother would respond when he discovered there was no ransom coming his way. Joseph wasn’t normally a violent person, but Emma felt like she no longer knew her own brother. Three days ago, she would have sworn he’d never kidnap a baby. Now she had no idea what he was capable of doing. He was plainly desperate, and she could only hope that desperation didn’t override his basic humanity where her daughter was concerned.

“Did he give you a deadline?” Matt’s voice was calm, as if he dealt with this sort of thing every day. For a second, Emma allowed herself to believe he could fix things. That he could find her baby before anything bad happened. And perhaps he could. Weren’t park rangers good at tracking?

“Three days,” she said, a lump forming in her throat. She glanced down, swirling the mug a bit to stir the coffee within. “He wants half a million dollars three days from now to pay off his debts.”

“And you don’t have it.”

“No.” She jerked her head up, glaring at Matt. “My God, do you think I’d be here if I did? Do you think I care about money? I’d give him ten times that amount if it meant getting Christina back safely! I’d do anything to hold her again.” Her arms ached with the memory of her baby, warm and soft against her body. Would she ever feel that sweet weight again?

Matt held up his hands. “I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I’m sorry.”

Her temper cooled quickly, leaving despair in its wake. “I don’t have the money. The only way I can get that kind of money is by robbing a bank. And even then, I doubt they keep half a million in cash on hand these days.”

“Probably not,” Matt said. His voice was soothing now, as if he were trying to calm a wounded animal.

“This is my only option,” she said. Her shoulders dropped, her energy starting to flag as the hopelessness of the situation took hold once again. The past few days she’d vacillated between a burning sense of urgency and a feeling of total defeat. It was growing more and more difficult to beat back the darkness trying to claim her spirit, but she had to keep trying. The police and FBI were doing all they could to find Christina, but at the end of the day, this was just another job to them. Christina was her life. She’d never stop looking for her daughter, never rest until she found her.

“If this doesn’t work...” She trailed off, unwilling to give voice to her fears. What if she was wrong, and Joseph hadn’t taken her baby to the park? Was she wasting her time and efforts, time that would be better spent looking elsewhere?

But what other choice did she have? Emma couldn’t rest while her baby was gone. She had to trust that Detective Randall and his team were doing their best in El Paso. They thought it unlikely Joseph had fled to Big Bend, which meant they weren’t going to spend time looking here. Even though they figured it was a long shot, Emma refused to leave any stone unturned in the hunt for Christina. If that meant spending the rest of her life wandering the desert, then so be it.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Matt said. He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. His palm was warm against her skin. Even though he was a stranger, Emma drew comfort from his touch. She hadn’t been with anyone since Chris’s death, and a frisson shot up her arm as she realized how much she’d missed the touch of a man. Her body cried out for more contact, but not in a sexual way. She simply wanted to be held by someone bigger and stronger, someone who could fold her into his arms and make her feel safe. She wanted to lay her head against Matt’s chest and surrender her worries and fears. For one brief, aching moment, she wanted a man to take care of her, to fix her problems and give her the gift of rest.

It was a lovely fantasy, but that’s all it would ever be. In reality, there was no knight in shining armor waiting in the wings, ready to swoop in and rescue her from the nightmare her life had become. And while Emma prided herself on her accomplishments as a single mother, she wasn’t too proud to admit that she missed having a partner, someone to share things with and lean on for support when the going got tough. She’d had that once with Chris. Would she ever find it again?

Doesn’t matter, she told herself. Her loneliness wasn’t important, not right now. She couldn’t allow self-pity to distract her from her search. She’d never forgive herself if she missed a clue because of pointless navel-gazing.

“I’m trying to stay positive,” she said, forcing herself to return to the conversation. “But it’s hard. Every minute that passes without her feels like an eternity.”

“I can imagine.” Matt’s eyes were full of sympathy and a hint of understanding, as if he had some idea of what she was going through.

“Do you have children?” He’s probably a great dad, she figured. She imagined him playing catch with a towheaded boy, a smaller version of himself. She felt a pang in her heart as she pictured him hugging his son, burying his nose in the little boy’s hair. Does he take it for granted, the way I used to?

To her surprise, the light left his eyes and a wall shot up between them. “No,” he said shortly. “I’m not a father.” His tone was curt; it was clear she had inadvertently touched a nerve.

“Oh,” she said dumbly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

He ignored her apology, changing the subject. “You said you and your brother camped here a lot as kids. I’m going to grab a map of the park so you can mark where you think he’d go.” He pushed back from the desk and stepped away, leaving Emma alone with her cold cup of coffee.

She gripped the mug, staring into the dark liquid. For the first time in days, she felt like she could catch her breath. And as she watched Matt walk back toward the desk, moving with an easy confidence she envied, a strange sensation took root in her chest. It took her a few seconds, but she finally identified the feeling.

Hope.

* * *

This was shaping up to be a lot harder than he’d thought.

Joseph frowned as he watched his niece play with a small cloth ball, rolling it across the surface of the sleeping bag. She was all smiles now, but he’d learned quickly that her mood could change on a dime. Not even ten minutes ago she wailed loudly after he’d removed a rock from her mouth. Her quicksilver temper was enough to give him whiplash. How did Emma handle this? He was only three days in and ready to throw in the towel.

“Not much longer,” he said quietly, not wanting to disturb the baby’s play. He’d given Emma a deadline for the money—he’d been quite generous with the amount of time he’d granted her to get the funds.

It didn’t have to be this way. Bitterness rose in his chest as he pictured his sister. He’d come to her in good faith, asking for help to pay his gambling debts. She hadn’t been his first choice. He’d much rather take care of his own problems—he had his pride, after all. But the debt was out of control, and there was no way he could scrape together that kind of cash in time to keep the enforcers at bay.

Karnov was not a patient man. Whispers swirled that he was in with the Russian mafia. Joseph had dismissed them as mere rumors, but now he realized what a mistake that had been.

Even now, he broke into a cold sweat at the memory of Karnov’s warning. Joseph had literally been plucked off the street and thrown into the back of a van, a cloth bag jerked down over his head. When they’d stopped, he’d been manhandled into a warehouse. Someone had pulled the bag away to reveal an unsmiling Karnov and a gun, inches away from Joseph’s nose.

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Karnov had said.

“Please, I’ll do anything.” Joseph had nearly soiled himself, and only the two men gripping his arms had kept him from falling to his knees. “I just need a little time to get the money together. A month, that’s all.”

“Two weeks.” Karnov uncocked the pistol and let his arm hang by his side. “And I’m charging you interest. Now it’s five hundred thousand.”

The figure had taken Joseph’s breath away, but he couldn’t exactly protest. “Thank you,” he’d said, swallowing hard. Not for the first time, he cursed his bad luck. First, he’d backed the wrong football teams. Then, he’d tried to buy himself out of the hole by betting on ponies. That had only made things worse.

And so, out of options, he’d come to his sister, tail between his legs.

“I’ll pay you back,” he’d promised. And he’d meant it. He had no intention of mooching off his baby sister; it was more like he’d asked her for a loan.

But Emma hadn’t seen it that way. “Joseph,” she’d said, perfectly replicating the note of disappointment their mother had mastered over the years. “How could you do this to yourself again? You’re smarter than that.”

He was smart, that much was true. But neither the football teams nor the ponies respected intelligence. It was all a game of chance, and Lady Luck hadn’t smiled on him in far too long. He certainly hadn’t meant for things to get so out of hand, but life was a cruel bitch sometimes.

The downturn in his fortunes had stung, but not nearly as much as his sister’s denial. Emma’s refusal to help him was a betrayal of their relationship, and it cut him to the quick. She had the money—he knew she’d gotten a fat settlement from the other driver after Chris’s death. But she lied to his face, acting like she had nothing to give.

“I don’t have the money.” She’d said that several times, as if repetition would convince him to believe her lies. “The other driver doesn’t have money, so I’m not getting any.”

Yeah, right. Did she think he was stupid? The guy who was responsible for killing Chris might not be Mr. Moneybags, but Joseph knew he was paying. Maybe not all at once, but a monthly sum had to add up quick, and it had been over a year since the judgment. By his reckoning, Emma was sitting on a nice lump of cash. It might not be enough to pay his debt in full, but it would definitely buy him some breathing room. He’d heard through the grapevine that Karnov’s enforcers were brutal, going so far as to remove body parts from debtors.

But no matter how clearly he explained the situation, she clung stubbornly to her lies.

“I know you want to use the money for Christina’s education,” he’d said. “And I’ll have plenty of time to pay you back. You won’t even miss the funds.”

“No, Joseph. I can’t help you.”

More like won’t, he’d realized as he left her apartment. If he’d had more time, he probably could have come up with a way to persuade her to lend him the money. But a few hours after his conversation with Emma, Karnov’s thugs had found him and administered a painful beating. His ribs still ached from the blows.

“Next time, we take things,” the square-jawed enforcer had made a scissoring motion with his fingers as he and his partner left Joseph in a heap on the floor.