“Now look what you did!” he roared again. “You made me angry. Made me yell and now even my little Princess is afraid of me.”

  His little Princess.

  “She should be mine! Yours and mine.”

  Rachael didn’t think. With Addie screaming in her arms, she headed for the bedroom, shut the door behind her and tried to soothe her terrified daughter.

  She lay down with her on the bed, ignoring the dust. Shushing her gently.

  “It’s okay, sweetie. Momma’s here. Momma’s here.”

  “Een,” Addie wailed, the one word and the inflection in her tone expressing exactly what she felt. Betrayed. Terrified.

  “It’s okay, baby,” she soothed then flinched when she heard the door open.

  Addie buried her face against Rachael’s chest, crying harder.

  “It’s okay, Princess,” Ian said from behind them. “I’m sorry I yelled,” he added, sounding genuinely contrite. “I won’t do it again, okay? Bunny’s mad at me too, see?”

  With a wary look, Addie peeked up at Ian, watched him carefully, then gave him the tiniest, bravest little smile when she saw Bunny flapping his ears at Ian’s face.

  “Bunny’s giving me a spanking because I was bad to yell.”

  “Bad,” Addie repeated and reached a hand out for Bunny.

  “Here you go, Princess.” He handed Addie the bunny. “You and mommy rest until you get over being mad at me, okay? I’ll go make us some supper.”

  “Ian,” Rachael said, sitting up quickly. “I really think that you should take us home now. Before it gets any later.”

  He smiled at her. “See. There’s one of those bad choices I was talking about. You need to stay here. You and Addie. You need to let me take care of you. That’s what would be best for both of you.”

  Then he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

  Overcome with fear for Addie, Rachael laid back down, a dozen escape scenarios running through her head. Maybe she could climb out the window, rush to his car with Addie and take off before he knew they were gone. But would he have left the keys in it? That was the big question. And if he hadn’t? Then what?

  She considered running again. But run through the woods? In the dark? In the cold? Their jackets were in the main room so she couldn’t get to them without alerting Ian. And she couldn’t expose Addie to the frigid night temperatures. Blankets. She could wrap her in blankets from the bed. And then? It would still be dark soon. They could get lost. Freeze to death.

  No. Escape wasn’t an option, unless … unless she waited until after dark. Waited until the middle of the night. He’d have to go to sleep. Then maybe she could find his keys, sneak out with Addie and drive away as fast as she could.

  Yes. That definitely seemed the safer bet.

  She just had to figure out how to survive Ian in the meantime. To placate him, maybe play along with his delusional idea of love.

  How could this be happening? How could Mac’s best friend – her best friend – hold her hostage. There was no way to soft pedal that fact. She and Addie were hostages of a man who was not the person she and Mac had always thought he’d been. This man was more than a little mad.

  She held back tears of regret, of heartbreak and fear. She had to hold it together for Addie. So for now, she’d wait. She’d wait in this room with Addie, reassure her sweet child that everything was fine and keep out of Ian’s sight, out of his way, and hopefully out of his mind.

  “I’m taking my hand away now. And I’m not going to shoot you. Not unless you try to stop me from getting to my wife and daughter.”

  Dillon Nelson held up his hands in surrender and Mac slowly peeled his hand away from his mouth.

  “It’s cool, man,” he said, turning to Mac. “It’s cool.”

  Mac studied his face, waiting to see if Dillon was going to rush him, try to take him down. He was in great shape. And he had about thirty pounds on Mac. What he didn’t have was Mac’s motivation. Pumped on adrenaline, determined to get to his wife and daughter, Mac knew there wasn’t a power on earth that could stop him.

  “How the hell did you get out of prison?”

  “Not important. Except that they’re going to miss me soon if they don’t already and I’ve got to move. You got my message.”

  “Yeah. I got a message from Rachael too.”

  “What?” Mac reached out and grabbed his arm. “When? Is she okay?”

  “This afternoon. She e-mailed. She told me where they were. She’s afraid, Mac.”

  “I already know where they are.” Mac held up the cell phone and showed him the screen with the GPS beacon. “I just have to get to them. Are you with me?”

  “Hell, yes!” Dillon said. “Try to stop me.”

  Mac clapped him on the back, breathing a sigh of relief. “We’ll need to take your vehicle. They’ll be looking for the one I stole.”

  “I didn’t hear that,” Dillon said.

  “There’s something you should know,” Mac said as they headed out the door. “I know who killed the Afghan. It’s the same guy who has Rachael and Addie.”

  Dillon muttered an expletive under his breath. “Explain on the way. We’ve got a good hour to drive, more if the roads are as bad as I think they’ll be the farther you get from the highway. It’ll be dark by the time we find them and there’s freezing rain and snow in the forecast for tonight just to muck things up.”

  Not good. And every minute they took to find them was another minute Rachael and Addie were in danger.

  “Talk about answered prayers,” Mac said when he saw Dillon’s four-wheel drive truck.

  They piled in and with Dillon at the wheel, headed south, out of town and toward the two things that made Mac’s life worth living.

  “Soup’s on,” Ian announced, swinging open the bedroom door. “Hope you’re hungry.”

  Rachael and Addie were sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, playing a game of mess up the deck of cards she’d found in a dresser drawer.

  “How about it, Princess? I made you some mac and cheese. Your favorite, right?”

  Her daughter had a fairly short capacity for holding a grudge. Rachael cringed when Ian reached for her and Addie went trustingly into his arms.

  It took everything in her not to rip her away from him but she knew she couldn’t antagonize him and clearly, his attachment to Addie was real. He loved her. At least in his world and in his version of love, he loved her.

  Or, she thought with a chill, he loved the thought of loving a daughter and was determined to have Addie fill that role.

  “What about you?” he asked over his shoulder as Rachael stuck close to Addie, following him into the great room. “You hungry?”

  “I … I guess I could eat.” In truth, she had no appetite. Not for food. Not for this game she had to play while she figured out how to get her and Addie out of here safely.

  “Wild rice soup,” he said, proudly. “Made it from scratch. I’d make someone a good wife, huh?”

  She forced a smile and tried not to gag. Right now, the most gourmet meal in the world would make her sick. “Sounds like it.”

  “I found this in the back room and cleaned it up.” He pulled an old wooden highchair up to the table and settled Addie into it. “Works great, huh, Princess?” he said, beaming.

  “Mac chss,” Addie said hopefully.

  “Coming right up.”

  It wasn’t until then that Rachael noticed the lengths he’d gone to. He’d taken a centerpiece from the mantel and placed it in the middle of the table. On either side of it, twin lighted candles cast fluttery shadows around the room. Linen napkins were folded neatly beside their plates. A bottle of wine sat open and breathing.

  “Looks, wonderful,” she said and earned a smile.

  “Anything for my two best girls.”

  His words and the implication made her sick to her stomach. She swallowed back a rush of nausea and made herself smile back. “Thank you for going to all this trouble.”

  He gave her a deep, intense look. “Trouble? Rachael, don’t you know by now that I’d do anything for you? My God, I’ve waited … waited for years to finally be in this position. To be with you. With our daughter.”

  Our daughter.

  Had he really gone over the edge, or was it a slip of the tongue? Did he no longer know the difference between fantasy and reality?

  “I see those wheels turning,” he sing-songed as he held a chair out for her. “Yes, I know what I said. Our daughter. And she would be our daughter if … well, if you’d only seen things the way they should have been.

  “Choices,” he said with a raise of his brows. “It’s all about choices. I’m going to be around to make sure you make the right ones from here on out.”

  “But … what about Mac? Mac’s your friend,” she reminded him gently.

  “Mac was my vehicle to be near you. And after he married you, he was my obstacle. He was in my way. Not any more though, right?”

  He turned to Addie. “Blow on your mac and cheese sweetie. It’s hot.”

  “Hot.” Oblivious to the tension that had ratcheted up in the cabin, Addie made puffy cheeks and blew on her dinner as Ian had asked her.

  He laughed, gently brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. “That’s the good girl.”

  Rachael stared, long and hard and a huge piece of the puzzle slipped into place. “It wasn’t an accident that you were in Afghanistan when Mac was there, was it?”

  He ladled soup into her crockery bowl. “See what I mean? Too smart for your own good.”

  Blood started thrumming, thick and fast and hot through her veins. “What did you do, Ian?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “You know, even the most patient man gets tired of waiting for what he wants. What should rightfully be his.”

  “Me?” she asked breathlessly. “You’re talking about me?”

  After filling his bowl, he sat down, spread the napkin on his lap. “I did try to make things work without you. Megan – Megan came close. She looked like you. She even talked like you. And her smile, well, so close. But she didn’t have your heart, Red. Or your fire.”

  He sniffed, looked regretful, then shook his head. “So she had to go.”

  The heat in her blood shifted to ice, making her shiver. “Had to … go?”

  “There are some questions best left unanswered. Which brings us to Afghanistan. And I’m only telling you this so you’ll be grateful that I’ve gone to such lengths for you. Once you understand, well, then you’ll understand,” he said with a laugh. “That’s what it’s all about. Making you appreciate how much I love you and how much trouble I’ve gone to just to make you mine.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Thankfully oblivious to Rachael’s growing tension, Addie happily shoved macaroni into her mouth in between drinking milk from her sippy cup.

  “What about Afghanistan?” Rachael asked, struggling to keep her voice from trembling.

  The sun had gone down a few minutes ago, casting the world outside the cabin into darkness and the world inside, into shadows and fear.

  “Oh, right. Well, it all worked as I’d planned. The Afghan could just as well have been a casualty of war, but, either way, I had to deal with him.”

  She smothered a gasp. Disbelieving and yet … it all made sense now. “You? You killed him? And framed Mac?”

  “Yeah. I did.” His grunt was a sound of pride. “It was brilliant, really. Two birds. One stone. Jack, as Mac affectionately referred to him, was my connection.”

  Through the shock, another cog in the wheel clicked into place. “The heroin.”

  He nodded. “We had a pretty good thing going but Jack was threatening to give me up if I didn’t increase his cut. That’s what he wanted to talk to Mac about that night. He was going to rat me out. Apparently he thought that since Mac and I were friends, Mac would be up for trading in the same business. But I knew that our boy scout, Mac, wouldn’t be up for anything illegal. I saw it coming. And I couldn’t let it happen.”

  He relaxed in his chair, hooked his arm over the back. “I really thought I was going to have to take Mac out too. But when he came to with that memory loss, well, it was perfect. Make it look like he knocked himself in the head, play the loyal friend, reluctant to implicate his buddy, then hide the heroin in his office. And if, on the off chance he did remember, it would be easy to chalk his ramblings up to a TBI.

  “Oh,” he added as if it was an afterthought. “That’s why Reynolds had to go, by the way. He remembered me and I could see that he was also going to remember seeing me in Mac’s office when I shouldn’t have been there. Wouldn’t be long before he put two and two together.”

  Rachael closed her eyes, heartsick and shaken. He was well and truly mad. Which meant that she and Addie weren’t safe no matter how much love he proclaimed to have for them. He’d killed the Afghan, he’d killed Cal Reynolds, and though he hadn’t actually confessed to it, it she was certain he’d killed Megan too.

  And Mac – he’d been willing to sacrifice Mac in order to get what he wanted. Her. Her and Addie. A readymade family that he felt he was entitled to.

  “Mac, knows it was me, by the way,” Ian added, startling her.

  “He … he knows?”

  “He knows that I killed Jack and knocked him out and that I framed him. Apparently his dreams finally came together, and he remembers seeing me. That was my one and only mistake. I didn’t think about the mirror. I snuck up behind him, but he saw my reflection. And now he remembers that I took his rifle, knocked him in the head and shot Jack.”

  When she sat there, speechless, Ian continued.

  “He called me from the prison this morning. Told me that he’d figured it out. Wanted to know where you were. What I’d done to you. He tried to get a hold of you first. To warn you about me. Your phone did ring, this morning, by the way. You should get a new coffee grinder. The one you’ve got is really loud.”

  This morning seemed like a lifetime ago. A nightmare ago. And she remembered thinking that she’d heard her phone ring.

  “You erased the call log?”

  “You really should password protect your phone, Red. Anyone could have access to it. See there’s another one of those choices I’ve been talking about. I never would have let you get by with that. Mac should have protected you better.”

  Pure defiance made her ask, “If Mac remembers, how do you think you’re going to get away with it?”

  “Come on, Red. Think about it. I best Mac in every area. West Point. Top of my Class. Made captain with special recommendations. I’ve excelled in everything I’ve done my entire life. Mac – well, Mac got by, right? He more or less coasted.”

  Of course that wasn’t true. Mac had worked like a dog every step of his career.

  “Who are they going to believe?”Ian continued. “A guy with a TBI? Traumatic brain injuries suck, Red. Can’t count on his memory for anything. And let’s not forget the heroin. So I ask you again? Who are they going to believe? A man with nothing left to lose or a man who has everything to lose? They’re going to believe me.”

  “I could testify against you.”

  “You could.” He tore off a piece of the French bread he’d set on the table, offered it to her. When she shook her head, he shrugged. “But a wife can’t testify against her spouse.”

  “I’m not your wife.”

  Anger flared in his eyes and she regretted her words. “But you will be. And until then, you have some very important choices to make.”

  He looked pointedly at Addie. “Lives hang in the balance.”

  Oh my God. He’d just threatened her daughter.

  “You wouldn’t hurt her. I don’t believe you’d ever hurt her.”

  “No,” he agreed. “I wouldn’t hurt her. But she’d be a sad little girl if she didn’t have her mommy around to hold her, right? And I’ll tell you right here and now, Rachael, if I can’t have you, after all these years of waiting … then Mac won’t have you either.”

  “Better cut the lights,” Mac said, as the pickup slipped and slid along the rough dirt road.

  Dillon braked and did as Mac said. But it was pitch black in the woods tonight. The moon could have guided them, given them enough light to see the road ahead but a heavy cloud cover obscured what would have been a full moon. The promised mix of freezing rain and snow had started about fifteen minutes ago making driving treacherous even with lights. Without headlights, they were dead in the water.

  “I can’t see crap,” Dillon muttered, hunched over the wheel and straining to see the road. “If I’d have known what I was getting into, I’d have grabbed my NVG’s.”

  Night Vision Goggles would have been the perfect solution. Without them, they’d have to improvise.

  “According to the GPS, we’ve got a little less than a mile to go,” Mac said. “Try the parking lights.”

  Dillon flipped them on. Then waited for their eyes to adjust.

  “Enough?”

  “Enough to go another three quarters of a mile or so and keep us out of the ditches and not alert anyone that we’re coming.”

  “We’ll go on foot from there.” Mac pulled the Ruger out of his waistband and started filling the magazine.

  “You really think you’re going to need that?” Dillon glanced at him as they crept down the lane.

  Mac had filled Dillon in on Ian on the drive to Turtle Creek Lake.

  “I told you everything I know about Ian. Top of his class at West Point. Expert marksman. Ribbons and medals cover the chest of his dress uniform. That’s what I know. It’s what I don’t know that’s got me worried. This isn’t the man I grew up with. This isn’t my friend. Something…something must have made him snap.”

  He stared into the dark. “I thought he was a brother. But I remember everything about that night now. When it all became clear, I thought I’d gone off the deep end for good. That my dreams were the imaginings of a raving lunatic.”

  He pursed his lips, shook his head, still having trouble believing. “Ian killed Jack and framed me for it. He probably planted the heroin in my office, too. And right now, he’s got my wife and daughter holed up in a cabin. Cut off from the outside world. They ’re innocents. If it was me he wanted, why did he have to bring them into it?”