Toly shifted his eyes to hers, deep watery compassion softening his stolid face. “Such as keeping track of her ex’s bank account to make sure he’s not squandering his money. If he’s spending on anything fishy, she’ll know.”

  “Good. Call her. Now.” Dane took Toly’s phone from his jacket pocket and handed it to him. They moved into the front hall back toward the library for privacy. Dane paused there to bring Peter and the others up to speed, so when the front door crashed open, they all turned at once. And every one of them, even Senator Peter John Douglas, crouched for cover and pulled a gun.

  Unfortunately for them, the new State Police Chief on Martha’s Vineyard, tall and scowling was the intruder. Dane muttered a few curses that he would never say in front of Katy or Colt. The stab of pain almost penetrated his steely resolve to fix this, to do his job and find his babies.

  The new Chief and his two sidekicks stepped inside the entry hall barking orders for him and his friends to stand down. After a lot of shouting about who was who, thanks to Peter’s status as U.S. Senator, the new police chief calmed down and rescinded his instructions to his men to cuff them all—not that the two officers could have accomplished this if Dane didn’t want them to because they were seriously out-numbered and out-skilled. In fact, he figured they were lucky no one got killed.

  He gave up his Glock and the others followed suit. They put their firearms on a serving tray in the foyer. Peter, Acer, Ronnie, Sassy, Shana and even Cap were all forced to relinquished their guns. This new guy gave no quarters to a fellow officer, his own predecessor. The man was ten years Caps junior and arrogant enough to qualify as insecure and likely intimidated by Cap and the rest of them.

  In the meantime, the commotion in the foyer served to completely silence the former party-goers in the ball room behind them. Dane glanced back to see that they were suitably horrified. He didn’t see anyone behaving suspiciously and he watched hard for a few beats to make sure. Bill and Laura Gable had them under control. For now.

  Dane looked at his wrist watch and was acutely aware of time ticking and the need to act. Problem was they had no idea where to go from here, not even a hunch. They had nothing until they heard back from either Toly’s lieutenant or his daughter. He was pretty sure Toly pressed the call button during the commotion. He was a cagey old goat. He also knew enough to shut the phone down before slipping it in his pocket to prevent a call back at an inconvenient time.

  “Captain Lynch,” The police chief said. “What the hell is going on here?”

  “A kidnapping,” Dane said. He held Shana against him. “Our two babies were asleep upstairs and when we went to check on them they were gone.”

  “Did you search the house?”

  Dane wanted to punch the man.

  “Of course we did,” Shana said in a tone that shouted the unspoken words you asshole loud and clear.

  “What’s your name? Chief what?” Dane said. Cap gave him a reprimanding look that he found easy to ignore.

  “I’m State Police Chief Davis Beauregard, in charge of law enforcement on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.” He was maybe an inch taller than Dane and so the Chief’s attempt to look down his nose at him had more impact as comic relief than intimidation.

  Cap cut in, “Dane and Shana have already made some progress. We’ve got intel that—”

  “Introduce me to everyone, Captain Lynch,” Beauregard said, looking around the over-dressed group of normally unruly disreps.

  “I’m Bill Gable,” Bill said, joining them and stretching out a hand with a sporting a smile. Either he totally misread the vibe or he was trying to disarm the situation. “This is my wife, Laura. This is our home. We’re happy to cooperate however we can.” He slipped a glance at Dane with a nod. Dane knew whose side Bill was on.

  Cap said, “This is Ronnie and Sassy. Ronnie is finishing up at West Point this year and Sassy owns the pie shop in town.” Neither Ronnie nor Sassy did anything beyond nodding their heads. They didn’t bother changing their challenging glare to anything friendlier.

  Beauregard nodded back, his eyes flickering with respect at the West Point credential.

  “This is Joshua Acerman, ex special ops, visiting for the holiday.” Cap turned and his mouth tightened. “This is a friend Anatoly Ivanov and this is Senator Peter John Douglas.” He wisely saved the best for last trying to gloss over Toly, and Dane gave him a silent pat on the back, resisting a smirk because he was far too aware of the seconds ticking by.

  Beauregard gave Toly the expected suspicious glance, but snapped to as soon as the word Senator crossed Cap’s lips, his eyes widening and his demeanor tensing. “Senator. I apologize on behalf of everyone for the unfortunate circumstances of—”

  “Never mind the apology, Beauregard,” Peter said, clearly understanding who he was dealing with. “I came here to visit with my good friends and we are all anxious to find Dane and Shana’s babies. We need your help locking down the house and would appreciate your full cooperation.”

  Boom. The scowl on the newbie chief popped in spades.

  “We’ll see who’s cooperating with who,” he had the nads to say. But he worked for the new governor and Dane remembered that there was no love lost between Peter and the new governor. In fact, Peter supported his opponent.

  “Captain Lynch, give me a report of what you have.” Beauregard spoke like Cap worked for him and Cap let him get away with it—for now. We needed someone on the inside at the state police HQ.

  “We have intel from a good source telling us that there are two Russians involved in the kidnapping. After a quick inspection of the place, we’ve determined it’s likely an inside job. We’re talking to each guest—”

  Beauregard’s beady eyes flashed to Toly when he mentioned Russians and when Cap said inside job, he scowled in triumphant contempt.

  “Your job is done here,” the Chief said. “I’m taking over. It appears obvious to me the only guest we need to talk to is Mr. Ivanov.” He gestured for his two men to take Toly and they immediately grabbed him by the shoulders from each side and slapped plastic cuffs on him.

  “Not so fast,” Dane said, “This man is—”

  “Our number one suspect and I’m already suspicious about why you wouldn’t see the obvious so don’t challenge me Mr. Blaise.”

  “He’s helping us with intel. He didn’t steal my babies, you bombastic son—”

  “That’s enough,” Beauregard shouted, “before I have you arrested for—”

  “Don’t even think of it,” Shana inserted herself between Dane and Beauregard. Dane knew it was to save his skin, but he was itching to do someone harm and this bastard would make an excellent target. He glanced at Toly and nodded at is pocket. He needed the man’s phone so he could take the calls they were expecting.

  Unfortunately Beauregard approached Toly and searched his pockets, confiscating his phone.

  “I’ll take the phone,” Dane said. The police chief laughed at him.

  “I’ll get you a lawyer,” he said to Toly. “Don’t say a word until she gets there.”

  “Don’t pull that shit with me,” Beauregard said. “Take him, men. To the station.”

  “I’m placing a call to your boss,” Peter said. “In spite of what you think, I have a good working relationship with the Governor.”

  Beauregard studied him for a minute, unsure what to think, but he didn’t back down. He wasn’t the type to lose face by backing down to any authority unless he absolutely had to.

  “You do what you need to do, but don’t interfere with me. Kidnapping is a serious matter. I’ll be calling in the FBI.”

  Shit. That was the exact last kind of help they needed.

  The two officers shoved Toly out the door and Beauregard followed. Dane didn’t recognize the two men who seemed to be more like Beauregard’s personal henchmen than legitimate police officers. Who walks around Martha’s Vineyard with two gorillas on their heels as if they’re going to be attacked by an army? Hell, when he and Cap were here, neither of them had help unless they were attacked first. Mainly because they could handle danger on their own and also, they weren’t paranoid—not most of the time anyway.

  As the two officers led Toly out to the waiting police car, followed by the self-important so-called Chief, Dane called after him.

  “I’ll have you out of jail in no time, Toly. Don’t say a word.” He needed Toly to keep them busy and keep the details to themselves until he could get the phone. He absolutely did not trust Beauregard. Something was not quite right with that man.

  His comment to Toly to keep quiet stirred a response from Cap.

  “Way to go, Dane. Alienate the local law-enforcement when we’re trying to find your children.”

  Dane turned on him, enraged and frustrated with the need to do something. He grabbed Cap by the lapels and banged him up against the wall.

  “You must have shit for brains. He alienated us before we ever had a chance. He’s not interested in helping us. He’s going for the quick and easy target and I don’t trust him or his henchmen to handle a kidnapping extraction unless they’ve made some massive changes to state police training. That’s the kind of job we’re trained for better than anyone—including the Feds. And that’s what I’m going to do—to hell with Chief Asshole—with or without your help.” Dane let go of Cap’s lapels and backed up.

  Cap straightened his dinner jacket. “I’ll go to the station and run interference,” he said.

  “Good. Because I’m going to break into the station and steal Toly’s phone. You can let me know where the phone is and distract them.”

  Cap’s eyes went wide, but Dane cut him off before he could say a word. “You got a better plan? I need to get the call from Toly’s contact with the intel about where the two perps are staying.”

  Cap nodded and disappeared out the open door. Dane closed it behind him and turned to his friends, Shana at his side.

  “What do you want us to do?” Sassy asked.

  “You and Shana stay here and question the guests. Ronnie and Acer, you’re with me.”

  “I’ll make some calls,” Peter said. “I’ll see if I can find out anything useful, like maybe Toly’s daughter Lara’s number. But call me for back up if you need it—or even if you don’t. I think I’d like a shot at that police chief’s face.”

  Dane nodded. “So you’re not calling the governor?” He almost smiled when Peter gave him the finger.

  “I want to come to the station with you,” Shana said. “I can be the distraction,”

  “Sorry, darlin wife. Your days of playing the distraction are over.” He took her hand with their wedding ring on it and squeezed. She almost smiled, almost scowled, but mostly she looked fiercely determined with an edge of terror. About how he felt.

  Shana nodded.

  “Why do we need the phone?” Ronnie asked.

  Shana knew. She stopped and turned. “I’ll go with you. Ronnie can stay here with Sassy.”

  “No. Stay here with Peter. Talk to people. Let me know if you find anything, even a hint.”

  “Don’t worry,” Peter said. “Cap will help you get the phone.”

  “I’m not worried.” It was a big fat lie. He was mildly worried about Cap.

  “What about Toly?” Shana asked.

  “He’ll be fine,” Dane said. “It’s the Police Chief who should be worried. He’s definitely not on my Christmas card list.”

  “We need to make sure no one leaves this house,” she said to Peter.

  “Gable is taking care of it,” Dane said. But he decided to wait and confirm that the place was locked down.

  CHAPTER 6

  Shana watched Bill Gable wind through the murmuring crowd in his ball room toward them. He looked reluctant to arrive, as if he were waiting for someone, probably someone named Dane Blaise, to grab him and beat him to a pulp any minute. Maybe Dane ought to ease up on his murderous look. Though Shana was having a hard time controlling the wild jumping of her nerves, the adrenaline mixing with stark terror. At least Bill’s wife Laura appeared calm, striding at his side, almost pulling him along.

  “Are we locked down?” Dane asked him without preamble and no mercy in spite of the river of perspiration along his brow line. Shana listened hard to the answer.

  “We called in our security team and had them close off all the doors and lock all the exits from the outside,” Bill said. “Except the front door. I’m so sorry I didn’t have the security on full alert, but it’s Christmas time and you haven’t been on the job for ages and I—”

  “Nothing we can do about that now,” Dane said. Shana heard the tension in his clipped tone of voice.

  “We’ll deal with it,” she said. On the inside emotions tumbled and warred and one thought emerged. She promised herself she and her family would never come to the Gable’s house again as long as they lived. No matter that the Gable’s had always been welcoming and decent people, true loyal friends, she couldn’t get past the fact that nothing good ever happened when they were here.

  “Who wants to help me interrogate these people to find out who kidnapped my babies?” Shana said to Sassy, Laura and Peter.

  “That’s my cue to leave,” Dane said. He nodded at Ronnie and Acer. “We’ve given Cap enough of a head start.” He looked at his watch.

  Shana felt her heart stutter. If there was ever a time she needed to be at his side on a mission, this was it. The emotional tug of that truth drew her to cling to his side. She clutched his arm, yet again. He turned his tortured eyes to meet hers.

  “I’m counting on you to find the inside connection here,” Dane whispered, staring into her eyes with that intensity he always had. Except this time, there was a desperate plea, a crack she could sense in his stoic hard-won armor against the terror of life and death stakes they’d always faced. She knew how he felt trying to work through that crack, to go on through the unbearable pain and make it bearable with the one and only thing she or Dane had left. Hope.

  “I’ll be alright. You can count on me, love.” She leaned in, tilting her face up and kissed his lips, deeply, soulfully, infusing everything she’d ever felt about him and their life into that momentary melding of their mouths.

  He clutched her hair and then when their lips parted, cold air slipping between them, he let her go and turned. Motioning for Ronnie and Acer to follow, he strode out the front door and disappeared.

  Shana forced back the sob that automatically tried to escape. Then she turned toward the ballroom and the surreptitious glances of all those people who she no longer trusted to be innocent Christmas partygoers.

  “Where should we start?” Laura asked.

  “Since the surveillance cameras show no one coming or going except through the front door, let’s start by talking with the valets,” she said.

  Before Shana stepped out onto the front portico without her coat, she plucked a fresh glass of champagne from an abandoned server’s tray. There was a light snow falling, but she was oblivious to the cold night air. Katy and Colt would be excited and smitten with the magic of the snow—if they were here. Pain smacked her behind the knees, but she held up, pulling herself back from the brink of breaking. Because the only way she could live with herself is if they found their babies and that job required her to be in the here and now. She spotted one young valet leaning against the column to her right and went to him.

  She handed the young man the fluted glass of bubbling good will, hoping he was of age. But she mentally crossed her fingers knowing whatever minor sin she was committing was for a greater cause.

  “Merry Christmas. Lots of people coming and going tonight. I hope you don’t mind if I have a few questions for you.”

  His smile flickered on and off as he took the champagne, curiosity, wariness and grateful appreciation dancing through his expression as he eyed Shana and Laura.

  “Merry Christmas.” He didn’t take a sip until Laura nodded at him and Shana knew it would be a better idea to wait until he loosened up before asking questions. She needed to remain calm so not to spook him, yet impart the urgency of getting every last morsel of information he had.

  She slipped her phone from her small bag, glancing at the small gun she had stashed there, the one she failed to turn over to Beauregard and his men. Finding the photo of Toly’s son-in-law that Acer had sent her, she showed it to the young man named Jason according to his name badge.

  “Jason, any chance you saw this man coming or going this evening?” She held her phone with a photo of Sergey Agapov in a tux at a wedding for the valet to see.

  Jason took the phone to study the photo for a second. Laura whispered to Shana with a question on her face.

  “Who’s that?”

  “It’s a hunch I have,” she said.

  Jason nodded his head like an eager puppy wagging his tail and Shana had to discount the young man’s need to please to be sure his answer was accurate.

  “I recognize the guy’s crooked nose, but he had a heavy beard, glasses and a bad toupee. He was with a woman. They were dressed to the nines like everyone else, but I remember them on the way in because I overheard him whispering in some kind of heavy accent. Something Slavic I think.”

  “On the way in?” Shana prompted.

  “Yeah. I saw them again on the way out, but they were in a hurry, carrying something to their car. They took their keys without asking me to get the car.” He gave them a sheepish grin. “I was on break around the corner.”

  “They came out the front door carrying something?” Laura squeaked in alarm.

  “Not the front door. It was a door over by the garage.” He pointed far to the right and Shana nodded, holding Laura’s arm to calm her.

  “Am I in trouble? Did they steal something?”

  “Something like that,” Shana said, sensing Laura tensing up again.

  “You might have mentioned this to me sooner,” Laura said.

  “I would have but the police showed up a few minutes later so I figured they were on it.”

  Shana and Laura exchanged a glance. Shana couldn’t believe the perpetrators were right under their nose and she and Dane had missed them. They’d clearly known about the back stairs and how to get around the place. There was someone else involved in this kidnapping. And some motive that she couldn’t make sense of.