All the outside noise ceases again at the realization of who it must have been. I whip my head around, and my eyes collide with Drake’s. “Did this bitch kidnap my son?” I whisper.
“Is this the person?” Bertram hands his phone to Ms. Dot, who nods that it is.
Drake pulls me into his arms, and I bury my face in his chest.
“Don’t worry,” Bertram says. “After she showed up at the office, I put tracking devices on her car and the cars of her close family members.” He looks down at his phone screen and frowns. “Her car is parked at her parents’ house, which is where she’s been staying.”
“Wait,” I say, speaking quickly. “There was a black SUV that sped by several minutes ago. It looked out of place here, but maybe—”
“This one,” he confirms. He shoves his phone in Drake’s face. “It’s on Blue Hill Ave, a few miles from here. It’s moving, though I have no idea where she could be going.”
Bertram shouts orders at Jerry, who then contacts the security office. He also speaks with the officer, who calls dispatch after he’s given the direction of the car and the license plate.
“Let’s go,” I tell Drake when Bertram and Jerry head to their cars.
“Baby girl—” he begins, but I cut him off.
“If you think I’m staying here while you go off to find him, you’re crazy. He’smybaby,” I nearly sob. “And if that crazy bitch so much as touches a hair on his head, I’m going to kill her. The best-case scenario for her is that I beat her within an inch of her life before the cops drag her away.”
My husband looks like he wants to argue with me. He looks from me to the waiting car. I don’t give him time to try and talk me out of it. I briskly walk to the car and get in. “Let’s go,” I order Bertram once Drake gets in.
“Don’t worry,” Bertram says a few minutes later as he slowly maneuvers out of the bottleneck of traffic. “The entire security team is tracking them now. The police are headed in her direction.”
Those words should calm me, but my heart remains in my throat. Drake puts his hand on top of mine, and it’s cold and clammy. Not even when he first came back into my life and we were constantly fighting, did his hands ever feel like this.
I know he’s scared for Carter, but I also know it’s more than that. He’s scared about my reaction. I put my hand on top of his, and he visibly exhales. He lifts my hand and brings them to his lips.
“I would never blame you for this,” I whisper to him.
Chapter 66
Drake
I only exhale when Nia puts her hand on top of mine. My heart only beats again when she assures me that she doesn’t blame me.
But I blame myself.
I can’t even say that Scarlett won’t hurt a child. This is my child. Nia’s child, who she blames for taking me away from her. The truth is this is all my fault. I chose to get involved with Scarlett when my heart was never in it. All I knew was that I could never give it to another woman, and Scarlett was no threat.
I could have ended it after a few months, but I didn’t. I kept it going and proposed. After dragging my feet about setting a date, my world changed and Nia and Carter came into my life. I was always in love with Nia, but I fell in love with my son too.
“He’ll be fine,” I hear Nia say. I have no right to seek comfort from her. This is all on me. I put my son in danger from this psychopath. “That’s the car I saw speeding away.” I hear tires screeching before the black SUV comes to a stop. I know that car. It’s not one of Scarlett’s. This is one of her father’s.
“It looks like she’s driving home, sir,” Bertram says. “I suggest we follow her there. Makes things less public.” I nod in agreement, and for the next thirty minutes, we follow her. I’m positive she knows she’s surrounded. She drives below the speed limit until she pulls into the long driveway of her family estate.
My security team pulls up behind her car. Several police cars arrive and park along the deserted street. I don’t know if it’s from the direction of my security, but their sirens are off. The Paradise Foundation donates annually to the Boston Police Department, so I’m not surprised that they are letting my security dictate the rules.
I step out the moment Bertram comes to a stop. I don’t tell Nia to stay in the car. I know she won’t listen, and she has every right to handle this her way.
“Stop,” Bertram orders her. She doesn’t listen, but he runs ahead of her, his hand already reaching for the gun he keeps in his holster. Several officers follow him on foot and surround the SUV. Bertram opens the back door. An officer sticks his head inside, and a few seconds later, he pulls Carter out of the car. He puts him down, and Nia runs to him.
“Mommy!” he says. He’s happy and giggles while she plants countless kisses on his face. “Mommy, stop,” he whines between laughs. “I want to go see Daddy.”
She puts him down, and he runs to me. I nearly crush his body to mine. I close my eyes before I plant my own kisses on him. He laughs and wiggles like a fish. “Are you okay?” I ask, my words coming out choked and hoarse.
“Yeah. Can I go back to Ms. Dot’s? That lady is weird,” he says.
I hand him to Bertram, who takes him to the safety of our SUV. Jerry slides in with him and I exhale with relief at the sound of my son’s endless chatter.
