'You deserve anything I want to hand out to you.' His tone was suddenly ugly. 'Whore. No other man, Devon. You're coming back to me. You killed my child. Now you're going to give me another one.'
'I didn't kill-' The pain was searing through her as it always did when he reached this point. 'You know I-'
'No other man, bitch.' He hung up.
She was cold, shaking. She shouldn't let him do this to her. God knows she was used to this ugliness. She should be stronger. But the threat wasn't only to her, it was to the people close to her. This time he'd mentioned both Nick and Dalks.
It didn't mean that Lester would move on them, she told herself. It could be a tactic to make her more afraid and drive her back to him. But could she take the chance? Lester was getting uglier with every contact. If he didn't hurt Nick or Hugh Dalks physically, he could find ways to make trouble for them. In the years since she'd left him, she'd known him do everything from planting drugs in the car of her date to giving anonymous tips that another male friend was a child molester. All ugly, all permanently scarring. It mustn't happen again. Not to Nick, who deserved peace and some mea sure of contentment. Not to Hugh Dalks, who was just starting out and might face ruin at Lester's hands.
No, tomorrow she'd find a way to change her phone number again and start to plan on how best to keep Lester from hurting these people she cared about. Would she have to go away again?
Dammit, this was her
I can make another home. So stop whining and do what has to be done.
'DEVON BRADY,' DANNER REPEATED softly. 'You're sure, Rachoff?'
'Yes, she has the dog,' Rachoff said. 'She caused all kinds of upset trying to arrange to get him off the island. You're not supposed to take any livestock back to the States without quarantine but she pulled some strings and got permission to take him back with the rest of the search and rescue team.'
'That sounds like a considerable hassle. Now why would she want to go to the bother?' He thought he could guess. He'd thought it was bizarre that Marrok had suddenly taken it into his head to go on a rescue mission.
Devon Brady.
Was she one of them? Had he used the disaster mission to make contact with her? Marrok had always made the effort to keep the identity and whereabouts of the guardians secret. He wouldn't risk contacting her in her usual environment. He'd transferred the dog into her care. Was that what he'd meant to do anyway?
'What do you want me to do?' Rachoff asked. 'There's no sign of Kingston. Do you want me to stick around and see if I can locate him?'
'Hell no. I wouldn't have sent you if I hadn't thought Marrok had gotten to Kingston. If you did locate him, he'd probably be six feet underground.' And good riddance to the bastard. He'd had his chance and blown it. 'Get back to the States. Marrok won't let the dog stay with the Brady woman now. We have to move fast and get to that Lab before he does.'
'I've never understood why that dog is so important to-'
'I don't pay you to ask questions,' Danner said curtly. 'Where does she live?'
'Bayside, Colorado. A small town outside Denver. Do you think that's where she'll take the dog?'
'I don't know. We may get lucky. She may not have been able to make alternate arrangements so quickly. If we move fast, we may be able to scoop her up. I'll send a team to meet you in Denver. Get moving.'
'The dog is alive. So is Marrok.' Danner turned to Paul Caswell. 'It's not going to be an easy retrieval. Dammit, we came so close this time.'
'At least Marrok is on the radar screen again. We may be able to track him.' Caswell shrugged. 'It's been a long time since we got this close.'
'You're very cool,' Danner said sarcastically. 'So slick. Why shouldn't you be? Marrok isn't trying to kill you.'
'That doesn't mean I don't intend to get him.' He rose to his feet. 'Our reasons may differ, but our goal is the same. I'll arrange for air transport and check out what the situation is in Denver.'
Danner's hands clenched into fists as he watched Caswell leave the room. What the hell. He couldn't blame Caswell for not having the same passion as Danner for getting Marrok. Four years ago, when they'd almost gathered him in, Danner had been angry and disappointed but he hadn't had this feeling of desperate urgency. The years had done that to him. He'd had all that power dangling before him and not been able to reach out and grab it. It had gone on too long, and Danner wanted it ended.
Caswell might not mind waiting, but Danner couldn't wait. He
This time they had to get Marrok.
'DOES IT HAVE TO BE TONIGHT, Bridget?' Fraser whispered. 'It would be easier for you if you had the chance to let him get to know you.'
'I know that,' Bridget said. She didn't like the hurry any more than Fraser. She didn't like any of this business. Creeping around stealing someone's animal in the middle of the night was a good way to get shot. 'Marrok says it has to be as soon as possible. He wants the donkey and all the other animals out of here. I told him it would be difficult as hell.'
'Why can't you just go get Ned?'
That's exactly what she'd asked Marrok. 'He said for us to get the donkey first. Marrok will get Ned himself. You know it never does any good to argue with him. He'd only say we work for him and to do what he tells us.'
'That doesn't often stop you,' Fraser said dryly. 'I wouldn't talk back to him, but you never have a problem.'
She shrugged. 'This time he's right. He hired me three years ago to help him with Danner, and that means doing things that aren't always in the rule book. Just have the trailer ready.' She moved toward the fenced enclosure the donkey occupied. His name was Casper, she'd found out by asking around the small town. He'd been injured, and the own er had wanted to put him down, but Devon Brady had healed him, then taken him under her wing. Bridget approved the action, but she didn't look forward to dealing with a donkey. Even the most placid could be temperamental at times and their hooves and teeth could do serious damage.
And it was going to be hard to make Casper understand, blast it. Particularly when she didn't have the time to prepare him. That's what she'd tried to tell Marrok but all he'd said was that the donkey would be the most difficult and had to be taken first. He was right, but that-
A chill suddenly struck her. Her head lifted, and her gaze shifted to the east.
'What is it?' Fraser asked, his gaze on her face.
'I don't know.' She was shivering. 'I… don't like…' Her gaze moved around the peaceful paddocks. Not here. Not now. 'Are you supposed to stay here after I leave?'
He nodded. 'Marrok told me to keep an eye on the place and let him know if there's trouble.'
'Be careful.'
'Why?'
'I don't know.'
'Dammit, I hate it when you do that, Bridget,' he said in disgust.
'Tough.' She couldn't blame him. But it was just as frustrating for her. No, not frustrating, terrifying. Keep it under control. It could be a false alarm. 'I'm giving you all I can. It's not right away. Maybe not at all. Now let me concentrate on this donkey.'
'Who's stopping you?' He was uneasily following her gaze toward the east. 'You're the one who decided to scare the pants off me.'
'Sorry.' She didn't want to frighten Fraser. She couldn't be sure. She wasn't right all the time. Forget it and get to the job at hand. 'Okay, Casper,' she said softly as she opened the gate. 'We're going to go very slow. Just listen, and we'll see what we can do together.'
Casper turned to look at her.
Not a warm response. She could sense only wariness and the gathering of strength.
'We have to help Devon.' She was slowly walking toward him. 'She needs us to go away for a while. Nothing is going to happen to you. I promise you.'
Distrust.
'I know. You haven't had much reason to trust people. But it's started to turn around. There are people coming
