Mystery Bride Part 13

That bad feeling had settled deep in her chest and refused to budge. "Who else did Lucas send pieces of the game to?" Sam interrupted.

"That's just it," Ca.s.sie said, "I don't know."

Sam thought of her ransacked house. Was it possible the person who broke into her home had been looking for a piece of the game? But she'd already checked with Andy. No letters or packages had come from Lucas.

"This message," Sam asked, "the one from the men who have Lucas, do you still have it?"

"Yes," Ca.s.sie said. "It is type-written and arrived in the same mail as the CD and Lucas's note."

It was raining hard now, water pinging off the hood and cab.

"You have to find those other pieces of the game," Ca.s.sie pleaded. "To save Lucas."

To save Lucas? Suddenly, Sam saw things a lot clearer. "You knew I'd drop everything to come to Zack's rescue. And you made it so easy for me, predicting that Zack had been taken to the rest home in Wolf Point. That was a nice touch, letting me think that Lucas might have staged the kidnapping, that he might be planning to pick up Zack there. And I played right into your hands."

"No," Ca.s.sie protested. "You're wrong, I-"

"You used me," Sam interrupted. "And now you think you can use the way I once felt about Lucas to force me to find the pieces of the game for you."

"It's true," Ca.s.sie said quietly. "I called you because I knew you were the one person who would care enough to find my son. And, yes, to save Lucas."

Sam tried to contain her anger, at Ca.s.sie, at herself. She had had dropped everything just as Ca.s.sie knew she would. dropped everything just as Ca.s.sie knew she would.

"You still don't believe me, do you?" Ca.s.sie said, sounding hurt. "Don't you see that I was just trying to protect my son and his father?"

"Why the interest now, after all these years?"

Chilly animosity filled the line. "I love my son, no matter what you think."

"Right. You know, I thought I knew what you were capable of after what happened in college with Lucas. You proved back then that you would do anything to get what you wanted. Just like you got Lucas. But this time we're talking murder. They still hang killers in Montana. And you think I'm going to let you use me again?"

Will had been right. This was a trap. Just not the kind of trap he'd feared. She looked over at him, her emotions close to the edge now.

All the anger she'd kept bottled up all these years at Ca.s.sie poured out like the rain streaming down on them from the darkness overhead.

"It was was you tonight at my office, Ca.s.sie. What had you planned to do with me? Not kill me like you did Al-because you still need me, right? Where's Ralph? Or is he who you're working with?" you tonight at my office, Ca.s.sie. What had you planned to do with me? Not kill me like you did Al-because you still need me, right? Where's Ralph? Or is he who you're working with?"

"Sam, you have to believe me. It wasn't me. It was whoever has Lucas. If you don't help him-"

"You expect me to believe believe you?" Sam demanded. "Especially after what happened tonight? Did I mention that the kidnapper left the name of his killer in blood?" She waited for Ca.s.sie's reaction, but heard nothing on the other end of the line. "He wrote the letters ' you?" Sam demanded. "Especially after what happened tonight? Did I mention that the kidnapper left the name of his killer in blood?" She waited for Ca.s.sie's reaction, but heard nothing on the other end of the line. "He wrote the letters 'CA,' CA CA as in Ca.s.sie." as in Ca.s.sie."

She finally got a reaction.

Ca.s.sie let out a startled cry. "Not Ca.s.sie. Catastrophe. He was writing the name of Lucas's game."

Lightning splintered the sky in front of the pickup, a jagged edge of blinding white. The line went dead. Sam stared at the phone in her hands for a moment, then clicked off, her hand trembling, her heart a sledge inside her chest.

"You were right," she said to Will. "I did walk into a trap." She told him about her telephone conversation and Ca.s.sie's claim that she'd received a note from the men holding Lucas. "She was betting that I would help Zack and Lucas." Ca.s.sie knew her so well. That was the problem with once-best friends. They could use that knowledge against you and become your worse enemy.

Will didn't seem all that surprised. "What are you going to do now?"

"Try to find Lucas," she said without hesitation. "He is the missing piece."

"You're afraid Ca.s.sie might be telling the truth," Will said.

Ca.s.sie tell the truth? It seemed inconceivable. And yet, if she was- "Yeah," Sam said after a moment. "I guess I am."

Will swore and shook his head, his gaze taking in the sleeping little boy between them. "All this over a stupid computer game?"

Sam watched the night rush by for a moment, unable to shake the feeling that there was a lot more at stake than a computer game.

WILL DROVE through the night. The rain followed him all the way to Seattle, an unrelenting downpour that made the highway slick and the night seem darker and colder.

But he knew the chill inside him had nothing to do with the weather. His suspicions had been true. The kidnapping had been a ploy to get Samantha involved. And it had worked. He felt scared. For Zack. For Samantha. Her former roommate had used Sam's love for Lucas against her. Just as she had years ago. Now Zack and Samantha were p.a.w.ns in some game.

He felt overwhelmed with anger and a rush of protectiveness. If Zack or Samantha were hurt because of this...

But he knew it was too late. They had already been hurt.

He looked down at the boy. Sam kept Zack snuggled asleep against her, her arm around him. She held on to the boy as if her love alone could keep him safe.

And she did love Zack. That was plain to see. But did she still love the boy's father, as well? Will was just thankful that he'd come on this trip to Seattle with her, he thought protectively. She and Zack needed him.

He concentrated on his driving, feeling a lot more than protective of the woman. Sam hadn't said much since the phone call. He figured she was probably still in shock after what had happened to her. What had happened to Al. It definitely had Will stunned and scared. Then Ca.s.sie's revelation about Lucas. And the kidnapping. Samantha's head must be spinning. He knew his was.

Someone had upped the ante from kidnapping to murder. Any thoughts Will had of heading home when they reached Seattle went out the window. He was sticking this out. Just to make sure Samantha and Zack were safe. To make sure Samantha didn't do anything stupid. Like get mixed up with Lucas...o...b..ien any more than she already had. Or Ca.s.sie. Had the woman holding the other end of the laundry bag with Sam inside been Ca.s.sie?

He had a sick feeling he'd be seeing the duo again, and not under the best of circ.u.mstances. Only now, he suspected that the murderer wanted more than Zack and his backpack. He feared the killer wanted Sam, as well. According to Sam, Ca.s.sie hadn't been the only one to call her for help. Lucas himself had left a message.

Will was now part of it. The realization should have upset him more than it did. He had no idea what he was doing, just that he was doing it and it felt right. He was determined not to examine things too closely.

As he listened to the steady clack of wipers and swish of tires splas.h.i.+ng through the rain-puddled highway, he thought about the little boy sitting between them and where this had all begun. How far back did it go? College? What bothered him was this relations.h.i.+p between Samantha, Lucas and Ca.s.sie. And now Zack. Sam had been hurt badly before, but he feared this time, now that she'd gotten to know Zack, she was primed for heartbreak. Not to mention what effect Lucas was going to have on her, whether he was dead or alive.

He glanced over at Sam, afraid for her. In the dim glow of the dash lights, the rain streaking the window behind her, he saw her gazing out at the darkness with an intensity that worried him. He was sure she was still scared. A brush with death did that to you-made you realize just how fickle life was. But if anything, she seemed more determined, stronger in some way.

He didn't want to be drawn to that. Any more than he wanted to be drawn to her. It was one thing to want to protect her and Zack. It was a whole other thing to feel this woman's strengths; to be attracted to her sheer determination and her need for justice. Strong stuff, justice. Getting close to Samantha Murphy was more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. Even if she had fit his blueprint for a wife, she still had feelings for another man and that man's child. How much more wrong for him could Sam be?

He chuckled silently to himself, half amazed that faced with all that wonderful logic he still wanted to stop the pickup and take her in his arms and kiss her until the sun came up.

The early morning darkness felt suffocating, the rain unending, all of his senses alert and honed in on the woman sitting across the seat from him. He drove into Seattle-hardly any traffic out this early-waiting for Sam to tell him where to go next.

SAM LOOKED OUT the window as the sleeping city pa.s.sed by in a wet, dark gray blur. Seattle. She cracked her window and let a blast of cold air in, then rolled it back up. Tired. And yet wired. Still disbelieving. She'd been able to think of nothing but getting here and getting to the truth before whoever was after Zack made another move.

Well, she was in Seattle. And so was Will. For her, it was only the beginning. For him, it was the end of the line.

"Now that you've seen Seattle-"

"I'm staying until I know you and Zack are safe," he said, cutting her off.

"That could take a while."

"I have a while."

She nodded, filled with a surge of joy that made her heart pound harder. Somehow it was easier facing all of this knowing that he was here with her.

Take it easy, girl. He'll be leaving once this is over.

Yeah, but he's here now. And I'm glad. So there.

She took a breath and let it out slowly. "Then we need to catch the ferry to Vashon Island," she told him. "I think it's time we took a look at those computer games in Zack's backpack and I know just the place."

"Your cousin, the computer geek?" he asked.

"That's the one. But most people just call him Charley the Cop."

Will shot her a look of surprise. "I'm finally going to get to meet one of these many cousins-and he turns out to be a cop?"

She smiled. "Yeah, and with a little luck he won't arrest us both."

THE RAIN STOPPED but the clouds still hung over the water, the lights of the city filtering through the gray. A breeze kicked up whitecaps on the water as the ferry pulled away from the dock and headed toward Vashon Island.

Zack woke up wide-eyed to realize they were on a boat. "Can we get out?" he asked excitedly.

Will looked over at Samantha. "All right if I take him up on deck?"

The ferry was nearly empty this time of the morning, and the ride would be short. "I need to stretch my legs, too," she said. "I'll meet you both up front."

Zack beamed. It was good to see him enthused. He'd actually pulled the headphones off his ears; they hung around his neck, that music he listened to constantly finally silent.

Watch him, she mouthed to Will, who nodded knowingly. She wasn't afraid that anyone would try to kidnap him here. She was sure no one had followed them from Montana. But she didn't want any pickpocketing incidents that would call attention to them. she mouthed to Will, who nodded knowingly. She wasn't afraid that anyone would try to kidnap him here. She was sure no one had followed them from Montana. But she didn't want any pickpocketing incidents that would call attention to them.

Up on the deck, Sam left them to find the rest room and the snackbar. Now that Zack was awake, he would be hungry.

The ferry carved through the low-hanging clouds, mist swirling around the deck as the sky lightened to the east. Sam trailed along the outside of the boat, hands deep in her pockets, braced by the cold air and the breeze. In the distance, she could make out lights flickering through the fog. There was something comforting about the steady chug of the large engines driving the ferry and the sound of the waves lapping against the side of the boat.

Now that she was in Seattle, maybe she could get the answers she so desperately needed. She hadn't given up hope that Lucas would turn up. She didn't want to believe that Ca.s.sie might be telling the truth.

Inside, she found the rest room, freshened up, and bought doughnuts for Zack and two cups of coffee. As she carefully carried the tray through the door to the deck again, she felt the ferry slow and saw that they had almost reached the island.

She started to make her way toward the front of the ferry. Something made her halt. A familiar movement. Or stance. Across the deck through the pa.s.senger cabin windows, she spotted a man. He stood on the other side of the ferry, just barely visible through the mist, his collar up on his coat, his hat pulled low to the cold. He appeared to be staring down into the swirling water.

Her heart leaped. Oh, my G.o.d. Lucas! Oh, my G.o.d. Lucas!

Chapter Ten.

Without even realizing, she dropped the cardboard tray, the coffee spilling onto the already wet deck.

The front of the ferry disappeared into a cloud of fog. She could hear the motors reversing, the boat slowing. They had reached the island. He would be disembarking in a matter of minutes.

Rather than work her way around the deck, she rushed back inside the pa.s.senger cabin and wended her way toward the other side of the ferry and the lone man she'd seen standing at the railing.

Lucas was alive. Zack's father was alive. And she'd been right about Ca.s.sie.

She pushed open the door. The fog bank was dense and wet. She s.h.i.+vered as she pulled her coat around her and moved cautiously down the deck toward where she'd seen Lucas. The ferry ground to a noisy stop. The wind poked holes in the fog, giving her only teasing glimpses of the deck.

Working her way along the edge of the railing, her mind raced with questions. Why hadn't he called her? Where had he been? Why hadn't he come looking for his son? But Lucas was alive. Wasn't that all that mattered?

Wisps of fog brushed her face like cobwebs. The ferry ramp dropped loudly to the sh.o.r.e. Engines started on the car deck below as the first vehicles disembarked.

The fog s.h.i.+fted in the wind, opening to expose the deck and the sh.o.r.e.

The man was gone. In that same instant, though, she heard footfalls echoing from the stairwell. She raced to the stairs and practically threw herself down the steps.

She burst through the door onto the lower deck. There he was! Just ahead of her.

"Lucas!" She ran now, weaving her way through the straggle of pa.s.sengers embarking. "Lucas!"

She reached out, getting a handful of his raincoat sleeve. She tugged.

He came around in surprise, stopping abruptly. She crashed into him, thrown off balance by her forward momentum.

"Excuse me?" he said, looking both annoyed and concerned.

She stumbled back. The man wasn't Lucas. Not even close. But he was wearing the same type of coat, the collar up. She'd followed the wrong man! She glanced around frantically, certain the man she'd seen on the boat had been Lucas.

The man pulled his coat sleeve free of her grasp.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else," she stammered, stepping back as the man stalked off.

She searched among the departing pa.s.sengers. There weren't many. None of them resembled Lucas.