Page 12 of Chasing a Kidnapper

He nodded. “Let me know if you need anything. Oh, and nice work last night.”

She tried not to blush when all she’d really done was perform a routine traffic stop. One that ended up being anything but routine. “Thank you, sir. Has either perp been located yet?”

“No.” Her boss frowned. “I’m sure you’ll hear through the grapevine anyway, but we’re putting a multiagency task force together to find them and the ringleaders.”

“That’s wonderful news.” And now she understood why West had been asked to come in. She told herself she would be fine on her own now that he’d be busy with task force duties.

“Yeah, hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of this very soon.” Ross sighed, then patted Gabriel on the back before returning to his office. She sat back down in the chair, wondering if she should wait for West or head off on her own. She wasn’t afraid to be alone in the daylight, and he was obviously busy.

She took another moment to search on her ex-husband to no avail. For all she knew, Bryan had found work somewhere else. His last job, at the Rocking K Ranch, had ended rather abruptly. She took a moment to look into the ranch, owned by a man named Klinger. There was one outstanding loan in which legal action had been taken, indicating Klinger was having cash flow issues. Likely he was land rich and cash poor like many ranchers.

Having no other leads, she looked up local locksmiths. There was a place called Louie’s Locksmith that offered quick services.

She called Louie’s and asked him to meet at her place. He readily agreed. Feeling better about taking action to keep her son safe, she rose to her feet. No point in sticking around here. She took a moment to bundle Gabriel in the car seat, then lifted him with both hands. “Let’s go chat with Louie’s Locksmith, shall we?”

“Trish? Where are you going?”

She turned to see West and Peanut heading toward her. “Oh, hi. I found a locksmith that’s just a few blocks from here. He’s meeting me at my place.” Over his shoulder, she noticed there were several other cops with K-9s leaving the conference room, too. They all must be a part of the newly formed task force. “Congrats on being included in the task force.”

“Thanks.” When he smiled, her stomach did a weird flip in her belly. She could honestly say she hadn’t seen West smile like that in a long time. He was generally ultra serious. “I’ll go with you to meet the locksmith.”

“Oh, uh, are you sure?” She hadn’t expected this. “Don’t you have things to do?”

“I’ve already been sworn in as a temporary federal officer.” He shrugged. “Sounds like we’re spreading out to patrol our respective areas and will be called in for specific tasks as needed. That gives me time to go along with you to meet the locksmith.”

“Okay, that works.” Who was she to argue?

“I’ll carry Gabriel.” He took the car seat from her. “You need a stroller or something easier.”

“I have a stroller in my car.” She hitched the diaper bag higher on her shoulder. “I should drive my own vehicle.”

“Hold off for now,” he suggested.

“Okay.” She figured it was easy enough to get a ride back to the precinct. Earlier that morning, West hadn’t paid much attention to Gabriel. Even her boss had patted him on the back. It was natural to interact with babies.

The lack of interest West showed Gabriel made her sad. Not that she expected her rookie crush to become anything more.

Still, she couldn’t help but believe West was missing out on something special. Her pregnancy hadn’t been planned, but having Gabriel was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

It took longer to get Gabriel into the back seat of West’s SUV, along with transferring the stroller from her car to his, than it did to head to her place. The locksmith truck was in her driveway, so West pulled over to park on the street. Gabriel chose that moment to begin to fuss.

“Will you head up to meet with the locksmith?” She instinctively sensed West wouldn’t want to take care of a crying baby. “I’ll join you in a minute.”

“Sure.” West jumped out of the car, released Peanut from the back and hurried toward the locksmith.

Cognizant of his comment about the stroller, she pulled it out and unfolded it. She placed Gabriel inside, tugging the strap tight and began to push his stroller up the sidewalk. A flash of movement caught the corner of her eye.

She turned in time to see a man with a ski mask covering his features rushing toward her in broad daylight! “No!” She couldn’t believe what was happening. She tried to step in front of her son, but the assailant ruthlessly shoved her to the ground. Her fingers grasped his sweatshirt, but he roughly jerked away. To her horror, he grabbed the stroller and ran off.

“No! Stop! Police!” She quickly scrambled to her feet, wincing with pain in her knee where it hit the concrete. Ignoring the discomfort, she hobbled after him. But thankfully, West had heard her shout and was already in hot pursuit, doing his best to close the gap.

Lord, give West the strength to save Gabriel!

FOUR

West sprinted after the masked man with Peanut at his side. He would rather the beagle stay back by the SUV where it was safe but knew the dog wouldn’t leave him. His K-9 had turned and alerted to the scent of gunpowder bare seconds after he caught a glimpse of the guy rushing Trish, smacking into her and grabbing the stroller.

On instinct, he pulled his weapon. He wanted nothing more than to take this guy down but couldn’t risk firing and possibly hitting the baby. Especially since shooting on the run was notoriously inaccurate.

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