Page 33 of Chasing a Kidnapper

“What’s going on?” Ross demanded. His boss knew West wouldn’t call after hours without a good reason.

He quickly filled Ross in on how Laurel Newton had spotted the masked intruder lurking near her house. “After the black Ford sedan went past my place, I moved Trisha and Gabriel to a hotel. We need to keep Laurel with us, and I’m formally requesting to use our safe house until we find this guy.”

There was a brief pause before Ross answered. “Approved. Are you heading over there tonight?”

“Yes.” The sooner the better, in his opinion.

“Take the house on Lowell Drive,” Ross directed. “I’ll text you the address and access code. The standard windows have been replaced with bullet-resistant glass, but you know those AKs might still be able to shatter them if enough bullets pummel the glass. Nothing is foolproof.”

“Understood. Thanks. I appreciate this.” He almost asked for a replacement SUV, but decided he would need the K-9 features that were built in his vehicle. He could probably swap out the license plate, but later. “I’ll stay in touch.”

“Do that.” Ross ended the call.

After pocketing his phone, West slid behind the wheel. He glanced at Trisha and Laurel, glad to see Gabriel had fallen asleep. He spoke in a soft voice to avoid waking the baby. “We’re approved for a safe house. The place has three bedrooms, so it should work out well for the three of us and Gabriel.”

“Thank you,” Trisha said with obvious relief. “I feel so much better knowing we’ll be together.”

“Hey, thank Captain Ross. He’s the one who gave the okay.” He pulled away from the curb. “I’m going to drop you three off first, then head back to the hotel to get our stuff.”

“Maybe we should all stay together,” Trisha protested with a frown.

“I’m not the one in danger. You, Laurel and Gabriel are.” He hesitated, then added, “Don’t forget, I’m going to have to leave tomorrow to follow up on various threads of the investigations. The one involving you and Gabriel and the gun trafficking case.”

“Yes, I know.” Trisha sat back in her seat. “I’m sure we’ll be fine in the safe house.”

His phone pinged with the text message from Ross about the house number and the access code. West made sure to take a circuitous route to Lowell Street, backtracking twice to make sure they weren’t followed. When he was confident there wasn’t a tail, he drove to the safe house and pulled into the driveway.

“This looks nice,” Laurel said. “We didn’t have safe houses when I was on the force.”

“I’m just grateful we have one now,” Trisha said.

“Give me a minute to unlock the door. Oh, here’s the key code.” He rattled off the numbers for them to commit to memory. “I’ll carry Gabriel in.”

The interior of the safe house smelled a bit musty from disuse, but the accommodations were nice. He went through the house to open the attached garage door. Then he drove the SUV inside and closed the door behind them.

Minutes later, they were all inside the house, Peanut sniffing her new surroundings with interest. Laurel insisted on taking her suitcase, choosing the smallest bedroom for herself. He offered Trisha and Gabriel the master suite, taking the other bedroom.

“I’ll be back in a while,” he told Trish. “I’ll grab our bags, Peanut’s supplies, the portable crib and the laptop.” He frowned. “Anything else?”

“Maybe some food,” Trisha suggested, glancing around the kitchen. “With this much space, we could have coffee and make breakfast in the morning.”

“Good point. In that case, I’ll leave Peanut with you.” He bent to pet his K-9 partner. “See you soon, Pea.”

“She’s a good girl,” Trisha murmured. “I know she’s trained for weapon detection, but the way she stands guard over Gabriel is sweet.”

The way she adored his K-9 as much as he did, gave him the urge to pull her into his arms. But it wasn’t like they were dating and he needed to give her a hug and a kiss before he left.

This was a safe house. He needed to stay focused on the danger. He turned and headed back out to the garage.

Maybe having Laurel staying with them would help keep him focused on the investigation.

Not how much he was beginning to care about Trisha and her son.

The next morning, Trisha awoke to Gabriel’s babbling in his portable crib. When he was younger, he would wake up crying because he was hungry. Just over the past week or two, he woke up happy, swinging his arms and legs around as if he could propel himself out of the crib. He’d started to roll over, too, which was always fun to watch.

“You’re such a good boy,” she crooned, scooping him up and cuddling him close. It wouldn’t take long for him to want breakfast, so she hurried to change him and to wash up in the bathroom, before carrying him to the kitchen.

West was already at the table, a steaming mug of coffee at his elbow. Peanut was stretched out at his feet, thumping her tail when she came in.

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