She didn’t have to go far to start making things happen. She’d already gotten into Ainsley’s head—now, she just had to get her to confess.

  Just as Nicky was about to throw more words Ainsley’s way, the door flew open, and in strode the vice president of the United States.

  At that moment, Ainsley cracked. She looked at Steven, and he looked at her. The tension was thick and palpable, Nicky could cut it with a knife.

  She stood up. “Sir—”

  Ken and two secret service agents came in behind the VP. Steven looked at Ainsley with fury in his eyes.

  “What did you do to my daughter?”

  Ainsley choked up. “I didn’t, I—”

  “Bullshit,” Steven hissed. “Where the hell is Natalia?”

  Ainsley didn’t say anything. She couldn’t.

  “Where is my daughter?” Steven asked.

  Ainsley looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears. “I don’t know.”

  “Agent Lyons,” Steven said, turning to her. “What is she talking about?”

  “I don’t know, Sir,” Nicky said. “I don’t know where Natalia is. She isn’t talking. Right now, I’m trying to figure out where Marissa and James are.”

  “I said to leave them out of this,” Ainsley snapped.

  The VP had his eyes locked on Ainsley still. “Where are they, Ainsley?”

  But she didn’t speak, just looked away. Nicky sighed and walked over to the VP. The more she could learn about Ainsley—about Marissa and James—the better she could get this information out of the woman. Nicky left the interrogation room, and the two secret service agents followed behind—but Nicky looked at them and said, “I need to talk to the VP alone.”

  “Sir—” one of the agents started, but the VP held up a hand.

  “It’s fine. Leave us.”

  Nicky locked eyes with Ken once more and nodded before leaving him and the two secret service agents alone with Ainsley in the room. In the hallway, alone, Nicky faced the vice president.

  “You should have called me as soon as you took her in,” the VP said.

  “I was in the hospital,” Nicky told him. “Your mistress in there whacked me over the back of the head with a brass candlestick.”

  Emotion flickered over Steven’s face. “I’m sorry, Agent Lyons. That’s terrible. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Sir,” she said. “But we wanted to talk to Ainsley alone and try to get information out of her. I’m sorry we didn’t call you.”

  “Well, it’s fine...but has she said anything?”

  “No, Sir, but I get the sense that Marissa and James might know something. Ainsley won’t tell me where they are.” Nicky paused, gauging the VP’s reaction. A flicker of guilt flashed across his face. “Sir,” Nicky said. “You don’t know them very well, do you, even though they’re your children too?”

  The VP sighed. “You’re right. I barely know them at all.”

  He paused. “I’ve been too busy.”

  “So they must be angry at you,” she said. She was fishing, but she was hoping to find some sort of clue in the VP’s reactions. “Think they’d want to...get back to you?”

  “I didn’t think Marissa and James even knew I was their father,” he said. “Maybe Ainsley told them...”

  “They didn’t know?” Nicky asked.

  “I have so much shame, Agent Lyons.” The VP turned away from her. “I hated her so much,” he said. “I hated Ainsley. She did this to me. She did this to my family.” He looked back at Nicky. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to have your own life ruined by someone you loved?”

  “I don’t,” Nicky said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

  “I never thought Ainsley would do something like this,” he said. “But in the end, it’s all my fault. I thought I could throw money at her and the kids, and that they would just leave me alone if I kept a roof over their heads.”

  Nicky was stunned. She’d heard Steven speak before, but she’d never seen him speak so candidly—so vulnerably, even. She didn’t know what to say to that, so she just stood there, not saying anything.

  Steven shook his head. “But I never did anything, did I? I never even tried.”

  Nicky stayed silent.

  “What she did to my family is unforgivable,” Steven said. “I don’t know how I’m going to forgive her.”

  Nicky hesitated a second, but then she said, “With time.”

  He looked at her, and she could see the years of bitterness and sorrow in his eyes.

  “I wish I could be there for my kids,” Steven said. “But I can’t. I can’t do that to the country.”

  “They’re your children,” Nicky said, the confidence and power rising in her voice. “You don’t have to choose between them and the country. They can figure things out. And they’re both adults, they can make their own decisions, they can—”

  “Ainsley is their mother,” Steven interrupted. “That trumps everything. I can’t let Marissa and James throw their lives away on a woman who could do that to me.”

  “Ainsley is their mother,” Nicky agreed. “But you’re their father. Maybe they didn’t do anything to Natalia. Maybe this is all on Ainsley. Maybe it’s not too late for them.”

  Even as Nicky was saying it, she didn’t fully believe it. Ainsley was definitely protecting her kids, and with Marissa and James nowhere to be found, they were looking more and more guilty.

  If they just recently found out that Natalia Cavazos is their half-sister, and Steven Cavazos is their father...then maybe they snapped.

  Nicky wasn’t sure. But the only one who had the answers was in that interrogation room. She had to get Ainsley to talk.

  She was grateful to see that she had gained his trust, but it was time to get back to Ainsley and see if she could get the information Nicky needed to find Natalia.

  Nicky returned to the interrogation room alone, leaving the vice president behind. The two secret service agents looked at her as she entered the room, and she gave them a single nod. They nodded back and left the room.

  She was glad they had backed off. She didn’t want them interfering with her questioning. Ken sat wordlessly at the interrogation table across from Ainsley. Nicky crossed to the interrogation table and put her hands on the table, on either side of Ainsley.

  Ainsley looked up at Nicky. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What are you sorry for?” Nicky asked.

  “For...for hurting Steven.”

  Nicky sat down and exchanged a look with Ken. Maybe the stress was finally getting to her.

  “Are you ready to confess?” Nicky asked.

  Ainsley looked at Nicky with bleary, blue eyes and sighed. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Nicky’s heart stalled. Was Ainsley really ready to confess? She held her breath as she faced the woman down in the interrogation room, hoping—praying—that this was it. Natalia Cavazos could be returned safely to her father.

  This could all be over.

  “But you have to promise me something,” Ainsley said.

  Nicky hesitated. “What do you want?”

  “You...you can’t hurt them,” she said. “You can’t hurt my children.”

  Nicky took a second to think. Could she give this woman a promise like that? “I promise I’ll do everything I can to make sure your children are not hurt.”

  “Thank you,” Ainsley said. “Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means...”

  Nicky took a deep breath. She had to focus. She couldn’t get caught up in the weirdness of the moment. She had to focus.

  Ainsley began to talk.

  “I...I didn’t want—” Ainsley’s eyes glazed over, and she shook her head.

  “—I’m sorry,” she said. “They...they didn’t do anything.”

  “Ainsley, what did you do?” Nicky asked.

  “I...I didn’t want to hurt him,” she said. “I love him.”

  “Who?”

  “Steven. I love him.” Ainsley let out a sob. “I...I didn’t want to hurt him. But I did. I hurt him...”

  “What did you do?” Nicky asked.

  “All those years ago, Steven made me a promise,” Ainsley said. “He promised that he’d make sure myself and my children would be taken care of forever. But he also made me promise that I could never tell them the truth. Marissa and James...they could never know who their real father was. They could never know that Steven Cavazos was their father.

  “But then, I found out he was going to cut my benefits. He was going to throw me out into the streets. He was going to destroy my family.” Her face was twisted into an ugly picture of hatred.

  Wait...what? The vice president had not, at all, mentioned that he was going to cut Ainsley off. Ainsley could be lying, but Nicky’s instant gut feeling was that this whole thing smelled off—and that the vice president’s hands weren’t clean either. In this case, Nicky believed Ainsley was telling the truth.

  Nicky’s fists clenched. She felt like she’d been played. Then again, leave it to a politician to lie and try to absolve all guilt.

  “Did he give a reason why?” Nicky asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “He mentioned that his wife had noticed the money being transferred to unknown accounts, which were mine. He feared she was close to finding out about me.”

  Nicky’s nails dug into her palms. It all seemed so scummy. As a federal agent, of course she respected the vice president of the United States, but as a woman, she had to admit, this was all terrible.

  For a moment, she found herself empathizing with Ainsley. As a young woman, she’d been swept into an illustrious affair with a powerful politician. He’d left her pregnant, refused to partake in her children’s lives, and now, all these years later, he was threatening to break the only vow he ever truly made to her.

  “When I found that out,” Ainsley said, “I was devastated. I became a single mother, raising Steven’s kids without him, and the only support I’ve had has been from him for the last twenty years...then he said he was going to cut me off. He was going to throw me out into the street. He made me promise that I wouldn’t tell the kids who their father was, and he was keeping his word. He was providing a way for me to live, so I had to keep my word too. Steven said it was the only way he could keep his word to me. When he told me he was cutting me off, I was angry, and so I told Marissa and James the truth.”

  Nicky’s heart raced. “And then they kidnapped Natalia for revenge?”

  “No,” Ainsley said. Her eyes were full of shame now. “No...it was me who kidnapped Natalia. I was going to use her for leverage, hold her ransom, and make Steven promise to keep supporting me and my children. But when I took her to the house, Marissa and James, they...they wanted to do something more. They wanted to make Steven really pay.”

  Nicky looked at Ken, who wore the same worried expression.

  The same expression of fear—fear that they were already too late to save Natalia.

  “What happened to them?” Nicky asked.

  “I...I don’t know,” Ainsley said. “Marissa knocked me out. When I woke up, Natalia and my children were gone. I was too afraid to leave the house. You showed up a couple hours later.”

  Nicky’s head spun in circles. She was going to need to fill in the vice president on all of this.

  “I’m so sorry,” Ainsley said. “I never meant for this to happen. I never meant for my children to go to jail for their half-sister’s murder. Please...you have to find them. We have a guest house. Maybe she’s there. They also have a boat.”

  Nicky nodded. “I will find them. Thank you for your cooperation, Ainsley. We’ll make sure you’re processed comfortably.”

  Ainsley nodded, hanging her head low in shame. “I am sorry...Steven, I’m so sorry...”

  Nicky and Ken stood. Ken had been quiet the whole time, and Nicky wondered what he was thinking about all of this.

  They left to the hallway, where police officers were standing by. “Take care of her,” Nicky told one of them, and the officer sped inside the interrogation room.

  Ainsley had confessed to kidnapping. She’d assaulted a federal agent—twice. As much as Nicky did feel for her now, she knew Ainsley’s best place was behind bars. Maybe they’d let her off easy and put her on house arrest, but it was out of Nicky’s hands now.

  Frankly, all she cared about was finding Natalia.

  The vice president must have already left, because as Nicky and Ken made their way through the police station, there was no sign of the secret service anywhere. Ken had been very quiet, and they passed through to outside, met by the warm night. It was getting late now, after midnight, and the clock was ticking on this case.

  “You okay?” she asked Ken as they found their way to the car.

  He nodded. “I don’t know how I feel about any of this.”

  “I’m not sure how I feel about it either,” Nicky said. “But we have to do our jobs. We have to find Natalia. She’s in danger.”

  “You don’t think...”

  “What?”

  “I don’t think this woman could kidnap her without help,” Ken said. “Could she have hired a professional? Someone to kidnap Natalia, and then kill her? I just can’t believe this woman would do something like this,” Ken said.

  “She and her children have a lot of problems,” Nicky said. “This is how they express their issues...by kidnapping. It’s a terrible thing, and I’m not trying to justify what they did, but it is how they work. They aren’t ‘sane’ in the way that we would expect. And I think we have to remember that.”

  Nicky went for the driver’s side, but Ken placed a gentle hand on her arm. She stopped, confused.

  “You still have a concussion,” Ken said. “Let me drive.”

  “I’m fine,” Nicky said.

  She hated being a passenger. It reminded her of all those years ago, when she and Rosie were kidnapped by that man—when he’d thrown them in the back of his van and drove them out to the woods. Nicky had been powerless back then, but she had taken control back now. Being the driver made her feel like she had that control.

  And she did feel fine now. The painkillers had kicked in.

  “I can drive, Ken,” she said.

  “Nicky, come on,” he told her. “Just...let me care about you for once.”

  He was upset, and Nicky could see it in his face.

  “Fine,” she told him. “But I’m driving when we get to Ainsley’s.”

  “Thank you,” Ken said, and he opened the driver’s side door for her.

  Once Nicky was inside, Ken walked to the other side. His mood was tense, and Nicky didn’t blame him—this case was a lot to handle.

  Nicky started the engine. “Let’s go. We have a guest house to check out.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Natalia’s feet slowly thumped over the dock, leading out onto the sea as turbulent waves spread before her. So close to the sea at night, she was freezing in her bikini—freezing and terrified for her life.

  Something cold and hard jabbed her in the back.

  She knew what it was.

  A gun.

  Her kidnappers prodded her forward, forcing her toward the edge of the dock. “Keep going,” the girl said.

  “Don’t stop,” the guy added.

  “Who are you?” Natalia’s voice shook as she walked. “Why do you hate me so much?”

  She didn’t understand who they were or why they’d kidnapped her. It didn’t make any sense.

  “I’m—I’m the vice president’s daughter,” she said. “He’ll pay for me. I promise. Please, just let me go...”

  She hated the way she sounded. Pathetic. Scared. Would they kill her?

  “He’ll pay. I promise,” she repeated.

  The kidnappers laughed.

  “You’re so stupid. You have no idea who we are, do you?” the girl said.

  “I just wanna go home,” Natalia pleaded.

  “You are home,” the guy said.

  “What?” she asked, confused. Only a few steps left.

  The girl laughed.

  “You’re home, stupid.”

  Her mouth began to tremble, and she tried to calm herself, but she was so afraid. They reached the edge of the dock, where a boat was docked, rocking in the waves.

  “Get on,” the girl said.

  Natalia’s feet stopped at the edge of the dock. She felt like if she got on that boat, it would be the last thing she ever did.

  But they had a gun.

  They could shoot her.

  She had to listen.

  She climbed on board. Natalia’s chest tightened as she stepped onto the boat, her feet sinking into the wooden floor. The gun was still pointed at her as she took another step, then another, until she stepped up to the front of the boat, and the girl lowered it.

  “Move.”

  The boat had two seats.

  “Sit in the back,” the guy said.

  She did as she was told, sitting in the back of the boat, where the waves hit the hardest. The boat rocked, and the engine roared. A shot of adrenaline shot through her, and she knew they were leaving the shore.

  “I’m going to pay you. I promise, I’ll pay you,” she said.

  “Shut up.”

  Natalia bit her lip, shut her mouth, and hung her head. She’d be taken back to shore as soon as her dad paid. This would all be over, right? Surely, there had to be a way out of this.

  Natalia’s head spun with thoughts.

  How had this happened?

  How did she get here?

  She didn’t understand.

  And her body was cold, too cold. The waves hit her body and it was freezing, but the kidnappers didn’t seem to care. The boat moved away from the shore and into the sea, riding through the waves, picking up speed.

  “How much do you want?” she asked.

  Her dad would pay them. Even if they demanded so much that he had to sell the country, her dad would pay.

  “Just shut up,” the girl said.

  Natalia sat in the seat, trembling and terrified. They were going to kill her.

 

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