Part 6 (1/2)

Samantha didn't relish the idea of seeing Ca.s.sie. She still harbored hard feelings toward her former roommate, and seeing the woman would only bring back painful memories. But she couldn't ignore the pain she heard in Ca.s.sie's voice, either.

Still, if the woman cared so much about her son, why had she left him? How could she have given up her child like that?

”Ca.s.sie-”

”Please, Sam.”

She heard tears in Ca.s.sie's voice. Real or not, they affected her. And she did need answers. Why Ca.s.sie had them was another question altogether.

”You're in Seattle, right?”

”No, I'm in b.u.t.te. I just a.s.sumed you'd come back here first, before you headed for Seattle.”

Samantha felt her heart begin to pound.

”I could meet you at your office,” Ca.s.sie was saying. ”Or your house.”

Ca.s.sie knew Samantha had a house? The same house that had been ransacked three nights ago? She felt a chill slog through her veins. ”No, that wouldn't be a good place to meet. I had to grab Zack right in front of the rest home. By now the police are probably looking for me.” She hoped that was a lie.

If she had to meet Ca.s.sie somewhere, she wanted it to be in a public place. She'd be carrying a lot of baggage from the past and she wanted their meeting to be as quick and painless as possible. She also wanted Zack and Will where she could see them. And she couldn't be sure the kidnappers weren't waiting for her at her house. Or her office.

”We could meet at the b.u.t.te mall.”

”The mall?” Ca.s.sie sounded a little surprised.

”In the food court.”

”You'll have Zack with you?” she asked anxiously.

”Yes. He'll be with me.”

”I can't tell you how much this means to me.”

Was it possible that Ca.s.sie really did love Zack? Had she known she'd make a terrible mother and that's why she left Zack and Lucas?

”Just tell me when to be there,” Ca.s.sie said.

Samantha glanced at her watch. She was more than four hundred miles away. ”I could be there by eight.”

”Eight?” Ca.s.sie paused. ”Eight will be fine. The mall won't be real busy at that hour. I'll see you there. If anything should happen, I'll stop by your office.” Ca.s.sie hung up-but not before Sam heard another voice in the background. A man's voice. Lucas?

What had she meant, if anything should happen? if anything should happen?

She snapped off the phone with an unladylike curse. Every instinct in her cried, Turn Zack over to the authorities. Turn Zack over to the authorities. Let them sort this out. Don't get any more involved than you already are. There is something terribly wrong with this whole mess. Let them sort this out. Don't get any more involved than you already are. There is something terribly wrong with this whole mess.

But even as she thought it, she knew she couldn't. If she went to the cops now, they'd turn Zack over to Ca.s.sie until Lucas could be found. And after all these years, Ca.s.sie suddenly wanted to see her son a little too desperately. Why was that?

”Is everything all right?” Will asked as he came out of the bathroom. His frown indicated he'd at least heard her colorful curse. Maybe more.

”Fine,” she fibbed. ”I'll get Zack. We'd better eat, and then get going.”

Reviewing the too-brief, disturbing telephone conversation, she fell upon the two things she knew. Ca.s.sie had sounded anxious-anxious to see Zack. And a little scared. Samantha s.h.i.+vered. What was it Ca.s.sie wasn't telling her? Something about Lucas? And why did Samantha fear it was something she didn't want to hear?

In the bedroom, Sam woke Zack and got him dressed. He slipped on the backpack, hugged his CD player to him, and tugged the headphones up over his ears under his cap, now-familiar music leaking out.

She gently slipped the headphones from his ears. ”We need to talk,” she said, and led him out to the living room. He perched on the edge of the couch, and she sat down across from him. He looked wary.

”Zack, I need your help. I have to know what's going on so I can find your dad and keep you safe. If you know anything about your dad or the two men who took you or why, please tell me now.”

He stared at her, his eyes dark, but still he said nothing.

”Are you afraid they'll come after you again?”

He shook his head, but not very convincingly.

”I wouldn't let them take you.”

He eyed her skeptically.

”Come on, I got you away from them, didn't I? And I lost them when they tried to chase us, didn't I?”

He smiled a little. ”Yeah.”

”So have some faith. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.”

He seemed to accept that she just might. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will. He didn't seem as happy to hear about the tricks up her sleeve.

”They didn't hurt you, did they?” she asked, trying a different tack.

”No,” he said quickly. ”They were okay.”

”What did they feed you?” she asked, having already witnessed at dinner his fondness for food.

His eyes lit as he recited a list of junk foods from quarter-pounders to pizza pockets. ”...and cinnamon rolls and cookies and popcorn.”

Geez, he'd eaten enough to bankrupt the kidnappers. But there had been no ransom note. With Lucas missing, where would they have sent one?

”Then they fed you all right,” she said.

”Oh yeah,” he said enthusiastically. ”They let me have anything I wanted, and they had really cool stuff.”

”Where were they taking you when I came along?”

He shrugged.

”You never overheard them talking about what they were going to do or why?”