Jillian had been ready to scream for the police when the
man grabbed her baby. Sheโd read about airport
kidnappings in foreign countries and how, if the parents
didnโt pay up immediately, theyโd sell the child. She
didnโt have much money and no idea how to get the massive
amounts she was sure a kidnapper would require. She
couldnโt let him take her baby. No, she wouldnโt let him
take Addi.
The dark evil thoughts that raced through her fatigued
mind delayed understanding the fact that heโd called her
baby girl by name, her nickname. Then heโd said he was
Jack Girard.
Jack? No. This couldnโt be Jimmyโs brother Jack. He was a
Navy SEAL. Every picture sheโd seen of him, and there
were several, heโd been in one uniform or another. Or
heโd been in nothing but low-slung swim trunks and behind
the wheel of a boat as a teenager. Heโd been clean-cut
with short hair, was close shaven and extremely good
looking.
The man who held her daughter was a different man
altogether.
Jack Girard wasnโt this long-haired, shaggy, sun-
bleached-blond Adonis with bulging tanned muscles under a
blue polo shirt with a sailboat logo emblazoned over an
impressive chest. The man before her looked deadly on
every level. His light blue eyes were hard as arctic ice
with hints of green. Then she watched his whole face
transform as he smiled at Addi and poked a finger into
her babyโs belly. The green had overtaken the blue, and
he looked like a loving father playing with his child.
Her child.
Jillian couldnโt breathe.
โYou ready to meet your hellion cousins, little
princess?โ His voice was playful, yet its low tones
reverberated through Jillian, shaking parts of her soul
that had been dormant for more than two years. Since her
husbandโs murder. Addi squirmed at his touch and giggled.
โUhโฆIโll take her,โ Jillian managed to push out through
her tightened throat as she grabbed for her child. When
he turned his broad smile toward her, her world focused
on his white teeth, all of them perfectly straight except
for one eyetooth, which turned slightly.
It was Jimmyโs smile. Except Jimmy was dead.
Her knees went weak. Her vision blurred. No matter how
hard she tried, her lungs refused to work. Indistinct
sounds echoed in the tall room and overwhelmed every one
of her senses. The world went white.
โWhoa.โ Jackโs voice shot through the encroaching fog in
her brain, and a strong arm snapped around her back.
โBreathe, Jillian. Youโre safe.โ
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