Chapter Seventeen
The man held up his hands to show he was unarmed. “I mean you no harm.”
“What do you want?”
“You’re the first lady’s partner, right?”
“So what?”
“You need to tell her… This thing with her nephew… It’s a big deal. Mayfield is a big-time trafficker. He uses his kid to get to others. Check other missing-persons cases, the less-high-profile ones. You can tie some of them back to Mayfield and his organization.”
“Can you come inside and talk?”
He shook his head. “I’ve risked my neck by coming here. Dig deep into Mayfield. That’s all I can say.”
“What’s your name?”
“Nah, doesn’t matter. The info is solid.”
He took off as fast as he’d appeared, disappearing into the ether as Freddie stood there for a second, processing what he’d said. He thought about calling Sam but decided against it because he hoped she was getting some much-needed sleep. Instead, he called Malone.
“Yeah.”
Freddie conveyed the gist of what he’d been told by the mystery guy.
“He wouldn’t give you his name?”
“No, he said it didn’t matter who he was, that we need to look closely at Mayfield, who he called ‘a big-time trafficker.’”
“I’m out near Connecticut Ave with Ruiz and the Feds. They’re about to go into a house where we believe he and the son are. We’re hoping to find Luna Ahern there as well.”
“Let me know how it goes, will you?”
“Yeah, I will.”
The line went dead, and Freddie said a silent prayer for the colleagues who’d be putting themselves in harm’s way to capture the Mayfields and hopefully save Luna Ahern.
The scourge of human trafficking was the one thing Freddie considered to be as bad as murder, with people being stolen from their lives and forced into a nightmare of sexual servitude and other horrors.
When he thought about innocent kids being taken hostage and sold to the highest bidders, it made him question whether he wanted children. Was it fair to bring them into this screwed-up world?
That question weighed heavily on him as he drove home to Wardman Park, where his gorgeous wife waited for him.
She was like a tonic that washed away the filth of what he dealt with every day on the job.
When he was with her, he wasn’t thinking about the staggering number of ways people found to harm one another.
He recalled Sam telling him that he couldn’t internalize the things they experienced on the job and project them onto his own life.
The longer he spent on the job, however, the harder it became not to internalize the horrors.
He worried he’d never be able to handle having children he couldn’t protect at all times.
If Sam’s nephew could be snatched, what would keep something like that from happening to his kid?
How would he do anything other than worry about them every second they were out of his sight?
How would he raise them to be independent while he hovered over them like a Black Hawk helicopter on a mission?
He wasn’t sure how anyone could bear having kids when everything was so dangerous and scary.
After finding a parking space three blocks from their building, Freddie jogged toward home, staying vigilant as he went.
Having that guy refer to him as the first lady’s partner had been unsettling.
Her high profile had raised his, too, making them both less safe than they’d been before Nick became president.
Not that he’d ever say that to her. She certainly understood the reality of their situation better than he ever could.
He used his key to get into the building and went up the stairs toward home.
In a couple of weeks, they’d be moving to Celia’s house on Ninth Street, which would give them four times the space they had now.
They’d have room for a baby, if that was meant to be for them.
He’d been devastated by Elin’s miscarriage earlier in the year and had been hopeful that they might conceive again.
But now… The horrific tension that’d gripped everyone who loved Ethan while he was missing would stay with Freddie forever.
One thing he was fairly sure of was that he’d never survive one of his kids going missing—or worse. It would ruin him.
Elin, sitting up in bed with her Kindle, smiled when he came into the bedroom, making a beeline for her. She wrapped her arms around him. “I was so relieved to hear Ethan had been found.”
“Me, too.”
“And he’s all right?”
“Physically, a little banged up. I’m not sure about the emotional fallout.”
“Did they get the guys who had him?”
“They’re raiding the house now. I haven’t heard how it went.”
“Is the girl still missing?”
“Yeah, they’re hoping they’ll find her at the house.”
“How’s Sam doing?”
“I haven’t seen her all day. I was working on another case, but I heard she went home to get some sleep.”
“That’s good. She looked exhausted at the press briefing. It’s all so terrifying.”
And she didn’t know the half of it.
“Did you take a nap?” he asked.
“For a while, but then I saw your text that you were coming home.”
He rested his head on her chest while she ran her fingers through his hair. Nothing could soothe him the way she did. “I was thinking on the way home how I’d lose it if something like this ever happened to our kid, so let’s just not have any.”
She grunted out a half laugh. “You’d never let our kid out on the town alone at eleven.”
“I’d like to think I wouldn’t, but who knows how I’ll feel about it by then? Maybe it’ll be easier to let them than fight with them.”
“Nah, you won’t fall for that.”
“I wish I could be sure.”
“I’m sure enough for both of us. You’ll be a great dad. They’ll adore you and do what you ask because you’ll show them that you know what you’re talking about.”
“If you’d asked me if Mike would let Ethan go out at eleven, I would’ve said no way.”
“After you told me that earlier, I was thinking that he and Tracy have been parents for a long time. Brooke is eight years older than Ethan. Maybe they’ve run out of steam with being strict parents.”
“But after what happened to Brooke, I’d think he’d keep Ethan and Abby under lock and key.”
“Which isn’t sustainable. Eventually, they’ll be old enough for some independence, which every parent has to acknowledge long before they’re ready to.”
“I had a lot of independence as a kid. My mom was a single parent, and my grandparents had me a lot, but they were easy to fool. Not that I ever did anything terrible, but I was out and about long before I should’ve been. My mother would’ve killed me if she’d known where I was and who I was with.”
Elin smiled. “Was my very good boy naughty sometimes?”
“Hardly. I was the one saying, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ while the rest of them were telling me to shut up and quit being a dad.”
“I can so see that,” she said with a giggle. “You’re such a nerd.”
“Hey! That’s mean.”
“It’s only mean if it’s not the truth.”
“How did a nerd like me end up with a goddess like you?”
“That’s one of life’s greatest mysteries.”
Smiling, he raised his head to kiss her. “I’m the luckiest nerd who ever lived.”
“Yes, you are, and you’re about to be even luckier.”
“Is that right? Do tell.”
“Well, I know you’re determined to remain childless after what happened to Ethan, but alas, that’s not going to happen.”
His heart stopped. “It isn’t?”
She shook her head as her eyes brimmed with tears. “I’m terrified.”
“Aw, honey… It’s going to be fine this time. I know it.”
“How do you know?”
“What happened the first time was a sign that that baby wasn’t meant to be. This one will be different.”
“And you’ll not dress our children in Bubble Wrap and forbid them from leaving the house until they’re thirty?”
“Twenty—and that’s my final offer.” He rested his forehead on hers. “I love you so, so much, and I know every day how lucky I am that you love me, too.”
“Oh, Freddie, please. I’m the one who hit the jackpot here with the nicest, kindest, smartest, sexiest husband there is. All my friends are jealous that I got one of the good ones.”
“They are?”
Laughing, she said, “Is that the only thing you heard?”
“Nah, I heard the rest, too, and I loved every word of it. We’re both lucky, and it’s about to get so much better with a new home and new baby. So much to look forward to.”
“You came in saying you were never having kids.”
“That was before I knew I was having one. Now, I guess I’ll have to find a way to cope with the fear. You’ll be there to keep me from turning them into anxiety-ridden little people, right?”
“I’ll do my best to keep you from succumbing to fear. That’s no way to live, my love.”
“No, it isn’t, and I know that.”
“Maybe you should talk to Dr. Trulo about this at some point. He raised his daughters while working for the department and hearing the worst of the worst.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll see if I can find some time with him.”
“Please do that. I want you to enjoy every second of this incredible adventure, so let’s do what it takes to get you ready for it.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Good, now come to bed. Your wife is feeling lonely.”
“Is that code for…”
Her smile took his breath away. “Come to bed and find out.”
Jake Malone stood next to Michelle Ruiz, Jesse Best and Avery Hill, waiting for FBI and MPD SWAT officers to give the signal that they were ready to go into the home where Mayfield and his son were believed to be hiding out.
They’d followed a tip from an informant to the house that Mayfield had apparently rented under his real name, which made it easy to confirm.
Thermal-imaging devices had been used to determine two people were inside the home. They’d been hoping for three.
“My people are ready,” Hill said.
Jake asked for a status check from Captain Nickleson, the SWAT commander.
“Ready,” Nickleson said.
He listened as Nickleson coordinated with the FBI commander to go in together.