"I'm unarmed," Nathan called.

"You make any wrong or sudden movement and you will be shot. Do you understand?"

Nathan heard the strain in the guy's voice. Fuck. "I understand."

"Remain facing away from me and slowly follow my voice. Step back toward me. Do you understand?"

Nathan hoped his knee didn't give way and make them think he was trying something. Moments later, he flinched as his arms were yanked down. The cuffs snapped into place and cold metal encircled his wrists. He was efficiently patted down but there was nothing to find.

"Where's your gun? Does she have your gun?" the cuffing officer demanded.

"No. My gun was stolen. We were on our way to the police."

"Yeah, right. I'm arresting you on suspicion of kidnapping Sammy Howe and attempting to murder Jack Thompson."

That hit Nathan like a thump to the gut. "What?" He began to cough.

The officer maneuvered him into the back seat of the first squad car and the door slammed. The driver's window was part open and Nathan heard them shouting at Kate.

"Ma'am, open the door and step out of the car. Leave the child where he is.

Keep your back toward me."

Nathan silently pleaded for Kate to do as she was told.

"Leave the child where he is," the officer shouted.

Nothing happened. Nathan could see the pair of them in the back of the car.

"Ma'am, I need you to come out now. If you don't, we'll be forced to get you.

Please get out of the car. You won't be harmed. Do you understand? Your husband's going to be fine. He's in the hospital. Please get out of the car." Nathan saw Kate moving, heard Tommy crying and then they got out together.

Tommy had his hands tight around Kate's neck. She looked ready to collapse.

"Put the boy down," shouted the cop nearest to her. "Put your hands above your head."

Nathan watched her try, but Tommy wouldn't let go. "Shit." This could go wrong very quickly. He wanted to shout and tell the officers she was scared and sick but knew he might make things worse. Tommy tried to turn and Kate caught his head, stopping him from looking toward the guns pointing in their direction.

"Arms in the air," someone shouted. "Put him down." Two cops approached, weapons trained on her. Nathan saw the panic in her eyes. Then it all happened very fast. One officer snatched Tommy and the other threw Kate on the ground. He drove his knee into the middle of her back and cuffed her before hauling her to her feet. She looked like a ghost. Part way through the Miranda warning, Kate turned her head and threw up.

This was Jack's work. Nathan wished he'd killed the bastard.

Hedley had tried to keep his team positive. They'd had one break. An assistant working at Lenscrafters thought she recognized the sketch. A guy buying new glasses for his wife. He'd paid cash and brought in a broken pair. If this was the guy who had Sammy and he really had a wife, it was a lead. Hedley was on his way to the store when the call came from Breckenridge PD to say they had an injured man admitting he and his wife had snatched Sammy. The not so good news-the police still didn't have the boy.

Then came had the call he'd been hoping for. Sammy was safe and well.

The Howes flew with Hedley in a private jet to Eagle airport. While the parents chattered, Hedley used the travel time to pull up information about the three involved in their son's kidnapping. Breckenridge PD had emailed Jack Thompson's statement. He was the son of a wealthy Texan CEO who ran an aviation insurance company. Jack had a juvenile record but only for misdemeanors. Nathan Beranson, who'd been apprehended with the boy, was a San Antonio PI, a former cop with an excellent record. Hedley knew nothing about Kate Thompson other than what her husband had told them.

Hedley drove straight to the hospital. He needed to speak to the boy but he let the parents have their moment while he went to another part of the hospital to speak to Jack. A police officer sat outside the room. Hedley showed his ID and went in. Jack lay on his back, oxygen mask in place, his face marked with fine cuts, right arm bandaged and an IV in place. Hedley noticed the shiny wedding ring and remembered Amy's excitement and how he'd thought it was a long shot.

Hedley still had a guy trawling through that list of newlyweds until the phone call had come from Breckenridge.

"Mr. Thompson?" Hedley stood next the bed.

Eyes flickered open.

"Jack? I'm Special Agent Hedley Moss from Las Vegas." He held open his ID.

"Found them?" The voice was raspy.

"Yes."

"Thank God. Safe? Tommy okay?"

"Sammy's fine."

Hedley watched Jack's face under the mask. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. He took out his recorder. "Have you been read your rights? Up to discussing your statement?"

"Yes...I took the boy...Kate pointed him out. She told me he was ours and I believed her. So sorry...His poor parents...Kate's sick. Needs help." He began wheezing and Hedley became concerned.

"Take it easy. I'll make this quick, but it's important."

"Should have known," Jack croaked. "Blame myself. She's been depressed for months. Confused. Her parents died...couple weeks apart...since then she's been hurting herself."

"In what way?"

"Cutting at her wrists mainly. But she-oh God...."

"What?"

"I came back from town...found her and Tommy-Sammy in the bathroom.

She'd written my name on her back...got him to cut on the lines with a knife." Hedley looked at him in disbelief. Did this guy think he had idiot tattooed on his forehead?

"Hey, I know how it sounds. The kid can't write...her back's a mess.... Look, we're both a bit fucked up.... I've been in and out of mental institutions.... Kate, too...but I'd never have taken the boy if I hadn't believed he was ours."

"Have you ever hit your wife?"

"Not without her consent."

Hedley sucked in his cheeks. "What does that mean?" Jack pulled the mask from his face. "We're into rough sex.... We went to S&M clubs in San Antonio.... We play games, use handcuffs, knives.... We have a code word, so we don't go too far...Charlie. Ask Kate." Jack smiled, then the smile fell away. "Only when I confronted her about Tom-Sammy, she flipped out...started saying all sorts of crap about me. Nathan arrived in the middle of it all...she starts yelling she's not even married to me." He began to cough and dragged the mask back over his face.

Hedley was alarmed by the grayness of his skin. "Don't talk any more. I've read your statement, I'll come back and see you later." Hedley went back to the room where the Howes had been reunited with their son, still thinking about what Jack Thompson had said. Was this case going to end up with defendants incompetent to stand trial? The kid was alive and back with his parents which was what really mattered. Hedley still wanted a successful prosecution.

Sammy sat curled in his mother's arms, an oxygen mask on his face. He clutched an ugly blue toy with a singed ear. Amy's face was wet with tears.

"He okay?" Hedley asked.

She nodded. "He just needs oxygen for a while. He won't let go of that toy.

They gave it him."

Her chin quivered and Marshall patted her shoulder.

Hedley bent so his head was level with the boy's. "Hi there, Sammy. I've been helping Mommy and Daddy look for you. We've all been wondering where you were. Who's been taking care of you?"

"My other Mommy."

Amy flinched.

"Where've you been living?" Hedley asked.

"In a house."

Hedley smiled. "What did you do in the house?"

"We played games. I was a help. I had to sleep in the tub."

"Why did you sleep in the tub?"

"Mommy was bad. She hit my other Daddy with a stick. He made her stay in the bathroom. He shouted a lot."

"Did they ever hit you?"

Sammy shook his head.

"Did they hit each other?"

His head dropped. "Sometimes."

"Did your other Mommy ever ask you to do anything to her back?" Hedley watched his eyes. The kid nodded. Damn. He hadn't expected that. "What did you do?"

He burrowed deeper into Amy's embrace.

"Sammy?" Hedley pressed. "No one's mad at you. You can tell me."

"A knife," he muttered.

Hedley's heart hammered. "Knives are icky, huh? And sharp."

"Yeah. I didn't get any yucky stuff on me, though."

"Yucky stuff?"

"Yeah. You know." He leaned in and whispered, "Blood."

"You did something with a knife?" Hedley asked. "Who told you to? Was it your other Mommy?"

He nodded. Hedley caught the Howes' concern and backed off. "How did the fire start, Sammy? Do you know?"

He pressed his face into Amy's chest.

"That's enough," Marshall said.

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

John McAllister, a Summit County deputy sheriff, took Hedley to an observation room sandwiched between those containing the prisoners.

"Neither has asked for a phone or a lawyer," McAllister said. "The woman hasn't said a word."

Hedley watched Kate for a while through the one-way glass. Apart from the dirty face, she could have been a wax figure, she sat so still. Her sweater and jeans were filthy. He turned to look at Nathan, who leaned back on his chair, his feet on the table, his eyes closed. His clothes were scorched.

"Have they been checked by a doctor?" Hedley asked.

"They're not injured, just dirty."

Hedley ground his teeth. "They need to be seen by a doctor. Did they resist arrest?"

"He didn't. The child clung to her. It made the arrest...more difficult."

"Find his gun?"

"No. He said it was stolen."

"I'll speak with him first. But get the duty doctor in to see both of them-now." Hedley didn't want some spineless snake of a lawyer turning this case upside down on a technicality.

Nathan's pockets had been emptied, his car keys and the contents of his wallet documented and put in plastic bags. While he was being photographed and fingerprinted, he offered no more information than was necessary. He knew he was guilty of nothing, but anxiety still gnawed at his stomach. He'd been left in an interview room, his hands re-cuffed in front of his body.

His head ached with trying to figure this out. He didn't want to be angry with Kate, but he wondered if he'd been played by her and Jack. Nathan glanced at the one-way window on his left. It didn't feel good being this side of the glass. He guessed Feds would come from Las Vegas. He thought about phoning his father, but decided not to, at least not yet because he already knew what the old man would say.

Nathan opened his eyes and moved his feet from the table when two men walked in.

"I'm Special Agent Hedley Moss, out of the Las Vegas field office." The cop removed Nathan's cuffs and left. Nathan sat motionless while the Fed read him his rights.

"Do you understand each of these rights I've explained to you?"