Jim sprinted into the house as the telephone jangled and glanced at the officer who manned the wiretap equipment. The phone rang again. The man gave him a nod, and Jim picked up the telephone.

"This is Corona," he said.

"Well, hello, Jimbo. How you doing? You hanging in there?"

Jim saw a haze of red but kept his voice calm. "Missing my kid, Vinnie. Let me talk to him."

"Sure, sure, in a second. Listen, we explained to Tyler how you got called away on an emergency and asked us to bring him along. Only, my directions to the church must have been off. So you ease his mind about that now, so he'll be a cooperative little hostage for us and not have to be punished. All right?"

"You put a hand on him, you son of a bitch, and I'll-"

"I don't have to tell you what I want, do I, Jimbo? You call the D.A. You tell him you're not gonna testify. The second I hear from my lawyer that the charges against me have been dropped, you and your kid will be reunited. I'll give you eight hours to make it happen."

"I'll do it. You know I will, you've got me where you want me."

"Glad you realize it. Now talk to your boy and make it quick. And Corona-the better he behaves for us, the easier this will go on him."

"I understand." He found himself looking to his side, automatically seeking Kara's face, her eyes. Damn, he couldn't believe how much he wished she were there right now. He'd vowed never to let another woman mean anything to him. Not a damn thing. So what was going on with his head?

Tyler's voice came on the phone. "Dad?"

"It's me, Ty. Everything's fine."

"Dad! I'm gonna miss the weddin'!"

"No, no, you're not. There was a problem at the church-a big hole in the roof. I think I tree limb fell on it. So we're not having the wedding today after all."

"Oh, no!" Tyler's voice was soft. "Is Kara very sad?"

"She's fine, Ty."

"No way, Dad. She must be sad."

Kara's face appeared in his mind's eye, the way she'd looked when he'd seen her before. Pale, shaken, devastated. He'd attributed it to worry over Tyler. And he still thought that was the main cause. But it took Tyler to remind him she'd also been stood up at the altar today.

The woman was an angel. She didn't deserve the hell she was going through right now. Tyler's innocent reminder of that added a layer of pain and a ton of guilt to the burdens already weighing him down.

"It's okay, Dad. I'll make her feel better soon as you come get me."

He swallowed hard and focused on his son. "And I'll come get you just as soon as I can, hon. But it might be just a little while yet. Are they being nice to you?"

"They're okay. Not much fun, though. And the lady-" he lowered his voice to a whisper "-she's kinda weird."

"You be a good boy, Ty. Be just as good as you can be, and I'll come for you very, very soon. I promise."

"I wish you could come now."

"I wish I could, too, son. It won't be long, though, I promise. Be good for me?" There was no reply. "Tyler? Ty?"

Nothing. Dead air.

"He disconnected," the technician called. "He called from a cell phone. Didn't give us enough time to triangulate the signal."

Jim nodded, lifted his head, looked at his chief. "I have to call the D.A. Get him to drop the case. It's the only way he'll let Tyler go."

The chief pursed his lips. "It's a child-porn charge, Corona. You willing to let him walk on that?"

"I don't have a choice. And it is my choice, don't you forget that." He paced away, thrust his hands deeply into his pockets and felt his soul being torn to shreds. Yanking his promise to testify against Vinnie went against everything he believed in, everything he stood for and had spent his life defending. But this was Tyler.

God, he wished Kara were there.

Again he was irritated with himself for that thought wafting through his head for the umpteenth time since she'd left.

"We'll get him on kidnapping. Assault. Attempted murder. He tried to kill Colby and he bashed my skull in with a tire iron. Thirty-six stitches, that's gotta be convincing. Attempted murder of two cops is no small potatoes. He'll do more time for that than he would for the kiddie porn anyway."

Wade shot him a look. "You're kidding me."

"It's true," Caleb said. "Sick system we have, isn't it? Where it's a bigger crime to attack a cop who gets paid to risk his neck than it is to sexually exploit a child."

"I don't like it or agree with it," Jim told the men. "But it's what we have to work with here." He nodded to his chief. "Get the D.A. on the phone. We have to move on this as fast as possible. I want my kid back."

"Yeah, okay. Just one question, Corona. And...hell, you don't know how much I hate having to ask it." He pursed his lips. "Does Tyler realize he's been abducted?"

"No. He thinks I asked those two animals to take him."

The chief nodded. "Then he wasn't blindfolded."

Jim felt his entire being go stiff. He knew what was coming.

"Vinnie isn't stupid. He's not going to go to all this trouble to weasel out of one set of charges only to set himself up with even more serious ones. He thinks Colby's dead so he's in the clear on that. No one to testify. You were the only witness in the porn case. So you drop it and he's clear on that. Which leaves Tyler as the only witness to the kidnapping."

Jim lunged at his boss and had him by the collar before he even realized he was moving. "Don't you even-"

"Ease off, Jim!" Caleb gripped his shoulders and tugged him off, even as Wade stood beside him, glaring at the six officers about to draw down.

The guys had his back. Hell, that was a shocker.

He released Chief Wilcox.

"I know you don't want to face it, Jim," Wilcox said, smoothing his shirt. "I know, believe me I know. But you can't turn a blind eye to the truth either. There's no guarantee that giving Vinnie what he wants is going to get Tyler out of there alive. Hell, he might be safer if you stall a little. They'd have to keep him alive then. And it would buy us some time to track him down."

Jim turned in a slow circle. "I've got to do something...."

"Did Vinnie give you a time limit?"

He nodded. "Eight hours."

"Then you've got time. You don't have to make a decision right now. Give it a couple of hours, Jim," his chief pled with him. "Give us time to track them down before you make that call to the D.A. All right?"

Jim pushed a hand through his hair. His pulse was throbbing in his throat and temples, and every nerve ending seemed to quiver. He looked at Wade, then at Caleb.

And he felt like Caleb read his mind, because he leaned closer and said, "Let's take a ride out to Vi's house. You can talk to Kara."

God that sounded like heaven. "I should be looking-"

"Alex and Mel are working from there. Maya's on the phone, working that angle. You can check and see what they've come up with. It won't cost you anything but time."

He almost sagged in relief just at the thought of getting Kara's input on this. He sent a look at his chief. "Call the D.A. Tell him what's going on, all of it. Tell him to have things in place, be ready to drop the charges, have the forms ready to file, everything but his signature. And have him get the fax number for Vinnie's lawyer. I want this to go through instantly once I give him the word."

"Okay. I'll do it just as you say."

Jim nodded, turned to Wade and Caleb, met their eyes. They both seemed to understand without a word, and together the three of them moved to the door, to the cars.

Tyler frowned at the cell phone, then up at the man. "Hey, it stopped workin'!"

"It did?" Vinnie took the phone from him, then messed with it a little. "Hmm, I guess there must be a problem on the line."

The lady looked at the man and rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, kid, it will be fixed in no time. And then we'll call your dad again."

Tyler pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "We could use that one," he said pointing to the phone on the bedside table.

"'Fraid that's busted too, kid," Vinnie replied. "Hey, I got some games and stuff. You want to see?"

Tyler lifted his eyebrows. "Sure, I guess."

"Sure. It'll be fun. And we'll get some takeout. Angela, go get us some food, huh? You like pizza, kid?"

Tyler brightened a little more. "It's my favorite. But I don't like onions or green peppers or mushrooms on it."

"Is there anything you do like on it?"

"Pepperoni!"

Vinnie smiled at him, seemed more friendly all of the sudden. "Pepperoni it is, kiddo. Angie, go find us the biggest pepperoni pizza you can, huh? Double cheese. And some sody pop, too. What kind you like, kid?"

"Grape!"

"Grape?" Vinnie made a face so funny that Tyler laughed out loud. "Grape then. Get us grape soda, Ang. I'm gonna teach the kid here how to play video games while you're gone."

She heaved a sigh, like she was irritated with him, but she grabbed a coat and went out the door.

"Hey, Tyler, wanna try something fun?"

"What?" Tyler asked.

"Let's see if you can fit your whole body inside my suitcase. 'Kay?"

Tyler giggled and did as instructed. Of course he didn't fit, not with the leg braces on, but when Vinnie helped him take them off, he fit just fine. Vinnie even showed him how he could close the lid, though he didn't close it all the way tight. Tyler thought it was about the funniest thing in the world.

He heard the door open and he peered out. The grumpy lady was back but not with any pizzas. She'd only been gone a minute.

She saw him in the suitcase and he thought she was gonna have a hissy, the way her face changed. Her eyes got kinda big and her skin seemed whiter than usual. Although it was pretty white already. Dad would say she didn't get enough sun.

She looked at Vinnie and then she was yelling, real loud. "What the hell do you think you're doing? What are you doing, Vinnie? What are you-"

"Oh, knock it off already!" Vinnie snapped.

He sounded mad too, so Tyler cringed a little deeper into that big suitcase. It was kinda like a cave. He could pretend he was a bear and hide out there if he wanted.

Then the lid was flung back suddenly, and he hid his face.

"Get out of there, Tyler. Come on." The lady wasn't yelling anymore. She even put a hand on his shoulder.

Tyler climbed out of the suitcase and sat on the bed. "We was just playin' a game," he told her.

She nodded. "I know." Then she shot a look at Vinnie. "You promised me he wouldn't get hurt."

"Aw, I wasn't gonna get hurt. That suitcase is soft, and he didn't close it all the way."

Vinnie and the lady just stared at each other. Finally Vinnie said, "We were kidding around, Ang. The kid's fine."

She was quiet for a long time. Then she finally handed him the car keys and said, "I think maybe you'd better go get the pizza yourself. I'm not leaving him alone with you."

"You defying me now?"

They were mad again. Tyler didn't like it.

"You don't wanna go," Ang said. "Fine. I will, but I'm taking him with me."

"Not in this lifetime, Angie."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

Tyler spoke up. "When my dad wants pizza, he calls and they bring it to us. Can we do that, maybe?"

They both turned their heads toward him. For a minute he thought they were going to yell, but then Vinnie smiled at him. "You're a smart kid, you know that?" Then he crossed the room and opened a drawer, took out a big, fat yellow book and started turning pages. "Someplace around this town has to deliver."

Tyler didn't mention that he really ought to put his leg braces back on. He hated them. Instead he sat where he was, on the bed. The lady got a big shopping bag out of the closet and dumped it out on the bed, and Tyler thought it looked like he was having a birthday party. There was a remote-control race car, a video-game system, a pile of games for it, some books and a lot of other stuff.

"Wow!"

"This is all for you, Tyler," the woman said. "Why don't you pick something out and play for a while, huh?"

"Gee, thanks. And it's not even my birthday."

"Well, it's almost Christmas, right?"