It was getting dark, and he was running out of signs to follow and had no idea which way to go when he got lucky.

A branch snapped off to his left, so Jim ducked behind a tree and watched, squinting his eyes, until he made out the shapes moving through the haze of foliage. A woman stumbled slowly through the woods. Kara! And Vinnie moved along behind her, his steps stronger and more certain.

Jim swallowed his relief that Kara was still alive and realized from the direction in which they were moving that they must be heading back to the car. He couldn't let them get there. If Vinnie got her to the car, he might take her out of his sight again, and that was not something Jim could allow to happen.

He chose a path that led him at an angle toward the car, and moved as quickly and quietly as he could. He would cut them off before they got there, get Kara out of the line of fire and take Vinnie into custody...one way or another.

Jim's entire focus remained on Kara. He didn't lose sight of her again and he didn't allow any other thoughts to enter his mind. He pushed aside his worry for Tyler. Tyler was safe now, with the Brands, a family who would do anything for the boy. He buried his concern for Kara's family, who must be going mad with worry by now, not knowing where Vinnie had taken her. Their concern would be alleviated when he returned their Kara to them safe and sound. He silenced the small voice of mourning he felt over the death of his one-time wife. Angela was in a better place now.

Kara was his focus. Nothing but Kara.

He drew closer to her, close enough now to see that her face looked odd-and then he realized the cause. Vinnie had probably brutalized her, just as he had Angela. The thought made his stomach heave so insistently that he had to stop, brace his hand against a tree, and lean over until it passed.

When it did, he pushed himself upright again. He told himself he had to make a greater effort to be silent, to stay hidden as he moved and that he must not let his emotions get the best of him. He had to stay in cop mode now or he'd blow any chance of getting Kara away from Vinnie alive.

And yet the thought of Vinnie's fist landing even one blow to Kara's beautiful face filled him with rage. Keeping his emotions in check was going to be a tougher challenge than he had ever anticipated.

He managed to draw nearer, and still nearer as they moved toward the road and the waiting car. He lifted his gun and said a brief silent prayer.

Kara limped through the woods seeking a way out of this mess, but she saw no means of escape. The maniac walked two steps behind her, his gun in his hand, pointing right at her. She kept feeling the phantom sensation of a bullet blazing into her back, burning through her flesh, shattering her bones, piercing her vital organs. She knew he wouldn't hesitate to pull that trigger if she tried to escape. And she kept jerking and wincing as thoughts slipped into her mind of him tripping over a root or stepping into a hole and pulling it accidentally.

She searched the forest hoping for some kind of help to arrive, for some kind of sign to show her what she was supposed to do. She kept one hand in her pocket, where she clutched the pink stone her sister had given her, and prayed for a miracle.

Closing her eyes, she thought of Jim. She wondered briefly if she would ever see him again. Swallowing hard, she stopped walking.

"What are you doing? Get moving, woman."

She straightened her spine, turned to face him. "You're going to kill me, aren't you."

He looked her squarely in the eyes. "Not just yet. Unless you push it."

"Then what are you going to do?"

He pursed his lips. "Use you. You're my passport out of here." Then he lowered his head, though he kept his eyes on hers. "I'm going to have to leave the country now. You ruined any chance I had of getting out of this by staying."

She swallowed hard. "Angela's dead."

"I know. I didn't know it when I tossed her into the trunk with you. Sorry about that."

She narrowed her eyes on him. "Don't you even care that she's dead?"

"Why should I care? She was worthless. Loved cocaine more than she loved her own kid. Helped me kidnap him for God's sake. All I had to do to coax her along was keep feeding her that damn powder. Freaking junkies. They're all the same."

Kara closed her eyes.

"I don't have to kill you, you know. Doesn't matter much that you know who I am. Like I said, I gotta skip the States anyway, now. And I don't plan to come back. You cooperate with me, be a good hostage, get me out of here, and I might just let you live."

She opened her eyes again and searched his. "Do you mean that?"

"I do. I get clear of this place and I'll let you go. You can run right back to that hole-in-the-wall town of yours. Put on your white dress. Have the wedding you were planning to have, the life you were planning to have. You can be Tyler's mom. Hell, you'd be a million times the mom Angie ever could have been. It'll be great. You'll have a husband who loves you. A great kid to raise. A happy little family, just like you've probably been dreaming about your whole life."

Kara frowned. "You're doing to me just what you did to Angela, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about? I'm offering you a deal. Cooperate, don't give me any trouble and-"

"And you'll give me the drug I crave, right?" She shook her head slowly. "You're good at reading people, I'll give you that much. You know damn well how bad I want that pretty picture you've painted for me. That happy dream. And you're using it to make me do what you want me-what you need me to do."

He shrugged. "I get what I want, you get what you want, right? What's so bad about that?"

"It's not going to work, Vinnie. Not with me. Jimmy doesn't love me. All he wants is a mother for his son."

He lifted his brows. "You sure about that?"

She nodded.

"You were going to marry him anyway, though."

"Yeah, I was. For Ty's sake. But it's far from my dream come true. If I die out here, Jim will just find some other woman to help him raise Tyler. And he'll pick a good one, too."

"So you're saying no deal?"

She lifted her chin. "I'm not going to help a man like you get away with murder, Vinnie."

"Murder. What murder? Angie killed herself."

"You fed her the drugs. You ordered the hit on Jim's partner, Colby. You deal in child porn and you kidnapped a little boy-would have killed him, too, if I hadn't got him away from you." She shook her head. "Sorry, Vinnie. No deal. If you're going to kill me, do it and get it over with. I'm not walking another step to help you."

"Hell." He lowered his head, shaking it slowly. Then he raised it again and lifted the gun.

Something flew out of the trees and hit him hard, knocking him to the ground. The gun went off, but the bullet flew wild, hitting a tree near Kara's head even as she realized the missile rolling on the ground and wrestling with Vinnie was Jimmy Corona. And Vinnie was still clinging to the gun.

When they stopped twisting, Vinnie was on the ground on his back and Jimmy straddled him, pinning his hands to the ground above his head. Vinnie still clutched the gun in his right hand, and that was the one he was struggling to raise.

"Drop it. Just let it go," Jim told him. His lip was bleeding.

"Thought you didn't love her," Vinnie said, grinding out the words.

"You thought wrong. Drop the gun, Vinnie."

Kara looked around for a weapon-a stick or a club she could use to help-but saw nothing...and then she saw a gun lying on the ground a few feet away. It had to be Jimmy's. She went to it, scooped it up, but then the men were in motion again. Vinnie got a leg up between them and kicked Jim off him. Jim landed on his back, and Vinnie sprang to his feet, pointed the gun at him.

Kara fired.

The shot rang and echoed amid the trees, and for a moment everything seemed to freeze in place. And then slowly Vinnie dropped to his knees. She saw the dark spot on his shirt. It was spreading. His hands went limp and his gun fell from his grip, and then he toppled forward and lay still.

Jim got to his feet, picked up the fallen weapon, tucked it into his jeans and then he came to her. She stood there, shaking, holding the gun on Vinnie still, even though he was no longer moving. Jim put his hands over hers, gently took the gun away. "It's okay. It's all right, Kara." He started to pull her into his arms, but she tugged herself away from him.

"Is he...? Did I...?"

Jimmy nodded, understanding her question, and he went to lean over the fallen man, touched his neck. After a moment he grippedVinnie by one shoulder, lifting him off the ground enough to get a look at his chest, though she couldn't see past him. His body blocked her line of sight. A second later he let the man drop back onto the ground facedown and he rose and returned to Kara. His hands closed around her shoulders. "He's dead, Kara."

"Oh, my God."

"You didn't have a choice. He would have killed me."

"I know that." She met his eyes, staring into them for a long moment. And then she just gave in to the shock that was fighting to take over and hurled herself into his arms. The tears came, the sobs with them.

Jimmy's arms closed tight around her and he held her so hard she didn't think he would ever let go. His hands stroked her hair, his lips touched her cheek, her jaw. He kept telling her it was going to be okay, and before long she realized they were moving. He'd picked her up in his arms and was carrying her through the woods.

They emerged onto the dirt road just as police vehicles came screaming onto the scene. Tires skidded, dust clouds rose, men emerged from cars and fired questions.

He told them where to find Vinnie, but he never let go of Kara, not once. And then he was putting her into his pickup and driving her away from there, from the horror, from the death.

Chapter 17.

The hospital's waiting room was full of Brands. Vidalia hadn't stopped pacing since they'd arrived, even though Kara's injuries were minor. Kara hadn't wanted to come to the hospital at all, but Jim had insisted. She needed checking out. And he needed some kind of validation that she really was okay.

So Vidalia paced. Selene sat on the floor outside the treatment room, legs crossed, eyes closed. He didn't know what she was doing, but he knew she was definitely doing something. Maya and Caleb had a row of chairs to themselves. They had their hands full trying to manage the twins, but nothing had wiped the worry from their eyes. The kids were on the floor-Dahlia, Cal and Tyler-up to their elbows in the toy chest some helpful nurse had brought out for them. Mel and Alex sat quietly waiting, holding hands. Mel looked mad enough to do someone serious damage. The fact that Vinnie Stefano was already dead didn't dampen her anger a bit. Edie and Wade were coming down the hall now, each carrying a cardboard tray full of foam cups. Six each. Nine cups held coffee and three, hot cocoa for the kids. Jim took his from Wade's hand, then returned to his post near the treatment-room door, trying to peer inside.

He'd taken no more than three sips from his cup when the door nearly hit him in the nose as it opened. He stepped back, startled.

The doctor looked at him and smiled, then looked past him at the others, all of whom were jumping to their feet and rushing forward.

The doctor held up two hands. "Kara is fine. The most serious injury is to the rib cage. Two cracked ribs. She's going to be sore for several weeks, but there's no other damage, aside from various bruises."

"Can we see her?" Jim asked. He had unfinished business with Kara Brand and he'd waited about as long as he could stand to get on with it.

"She's getting dressed. Says she wants to go home."

Jim nodded. "All right. Okay."

Kara came out of the room then, and he was pushed aside by the oncoming tide of bodies, each rushing to get to her, to hug her gently, to touch her.

Hell, he couldn't blame them. He'd been burning to do the same things, so he understood. They had the right. He didn't. Hell, he'd managed to convince the woman that he didn't even love her just before realizing that he did. So he stood out of the way and let them all hold her, assuring themselves that she would be okay.

But eventually, after she'd spoken to each of them and the sea of bodies parted, she looked up and met his eyes. "Take me home?"

He was so surprised he stammered at first. "I...I guess I thought you'd be going to your mom's tonight."

"If you want me to...I mean-"

"I don't," he said quickly. He couldn't take his eyes off her. There was a bruise on her jaw and she still had twigs in her hair, but aside from those and a few scratches, there was little sign of the horror she'd been through. Much less the heroics she had displayed tonight. "The chief's going to need you to give a statement, but I convinced him to hold off until tomorrow."

"I appreciate that."

"You call us if you need anything," Vidalia said.

"I could take Tyler for the night, if you want," Maya offered.

Jimmy glanced at Kara, but before he could say a word, she shook her head. "We want to keep him close to us tonight. After what happened-you understand."

"Sure I do." Maya hugged Kara again. "Have a good night, honey. Feel better."

"I will."

Kara started for the door, and then Tyler stepped into her path, handed his crutches to his father and wrapped his arms around her legs. She held him to her, and her eyes welled up with tears. "I didn't know he was a bad man, Kara. I'm sorry I went with him."

She shot Jim a look, clearly unsure how much he'd told the boy. "It's all right, Ty. Everything's all right now."

"I know."

"Come on, son. Let's get home, huh?"

Tyler nodded, and Jim scooped him up and carried him to the door, across the parking lot to where he'd left the pickup. The whole clan walked them out and then waved as they drove away.

Two hours later Tyler was finally asleep. Kara sat in the living room nursing a glass of wine. Jimmy had poured it for her, insisting she would need help getting to sleep. But sleeping was the last thing she felt likely to do tonight. And she didn't think the entire bottle could stop the whirlwind going on inside her mind.

Jimmy came from Tyler's bedroom, filled his own wineglass and sat on the sofa beside her.

Time to get things said, Kara thought. She sat up a little straighter, set her glass aside. "We need to talk."

"I know we do." Jim licked his lips. He seemed nervous for some reason. Then he said, "I heard what you said to Vinnie out there in the woods."

That took her by surprise. She lifted her brows, not meeting his eyes. "I said a lot of things out there. You're gonna have to be more specific."

"Okay, I will." He set his glass down. "You told him you knew I didn't love you. That I only wanted a mother for Tyler."

"Oh." She said it softly. Then she drew a deep breath. "Well, I told you pretty much the same thing in the hospital. And...it's okay, Jimmy."

"No, it isn't."

"It really is. I...I can live with that. I can be his mother. I can give you both everything you need. If...if you still want me to," she said, warily meeting his gaze.

He searched her eyes, his own intense and probing. "I still want you to, Kara. But not because Tyler needs a mother."

"I don't under-"

"Shh." He pressed a gentle finger to her lips. "Let me talk, okay? You've been through enough today. I don't want you to worry or think or try to be selfless. You do far too much of those things anyway. Just relax and listen, okay?"

Kara blinked and nodded. "Okay."