Ember accepted the lifeline. The envelope was part of the man she loved, and now, in a way, they would share and care about the forgotten child together. Warmth flooded the cold recess of her sad heart. It was so like Todd.
"I can do this." Her voice turned from sad to calm.
They trudged through the drifted snow together.
"He had green eyes just like mine."
Alex squeezed the smaller gloved hand in his. "He did. They were a shade lighter, though."
"They were." She pressed the brown envelope against her heart and sniffed her tears away. Alex was the best boss. Despite the incredibly pain-filled down side to her job, she wouldn"t trade it for the world.
"If you need more money, let me know."
"Thanks." Ember felt stronger with every step.
"You do realize you can give her a name, don"t you? You can put the name on her headstone."
"I didn"t know that."
He nodded, his hand strong at her elbow as he accompanied her downhill to the parking lot.
"Her name is Chandler," she whispered.
If that little girl hadn"t belonged to anyone before, she did now.
THIRTY-SIX.
The frigid breeze full of glistening snowflakes blowing through the city of Paris fit the season. Christmas shoppers scurried along the narrow cobblestone street. Zack had been sent on the most important operation of his life. Even now, his heart beat contentedly while he observed his quarry from the warmth of a tiny, uncomfortable foreign rental car.
Mei had been less than pleased at his abrupt departure, arguing that LiLi was no closer to being located with him gone. He would have gladly told her the truth, but he could not risk breaking her heart or dashing her hopes again. So he opted for the Christmas gift of a lifetime. If she only knew.
Without fail, the man Zack followed left his home at precisely the same time every morning, and returned on the same tight schedule at dusk. He drove his own vehicle, a small black Peugeot sedan. Without a single day"s variation, he parked in his a.s.signed, numbered stall at the world-renowned Saint-Antoine University Hospital in Paris. Not once did the Caucasian gentleman step outside the hospital for lunch or other errands, neither did he detour from his established route to and from the hospital. By all appearances, he was a strict disciplinarian; his daily routine synchronized like finely-tuned clockwork.
His name? None other than the very prestigious and extremely devious Dr. Christopher Elias Jones II, the same man Mei had once given her heart to. He was the mastermind behind the abduction of the born out of wedlock daughter he"d once disowned. Born into a world where money solved all problems, he"d simply paid off a network of unscrupulous imposters and thieves to accomplish his goal. LiLi was never in danger. No. While poor Mei had been forced to suffer the most wretched nightmare a mother could endure, LiLi had been introduced to a life of luxury and French cuisine. By all appearances, Dr. Jones loved his daughter, but Zack freaking did not care. At the end of the mission, LiLi would be westbound to her mother where she belonged. Christopher Jones could go to h.e.l.l.
From what he"d been able to observe in the three days he"d been in the country, the doctor employed two women at his very secluded villa east of the Paris metropolis. Zack pegged the st.u.r.dy, gray-haired woman to be the cook since she visited the markets daily, and, according to Mother"s astute investigation, an occasional dress shop less frequently. The younger woman was rarely seen outside the villa walls. She did not venture far when she did leave, and the women never travelled together. At least one of them remained home at all times. If anyone else lived at the villa, they were never seen. But Zack suspected....
He sipped his steamy espresso while he waited. In five minutes, Dr. Jones was expected to rush home on the busy Parisian street. As usual, Zack would follow from a safe distance. After Dr. Jones drove out of town and entered the garage at his estate, the single door would close with a mechanical clank and seat tightly into place, offering no entry to rodent or man. That would conclude another day"s surveillance. It would begin again in the morning, albeit in reverse, and again the next day until Zack"s operation was complete.
There had not been a single change in the precise man"s schedule for the last two weeks, according to Mother. Not one. Even the weather had no impact. But Alex had a hunch and Zack a gut feeling. Christmas was a time for children and pleasantry. Surely the doctor had a soft spot in his cold, hard heart. Surely he would falter. Zack blew softly over his cup to cool the drink. He double-checked his watch. It had finally happened. Dr. Jones was late.
Zack checked the GPS locator on his dash. The man might be late but he was closed.a.m.ned close. The deviation was miniscule. Instead of pa.s.sing Zack"s parked car, he had parked behind itof all places for parking to open up. Zack got out of his car and crossed to the opposite sidewalk for a clearer view. He could not help but smile. Dr. Jones had stopped at a toy store, a particularly expensive shop that proclaimed the most beautiful, the most rare, and the most desirabledolls.
From his new position, Zack had an excellent view of the shop"s cashier just beyond the plate gla.s.s window. The doctor wasted no time in making a selection. As expected, he paid in cash. There was no paper trail, which, along with his rather ordinary last name, had made him a bit difficult to locate. Zack snapped the camera shots that doc.u.mented his findings and transmitted them across the Atlantic to Alexandria, Virginia. Mother"s hard work had paid off.
Invisible in the hurry and scurry of holiday shoppers, Zack waited across the street until his quary was back on schedule. Weighing the change in the doctor"s itinerary against the item he"d purchased, Zack decided.
Tomorrow was the day.
The iron gate needed a drop of oil in its creaky, rusted hinges, so Zack hopped over the stone wall instead. It was early morning. Dr. Jones was already en route back to Saint-Antoine"s. The cook had driven off toward the day"s bargains at the city markets. Within seconds Zack was inside the villa, alert and processing the daily minutiae that came with covert operations inside a residence not too different from Senator Lord"s, minus a few bodies.
A machine hummed off to his right. Since he"d entered through the kitchen door at the rear of the home, he a.s.sumed the noise came from the automatic washing machine in the nearby utility room. A door quietly closed upstairs. Another m.u.f.fled thud indicated a drawer had closed. The sound of water running upstairs meant a showerhead had been turned on. It was definitely not the sound of a bath being poured. Good. The younger woman was taking her morning shower.
It was now or never.
Three doors beckoned in the upstairs hallway. Zack paused at each until he was certain. As quiet as a whisper, he entered the darkened bedroom. It was not so dark he couldn"t see the goal of his mission. With a single photograph in hand to explain his presence, he flicked his small flashlight on and spotlighted the picture.
"LiLi?"
"Yes?" a timid voice answered from the head of the bed.
"Would you like to go home to your mother?"
"Yes," she squeaked sadly.
"Then stand up. I"ll wrap you in a blanket but we have to hurry."
She jumped to her feet on the bed, ready to go. "Who are you?" she asked, balancing her hands on his shoulders, trusting him to help her just as her mother had.
"Your Mommy sent me," he answered quickly. My G.o.d, she looks just like Mei. "I have to cover your head. It"s cold outside."
She complied easily as he wrapped her snug and warm. Lifting her into his arms, he retraced his footsteps without a sound. The best thing about infiltrating an old French farmhouse was the solid wood flooring and steps, built by master craftsmen to endure forever. And they didn"t squeak under a man"s weight.
Within minutes, he was outside the villa walls, his precious bundle safe in his arms. Securing LiLi in the front seat of his rental, he made sure the seat belt was just right. The second he climbed inside, he cranked the heater to high. Zack unwrapped a chocolate energy bar and opened a bottle of water for his guest. LiLi Xing would be cared for like no other little girl on earth. Well, except maybe for Baby Song.
"Would you like something to eat?" he asked as he offered the treat.
Tearful blue eyes stared back at him. LiLi shook her head, her chin stuck out defiantly. "I want my Mommy," she demanded, and Zack was hooked. She was Mei all over again.
"Well, that"s good because I"m taking you home to your Mommy today. We"re going to fly on a big jet. Would you like to be her Christmas present?" He set the treat on the console between them and pulled his vehicle onto the road.
"No." LiLi crossed her hands over her chest, her head down and her lip quivering. "You said you were taking me home. I want Mommy. Now," she demanded, verging on tears.
"Should we call her?" he asked, one hand on the wheel and the other reaching for his cell phone.
All he got for an answer was a stream of tears down the saddest face. Zack would"ve pulled over right then and there if he knew for sure hugging LiLi wouldn"t frighten her. He dialed the number at the hotel instead, certain the time difference meant nothing to the woman he loved.
Connor answered. "Hey Zack, what"s up?"
"Is Mei still awake?"
"Ah, yeah. I think so. She was just feeding your little girl."
Ah, how Zack loved the sound of thathis little girl.
"Can you put her on the phone?"
"Hold on. Here she is."
Zack listened while the phone was handed off to Mei. His heart swelled at the sweet torture he would shortly put her through, but it was nothing compared to what she"d already endured.
"Zack?" She got right to the point. "When are you coming home?"
He smiled at the unspoken command behind her question. We should be looking for LiLi. Why aren"t we?
"I am, but there"s someone who needs to talk with you first." Without another word, he pulled to the side of the road and handed the phone to LiLi.
She placed it to her ear. "Mommy?"
He heard Mei"s shriek through the phone.
"It"s me, Mommy," LiLi bawled. "I wanna come home."
Zack groaned through his tears while mother and daughter cried, squealed, and spoke to each other for the first time in too many weeks. When LiLi hiccupped with sobs, he undid her seat belt and she scrambled onto his lap, her poor little body racked with the happiest cries.
"Mommy wants to talk to you," she said very seriously as she held the cell phone to his ear, her face drenched and her arm around his neck. "She says you"re her best friend and you"ll take good care of me. Here. Talk."
"Mei?" he asked, surprised he could find his voice. Half of him wanted to chuckle at LiLi"s authoritarian demeanor, the other half wanted to cry for the joy Mei must be going through.
"Zack?" she choked, and that was the end of the conversation. She couldn"t speak. Neither could he.
Finally he ground out, "I love you, Mei. Stop worrying. We"re on our way."
"Hurry home," she whispered. "I love you so-"
LiLi pulled the phone away. "I wanna talk to my Mommy."
Zack would"ve laughed if he could"ve, but his heart was full. How he wished he were home, holding the matching bookend to this darling tyrant. He pitied Connor and Rory. Mei would be energized now and a bear to live with until LiLi was back in her arms.
Out of sheer satisfaction, he hummed an old-fashioned rendition of "Twas the Night Before Christmas, by Clement C. Moore. Mei was about to receive the only gift that truly mattered, the purest reason for Christmas in the first placethe unconditional love of a child. He pressed his new daughter to his heart and wiped his eyes.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
EPILOGUE.
Zack tucked sleeping LiLi into her bed while Mei pulled Song"s pink tights off, changed her diaper, and snuggled the baby into her blankets. Rambunctious Song was a different child now. She could climb like a monkey, so her baby bed had been traded for a toddler-sized bed, and both were in LiLi"s room. Not for long. Soon those beds would be in another home across the river in Pennsylvania. Moving would begin within the week. He couldn"t wait.
Alex had insisted they stay at the hotel for as long as they needed. It made sense, but with his upcoming nuptials to Mei in less than a week, Zack was energized like never before. His girls and their mother deserved the best. He intended to deliver.
While their new home boasted marble countertops in the kitchen, crown-molding throughout, walk-in closets, and five bathrooms, it was the fenced-in backyard and the very real possibility of a big dog in their future that sealed the deal. David Tao had volunteered to help install a state of the art security system when he returned home from Disneyland. Harley promised he"d help train the dog, and there would be no more sleepless nights for any of his girlsever. When Zack paused at the door to watch his daughters, Mei"s hand snaked around his waist.
"I think we wore them out today," she whispered. "Song didn"t make a peep when I laid her down."
"Neither did LiLi." He wrapped his arm around his wife-to-be, burying his nose in the soft fragrance of her hair. "What would you say if these little gals came with us on our honeymoon?"
This was not one of those moments when he had no clue what Mei was thinking. The way her eyes lit up was answer enough.
"It"s just that LiLi isn"t ready for time away from you, and-"
"And you aren"t ready for time away from Song."
"And you aren"t ready for time away from LiLi." Zack completed the circle.
He loved that Mei could read him like a book. The power of this woman had transformed him from a mindless playboy whose biggest problem away from the office was how many magnums of wine to pick up for the ladies and how many fifths of Jack for Jake. His life outside work had been one continual party, but he didn"t miss it. Even his prize possession had fallen out of first place and would soon share their new heated garage. Who would have guessed he"d ever own something as mundane as a family van? He almost felt like David Tao. Almost.
Mei"s hand on his chest drew his attention away from the girls. "I ordered pizza," she said. "Are you hungry?"
She took care of him, another thing he loved. Most of the other women he"d known wanted something, but all she"d ever wanted was her life and child back. And him.
"When will it be here?" he asked, his lips tasting the side of her very delectable and pretty face. With the girls tucked in bed, the possibilities were endless. Making love with Mei had become an insatiable appet.i.te. Just the thought of a few stolen moments triggered his attention. It didn"t happen often enough.
"Forty-five minutes." Mei turned to face him, her hands still on his chest and her happy heart in her eyes.
Hagatha had disappeared. Zack understood how the instinct to protect a child could transform the softest woman into the fiercest fighting machine. He felt the same way about all of his girls.
"That gives me enough time." Zack stooped low enough to lift Mei off her feet and into his arms. She came easily, her head soft against his chest and her arm around his neck. Ah, the gentle weight of a good woman enticed and pleased him to his core. The fire that glowed in her eyes glittered brightly. His woman was content. Nothing better in the world.
She trailed tender kisses up his neck and into the sensitive spot on his neck. Mei knew him too well. One tickle from the very tip of her index finger on his ear and he shivered. His d.a.m.ned ears seemed to be connected to his groin. How the h.e.l.l did that work?
"Now?" she asked, her best innocent face on and seduction in her deep brown eyes.
He nodded. No words would be needed for the next forty-five minutes. He angled the love of his life through their bedroom door and toed it shut. Somehow, they"d find room and time for each other on their honeymoon without excluding their children. The day would come when they might take off for a weekend by themselves, but it was not this day.
Not yet.
THE END.
A Hint of Things to Come...