Nate by Delores Fossen Page B

covered the two front windows.
    Other than a tattered sofa and some boxes, the room was empty, and Nate couldn’t hear the babies or Marlene.
    “Welcome,” a bulky man said from the doorway of the kitchen. Like the others, he was dressed all in black and had camo paint on his face. And he was armed.
    “Are you the boss?” Nate asked.
    “Yeah,” he readily admitted.
    Nate tried to commit every detail of this man’s appearance and demeanor because when this was over, the boss was going down.
    “Where are the children?” Darcy demanded. Her voice was shaking. So was she. But she managed to sound as if she was ready to tear them limb from limb.
    “I’ll let you see for yourself.” The boss stepped to the side and motioned for them to go toward the back of the house.
    Was this some kind of trick?
    Maybe.
    Nate certainly didn’t trust them, but several of the guards had had more than ample opportunity to kill them.
    “This way,” the boss instructed. He led them through a dining room and then to a hall.
    That’s when Nate saw the open door. And the room.
    “Noah!” Darcy practically shoved the boss aside and hurried toward Marlene and the babies. They’d been right about the rocking chair. Marlene was seated in it with Kimmie in the crook of one arm and Noah in the other.
    Marlene’s eyes widened, but that was her only reaction. Maybe because she was in shock. No telling what these goons had put her through.
    “Noah,” Darcy repeated.
    She scooped up her sleeping son into her arms. Nate did the same to Kimmie, but neither baby stayed asleep for long. Noah immediately started to fuss, and Kimmie slowly opened her eyes.
    Nate felt the rush of panic as he tried to check his daughter to make sure she hadn’t been hurt. She was still wearing her pink overalls, and there were no signs of bruises or trauma.
    “Da Da,” Kimmie babbled, and she smiled at him.
    That nearly broke his heart and filled it in the same beat. His baby had been through so much—too much—and yet here she managed a smile. Nate didn’t even attempt one. He just pulled Kimmie deep into his arms and held her as close as he could while he kept an eye on the goon standing behind them.
    Beside him, Darcy was doing the same to Noah, and there were tears streaming down her face.
    “I tried to stop them,” Marlene said, shaking her head. She backed away from them as if she might try to bolt through the window.
    “She did,” the boss verified. “And she might have a few bruises because of it.”
    Nate had to stop his hands from clenching into fists. He wanted to break this guy’s neck for hurting Marlene and putting them through this nightmare. But he had to hold on to his composure. He would do battle with him, but it wouldn’t happen now. First, he had to figure out how to get Kimmie, Noah, Marlene and Darcy out of there.
    “Why did you do this?” Nate demanded. He tried to keep the rage out of his voice for Kimmie’s sake.
    The boss met Nate’s glare. “I’ve been instructed to offer you and Ms. Burkhart a deal.”
    “What kind of deal?” Darcy snapped. Noah was still fussing so she began patting his back.
    Nate waited for what seemed an eternity for the boss to respond, and the dangerous thoughts kept going through his head. All the things that could go wrong. His brothers might not know Darcy and he were inside, and if they didn’t, they could be about to put their plan in motion.
    A plan that might cause these SOBs to fire shots.
    Nate brushed a kiss on Kimmie’s forehead and prayed nothing would go wrong.
    “It’s a simple request.” The boss didn’t continue until he leaned against the doorjamb. What he didn’t do was lower his gun. “You’re to transfer two million into an offshore account.”
    This was about money?
    Of course, Nate had considered it, but then why had they taken Noah? Darcy was doing okay financially, but he was pretty sure she wasn’t rich.
    “Two million?” Nate verified. He could transfer that