Free Nate by Delores Fossen

standing. “Nate,” she greeted. She stood, slowly. “You have news?”
    “They’re all okay,” Nate said as quickly as he could. “Dade doesn’t have a scratch on him, and he’ll be home soon.”
    Kayla made a sound of relief and blinked back tears. “Thank you.”
    Darcy mumbled a thank-you under her breath, and she closed her eyes for a moment.
    Kayla glanced down at her son. Then, at Darcy, before her gaze went back to Nate. “It’s time I put Robbie to bed.” There was an inflection in her voice, an implied so you two can talk .
    Yeah, they needed to do that. And Darcy probably wasn’t going to like what he had to say. Nate waited until Kayla was out of the room before he started what was essentially a briefing.
    One with a bad twist.
    “Are your brothers really okay?” she asked.
    “They are. Kade has a few cuts and scratches because he was close to one of the blasts, but his injuries are minor.” He took a deep breath and rested his hands on his hips. “And they found Marlene. She said she got separated from us when we were running, and she hid in some bushes.”
    “That’s good.” Darcy stared at him, waiting.
    “Come on.” Nate motioned for her to stand. It might be better to finish this if he didn’t have to see her face. There was concern, and fear, written all over it. “Bessie made up a bed for you. Noah, too.”
    She stood, not easily. Her legs were wobbly, but Nate didn’t move to help her. He’d been doing too much of that lately. Instead, he led her out of the family room, across the foyer and into the hall that fed into the west wing of the house.
    “Okay, what’s wrong?” Darcy asked.
    Well, the woman was perceptive. “Only one of the kidnappers survived. The boss, aka Willis Ramirez. And he’s not talking. Plus, I’m not sure how long we can even hold him.”
    “What?” It wasn’t a whisper, either. Noah jolted, and Darcy frantically started rocking him. She also stared at Nate. “The man kidnapped our children.”
    “Yes, but Mexico has an extradition order for him. He worked for one of the drug lords and gunned down six people, including a high-ranking police officer.”
    The color blanched from her face, and he got her moving again so she could put Noah down. She looked too shaky to be holding anything right now, especially a baby.
    “How much time do we have to interrogate him?” Darcy wanted to know.
    “Not much. A day or two at most. Grayson is with him now and will keep pressing until the federal marshals arrive and take custody.”
    Darcy shook her head, mumbled something. “Grayson has to get a confession. We have to find out who hired him to kidnap the children.”
    “We will,” Nate promised.
    He opened the door to the guest suite and took her through the sitting area and into the bedroom where Bessie had prepared the crib. Bessie had also left Darcy a loaner gown, a robe and some toiletries.
    Darcy laid the baby down, kissed one cheek and then the other. She lingered for several moments, and Nate didn’t rush her. He understood her reluctance to leave her baby.
    Finally, she stepped away, keeping her eyes on Noah until she was in the sitting room. She groaned softly and leaned against the wall. “I don’t know how I made it through this day,” she whispered.
    Nate was right there with her on that. He’d faced down armed criminals before, had even been wounded in the line of duty. But only Ellie’s death came close to this.
    “Tomorrow I’ll have someone drop by your house and get some things,” he told her. “If you need anything specific, make a list.”
    The weariness didn’t fade from her eyes, but they did widen a bit. “I’m not going home?”
    “No.” Nate thought about how to say it and decided to just toss the truth out there. “The danger isn’t over. If Ramirez doesn’t give up the person who hired him, then one way or another I’ll have to find out who he is. That might take some time.”
    She didn’t argue. Didn’t