Kidnapped

  Praise for Dee Henderson

  “The name Dee Henderson is synonymous with authenticity. Her books shine with believable facts and descriptions while her characters think and act like the professionals they are.” —Romantic Times magazine

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  “Dee Henderson delivers an uncommonly good story with grace and style.” —Romancejournal.com

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  “Dee Henderson is a phenomenal writer. Her books are fast-paced and keep you on the edge of your seat. Be warned . . . if you ever read one of Dee’s books, you’ll be hooked!” —T., Amazon.com reader

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  “This storyline is one of reality and suspense but at the same time does not let go of spirituality and romance. I couldn’t put the book down. Let’s face it. There are a whole lot of romance/suspense Christian book writers out there but none like Dee Henderson. . . . She can outdo them all!” —G. K., Amazon.com reader

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  “Henderson amazes me again! She creates a stunning portrayal of the suspense and terror in the life of an FBI agent. She is an amazing author and receives two thumbs up.” —H. L., Amazon.com reader

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  “True Courage is a novel that begins well and consistently builds in suspense throughout the story to the thrilling conclusion. The conflicts engage the reader because they are true to life. The characters are detailed, and the environment created by Dee Henderson is easy to see with the mind’s eye. I would recommend this to fans of Christian fiction, romance, suspense, or crime drama.” —S. D., Amazon.com reader

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  “True Courage is a fantastic romantic suspense novel about a family whose faith and love for one another gives them the courage to get the job done. . . . Dee Henderson is a wonderful writer who pens an action-packed thriller with heart.” —H. K., Amazon.com reader

  Visit Tyndale’s exciting Web site at www.tyndale.com

  TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

  Kidnapped

  Copyright © 2004 by Dee Henderson All rights reserved.

  Previously published as True Courage by Multnomah Publishers, Inc., under ISBN 1-59052-082-3 and by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., under ISBN-13: 978-1-4143-1065-7 and ISBN-10: 1-4143-1065-X.

  Kidnapped first published in 2008 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

  Cover photograph © by iStockphoto. All rights reserved.

  Designed by Ron Kaufmann

  Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4143-2363-3

  ISBN-10: 1-4143-2363-8

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  “Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”

  MATTHEW 7:24–25

  Prologue

  Wedding guests crowded the reception hall, and the accumulated noise made it hard to carry on a conversation. Caroline shielded her sister’s wedding dress sleeve from a guest turning abruptly with a piece of chocolate cake. She wished she could convince Sharon to find a place to sit for a minute instead of circling the room greeting every guest again. Caroline leaned in toward Sharon. “Who’s the man talking with Mark?”

  Her sister looked around people to see who her new husband was speaking with. “The good-looking guy in the tux and black tie? Mark’s cousin, Luke Falcon.”

  Caroline’s interest was piqued. Luke stood taller than most around him, watching the gathering, even as he held a glass and gestured occasionally as he spoke. Twice in the last ten minutes he had made a point of turning to keep track of where she and Sharon were in the crowd. He was probably keeping track of Sharon rather than herself, but it was still disconcerting.

  Even from across the room she was aware the scrutiny came with neither a smile nor a frown; he just studied. It reminded her of the first days of a school term as wary students scoped out their new teacher.

  “The cousin who’s an FBI agent?” Caroline asked. If Luke had gray eyes to go with that thick black hair, curling just a bit around his temples, and a pleasant voice to listen to, she knew what she would decide about him. She already liked what she knew about him by reputation.

  “Yes. Luke arrived about twenty minutes before the ceremony; I heard his flight got delayed by bad weather.” Sharon picked up a piece of wedding cake from the refreshment table. Caroline gratefully accepted an offered cup of punch, her throat dry from the nonstop exchange of greetings.

  “The photographer wants a few more wedding pictures in the chapel before we move over to the restaurant for the evening,” Sharon said. “Could you find Benjamin for me?”

  “I can try.” Her nephew was incredibly proud of the fact he’d been allowed to stand up with Sharon and Mark and hold the rings for them. He wasn’t so thrilled at the realization that he had to wear the suit and tie even after the ceremony. Caroline wouldn’t be surprised to find Benjamin had made an escape to less confining surroundings once his duties were done.

  She left Sharon at the refreshment table with the minister’s wife and started the search. Small boys were not easy to locate in a sea of adults. Benjamin had slipped behind some chairs to join Mark and Luke, his tie still on but tugged loose, and what looked like a stack of baseball cards in his hand.

  Relieved to spot him, Caroline headed across the room. Mark saw her coming and leaned down to say something to Benjamin. Moments later her nephew came to meet her, parting the adults in his way like a general going into battle. “I’m to rescue you.”

  “Good, I need rescuing.” She let him
catch her hand and tug her toward the guys.

  “Mr. Luke, this is my aunt Carol.”

  She wasn’t ready for the instant introduction, but she smiled and offered her hand. “Caroline Lane.”

  “Hello, Caroline. Luke Falcon,” he replied, shifting his glass to free his hand.

  Baritone—a really nice baritone that had a mellow smoothness and matched his nice smile. She liked it instantly. She held his gaze as he took her hand and she liked what she saw: realistic, grounded. He must have seen too much in his job to have the eyes of a dreamer. Luke was taller than she had realized and not quite as handsome as she first thought. Too much living showed on his face.

  When he released her hand, she wrapped both of hers around her glass of punch and realized it was time to take a breath. He looked good in the tux, relaxed. No one should be that comfortable in a tux. He was studying her again, but in a casual way, having apparently made up his mind about her.

  She glanced at Mark, quickly smiled, and looked down at her nephew, much more at ease with someone a third of Luke’s age.

  Benjamin slid a badge bigger than his hand into his suit pocket so it rested shield out. “Aunt Carol, I’m going to be a lawman too.”

  “It looks great.” And it looked real. She silently gave Luke credit for being comfortable around kids. Adults who didn’t spend much time with them either treated her eight-year-old nephew as if he were half that age or expected him to behave with the maturity of a young adult.

  “You would make a great lawman one day,” she concurred, brushing Benjamin’s honey brown hair back from his forehead with a quick swipe and dislodging the confetti. “I’m afraid your mom needs us for a few more pictures in the chapel.”

  “More? They already took a hundred.”

  “Just a few more. Then she said you could lose the coat and tie.”

  “About time.”

  Mark laughed and held out his hand. “Come on, buddy. We’ll go help your mom look beautiful.”

  Caroline risked meeting Luke’s gaze. The man was still watching, a slight smile playing around his mouth. “You’re welcome to join us. We’ll be moving over to the restaurant after the pictures are complete, and I think—”

  His pager went off, interrupting her. “My apologies.” He glanced at the number but didn’t make a move to return the call. “You were saying?”

  “Just that it will be a bit less chaotic.” She nodded to the pager. “Trouble?”

  He looked to make sure Benjamin had moved out of earshot. “I’m working a murder case. Life is a bit hectic today.”

  “I’ll be glad to save you a place if you need to go make some calls.”

  “They can wait.” Luke looked tired. It wasn’t in his posture or expression but in his eyes.

  She found her own nervousness disappearing and in its place a comfortable concern starting to bloom. They would see each other for decades to come at family gatherings; he was safe to treat as family. “Then you must come over to the restaurant. It will be quieter, and you can have something more substantial to eat for dinner than cake.”

  “I’ll do that. It was a beautiful wedding, Caroline. You did a nice job.”

  She felt a blush start and hated the fast warmth. “Thanks, I enjoyed helping Sharon put it together.”

  He just smiled at her demur. Someone had been telling him details she thought were private. Sharon had needed to work more hours on call at the hospital in order to get time off for the honeymoon, and Caroline had been able to stagger her summer job hours so she could help with wedding preparations. Making it a perfect day had been her gift to her sister. She hadn’t realized others would hear about her efforts though.

  “Mark’s happy. It’s nice to see,” Luke said.

  “So is Sharon.”

  “Benjamin mentioned he gets to spend the next week with you?”

  Caroline nodded. “We’re going on day trips to a nearby ranch to ride horses.”

  “An ideal vacation for a young man.” Luke set down his glass and tugged a pen from his pocket. He wrote a number on his napkin and offered it to her. “If you need anything in the next week, call me. I’ll be back at my Sandy Hill home for the foreseeable future. Just in case Benjamin tumbles off one of those mighty steeds as he does battle with imaginary dragons. Mark and Sharon will be more than a few hours away.”

  “I appreciate it.” She memorized the number as she folded the napkin in her hand. “Benjamin is serious about the badge and the idea of being a lawman. I’m sure he’ll be asking you some questions over dinner.”

  “He already asked if I would teach him to shoot.”

  “And what did you say?”

  He smiled. “Ask Sharon.”

  Caroline ran her tongue around her teeth. “Smart man. I need to go get my picture taken.”

  “Hmm. I’d like one.”

  “A wedding picture?”

  “That too. If you keep blushing like that, the photographer will get a wonderful photo.”

  “You’re not supposed to notice.”

  “That would be a shame.”

  She smiled back at him, unable to resist his subtle flirting. “You can comment then.”

  He offered his arm. “Let me see you safely to the chapel.”

  She rested her hand on his jacket sleeve. Her long dress made walking with a natural stride impossible, but he adjusted to the constraint from the first step. The crowd parted for them. At the door to the chapel, Luke’s pager went off again. Caroline slid her hand from his arm. “They’ll just keep trying to get your attention. You might as well make your calls. I’ll make sure we wait for you.”

  He looked at the number on the pager. “Unfortunately true. Go finish your work of the day while I finish mine, and then come keep me company tonight so we can talk without distractions.”

  She wasn’t used to someone so swiftly claiming her time, but she laughed, appreciating it and him. “I’ll do that.” She smiled as she walked into the chapel, wondering just how much of her own life was about to change as a result of this wedding day. She wasn’t one for taking great adventures, but occasionally—a little diving into the deep end of life might get interesting, and she was in a mood tonight to find out.

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  “Would you like to walk awhile?” Luke leaned down to be heard as he paused behind her chair at the restaurant table.

  The bride and groom were away, and the guests were dispersing. Caroline nodded. She needed to stretch her legs and get some fresh air before she called it an evening. It was either accept the invitation or admit to herself she was too flustered by his attention to do so.

  He held her chair for her, caught up his jacket from the back of his chair, and said good night for them both. The hotel where she was staying adjoined the restaurant, and Luke escorted her through the restaurant to the garden path connecting the two buildings.

  He’d waited for her in the hotel lobby earlier while she went up and changed from her wedding finery to something more comfortable for the evening meal. He had left his tie in the car and turned up the sleeves of his white shirt to his elbows and relaxed, while she had just lost her bravery.

  “I learned a lot about Sharon and Benjamin at dinner. Now tell me about Caroline Lane.”

  Caroline wasn’t sure how to answer. “There’s not much to tell. I grew up in Benton, went away to college to get my teaching degree, and returned to Benton when I graduated. I’ve been teaching fifth grade at a private Christian school ever since.”

  She caught his smile at how she summarized her life. “You love to teach.”

  She glanced away to inspect the flowers along the garden path. “Yes. I grew up thinking of myself as a teacher, the same way my sister wanted to be a doctor.” He didn’t ask another question, and she tried again to get him to talk about himself. So far this evening he’d smoothly turned aside questions by other guests at dinner. “Did you always want to be in law enforcement?”

  “I like making the world a safer place.” His
smile reminded her of Mark’s—self-knowing, touched with humor. “That makes being an FBI agent sound grander than it is, but the job suits me. There aren’t a lot of gray areas to crime.” He gestured to the bench up ahead, and she moved that direction, taking a seat.

  She noted that while he said the job suited him, he hadn’t added that he enjoyed it. She knew it couldn’t be that pleasant, the way his days unfolded. He’d come to the wedding with a murder investigation underway, and even through dinner he’d received two more pages. It was obvious that when he was quiet, his thoughts hadn’t been on the conversations around him but rather on the details of a case that left him looking grim. “It’s nice to have this day over; it’s been long.”

  “Very. Do you think Sharon and Mark getting married was a good idea?”

  She turned startled eyes toward him. “Don’t you?”

  “It’s just a question, Caroline.” He stretched out his legs and folded his hands across his chest, relaxing as he had earlier when talking with Benjamin, like a load was shifting off his shoulders.

  “It took Sharon a long time to get over the death of her first husband, and as time passed, I wondered if she’d ever want to move on. Mark—he made her laugh again like I hadn’t heard in a long time. Sharon enjoys being married, being a wife. So yes, I think it will be a good marriage. They love each other a lot.”

  “My cousin has been career focused since college. He waited so long to marry, I admit I was surprised when I got his call. I understood once I met Sharon. Mark already loves Benjamin like his own.”

  Maybe it was the day and the direction of her thoughts today, but Luke sounded wistful. Caroline hesitated but asked the burning question anyway. “Have you ever been married?”

  She knew so little about Luke Falcon. While Mark had mentioned him often and spoke highly of the man, his remarks hadn’t included many hard facts.

  “No. I came close back in college, but the timing never seemed to work out. Jenny and I dated through high school and college, but I ended up going to one coast and she to another for graduate work.” His expression cleared. “I’m glad now in a way; it would have been hard on her. Some people have a life that can be shared more easily than others. My partner is married. Jackie’s got two boys and a husband who adore her. I watch them and often wonder how they’ve made it work.”