Asking For Trouble (26 page)

Beau hadn't even thought of that, and he
nodded. "You go check on Lucy and I'll take Robbie and get him
signed up to be seen."

Mentally, Beau ran through the list of
friends he knew who might agree to foster the kids, until he could
come up with another plan, and all roads led to Bowie. He'd ask
Sabrina and Cole first. He had to go to Cole's tonight anyway, so
they could go to the place they were all meeting for the
mission.

"Let's go get you signed up to see the doc
too, Robbie," Beau said and held his hand out to the boy. He shrank
back and held onto the sides of the chair. Beau lifted an eyebrow
and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to see the doctor," Robbie
told him.

Beau sat down beside him again and turned to
face him. "What's up, Sport? Talk to me..."

"They told me if I showed anybody my bobos
they'd make it worse...I'm scared they're gonna send me back
there," he said in a trembling voice.

"Did you hear me talking to Ms. Thomas just
now?" Beau asked him gently and he nodded. "You're not going back
there,
ever
. I'm going to find you and Lucy somewhere safe
to live, I promise...but the doctor needs to know what's been going
on, so we can do something about it, okay?"

"Yes, sir..." Robbie replied softly.

"You be honest with him, and we'll get you
someplace you don't have to worry, okay?"

"Yes, sir," he said and looked up at Beau
with trust in his dark eyes. He was sure this kid didn't trust many
people, and it tweaked Beau's heart to know he was one of them.
There was no way in hell he'd let the kid down.

Beau grabbed his hand and stood, and this
time Robbie stood up with him and they walked down the hall to the
nurse's station.

***

When she woke up, Jazzie's moan was muffled
by a gag in her mouth. Pushing her tongue against it, her eyes
opened wide and fear pulsed through her when she tried to move her
numb arms, and they were tied above her head. She yanked trying to
pull them down, and groaned as the plastic strip cut into her skin.
Her heart pounded inside her chest as she looked around the
darkened windowless room, and realized she was tied to a bed.

A sharp pain sliced through her skull, and
she closed her eyes. She had whacked her head on the car window
when the agent had crashed into the light pole. It was just damned
luck she wasn't crushed when the pole came down on top of the car.
That was about all she remembered about the accident, other than
the driver of Carlos's Ferrari cutting them off, because after she
hit her head she blacked out, until now. She heard a moan on the
other side of the room, and tried to say, "Who's there," but it
came out as a mumble, because of the nasty gag in her mouth.

"Jazzie?" came the pained and garbled voice
from the other side of the room. It sounded like Carlos, but she'd
never heard her brother sound so weak. She pushed and pulled
against the gag, by rubbing her head on the mattress beneath her,
and rotating her jaw. It slid down a little, and she tucked her lip
under it, until her lips were free.

"Los, is that you?" Her voice didn't even
sound like her own, it was rough like sandpaper, because her mouth
was so dry.

"Are you hurt, bebe?" he asked her, his
voice sounding pained and gravelly.

"Not really, are you hurt?" she asked and
dreaded hearing the answer, because he had to be for him to sound
so weak.

"I think I have a cracked rib, and my face
is busted up, but I'll be okay. I just don't want to go through
round two of their interrogation, for sure. Some good that damned
gun I bought did me, the damned thing jammed, and they pistol
whipped me "

"Oh, god, Carlos...?" she groaned.

"They wanted to know where Frankie was...and
I don't know. They didn't like that answer."

"They called mama and told her they were
going to kill you if they didn't get Frankie and the evidence,' she
told him.

Carlos groaned and she thought she heard a
sob, but she wasn't sure, "Oh, god, they need to leave mama
alone...she can't take this."

"These are some bad people, Los...they took
me from two trained FBI agents, using your car!"

"Oh, please tell me they didn't wreck my
car..." Carlos moaned.

"Forget about your damned car--do you know
where we are?" she asked him angrily. How could he be worried about
a damned car, when they were both about to be killed?!?

"No idea, after they hit me with the gun, I
passed out. I did wake up right before we got here though and saw
them exit 35E and drive through some warehouse district. We're in a
warehouse with loading docks and bay doors, it's tan with burgundy
trim...that's all I could see, without letting them know I was
awake."

"Are you tied up too?" Jazzie asked him and
tried her bonds again.

"My hands are cuffed to the bed, but my feet
are loose," he told her. They took my shoes off." Jazzie looked
down at her feet and saw that her boots were gone too.

"How the hell are we going to get out of
here, Los?" she asked him with a tremble in her voice.

"I have no idea, but I'm damned sorry they
caught you, sis. Where the hell was Beau?" Carlos asked her
angrily.

"He was dealing with another issue that
needed to be dealt with, so he wasn't with me. I'm glad he wasn't,
because he probably would've been killed." She knew Beau, and he
would have fought to the death to keep her from being taken. He was
that kind of guy, a white knight, and he wouldn't have given up,
until he had no fight left, or until he was dead.

"He was supposed to take care of you, and he
didn't...he
promised
me," Carlos told her.

"Carlos, he really was taking care of
something important," she told him with frustration.

"Nothing should have been more important
than making sure you were safe, Jasmine."

Jazzie knew her hardheaded brother, and no
amount of convincing was going to make him believe that Beau had
done the right thing. She'd just have to wait until they were free
from here to handle that problem. It didn't matter to her what
Carlos thought though, she loved Beau and he could just deal with
it.

In her opinion, the strong lawman was her
hero, a good man, and she had faith he'd find her and rescue them,
just like he had those kids today. That had sealed the deal for
Jazzie...told her that he was the man for her...even if he didn't
want to be. She loved Beau Bowman, even if he only wanted a sexual
relationship with her. Like Jazzie had told him, she'd take him,
anyway she could get him.

Beau had yet to explain why he felt the way
he did about relationships, and that was something she was going to
pin him down on once they were free. She was sure it had something
to do with the beautiful doctor she'd met at the hospital last
week. The unwelcome thought that he might still be hung up on the
woman needled at the back of Jazzie's brain, but she refused to let
it take root. He hadn't looked like he was happy to see Dr.
Anderson, far from it, she reminded herself.

"I'm taking a nap to save my strength, you
should do the same," Carlos told her then the large room got quiet.
After a few minutes, she heard his soft snoring and closed her
eyes, trying to block all that had happened from her mind.

***

Beau, Lucy and Robbie pulled down the long
driveway lined by fencing on either side that led to Cole and
Sabrina's mansion of a house. He stopped in front of the four-bay
garage door, and looked over at the kids whose eyes were round as
saucers.

"Nice digs, huh?" he said with a chuckle,
then killed the engine.

"Wow..." Lucy said and grinned.

She'd been very quiet since they left the
hospital, and Robbie had been a chatterbox trying to fill in the
silence. After talking with the doctor, and to Lucy privately, then
Robbie, Ms. Thomas had been angry and appalled at the situation the
children had been living with, because she failed to follow up.
According to her, she planned to have formal charges brought
against the foster parents, and make sure they were permanently
banned from the program.
Better late than never
, Beau had
thought when she said that.

That was all fine and good, but it didn't
solve the immediate problem of a home for Lucy and Robbie. He was
working on a solution to that problem. Temporarily, his sister
Sabrina had agreed to take them in to give him some time. She said
she'd even home school them to make sure they didn't fall behind
and fail this year, if she had to. He guessed because she was an
ex-cop, she understood the challenges the kids faced, because she'd
seen it all before. When he'd talked to her, Sabrina hadn't
hesitated at all to offer her help.

"Wait until you see the inside, you'll
really be saying wow then," he told them, and saw his beautiful
sister, the one he hadn't even known he had until a year ago, open
the front door with her tow-headed toddler, Will, on her hip. She
smiled brightly and waved to them, as they got down out of the
truck. Lucy and Robbie didn't walk forward until he passed them on
his way to the front porch. When they reached the porch, the kids
stood back behind him and didn't say a word.

Beau turned to the side so Bri could see
them and said, "Sabrina, this is Lucy and Robbie, the best kids
this side of Dallas," he told her and dropped an arm over Lucy's
shoulders, then he finished, "Lucy, Robbie...this is my gorgeous
sister, Sabrina, who you two will be staying with for a while."

Sabrina smiled softly at them, then handed
Will to Beau and grabbed one of Lucy's and one of Robbie's hands
and pulled them to her for a group hug. "I'm so excited you guys
are going to be staying with us. Are you hungry?" she asked and
they both nodded and smiled.

Beau knew that would be one of her first
questions to them, because Sabrina loved to cook. That was why she
owned the Blue Bird Cafe in Bowie. It was her passion...other than
her husband Cole and baby, Will. Beau shifted Will on his hip and
the toddler squirmed, and almost slid down his hip.

"Geez, sis, what've you been feeding this
linebacker? I swear, he's gonna be seven-feet tall and three
hundred pounds!" Will grabbed his nose with a chubby fist, and Beau
nipped his fingers, which caused the baby to giggle.

"His daddy would like that..." Sabrina said
then laughed, "I think he's already talking to the coach at
A&M."

"I'll bet the coach is excited too," Beau
cooed to the toddler and he grinned.

"Let's go eat. I baked some Lasagna...you
guys like that?" Sabrina asked them.

"Yeah!" they both squealed and Will let out
a squeal too and pumped his fist like he understood.

Beau laughed then they all went inside to
the kitchen. Sabrina set plates at the table there, and had them
all sit, while she served them salad, lasagna and crusty garlic
toast. The kids wiped their plates clean in no time, and Robbie
asked for seconds, which Sabrina gladly gave him.

After they were done, she stood up and took
the plates to the sink and asked over her shoulder, "Anyone save
room for dessert? I baked some chocolate chip cookies."

Again, the kids squealed, and from the look
of adoration on Robbie's face, Beau thought he might be a little in
love with Sabrina. Beau got up from the table and walked over to
the sink and gave his sister a hug and kissed her hair. "Thanks for
doing all this, Bri...I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, and I'm glad they're here.
They need some peace, you can see it in their eyes," she said and
he heard a waver in her voice.

"They do, and some healing...they've had it
pretty rough for the last few months," he agreed solemnly, then
asked, "When is Cole going to be home? We've gotta get a move on or
we'll be late meeting Susan. I don't want to think of the hell
she'll give us if that happens."

"He had to go to the station a few hours ago
to get things situated with Gabe, he called and should be here any
minute."

"We've got to get Frankie Ramos, so I can
find Jazzie...I'm worried sick about her, there's no telling what
they'll do to her, if we don't find her quickly," he told Bri.

"You guys are good at what you do, and Susan
is the best, so you'll find her," Bri assured him.

Beau stepped back from her and swallowed
down sickness that rose inside of him as he said, "If something
happens to her..."

Sabrina spun around and wiped her hands on a
dishtowel, then said firmly, "It wont! Keep a positive attitude. I
know you care about her, but you've got to keep your head right, or
you're not going to be able to help her, and you'll get yourself
hurt."

"I've been trying to do that all day, and
focus on getting the kids here, but I'm running out of steam..." he
admitted and ran a hand through his hair. "Nobody has been able to
tell me anything, other than the agent that got shot is dead, and
the other one is in the hospital with a cracked skull. They found
Carlos's car abandoned on the side of I-35, but no prints, other
than his."