He was a man completely in love with a wife he wasn’t sure he deserved. And there weren’t words enough to express that.
He slipped his hands over her stomach, still flat, but where she carried his baby. Their baby. Although just the thought scared the hell out of him, the reality settled a little more firmly in his brain. It would take him time to adjust thoughts and feelings he’d held for decades.
But for Lisabeth, for both of their children, he was determined to make it work. He just prayed he would still have that chance to prove himself with Joshua.
***
Hugh counted at least eleven children inside the beach cottage.
Crouched about fifty yards away, he’d been watching the sleeping children and the four awake adults in the well-lit hut for the past ten minutes. The two-room concrete structure was packed to the gills. Given how close in age they all were and how different they looked, he was certain they weren’t siblings in some bizarre TV reality show. He briefly considered the Good Samaritan angle, but why not have some of them stay in the main house, where it was roomier?
Why hide them? Why not mention it to him or to Amelia? And why pretend not to know what’s going on beyond the gates, when every damn one of those guards carried a two-way radio that appeared to be in full working order?
After what had happened to Joshua at the hospital and what he’d heard in the van, he knew he was looking at some kind of illegal adoption ring. And apparently he’d found the heart of it right here, on Jocelyn’s land.
Once he’d slipped out of the house, he’d done a recon run around the property and spotted security cameras beyond what a simple sugarcane plantation should need. He wasn’t sure if they were operational after the power outages, but just to be sure he avoided them anyway. At least he hoped he’d steered clear of them all.
The three armed guards, however, had been in full working order with firepower to spare. He’d evaded them easily enough alone. Doing so later with Amelia and Joshua? That would be tricky, to say the least.
He’d located two trucks, another van similar to Oliver’s, and an additional Jeep. He’d also located lines of gas cans, all full.
Stealing a ride would be easy. Getting Amelia and Joshua into that ride and out of the fenced-in compound without being spotted would be a bit more complicated. He couldn’t afford to waste another second. Just thinking of how they were alone in that house threatened to steal his focus.
Backing away without a sound, he picked his way through the compound. The darkness was his friend as he moved from building to building, tree to tree, avoiding the cameras—not to mention the three guards Jocelyn had failed to mention.
As much as he burned to race into the main house and haul Amelia and Joshua out, he couldn’t afford to rush. He couldn’t risk detection, leaving them vulnerable here. One small corner of the house was hidden from camera angles by an overgrown tree someone had failed to trim. The one vulnerable vantage point to breach the property. He’d left from that side and now it was his way back in.
Gripping a ridge on the corner post, he hefted himself. Muscles strained as he pulled himself up, up, up higher still until he swung his legs up to…
Got it.
The toe of his boot hooked on the ledge of the second floor. He inched his finger along until he grabbed a porch rail and vaulted over. He landed in a cat’s crouch. Waiting. Not moving until he was sure no one stirred.
Then step by step, he made his way back to doors leading into his room with Amelia. Through the open curtain he could see her moving around the room, jostling Joshua on her hip. And she appeared to be alone. The nursery-nook curtain was open, as was the bathroom door. No one hiding.
He breathed a sigh of relief and eased the door open.
“Amelia,” he called softly, just to be sure she didn’t freak and shoot him.
“Hugh,” she whispered.
“We have to leave,” he said at the same time as Amelia held up a bottle of juice.
“Have you seen this? Look at the label.” She spoke fast, her hand shaking. “It’s the same kind that was in the van. And the T-shirts—Wait.” She stopped short. “You already know we have to leave?”
“Gather everything you can carry, food, baby supplies, anything,” he said, glad she and the kid were already dressed. “There’s a second house on this property, full of babies in cribs, and given what happened with Oliver—It’s time to go. Now.”
She yanked a pillowcase off and began stuffing it full of crackers, bottled juice, diapers, anything she could lay her hands on. “And how are we going to get out of here?”
Hugh tucked the spare knife into his gun belt and took Joshua from her arms. “We’re going to steal a Jeep and ram the gate.”
Chapter 16
Scaling down a porch column was a helluva lot tougher than it looked. But then Amelia had never claimed to be superhero material. She preferred to fight her battles in the courtroom, with her words as her weapons.
All those litigation skills weren’t going to do her much good right now as she struggled to find a toehold on her way down from the second-story balcony, which was actually more like a third story, if she counted the fact that the house was built on stilts. Hugh had his hands full with Joshua. Asking for his help would be—
Hugh planted a palm on her butt. How he’d managed to scale partway up again with a baby in his vest and a hand free to help her, she didn’t know. But the broad steady support gave her just the help she needed to regain her grip and footing.