“He locked him in a room. Tad climbed out the window and called a cab on his cell phone. The cab driver brought him to me and then drove us both to the homeless shelter. I didn’t know what to do...”

“You should have called me! Or Banks! Or the FBI...!”

“Morris might have killed Tad when they rolled up to his front door,” she said miserably.

He relented. “We need to have a long talk when you feel like it.”

She managed a smile. “Okay.”

“I’m glad you’re both safe,” he added gently.

“Thanks. So are we. I’ll talk to you later.”

“You bet.”

She hung up.

Banks glanced at her. “Furious, was he?”

“A little worse than that,” she said. “I should have called for help. I just panicked,” she added.

“It’s okay, sis,” Tad said. “We’re safe, now.”

“Yes.” She glanced at the tall man beside her in the front seat. “We’re safe.”

He glanced at her and felt his heart shift ten degrees. Tired, frightened, her hair ruffled, no makeup on, and she was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen. He made a sound deep in his throat and averted his eyes.

He sent Brenda a text. “She’s on her way down,” he told his passengers.

Brenda came out a minute later with a small carrier. “I’m bringing the kitten,” she called.

“You got a kitten?” Tad exclaimed. “Can we play with it?”

She laughed. “Of course you can. I’ll be right behind you on the way to Jacobsville. Don’t run any more red lights,” she cautioned her brother.

He made a rude sound.

She just laughed and climbed into her small foreign car with the cat carrier.

“I do not run red lights,” he told Clancey.

“You don’t?”

“Never.”

“Okay.”

He glanced at her with twinkling brown eyes. “Well, I did once. Brenda was with me when the city police caught up with us.” He made a face. “I got a ticket and she’s never let me forget it.”

Clancey smothered a laugh.

“Don’t you do that,” he cautioned. “Or I’ll bury you in old files when we get back to the office.”

“Tomorrow,” she began.

“Not tomorrow. Not you,” he added. “You’re staying at the ranch and so is Tad. I’ll go by his school and speak to the principal. Meanwhile, I’m going to speak to the FBI and assistant DA Darrell Tarley and see how much trouble I can make for your stepbrother. He can’t be allowed to get away with kidnapping a child!”

“It’s Tad’s word against Morris’s,” she said miserably.

“It is not. I’ll find the woman who gave him into Morris’s custody.”

“Yes, but see, she gave him custody,” she pointed out. “He didn’t take Tad away without permission.”

“Graduated law school just recently, did you?” he drawled sarcastically.