Page 96 of Secret Triplets for Christmas

Agent Langdon put his notes back into his coat pocket. "I’m going to relay this information to agent Marsden. I’ll be in touch."

He left, and I squeezed my dad's hand. "This is my fault."

My father's eyes darkened. "None of this is your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's Oliver and Liam's. They brought these people into your life, Lindsay."

"But I trusted Flynn. If he’s a part of this, maybe I should've just given him the papers. That's all they wanted. He could've taken them, and all this would've stopped, and Olivia would be in school with her sisters like she should be.” The fear and pain overwhelmed me and I wept.

My father shook his head. "You can't blame yourself for this. You need to focus on getting better and preparing to bring Olivia home."

The door opened and the nurse came in. "You’re ready for discharge."

I got out of bed, ignoring the throbbing in my head and the aches in my body from the accident. I was going home, and I was determined that somehow, I would have all three of my girls with me before the night was through.

28

Oliver

Ididn't know what the fuck I was doing, but I had to do something. I sat in the car next to Donovan as he drove us over to the warehouse. As we turned on Howard Street, my phone beeped. I opened it and saw a text from Olivia's kidnapper.

"Jesus fuck. They've given me a new address."

"Where?" he asked.

I rattled off the address.

"It's practically on the other side of town," Donovan said. But he made a U-turn, and we headed toward the new location.

"Why would they do that?" I asked.

Donovan shrugged. "Perhaps they knew you'd been talking to the FBI. They want to make sure you didn’t somehow let them know where you were going."

My jaw tightened and I looked out the passenger side window. Had Donovan realized the courier was Agent Marsden? Or maybe I was just being paranoid about Donovan.

We continued the ride in silence, although the war in my brain was deafening. Anger and guilt. Hurt and regret. But mostly, terror. If this went wrong, Olivia could be killed. For the first time since he died, I cursed Liam for getting involved with these people. Yes, I was proud of him for trying to get his life together and do the right thing, but even five years after his death, his actions were bringing danger to Lindsay and the girls.

We pulled up to the new location, which looked more desolate and abandoned than the one on Howard Street.

Donovan pulled to the curb. "This is it. You got the papers?"

I nodded, expecting him to demand them. Instead, he nodded toward the side door of the warehouse. "If this goes well, Olivia's in there. Just hand the papers over and you should be okay."

"What are you going to do?" I asked. Wasn’t he supposed to sneak in and apprehend the kidnapper?

"I’m going to wait until you have the girl and the kidnapper walks out. Then I'm going to arrest them."

I didn’t like that plan, but I had no alternative. I exited the car. A cold wind blew, and I felt it deep in my bones. I hoped it wasn't a sign that things were going to go very, very badly.

I walked up to the side door and opened it. I peered in. The place was mostly empty and dark, with the only light coming from dingy windows.

I stepped inside. "I've got the papers. Where's Olivia?"

I heard movement behind me. I whipped around.

"She's fine, Oliver. You don't think I'd really hurt a child, do you?" Darcy stepped out, and next to her, holding her hand, was Olivia. The girl saw me and let out a soft cry.

"Here's the papers, Darcy. Give me Olivia." I rushed toward her, but Darcy held up a gun pointed at my chest.

"Everything's going to be just fine, Oliver. You drop the papers on the ground and I will release Olivia.”

---