Bree had barely been showing when she'd gotten on the bus eleven years ago, despite the fact that she was almost six months pregnant. He'd been worried about her that day. She'd been so scared, so pale, and she could barely keep food down, throwing up twice in the bathroom before getting on the bus. He hadn't wanted her to go, but he knew she had to leave.
He'd wished he could go with her, at least help her get settled somewhere, but Josie was having a hard time. He couldn't leave his sister for Bree. And it wasn't as if Bree had asked him to go. All she'd wanted from him was a bus ticket, a ride and a promise not to tell anyone.
"Nathan?" Bree asked, her voice bringing him back to the present.
He looked into her anguished green eyes and said the first thing that came into his head. "I didn't know you had a girl."
"Oh." Her mouth trembled, as she fought against what had to be an overwhelming rush of emotion. "I guess you wouldn't have known that."
"You said you didn't know when you got on the bus."
"I had an ultrasound a week later."
It was so strange to think that Bree had had a daughter, that there was a little girl somewhere in the world, with her hair and her eyes. But he didn't think it was the girl on the train. "You said the girl on the train spoke with purpose. Did it sound like she was coached?"
"Maybe." Bree nodded. "Probably."
"How did he know you'd actually take the train and not just cab it over there?"
"All I can think is that he was watching me."
"Or someone else was. If the call came from the location of the train station, and you were in front of the FBI building at the time you were speaking to him, then there are two people involved in this."
"As well as a little girl. Maybe they were just going to have the girl come up to me at the train station, but when I got on the train, they decided to make it happen there." She blew out a breath. "I don't know. But it's bad. It's all bad. This person knows way too much about me. And if he's trying to freak me out, it is definitely working."
"Why don't you just change your phone number? Stop talking to him?"
"Because I can't cut him off. The more he talks, the more likely it is he will make a mistake and reveal something that will help us find him."
He wasn't so sure about that. It sounded like the kidnapper knew exactly what he was doing.
Bree tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ears, as she adjusted the hard hat on her head. "What shocks me is how deep he's dug into my past. He's found a secret that no one else knows. How did he figure it out?"
"I never told anyone, Bree. Did you?"
"I told two people when I was at Quantico."
"Really?" He was surprised by that.
"I didn't have a choice. We did an assignment where we had to discover each other's secrets. That's when it came out. But one of those people is dead, and the other person, Parisa, is not in Chicago, and she would never set anything like this up. She's my friend."
He hoped that was true, but seeing the pain and uncertainty in her eyes, he had a feeling that the thought that someone she trusted had betrayed her was worse than whatever mind game the kidnapper was playing on her.
Bree wrapped her arms around herself, and the familiar gesture tugged at his heart. There had always been a lonely quality about Bree. She hadn't had many people in her life who'd hugged her, protected her. He'd wanted to put his arms around her a million times, but he'd always stopped himself, always thought it was a line he couldn't cross…shouldn't cross.
But now she looked so lost and alone, he found himself breaching the distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close.
She stiffened in surprise, her gaze widening, but she didn't push him away.
"Just take a second," he whispered, pressing her head against his shoulder, his mouth so close to her ear, he could smell the sweet, sexy scent of her shampoo. "Breathe."
She didn't just breathe; she surprised him by sliding her arms around his back and taking the hug to another level.
He could hardly believe he was holding her and that she was holding him back.
Now he was the one having trouble catching his breath.
What the hell had he just started?
And how was he ever going to let her go?
Before he could come up with an answer, Bree pulled out of his embrace, giving him a shaky, uncertain smile.
"Thanks," she said.
He didn't want her thanks; he wanted her back in his arms. But the moment had passed.
"Nathan, I need something else," she began.
"What? What do you need?" Right now, he wanted to do anything that would take the anguish out of her eyes.
"I need you to tell me it wasn't her. I need you to make me believe it."
"It wasn't her, Bree. It wasn't your daughter on the train." He didn't know who the girl was, but he just didn't believe that it was her child.
"It couldn't be, right?"
"No. And just because someone found out you had a child doesn't mean they know where that child is. You took steps to make sure your child didn't end up in Chicago."
"I know. I was so careful. I didn't even go to Cleveland like I told you; I went to Detroit. The woman from the agency you set me up with suggested I do that, so that no one, not even you, would know where I was."
"I had no idea."
"The woman—her name was Diane—said my child would not be adopted by a family in Illinois. That she would be kept far from Johnny's sphere. But now I don't know if that's true. I need to find the girl on the train, Nathan."
"I don't think she's your daughter, Bree. A kid wouldn't act like that unless someone told them to. And if she really thought you were her mother, she wouldn't have run away from you."
"Then someone used her to get to me, which means she could be in trouble. I need to find her."
"How?"
As she pondered his question, he could see the fear receding from her gaze, replaced by strength, determination, fight—another side of Bree he remembered very clearly. She knew how to put her emotions away, to compartmentalize, to focus on the reality of the moment and nothing else. It had been a necessary trait to survive the unpredictability and sadness of her childhood.
"I'll check the security cameras at the train station," she said. "Maybe they caught the girl leaving or meeting up with someone else."
"Good idea. But is it possible that the kidnapper wants you to chase this girl instead of Hayley?"
She met his eyes. "Oh, I'm sure that's part of his goal. But at least I know what this girl looks like. If she can lead me to the kidnapper…"
"Then you're right—she might be in very big trouble," he said somberly. "Can I ask you a question? How did this kidnapper get so fixated on you?"
"I found his last victim in Philadelphia. I saved her before he could kill her. The press was on the scene. I was on the news. I became the face of his adversary."
He did not like the idea that some deranged kidnapper was stalking Bree. "What is the FBI doing to protect you?"
"I can protect myself. At the moment, he is not trying to hurt me; he just wants me in his game."
"For now. This could end with him trying to kill you."
"My concern at this moment is for Hayley and the unknown girl on the train. I should go."
"Bree, wait. I haven't heard you say anything about another person who could be involved in this."
Her face paled. "Johnny doesn't know about the baby. You said so."
"I said I didn't tell him, but beyond that…" He shrugged. "Have you looked him up? Do you know what he's doing now?"
"No. I have never wanted to know anything about him."
"Because you were afraid you'd go back to him?"
Anger flashed in her gaze. "Definitely not. I would never have gone back to him. I may have been young and stupid and lonely when I first got together with him, but I was sixteen, Nathan. Two years later, I knew a lot more about him, and I had seen his dark side."
"You were way too good for Johnny."
"I didn't think I was back then," she whispered. "I didn't think I was good enough for anyone."
His heart turned over at the candid admission. But then how could he blame her? Bree had been thrown away by a lot of people who were supposed to care about her. "You were always good enough. You just didn't pick the right people."
"I didn't."