Lethal Deception by Lynette Eason

grinned and said, “One way to find out. The key’s in the ignition. Hop in.”
    Cassidy climbed into the passenger car hooked to the side of the motorcycle. Gabe set Alexis in front of Cassidy then climbed on and twisted the key. The machine roared to life and Alexis started. Cassidy thought she was going to cry again, but then she grinned, laughed and clapped. “Ride. Go, go. Go zoom.”
    Cassidy laughed the laugh of pent-up tension and stress. “Please, Gabe. Go zoom.”
    Knuckles white with the strain of holding on and keeping Alexis steady while Gabe maneuvered the bike down an overgrown path had Cassidy clenching her jaw.
    Finally, the path smoothed out a bit and they were on their way to the little airstrip in La Joya where the medical mission collected its supplies each week.
    Two hours and ten minutes later, they reached the airstrip. Gabe let out a relieved breath and gunned the motorcycle toward the plane sitting on the runway. “Come on, let’s go home.”

TEN
    T en minutes later, the plane taxied without incident down the small runway and lifted into the air. Cassidy leaned back against her seat and let out a breath she felt she’d been holding for the last month.
    Using the plane’s radio, she’d managed to contact Anna at the orphanage and let them know they were in the air. Alexis, stretched out on the double seat behind her, slept fitfully.
    “What are you thinking?” Gabe’s voice sounded over the drone of the plane’s engine.
    “Well, now that terror isn’t clouding my thought processes, I’m finally able to analyze the last couple of weeks. There’s something else going on besides my kidnapping.”
    Gabe’s raised eyebrow encouraged her to express her thoughts out loud. “In the jungle when we were hiding, I overheard one of them say, ‘Don’t worry about the ransom, kill them immediately. I don’t want to have to report this failure.’ Or something along those lines.”
    “Yeah, I heard it, too.”
    “So, it sounds to me like someone wanted me…us…dead, and these guys may have gone out on their own and tried to milk my kidnapping for more than they were supposed to or…of course, they weren’t counting on you to show up and—” She broke off with a shrug. “I don’t know. Something’s not adding up, I just can’t put my finger on it.”
    “You know your father’s going to want some answers. Fortunately, no law-enforcement agency knows about your disappearance, so there won’t be any attention on that front. No media waiting for you at the landing on your parents’ estate.”
    Cassidy watched him as he spoke. His features still showed the strain of their ordeal; fatigue roughened his voice. A shave and a haircut should be at the top of his priority list.
    She realized she really did care about him. He’d always been Micah’s best friend, in and out of her home on a daily basis. She was six years younger and had had a fierce crush on him as a teen. And now, she realized that in spite of his involvement in Micah’s death, she wanted to get to know him. Get to know what made him happy, sad and what lay behind the shutters he tried so hard to keep over his eyes. And she felt guilty for wanting that. After all, he knew what happened to Micah and refused to tell her.
    He was saying something.
    She blinked. “What?”
    He frowned. “You okay?”
    “I will be.” Cassidy sighed. At least she hoped so.
    “Did your captors say anything else around you to give you an idea what they wanted?”
    She shook her head. “No. They never really spoke to me—or around me.”
    “How did they know you’d be there at the orphanage at that precise time and day?”
    Cassidy stopped and thought. She spoke slowly. “I have absolutely no idea.”
    “Who knew you were going to get Alexis?”
    “No one, really. At least I don’t think so. I mean, I didn’t make it a huge secret that I was leaving, but I didn’t advertise my destination, either, because I knew Dad would try to