Five Minutes Sooner

Table of Contents

Books by Collette

Title/Copyright

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Epilogue

Coming Soon

About the Author

Books by Collette Scott

Forever Sunshine

Hannah’s Blessing

If We Dare to Dream

Through Winter Skies

Eyes on Tango

Kat’s Last Chance

Terri’s Gift

Cooper’s Choice

Sunshine Rising

Hope is Calling

A Blessing in Disguise

Destiny’s Kiss

Saving Roxanne

The Coming Storm

Only for You

Five Minutes Sooner

By

Collette Scott

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Copyright © 2016 by Collette Scott

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

For information address Marimay Publishing, P.O. Box 11821, Tempe, AZ 85284

ISBN-13: 978-1541241855

ISBN-10: 1541241851

ISBN – ebook: 9781370802791

Prologue

Keep looking, Isabel hissed.

Ford Evans sent a sidelong glance in his wife’s direction, his lips curving slightly in amusement. He rarely saw his wife in any other state than dignified outside of their bedroom, and watching her now, with her hands twisting nervously and her fingers gripped so tightly that her knuckles were white, made the more romantic side of him appear in an instant. His arm dropped around her shoulders, and he pulled her against his side securely. Bending his head, he inhaled the sweet perfume of her hair and let his lips brush the shell of her ear.

Everything’s fine, he said. She’ll be here any second.

A shiver coursed through Isabel’s body from his touch, and Ford’s smile broadened in satisfaction when he raised his head. His gaze landed upon his brother, Hayden, who was shaking his head with a knowing grin. Ford winked.

It was a silent communication full of meaning, and both men knew it. In much the same way, Hayden held his jittery wife, Dani, tucked against his side, and their daughter, Breelyn, was sleeping on Hayden’s proud shoulder. Although the nervous wringing of Isabel’s hands had loosened slightly, Ford took the opportunity to gaze around at the assemblage. The entire family had turned out, as usual, but it was a late hour, and Ford expected some of Isabel’s angst was due to her lack of sleep. Her life worked entirely around his. He rose before dawn, and she already had coffee made, his breakfast on the stove, and his lunch packed. Once he was off to work, she would attend to their two children, and therein lay the problem.

There was only one now.

David hovered on Isabel’s other side, standing at least a full head taller than his mother and showing little signs of slowing down. And, like his mother, he also showed signs of strain on his handsome young face, a face that remained distinctly Evans but with some of his mother’s classic beauty as well. David’s jaw was more square, his lips slightly fuller than his father’s, and his hands longer and even larger than his father’s. Although they shared the same hair and eyes, every time Ford glanced at David, he saw Isabel. The same was exceptionally true for Ana. She was her mother reincarnated; there was no sign of any Evans blood in her whatsoever. Not that it was a bad thing. His wife had been a model in Italy when he stumbled into her, and every day Ford gazed at her with sheer shock that she had fallen in love with him of all people, even after more than twenty years of marriage. Not only was she tall, lean, and graceful, but she was strikingly beautiful also. Not a single gray hair streaked the long, silky black tresses gliding down her back, not an ounce of age seemed to mar her smooth olive skin, and she remained as trim as when he first saw her on the cover of an Italian magazine all those years ago. All that after two children and years of marriage.

She was beautiful, and she was his wife.

He surmised that it was the managing of his family that had kept her so trim and youthful. As quickly as his own children had grown, his siblings began to have kids, and Isabel had started to keep busy watching the youngest members of the Evans clan. Although she was their aunt, she felt the fierce protectiveness of a grandparent, and in truth, she almost was. After all, no sooner had he managed to marry Isabel than his parents passed away in short succession, and he had bundled up his young Italian bride and brought her home to America to find his siblings mourning, scattered, and lost. Isabel had taken control immediately, gathering his randy brothers and little sister under her wing and helping him guide them on to their futures before they all fell apart.

It was especially true for Jamie and Hayden. The youngest and middle children had suffered the most, and Jamie had just been a teen, younger than David was now, when she slaved over the caring of her two parents. Then she watched them die, one after another, while her older brothers were scattered to the four winds. Jamie had been alone, scared, and devastated until she met Isabel.

Ford’s arm tightened around Isabel’s shoulders instinctively as his mind drifted back to that day so long ago. He had been living in Italy with Isabel when the news arrived, and Jamie had put on such a brave face at the first funeral that he had returned to his new life. Isabel had been pregnant with Ana at the time and unable to fly, and he had been in such a rush to return to her out of fear of missing the birth of his first child that he had not looked close enough to see the strain on his baby sister’s face, the dark circles under her eyes, nor the thinness of her body from the agony of watching her parent die. In his eagerness to show his wife photos of his family, Ford had shot off a few before he left, and Isabel took one look at Jamie’s image and knew. Her Italian temper had flared, and she scolded him fiercely for leaving Jamie behind. Then she promptly went into labor.

In the excitement of having a new beautiful baby, Ford had almost forgotten Jamie, but Isabel had not. She began emailing his little sister, and a bond was formed between the beautiful model and the distraught teenager. It was those early images of Ana that had kept Jamie focused enough to struggle through the loss of their second parent, but Isabel never shared what they exchanged in their emails. In fact, Ford had not even known they had gotten to know each other until the second funeral. When Isabel demanded they return to America – together, forever – Ford was amazed at the familiarity with which Jamie and Isabel greeted one another, and the way Isabel took to Jamie was Ford’s first warning about the way women held their secrets close to their chest.

During that tumultuous time, Jamie had helped Isabel settle in to life as an American just as much as Isabel had tucked the baby of the family under her loving arm. Isabel became the matron with her gentle heart and firm resolve, and Ford scanned his siblings and their spouses and realized that they were now trying to repay her for everything she had done for them. When the email came that Ana was coming home before finals were done, it traveled through the family in minutes, and everyone had appeared – everyone. There was a good reason for this sudden return, and all of them knew it was most likely bad.

It was their turn to take Isabel under their arms, and they had shown up to support her in her time of need.

His chest puffed with pride as his gaze shifted from his brother Grady and his wife, Torie, over to Ian, Kat, and Dallon asleep in his stroller, then to Hayden and Dani with little Breelyn, to Jamie and Andrew, whose arms encircled her from behind with his hands protectively resting on her very round, very large belly, and finally to Grady’s boys, Jon and Kyle, standing next to David. Those three boys had given Isabel a run for her money, but they had turned out just fine. Kyle and David were the same age and Jon a year younger. They were preparing their college applications now, and Isabel was not looking forward to losing another child.

Ford’s arm tightened again. Isabel was trembling now, her entire body shaking as crowds of people swarmed them on all sides.

It’s all right, he whispered. Relax.

I can’t, Isabel whispered back, her voice cracking. It’s just too much. I can’t stand this anymore.

Almost instinctively, the family circle tightened around Isabel. Even though she had whispered, his astute siblings caught it all, and David surprised Ford by clearing his exceptionally deep voice and wrapping his arm protectively around his mother’s waist.

Mama. Even though he was Ford’s height and looked to be a full-grown man, he still called her Mama. Ana did sometimes as well. It’s going to be all right.

It’s not all right, Isabel whispered, her eyes starting to shine with tears. I can feel it, and I knew it as soon as I saw she emailed rather than called. My heart says there’s something wrong. Something terrible.

Ian broke away from Kat and leaned forward to press a kiss on his sister-in-law’s forehead. His eyes were as troubled as Isabel’s, but he covered his concern with a charming smile. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let’s just give her a warm welcome and put on a bright face.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Isabel went rigid. Everyone saw her stiffen and one-by-one followed the line of her gaze. There, in the back of the long line of passengers exiting the plane from Boston, a tall woman with long legs appeared last. She was dressed in fashionable jeans, a snug sweater of blue that hugged her trim figure too nicely, and a Pink backpack was slung over one shoulder. But her stylish appearance was not what held Isabel riveted.

Her glossy black hair was completely hidden under a black silk scarf and covered with a floppy hat, but Ford recognized his daughter. He would know Ana anywhere. He had watched her grow from a bright-eyed, chubby baby into a strikingly beautiful young woman, from a spunky kid who dogged his heels at job sites, to a mature young woman studying architecture in an Ivy League school back east. If any father could be prouder than him, Ford had yet to meet him. However, like Isabel, he stiffened. He knew with one glance that Isabel had been right. Something was terribly wrong.

There was no eager wave along with a brilliant and luminescent smile. In fact, there was no immediate sign of Ana’s lovely face at all. His baby, his confident, mature, and fun-loving daughter was staring at the ground.

Not once did she look up to scan the crowds hovering around security anxious to greet their loved ones. Not once did she glance around to locate them. In fact, she seemed oblivious to everyone and everything, focusing solely on placing one foot in front of the other – slowly, almost painfully. But that was not what struck Ford like a horse’s hoof to his chest. No sooner had he blinked once in shock than Emery Evans appeared like a wisp behind her, and she reached forward to take Ana’s arm and lead her toward them with a hesitant smile.

Ford felt a hot flush of rage begin to burn his cheeks at the sight unfolding before them as jaw after jaw fell open upon seeing Emery leading a shocked and nearly lifeless Ana toward them. Forcing himself to inhale a stunned breath, Ford glared at his cousin-in-law, preparing to demand what the hell was going on, but Emery drew Ana up short several yards away when Isabel broke from the group and launched herself at her daughter. Ford watched in growing horror as Ana shrank away and made to flee from her mother like a skittish colt until Emery placed her arm around her waist with gently murmured words.

That was it for Ford.

He, too, plowed forward, thankful that the rest of the family hung back in astonished silence, and he reached Isabel’s side in time to see her knees buckling when she saw Ana’s face for the first time. He reached out hastily to catch her while Isabel moaned a heart wrenching, almost animalistic, cry before crumbling in his arms. Only then did Ford look at his daughter fearfully, afraid of what he would see, and he immediately wished he was dreaming. No, it couldn’t be, he thought as another pain in his chest sliced through him so strongly that he could no longer breathe at all.

Ana’s cracked lips were trembling when she met his horrified gaze with a single slitted eye, and one hoarse whisper of a word broke through the almost-unrecognizable swollen and bruised face. Daddy?

Daddy.

The last time Ana had called him Daddy with so much meaning had to be close to a decade ago. She had become too cool to call him that anymore as a saucy preteen, and he had been so hurt at the time, so pained to know that his baby was growing up. Grow up she had, from a lanky teen into a strikingly beautiful young woman. He had bitten back his frustration and watched her blossom into a brilliant and confident woman, and he had restrained his disappointment when she chose to leave Arizona for a school back east. He had hated the idea of losing his precious daughter.

Daddy.

The pain in her voice, the hesitation, the fear, and the agony was his undoing. He felt the sound throughout his body, as if a ton of rebar had been thrust through his heart.

Daddy.

That single word brought tears to his eyes; tears he had not shed in years. He had been blessed with a good life. Things had not always been easy, but his pride in his tight-knit family had made him thankful that he had survived. They had prospered together, grown together, faced life and death together. Everything had been calming down; life had settled back into a daily routine. The housing market had begun to pick up again, and he had been breathing easier.

Daddy.

His baby needed him, but so did his wife. With Isabel crumbled in his arms sobbing, Ford was at a loss what to do. He saw Ana’s blackened dark eyes and felt his lips trembling with a helpless rage that still made it impossible to breathe. Yet he ignored the growing pain in his lungs and turned to David, whose mouth still hung open in unfettered surprise. In an instant, his son stepped forward, his hands desperately reaching for Ana, but Ford handed him his mother before turning to his baby... his firstborn... his little girl with his arms opened wide.

Baby, he whispered, his voice choking on a sob. Oh, my baby.

She stumbled forward, away from Emery’s supportive grasp, and she collapsed against him like her mother had with her own small wail of pain. When his arms first surrounded her, he felt her recoil and shudder, and in that moment, he knew. He knew and he raged. No one had to tell him what had happened to his daughter. He knew. Even though he wanted to deny it, hated to think something like that could happen in their family again, he knew it had. Like Isabel, he felt it in his heart.

Fury like he had never felt before flushed his face and made the air trapped in his lungs exhale in a long whoosh that sounded like a whale surfacing. At first, Ana shrank away guiltily, but he refused to loosen his grasp. He held his little girl close, and his hands stroked her lightly while his hot tears fell upon her floppy hat. He became oblivious to the people around them, yet he was thankful of the protective circle his stunned family had formed around them. To others, it appeared to be a reunion, but Ford knew. His siblings were shielding Ana from prying eyes. They were trying to protect her in their own way. Ford knew without having to look that Hayden, Ian, and Andrew were already forming a plan for revenge. This time, he would not try to reason with them. He would give them full rein to do what they would. All he cared about was his baby.

Oh, my poor poor baby, he whispered again.

Daddy, I didn’t know. I couldn’t stop it, she said thickly, her husky words slurred as they escaped her broken lips.

She collapsed then, her pleas for forgiveness and apologies falling upon deaf ears. Now he understood what his brothers and cousins had been fighting for so vehemently in recent months. Now he fully understood why they were so adamant about risking themselves to travel around the country to find and liberate young girls. He could understand as a parent what it felt like to see the trauma on their child’s face, and it was not anything he would wish upon anyone, not even his worst enemy.

Nothing to forgive, he kept repeating whenever she pleaded. However, deep down, he knew that there was plenty to forgive. But not from Ana. Ana was the innocent here, and he would personally kill anyone who touched her. Though the questions were many, now was not the time to ask.

Heedless of the crowds, he bent and scooped his baby into his arms then headed straight for the elevators. His single thought was to get his little girl home where she would be safe. His siblings could gather her luggage and make sure it made it home. If it did not, he would not even care. All he cared about was getting his family away.

Ana needed him.

Daddy, I’m so sorry.

Those heartbroken words would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Chapter 1

Austin Tanner sat across from Chuck Evans like a student who had been called into the principal’s office. Although this was not the first time he had eaten dinner with his lieutenant, it was strange without Chuck’s son and Austin’s close friend, CJ, with them. It was also something that got him plenty of ribbing at work about. But, even without CJ, he and Chuck went back, way back, like back to childhood when Austin was little more than a redneck kid living out of a trailer in east Mesa, and Chuck Evans was a patrol officer often called to his house for a domestic disturbance.

However, talk was already spreading at the station that the Evans family had faced yet another trauma, and this time it had nothing to do with the cartels. There were no murmurs of the family going into seclusion or having a detail assigned to them. No, this was more… private. Austin suspected that was why Chuck had searched him out and invited him to dinner, and he could not help but shift in his seat uncomfortably under his mentor’s intent stare.

How was your vacation?

Austin shrugged, his vest rising and falling over his tense muscles. Cold, wet. It rained most of the time, and we had a foot of snow my first night.

Normally Chuck was easygoing and friendly – always ready to laugh. Not today. Today, he continued to study Austin over his fork, his graying eyebrows drawn together in a fierce scowl. Austin did not like the appraisal. It felt as though his old friend was staring straight into his soul. When he spoke again, Austin suspected he had.

Why didn’t you go somewhere sunny then? It’s winter back east, remember?

Austin found it almost unbearable to meet those intent Evans eyes, and he stared down at his fettuccine alfredo without making any attempt to take a bite. Skiing, he mumbled, reaching for a bite of salad instead.

Did you make it down to Boston?

Although spoken questioningly, Austin stiffened. I landed at Logan, picked up my rental car, and headed up north. I’ve toured Boston several times already.

Though he made a point to speak neutrally, he suspected Chuck was not going to let it go easily. He was still chewing the bland Caesar salad when Chuck pounced. Yeah, you’ve been… what? Three, maybe four times since last summer?

I like it there.

Chuck harrumphed.

The east coast is completely different than here. It’s green everywhere, and not like up-north green either. You get out of the city, and all you see is trees lining the highways. The ocean is beautiful, and up north, like New Hampshire and Maine, the coast gets all rocky and the lighthouses are amazing. Down near the Cape, the beaches are long, sandy, the water is calmer than the Pacific, and it’s… His voice drifted off as a memory came unbidden into his mind. A vision of a young woman the previous summer strolling down the beach on the island of Martha’s Vineyard and gazing out across Edgartown Harbor to the island of Chappaquiddick. His heart gave a little tug as he remembered that day. It was sunny and warm, with a nice sea breeze masking the humidity. He had watched her from the street, sitting on one of the benches outside the Harbor View Hotel for hours as she wandered up and down the beach. He would half-rise from the bench when she drifted out of sight beneath the dunes then relax again when she reappeared a little further away. He had lingered, enthralled with the sight, until she had turned around and climbed the steps of the lighthouse, pausing to read the names of the lost children on the bricks. One had stood out; he remembered it clearly. Its brick was almost white compared to the others, and it belonged to the family whose house she had stayed in while on the Vineyard. A lost child. The owners of the majestic house at the top of the beach had lost a child, perhaps even a dozen in the two centuries the family had remained on the island.

If she had not been around, he might have been one too, minus a brick of remembrance of course. However, she was there, and she had left her mark as surely as Chuck Evans had. Together she and his boss had shaped Austin into the man he was today, and he was grateful to have that memory at least, if not the entire vision, for himself. He blinked away the image of her black hair blowing in the sea breeze and grinned abashedly. Beautiful.

For a moment, Chuck’s humor reappeared, and he guffawed loud enough to draw the other diners’ attention. He watched their waitress, a pretty girl of about twenty or so smile shyly at him, and when she caught his eye she began to head back to their table. However, he glanced away quickly, seeing no use in encouraging her.

Are you going to pack up and move out there on me?

Austin shrugged again. I dunno. I’ll see in a few years.

Once you know if she stays or not?

The waitress arrived in time to save him from having to respond to that question, and it was a good thing she had, for he choked on his half-swallowed bite of salad under Chuck’s all-knowing stare.

Ooh, are you okay, Officer Tanner?

He nodded and waved her away, but Chuck saw the color rising in his cheeks. Of course, he could blame it on the fact that he was choking, but the humor in Chuck’s eyes warned him that he would not believe his feeble attempt to lie. Pressing his napkin against his lips, he managed one last cough before he felt as though he could breathe again, and his blue eyes narrowed as he took in Chuck’s amusement.

Thanks a lot.

It was Chuck’s turn to shrug, but the humor died from his eyes as he contemplated him more seriously. The sergeant’s interviews are done, and we’ve made a decision. Do you want to know how you did?

His heart leapt again, but not from the thrill of knowing. No, it was for another reason altogether. Everything he did, he did for her. To make her proud and prove to her that he was not the slimy little boy she had once defended so heroically. Before he could comment, Chuck leaned forward with a ghostly smile.

Too bad. You’re in, kid. You’re in.

Surprisingly, he was not as elated as he had hoped to be, and naturally Chuck noticed.

Don’t you want it?

Austin was unsure what he wanted these days. Knowing how close he had come to losing the very thing he treasured most had been a severe wakeup call, and he had been walking, working, eating, and sleeping as if in a daze for days now... If he had been five minutes later… if he had not been there at all, his life would have been irrevocably changed forever.

However, it was not him he worried about.

Congratulations, Austin. I’m proud of you, son.

Chuck was reaching across the table and pumping the hand Austin had unknowingly held out. He had little memory of smiling and nodding his head, but apparently he had since Chuck was beaming at him.

When he finally released Austin’s hand, he grew serious again, and he crossed his arms over his chest authoritatively. You need to go see her.

As quickly as he had flushed at the mention of her, Austin could feel his face pale. He shook his head. No.

She won’t eat, she doesn’t sleep much, and she rarely leaves her room. Isabel and Ford are near a breakdown, and neither of them can sleep. I’ve never seen David so upset; the kid walks around with tears in his eyes all day. No one will talk about it, no matter how hard Emery’s trying to help. No one knows exactly what happened…

Austin wanted to block out the words, and he slowly became aware that he was shaking his head vehemently.

The family’s convinced she was gang raped by the cartels in revenge.

No, he said sharply.

A triumphant gleam appeared in Chuck’s eyes, and his arms loosened around his chest so he could lean forward. I knew it, he murmured.

Knew what? Austin snapped.

I saw the police reports. The ‘Good Samaritan’ reported that he interrupted –

I don’t want to talk about it, Austin growled, tossing his napkin down on his plate. His angry gaze scanned the dining area until it landed on the hopeful waitress. She set down the two plates she was preparing to bring to her other diners, broke away from the warming lamps, and scurried over to him, only to be disappointed again when he snapped, Check, please.

With a disgruntled sniff, she returned to the plates she had left under the warming lamps and scooped them up then sashayed past their table to deliver the meals before she disappeared to ring up their bill.

I won’t tell anyone you’ve been stalking her –

Stalking her?

The way he said it was almost accusing, and Austin grimaced. A stalker? Him? No, he never meant her any harm, and he was not obsessive. He just felt an overwhelming need to watch over her, and he had felt that way for years. Whenever he was able, he would check in on her, make sure she was okay, and leave her be. He was definitely not a stalker. No, there was nothing wrong with his mind. It was more of a brotherly