Page 80 of Booked for Kidnapping

“Okay.” I waited for Bradley to get settled in the back before buckling in and starting the engine. The SUV growled at me, and I nodded my satisfaction at the sound. I plugged in Mr. Hampton’s phone and activated the navigation system, chuckling over how we were headed right back to where I’d been. “I feel like we’re doing something incredibly stupid.”

“I own the security company monitoring her house, Janette. Let’s just say I have a team of employees playing tourists and hikers prowling around her property in case we have any trouble. You’re as safe as I can make you. I really doubt she’ll try anything, not when it involves a patient’s health. In this case, mine. I may not like how the past few months played out, but you came home to us as healthy as anyone could hope for.”

“And with a thirty million dollar foot,” I whined before putting the SUV in reverse and backing out of the spot. The vehicle’s rear view camera amused me, as none of my sports cars had such a luxury in them. “My next car has one of these cameras.”

“Federal law as of two years ago,” Mr. Hampton informed me. “As long as you don’t buy a classic, it’ll come with one.”

“Nice. Bradley, they made cars fancy since I last read any car magazines.”

“Would you like to get some car magazines on the way back from Dr. Castor’s place?”

I nodded, and I eased the SUV through the parking garage, put the parking voucher into the ticket machine, which it spit back out at me, and escaped the hotel’s lot. I handed the printout to Mr. Hampton. “It gave it back?”

“Yes. It’s still valid.” The card went back into Mr. Hampton’s wallet.

According to the navigation system, it would take us almost two hours to reach the Mission-style manor, and I settled in for the drive, pleased to discover that while we were in the heart of San Francisco, the traffic barely bothered me. Unfortunately, his phone believed we wanted to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.

To my disgust and dismay, we lost forty minutes to the bridge, and once we crossed it, we blitzed along the highway until the phone insisted we take CA-1, a dinky, twisty, turning hell road with a view I wanted to experience as a passenger rather than a white-knuckled driver. “What the fuck is with this road?”

“We took this road on the way back to San Francisco, Janette. It didn’t bother you then.”

“That was at night, and Bradley was feeding me.”

“We took it when we checked out the beach and the house the last time.”

“Bradley was probably feeding me again,” I stated, huffing over my obvious inability to pay any attention to where I was going when a passenger.

“I was actually feeding her, but I’d given her a book, Dad. A new book. On her e-reader. We lost her before we crossed the Golden Gate that time. I just kept handing her food so she could nibble while she read.”

“I should have guessed there was something going on back there from the quiet. Children in cars are never quiet unless they’re causing trouble,” Mr. Hampton muttered.

Laughing at that, I forced myself to relax, although I stuck to the posted speed limits and obeyed when the signs bothered to warn me to take the turns at slow speeds. After the first few switchbacks, I learned to respect the signs. “This road is amazing.” It was also deceptively quiet. “Why aren’t there a lot of drivers on it?”

“The 101 is faster, and it goes to the popular places. This route is for the towns along the coast and tourists,” Bradley’s father explained. “The lack of shoulders is a little disturbing, though.”

“There’s a shoulder. It’s only about two inches wide, but there’s technically a shoulder. Some places even have enough viable grass to pull over if you really need to.”

“Just wait until you reach the coast and we’re perched on the edge of a cliff. You’ll love it.”

I would. “We don’t have the time to stop, do we?”

“There are a lot of parks and beaches along the way, and it’s not that far from our hotel. I’ll take you tomorrow if you’d like. We have to stay the week anyway so we can pick up your jewelry. I asked them to do a complete certification of the stones, as a bunch of them didn’t have their certificates; the lesser gemstones rarely have them, but for insurance purposes, I needed each stone identified. I also asked them to acquire you a present you should like.”

I lifted my left hand from the wheel long enough to show off my new watch. “Will I like it better than this?”

Bradley snickered. “Honestly, will you like anything better than that?”

“I like you more than the watch, but barely.”

“Hey, Dad. I’m a treasure. You’re going to have to break it to Mom that she doesn’t love me nearly as much as Janette does.”

While I’d learned to expect Bradley to pounce on every chance to reinforce he wanted me in his life, I hadn’t expected him to call me out quite so directly. As I’d been cornered in a masterful display of affection, I shrugged. “It’s true. She’s just going to have to accept being a distant second place on this matter.”

“Considering the photographic evidence I have of your general adoration for my son, I will try to break the news gently to his mother. I’m sure she’ll cry and want to hug you.”

In the past few days, I’d discovered I would accept most forms of affection from anyone. I even considered accepting hugs from strangers. Hugs from people I knew soothed, where once upon a time, it had embarrassed me more than anything. “Wouldn’t she have to come here to…” I sucked in a breath. “She’s coming, isn’t she?”

“Did you really think my wife and your parents would stay out in New York when you’re here? They’re coming. Your parents are on the same flight with Meridian. Ajani is providing escort for the rest.”