“No,” she said. “I told you that I could probably have identified the van, but that’s it.”
“Anything inside the van of interest?” Shane asked suddenly. “Was it just the four of you? Were there any packages, any kind of bags or name tags?”
She looked at him in surprise. “Rope,” she said. “Lots of rope.”
He frowned at that. “What kind?”
“That slippery yellow poly stuff that I hate,” she said. “You know? You tie a knot, and then it comes untied because the surface is so slick?”
“Was it loose, one big roll, a drum, or a bunch of bundles tied up?”
“Bundles tied up,” she said instantly. “And duct tape. I wonder what that was for.”
“Maybe for you and for your parents,” Gavin suggested.
“But a cloth bandanna was used for Melinda’s gag. I hope they don’t use duct tape on my parents,” she said. “My dad has a mustache and a beard. That’ll hurt like hell to get it off.”
Even Gavin winced at that. “Absolutely,” he said. “But, on the other hand, hopefully if they’re taking it off, it means they’re safe somewhere.”
“Or the kidnappers just want to ask them questions.”
“Okay. Back to the ex-husband,” Gavin said. “Did he have a problem with his wife’s personality?”
“No,” she said. “Why would anybody have a problem with Melinda’s personality? She’s all about emotions.”
Shane laughed out loud at that. “And what are you?”
“I’m all soul,” she said, “but I keep it hidden.” Then she stopped, surprised. “Wow, I didn’t expect to say that.”
“An interesting statement,” Gavin said, studying her intently.
She wished he would stop doing that. Just something about his eyes was getting her. “Why is that?” she asked.
“Because a heart full of love and trust and patience is not necessarily the same thing as a soul full of principles and the core of what a person is.”
“Well, for me, soul is the purpose, the deeper purpose of why you do things in life,” she said. “The checks and balances, the karma that’ll meet you at the end of the golden gates.”
When she realized the two men were looking at her with confusion on their faces, she explained. “I tend to think of the heart as being shared in individual relationships—like with a spouse, a child, a parent—but your soul is you interacting with humanity, like your larger purpose for being here on the planet in action,” she said.
“Interesting,” Gavin murmured.
Rosalina wasn’t sure if the men liked her explanation or not, but it was the way she felt. She was doing something on a much larger scale.
Shane shook his head and looked around. “Come on. Here’s our ride.” And, sure enough, the black SUV from before pulled up. It had the same license plate, but, as the doors opened, a different driver exited. Gavin headed straight toward him and demanded, “ID.”
The driver stared at him for a long moment. “Seriously?”
“Absolutely,” Gavin said. “ID now.”
He groaned but pulled out his badge for Gavin to see.
“So, just out of curiosity,” Shane said to Rosalina, “I understand you were married before?”
“Yes,” she said coolly. “And I can see that your next question will be about heart, and the answer is no. I thought it was a good idea, and I thought we could make it work. But, no, we didn’t.”
After that, there wasn’t a whole lot anybody could say. They were inside the vehicle, once the driver’s ID had been well and truly checked.
As the black SUV arrived at the hotel, Gavin hopped out first, then escorted her inside, going straight to the elevator and up. She looked at him. “Is there a reason you’re not allowing me to talk to people or to see anyone?”
“Is there a reason you haven’t asked to contact anyone?”
“But I did,” she said.
“No, that was your sister contacting Steve,” he said, looking at her.
She shrugged. “Where did Shane go?”
He liked the fact that she had changed the subject. “He’s checking out security.”
“Oh,” she said. “Am I in danger?”
“Quite possibly, yes,” he said. “So, what’s the problem between you and your parents?”
“I’m not missing a limb,” she said bluntly.
He sucked in his breath and stared at her. “Seriously?”
“When you’re the very self-sufficient child and obviously intelligent, in many families that would make you the golden child. But, in a family where the other sibling is both firstborn and disabled, the first sibling got all the love and attention.”
“So why did your mother even get pregnant again?”
“She didn’t want to,” she said. “Apparently some mishap occurred with her contraception.”
“So, you were labeled an accident?” he asked, wonder and anger in his gaze.
“That’s a good word for it, yes,” she said. She laughed. “And people look at me with pity, as if to say, ‘Oh, you poor child,’ or something.”
“Well, I don’t have any intention of doing that,” he said. “You obviously don’t need it, wouldn’t appreciate it, and I highly doubt it even applies under the circumstances.”
At that, she laughed. “That’s very true,” she said. “I learned to become self-sufficient very early on. But nannies will do that too.”
He waited for her to say more, but, when she didn’t, he said, “You were raised by nannies?”
“Yep. My parents were already working in the labs all the time.”
“With your sister?”
“Yep,” she said. “My sister was either there with them or off doing stuff.”
“I hear your words, but I don’t hear the emotions behind them,” he said.
“Because emotions don’t help anything,” she said, and she stepped out of the elevator first before he could. He immediately grabbed her arm and kept her at his side while he checked around. “It’ll be fine,” she said. “If anybody’s waiting for us, they’ll probably be in my room.” And she marched toward her room, then stopped abruptly. “Why would we return to my room, where the kidnappers can find me easily? Doesn’t seem wise. Or safe.”
Gavin chuckled. “You’ve got me and Shane now.” She frowned but seemed to accept that. “Don’t suppose you still have a key, do you?”
She shook her head. “Aren’t you one of those Secret Service guys? Can’t you just get me in there?”
Instead, he opened her room with a keycard.
She looked at it, frowning. “You better not have the second card to my room.”
“Why is that?”
“Because nobody gets a key to my room but me,” she said smartly and went to shut the door.
But his foot was in the way, and he pushed it open. “You aren’t going in alone, so I don’t want to hear any talk about that.”