An FBI agent must protect his ex and her newborn baby in the latest saga by USA TODAY bestselling author Delores Fossen

FBI agent Drury Ryland is no stranger to surprises. But upon returning to his family’s cattle ranch in Texas, he’s confronted with the ghosts of his past…and a threat to his future. Caitlyn Denson is the beautiful woman who broke his heart and the last person Drury expected to reunite with. But his ex didn’t arrive at Silver Creek Ranch alone.

With a killer on her trail and a newborn daughter in her arms, Caitlyn must put aside her tumultuous history with Drury and focus on survival. Drury feels obligated to protect the family he never had, but professional boundaries begin to blur as their enemy shifts into stark focus.

The Lawmen of Silver Creek Ranch

“I can still hear the gunshots,” she said.

Yeah, so could he. He didn’t want to tell her that she would hear them for the rest of her life. But she would. So would he. And he would remember that look of terror on her face.

There wasn’t really a way to comfort her right now so Drury just slipped his arm around her and hoped that helped. It seemed to do that. For a couple of long moments anyway. Until she lifted her head, and her eyes met his.

Any chance of comforting her vanished. A lot of things vanished. Like common sense, because just like that, Drury felt the old attraction.

“I don’t know how to stop this,” she said. Her voice was a whisper, filled with her thin breath.

She wasn’t talking about the danger now.

It would have been safer if she had been.

Before he could talk himself out of it or remember this was something he shouldn’t be doing, Drury lowered his head and kissed her.

Drury

Delores Fossen

www.millsandboon.co.uk

DELORES FOSSEN, a USA TODAY bestselling author, has sold over fifty novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received a Booksellers’ Best Award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA® Award. You can contact the author through her website at www.deloresfossen.com.

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Special Agent Drury Ryland pulled into his driveway, his truck headlights slashing through the curtain of rain. Rain that nearly caused him to miss the movement behind his detached garage.

Nearly.

But Drury managed to catch a glimpse of someone darting out of sight.

He groaned because it wasn’t exactly the hour or the weather for a visitor. Or the place. He was home, in one of the nearly dozen houses on the sprawling Silver Creek Ranch, and all those houses were occupied by lawmen. Anyone who’d come here to break in was a couple of steps past being stupid.

Of course, it might not be a break-in.

Because Drury’s arm was still throbbing from the six stitches he had just gotten, he had no trouble recalling the encounter he’d had three hours earlier. A thug had knifed him during an FBI sting operation. Drury had managed to arrest him, but the guy had sworn on his soul that he would get even with Drury. No way could the soul-swearing guy have gotten out of jail yet, but he could have sent one of his buddies to do his dirty work.

Drury brought his truck to a stop, eased his hand over his gun and tried to pick through the darkness and rain so he could get another glimpse of the guy. Nothing. But Drury knew he was there.

“I’m Agent Drury Ryland,” he shouted. “Come out so I can see you.”

The guy didn’t. And not only didn’t he come out, he fired a shot. Before Drury could even react, the bullet slammed into his windshield.

The next two shots went straight into his truck’s engine. One must have hit the radiator because steam started spewing into the air.

Drury cursed. There went his way to escape. If he wanted to escape, that is. He didn’t. He wanted to confront this moron and make him pay for starting a gunfight on Ryland land.

Since the sound of the shots would no doubt alert his cousins and brothers, Drury sent a quick text to one of those cousins, Sheriff Grayson Ryland, and requested backup. However, Drury was hoping he could put an end to the situation before backup even arrived.

Drury threw open his truck door, and using it for cover, he took aim at the shadowy figure that kept peering around the garage. He couldn’t just start pulling the trigger, though. It had to be a clean shot because Drury didn’t want it to ricochet and risk hitting a ranch hand or someone inside one of the nearby houses.

The shooter obviously didn’t have that concern because he fired off another round at Drury. Big mistake. Because he had to lean out from the garage, and Drury took the shot.

And hit the guy.

Not a kill shot, though. He must have hit him in the shoulder because the gunman took off running. A few seconds later, Drury heard the sound of an engine.

No.

He didn’t want this clown getting away. Drury had to find out why the heck he’d just tried to kill him.

A dark-colored SUV sped out from behind the garage. Not coming toward Drury. But rather the driver went on the other side of the house, through the yard and onto the road. Since there weren’t any houses at this angle, Drury emptied the clip into the SUV.

Drury was certain he hit the guy again, but he kept going, speeding away from the house. He was about to jump in his truck and try to go in pursuit, but then Drury saw Grayson’s cruiser approaching. Grayson was not only the sheriff of Silver Creek, but he lived the closest and that’s why Drury had texted him.

When Grayson reached Drury, he put down the window, and Drury saw he wasn’t alone. Grayson’s brother Mason was with him.

“Any idea who’s in that SUV?” Grayson asked.

Drury had to shake his head, but he lifted his arm to show them the fresh bandage. “Maybe a friend of the person who gave me this.”

“We’ll go after him,” Grayson said. “Keep watch. Make sure he doesn’t double back.”

Since Drury’s place was the first house on the road that led to the ranch, that wouldn’t be hard to do.

When Grayson drove off in pursuit, Drury had a look around the grounds. He didn’t see anyone else, though. And if his attacker had left any blood by the garage, the rain was washing it all away. That made it even more critical for Grayson to find him so Drury could get some answers.

He went to his back porch and cursed when he found the door unlocked. It was possible he’d just forgotten to lock it. Just as possible, though, that someone had broken in.

Especially after what’d just happened.

Drury got his gun ready and kicked open the door that led into his kitchen.

“Don’t shoot,” someone said.

A woman.

Because she’d whispered that order, Drury didn’t immediately recognize her voice, but he certainly knew who she was when she stepped closer.

Caitlyn Denson.

The kitchen was dark, but there was enough illumination coming from the hall light that he had no trouble seeing her long brown hair and her face.

And the blood trickling down her forehead.

Drury didn’t know what shocked him the most. The blood or that she was even there at all. They weren’t exactly on friendly terms and hadn’t been in a long time.

He had so many questions, and he wasn’t sure where to start. But his lawman’s instincts kicked in, and he checked her hands for weapons. Empty. And the pale yellow dress she was wearing was wet and clinging to her, so he knew she wasn’t carrying concealed.

Still, he didn’t lower his gun. He kept it aimed at her. And he maneuvered himself so he could watch out the large bay window in the living room while still keeping an eye on Caitlyn.

“I heard you’d built a house here on your cousins’ ranch, and your name is on the mailbox. I parked behind your barn,” she said, as if that explained everything.

It didn’t, not by a long shot.

“Did you have anything to do with that?” Drury tipped his head to the side yard where the shots had just been fired.

Caitlyn’s eyes widened for just a second, and a thin breath left her mouth. “I think he was here because he’s looking for me. I swear, I didn’t know he’d follow me.”

Well, it was an answer all right. But it only led to more questions. “You’re going to have to give me a better explanation than that. And start with how you got that cut or whatever the hell it is.” He grabbed some paper towels with his left hand and gave them to her.

She nodded and pressed the towels to her head. “I didn’t break in, by the way. The door was unlocked, but you should know that I would have broken in if necessary. I needed a place to hide.” She staggered, caught the back of the chair.

Drury cursed and went to her, holstering his gun so he could help her get seated and have a look at the wound that was causing her to bleed all over his kitchen floor. His stomach knotted when he saw the wound close-up.

“Did someone club you on the head?” he asked.

Caitlyn nodded, lightly touched the wound and grimaced when she saw the blood on her fingertips. “I’m not certain who did it. I didn’t get a look at his face. But it could have been the same man who shot at you.”

And if so, the thug had come to finish what he’d started, and Drury had gotten caught in the middle. Caught only because she’d come here. But why?

“You’re sure you don’t know who he is?” Drury pressed.

Even though he didn’t spell it out, she obviously got what he meant. Was this connected to her late husband, Grant Denson? Grant had been dead for nearly two years now, but he’d been involved in some nasty illegal stuff when he was alive that might now have come back to haunt Caitlyn.

Of course, when you sleep with snakes, you should expect to get bitten.

Was that what had happened now?

“I honestly don’t know the man’s name,” she explained. “But I know why he’s after me.” Her voice broke, and a hoarse sob tore from her mouth. “God, Drury, I’m so sorry. I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and I didn’t think he’d come here.”

All right. That got his interest. Because she had a mother-in-law, Helen, who was loaded, not just money-wise but with all sorts of resources, including but not limited to thugs who could take care of the person who’d clubbed Caitlyn on the head.

“Start from the beginning,” he demanded.

Caitlyn didn’t exactly jump to do that, but she did nod again and then took a couple of seconds to gather her breath. “The year before Grant was killed, we were trying to have a baby, and we went to the Conceptions Fertility Clinic in San Antonio.”

Everything inside him went still. He was well aware of the clinic because of the shady things that’d happened there just a month earlier. Specifically, embryos had been stolen and implanted in surrogates so that the former clinic manager could then “sell” the babies to the biological parents.

Ransom, extortion and black-market babies all rolled into one. Nasty business.

“All the babies were recovered and given to their parents,” Drury reminded her.

Caitlyn paused a heartbeat. “Not all.”

“Are you saying...?” But he stopped. “What the hell are you saying?”

“Day before yesterday I got a call from a man who said a surrogate had given birth to mine and Grant’s daughter and that if I wanted the child, then I’d have to pay him a million dollars. He sent me a swab with the baby’s DNA, and I had it analyzed. The man was telling the truth.”

DNA could be faked. So could test results.

“And?” Drury questioned. “How did you get Grant’s DNA to do a comparison?”

“From a comb I found in his things that I’d boxed up.”

Drury made a circling motion for her to continue.

“I arranged payment, draining nearly every penny from Grant’s estate, but when I went to get the baby, she wasn’t there. Instead, the man demanded even more money.”

Drury groaned. “Let me guess. They told you not to go to the cops or that you’d never see her again?” He waited for her to confirm that with a nod. “That’s what criminals tell marks like you. Hell, they might not even have the baby. Or there might not be a baby at all. Even if the DNA appears to prove it’s your child, they could have gotten the DNA from an embryo sample stored at the clinic.”

Other than a soft moan, she didn’t get a chance to respond because Drury’s phone rang. “It’s Grayson,” he said, glancing at the screen.

That got her back on her feet, and Caitlyn shook her head. “Please don’t tell him I’m here. Not yet. I’m not sure who I can trust.”

“Well, you can’t trust me,” he snapped.

But that was a lie. He was a lawman and would do whatever it took to protect her or any other bleeding woman who showed up at his house.

“Please,” she repeated, sounding just as desperate as she looked.

Drury wasn’t going to let that please or desperation sway him. He intended to tell Grayson everything because while she might not trust his cousin, Drury darn sure did.

“We found the shooter,” Grayson said the moment Drury answered the call. “He’d crashed his SUV into a tree about three miles from the ranch. He’s hurt but alive.”

“Who is he?” Drury asked.

“No ID, and the vehicle is registered to a woman in Austin.”

Maybe that meant the SUV was stolen. Of course, Drury already knew this guy was a criminal capable of murder. “Did he happen to say why he fired shots at me or what he was doing at my place?” Drury pressed.

Caitlyn moved closer. Too close. No doubt trying to hear the conversation.

“He’s not saying much of anything. He’s groggy, slipping in and out of consciousness,” Grayson added. “We’ll get him to the hospital, but I did find something in the SUV that was, well, disturbing. Some rope, a ski mask, duct tape and rubber gloves.”

No baby. Though Drury hadn’t expected there would be. Caitlyn had likely been the victim of a scam, and now that they couldn’t milk any more money from her, this thug had been sent to get rid of her.

“I’ll head to the sheriff’s office now,” Drury insisted.

“You need a ride? When I drove by earlier, I saw your truck was messed up.”

“Yeah. That thug shot the radiator. But I have a car in the garage. I’ll also have someone with me who can shed some light on this.”

Caitlyn was shaking her head before he even finished.

“Who?” Grayson asked, but he continued before Drury could respond. “Gotta go. Ambulance is here. You can tell me when you get to the office. See you in a few.”

“No,” Caitlyn said, still shaking her head when Drury ended the call. “You shouldn’t have done that. You shouldn’t have told Grayson you were bringing someone in.”

And she took off. Not toward the door but rather into the living room.

“What the heck do you think you’re doing?” Drury asked.

She didn’t answer that. Caitlyn hurried to the side of the sofa, and she grabbed something from the floor. Even though the room was dark, Drury had no trouble seeing the bundled-up coat.

And the stun gun.

Caitlyn picked up both, and with the coat clutched to her chest, she started running, headed to the back door this time.

Drury stepped in front of her, blocking her path, but Caitlyn tried to dart around him. He didn’t want her to get a chance to use that stun gun on him, so he caught onto her arm and knocked the stun gun from her hand.

“I have to go,” she insisted. “It’s not safe.”

Maybe it wasn’t, but that didn’t mean Drury was just going to let her head out. He pulled her closer and had a better look at the coat.

Damn.

In the middle of that bundle, Drury saw something move.

And that something was a baby.

Chapter Two

Caitlyn hadn’t expected Drury just to let her walk out of there, but she also hadn’t thought this insanity would go from bad to worse.

This definitely qualified as worse.

Now that he’d seen the baby, there was no way he’d willingly let her leave.

“The baby’s yours?” he snapped.

“Maybe.”

She’d figured Drury wasn’t going to like that answer, and he didn’t. He groaned. Then cursed.

“But I believe she’s mine,” Caitlyn went on. “And the man said she was. I figured I could have her tested later, but for now I have to go. That man who shot at you wants to kill me and take the baby.”

“Yeah. I got that. According to Grayson, he had rope, tape, a ski mask and gloves in his SUV. All the makings of a felony or two.”

Oh, God. Her stomach dropped. Even though Caitlyn had known the man didn’t have good intentions, it sickened her to hear it spelled out like that. It also confirmed what she’d felt in her heart.

That he had no intention of giving her the baby.

He’d had plans to kill her then and there. She doubted he had just stopped trying to do that, either.

“The man will send someone else after me,” Caitlyn tried again. Tried also to move past Drury, but, like before, he stopped her.

Mercy, she had to convince him to let her go. But how? Too bad her head was throbbing and she was dizzy because it made it hard to think.

“Look, I know you don’t owe me any favors,” she said. “But let me leave.”

An understatement about the favors.

And the sound Drury made let her know that he didn’t owe her a thing. Not after she’d walked out on him four years ago. He’d been in love with her. Then. Definitely not now, though. There wasn’t a shred of love between them at this moment.

However, Caitlyn could still feel the tug of attraction. The one she’d had for Drury the first time she’d laid eyes on him. That attraction was all one-sided now, on her part. Drury’s glare proved it.

“Please just help me by letting me leave right now,” she begged.

It seemed to take him a couple of seconds to get his jaw unclenched so he could speak, and he didn’t look at her when he did it. He volleyed his attention between the baby and the window. Drury was no doubt looking to see if the thug had indeed sent someone else to come after her.

Good.

Because Caitlyn was looking, too.

“How’d you get the baby?” Drury asked.

She huffed. There wasn’t time for all this talk, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to let her leave until he had some answers. Maybe not even then. That meant she had to get away at the first chance she got.

“I took her from that man,” Caitlyn said, blinking back the tears that were burning her eyes. Her voice, like the rest of her, was trembling. “I really don’t know who he is, and I didn’t see his face. He was wearing a ski mask.”

“Keep talking,” Drury insisted when she paused again.

“I was meeting him to deliver another payment, but this time I brought a stun gun with me.”

Mercy. It was hard to relive this. The memories were still so fresh and raw. The fear, too.

“When I handed him the money,” she went on, “I reached for the baby. He smashed me on the head with his weapon, but I was able to hit him with the stun gun. He fell to the ground. I grabbed the baby and got away.”

No groan this time. Drury cursed again instead. “You could have been killed.”

“I could have lost her,” Caitlyn pointed out just as quickly. “Even if she’s not my daughter, she belongs to someone, and I had to get her away from that monster.”

Drury didn’t seem swayed in the least by that. “You should have involved the cops.”

“I couldn’t because the man said he’d know if I brought anyone with me.” In addition to the tears and trembling, Caitlyn had to fight the sudden tightness in her chest. “He said he would hurt the baby if I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t risk it.”

She must have looked ready to fly into a million little pieces because Drury huffed. Then did something surprising. He touched her arm. It barely qualified as a pat, but she’d take it.

Too bad he didn’t offer her a hug, or she would have taken that, too.

The touch didn’t last long. Drury looked at her, his gaze lingering for a moment before it also slipped away.

“During any of your conversations, did this clown say if he was working for someone or how he got the baby in the first place?” Drury asked.

“No. But I’m not sure he’s connected to anyone at Conceptions Clinic.” She hesitated about adding the next part. Not because it wasn’t true.

It was.

But it wasn’t going to shorten this conversation.

“I think the man might be working for Helen Denson.”

There, she’d said it aloud. Her worst fear. Or rather, one of them. She had plenty of others at the moment, but at the top of that list was that her dead husband’s rich, manipulative mother could be the one who’d orchestrated this nightmare.

Caitlyn could almost see the wheels turning in Drury’s head, and he was likely trying to work out why she’d just accused her former mother-in-law of such a heinous crime.

“Helen hates me,” Caitlyn explained. “And she was furious when she found out Grant left his entire estate to me. I think she would do anything, including something like this, to get back the money.”

Of course, that could mean the baby wasn’t hers. After all, Helen could have used any baby to carry out a scheme like that.

“Why would Helen be upset about you inheriting what belonged to your husband?” he asked.

This was another long explanation, one she didn’t have time or energy to give him. Caitlyn went with the short version. “Grant and I were separated when he was killed in that car accident. I was already in the process of getting a divorce.”

He pulled back his shoulders just slightly. Surprised by that. Later, if there was a later, she would tell him more. For now, though, she had to remind him of the urgency of her situation.

“That man who had the baby wasn’t working alone,” she continued. “When I made the first payment, there were two of them, and I’m pretty sure they had a lookout or someone nearby because one of the men had a communicator in his ear, and he was talking to someone. I can’t stay here because they’ll come back.”

“Come on,” Drury said. He still had a firm grip on her arm. “We’ll go to the sheriff’s office and get this all straightened out.”

“They’ll look for me there if they don’t attack us along the way first. The baby could be hurt. You, too.” She almost added that she couldn’t live with that, but it was an old wound best left untouched.

“If you didn’t want me involved, then you shouldn’t have come here,” he grumbled.

“I swear I didn’t know the man would follow me. I mean, he was out from the stun gun, and he didn’t have his partner with him this time. Didn’t have the communicator in his ear, either.” A heavy sigh left her mouth. “I guess he had a lookout after all.”

Caitlyn figured Drury would ignore everything she’d just told him and demand once more that she leave with him.

But he didn’t.

His gaze volleyed from her to the baby. “Whose coat is that?” he asked.

She had to shake her head. “It was right next to the baby on the seat of the kidnapper’s SUV, and I grabbed it to cover her from the rain.”

“Put the baby on the sofa,” Drury instructed, and his tone and body language sent a chill straight through her. “It could have a tracking device—or something worse—in it.”

Sweet heaven.

Caitlyn hurried to the sofa, easing the baby onto it. The little girl was still sleeping, thank goodness.

“I checked her after I brought her into your house,” she explained. “No cuts or bruises.” It sickened her, though, to think there could have been.

Drury didn’t respond. He moved in front of the newborn, eased back the sides of the coat.

The baby was wearing a pink drawstring gown with little ducks on it. There was even an elastic headband with a bow holding back her dark brown curls from her face, and she had a thin receiving blanket around her. She was clean. Her diaper appeared to have been changed recently, and since she wasn’t crying, that probably meant she’d been fed. Whoever had her had at least taken care of her.

Probably so they could protect their investment.

Something twisted inside Caitlyn at the thought.

She almost hated to feel this kind of anger. This kind of love for that precious little girl. Because the baby might not even be hers.

Caitlyn repeated that to herself.

It didn’t seem to stop the flood of feelings that poured through her, and that love could mean she would be crushed if she had to hand over the baby to someone else.

“Lift her up,” Drury said, still searching every inch of the coat. “Gently.”

That gave her another jolt, and she prayed there wasn’t anything on or near the baby that could hurt her.

Caitlyn eased the newborn into her arms. Of course, it wasn’t the first time she’d held her, but without the coat around her, she could feel just how tiny and fragile she was.

Drury went through the coat pockets, coming up empty each time, and he turned his attention to the bow on the baby’s headband.

“Hell,” he mumbled.

Caitlyn watched as he gently slipped off the headband, and she saw it then.

“It’s a tracking device,” he said. “That’s how the man was able to follow you.”

Caitlyn shook her head. “I should have noticed it. Drury. I’m so sorry.”

“Save it.” He tossed the headband onto the coffee table. “In case I missed something, don’t use the blanket to wrap her.” He pulled a throw off the back of the sofa and handed it to her. “Use this.”

“Where are we going?” she asked, draping it over the baby.

“Away from here. And fast.” He took out his phone and sent a text. Probably to Grayson. “I don’t want any other hired guns coming to the ranch. Every one of my cousins has wives and kids, and they’re all right here on the grounds.”

That didn’t help steady her heartbeat.

Drury led her to the back door, grabbing a remote control from the kitchen counter. He used it to open the detached garage, and he stepped out onto the porch to look around.

The rain was still coming down hard, but the porch was covered so the baby was staying dry. However, she was starting to squirm, maybe because Caitlyn’s dress was damp and it was cool against her. She needed dry clothes. Baby supplies.

And a safe place to take her.

But where?

The sheriff’s office certainly didn’t seem like an ideal location since the man’s partners could go looking for her there.

“Wait here in the doorway, and I’ll pull the car up to the steps,” Drury said. He’d already started to walk away but then stopped and turned back around to face her. “So help me, you’d better not try to run.”

Since she was indeed thinking just that, Caitlyn wondered if he’d read her mind. Or maybe he could just see the desperation on her face.

Because she didn’t know what else to do, Caitlyn did wait. And she prayed. She trusted Drury, but her trust wouldn’t do a darn thing to protect him or the baby.

He hurried to the garage, and it took only a few seconds before she heard the engine turn on. Only a few seconds more before he pulled the car to the steps with the passenger’s side facing her.

The moment Drury threw open the door and frantically motioned for her to get in, she knew something was wrong.

“Someone’s coming,” Drury said.

Caitlyn saw the headlights then. There was a car on the road. And it was speeding right toward them.

Chapter Three

Drury cursed himself for not getting Caitlyn away from the house any sooner. But he’d delayed because he hadn’t been sure what was going on.

Still wasn’t sure.

But he couldn’t wait around and find out if whoever was in that car had friendly intentions. Judging from the tracking device he’d found, his guess was no. No friendly intentions here. That vehicle was likely carrying more shooters who’d come after Caitlyn and the baby. And being inside the house wouldn’t necessarily help them if these morons opened fire.

Caitlyn ran down the porch steps, and Drury reached across the seat to pull her inside. The moment she was in, he gunned the engine to get them the heck out of there.

“You’re not going to drive toward that car, are you?” she asked. The fear was right back in her voice. Not that it’d completely gone away, but there was a triple dose of it now.

It was raining, they didn’t have a car seat and bullets might start flying at any second.

“We’re not going toward the car,” he assured her, and he bolted out of the side of his yard and headed not for the highway, but toward the main house.

It was a risk, but there were no completely safe options here.

Drury tossed her his phone. “Text Grayson and tell him what’s going on. And climb in the back with the baby. Get all the way down on the seat and stay there.”

She gave a shaky nod, and with the baby cradled in her arms, Caitlyn scrambled into the back. Drury heard her typing the text, but he kept his attention on the other car. Even though he hadn’t turned on his headlights, the driver of the vehicle must have seen him because he came after them.

Hell.

He had hoped the guy would just back off when he saw where Drury was headed. No such luck.

Drury drove toward the main house, but he certainly had no intentions of stopping. There was a security gate just ahead, and like everybody else on the ranch, he had the remote to open and close it. He started pushing the remote button the moment it came into view, and the metal gates dragged open.

It seemed to take an eternity.

And that car behind him just kept getting closer and closer.

“He’s got a gun,” Caitlyn said, and that’s when Drury realized she’d lifted her head and was looking out the back window.

“Get back down,” he warned her.

Yeah, the guy had a gun all right. Drury had no trouble spotting it because the passenger lowered his window and stuck out his hand, trying to take aim.

The moment the gates were open, Drury gunned the engine and flew through them, hitting the remote to close them.

It worked.

The gates closed before the shooter could get through. The driver hit his brakes, slamming into the gate, but the gates held.

Thank God.

Drury kept going, and he sped past the houses that dotted the ranch. He didn’t dare stop because the gunman might have a long-range rifle in the car, and Drury didn’t want to give the guy any reason to keep firing.

“Grayson says his brothers and the ranch hands have been alerted,” Caitlyn relayed after getting a response to the text she’d sent.

Good. Though he doubted that gunman would get out of the car and go in pursuit on foot, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Especially since Drury was already sorry enough for this fiasco.

He stayed on the road that coiled around the pastures, and once he was past the exterior security lights, it was too dark for him to see. Drury had no choice but to turn on his headlights.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Some place she wouldn’t like. “The sheriff’s office. And before you remind me that these goons can follow us there, they can follow us anywhere. At least if we’re at the sheriff’s office, the deputies and I can protect you, and it’ll get these idiots away from my family.

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” he added, his voice a little harsher than he’d intended.

Drury had caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror and could tell from the tears that she was about to apologize again. Well, it wouldn’t help. Nothing would right now except getting her and that baby to safety.

His phone rang, the sound cutting through the other sounds of his heartbeat drumming in his ears and the wipers slashing at the rain.

“It’s Grayson,” Caitlyn said. She passed him the phone, but since Drury still had hold of his gun, he pushed the speaker button and dropped the phone on the seat next to him.

“Where are you?” Grayson asked. “And what the heck’s going on?”

“I’m at the back of the ranch on one of the trails and about to come out on Miller’s Hill. The car with the gunmen didn’t get past the gate.”

“No,” Grayson agreed. “Gage had eyes on the car, and he said the driver turned around and sped off. He got the license plate numbers, but they’re bogus. Gage and Dade went in pursuit.”

Both men were Grayson’s brothers. And his deputies.

“I’ll take the back roads to get to the sheriff’s office. I should be there in about twenty minutes.” Drury paused. “Caitlyn Denson is with me.”

Grayson paused, too, and then cursed. A rarity for him since he was the father of a five-year-old son and had cut way back on his bad language.

“Caitlyn?” Grayson repeated like the profanity he’d just used. “You’re not involved with her again, are you?”

“No, not like that.” And Drury couldn’t say it fast enough.

“Good. Because the last time you hooked up with her...”

Grayson didn’t finish that. Didn’t need to finish it. Because Drury remembered it well enough without any reminders. Caitlyn had been a CPA in those days. A CPA who’d been helping Drury investigate the crime family that had employed her.

At least Drury had believed she was helping him.

However, he’d been wrong. Because Caitlyn had ended up marrying the very man whose family Drury had been investigating. But those were old memories, and he didn’t have time for them now.

“So, why is Caitlyn with you?” Grayson pressed. “And are those gunmen after her?”

“They’re after her.” That was the easy question to answer. The first one, not so much. “There might be another baby from Conceptions Clinic.”

He gave Grayson a moment for that to sink in.

“Caitlyn and Grant Denson’s baby,” Grayson concluded.

“Yeah. At least that’s what a man told Caitlyn.” Drury could still see her in the glimpses that he was making in the rearview mirror, and she was hanging on to every word. “According to her, a man demanded a ransom. She paid it, but he reneged.”

Grayson mumbled some profanity. “Where’s the baby now?”

“In the backseat of my car with Caitlyn. She was waiting inside my place when I got home.” He figured it wouldn’t take Grayson long to fill in the blanks.

And it didn’t.

“Caitlyn came to you for help.”

Drury settled for another yeah and didn’t miss Grayson’s disapproval about that. Well, Drury wasn’t so happy about it, either.

“I don’t know for sure, but the guy you caught is probably the same one who had the baby. He should have stun-gun marks on...” Drury looked back at her so she could provide that.

“The left side of his neck.”

Grayson made what sounded to be a weary sigh. “I’ll have the doc check for it. I got a name on the guy already. Ronnie Waite. He was in the system not because he had a record but because he used to be a prison guard.”

Interesting. Drury would have bet his paycheck that the guy had a record. But then maybe whoever was behind this had made sure to use someone who was clean.

“Ronnie Waite,” Drury repeated to Caitlyn. He turned onto another road and glanced around to make sure they weren’t being followed. “Do you know him?”

Caitlyn repeated the name, then shook her head. “Is he in charge of this or just a lackey?”

“Don’t know yet,” Grayson answered. “How did Ronnie or anyone connected to this contact you?”

“Only one man contacted me,” Caitlyn answered, “and he always called. I used the internet to do a reverse number lookup, but it wasn’t listed.”

Probably because the phone had been a burner or disposable prepaid cell. No way to trace that. But if Ronnie still had the phone on him, Grayson would have it checked.

“Does Caitlyn, or the baby, need to see a doctor?” Grayson asked.

“Yes,” Drury said at the same moment that she answered.

“No. I mean, I want the baby checked out, but I’m fine. And I don’t want to be in the hospital while Ronnie is still there.”

“Caitlyn’s not fine,” Drury argued. “She might have a concussion. But I agree about not going to the hospital. She shouldn’t be there until we’re certain Ronnie can’t get near her.”

“I’ll have a medic come to the office then.” Grayson paused. “We’ll get into all of this once you’re here, but I’ll need you to think of anyone who could have hired this man.”

“Helen,” Drury and Caitlyn said in unison.

“All right. I’ll get your former mother-in-law here for a chat,” Grayson agreed without hesitation. “I’ll also see if there’s any way to connect her to Ronnie.”

“There has to be a surrogate out there, too,” Caitlyn added. “I’m not sure how to find her, but she might be linked somehow to Ronnie.”

“I can question Ronnie about that. And check for a Jane Doe DB who might have recently given birth.”

DB as in dead body.

Caitlyn made a slight gasping sound. Probably because she’d just realized what Grayson was saying—that the surrogate could have been murdered after she gave birth. Whoever was behind this wouldn’t have wanted to keep a surrogate alive unless, of course, the surrogate was in on the plan.

“I’ll have Mason call the lead investigator who handled the Conceptions Clinic case,” Grayson went on, “but if Helen’s the one who did this, would she have had access to the embryo? In other words, could someone at the clinic have legally given it to her?”

“No. Not legally.” Caitlyn drew in a long breath. “In fact, when Helen found out that Grant and I had visited the clinic, she tried to bribe one of the nurses to get info about what we were doing. When I found out, I had our counselor put a note in my file that no information should be given to the woman.”

“That doesn’t mean Helen played by the rules,” Drury reminded her. In fact, he’d be surprised if she had. But there was someone else in that scummy family who was also a rule breaker. “What about Grant’s brother, Jeremy?”

Drury couldn’t be sure, but he thought Caitlyn shuddered. “Jeremy wouldn’t have done that. And yes, I’m sure. The last thing Jeremy would want is another heir to share the inheritance he’ll get from his mother.”

“Okay,” Grayson said, “this is enough to get things started. How far out are you now?”

“About ten minutes. No one’s following us, but when we get to the sheriff’s office, I want to get Caitlyn and the baby inside ASAP.”

“No problem. Park right in front of the door.”

Drury hit the end-call button and took another glance back at her. “I know you don’t want to go to the sheriff’s office, but you can trust Grayson. If there’s anything to link Helen to this, he’ll find it.”

And so would Drury. He hadn’t especially wanted to get involved with Caitlyn, but this wasn’t about her. It was about that baby in her arms.

“You think I’m a fool for getting involved with Grant,” she said. “But I swear, I didn’t know what Grant was when I married him.”

“You should have. You knew what his family was, knew that I was investigating them.”

“Yes,” she whispered. And she repeated it. “His family but not him.” She paused. “I think Jeremy might have been the one who killed Grant.”

“Killed? I thought he died in a car accident.”

“He did. One that Jeremy could have arranged.” Though she shook her head right after saying that. “I don’t have any proof, and knowing Jeremy, there won’t be proof to find. But I meant what I said about Jeremy not wanting any competition for his mother’s estate.”

The last time he’d tangled with the Densons, he hadn’t fared so well. Drury had ended up with a black mark on his reputation for getting involved with Caitlyn, a woman who’d clearly double-crossed him and had almost certainly been sleeping with him to get info about his investigation.

Of course, that hadn’t stopped Drury from trying to go after the Densons again. Until his boss had finally gotten him to back off when Helen had threatened a lawsuit for harassment. Drury hadn’t wanted to hurt the Bureau for what had essentially become a personal vendetta on his part.

“I hate being drawn back into the viper pit.” He hadn’t intended to say that loud enough for Caitlyn to hear.

But she heard. Because she gave him another “I’m sorry.”

He kept the next comment to himself. Was she sorry she’d dumped him for Grant? Or sorry that she hadn’t gotten that safe fairy tale that she wanted?

Drury wanted to tell her that she couldn’t create “safe.” The cut on her head and baby in her arms were proof of that. Still, he couldn’t fault her for trying. After all, she’d seen her own father—a Texas Ranger—gunned down right in front of her when she was only eight.

Hard to get past memories like that.

Drury took the final turn toward town, and he tried to shut out everything so he could focus on their surroundings. It was late, nearly midnight, and with the rain there wasn’t anyone out and about. Still, those thugs could be waiting on a side street, watching for them.

He held his breath and didn’t release it until he saw the sheriff’s office. And Grayson in the doorway. The moment Drury had brought the car to a stop, Grayson hurried Caitlyn inside, and Drury followed right behind her. He got her away from the windows—fast. Even though they were bullet resistant, he didn’t want to take any chances.

After everything that’d gone on, Drury hadn’t expected a warm greeting from Grayson and Mason. And he didn’t get one. Mason was on the phone, scowling. But then, that was something Mason did a lot.

However, Grayson was scowling, too.

At Caitlyn.

“Is there any part of your story you want to rethink?” Grayson asked her.

That put some alarm in her eyes, and Caitlyn shook her head. “No. Why?”

“Because I just got off the phone with the doctor who’s patching up Ronnie Waite, and Ronnie says that’s his daughter and that you kidnapped her. He’s demanding a warrant for your arrest.”

Chapter Four

Caitlyn felt as if someone had knocked the breath right out of her. She shook her head, tried to deny what Ronnie had claimed, but the words were trapped in her throat.

“Is it true?” Grayson snapped.

It was more of an accusation than a question, and Caitlyn was thankful it had come from Grayson and not Drury. Still, that didn’t mean Drury believed she was innocent. He was staring at her, clearly waiting for her to say something.

“Everything happened just the way I told you,” she insisted.

Drury just kept staring, but Grayson made a sound, one to let her know she was going to have to do a whole lot better than that if he was to believe her.

“The baby isn’t his,” Caitlyn tried again. “I paid him one ransom, and he demanded a second one. Since I figured he wasn’t just going to hand over the baby, I hit him with a stun gun and took her from him.”

“I don’t suppose you recorded any of that encounter?” Grayson, again. And he used the tone of the lawman in charge. Which he was. He also made this sound, and feel, like an interrogation.

Mercy. If she couldn’t convince him of her innocence, he might take the baby. He might arrest her. That couldn’t happen because if she was behind bars, she wouldn’t be able to protect the baby.

“He clubbed me on the head,” Caitlyn added, and she looked to Drury for help. She held her breath, hoping that he would back her up, and he finally nodded.

“When I found Caitlyn in my house, she was scared. And bleeding.”

Grayson lifted his shoulder, and even though he didn’t say the actual words, his expression was a reminder that she’d fooled Drury before. That’s the way the Rylands would see it anyway. But she hadn’t fooled him so much as she’d been fooled.

By Grant.

But that was an old wound of a different kind.

“Think this through,” Caitlyn continued because she clearly had some more convincing to do with Grayson. “Why would I steal a baby and run to Drury?”

Grayson stayed quiet, probably because there was no scenario he could come up with where she’d do that. Because she wouldn’t.

“So, the baby is really yours?” Grayson asked.

Caitlyn hated to hesitate, but she didn’t want to withhold anything. Considering her track record with the Rylands, it would be hard enough to get them to trust her if they caught her in a lie.

She looked down at the newborn. At that precious little face, and she got that same deep feeling of love that she’d gotten the first time she saw her. Of course, she’d been wrong about her feelings before, but Caitlyn didn’t think that was the case right now. In fact, she would stake her life on it.

“Other than the test I had run on the DNA sample the kidnapper sent me, I don’t have any proof,” Caitlyn admitted, “but she looks like the pictures of me when I was a baby.”

Grayson groaned, an almost identical reaction to the one Drury had had when she’d first told him.

“I can get the proof,” she insisted. “I can have her DNA tested again and compared to mine and Grant’s. I just need time.” She stepped closer to Grayson and looked him straight in the eyes. “But I’m not going to give her to you so you can hand her over to the very man who tried to kill us.”

Grayson’s attention shifted to Drury then. “You believe her?”

Drury didn’t answer for several long moments. “The guy shot at me when I pulled up in front of my house. If he was truly just after Caitlyn to get his child back, then why go after me like that?” He tapped his badge. “I identified myself, and he still shot at me. Plus, he had those items in his vehicle.”

No head shake from Grayson this time. He nodded. Apparently, that was enough to convince him that Ronnie was lying.

“I’ll post a deputy outside his hospital room and keep digging into his background to see what turns up,” Grayson said. “Why don’t you two wait in my office while I call the doctor and get him down here?”

Caitlyn wasn’t sure she could trust the doctor. Any doctor. But her options were limited. She couldn’t just go running out into the rainy night with the baby, and she didn’t even have any supplies.

“Could you please have someone get the baby some formula and diapers?” she asked.

Another nod from Grayson, and he got started on that while Drury led her to Grayson’s office. It wasn’t the first time she’d been there. Once when she’d still been seeing Drury, he’d brought her here to meet his cousins. Of course, they had been a lot friendlier to her than they were now.

Because her legs felt ready to give way, Caitlyn sank down into one of the chairs and looked up at Drury. “Thank you.”

He huffed, clearly not meant to convey “you’re welcome” because he probably hated her for getting him involved in this. Maybe soon she could convince him that she truly was sorry along with making plans to put some distance between them.

But how?

She didn’t even have a phone, and besides even if she had one, Caitlyn wasn’t sure who to call. Maybe a bodyguard, but at this point, she didn’t even know who she could trust.

Other than Drury, that is.

And that trust was on shaky ground. Yes, he would protect her because he was an FBI agent and it was his job, but she’d already put him in danger once and didn’t want to risk doing that again.

“Can you help me arrange for a safe house?” she asked.

A muscle flickered in his jaw, and he pulled a chair from the corner and sat where he was facing her. “Yes, I can do that, but I want you to do something for me. Tell me everything—and I mean everything—about who could be part of this.”

Caitlyn was certain she looked confused. Because she was. “You mean about the baby?”

“For starters. You didn’t have anything to do with what went on at Conceptions, did you?”

That put a huge knot in her stomach. Not because it was true. It wasn’t. But because he would even consider she’d do something like that.

“No. I gave up on having Grant’s baby months before he died.” And she made the mistake of dodging his gaze.

Drury noticed.

He put his fingers beneath her chin, lifting it and forcing eye contact. “Explain that,” he insisted.

Caitlyn hadn’t wanted to get into all of this now, but it could be connected. Could. Still, it would mean reopening old wounds that still hadn’t healed. Never would. Plus, it was hard to discuss any of this when she was holding the baby. Perhaps Grant’s and her baby.

“When Grant was killed, he’d been having an affair,” she said.

“Is that the reason you were divorcing him?”

“Among other things.” Caitlyn paused. “The only reason I’m bringing it up now is because his girlfriend, Melanie Cordova, could be responsible for at least part of this.”

Of course, he looked confused, and Drury motioned for her to continue.

Caitlyn did, after she took a deep breath. “Melanie was devastated after Grant’s death, and it’s possible she’s the one who arranged for the baby to be born. So she could have some part of Grant.”

“Even if that part meant the baby would be yours?” he questioned. “Because as a mistress, you’d think the last thing she would want around was her lover’s baby with another woman.”

“I know,” Caitlyn admitted. Obviously, there were holes in her theory about Melanie’s possible involvement. “But maybe Melanie was so desperate to have Grant’s child that she didn’t care if I was the biological mother.”

Judging from the way his forehead bunched up, Drury clearly wasn’t on board with this. “Then why would Melanie have demanded a ransom? Why even let you know that the child existed?”

Caitlyn had to shake her head. “Unless she just wanted the money to raise the baby. Of course, that doesn’t explain why that thug Ronnie had her.”

“Maybe that wasn’t Melanie’s choice. If she hired him to extort the ransom, he could have double-crossed her and kidnapped the baby.”

Mercy. Caitlyn hadn’t even thought of that. Maybe this was a sick plan that had gone terribly wrong.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen Melanie?” Drury asked. “Is it possible she carried the baby herself, that she’s the surrogate?”

It was yet something else Caitlyn hadn’t considered, but she had to nod. “I haven’t seen her in over a year. For a few months after Grant died, she stalked me. Followed me, kept calling, that sort of thing, but that all stopped about a year ago.”

Perhaps around the time Melanie would have been arranging for the procedure to have the baby.

Caitlyn didn’t have to ask how Melanie would have gotten the fertilized embryo from Conceptions. She could have bribed someone in the clinic, possibly even the former clinic manager who’d orchestrated several births just so she could extort money from the babies’ biological parents. Something that Drury knew all too well.

Since two of those babies were his twin niece and nephew.

The clinic manager was dead now, killed in a gunfight with Drury’s brother Holden so she couldn’t give them answers, but it was possible that Melanie could.

Drury stood. “I’ll make some calls and get Melanie in for questioning.”

He took out his phone, but before he could do anything, Grayson stepped into the doorway. One look at his face, and Caitlyn knew something was wrong.

“Ronnie called Child Protective Services,” Grayson said. “He wants the baby in their custody.”

That robbed Caitlyn of her breath, and she stood, as well. She also pulled the baby even closer to her. “It’s some kind of trick. Ronnie probably figures it’ll be easier to snatch the baby from foster care than from me.”

Grayson made a sound of agreement. “But that won’t stop CPS from taking her. They’re on their way here now.”

Caitlyn would have bolted for the door if Drury hadn’t stopped her. No. This couldn’t be happening.

“If I let them take the baby, it’d be like giving her back to Ronnie,” Caitlyn pleaded. “I can’t do that.”

She braced herself for an argument, but one didn’t come.

“Ronnie tried to kill me,” Drury reminded Grayson. “Anything he does is suspect, and Caitlyn is right. He or one of his thug friends would have a much easier time getting the baby from CPS. In fact, the plan could be to kidnap her as soon as she’s taken from the building.”

Still no argument from Grayson, but he did stay quiet a moment. Before he nodded. “I don’t trust Ronnie, either. Or rather I don’t trust the person he’s working for.” Grayson looked at Caitlyn. “That still doesn’t mean I can give you a blank check on this. How much time will you need to prove she’s your daughter?”

Caitlyn had to shake her head. “How much time for you to arrange another DNA test, one that would hold up against a court order?”

“Forty-eight hours, maybe even sooner, if we put a rush on it,” Drury answered. “We’ll need the lab you used to process Grant’s DNA, though.”

Yes, because she didn’t want to take the time to try to find another hair sample. “I used Bio-tech in San Antonio. They’ll have both Grant’s and my DNA on file there.”

She could see the debate Grayson was having with himself. He was a lawman. A good one, judging from everything she’d heard. And it likely didn’t set well with him that this would essentially be an obstruction of justice since he was allowing Caitlyn to walk away with the baby rather than turning her over to CPS.

“All right,” Grayson finally said. “Forty-eight hours. I’ll get the DNA test kit. After that, go ahead and get Caitlyn and her out of here.”

The relief was instant, and it left her just as breathless as the news of Ronnie calling CPS. She wasn’t going to have to give up the baby. Not just yet anyway. But that didn’t mean she had a safe place to take her.

“Where?” she asked Drury and hoped he had some idea.

“Don’t tell me where you’re going,” Grayson quickly added. “I don’t want to have to lie to CPS. Oh, and figure out how the baby can get a checkup from the doctor.” He walked away, no doubt to get that kit.

She certainly hadn’t forgotten about the checkup but didn’t know how to make it happen.

“It’s not a good idea to go back to my place,” Caitlyn insisted before Drury could say anything. “Or yours.”

“Agreed. But there’s a guesthouse on the back part of the ranch. It’s out of sight from the other houses, including Grayson’s, and we can use it just for tonight. Since my cousins have lots of babies, it’ll be easier for us to get supplies.”

“It’ll also make them a target if Ronnie and his goon friends attack again,” she quickly pointed out.

“We can lock down the ranch, close the security gate and use some of the hands for extra protection.”

Maybe, but Caitlyn still wasn’t sold on the idea. Think. Where else could she go? And preferably some place that didn’t put others in danger.

“It’s just for tonight,” Drury said as if he knew what was going through her mind. “The baby will need to be fed soon, and it won’t be long before CPS arrives.”

True. Still, Caitlyn didn’t like it one bit.

“Are you, uh, okay with this?” But she immediately waved off her question. “Of course you’re not okay. First thing in the morning, I promise, I’ll start looking for bodyguards.”

He didn’t give her his opinion on that. “I’ll pull an unmarked car to the back of the building.”

Drury headed out as Grayson came in with the DNA test kit. He’d obviously done this before because he did the cheek swab in just a few seconds. The baby still stirred a little and made a whimpering sound of protest, but she went right back to sleep.

“I’ll have this couriered to the lab,” Grayson explained as he started toward the door again. But he stopped. “If the child’s not yours, I’ll expect you to turn her over to CPS. Got that?”

She nodded. Caitlyn understood that’s what would have to happen. Well, she understood with her head anyway. It was her heart that was giving her some trouble because Caitlyn felt as if this baby already belonged to her. It would crush her to learn differently.

Caitlyn heard the footsteps in the hall and automatically tensed, but it was just Drury. He glanced at the DNA packet.

“I’ll call you as soon as we have the results,” Grayson assured them.

Drury took her by the arm and led her to the back of the building and through a break room. He paused at the exit, opening the door and glancing around. He also drew his weapon before he helped her out and into the backseat of the waiting unmarked car.

Which wasn’t empty.

Drury’s brother Lucas was behind the wheel.

“Lucas came when he heard about the attack,” Drury said.

Since Lucas was a Texas Ranger, it made sense that he would know about the attack, but it surprised her that he would involve himself in this. Like most of the Rylands, Lucas disliked her, maybe even hated her, because of the nasty breakup between Drury and her.

Lucas didn’t say a word to her, though he did spare her a glance in the rearview mirror. He took off as soon as Drury had shut the door.

Drury kept his gun drawn, and he looked all around them. No doubt for any thugs who might be watching for them to leave.

Suddenly, a new wave of fear crawled through her. As bad as it’d been inside the sheriff’s office, this was worse.

“Is the car bulletproof?” she asked, and she hated the tremble in her voice.

“Bullet resistant,” Drury corrected.

She wasn’t certain, but Caitlyn thought that meant they could still be shot. Drury was certainly aware of that possibility, too. And this had to be bringing back god-awful memories for him.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

There was no way Drury could have known what the blanket apology meant. Or at least she hadn’t thought he would know, but when he glanced at her, she saw it in his eyes. The memories.

Or rather the nightmare.

Of his wife. Lily. She’d been killed by a gunman’s bullet in a botched store robbery, and while Caitlyn didn’t know all the details, she knew Drury had still been grieving her loss when they’d met. Heck, he probably still was.

And she hadn’t helped with that.

Just as Drury had started to risk his heart again, she’d stomped on it. It didn’t matter that she thought she had a good reason. Several of them in fact. No. It didn’t matter.

Drury’s phone buzzed, and Caitlyn prayed this wasn’t another round of bad news. However, that wasn’t a bad news kind of look on Drury’s face when he looked at the screen.

“Don’t say anything,” he warned her. He pressed the answer button and put the call on speaker.

It didn’t take long for her to hear the caller’s voice. “What the hell did you do?” the man asked.

Caitlyn immediately recognized the voice, and it only tightened the knot in her stomach. Because it was her former brother-in-law and one of her suspects.

Jeremy.

“Well?” Jeremy snapped when Drury didn’t immediately answer.

“Well what?” Drury snapped right back.

“You know. You damn well know.”

Drury huffed. “I’m giving you one more chance to make sense, and if you don’t, I’m ending this call. Then you can bother someone else. What is it that you think I did?”

“You sent those men after me,” Jeremy insisted.

Drury looked at Caitlyn, no doubt to see if she knew anything about this, but she shook her head.

“What men?” Drury questioned.

“The men who want money. A ransom, they said. They want me to pay them for Grant’s kid.”

It took Caitlyn a moment for that to sink in. Had the kidnappers really contacted Jeremy? If so, they’d probably done the same to his mother, too. Of course, that was assuming that Jeremy was telling the truth, but Caitlyn didn’t trust him. Trusted his mother even less.

Drury cursed. “Start talking, and tell me everything,” he ordered Jeremy.

“I’ve already told you everything. Two men showed up at my office a couple of minutes ago. Or rather the parking lot at my office. They accosted me, showed me a picture of some kid that they claimed was Grant and Caitlyn’s.”

“Who were the men?” Drury pressed. “And where are they now?”

“I don’t know. Never saw them before in my life. But they said something about the kid being born through a surrogate and if I wanted the kid that I was to pony up a million bucks. They said I had one hour to get the cash, and they left. They drove off in a black SUV.”

“I’m still trying to figure out why you think I had anything to do with this,” Drury said.

Jeremy made a sound to indicate that the answer was obvious. It wasn’t. “The men told me to pay the money to you.”

Because Drury’s arm was touching hers, she felt his muscles tense. “Me?”

But Jeremy didn’t jump to verify that. Instead, he cursed. “The men are back.”

Caitlyn heard some shouts, one of them belonging to Jeremy. “Stop!” he yelled.

“Get someone out to Jeremy Denson’s office,” Drury told his brother. “Jeremy, are you there?”

No answer.

The line was dead.

Chapter Five

Drury waited. Something he’d been doing all night.

Patience had never been his strong suit, and that was especially true now. He wanted answers. Answers that he wasn’t getting. Well, he wasn’t getting the right answers anyway.

He’d certainly gotten a string of wrong ones.

No news on Jeremy. Nothing else on the kidnappers, either. Ronnie was sticking to his story about Caitlyn stealing his child. And CPS was pushing Grayson to disclose the location of the baby.

Grayson was staying quiet for now on anything about the baby, though he almost certainly knew that they were at the ranch. Drury wasn’t sure how long Grayson’s silence would last. Especially since CPS had said they would get protection for the little girl. If they did that, Drury wasn’t even sure it was a good idea for Caitlyn and him to keep her.

Unless the child turned out to be hers, that is.

If the baby was indeed her child, then there was no way Caitlyn would give her up. A match wouldn’t mean the baby was safe, though. Caitlyn, either. And that left Drury with another question for which he didn’t have an answer.

What then?

The logical part of him was saying he should step away from this. That his past with Caitlyn was just that—the past. But the illogical part of him put up an argument about it. Drury figured it had plenty to do with the old attraction. The one that was still there.

He threw back the covers and got off the sofa where he’d spent the night. Not sleeping, that’s for sure. The sofa was about six inches too short for his body, and the thoughts racing through his head hadn’t exactly spurred a peaceful sleep. He could still hear the shots. Could still see that look of terror on Caitlyn’s face.

Of course, the shooting had brought back the old memories. Of that same look of terror on Lily’s face before she’d died in his arms. Memories that he pushed aside. Like the attraction for Caitlyn, he didn’t want to cloud his mind with things from the past that he couldn’t change.

Since he didn’t hear Caitlyn stirring in the bedroom, he tried to be quiet when he went to the kitchen and made some coffee. The small counter was dotted with baby formula and other supplies. Something Lucas had managed to get for them before he’d left the guesthouse shortly after midnight. Later, Drury would need to thank him for helping. Grayson, too.

And that thanks would include them not mentioning that he shouldn’t be under the same roof with Caitlyn.

Drury sipped his coffee, went through his emails on the laptop that Lucas had also provided. No updates since the last time he checked other than Grayson was going to have the deputy at the hospital talk to Ronnie again. Maybe the man would cave on his story so that there’d be no question about Caitlyn’s innocence.

She already had enough strikes against her with his family of lawmen without adding that.

He heard a slight thudding sound in the bedroom, and Drury practically threw his coffee cup on the table and hurried to find out if anything had happened. Not that he had to go far. It was literally only a few steps from the kitchen. He drew his gun from his shoulder holster and threw open the door, bracing himself for the worst. But it wasn’t the worst.

Caitlyn was standing there naked.

Almost naked anyway. She was putting on an oversize bathrobe, and he got a glimpse of her body before she managed to yank the sides together and tie the sash.

“Sorry,” she whispered. Maybe an apology for the peep show. Or maybe because she’d clearly startled him. Caitlyn picked up the plastic baby bottle that she’d obviously dropped. “I’m on edge, too,” she added.

No doubt, but at the moment she didn’t exactly look on edge. Their gazes connected. Held. And he saw in her eyes something he didn’t want to see. The old heat.

Drury looked away and reholstered his gun. Since he was already there, he also checked on the baby. There’d been no time to get a crib, so the little girl was sleeping on the center of the bed where she’d likely spent most of the night. The covers on the floor told him that Caitlyn had probably slept there.

“I was afraid of rolling onto her during the night,” Caitlyn said. “She’s so little.” There was some fear in her voice, but he didn’t think it was from the danger but rather because it was true. The baby really was tiny.

“Did she sleep okay?” he asked.

Caitlyn nodded, then shrugged. “I guess she did. I don’t really know how often a baby should be waking up.”

Neither did Drury, but Caitlyn had gotten up twice in the night to warm bottles. Drury had asked if he could help. Especially since Caitlyn had had to walk right past him to get to the kitchen. But she’d declined his offer.

“Please tell me you have good news. Any good news,” Caitlyn said.

It took Drury a couple of moments to come up with something that could possibly be considered good. “Grayson is bringing in both Helen and Melanie for questioning.”

Caitlyn flexed her eyebrows. “I’m betting neither was happy about that.”

“They weren’t. Especially Helen. Grayson said she didn’t seem too concerned when he told her about the call we’d gotten from Jeremy.”

“She wouldn’t be. Jeremy and she haven’t been on friendly terms in years. Jeremy’s a hothead.”

Yeah, Drury had figured that out from the brief phone call. But the “hothead” was about to be labeled a missing person if they didn’t hear from him soon.

“Someone had tampered with the security cameras in the parking garage where Jeremy made that call,” he explained. “There’s no footage for fifteen minutes before the call or for a half hour afterward.”

She stayed quiet a moment. “You think Jeremy could have really been kidnapped?”

Drury had to lift his shoulder. “You know him better than I do. Would he fake a disappearance?”

“Yes,” Caitlyn said without hesitation. “If it benefited him in some way. And this possibly could if he thought he was a suspect in the attack last night.” But then she shook her head. “Of course, he wouldn’t have had any part in her birth.” She glanced at the baby.

“Because he wouldn’t want to share his inheritance.” Drury remembered Caitlyn mentioning that. “But if he’s worried about splitting an inheritance, wouldn’t he try to smooth things over with his mom?”

“Helen can’t cut him out of the estate. That’s in the terms of his late father’s will. Jeremy will inherit everything unless Grant has an heir.”

Drury figured the estate had to be worth millions. Still, it took a coldhearted SOB to go after a child because of money. If that’s what Jeremy had done. Considering the bad blood between him and his mother, Helen might have used this as an opportunity to get rid of Jeremy, her sole surviving son.

Especially if the woman thought she had a new heir. Grant’s baby.

“I was about to take a shower.” Caitlyn fluttered her fingers toward the adjoining bathroom. “That’s why I wasn’t dressed when you came in. I was going to put her in the carrier on the bathroom floor, but could you watch her?”

Drury nodded. And hoped the baby didn’t wake up. Unlike his cousins, he just wasn’t comfortable holding a newborn.

“I won’t be long,” Caitlyn added, and she hurried into the bathroom.

He sank down on the edge of the bed and studied the little girl’s face. He could see Caitlyn’s mouth and chin. Or at least he thought he could. No resemblance to Grant, though, and it surprised him a little to realize that even if he had seen it, it wouldn’t have made him uneasy. His beef had never been with Grant.

But rather Caitlyn leaving him to be with Grant.

Of course, it was his own stupid fault for handing Caitlyn his heart when he knew he was the wrong man for her. She’d told him right from the get-go that she couldn’t get involved with a lawman. Not after her lawman father’s violent death. Even after they’d started an affair, she had continued to tell Drury that it could never be more than temporary between them.

Too bad he hadn’t believed her.

Caitlyn was right about not being too long. She stayed in the shower only a couple of minutes, and it took her even less than that to dress. She hurried out while combing her wet hair.

She smelled like roses.

The soap, no doubt, but it was something he wished he hadn’t noticed.

“Thanks,” she said.

Since it was time for him to get the heck out of the bedroom, Drury stood, but the moment he did, the baby squirmed a little and made a fussing sound. He stepped back so that Caitlyn could go to her and take her in her arms.

They made a picture together. And Drury had no trouble seeing the love for the child in Caitlyn’s eyes.

“I know,” Caitlyn said, following his gaze to the baby. “I shouldn’t get so attached. But I’ve always wanted a child, so it’s hard not to have deep feelings for her.”

An understatement. Caitlyn had really wanted a child. Something she’d made clear when they were together.

Something that had driven a wedge between them, too.

Heck, it still made him take a step back now.

Too many memories. More of those old ones that he wanted to forget. But couldn’t. Because he hadn’t just lost his wife the day she’d been murdered. He’d lost the child that she’d been carrying.

“Will you still help me with a safe house?” she asked. “An unofficial one, of course. I don’t think you want to use FBI channels.”

Neither did he. “I’ll help with the house.” Hell, he’d ended up helping with plenty of things he didn’t want to help with, but despite their past he was still a sucker for a damsel in distress, and at the moment Caitlyn was in a lot of distress.

She mumbled another thanks. “I was going to get started on contacting some bodyguards, and I was hoping I could use your laptop to get some phone numbers.”

He nearly offered her a protection detail. But he was also toeing the line on the law. Heck, he’d probably crossed over that line, and he didn’t want to bring any of his fellow agents or family into this.

“The laptop’s on the table in the kitchen,” he said.

She gathered the blanket around the baby and headed that direction. Drury followed, but before he even made it there, his phone buzzed, and he saw Grayson’s name on the screen. He considered not putting the call on speaker, just in case this was more bad news, but he’d end up telling Caitlyn about the conversation anyway.

“You’re on speaker,” Drury warned Grayson right off, though he doubted that would change anything Grayson had to say.

“Good. Because Caitlyn needs to hear this. I’ve arranged for the doctor to examine the baby. Yeah, I know. It’s a risk, but she needs to be checked out.”

“I agree.” A weary sigh left Caitlyn’s mouth. “And it’s something I should have remembered to do.”

“You’ve had a lot on your mind lately.” There was a touch of sarcasm in Grayson’s tone. “I want you two to take the baby to the hospital. And don’t worry, she won’t be near Ronnie. The doctor will meet you in his private office to do the exam. I’ve arranged for Lucas and one of the deputies to escort you there.”

Escort was a nice way of saying back up in case someone tried to gun them down again.

“Anything new from Ronnie?” Drury asked.

“Nothing. He’s lawyered up and is refusing to cooperate with us. Not CPS, though. He’s still pressuring them to give him the baby. Which they won’t do,” Grayson quickly added. “Not without DNA proof anyway, and it’ll be tomorrow before we have that.”

“The DNA will show that Ronnie’s not the father,” Caitlyn said like gospel, and Drury hoped that was true.

He didn’t exactly relish the idea of handing over a child to someone who’d shot at him. Of course, that wouldn’t happen anyway unless Ronnie was cleared of all charges.

“Ronnie said he can prove the baby is his,” Grayson went on. “Because he can describe the birthmark on her ankle. Does she have a birthmark?”

“She does,” Caitlyn admitted. “But Ronnie could have easily seen it when he had her.”

“That was my theory, too. By the way, Melanie’s on her way in,” Grayson added a moment later. “Drury, if you want to be here for the interview, you could have Lucas or someone else stay with Caitlyn and the baby.”

It was tempting. “When will she be there?” Drury asked.

“Within the hour.” He paused. “I have plenty of questions for her now that I’ve read the police report for Grant’s car accident. Melanie’s purse was found in the vehicle.”

Drury had read the report, too. Not recently. But shortly after Grant had died. Why? He didn’t know. It was a way of picking at those old wounds, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. So, yeah, he knew about Melanie’s purse.

Obviously so did Caitlyn. “Melanie claimed that Grant and she had been together that night, but when he dropped her off at her place, she forgot her purse.” She frowned. “The police cleared her as a suspect, but you think Melanie could have had something to do with his death?”

“Do you?” Grayson asked right back.

She certainly didn’t jump to deny it. Caitlyn took a moment and gently rocked the baby even though the little girl was no longer fussing. “Possibly. Jeremy is still my top suspect for that. If it wasn’t an accident, that is. But I suppose Melanie could have been upset with Grant about something.”

“You don’t know?” Grayson pressed.

“No. By then Grant and I were separated. That’s why I was a suspect at first, but I was cleared, too, because it was ruled an accident. Added to that, I had an alibi.”

“A ruptured appendix,” Drury mumbled.

Caitlyn’s gaze raced to his, and she looked a little surprised that he knew that. When it came to her, Drury always seemed to know a little too much. Like that she’d nearly died herself that night and was in emergency surgery at the same time her estranged husband swerved off the road and hit a tree. Since there’d been other skid marks nearby, the cops had first thought someone had run him off the road, but the CSIs hadn’t been able to prove that the marks were made the exact same time as the accident.

“I just want to know as much about Melanie as possible before I question her,” Grayson went on. “Does she have any hot buttons?”

“Me,” Caitlyn answered. “Until I filed for divorce, she was harassing me. She hates me. That’s why I told Drury that I didn’t think she had anything to do with the baby or Conceptions Clinic.”

Grayson made a sound to indicate he was withholding judgment on that. “I’ll let you know if I find out anything from her, and I’ll have Lucas give you a call once he’s on his way there. By the way, Lucas didn’t tell me exactly where you were on the ranch, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

So would Drury. The fewer people who knew, the better.

Drury ended the call, and since Caitlyn had said she wanted to use his laptop, he turned it in her direction. She glanced at the baby. Then at him.

“I’ll get the carrier from the bedroom,” she said, not giving him a chance to decline to hold the baby. Not that he would have. But Caitlyn must have realized that it wasn’t something he wanted to do.

Several moments later, she came back into the kitchen, the baby already snuggled into the carrier, and she set the carrier on the table next to the laptop.

“For a bodyguard search, try starting with Sencor Agency in San Antonio,” he suggested.

She muttered a thanks and got started on that just as Drury’s phone buzzed again. Not Grayson this time but rather his brother Mason, who lived at the main house on the ranch.

“We have a visitor,” Mason growled the moment Drury answered. “She’s at the security gate pitching a fit. I didn’t tell her either of you were here, but she’s insisting on seeing Caitlyn.”

Even though Drury didn’t have the phone on speaker, either Caitlyn heard or else she noticed the alarm on Drury’s face because she slowly got to her feet.

“Who is it? Melanie?” Drury asked.

“No. It’s Caitlyn’s mother-in-law, Helen. And along with demanding to see Caitlyn, she says she wants her grandbaby right now.”

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