Delores Fossen - Drury

“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.