Rita Herron - His Secret Christmas Baby

Derrick shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather bomber jacket. “I just got into town. I have a couple of things to take care of.”

Cramer narrowed his eyes. “What kind of things?”

Derrick debated whether to tell him the truth. But if the sheriff showed up at the Phillipses’ door, they might panic and run. Unless they’d already left town…

He’d check them out on his own.

“I have to meet my boss before he leaves town. And I’m going to get a trace put on Brianna’s phone, and have her calls forwarded to her cell in case the kidnapper calls.”

“You’re working for Gage McDermont?”

Derrick nodded. “He and Leah are going on a second honeymoon. I need to fill him in on what’s happened.”

“You’re not holding out on me, are you?”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize this case.”

“Did Brianna give you some idea who might have kidnapped the baby?” Cramer asked.

He shook his head. “No. What’s your next move?”

Cramer glanced at the woods. “I’ll call in some deputies from the county and form a search party to check any abandoned houses and cabins in the woods.”

Derrick nodded. “I’ll ask Brock Running Bear from GAI to help with the search. Check the hotels, too.”

Cramer pulled at his chin. “I planned to.”

Derrick strode to his car, climbed in and started the engine. He hated to leave Brianna alone, but she should be safe with the sheriff there. And the clock was ticking. He quickly called GAI. Ben agreed to set up the trace and have Brock join the search parties.

Early morning sunlight filtered through the trees, glistening off the snowpacked ground and mountaintops as he drove toward town. The Phillips couple lived in a small ranch in one of the older subdivisions on the edge of Sanctuary, a redbrick with neatly trimmed boxwoods lining the front. A fenced-in yard encased the back. He checked for a dog, but didn’t hear one barking or see an animal as he glanced around the corner of the house.

The lights were off, and he wondered if the Phillipses were still in bed, or if they’d already left for work. Suddenly a light flicked on at the end of the house in the front room, and he stepped to the side to look inside, and saw a man in the kitchen.

He debated on whether to confront the couple, or stake them out, and decided on the latter. He crept back to his car and slipped inside so he could watch the front.

If they exited with the baby, he’d catch them red-handed.

B RIANNA SAID A SILENT PRAYER that the Phillips couple had Ryan. At least she would know that he was safe, not with some dangerous child molester or someone wanting money.

Money she didn’t have.

And if Derrick wasn’t Ryan’s father, who was? Natalie hadn’t mentioned being involved with anyone else. Although Natalie had always been freer about sleeping around than she was.

In fact, she was shocked when Natalie turned up pregnant. Her friend had always been careful and insisted she didn’t want to settle down.

Sheriff Cramer strode back downstairs. He’d been showing the CSI team the nursery. They were dusting for prints and combing the rooms and stairs for evidence.

Arms folded, he crossed the room to her. She was still resting on the couch and pulled her robe tighter around her, anxious for the men to leave so she could shower and dress. Maybe by then, Derrick would call.

Or return with Ryan.

“Brianna, I know McKinney asked you this, but can you think of anyone who’d want to kidnap the baby?”

She shook her head. Natalie had seemed worried at the hospital. But maybe she’d imagined that fear.

“You don’t happen to have some money stowed away somewhere? Maybe an inheritance?”

A sarcastic laugh escaped her. “No, I grew up at Magnolia Manor,” she said. “Mother left me there when I was seven. Never knew my father.” She fiddled with the strap of her robe. “And if I did have money, I’d donate it to Magnolia Manor to help the other needy kids.”

“Do you have a picture of the baby? I’ll need it for the media and so I can fax it to the Web site for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.”

She’d taken dozens in the last six weeks. Had even bought a new digital camera so she could download them to her computer.

“Yes.” She pushed herself up. “Let me get you one.”

She walked over to the table, then glanced at the assortment of photographs. First the one from the hospital the night Ryan had been born. Another photo two weeks later in a sailor’s outfit. Another the next week in a baseball hat. But her gaze rested on the photo she’d snapped the week before.

She’d propped Ryan up in the infant seat, and dressed him in a soft blue terry cloth sleeper. The picture showed his pale blond hair, his toothless grin and his chubby cheeks. He’d already changed from birth. In fact, he seemed to change every day.

Grief assailed her. Natalie was missing it all. But she’d trusted Brianna to care for him, and she’d let her down. What would happen if they didn’t find Ryan soon?

He might change so much she wouldn’t even recognize him….

Swiping at fresh tears, she handed the picture to the sheriff. “Here, this one is the most recent.”

“I’ll get it sent ASAP.” He offered her a tight smile. “Try to hang in there, Brianna. I’ll send a deputy here to watch the house if you want.”

She shook her head then hugged her arms around herself. “No, I’m fine. Besides, if that man had wanted to kill me, he would have. He obviously just wanted the baby.”

“Now we just have to figure out the reason,” the sheriff said. “And wait for a ransom call.”

Brianna twisted her hands together, praying the kidnapper would phone. Or that Derrick found Ryan first. That he brought him back safely and this nightmare would end.

C AREFUL NOT TO LET THE neighbors see him, Derrick slumped in the seat as two of them pulled from their driveways and passed his car.

The cold seeped through him, but he’d long ago grown used to stakeouts. He just wished he’d brought a thermos of coffee to warm his hands and stave off the exhaustion weighing on him from lack of sleep.

Finally the front door of the Phillipses’ house opened, and a man dressed in jeans and work boots carrying a hard hat stepped out. A woman stood behind him in a thick bathrobe, tears streaming down her face. The man shouted something he couldn’t distinguish, then turned and stormed toward his car. When he climbed inside, he slammed the door and took off, speeding from the drive as if he wanted to escape. The woman slammed the house door, then disappeared inside.

Derrick frowned. It appeared the couple was having marital problems. Maybe arguing over whether or not they should have kidnapped the baby?

If they had, why would they stay in town? Why wouldn’t they have disappeared?

They would have to know that Brianna would confide about her altercation with them and the sheriff would check them out.

He needed to talk to the husband alone, but first he wanted to see if the baby was inside, so he remained parked, watching. A half hour later, the woman appeared at the door again, this time dressed and wearing a long black coat. The snowfall had ceased, but the driveway had accumulated a couple of inches of snow, so she slowly picked her way to the car.

She wasn’t carrying a baby, and he didn’t see a child’s seat in the car, either.

Maybe she had a sitter inside?

Or what if she had hired someone to kidnap the baby? She could be meeting with him later to pick up Ryan.

Although at the moment, she didn’t have a diaper bag or any supplies with her. And she didn’t bring a suitcase, so she wasn’t leaving town.