Delores Fossen - Lucas

From the moment Camden had been born, Lucas had known it might come down to this. But as every day had passed with Hailey in a coma, he’d also considered that she might never wake up. That she might never have a claim on their child. Now, here she was, and Lucas was having to face one of his worst fears.

That he might lose his son.

Not to a kidnapper, either. But to Hailey. She wouldn’t be able to get full custody of Camden. No way would Lucas allow that, but she would be entitled to visitation rights. Considering she was in WITSEC, that was going to be tricky. And not very safe for any of them.

Moving ahead of her, Lucas led her down the hall. She caught onto the side of the wall to steady herself, and she was probably moving as fast as she could go.

When they reached the nursery, Lucas stepped in, his gaze immediately connecting with the nanny’s. There was just as much concern in Tillie’s expression as there had been in Mason’s. But she stepped aside so that Lucas—and Hailey—had the crib in their direct line of sight.

Where Camden was sleeping.

“I’ll be in the living room if you need me,” Tillie said, but her offer seemed to be a question, as if maybe he wanted her to stay.

Lucas nodded, giving her the go-ahead to leave, but Hailey didn’t wait for Tillie to be out the door before she hobbled her way to the crib. The sound that left her mouth crushed at his heart. Part moan, part sigh.

All love.

It was a sound and a look that Lucas felt all too well because he got that same punch of emotion every time he was near his son. And even when he wasn’t.

“He’s so beautiful,” Hailey whispered, touching her fingers to the wispy strands of dark brown hair.

Lucas had to agree with her, but he was certain that was the reaction of most parents. Certain, too, that Hailey would want to do more than just touch his hair. She looked back at him, as if waiting for permission. She didn’t wait long, though, before she scooped Camden up in her arms.

She made that sound again and kissed his cheek. Even though Camden stirred a little, he went right back to sleep. Good. Even though his son was too young to know what was going on, Lucas didn’t want to risk Camden being upset by having his sleep interrupted. He also didn’t want to risk Hailey falling with the child, and since her legs were obviously still wobbly, he helped her to the nearby chair.

“Is he healthy?” she asked.

“Yeah.” It was hard for him to talk about something so—well—normal. “He’s right on target for his height, weight and milestones.”

She nodded and looked up at him, and that’s when he saw the tears in her eyes. “I was so scared that he’d been hurt in the accident.”

“He could have been,” Lucas quickly pointed out, but then instantly regretted the jab. It was the truth, but stating the obvious didn’t make him feel any better.

“I know. I’m so sorry. When I ran, my only thought was to keep him safe.”

Lucas nearly went for another jab by reminding her that the safe thing to do would have been to come to him, but that ship had already sailed. They were here now and had to deal with this. Not just the danger, either. But all those old feelings.

He’d been attracted to her once and vice versa. That’s what had landed them in bed in the first place. And while there were still some lingering traces of the attraction, it wouldn’t play into this. He hoped the bitterness he felt over what’d happened wouldn’t, either. Right now, bitterness wouldn’t help.

He was about to question her more about the night of the accident, to see if she remembered any details that would help them find out who was responsible for the attacks, but Hailey spoke before he did.

“Tell me about the delivery,” she said.

Lucas paused, not because he intended to hold anything back, but because remembering that night still felt like a punch to the gut.

“I was scared,” he admitted. “We didn’t know if there’d been trauma to the baby, and since you were so close to your due date, the docs did a C-section on you. But everything turned out okay. Everything except that you were in a coma,” Lucas added.

She, too, paused. Then nodded. “I’ve heard that some people remember and hear things while they’re in comas. I didn’t.” She brushed another kiss on Camden’s cheek. “I wish I could remember seeing him as a newborn. He’s already so big.”

Camden was, but while Hailey had indeed missed a lot, the baby wasn’t old enough to have noticed that his mom hadn’t been around.

Hailey looked up at Lucas again, those tears still shimmering in her eyes. “I know this is hard for you. You haven’t had to share him with anyone for the past three months.”

Lucas wasn’t sure how to respond to that and didn’t get a chance to say anything anyway, because Mason appeared in the doorway. One look at his cousin’s face and Lucas knew something else had gone wrong. Apparently so did Hailey, because she slowly got to her feet, her attention nailed to Mason.

“The gunman died on the way to the hospital,” Mason said.

Hell. Lucas had wanted him alive so they could get answers. But maybe they could still do that. “Did he have a phone on him? Maybe his boss’s number is in his contacts?”

Mason nodded. “Grayson will check for that, but there’s more.” He paused. “The ranch hands did a thorough search of the fence line in that back part of the ranch, and it appears the dead thug didn’t come alone. There were enough tracks back there for three people.”

Lucas bit back the profanity that he nearly blurted out, something he’d been training himself to do now that he was a father. Still, it was hard not to curse about that. “Any other signs of the men?”

“No. They’re apparently gone. For now, anyway.”

That didn’t mean they wouldn’t be back. Maybe even tonight, since the darkness would give them an advantage for an attack.

“I’ve got men patrolling the entire ranch,” Mason went on. “I also called everyone and told them to lock down and stay inside.”

By “everyone” he meant his brothers and their cousins. No one would be leaving and coming onto the ranch unless Mason gave the okay. Which he wouldn’t do until he was certain it was safe. And Lucas knew what that meant.

This time he wasn’t able to stop himself from cursing.

Because it meant Hailey would have to stay there.

Of course, he probably wouldn’t have been able to talk her into budging since she’d want to be near the baby, but Lucas had planned on having her sleep far away from the Silver Creek Ranch. Far away from Camden, too.

“I’m so sorry,” Hailey whispered. Maybe she was apologizing again for the danger. But one look in her eyes and Lucas knew the reason for this “I’m sorry.” She had also figured out what the sleeping arrangements would be.

“You can stay in the guest room,” Lucas growled. It was at the end of the hall, as far away as he could get her while still having her under the same roof.

Hailey mumbled a thanks, and while Lucas thought part of her looked relieved, that was still fear he saw in her eyes. Worry, too. Especially worry when she looked at Mason again. His cousin wasn’t budging. Mason continued to stand there, his hands bracketed on the doorjamb.

“What else happened?” Hailey asked Mason. Her voice was shaky again, probably because she knew they were about to get another dose of bad news.

“Grayson tried to get in touch with Colleen, so he could bring her in for questioning.” Mason paused again. “But there’s a problem. Colleen is missing.”

* * *

HAILEY HOPED THIS medical exam wasn’t a mistake.

She wasn’t certain about the ER physician, Dr. Parton, but Lucas had assured her that Parton wasn’t the one who’d planted that bug in her hospital room, that the doctor was trustworthy. So, that’s what Hailey was going to do—trust him. Besides, she needed to make sure she was okay. Not just for her sake but to soothe some of the concern on Lucas’s face.