Delores Fossen - Secret Surrogate

That ruled out kidnapping for money.

It didn’t rule out kidnapping for other reasons.

Revenge. Criminal intent. Perhaps even a way of silencing or punishing her. He’d need to narrow down the possible motives so he could narrow down the list of possible suspects.

“How far along are you in the pregnancy?” Finn asked Kylie.

Even though Lucas didn’t hear Kylie’s softly delivered answer, the question sent Lucas’s blood pressure up a significant notch. He glanced into the examining room. Finn hadn’t shut the door all the way—it was open just a few inches—but it gave Lucas a much clearer view than he wanted.

Kylie had her gaze fastened toward the ceiling, and her left arm was angled so that the back of her hand rested against her forehead. Finn had indeed pushed her gown up to her waist, exposing her bare legs. And her panties. Cotton. Nothing provocative.

Lucas mentally repeated that to himself.

And wondered why it didn’t sink in.

Finn had a stethoscope pressed to Kylie’s stomach, which was also bare, and after a couple of moments, he gave an approving nod.

Finn’s gaze met Lucas’s and with that brief look, Finn conveyed his concern. His empathy.

And his questions.

Finn knew the hell that Lucas and Kylie had gone through. And he also knew that Kylie had had a huge part in creating that particular hell. Now, Finn was probably wondering how Lucas was dealing with the fact that Kylie was pregnant.

Lucas wasn’t dealing with it well.

“Is the baby okay?” Kylie asked.

Finally, she was speaking normally. No slurred words. No mumbling. Lucas felt relief. Then anger for feeling relief that she was apparently all right. Then guilt for feeling the anger.

Oh, man.

Much more of this, and he’d need therapy.

“The baby’s got a steady, solid heartbeat,” Finn relayed in a voice loud enough so that Lucas could hear. “Your heartbeat’s solid as well, Kylie. No visible signs of injury other than a few bruises and scrapes.”

So she wasn’t seriously hurt. That was something at least.

“Lucas?” he heard the person on the other end of the phone line say. Sheriff Dillon Knight. Lucas welcomed the intrusion. Heck, at this point he’d welcome anything as long as he didn’t have to think about Kylie, her baby and what was going on in that examining room.

“You found something?” Lucas asked, tuning out what Kylie was now saying to Finn.

“Nothing good. It looks as if the men made a getaway on the old lake road.”

That’s what Lucas had figured, too. “There will be tire tracks. And blood. I used my knife on one of them, and he probably left a trail of his DNA all the way to the lake.”

“I saw that. We’ve got the area cordoned off so the county forensic guys can come out and have a look. Maybe they’ll find a print or two. Or else they can run the blood and find a match in CODIS.”

CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System. A data bank of sorts. But the only way there’d be a match would be if the wounded would-be kidnapper’s DNA was already on file in the system.

Which wasn’t too much of a long shot.

After all, neither man had been tentative about committing a felony. They’d probably done something criminal before. Or at least, Lucas hoped they had. Because a match in CODIS would give him a name. And with a name, he might be able to figure out why this had happened. That was vital; he needed to solve this case so there’d be no reason for him to be around Kylie.

“I’ll keep you posted,” Sheriff Knight told him as he ended the call.

Lucas slipped his phone into his jacket pocket, turned back to the doorway and saw Finn standing there, his hands bracketed on each side of the jamb. In physical appearance, they were practically opposites. Finn, with his moon-blond hair, blue eyes and his natural surfer-dude tan. Definitely not a typical Texas cowboy. Lucas knew the man didn’t even own a pair of boots. No Stetson, either. And Finn liked to boast that he’d never been within ten feet of a horse. Even when he wore green scrubs, like now, he still managed to look as if he’d just stepped off a surfboard.

“She’ll be okay,” Finn let him know. He handed Lucas a clear plastic bag that contained Kylie’s clothes. “I drew some blood so I can figure out what they used to sedate her. But she should have a checkup by her regular OB. She should have an ultrasound, too.”

Lucas glanced over Finn’s shoulder and saw Kylie. She was now wearing a set of Finn’s scrubs. And yet another pair of socks.

“You can’t do the ultrasound here?” Lucas asked.

“Sorry. Don’t have the equipment.” Finn hooked the stethoscope around his neck, yawned and rubbed his eyes. “There are a lot of advantages to living in a small town like Fall Creek, but we’re Podunkville as far as that type of medical service. She’ll have to go to a larger facility for it.”

Lucas considered it and mentally cursed. “It was Kylie’s trip into San Antonio that might have led to the kidnapping attempt. Kylie had said something about two men possibly following her home.”

“Yes,” Kylie verified. “They did.”

“That means a trip back into the city isn’t a good idea,” Lucas concluded.

At least, not alone. However, it wasn’t a trip Lucas intended to make with her. He’d have to turn this over to a deputy or else Sheriff Knight. This eerie proximity with Kylie Monroe was a lot more than he could handle.

“I’ll drive her in the morning,” Finn volunteered, probably sensing what was on Lucas’s mind. “I have a colleague who manages one of those back-to-nature kind of birthing facilities just outside San Antonio. It’s in the country. Very serene. Off the beaten path. And private. He’ll let me use his ultrasound machine. We’ll keep everything hush-hush.”

Lucas nodded, conveying his thanks. Hopefully, a private facility also meant a safe one.

When there was the sound of movement in the examining room, Finn turned, angling his body so that Lucas and he had a clear view of Kylie. She tried to get up…and failed. With a groan, she eased back down onto the table.

“They used chloroform on me, didn’t they?” Kylie asked. She didn’t wait for an answer. “Will it hurt the baby?”

“Probably not,” Finn answered. “We’ll know more in a day or two when I get back the test results.”

Another soft groan. But a groan wasn’t her only reaction. A tear slid down her cheek, and she quickly swiped it away. “Did anyone catch the men who did this to me?”

Finn stepped aside. That was Lucas’s cue to fill her in and ask a few questions so he’d have info for the report he would have to make. “They’re still at large.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” she mumbled.

Lucas ignored the sarcasm and got to work. “Did you get a good look at either of the men?”

Judging from the way her forehead bunched up, she considered that. “No. They were both wearing ski masks. Both dressed in all black. One was about six-one, the other about two inches taller. The taller one had light gray eyes. And he said something like, ‘Don’t hurt the kid or her. We’re to deliver her to the boss. So they can talk.’”

“Talk?” Lucas repeated skeptically.

“I didn’t believe that’s what they had on their minds, either.” She tried to sit up again. This time, she succeeded. Well, for the most part. Kylie wobbled, and she grasped the sides of the examining table. Her gaze came to his. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t want her apology. Nor did he want her to specify why she was sorry. Maybe it was for Marissa. Or maybe it was because she believed she’d placed him in danger with her 911 call. It was true that she had, but being placed in danger came with his job.