Sinister Intentions & Confiscated Conception

by Heather Graham

Several agonizing times.

  Her nimble fingers took him from the primed stage to being fully aroused. Not that he’d needed much for that to happen. That take me now comment was like water to a man dying of thirst. Jared very much wanted to oblige her.

  He managed to peel off her shoes and jeans. Not easy. Not with her working at the same time to free him from his boxers. They both succeeded, somehow, and he backed her against the wall.

  He took her mouth again while she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her mouth was as hot and wet as the rest of her. He touched her, because it was what they both needed, and he saw exactly what his touch did to her.

  “This won’t be safe sex.” Jared positioned her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  Rachel hissed out a breath when they made intimate contact. “I don’t remember asking for safe.”

  If she hadn’t kissed him and thrust the midsection of her body against his erection, he might have considered the double meaning of that remark. But that brief contact made him remember his priorities.

  Jared held her in place with his body. Her naked body against his. Her bare breasts against his chest. And he watched her eyes as he took her. Jared slid into that hot, slick heat and gave them both exactly what they needed.

  He stilled just a moment. To savor. But the savoring and stilling came to a halt when Rachel started to move against him, and with him.

  It didn’t take much. The intensity between them didn’t allow more, even though Jared wished that it could last a lifetime.

  “Fly for me, Rachel.”

  She did. At the sound of his words, he felt her body close around him. Felt her soar until she reached a shattering climax. Jared was right there to catch her.

  Rachel returned the favor.

  With the hot primal need driving him, she took and gave her all in that same moment that he surrendered. He saw her face. Just her.

  And that was all Jared needed.

  * * *

  Because he had no choice in the matter, Jared slid to the floor, taking Rachel right along with him. They were both damp with sweat, and little wisps of her hair were clinging to her neck and forehead. She looked amazing in the afterglow of good, non-safe sex.

  “Don’t you dare say that you’ll regret this,” Rachel mumbled.

  “I’m feeling a lot of things, but regret’s damn sure not one of them.”

  And to prove it, Jared gave her a kiss that neither of them would forget. He left them both breathless and wanting more.

  There was no turning back now. What had happened couldn’t ever be dismissed as just plain sex, even if it had occurred in a heated rush against the wall. He and Rachel had made love. And that left him with one troubling question.

  What now?

  Now that his head was starting to clear, Jared knew this was just the beginning. They had so many issues.

  “You’ve got that look of obsessing on your face. What are you thinking?” she asked.

  Jared didn’t want to dive right back into what could easily be a depressing conversation. So he went in another direction. “I’m thinking you didn’t scream. I’m thinking with just a little encouragement, I might be able to make that happen.”

  She smiled. Nothing sarcastic. Nothing meant to minimize the moment. It was real. Just like Rachel. Just like what they felt for each other.

  “You’re bragging,” she whispered. She began to nibble on his mouth.

  “Am I, now?”

  He was fully prepared to back up that claim, but the ringing phone put a stop to it. Without releasing his grip on Rachel, Jared reached up and grabbed his cell phone from the desk. He cleared his throat in case it was Esterman. But it wasn’t. It was Tanner.

  “We found Agnes,” Tanner informed him.

  “She’s alive?” And Jared held his breath waiting for the answer.

  “She was as of this morning. We found her through a credit card purchase, but she’s not in San Antonio. She’s got a rental house out on an island near Corpus Christi. It’ll be about a two-hour drive for you to get there.”

  Jared was already reaching for his shirt. “We’ll leave in a couple of minutes.”

  “Here’s a warning, though—you might have a few problems with accessibility,” Tanner continued. “There’s a private road and bridge that leads out to the place, but the initial reports are that it’s guarded. Heavily guarded. So your best bet is to go via boat. I’ll arrange for one.”

  “Good. Any indication that Agnes has the baby with her?”

  “Yeah. I’m working on getting us an infrared, but how’s this for an indication—one of my people just got off the phone with the clerk at the general store on the mainland near Agnes’s house. They delivered some disposable diapers and some formula there just this morning. Oh, and those diapers apparently come in all kinds of sizes, but the ones that Agnes requested were for a newborn.”

  “Let’s go,” Jared told Rachel. He jotted down directions while she dressed.

  Two hours. That was it. Such a short amount of time considering all they’d been through already. Still, they couldn’t just go barging into the place. It wouldn’t be safe for Rachel, or the baby.

  “You’ll check out the place before we get there?” Jared asked Tanner.

  “I’ll do my best, but I can’t guarantee security on this one. Hard to guard the Gulf of Mexico. Esterman might have patrols out on that water.”

  True. But that wouldn’t stop him. Nothing would. “We’ll deal with that when we come to it. See you in two hours.”

  Chapter 17

  Rachel studied the place through the binoculars, while Jared spoke on the phone with someone from a security company. A light went on in the west side of the house, but there was no sign of anyone.

  No guards, no Agnes McCullough.

  And definitely no sign of the baby.

  The house was two-story, white, with massive marble columns fronting a wraparound porch. It was perched in the center of a lush, finger-shaped island. Pretty upmarket for the residence of a parolee with no recent record of employment. Agnes had done well for herself.

  It had taken Rachel much of the two-hour drive to verify it, but she now knew that the same corporation that owned Sasha Young’s rental house owned this property, as well. In other words, it was connected to Lyle Brewer, who in turn was connected to Clarence Esterman.

  They were no longer at the starting point. This house, Rachel knew, was the finish line.

  Luck was with them as far as the weather was concerned. There were only a few milky clouds scattered in the sky. The breeze was mild. The waves moved in a gentle slosh around her feet.

  The conditions were ideal.

  Still, every muscle and every nerve in her body was on full alert. Even ideal wasn’t much of a guarantee with her child’s life at stake.

  Once the sun had set—which was only a few minutes away—they’d be able to approach the house via boat under cover of darkness. It was their best bet, Jared had said.

  After that, however, all bets were off.

  Once they reached the grounds, they would be too far away for Tanner to help them, and well out of reach of any local law enforcement. Which might be a good thing. If Esterman had managed to buy off a cop in the SAPD, perhaps he owned the locals, too.

  “It’s not too late to change your mind about this,” she heard Jared say. He walked up behind her and brushed his fingers over her arm. “You can always stay here with Tanner to make sure no one follows me out to the island.”

  “I’m going with you,” she insisted, still looking for any sign of movement in the house.

  Jared didn’t argue, maybe because he knew it was an argument he stood no chance of winning. Her child was in that house, and she was going in after him.

  Tanner’s phone rang, and he stepped away from the boat to take the call.


  “Did you learn anything from the security specialist?” she asked Jared.

  “Some. He tracked down the person who did the original system for the house nearly ten years ago. It’s pretty basic. Not too many bells or whistles. I should be able to get through it without too much of a problem.”

  Rachel didn’t miss the key bit of information that he left out of his explanation. “Ten years is a long time. What if someone made modifications to the system after it was installed?”

  “Then, I’ll figure out a way to get through them, as well.” Jared took in a long breath. “By the way, if something goes wrong—”

  Rachel quickly pressed her fingers against his mouth so that he couldn’t finish. “We both know what we have to do. Let’s not spell it out.”

  Jared kissed her fingertips and gently moved them aside. “No doom and gloom predictions. I just don’t want you to take any unnecessary chances.”

  She nodded. “The same goes for you.”

  Tossing her a you’re-stubborn half snarl, Jared took the binoculars from her and had a look at the house. “I think our best bet will be to hide the boat when we reach the island and try to go in through the back. Hopefully, it won’t be as well lit as the front.”

  “What about the infrared read that Tanner’s been trying to get?” she asked.

  He paused.

  “There appear to be four adults,” he finally answered. “And either a baby or maybe a small pet. The infrared wasn’t conclusive.”

  She made a sound of acceptance and stared at the house. It was no pet. Rachel knew that with every fiber of her being. It was her son.

  “Anyway, we’ll go in through the back,” Jared continued a moment later. “And we’ll try to avoid the guards or whoever else is in there. If the baby’s in the house, he’s on the second floor. Or, at least, that’s what the infrared indicated when it was taken an hour ago.”

  “Then we’ll get the baby, sneak out and hurry back here,” she finished. No need to dwell on the dozens of things that could go wrong between now and then.

  “Yeah. And by then, Captain Thornton should have arrived. I called her about twenty minutes ago.”

  Rachel’s head whipped up. “Thornton? Why would you call her?”

  “To help wrap up things around here. I couldn’t bring her in on this officially. Not with us breaking into the house.”

  She got that part. “That’s the real reason we’re not bringing Tanner with us?”

  “Right. Even though he wanted to come, I need him here. But Thornton, well, that’s a different matter. She never would have agreed to anything illegal. By the time she got the search warrants and assembled a team, it’d probably be too late. But I want her here to go in once we’ve gotten the baby out. I don’t want anyone associated with this plan to walk. Thornton can help us with that.”

  Rachel carried that through to its logical conclusion. Thornton would arrange the arrests of the people in the house, but Jared’s boss would take her in, as well. To testify and to answer any questions about the illegal things she and Jared had been doing to find the baby. Heck, Thornton might even arrest Jared.

  So, this was essentially their D-Day. They had one shot to come out of there with the baby. Just one.

  It had to count.

  Jared curved his arm around her waist. “There’ll be no turning back once we’re on that boat. I really wish you’d stay here with Tanner—”

  “I don’t want to turn back. And I don’t want to stay. I just want this to be over.”

  The sun dipped even lower, until only a sliver of light was visible on the horizon. She held Jared’s hand and led him toward the boat.

  “Hold up one minute.” Tanner slipped his phone back in his pocket and hurried to them. “I could go with you.”

  “I’d rather you watch that bridge and the shore to make sure no one follows us.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out his badge. “By the way, when Captain Thornton gets here, make sure she gets that.”

  Tanner reached for it, but Rachel latched onto Jared’s wrist. “Wait a minute. Why are you doing this?”

  “Because it’ll save Thornton the trouble of asking for it, that’s why.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t know that. I can’t believe you’d just hand...”

  Jared stared at her when she hesitated. Even in the filmy light, she saw his eyebrow lift a fraction.

  “Questions?” he challenged.

  “No.” But she certainly had some answers. Answers that she’d been asking herself for years. She knew how much it cost him to hand over that badge. Being a cop was one of the most important things in the world to him.

  But obviously not the most important.

  It broke her heart. And made her feel like a genuine fool for ever doubting him. Later, when this was over, she’d tell him that.

  While she was at it, she’d also let him know that she’d fallen in love with him all over again.

  Tanner took the badge, glanced at it and slipped it into his pocket. “You need any extra weapons?”

  Jared shook his head. “I wasn’t planning to do a lot of shooting. A quick in and out. If all goes well, we should be back in under an hour.”

  It was an overly optimistic guess, but Rachel didn’t correct him. She said goodbye to Tanner and thanked him when he wished them luck.

  Jared started the outboard motor and got them moving. Of course, they’d have to turn off the engine when they got close to the house and paddle the rest of the way, but at least this initial boost of speed would save them some time. Perhaps very valuable time.

  Without the sunlight, the water was eerily dark; she couldn’t see even an inch below the surface. And the night closed in around them. She hoped that Esterman hadn’t put guards on the shoreline. Or worse, on the water itself. The only things she and Jared had going for them were the element of surprise and their determination.

  “Let’s name the baby,” she whispered when he turned off the engine. Rachel knew that sounded absurd at a time like this, but it suddenly seemed important. “He’s a week old and he doesn’t even have a name.”

  “We used to have that list, remember? I seem to recall that Michael was your favorite.”

  “Yes.” She took one of the oars in the boat, and they started to row toward the shore. “But let’s pick something different. Something we decide right here, right now. It’ll be more meaningful that way.”

  He shrugged. “All right. How about we name him after your father, Benjamin? Or would that cause too many bad memories for you?”

  She gave it some thought. “No bad memories, but I’d like your name in there, too. How about Benjamin Jared? And we can call him—”

  “Ben,” they finished together.

  Rachel managed a smile. “Maybe that’s a good sign that we agree on the name?”

  “Damn straight.”

  But if Jared indeed felt that way, the feelings didn’t make it to his voice. Rachel heard the concern. The doubt. And even the fear. They mirrored what was going on inside her.

  They quietly got off the boat and pulled it onto the shore, hiding it in a thick clump of shrubs. Jared paused a moment and looked around them.

  “There doesn’t seem to be any perimeter security,” he mumbled.

  At least, none that created an audible alarm. In fact, the place was quiet. The only sound was that of the surf and the cry of an occasional seagull.

  Rachel followed him across the sandy beach to the back of the house. Jared had been right—it wasn’t well lit. Just some spotlights on the patio. No guards in sight, either. That didn’t put her at ease. In fact, it did just the opposite. Maybe Esterman had used Agnes McCullough, and this house, as a trap. But Rachel prayed she was wrong.

  Keeping close to the wall, they walked slowly around the house. Jared tested the first window
they came to. It was locked, and they moved on. He repeated that process three more times before he finally stopped and took out the tiny tool kit from his jacket.

  Rachel stood on her tiptoes and peered inside. It was a dining room. Dark. Shadowy. And not a soul around. It also appeared to have easy access to a hallway. Beyond that, she could see the stairs.

  “Keep a close watch on the yard while I’m doing this,” Jared whispered.

  Rachel turned so that she’d have a better view of the massive yard. The scarcity of lighting made it more secure for them, but it didn’t help her with her surveillance. The grounds were littered with trees, shrubs and outbuildings. Any one of them could provide a hiding place for Esterman’s hired guns or for some well-placed cameras that could be monitoring their every move.

  Jared used a tiny glass-cutter to take out a fist-size section of the window, and then he reached in and disarmed the security wires. It likely wouldn’t disarm the other windows, but it’d at least give them access to this one.

  Taking out his weapon, he held it by his side so she wouldn’t easily see it and panic. Rachel appreciated that, but he couldn’t do that for long. If they encountered a guard, Jared would almost certainly have to use his gun. She prayed that she could deal with that when the time came.

  He climbed in first and had a look around before he helped her through. Unlike the night air, the air in the house was cool, a trio of fans whirling overhead. The place smelled of furniture polish and disinfectant.

  Jared went to the doorway. Paused. Looked around. And then motioned for Rachel to follow him. He turned off the light as they made their way down the hall to the set of stairs.

  Then Rachel heard the footsteps.

  Jared didn’t waste any time. He jerked open the door to the storage area beneath the stairs and pulled her inside. It was dark and musky, an indication that it didn’t get much use. The last thing they needed was for one of Esterman’s people to find them before they even had a chance to search for the baby.

  Someone opened a door. Not the one to the closet, thank God. Rachel heard the click of a knob in the hallway. Next to her, she felt Jared’s arm flex. Nothing more than the readjustment of a few muscles, but he was obviously preparing himself for a fight.