by Robin Perini
He didn’t know how long he stood waiting when a flash of movement caught the corner of his eye. He jerked around, hand hovering over his Glock.
Velma jolted and raised her hands in surrender. “Dinner’s ready. I took a pot of stew out to the barracks for the men.”
“She’s still with Dylan,” Jared said, avoiding her gaze.
Velma gave a soft smile. “Have you held him?”
Jared cleared his throat. “He doesn’t know me. And when this is over they’ll go back to New York. I’ll be here. It’s better not to confuse him.”
“At first I thought you should stay away from her, too, but she’s got guts, boyo. I like her.” Velma crossed her arms and frowned. “A son needs his father.”
“A child needs to be safe.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I know, boyo, but—”
Jared tamped down the emotion threatening to well from deep inside. He had to maintain control. He couldn’t allow his feelings to color his judgment or his thinking. “I’m not taking any chances. Not with them. Not with anyone I care about.”
“And that’s why he won,” she whispered under her breath.
* * *
NIGHTTIME PEEKED OVER the horizon. Jared caught a glimpse of the moon through the study curtains. He’d come up with a lame excuse to avoid Velma. Courtney had already found an ally in his housekeeper, but Velma lived her life wide-open. Always had, always would.
Courtney stuck her head in the door. “Are you busy?” she asked. Dylan sat on her hip and appeared utterly satisfied to be close to his mother.
Who wouldn’t be?
She placed her tote bag next to the sofa and tucked her feet beneath her before letting her head fall onto the cushioned back. Dylan grabbed for her necklace and tried to stuff it in his mouth. Courtney played tug-of-war for a bit with him, smiling with an expression of adoration that made Jared’s throat thicken with emotion.
The baby giggled and threw himself into her arms. She wrapped him in her embrace and rocked him back and forth. “Mama loves you, Jelly Bean.”
“He’s definitely energetic,” Jared said.
“He likes to play, especially at this time of night.” She gave Jared a considering look. “Do you want to hold him?”
Jared stiffened and nodded to his laptop. “Work.”
“You’re missing out,” Courtney said softly.
He knew, oh God how he knew, but if he fell in love...
Dylan wiggled in Courtney’s lap and slid to the ground. She pulled out the stuffed bull and gave it to him. He threw it across the floor and crawled to retrieve it.
“Maybe he’ll be a baseball player,” Jared said, watching how every step or so Dylan would place one foot on the floor instead of his knee.
“He keeps trying to walk,” Courtney said. “He can stand if he holds on to the edge of a couch or chair.”
Soon, Dylan had situated himself beneath a wood coffee table and happily played with his animal having a conversation that Jared couldn’t decipher.
Jared would’ve been content to sit and watch the baby all day, every day. He couldn’t lose himself in his own wants. And he couldn’t let Courtney and Dylan get to him. He had a job to do.
Courtney pulled out a notepad from her bag. “I’ve started a list of every person I can think of who I came into contact with since we met. I even added the car service. They can tell you who delivered the blackmailer’s phone so CTC would have something to work with.”
“That’s a great idea.”
Jared joined her on the sofa and glanced over at her list. There weren’t that many names.
She flushed. “I told you my life was pretty mundane.”
“Do any jump out at you?”
“That’s the trouble. I can’t imagine any of these people wanting to hurt Dylan.”
Jared glanced at his watch. CTC should be here soon. Waiting had never been his strong suit. He preferred being in the middle of the action, and right now he felt more like a quail waiting to be flushed into the open and shot for dinner.
“How are we going to protect Dylan if we can’t figure out who wants to hurt him?” she said, her gaze fixed on her son.
He understood her frustration more than she could possibly know. When Alyssa’s murderer had never been caught, Jared had shoved aside any possibility of risking another serious relationship. He’d even tried to run Velma and Roscoe off, but they wouldn’t leave. He couldn’t understand why they’d be willing to take the chance, but they hadn’t budged. Hadn’t even moved to town.
For five years he’d prayed the man who’d kidnapped Alyssa would make a mistake, that he’d somewhere, somehow reveal his identity, but the man had vanished. The case had turned ice-cold. And unsolved.
Jared wouldn’t let that happen again.
The doorbell rang, followed by a loud knock. Courtney jerked in her seat.
“It’s probably CTC,” Jared said.
Despite knowing the hands guarded the main house, he pulled his gun before walking to the door. He opened it.
Ransom’s operative faced him. Jared couldn’t hide his surprise. The guy could’ve escorted Courtney to a New York gallery opening or crawled next to Jared on the battlefield. His blue eyes were clear and piercing, with a decided edge that spelled danger.
No doubt about it, Jared would want Léon on his six, and not in the opposite camp.
“Rafe told me what you did for him and Sierra at the San Antonio Rodeo.” Jared shook Léon’s hand. “I hope you can help us.”
“Rafe wanted to be here, but he can’t leave Sierra. She’s close to delivering the baby.”
Jared could make out a slight accent, but couldn’t place it. Didn’t matter. If Ransom trusted Léon, so did Jared.
“So I heard.” Jared led Léon into the study and brought him up to speed.
The man didn’t take notes, but Jared had studied Léon from the moment he’d entered the house. The operative took in every detail of the room. He’d taken inventory of the gun case and the vulnerabilities in the study.
Of course Jared had clocked Léon’s ankle holster, his sidearm and the knife sheath.
“Miss Jamison, may I see the phone you were given?” he asked the moment he sat down.
Courtney handed it over, and Léon cracked open the case. “GPS tracker. He knows your current coordinates—or at the least the phone’s location.”
“He implied as such on the phone,” Jared said.
“He’s smart and tech savvy.” Léon snapped the case back together. “He blocked our tech from tracing the last call, so we have no idea where he is. Zane’s working on a maneuver around the problem. He’ll find it.”
The headache that threatened earlier in the day intensified behind his eyes. “What if we take her and my son to CTC. Leave the phone here, and I’ll answer when it rings. They would be safe.”
“On the surface the idea seems plausible,” Léon said, “but we’ll lose our chance to set a trap. Without any leads we’re thin on options until he calls again. The truth is, if someone wants you dead, they only have to be on target one time. To prevent him from attacking, we have to be on point every attempt. The odds are in his favor.”
An ice-cold chill skittered up Jared’s spine. From his training he knew Léon was right. Much easier to hit a mark than prevent an attack. If he had any confidence the blackmailer would leave Courtney and Dylan alone, he’d pay the money in a heartbeat.
Léon returned the phone to Courtney. “He hasn’t tried to contact you again to give you a drop location?”
She shook her head.
“Interesting. What’s he waiting for?” Léon mused. “It’s more than just the ransom.” He crossed his boot over his leg and tapped the leather for a moment. “If all he wanted was money, he’d have asked you for a million or two million, not that exact amo
unt. It obviously has meaning for him, and that’s his mistake. Once we find out how the number connects, we’ll know what he wants.”
Jared shoved his hand through his hair. “Courtney made a possible list of suspects.”
“I don’t think it’ll help,” she said, handing it to him.
“Every bit of information helps, if nothing else as part of the elimination process. Our blackmailer wants you to wonder about him. He wants you dangling at the end of his string as his plaything.”
Jared ground his teeth in an attempt to maintain control over the fury ramming through his body.
“He’s sending a message. We just have to decipher it.” Léon met Courtney’s gaze. “CTC is going to dig into your life and try to discover how that non-ransom ransom note ties to you. Are you okay with that?”
She nodded. “Whatever it takes.”
“Whatever you need,” Jared added.
Léon rose. “Until then, I agree you need additional security. Ransom will send several operatives to work with your hands. Now that I’ve verified the phone number, we can track the cell, and hopefully triangulate our guy’s location when he calls you. And he will.”
“So we sit and wait? That’s your plan?” Jared frowned. “How about you take the phone and lead him away from here?” Anything to keep a distance between the tracking device, Courtney and his son.
“I hear you, Jared. Believe me. But he’s got the leverage. He wants to communicate with Courtney, and we need to let him.”
Courtney glanced over at Jared. He fought against the desire to scoop her up, grab Dylan and take off to the mountains. Hole up in a cave for the foreseeable future. The Guadalupe Mountains were an unforgiving range he knew well. If he wanted to stay hidden there for months, he could. Instead, he gave her a slight nod. He might have a bad feeling about this plan. Anything putting her and Dylan in danger didn’t sit well in his gut, but Courtney deserved her life back.
“If we’re going to do this, how do we keep Dylan safe in the meantime?” she asked.
“I’ll make sure neither one of you is ever left alone,” Jared said.
“And we employ basic battlefield strategy,” Léon said. “Establish a perimeter and no one gets in or out without us knowing. Then, we wait.” The operative’s eyes grew hard. “When he calls, Courtney, you’ll need to keep him on the phone as long as possible. If it goes well, we’ll be able to bag him before he makes any kind of move.”
She chewed on her lower lip, but it was her white knuckles that told Jared how scared she really was. “You’ll keep this low-key. No cops, no feds.”
“I agree,” Léon said. “Whoever did this is smart and organized. In fact, you need to take me out to the barn and introduce me to one of your stud bulls, because I’m supposedly here to negotiate a price.”
Jared took Courtney’s hand in his. “You okay?” She sent him a tense nod and he squeezed. “We’ll make this work.”
He walked Léon to the door and they crossed to Angel Maker’s pen. The bull snorted.
Léon made a show of examining the animal. “This demon’s got the perfect name. The devil’s in his eyes.”
Jared rubbed his chin. “You need to know I’m dealing with a saboteur, too. The sheriff was investigating, but I called him off. I think one of the Criswells took a shot to cause chaos. It complicates things. I’m worried about Courtney and Dylan staying here.”
Jared didn’t acknowledge his greatest fear. That he couldn’t protect them. If anything happened to Courtney or his son, he’d never forgive himself.
“You were Army. We need intel. Right now that phone is our only link to this guy. Zane will start on the deep dive into her and her family’s finances. Maybe we’ll get lucky. Until then, we don’t have a choice. Not if you want to find this guy.”
“I know.” Jared’s jaw ached with tension. “Damn it.”
“We’ll ramp up your surveillance system and install cameras along the perimeter. The main yard and house will be secure. Your outbuildings, less so.”
“But the best way to catch this guy is to follow the money.” Jared walked Léon to his vehicle. “I don’t like him holding all the cards. We’re like apples in a barrel waiting to get shot.”
Léon opened the door of his truck. “Not for long.”
Chapter Five
The day had been an unqualified success.
Stars blanketed the West Texas sky.
His prey was holed up like cowards inside the main house on Jared King’s ranch.
She’d come running to Jared just as he’d planned. The note, the ransacked penthouse, her dead babysitter, they’d all pushed her into Jared’s life.
Now, they were good and trapped and exactly where he wanted them.
She’d let Jared take her. She’d given birth to his baby. She would have to be punished for her mistake.
Oh, Jared had made the game a bit challenging, but a few hired guns would make no difference in the long run. The cameras would be dealt with soon enough. They had no idea who they were facing.
Money was the root of all evil. Wasn’t that the proverb?
Except, it wasn’t true. Being poor, being desperate, being without, losing every hope and dream, that’s what changed a man. Made him into something less than human.
It was a hard lesson those barricaded inside the house would learn.
He would strip everything away, then they would understand.
They truly were nothing.
* * *
STEAM ROSE IN the bathroom and clouded the mirror. Hot water pummeled Courtney’s aching shoulders and pounding head. Nothing could have prepared her for today. When she’d imagined informing Jared about Dylan, she’d pictured inviting him to her New York apartment, proving to him how settled she and her son were, how Jared could be involved in their life if he wanted to be, but that she’d be okay if he didn’t want to be. She didn’t need anything from him.
Fast-forward to now, and she found herself two thousand miles from home with not a coffee shop or taxi in sight, stuck in a ranch house complete with a killer bull fifty feet away, a murderer threatening to steal her baby, no money to pay off the threat, and her son’s father glued to her side for the foreseeable future.
Even more astonishing, he’d never let any doubt stop him from protecting Dylan; he’d simply taken action. He’d done everything and more than she could’ve asked, including bringing in CTC.
Léon—he’d refused to provide last name—had been brutally honest, and dangerous. He’d warned her about snooping in her life. She had nothing to hide. Her father, she wasn’t so sure about him. Since he’d lost the entire family fortune, he’d obviously made some bad business decisions or the bank calling the loans due in the last week wouldn’t have mattered. Whatever Léon found out was worth a little embarrassment if it brought the murderer to justice and protected her son.
She just hoped they found answers soon. Her entire body throbbed with unabated tension. She could feel every nerve ending pulsing with pent-up disquiet.
If she let herself, she’d collapse into the tub in a blob of putty. Of course, that wouldn’t do Dylan any good so she turned off the water and reached for a towel. There was no evidence the blackmailer was there. They had armed men walking the perimeter.
She had to believe they were safe with Jared. She had no other choice but to have faith.
The door was closed, but unlocked. On the other side, in the guest room, Jared had volunteered to watch Dylan, which might have made her nervous if Velma hadn’t winked at Courtney and said she’d watch over the boys. Knowing the older woman would be within calling distance had been a bit of a relief. Enough to sooth the tension from her neck and back temporarily.
Courtney slipped into ivory pants and a soft rose linen shirt. Completely inappropriate for bedtime, but her baby doll nightgown would’ve been even worse
. She’d been limited to what she’d left the last time she’d visit her father and what was in Dylan’s diaper bag. Now that she’d arrived, she recognized she was completely unprepared.
A low, deep voice filtered through the closed door and Courtney cracked it open. Jared sat in a white rocking chair, swaying to and fro, his son in his arms, staring at the baby’s face.
He toyed with the baby’s fingers, counted his toes. She understood. The moment he’d been born, she’d done the same.
They didn’t notice her, and she didn’t move. She could only watch, stunned. Jared had avoided holding Dylan since they’d arrived. Now Jared’s expression had softened into adoration, even as his jaw throbbed in stress.
Courtney recognized the feeling well. When she’d brought her baby home from the hospital, no one had been waiting for her. Panic had settled deep in her gut. Heck, she still experienced the feeling every day, usually after Dylan had drifted to sleep and she lay alone in her bed staring at the ceiling with the street noises of the city lulling her to sleep.
What if she failed him? Dylan had only her, no one else. The last twenty-four hours had exploded those emotions into heart-suffocating fear. She could hardly breathe; her entire body vibrated on the verge of tremors. Every horrifying outcome replayed in her mind like an endless loop, unwilling to stop.
Seeing the utter contentment on her Jelly Bean’s face, for a brief moment she could breathe again. Dylan loved nothing more than being rocked. Especially if he were held tightly, and Jared, if nothing else, had a strong, firm embrace.
She knew that from the night spent in his arms.
The rocking chair creaked a bit beneath his weight until his surprisingly in-tune hum gave way to words. Courtney didn’t know a lot about country music, but who hadn’t heard “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys.”
She rested her shoulder against the doorjamb. The only thing consistent about Jared since the night they’d met was the unexpected.
