Loving Baby

by Tyler Anne Snell

  “Then why did you knock me unconscious?” Suzy ground out.

  Katrina smirked. “Because I know you now, Suzanne Simmons. You would have looked for an opening and taken it to try to stop me. You might have even succeeded since I’m low on men at the moment.” She laughed. “Though I have to admit that it did feel good. Maybe it’s better that your son didn’t see you go down so easily.”

  Suzy’s muscles tensed. She didn’t want to give anything away about Justin. Especially if Katrina was thinking of trying to get him as some kind of leverage. Less than a half hour before Grayton and Katrina had shown up, Chelsea had taken Justin and Suzy’s mother to the mall in Kipsy. She had a list of things to get the baby, and Suzy suggested they make a day of it. Justin had perked right up. So had her mother. They needed the distraction, the fun. It had only been Suzy, the baby and Queso in the kitchen when Katrina and her men had come in, guns blazing.

  “As for my son, well, that’s none of your business,” Katrina continued. “Gardner should never have taken him in the first place.” Her words turned bitter. She crossed her arms over her chest. Suzy had so many questions for her. How had she gotten out of the sheriff’s department, for starters? Yet she became transfixed by the woman. If happiness was contagious, hatred was consuming.

  “The damn fool thought he could pull one over on me,” Katrina continued. “Thought he could slip quietly out into the night with my flesh and blood and I not know?” She laughed. It was more of a cackle. One that was born of frustration and anger, long built up, if Suzy had to guess.

  “Killing him was too easy a punishment, if you ask me.”

  A surge of anger went through Suzy. While she hadn’t specifically talked to James about who had hired Lester to kill him, once Katrina had shown herself, it seemed obvious. It was one of the questions Matt had been hoping to ask before they’d left the department for the estate.

  Now Suzy at least had confirmation of that theory.

  “But that man was nothing if not quick on his feet when needed. Well connected, too,” Katrina added. “I guess if he hadn’t had a few tricks up his sleeve, he wouldn’t have been the infamous Alabama Boogeyman. Not that that did him any good in the end.”

  “What do you want with James?” Suzy asked. While she wanted to know everything that had led Gardner to the warehouse months ago, Suzy had to be more concerned with the future. Especially since the present involved her and Queso chained while a no-doubt vicious woman ranted and raved, flipping between pure anger that Suzy could almost feel and malicious pride at what she’d done. There was no telling how she would react to James, considering he’d already bested her once.

  She didn’t seem the type of person who took kindly to losing.

  The smirk she adopted could mean a number of things. She took a step closer and lowered her voice. “For all his hype and glory, Gardner believed in moderation. That included money. Money he never seemed to warm up to telling me the location of, or even how much he had. Instead of spending any more of my money and time looking for it, I’m going to go to another, more viable source.”

  “James,” Suzy offered.

  Katrina nodded. “The golden-boy savior himself.” She snorted. “Heck, if I had known the connection, I would have had Gardner killed a lot sooner and tried my hand at little brother, instead.”

  The anger in Suzy ratcheted up another level. An almost overwhelming sense of protectiveness toward James washed over her. It pushed out a question she’d wondered about since the night before.

  “If you wanted to kill Gardner so badly, then why have a kid with him?”

  Katrina scoffed. “It’s hard to be a woman in my line of work, with my goals and ambitions, especially around here,” she said. “When I first came to Riker, these rednecks with their simple ideas and lack of go-get-’em had the gall to look down on me. They didn’t take me seriously. So I had to make them. It worked, mostly, but there were still some players out there I wanted to see quake at the very thought of me. So I decided I’d do some out-of-the-box thinking.”

  “You became partners with Gardner,” Suzy guessed.

  The woman nodded. “The idiot was lonely,” she said, voice lacking any ounce of empathy. It made Suzy grit her teeth. “Convincing him that I loved him was too easy at first. Then I think he started to see the cracks. The poor guy had gone so soft that I knew if I got pregnant with his child, he’d stay by my side. A partnership that was good for business. Savvy, if I do say so myself.”

  Suzy was disgusted. “You tried to trap him,” she bit out.

  “It was nothing personal, just business.”

  Suzy couldn’t think of a more personal thing than having a child with someone. Yet Katrina was acting like she’d never even entertained the idea that their kid was anything but a ploy to attach herself to Gardner.

  “But Gardner saw through you,” Suzy said. “He saw you for what you were and tried to leave.”

  Katrina’s smirk started to slip. “He betrayed me,” she hissed. “By stealing my own child, he made me look weak.”

  “That’s the only reason you even want your son, isn’t it?” Suzy realized the truth. “To prove to a bunch of criminals that you have your house in order. You don’t even care about him, do you?”

  Suzy was incensed. It seemed to feed Katrina.

  “Aw, let me guess. You think all women should be mothers, and the fact that I could care less offends your maternal soul.”

  Suzy leaned as close to the woman as the chains would allow. A modicum of pleasure passed through her when she noticed the slight look of surprise on Katrina’s face. It made the pain of moving worth it.

  “You shouldn’t be a mother,” Suzy seethed. “And, in my book, you aren’t.”

  Katrina glanced up at the chains. They rattled at Suzy’s movement.

  “Well, Suzy, tell me how you feel, why don’t you,” Katrina said with mock hurt. Suzy wasn’t going to let the weight of the topic go. All she could think about was that baby boy growing up and knowing no love from the woman who had birthed him. If he were to stay with Katrina, he might not even have a chance at any type of love that was healthy and normal. The thought pushed Suzy close to her breaking point.

  “Take me out of these chains and I’ll show you instead,” she threatened. “Or are you afraid you might break one of those manicured nails?”

  As a woman who worked in law enforcement, Suzy had been underestimated by her fair share of people because she was a female. But she knew that a woman wasn’t any less talented at her job just because she had pretty nails or liked wearing makeup.

  Suzy also knew how to read someone. Knowing where their buttons were and when to push them was a part of the job she was constantly learning.

  However, with Katrina, she’d just hit the jackpot.

  The woman’s lips narrowed; her nostrils flared. Dark eyes turned to slits.

  Suzy couldn’t help herself. “Looks like I hit a nerve,” she said.

  Katrina wasn’t amused.

  In record time she pulled something out of her pocket. Suzy didn’t even have time to flinch away as Katrina drove the knife into her stomach.

  But she had time to scream afterward.

  “I think it’s important to note the difference between our morals, Suzy,” Katrina said at her ear. Suzy’s vision blurred. “You might fight fair, but I always fight dirty.”

  * * *

  IT WAS A bad case of déjà vu.

  James stood at the back of the warehouse his brother had died in. He’d been back countless times since, trying to find some answers, but now everything felt different. That was because everything was different.

  He’d lost a part of his family here. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.

  “No funny business, or Ryan here will break your knees,” Grayton said, stretching tall and wide as soon as his shoes hit the
dirt. The man named Ryan had been James’s back-seat companion for the ride over. He had more weight and muscle than Grayton and James combined—not someone you’d bet against in a fight. James had spent the car ride trying to decide if the knife in the man’s boot was the only weapon he had on him, or if he’d managed to hide a gun beneath his T-shirt. “Now, let’s get this over with.”

  James let Grayton lead the way. So far, he’d decided to go along with the man’s orders, let him think James wasn’t going to resist. If he had been a smarter man, Grayton would have realized by now that James really only had one option.

  Gather as much information as he could.

  Then hit them all where it hurt.

  It was a plan that was immediately put to the test. Two steps in and James was already seeing red.

  Anger and blood.

  Ryan grabbed James’s shoulder and stopped him from running forward as Grayton swung his gun to face him.

  “Suzy!”

  In the middle of the room, Suzy hung by her wrists. A knife was protruding from her stomach. Blood soaked through her shirt beneath it.

  Katrina stood in front of her, smiling.

  “And, just think, if you hadn’t been such a heavy sleeper, then none of this would have happened,” she said in greeting.

  James was livid.

  It didn’t help matters when he saw Queso slumped against the wall in a similar fashion. If Chelsea, Justin and Cordelia were in the warehouse, at least they weren’t hanging in this room.

  “What did you do?” James roared, directing his rage toward Katrina. She gestured him and her men forward. Ryan’s strength and Grayton’s guns were the only things standing in the way of James unleashing his fury.

  Katrina waved her hand in the air, dismissing his concern. “Don’t worry, James,” she said. “The chief deputy isn’t dead. She’s just unconscious.” Her eyes trailed down to the knife. “Though I’m sure that can’t be good. I suppose we should get down to business sooner rather than later.”

  Katrina snapped her fingers. From one of the warehouse’s offices stepped another man, one James didn’t recognize. Unlike Ryan, he was slight. Also unlike Ryan, he had a gun at his hip.

  And Baby Gardner in his arms.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Let me make things simple,” Katrina said, walking over to the two. She placed her finger on top of the boy’s head. He started to fuss. “This is mine, and no matter what you do here today, he will stay mine. When I leave this ghastly building he will leave with me, and you will never see him again.” She shrugged. “These are facts, not points of negotiation. However, here is what is up to you to decide.”

  She waved the man away just as Baby Gardner started to cry. James wanted to go to him, but knew the baby would probably be safer in the closed office than out there with them. Katrina moved until she was in front of James. Her smile never dropped.

  “You can wire your fortune, using the computer in the lobby, to my untraceable account in the Caymans or I let Little Miss Authority here bleed out, dying near the same spot my dear Gardner did. Then I’ll move on to the boy.” She motioned to Queso. “And then I’ll hunt Suzy’s kid and gut him before it’s your sister’s turn.” James’s blood was boiling. “Those are your choices, Mr. Callahan.”

  “It’s hardly a choice,” he growled. His entire body was nearly vibrating with anger.

  “That’s the spirit. Grayton, make sure he does what he needs to,” she ordered, waving her lackey to the front of the building. It was the only place that had power. Since James had bought the building, he had slowly started to work on converting it into something. He didn’t know what yet, but in a weird way, working on the idea had made him feel closer to Gardner. Though now James wondered if he’d ever come back to the warehouse if they all managed to get out.

  “Ryan, take our young friend in there with them,” Katrina continued. “If Mr. Callahan gives either one of you any lip, start breaking the kid’s bones. I don’t care which ones.”

  James could barely keep it together as they walked out of the room, leaving Suzy behind. While he had no doubt that the vicious woman would do as she promised if he didn’t cooperate, James also believed that it wouldn’t matter if he did transfer the money without complaint. Katrina would kill the three of them and then disappear forever with his nephew. Which was why James was trying to shed his anger and focus as Queso was dragged into the room by his chains. He needed to make a move if they were all going to get out of the warehouse alive.

  And not just any move. A smart one.

  “Before you get any ideas, know that we made this really simple.” Grayton pointed to the lone table. A laptop was on it, plugged in and open. A cell phone sat next to it. “You’re going to put that on speaker while you call whoever is in charge of your finances to give you the account information. Then this is over.”

  Grayton waited for James to get in front of the screen. He kept the table between them, his gun at the ready.

  “Without my phone I don’t know his number,” James said. It was the truth. “I’ll need to look it up.”

  Grayton weighed that request for a moment then motioned to Ryan. “Watch him.”

  Ryan obliged and took up a spot at James’s shoulder. He was glad the brute had stepped away from Queso. The boy was starting to stir.

  “Don’t worry about him,” Grayton said. “Worry about the lady with the knife in her gut in the next room.”

  That got James going.

  He pulled up a search window and went about contacting his adviser, while being hyperaware of Queso’s progress. A plan was starting to form. Maybe not the smartest one, but it was a plan, all the same.

  And it required Queso’s help.

  “So I have to admit, after hearing a little background on you, I’m surprised you’re taking orders so easily,” James started. He kept up the appearance of searching around. “Grayton McKenzie, the errand boy for Gardner Todd’s ex. Interesting that you traded your reputation for that. And who are we kidding? You’re going to be her babysitter now, too. You’ve gone from being the top guy to cleaning diapers full of it.”

  Ryan surprised James by snorting behind him. Grayton was trying to play it cool, but anger flashed across his face at the sound. He stood up straighter and stared daggers at his brother in arms. It gave James the opening he needed. He looked over at Queso.

  His eyes were open. And he was looking right at James.

  “Shut up,” Grayton said.

  James took his hands off the laptop’s keyboard and held them up in defense. “I’m just saying,” he responded, hoping Queso was coherent enough to follow what he was about to try to convey. “If there’s one thing I know about babies, it’s that they can be a distraction.”

  The world around them seemed to slow. James felt a surge of adrenaline fill his veins. Every muscle tightened within him. All he needed was Queso to take the hint.

  He didn’t have to wait long. The boy’s voice came out loud and clear.

  “Padre’s right about that.”

  It distracted Grayton, giving James an opening.

  And he wasn’t about to waste it.

  Grabbing the underside of the table, James flipped it up. Before anything could settle, he bulldozed forward, using it as a battering ram. Together they connected with Grayton.

  The man didn’t have time to form his own attack. Instead, he was knocked off his feet and hit the ground hard. James kept the table on top of him, stomping down once before pivoting around. Every ounce of training and his workouts kicked into gear as James looked into the eyes of the charging bull that was Ryan. He was a big guy. A direct hit was going to hurt.

  James decided he’d just not get hit.

  Instead of readying a punch, he used the man’s forward trajectory against him. James stepped to the side just enough that he could grab the fron
t of Ryan’s shirt before the man’s beefy hands could land a blow. He took Ryan’s momentum and employed it to his advantage. He swept the man’s left foot out from under him while pulling down hard.

  James pivoted once more, following the arc until Ryan’s face connected with the underside of the table. He groaned and tried to roll onto his back to get up, but James was faster. He kicked downward against the man’s cheek.

  It wasn’t enough pressure to kill him, but enough to make his body go limp. A breath eased out of him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

  “Padre, gun,” Queso called.

  James whipped around the table just as Grayton moved his arm forward. He was trying to grab the gun that he must have dropped while the table was being pushed into his body.

  “I don’t think so,” James huffed, adrenaline still running high. He scooped the gun up before Grayton could even touch it. If half of his body hadn’t been trapped beneath the table, which was now beneath Ryan, there was a good chance he would have been able to get at least one shot off before James could adapt.

  James crouched down, level with the man’s eyes, and aimed the barrel of the gun at Grayton. When he spoke, he made sure his words were crystal clear.

  “I’m going to give you something your boss wouldn’t,” he said. Grayton’s eyes widened. “Mercy.”

  Relief flashed across the man’s face. Still, James wasn’t a chump. He used the own man’s gun to knock him out.

  Then James and Queso were the only conscious ones in the room.

  He didn’t want to let the streak of good luck die. Moving as fast as he could, James fished in Ryan’s pockets until he had a key for Queso’s chains and a cell phone.

  “Where are Chelsea, Justin and Cordelia?” he asked as he went through the process of unlocking the clasps. There was blood on them where they had dug into Queso’s skin.

  “Shopping in Kipsy. It was just me and Suzy when crazy chick showed up.”