Drury

by Delores Fossen

  “Nothing on Ronnie?” Caitlyn asked.

  Lucas shook his head. “But the dashcam on the car recorded the whole attack, so we might be able to get an ID on the shooter since he wasn’t wearing a mask. Sometimes, an ID leads to an address and friends or neighbors who might rat out his location.”

  A location that wouldn’t be easy to find because the snake had no doubt gone into hiding. Temporarily, anyway. If Ronnie and the thug got another chance to attack, they would.

  “Why do they want me dead?” she asked. “And why do they want her after I paid them the ransom?”

  Drury had been giving that a lot of thought, and it wasn’t a theory Caitlyn would like hearing. “If Melanie’s behind this, she could want you out of the way, and then she could sell the baby to Helen.”

  Caitlyn’s forehead bunched up and she nodded. “And the same could be true for Jeremy. Neither one of them would care if they put the child in danger, either, but Helen... Why would she risk something like that?”

  “Maybe she hadn’t. That still doesn’t mean I’m taking her off the suspect list, though. After all, the men who attacked us are low-life scum. Even if Helen gave them orders to keep the child safe, that doesn’t mean they followed those orders.”

  There was also a fourth possibility. That the low-life scum had gone rogue and were trying to cash in on a much bigger chunk of the money. After all, if they killed Caitlyn, Helen would rightfully be granted custody, and they could possibly milk a huge ransom from Grant’s mother.

  The baby whimpered, snagging their attention, and even though she did that a lot, this time she didn’t go right back to sleep.

  “She probably needs to be changed.” Caitlyn got to her feet and lifted her out of the carrier so she could head to the bedroom.

  She gave Drury a glance, and even though she didn’t say anything, he saw the fresh concern in her eyes. Not for the attack this time. But because Lucas had witnessed that kiss.

  Lucas watched her leave, no doubt waiting to discuss a subject that Drury didn’t want to discuss. However, his brother didn’t start that unwanted discussion. He just sat there, staring at Drury. Waiting. This was a brother’s game of chicken.

  “What?” Drury finally snapped.

  Lucas kept staring. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You don’t have to speak to say something.”

  The corner of Lucas’s mouth lifted for just a second. The smile faded fast. “If you stay, you’ll have to forgive her.”

  In the grand scheme of things, forgiving her would be the easy part. “Caitlyn told me right from the beginning that she didn’t want to get involved with a lawman.”

  Lucas nodded. “Because of her dad.” He paused. “Last I checked, you’re still a lawman.”

  “Yeah. The badge didn’t stop us from landing in bed four years ago.”

  “And it won’t stop you now,” Lucas reminded him. “But maybe the notion of a heart-stomping will. You really intend to go through that again?”

  Now, here was why he wished he could avoid this discussion. Because the answer was obvious. He didn’t want to go through that again. Coming on the coattails of losing Lily, it had nearly broken him. And that’s why somehow, some way he had to stop it. That started with finding the sick jerk who was behind the attacks.

  He stood, ready to head to his laptop and get to work. That would also cue his brother that it was not only the end of this chat but also that he should be getting back to whatever he was supposed to be doing. However, before Drury could even take a step, his phone buzzed.

  Grayson again. Since this could be an important update on the case, Drury answered it on the first ring.

  “The lab just called,” Grayson greeted. And he paused. “They put a rush on the test and got the DNA results for the baby.”

  * * *

  CAITLYN TOOK HER time changing the baby so that Lucas and Drury would be able to have the talk that she could tell Lucas was itching to have. Lucas was no doubt out there right now lecturing Drury about the kiss he’d witnessed.

  She was lecturing herself about it, too.

  Of course, it wouldn’t help. For whatever reason, she seemed to be mindless whenever she got within twenty feet of Drury. Just the sight of him could break down the barriers she’d spent a lifetime building. The trick would be continuing to build them, and that wouldn’t be easy to do as long as Drury and she were under the same roof.

  There was a knock at the door. A second later it opened, and she saw Drury standing there.

  “What happened?” she asked, getting to her feet. She left the baby lying on the center of the bed. “Did Lucas chew you out for kissing me?”

  When Drury didn’t jump to confirm or deny that, she knew that this wasn’t about his brother but that there was some kind of new information about the case.

  “The baby’s DNA results are back,” he said.

  Caitlyn sucked in her breath so fast that she nearly choked. “This soon?”

  He nodded. “The baby is yours and Grant’s.”

  Even though Caitlyn didn’t have any trouble hearing what Drury had said, his words just seemed to freeze there in her head. For several seconds anyway. Then the relief came.

  Sweet heaven.

  This was her daughter.

  She wasn’t Melanie’s. Not Ronnie’s, either. Her child.

  Drury went closer, took her by the arm and had her sit. Good thing, too, because the emotions came flooding through her. So fast and hard. The shock, yes. But there was something much, much deeper.

  The love.

  Caitlyn had felt the love the instant she’d seen the baby, but it seemed much stronger now. And complete. She was the mother of a child she’d always wanted.

  Even though the baby had gone back to sleep, Caitlyn scooped her up and kissed her. She woke up, fussing and squirming a little, but Caitlyn continued to hold her. This time, though, she looked at her through a mother’s eyes.

  Yes, the love was overwhelming.

  “Are you okay?” Drury asked.

  Caitlyn managed a nod. She was more than okay. For a couple of seconds anyway, and then she remembered the danger. That was suddenly overwhelming, too, now that she knew someone had not only created her baby, they wanted to steal her back.

  Drury sank down on the edge of the bed next to her. Not so that he was touching her, though, but it was still close enough to get the baby’s attention. The little girl opened her eyes, and she stared at him as if trying to figure out who he was. The corner of her mouth hitched up in a little smile.

  Caitlyn had read enough of the baby books to know that the smile wasn’t a real one, but it certainly felt real. It must have to Drury as well because he returned the smile before his attention went back to Caitlyn.

  “Grayson is letting Child Protective Services know so they’ll stop pursuing temporary custody,” Drury explained.

  Good. That was one less thing on her list of worries. “And what about Melanie?”

  “Grayson will let her know, too. Since no one has contacted her with a ransom demand, I think it’s safe to say that Grant and she don’t have a child.”

  Caitlyn had to agree. “The more I think about it, Melanie’s baby claim made even less sense. The only thing Grant and I had stored at Conceptions was the embryo. There wasn’t any of his semen for them to create an embryo for Melanie.”

  Drury nodded, and since he didn’t seem surprised, maybe he’d already considered that.

  “What about the safe house?” she added. Because it suddenly seemed more critical than ever to get her out of harm’s way.

  “It’s ready.”

  She immediately heard the but in his tone.

  “After what happened on the road earlier, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to take her off the ranch,” Dr
ury continued. “It’s next to impossible to secure all the farm roads and ranch trails, but we’ve got security measures in place here at the ranch.”

  Even though it was hard to concentrate, Caitlyn went through the pros and cons of that. Yes. And as much as she hated to admit it, the ranch was the safer option. For now. However, staying didn’t accomplish one thing—putting some distance between Drury and her.

  But she had to put the baby first.

  Drury must have understood because he didn’t try to keep selling her on the idea of staying put. He did look at the baby again, though.

  “You’ll have to name her,” he said.

  Yes. Caitlyn had held off on doing that because in her mind it would have made it harder to give her up if the DNA test had proved this wasn’t her child. Now that she was certain, she couldn’t just keep calling her “the baby.”

  “I did a list a long time ago and wanted Elizabeth for a girl and Samuel for a boy.” She looked down at the baby, as well. “But Elizabeth doesn’t seem to fit her, does it?”

  Drury lifted his shoulder, maybe trying to dismiss any part in this, but then he made a sound of agreement. “What was your second choice?”

  “Caroline.” It had been her grandmother’s name.

  He tested it out by repeating it a couple of times and nodded. It was silly to be happy over his approval, but she was.

  “Caroline,” she verified.

  The moment seemed too intimate. Something that parents would do together. And they definitely weren’t parents.

  Drury must have sensed that as well because he eased away from her. “Too bad Grant died not knowing he would become a father.”

  Caitlyn figured she should just give a blanket agreement to that and end the discussion. But she didn’t.

  “Grant didn’t actually want a child,” she confessed. “I was the one who pushed him to go to Conceptions. He wasn’t sold on the idea. In fact, he told me if I had a child that he or she would be just my child.”

  That brought Drury’s gaze back to hers, and he cursed. “And you went through with the egg harvesting anyway?”

  “I thought he’d change his mind.” She paused, shook her head. “Hoped he would. And I reasoned that even if he didn’t, I’d still have a child.” Caitlyn gave a nervous laugh. Definitely not from humor. “Now you know just how desperate I was.”

  He stayed quiet a moment. “But you didn’t stay desperate for long after you found out he was cheating on you.”

  “No,” Caitlyn had to admit. “I decided it’d be better to have him completely out of my life. That included using the embryo at Conceptions. In fact, I was looking into adopting a child right before all of this happened.”

  This baby was a miracle for her. A miracle that she prayed she could keep safe.

  Caitlyn heard the footsteps a few seconds before Lucas appeared in the doorway of the bedroom. At least this time Drury and she weren’t in a lip-lock, but that still wasn’t an approving look on Lucas’s face. Except she thought maybe the look wasn’t for her since Lucas was putting away his phone. He’d likely just finished another of the calls he’d been taking and making since they’d arrived at the guesthouse.

  “The FBI found a money trail for Ronnie,” Lucas explained. “Payments, big ones, that were wired to his account. The surrogate, Nicole Aston, was paid from the same account.”

  So, it was all connected. Not that Caitlyn had thought otherwise, but it was chilling to hear it spelled out like that. The same person responsible for arranging for her baby to be brought into the world had also arranged for Caitlyn to be killed.

  Drury slowly got to his feet, his attention focused solely on his brother. “And did the FBI learn who owned that account?”

  Lucas shook his head. “Not yet. It’s offshore and buried under layers of false information. But that trail wasn’t the only one they uncovered. The FBI found out who received the ransom money.”

  Caitlyn got to her feet, too. “Who?” she asked.

  Lucas looked at Caitlyn. “You.”

  Chapter Ten

  Drury hated every part of what was happening. Caitlyn being accused of orchestrating her baby’s kidnapping. Having to take her to the sheriff’s office to be questioned by an FBI agent. Having her out in the open again so someone could attack her. But Drury thought all those were a drop in the bucket compared with the final thing about this that he hated.

  That Caitlyn was having to leave her daughter after learning the child was actually hers.

  Of course, the baby was well protected with two deputies and the ranch hands, but this should be a time for her to savor an hour or two of getting to be with her child instead of being interrogated for something Drury knew she hadn’t done.

  And his faith in her innocence had nothing to do with the kiss or the attraction between them. This was common sense.

  “We’ll get this all straightened out,” Drury assured her the moment Lucas pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office.

  Caitlyn looked at him, and he could see the weariness in her eyes. “I didn’t do this,” she said.

  It wasn’t necessary for her to tell him that. Drury knew. No way would she have intentionally put a child, any child, in danger.

  As they’d done with their previous visit, the moment Lucas pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office, Drury got Caitlyn out of the car and inside. Away from the windows, too. And he immediately spotted someone he recognized.

  “You know him?” Caitlyn asked.

  “Yeah. FBI Agent Seth Calder.”

  Seth did his own introductions with Caitlyn. It didn’t surprise Drury that they wouldn’t want him or one of his cousins to do this interview with Caitlyn. No way could they be impartial, but at least the Bureau had someone whom Drury considered decent and fair.

  “Good to see you again, Drury,” Seth said before shifting his attention to Caitlyn. “Wish this were under different circumstances, though.” He motioned for them to follow him to one of the interview rooms.

  Both Grayson and Gage stayed back, following protocol, but it’d take a lot more than protocol to keep Drury out of the room. Thankfully, Seth didn’t turn him away when he ushered Caitlyn down the hall.

  When they passed in front of one of the other rooms, that’s when Drury noticed it wasn’t empty. Helen was in there, and she was having a whispered chat with a man who was probably her lawyer.

  “Yes, she’s here,” Seth volunteered. “I’m interviewing her next. Then I’m bringing in Jeremy. He should already be on his way over.”

  Drury wouldn’t have minded talking to Jeremy, but maybe they could dodge the man for Caitlyn’s sake. Of course, there was no dodging Helen.

  “I want to talk to you,” Helen snarled when her attention landed on Caitlyn.

  “It’ll have to wait,” Seth snarled right back.

  Seth ushered Drury and Caitlyn into the other interview room. “Arrest Helen if she tries to come in here,” Seth told Grayson.

  Since Helen had already started to do just that, apparently ready to continue the confrontation, it was a timely order. It got the woman to stop even though she shot a glare at Caitlyn.

  Drury glared back at her, and he closed the door behind him as he went into the room with Seth and Caitlyn.

  “I’m innocent,” Caitlyn said right off the bat.

  “Someone is setting her up,” Drury added.

  Seth didn’t refute either of those claims, and once they were seated, he slid some papers toward her. It was a report on the money trail. The one that seemingly led straight to Caitlyn.

  Her mouth tightened as she read it. “Why would I take money from Grant’s estate to pay myself?”

  “Trust me, I had to think long and hard to figure out some possibilities. Maybe so that Grant’s family
wouldn’t try to challenge it, or despise you for having it?”

  “They’ll always despise me. And Grant’s will was written so that they can’t challenge it. The money is mine. Was mine,” Caitlyn corrected. “I used almost all of it to pay for the ransom.”

  “The ransom that’s in an offshore account with your name on it.”

  “I didn’t know anything about that account,” she insisted.

  Again, Seth didn’t dispute that, but he did pause a long time. “I believe you.”

  Caitlyn released her breath as if she’d been holding it a long time.

  “Someone did this to try to get you in legal hot water,” he went on. “Not just for this but for the baby itself. The agreement you signed at Conceptions was that neither you nor Grant could use the embryo you stored without the other’s written permission.”

  She nodded. “I did that so he wouldn’t be able to use the embryos after we divorced. He wasn’t especially thrilled with the notion of fatherhood, not then anyway, but I didn’t know if he would change his mind years later.”

  Seth made a sound of agreement. “Someone in Grant’s family could file a civil suit against you, though, if they could prove you took the embryo illegally.”

  Drury was about to say there was no proof for that, but maybe that’s what the bank account was about. If Caitlyn had the money, then she would look guilty.

  Well, maybe.

  “Even if she had stolen the embryo,” Drury said, “why go through with a fake kidnapping and ransom?”

  “I’m sure a lawyer could argue that it was to gain sympathy. Or that maybe she has some kind of need for attention.”

  Caitlyn cursed. A rarity for her. “The only thing I need right now is for my daughter, Drury and his family to be safe.”

  Drury silently added Caitlyn’s name to that list. He didn’t want her daughter to be an orphan, and that was just one of the reasons he had to keep her alive.

  “Someone else could have access to this bank account,” Drury pointed out.

  “Yes,” Seth readily admitted. “Unfortunately, if someone else did this, I can’t tell who. That’s where I need Caitlyn’s help. The person who created this bank account had access to her personal info. Her Social Security number, for example. That’s the password for the account.”