“It’s unnerving, Dylan.”
And that was an understatement, he thought. “It’s a good thing Reese took care of amending Sarah’s birth certificate Friday afternoon. As far as the world is concerned, I’m Sarah’s father, legally. There are only a handful of people that know the truth. And Connor Boyd isn’t one of them.”
“That was quick.”
“Reese had a paralegal make the trip to Denver, took care of it right there in person. Considering the circumstances, Reese pulled a few strings before the three-day Memorial weekend.”
“You didn’t say a word.”
“I was going to tell you tonight over dinner and then Tara and Kendra showed up. We got sort of sidetracked.”
“How do you feel about it?”
“It’s not exactly the way I pictured becoming a father, but hey, I’m cool with it. What about you?”
“I wish it were true.” She hung her head because she truly did wish that with every fiber in her body. But nothing could change the truth.
“I don’t expect you to believe this, but I do too.” He didn’t think this was the right moment to mention that Connor had heard the baby’s cry over the phone. Nor the fact that like an idiot he’d admitted that the call had woken up his daughter.
As if Baylee had read his mind, she said quietly, “He heard Sarah, didn’t he?”
To ease her mind, he did his best to put a positive spin on it. “That worked in our favor, set the tone right up front. I told him his call woke up my daughter. I was pissed and it was no act.” The guy had an obvious screw loose, but he wasn’t going to remind Baylee of that now.
She was already tense and upset. Even though she had every right to feel that way, this constant state of being on alert couldn’t be good for either her or Sarah. He thought he might be making her uncomfortable, so he asked, “Do you want me to leave?”
She shook her head. “You can stay if you want to. Daddy.”
He grinned.
“Did you ever think that when we met that night at the hospital, we’d be right here like this?”
“No. I thought Jake was exaggerating this whole thing out of proportion when he said someone was trying to kill Kit and then…” He stopped short when he realized what he’d suggested. “I’m sorry Baylee. I’m not saying Connor is trying to kill you.” He rubbed at his forehead. “I’m just making this worse.”
“It’s okay. He has no reason to want to do that. I just don’t want him thinking for two seconds Sarah might be his. It would be much better if he doesn’t suspect anything. The good thing is she doesn’t look like him at all, no dark hair, no brown eyes. Actually, she looks a lot like you.”
“No, she looks exactly like her mother.” He tenderly touched the baby’s head again. “Look at this blonde hair.” At his touch, Sarah stopped nursing and looked up at him, giving him a wide smile. “God, she’s something, isn’t she? Look at these little fingers and toes.”
“I think most parents have this conversation right after birth.”
“We took a different route, got a late start.”
“You want to try and put her back down. She should go back to sleep now.”
“Should being the optimum word.” His lips curled into another grin and he held out his hands. Sarah willingly came into his arms. Immediately, she put both hands on his face, squishing his jaws together, giggling. “She doesn’t look sleepy to me. In fact, it looks like she’s wide awake and ready to play.”
“Pat her on the back so she’ll burp.”
Dylan proceeded to pat and rub. Pretty soon, Sarah let out a loud, very unladylike belch. “Whoa, there. Good girl.” At the praise, Sarah responded with a string of incoherent baby babble. Like he’d overheard Baylee do, he acted as though he understood every foreign syllable and carried on a pretend conversation with the child that the state of Colorado and now California considered to be legally his.
At 6:55 Sunday morning Quinn was just finishing up a thirty-hour shift in the ER. Standing in front of her open locker, she stared at the mess inside. Someone had gone through everything, including her purse. Even the emergency box of tampons she kept stashed here had been dumped out and the box left on top. Who would do such a thing? She wondered, as she reached for her purse.
Checking her wallet and finding the twenty-two dollars and some change still inside, she realized her credit cards were also tucked into their slots, as was her driver’s license. She dug out her cell phone to check her messages and was surprised to see it already on. She could have sworn she had turned it off the last time she’d checked her phone, which had been around midnight.
After straightening up the contents of her locker, she left the fifth floor doctor’s lounge and headed for the elevator, an uneasy feeling starting to creep up her spine. On the first floor she made her way past the security desk, waving at Andy, the guard on duty, who smiled and waved back. She hopped on the elevator that would take her down to the parking garage. As soon as the elevator doors slid open, she stepped out and spotted him with his arms crossed over his chest waiting for her next to the Miata. She took a deep, cleansing breath, and prepared to do battle.
“What the hell are you doing here, Cade?”
He grinned at her and it reminded her of the snake inside the man. “The TRO expired four years ago, sweetheart. It’s a free country. I’m not violating any laws.”
“What do you call breaking into my locker? Now that’s a stretch, even for you. How did you manage to get past security? Why go through my locker?”
Acting all innocent, he asked, “Now why would I do something like that?”
“Don’t be coy. What are you doing here, Cade?”
“Where’s Baylee?”
The question was like a punch to the stomach. Quinn tried to mask her surprise. “Well, that’s subtle but honest. Something new for you. Why do you want to know about Baylee?” She played dumb as dirt. “What’s going on, Cade? Why do you care where Baylee is?”
“Personally, I don’t. She isn’t my type. My type is about five-foot-seven, with a sexy voice and that sultry Native American look about her.” He had the gall to wink. “But for some reason Connor’s looking for her, wants to find her real bad. And as we all know from experience what Connor wants, Connor gets. Save us all some time, darlin’, and just tell me where the hell she is, okay?”
“You son of a bitch. You broke into my locker to help Connor find Baylee. Do you ever think on your own, Cade, or do you always do everything Connor makes you do? Of course you do, the two of you share half a brain.”
Quinn saw the rage come into those black eyes quick as lightening.
He took a step closer. “I came here to talk, to find out where Baylee’s hiding. Level with me, do you know why Connor’s so interested in finding her?”
“Why don’t you ask him? Why sneak into my locker for information?”
“Don’t push me, Quinn.”
“Or what?” She called his bluff, pointing to the security camera positioned in the far corner of the garage. “These little things are great technology and they work like a charm. Usually they keep out the riff-raff.”
Cade took another step and was now in her face. But instead of the fist or the slap she expected, he simply leaned in and said, “You know you want me, Quinn. You remember how good it was between us. Why don’t you just admit it?”
When she tried to push him back, she had no time to react before he had jerked her up against him, kissing her wildly on the mouth. She began to struggle, trying to push him away, trying to wriggle free. But just as quickly, he flung her back and away from him.
He started walking backwards. “We’ll find her it’s just a matter of time, Quinn. And when we do…” His voice trailed off as he strolled away.
Despite her bravado, Quinn slumped against the car door, shaking like a leaf. Finally, she managed to get the car door unlocked, and slid in behind the wheel. Automatically, she locked the doors. Without paying much attention to what she wa
s doing, she absently reached into her bag and dug out her cell phone.
It hadn’t taken too many days for Dylan to learn that with a baby, sleeping late in the morning was virtually nonexistent. Sarah had gone back down around three-forty-five or so but had only slept for three hours and was back up again at six-forty.
By the time he got out of the shower, he heard Baylee moving around in the kitchen, heard the gurgle of the coffeemaker start up before he heard the lilt of music that he recognized was coming from Sarah’s baby swing. And then he heard the baby babble that was becoming almost second nature, an entirely different life than he’d had just a month earlier. He decided he liked having them around. And that fact alone was some kind of a signpost, an indication that life had thrown him a curveball when he’d expected a slider. On what planet would he have traded in his carefree life for a complicated woman with a baby? It just showed that life was most often unpredictable.
She was sitting at the kitchen table trying to wake up, sipping a cup of steaming coffee, when she looked up and saw him standing in the doorway dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. She grinned. “What are you doing up? You should go back to bed.”
He grinned back. “How do you do it, with no sleep, I mean?”
“I got almost three hours. You get used to it. Sort of.”
As he poured himself a cup of coffee, he told her, “Why don’t you go grab a shower? I’ll watch Gidget.”
“Do I smell that bad?”
“No, but you look like you could use more than a little wakeup juice. Five minutes in the shower works wonders.”
Baylee’s cell phone rang. She instantly went on alert, giving Dylan a stricken look before he reached for the phone. He eyed Quinn’s name on caller ID and flipped open the phone. “Hey Quinn, how’s it going?”
Her voice sounded shaky. “Dylan, I’m glad you answered the phone. I don’t want to upset Baylee, but she needs to know. I just found out Cade broke into my locker at the hospital sometime after midnight. He found my cell phone. I think he might have gotten Baylee’s phone number off of it. I’m not sure what Connor can do with that but there’s a reason to everything Connor does. So, you can probably expect…”
“So that’s how the son of a bitch got the number.” He told her about Connor’s call.
“I’m sorry, Dylan, I had no idea they’d go to such extremes. I’m not sure how he got past security, but since it involves a Boyd I’d guess money exchanged hands. He didn’t even try to hide the fact that he’d done it. Cade was waiting by my car.” Strutting like a peacock, she thought now.
He sat up straighter in his chair, shaking off the last dregs of sleep. “Did he hurt you?”
Quinn did her best to take the fear out of her voice. “I’m okay. But it’s never easy going one-on-one with Cade Boyd. He just rattled me, which was exactly his intent. He got his point across.”
Their conversation had Baylee reaching for the phone. “What did he do, Quinn? Tell me the truth.”
“Baylee. I’m fine, really. I’m just tired and the son of a bitch surprised me. Change your number, kiddo.”
“Plan on it. I’ll e-mail you with the new number.”
“Maybe that isn’t such a good idea either until we figure out what they’re up to. You need to call Kit, give her a heads up. She needs to know, too. This means they’re getting more desperate, as if that were possible.”
“I’ll take care of it. You go home and get some sleep. You sound exhausted.”
After they hung up, Baylee called her cell phone carrier to get her number changed and then Kit to give her a heads up.
While Baylee took a hot shower, Dylan kept an eye on Sarah and called the number for Karen Nash he’d gotten off the Internet, confirming the fact that they had the right woman. He then searched MapQuest for the directions to her address in Glendale and dialed Jake’s number while he waited for the map to print.
Getting Jake’s take on Connor’s phone call and Cade’s visit to Quinn was a little like fanning the flames of a bonfire. They both agreed that Connor tipped his hand. But why?
“I don’t understand why Connor doesn’t just leave her alone. And why does Cade go out of his way to make sure Quinn knows who got into her locker?”
“I said the same thing about Collin. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he’s infatuated with Kit. If you follow the same logic, the same obsessive fixation could be true of Connor and Cade.”
“Oh God. If that’s it, and Connor’s fixated on Baylee, he won’t let this thing go. You still think it’s a good idea to do the picnic thing tomorrow?”
“I couldn’t derail Kit’s Memorial Day train short of a natural disaster even if I wanted to. She’s been planning this for a week. Just come prepared to spend the night. She wants everyone to have a good time, forget their worries, and that means stick around after they’ve had a few too many beers, no drinking and driving.”
“Can you accommodate everyone like that?”
“Furniture was delivered yesterday. But they’re still working on getting the electricity wired. The downstairs is good to go. Upstairs, that’s another matter. But everyone will have a room and a bed. Worst case, you might have to take a cold shower upstairs, or stand in line to get a hot one down.”
“Can’t ask for more than that.” When he heard the shower shut off, he told Jake quickly, “Look, I gotta run, so I guess we’ll see you then.”
Baylee fed Sarah and got her packed for the trip to see Karen Nash. Despite the failure of her visit nine years earlier, she was excited about talking to the woman again, excited about the prospect of gleaning some tidbit of fresh information that might have transpired over the past nine years.
The turn-of-the-century mission revival style house belonging to Karen Nash sat at the end of a palm tree-lined block in old Glendale. After unloading Sarah from the car, they were warmly greeted by a petite woman standing on the porch with graying blonde hair and a wide smile. Even though Baylee hadn’t see her aunt in ten years, it was like she was looking at an older version of her mother. How had she managed to forget how much Karen resembled the woman she only remembered in old photos and bad dreams?
Over tea and cookies on the patio, Karen Nash took a walk down memory lane: ticking off funny stories, rehashing childhood memories, and funny anecdotes about the sister she hadn’t seen in more than twenty-two years. When it grew warm, the three of them moved into the living room, where it was cooler, and once again, without too much prompting, Karen relayed the last time she’d heard from Sarah.
“As I recall, William had left the week before for San Francisco to start work on a new film. She called me on a Sunday morning because she phoned to wish me a happy Mother’s Day. We talked about nothing in particular. She told me her plans to spend the day with you. The entire conversation was rather uneventful, just two sisters catching up on what each other’s plans were for the week. It was the last time I ever talked to her.” Tears ran down Karen’s cheeks.
Baylee reached out to take hold of her hands. “I’m sorry, Karen. I should have realized how painful this would be for you. But I need to know. That day, did it sound like she was unhappy? Did it sound as if she was ready to take off for parts unknown?” And leave her only daughter in the dust.
Karen looked hard into Baylee’s eyes. “I know the rumor, Baylee. And no, she said nothing about leaving. She wouldn’t have done that. I told you that when you came here at sixteen. But you were very obstinate. Your father had planted an idea in your head and I could say nothing that would dissuade you from believing some ridiculous story about her running off with the tennis pro. I couldn’t provide you with the info to back up William and you got upset with me, stormed out.”
Embarrassed, Baylee softened her voice. “I remember. I’m sorry. But I was young and so very disappointed and downhearted from having made the trip. I admit I didn’t respond very well to what you told me. But I was sixteen, Karen. What can I say? I just remember being so hopeful about fi
nding you, wanting desperately to locate her, find out what happened, confront her maybe. I remember being exhilarated at that hope, and then I came here only to discover that you couldn’t help me. I had to have someone to blame, so I blamed you for not having the answers. I was let down, Karen. I’m sorry I was rude. I know now that you weren’t lying to me. Back then my judgment was clouded by youthful dejection and nothing more.”
Karen nodded. “I felt bad for you, Baylee. I wanted to help and couldn’t. Sadly there’s never been a word from her. I haven’t heard from Sarah in twenty-two years.”
“Can you tell us anything about the tennis pro, this Luc Delaine?” Dylan asked hopefully.
“I can tell you I never believed that story about the affair. Sarah would never do that. Luc and Sarah were friends. They met at the country club and struck up a friendship. Nothing more. Now William,” Karen’s eyes darted over to Baylee, in sympathetic fashion. “I’m sorry, but your father had a roving eye. Sarah told me once about this one woman in particular he saw on a regular basis, a woman who refused to leave him alone even after he married.”
Baylee shot Dylan a look. “Do you have a name? Did you know anything about her?”
“I know she was an actress, a blonde. Apparently she had worked with William a couple of times before. They had history together. Sarah said he was really hung up on her. I’m sorry, Baylee, that’s all I can remember; it’s been such a long time now.”
“Thanks, Karen, you’ve actually been a big help.” Even though it wasn’t entirely true, Baylee wanted the woman to think so. This woman was after all; her mother’s only living relative. They left shortly afterward with a promise to do a better job keeping in touch. But by the time they got little Sarah buckled into her car seat, by the time Dylan headed toward the freeway, Baylee sat there in the car, feeling just as dejected as she’d felt at sixteen.
In the dream, she was three.
Deeper Evil (The Evil Secrets Trilogy Book 2) Page 18
