Her Soldier's Baby

by Tara Taylor Quinn

  Completely in love with her.

  And totally out of place.

  Hands in his pockets, he slipped down the hall to the room where he and Ryan would be conducting their interviews. Eliza’s studio escort would see her upstairs when she was ready.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ELIZA KNEW THE interviews had been scheduled to start the second that taping stopped. There’d been a list—those who were least involved in the show would go first. No one wanted to hang around for hours. They all had lives. And Officer Ryan had assured them all their time with him would be short.

  She’d known that Pierce was determined, to the exclusion of all else, to make certain that the culprit was found and she’d be safe.

  Still, she’d run off stage the second that she’d heard “cut,” eager to land in his arms. She’d won again! She couldn’t believe it! And finally, she didn’t have to stand there alone to be congratulated. She had someone there with her, her person, to celebrate with her.

  She’d needed, more than anything, to share it with him.

  She’d run off stage. And felt like a fool. Pierce wasn’t there. He hadn’t waited for her. She’d run to the green room just to make sure. One of the runners in charge of shopping was there. The woman had already had her time with Ryan. She told Eliza that Pierce had been in there.

  In there. Not out with her.

  The writing was on the wall.

  * * *

  AS PEOPLE WALKED into the room, Pierce studied them. Intently. He was trained—not so much by the police force, but through combat—to assess and render judgment. Was this person safe, or was death imminent?

  Not a skill that was probably necessary in today’s task, but one that he’d never learned to shut off. His radar had been honed. Which was why he’d been the one chosen to go in that day in the Middle Eastern desert.

  Techies came and went. Lighting. Camera. Sound. Runners. Show employees. Contestants. He watched. Listened. Occasionally he asked a question. As always, he gave the possible suspect a full dose of radar.

  And he was coming up empty.

  Felt empty.

  He wanted Liza. The girl he fell in love with back in high school. The woman he’d thought he’d been living with all these years.

  A woman who didn’t exist.

  * * *

  “CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WIN.” Tamera, the security officer assigned to Eliza for the day, spoke for the first time in ten minutes as the two women sat alone in a sound booth, watching a small television monitor and listening to Officer Ryan question people employed by Palm Desert Studios or Natasha Stevens Productions.

  As she’d escorted Eliza upstairs, the woman hadn’t said anything. When they’d taken their seats in the empty room, she’d asked her if she wanted something to drink. A few minutes later she’d asked if Eliza was comfortable.

  And now...this. Congratulations.

  “Thank you,” Eliza said, still feeling a hint of the thrill. But only a hint. How had life gotten so out of control? It was like her car had careened off the roller coaster.

  Because she’d received a letter that she hadn’t been able to let go. She’d started all of this. Put it in motion. Seeing mention of the Family Secrets audition. Taking that as a sign. Signing up for it. Winning. Seeing that as another sign.

  Somehow she’d missed some signs along the way.

  She was losing Pierce.

  Was no closer to knowing her son.

  And now someone was sabotaging her, trying to get her off the show at the very least. But last week, even that had escalated to possible physical danger. She could have crashed the car, driving on a sliced tire. Been rear-ended. Stranded.

  “Nothing happened today,” she said aloud. She didn’t know how much Tamera knew, but figured it was everything. Plus, she was hearing all of the same questions Eliza was hearing.

  Do you have access to the stage? Have you ever been on the stage? What is your access? When were you last on the stage during the first week of taping? Then specific times and dates. Where were you during the taping of show three? Were you there the entire time? Where else were you? For how long?

  Have you ever been to the Monteleone Hotel?

  Do you have anything against Eliza Westin?

  Had you heard of her, or ever had anything to do with her, before her appearance on Family Secrets?

  The interviews went on and on. Quickly. Interviewees came in and out at a pretty impressive rate. The questions didn’t change.

  Nor did the answers.

  “With all the detail everywhere, it would’ve been pretty hard for anyone to do anything today,” Tamera, a lean black woman, said from her seat between Eliza and the door. She’d been watching the interrogations, but watching the room, as well. Not that there was anything there but equipment.

  Still, Eliza felt safe with her. The woman seemed to be aware of every speck of their environment.

  By “detail,” Eliza figured Tamera meant the extra security guards and cameras. And maybe Pierce. He’d certainly made his presence known.

  “I’m guessing that knowing the police were going to interview everyone today would have been a deterrent, as well,” Eliza said. She didn’t know Tamera at all. But sitting there with her, she felt like she did.

  Or maybe she was just desperate to have someone to talk to.

  “Having the police involved, period, could have put an end to it,” Tamera said. “It’s one thing to do little things that you think can’t be traced back to you, things that aren’t an obvious crime. But to slash tires...that’s upping the ante more than maybe a win on this show would warrant.”

  “You think it’s about more than the show?” Pierce did. But he worried about her...

  Ryan was talking. A cameraman was answering. Same questions. Same answers.

  “Nah. Trying to make you miss the show last week made it pretty clear that it’s about the show. The whole shuttle thing took a lot of maneuvering, and if it had worked, the only outcome would have been you missing the competition.”

  Pierce had said the same thing. But then there’d been the slashed tire. It was the escalation that had bothered him, the police and consequently Natasha. It fit a profile of someone getting more upset, more determined, perhaps more desperate.

  Angela, Natasha’s stage manager, entered the interview room. She was open, concerned, intelligent. Not the least bit defensive. And had absolutely nothing, that Eliza could see, to give them.

  “I’m guessing your win today will either end things, in that it’s pretty much a given you’ve taken home the prize, or it will escalate them,” Tamera said. “If the person who’s behind this still has a chance to win.”

  “You think it’s one of the other contestants.” They knew it wasn’t. No one had left the stage during the time her tire was slashed.

  “Or someone connected to them. Someone who knows something the rest of us don’t.”

  If it continued, it would have to be someone connected with Grace.

  Either that, or someone who just had it in for her and didn’t want her to win.

  The only person she could think of who might be threatened by her win was Pierce—if he thought she’d let fame go to her head and want to leave Shelby Island—and clearly he wasn’t their saboteur.

  Nor did she want to leave Shelby Island. Rose Harbor was as much a part of her as her arms and legs. She just wanted to be more than an innkeeper. Like she had more than arms and legs. She wanted to be whole. Arms, legs, brain, drive...and full heart.

  Like maybe Rose Harbor could be the inn that a famous chef owned. Guests would come to her not only for the beautiful accommodations so close to one of South Carolina’s best-kept beaches, but also because her cooking drew them...

  A young girl entered for her inter
view. Camille. Eliza had spoken to her a time or two. Each time a Family Secrets six-week segment began with new contestants, Natasha chose two kids from the local high school to intern on the set. Camille had filled snacks in the green room a time or two. One time when the TV star wannabe, Kaylee Newcomb, had dropped a carton of eggs, Camille had rushed in to clean up the mess.

  In her Family Secrets T-shirt and jeans, she looked nervous as she sat down. Eliza felt sorry for the kid. She’d been given an exciting opportunity and had ended up being interrogated by the police. While Ryan toned himself down a little bit, his questions were basically the same. Her answers were the same. She didn’t know anything. Hadn’t seen anything. Hadn’t heard anything. As he had in all of the interviews, the officer turned to Pierce and asked if he had any other questions to add. Sometimes he did. Sometimes not. He took a moment to answer. But in the end, had nothing.

  Ryan looked over his pad again.

  The girl looked like she might be sick. Or burst into tears. Eliza tried to imagine how she’d have felt at sixteen, in an interrogation room with two intimidating cops. And wondered why her parents hadn’t been there with her. She knew from Pierce that notices had gone out about the day’s plans and that parents of minor interviewees would have had to allow the questioning.

  Eliza wished they’d just let the girl go.

  And then they did.

  “I heard someone say today that she’s a foster kid,” Tamera said, watching the monitor. “That her foster parents weren’t going to be here. Doesn’t seem right...some kids having to go it alone like that...”

  The door downstairs opened. Closed. Camille was gone.

  But she’d left a mark on Eliza’s heart. Eliza had never thought about fostering. But there were so many kids out there needing the love of a parent who really cared.

  She had so much love to give.

  Pierce made a comment to Ryan, and Eliza gave herself a mental shake.

  She’d consciously made the choice to marry a man who couldn’t be a father. While she hadn’t known his inability to have kids was more than just biological...she had told him, before they’d married, that she’d rather have their family of two than not have him.

  She still felt that way.

  She didn’t want to lose Pierce. So what was she supposed to do with all of this heartache bubbling up inside her?

  A young man entered the room next. She recognized him. Daniel, the other intern, who’d run for their porcinis the first week. He was alone, as well.

  Eliza hadn’t seen as much of him as she had Camille, but he’d been around. Usually on the side of the stage. She’d seen him talking to Grace a time or two. He’d been there to congratulate the older woman the week she’d won. Had brought her a bottle of water once when she’d been sweating under the lights...

  “He’s a senior. The other one there, she’s a sophomore,” Tamera said. Eliza wondered if the security officer had any kids of her own.

  But didn’t ask. Was loath to get into a kid conversation at the moment. Felt kind of like an alcoholic walking into a bar. She was fighting feelings that were unraveling her life. No need to make it harder on herself to move on.

  Officer Ryan asked his questions. The kid answered. His replies were straightforward. Sitting up straight in his Family Secrets T-shirt, he looked both men right in the eye, without arrogance.

  Eliza was glad to see there were still good kids in the world. And when she started to wonder if her son was anything like Daniel, she turned away. She wasn’t going to do this. Wasn’t going to see her boy in every male teenager with whom she came into contact.

  She’d been through that already. When her son had been a baby. And then a toddler. She’d looked, everywhere she went, thinking she might get a glimpse. Thinking that a mother would have some kind of sixth sense to know if her child was near. That she’d recognize him.

  She’d looked at other babies and imagined her own son experiencing the same phases. Exhibiting the same behaviors...

  “There’s something you aren’t telling us.” Eliza’s head shot back as she heard her husband’s voice—in a tone he’d never used in her presence before.

  Daniel frowned. Shook his head. “I swear, I have no idea who’s behind this. I’d do anything I could to help you. I just don’t know anything.”

  “I don’t believe you.” Leaning forward, his eyebrows drawn together, eyes narrowed, Pierce looked menacing.

  Daniel, his blond hair respectably short, shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m telling you the truth.”

  Eliza looked at Ryan. His gaze moved between Pierce and Daniel. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Whose side he was on.

  Had Pierce sensed something? He had some very special skills. Jamison had talked about them to her when Pierce was in the hospital. Not long after she’d asked him if he thought Pierce had a death wish.

  But Daniel was a nice kid. His nurturing of Grace that week...

  Grace.

  The only contestant she’d be competing against for the win.

  Was Daniel somehow associated with her beyond the show? A grandson? Or friend of a grandson? Someone in her family who stood to benefit if the older woman’s recipe was mass-produced? An heir, perhaps?

  Her mind flew with possibilities.

  But... Daniel?

  He had alibis for the times in question. Maybe not for when the mushrooms went missing, as no one knew for sure when that had happened. But the water and vinegar—Daniel hadn’t been on the set since the previous week. When the calls had been made from the hotel the previous week, he’d been on set helping a techie with some wiring. He’d also been stage left the entire show the previous week, so he couldn’t have slashed her tire during the taping. There were numerous people who could back up his story.

  “I’ve been asking myself since the second week, with that minute amount of vinegar added to a water bottle, who could have done it. Trying to remember everything I’ve seen. Last week, I swear, I was watching the whole time.” The boy gave a self-deprecating smirk. “I thought maybe I could be the one who— I had this stupid idea that I might figure it out, and then...”

  “You want me to believe that you only want to help?” Pierce asked, not relenting. Which Eliza didn’t understand at all. It wasn’t like they were talking about murder here. Or even a felony—unless someone pressed charges for the sliced tire and attached an intent-to-harm accusation to it.

  Why was Pierce being so hard on the boy? If his alibis didn’t check out, Ryan could always pick him up. Bring him back for further questioning.

  Did Pierce know something Eliza didn’t?

  “It’s the truth, sir.” Daniel said. “I swear to you.”

  Pierce didn’t look ready to back down anytime soon. “I don’t know who you think you’re dealing with, but...”

  “Okay,” Ryan cut Pierce off. “We’re done here. You can go, son.”

  Heat spread up Eliza’s body, suffusing her face. That poor kid...

  Expecting Ryan to ask Pierce to leave for the remainder of the interviews, she didn’t respond when Tamera said, “Wow, your man really went after that one. What’s up with that?”

  Ryan didn’t kick Pierce out, though.

  One by one, the current roster of Family Secrets contestants came in. Grace first. The older woman was flustered. She stumbled over her answers.

  But Eliza didn’t think for one second Grace had anything to do with the mishaps. She’d been too upset by the missing mushrooms. Of course, that could have been an act...

  But...no... Grace would not want a win by ill-gotten gains.

  There’d been that restraining order her own daughter had filed against her...

  No. She wasn’t going to think such things.

  She liked Grace. A lot.

  Didn’
t blame her for being flustered.

  Pierce didn’t seem to blame her, either.

  He had no questions for the older woman at all.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  PIERCE PAID CLOSEST attention to the contestants. They were the ones who had the most at stake. A mass-produced recipe could make someone millions. It might not, but it could. And a Family Secrets win would give a chef star status. If he or she didn’t get his own show, the winner could certainly expect to be called on to appear as a guest judge on other shows, to take part in television food channel special functions.

  They’d all had access to the stage for a mushroom steal and water bottle change-out. All but Grace were guests at the hotel, would have been there when the phone calls were made and fully capable of making them without drawing attention.

  The only thing he couldn’t directly pin on any of them was the slashed tire on Eliza’s rental car.

  She’d rented the car at the last minute. Was it possible the tire had already been sliced? And had just taken a while, with driving, for it to start to unravel?

  The contestants all knew that Eliza had rented cars from the hotel lobby in the past. Was it too far-fetched to think that one might have slashed the tires after making the phone calls, and before leaving on the shuttle for the studio?

  She’d had the same car each time. As they waited for the next contestant, Kaylee Newcomb, to join them, he leaned forward so he could speak privately to Ryan.

  “We need to check the rental fleet. To see how many cars they have. What was the chance that Eliza would get that particular car? I’m assuming there’d have been a report if more tires than just hers were slashed.”

  “Already ahead of you, bro,” Ernie Ryan said. “They have three cars parked on-site. The other two weren’t tampered with. And Eliza’s wasn’t tampered with on-site. It’s under video surveillance, and I’ve already looked at the footage.”

  Clearly he should already have been on it, too. He was slipping. And that was unacceptable. “I didn’t see that in the report.” Not that Ryan owed him anything. This wasn’t his investigation. The Palm Desert police were just being respectful by letting him be involved at all.