His Secret Christmas Baby

by Rita Herron

  Irkman began to shake. “I want a deal.”

  “A deal?” Derrick wanted to kill him. “Tell us the truth and maybe you won’t wind up on death row.”

  “No….” Mrs. Irkman cried. “Wilbur, please, son, tell them you didn’t kill anyone.”

  “He was involved in the meth lab,” Cramer said to her. “He belonged to a club. The explosion that night might have been an accident but they killed dozens and dozens of innocent people and should have come forward and owned up to it.”

  “Not only did you get away with it,” Derrick said, “but now you’ve started a new drug ring and are taking advantage of the kids in town.”

  “No, Wilbur, tell them it’s not true,” Mrs. Irkman screeched.

  “Shut up, Mother!” Wilbur screamed. “Just shut up.”

  Mrs. Irkman burst into tears, and Derrick slid his hands around Wilbur’s throat. “Who took my son, Irkman?”

  “It wasn’t me,” Wilbur pleaded. “I helped set up the meth lab but that’s all. I swear.”

  Derrick shoved his face into the scrawny man. “Then who stole my baby?”

  “I don’t know.” Wilbur shuddered, then tried to tear Derrick’s hands from around his throat.

  “Who?” Derrick repeated.

  “Mark Larimer,” Wilburn muttered. “He and I set up the lab together but then Natalie got wind of it and figured things out.”

  Cramer moved closer. “Then what happened?”

  “Mark paid his brother to threaten her. “We thought if she was scared she wouldn’t talk and we’d all be safe.”

  Fury ripped through Derrick. That was the reason she hadn’t told Brianna or him. She’d been trying to protect Brianna and her son.

  But doing so had cost her her life.

  Derrick’s heart pounded. “Larimer burned down the lab?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he kidnapped Ryan?”

  “He hired his brother to,” Wilbur said in a shrill voice. “But he wouldn’t have done that if that nosy social worker hadn’t started asking questions about Natalie’s death. If you want someone to blame, blame her.”

  Derrick wanted to choke the man, but Cramer touched his arm, his handcuffs jangling from his hand. “Don’t do it, McKinney. I know you hate him now, but he and Larimer need to face the town and pay for all the people’s lives they destroyed eight years ago.”

  Derrick trembled with the effort to release Irkman into Cramer’s hands. But Cramer was right. They should have to face the town.

  And he needed to find Larimer and make him tell him where his brother had taken his son.

  “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?” Brianna whispered as Mark dragged her outside, shoved her into the driver’s seat of his car and ordered her to drive to her house.

  “Because you’re going to ruin everything,” Mark bellowed. “You and that bitch Natalie. Why couldn’t you just leave it alone? We would never have kidnapped that damn kid if you hadn’t gotten so nosy.”

  Brianna’s blood ran cold, but he shoved the gun against her temple and she started the engine and headed out of the parking lot. “Where’s Ryan, Mark? What did you do with him? Is he all right?”

  “I don’t know where he is,” Mark muttered. “But you’ll never see him again.”

  “Mark,” Brianna whispered. “Please, if you haven’t hurt Ryan, we can work something out. Just take me to him and I promise not to press charges.”

  “It’s too late for that,” Mark yelled. “Too late. Just drive.”

  Brianna heard the panic in his voice, and forced herself to calm down. Maybe when they reached her house, she could talk some sense into him, play on his conscience.

  But he had killed Natalie. And if he’d killed all those people years ago, he has nothing to lose.

  Stall, she had to stall. Get home. Maybe Derrick would be waiting.

  A sob of terror and hopelessness welled in her chest.

  No, Derrick wouldn’t come back. He’d told her that he never wanted to see her again.

  She glanced at the trees lining the road and considered ramming into them. It might kill her and Mark though, and then Derrick couldn’t question Mark and make him confess where his brother had taken Ryan. She vaguely remembered that Mark had a sibling. He’d been younger, a troubled guy, not very smart. How far would he go for Mark?

  “Don’t even think about it,” Mark growled as if he’d read her mind. “You try to kill me, I’ll make sure your boyfriend dies and that the kid does, too.”

  “Then Ryan is still alive?” she said in a low whisper.

  Mark waved the gun. “Just shut up and drive.”

  She bit her lip to keep from crying, then turned the car toward the mountain road to her house. The seconds ticked by excruciatingly slow, but they finally arrived.

  Hope died as she realized Derrick hadn’t returned, that she was on her own.

  Mark jumped from the car like a wild man, ran to her side, yanked her out and dragged her up the steps. She fumbled with the keys trying to stall. Contemplating whether to try to escape. If he killed her, at least Derrick might find him and make him talk.

  She glanced at the woods, ready to run, but he rammed the gun in her side, and Ryan’s face flashed in her mind. She wasn’t ready to die.

  He pushed her in the door, then hauled her across the room to the desk in her den, and forced her to sit down. Cursing beneath his breath, he scrambled for paper in the desk, shoved a piece in front of her, then grabbed a pen and jammed it into her hand.

  “Start writing.”

  She heaved a breath, her heart roaring in her ears at the wild panic in his beady eyes. “Write what?”

  “Your suicide note,” he said with an evil smile. “How you killed Natalie because you wanted her baby so badly, then you couldn’t handle the guilt so you abandoned him and cried kidnapping.”

  He leaned forward, his rancid breath bathing her face. “How you couldn’t live with the guilt any longer so you had to take your own life.”

  CRAMER HANDCUFFED IRKMAN AND shoved him into the squad car while Derrick called the hospital to see if Larimer was on duty.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. McKinney, he was here,” the nurse said. “But I saw him leaving with Miss Honeycutt a few minutes ago.”

  Derrick clenched the phone with a white-knuckled grip. “Where was he going?”

  “He didn’t say,” she said. “But it’s not like Mark to leave during his shift. And when I tried to call out to him, he just glared at me and hurried off.”

  “I need his home address,” Derrick said.

  “Sir, I can’t give out that information.”

  “This is a matter of life and death. The sheriff is here with me. Do you need to speak to him?”

  “Well, no, I guess not.” She tapped a few keys on the computer, then gave him the address.

  “What’s going on?” Cramer asked when Derrick ended the call.

  “Larimer has Brianna.”

  “Damn.” Cramer slammed the door shut, locking Irkman inside the back of the squad car.

  Derrick punched in Brianna’s number, praying she’d answer, but the phone rang and rang and no one answered.

  “Put out an APB on him, and go to Larimer’s,” Derrick said on a curse. “I’ll check Brianna’s just in case he took her there.”

  Cramer gave a clipped nod, climbed into his car, flipped on the siren and sped away while Derrick rushed toward Brianna’s. He punched her number again, his heart racing as he sped around traffic.

  Brianna had to be all right. He couldn’t be too late.

  But he’d been too late on his last case. He’d been too late for Natalie. And maybe Ryan…

  No, he wouldn’t give up.

  Emotions threatened to paralyze him as he turned off the road from town onto the narrow one that led to Brianna’s. Gravel and snow spewed from the tires as he ground his way up the hill, but he slowed as he approached Brianna’s house and parked in a clearing down from the drive. If Larimer had Brianna, he need
ed the element of surprise on his side.

  He checked his gun, then eased open the door, climbed out and inched his way up the drive.

  Fear slammed into him again when he spotted the blue truck parked near her house. He crept up the steps to the porch, then looked inside the front window. The house was dark, shadows dancing along the interior.

  He paused to listen, but only the wind howling and the hiss of limbs breaking beneath the weight of the snow echoed in the silence. That and his thundering heart.

  Clenching his jaw, he slipped down the steps, then around to the side window where he could see inside the den.

  Fear seized him when he spotted Brianna and Larimer. Brianna was sitting at the desk in the corner. Larimer towered over her with a gun pressed to her temple. Then he shoved something into her mouth—a pill, Derrick realized when he spotted the bottle on the desk.

  Larimer cocked the gun, then shoved another one in her mouth and ordered her to swallow.

  BRIANNA TRIED TO SPIT OUT THE sleeping pill, but Larimer slapped her and jammed another one in her mouth. She’d tried to stall, hold them in her mouth, praying someone would come to her rescue. But she was already starting to feel the effects, starting to feel groggy.

  The room was spinning, her ears ringing and the hazy blur of his face swam in front of her.

  “You can kill me,” she spoke through a cotton mouth, “but Derrick will find you and he’ll get Ryan back.”

  He shook out another pill, grabbed her jaw and jammed it in her mouth. She choked and coughed, but he pressed the gun to her temple and she closed her eyes and forced herself to swallow. But her mouth was so dry, the pill stuck in her throat and she began to cough.

  The floor squeaked in the kitchen, but she assumed it was the wind. Or maybe it was just her ears ringing from the drugs.

  But suddenly a shout rent the air and through the fog of her mind, she saw Derrick tear Mark away from her and throw him to the floor.

  A gunshot fired, and she struggled to see what was happening, but the room swam again and she slid from the chair to the floor. Another shot pinged through the air and the sound of a man grunting echoed through the room.

  God, no….

  Had Mark killed Derrick?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Derrick had lost his gun when he and Larimer had fallen, but then he slammed his fist into the side of Larimer’s face. Larimer cursed and fought him, one hand still gripping his weapon, and they rolled across the floor.

  With a hard whack of his hand, he knocked the gun from Larimer’s hand. The gun fired again, hit the ceiling, and Larimer cursed and tried to scramble away to retrieve the weapon.

  But Derrick grabbed him by the collar and slammed his fist against his face. Fury rose as he saw Brianna collapse to the floor. He straddled Larimer, then gripped him around the neck, choking him.

  Larimer sputtered and coughed, and Derrick tightened his hold. “You killed Natalie, didn’t you?”

  Larimer’s eyes widened as he struggled to breathe. He tried to pry Derrick’s hands from his throat, but Derrick pressed his body down with his weight, and sank his fingers deeper into the man’s fleshy neck. Then he whipped his phone from his pocket and called 9–1-1.

  “What did you give her?” he asked through gritted teeth.

  “Sleeping pills,” Larimer hissed. “Just sleeping pills.”

  But too many could kill her.

  “9–1-1,” the operator said.

  “Get an ambulance out to Brianna Honeycutt’s house. She may have overdosed on sleeping pills. And call Sheriff Cramer and tell him to send a car out to the house to make an arrest.” He gave her the address, and slammed the phone shut, then shook Larimer.

  “You killed Natalie, didn’t you?”

  Larimer nodded, terror in his eyes.

  “Where’s the baby?”

  “I don’t know,” Larimer screeched.

  “Don’t lie to me,” Derrick growled. “Where is he?”

  Larimer looked panicked and again tried to escape, but Derrick choked him harder. “Tell me, dammit!”

  “My brother took him, but I don’t know where they are…I swear I don’t.”

  Derrick released one hand just enough to lean sideways and grab the gun. Then he shoved it in Larimer’s face. “Tell me or I’m going to shoot one knee out. Then another. Then I’ll work my way up.” He traced the gun over the side of the man’s head.

  Larimer coughed and cried out, then bucked his legs and fought him for the gun. The gun went off, and suddenly Larimer’s groan of pain filled the air. The bullet had hit him in the chest. Blood began to gush.

  Derrick cursed. “No, you can’t die, you bastard, not until you tell me where my son is!”

  But Larimer sputtered and gurgled blood. It spewed from his chest wound, then his nose and mouth. Derrick shook him. “No, dammit, you can’t die. Where’s my son?”

  Larimer’s eyes grew wide again, filled with panic and horror. Then suddenly they rolled back in his head and went blank.

  Derrick choked on his own emotions. With Larimer gone, Ryan might be lost forever.

  Tears blurred his vision as he rushed to Brianna and knelt to check her pulse. She couldn’t be dead already. He couldn’t lose her….

  It took him a minute, but finally he found a pulse. It was slow and thready, but at least she was alive.

  Thank God. He pulled her in his arms and held her to him, rocking her back and forth and watching her breathe as he waited on the ambulance.

  BRIANNA HAD NO IDEA HOW LONG she’d been asleep, but she felt exhausted and her stomach ached. She opened her eyes and searched the dimly lit room. A white room.

  The hospital.

  The memory of awakening in the E.R., of having her stomach pumped, returned and she groaned.

  “How are you feeling?”

  She blinked, confused, then Derrick’s handsome face appeared in front of her. He looked angry and worried and…as if something terrible was wrong.

  “Ryan?” she whispered. Dear God, did he have bad news about the baby?

  “We still don’t know,” he said. “Larimer said he hired his brother to kidnap him, but he didn’t know where he took Ryan. Did he tell you?”

  She shook her head, tears filling her eyes.

  “Shh.” He brushed the hair from her forehead. “Cramer has an APB out on him now, and the FBI is also looking. GAI is trying to trace that call he made to you.”

  She nodded, although disappointment ballooned in her chest. Nausea ripped through her, and the room swirled. She closed her eyes again, but another memory returned. Derrick walking out the door. Derrick hated her. He’d said he never wanted to see her again.

  Then why was he here?

  “Brianna,” he said in a gruff tone. “You didn’t answer me. How do you feel?”

  Lost and alone and desperate to know that the baby was safe.

  “Miserable,” she whispered. “All this and we still don’t have Ryan.”

  “I’ll find him, I swear I will,” he promised softly. “Tell me what happened. Why did you go to the hospital?”

  “I decided that Mark was suspicious.” She licked her dry lips. “I wanted to make him tell me where Ryan was. I wanted to bring him back to you….”

  In spite of her bravado, a tear slipped down her cheek. Derrick brushed it away with his thumb. “You almost got killed trying to save my son. Even after the things I said to you?”

  He sounded confused, troubled, angry. “I had to,” she whispered. “I was supposed to protect Ryan and I didn’t.” A sob escaped her. “And I let you down. I never meant to do that, to lie to you, Derrick.”

  “I know,” he said gently.

  “What?” She blinked back more tears at the forgiveness in his voice.

  His eyes darkened as they skated over her. “Did you mean everything you said?”

  Emotions welled in her chest. “That I love you?” She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Yes. But I know you loved Natalie, Derrick.
I don’t expect anything in return. I just wanted to bring Ryan home and give him back to you. To put him in your arms where he belongs.”

  An odd expression flashed in Derrick’s eyes, then he dragged a chair over beside the bed, put her hand in his and leaned his head against their joined hands.

  “Derrick?” Using her free hand, she brushed his hair back from his forehead. “Derrick, you’re going to make a wonderful father. I promise to fix things with the court, even if I have to resign from my job. I want you to have your son and tell him all about his mother and how much you loved her.”

  Derrick shook his head, unable to believe Brianna’s confession. Her selflessness.

  Finally he swallowed, then placed a kiss on her palm.

  Her eyes lifted to his, surprised and confused.

  “You have it all wrong now,” he said, the words tumbling from him. “I never loved Natalie, Bri. What happened between us was a…mistake.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not proud of it. I’m sorry if that night hurt you, but I can’t be completely sorry because Ryan came out of it. But I never loved Natalie.”

  “I don’t understand….”

  “I never loved her, Bri,” he said, then lifted her chin with his hand. “Brianna, I love you.”

  “What?”

  “I have always wanted you.” His chest tightened at the admission. “Even in high school, but I thought you were too good for me.”

  “Too good for you?” she said in a low voice.

  He nodded. “I told you my father beat me all the time. He told me I was worthless and I believed him. That’s why I got into trouble.” He hesitated. “But you were different. Even though your mother abandoned you in that orphanage, you were kind and caring and…so damn beautiful. I didn’t think I deserved someone like you.”

  She started to speak, but he pressed a finger to her lips to silence her. He had to finish. Even after he’d hurt her, she’d risked her life for him and his son. “I thought that I wasn’t father material because of my old man, and I figured you and Natalie saw me that way.”

  “Derrick, oh, Derrick, that’s not true. I told you before. You’re going to make a wonderful father.”