Evil Secrets Trilogy Boxed Set

by Vickie McKeehan

“I’m not looking for a quickie here, Baylee. Am I wrong to think we could have something special together?”

  She shook her head. “You aren’t wrong. But it’s too soon. You can’t pressure me and expect me to just jump in bed because I’m sharing your house and I’m convenient. I can’t help it if things get―a little heated between us sometimes. Living here wasn’t my idea, it was yours. The three-date rule doesn’t apply here, either. You can’t rush me on this. I have Sarah to think about first.”

  He chuckled, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “The three-date rule, huh? Is that what I’m doing?”

  She sighed, laughing as well. “Seems like.”

  “Will you kiss me like you did last night before you go back to bed?”

  She blew out a breath. “Do you think that’s wise?”

  He grinned at the idea of a challenge. “I think I can control my primal urges long enough to enjoy the kiss the same way I did last night without us ending up in bed.”

  “You’re making fun of me.”

  “Maybe.” He reached behind him to shut down his laptop. “Why don’t we take a ride out to Glendale tomorrow, spend some time talking to this Karen Nash? I found her address on the Internet. We’ll give her a call in the morning. Make sure she’s the right Karen Nash with a sister named Sarah Moreland. Maybe Karen can tell us more about the tennis pro.”

  How sweet of him, she thought. A chunk of doubt fell away. She was already standing close to him and simply stepped into his space, reaching her arms around his waist. “Oh Dylan, that’s the sweetest thing. I had to beg Kit and Quinn to make the trip that one time we went out there. And yet you’d go on a whim.”

  “I’d go because you need to find out what happened to your mother once and for all. Look Baylee, I had a pretty normal childhood, no abusive mother or father, no alcoholism to deal with, no beatings. I can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up that way.”

  Her last bit of resistance melted away. She stood on her tiptoes and touched her lips to his. He grabbed her around the waist, bringing her the rest of the way in, wrapping her up. His hands moved down to cup her rear end. Her body melded into his like it had been waiting to find purpose. The instant their lips touched the warmth spread. His tongue parted her lips, began probing, sucking, tasting.

  The heat came in layers, soft flame first before building to liquid fire.

  Somewhere a cell phone rang. They broke apart, looking around trying to locate the ringing. It was Dylan who got to the phone first. It was Baylee’s cell, which she’d left on the coffee table. Picking it up, Dylan checked caller ID. The lateness of the hour and the untimely interruption caused him to bark at no one in particular. “Who the hell would be calling at this hour?”

  “Maybe it’s Tanya. It could be about Dad.”

  He held up the phone while the thing kept ringing. “With a blocked ID, I don’t think so.”

  He flipped open the phone. “Who the hell is this?”

  The last thing Connor Boyd expected was for a man to answer. But that wasn’t enough to deter him. “I need to talk to Baylee. Now. Who is this?”

  Dylan recognized his voice. And it made his blood run cold. “You stay away from Baylee. Lose this number, asshole, and never call her again.”

  “I want to hear that from her. She doesn’t have the guts to say that to my face.”

  “She may not, but I do. You’re the sick pervert who’s stalking her.”

  “Did she tell you that? Don’t you what to know why I’m calling?”

  “I don’t give a shit.”

  “Are you going to tell me who this is?”

  “I’m the boyfriend, Einstein. You always call and threaten women at three in the morning.”

  Over the monitor, Sarah started to cry.

  “What is that noise? Is that a baby?”

  “What kind of asshole calls someone at three in the morning? You woke up my daughter, you jerk.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Baylee dart down the hall to quiet Sarah.

  “Your daughter?”

  “I don’t appreciate your calling my woman at three in the morning either. You got that?”

  Click. The line went dead.

  “Shit.” Not thinking straight, he quickly punched in star sixty-nine, but was not surprised when the call did not go through. He knew star sixty-nine didn’t work with cell phones. Frustrated, he threw down the phone and went in search of Baylee. He didn’t go far.

  When he got to Sarah’s room, Baylee was sitting in his desk chair with the baby at her breast, shaking from head to toe with a panicked look in her eyes. “That was Connor, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah. How’d he get your number?”

  “I have no idea. The only people that have it are Kit, Quinn, Blair, Tanya, and Dad. Maybe Gloria.”

  The list was short. “Well, he managed to get it from someone.”

  For Sarah’s sake, Baylee tried to stop shaking, tried to calm down. “I didn’t realize I’d be this scared.”

  “You mean you expected him to call.”

  “He’s called before, Dylan. But not since last year. And not using that number. I’ve changed my cell phone number twice, once when I got to Denver and again in December before coming back to L.A. trying to avoid this very scene. The only people that have this number are the ones closest to me.”

  “You’re changing it again first thing in the morning.” He realized he was shouting when Sarah stopped nursing long enough to turn her head to stare at him. At the gruff sound of his voice, her lips started to pucker into a cry.

  Instantly remorseful, Dylan went around and knelt down in front of both of them. He placed a gentle hand on Sarah’s head and said softly, “Hey there, Gidget, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. Getting a little hungry, needed a little snack, did you? It’s all right. I wasn’t yelling at you. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  He placed a tender kiss on the top of Sarah’s head before looking up into Baylee’s eyes. His hand reached out to touch her knee to stop it from moving up and down so much. Gentling his voice even more, he told her, “He has no idea where you are. You have to believe that. He reached a cell phone. For all he knows, you could be in Siberia.”

  “But I’m not in Siberia.”

  He smiled. “No, you aren’t.” But damn it, Connor could check cell phone pings from the nearest tower if he had the right connections.

  “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 t
hat 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 was 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 r
ang. 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.