RENEGADE GUARDIAN

by Delores Fossen

  “Wait here,” Slade ordered Maya.

  He reached to open the door, but reaching was the only thing he managed to do before he caught the movement from the corner of his eye.

  Not the SUV.

  But there was someone seated in a black two-door sedan parked in the corner of the lot. He’d noticed the vehicle, of course, when he’d first arrived at the grocery store and spotted Maya’s car.

  But he darn sure hadn’t seen anyone inside.

  Well, he saw that someone now—the shadowy figure behind the steering wheel—and an uneasy feeling snaked through Slade. He’d been a marshal for nearly ten years, and that was more than enough time for him to sense something was wrong.

  Slade kept one eye on the SUV as it sped out of the parking lot, but he turned his weapon toward the sedan.

  Mercy.

  Was this some kind of trap?

  If so, he’d nearly fallen for it because he had been within a split second of running after the SUV. If he’d done that, it was possible that he would have left Maya and the baby completely vulnerable to an attack.

  Slade stayed put. Not easy to do. His body was in the fight mode, but he also felt something else. That overpowering instinct to protect this child. He’d never considered himself father material. And maybe he wasn’t. But that didn’t seem to matter to whatever was firing the emotions inside him. If necessary, he would die to protect the baby.

  Slade glanced at the green SUV as it disappeared out of sight. The sirens got closer, and thankfully the cruiser didn’t pull into the parking lot. The driver went in pursuit of the SUV. Good. Maybe the locals would manage to collar the guy—alive—so that Slade could question him.

  But that left the person in the black car.

  Maybe it was just a case of wrong place, wrong time, but Slade wasn’t taking any chances.

  “What’s going on?” Maya asked. She would have no doubt lifted her head to look over the seat if Slade hadn’t pushed her back down.

  “There might be a second kidnapper.”

  Her breath rattled in her throat. “What do you need me to do?” The question rushed out with a rise of breath.

  “You’re doing it. Just stay down.” Maya had already plastered herself over the baby again, and thankfully Evan’s cries were now just soft whimpers.

  Even though the windshield of the black car was heavily tinted, Slade detected some movement inside. The driver started the engine but didn’t move. He just sat there as if daring Slade to come and get him. Slade figured if he did that, he’d be instantly gunned down.

  The moments crawled by, and though it seemed to take an eternity, Slade figured it was less than a minute before he heard a second siren. Backup. This cruiser, too, might go in pursuit of the SUV, but if it turned into the parking lot, that would free up Slade to check out his theory about the second kidnapper.

  Except the kidnapper obviously had a different plan.

  The black car inched forward, and Slade cursed. Because he thought the guy was about to bash into them again. Slade took aim at the driver but held back pulling the trigger just in case this turned out to be nothing.

  But it sure didn’t feeling like nothing.

  The driver didn’t come toward them but instead turned toward the exit. He didn’t screech out as the SUV had done. He simply drove away as if he’d finished whatever routine business he had.

  “You recognize that car?” Slade asked, and he made a mental note of the license plate.

  Maya lifted her head just a fraction and looked over the seat and Slade’s shoulder. “No. But if he’s the kidnapper, he’s getting away.”

  Slade was well aware of that. “Call 911 again and give the dispatcher a description of the vehicle. I want this guy followed.” Slade rattled off the license plate that he hoped wasn’t fake.

  Maya made the second call, but this time she didn’t stay down when she finished. She watched the black car drive out of the parking lot. Again, not hurried. The driver was doing nothing that would draw attention to himself, but the fact that he’d been there during the kidnapping attempt drew all of Slade’s attention.

  Two vehicles, two drivers. And it could be just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe the kidnapper wasn’t working alone, and if so, it only proved just how determined this guy was.

  But why?

  If someone was kidnapping babies for emotional reasons, then an attack like this didn’t make sense. The person in the SUV had been determined. Desperate, even.

  And that brought it all back to Slade.

  “What’s wrong?” Maya asked. “You’re breathing funny.”

  Slade hadn’t noticed any change in his breathing, but he immediately tried to fix it. He didn’t want to have to give Maya an explanation that the kidnappings could be connected to him.

  But they could be.

  Yeah, it had crossed his mind, but it was something he’d tried hard to dismiss. Well, he couldn’t dismiss it now. There were some criminals he’d arrested who would no doubt like to give him a dose of revenge. What better way to do it than to kidnap his child and use the baby to get back at him?

  Slade mumbled more profanity. He needed answers. About Deidre. About her death. About everything. Because if this was indeed connected to him, he had to stop it.

  And learn if one of these three baby boys was his.

  In fact, the kidnapper might already have his child. That only made his stomach knot even more, but Slade couldn’t dismiss the punch of emotion he’d gotten when he looked at Evan’s face. He wasn’t the sort of man to believe in woo-woo junk, but he couldn’t deny that he’d felt...something.

  Something he pushed aside when the police cruiser came flying into the parking lot.

  Maya lifted her head again. “It’s Sheriff Monroe.” And she might have bolted from her vehicle if Slade hadn’t caught onto her and held her in place.

  Her eyes widened, and she shook her head as if considering the impossible. “You think someone else is out there?” But she didn’t wait for his answer. Her gaze fired all around the parking lot.

  “We don’t know how many people this kidnapper could have hired to help him,” he settled for saying.

  Slade kept hold of her until Sheriff Monroe and a deputy exited the cruiser. Both lawmen had their weapons drawn, and like Maya, they were looking for any sign of danger.

  Unfortunately, the danger had driven away.

  Slade stepped from the car but motioned for Maya to stay put. “Please tell me you have someone in pursuit of the SUV and the black car,” he said to the sheriff.

  Monroe nodded. “I’ve called for backup and roadblocks.”

  Slade hoped that would be enough. If they got lucky, the missing babies might even be in one of the vehicles. Though it was an unsettling thought to consider the babies—any babies—going through that kind of danger.

  “Did you get a good look at either driver?” Monroe asked.

  “No.” And Slade knew that would be the first of many questions he’d have to answer the same way. On the surface the attack might have looked sloppy and unplanned, but Slade figured the opposite was true.

  The deputy stayed diligent, looking around, and Sheriff Monroe hurried past Slade and made his way over to Maya. “Are you okay? Were either of you hurt?”

  Maya shook her head, but she was far from okay. Slade could see the terror and the wildfire adrenaline on her face and in her eyes.

  Slade went closer, too, and was relieved when he saw that the baby had not only stopped fussing but had fallen asleep. He wasn’t sure how that was possible, but he was grateful for it.

  “My truck’s over there.” Slade tipped his head to the side of the grocery store where he’d parked. “I can drive you to the sheriff’s office, and we can wait there until we figure out the next step.”
/>   “Not home,” she mumbled.

  And it wasn’t a question. Yeah, the impact of the danger was really starting to settle in now, but she still managed to give him a look that Slade had no trouble recognizing.

  She didn’t trust him.

  Too bad. He hadn’t exaggerated when he’d told her that he was her best shot at keeping the baby safe.

  Slade took her by the arm and helped her stand. Good thing he didn’t let go, because Maya wobbled and landed with a smack against him. Despite the hell they’d just been through, Slade felt another jolt. Not from the danger this time but from the realization that Maya was a damn attractive woman.

  And she was in his arms.

  She quickly remedied that. “Sorry.” She pushed herself away from him but not before Slade caught another look in her eyes. Not distrust.

  Oh, man.

  He had to be wrong, but it seemed as if there was that little spark. Well, he had too much on his mind and plate to be dealing with that, and he told his body, and hers, to knock it off.

  Maya reached for the baby, wobbled again and Slade stepped around her to unstrap the carrier so he could lift it and the car seat. He didn’t have anything resembling a car seat in his truck, and the baby had already been put in enough danger.

  Clearly, Maya didn’t like him handling her baby even while Evan was in a carrier, but even she couldn’t argue that she wasn’t steady enough on her feet to make the short trek across the parking lot.

  Slade kept his gun ready in his right hand, shifted the carrier to his left and gave Maya a nudge to get her moving. However, they only made it a few steps before the sheriff’s phone rang.

  “Sheriff Monroe,” he answered, and Slade saw the immediate change in the lawman’s body language.

  That stopped Slade in his tracks. Maya, too. Hell, Slade hoped this wasn’t bad news, because they’d already had enough of that today. Him and Maya and waited and fortunately didn’t have to wait long.

  “We got him,” the sheriff announced the second he ended the call.

  Maya made a sound of sheer relief. But not Slade. He just waited for the sheriff to continue.

  “Well, we got one of them anyway,” Monroe explained. “My deputy just cuffed the driver of the black car and he’s taking him to the sheriff’s office now.”

  “Is he talking?” Slade immediately asked.

  The sheriff shook his head.

  Slade got Maya moving again. “I’ll do something about that.”

  One way or another, Slade would get answers. And not just about the kidnappings but about the baby’s paternity. The moment he had Maya and the baby inside his truck, he took out his phone and started a text to send to one of his brothers.

  “Please tell me nothing else is wrong.” Maya leaned over as if trying to see what he’d typed.

  But Slade fired off the text before she could see it. At least he thought he had.

  Maya looked up at him with suddenly accusing eyes. “Why...?” That was all she managed to say for several seconds. “Why did you ask for a DNA kit?”

  Chapter Five

  Maya groaned when she checked the clock on the office wall again and wished the minutes would stop crawling by and speed up. It’d been nearly an hour since Slade and she had arrived at the sheriff’s office. Almost immediately he’d disappeared into the interrogation room with the sheriff and their kidnapping suspect.

  The man from the black car.

  No one had filled her in on what the man’s role had been in the kidnapping. Or if there’d even been a role. Basically, she’d just been left in the room with the promise from Slade that he’d get answers. Well, that wait for answers was testing her already frazzled nerves.

  She was thankful that her son wasn’t in on that frazzled part. She’d given him the rest of his bottle not long after they’d arrived, and the full tummy did the trick because Evan was sound asleep.

  Unlike Maya.

  She was too exhausted to pace across the sheriff’s private office, but she couldn’t stop her mind from racing. The attack in the parking lot was partly to blame for that.

  Mostly to blame.

  But some of that mind racing was because of the cowboy-lawman in jeans and a Stetson who’d rescued Evan and her. She should be thanking him a hundred times over, but it wasn’t a boatload of thanks that was in that whirlwind inside her head.

  It was the uneasy feeling she had about him.

  Since she wasn’t about to lie to herself, she admitted part of that uneasiness had to do with his looks. Alarmingly handsome. With a dark and dangerous edge. It wasn’t even the edge that troubled her. In fact, that only made parts of her body notice him even more. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that Slade was as uneasy about her as she was about him.

  But why?

  And did it have something to do with the DNA test he’d requested in the text? Slade hadn’t answered her question when she’d asked him about it. There hadn’t been time. They’d been in a rush to get to the sheriff’s office and he had said something to her about needing to keep watch. Which he had certainly done. She had, too. But she’d soon demand the answer.

  The office door opened, and despite her fatigue, Maya jumped to her feet. Just like that her body went on alert, preparing her for another fight. But it wasn’t a kidnapper who came through the door.

  It was Slade.

  He paused in the doorway, looking first at her before his attention landed on Evan. She’d put the carrier on the sheriff’s desk because the chair next to her hadn’t been wide enough to hold it.

  “Did he confess?” Maya asked.

  “To some things.” And with that somewhat cryptic statement, Slade closed the door and walked closer. His attention was still on the baby, and he sank into the chair next to her.

  “His name is Morgan Gambill, and yeah, he has a police record for various drug offenses. He claims someone paid him to go to the parking lot and sit there. He says he didn’t know anything about the green SUV, the attack or the kidnappings.”

  A frustrated sigh left her mouth. “You believe him?”

  He shot her a “What do you think?” look. “I never believe anyone with a record that long, especially a drug user who looks like he’d sell his soul for his next fix.”

  Maya couldn’t help it. She shuddered. This was exactly the kind of person she’d tried to distance herself from. “Who hired him?”

  Slade shook his head. “Gambill claims he doesn’t know, that it was all done via email and a wire transfer. We’ll confiscate his computer and go through the account.”

  But he didn’t sound very hopeful that they’d find anything. And they likely wouldn’t. She couldn’t imagine the kidnapper making a mistake that would be so easy to trace.

  “Gambill wasn’t armed when the deputy caught up with him,” Slade continued. “But he could have tossed a weapon out the car window. Sheriff Monroe has someone out searching the sides of the road now. How is he?”

  Since Slade didn’t pause before that last question, it took her a moment to realize he was asking about the baby. “He’s fine,” Maya practically snapped. “Sorry,” she added in a mumble.

  Slade’s gaze came to hers. Even though she hadn’t thought it possible, those blue eyes were even more unsettling when aimed at her rather than the baby.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  Maya considered a lie but figured he’d see right through it. “Scared to death and even more afraid of trusting you.”

  Slade stayed quiet a moment, that steely gaze still drilling into her, and he nodded. “For the record, I don’t trust you much, either. I figure first chance you get, you’ll try to ditch me and that’ll only put you and that boy in harm’s way again.”

  His instincts were spot-on. She had already considered ditchi
ng him.

  “I can’t do much to change your opinion of me,” he went on, his voice a husky drawl with a touch of gravel in it. “Can’t deny this attraction between us, either. That won’t help,” Slade concluded.

  Again she considered a lie. Again dismissed it. “Last time I acted on an attraction, I got burned—badly.”

  “Yeah.” For one word, it encompassed a lot.

  Sweet heaven. Did he know that she’d been attacked and left for dead four years ago?

  No doubt.

  Slade was a lawman, after all, and he’d known about her desire to have a child. But it only added another level of uneasiness that he knew about the attack. Had likely seen photos, too. Those nightmarish images flashed through her mind. Always there. Always. And she had the physical scars to prove it.

  “I learned a lot from that attack,” she mumbled.

  “Bet you did. It’s the hard lessons we remember most.”

  That was the voice of experience, and she made a mental note to do an internet check on Slade. She was betting he had some secrets.

  Dark ones.

  “I need you not to run,” Slade tossed out there. “This investigation will be dangerous enough without you making it worse.”

  Maya pulled back her shoulders, about to assure him that she wasn’t going to make things more dangerous. But she had to rethink that. What if Slade was her best bet at keeping Evan safe? The marshal certainly seemed determined to do just that. And in that particular area, they were on the same page.

  “Let’s just get through this,” he went on. “And find the person responsible. Find those babies, too, so we can get them back where they belong.”

  Again, on the same page.

  So why did it feel as if she were about to step off a cliff?

  “What happens now?” she asked. And Maya hoped she didn’t have to clarify that she was talking about the investigation and their current situation. They couldn’t stay at the sheriff’s office much longer, because she didn’t have any additional formula for Evan.