Holden Read online

  Holden sighed, eased her onto one of the chairs and, because he thought they both could use it, he leaned down and kissed her.

  “You keep doing that,” she whispered against his mouth.

  “Yeah. Want me to stop?”

  The corner of her mouth lifted. “Only because we should be reviewing the video.”

  Holden certainly hadn’t forgotten about it, but he silently cursed the distraction. And it wasn’t even Nicky’s fault. It was his own. His body had the notion that Nicky was his for the taking.

  And she wasn’t.

  He sank down beside her and got the footage moving. As he’d expected, the quality sucked. It was nighttime, and the PI had obviously shot from a distance. Probably an attempt to stop the kidnappers from seeing him. The problem was Holden couldn’t see the kidnappers. Or Beatrice, for that matter.

  “You recognize that part of the park?” Nicky asked.

  Holden nodded. “It’s a trail that coils around the creek.” Not exactly on the beaten path, which was why the kidnappers had likely chosen it.

  He fast-forwarded it until he saw the headlights come into view. Since the vehicle was a limo, Holden figured this was Beatrice. It was. The woman stepped out several moments later, and she had her lawyer right by her side.

  She was also wearing a Kevlar vest.

  Hardly her usual attire, but Holden was a little surprised that she would have remembered to wear body armor. Most parents of kidnapped children were in a panicked state by this point, and their own safety was usually the last of their concerns.

  What Beatrice was missing was the money. Neither she nor her lawyer was carrying a bag, and that probably meant the ransom was inside the vehicle.

  Thanks to some moonlight, Holden could see Beatrice look around. He could also see the moment she stepped even farther behind her lawyer. That’s because a second vehicle approached. An SUV, and it pulled close enough that the front bumper butted against the front bumper of the limo. From that angle, Holden couldn’t see a license plate, but even if he could have, the plates probably would have been bogus.

  Two men barreled out of the SUV. Both of them were wearing ski masks, just as Holden had figured they would be. They were also armed, and the sight of those armed thugs sent Beatrice scurrying back into her limo.

  “No audio,” Nicky mumbled when they watched as one of the thugs appeared to shout something.

  That was too bad, but Holden figured he’d ordered Beatrice out of the car because the woman came out, finally, and she clutched on to her lawyer. It was the lawyer and the shouting thug who did all the talking, and it was only a few seconds before the lawyer leaned into the limo and came out with two huge bags.

  No doubt the ransom.

  With Beatrice still cowering by the limo, the lawyer came forward, and he put the bags of money on the ground for the kidnapper to inspect. The guy riffled through both, and then motioned to someone in the SUV. It didn’t take long for another kidnapper to get out.

  And he was holding a baby.

  The exchange happened fast. The kidnapper with the baby took him to the lawyer, practically thrusting the infant into his arms. In the same motion, the other kidnappers grabbed the bags with the money.

  Beatrice and the lawyer didn’t waste any time getting the heck out of there. The moment the lawyer was behind the wheel, he took off.

  The SUV didn’t.

  Holden was about to say that there’d been nothing on that footage that had proven Beatrice was innocent. She could have been faking the fear. Faking everything if those kidnappers were actually working for her.

  But then Holden saw something.

  When the kidnappers opened the back passenger door, the moonlight hit just right for him to see the person sitting there. And judging from Nicky’s gasp, she had no trouble seeing it, either.

  Because it was her father.

  She staggered to her feet, catching onto the chair for support. Since she still didn’t look too steady, Holden looped his arm around her, mindful of her injury. Also mindful that this had knocked the breath out of her.

  “I knew he was dirty,” she said, “but this?”

  Yeah, Holden was right there with her. It was sick enough to create a project to produce your own heir, but here Oscar had done it to Senator Minton and milked him for a million dollars.

  Well, maybe.

  Holden shook his head. “Why would your father have risked going to the ransom drop?” The question was for himself more than Nicky, and he was trying to piece this together. “I mean, there are three hired guns so why would he have gone knowing that something could have gone wrong?”

  “You think he was set up?” Nicky asked.

  His initial reaction was to say “heck, no,” but that’s because it was hard to think of Oscar as anything but a criminal. However, Oscar wasn’t stupid, and this was a stupid thing to do.

  Unless...

  “Maybe Oscar didn’t trust his hired guns.” But there was a problem with that theory, too. “How much do you think your father’s estate is worth?”

  “Millions. And I haven’t heard of him losing a large sum with investments and such. In fact, if anything, he’s only added to his fortune with his shady business deals.”

  Holden gave that some more thought, knowing that the thinking would have to end fast and that he would have to call Grayson to tell him about this. Of course, these were the same questions Grayson would need to ask as well.

  “Is there a personal connection between your father and Lee Minton?” Holden added.

  “Nothing obvious. I checked for that when I first learned about the Genesis Project. The only thing they had in common was the embryos stored at Conceptions Clinic.”

  If Oscar didn’t have a grudge against Minton and since he didn’t appear to need the money, maybe Oscar had orchestrated this for a different reason. To throw suspicion off himself. After all, he could claim he’d been forced to pay a million dollars as well to get his grandson.

  There was only one way to find out for sure.

  He took out his phone and called Oscar. Part of Holden didn’t expect the man to answer, but he did on the first ring.

  “I want my grandson,” Oscar snarled before Holden could even say anything. Obviously, he’d seen Holden’s name on the caller ID.

  “I want a lot of things,” Holden countered. “Like the truth. Is there something you want to tell me?”

  Considering that Holden hadn’t given the man much of a clue as to what he was looking for, it didn’t surprise him that Oscar hesitated. But the hesitation went on for several long moments.

  “The only thing that matters now is getting my grandson,” Oscar finally said. “I heard about the other attack, and I don’t want him in the middle of that. The court order is in the works, and I’ll have custody of him by tomorrow.”

  Probably not.

  “If you’re telling the truth about wanting your grandson out of danger, maybe you can just stop the attacks,” Holden suggested.

  Another hesitation. “If you’ve got something to say to me, then just come out and say it.”

  Holden considered it a moment and thought about just waiting until he had Oscar in front of him. But the sooner he could get this information, the better. Then he could bring in Oscar not just to interrogate him, but also to arrest him. Since there was no bail for a murder charge, it would get Oscar off the streets and perhaps put an end to the danger.

  “Well?” Oscar taunted. “Cat got your tongue?”

  “No. I thought you’d like to know that Beatrice had a PI film her ransom drop with the kidnappers,” Holden finally said.

  Silence. For a very long time. “I think I should call my lawyer now.”

  “I think you should, too. You should call your lawyer and show up with
him at the sheriff’s office in one hour.”

  That wouldn’t give Holden much time to set up the interview and go over the charges with Grayson, but it also wouldn’t give Oscar much time to go after Nicky again.

  “Be there,” Holden ordered. “Because if you’re not, I will send someone to arrest you.”

  With that, Holden hung up and immediately called Grayson. While he was explaining things, he emailed Grayson a copy of the surveillance footage. Grayson agreed that both Oscar and Beatrice needed to be brought in for another round of questioning, and Holden wanted to be there for that.

  “What about Nicky?” Grayson asked. “Are you going to leave her at the house when you come here?”

  Nicky was obviously close enough to hear that question because she started shaking her head. Even though Holden didn’t like this, he was actually going to agree with her.

  “I think we need to keep the baby separate from Nicky,” Holden explained. “Starting now. I’ll bring her with me to the sheriff’s office, and Landon and the reserve deputies can go ahead and take the baby to the safe house.”

  Grayson made a sound of agreement. “I’ll get Kara out there now to drive in with you. The reserve deputies, too, to go with Landon.”

  Holden figured Kara might not be too happy about that considering she’d been attacked earlier because of them. And Grayson likely didn’t want her out on a call so soon afterward. But what with everything going on, Grayson’s deputies were probably all tied up. That would continue because Landon and the reserve deputies would have to stay at the safe house indefinitely with Carter. Although indefinitely might not be that long.

  “This is the right thing to do,” Nicky said as if trying to convince herself.

  She turned, making her way to the master suite with Holden following right behind her. Yeah, it was the right thing to do, but he didn’t feel good about this. In a way it felt as if he was abandoning his brother’s son. Of course, this was temporary, and if the interviews with Beatrice and Oscar went well, then Carter might not have to stay in the safe house for long.

  And then what?

  The question wasn’t out of the blue exactly. Holden had been thinking about what the next step would be. A step that would no doubt include a custody battle unless they could put Oscar behind bars. Even then, he and Nicky might square off since both could make a case for a claim to the baby.

  Nicky seemed unaware of the emotional battle that was going on inside Holden. That was probably because she was having her own battle, and by the time they made it to the bedroom, she was blinking back tears.

  “I know Carter hasn’t been in our lives for long,” she said, “but in a way, it feels as if he’s always been here.”

  Holden felt the same way, and it crushed his heart to say goodbye.

  Landon sat up when they walked in, and he glanced at both of them. “Time for me to take him to the safe house?” Landon asked.

  Holden nodded, not trusting his voice. There was a lump in his throat.

  Nicky went to the bassinet ahead of Holden, and she leaned down and kissed Carter on the cheek. The baby stirred but went right back to sleep. Holden waited a moment before he, too, gave the baby a kiss.

  Nicky got busy packing up the baby’s things, probably to give herself something to do. Holden decided to try that ploy as well, and he headed back toward the kitchen to warm up a bottle. However, he didn’t get far into the process when his phone buzzed, and he saw Grayson’s name on the screen.

  Hell. He hoped nothing else had gone wrong.

  “Please tell me there’s not a problem,” Holden said when he answered.

  But Grayson didn’t jump to respond to that. “As soon as Kara arrives, I need you here at the sheriff’s office.”

  Holden groaned. Yeah, there was a problem all right. “Why? What happened?”

  “A detective from San Antonio PD just called. They’ve been going through Paul’s business records, and they think they found something. They’re emailing it to me now.”

  Holden went still. “What did they find?”

  “Information about the Genesis Project.” Grayson paused. “Get here as fast as you can.”

  Chapter Twelve

  For Nicky it seemed to take an eternity for Holden, Kara and her to make the drive to the sheriff’s office. However, saying goodbye to Carter had gone by as fast as a blink of an eye. Maybe he wouldn’t have to be in that safe house for long.

  Because there could be something in Paul’s files to put an end to this.

  Grayson hadn’t gotten into the details over the phone, mainly because he was waiting for the emails to arrive from SAPD, but when she and Holden finally arrived and hurried back to his office, Grayson had those emailed documents printed out and spread on top of his desk.

  “What did they find?” Nicky couldn’t ask the question fast enough.

  “This.” Grayson moved one of the papers for her to have a look.

  It was Paul’s handwritten notes for a case where she’d hired him to interview some witnesses to an old unsolved murder. Since that murder had happened on the other side of the state, Nicky wasn’t sure how it connected to what was going on now.

  She shook her head. “This was the last case Paul worked for me before Conceptions.” But she stopped the head shaking when she saw the note at the bottom. Paul had added the address for a website.

  Grayson turned his laptop for her to see. “The site was for online storage, and I used your password from the other site to access it.”

  Nicky went closer, and she saw the files that she’d copied from Conceptions. “Why would Paul have moved them?” she asked.

  Grayson lifted his shoulder. “Maybe because he knew the other site had been compromised or had the chance of being compromised. He probably knew that eventually you’d see the note and realize what it was.”

  Holden went closer, too. “Are all the files there?”

  Nicky scrolled through and nodded, then she froze. Yes, all her files were there, but there was also another file that Paul had created. There were lots of notes and what appeared to be test results, but like the other files she’d copied from Conceptions, this one didn’t have names, only a file number. She looked up at Grayson to see if he knew about it.

  He did.

  Grayson cleared his throat. “According to Paul, there’s a third baby.”

  Mercy. Of course, she’d known all along this was possible, but there was something in Grayson’s expression that warned her there was more to this than just a third baby.

  Holden must have picked up on it, too, because he stepped in front of her and almost frantically scrolled through what Paul had left them. Specifically, it was another file that he’d apparently gotten from Conceptions.

  Paul had written, “The computer geek I hired managed to recover this from the clinic’s files before it was erased for good.” And he’d written that note on the same day he’d been murdered.

  That explained why he hadn’t told her what he’d found.

  But what exactly had he found?

  Holden kept scrolling, and when Nicky saw Paul’s other notes, her breath vanished.

  “The other baby is Emmett and Annie’s,” Holden said. “And it’s a girl.”

  The blood rushed to Nicky’s head, and before the panic could hit her, she kept searching for information in Paul’s notes. And there was more.

  “Payment requested,” she said, reading the note.

  But that was it. Paul hadn’t written anything else, and Nicky’s gaze snapped to Grayson’s for answers. Answers that he clearly didn’t have because he shook his head.

  “Your father is in the interview room just across the hall,” Grayson said. “Beatrice should be here any minute, and I’ll get Amanda back in here as well.”

  Ni
cky tried to make sense of this, but like everything else in this case, she couldn’t make sense because of the slam of emotion. There was a baby out there. Somewhere. Her niece. And someone had apparently requested payment for her.

  But what did that mean?

  Did it mean she’d been sold on the black market? And if so, who’d bought her?

  “You think Amanda might have delivered twins?” Grayson asked.

  “That’s one of the things I intend to find out,” Holden insisted. He looked at Nicky. “I would tell you to let Grayson and me handle this, but I’m figuring you’ll want to talk to your father.”

  “I do,” she insisted, and Nicky stormed toward the interview room.

  Grayson was right behind her. Holden, too, and they were both mumbling some profanity. Maybe because more had just been added to this nightmare, but it might also be because they were worried she was going to compromise the investigation. And she prayed she didn’t, but she needed answers now.

  She threw open the interview room door, and her father and his lawyer immediately got to their feet. Her father didn’t sling one of his usual barbs at her. Perhaps because he saw the raw emotion on her face. The anger as well.

  “Start talking,” she demanded.

  She expected him to stonewall her or hide behind his lawyer, and to stop him from doing that, Nicky charged toward him. She didn’t push him against the wall—something she desperately wanted to do—but she did go toe-to-toe with him.

  “Why were you in that kidnapper’s SUV, and where is Annie and Emmett’s daughter?”

  Her father had opened his mouth, maybe to answer some part of that, but he went silent. His eyes widened, and he shook his head.

  “A daughter?” he asked, his voice mostly breath and almost no sound.

  He certainly acted surprised, but Nicky wasn’t ready to buy in to that surprise just yet. “Yes. Now, tell me where she is.”

  Her father shook his head again and looked at Holden as if he expected him to make some sense of this.

  “If the file is right, someone paid for her,” Holden explained. “Maybe a ransom, maybe just payment from the person who arranged for her to be born. And I’m thinking that person is you.”