Holden Read online

  “No,” Oscar said. He stepped around Nicky and went to one of the chairs. He tilted back his head, sucked in some long breaths. “The only baby I knew about is their son.”

  Nicky went to the table so she could look him in the eyes. “But you were in the kidnappers’ SUV. We have proof.”

  “So-called proof that you got from Beatrice,” the lawyer said.

  Oscar motioned for him to get quiet, something that surprised Nicky. But then maybe her father had done that because it would make him look innocent.

  “I was in the SUV because the kidnappers took me at gunpoint,” her father said. “They made me go to that ransom drop and told me if anything went wrong that they’d set me up to take the blame for it.”

  Nicky went through each word, hoping she could see a flaw in what he was saying, but she had to admit that it could be true. Could be.

  “There’s really another baby?” Oscar asked.

  Holden stepped forward to answer. “According to some information we just learned, yes. Now, where is she?”

  Her father gave a weary sigh, followed by a groan. “I told you that I don’t know, and those men never once mentioned another child. If they had, I would have arranged to pay a ransom for her, too.”

  “You’re sure?” Nicky snapped. “Or maybe because she was a girl, you decided one male heir was enough.”

  Oscar shifted his gaze to her. “I would have paid the ransom,” he repeated, and it was the most convincing thing he’d said since this whole ordeal had started.

  “Are you sure the kidnappers didn’t mention anything about another baby?” Grayson asked.

  “Positive. Trust me, I would have remembered something like that. They kept me blindfolded and put headphones on me until we got to the ransom drop. I didn’t see or hear anything that would help me identify who they were or if they had another baby.”

  “How did the kidnappers get to you?” Holden pressed.

  Oscar gave another weary sigh. “I wasn’t being careful enough. After I got that package and knew I had a grandson, I hurried out of my San Antonio office to go to the bank. They grabbed me in the parking lot.”

  Holden jumped right on that. “Were there security cameras in the parking lot?”

  Oscar scrubbed his hand over his face. “No. They malfunctioned or something.”

  Nicky was betting it was the or something. The kidnappers had probably disabled it before they even took her father. That didn’t mean he was innocent, though, because they could have done that on his orders so that no one could analyze it to disprove it was an actual kidnapping.

  But even if Oscar had set up all of that, it didn’t mean he knew of the newborn baby girl.

  “I have a theory,” Nicky said to him. “You wanted an heir so after Annie died, you paid someone at Conceptions Clinic, maybe Amanda, to carry Annie and Emmett’s child. But someone decided a good way to make some money would be to have a second child, another million-dollar baby. Except this time, you’d actually have to pay the million to get her.”

  “Your theory is wrong,” her father spat out, and it earned her one of his harshest glares. “If that had happened, why hasn’t someone contacted me by now? There have been no other ransom demands.”

  “Yes, there has been,” someone said.

  Beatrice.

  She was in the hall, and it appeared that Josh had been escorting her to an interview room. Clearly, she’d heard at least part of their conversation, and she got everyone’s attention.

  “What do you mean?” Holden snapped.

  “I mean I just got a call on the way over here, just minutes ago, and the kidnappers said there was another child. A newborn girl. And that if I wanted her, I’d need to pay another ransom.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Nicky said. “Why would the kidnappers contact you? Did they say the child was yours?”

  Beatrice flinched. “I, uh, just assumed that she was, that the kidnappers had implanted one of my embryos into another surrogate. I have six of them stored at Conceptions.”

  And maybe they had used one of Beatrice’s for this child. Maybe the baby didn’t belong to Emmett and Annie after all.

  But then why had Paul thought it was theirs?

  There was also the problem with the payment requested. Paul would have copied that file days ago. So, did that mean the kidnappers had requested payment from someone else? Like her father. And that he’d refused? Or had the file been wrong altogether?

  Nicky looked at Holden to see what his take was on this, but he only shook his head. “Come on. Grayson needs to finish this interview with your father.”

  Yes, and maybe Oscar would say something that would shed some light on what the heck was going on. In the meantime, though, Nicky wanted to get to work on finding the third baby. That started with Beatrice.

  Holden and Nicky went into the hall with the woman, and they followed Josh and Beatrice into the other interview room.

  “I recorded the call,” Beatrice volunteered, handing Holden her phone. “I don’t usually do that, but after what happened with my son, I do. I’ve also hired several more bodyguards for him.” She shuddered. “God, I’m so scared someone’s going to try to take him again.”

  Nicky knew how she felt. Or at least how the woman was pretending to feel. Beatrice wasn’t off the suspect list just yet.

  Holden hit the play button on the call, and it didn’t take long before Nicky heard the voices. First, Beatrice answering, and then the man’s voice. It was muffled as if he was trying to disguise it.

  “Mrs. Minton, guess what I’m holding right now?” The caller didn’t wait for her to answer. “A cute little newborn girl. She looks just like her twin brother. If you want her, it’ll cost you another million. Get the money by tonight, and I’ll be back in touch with you.”

  That was it. The man hadn’t given Beatrice a chance to say anything.

  “I’m not sure I can get the money,” Beatrice said. There were tears in her eyes now. “I mean, I had to beg for the last ransom.” She looked up at Holden. “But you think this might not even be my child?”

  “We’re just not sure. It’s possible the kidnappers will try to get additional ransoms from both Oscar and you.”

  Mercy, that would be a huge haul of cash. And the problem? They just might succeed, especially if they managed to get their hands on Carter and the Minton boy again.

  “So, what do I do?” Beatrice asked.

  Nicky didn’t have the answer, and even Holden hesitated. “We’ll monitor your phone and will tell you what to say when the kidnapper calls back.”

  Beatrice didn’t look very comforted about that. “Should I demand DNA proof like what they gave me with my son?”

  “Don’t make any demands. In fact, don’t say anything to them until we instruct you.” Holden turned to Josh after Beatrice nodded and then walked out into the hall.

  “Wait,” Josh told the woman. “I’ll stay with you.”

  Beatrice moved away from the door, but judging from the sound of her footsteps, she didn’t go far.

  “You’ve got experience with this sort of thing from your FBI days?” Holden asked.

  Josh nodded. “I’ll find a place to set up the drop. You think you’ll be able to tell if the baby is Emmett’s if you have a photo of her?”

  “Maybe. The kidnapper did say she looked like her brother. He could have been lying.”

  True. In fact, all of this could be a lie. There might not even be another baby, and the person who’d put this plan together could have added that fake file so he or she could get more money.

  “I feel like I’m on an emotional roller coaster,” Nicky said.

  But before she even got out the words, Holden was already putting his arm around her. He eased her to him and brushed a kiss on her fo
rehead. Josh would have been blind not to notice, and he did notice all right. She saw just the flash of disdain in his eyes.

  Disdain because of what’d happened to Drury, no doubt.

  Since that was something Nicky could never escape with the Rylands, she backed away. Or she would have if Holden hadn’t kept his arm around her.

  “You’re not the only one on that roller coaster,” Holden assured her, and he kept her there in his arms. “It might be a little while before I can take you back to the house,” he added. “Everyone’s tied up at the moment.”

  They were, and what with everything they’d just learned, the being tied up might last for a while.

  “I’d like to go through Paul’s files some more,” Nicky said. “The files I got from Conceptions, too. There could be something in them I missed.”

  And even if there wasn’t, she had to do something. Anything. The nerves were raw and right at the surface, and if she didn’t get busy, she might break down and cry again. That wouldn’t help Carter, this possible baby or anyone else.

  She and Holden went back to Grayson’s office, but they’d barely made it inside when Holden’s phone buzzed. With all the bad news they’d gotten, Nicky’s muscles tensed. Then, they did more than tense when it hit her that something could have gone wrong with getting the baby to the safe house.

  Her gaze flew to Holden’s phone screen, but it wasn’t Landon’s name there. However, it was a name she recognized.

  Amanda.

  Holden answered right away, no doubt ready to start firing off questions to the woman about the third baby, but Amanda spoke before he could say a word.

  “You have to help me,” Amanda insisted. She sounded out of breath. Sounded as if she was also crying. “Please. You have to get here right away.”

  “Where are you and what’s wrong?” Holden asked.

  “I was at the inn just up the street, and my lawyer went out to get something. Oh, God.” Amanda was definitely crying. Sobbing, actually. “Please, come. Someone broke in to my room. I climbed out the window and ran, but he’s chasing me.”

  Holden cursed. “Who broke in? The kidnappers?”

  “No.” Another sob. “I only got a glimpse of his face, but I’m pretty sure it’s Senator Lee Minton.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Holden wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing, but either way he went with this could be dangerous for Nicky.

  Amanda could have lied to get Nicky and him out into the open again. But the lie could have merely been to get some of the cops out of the building so it’d be easier for the kidnappers to have another go at killing them. There’d been attacks at the Silver Creek sheriff’s office before, and he wouldn’t have put it past Amanda—or whoever was behind this—to try to orchestrate another one.

  Holden already had his gun drawn and ready, but he had no idea if Amanda was even coming their way. Josh and Kara had responded immediately, heading to the inn to see if they could spot Amanda. Spot the person who was chasing her, too.

  If that person existed, that is.

  “Just stay back,” Holden reminded Nicky when he saw her peering out the doorway of Grayson’s office.

  She nodded. “You really believe Minton broke in to Amanda’s room?” Nicky asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  But Beatrice must have heard Nicky mention her husband’s name because she came running out of the interview room.

  “You found Lee?” she asked.

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” Holden told her. “It might not be the senator at all.” Or in Beatrice’s case, maybe it was a hopeful situation because she might not want her husband to be found.

  “What’s going on?” Beatrice demanded, and she started to charge forward, but Nicky caught onto her arm, not only holding back the woman, but also filling her in on what they knew.

  Which wasn’t much.

  “As soon as the deputies find Amanda, she’ll be able to tell us what happened,” Holden added to Beatrice when Nicky had finished. Whether or not Amanda would be telling them the truth was a different matter.

  “Amanda had a C-section a little over a week ago,” Nicky added. “She probably won’t be able to get far.”

  Yeah, that was the good and bad news. The woman probably wasn’t going to be able to run for long, if at all, but that meant if this was a real attack, Amanda could already be dead.

  Holden decided to keep that to himself.

  Beatrice took out her phone and frantically pressed in some numbers. “I’m trying to call Lee. I’ve been trying ever since he went missing, but his phone was turned off and the card was taken out so it couldn’t be traced. But maybe his phone is working now.”

  It was a serious long shot, but Holden preferred Beatrice to be doing something other than pestering him. If possible, something that would also get her away from Nicky. Beatrice wouldn’t have made it through the metal detector to get into the building if she’d been carrying a weapon, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t signal some thugs to attack.

  “Go back in the interview room,” Holden ordered the woman.

  But Beatrice didn’t move. She seemed frozen. “Lee?” she said when someone apparently answered her call. “Oh, God. It is really you?”

  Holden hoped like the devil that this wasn’t some kind of trick, but since the senator’s body had never been found and there’d been no signs of foul play, it was indeed possible that he was still alive. But how had Minton gotten mixed up in all of this?

  “Lee wants to talk to you,” Beatrice said. She walked toward Holden, her hand shaking while she held out the phone.

  “Put it on speaker,” Holden instructed, and he stayed near the door. Keeping watch. “Nicky, get Grayson.”

  Nicky nodded and hurried across the hall to do that, and it only took a couple of seconds for Grayson to tell her father and his lawyer to stay put and then come out. Only a couple of seconds for Holden to hear the caller, too.

  “Marshal Ryland?” the caller asked.

  It was a man all right, but Holden had no idea if this was really Minton or not. Though Beatrice seemed to believe it was her husband.

  “Where are you?” And that was just Holden’s starter question. He had a boatload of others.

  “In Silver Creek.” Like Amanda, this guy sounded out of breath. “It’s not safe here. Someone’s trying to kill me.”

  “Who?” Holden snapped.

  “I’m not sure. The person who hired someone to kidnap me. That’s also the same person who’s responsible for these babies being born.”

  Holden jumped right on that. “You know about the babies?”

  “Yes.” The caller paused. “I have one of them. A girl.”

  Holden certainly hadn’t seen that coming. But maybe he should have. Because if Beatrice had put this plan together, then the caller could be one of her hired guns. And this could be another attempt to get some ransom money or to draw them into the open.

  “Start talking,” Holden demanded. “Tell me why you have the baby and what you want.”

  “I only want her safe. I want to be safe, too.”

  “Then bring her here to the sheriff’s office.” Holden didn’t figure the man would take him up on that.

  And he didn’t.

  “I can’t,” the caller insisted. “Too risky.”

  “It was risky to break in to Amanda’s hotel room, too,” Holden growled.

  “I was looking for something, anything I could find out about Conceptions Clinic, but I left as soon as I saw the car. The car with the baby. I took her, and now they’re after us.”

  No way could Holden not react to that. The fear came, and it was bone-deep. That could be his niece out there, and he had to fight the kick of adrenaline to stop himself from going out there to
look for her.

  “Bring the baby here right now,” Holden demanded.

  But he was talking to himself because the man was no longer on the line.

  “Lee?” Beatrice shouted, snatching back her phone so she could call him.

  Holden ignored her for the moment and fired off a text to Josh, to warn him that there might be a baby nearby. And he waited.

  Nicky was clearly having trouble tamping down her fears, too. Her gaze was firing all around as if she were looking for whatever she could do to keep the baby safe.

  “It could have all been a lie,” Holden reminded her. A reminder for himself, too.

  However, Beatrice must have thought it was all real because she kept trying to get in touch with the caller again.

  “What did he say to you before you brought me the phone?” Holden asked her.

  Beatrice shook her head, and it took her a moment to answer. “Only that he was in danger and that he needed to talk to Marshal Holden Ryland.”

  So, the man had asked for him specifically. If it was indeed Minton, then that meant he knew a lot about this investigation. Was that why someone was after him? Had he figured out too much?

  “He didn’t ask about our son,” Beatrice said under her breath, and then she started to cry.

  “Go back to the interview room,” Holden told her again. “But leave your phone in case the man calls back.”

  “That man is my husband,” she insisted. And she kept on insisting. Kept on crying, too.

  Holden was about to repeat his order for her to move, but then he heard something he didn’t want to hear. The door to the other interview room opened.

  “What the hell is going on out here?” Oscar asked.

  “My patience is at zero right now,” Holden warned him. “Either you and your lawyer stay in the interview room with the door closed, or I’ll put you both in a holding cell. Move!” Holden added when Oscar just stood there.

  Oscar finally turned and went back into the room, but he’d barely gotten the door closed when there was another sound.