Under the Cowboy's Protection Read online

As for the phone, Yvette insisted she had no idea why it was there. Since they still hadn’t been able to get in touch with Nick, Raleigh didn’t have anyone to confirm or deny what she’d said. And the phone wasn’t going to be of much help because if it had been used to make or receive calls, all of that had been erased, and it had been wiped of any prints.

  “I don’t suppose you have any news about Buck?” Thea asked, sitting back down beside him again. “Good news—like the cops found and arrested him.”

  She looked at his laptop screen and groaned softly. That’s because he had the photo of Hannah dead on the screen. Thea had seen it before, of course, but it never got easier to look at something like that.

  “The killer was sick to take her picture,” she mumbled and looked away.

  Yeah, he was sick, but the ski-mask-wearing thug might have done that in case he ever had to prove that the baby was the one Hannah had delivered. A photo would have come in handy if there’d been a ransom demand. But there hadn’t been.

  Well, not until two days ago.

  Raleigh pulled up the third picture, the one that’d been sent to Nick on his phone, and he positioned it side by side with the photo taken of Hannah when she was still alive. And holding the newborn that she’d almost certainly just delivered.

  “They look like the same baby,” Thea muttered.

  Raleigh agreed, though the lab should be able to determine that. DNA, too. But that wouldn’t answer his question of why the kidnapper/killer waited a year to return the little girl.

  “At least the baby is healthy,” Thea added. “The hospital said she’s been well taken care of.”

  That was something at least, but it wouldn’t erase the hell the biological parents had gone through worrying about their missing child.

  “Dalton’s coordinating all the security cameras for that block around the diner,” Raleigh said after glancing at his next email update.

  No one had seen anyone leave the baby, but it was possible one of the cameras had picked up something. But even if they had footage of the person, Raleigh figured the guy was long gone. Something had caused him to give up the child—without collecting a penny—and that meant he was likely going on the run.

  But why?

  Maybe the guy felt that he was close to being caught. Or if it was Buck, he could have known about the APB and that he would be arrested for murder if he stayed around.

  “We need to find the nanny who took care of the baby,” Thea said. “If she’s alive, that is.”

  Thea’s voice cracked a little on those last words, and she got up again, turning away from him. Since she wasn’t looking at anything in particular, Raleigh figured she was dodging his gaze. That’s why he stood, too. He took hold of her hand and eased her back around to face him.

  There were tears in her eyes.

  “Sometimes, it just gets to be too much,” she whispered.

  He felt the same way. The murders, the kidnappings, the fires and the attacks. And they still didn’t know why this was happening. The problem was that it could get a whole lot worse.

  Knowing it was a mistake, Raleigh pulled her into his arms and brushed a kiss on the top of her head. He kept it chaste. Well, as much as something like that could be between Thea and him. Which wasn’t very chaste at all. He felt the immediate punch from the heat.

  And tried to rein it in.

  After all, they weren’t in his office, where someone could come walking in at any minute. They were in his house, behind closed doors and alone. Plus, there were the memories of when they’d had sex just a few yards away on the sofa in the living room.

  Thea looked up at him and frowned. “Should we try to talk ourselves out of this?” The corners of her mouth lifted, and it seemed as if she was going to use that half joke to move away from him.

  She didn’t.

  That’s because she kept staring at his mouth, and her body seemed to be issuing this silent invitation for him to kiss her. So that’s what he did. Raleigh snapped her to him, and he pushed common sense right out the window when he pressed his mouth to hers.

  There it was. More than just a mere kick of attraction. As it always was with Thea, it started out scalding and just got hotter from there. That would have been good if this had been leading to sex. But it couldn’t.

  Raleigh repeated that.

  Though he probably could have repeated it a hundred times and it wouldn’t have helped. That’s because Thea slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him down even lower so he could deepen the kiss.

  The need came, sliding right through him and making him want to take this up a notch. So he did. Without breaking the kiss, Raleigh turned her, backing her against the wall, and he made that need even more urgent when he slid his hand beneath her top.

  No bra.

  Hell, he was in trouble.

  And he kept creating the trouble when he cupped her right breast and flicked his thumb over her nipple. It wasn’t hard to find because it was already puckered and tight from arousal. He made that worse, too, by lowering his head and taking it into his mouth.

  Thea made a moaning sound. It was all pleasure. She definitely didn’t move away from him. In fact, she ran her hands down his back, pulling him closer and closer.

  Raleigh lingered there awhile, tasting her, and he took the kisses lower. To her stomach. The waist of the pj’s bottoms was loose on her, making it very easy for him to push down the fabric and keep kissing until he reached the top of her panties. A sane man would have stopped there, but he just pushed them down and kept kissing.

  Thea cursed, the profanity probably aimed at him. Maybe at herself. But those sounds of pleasure kept urging him on. So did the sight of her when he got her panties low enough. He’d made love to her this way before, but it’d been a long time.

  Too long.

  And maybe if he kept it to just this, he could convince himself that he hadn’t crossed every line that shouldn’t be crossed between them. But before Raleigh could take things to the next step, he heard a different sound. One he didn’t want to hear. Because his phone was ringing.

  Hell. Talk about losing focus.

  Thea scrambled away from him and started fixing her clothes. Raleigh did some scrambling, too, and he whipped out his phone to see Dalton’s name on the screen. Since it was too early for routine business, he knew this had to be important for his deputy to call him at home.

  “What happened?” Raleigh asked when he hit the answer button. And he hoped someone else wasn’t dead or had been kidnapped.

  “Nick O’Hara just walked in.”

  Well, at least the man was alive. Since no one had heard from him in twenty-four hours, Raleigh had started to think he was either dead or had fled because he was guilty of something.

  “Mr. O’Hara’s asking to talk to you,” Dalton added a moment later. “I think you should come in because he says he needs to make a confession.”

  * * *

  EVEN THOUGH IT was only a short drive from Raleigh’s house to the sheriff’s office, Thea was on edge for every second of the trip. But at least they might have answers soon. Well, they would if Nick’s confession led them to a killer—either himself or someone he’d hired.

  “We never did find a connection between Nick and Hannah,” Thea reminded Raleigh.

  Even though Raleigh’s attention seemed to be on keeping watch around them, he made an immediate sound of agreement. “Maybe there isn’t one. Sonya’s murder could be a copycat killing. One that doesn’t have anything to do with Hannah. Or Warren.”

  She wished that would turn out to be true. It wouldn’t bring back either woman, but it might ease the guilt Warren was no doubt feeling since he believed he was the reason for both women dying.

  “About what happened right before I got Dalton’s call...” Raleigh tossed out there.

  Thea certainly hadn�
�t forgotten about it. They were within a heartbeat of having some form of sex. And Raleigh was almost certainly regretting it.

  She was about to give him an out. To tell him that being under the same roof had just stirred some old memories. But Raleigh continued before she could say anything.

  “If we’re together, alone, it’ll happen again.” He mumbled some profanity to go along with that.

  Thea couldn’t deny that, and she took a moment to try to figure out how to answer that. “I should stay at my own place tonight. Griff can arrange a protection detail—”

  “No,” Raleigh interrupted. He looked at her. It was barely a glance, but he managed to put a lot of emotions into such a brief look. She saw the frustration. Even some anger. But she also saw the heat. “I want you in my bed, and your being somewhere else isn’t going to change that.”

  Well, the man certainly knew how to take her breath away. And complicate things. Especially since it was obvious that neither of them should be thinking about sex right now. It was also obvious that it was going to happen whether or not it made a mess out of this situation.

  Thankfully, Thea didn’t have to say anything else because Raleigh pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office. Later though, there’d need to be a discussion about this. Or perhaps this attraction was past the discussion point.

  Maybe she should just go for it. A hot, sweaty round of ex-sex with Raleigh might burn up some of this energy and cool down some of this fire between them. But then she looked at him and decided it was best if she didn’t lie to herself. Sex wouldn’t cool down anything. It would only remind her of what she’d once had with Raleigh.

  And she wanted that again.

  “Yeah,” he said as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  He didn’t add more. Instead, Raleigh hurried her out of the cruiser and into the squad room, where she immediately spotted Nick. Not alone, either.

  Simon was standing next to him.

  “My client wants to talk to you,” Simon greeted.

  “Your client?” Raleigh challenged.

  Nick nodded and rubbed his hand over his face. He definitely didn’t look like the polished businessman who’d first shown up in Durango Ridge. No. Judging from his rumpled hair and clothes, he’d had a rough time. Thea knew exactly how he felt. But what she didn’t understand was why he’d hired Simon.

  Simon definitely seemed to be all right with the arrangement though.

  The man was practically gloating, maybe because he believed this was some kind of dig against Raleigh and her. However, Thea was far less interested in Nick’s choice of attorney than she was in why he felt he needed a lawyer in the first place. Maybe he did intend on confessing to murder.

  “This way,” Raleigh said, leading Simon and Nick toward an interview room. He motioned for Thea to come, as well.

  She braced herself for Simon or even Nick to object to her being there. After all, this wasn’t her jurisdiction. But neither man brought it up when she followed them into the room.

  Simon and Nick sat at the table, and Raleigh took the seat across from them. “What’s this all about?” Raleigh asked.

  Despite the fact that Nick had been the one to ask for this meeting, he didn’t jump right into an explanation. He groaned. “I was having an affair with Sonya,” he finally blurted out.

  Along with the shock of hearing that, Thea got a heavy feeling in her stomach. Sonya had never hinted of an affair. Of course, that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened.

  “I’m going to want to hear a lot more about this,” Raleigh insisted.

  Nick didn’t continue though until Simon whispered something in his ear. “The affair started shortly after we met. Right after Sonya got confirmation that she was pregnant.”

  Raleigh glanced at her, probably to see if she’d had any inkling, but Thea had to shake her head.

  “I fell in love with Sonya,” Nick went on. “And that’s the reason I wasn’t too enthusiastic when I thought I’d be raising my and Yvette’s child. My marriage was in trouble—and don’t blame Sonya for that. I had fallen out of love with my wife before I even met Sonya.”

  Thea couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Then why the heck did you agree to a surrogate pregnancy?”

  Again, Simon whispered something to Nick, and it was Simon who continued. “Mr. O’Hara has come here in good faith, to set the record straight. I won’t tolerate either of you judging him for his extramarital involvement.”

  Raleigh gave both of them a blank stare. “No judging. I’ll leave that to a jury.”

  “A jury?” Nick snapped, jumping to his feet, but Simon pulled him right back in the chair.

  “Are you saying you’re going to arrest my client?” Simon asked, his tone smug because he knew an affair alone wouldn’t be enough of a motive to charge Nick with Sonya’s murder.

  But maybe there was something else here.

  “No arrest. Not yet,” Raleigh added. “Right now though, I see a big red flag for your client. He’s just admitted to an affair with a woman who was murdered. An affair he waited two days to tell us about. And now he admits to a rocky marriage. Is he here to confess to murder or to point the finger at his wife?”

  “I didn’t kill Sonya,” Nick insisted, and he left it at that. Which meant he likely was going to try to pin this on Yvette.

  And she might have done it, too.

  “Yvette knew about the affair?” Thea asked.

  Nick took his time answering. “I never told her, but I believe she found out and killed Sonya.”

  Raleigh didn’t take that at face value. With his raised eyebrows, he looked skeptical. “You got any proof that Yvette did it?”

  “She argued with Sonya the morning of the murder,” Nick was quick to remind them.

  “Yes, because Yvette found out the baby wasn’t hers and that Sonya was thinking about keeping the child,” Raleigh reminded him right back. “In that case, I think it was justified for Yvette to be upset.” He leaned forward, his cop’s stare on Nick. “So, how did you react when you found out the baby was yours and Sonya’s?”

  Nick exchanged glances with Simon before he said anything. “I was, well, shocked.”

  It was an interesting reaction, considering Nick had just talked about being in love with Sonya. There was something else going on here, and Raleigh picked up on it, too.

  “I’m going out on a limb here, but I don’t think you had plans to ever divorce Yvette,” Raleigh started. “Maybe because she comes from money? I remember her saying you two ran her late father’s successful real estate company. So, did you sign a prenup?”

  Bingo. Nick didn’t have to verbally confirm that for Thea to know it was true, and that led her to a problem that Sonya’s pregnancy could have created.

  “If Yvette found out Sonya was carrying your baby, she might have thought the child was the result of your affair,” Thea suggested. “That would have given her grounds for a divorce. Of course, the affair alone would have also done that, but the baby would be proof that she could use in a court battle. And if she divorced you, you’d be broke and without a job.”

  That lit an angry fire in Nick’s eyes. It didn’t have Simon remaining calm, either. “Are you accusing me of setting up Yvette to take the blame for Sonya’s murder?” Nick snarled.

  “If Deputy Morris isn’t accusing you, then I am,” Raleigh fired back. “You’ve got a big motive for wanting Yvette behind bars. Plus, you lied to us. And let’s get into the part about you knowing that Sonya’s baby was yours, and yet you claimed it wasn’t, that Thea and I had gotten the wrong child from Marco.”

  Nick huffed. “That was an honest mistake. The baby didn’t look like Sonya and me, and I thought the other baby did. I didn’t know it was a hoax to milk money from me.”

  Any money would have come from Yvette. If she had fallen for the hoax,
that is. She hadn’t. Yvette had continued to try to stake her claim to the baby Raleigh and she had rescued. And she’d done that despite the fact that the baby wasn’t biologically hers. Maybe because she was desperate to be a mother, but Thea wondered if there was another reason.

  Yvette could have somehow planned to use the child to get back at her cheating husband.

  “My client has voluntarily explained everything to you,” Simon concluded, and he stood. “I’m assuming he’s free to go.”

  “No, he’s not.” Raleigh motioned for Nick to sit back down. “Tell me about the money that SAPD found in your nightstand drawer. And the phone between the mattresses.”

  Nick had already opened his mouth to answer until Raleigh added the last part. His mouth tightened, telling them that the man hadn’t explained everything after all. “The money is for emergencies,” Nick said after a long pause. “The phone was the one I used to call Sonya. I couldn’t use my regular cell because Yvette would have seen Sonya’s number on the bill.”

  “Now, are you satisfied?” Simon snapped at Raleigh.

  “No. I’m more than a little concerned that you’re the attorney for two suspects in this murder investigation.”

  “A suspect?” Nick howled.

  Raleigh looked him straight in the eyes. “You heard me. If you’re innocent, I’ll apologize, but there’ll be an asterisk by it because you withheld information about your affair with the victim.” Raleigh stood. “Now you’re free to go.”

  Thea and Raleigh walked out, leaving Nick still grumbling about being a suspect. Too bad they didn’t have anything to hold the man, but other than circumstantial evidence, there was nothing to tie him to the crime of either Sonya’s murder or the kidnapping.

  “I’ll call the lab and ask them to take another look at that cell phone the cops found between the mattresses,” Raleigh said as they went back toward his office. “The calls were all erased, but maybe there’s a storage cache they can find. I also need to have another chat with Yvette about the prenup and to find out if she knew anything about the affair.”

  Yes, because the affair could give Yvette motive for murdering Sonya.