Holden Read online

  Holden made a call, too. To his cousin Josh, who was also a Silver Creek deputy. Holden asked Josh to arrange to have some baby supplies brought in. He also asked Josh to have a CSI process the car they were driving and especially check it for a tracking device.

  That got Nicky’s heartbeat revving up again because she realized the kidnappers could know exactly where they’d gone. Of course, there weren’t too many other places they could have taken the baby, considering that an army of kidnappers were out there.

  “Are your legs steady enough to run inside while holding the baby?” Holden asked her.

  Nicky nodded, prayed that was true. She wasn’t anywhere near steady enough, but there was no way she’d drop the baby.

  Her nephew.

  He wasn’t just a baby. He was her own flesh and blood.

  The first time she’d heard about him on those recordings from the fertility clinic, the news had hit her like a lightning bolt. The blow didn’t feel any less now that she had him in her arms.

  This was Annie’s son. The baby her sister had so desperately wanted that she’d gone through months and months of fertility treatments, some of them dangerous to her health. It broke Nicky’s heart to know that her sister wasn’t here to see the baby she’d sacrificed so much to have.

  But maybe someone else had sacrificed, too.

  Nicky didn’t have time to bring up her concern because Gage pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office. Even though she’d assured Holden that she was steady enough, he still took hold of her arm as they hurried into the building.

  The moment they were inside, Gage took the car to the parking lot, getting it away from the sheriff’s office. Maybe because he was concerned there was something more than a tracking device in it. After all, the men had said they were going to torch her house and car so they could have been carrying some kind of accelerants.

  Holden didn’t stay by the door. He hurried her through the squad room and into one of the interview rooms. It wasn’t especially comfortable, what with the metal table and chairs, but Nicky breathed a little easier because there weren’t any windows in the room. That would make it harder for the kidnappers to come after the baby again.

  Nicky sank down onto one of the chairs, but Josh and Holden stayed in the hall. They had a whispered conversation before Holden joined her, and she could tell from his expression that he was about to deliver bad news. And he did.

  “The men that Gage and Landon tied up in the ditch got away,” Holden said. “In fact, there are no signs of any of the kidnappers.”

  Nicky tried not to let that send her into a panic. Hard to do, though, and she gently pulled the baby even closer to her.

  “They’ll come after him again,” she whispered.

  “They’ll try.” Holden came closer, looking down at the baby. Unlike in the car, the overhead light was on, and Nicky figured he saw exactly what she was seeing.

  The resemblance.

  Annie’s hair. But the baby’s face was all Emmett.

  “I’ve seen baby pictures of Emmett,” Holden said. “That’s his son.”

  Yes. Nicky had no doubts about that, but knowing it was just the start. They still didn’t have a lot of answers.

  “Obviously Conceptions Fertility Clinic was onto you,” Holden continued a moment later. “That’s why they sent that thug to your house. Where are the files and recordings?”

  Nicky hesitated only because she’d been so terrified of the kidnappers finding them. It was the only thing she had to bargain with them in case she hadn’t been able to find the baby. But now that she had her nephew—their nephew, she mentally corrected—there was no reason to keep them hidden.

  Well, except for the sickening dread of what Holden and the others might find when they reviewed them.

  She adjusted the baby’s position in her arms so she could take the notepad and pen from the table and write down the storage cloud and her password. “I don’t know what all the files mean,” Nicky explained. “Some are just numbers and code, and I wasn’t able to connect them to any names in the Conceptions database.”

  A muscle flickered in Holden’s jaw when he took the notepad with the info. “You should have come to me or the cops the moment you found out what was going on.”

  “There was no time—”

  “So help me,” he interrupted, “you better not have withheld this because you wanted to do a story on it.”

  It felt as if he’d slapped her, and Nicky flinched.

  More of Holden’s jaw muscles flickered. “Sorry, but you don’t have a good track record when it comes to this sort of thing.”

  No. She didn’t. She’d often put the story ahead of a lot of things, including other people’s safety. “I learned my lesson with your brother.”

  And it wasn’t something she would forget anytime soon. She’d almost gotten Drury killed by withholding some evidence too long. Nicky had been working with a CPA who was helping her gather information on a crime family.

  A crime family who’d done business with her father.

  But the research had taken much longer than Nicky had expected. By the time she had given it to Drury, the crime family had been alerted, probably her father had, too, and Drury essentially walked into a trap. He’d nearly been killed by people he possibly could have arrested hours earlier if Nicky hadn’t been digging for more.

  It wouldn’t do any good to tell Holden that she’d been searching for more evidence to put Drury’s attackers away for life. It wouldn’t do any good to tell him she was sorry. Or that she hadn’t lied or withheld anything to protect her father. Sometimes, she felt as if she was drowning in the water under that particular bridge.

  Holden stepped out into the hall to make a call. To his other brother, Lucas, she realized. A Texas Ranger. Holden gave him a quick update, including the cloud-storage info, and asked him to see what he could find. He then went back into the squad room for several moments.

  “I wouldn’t have put the baby in danger,” Nicky said when Holden came back into the room. She brushed a kiss on the baby’s forehead. “I’d just figured out where he was when that thug showed up at my house. And then you showed up.”

  With everything else going on, Nicky had forgotten about the reason Holden had come. To warn her that she was on the verge of being arrested. “Is the FBI really involved in this?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Senator Minton’s family hired a team of PIs to help find him. I didn’t know what they found, but I got word that the FBI was looking at you as a person of interest.”

  Oh, mercy. She didn’t need this now. “They think I had something to do with his disappearance?”

  “I’m not sure. They’re keeping what they have close to the vest, but now that I know what went on, I can probably stop them from taking you into custody.”

  “I can’t go with them.” She got to her feet so she could look him straight in the eyes. “Whoever hired those kidnappers had plenty of money. No doubt resources, too, to pull off a scheme like the one at Conceptions. He or she could also have a dirty cop or two on the payroll.”

  Holden didn’t argue with that. Something that didn’t help steady her nerves one bit. Even though she’d been the one to point out that particular possible danger, she’d hoped that Holden could have assured her that it wasn’t likely. No way could he do that, though.

  “There’s one more thing,” she said. “The surrogate.” Nicky had to take a deep breath before she continued. “There are no surrogate names in the files, but I saw something, well, disturbing in our nephew’s folder.”

  That got Holden’s attention. He stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

  “There were two notes entered on the day the surrogate delivered him. One was the location where the baby was being taken. The other was...contract terminated.” Even t
hough it’d been hours since Nicky had first seen those two words, it still gave her a jolt. “Do you think they killed her?”

  Holden opened his mouth, closed it and then scrubbed his hand over his face. “Yeah.”

  There it was again, another jolt. Of course, Nicky had already considered it, especially after what’d gone on at the inn, but she’d held out hope. Hope that was quickly fading because the surrogate would have been a loose end. No way would the person behind this want her around so she could tell anyone about the baby she’d delivered.

  Holden took out his phone again and fired off a text. “Since Grayson and the deputies are tied up here,” he told Nicky, “I’ll have someone in the marshals’ office check and see if there have been any reports of a dead or missing woman who recently gave birth.”

  Nicky nodded, and even though she dreaded hearing that a woman could be dead, a woman who’d given birth to their precious nephew, they had to find out the truth. And not just about the surrogate, either.

  “How will we handle the investigation into Conceptions?” she asked.

  “There is no we in this. You aren’t handling anything,” he snapped, but he quickly reined in his temper.

  “How are you handling it, then?” Nicky amended.

  He took a deep breath first. “The other lawmen and I will have to go at it head-on. After everything that just happened, they know we’re onto them so there’s no need to back off. Gage is already contacting San Antonio PD and the FBI.”

  That meant soon Conceptions Clinic would be swarming with cops and agents. Maybe there’d be something to find, including those other babies that were out there somewhere.

  She heard the footsteps in the hall, and Nicky’s heart went into overdrive again, her body preparing for another threat. But it was only Landon.

  “We have visitors,” Landon said, not sounding too pleased about that. “The doctor’s here to check the baby.” Then, his attention went to Nicky. “And your father just arrived.”

  Nicky’s stomach went to her knees. No. Not this. Not now. She was still reeling from the attack, but she also knew she had to confront him, to try to get those answers they so desperately needed.

  “Why is he here?” Nicky asked. “Why did he come?” She knew it wasn’t because he was worried about her, and there hadn’t been time for too many people to have heard news about the attack.

  Landon’s gaze dropped to the baby, but he didn’t have to verbally answer. That’s because Nicky heard her father’s voice booming through the squad room.

  “Nicky, I know you’re here,” her father shouted. “I want you to bring me my grandson now!”

  Chapter Five

  Holden wasn’t sure whose profanity was worse—his or Nicky’s. She obviously wasn’t looking forward to this visit any more than Holden was, and he wished he could delay it until they had more information. But he couldn’t.

  Because Oscar might be the very one to provide that information.

  “Wait here with Nicky and the baby,” Holden told Landon, and he gave Nicky a warning glance to stay put before he headed to the squad room to confront her father.

  Holden passed Dr. Michelson along the way. The doc was a fixture in Silver Creek and had been taking care of the Rylands and the other townsfolk for nearly three decades, so he was someone Holden definitely trusted.

  “Try to keep the baby quiet,” Holden whispered to the doctor. “I don’t want Oscar to know he’s here. And close the door when you go into the interview room.”

  Dr. Michelson cast an uneasy glance over his shoulder, nodded and went into the interview room.

  Holden instantly spotted Oscar when he entered the squad room. Nicky’s father was still by the reception desk, and Gage was frisking him. Good. Holden doubted Oscar would come in with guns blazing. He was more the sort to hire blazing guns, but judging from the intense look on his face, anything could happen.

  It’d been a while since Holden had seen the man, but Oscar hadn’t changed. He was still wearing one of those pricey suits he favored. Still looked formidable despite being in his late sixties. That had something to do with his size. He was well over six feet tall and still had the body of a linebacker, which he no doubt kept toned from spending hours with a personal trainer.

  “Where’s Nicky?” Oscar demanded the moment he saw Holden. “And where’s my grandson?”

  “Your grandson?” Holden countered. Best not to show his hand until he knew exactly what hand Oscar was holding, and Holden didn’t figure Oscar would just give it up.

  Oscar’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t play innocent with me. I know they’re here. Why else would the doctor be here?”

  “He came for one of the deputies,” Holden lied. “What makes you think Nicky is here?”

  That didn’t help those narrowed eyes, but Holden figured his own eyes were doing some narrowing, too. That’s because Oscar had to have some kind of insider information about the attack. And the baby. He’d gotten here way too fast.

  “Start talking,” Holden demanded. “Don’t leave out the good stuff, either, even if it incriminates you in the assorted felonies that went down tonight.”

  Oscar glanced around as if he expected someone to defend him. That wasn’t going to happen in an office of Ryland lawmen, and the man must have figured that out right away.

  “I didn’t have any part in this,” Oscar snarled.

  “And yet you’re here,” Holden snarled right back. “Explain that. Now.”

  Oscar continued to glare at him, and the glare went on for so long that Holden was ready to arrest Oscar just to let him know how serious he was about getting that explanation.

  Oscar finally shook his head. “I’m not sure exactly what’s going on.”

  Welcome to the club. “Then tell me all about the stuff you do know.”

  “Just tell me first if the baby is safe,” Oscar ventured.

  But Holden wasn’t in a bargaining mood. “I’m not discussing anything else with you until I know what role you had in orchestrating this.”

  “I had nothing to do with it,” Oscar practically shouted, and it took him a few moments to regain his composure. “This morning a package was delivered to my office. No postmark, and the courier who delivered it was gone before I knew what was in it.”

  “And what was that?” Holden demanded when Oscar paused.

  “Photos. Some DNA results.” Oscar stopped, swallowed hard. “Those bastards had my grandson.”

  There was plenty of concern in the man’s voice, but that concern could be there because Oscar had put this sick plan into motion and then it had backfired on him.

  “I want that package,” Holden declared. “Call one of your lackeys and have them bring it here right now.”

  Oscar looked as if he might disobey that order, but he finally sent off a text. “How did Nicky know they had the baby?” Oscar asked. “Did they send her a ransom notice, too?”

  “No, I found out on my own,” she answered.

  Holden glared at her. He didn’t want her confronting her father. Not yet anyway. But at least she hadn’t brought the baby out with her to do that. That meant she’d handed off the baby to Landon or the doctor before she’d come out of the interview room. Later, Holden would want to know why Landon hadn’t stopped her. Then again, that was an answer he already knew. Nicky was darn pigheaded, and Landon had likely just given up on trying to hold her back.

  “Where’s the baby?” Oscar repeated, this time to Nicky. “Was he hurt in the attack?”

  Holden latched onto that question. “What do you know about the attack?”

  Oscar suddenly got very quiet. He wasn’t a stupid man, but he obviously hadn’t thought this visit through. Which meant he was driven by emotion. Or what substituted for emotion when it came to a man like him.

 
“After I got a ransom demand,” Oscar finally continued, “I had my men start looking for the baby. A million dollars is a lot of money, and I wanted to make sure I actually got my grandson in exchange for the cash.”

  Holden groaned. “And it didn’t occur to you to call the cops so they could handle this?” Like father, like daughter.

  “The note in the package said if I went to the cops, my grandson would disappear forever, that I’d never find him.”

  “Of course they’d say that. It’s what kidnappers tell their marks nearly every time.” And now that he’d given out that lecture, Holden continued. “How did you find out about the attack?”

  “The ransom drop-off was to be here in Silver Creek. I was supposed to meet them fifteen minutes ago at the entrance to the park. I was there, had the money and my men in place in case something went wrong. And it apparently did.”

  “You bet it did.” Holden motioned for him to keep going.

  “I got a phone call that said there’d been a change of plans, that if I wanted my grandson and daughter to stay alive, then I’d still pay the million dollars or else they’d be attacked again. I figured you or your lawmen cousins had brought Nicky and the baby here.” Oscar looked at Nicky then. “You have the baby. The kidnapper said you did, and I want him. He’s my grandson.”

  “He’s my nephew,” she added.

  “Mine as well,” Holden said. He went to Nicky, to stand by her side.

  Holden had never thought of Nicky as an ally, but in this matter, they appeared to be on the same side. Neither of them wanted Oscar to get his hands on that baby.

  Oscar didn’t miss the side-by-side stance that Nicky and Holden had taken. “Are you sleeping with Holden again?” Oscar asked Nicky. “Is that why he’s helping you?”