The Cradle Files Read online

  Seeing those facial features made her think of her daughter. She didn't even know the color of her baby's eyes.

  "Your baby?" Brayden questioned his brother.

  Garrett nodded.

  She had to hand it to the lieutenant. She'd just delivered what had to be shocking news, but other than that one question and a slightly lifted right eyebrow that he aimed at Garrett, that was it. The calmness and serenity remained fully intact.

  "Things are complicated," Garrett explained.

  That raised eyebrow lowered. "Even complicated things can be explained."

  Yes, but not without lots and lots of emotion. Each time Lexie had to retell the story, each time she had to think about it, it was as if someone were ripping open her soul. She'd lost her child, and nothing could heal that wound until her daughter was found.

  "Someone stole the baby right after Lexie gave birth," Garrett continued. He set his coffee aside. "She didn't go to the police because someone tried to kill her, and she thought that person was a cop."

  "I see," Brayden said. "Well, that sort of negates this whole issue of you not being involved in the investigation, doesn't it? If this concerns your baby—"

  "There's more. We really need to talk." Garrett took his brother by the arm and started for the door.

  "Where are you going?" Lexie immediately asked.

  "Brayden and I need to have a private conversation."

  She put her hands on her hips and stared at them. "Why? So you can tell him that the baby might be a figment of my drug-induced imagination? Well, she isn't, and I thought those gunmen proved that."

  Garrett shook his head. "The only thing they proved was that they were gunmen. They could have been sent by Billy Avery. He might want you eliminated so you can't testify against him if he's ever granted an appeal."

  Lexie desperately wanted to dismiss the theory. But she couldn't. Even though she didn't remember her former boss, from what she'd read about him on the Internet, he was capable of pretty much anything. Still, that didn't discount the fact that she knew she'd had a baby, and that baby was missing.

  Brayden checked his watch. "It's nearly 10:00 p.m., but I think I can arrange to speak to Avery at the prison. I wouldn't mind asking him a few questions."

  "Neither would I," Garrett agreed.

  Brayden didn't offer to give him an opportunity. Nor did he waste any time. He headed out of the room, presumably to make that call.

  Lexie didn't waste any time, either. "The baby is real," she insisted.

  "And so is Billy Avery," Garrett countered.

  Her first reaction was to throw her hands in the air and walk out, but that wasn't a smart idea. "I need you to trust me on this," she said, using his own words. "I need us to work together because we have to find her."

  Unlike his brother, Garrett wasn't very good at hiding his emotions. There was a mixture of frustration and irritation in his eyes.

  "My lieutenant ordered me to stay away from you." But it didn't seem as if Garrett was talking to her but to himself. Sort of a reminder. Or maybe it was the bottom line of a private argument he was having.

  She didn't blame him. His boss had ordered hands off. She was essentially Garrett's own personal leper. And besides, she didn't doubt that Brayden O'Malley was a competent cop. He could probably do what was necessary.

  Probably.

  But even though that probably verified the doubts she was having about this situation, she was certain that she couldn't ask Garrett to risk his badge. After all, she was the one who'd set up this scenario of putting his career in jeopardy in the first place. She couldn't ask him to go through that again.

  "Your brother will help me look for the baby," she said, and she tried not to make it sound like a question.

  Garrett nodded. "He'll do everything humanly possible."

  That and the accompanying nod did seem like questions.

  Confusing questions.

  Moments later, Garrett cursed. "I can't walk away from this."

  It took a moment for her to get past the profanity and grasp what he'd said. It took another moment for her to gather her breath. "What do you mean?"

  He crammed his hands into his jeans pocket and shifted uneasily. "If someone took my child, I can't stand back and let my brother do what I should be doing."

  Oh, she grasped that all right. And she grasped the implications of it. "But your badge—"

  "If our baby exists, I will find her."

  Lexie hated what this might cost him, but relief flooded through her. Yes, Brayden was more than an adequate substitute, but he was still a substitute. She figured a father would be more likely to put his life on the line for his own child. And unfortunately, she was afraid their lives would have to be on the line. Hadn't the earlier incident already proved that was true? That, coupled with a massive amount of luck, might help them find the baby.

  "I'll request some vacation time," he continued. "We'll be discreet. We won't tell anyone other than Brayden what we're doing, and we'll investigate what's happened."

  There it was. The assurance she'd prayed for since she first saw that picture of them and realized he was the father of her child.

  "Thank you," she whispered. She tried to blink back the tears, but one escaped.

  He reached out and wiped it away with his thumb.

  It was a big mistake, being that close to him, especially with the emotions, and the hope, racing out of control. Even with the graveness of their situation, she still felt that slam of attraction. She still felt that hungry, desperate kiss that they'd shared months ago.

  How ironic that she couldn't remember critical details of her life, but she could recall every nuance of that kiss.

  His taste.

  The feel of his mouth against hers.

  The raw heat.

  She didn't need other memories to know that it was the most memorable kiss she'd ever had.

  "We can't get involved again," he told her.

  Okay. So, he was perhaps remembering that kiss, as well. He was also right. If they found their daughter, his lieutenant might not reprimand him too hard for his renegade investigation. But another personal involvement with Lexie, the leper?

  No. The lieutenant wouldn't just let that go.

  Staring into her eyes, Garrett slid his fingers beneath her chin. Lifted it slightly. And he inched toward her. Lexie felt paralyzed. She couldn't move. Couldn't think.

  But she could feel.

  Mercy, could she feel.

  He stopped, his mouth only an inch or so from hers. She stopped, too. And they really looked at each other. In the depths of all that green, she went past the lust and saw all the doubts.

  Reasonable doubts.

  Sane, logical doubts.

  "We'll concentrate on finding the baby and the person who's responsible," Garrett insisted.

  Lexie nodded and stepped back. Unfortunately, she didn't do so quickly enough. The door opened and Brayden walked in. His cop's eyes didn't miss how close to each other Garrett and she were standing.

  "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked.

  "No." Garrett and she answered in unison. Quickly. And they both took huge steps back.

  His brother studied them in a scrutinizing way that normally only strict parents and elementary school teachers could manage. "I arranged a video call with Billy Avery." He hitched his thumb in the direction of the hall. "We can take it in my office."

  She was pleased and a little surprised that he'd managed that so quickly. "What exactly are you planning to ask Avery?"

  "Don't worry. The questions won't be about you or the baby. I certainly don't want to tip our hand. Whatever our hand is," Brayden added in a mumble. "That means I want both of you to stay out of camera range so Avery can't see you."

  "You're sure about that?" Garrett stepped ahead of her to walk alongside his brother. "I could persuade him to talk."

  That earned him a lifted eyebrow from the lieutenant. "I don't think intimidation is the way to ap
proach this."

  "Maybe it is," Lexie interjected, moving to Garrett's side. "If Avery's the one who tried to have us killed, maybe intimidation is the fastest way to get answers."

  She got a lifted eyebrow, too. For such a simple facial gesture, it conveyed a lot of disapproval.

  Brayden opened his office door and ushered them inside. There was a uniformed officer at the cluttered oak desk, and he turned the monitor in Brayden's direction and excused himself.

  "Both of you move away from the camera," Brayden insisted.

  Garrett and she did as they were told, but angled themselves in the corner so they could view the monitor. Lexie wanted to see her former boss's face. Not only might it help her with those memory gaps, but she wanted to watch how he reacted when the lieutenant questioned him.

  Brayden verified their positions, then pressed a button on the monitor. A man's face immediately appeared on the screen. There was no mistaking that this was Billy Avery. He looked exactly as he did in the newspaper photos. It wasn't the face of a Brandolike godfather. No. He was only thirty-one, just two years older than she was. His flame-red hair was slicked back in a style that probably would have appeared stark on anyone but him. But even in a prison uniform, Avery still managed to look fashionable.

  And cocky.

  He grinned at Brayden. "Lieutenant O'Malley. Long time no see. What can I do for you?" There was no politeness in his voice, and the question seemed almost like a challenge.

  "I wondered if you were up to your old tricks," Brayden countered.

  "Me?" Avery chuckled. "Haven't you heard? I'm a changed man. Straight and narrow path. Law-abiding citizen."

  Brayden just stared at him. "I checked your visitors' log. Yesterday morning, you had a fifteen-minute chat with one of your former employees. A man named Ted Benson."

  The name meant nothing to Lexie, but it obviously meant something to Avery. No chuckle or grin. His mouth tightened slightly. "And why would a visit from an old friend interest you, Lieutenant?"

  "Everything you do interests me," Brayden answered. "But what interests me more is what Ted Benson did after he spoke with you."

  "I don't know what you mean." But while the denial sounded cocky, there was nothing cocky about his expression. Billy Avery was a concerned and perhaps perplexed man.

  "Of course you do." And with that, Brayden reached down and ended the call.

  "Wait a minute!" Lexie practically ran toward him. "You didn't find out if he hired the gunmen."

  "But he soon will," Garrett calmly explained.

  Brayden nodded. "I've already assigned someone to question Ted Benson and put him under surveillance. If Avery ordered him to come after you, then we'll soon know. Plus the wardens will monitor Avery's calls and visits."

  "They can do that?"

  "Oh, yes. Unless it's a meeting between Avery and his lawyer, but I don't think his lawyer had anything to do with this."

  So everything was in motion. Maybe when the officer questioned Ted Benson, he'd confess to or-chestrating all of this. Except…

  "The baby was taken over three weeks ago," Lexie explained. "Did this Ted Benson guy visit Avery around that time?"

  Brayden shook his head. "He didn't have any visits that entire week. That doesn't mean he couldn't have set everything up prior to then. He could have arranged for someone to watch you, and wait until you went into labor." He picked up a black-and-white photo and handed it to her. "That's Ted Benson. Does he look familiar?"

  Lexie studied the photograph of the dark-haired man. "No."

  "He wasn't the man who took the child from you?"

  "I don't think so. But I can't actually remember the man."

  "How about the doctor?" Brayden asked. "What do you remember about him?"

  "Not much. Everything's sort of hazy. He had touches of gray in his hair. Wide shoulders. And, of course, I do remember the shot he gave me."

  Brayden and Garrett made eye contact. "But you're positive you gave birth?"

  She groaned. "Positive."

  "How can you be so sure? Have you had a doctor verify it?"

  "I don't need it verified. What I need is to find my daughter."

  Garrett eased her out of Brayden's face. "I'm sorry," he said to his brother.

  "Sorry for what?" Lexie didn't like the direction of this conversation.

  "Sorry that I didn't do what I should have done." He caught Lexie's arm. "And now it's time to find out for sure if we're parents or not."

  Chapter Seven

  Garrett paced up and down the hospital corridor because pacing was about the only thing he could do. Waiting wasn't easy for him under normal circumstances, and waiting to hear if he was indeed a father was about as far from normal as normal could get.

  A father.

  Him!

  Man, fate sure had a strange sense of humor. His brother, Brayden, was the father of three. Now that was someone who was father material. Calm. Easygoing. Stable. Brayden took plenty of risks in his job as head of Homicide, but he always put his family first. Ditto for his sister, Katelyn. Though she didn't have children yet, she was the perfect aunt and was looking forward to the day when she would become a mother.

  And then there was Garrett.

  He loved his nephews and his niece, but fatherhood had never been in his plan. Actually, he'd only had one plan from about the age of six. He wanted to the best cop in the state of Texas. Garrett figured to get there, he'd have to make sacrifices, and one of those sacrifices would be a total commitment to the badge.

  But the next few minutes could change all of that.

  Just behind the door to the hospital clinic, the doctor was examining Lexie. One way or another, the man would be able to tell them if her memories were real.

  And if they were real, that meant there was a baby.

  Of course, this was just the start. If Lexie's memories were wrong, then they still had to deal with those gunmen. If the memories were accurate, they had to deal with the whole scope of being parents, finding a stolen child and figuring out who'd tried to kill them.

  Garrett rarely felt overwhelmed, but he was sure feeling it now.

  The door opened, and Dr. Northrop motioned for him to come in. Garrett's stomach actually knotted. It knotted even more when he spotted Lexie sitting on the end of the examining table. She was pale. Too pale. And she was trembling.

  "Are you okay?" he asked her.

  She nodded, but Garrett knew that nod was a lie.

  "You might want to sit down," the elderly doctor instructed, and he pointed to a rolling metal chair by Lexie. Dr. Northrop leaned back against the door. "I can't pinpoint an exact date for the delivery, but I estimate about three and a half weeks. That coincides with what Ms. Rayburn told me."

  That knot in Garrett's stomach got significantly tighter. "Are you saying there's really a baby?"

  The doctor shrugged, pulled off his thick glasses and perched them on his graying head. "I have no way of knowing if the child survived, but Ms. Rayburn definitely gave birth."

  "She survived," Lexie whispered. "I heard her cry."

  All right. Garrett was glad he was sitting down. He glanced at Lexie, but she dodged his gaze. Maybe because she was riled that he hadn't believed her in the first place. Or maybe because hearing a confirmation was a little more than she'd been prepared to handle. But then, there was that last part. The part about maybe the baby hadn't survived. Except Garrett had no intention of believing that. That theory just didn't feel right.

  "Ms. Rayburn appears to have healed properly," Dr. Northrop continued, his voice a little ragged with fatigue. "But I want to do lab tests to check her iron levels and such. I also want to try to identify what she was given that could have caused the memory loss. I figure it was some kind of narcotic. Perhaps morphine. In large doses, it can induce varying levels of amnesia. Unfortunately, there's not a way to reverse it, but sometimes the lost memories return on their own without medical assistance."

  Both Lexie and Garrett j
ust nodded. The memory loss was a big issue, but at the moment it seemed trivial.

  Lexie and he were parents.

  "I'd like to admit Ms. Rayburn to the hospital tonight," the doctor continued.

  "No," she stated. And she left no room for argument. Probably because she realized that in a hospital bed, she'd be an easy target for those gunmen. Plus a hospital stay wouldn't help find their child. Still, Lexie wasn't well, and the drug that the doctor had given her could have caused damage that might require medication.

  "Can you help her if she's hospitalized?" Garrett asked.

  "Perhaps." Dr. Northrop didn't sound certain. Heck, he didn't even sound optimistic. "As I said, I could do some tests."

  "The tests can wait," Lexie insisted.

  The doctor obviously didn't care for her decision, but he nodded as if he'd expected it. "Even though you're recovering on schedule," he added, "you should probably refrain from sexual intercourse for at least a few more days. By four weeks, your body should have had enough time to get back to normal."

  Sex. Great. Yet something else that seemed trivial, and had Garrett never believed he'd think that. Besides, he almost welcomed the doctor's instructions. If by some insane chance Lexie and he were to think about acting on the attraction between them, the doctor's orders would stand in the way. At least temporarily.

  Dr. Northrop waited a moment, probably to see if they had anything to say. When they didn't, he murmured, "I'll just give you two a couple of minutes so you can talk things over."

  He didn't wait for them to respond, but walked out, leaving them alone.

  Garrett took a minute to figure out the best way to grovel, and decided there wasn't one. So he went for the direct approach. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you," he declared, because he didn't know what the hell else to say. A thousand things were going through his head, and he wasn't coming to terms with any of them.

  "We have to find her," Lexie mumbled.

  Yes, they did.

  Because she looked ready to collapse, or cry, he reached out, but then stopped himself. For a few seconds, anyway. He finally thought to heck with it, got up and pulled her into his arms.