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  Thea didn’t jump right into that explanation; instead, she got to her feet. “We can talk while we look for her. Do you have a backup gun you can lend me?”

  Raleigh frowned. Thea didn’t look at all steady on her feet, which meant her aim would probably suck, too. Still, she was a cop.

  Warren’s star deputy, in fact.

  Warren had not only trained her and given Thea her start in law enforcement, his father had made it clear that he loved Thea like a daughter. That was convenient, since Thea loved him like a father.

  Raleigh wasn’t sure how Thea had managed to overlook the fact that Warren was a lying, cheating snake, and he really didn’t care. Heck, at the moment he didn’t care if Thea was having trouble standing. She had the right idea about looking for Sonya as they talked, so Raleigh gave her his backup gun from his boot holster.

  “I got here about a half hour ago,” Thea said, glancing at the clock on the microwave. While she held on to the kitchen counter, she made her way to the back door. “Sonya didn’t answer my call this morning, so I came over to check on her.” She paused. “I’ve been checking on her a lot lately.”

  “I didn’t know Sonya and you were that close,” Raleigh commented. Sonya had only moved to Durango Ridge about ten years ago, so it was possible she’d known Thea before then. Or maybe they’d recently become friends. But after one look in Thea’s eyes, he knew that wasn’t the case.

  Raleigh groaned. “This has to do with Sonya being a surrogate.”

  Thea nodded and managed to get the back door open. “I haven’t given up on finding Hannah Neal’s killer.”

  Neither had Raleigh. And he especially wasn’t forgetting her now, because that message on Sonya’s wall was identical to the one found at Hannah’s apartment a year ago. Hannah had been murdered only a couple of hours after she’d given birth. That same person who’d killed Hannah had almost certainly been the one who had taken the newborn.

  “Sonya didn’t know Hannah,” Thea continued, “but they were both surrogates, and they used the same doctor for the in vitro procedures that got them pregnant.”

  Raleigh’s gut twisted. Because he’d known that. And he had dismissed it as being something unimportant. Of course, he sure wasn’t dismissing it now.

  Still, it didn’t make sense. Why would someone go after two surrogates to get back at Warren? Especially since Sonya had no personal connection to Warren.

  Or did she?

  Raleigh didn’t have the answer to that, either, but he soon would.

  Thea stepped out onto the back porch, and like Raleigh, she looked around. She also caught on to the porch railing to keep herself from falling. Raleigh nearly had her sit down on the step, but babysitting Thea wasn’t his job. His job was to find Sonya.

  “Tell me about this man who took Sonya,” Raleigh demanded. “Was he here when you arrived?”

  Thea nodded and followed him into the yard. Not easily, but she made it while still wobbling and using every last inch of the porch railing. “I saw him. He wore a ski mask and was holding her at gunpoint. He was about six-one, and about two hundred pounds.”

  That tightened his stomach even more. Sonya was barely five-three and had a petite build. She wouldn’t have stood a chance against a guy that size. Especially if he had a gun.

  Thea stopped once she was in the yard, and with the rain pouring down on her, she looked back at him. “Sonya had the baby. Not with her,” she added when she must have seen the shock on his face. “But she was no longer pregnant.”

  That didn’t make sense, either. Sonya’s doctor was in town. So was the hospital she’d intended to use to deliver. If she’d had the baby there, Raleigh would have certainly heard about it.

  “Did she say anything about the baby? About the man?” Raleigh pressed.

  “No. He had her gagged and already in the yard when I got here. I moved toward him, but there must have been a second man. Or a second person. He hit me with a stun gun when I came onto the porch. I think they took Sonya that way.” She tipped her head to the woods.

  Thea was lucky the guy hadn’t killed her. Or maybe luck didn’t have anything to do with it. Maybe keeping her alive had been part of the plan.

  “I would tell you to wait here, but I doubt you will,” Raleigh grumbled to her, and he started for those woods.

  He didn’t get far though, because he heard the sound of a car engine. At first he thought it might be the deputy, but it was a woman who came running out the back door, and Raleigh recognized the tall brunette.

  Yvette O’Hara.

  The woman who’d hired Sonya to be a surrogate. Like Thea and him, Yvette was wet from the rain. The woman was breathing through her mouth, her eyes were wide and her forehead was bunched up.

  “Where’s Sonya?” Yvette blurted out.

  “We’re not sure.” Raleigh figured Yvette wasn’t going to like that answer. Judging from her huff, she didn’t. But it was the best he could do. “Stay here. Deputy Morris and I were about to look for her.”

  Yvette glanced at Thea. “What’s going on? Did something happen to Sonya, to the baby?” She was right to be concerned—especially if she’d noticed the toppled furniture and messages on the walls.

  “Stay put,” he warned her again.

  But Yvette didn’t listen. She barreled down the steps, and also like Thea, she had some trouble staying steady. In her case though, it was because she was wearing high heels.

  “Sonya’s doctor called me,” Yvette said, her words running together. “She missed her appointment. She wouldn’t have done that if everything was all right.”

  Probably not. But Raleigh kept that to himself. Yvette already looked to be in the alarm-overload mode, and it was best if he didn’t add to that. He didn’t want her getting hysterical.

  “Just stay here,” he said. “That way, if Sonya comes back, she won’t be here alone.”

  Yvette finally gave a shaky nod to that and sank down onto the porch steps. Good. It was bad enough that he had Thea to watch, and he didn’t want to have to keep an eye on Yvette, too. If those armed thugs were still in the area, it was too dangerous for Yvette to follow them.

  Thea didn’t stay back though. Despite her unsteady gait, she kept on walking, straight toward the woods, and Raleigh had to run to catch up with her. He’d just managed that when he heard someone call out to him.

  “Raleigh?” It was Deputy Dalton Kane. Since Raleigh hadn’t heard a siren, it meant Dalton had done a silent approach, and Raleigh was glad he was there. He needed some backup right now.

  “Stay with Mrs. O’Hara,” Raleigh told him. “The woman on the porch,” he added in case Dalton didn’t know who Yvette was. “And get more backup and some CSIs out here. I want the house processed ASAP.”

  Again, Thea got ahead of him, and Raleigh had to catch up with her. She didn’t even pause when she made it to the trees; she just walked right in. Since it was obvious that she wasn’t going to be cautious, Raleigh moved in front of her.

  “I think the thugs were parked back here somewhere,” Thea said. “Shortly after the one hit me with the stun gun, I believe I heard a vehicle leaving.”

  Raleigh silently groaned. If that was true, then there was no telling where Sonya could be. “Is it possible one of the men had the baby with him?” he asked.

  “No.” But Thea paused and shook her head. “Maybe. I didn’t get even a glimpse of him. After the stun gun hit, I fell on the porch, and I think I passed out.”

  Perhaps because she’d hit her head. Raleigh could see the bruise forming on her right cheekbone. Of course, if this was a kidnapping, the person could have even drugged Thea to make sure she didn’t come after them.

  But who would want to kidnap Sonya?

  Raleigh drew a blank. Sonya hadn’t been romantically involved with anyone. At least he didn’t think she had been, but it was possible
she’d met someone. It was something Raleigh hoped he could ask her as soon as they found her.

  They kept walking, and it didn’t take long for Raleigh to spot the clearing just ahead. He’d been born and raised in Durango Ridge, but he hadn’t been in this part of the woods. However, like the rest of the area, there were paths and old ranch trails like this one that led to the creek.

  “The rain is washing away the tracks,” Thea mumbled, and she sped up.

  She was right—if there were any tracks to be found, that is. And there were. Despite the rain, Raleigh could still see the grooves in the dirt and gravel surface. A vehicle had been here recently. He took out his phone to get photos of the tracks just in case they were gone before the CSI team could arrive. He’d managed to click a few shots when he heard Thea make a loud gasp.

  Raleigh snapped in her direction, following her gaze to see what had captured her attention. There, in the bushes, he saw something that he definitely hadn’t wanted to see.

  Sonya’s lifeless body.

  Don’t miss Under the Cowboy’s Protection by USA TODAY bestselling author Delores Fossen, available February 2019 wherever Harlequin Intrigue™ books and ebooks are sold.

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  Copyright © 2019 by Delores Fossen

  ISBN-13: 9781488034138

  Lone Star Midnight

  Copyright © 2019 by Delores Fossen

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