Holden

by Delores Fossen

  A gunshot.

  The shot cracked through the air, and it was close. Too close.

  That got Beatrice running away from the windows and to the interview room. What she didn’t do was leave him her phone, and Holden didn’t have time to remedy that now.

  Because there was another shot.

  Grayson hurried to the front of the building with Holden, and they both looked out. No sign of who’d fired those shots. Holden also kept an eye on Nicky and cursed when he saw that both her father and Beatrice were now at the back of the squad room, only a couple of feet from Nicky. Grayson didn’t miss it, either.

  “Go to Nicky,” Grayson told him. “If I see the shooter, I’ll let you know.”

  Holden debated what to do for a second. He didn’t want to leave Grayson up front without backup, but he reminded himself that Nicky was the target here. Holden went to her, grabbing Beatrice’s phone along the way. He maneuvered Nicky into the empty interview room, and he stood in the doorway.

  “What can I do to help?” Nicky asked. She looked surprisingly strong for a woman who was so close to gunfire—yet again.

  Holden passed Beatrice’s phone to Nicky. “Try calling Minton again.” It definitely wasn’t just busywork, either, because if that man had been telling the truth, then he had the baby.

  There was another shot. Then another. Both of them closer than the other shots had been. He hoped the deputies weren’t in the middle of gunfire. The baby, too. If there was a baby.

  “Minton or whoever that was isn’t answering,” Nicky informed him.

  He was about to tell her to keep trying, but Holden’s own phone buzzed. Since he didn’t want to take his attention off Grayson and the front door, he handed his phone back to Nicky.

  “It’s Amanda,” she said, and put the call on speaker.

  “Who’s shooting?” Amanda whispered.

  “I was hoping you would know.”

  “No, I can’t see any gunmen, but the shots sound close. Holden, I’m so scared.”

  “Where are you?” Holden asked.

  “In the alley about three or four buildings from the sheriff’s office. I’m hiding on the side of the Dumpster behind what looks to be a hardware store.”

  “Stay put. I can send a deputy to get you.”

  “No!” Amanda insisted. “I don’t trust the deputies. I’m not even sure I can trust you.”

  “Then why even call me?” Holden cursed. “I’m trying to stop you from being killed.”

  At least he was if she was innocent, and since he didn’t know if she was innocent or not, Holden wanted her alive so he could question her.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Amanda sobbed. “I don’t want to die. Oh, God. They’re here. The gunmen are here.”

  Holden didn’t get a chance to say anything to her because Amanda was no longer on the line. And worse, there was a series of shots. Six of them, and from the sound of it, they were being fired from different weapons.

  “Amanda’s in the back of the hardware store,” Holden told Grayson.

  This time it was Grayson who cursed. And Holden knew why. If the deputies were in a fight for their lives, a call or text might be a fatal distraction. Still, they had to do something if only to let the deputies know Amanda’s location.

  “Let Josh know about Amanda,” Grayson finally said, but before Holden could even have Nicky start the text, Grayson’s phone rang. “Hold off on that text. It’s Josh.”

  Well, at least if Josh was calling that meant he was alive, but that didn’t mean he or someone else hadn’t been hurt.

  As Nicky had done, Grayson put the call on speaker and placed his phone on the reception desk behind him. No doubt to free up his hands in case he had to return fire.

  “I’m coming in,” Josh immediately said. “And I’m not alone. Grayson, I found the baby.”

  * * *

  EVEN THOUGH NICKY was several rooms away, she had no trouble hearing what Josh had just said.

  There was a baby, and he had it.

  That got Holden moving toward the front with Grayson, and both of them stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, their guns ready. At least there wasn’t any gunfire at the moment, but time seemed to have stopped. Unlike the thoughts flying through her head. Those were speeding through her mind, and even though Nicky knew the worst could have happened, she prayed for the best.

  For Josh and the baby’s safety. For Kara’s, too.

  Although Holden warned her to stay back, Nicky still peered out from the doorway of the interview room, and she was able to see when Grayson and Holden stepped back. Making the way for Josh.

  And he finally came in.

  Josh had the baby clutched to his chest, but Nicky couldn’t see much of the infant because she was wrapped in a blanket. Josh didn’t stay near the door. He headed up the hall where Nicky was waiting.

  “Where’s Kara?” Grayson asked.

  “Still looking for Minton and Amanda,” Josh answered. “Kara and I got separated when the gunmen started shooting at us. Here, take her,” he added, handing Nicky the baby. “I’ll go back out and find Kara.”

  “I’ll go,” Grayson insisted, and he headed out.

  Holden stayed near the front, probably to make sure those gunmen didn’t show up, but he was volleying glances between Josh, the baby and her.

  Nicky eased back the blanket, and the first thing she saw was the ginger hair. Identical to Carter’s. And Annie’s.

  “This is Annie and Emmett’s daughter,” she told Holden when she managed to gather enough breath to speak. Of course, it would have to be verified with DNA, but Nicky was certain of it.

  Certain, too, that the love she felt for the baby was instant. So was the fear. Because now they had to keep her safe. Soon, she’d need to deal with the shock she was feeling, too. She’d had to deal with a lot of things, including what was happening between Holden and her. But for now, she just held her niece and said a prayer of thanks.

  However, Nicky wasn’t very thankful when her father came rushing out of the interview room. She wanted to kick herself for blurting out that this was her niece because obviously her father had heard it.

  Oscar didn’t say anything. He just came closer, his attention fixed on the baby.

  “Don’t you dare mention a word about custody and court orders,” Nicky warned him. “Because I’ve had more than enough of you and your threats.”

  She expected him to glare at her or toss out one of his stinging remarks, but the shock must have taken over because he groaned and leaned against the wall.

  “Is the baby okay?” Holden asked.

  “She appears to be.” The baby was squirming and fussing a little, but she didn’t have any visible injuries, thank God. Along with the DNA test, though, she’d need to be checked by a doctor.

  “How’d you get her?” Oscar asked Josh as Nicky continued to examine the baby.

  “Luck,” Josh answered. “When I was making my way through the alley to the hardware store, I saw her lying on the ground.”

  That sickened Nicky. Infuriated her, too. Because someone had been so careless with something so precious.

  “I want to hold her,” Oscar said.

  Nicky shook her head. “Not until I’m sure you’re innocent, and right now, I’m not sure of that at all.”

  Now she got the glare, and while it didn’t please her, it didn’t please Josh, either. “Come with me,” Josh told her father. “You, too. Because I’m not any more convinced of your innocence than Nicky is.”

  “Where do you think you’re taking us?” Oscar snapped.

  “To a holding cell. It’s for your own safety. For ours, too, and please resist so I can handcuff you and charge you with some assorted crimes like interfering with an officer and impeding an investigation.�
��

  Oscar gave Josh a glare for that sarcasm. “This isn’t over,” her father warned her, but neither he nor his lawyer resisted when Josh led them out of the hall and to the other side of the building, where there were holding cells.

  Nicky felt some relief at having Oscar away from the baby, but she knew he wouldn’t stay away. It wouldn’t be long at all before he got out of that cell and then came for this little girl as he’d been trying to do with Carter.

  Josh was only gone a couple of minutes. Probably because he hadn’t wanted to leave Nicky and the baby so close to yet another of their suspects—Beatrice.

  “Tell me who did this,” Nicky said to Josh. “Who put the baby there in that alley?”

  Josh shook his head. “I don’t know. When I found her, there was no one around. I didn’t even get a good look at the gunmen.”

  The shooters were almost certainly from the same team of thugs who’d been tormenting them from the start, but that didn’t explain why they would have left the baby like that. Or maybe they hadn’t. Maybe Minton truly had managed to take her from them.

  But then where was Minton?

  “Let me trade places with Holden,” Josh suggested. “And he can see his niece.” He gave the baby another glance. “She looks like her mother.”

  She did. From all the photos Nicky had seen of Annie when she was a baby, this little girl was practically a genetic copy.

  As soon as Josh was at the front door, Holden hurried back to her, and he gave the baby the same once-over that Nicky had. “I’ll find out who did this. I promise.”

  She didn’t doubt it. Didn’t doubt the raw emotion he was feeling, either, because Nicky was experiencing the same thing. The problem was, they didn’t have a lot of options for putting a stop to the dangerous situation they were in unless they found Amanda and Minton. There wasn’t much she could do about Amanda now, but Minton was a different story.

  Nicky tipped her head to the interview room and handed Holden back the phone he’d taken earlier from Beatrice. “Maybe Beatrice knows of another way we can try to reach her husband.”

  Holden didn’t look any more optimistic about that than she was, but he went into the room anyway. Beatrice was right there when he opened the door, and she’d clearly heard everything.

  Considering all that had gone on, Nicky figured there’d be tears. Or at least some more concern than the woman had shown earlier. Or rather pretended to show.

  “I’ve tried every way to contact my husband, and other than that call where I reached him earlier, I didn’t talk to him,” Beatrice insisted. “Obviously, he didn’t want to get in touch with me before now, or he would have. And when he called, he didn’t even want to speak to me. He wanted to talk to him.” She flung her fingers in Holden’s direction.

  Still no tears, but Nicky heard the anger, and while she didn’t want to speculate if it was real or not, Nicky could certainly understand why the wife of a missing man would feel that way. Unless Beatrice had had some part in her husband’s disappearance, she might have thought he was dead.

  This proved otherwise.

  And it could also give Beatrice a complication she didn’t want. If Minton had been dead, then their son would have likely inherited his estate, and that would have given Beatrice access to more money. That wouldn’t happen, though, with Minton alive. Plus, now Beatrice couldn’t play the part of the grieving widow.

  “Lee’s probably been with her this whole time,” Beatrice snarled.

  Her. As in Minton’s mistress. Sharon Bachman. During interviews with the police, Sharon had admitted to the affair but had claimed she had no idea where Minton was.

  “Call her,” Holden insisted.

  Nicky wasn’t sure Beatrice would do that, but if the woman had refused, Nicky could have managed to contact Sharon. But having Beatrice do it would save time because Nicky was betting that Beatrice knew the woman’s number.

  She did.

  Beatrice had the number in her recent calls, and she pressed it. When Holden prompted Beatrice to put it on speaker, she did. Though judging from the way her mouth tightened, she wasn’t looking forward to any part of this call.

  “Have you heard from Lee?” Sharon asked the moment she answered, and Nicky heard something in the woman’s voice that she hadn’t heard in Beatrice’s—genuine concern.

  Beatrice didn’t answer, and she looked at Holden as if waiting for him to tell her what to say. However, he didn’t tell her. He took the phone from her.

  “Sharon, I’m Marshal Holden Ryland, and a man claiming to be Senator Minton called me about twenty minutes ago. Has Minton been in touch with you?”

  “No. He called you? Is he okay? Where is he?” Her words rushed out, filled with sobs, relief and more worry.

  “I’m not positive it was actually Minton—”

  “It was Lee,” Beatrice interrupted, and she went closer to the phone. “Sharon, if you know where Lee is, for God’s sake, tell us.”

  “I don’t know, but he’s alive, right? Did he say what had happened to him?”

  “You’d know that better than we would,” Beatrice growled. “Because I suspect he’s been with you since you’re his flavor of the month. What, did you two have a lovers’ spat and he left when he realized what a bimbo you really are?”

  “No! Of course not. I swear, I haven’t spoken to him or seen him since he went missing.”

  Beatrice made a sound to indicate she wasn’t buying that. “Is Lee pretending to be in danger because he’s trying to save face?”

  “What are you talking about?” Sharon asked, and Nicky wanted to know the same thing.

  “I think you convinced Lee to run off with you, and then when he figured out what he was giving up by being with you—his career and his reputation—he broke things off and pretended that he’d been kidnapped or something. But now he’s been taken for real.”

  “Oh, God.” Sharon gave another sob. “You know for certain that Lee’s really been kidnapped?”

  Nicky and Holden exchanged glances, and she could tell from the look in Holden’s eyes that he didn’t believe they were going to get anything from Sharon. The woman didn’t seem to have a clue what’d happened to Minton.

  “If Minton contacts you, tell him to call me,” Holden instructed Sharon.

  “I will, and please do the same for me. I have to know if he’s all right.”

  Holden assured her that he would, and he ended the call. Perfect timing because Beatrice appeared to be gearing up to sling another round of insults.

  “Am I free to go?” Beatrice asked.

  “Aren’t you even going to look at the baby to see if she might be yours?” Holden asked.

  Beatrice’s mouth tightened. “I heard Nicky say it was Emmett and Annie’s baby.”

  “Yeah, but you haven’t taken our word for anything else,” Holden said. “Why would you on something as important as this?”

  “I don’t like your tone,” Beatrice snapped. “I don’t know anything more about these babies than you do.” However, she did spare the baby a glance. “And I agree that she is Emmett and Annie’s. She doesn’t look anything like me, my son or Lee.”

  “And yet the kidnappers contacted you for ransom money,” Holden persisted.

  “Because they were trying to scam me.”

  “But the scam would be on your husband, not you, since the money is his.”

  If Beatrice’s eyes narrowed any further, she wouldn’t have been able to see. “I’m leaving.”

  “Gunmen and kidnappers are still out there,” Nicky reminded her.

  “I’d rather be with them than stay another minute here with you,” Beatrice snarled, and she headed for the door.

  “Should I stop her?” Josh asked Holden.

  Holden shook his head. “Let her g
o,” he answered, but then stopped when they saw the man who was coming in through the front of the building.

  Not one of their suspects or one of the gunmen, but it was someone who put Nicky’s heart right back in her throat.

  Drury.

  She hadn’t seen him since the attack that could have killed him. The attack she was partly responsible for, but Drury, like some of the other Rylands, might think she was entirely to blame.

  Nicky certainly felt that way now.

  He was the same height as Holden and had a similar build. Of course, both were good-looking. All the Ryland men were. But unlike Holden, Drury had a dangerous edge to him, and he always seemed to scowl. At least he did whenever he was around her. But then, she had earned each and every one of his scowls and much more.

  “Can I help?” Drury asked Holden. He didn’t come closer, though his attention landed on the baby.

  “This isn’t Annie and Emmett’s son,” Holden explained. “It’s their daughter. They had twins.”

  Drury didn’t react to that, but he spared Nicky a glance while he walked toward them. He nodded once he saw the newborn girl. “Yeah” was all he said for several long moments. “I’m on the team that’s going through the files at Conceptions Clinic, but we haven’t found anything useful.”

  Nicky hadn’t known he was part of that investigation, but it didn’t surprise her since Drury was an FBI agent. A good one, too, and she was thankful he was part of the team. Drury wouldn’t give up until he’d exhausted every possible bit of information.

  “I was about to take Nicky and the baby out of here,” Holden volunteered.

  Maybe it was the way Holden said her name, but it caused Drury to look at her again. Holden’s tone hadn’t exactly been a loving one, but it didn’t have its usual venom, either.

  “Are you two back together?” Drury asked. A muscle flickered in his jaw, though she wasn’t sure how any muscles could stir there because his expression was rock-hard.

  “No,” Nicky answered at the same moment Holden said, “It’s complicated.”

  Drury shifted his attention back to his brother. “It always is.” He gave Holden a pat on the arm, and using just his index finger, Drury eased back the blanket to have a better look at the baby. “I don’t want the past to get in the way of making sure the baby’s all right. Her twin brother, too.”