Maybe it was the badass looks on Cameron’s and her brother’s faces, but the lawyers, Duane and Julia didn’t say anything.
Gabriel waited a couple of seconds, and he turned back to Julia. “That nurse,” he repeated. “Start talking.”
Julia didn’t do that right away. She took a deep breath first. “I went to see her. You already knew I was suspicious about Patrick. Because he doesn’t look like Alden or me. Or Lauren, for that matter. I’d hoped Lauren had cheated on my brother, that the baby was someone else’s. Like his.” She motioned toward Cameron. “It’s obvious Lauren still has feelings for him.”
It probably was obvious. Lauren sighed. This old attraction was hard to hide.
“Anyway, Maria didn’t admit it at first,” Julia went on, “but she finally said she’d switched the babies. She claims she did that because of his sister, Gilly.” She pointed to Cameron again. “Gilly was afraid of her baby’s father, Trace Waters. Well, I thought that was a stupid reason to do the switch because Trace could have gone after the wrong kid. He could have gone after my nephew.”
Julia probably wanted them to think that she cared if that happened or not. She didn’t. It would make Julia’s lawsuit a little easier if Alden’s son wasn’t around to be his rightful heir.
“Did Maria happen to say how she did the switch?” Cameron asked.
“I didn’t ask about that, but Maria claimed she never intended to put my nephew in danger. She said Gilly had told Trace that the baby wasn’t his, and that she would prove it with a DNA test. She had Maria do a test on Alden’s son and was having the results sent to Trace. That way, he wouldn’t try to take the baby.”
That helped soothe Lauren’s nerves a bit. At least Gilly had had a plan to protect Isaac. And if Trace had insisted on repeating the DNA test, he would have assumed Gilly had been telling the truth about the boy not being his. Still, there was something not right about this.
“Why didn’t Maria tell us what she’d done after Gilly’s boyfriend was killed?” Lauren pressed.
“How should I know?” Julia snarled. “I only saw the woman once.”
“Yet she kept repeating your name when she was dying.” Gabriel stared at her, clearly waiting for an explanation about that.
But an explanation didn’t come from Julia. It came from Duane.
“Julia met with Maria more than once,” Duane said. Julia opened her mouth as if to shout out a denial, but Duane added, “I have proof.”
“You can’t possibly have proof—” But Julia stopped, her eyes narrowing. “You had me followed.”
“I did,” Duane readily admitted. “I wish I’d had you watched 24/7 because that way you wouldn’t have had the chance to set up those fake books to try to get me in hot water.”
“You had no right,” Julia spat out as if she was completely innocent in all of this, and she looked ready to launch herself at Duane.
Cameron got in between them. He pointed to Julia. “How about telling us the truth? Not just about Maria but everything else.”
“I have told the truth,” she insisted. She paused. “Other than the number of times I met with Maria. What does it matter if I met with her once or three times? It doesn’t,” she quickly concluded.
Cameron huffed. “It matters because you lied. Now, I want to know why.”
Julia made a sound of outrage, and she pushed away her lawyer when she tried to whisper something to Julia.
“I didn’t see the point in Maria telling Lauren and you what happened,” Julia finally explained. “I mean, you were both raising the babies, and it would only send things into a tailspin.”
It didn’t take long for Lauren to figure out what Julia had done. And what she’d intended to do. “You paid Maria hush money. Or you could have silenced her by threatening to turn her in to the cops. Of course, you didn’t plan to keep it a secret. My guess is you were going to spring the DNA results during the lawsuit. That way, it would negate Patrick’s claim to Alden’s money.”
“Bingo,” Duane agreed. “And the reason Julia didn’t spill the news sooner was because she didn’t want to give you time to figure out what was going on. She was counting on you being stunned enough to just hand over the money to her.”
“And it might have worked,” Lauren said over the profanity Julia was aiming at Duane. “Except I also got suspicious and had a DNA test done. I would have known the results and had time to figure out what they meant long before the lawsuit.”
“That’s why Julia hired the gunmen.” Duane, again.
Julia went after Duane, this time slamming into Cameron. Her lawyer caught on to her, and between Cameron and her, they managed to get Julia back in her seat.
“My client shouldn’t have to sit here and listen to these allegations,” the lawyer snapped.
“They’re not allegations,” Duane responded without hesitating. “Julia came to me months ago and wanted us to team up against Lauren. She thought there was something I could do to drive Lauren back into Cameron’s bed. That way, Lauren might decide the lawsuits weren’t worth fighting. I mean, it’s not like Lauren needs the money or anything.”
Gabriel glanced at Lauren, and even though he didn’t come out and say it, this was probably what he’d had in mind when he wanted them all in the room together. Obviously, Duane and Julia had been trying to figure out how to get their hands on Alden’s money and company.
Julia was glaring. Not just at Duane, either. She shared that glare with Cameron and Lauren. “You have no proof I’ve done something wrong.”
“But we do,” Cameron assured her. “You met with a criminal suspect—Maria. You knew she’d committed a crime, and you didn’t tell the cops. That definitely falls into the ‘done something wrong’ category.”
Julia sputtered out some angry sounds and slid back her chair, scraping the metal legs against the floor. She got to her feet. “Duane doctored the company books, and I don’t see you harassing him like you’re doing to me.”
“Oh, I’ll get to him,” Gabriel said. His phone dinged with a text message, and he glanced at the screen before returning his attention to Julia. “Duane knew about Maria’s crime, too, and didn’t report it. That means both of you are going to stay for a while as my deputies take your statements. I’ll have a little chat with the DA to see if he wants me to go ahead and arrest you.”
That started more protests from Julia, Duane and their attorneys. They were all so loud that it was nearly impossible to hear what any of them were saying. Gabriel ignored them all and turned to Cameron and her.
“Wait here,” Gabriel added to Julia and Duane, and he motioned for Cameron and Lauren to follow him into the hall. Her brother didn’t say anything, though, until he’d shut the interview room door. “Maybe they won’t kill each other before I get Jace in there to take their statements.” He tipped his head to the squad room. “By the way, you two have a visitor.”
So that was what the text had been about. And Lauren soon saw who the visitor was. Henry McCoy. He’d been the justice of the peace for as long as Lauren could remember.
Cameron looked at her. The kind of look that implied he was trying to figure out what she was thinking. Was she still up for this? Or was she having second thoughts?
The answer to both questions was yes. Lauren wasn’t sure this was the right thing to do, but she was going through with it. She gave Cameron a nod. Her brother must have known what that meant because he huffed. However, Gabriel didn’t try to talk her out of it. He walked on ahead of them, making his way to Jace’s desk. No doubt to tell the deputy to get started with those statements.
“Thank you for coming,” Cameron told Henry. He went to the man and shook his hand.
“Cameron, Lauren,” Henry greeted. The man was in his early seventies now, and he seemed frail in a suit that practically hung off him. His smile seemed genuine, though. “Always figured you t
wo would tie the knot.” His smile faded. “I hate that it’s under these circumstances, though.”
It didn’t surprise Lauren that Henry knew about the attacks. Or that Cameron and she had once had a thing for each other. Heck, he might even know about the baby swap.
Henry looked around. “You want to say the vows out here or in one of the offices? Oh, and you don’t need a witness, but maybe you’d like Gabriel to be there.”
Lauren wasn’t so sure Gabriel would want to do that, but she turned to ask him. Before she could do that, though, Cameron’s phone rang, and she saw Jodi’s name on the screen. It gave her another jolt of adrenaline, and it must have done the same to Cameron because he quickly answered it and put the call on speaker.
“Cam, you need to get back to the ranch ASAP. There’s been some trouble.” Jodi paused. “Evelyn’s here.”
Chapter Twelve
Cameron hated that he was having to rush Lauren out of the sheriff’s office. When they were in a panic, it was hard to think straight, and with a mind-set like that, it could make them easy targets for those hired guns who were still out there. Still, Cameron didn’t have a choice.
He couldn’t let Evelyn get anywhere near the babies.
“Where’s Evelyn now?” Cameron asked Jodi.
“I’m holding her at gunpoint. I had Jameson stay inside with the boys.”
Good. Even though Gabriel had plenty of work to do, he must have heard what Jodi said because he grabbed the keys for the cruiser that was parked right out front. He motioned for them to go with him.
“How the hell did Evelyn get on the ranch?” Cameron hurried Lauren into the vehicle, and the moment they were in, Gabriel took off.
“We think she came in on that trail at the back of your house.”
The one that Lauren had used. Lauren shook her head, maybe to let him know that she hadn’t told the woman about the trail, but her headshake wasn’t necessary. Cameron knew she wouldn’t do that.
“Here’s the thing, though,” Jodi continued a moment later. “There’s no vehicle on the trail. The hands checked. When they found Evelyn, she was in your yard. She looks dazed or something. I think someone might have drugged her.”
Well, hell. Cameron certainly hadn’t expected that. “Was she armed?”
“No. And she has some cuts and scratches on her hands. They look like defensive wounds to me.”
Cameron looked at Lauren to see if she was making sense of this, but she seemed just as baffled as he was. Maybe, though, this was some kind of ruse.
Or trap.
That put his heart in his throat. “Are you outside with her?” he asked Jodi. Cameron met Gabriel’s gaze in the rearview mirror and saw the concern in his eyes.
“Yes. The hands brought her here, but I didn’t want her in the house.”
Neither did Cameron. But he didn’t want Gabriel’s wife being gunned down. “Move her to the porch.” It wasn’t ideal, but at least it would give Jodi a little cover, and she wouldn’t be so out in the open.
“Make sure the hands keep watch,” Gabriel added. “We’re already on the road and will be there soon.”
“Hurry,” Jodi said. “I got a bad feeling about this.”
Since Lauren, Gabriel and he had been attacked just hours earlier, Cameron wasn’t feeling so easy, either. Of course, Evelyn usually brought trouble with her wherever she went.
Cameron ended the call so he could keep watch around them. After all, they were going to have to drive right past the place where Maria had been shot.
And where Lauren had killed a man.
It wouldn’t be a good thing for her to see—since she’d be reliving that latest nightmare—but it was the shortest route to the ranch, and they would have to take it. The minutes counted now, and he wanted to get to Jodi so that she wouldn’t have to be in harm’s way. Judging from the way Gabriel was speeding, he felt the same.
“Why would Evelyn have done this?” Lauren said, but she seemed to be talking more to herself than to him.
“Maybe she’s desperate.” Or worse. She could have gone off the deep end.
Cameron’s phone rang, the sound causing Lauren to gasp. It got Gabriel’s attention, too. Probably because he thought it was his wife calling back with bad news. But it wasn’t a number that Cameron recognized.
That bad feeling skyrocketed. Because this could be one of the gunmen. Cameron answered it, putting it on speaker, but he didn’t say anything.
“Deputy Doran?” the caller asked. “I’m Judge Wendell Olsen. I’m a friend of Evelyn—”
“I know who you are,” Cameron interrupted. “Did you put her up to trespassing onto the Beckett Ranch?”
The judge made a slight gasping sound. “Trespassing? No, Evelyn wouldn’t do that.”
Cameron didn’t groan, but that was what he wanted to do. “Yes, she would, and she’s there now.”
“Not by choice. Something must have happened.”
Either that or the judge didn’t know just how loony his friend could be. “Why are you calling?” Cameron didn’t bother to make his tone sound even marginally pleasant because he didn’t like this clueless clown distracting him.
“I was worried about Evelyn. And her housekeeper just called. SAPD found Evelyn’s car in a parking lot at a bar in south San Antonio. It’s not an area where Evelyn would go. I think she was kidnapped.”
That would mesh with the defensive wounds that Jodi thought the woman might have. Still, Cameron wasn’t buying this. Evelyn could have something up her sleeve.
“Why would a kidnapper take Evelyn to the ranch?” Cameron came out and asked the judge.
“To make her look guilty of violating her restraining order. And you’re the person who’d gain the most from that.” The judge also wasn’t tossing out any friendly vibes.
It took Cameron a moment to get his jaw unclenched. “You just accused me of a felony. Want to rethink that?”
Silence. For a long time. “I don’t want you railroading a woman who simply wants to see her grandson.”
“Evelyn doesn’t want to see him,” Cameron corrected. “She wants custody of him. Big difference, and from what I’m hearing, you think you’re going to try to make that happen.”
More silence from the judge. Then he said, “I’ll get Evelyn’s lawyer and the San Antonio cops out to the ranch.”
“SAPD has no jurisdiction in Blue River,” Cameron reminded him.
“Then I’ll get the Rangers.”
Olsen really wasn’t going to like this. “No need. There’s already one at the ranch. Jameson Beckett. I suppose you’ll threaten us with the FBI next, but they have to be invited to an investigation. I’m not inviting them. Not for this anyway. However, I wonder what they would think about a judge pressuring local law enforcement to do his bidding because his friend with a criminal record just committed another crime.”
Cameron figured that put a scowl on the judge’s face. “I just want to make sure Evelyn’s treated fairly.” And with that, he ended the call.
Great. Now he had a meddling judge added to this mix. It made Cameron rethink the idea of staying at the ranch. It was time for him to look into a safe house for Lauren and the babies.
Gabriel took the turn to the ranch so fast that Cameron was surprised he didn’t lose control of the cruiser. He grappled with the steering wheel, keeping it on the road, and he sped toward his house.
The hands were definitely out and about. Cameron spotted six of them, and one of them had to open the cattle gate so that Gabriel could drive through. The moment the house came into view, he saw the reserve deputy, Mark Clayton, in the front yard. And he also saw Jodi. She was indeed on the porch by the front door and was holding a gun. She had it aimed right at Evelyn, who was sitting on the top step a good eight feet away from Jodi.
Gabriel braked to a stop and thre
w open the door. In the same motion, he drew his gun. “Go inside,” he told Jodi.
Cameron rarely heard that kind of emotion in his boss’s voice, but it was definitely there now. Gabriel loved Jodi, and it was obvious he’d been worried about her. Cameron was, too, but he was just as concerned for Lauren and the others in the house.
“I told Jodi I’d keep an eye on the woman,” Mark said, “but she insisted on doing it herself.”
That didn’t surprise Cameron. He’d known Jodi his whole life, and her stubborn streak was just as big as her heart. Since she was a security specialist, she had the training to hold someone at gunpoint. The training to protect herself, too, but Gabriel almost certainly hadn’t wanted the woman he loved in danger.
“Wait inside with Jodi,” Cameron told Lauren.
She hesitated, then shook her head. “I don’t want Gabriel and you out here. It’s too dangerous.”
Lauren was right. A good sniper might be able to pick them off. That was why he had to hurry this along. He brushed a kiss on her cheek and gave her a nudge to get her moving. He gave her a different kind of nudge when he whispered, “Check on the boys. Make sure they’re not near the windows.”
Her eyes widened, and she practically ran inside. One down, one to go. Plus, he really did want to make sure the boys were in the safest place possible. Lauren would see to it that they were.
Gabriel, however, didn’t go in. He went onto the porch, blocking the door with his body. Probably in case Evelyn tried to bolt inside.
“Your wife said she would shoot me if I moved,” Evelyn told Gabriel.
“She would have. And if you move, I’ll shoot you if Cameron doesn’t beat me to it first.”
It was an empty threat. Well, the shooting part was anyway. Jodi had told them that Evelyn wasn’t armed, so they couldn’t use deadly force on her, but Cameron would stop her if she tried to get in the house.
Lawman from Her Past Page 12