Lucas

by Delores Fossen

  It wasn’t fear, though, that he saw on Hailey’s face. It was pure frustration. Something he felt as well. Because Colleen was stalling, and he wanted to know why.

  “Why did you erase the files that Hailey had on Eric?” Lucas demanded.

  “I swear, I didn’t have a choice.”

  Lucas huffed. “That’s not an answer. Why did you do it?”

  Colleen hesitated again before a hoarse sob tore from her mouth. “Because it was part of the ransom demand.”

  Lucas looked at Hailey to see if she knew what the heck Colleen was talking about. Clearly she didn’t.

  “A ransom?” Hailey questioned.

  Colleen sobbed again. “For my baby with Preston.”

  And with that, Colleen ended the call.

  Chapter Eleven

  A baby.

  Hailey sat there for a moment, stunned with the news her sister had just dropped on them, and then she pressed Redial. Colleen didn’t answer. The call went straight to voice mail.

  “Colleen could be lying,” Lucas pointed out.

  Yes. This could all be some kind of ploy to make them believe that her sister was being manipulated into doing these things. But it was also possible.

  “Preston and she could have had an affair.” Hailey was talking more to herself than anyone specific, but it prompted Grayson to take out his phone.

  “I’ll have someone run a search of birth certificates,” Grayson explained. “Any idea how old a baby would be if it exists?”

  Even though the thoughts were racing in Hailey’s head, she forced herself to think. “Preston went to prison eighteen months ago, so unless he had conjugal visits, the baby would have to be at least nine months old. But possibly older. Colleen never said anything about being pregnant, though.”

  Not exactly surprising, because Colleen and she hadn’t been on the best terms when Hailey had entered WITSEC.

  “If there really is a baby, then Eric could have kidnapped it to get Colleen to cooperate,” Lucas suggested. “If,” he emphasized.

  Yes, that was a big if. But even if Colleen did have a child, that didn’t mean it was Preston’s. She could have gotten pregnant by someone else after he went to prison.

  Grayson was still on the phone, but Hailey heard a familiar voice coming from the squad room. And she groaned. It was Minton, and she didn’t want to go another round with him today. Obviously, though, that’s what was going to happen, because he was demanding to see Lucas and her.

  “I’ll handle this,” Lucas said, getting to his feet.

  It was tempting to let him do just that, but Hailey got up as well so she could see what had prompted this latest visit from one of their suspects. Of course, he was no longer at the top of her list because Colleen was now in that particular spot.

  “I’m getting a court order for those recordings,” Minton informed them the moment he caught sight of them. “My boss will be here any minute with it. You need to turn over copies of those recordings Eric gave you along with the files you have on Eric. And I want them now.”

  “We’ll just wait for that court order if you don’t mind,” Lucas answered. “Even if you do mind, we’ll wait.”

  Hailey had no idea if there really was a court order or if this was a bluff on Minton’s part. But she could clear up one thing for him now. “My sister hacked into my online storage and erased the info I had on Eric.”

  Minton’s eyes were already narrowed, and they stayed that way. “You expect me to believe that?”

  She lifted her shoulder. “I don’t care what you believe, but it’s the truth.”

  Now Minton cursed. “No way would Colleen help Eric.”

  Not voluntarily. But Hailey had to rethink that, too. With all the possible lies being bantered about, Hailey had no idea if Colleen even despised Eric.

  “Why would Colleen have done something like that?” Minton pressed.

  Hailey looked at Lucas to see if he had an opinion on how much or how little she should say, and he took the lead from there.

  “Colleen perhaps had a child who’s been kidnapped. You know anything about that?” Lucas asked.

  Hailey carefully watched Minton’s reaction, and now his eyes widened in disbelief. Or perhaps he was faking that response. Because if someone had indeed taken Colleen’s child, it could have been Minton. Yes, Eric had a stronger motive, but Minton could have done it to force Colleen to do whatever was necessary to make sure his crimes weren’t revealed.

  Anything, including those attacks to murder Hailey.

  “This is the first I’m hearing of a child,” Minton answered. “It’s true?”

  “We’re trying to confirm it now,” Lucas assured him.

  Minton took out his phone. “I want to talk to Colleen. Where is she?”

  Hailey shook her head. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  It didn’t surprise her that Minton had Colleen’s number in his phone. After all, her sister was part of the investigation into Preston. And now Eric. It also didn’t surprise her when Colleen didn’t answer.

  “I’ll have someone from the bureau look for her,” Minton said, and he fired off a text.

  Finding Colleen still wasn’t within the FBI’s jurisdiction, but at this point Hailey just wanted her sister found so she could be brought in for questioning. She only hoped that whoever Minton had contacted wasn’t as dirty as he possibly could be.

  “What do you know about this so-called kidnapping?” Minton continued when he’d finished the text.

  “Not much.” Lucas took out his own phone. “But let me talk to someone who might know.”

  Hailey wasn’t sure who he was going to call. When Lucas put the phone on speaker, though, the DA’s office answered, and he asked to speak to Eric.

  “Tell me about Colleen’s baby,” Lucas said the moment Eric came on the line.

  “What baby?” Eric snapped.

  He seemed as surprised as Minton had been. Of course, it was possible neither man had had much personal contact with her sister, so their reactions might have been genuine.

  “Colleen claims someone kidnapped her baby with Preston,” Lucas explained. “Was it you?”

  Eric’s profanity was even worse than Minton’s had been earlier. “She’s lying. She’s doing this to get money from Preston’s estate. Well, it won’t work. He left everything to me in his will.”

  Hailey figured that was true, and maybe that was her sister’s motive for this. Of course, if Colleen truly had been having an affair with Preston, then he’d probably arranged to have her receive some money before he was killed in prison. At least Hailey hoped that was the case. No way, though, would Eric want Colleen or anyone else, for that matter, to have a dime of his father’s money. Eric hated Preston, but he loved the big bucks and trust fund that came with the family name.

  “I want to talk to Colleen,” Eric practically shouted.

  “Welcome to the club,” Lucas grumbled, and without even saying goodbye, he ended the call.

  Minton jabbed his finger toward Lucas’s phone. “That doesn’t prove Eric’s innocent. No way would he admit to kidnapping his half sibling. If a baby really exists, that is.”

  “A baby does exist,” Grayson said as he came out of his office. For four little words, he got everyone’s attention. He came into the squad room before he continued. “According to Texas Vital Statistics, Colleen gave birth to a daughter eleven months ago. Her name is Isabel.”

  The emotions flooded through Hailey. She had a niece. Colleen had been telling the truth. About that, anyway.

  “And the father?” Hailey asked.

  Grayson shook his head. “No name’s on the birth certificate. In Texas, Colleen would have needed written consent to include the father’s name.”

  Maybe b
ecause it would have been too much trouble to get the consent with Preston in jail. Or perhaps Preston wasn’t the father after all.

  “So, where’s the baby?” Minton asked, his attention volleying among Grayson, Lucas and Hailey.

  None of them had an answer. Only Colleen could give them that information, and they had to find her first. But if her niece had indeed been kidnapped, Hailey wanted to help. Especially now that she was a mother herself, she couldn’t stomach the thought of a baby being taken.

  “I’m sorry,” Lucas said to her, his voice a soothing whisper. So was the slight touch on her arm.

  She looked up at him, their gazes connecting, and the look he gave her was comforting, as well. For a second or two. Then he must have remembered that it wouldn’t take much for the comforting to turn to something more.

  The fire.

  No, it wouldn’t take much at all, and now wasn’t the time for that. Maybe there’d never be time. Because, like now, Lucas would continue to fight this attraction. No way did he want to go another emotional round with her, especially since she wasn’t in any position to renew a relationship.

  Hailey cleared her throat, hoping that would clear her head, as well. “I’ll try to call Colleen again. If she doesn’t answer, I can leave a voice mail so she’ll know I found out I have a niece.”

  She turned to go back into Grayson’s office to do that, but the sound of the door opening stopped her. Hailey braced herself for another visit from Eric, but it was a bulky, dark-haired man she didn’t recognize. Apparently neither did Lucas, because he instantly stepped in front of her and drew his gun.

  But their visitor had a gun, too. And a badge.

  “You can put your weapon away,” Minton insisted. “This is FBI Agent Derrick Wendell.”

  Judging from the now smug look on Minton’s face, this was someone he wanted to see, and it didn’t take Hailey long to figure out why.

  “Sheriff Ryland?” Agent Wendell asked, looking at Grayson. When Grayson nodded, Wendell took a paper from his pocket. “This is a court order. You’re to turn over the recordings and all evidence that’s connected to Eric DeSalvo.”

  Grayson mumbled some profanity under his breath and took the court order to read through it. However, Hailey figured it was legit.

  “The FBI has been conducting a long-time investigation into Eric and his business operations,” Wendell continued. “We have reason to believe some of these operations have crossed into other states, making it a federal case.”

  Lucas looked at her, and even though he didn’t say anything, Hailey knew what he wanted to ask her. Did she know about any of Eric’s illegal interstate deals? She didn’t.

  But that didn’t mean there weren’t any.

  She shook her head and was about to tell Minton and Wendell that, but Wendell’s attention went to her next. “Hailey Darrow.” He didn’t wait for her to confirm that. “I’m here to take you into custody.”

  * * *

  “WHAT THE HELL do you mean by that?” Lucas growled.

  Even though Lucas glared at the agent, Wendell only shrugged as if the answer were obvious. It wasn’t. Not to Lucas, anyway.

  “Miss Darrow is a material witness in this federal investigation. Plus, someone’s trying to kill her. One of Eric’s henchmen, no doubt. The FBI intends to put her in custody and keep her safe so she can testify against him.”

  “She’s already in protective custody—mine,” Lucas argued. No way was he letting Hailey go with this clown. “There’s proof on the recordings that Preston was dealing with a dirty agent. How do I know that agent isn’t you? Or him?” he added, tipping his head to Minton.

  Judging from the way Minton’s face went red, he didn’t appreciate that. Apparently neither did Wendell, because he scowled. But it was going to take a lot more than riled FBI agents to get Lucas to hand her over.

  “I’m not dirty,” Wendell insisted. “And you haven’t done a good job of protecting Hailey so far.”

  “I’m alive.” She stepped out from behind Lucas. “I’d say that’s a good job, considering that someone’s been trying to kill me from practically the moment I came out of a coma.”

  No, he hadn’t done a good job. Because if he had, Lucas would have already found the person responsible for the attacks. Though he did appreciate Hailey standing up for him. But part of him didn’t like it, either.

  Hell. They were on the same side of this argument, and that was tearing down more barriers between them. Barriers that Lucas wanted in place until he’d worked out a whole lot of things with Hailey. Including her intentions for custody of Camden.

  “Hailey can’t go with you,” Grayson told the agents. “I haven’t even interviewed her about the attacks.”

  “Again, our jurisdiction,” Minton argued right back.

  “Possibly,” Grayson said. “But the attacks might not even be related to Eric. Or the dirty agent. This could be connected to some other things that went on in Silver Creek prior to Hailey’s coma.”

  “What things?” Wendell challenged.

  “I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you right now. But it’s not federal.”

  Grayson was sticking up for them. Sticking his neck out, too, since he could be hit with obstruction of justice if the agents could prove he was stonewalling them. Which Grayson was. But he was also buying Hailey some time. She’d already been through hell and back and definitely didn’t need to be around someone who might be trying to kill her.

  Minton huffed, put his hands on his hips. “Then go ahead. Interview her. Do what you need to do, but she’ll be coming with us when you’re done.”

  Grayson shook his head. “Not anytime soon.” He glanced at the court order. “This applies only to the recordings, which you can have. But there’s no mention of Hailey being forced to be in your safekeeping.” There was plenty of sarcasm on that last word.

  The muscles in Minton’s jaw stirred, and he turned toward his fellow agent. “Get the paperwork for Hailey. I’ll get the recordings.”

  Wendell didn’t jump to leave. He glanced at all of them as if trying to figure out how to resolve this without attempting to convince a judge that it was a necessity for him to take Hailey into forced custody. But he must have realized this wasn’t an argument he could win with the Ryland lawmen, because he issued a terse “I’ll be back” and headed out.

  “Give me the recordings now,” Minton said the moment Wendell was gone. “But Hailey doesn’t leave the building until Wendell gets back.”

  Grayson nodded, headed to his office to get them. Giving up the recordings was no big deal since Grayson had made copies of them, but Lucas needed to make sure that Wendell didn’t find a judge to do Minton and Wendell’s bidding. He took Hailey by the arm and led her to the break room.

  Lucas called one of his fellow Rangers and asked him to keep an eye on Wendell for him, and once he’d done that, he saw to Hailey. Who was obviously even more shaken up.

  “Please don’t let him take me,” she said, her voice with hardly any sound.

  “I won’t.” But Lucas only hoped it didn’t come to a legal showdown between them and the FBI.

  He sat on the sofa next to her, and because he thought they could both use it, he made a FaceTime call to the nanny. It was something he did often while away on business so he’d be able to see his son—if not in person, then at least on the screen.

  “Is everything okay?” Tillie asked the moment she answered.

  “Fine,” Lucas lied. Of course, Tillie must have known it was a lie, but she managed a smile.

  “Camden’s sleeping,” she said, whispering, “but I’ll carry the phone to the nursery so you can get a peek.”

  Hailey moved closer to him, her attention glued to the screen, and she was holding her breath. A breath she released when Camden came into view
.

  The baby was sleeping, all right. He was on his side, a blue blanket draped over him. Tillie moved the phone closer to his face so they could have a better look.

  Hailey touched her fingers to her lips for a moment. “I wish I were there to hold him.”

  Yeah. So did Lucas. Being away from his son created a horrible ache in his chest. “Maybe soon,” Lucas told Hailey, and he hoped that was true. He didn’t want this mess with the FBI to drag on so they’d be stuck here in the sheriff’s office.

  Even though Camden wasn’t moving and certainly nowhere near being awake, Hailey and he continued to watch him for several minutes.

  Lucas thanked Tillie before he ended the call. “We’ll check in again with her in a couple of hours, when Camden will be awake,” he added to Hailey.

  She nodded, and he figured she was trying to look a lot braver than she felt. “You’re being nice to me,” she said.

  He wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so Lucas didn’t say anything. Big mistake. Because his silence caused Hailey to look up at him. Normally her looking at him wouldn’t be a big deal, but they were close. Side by side. Arms touching. With their emotions running sky-high, something as simple as a look could become a trigger for this attraction.

  And it was.

  Lucas felt the slam of heat go through him, and before he could remind himself that kissing Hailey would be a dumber-than-dirt sort of thing to do, he lowered his head and put his mouth to hers.

  He’d thought that the attraction between them couldn’t get any hotter, but he had been wrong. It did, and along with the fire came the need. A need that his body remembered only a couple of seconds into the kiss. That fire and need were what had started this whole ordeal with Hailey. Apparently the ordeal was going to continue, too. Because he certainly didn’t stop kissing her.

  Hailey didn’t stop, either. In fact, a soft sound rumbled in her throat. A sound filled with the same need and heat that Lucas was feeling. She slipped her hand around the back of his neck, pulled him closer. Not that he needed much encouragement for that, because Lucas was already moving in on her.