The Baby’s Guardian

by Delores Fossen

  Sabrina heard Shaw gasp for breath, and she prayed he wasn’t injured. She still couldn’t see if he’d been shot, but he did have blood on his face, possibly from a blow the gunman had managed to land.

  She reached for the gun again, but the men shifted, rolling toward her, and trapping the gun beneath them.

  The fight continued with the sounds of muscle and bone slamming against muscle and bone. Drops of blood and sweat spewed in every direction, some of them landing on her.

  Sabrina maneuvered herself around them, hoping she’d have an opportunity to get that gun. Once she had it, she and Shaw could gain control of the situation.

  Well, maybe.

  And maybe the guy would force her to shoot him. She would. She would do whatever it took to get Shaw and their baby out of this alive.

  The men rolled around, jockeying for position, and the fight continued, each of them slamming their fists into the other.

  Finally, she saw the gun and reached for it. But the gunman must have seen what she was trying to do, because he threw out his fist, slamming it into her leg.

  The pain shot through her, and she gave a loud groan, but she didn’t give up.

  Neither did Shaw.

  That punch the gunman had delivered to her leg seemed to give Shaw a new burst of adrenaline. The muscles in his face turned to iron, and he drew back his fist and slammed it, hard, into the gunman’s jaw.

  Shaw didn’t stop there. He drew back his hand and delivered another punch. And another. Until the gunman dropped his head back on the ground. He appeared to be unconscious. But maybe he was just pretending to be so that they’d let down their guard.

  Sabrina wasn’t letting anything down. She grabbed the gun and tossed it to Shaw. His hands were cut and bleeding, but he snatched it in midair and jammed it right against the gunman’s throat.

  “Move and you die,” Shaw growled, though she had no idea how he spoke with his teeth clenched that tightly. “Personally, I hope you choose to move.”

  The threat was clear and real, and the gunman must have realized that because his hands dropped limply to his sides.

  Shaw used his left hand to take out his cell phone, and he passed it to Sabrina. “Call for backup,” he instructed.

  Her hand was shaking, but she took the phone and pressed in nine-one-one.

  “What’s your emergency?” the dispatcher immediately answered.

  Sabrina fought with her ragged breath so she could answer, so she could give the dispatcher enough information to get backup on the way.

  She watched as Shaw reached for the guy’s latex mask, and he pulled it off with a fierce jerk.

  And Sabrina finally saw the gunman’s face.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Shaw stared down into the gunman’s eyes, and he prayed the guy would move so he’d have an excuse to beat him senseless.

  Or worse.

  He had to rein in his anger because it was obvious that merely catching the gunman wasn’t going to solve this investigation.

  Gavin Cunningham stared back at him, not with fear in his eyes. Definitely no remorse, either. But there was some defiance, and despite Gavin’s bruised and bloody face, he managed a dry smile.

  “Backup’s on the way,” Sabrina relayed to him.

  While he kept the gun point-blank on Gavin, Shaw glanced at her. Despite everything that had just happened, she looked amazingly well. She certainly wasn’t cowering in fear, but like him, she was glaring at Gavin. She had a right to glare. Gavin had manhandled her, kidnapped her and would have done God knows what else if he’d managed to escape with her.

  Later, Shaw would hold her and tell her how thankful he was that she and the baby were okay. But for now, there was something more pressing.

  The missing baby.

  Shaw moved back a little, to put an arm’s length between Gavin and him, and he got to work. “I’m guessing you did all this to cover up the fact that you murdered a young woman and stole the child that you’d conceived with her. I figure you hired Burney and his brother to steal the DNA file. You also hired one or both to kill her. They did, but then a lot of things started to go wrong.”

  Gavin shook his head. “I’m not confessing to anything.”

  “You don’t have to. The DNA from the baby’s pacifier will tell us everything we need to know,” he lied. Because there was no DNA from the baby to compare to Gavin’s. Still, Gavin didn’t know that. “So, here’s the deal, tell me where you hid your son, and I’ll tell the DA you cooperated.”

  “Right.” Gavin’s tone was cocky, and Shaw had to fight his rage again.

  He really wanted to pound this moron to dust.

  “Right,” Shaw repeated, trying to put all that rage inside him into a calm, smug veneer. He was a veteran cop, and he had to shove the personal stuff aside so he could get this bastard.

  “I guess you don’t mind getting the death penalty,” Shaw commented. Now, he smiled. “Ever watched someone get a needle shoved in their arm? Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t painless. It’s a slow agonizing death.”

  Gavin just stared at him.

  “Tell me where the baby is,” Shaw demanded.

  Gavin chuckled. “No way. A trial could last for years. And a lot could happen to a baby in all that time.”

  Sabrina made a sound of outrage. “Give me the gun,” she demanded. “You’re a cop and you’re bound by the badge not to shoot him, but I will.”

  She would, too. Shaw could tell from that steely look that she wasn’t bluffing.

  Gavin volleyed glances between her and Shaw, and by degrees his smile faded. It faded even more when there was the sound of sirens approaching. It wouldn’t be long, mere minutes, before backup arrived.

  “Get up,” Shaw ordered the man.

  Gavin’s eyes widened. “Why?”

  “Because you’re resisting arrest, that’s why.” Shaw lifted the gun gripped in his hand. “And I’m going to shoot you for resisting.”

  “You wouldn’t do that,” Gavin spat out.

  “Yes. I. Would.” And Shaw left no doubt that he was telling the truth. And it was the truth. It would cost him his badge, but by God he was going to find that missing baby before it was too late. “Get up!”

  Gavin struggled to get to his feet. His eyes were wild and wide now, and he looked around as he expected someone to come to his aid.

  Shaw aimed the gun at Gavin’s left shoulder. “Last chance, where’s the baby?”

  Gavin lifted his hands, palm out. “You’ll shoot an unarmed man?”

  “In a heartbeat.” Shaw tightened his finger on the trigger and got ready to fire.

  “Stop!” Gavin yelled. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

  Shaw fired a shot over Gavin’s shoulder and lowered the gun so the next bullet would hit the intended target. “Where’s the baby?” Shaw didn’t change his tone or his body language, because he was already sending the message he wanted to send.

  “Okay,” Gavin mumbled. And there was no cockiness in that. “Take the death penalty off the table, and I’ll tell you where the kid is.”

  Shaw thought about it a second. “I’ll take the death penalty off the table.”

  Gavin nodded, blew out several short breaths. “The baby’s at one-one-two St. Martin’s Street, just two blocks from here. He’s safe. He wasn’t hurt when Burney and Danny took him from his mother. Right now, he’s with a nanny I hired. Her name is Peggy Watford.”

  Shaw heard the backup officers take the turn onto the street. He kept the gun aimed at Gavin. “Give me your phone.” And Shaw knew he had one because it was clipped to the man’s belt. Gavin removed it, gave it to Shaw, and he passed it to Sabrina.

  “What’s the phone number of the place where the nanny has the baby?” Shaw demanded. “Sabrina’s going to call and make sure you aren’t lying. If you are, one bullet will go in your shoulder. The other in your leg. I haven’t decided yet where the third bullet will go.”

  Gavin’s voice was a tangle o
f nerves when he rattled off the number. Sabrina quickly dialed it, just as the cruiser with the backup officers came to a stop.

  “Don’t tell her who you are,” Shaw instructed Sabrina. “Once you hear her voice, hang up.”

  Sabrina nodded and put the call on speaker.

  It seemed to take forever for the call to connect. Shaw waited, knowing he wasn’t leaving this scene until he had confirmed the whereabouts of the child.

  “Get officers to one-one-two St. Martin’s Street,” Shaw ordered his backup, just in case. “I want confirmation ASAP that a newborn baby is there. Call me as soon as you know something.”

  “Mr. Cunningham,” a woman finally answered. She’d obviously seen Gavin’s number on her caller ID. “I didn’t expect you to phone until later. The baby’s fine, though. He’s sleeping. And I’ll have him ready tonight for the trip, just like you wanted.”

  Shaw motioned for Sabrina to click off the phone, and she did.

  “I told you the kid was all right,” Gavin insisted. “I wouldn’t hurt a baby, even if his mother was nothing but trash.”

  Shaw didn’t believe that because, after all, Gavin hadn’t cared a lick about Sabrina’s baby.

  “What do you plan to do with him?” Sabrina asked.

  The backup officers moved in, and Shaw motioned for them to cuff Gavin. One of the cops also read the man his rights. However, that didn’t stop Gavin from answering Sabrina’s question.

  “A friend of a friend has an adoption agency. I’d made arrangements for the kid to be picked up tonight. He was going to a good family.”

  Maybe. Or maybe Gavin planned to sell the child. “Why did you think you’d get away with it?”

  Gavin lifted his shoulder as the cuffs snapped shut, locking his hands behind him. Apparently, Gavin didn’t intend to add anything to his meager confession.

  But Shaw figured he knew the rest. “My guess is you were trying to set up Wilson Rouse, to make it look as if he’s the one who killed the woman and took the child.” Too bad Gavin’s sick plan had come close to succeeding. “Rouse probably isn’t even your biological father.”

  The corner of Gavin’s mouth lifted. “But he is. That’s the kicker. He really is my dear dad, thanks to a roll between the sheets with the hired help thirty years ago.”

  Oh, yeah. Then the plan would have indeed worked.

  Gavin could have claimed that Rouse not only wanted to get rid of his illegitimate son but his less than worthy grandson, as well. Rouse would have fought the charges, might have even won, but his name and reputation would have been ruined. And Gavin would have been long gone or the evidence destroyed so that no one could ever connect him to the dead woman.

  “I won’t spend my life in prison,” Gavin insisted. Some of the cockiness had returned. “I’m a good lawyer, and I have people on my side.”

  “Don’t be so sure of that,” Shaw countered. “Your uptown law partners won’t like the scandal, either. I’m betting they dump you hard and fast.”

  Shaw walked to Sabrina, slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. He looked down at her, deep into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “You?”

  He tried to keep things light. “I’m too old to get in fistfights.”

  But his attempt failed because the tears sprang to her eyes. “You could have been killed.” Her voice broke, and she buried her face against his shoulder.

  “How touching,” Gavin called out, and the officers led him to the cruiser. “You can come and visit me in jail while I’m appealing my life sentence.”

  Shaw glanced at the man. “I took the death penalty off the table, but the DA didn’t. It’s his call, and I’m betting with the murders at the hospitals and the havoc you’ve caused, the death penalty is guaranteed. I know I’ll do everything to make sure that happens.”

  Gavin looked as if the breath had been knocked out of him.

  Good.

  It was a small matter of satisfaction, but Shaw knew it wouldn’t stop the nightmares. He might never be able to forget what Gavin had put Sabrina through.

  “I’m in love with you,” he heard Sabrina say.

  He was so deep in his thoughts that it took Shaw a moment to realize what she said.

  “It’s true,” she added before he could speak. “I realized it when Gavin fired the shot, and I didn’t know if it’d hit you or not.” She sniffed, wiped away tears. “I knew then that I’m in love with you. And it doesn’t have anything to do with carrying your child. Or the great sex. That only makes me love you more, but it’s not the reason I’m in love with you.”

  She opened her mouth, probably to continue to convince him that what she felt was the real thing. But Shaw didn’t need to be convinced. He could see the love in her eyes.

  So, he kissed her.

  There were bits of grass and dirt on his mouth, and he pulled back to wipe it off, but Sabrina grabbed a fistful of his shirt and yanked him back to her to continue the kiss anyway. She didn’t stop until she had to breathe, and when she broke the kiss, she gasped for air.

  “I’m in love with you because…” She stopped, blinked back more tears. “Because you’re you.”

  Shaw was sure he blinked, too. It was a simple reason. The best of reasons.

  Now, it was his turn to kiss her.

  “Sir?” one of the officers called out. “You want us to wait until a unit arrives to pick up you and Ms. Carr to take you to headquarters?”

  Sabrina looked at him, then at the officer who’d asked the question. “Is it safe to go back to headquarters?” Shaw wanted to know.

  “Yes. The fire’s out. It was more smoke than anything.”

  Smoke. No doubt to create the diversion. A diversion that had worked.

  Well, temporarily.

  “Don’t wait,” Shaw instructed. “Get Mr. Cunningham to the jail for processing. And have someone call me the second you have news about the missing baby.”

  “Yes, sir,” the officer assured him. He got into the cruiser where Gavin was locked into the backseat, and he drove away.

  Shaw doubted it would be long before their ride arrived, so he decided to make this quick. Once they did return to headquarters, he’d be swamped with the tail end of this investigation.

  First though, he wanted to clear up some things with Sabrina.

  “It’s okay,” she continued while he was trying to gather his thoughts. “You don’t have to say or do anything. I just wanted you to know.”

  He kissed her again, hoping to use the time to find the right words. It was a bad decision. The kiss turned hot and deep, and it clouded his mind even more.

  Finally, Shaw just put an end to the kissing and caught her shoulders. “I’m in love with you, too, Sabrina.”

  She stood there. Staring. And she looked as stunned as Gavin had when the officers had hauled him away.

  “You’re in love with me?” she challenged.

  “Yeah. And the only reason I have is the same as yours. Because you’re you. Because you’re a good, decent, kind, caring woman who’d do anything in the world for me, including giving me this precious child.”

  He slid his hand over her belly.

  Her tears started again, and she launched herself at him. Shaw pulled her as close as the baby would allow, and he kissed her again. This time, he kept it short so it wouldn’t numb his mind, and he geared up to finish what he’d started.

  “Fay—” he said.

  But Sabrina pressed her fingers to his mouth. “You don’t have to tell me. I know you’ll always love Fay. I don’t expect you to feel the same way about me as you did about her.”

  Surprised, he blinked. “Well, you should. Because I love you as much as I loved her when she was alive. But she’s not alive anymore, and we are. We’re both here, in love with each other, and I can’t help but believe that’s exactly what Fay would have wanted.”

  Sabrina stopped, drew in her breath, and she finally nodded. “It is what she would have wanted. S
he loved us both.”

  “And we both loved her,” Shaw finished. “But Sabrina, you don’t deserve anything less than my whole heart, and that’s what I’m offering you.”

  “Ohhhh.” She moved her hand to her own mouth to press back a sob. Thankfully, it sounded like a happy sob. “But how can you truly forgive me for Fay’s death?”

  She had mentally skirted around this for days, but he already knew the answer. “Easy. I blamed you. Myself. But I was wrong. Neither of us is responsible for what happened.” He leaned in and kissed her. “Fay is the one who brought us together. She’s the one who wanted us to raise this baby, and I’ll always be thankful to her for that, for giving me you.”

  Sabrina’s breath trembled from her tears, and she reached out to him.

  But then, his phone buzzed.

  He glanced down at the caller ID and saw that it was Lieutenant Rico. Shaw cursed and answered it.

  “We have the baby, and he’s okay,” Rico said, obviously not bothering with a greeting. Shaw didn’t want one. That was the best news he could have gotten.

  “Thanks. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Shaw hung up and hoped those few minutes were enough. “The baby’s safe,” he relayed to Sabrina.

  The relief flooded through her, and he could feel it in every part of her body when she hugged him. Shaw was just as relieved as she was, but he cut the celebration short.

  “I want to get married,” he blurted out, and winced at his abrupt tone. Sheez. He’d negotiated hostage standoffs that hadn’t given him this much trouble.

  “Let me try that again,” Shaw corrected. “Will you marry me?”

  He braced himself for another of her shocked looks, maybe even some hesitation, but her hug got harder, and she found his mouth with hers.

  “Yes,” she said, a split second before she kissed him.

  Yes.

  That part registered in Shaw’s brain, but the kiss even managed to fog that up a little.

  “That was a yes?” he questioned, pulling back just a little.

  He kept his mouth right over hers so he could take in her taste with each breath. It was a taste he knew he would want for the rest of his life.