“April thought Willy had kidnapped us so he could get revenge for her cheating on him with me,” Bennie went on. “She was afraid that once Willy got his hands on the ransom money, he’d kill us all. So we waited until the kidnappers were distracted with a phone call, and April cut me loose from the ropes, and we tried to escape.”
That must have happened just minutes before Sawyer and she had arrived back at the Tumbleweed.
“April cut you loose?” Sawyer questioned. “How? With what?”
Part of her wanted to stop these questions and get Bennie to the hospital, but her brother no longer seemed in pain. In fact, he sat up even farther to answer Sawyer. “She had a knife hidden under her top. I didn’t ask her where she got it. I was just thankful to be out of those ropes.”
“What happened next?” Sawyer asked when Bennie didn’t say anything else.
“I’m not sure. It was raining, and when we were running, April and I got separated in the woods. I figured that she’d managed to get away, but one of the kidnappers found me. I think it’s the one you have in custody now. He put a gun to my head and dragged me back to where they’d left their vehicles. It wasn’t long before I heard a shot.”
Yes, Cassidy had heard it, too, and she’d thought her brother had been killed.
Bennie swallowed hard. “When the other kidnapper came back, April wasn’t with him, and he had blood on his clothes.”
It was so hard for Cassidy to hear all of this. From the moment Bennie and she had been taken captive, she’d been terrified that someone would die.
And it had happened.
Still, there was something about all of this that didn’t make sense. “Why did the kidnappers have me take the baby to Sawyer for that photograph?” she asked.
“I figured it was because Sawyer was the baby’s father, and they wanted to milk some money out of him, too. Maybe they planned to use the photo to show his boss or something. It wouldn’t have looked good for an FBI agent to have fathered a baby with a woman with a criminal record who was now dead. Murdered, at that.”
No, it wouldn’t have looked good. But that meant the kidnappers must have truly believed that Sawyer was Emma’s father. Or else they simply wanted to make it look that way.
Oh, mercy.
Maybe the photo was meant to give Sawyer a motive for killing April.
One glance at Sawyer, and she realized he’d already come to the same conclusion. Even if he wasn’t Emma’s father, it might look as if he’d murdered April when she tried to blackmail him with the child.
But Sawyer wouldn’t have done that.
Cassidy wanted to feel the same way about her brother. And she did, for the most part anyway. However, she still had that niggling feeling that there was something Bennie wasn’t telling her. Probably because Bennie had a history of keeping things from her and involving himself with the wrong people.
Bennie’s attention shifted back to Willy. “Or maybe the kidnappings, the photo, all of this was just a way for you to get more revenge on another of April’s lovers.”
“April and I weren’t lovers,” Sawyer snapped.
“But he thought you were.” Bennie tipped his head to Willy. “And when it comes to April, Willy would do just about anything to get back at her. Including murder.”
“If I’d wanted revenge,” Willy quickly answered, “you damn sure wouldn’t be here talking about it. You’d already be in the grave.”
“Enough of this,” Sawyer growled, and he motioned for the medics to get moving. Cassidy tried to follow, but Sawyer stopped her. “The kidnapper could come after you at the hospital.”
Cassidy shook her head. “But what about Bennie? The kidnapper could come after him, too.”
“I’ll arrange for some security,” Grayson said, taking out his phone. He made the call as Cassidy watched the ambulance drive away.
The moment that Grayson was finished with his call, he took Willy by the arm. “Come on. I want you to stay put until I have someone at the hospital. Wouldn’t want you to carry your fight with Bennie there, especially after that in the grave comment you just made.”
Good. The last thing her brother needed was another confrontation with this hothead. Too bad Grayson and Sawyer didn’t have any evidence to arrest Willy.
Or maybe they did.
“Can you use any of what my brother said to charge Willy with kidnapping?” she asked. Yes, it was a long shot, but she wanted Willy locked up.
Grayson blew out a long breath, shook his head. “But with his temper, maybe he’ll do something stupid that will give me cause to arrest him.”
That sounded like a veiled threat. It must have sounded like one to Willy, too, because he shut up and let Grayson lead him to one of the interrogation rooms. He deposited Willy inside, shut the door and came back to reception. Still holding the baby, Bree came out, as well.
Sawyer checked the time. “I need to get Cassidy and the baby to the safe house. Once the bodyguards and nanny are in place, I’ll come back here and try to get Finley to talk.”
“No need,” Grayson said, glancing at Cassidy. He no doubt saw the worry and fatigue in her eyes. “Stay with them for the night. Maybe by tomorrow we’ll find the other kidnapper, and the danger will be over.”
Cassidy latched on to that hope, but Sawyer certainly wasn’t following suit. He volleyed glances between her and the interview room, and he finally scrubbed his hand over his face.
“I’ll be back first thing in the morning,” he told Grayson.
Which meant they’d be spending another night under the same roof. Of course, they wouldn’t be alone this time, not to mention the baby would be with them. Maybe that would be enough to cool down the fire brewing between them.
“You can drive to the safe house in my SUV,” Bree volunteered. “It already has an infant seat in it.”
Sawyer thanked her and took her keys when Bree pulled them from her pocket. She also eased the baby into Cassidy’s waiting arms.
“You’ll call as soon as you find out about Bennie’s injuries?” Cassidy asked.
Grayson nodded. However, he didn’t get to add more because his phone rang. Sawyer started to lead her toward the back exit, but Grayson held up his finger in a wait-a-moment gesture. He grabbed a notepad and started writing.
Cassidy couldn’t hear any part of the conversation or see what he was jotting down, but whatever the caller was saying, it had captured Grayson’s complete attention. She prayed it wasn’t more bad news because they’d already had enough of that for the day.
“She’s what?” Grayson asked. “How the hell did that happen?”
Sawyer groaned. Yes, this was definitely bad news, and all Sawyer and she could do was wait for Grayson to deliver it.
“Thank you for getting Willy off my brother,” Cassidy whispered to Sawyer while Grayson continued his conversation. “I know that couldn’t have been easy for you.”
He didn’t deny it. And Sawyer paused a long time. “Willy could be right about Bennie. Or vice versa,” he quickly added.
Cassidy nodded, prayed he was wrong about Bennie. “At least part of the danger is over. We have one kidnapper in custody, and with Bennie free, there’s no way they can collect the ransom money.”
“The danger’s still there,” Sawyer argued. “I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt whoever’s behind this will just give up on getting the other half million.” He looked down at the baby. “To get their hands on the cash, they’ll no doubt try to kidnap Bennie, you or Emma.”
“Or you,” she added.
He flinched a little, shook his head.
“You,” she verified. “Willy thinks we’re lovers. I could see that in his eyes. And if he believes it, so could the kidnapper.”
“You’d pay a half million for me?” Sawyer asked with a Texas-s
ize amount of skepticism in his voice.
“Yes.” And she didn’t have to think about it. “This doesn’t have to do with that night we spent together.” At least she hoped it didn’t. “But you saved my life and Emma’s today.”
Sawyer stared at her. Cursed. “That is not going to happen between us again.”
She nodded. “I know.”
But Cassidy figured just saying it wouldn’t stop her from wanting it to happen.
“The cops just finished going through April’s apartment,” Grayson said the moment he ended the call.
Good. With everything else going on, Cassidy had forgotten all about the search warrant. Now she braced herself for whatever had put that scowl on Grayson’s face.
“They found April’s diary taped behind her headboard,” Grayson explained. “It’s over a hundred pages, so it’ll take them a while to go through it all, but my brother Nate spotted something right away.”
Cassidy prayed that Grayson wasn’t about to say it was an incriminating entry regarding her brother.
“It’s about Dr. Diane Blackwell,” Grayson continued.
Not her brother. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t something else about Bennie in there.
“If the diary is really April’s, then Willy didn’t lie about April being afraid of the shrink.” Grayson looked down at his notes. “The last entry that April made said ‘I think Dr. Blackwell is playing with my mind somehow. Maybe even slipping me drugs during our sessions. I think she might be trying to kill me or something,’” he finished.
Cassidy replayed all of that in her mind and then shook her head. “Maybe April was just being paranoid. Because what motive would Dr. Blackwell have for doing that?”
Now it was Grayson’s turn to shake his head. “I don’t know, but it’s definitely something we need to check out. We also need to make sure the diary is real and wasn’t planted by one of the kidnappers.”
True, she wouldn’t put it past Willy to do something like that.
Sawyer took out his phone. “I’ll get Dr. Blackwell out here.”
“You can’t,” Grayson said. “Well, not right away. Nate made some calls, and according to her coworkers, Dr. Blackwell’s missing.”
Chapter Ten
Sawyer went through his security checklist one more time.
There was a fellow agent in the living room watching the front of the house. Another one was in his car parked at the back of the house. The nanny, Elaine Wilkins, was from a P.I. agency that specialized in providing bodyguard services to infants at risk. She would spend the night in Emma’s room in case something went wrong.
He hoped like the devil that it didn’t.
Both Emma and Cassidy had already been through enough.
He checked the security system again to make sure it was armed. It was. All the blinds were down, and once it got dark, they’d use minimal lighting so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. Not that there would be a lot of opportunities for them to draw attention. The house was out in the middle of nowhere, centered on about fifty acres. It had once been a ranch, but now it would hopefully be a safe haven until the second kidnapper was caught. Then Cassidy and Emma could go home.
Wherever home was in Emma’s case.
Sawyer had already called about the DNA results, only to be told they weren’t ready. Nothing unusual about that, but he had asked that the test be expedited. If he wasn’t Emma’s father, then he needed to look for her parents.
Just the thought of that twisted his stomach, but it had to be done. If she were his, he certainly wouldn’t want anyone keeping her from him.
He heard the footsteps and saw Cassidy making her way into the kitchen and toward him. “Emma’s okay,” she relayed.
Like Sawyer, Cassidy had obviously been going through her own mental list, and that included frequent checks to the makeshift nursery to ensure that Emma was still safe. Sawyer had made a few of those trips himself, and with each one he’d studied that tiny, precious face to see if he could pick out any resemblance to himself.
He couldn’t.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t his. Hell, he could hardly remember Monica’s face, and it was entirely possible that Emma looked exactly like her mom.
“It’ll be okay,” Cassidy said.
She had a death grip on a glass of iced tea she’d been nursing, and her reassurance didn’t mesh with the fear he saw in her eyes. The same fear had been there when he’d tried to reassure her on the drive to the safe house. Nothing would truly be okay until this ordeal was over.
“Anything in your phone calls about Monica Barnes?” she asked.
Sawyer had to shake his head. “No one knows where she is.” Like Dr. Blackwell, Monica was missing.
Well, maybe.
And maybe Monica just didn’t want to be found. There could be plenty of reasons for that, but he hoped it wasn’t because she didn’t want anything to do with a baby they’d possibly made together. Too bad he didn’t know Monica well enough to believe she wouldn’t do something like that.
“If I ever get the urge to have another one-night stand,” he mumbled, “I hope someone hits me in the head with a rock.”
The corner of Cassidy’s mouth twitched a little as if threatening to smile, but she clamped her teeth over her bottom lip until the moment passed. Considering he’d had a one-nighter with her, Cassidy probably thought he was reckless. And sometimes he was.
He’d been especially reckless with her.
He darn sure should have learned about her lawbreaking sibling before he’d ever stripped off her clothes and gotten her into bed.
“Maybe you can ask for references from your next lover,” she mumbled. Obviously she hadn’t fully fought back that urge to poke some fun at him. “Or do an FBI background check.”
“Kinda takes the spontaneity out of it.” Something he wished he hadn’t said. It was just another reminder of his night with Cassidy. And the kiss. And the dozen or more heated looks they’d given each other since all this kidnapping mess had started.
Like now, for instance.
That was definitely a heated look. One he felt in every stupid part of his body.
As if she knew exactly what he was thinking, Cassidy cleared her throat. “What about Bennie?” she asked. “Anything more on his condition?”
Another head shake. “Only that his injuries aren’t serious.” The doctor was keeping him at the hospital for a while only because he was dehydrated.
In the grand scheme of things, Bennie had gotten off lightly with just a few stitches and some bruises. Cassidy and he had gotten off lightly, too, but for Cassidy, the attack would no doubt be the stuff of nightmares for a long time. Heck, it would give Sawyer a few nightmares, too. He’d come close to losing both Emma and Cassidy, and he couldn’t be sure that another close call wasn’t out there waiting for them.
Since the thoughts and worries were gnawing away at him—the blasted heat between them, too—Sawyer focused on what he could do something about.
“You should try to eat,” Sawyer reminded her. The fridge was fully stocked with plenty of sandwiches and frozen food, and since he’d been with Cassidy all day, he knew she hadn’t eaten a bite.
“Maybe later,” she mumbled.
Even though he figured she’d said that just to placate him, he didn’t push it. Truth was, he’d had to force himself to eat earlier. His stomach was still churning from the attack and the worry of a new one. Still, starving himself wasn’t going to help anything.
Even though he figured it was a bad idea, Sawyer walked closer to her. For just a moment Cassidy stiffened a little. But this wasn’t fear. Nope. She knew getting close was a bad idea, too.
Did that stop them?
Not a chance.
“Maybe you should start
looking for that rock now,” she whispered.
Sawyer couldn’t help himself. He laughed. Why, he didn’t know, because this wasn’t a laughing situation. He slipped his arm around her waist and eased her to him. He hoped it would help soothe both their raw nerves, but he purposely didn’t put his mouth anywhere near hers.
“Funny, I keep finding myself in this position,” she said, leaning back just a little so they were face-to-face. Obviously, she wasn’t thinking of the danger of their mouths being too close. “In your arms, with you comforting me. And there’s never a rock in sight.”
Yes, it had happened a couple of times. And sadly, it hadn’t always been for comfort. Like that whole session earlier and the one the year before when they’d landed in bed.
That jolted him back to reality, and Sawyer moved farther from her.
Her eyebrow lifted. The corner of her mouth, too. But there was no humor in her near smile, either. No doubt because she was remembering the yelling match that had followed the scalding-hot sex.
“I didn’t, you know,” she said almost in a whisper.
“Didn’t what?”
But he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer. In fact, Sawyer wasn’t sure he wanted to hear anything because it was likely to up the heat in his body. Anything would do it at this point.
Including Cassidy just breathing.
“I didn’t sleep with you so I could find out about your investigation into Bennie’s business dealings,” she said.
There it was. The blasted gauntlet. They’d been dancing around it for days now, but he hadn’t wanted it thrown because he didn’t want to have to rehash that old argument.
That thought got him moving back even more, and Sawyer groaned. “I thought we agreed never to discuss that.”
“No. You demanded we not discuss it, but I didn’t agree. You need to hear this because it’s the truth. I did arrange to meet you, but that was it.”
She snagged his wrist to stop him from turning around. Sawyer could have broken the grip, easily, but he stayed there. Still standing too close. And having a conversation that would break down even more barriers than a kissing session.
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