The Bodyguard’s Baby

by Debra Webb

  Her eyes closed again, fresh tears trickled down those soft cheeks. She was good. She looked the picture of innocence and sweetness. He almost laughed at that. Obviously the hotshot she had been involved with two years ago, or someone since had left her with an unexpected gift. Maybe it had been the guy who had put the bullet in Nick. Laura Proctor would have a hell of a time promoting that innocent act with an illegitimate baby on her hip. Well, that wasn’t his problem, even if the thought did make some prehistoric territorial male gene rage inside him.

  “Are we going in, or do we head straight for Jackson?” he demanded impatiently, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel for effect.

  Laura brushed her cheek with the back of her hand. “I want to get my son first,” she murmured, defeat sagging her slim shoulders.

  “Well, let’s do it then,” he shot back, trying his level best not to think about Laura having sex with another man, much less having the man’s child. Damn, he shouldn’t care.

  But, somehow, he still did.

  Nick called himself every kind of fool as he emerged from the car, years of training overriding his distraction as he surveyed their surroundings. Vine was a short, dead-end street dotted with half a dozen small frame houses. A dog barked at one of the houses on the far end of the quiet street. Two driveways had vehicles parked in them, indicating someone could be home. Either Mrs. Leeton didn’t own a car or she wasn’t home, he noted after another scan of the house before them. Nick reached beneath his jacket and adjusted the weapon at the small of his back. There was no way of knowing what to expect next out of Laura or the people with whom she associated.

  Laura scrambled out of the car and into the vee created by his body and the open car door. It took Nick a full five seconds to check his body’s reaction at her nearness. Laura’s gaze collided with his, the startled expression in her eyes giving away her own physical reaction. Nick breathed a crude, four-letter word. Laura shrank from him as if he had slapped her. He didn’t want to feel any of this, he only wanted to do what had to be done. But his male equipment obviously had other ideas.

  “I know you’ll never believe me, but it didn’t happen the way you think,” Laura said softly, defeatedly. She looked so vulnerable in that worn denim jacket that was at least two sizes too big, the overlong sleeves rolled up so that her small hands just barely peeked out. But the faded denim encasing her tiny waist and slender hips was breath-stealingly snug, as was the dirt-streaked T-shirt that snuggled against her breasts.

  Nick swallowed hard and lifted his gaze to the face he had never wanted to see again, yet prayed with all his heart he would find just around the next corner. For months after her disappearance his heart rate had accelerated at the sight of any woman on the street with hair the color of spun gold and whose walk or build reminded him of Laura. Each time, hoping he had found her, his disappointment had proven devastating. And now she stood right before him, alive and every bit as beautiful as the day he had first laid eyes on her. Could he have found her long ago had he truly wanted to? Or was believing the possibility that she was dead or, at the very least, lost to him forever simply easier?

  Victoria had ordered him to stop looking for Laura. Her own brother had believed her dead. But Nick had never fully believed it. Yet he had stopped looking all the same. If she was alive and she didn’t want to contact him, he wasn’t going after her. Then Ray had called and the need for revenge had blotted out all else.

  A wisp of hair fluttered against her soft, creamy cheek and Nick resisted the urge to touch her there. To wrap those golden strands around his fingers and then allow his thumb to slide over her full, lush lips.

  “Please don’t make me go back, Nick,” she said, shattering the trance he had slipped into.

  Briefly he wondered if she still felt it too, then chastised himself for even allowing the thought to materialize. Laura Proctor had no warm, fuzzy feelings for him. Actions speak louder than words, Nick reminded the part of him that stupidly clung to hope, and her actions had been crystal clear two years ago. She had left him to die.

  “If you want to pick up your kid, I would suggest that you do it before I lose patience,” he snapped, using his anger to fight the other crazy, mixed-up emotions roiling inside him.

  “Yes,” she murmured. “I want to pick up my son.” She looked away, then reached up to sweep the tendrils of hair from her face.

  The ugly slash on the inside of her wrist caught Nick’s eye. He captured that hand in his and forced her to allow him to inspect it. He clenched his jaw at the memory that she had allegedly tried to commit suicide only a few weeks before they had met. But the woman he had known for such a short time in that quiet cabin by the river would never have done anything like that. She had been too full of life and anticipation of what came next. She wouldn’t have walked away leaving him to die, either—but Laura had.

  And that was the bottom line: she couldn’t be trusted.

  His hold on her hand bordering brutal, Nick led Laura up the walk and across the porch of the silent house. The whole damned street looked and felt deserted. He glanced down at the woman at his side. If this turned out to be a ploy of some sort, she would definitely regret it. He nodded at her questioning look, and she rapped against the door.

  Laura held her breath as she waited for Mrs. Leeton, a retired nurse, to answer the door. The woman was old and riddled with arthritis, so Laura waited as patiently as she could for the key to turn in the lock. Until three years ago, Mrs. Leeton had worked with Doc for what seemed like forever. When Laura showed up a week ago needing Doc’s help, he had asked Mrs. Leeton to take Laura and Robby in. The elderly woman had readily agreed. Laura hadn’t really liked the idea of leaving Robby alone with Mrs. Leeton this morning, but what else could she do? Mrs. Leeton had insisted that Doc needed Laura right away.

  When the door’s lock finally turned, anxiety tightened Laura’s chest and that breath she had been holding seeped out of its own accord. Would Nick recognize his own child? Would he demand that she turn his son over to him? Nick wasn’t the same man she had known two years ago. He was harder now, colder.

  Would he take Robby to get back at her? Or would he simply take him out of fear for his son’s well-being? Just another reason she could never have turned to Nick for help no matter how bad things got. James Ed had convinced Nick and everyone else that she was mentally unstable. Nick would never in a million years have allowed a woman considered mentally unstable to raise his son. He would have taken Robby, Laura knew it with all her heart.

  Oh, God, was she doing the wrong thing by even coming back here? Why didn’t she just let Nick take her back to Jackson without mentioning Robby? Doc would have taken care of her baby until Laura could figure out a way to escape…if she figured out a way.

  The door creaked open a bit and old Mrs. Leeton peered through the narrow gap. Laura frowned at the look of distrust and caution in the woman’s eyes. Did she not recognize Laura? That was impossible. Laura and Robby had been living here for a week. The idea was ludicrous. Hysteria was obviously affecting Laura’s judgment.

  “Mrs. Leeton, I’ve had a change in plans. I have to leave right away,” Laura told her as calmly as she could. “Please let Doc know for me. I just—” she glanced at the brooding man at her side “—need to get Robby and we’ll be on our way.”

  “Who are you and what do you want?”

  Alarm rushed through Laura’s veins at the unexpected question. “Mrs. Leeton, it’s me, Laura. I’ve come back to get Robby. Please let me in.” Nick shifted beside her, but Laura didn’t take her eyes off the old woman. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

  “I don’t know who you are or what you want, but if you don’t leave I’m going to call the police,” Mrs. Leeton said crossly.

  Outright panic slammed into Laura then. “I need to get my son.” Ignoring her protests, Laura pushed past the woman and into her living room. Nick apparently followed. Laura was vaguely aware of his soothing tone as he tried to placate the
shrieking old woman.

  “Robby!” Laura rushed from room to room, her heart pounding harder and harder. Oh God, oh God, oh God. He’s not here. The cold, hard reality raced through her veins. Laura shook her head as if to deny the words that formed in her head. No, that can’t be! She had left him here less than an hour ago. It can’t be!

  Laura turned around in the middle of the living room, slowly surveying the floor and furniture for any evidence of her son.

  Nothing.

  Not one single toy or diaper. Not the first item that would indicate that her son had ever even been there.

  He was gone.

  She could feel the emptiness.

  Frantic, Laura pressed her fist to her lips, then looked from Nick, who was staring at her with a peculiar expression, to the old woman who glared at her accusingly. Laura clasped her hands in front of her as she drew in a long, shaky breath. “Mrs. Leeton, please, where is my baby?”

  The old woman’s gaze narrowed, something distinctly evil flashed in her eyes. “Like I said before, I don’t know you, and there is no baby here. There has never been a baby here.”

  Chapter Two

  “There’s no need to call the police, Mrs. Leeton,” Nick assured the agitated old woman. He shot a pointed look at Laura. “We’ve obviously made a mistake.”

  Laura jerked out of his grasp. “I’m not leaving without my son!” She grabbed the old woman’s shoulders, forcing Mrs. Leeton to look directly at her. “Mrs. Leeton, why are you doing this? Where’s Robby? Who took him?”

  “Get out! Get out!” the old woman screeched. “Or I’ll call the police!”

  “We’re leaving right now.” Nick carefully, but firmly, pulled Laura away from the protesting old woman. “Now,” he repeated when she resisted.

  “I can’t go without my baby.” The haunted look on Laura’s face tore at Nick’s already scarred heart. “She’s lying. She knows where he is!” Laura insisted. Her eyes, huge and round with panic, overflowed with the emotion ripping at her own heart. How could he not believe her?

  But he had trusted her once before….

  Nick forced his gaze from Laura to the old woman. “I apologize for the confusion, Mrs. Leeton.” He tightened his grip on Laura when she fought his hold. “We won’t bother you again.” This time Nick snaked his left arm around Laura’s waist and pulled her against him. His gaze connected with hers and he warned her with his eyes that she had better listen up. “We’re leaving—now,” he ground out for emphasis. Laura sagged against him, emotion shaking her petite frame.

  “If that crazy girl sets foot back on my property I’m calling the police!” Mrs. Leeton shouted behind them.

  Nick didn’t respond to her threat. He had no intention of returning to the woman’s house. If Laura had a son, he wasn’t here, that much was clear.

  Laura clung helplessly to Nick as he strode back to the rental car, her violent sobs rattling him like nothing else in the past two years had. He automatically tuned out the intensifying pain radiating from his knee upward. He didn’t have time for that now. He glanced down at the woman at his side. Whether she had a child and where that child might be was not his concern. He ignored the instant protest that tightened his chest. Taking her back to James Ed was all he came to do, Nick reminded himself. Laura had a brother, an influential brother, who could help her with whatever personal problems—real or imagined—she might have.

  Nick opened the car door, intent on ushering Laura inside. Hell, it was too damned cold to stand outside and debate anything. He could calm Laura down once they were in the car. As if suddenly realizing that they were actually leaving, she twisted around to face him.

  “I have to find Robby,” she said, her voice breaking on a harsh sob. “You have to believe me, Nick. I left him with Mrs. Leeton not more than an hour ago.” Another shudder wracked her body.

  Nick pulled her close again, his own body automatically seeking to comfort hers. He forced himself to think rationally, ruthlessly suppressing the urge to take her sweet face in his hands and promise her anything. “Show me some proof that you have a son, Laura. Convince me.”

  For the space of two foolish heartbeats Laura stared into his eyes, the blue of hers growing almost translucent with some emotion Nick couldn’t quite identify. Her upturned face too close for comfort.

  “He’s real,” she whispered, her breath feathering across his lips, making him yearn to taste her, to hold her tighter.

  “Prove it,” he demanded instead. “Show me pictures, a birth certificate, a favorite toy, clothing, any evidence that you have a child.”

  She shifted, her body brushing against his and sending a jolt of desire through him. “My purse…” Laura frowned, then looked toward Mrs. Leeton’s house. “I left my purse and what few clothes we brought with us in there.”

  Nick followed her gaze and studied the small white frame house for a moment. “We definitely aren’t going back,” he said flatly, then returned his attention to the woman putting his defenses through an emotional wringer. “I don’t want the local police involved.”

  Instantly, Laura recoiled from him. Anger and bitterness etched themselves across the tender landscape of her face. Her eyes were still red-rimmed from her tears, but sparks of rage flew from their watery blue depths. “Of course not,” she spat the words with heated contempt. “We wouldn’t want to do anything that would bring the wrong kind of attention to the almighty Governor of Mississippi, now would we?”

  “Get in the car, Laura.” Irritation stiffened Nick’s spine. He had no intention of making the Proctors’ domestic difficulties personal this go-around. “Now,” he added when she didn’t immediately move.

  Her eyes still shooting daggers at him, Laura turned to obey, but suddenly whipped back around. “Doc,” she said. “Doc will back me up. He’ll tell you about Robby.”

  Tired of beating a dead horse, Nick blew out a loud, impatient breath. “Who’s Doc?”

  “My doctor,” Laura explained. “Robby was really sick. Doc’s the reason I came back here, I knew I could trust him,” she added quickly as she slid behind the wheel, then scooted to the passenger side of the car. “Let’s go!”

  Nick braced his forearm on the roof of the car and leaned down to look her in the eye. He held her gaze for a long moment, some warped inner compulsion urging him to believe her. He straightened, taking a moment to scan the quiet neighborhood, then Mrs. Leeton’s house once more. Something about this whole situation just didn’t feel right. Maybe there was some truth to Laura’s story. Nick had always trusted his instincts. And they had never let him down…except once.

  “Hurry, Nick, we’re wasting time!”

  Still warring with himself, Nick dropped behind the wheel and started the engine. He turned to his passenger and leveled his most intimidating gaze on hers. “If you’re yanking me around, Laura, you’re going to regret it.”

  LAURA STARED at the scrawled writing on the crudely crafted sign hanging in the window of Doc’s clinic. The breath rushed past her lips, leaving a cloud of white in the cold air as she read the words that obliterated the last of her hope. “Gone out of town, be back as soon as possible.” This couldn’t be. She shook her head as denial surged through her.

  It just could not be.

  Her pulse pounded in her ears. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest. Laura squeezed her burning eyes shut. Robby, where are you? Please, God, she prayed, don’t let them hurt my baby. Please, don’t let them hurt my baby.

  “That’s rather convenient,” Nick remarked dryly from somewhere behind her.

  Laura clamped one hand over her mouth to hold back the agonizing scream that burgeoned in her throat. How could she make Nick believe her now? Mrs. Leeton was lying or crazy, or maybe both. Doc had disappeared. Doc’s new nurse would be where? Laura wondered. The woman worked part-time with another doctor in some nearby small town. Where? Laura wracked her brain, mentally ticking off the closest ones. She couldn’t remember what Doc had told her. His
longtime secretary had retired and moved to Florida months ago. He hadn’t hired anyone else, preferring to do the paperwork himself now. Who could Laura call? She couldn’t think. She closed her eyes again and stifled a sob that threatened to break loose. She had to keep her head on straight. She had to think clearly.

  Who could have taken Robby?

  Why?

  Realization struck like lightning on a sultry summer night, acknowledging pain hot on its heels like answering thunder.

  James Ed.

  It had to be him, or one of his henchmen. They had found out about Robby and taken him to get to Laura. That would be the one surefire way to bring her home. She had realized that day two years ago at the cabin that her dear brother intended to kill her. She just hadn’t known why. But that epiphany had come to her eventually. The money. He wanted Laura’s trust fund. He was willing to kill her to get it. And now Robby was caught in the middle.

  What about Doc? Could he be in on it? Was his sudden disappearance planned? Laura shook her head emphatically. No way. Doc loved her. And she trusted him. He wouldn’t do that. Laura read the sign in the window again. But where could he be? He had asked her to come to the clinic. He’d told Mrs. Leeton it was urgent. Had he somehow heard that someone was in town looking for her? Maybe he wanted to warn her. Could he have taken Robby somewhere to safety?

  Laura prayed that was the case. But how could she be sure? Could she leave town without knowing that her son was safe? She swallowed tightly.

  No. She had to find him.

  “I know Doc’s here,” she said aloud, as if that would make it so. “He has to be.”

  “Let’s go, Laura. I’m tired of playing games with you.”

  Laura turned around slowly and faced the man who seemed to have set all this in motion. The man she still loved deep in her heart. The man who had given her the child that she could not bear to lose. But she could never tell him the truth.

  Never.