Guard My Baby

by Rebecca Savage

  He rose above her, locking his arms on either side of her head on the bed, pushing her down into the mattress with the bottom half of his gorgeous body. "You mean that, don't you? You'd sacrifice yourself, your future, your happiness, and accept whatever lame, lesser feeling or emotion you could get from me, just to be with me. Wouldn't you?" She nodded, the tears looming in her eyes. She lay on her back, looking up into his troubled eyes - eyes she now knew were truly filled with love. "But... why?"

  She shrugged. "Because I love you. And I wouldn't really be sacrificing myself, or my happiness, because without you, I couldn't truly be happy anyway."

  Cade blinked. How could anyone love like that? So unconditionally. So freely. Then he knew, because at that moment, he realized that no matter how hard he'd fought it, he felt the same way. He'd do whatever he could to make it up to Lainie. All the sadness that had passed between them, all that'd gone badly before, all the times he'd hurt her by telling her he didn't love her, he'd find a way to repair. He smiled. "Okay. I think I get it."

  He slid lazily and fully into her, and Lainie shuddered and clung to him. He groaned and held her tightly, and then he proceeded to show her how much he wanted and needed her... for the next several hours, which happened to be the first several hours of their newly-wed, married life.

  Chapter Thirty

  Cade had as much as admitted that he loved her and trusted her, but not quite. Lainie felt a little more certain that someday, she'd make him love her and make him admit to it. The thought drifted through her dazed mind, and she lifted her head to turn and look at him. He slept with his arm draped over her possessively. She shifted slightly, and he rolled over onto his side, not releasing her. Instead, he laced his fingers with hers, as naturally as if he'd been doing it for years of marriage.

  Then all hell broke loose.

  A thundering explosion ripped through the house, igniting everything flammable in its path and sending shards of metal and wood everywhere.

  Cade threw himself over Lainie, shielding her. Lainie begged God silently not to take their newfound happiness away so soon after they'd finally united themselves together for what she hoped would be forever.

  Suffocating smoke filled the room, and Lainie covered her nose, coughing and gasping for breath. Cade yanked her from the bed and wrapped a sheet around her and the bedspread around himself, covering their nudity.

  Bedlam reigned, as debris blocked their path from the bed to the doorway into the hall. The explosion had shaken the entire house, but the bedroom was intact, except for things that had flown all around the room with the jarring impact. Perfume bottles and other items had toppled from atop the dressers and lay spilling their contents onto the rug.

  Cade removed his hand from his mouth. "Move back. Toward the bathroom."

  Flames already licked at walls of the hallway outside the bedroom. Lainie could see them lapping away at the carpet and burning the paint from the walls in the hall. Even through black smoke coming through the open door of her bedroom, she could see the destruction. She wanted to throw up.

  Cade tried to peer through the bedroom door and see if they'd be able to go through the front. No way. It was too late. Lainie could see very little, but she could see that much. Her eyes stung, and the swirling smoke created an impenetrable fog, but she could tell that the entire front of the house had turned to rubble. There'd be no way out in that direction. Cade's sour expression told her that he'd agree with her quick assessment.

  Grabbing Lainie by the arm, Cade tugged her along behind him as he moved toward the window. He picked up the rocker in which Lainie had rocked her daughter to sleep so many times and had fed her so often. "Stand back. Cover your skin and your eyes."

  She obeyed. The glass shattered. She lowered the sheet from her face, just in time to see him throw the chair through the opening. Cade lifted Lainie, set her outside gently, and then climbed to safety himself. At that moment, Lainie was eminently glad that she'd bought a sprawling one-story home instead of one of the several multi-layered mansions she'd been offered.

  Outside, Cade grabbed her by the hand and ran for the front of the house. The vehicles were completely destroyed, and the garage area was engulfed in flames, as was most of the house. It would be a total loss.

  Cursing a blue streak, Cade held Lainie close. Lainie let him. She hid her face from prying eyes. Neighbors began to pour out of their homes from all directions. Cade yelled, "Someone call 911."

  Somebody yelled back, "Already taken care of, son. Emergency vehicles are already on their way." A hefty man wearing overalls came up and shook Cade's hand, but Cade kept one hand secured around Lainie, who peeked out from under her blanket. "Blakely's the name. Private detective's the game." Blakely looked at the pile of wreckage, blazing in some places and smoldering in others. "Looks like you kids have a little problem here. Maybe I can be of service to you. Unless you've already hired a private detective like me, that is."

  Blakely pointed at his own thick chest, smiled and bowed grandly, making both Cade and Lainie want to swipe the smirk off his face. Did he think this was funny? Or had he seen so much tragedy he'd become desensitized in the face of such horrific disaster? The annoying man continued, "What do you think this is all about?"

  Lainie reared back at that. She'd begun to hate anyone who had anything to do with police or detective work. She let him have it. "What do we think it's about?" Lainie swung into frantic, irrational, and then angry as hell. She gave it to him with both barrels. "We know what it's about, and so do several so-called detectives who can't find the guy behind all this. The son of a bitch wants my baby, so he can kill her." Lainie wadded her fist tightly and shook it at him. "Well, he's not getting her. Damn him! He'll not get my Eli."

  Exhausted and out of control, Lainie burst into tears and flung herself back into Cade's comforting chest. He enfolded her against his hardness and held her close, trying to console her.

  Blakely suggested, "Maybe I can help. I have a few connections down at the precinct. I can bring you folks in, and we can look at all the evidence. Maybe if we put our heads together, we can figure something out. I live across the street, by the way." Blakely pointed at a monstrous gray brick home that Lainie had admired many times. "I don't like seeing houses in my neighborhood go up in smoke. Makes for an unpleasant taste in my mouth."

  Cade looked at the massive house, and then back at Blakely. Cade's expression turned cold. "Nice house."

  Blakely stiffened, but then he relaxed, smiled and offered an explanation, probably not for the first time in his life. "My wife's an heiress. Got lucky. And I love her beyond all reason. Pre-nup and all."

  Cade hired Blakely on the spot. "Money's no object."

  Blakely's grin widened even further, if possible. "I'll follow the task force that'll comb the remains of the house with a fine-toothed comb. First, I'll get them to figure out what kind of device the guy used. That'll lead us to who's in the city that knows certain types of incendiary bombs. I doubt the guy after your baby actually did the bombing himself. He probably hired some expert."

  Blakely swept his vision around the house. "Looks like it started in the garage. He might've attached a bomb to your vehicle while you were out. Probably followed you. I doubt if he would've gotten past your home security system to put it in while you were home. If he could've gotten past your alarm system, he probably would've come in and killed you while you were sleeping, or placed the bomb somewhere else in the house - a place more devastating."

  Cade spat. "Damn it. I should've thought of that. We have the house and grounds rigged from every direction and every entry, but the vehicles are fair game when they're not in the garage. My truck's the only one we've been driving, and the son of a bitch has obviously been observant of our actions enough to know that."

  Blakely scratched his chin. "How long has this been going on?"

  Lainie spoke, sniffing. She might as well buck up and help the men plowing on ahead as if they were in the middle of an inves
tigation, which, of course, they were. "About six months total."

  Blakely looked stunned. "And you haven't hired a PI yet?"

  "It started out with phone calls and letters, and then it turned nasty a few weeks ago." Lainie looked down at herself and tugged her sheet up around her a little more snugly. "Do you think we could do this later?"

  Blakely chuckled. "Sure thing, darlin'. Meet me at the deli across from the precinct at about noon. We can do lunch, and then go on inside and see what we can see, if I can't get the info on my own." He wagged his eyebrows up and down. "But I think I might be able to pull a few strings and get the goods by myself. As I said, I've got connections. Plenty of people owe me down at Dallas PD." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down again. "And I've got dirt on every one of those guys. They'll help me. Just let me dig a little."

  With that, Blakely turned on his heels, strode across the street, and disappeared into his house, just as Chuck pulled up, looking fit to kill. "I heard the alarm. What the hell happened this time?"

  One arm still around Lainie, Cade waved a hand in a frustrated sweeping motion. "Take a look. I'd say the asshole doesn't care if he kills us all, as long as he gets Eli. Either he doesn't know about the wedding night, or he assumed we'd have the baby here with us - wedding or no wedding."

  Chuck kicked at a lump of grass. "I'll check the recordings. Maybe we got something this time."

  "Maybe, but I doubt it. The PI you saw heading across the street thinks he wired the truck to blow, while we out."

  Chuck looked at the house. Rage shone in his eyes and radiated from his rigid stance. "By the looks of it, I'd have to say I agree." Chuck looked at Cade and Lainie, wrapped in sheets. "I hope someday we think this is humorous, but it's hard to imagine right now." Chuck sighed, and Lainie understood Blakely's blase attitude a little better. How many times had he seen this kind of destruction? Would his experience mean a quicker discovery of the man after Eli? Chuck inclined his head. "Come on. Let's go to my house. Trish is waiting for you."

  Lainie asked, as they drove, "Can I be nosy for a moment, Chuck?"

  Chuck glanced at her. "Depends. What do you want to know?"

  Lainie smiled. "Just how much time does Trish spend at your house these days?"

  Chuck blushed. "You mean she hasn't told you?" Lainie glared at him, crossed her arms, and waited. Chuck drew a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. She moved in."

  Lainie smiled. "She's makin' her move on ya, huh? Tryin' to hook you, the way I hooked Cade, huh?"

  Chuck grinned sheepishly. "Something like that."

  Cade used the arm he'd wrapped around Lainie to pull her closer. "I don't think you hooked me, babe. I think I hooked you, or took advantage of you, or something."

  "Ha. Who picked up whom in a bar?"

  "I picked you up, of course." Cade stuck out his chest like a strutting peacock in heat, if such a thing existed.

  "Yeah, right. More like, you were drunk, I was buzzed, and I had a bet to win," Lainie blurted, and Cade kissed her to shut her up. Lainie reveled in the fact they could joke about their relationship now, even at a time like this. Well, it was either that - laugh - or cry. She chose to laugh. She wouldn't let the son of a bitch trying to hurt her family win by making her cry.

  Chuck laughed out loud, and Cade said, "I think you finally met your match with Trish. Good for you. It's about time this family found some happiness. Maybe our time has finally come.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Drayton had a massive headache, and he kept hearing the echo of a voice in the back of his mind. Was it his conscience? He didn't think so. He didn't think he had one of those, but he was hearing something or someone - vaguely, at first, and then the voice grew louder. His head felt as if it might split in two.

  Wayne spoke, breaking into Drayton's thoughts, "Listen up, you idiot. Your foolish gesture at that wedding reception last night might get us caught. Stay away from that bitch."

  Drayton swallowed hard. How had he let his alter ego become its own entity? Or was that what had happened? He didn't know, but Wayne talked in his brain, and it terrified him. Or maybe the Devil did this, to frighten him, or God, to keep him in line. Or maybe he, Drayton, had done it to himself, allowing himself to be overruled and his own mind to be controlled. Heaven help me.

  Drayton felt sick. He refused to answer Wayne. He held his head in his hands and glanced all around. There was no one in the room but him and the voice. Who the hell was he hearing? The voice sounded distinctly like... his own.

  Wayne laughed - a sinister, harsh sound. "I know what you're thinking, Drayton, ole buddy, ole pal. Don't you remember all those psyche classes you took in college? What would they have said about this... us?"

  Drayton didn't figure that this could really happen. He tried to deny it, until Wayne yelled inside Drayton's head again. The inescapable sound reverberated and bounced off his vibrating brain cells and battered around inside his pained skull, nearly taking his head off with the loud, ferocious impact of it. "Listen, bucko, we have to kill that baby, and Lainie, and that bastard sleeping with her."

  Drayton had to agree with Wayne there, because nothing really mattered anymore. Lainie was lost to him. She'd gone and married the bodyguard. Drayton shook his head in despair. Wayne yelled louder, "Lainie doesn't matter a damn. It's the baby that matters, you imbecile. That girl is the Devil's spawn. She has to die. She has to be burned by fire to redeem our soul, yours and mine. You got that, you thick-headed prick?"

  Drayton's head hurt like a son of a bitch. He moaned, "I know. I know. But I wanted Lainie. I thought I'd finally found someone."

  "Lainie won't give up the baby. She's got to be punished," Wayne screeched.

  It was all falling apart for Drayton. His warped mind had caused all his problems. Maybe he was the one who deserved to die.

  "Don't you even think it, you weak little bastard," Wayne growled inside Drayton's screaming brain.

  "What the hell? If you know my every thought, why don't I know what you're up to all the time... what you're thinking? Why do I keep blacking out?" Drayton grumbled, nearly paralyzed with grief, fear and confusion.

  "Never you mind. Just don't you dare think about suicide. I'll have none of that. I'm taking over. Your brain is my brain, and there's really more of me left now anyway. My personality is stronger, and you've got to go," Wayne declared.

  Drayton couldn't believe what he heard, then, suddenly, he heard nothing, and saw nothing. His consciousness faded, and his vision blurred...

  Wayne gloried in being rid of Drayton, and Drayton could only wake to watch from a corner of their shared brain, helpless to stop Wayne from going into action. Wayne had escaped his prison and put Drayton there instead. Now Wayne could finish what he'd started by hiring that amateur bomb maker. Ha. Some specialist that dude had turned out to be. Lainie and Cade had escaped, and the baby hadn't even been inside. Humph. It didn't matter. He only wanted to kill them for the fun of it, and so Drayton would get off his back and quit whining about that cunt Lainie.

  Who cares if the female infant is the Devil's spawn?

  By the time the kid could grow up and do the Devil's work, Wayne would be so old that he wouldn't give a damn about the chaos in the world. If the child was even the Devil's spawn in the first place. Ha. Wayne doubted it. Drayton had probably dreamed up all that mess as an excuse to kill, whether he admitted that he enjoyed murder or not. Wayne smiled. Drayton like it. He'd watched from the recesses of Drayton's mind while he slit that bitch's throat, and then came all over her. Wayne laughed. Drayton had liked it all right. No doubt about it. And so had Wayne.

  Drayton tried to break free and stop his own body's movements, but Wayne was too strong. All Drayton could do was go along with Wayne's actions, for now, and wait...

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Lainie was dumbfounded. "You put a track on Drayton?" She stared at Cade, aghast. "When?"

  "I got a funny feeling about him the day he laid that kiss on you in your house, but I
asked Chuck to look up his past, last night, after he crashed the wedding," Cade admitted. They sat in a booth at the cafe across the street from the police station. They were all there - Blakely, Cade, Lainie, Chuck, Trish, and Eli. Lainie felt exposed and unsafe, but Cade's solidity next to her kept her calm.

  Cade drew her close, letting her lean into him. She held her daughter a little more tightly, thankful that Eli had been with Trish the night before. She and Cade wouldn't have had time to get to her and escape, if she'd been in the house. Lainie shuddered, and the tears threatened. She held them back out of sheer stubbornness. "Drayton used to live in St. Louis? Do you think he knew me then? And followed me?"

  "I think it's more than that. I think he killed our sister and her baby - Rachel and Brianne," Cade said, and Chuck stared at him.

  Blakely spoke up then. "I need to know your sister's name. I can get the files faxed to me, and we can open the cold case if... "

  Cade interrupted, "Not good enough. We're all going there."

  "What? Going where?" Chuck looked numb.

  "St. Louis. We're setting a trap," Cade informed them.

  Lainie sat up straighter. She had an idea. "Yes, we are, and I'll be the one to... "

  "The hell you will," Cade denied vehemently, before she could even tell him her plan.

  She blinked at his harsh tone of voice. "You can't keep me from being a part of this, Cade."

  "I didn't say you wouldn't be a part of it, but the only thing you'll do is call Drayton and telling him, in view of everything that's happened, that you're moving back to St. Louis. He'll follow you, and we'll have him. He has a house back there. It's his parents' place. He inherited it, and he's been staying there off and on. Blakely and I think that's why this whole thing has been so drawn out - why so much time passed between attacks."