Evan spent the next half hour or so in the kitchen pulling fingerprints off Ginger’s phone. He had just put the samples away in a safe place when Ben’s name flashed on his phone. “Hey, man.”

“Are you on the road yet?”

“I’m home with Ginger. I’m gonna need you to run some prints when I get back to South Carolina.”

“Anything I need to know today?”

“She saw the third man this morning. He had her phone, so I hope your guys in the lab can get a solid print.”

“I’ll get it to them.”

“Anything new happening on your end?”

“Plenty. We’ve put an undercover guy and a follow-up team on the chief. He passed a counterfeit hundred at the big box store, but gave legitimate twenties at the grocery store.”

“From the same group of marked bills?” Evan asked.

“No. Once he left the box store, the follow-up team went in and had the managers pull the cashier’s till. This one was washed and the denomination changed so it passed the marker test. We’re getting a warrant to pick him up and search his house.”

“Is he the only one passing the fakes?”

“So far. Maybe he thinks, with his position, he’s untouchable. Maybe other merchants know but just aren’t reporting him.”

“What about Jones and Dribble?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. No change in spending habits, no fake money exchanged. We don’t have probable cause to pull their bank records yet, but we’re working on it.”

“Have you heard from the Judge?”

“Yeah, we released Harley’s body yesterday.” Ben sounded sympathetic. “I heard the Judge was having him cremated and holding a private service later this week. And by private service, I mean just the Judge and the preacher. I also heard there’s an investigation regarding his presiding over Harley’s hearing, and he could be sanctioned or removed from the bench. He looked worse yesterday than he did Friday.”

“Shit, that doesn’t sound good. How’s the Sheriff doing?” Evan knew he needed to get there soon.

“He said it was hard getting away from Deputy Smith on Friday, but he did it. He’s taking the philosophy of keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I really thought he’d have confronted Smith by now, but he’s sticking to the plan.”

“I’ll be back on Thursday.”

“I don’t know if we can wait that long to pick up Taylor,” Ben said hesitantly.

“Don’t. Since I knew him in high school, I shouldn’t be there for that. Have you gotten anything off the note or picture of Ginger?”

“Only the fingerprints we knew would be there. The picture of Harley was taken with a phone. The picture of your girl was taken with a camera. We can’t tie them together.”

“Fuck!” Evan gripped a kitchen knife until his knuckles were white.

“We’ll get him. I’ll talk to you on Thursday, man.” Ben ended the call.

Evan braced his hands on the kitchen counter to digest some of what Ben had said. His thoughts were all over the place. Ginger was still in some lunatic’s sights and it didn’t matter if they were in the mountains or at the ranch. The money. Was it all in that briefcase and did all of it go to Curtis? Was it all marked or counterfeit? Were they running the money though the bank or storing it in the vault, and could a teller be on the payroll? Still too many questions and not enough answers. Then there was Harley’s murder. How was it connected? Was it connected? Riverton Crossing hadn’t had this much criminal activity since it was founded.

Evan walked out back as he thought about different scenarios and theories, but kept going back to one specific act, so he called Nathan.

“Sup?”

“You on the beach?”

“You know it. You still with Ginger?”

“Yes,” Evan said with a chuckle.

“How is she?”

“She’s been sick, but other than that, she’s good.”

“Do you mean sick, sick or the other kind of sick?”

“We’ll know in the morning,” Evan said with confidence.

“Did she tell you what she wanted to do?”

“Yeah, man. If she’s pregnant, we’re keeping the baby.”

“Good. I know you didn’t call just to bust my balls so what’s up?” Nathan asked.

“Remember when you took that video of Carlos the day of the bust?”

“The one in his hotel room with the drugs?”

“Yeah, you said Anthony Agusto gave him the drugs to help with his pain. Do you think Anthony would’ve shared with anyone else for extra payment? Or in exchange for payment?”

“Sure. He was always willing to share if he thought you deserved it. Why?”

“When you’re off the beach and sober, call Sam. He can fill you in. I think some MI drugs are still in Riverton Crossing. I’ll be back in town on Thursday. Let’s have that beer.”

“Are the rumors true?”

“If you’re asking if I resigned, yeah. I’ll tell you everything when I see you.”

“Lucky bastard.”

Evan laughed as he disconnected the call.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. He found himself not wanting Ginger out of his sight. He now understood how Mitchell felt when that car tried to run over Kayla. He only relaxed when he could see her. Now, Evan felt the same way.

* * *

The following morning, Ginger awoke feeling the same way she had for the last five days–queasy. She waited until she couldn’t hold it any longer to go to the bathroom. The night before she’d made sure to leave the pregnancy tests beside the toilet. She followed the instructions precisely. When she finished and walked back toward the bed, Evan was sitting on the edge waiting for her.

“Well?”

“I don’t know. It said it takes three minutes so I’m going to lie down and wait.”

“I’ll go check. Do you want some crackers? Water?”

“Crackers would be nice.”

By the time he’d gotten her the crackers, the three minutes were up. He disappeared into the bathroom for a few seconds. When he returned, his smile and tears told her all she needed to know. He gave her the tests as he got back in the bed and slid the covers down to kissed her flat belly as he said, “I’m so glad you’re in there.”

When the words left his mouth, tears rolled down her cheeks. “We’re pregnant,” she whispered, laughing and crying at the same time.

He tilted his face to hers as he rested a hand on her tummy. “Happy tears?” She nodded so he cocked a brow. She knew what he needed.

“Mostly, yes. Some sad ‘cause I can’t get my tattoo, though.”

He crawled up her body then guided her mouth to his as he kissed her reverently. When he broke the kiss he said, “The tat can wait.”

As they snuggled, he had one arm around her and one on her belly. Finally he asked, “How will this work with us being at the ranch? Will we need to be back for any doctor’s appointments? Are you gonna change doctors?”

“I want the doctor that’s seeing us tomorrow to see me one more time, and then I thought I could talk to Thomas.”

“Thomas will not be examining you. Not down there. Ginger, he works in the ER, so unless there’s an emergency, his hands won’t be going near you.”

“Thank you for clarifying, but I was thinking more along the lines of referring me to a good doctor.” She kissed him as she smoothed away the anger on his face. “Calm down.”

“Can you ask for a female doctor? I think I’d prefer that.”

“So you’d rather watch a female near me, down there, than a male?”

“Yes, definitely,” he answered without hesitation.

“You’re something else.” She shook her head and giggled at him before she moved to get out of bed. She was feeling better and was ready to start the day.

They ate breakfast, and then lay on the sofa. He had one arm around her from beneath and the other on her belly. She loved that he’d already started putting his hand there. He did it the first night after she told him about her patch. It brought tears to her eyes then, and still did. But this morning she wiggled her ass against him, and he stiffened.

“Are they gonna do an internal exam tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. As far as I know, they’re just doing bloodwork to confirm and see if I know when we conceived. Why?”

He pushed his hardened cock flush to her ass. “I promised you gentle last night.”

“Mmmm, yes you did.” She wiggled her ass again, and he moved his hand from her belly into her panties. He fondled her bundle of nerves and slid his finger into her core.

“Darlin’, you sure?”

“Please,” she softly moaned.

He removed his hand and eased her panties down her legs. When he couldn’t reach any further, she moved her legs to rid herself of them. His arm caught her leg so he could slide into place. Spooning on the sofa restricted their movements so his finger rubbed her clit as she rolled her hips toward his hand, which helped him move as they found a rhythm.

As he peppered kisses along her shoulder, he cupped her breast with his other hand. He stroked her nipple in time with her clit as her inner muscles squeezed him and her breathing quickened. “Are you close?” he whispered in her ear. She whimpered and nodded her head. They came with their names whispered in the quiet room like the calm after their frantic storm the night before. They snoozed on the sofa until he moved them to their bed.