Chapter Eight
Lauren rocked Patrick in the chair in the nursery. Across from her, Merilee was doing the same thing to Isaac in another rocker that Cameron had brought over from his house.
Cameron wasn’t in the room, though. Since they’d returned from the sheriff’s office hours earlier, he was in the kitchen making calls and working the case. Something Lauren wanted to be doing, as well, but she didn’t even know what else she could do. She’d called the lab immediately after Gabriel had told her the test results had been stolen, but she hadn’t gotten much of an explanation.
Simply put, the lab tech didn’t know what’d happened. According to him, he’d run the test, but when Gabriel had called to press him for the results, it wasn’t there. Someone had deleted it from the computer log. Now Cameron was trying to figure out who’d done that since the same person was likely responsible for the attacks.
But why would someone want the results hidden?
Lauren didn’t have an answer for that—though part of her wished there was some way for both boys to be biologically hers. Then she would have a claim on them. Of course, Cameron was perhaps wishing the same thing.
Eventually, they would have test results, though, since Gabriel had taken DNA not only from the boys but also from Cameron and her. Soon they would have confirmation of what Lauren already knew. No. It was more than that. She felt it all the way to her bones.
“It’s funny how the boys are on the same schedule,” Merilee whispered. She smiled down at Isaac. “They eat, nap and wake up around the same time.” She got up and eased Isaac into the crib.
Lauren made a sound of agreement, and since Patrick was completely sacked out for his nap, she put him in the crib next to Isaac. Despite the nightmare that was going on, it soothed her to see them so peaceful like this.
“I’ll be in the kitchen helping Dara with dinner,” Merilee added. “Wouldn’t be a good idea to rely on Cameron or Jodi to fix anything.”
So Lauren had heard. Apparently, sandwich-making was the limit to their culinary skills. Lauren still had some baby food in the diaper bag she’d brought with her, but Dara had insisted on cooking something from scratch. Now the nanny was making the rest of them dinner.
Since the boys would likely sleep through the night, Lauren took the baby monitor so she could find a quiet place to start making some calls to friends who might have heard something, anything, about Julia or Duane. Then she planned on sleeping in the nursery. It wouldn’t be as comfortable as the guest room that Jodi had fixed up for her, but she didn’t want to be far from the boys.
In case more of those hired guns tried to come after them again.
Gabriel probably wouldn’t like it, but Lauren wanted to hire some extra security. Maybe some bodyguards. And that was going to be the first call she made. However, she’d barely had time to go into the hall when she saw Cameron making his way toward her.
He glanced in at the boys, then at the monitor she was holding before he motioned for her to follow him. He didn’t go far, just into the foyer. The overhead light was on there. Unlike the nursery, where all the blinds and curtains had been closed all afternoon. Lauren had realized it was already dark outside.
When Cameron stopped and turned to her, he opened his mouth. Closed it. As if he’d changed his mind about what to say.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Lauren didn’t want to know how bad she looked for him to say that. Probably about as bad as she felt. “Just tired and frustrated.”
“Yeah.” She heard the frustration in his voice, too. But that wasn’t only frustration in his eyes.
Maybe Cameron was remembering the near kiss that’d happened at the sheriff’s office. Lauren hadn’t thought for a minute that she was fully over Cameron, and that moment between them had proven it.
He glanced away as if knowing what she was thinking. “You want the good news or the bad news first?” he asked.
Lauren sighed. “The good.” Since she wasn’t ready for anything else bad, she figured she needed something—anything—positive first. And this attraction between them definitely didn’t fall into the positive category.
“I found out more about Dr. Boyer,” Cameron explained. “No red flags whatsoever. She left the hospital where the babies were born so she could move to Austin to be near her family. Her mom has late-stage cancer.”
So the doctor hadn’t fled after doing a baby switch. “But why did she sound, well, suspicious when she was talking to you?”
He lifted his shoulder. “My guess is that she got too close to Gilly, and she blamed herself in some way for Gilly’s death.”
The doctor shouldn’t do that because Gilly had died from a blood clot. It wasn’t common, but it did happen, and in Gilly’s case, there was nothing anyone could have done to stop it.
Lauren took a deep breath and tried to steel herself up. “What’s the bad news? And please don’t tell me we’re about to be attacked again.”
“No attack. The hands are guarding the road and checking anyone coming in and out of the ranch. Jameson even has a couple of his Ranger friends helping.”
Good. But she still wasn’t nixing the idea of bodyguards just yet.
“Evelyn is making waves,” Cameron said a moment later. “As soon as she left the sheriff’s office, she had her team of lawyers petition a judge for custody of Patrick.”
Lauren shook her head. “But she doesn’t even have proof that Patrick is her son’s baby.”
“Oh, she’s petitioning to get DNA results, too.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “The thing is—Evelyn stands no chance of getting custody unless she can prove in some way that you or I hid her grandson from her. She’ll want to make the judge believe we obstructed justice in some way.”
Well, it definitely wasn’t good news, but Lauren wasn’t sure it was enough of a threat to put that troubled expression on Cameron’s face. “There’s no proof because we didn’t do anything like that.”
But then it hit her.
“While we’re being investigated, a judge could put the babies in foster care.” Just saying it aloud caused Lauren to stagger back, and she caught on to the wall.
“Isaac would be fine, probably,” Cameron added. “Because a judge would likely give temporary custody of him to one of your siblings. But Evelyn and I are the only living relatives that Patrick has.”
That nearly knocked the breath out of her and made Lauren even more unsteady. Cameron noticed, too, because he slid his arm around her. “They can’t take Patrick. I won’t let them.”
“Neither will I,” he assured her.
Cameron said that with such confidence that she looked up at him to make sure he wasn’t lying. He wasn’t. “He’s my nephew, and I’ll hide him if I have to.”
He’d break the law—which no doubt would cut him to the core. But the cut would be even deeper if Patrick was taken away from her. She’d break plenty of laws to keep him. Of course, Evelyn and the law weren’t her only threats.
Cameron was, too.
“What are we going to do?” Lauren came out and asked. “What are you going to do?” she amended.
He didn’t ask her to clarify, but he did look as if he wanted to repeat the question to her. “I wish there was an easy fix for this.”
So did she. But there wasn’t, and it was breaking her heart. Cameron must have seen that, as well, because he said some profanity under his breath and pulled her to him. Lauren didn’t resist. Nor did she stop herself from looking up at him. It was a mistake, of course, because they were already too close to each other. Especially their mouths. And that was never a good thing when it came to Cameron and her.
“I should go back into the kitchen,” he said.
But he didn’t, and Lauren didn’t let go of him, either, so he could do that. Instead, she slipped her arm around his waist, drawing him even closer than he already was.
Cameron said more of that profanity before his mouth came to hers. The jolt was instant, a reminder of all those feelings and memories she’d been battling since she’d come back to the ranch. It was almost too much, and in some ways, it wasn’t nearly enough.
Because it made her want more of him.
Cameron must have known that because he deepened the kiss, sliding his hand around the back of her neck and angling her so that she got an even stronger dose of those old feelings. New ones, as well. Cameron had always known how to set her body on fire, and he clearly hadn’t forgotten that. But there was something different, too. The kind of intensity between two people who were no longer kids.
The stakes were sky-high, and that seemed to make the kiss even better. And worse. Worse because it was so good and made her wish that it wouldn’t end with just a kiss.
However, it did end.
Cameron snapped away from her, and in the same motion, he pushed her behind him and drew his gun. Because the kiss had clouded her mind, it took Lauren a moment to realize why he’d done that. Because someone was out on the porch.
“It’s one of the hands,” Gabriel said.
Lauren also hadn’t known that her brother was so close, and she wondered if he’d seen that kiss. If so, she was certain she would catch some flack about it later.
Lauren quickly looked out the window so she could see the ranch hand. She recognized him. Allen Colley. He’d started working for her family when she was a kid.
“Two San Antonio cops just showed up,” Gabriel added. “Not alone, either. They have Julia with them.”
Lauren immediately looked at her brother for an explanation, but Gabriel didn’t give her one. “Step to the side,” he instructed.
Lauren didn’t want to do that. She wanted to see what was going on, but she did move into the adjoining living room. She wasn’t in the direct line of the door, but she could still see from the window.
“The babies,” she said, glancing down at the monitor.
“They’ll be fine,” Gabriel assured her. “These guys don’t have a court order or search warrant so they’re not getting in the house.”
Good. But if they didn’t have those things, then she wondered why Gabriel had allowed them onto the ranch.
Her brother disarmed the security system and opened the door. That was when Lauren spotted the SAPD cruiser parked in front of Gabriel’s house. The two uniformed officers were already out of their vehicle, and Julia was between them.
“What do they want?” Cameron asked.
“Julia supposedly has some info that’s critical to our investigation.” Gabriel slid his hand over his gun, and that was when Lauren realized this could all be some kind of hoax. More fake cops. Ones that Julia herself could have hired.
“I checked with SAPD,” Allen said, not looking any more comfortable about this than Gabriel, Cameron and she were. “The lieutenant confirmed these guys were his and that he’d sent them out here.”
Lauren still wasn’t breathing easier just yet because the lieutenant could be dirty, too. She hated that she could no longer trust everyone with a badge, but it was too risky to let down her guard.
“I’m Sergeant Terry Welker,” the officer on the right greeted them. He was yet someone else who didn’t look especially pleased about this visit. He tipped his head to the other cop. “This is Detective Miguel Rodriguez. I’m pretty sure you know Ms. Lange.”
“They know me, all right, and they’re trying to smear my name,” Julia promptly snapped.
Cameron reholstered his gun and huffed. “It’s not a smear if it’s the truth. You’re desperate for cash because you’re in debt to a loan shark.” He shifted his attention to the sergeant. “Did she tell you that?”
Julia certainly didn’t jump to deny it, which meant she probably thought they had some kind of proof. They didn’t. Well, other than Duane’s accusations, but since he was a suspect, too, Lauren wasn’t about to accept everything he’d told them. But in this case, it appeared Duane had been right.
Lauren moved back to the edge of the foyer, coming into Julia’s view. The woman aimed a scowl at her, but Lauren gave the woman one right back. Because owing money to a loan shark was plenty of motive for the attacks. It sickened Lauren to think the babies could be in danger because of money.
“This visit doesn’t have anything to do with that,” Julia insisted. “Believe it or not, I’ve come to help you. Not for your sakes. But so you’ll leave me the hell alone.”
Cameron didn’t ask how she’d come to help. Instead, he looked at the sergeant for answers. “She demanded we escort her out here. Said you might shoot her if she just showed up.”
“Not if she’d shown up at the sheriff’s office. This is my home,” Gabriel reminded them, and it wasn’t a friendly reminder, either. Her brother obviously didn’t want Julia anywhere near the ranch.
“We went there first,” the detective answered. “When neither you nor Deputy Doran were there, Ms. Lange wanted us to bring her here so she could give you something. She’s not armed—we checked—and she wouldn’t give the info to us.”
“Because I don’t want this to fall into the wrong hands.”
Lauren had no idea what Julia had, or rather what the woman claimed to have, but she shook her head. “You couldn’t force her to turn it over to you?”
The sergeant grunted as if he wished he could have done that. “Ms. Lange’s not under arrest.” He shot Julia a hard glance. “That was before we knew about the loan shark, though. I’ll be looking into that.”
Good. Lauren hoped SAPD dug until they got to the truth.
“Anyway,” the sergeant went on, “your brother-in-law, Theo Canton, and I are old friends, and I thought I’d bring her here as a favor to him. I know he’s worried about what’s going on with the trouble you had here, and he’d like to put a stop to it. I figured if Ms. Lange could help in any way, that it’d be worth the drive.”
Maybe it would be. If not, Lauren was certain that Cameron and Gabriel would put a quick end to this little visit.
Julia gave Cameron a piece of paper that she took from her purse. Lauren looked at it from over his shoulder, but it appeared to be some sort of code.
“That’s the password for the computer files,” Julia explained. “Files for Alden’s business.”
Lauren had a closer look, but she didn’t recognize the site for the online storage, the password or the files. “I manage my late husband’s company,” Lauren said to the cops. “These aren’t my files, and—”
“No, they’re Duane’s,” Julia interrupted. “He’s been keeping secret books from you. No good reason I can think of for doing that, but if you go through those files, you can see there’s money missing. Enough to pay some thugs to kill you so he can get the company he believes he should have had all along.”
Lauren felt her breath go thin. Of course she’d known Duane could be behind this, but it put an icy chill through her to hear it spelled out like that.
“How did you get this?” Cameron asked her.
Julia pulled back her shoulders. “I was looking for any kind of files or notes my brother might have left before he died.”
Translation—Julia wanted to find something she could use for her lawsuit to get Alden’s money.
“You hacked into Duane’s files,” Lauren concluded.
“Company files,” Julia corrected. She pointed to the paper. “And I got you something that’ll not only clear my name, but you can also use to arrest Duane.”
The sergeant turned to Gabriel. “Since the company is in Dallas and the computer hacking happened there, that’s out of our jurisdiction. You want to call in your brother Jameson to handle this?”
Since Jameson was a Texas Ranger, he didn’t have a set jurisdiction. He could basically do whatever local law enforcement asked him to do.
Gabriel nodded. “I’ll have Jameson check it out. If he finds anything, he’ll let you know. And if there’s nothing else, I’d like for you to get Ms. Lange off Beckett land.”
The cops made sounds of agreement. The detective started back to the cruiser with Julia, but Sergeant Welker stayed behind. However, he didn’t look at Gabriel but rather Cameron.
“I made some calls on the way over here,” the sergeant said. “Just so I could figure out what the devil was going on with Ms. Lange. Anyway, I discovered Evelyn Waters was out of jail. I remembered all the trouble you had with her a few months back.”
“Yeah,” Cameron verified, “she’s out on probation.”
“I heard.” The sergeant huffed. “I thought you might want to know that she got out early thanks to Judge Wendell Olsen. They’re old friends—belong to the same country club and such. Anyway, the only reason I’m bringing it up is because Evelyn’s looking to have her record expunged. Then it’ll be as if she never even committed the crime.”
“Can she do that?” Lauren immediately asked.
“Not without friends in high places,” the sergeant answered. “This might not amount to anything, but I heard that Evelyn plans to have Judge Olsen help her get custody of her grandson. Just thought you’d want to know,” he added before he walked away.
The chill inside her got even colder. So cold that it caused Lauren to shudder. “I won’t let that woman have Patrick or Isaac.”
“No,” Cameron quietly agreed.
Gabriel shut the door, reactivated the security system and went to the window to watch—making certain that Julia did indeed leave. Lauren headed straight to the nursery, and even though she was moving pretty fast, Cameron caught up with her.
“It’s time for us to hide the boys,” she insisted. Yes, she was panicking, and she couldn’t make herself stop.
Cameron took hold of her arm and stepped in front of her. “Not yet. But there is something we need to do.”
“What? Because I’ll do anything to keep them safe.”
“So will I.” Cameron looked her straight in the eyes when he continued. “And that’s why you and I need to get married.”