Chapter Five
“I didn’t hire those men,” Lauren repeated.
It wasn’t necessary for her to keep saying that. Cameron hadn’t believed it from the moment the thug had tossed out that stupid accusation. Those men had been firing real bullets into the house as well as at Lauren and him, and there was no way she would have put her son in danger that way.
Either son.
Because Cameron was also certain she was already thinking of both boys as hers. They weren’t. But that was something they would have to sort out later.
For now, they needed to get to the bottom of why the attack had happened. Gabriel and Jameson were already on that. Lauren’s brothers were outside with the medical examiner and the CSIs. The ambulance, too. There’d been no need for medical assistance for the gunmen—they were all dead. But the medics were apparently there for Lauren and him.
Whether they wanted them there or not.
Cameron certainly didn’t. He wanted to be outside with the other lawmen, trying to get answers, but instead he was on the sofa in his living room while a medic stitched up his arm. Another medic was checking out Lauren’s gunshot wound, as well.
“This isn’t necessary,” Lauren insisted. It was yet something else she’d been repeating.
Cameron didn’t bother to voice his complaint since Gabriel had told him he wouldn’t be returning to work until the medic gave him the okay. So far, the guy wasn’t okaying anything. He was causing Cameron plenty of pain with each stitch. Of course, that was a small price to pay considering they were all alive and, for the most part, well.
“Is it okay if we come out now?” Merilee called out.
It had been well over a half hour since the attack had ended. If the thugs had brought any other hired guns with them, those guys would probably be long gone. But it still seemed too big of a risk to take.
“Let’s call this finished,” Cameron told the medic, and even though the guy gave him a hard look, he put in the last stitch and slapped on a bandage.
“Stay put. I’ll come to the nursery,” Cameron added to Merilee.
That got Lauren moving, too, and despite the fact that the medic was still dabbing something on her arm, she jerked away from him, following Cameron when he started out of the living room and up the hall. Both medics grumbled something that Cameron didn’t bother to hear. He needed to see Isaac to make sure for himself that both boys were all right.
Lauren was right on his heels when Cameron knocked on the door. Merilee must have been right there waiting because she opened up right away. She didn’t have Isaac in her arms, but Cameron spotted him. He was on the floor, playing with Patrick. Dara was next to both of them.
Cameron felt the punch of relief. Yes, he’d known the boys hadn’t been harmed. He’d gotten that reassurance minutes after the attack when he’d been able to talk to Merilee. So had Lauren. But she also must have needed more because she hurried to the boys, kissing them both.
Kisses that got Merilee’s attention.
The nanny looked at him, her eyebrow raised. “I’ll explain later,” Cameron whispered to her. “Thanks for keeping them safe.”
“Is it actually safe?” Merilee questioned before Cameron could step away.
“No,” he admitted after a pause. “We don’t know who hired those men.”
And he needed to figure out what to do about that. His house was in too vulnerable of a spot on the ranch since it was backed up against the woods and those trails. Added to that, there were now broken windows, so he would need to move Lauren, the boys and the nannies. First, though, he needed to see Isaac.
The boys were no longer fussing. In fact, they were looking a little confused—Isaac, especially—at the long hug that Lauren was giving them. When Cameron sank down on the edge of one of the chairs, Isaac scooted out of her grip and immediately went to him.
“Nunk,” Isaac babbled. It was his attempt at uncle, and it always made Cameron smile. Even more. And while he hugged Isaac often, this hug was especially needed.
Of course, Isaac didn’t let the hug go on for long. He was a kid always on the go, and the moment Cameron stood him on the floor, Isaac toddled his way back to Patrick. He dropped down next to him, where there was a huge pile of toy cars and horses.
Seeing them side by side put a knot in Cameron’s stomach. If he’d had any doubts about the baby swap, he didn’t have them now. He could see his sister, and himself, in Patrick’s face, while Isaac was a Beckett. Cameron hadn’t seen it before because he hadn’t been looking for it.
Hell.
What was he going to do now?
Lauren looked up at him at the exact moment that Cameron looked at her. She didn’t say anything, but she seemed to be waiting for something. Maybe for him to offer some perfect solution to fix all of this. But at the moment he was drawing a blank because the one thing he wasn’t going to do was give up the little boy he’d been raising for over a year. He couldn’t have loved his own son more than he loved Isaac.
Cameron automatically reached for his gun again when he heard someone coming up the hall. He stood, stepping in front of the others, but it wasn’t a threat this time. It was Gabriel and Jameson.
Lauren stood, slowly, and she rubbed her hands along the sides of her jeans. Her brothers didn’t exactly run to her, either, and Cameron figured they needed some time to hash this out. After all, Lauren had basically abandoned them, but again, that was something that would have to wait.
“Cameron told us about the possible baby switch,” Gabriel said, his voice not exactly warm and fuzzy.
She looked at Cameron, probably wondering when he’d had a chance to do that. It’d been in the yard when he’d managed to have a very short conversation with Gabriel while they were waiting for the medics to arrive. And Cameron had indeed added that word—possible. But Gabriel and Jameson were no doubt seeing what Cameron had—Patrick’s resemblance to them.
Jameson huffed, went to Lauren and pulled her into his arms. “You shouldn’t have stayed away,” he whispered to her, but since the room was suddenly quiet, Cameron had no trouble hearing.
“I couldn’t,” she answered. When Lauren pulled back, she was blinking back tears. “Not after what happened to Mom and Dad. I just couldn’t stay.”
Gabriel didn’t argue with that. Not with his voice anyway. But that wasn’t exactly a forgiving look in his eyes.
Of course, Cameron hadn’t expected there to be. Like Gabriel and Jameson, he’d stayed in Blue River. He’d dealt with the aftermath, had helped put a killer behind bars and then had tried to pick up the pieces and use them to build a new life. Lauren hadn’t done that, and it’d cut Gabriel to the core that he hadn’t been able to keep the family together.
“Uh, should Dara and I take the boys to one of the other rooms?” Merilee asked after glancing at Gabriel’s expression.
“No,” Lauren answered without hesitation. Cameron agreed. He didn’t want the babies out of his sight for now. If Lauren’s brothers were going to have words with her, they’d have to keep it G-rated.
Lauren kissed Jameson on the cheek, and she went to Gabriel. Her steps were tentative and so was the kiss on the cheek she gave him.
“I don’t expect you to understand what I did,” she said, her voice a little shaky now. “And I’m sorry for bringing this danger to the ranch.”
Gabriel stared at her, the muscles in his jaw battling each other. He seemed to be ready to start that tirade that was bubbling inside him, but he reached out, pulled Lauren to him and kissed the top of her head. It would have been a perfect moment if Lauren hadn’t winced. It wasn’t from the kiss, though. It was because of the pressure the hug was putting on her injured arm.
She stepped back, both her and Gabriel’s gazes going to the fresh bandage, and Cameron figured Gabriel would have cursed if it hadn’t been for the little ears in the room.
“You should have come to me when the trouble started,” Gabriel insisted.
Lauren shook her head. “I thought the men who did this were cops.”
“They weren’t,” Gabriel said without hesitation. “And I don’t need ID’s on them to know that.”
Jameson made a sound of agreement, went to the babies and sank down on the floor next to them. “The one who accused you of hiring him had a prison tat on his neck. Plus, this wasn’t the kind of attack a cop would do. Not a smart cop anyway. If they’d been the real deal, they could have gone to your house, flashed their badges and gained entry that way. You’re the daughter and sister of cops, and you would have let them in.”
Now it was Lauren who made a sound of agreement after making a soft moan. “I panicked. I didn’t want them to get to Patrick.”
Gabriel nodded. “Panicking is exactly what they wanted you to do because it caused you to run.”
Her brother hadn’t come out and said it, but he likely believed that it’d caused Lauren to run to the wrong man—Cameron. In Gabriel’s way of thinking, she should have gone to him, immediately, and that way he could have perhaps prevented this attack.
“So, how did this baby swap happen?” Jameson asked.
It was the question that had been repeating through Cameron’s mind. “Gilly maybe orchestrated it,” he admitted.
Gabriel looked ready to mumble some more profanity, but he bit it off when he glanced at the boys. “To protect her son from Evelyn and that scumbag boyfriend of hers.”
Cameron hated that his sister had been in a position like that, and he also hated he hadn’t been there to give her another option.
“We need to start from the beginning,” Gabriel continued a moment later. “We’ll need DNA tests on the boys—”
“I’ve already done one on Patrick,” Lauren volunteered. “I’m waiting on the results now.”
“Good. But we have to do Isaac’s, as well, and we should repeat Patrick’s, too, and compare it to Cameron’s.” Gabriel looked at Cameron as if questioning to see if he was opposed to that. He wasn’t. What Cameron was opposed to, though, was the fallout.
“I love Isaac,” Cameron admitted. He hadn’t intended to say that aloud. It was stating the obvious, and that obvious was true for Lauren, too. She loved Patrick.
Gabriel didn’t need for them to spell out where this would eventually lead. To some kind of custody issues. Maybe a huge legal battle if Lauren tried to go after both boys.
“If the DNA results prove there was a switch,” Gabriel went on, “then the next step will be to get hospital surveillance footage to see if we can spot who’s responsible. In the meantime, I can get someone to the jail to question Evelyn.”
“I can do that,” Jameson volunteered, and he stood, taking his cell from his pocket. He was about to make a call, but the ringing shot through the room. Not Jameson’s phone, though, but Lauren’s.
She looked at her phone screen as if steeling herself up for what she might see there. Probably because she thought this could be another attacker. But she didn’t look afraid. She groaned, a sound of frustration.
“It’s Julia,” she explained. “My late husband’s sister.”
Good. While it was obvious Lauren didn’t want to talk to the woman, Cameron wanted to hear what she had to say. Especially since Julia could be a suspect in this. Of course, the most obvious person was Evelyn, and it didn’t matter if she was locked up. People could do all sorts of bad things from behind bars.
“She calls you often?” Cameron asked.
“Rarely. And it’s never a pleasant conversation. We talk mainly through our lawyers these days.”
Lauren stepped out of the room, but Cameron followed her. Anything that happened right now could be related to the investigation, and he wanted to hear what Lauren’s sister-in-law had to say. Lauren obliged by putting the call on speaker. She also moved as far up the hall as she could go.
“What the hell is going on?” Julia immediately demanded. No wonder Lauren had been dreading this. The woman was clearly hostile.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Lauren countered without even pausing. “Someone tried to kill me, and I need to know if you had anything to do with that?”
“What? You’d better not be accusing me of something like that.”
Cameron considered holding his tongue but then decided against it. “Lauren is fine, by the way. Good of you to ask.”
“I don’t care if she’s fine,” Julia spat out. “And who the hell are you anyway?”
“Deputy Cameron Doran,” Lauren answered. If she was bothered by Cameron inserting himself into this conversation, she didn’t show it. She just gave another weary sigh.
“Your old boyfriend.” Julia said that as if Cameron were some kind of disease. “Yes, I know about you. I know everything about Lauren. She moaned out your name when she was under anesthesia after having an emergency appendectomy. Cameron, Cameron, she kept saying, so I did an internet search and found out you were a deputy in that hick town she comes from.”
Cameron wasn’t sure how to respond to that especially since the color began to rise in Lauren’s cheeks. Maybe she hadn’t wanted him to know that she’d thought about him over the years. It didn’t mean anything, though. People in pain said all sorts of things that just happened to fall from their memories.
“Well, Deputy, are you the reason I had two cops at my house last night?” Julia demanded.
Cameron glanced at Lauren to see if she knew anything about that, but she only shook her head. “What cops?” Cameron pressed.
“How the heck should I know? Guys with badges. I saw them on the security camera outside my house and didn’t answer the door. That’s because I figured Lauren had sent them.”
Lauren huffed. “And why would I do that?”
“To upset me. To try to intimidate me into backing off from the lawsuit. But guess what? I’m not backing off. Ever. My brother and I built his company—together. You didn’t have anything to do with that. And it should be mine.”
“Obviously Alden didn’t agree with that because he left the company to Patrick.”
Julia cursed, and it was pretty raw. “Because he didn’t have time to change his will before he died. You saw to that, I’m sure. Always bad-mouthing me to him.”
“I didn’t need to bad-mouth you.” Unlike Julia, Lauren’s voice was practically calm. “Alden knew what you were.”
Julia’s profanity got even worse. The woman had a temper, and even though Cameron didn’t need any more incentive for her to be a suspect, that only made him realize he needed to start digging into Julia’s financials.
“Alden was stupid,” Julia went on. “You had him eating right out of your hand. Hell, the kid doesn’t even look like him, and yet he was willing to hand over a fortune to him.”
Everything inside Cameron went still, and he reached out and muted the call for a moment. “Does Julia know about the baby swap?”
“No.” But then Lauren shook her head again. “At least she’s never given me any indication that she knew.”
Well, that comment was definitely some kind of indication.
Cameron unmuted the phone. “Did you hire gunmen to come after Lauren?” he came out and asked the woman.
“I’m not going to dignify that with a response. Just tell her to quit sending cops to my house.”
“I didn’t send them,” Lauren insisted, but she was talking to the air because Julia launched into another verbal tirade.
“No one else would have had a reason to send them. It had to be you.”
“They might not have been cops,” Cameron interrupted. “The men who tried to kill Lauren pretended to be police officers. Your visitors could have come to your house to kill you.”
Julia gasped. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Cameron answered. “Maybe for the same reason they attacked Lauren. You said you saw the men on your security camera. Do you have footage we can study to see if we can try to identify them?”
“Maybe. I’ll look.” But she made it sound as if it’d be some big inconvenience. “Have you asked Duane if he has footage?”
Again, Lauren looked puzzled enough by Julia’s comment that Cameron knew she was hearing this for the first time.
“Duane?” he questioned. Of course, Cameron had already heard the man’s name. He was Alden’s business partner, but he wasn’t sure how the guy fit into this. Or even if he did fit.
“Duane Tulley,” Julia snapped. “He called me about a half hour ago and said cops came to his house, too. He wasn’t there. He was staying overnight with his girlfriend, but he has a remote security system and saw the men on the camera.”
“Was it the same men who came to your place?” Cameron asked.
“Who knows. Maybe. Lauren, so help me, you’d better not be behind this.”
“I’m not—” But that was all Lauren managed to say before Julia continued.
“Just keep me out of your problems. The lawsuit is going before a judge next month, and I don’t want you playing games to try to sway this to your side.”
Cameron was certain he looked just as puzzled as Lauren did. “You think I’d fake an attack to get sympathy from a judge?”
“Yes, I do.” And with that, Julia ended the call.
Lauren stared at the phone for a moment before she gave a heavy sigh and slid it back into her pocket. “Now you know why I thought Julia could be behind this. My sister-in-law hates me.”
No way could Cameron argue with that. “Just how much money is at stake in Alden’s estate?”
“At least twenty million.”
Well, hell. That was plenty of motive for Julia to do all sorts of things. Including hiring someone to murder Lauren. That would definitely get Lauren out of the way and would give Julia control not just of the money but Patrick, as well.
Or rather, Isaac.
It twisted his insides to think of that woman having any kind of claim on the baby Cameron loved.
“I’ll have to speak to Duane,” Cameron told her. “I not only need the security tapes but I’ll also need to question him.” Julia, too, of course. “I’m guessing Duane has motive for wanting you dead?”
Lauren nodded, pushed her hair from her face. “It all goes back to the money. But if he could get Julia, Patrick and me out of the picture, Duane would inherit everything.”
Cameron could see how that might play out. And that was playing out in a very bad way. “Duane could have hired those men to kill you with plans to set up Julia. Then he could use DNA proof to verify that Patrick isn’t Alden’s son.”
He watched as Lauren processed that and saw the exact moment she followed that through to what could happen next.
Duane would need to make Isaac disappear.
Because Isaac could indeed be Alden’s rightful heir.
Hell, he needed to bring Duane in ASAP, too. But first he had to work on making sure Lauren and the babies were safe.
“I’m sorry,” Lauren said, drawing his attention back to her.
The apology irritated him since this wasn’t her fault. Well, for the most part anyway. Gabriel was right that she should have gone to him when this had first started, but she certainly didn’t need to be feeling any regret about that.
She blinked hard, obviously still fighting those tears, and Cameron had to do some fighting of his own. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to try to reassure her that all would be well. But it was best not to break down the barriers Lauren had put up when she’d left town. Besides, he wasn’t ready to forgive himself, either, for letting Travis walk that night of the murders.
“Yes,” she said as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
Lauren touched his arm, rubbed gently and then headed back toward the nursery. However, she didn’t make it far before they spotted Jameson coming out of the room. He had a troubled look on his face.
Hell. What now?
“There could be a problem, and you both need to come back to the nursery,” Jameson told them.
That got Lauren and Cameron moving plenty fast, but when they hurried into the room, the babies were fine. They were still playing on the floor, and the nannies were there with them. It looked like nothing was wrong.
Until he made eye contact with Merilee.
Cameron saw the fear again. The concern in Gabriel’s expression, too.
“Evelyn’s out of jail,” Gabriel said. “And one of the hands just spotted her on the road that leads to your house.”