Chapter Seven
Cameron wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do—bringing Lauren to the sheriff’s office. But he’d figured since Evelyn was there and making wild accusations, then Gabriel and he might as well do an interview with not only her but Julia, as well.
Neither conversation would be pleasant.
Still, they were necessary. What wasn’t necessary was for Lauren to be there, but she had insisted. Well, she had after Gabriel had assigned two deputies to guard the babies. With Jameson, Jodi and the hands there, as well, Cameron hoped it was enough protection so that hired thugs couldn’t get to them.
“You can’t go into the interview room,” Cameron reminded Lauren when Gabriel pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office.
“I’m still going to talk to Evelyn,” she insisted. “I want to know how she found out about the baby swap. And why she thinks I’m responsible for it.”
Cameron could only sigh. She wanted to confront the woman—he got that—but Lauren had already been through hell and back, and Evelyn wasn’t going to make this situation better. Even with that, Cameron doubted he could have stopped Lauren if he’d tried. If he’d been in her shoes, he would have wanted the same thing.
He opened the cruiser door, taking hold of Lauren’s hand so he could get her inside as fast as possible. Gabriel did the same. Cameron had hoped they’d have a moment before they had to face the storm, but the “storm” was right there. Evelyn was in the squad room, seated next to Jace’s desk, and she stood the moment she laid eyes on them.
Cameron hadn’t thought that jail time would ease the hatred Evelyn had for him, and it hadn’t. He could see plenty of it in her eyes, but this time the hatred wasn’t just for him. No. The woman was aiming some of it at Lauren, too.
“You swapped the babies, didn’t you?” Evelyn said, the emotion causing her voice to tremble.
Lauren shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean. What swap?”
“You know. You damn well know,” Evelyn snapped.
“Uh, you want me to hang around or should I get the interview room ready?” Gabriel asked.
“Definitely get the room ready,” Cameron assured him. “Evelyn obviously has a lot to say.” Maybe she’d say the wrong thing and implicate herself in the attacks.
Mumbling some profanity under his breath, Gabriel went toward the hall, where there were a pair of interview rooms and his office.
“I do have plenty to say,” Evelyn verified. “Plenty to tell you about my grandson being swapped with Lauren’s baby.”
“Why would I do something like that?” Lauren fired right back at her.
“To keep Trace’s son from me, that’s why.” She shifted her attention to Cameron. “How long have you known and why didn’t you tell me?” Evelyn’s voice had gotten louder with each word.
“A reminder,” Cameron warned her. “You’re on probation. Keep your temper in check, or I will put you back in jail.”
She stood there as if daring him to try that, and part of him wanted her to push this so he could lock her back up. Then she might not be a threat to the boys. But first he wanted Evelyn to explain some things.
“Why do you believe someone switched the babies?” Cameron asked.
Evelyn huffed as if the answer was obvious. And maybe it was. Maybe she’d seen a picture of Patrick. The boy didn’t look like Trace, but he did resemble the Dorans.
“I got a phone call two days ago,” Evelyn said. “The person didn’t identify himself, but he said Lauren had done a DNA test on her baby, and the reason she’d done that was because he wasn’t hers. He was Trace’s.”
Now it was Lauren’s turn to sigh because she hadn’t missed the timing of this. It was when the PI Duane hired had followed Lauren to the lab. Apparently, Cameron needed to have another chat with the man to find out why he’d involved Evelyn in this.
“The DNA test was for me,” Lauren said, repeating the lie she’d told Duane. “There was some question about whether or not Sherman Beckett was actually my father.”
Like Duane, Evelyn didn’t seem to buy that, either. “After I got that call,” Evelyn went on, “I did some digging. I found the names of the staff who were working for those three days that both boys were in the hospital nursery.”
Since the other deputies were working on the same thing, that piqued Cameron’s interest. “And?”
“Dr. Gina Boyer,” Evelyn said without hesitation. “I don’t have the proof yet, but it all points to her.”
Cameron looked at Lauren to see if she recognized the name, and she nodded. “She was an OB resident.”
“And in debt up to her eyeballs,” Evelyn provided. “She transferred to another hospital less than a week after the babies were born.”
Cameron took a notepad from Jace’s desk, jotted down the doctor’s name and handed it to his fellow deputy. “Find out everything you can about her.”
Jace nodded and got right on that, and Cameron turned back to Evelyn. “Did you contact this doctor?”
“I tried. She wouldn’t take my calls. Wouldn’t see me, either. That alone is suspicious.”
“Maybe.” Cameron shrugged. “Or maybe she’s just busy and didn’t want to talk to a stranger.”
Evelyn’s mouth tightened. “She wouldn’t talk to me because she knows I’m onto her. She knows that I found out Lauren paid her to switch the babies.”
A weary sigh left Lauren’s mouth. “Again, why would I possibly do that?”
“Because of that barracuda of a sister-in-law, Julia. You must have known it would make your boy a target so you decided to make my grandson a target instead.”
Since Cameron’s arm was against hers, he felt her muscles tense. “I would have never done that,” Lauren insisted, but her voice was now a tight whisper.
“No?” It didn’t sound as if Evelyn was buying that, either. “Then who switched them?”
“I don’t have any proof anyone did,” Lauren answered. “And apparently neither do you. Now I have a question for you—did you hire thugs to attack me?”
Evelyn huffed. “Right. Go ahead. Try to wiggle out of this by putting the blame on me.”
“You have a history of violent behavior,” Cameron reminded the woman. A reminder that earned him a glare.
“I pulled a gun on you because I was desperate.” She had to say that through clenched teeth. “Because you wouldn’t let me see my grandson. Now I find out he wasn’t my blood, after all.”
“Does that mean you’re about to accuse me of swapping the boys?” he pressed when the woman didn’t continue.
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed as if she might be considering that, but she shook her head. “I don’t think you knew. But she did.” She tipped her head to Lauren. “And now that psycho sister-in-law is coming after her.”
Cameron’s hands went on his hips. “That’s your second reference to Julia. How do you know her?”
“I don’t. Never met the woman. But I don’t have to know her to have her investigated. After I got that phone call about the DNA test, I had my staff drop everything they were doing and start looking into things.”
Since Evelyn owned a large public relations firm, she probably did have the manpower to dig up plenty of dirt, but it made him wonder if all of this was meant to cast blame on Julia or even Lauren so the blame wouldn’t be squarely on her own shoulders. Yes, Julia and Duane had motives. But so did Evelyn.
Gabriel reappeared in the hall and motioned for Evelyn to follow him. She did. And Cameron and Lauren were about to do the same, but Jace stopped them. He had the landline phone pressed to his ear and was holding his hand over the speaker part.
“I have Dr. Boyer on the line,” Jace said once Evelyn was out of earshot. “You want to talk to her now?”
Cameron couldn’t take the phone fast enough, and he put it on speaker for Lauren. “Dr. Boyer, I’m Deputy Cameron Doran from the Blue River Sheriff’s Office, and I have Lauren Lange with—”
“Yes, this is about that woman, Evelyn Waters,” the doctor interrupted. “She’s left more than a dozen messages on my work phone, and I believe she has someone following me.”
Cameron didn’t doubt that, and since it appeared the doctor knew what this was all about, he launched right into his question. “Evelyn believes you might have taken part in a baby swap that happened a year ago. Did you?”
“No,” she answered.
He didn’t like the doctor’s hesitation or the fact that she didn’t even add anything to that. In his experience, innocent people tended to protest a lot when accused of a crime. “Did you have contact with Gilly Doran’s and Lauren’s newborn sons?”
“Of course. I was working at the hospital when they were born. I was one of your sister’s doctors and was with her when she died.” Another hesitation. “She’s the reason I left and went to another hospital. Gilly was one of my first patients. The first one I ever lost,” Dr. Boyer added.
So, maybe she wasn’t covering up anything and this was just a difficult conversation for her. It was certainly difficult for him. This doctor had been there with his sister, but he hadn’t been. That was a wound that was never going to fully heal. Now he had to do what was right by Gilly and make sure her son was safe.
“Dr. Boyer, this is Lauren,” she said. “I’ve had some trouble. Someone’s been trying to kill me.”
It sounded as if the doctor gasped. “You don’t think that has anything to do with something that happened at the hospital?”
“I don’t know. That’s what we’re trying to find out. My son and Gilly’s son could be in danger, and you might be able to help.”
The doctor certainly didn’t jump to offer anything. Finally, though, she asked, “How?”
“Just think back to those two days that our babies were in the hospital nursery at the same time,” Lauren continued. “Did Gilly say anything about her son being in danger? Or maybe you saw someone suspicious?”
“You mean someone like Evelyn Waters?”
Cameron saw Lauren go stiff. “Yes. Did you see her?”
“I can’t be sure,” the doctor said after a long pause. “It’s possible. That was over a year ago, and I wasn’t getting a lot of sleep. There were so many people in and out, and I didn’t really even know the other staff yet.”
That sounded like a perfect storm for someone wanting to do a baby swap. But if it’d been Evelyn, why hadn’t she just tried to take the child?
If that was indeed her plan, that is.
There was another angle to this.
“Did my sister tell you about her abusive ex, the man who was the father of her child?” Cameron asked.
“Yes.” The doc didn’t sound so eager to admit to that. “She showed me a picture of him and begged me not to let him get near the baby.”
Cameron was thankful for that, but he needed to know if the doctor had taken it past the stage of merely looking out for Trace.
“Did Gilly ever mention anything about swapping the babies to keep them from her ex?” Cameron pressed.
Silence.
The moments crawled by, causing Cameron to curse under his breath.
“No,” Dr. Boyer finally answered. “Look, Deputy Doran, I have to go. A patient here needs me.”
Before Cameron could say anything else, the doctor ended the call. Cameron stood there, staring at the phone and debating if he should try to call her back. But he doubted she would answer. Besides, he should do a background check on her and see what they were dealing with. First, though, he wanted to hear if Evelyn would give Gabriel anything they could use.
“I don’t think Gilly could have done the swap on her own,” Lauren said as they walked toward the observation room next to where the interview was taking place.
“If she was desperate enough, she could have figured out a way.” Cameron silently cursed that, too. His sister had been so desperate because he hadn’t been there to help her.
“Don’t put this on yourself.” Lauren touched his arm and rubbed it gently.
Cameron didn’t like that her touch gave him some comfort—her words, too—but it did. The comfort felt, well, nice, but he needed to focus on what Evelyn was saying. Except she wasn’t saying what he wanted to hear.
“I think it’s time I brought in my lawyer,” he heard Evelyn say once Lauren and he were in the observation room.
Lauren groaned, and Gabriel looked as if he wanted to do the same. Cameron wasn’t sure what’d caused the woman to play the lawyer card, but it meant this interview was over. Or at least it would be until Evelyn’s attorney arrived. Thankfully, she took out her phone and made the call that would hopefully get him or her out here ASAP.
“And I’d like some coffee while I wait,” Evelyn added when Gabriel stood.
Gabriel didn’t agree to get her any, but he left the interview and came into the observation room with them.
“What happened?” Lauren immediately asked.
“I asked her if she had anything to do with those dead gunmen.”
It was a question that needed to be asked so Cameron couldn’t fault Gabriel for it. Still, this was a frustrating delay. “Did Evelyn say anything before she pulled the plug on the interview?”
“Not really. Just a rehash of what she said in the squad room.”
Too bad. And Cameron wasn’t going to be able to add anything in the good news department. “Lauren and I talked to Dr. Boyer. I think she’s hiding something, so we need to get her in for questioning.”
Gabriel gave a weary sigh, nodded and glanced at Evelyn through the mirror. The woman was taking out her phone. “I’ve got some calls to make so keep an eye on her. She might pitch a fit if she figures out I’ve locked the door, but I don’t like a parolee being able to walk around in the place. Not with Lauren here anyway.”
Cameron agreed. Evelyn herself wasn’t that formidable, but she could be calling in another round of hired thugs. What they needed was to be able to find a money trail that linked Evelyn to the dead guys. Or to one of their other suspects. Right now all they had were a bunch of pieces and no way to put them together to tell them who was guilty.
“I hate to even bring it up,” Lauren continued after Gabriel had left, “but is there any chance Travis Canton could be behind this?”
“You mean because of the threats we’ve all been getting,” Cameron finished for her. “I doubt it.” Now, this was something he hated to bring up. “Travis hasn’t exactly been hostile to me, and he actually liked Gilly. I can’t imagine him doing anything to put her boy in danger.”
Of course, the man had been convicted of a double homicide so that meant he was pretty much capable of anything. “I’ll check with the prison and make sure he hasn’t had any unusual visitors,” Cameron offered.
Lauren made a soft sound, part frustration, part groan. “This is why I hate being here in Blue River. It always comes back.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and Cameron thought maybe she was fighting back tears again.
He was fighting back some regret. Not just for what he hadn’t prevented that night ten years ago but for what he was about to do now. Even though he knew it wasn’t a smart idea, Cameron glanced at Evelyn to make sure she had stayed put—she had—then he slipped his arm around Lauren and pulled her to him.
Just like that, time vanished, and they were suddenly lovers again. And it was something his body wasn’t going to let him forget.
She leaned back, staying in his arms, but Lauren looked up at him. Yep, he’d been right about those tears. Her eyes were filled with them, and they were threatening to spill down her cheeks. He brushed his mouth over one when it fell.
Not a smart idea, either. But then he seemed to be going for broke in the “making huge mistakes” department. He cupped her chin, using his thumb to catch another tear. Of course, that meant touching her while the air was electric between them. Added to that, Lauren was definitely in vulnerable mode right now. That was probably why she didn’t move away from him.
Cameron, however, couldn’t explain why he didn’t move away from her.
His feet seemed nailed to the floor. So he stood there, volleying glances at the mirror while waiting for either Lauren or him to put icing on this by going in for a kiss. He wanted that. Badly. Judging from the uneven rhythm of Lauren’s breath, so did she. And for a couple of moments Cameron had no trouble remembering how her mouth would feel against his. How she would taste.
Since it was obvious neither of them had any sense left to do the right thing, fate got involved and helped them out. The sound of the footsteps, followed by someone clearing their throat, finally got them apart. Lauren practically scampered away from him. That probably had something to do with the fact that Gabriel was in the doorway, and he was scowling at them.
Cameron and he were friends, but that didn’t mean Gabriel wanted him to get involved with Lauren again. Especially at a dangerous time like this. Added to that, Cameron really did need to keep his focus on the investigation.
“I just got off the phone with the lab,” Gabriel said, his scowl still in place. “The one that Lauren used to do Patrick’s DNA.”
Cameron felt his stomach tighten, and Lauren caught on to his arm as if to steady herself.
“It’s not good,” Gabriel added. “Someone stole the test results.”