brother’s eyes as he stared at them. She stepped away from the solid comfort of Dev’s warmth.
“Yes,” she said simply, and realized there was no need for further explanation. In her heart, she knew this man well. She’d acknowledged that from the first contact. A moment ago, touching him, it had been like coming home.
“We met earlier,” Dev said, covering for her. “You must be the baby’s father.”
“Yes. Have you found anything?”
“Not yet.”
The brother cursed and stalked restlessly to the window that opened on the courtyard.
“It must have been an inside job,” Vanessa told them.
When the men looked at her, she realized there was a similarity between them. They both had blue eyes and brown hair, Matthew’s hair being somewhat darker. His features were more refined, aristocratic while Dev’s were rugged.
She thought Dev’s nose had been broken at one time. He sported a thin scar along his chin. His eyes were watchful, his stance wary, alert to danger. There was goodness in him. Caring. A sense of responsibility toward others. Again she was reminded of Matthew and his manner at times.
Matthew had chosen medicine after watching their mother die of cancer. The FBI agent had chosen police work, another field that demanded patience and a protective, nurturing personality for those with idealistic traits. She wondered what forces had influenced his life and knew she wouldn’t rest until she found out.
“Why do you think that?” Dev asked.
She sensed his reluctance to accept anything at face value. “There were too many people around, too many friends and neighbors who know the entire family, for a stranger to walk in, then out, with a child.”
“On the other hand, every bedroom has a door leading into the courtyard,” he pointed out.
“And from the courtyard, it’s easy to get outside,” Matthew added. “There’s an exit through the original wall at the end of each wing, plus the old stable doors.”
“If someone left the nursery with the baby, they could easily slip into any of the bedrooms if need be—” she conceded, pointing toward her door and the adjoining room assigned to Dev. “From there, it would take only a second to slip down the steps into the courtyard, around the corner and out through the gate.”
“If everyone’s attention was toward the great room balcony where Dad was proposing a toast, it would have been an easy feat,” Matthew finished. “Especially since the trellis partially blocks the view.”
Vanessa could read nothing in Dev’s face as he listened to their theory of the kidnapping. The familiar frustration welled up in her. She wanted to do something…now.
“I’d like to tour the entire compound today. I want to know who lives where—ranch hands, family, everyone.”
“Yes,” she said, reining in the impatience in the face of Dev’s calm questioning. His quiet, impassive manner was a facade that covered a man of deep feeling. She had sensed that in him when he’d responded to her despair.
Or was she overreacting to the situation? Her emotions had been on a seesaw since the disappearance.
The unfamiliar sense of helplessness, of being jerked around at the whim of someone who wanted to harm her family, swept over her. She turned instinctively to Dev, wanting the succor of his warmth around her once more. She paused when Matthew sighed, then clenched his hand into a fist.
“Someone called,” he said. “I was in the doctor’s lounge at the hospital. She said the baby was fine and that she was taking good care of him. Then she hung up.”
“Oh, my God,” Vanessa whispered. “We didn’t think of putting a tap on that line.”
“Did you recognize the voice?” Dev demanded. “If you have any idea at all, speak up. Nothing and no one is too vague to be discounted.”
Matthew shook his head. “The voice was a whisper. I could barely hear her—”
“How do you know it was a woman?” Dev asked.
Vanessa found herself staring at Matthew with the same intent look that Dev turned on him. She saw surprise, then doubt, rush through her brother’s eyes.
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “I just thought…it seemed to me…” He shook his head. “It could have been a man.”
“No,” Dev said. “A person’s instincts are usually right. Something tipped you off, something too subtle to be recalled consciously.”
Matthew continued to look troubled. “Instincts have been wrong before.”
“So has reasoning,” Dev said dryly.
Vanessa gazed from one man to the other. “We know one female who wants to hurt us.” She didn’t say the name aloud.
“That bitch,” Matthew said, echoing her feelings.
“If you’re thinking of your stepmother Sophia,” Dev said, “why would she want to reassure you about the child?”
“So we would pay the ransom,” Vanessa told him. “If Bryan is…” She couldn’t say it.
“Dead,” Matthew said hoarsely. “If he’s dead.”
“But he’s not,” Vanessa said quickly, unable to stand his agony. “That’s why they’re keeping us waiting. They think we’ll pay more if they string us along so we’ll be more anxious.”
“Would you?”
Vanessa frowned as Dev prodded and questioned, casting doubts on their reasoning. She and Matthew had discussed the case a thousand times. “My father will pay whatever it takes.”
“Other than the original note for fifty million dollars and the one call, you’ve heard nothing?”
“That’s right,” Matthew answered.
“Where were you when the alleged kidnapping took place?” he asked Matthew.
Vanessa couldn’t believe the implication behind the question. “Matthew didn’t take his own child,” she declared hotly.
Dev continued to watch Matthew with his impassive gaze.
“I was… After the christening, I stayed close to my wife. We were outside—”
“You were near the fountain,” Vanessa added. “You and Holden were talking. Claudia and Lucinda were close by.”
The blue gaze swung to her. “Where were you?”
“I was on my way into the house and saw Maria standing under the trellis. I stopped and welcomed her back. We talked for several minutes. She seemed embarrassed at seeing me. She wouldn’t look at me. I think she was worried about facing her mother after leaving the way she did and staying gone so long.”
Matthew
