this afternoon when you take the stand, to exonerate Esterman. If you don’t, they say they’ll kill the baby.”
The adrenaline and the emotions slammed into her like a fist. She fought to keep her breath level. But lost that battle. Rachel tried to remind herself that it might not even be true. The photo and the DNA report could be fakes. It was possible this was all just a ploy to stop her from putting a killer away for the rest of his life.
But it didn’t feel like a ploy.
It felt as if her child was in horrible danger.
“Now that you know, it’s decision time, Rachel. I could force you to go with me, but in the end I’ll need your cooperation.”
Cooperation? She wasn’t sure she could even move. A dozen emotions assaulted her. None good. So many doubts. So much confusion.
A baby. God, a baby.
“Rachel, are you sure you’re all right?” Detective Miller called out.
“Don’t open the door,” Jared whispered.
He extracted a small tool kit from his pocket, went to the window and proceeded to disarm the security system. That explained why he was wearing a jacket on a muggy spring day. He had to conceal heaven-knows-what to help them escape.
But the real question was—did she want to escape?
“Convince her to give us some time alone,” Jared instructed. “Lots of time. We’ll need it if you’re leaving with me.”
Rachel nodded, somehow. And somehow she managed to get off the bed. She made it to the door, praying her voice wouldn’t break.
“I’m okay,” she lied. “Jared will be staying until we leave for the courthouse.”
The silence on the other side of the door didn’t do much to settle Rachel’s raw, tangled nerves. It was obvious Jared didn’t want either of the other officers involved in this, and Rachel would go along with him on that.
For now.
But there were still too many questions that needed answers before she’d leave with him.
“Maybe I should call Captain Thornton?” Miller suggested. “I mean, just so she’ll know Lieutenant Dillard is here visiting you.”
Rachel understood the implications of that. And they weren’t good implications. Miller wasn’t a fool and she no doubt suspected something was wrong.
She looked over her shoulder at Jared. He merely shook his head and continued to work on the window.
“No need to call anyone.” Rachel pulled in a long breath so she could finish. “I just want to, um, talk things out with Jared.”
Another pause. Rachel pressed her forehead against the door and waited. She really didn’t want to speculate what would happen if Detective Miller decided to make that call.
“Okay. Whatever you say, Rachel. But I’ll stay put right out here in the hall. Just yell if you need me.”
Oh, she would do that. Too bad it might become necessary. Because she didn’t know if she could even trust Jared. Their last months together hadn’t exactly fostered a trusting relationship. There’d been too many incidents where they’d frozen each other out. Along with that had come the bitter feelings and the accusations. He definitely wasn’t the same person she’d vowed to love, honor and cherish five years ago.
But then, neither was she.
During their separation, they’d grown as far apart as two people could get. Heck, they hadn’t even contacted each other the entire time she’d been at the ranch house. Yet here he was, right back in her life.
Jared put his tool kit away and eased open the window. The morning breeze stirred the curtains when he shoved out the screen. No alarms went off, which meant he’d successfully deactivated the system.
“If you’re doing this, we have to leave now,” Jared insisted.
But Rachel held her ground. “And then what?”
Obviously not pleased with her lack of cooperation, he mumbled some profanity under his breath. “I need to take you someplace safe so you won’t have to testify. The courts will almost certainly ask for another trial delay while they try to locate you. In the meantime, we find this child and get him out of danger.”
It was a simple plan. Also a vague one. And it had holes in it the size of the Alamo.
“You didn’t turn this over to the police,” Rachel pointed out. “Why?”
This was one of those times she wished she didn’t know Jared so well. His mouth tightened. A muscle stirred in his firm jaw. And a sickening feeling crawled down her spine before he even answered.
“The person who wrote that letter said the baby would die if we told the cops, and I’m pretty sure there’s a leak in the department. A big one from a person who can do lots of damage if he puts his mind to it. I’ll give you the details once we’re out of here.”
Great. Just great. Her life had just been turned upside down and inside out. Somewhere out there, a child—maybe their child—was possibly in grave danger, and they couldn’t even go to the police.
Rachel debated and wished like the devil that she had more time to figure out what to do. This could easily be construed as the point of no return. Once she went out that window, she would essentially be on the run. A fugitive. But if she stayed and told the truth to convict a killer, then a child might die.
Jared helped her decision along. “Every minute we waste here, we could be using to find the baby.”
He was right, of course—about that particular argument, anyway. She couldn’t be sure about anything else.
However, when Jared gripped her arm, Rachel didn’t argue. Didn’t take a step back. She climbed out into the yard with him. Then she prayed, hoping this wasn’t the biggest mistake of her life.
Jared didn’t give her time to dwell on her doubts. He kept low, his gaze darting all around. He led her to the side of the house, toward the detached garage.
“We’re taking one of the detective’s cars?” Rachel whispered.
“No. But I need a distraction.”
Looping his arm around her waist, he ducked behind some thick shrubs. He paused a moment and checked out the yard before he continued to the side door of the garage. From the corner of her eye, Rachel saw him try to turn the knob.
It was locked.
Other than one single harsh word of profanity, he said nothing. Instead, he rammed his shoulder into it, but when that didn’t budge it, he snatched the tiny tool kit from his pocket and got to work picking the lock.
Rachel’s gaze whipped back to the open window where they’d escaped. No sign of the officers. Yet. But they’d come. After all, it was their job to get her to the courthouse. Once they realized she wasn’t in the bedroom, the search would be on.
For
