did she look like?”
Thad shrugged. “The paramedic had already slipped the oxygen mask over her face. I couldn’t tell what she looked like, but she has light brown hair.”
“She looked a lot like you, Mrs. Winston,” Daniel offered. “Light brown hair, slight build. When she opened her eyes briefly, I could tell they were blue.”
“So it could be true.” Kate stared at the door leading into the hallway. “My baby didn’t die like my mother told me.”
“Mom, what baby?” Trey held her hand. “Who is Patrick O’Hara? How do you know him?”
Kate’s gaze shifted to the window, looking out into the night. “We were teenagers when we met on the Outer Banks. I was vacationing at the family beach house. He was the bar owner’s son.” She smiled. “We spent the whole summer together. Young, in love and foolish.” Her smile faded. “When I returned home, I found out I was pregnant. My father was livid. He’d been grooming me to marry rich. I didn’t want to. I wanted Patrick.”
“What happened?” Trey asked.
“My father threatened to hit Patrick with charges of statutory rape if I didn’t go away to New Hampshire to live with my aunt until the baby was born.” Kate’s hands covered her belly as if she was seventeen and pregnant all over again. “I wanted to keep the baby. I was going to run away with it and find Patrick. He’d said he loved me. I was certain once he saw his baby, he’d want us to be together as a family.
“When my due date arrived, I was scared. My mother was there with me, but no one prepared me for what it would be like. The delivery was difficult because the baby was breech. The doctor gave me something to knock me out. When I came to the next day, my mother was crying. She told me the baby was dead.”
Daniel’s chest tightened at the anguish evident in Kate Winston’s face. It was a lot for a young girl to handle.
“My mother told me the baby was dead.” She pressed her fist to her mouth. “I was so sad, I wanted to die.”
Trey hugged his mother. “But you didn’t, and we’re glad you didn’t.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We love you.”
Samuel and Thad gathered around their mother, hugging her.
Trey was the first to step back. “Actually, your story would explain some of Grandma Eunice’s dementia.”
“What do you mean?” Kate glanced at her oldest son.
“Last time I paid a visit in the nursing home, she was babbling on about a baby girl, and giving her to her father to care for. She was really upset. The staff nurse calmed her with a sedative. I didn’t think anything of it.” He looked at his mother’s face. “Until now. I bet it was deep-seated guilt gnawing at her.”
“Why would she do it?” Kate swayed, pressing her hand to her chest. “I had a daughter and I didn’t know it. All these years…”
Trey slipped an arm around his mother’s shoulders and drew her close.
“How could she?” Kate pressed her cheek into her son’s chest. “My mother loved me. Why would she give my baby away?”
“Could she have done it to protect you and the baby?” Thad asked. “Grandpa Adair was a mean old bastard.”
Daniel stood back, trying not to eavesdrop on the family’s business, but was nevertheless shocked at Kate’s story. Was this how the rich and famous lived? Stealing babies, threatening loved ones?
If it was, then he wanted nothing to do with it. He’d grown up in an average family where they had their arguments, but they loved each other. His father was as much a part of his life as his brothers. It sounded as though Kate’s childhood had been less beautiful than her family had let on to the public.
Daniel made a note to himself to call home the next quiet moment he had to himself.
“Where is she?” Jed Kincannon entered the waiting room. “Has she spoken yet?”
“She’s still unconscious.” Daniel pulled his boss aside and told him what he knew, which wasn’t much. “The kidnappers escaped and burned any evidence they might have left behind in the house.”
Jed let out a deep breath. “I want to be there when Ms. O’Hara wakes up. We need to know what she knows. The sooner she identifies her kidnappers, the better. I want them off the streets before they cause any more grief.”
“You and me both.”
Kate stepped up to Jed. “Do you think they’ll try to take her again?”
“They took her once,” he said.
“But they didn’t present a ransom note or any demands,” Samuel argued.
“Maybe they were waiting for proof of her lineage,” Thad said. “Now that we’re involved, it could mean even greater danger for her.”
“We can’t let anything happen to her or her father.” Kate faced him. “Daniel, I want you to provide Shelby’s security. I trust you the most of any agent.” She smiled, laying a hand on his arm. “I know you’ll do everything in your power to protect Shelby, even take a bullet for her.”
“I’d say he’s good for it,” Samuel nodded. “He took three for you.”
“Exactly.” Kate’s hand was warm on Daniel’s arm. “Take care of my granddaughter. I want the opportunity to get to know her.”
Patrick O’Hara stepped through the door, his face haggard. “They chased me out.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “She never woke up. The doctor said it’s to be expected with head trauma. They’re keeping an eye on her tonight, but expect she’ll wake up in the morning. The good news is that they didn’t detect any brain swelling or hemorrhaging.”
Lucy Sinclair, Thad’s fiancée, followed Patrick into the room, crossed to Thad and slipped an arm around his waist. “I got here as quickly as I could and checked in with the nurse in charge of the floor. It’s like Mr. O’Hara said, she’s sleeping. Other than being a little dehydrated, her vital signs are good. She should be up and talking by morning.”
Trey glanced down at his watch and across to his wife. Despite her attempt to look in control, Debra was sagging under the weight of the baby. “There’s no use all of us waiting for her to wake up. We should go home and get some rest. Tomorrow will be stressful in itself.”
“Trey, you need to get Debra home and off her feet.” Kate turned to Patrick. “You and Shelby will be staying at the Winston Estate.”
Patrick crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t order me around like you do the rest of the world. I have a business to run on the Outer Banks.”
Kate nodded. “I know. But we almost lost Shelby tonight. If there’s any possibility her kidnappers will try to take her again, she needs protection. Can you provide that for her at your bar?”
Patrick’s lips pressed into a thin line. After a long pause, he answered, “No.”
“Then
