surprise at the blond-haired, blue-eyed woman who stood before him. “Amy...what are you doing here?”
It had been a little over a year ago since Tony had last seen Amy Kincaid. He’d been just a bit crazy over her, until he realized she was more than just a little bit crazy herself. She was achingly thin and sported a yellowing bruise on the side of her face.
“Tony, I’m in trouble.” She cast a glance over her skinny shoulder and then looked at him again, her eyes huge and simmering with what appeared to be barely suppressed terror.
She’d pulled her car up just outside the bunkhouse, had driven across the lawn from where the driveway ended in the distance. The engine was still running.
“Amy, what’s going on? Come inside and talk to me,” he replied.
She shook her head. “I’ve got to go, but I need you to step up.”
Tony frowned. “Step up?”
She turned and ran to her car and opened the back door. She pulled out a medium-sized suitcase and then a car seat with a sleeping baby inside.
When she returned to his door, Tony stared at her in bewilderment. “Would you tell me what’s going on?”
“This is your son. His name is Joey.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I can’t take care of him right now.” Once again she shot a frantic look over her shoulder. “I’ve got to go. Tony.” She grabbed his forearm, her fingers feverish and her sharp nails biting into his skin. “Please...protect him from evil.” She turned and ran for her car.
“Amy, wait!” Tony shouted after her, but she didn’t stop, didn’t even hesitate. She jumped into the driver seat and then tore off toward the ranch exit.
Two other doors flew open. Clay came out of one and Sawyer stumbled out of the other one. “Whaz goin’ on?” Sawyer mumbled with a slight slur. “Hey, what’s that doing here?” he asked as he stared down at the sleeping little boy.
“It’s not a ‘that,’ it’s a boy,” Tony replied absently. He was still trying to process what had just happened. This is your son. Protect him from evil. “Amy just dropped him off. She said he’s my son and it was time for me to step up.”
“Congrats, man,” Sawyer said. “I’ll get you a cigar with a bright blue band around it tomorrow.” He turned and went back into his room.
“Amy? Wow, did you know she was pregnant when the two of you stopped seeing each other?” Clay asked.
“No, I didn’t have a clue. I haven’t seen or heard from her in a year. She moved to Oklahoma City while we were dating...” Tony broke off and continued to stare down at the little boy with his shock of black hair and chubby cheeks.
“Are you sure he’s really yours?” Clay asked.
Tony gazed at his blond-haired fellow cowboy. “At this moment I’m not sure of anything.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Right now I guess I’m going to get him out of the chilly night air and then I’ll see what tomorrow brings.” Tony bent down and picked up the car seat while Clay grabbed the suitcase and together they went into Tony’s room.
Tony set the baby seat on the bed and Clay placed the suitcase on the floor. “Are you going to be all right with this for now?” Clay asked.
“I suppose I have to be,” Tony replied, his heart beating an unsteady rhythm. Heck, he had no idea if he was going to be all right. He didn’t know anything about babies.
“Let me know if you need anything.” Clay left the room and closed the door behind him.
Tony remained standing next to his bed and stared at the sleeping child. Tony had never wanted to be a husband and he’d certainly never wanted to be a father and Amy had known that when they’d dated. He’d made that very clear to her.
She’d looked so terrified. What was going on in her life that had prompted her to drop off her child with a man she hadn’t seen in over a year? Was he really Tony’s son? And why had she said to protect him from evil?
At that moment the little boy’s eyes fluttered open. His features screwed up and he began to cry.
* * *
He had to find the bitch.
Ash Moreland tightened his grip on his steering wheel as he turned down another Oklahoma City street, seeking Amy’s car. He had to find her and make sure she didn’t talk, that she didn’t tell anyone what she had seen.
If she’d just stayed in the bedroom like he’d told her to, then she wouldn’t have seen him slit Barker’s throat. After that, she’d gone to the bedroom and throughout the rest of the evening she’d acted like everything was okay. But Ash had known she was shaken up and sure enough at just after midnight she’d crept out of bed.
He’d stayed in bed and listened to her as she’d gone into the baby’s room, and minutes later he’d heard the closing of the front door. He could have stopped her at any moment, but he was curious. In all honesty he’d been amused by her pathetic move to leave him.
He’d followed her the almost sixty miles to Bitterroot and had watched her hand his baby over to another man. That, in and of itself, was an unforgivable betrayal.
She’d left Bitterroot and then driven back to Oklahoma City. He’d been tracking her for the past couple of hours, wondering what she was going to do, where she might go. If she’d gone anywhere near a police station, she would have never made it inside alive.
She had no friends and she had no money. Ash had seen to that during the last year that the two of them had been together. She belonged to him, just like the lucrative drug business he ran and just like the house where they lived, which was filled with fine and expensive items. Amy was his possession and Ash would decide when it was time to get rid of a possession.
He’d had her car taillights in his sights until about fifteen minutes ago, when she’d managed to give him the slip. He drove the dark streets slowly, his initial amusement long gone and rage rising with each moment that passed.
If he didn’t find her tonight, then he’d assign half a dozen of his men to hunt her down. Sooner or later she was going to run out of gas and out of options.
Sooner or later she’d probably come crawling back to him, begging him to forgive her for running away, sniveling to him for a fix that would make her well.
He’d hunt her down tonight and then tomorrow he’d go get his baby, the son who was his flesh, his blood, and who would one day take over Ash’s kingdom.
* * *
It was the longest night Tony had ever known and in his past he’d had many long nights. It wasn’t the company of Joey in his room that kept him from sleep, although certainly the tiny boy made his presence known several times.
The suitcase was filled with bottles and formula, disposable diapers and clothes. Twice in the night Tony had given Joey bottles and changed diapers, thankful that the baby had then seemed perfectly satisfied and had fallen back asleep.
Unfortunately
