would Helen be upset about you inheriting what belonged to your husband?” he asked.
This was another long explanation, one she didn’t have time or energy to give him. Caitlyn went with the short version. “Grant and I were separated when he was killed in that car accident. I was already in the process of getting a divorce.”
He pulled back his shoulders just slightly. Surprised by that. Later, if there was a later, she would tell him more. For now, though, she had to remind him of the urgency of her situation.
“That man who had the baby wasn’t working alone,” she continued. “When I made the first payment, there were two of them, and I’m pretty sure they had a lookout or someone nearby because one of the men had a communicator in his ear, and he was talking to someone. I can’t stay here because they’ll come back.”
“Come on,” Drury said. He still had a firm grip on her arm. “We’ll go to the sheriff’s office and get this all straightened out.”
“They’ll look for me there if they don’t attack us along the way first. The baby could be hurt. You, too.” She almost added that she couldn’t live with that, but it was an old wound best left untouched.
“If you didn’t want me involved, then you shouldn’t have come here,” he grumbled.
“I swear I didn’t know the man would follow me. I mean, he was out from the stun gun, and he didn’t have his partner with him this time. Didn’t have the communicator in his ear, either.” A heavy sigh left her mouth. “I guess he had a lookout after all.”
Caitlyn figured Drury would ignore everything she’d just told him and demand once more that she leave with him.
But he didn’t.
His gaze volleyed from her to the baby. “Whose coat is that?” he asked.
She had to shake her head. “It was right next to the baby on the seat of the kidnapper’s SUV, and I grabbed it to cover her from the rain.”
“Put the baby on the sofa,” Drury instructed, and his tone and body language sent a chill straight through her. “It could have a tracking device—or something worse—in it.”
Sweet heaven.
Caitlyn hurried to the sofa, easing the baby onto it. The little girl was still sleeping, thank goodness.
“I checked her after I brought her into your house,” she explained. “No cuts or bruises.” It sickened her, though, to think there could have been.
Drury didn’t respond. He moved in front of the newborn, eased back the sides of the coat.
The baby was wearing a pink drawstring gown with little ducks on it. There was even an elastic headband with a bow holding back her dark brown curls from her face, and she had a thin receiving blanket around her. She was clean. Her diaper appeared to have been changed recently, and since she wasn’t crying, that probably meant she’d been fed. Whoever had her had at least taken care of her.
Probably so they could protect their investment.
Something twisted inside Caitlyn at the thought.
She almost hated to feel this kind of anger. This kind of love for that precious little girl. Because the baby might not even be hers.
Caitlyn repeated that to herself.
It didn’t seem to stop the flood of feelings that poured through her, and that love could mean she would be crushed if she had to hand over the baby to someone else.
“Lift her up,” Drury said, still searching every inch of the coat. “Gently.”
That gave her another jolt, and she prayed there wasn’t anything on or near the baby that could hurt her.
Caitlyn eased the newborn into her arms. Of course, it wasn’t the first time she’d held her, but without the coat around her, she could feel just how tiny and fragile she was.
Drury went through the coat pockets, coming up empty each time, and he turned his attention to the bow on the baby’s headband.
“Hell,” he mumbled.
Caitlyn watched as he gently slipped off the headband, and she saw it then.
“It’s a tracking device,” he said. “That’s how the man was able to follow you.”
Caitlyn shook her head. “I should have noticed it. Drury. I’m so sorry.”
“Save it.” He tossed the headband onto the coffee table. “In case I missed something, don’t use the blanket to wrap her.” He pulled a throw off the back of the sofa and handed it to her. “Use this.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, draping it over the baby.
“Away from here. And fast.” He took out his phone and sent a text. Probably to Grayson. “I don’t want any other hired guns coming to the ranch. Every one of my cousins has wives and kids, and they’re all right here on the grounds.”
That didn’t help steady her heartbeat.
Drury led her to the back door, grabbing a remote control from the kitchen counter. He used it to open the detached garage, and he stepped out onto the porch to look around.
The rain was still coming down hard, but the porch was covered so the baby was staying dry. However, she was starting to squirm, maybe because Caitlyn’s dress was damp and it was cool against her. She needed dry clothes. Baby supplies.
And a safe place to take her.
But where?
The sheriff’s office certainly didn’t seem like an ideal location since the man’s partners could go looking for her there.
“Wait here in the doorway, and I’ll pull the car up to the steps,” Drury said. He’d already started to walk away but then stopped and turned back around to face her. “So help me, you’d better not try to run.”
Since she was indeed thinking just that, Caitlyn wondered if he’d read her mind. Or maybe he could just see the desperation on her face.
Because she didn’t know what else to do, Caitlyn did wait. And she prayed. She trusted Drury, but her trust wouldn’t do a darn thing to protect him or the baby.
He hurried to the garage, and it took only a few seconds before she heard the engine turn on. Only a few seconds more before he pulled the car to the steps with the passenger’s side facing her.
The moment Drury threw open the door and frantically motioned for her to get in, she knew something was wrong.
“Someone’s coming,” Drury said.
Caitlyn saw the headlights then. There was a car on the road. And it was speeding right toward them.
Drury cursed himself
