fill in the blanks.
And it didn’t.
“Caitlyn came to you for help.”
Drury settled for another yeah and didn’t miss Grayson’s disapproval about that. Well, Drury wasn’t so happy about it, either.
“I don’t know for sure, but the guy you caught is probably the same one who had the baby. He should have stun-gun marks on...” Drury looked back at her so she could provide that.
“The left side of his neck.”
Grayson made what sounded to be a weary sigh. “I’ll have the doc check for it. I got a name on the guy already. Ronnie Waite. He was in the system not because he had a record but because he used to be a prison guard.”
Interesting. Drury would have bet his paycheck that the guy had a record. But then maybe whoever was behind this had made sure to use someone who was clean.
“Ronnie Waite,” Drury repeated to Caitlyn. He turned onto another road and glanced around to make sure they weren’t being followed. “Do you know him?”
Caitlyn repeated the name, then shook her head. “Is he in charge of this or just a lackey?”
“Don’t know yet,” Grayson answered. “How did Ronnie or anyone connected to this contact you?”
“Only one man contacted me,” Caitlyn answered, “and he always called. I used the internet to do a reverse number lookup, but it wasn’t listed.”
Probably because the phone had been a burner or disposable prepaid cell. No way to trace that. But if Ronnie still had the phone on him, Grayson would have it checked.
“Does Caitlyn, or the baby, need to see a doctor?” Grayson asked.
“Yes,” Drury said at the same moment that she answered.
“No. I mean, I want the baby checked out, but I’m fine. And I don’t want to be in the hospital while Ronnie is still there.”
“Caitlyn’s not fine,” Drury argued. “She might have a concussion. But I agree about not going to the hospital. She shouldn’t be there until we’re certain Ronnie can’t get near her.”
“I’ll have a medic come to the office then.” Grayson paused. “We’ll get into all of this once you’re here, but I’ll need you to think of anyone who could have hired this man.”
“Helen,” Drury and Caitlyn said in unison.
“All right. I’ll get your former mother-in-law here for a chat,” Grayson agreed without hesitation. “I’ll also see if there’s any way to connect her to Ronnie.”
“There has to be a surrogate out there, too,” Caitlyn added. “I’m not sure how to find her, but she might be linked somehow to Ronnie.”
“I can question Ronnie about that. And check for a Jane Doe DB who might have recently given birth.”
DB as in dead body.
Caitlyn made a slight gasping sound. Probably because she’d just realized what Grayson was saying—that the surrogate could have been murdered after she gave birth. Whoever was behind this wouldn’t have wanted to keep a surrogate alive unless, of course, the surrogate was in on the plan.
“I’ll have Mason call the lead investigator who handled the Conceptions Clinic case,” Grayson went on, “but if Helen’s the one who did this, would she have had access to the embryo? In other words, could someone at the clinic have legally given it to her?”
“No. Not legally.” Caitlyn drew in a long breath. “In fact, when Helen found out that Grant and I had visited the clinic, she tried to bribe one of the nurses to get info about what we were doing. When I found out, I had our counselor put a note in my file that no information should be given to the woman.”
“That doesn’t mean Helen played by the rules,” Drury reminded her. In fact, he’d be surprised if she had. But there was someone else in that scummy family who was also a rule breaker. “What about Grant’s brother, Jeremy?”
Drury couldn’t be sure, but he thought Caitlyn shuddered. “Jeremy wouldn’t have done that. And yes, I’m sure. The last thing Jeremy would want is another heir to share the inheritance he’ll get from his mother.”
“Okay,” Grayson said, “this is enough to get things started. How far out are you now?”
“About ten minutes. No one’s following us, but when we get to the sheriff’s office, I want to get Caitlyn and the baby inside ASAP.”
“No problem. Park right in front of the door.”
Drury hit the end-call button and took another glance back at her. “I know you don’t want to go to the sheriff’s office, but you can trust Grayson. If there’s anything to link Helen to this, he’ll find it.”
And so would Drury. He hadn’t especially wanted to get involved with Caitlyn, but this wasn’t about her. It was about that baby in her arms.
“You think I’m a fool for getting involved with Grant,” she said. “But I swear, I didn’t know what Grant was when I married him.”
“You should have. You knew what his family was, knew that I was investigating them.”
“Yes,” she whispered. And she repeated it. “His family but not him.” She paused. “I think Jeremy might have been the one who killed Grant.”
“Killed? I thought he died in a car accident.”
“He did. One that Jeremy could have arranged.” Though she shook her head right after saying that. “I don’t have any proof, and knowing Jeremy, there won’t be proof to find. But I meant what I said about Jeremy not wanting any competition for his mother’s estate.”
The last time he’d tangled with the Densons, he hadn’t fared so well. Drury had ended up with a black mark on his reputation for getting involved with Caitlyn, a woman who’d clearly double-crossed him and had almost certainly been sleeping with him to get info about his investigation.
Of course, that hadn’t stopped Drury from trying to go after the Densons again. Until his boss had finally gotten him to back off when Helen had threatened a lawsuit for harassment. Drury hadn’t wanted to hurt the Bureau for what had essentially become a personal vendetta on his part.
“I hate being drawn back into the viper pit.” He hadn’t intended to say that loud enough for Caitlyn to hear.
But she heard. Because she gave him another “I’m sorry.”
He kept the next comment to himself. Was she sorry she’d dumped him for Grant? Or sorry that she hadn’t gotten that safe fairy tale that she wanted?
Drury wanted to tell her that she couldn’t create “safe.” The cut on her head and baby in her arms were proof of that. Still, he couldn’t fault her for trying. After all, she’d seen her own father—a Texas Ranger—gunned down right in front of her when she was only eight.
Hard to get
