Drury. Delores Fossen
sound. He stepped back so that Caitlyn could go to her and take her in her arms.
They made a picture together. And Drury had no trouble seeing the love for the child in Caitlyn’s eyes.
“I know,” Caitlyn said, following his gaze to the baby. “I shouldn’t get so attached. But I’ve always wanted a child, so it’s hard not to have deep feelings for her.”
An understatement. Caitlyn had really wanted a child. Something she’d made clear when they were together.
Something that had driven a wedge between them, too.
Heck, it still made him take a step back now.
Too many memories. More of those old ones that he wanted to forget. But couldn’t. Because he hadn’t just lost his wife the day she’d been murdered. He’d lost the child that she’d been carrying.
“Will you still help me with a safe house?” she asked. “An unofficial one, of course. I don’t think you want to use FBI channels.”
Neither did he. “I’ll help with the house.” Hell, he’d ended up helping with plenty of things he didn’t want to help with, but despite their past he was still a sucker for a damsel in distress, and at the moment Caitlyn was in a lot of distress.
She mumbled another thanks. “I was going to get started on contacting some bodyguards, and I was hoping I could use your laptop to get some phone numbers.”
He nearly offered her a protection detail. But he was also toeing the line on the law. Heck, he’d probably crossed over that line, and he didn’t want to bring any of his fellow agents or family into this.
“The laptop’s on the table in the kitchen,” he said.
She gathered the blanket around the baby and headed that direction. Drury followed, but before he even made it there, his phone buzzed, and he saw Grayson’s name on the screen. He considered not putting the call on speaker, just in case this was more bad news, but he’d end up telling Caitlyn about the conversation anyway.
“You’re on speaker,” Drury warned Grayson right off, though he doubted that would change anything Grayson had to say.
“Good. Because Caitlyn needs to hear this. I’ve arranged for the doctor to examine the baby. Yeah, I know. It’s a risk, but she needs to be checked out.”
“I agree.” A weary sigh left Caitlyn’s mouth. “And it’s something I should have remembered to do.”
“You’ve had a lot on your mind lately.” There was a touch of sarcasm in Grayson’s tone. “I want you two to take the baby to the hospital. And don’t worry, she won’t be near Ronnie. The doctor will meet you in his private office to do the exam. I’ve arranged for Lucas and one of the deputies to escort you there.”
Escort was a nice way of saying back up in case someone tried to gun them down again.
“Anything new from Ronnie?” Drury asked.
“Nothing. He’s lawyered up and is refusing to cooperate with us. Not CPS, though. He’s still pressuring them to give him the baby. Which they won’t do,” Grayson quickly added. “Not without DNA proof anyway, and it’ll be tomorrow before we have that.”
“The DNA will show that Ronnie’s not the father,” Caitlyn said like gospel, and Drury hoped that was true.
He didn’t exactly relish the idea of handing over a child to someone who’d shot at him. Of course, that wouldn’t happen anyway unless Ronnie was cleared of all charges.
“Ronnie said he can prove the baby is his,” Grayson went on. “Because he can describe the birthmark on her ankle. Does she have a birthmark?”
“She does,” Caitlyn admitted. “But Ronnie could have easily seen it when he had her.”
“That was my theory, too. By the way, Melanie’s on her way in,” Grayson added a moment later. “Drury, if you want to be here for the interview, you could have Lucas or someone else stay with Caitlyn and the baby.”
It was tempting. “When will she be there?” Drury asked.
“Within the hour.” He paused. “I have plenty of questions for her now that I’ve read the police report for Grant’s car accident. Melanie’s purse was found in the vehicle.”
Drury had read the report, too. Not recently. But shortly after Grant had died. Why? He didn’t know. It was a way of picking at those old wounds, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. So, yeah, he knew about Melanie’s purse.
Obviously so did Caitlyn. “Melanie claimed that Grant and she had been together that night, but when he dropped her off at her place, she forgot her purse.” She frowned. “The police cleared her as a suspect, but you think Melanie could have had something to do with his death?”
“Do you?” Grayson asked right back.
She certainly didn’t jump to deny it. Caitlyn took a moment and gently rocked the baby even though the little girl was no longer fussing. “Possibly. Jeremy is still my top suspect for that. If it wasn’t an accident, that is. But I suppose Melanie could have been upset with Grant about something.”
“You don’t know?” Grayson pressed.
“No. By then Grant and I were separated. That’s why I was a suspect at first, but I was cleared, too, because it was ruled an accident. Added to that, I had an alibi.”
“A ruptured appendix,” Drury mumbled.
Caitlyn’s gaze raced to his, and she looked a little surprised that he knew that. When it came to her, Drury always seemed to know a little too much. Like that she’d nearly died herself that night and was in emergency surgery at the same time her estranged husband swerved off the road and hit a tree. Since there’d been other skid marks nearby, the cops had first thought someone had run him off the road, but the CSIs hadn’t been able to prove that the marks were made the exact same time as the accident.
“I just want to know as much about Melanie as possible before I question her,” Grayson went on. “Does she have any hot buttons?”
“Me,” Caitlyn answered. “Until I filed for divorce, she was harassing me. She hates me. That’s why I told Drury that I didn’t think she had anything to do with the baby or Conceptions Clinic.”
Grayson made a sound to indicate he was withholding judgment on that. “I’ll let you know if I find out anything from her, and I’ll have Lucas give you a call once he’s on his way there. By the way, Lucas didn’t tell me exactly where you were on the ranch, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
So would Drury. The fewer people who knew, the better.
Drury ended the call, and since Caitlyn had said she wanted to use his laptop, he turned it in her direction. She glanced at the baby. Then at him.
“I’ll get the carrier from the bedroom,” she said, not giving him a chance to decline to hold the baby. Not that he would have. But Caitlyn must have realized that it wasn’t something he wanted to do.
Several moments later, she came back into the kitchen, the baby already snuggled into the carrier, and she set the carrier on the table next to the laptop.
“For a bodyguard search, try starting with Sencor Agency in San Antonio,” he suggested.
She muttered a thanks and got started on that just as Drury’s phone buzzed again. Not Grayson this time but rather his brother Mason, who lived at the main house on the ranch.
“We have a visitor,” Mason growled the moment Drury answered. “She’s at the security gate pitching a fit. I didn’t tell her either of you were here, but she’s insisting on seeing Caitlyn.”
Even though Drury didn’t have the phone on speaker, either Caitlyn heard or else she noticed the alarm on Drury’s face because she slowly got to her feet.
“Who