His Badge, Her Baby...Their Family?

Suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion, she closed her eyes and tried to remember even the smallest glimmer from her past.

But her memories were like a blackboard that had been swiped with a felt eraser. Faint white marks were still evident, but none of them were clear enough to make sense.

The only distinct image she possessed was that of Detective Vincent Parcell. Even in her clouded confusion, she’d noticed his thick brown hair and strong, tanned features. His warm brown eyes had studied her in a way that had made her want to pull the sheet all the way up beneath her chin. He’d not said much, but when he had spoken to her, his voice had been a low, rich baritone that had rumbled through her like a familiar melody.

The detective with him had been an attractive man, and nice to boot. But meeting him hadn’t affected her in the same way as Vincent Parcell. Somehow, someway, she felt certain their paths had crossed before tonight.

But that was a ridiculous notion, she thought. He was merely a man who was trying to help her get out of this strange wonderland she’d fallen into. And no matter how he’d looked or sounded, she was going to have to trust him to lead her back to the real world.

* * *

Men of the West: Whether ranchers or lawmen, these heartbreakers can ride, shoot—and drive a woman crazy …

His Badge, Her Baby…Their Family?

Stella Bagwell

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Having written over eighty titles for Mills & Boon, USA TODAY bestselling author STELLA BAGWELL writes about families, the West, strong, silent men of honor and the women who love them. She appreciates her loyal readers and hopes her stories have brightened their lives in some small way. A cowgirl through and through, she recently learned how to rope a steer. Her days begin and end helping her husband on their south Texas ranch. In between she works on her next tale of love. Contact her at [e-mail].

In loving memory of my late mother-in-law, Dortha Bagwell. Alzheimer’s took you and your memory, but you will forever live on in mine.

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

Detective Vincent Parcell eyed the smoldering heap lying at the bottom of the shallow ravine. Less than an hour ago the ash and debris had been a small car driven by a woman. Now the only thing resembling a vehicle was a crumpled black frame.

“It’s a miracle anyone survived that inferno,” Vince remarked to his partner, Evan Calhoun. “Are you sure the EMT reported her conscious when they left the scene?”

The two men stood together on the edge of the asphalt. Behind them, a fire truck and lighted barricades blocked all traffic from the eastbound side of the two-lane highway. A few feet down the incline from where they stood, a pair of firemen continued to douse a steady stream of water over the charred object. Yet even with the flames dead, puffs of smoke spiraled upward into the dark, desert sky and the stench of burning rubber lingered on the night air.

“That’s what the NHP officer reported,” Evan answered.

Vince shook his head. “Let’s hope she remains that way.”

Fifteen minutes ago, the two detectives had been working a downtown robbery in Carson City when their captain had ordered them to wrap up and drive out here to the edge of the city to investigate a flaming car crash.

Vince was still irked by the interruption. The Nevada Highway Patrol had already investigated the accident. He didn’t see much need for him and Evan to follow up. This wasn’t a case of vehicular homicide. It was a simple case of identifying the injured driver. As far as he was concerned, the sheriff’s office didn’t need to get involved. But it was Vince’s job to follow orders, not question them.

Vince said, “I’m trying to visualize how this scene played out. The first responding officer reported that when he arrived on the scene, the door on the driver’s side of the car was open. So the woman must have been thrown clear of the car when it hit the ravine. Or she miraculously managed to open the door and crawl out on her own.”

Evan pointed to a spot on the side of the highway, about ten feet from where the two of them were standing. “Supposedly she was discovered lying there. Between those clumps of sage and creosote bushes.”

Images of how the first initial seconds of the crash might have occurred and the sequences that followed flashed through Vince’s mind as he walked over to the area where the woman had been found. From the beam of his flashlight, he could see where her weight had flattened the dead vegetation. Blood from some type of wound was smeared at the base of a clump of buffalo grass, while a few drops had already dried to brown circles on the ground. Nearby a couple of fist-sized stones had been dislodged from the soil. Most likely from the movements of the paramedics when they’d loaded the victim onto a gurney, Vince figured.

Evan walked up behind him. “Not many skid marks on the asphalt,” he commented. “Whatever caused the car to leave the highway must have happened fast. Maybe a deer or coyote.”

“Maybe,” Vince reasoned. “Or a drunk driver swerved over the middle line and didn’t bother to stop when her car careened off the highway.” He started to turn back to his partner when the beam of his flashlight crossed something shiny caught on a low branch of sage. Squatting on his heels, Vince carefully plucked the item from the brush and rose to his feet.

“Hmm. Guess no one noticed this.” The murmured words were directed as much to himself as they were to Evan. He placed his find in the middle of his palm, and Evan centered the beam of his flashlight on a simple piece of jewelry.

“Looks like a fine silver chain with a small filigree cross,” Evan said. “Probably hundreds like it around town.”

Vince grimaced. “Other than her clothes, it might be the only thing we have to help identify her. And that is why we were called in on this case, isn’t it?”

Evan let out a weary breath, reminding Vince that both of them had been at it since just before dawn this morning. The day had been long and was on its way to being even longer.

“That’s what the captain said. All her ID went up in flames. Even the car tags are nothing but ash. Hopefully the VIN can be salvaged. But looks like it’s going to be a while before that mess of scrap metal is cool enough to be hauled to the lab.”

Vince glanced one more time at the silver cross in his palm before he slipped the item into his shirt pocket. Like Evan said, there were probably hundreds of women around here who owned the same necklace. In fact, he’d known someone in particular who’d worn one exactly like it. He’d given it to her as an Easter gift. But that had been years ago and a world away.

Vince rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. “There’s nothing more we can do here,” he said flatly. “Let’s get over to the hospital and see if we can get some answers.”

Evan reached over and slapped his shoulder. “Cheer up, buddy. This won’t take long.”

The two men returned to a black SUV with Carson City, Nevada, sheriff’s emblems emblazoned on both front doors. Vince climbed beneath the wheel, while Evan buckled himself in the passenger seat.

As he made a sharp U-turn in the middle of the highway and headed toward the north side of town, Vince tried to shake off the strange premonition that had come over him the moment they’d walked up to the accident scene.

“I have a bad feeling about this, Evan. Maybe you ought to call the hospital before we make a trip over there. For all we know the driver might have already expired.”

When Evan failed to reply, Vince glanced over to the see his partner glowering at him.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Evan barked the question. “Even if she has expired, we’ll still need to follow up. Especially if she dies as a Jane Doe. You know that.”

What was the matter with him? Vince asked himself. At the age of thirty-three, he’d worked in law enforcement for twelve years, and during that time he’d never shunned any sort of assignment. No matter how trivial or important, he wanted to make sure the job was done and done right.

“Yeah, I know it. I’m just not keen on going to the hospital. Every time we walk through those doors, I get the urge to throw up.”

Evan said, “Nothing strange about that. You nearly died after the Christmas Eve shooting. And you spent weeks afterward in Tahoe General recuperating from your wounds. The place probably brings all that hell back to you. To be honest, it brings it all back to me, too. But the best way to deal with a bad memory is to face it head-on. At least, that’s what Granddad Bart always says. And he ought to know. He’s had plenty of bad memories to face,” Evan added flatly.

Bart Calhoun just happened to be the patriarch of the wealthy ranching family that owned and operated the Silver Horn Ranch north of Carson City. Evan’s other grandfather, Tuck Reeves, had been a sheriff in Storey County for more than twenty years.

As for Vince, his grandfathers had already passed on, along with his father, Parry Parcell. Vince had only been fourteen years old when his father had been shot and killed while serving on the Reno police force.

No, Vince thought, he and his partner had totally different backgrounds, but the moment the two of them had been paired together, they’d fit like hot coffee on a snowy morning. For several years now they’d been the best of friends on and off duty. And because they were, the two men didn’t hold back on expressing their thoughts or opinions to each other.

“Sorry, Evan. I don’t stop to think of the hell you went through that night. If you hadn’t pulled me away from the gunfire, you’d have a different partner sitting here with you tonight.”

“Shut up, Vince.” Evan slid down in the seat and pulled the brim of his cowboy hat over his eyes. “We’re not going to talk about that night anymore. Hear me?”

“Yeah, I hear you.” They might keep quiet about that night, Vince thought, but that wasn’t going to make either of them forget it.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Vince parked in a slot allotted for hospital visitors and reached for two denim jackets lying on the backseat. Although it was nearing the first of July, the night could still get cool in the high desert, and the inside of the hospital always felt like stepping into the Arctic Circle.

As the two men headed toward the emergency entrance, Evan said, “It’ll be our luck they’ve filled her with pain meds and she won’t be lucid enough to tell us anything.”

Vince grunted. “From the looks of that wreck, she’s going to need more than something for pain.”

After a frustrating wait in the ER, a nurse finally supplied them with the room number of the unidentified crash victim. During the elevator ride up to the internal medicine floor, Vince tried to block out the memory of the searing pain from the bullets plowing into his side and abdomen.

By the time the EMTs had reached him that night and delivered him to this very hospital, Vince had lost consciousness. It wasn’t until days later that he’d eventually woken to the reality of what had happened when he and Evan had gone to arrest a murder suspect.

“Vince? You look green around the gills. Why don’t you go down to the cafeteria and have some coffee?” Evan suggested as the two of them stepped off the elevator. “I can handle this.”

Casting him a droll look, Vince said, “That day-old sandwich I got off your desk for lunch is the reason my gills are green. Let’s just get this job over with.”

“All right, be a tough guy.” Evan gestured to the room number guide posted on the wall in front of the elevator. “This way.”

His partner took off in a long stride down the left wing and Vince followed. For early in the evening, the corridor was rather empty. They walked past a nurse carrying a tray of medicine and a janitor mopping a section of the tiled floor. Other than those two, the hallway was eerily quiet.

“You can hear a pin drop on this floor,” Vince said in a hushed voice. “All the patients must have been shipped down to the morgue.”

“Or they heard two detectives were coming and they all got the hell out of here,” Evan joked, then pointed to a closed door on their right. “Here it is.”

Evan rapped lightly on the door before the two of them stepped inside. Except for a strip of light over the head of the bed, the room was dark. As they moved farther into the room, Vince could see the slender shape of the patient beneath the light bedcover. She was lying on her side, facing the wall, making it impossible to see anything except a long curtain of honey-blond hair spilling over the white pillowcase.

When Evan’s elbow suddenly dug into his rib cage, Vince glanced over to see his partner motioning for him to take the initiative.

After a glare that promised he’d deal with him later, Vince walked up to the head of the bed.

With his gaze fixed on the wavy blond tresses, he cleared his throat. “Ma’am? Sorry about the interruption. I’m Detective Parcell and this is my partner, Evan Calhoun. We’re with the Carson City Sheriff’s Department. Do you feel up to answering a few questions?”

Long moments passed before she finally stirred, then with a faint groan, she rolled in his direction.

Vince took one look at her face and the shock of what he was seeing propelled him backward, very nearly causing him to stumble smack into Evan.

Chapter One

She let out a groggy groan. “Detectives? Have I done something wrong?”

Dear God, it was Geena! His Geena!

His ex-wife was lying in bed, her lost gaze vacillating from one man to the other, making it plain to Vince that she didn’t recognize him at all. How could that be?

“Uh—excuse us just a moment,” he blurted, then grabbing Evan by the arm, he hustled the other man out of the room.

The moment they were standing on the other side of the door, Evan gripped him by the shoulder. “Vince! What in hell is going on with you? You’ve got to get a grip. The way you’re behaving, she’s not about to trust one word to us!”

Shaking his head, Vince wondered if his legs had turned into a pair of wet noodles. His insides were shaking. His mind whirling like a raging storm. “There’s something you need to know, Evan. That woman in there—it’s Geena! My ex-wife!”

Stunned confusion swept over Evan’s face. “Your ex? That’s crazy, Vince! She might resemble Geena, but it can’t be her. You just spoke to the patient, and I didn’t see a flicker of recognition on her face.”

“Damn it, don’t you think I saw the same thing! She looked as blank as that wall behind you! But it’s Geena. I’m positive about that.”

Evan glanced anxiously at the closed door. “We’d better go back in before she gets even more suspicious and rings for a nurse. No,” he quickly corrected as he eyed Vince. “I’ll go back in and question her. You’re not in any shape to deal with this right now.”

Annoyed that Evan considered him too weak to handle the situation, Vince scowled at him. “She’s my ex. I’ll do this job. You just back me up.”

Evan studied him for a long moment, then nodded. “If that’s the way you want it. I’ll be right behind you.”

Trying not to let himself think too much, Vince opened the door and walked back to the bed with Evan following close on his heels. By now Geena had elevated the head of the bed so that she was in a half-sitting position.

Vince’s gaze was taking a furtive survey of her face when something else caught his attention. Although she was covered completely, it was very evident that her belly was far from normal size.

She was pregnant! And from the look of her, she couldn’t be far from her delivery date.

His mind racing in a thousand directions, he pulled a leather holder from the side of his belt and held it up so that she could view his badge.

“Sorry about the interruption,” he said. “Let me start this over. I’m Detective Vincent Parcell. And this is Detective Evan Calhoun. Do you feel like answering a few questions?”

Working as a detective for many years had taught Vince how to read the subtle expressions and reactions on a person’s face. Now as he carefully watched a mix of doubt and confusion flicker in Geena’s eyes, it was clear she didn’t recognize his name or the sight of him. She had no clue she was looking at her ex-husband, and the reality of that cut him like a knife.

“My head hurts,” she mumbled. “But I’ll try. Why are you here, anyway? I wrecked my car. That isn’t a crime, is it?”

The soft, raspy sound of her voice hadn’t changed, Vince thought. Neither had her lovely features. Her smoky green eyes were still veiled by thick brown lashes and her plush pink lips bracketed by a pair of faint dimples. The proud thrust of her delicate chin was just as he remembered, along with a perfect little turned-up nose. Oh, yes, this was his Geena all right, he thought grimly. At least on the outside.

He answered her question, “No. It’s not a crime. Not unless you were driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Or you were driving recklessly.”

Her gaze focused on his face, and Vince could see confusion swimming in the green depths of her eyes. But to his immense relief, she didn’t appear to be drunk.

“I told the highway patrolman I didn’t remember what happened. I only recall crawling away from the car. There was a small explosion and then the flames started. They were small at first, but then the fire grew so big I couldn’t see the car. By the time the firemen and paramedics got there, everything was burned. That’s all I know.”

Vince exchanged a grim look with Evan before turning his attention back to Geena. “So can you tell us your name and address?” he asked gently.

A deep frown furrowed her brow, and Vince could see she was struggling to think.

“I’ve been trying very hard to remember, but I don’t know who I am or where I came from.”

Fear and regret were laced through her words, and Vince could only imagine the terror that had to be consuming her thoughts. Right now she was in an unfamiliar place where every face was that of a stranger. Her baby was coming soon, and she clearly had no idea how to locate the father. At this point, the Geena he’d been married to would have been sobbing hysterically. Either she’d drastically changed, he decided, or the accident was playing havoc with her normal demeanor.

I can tell you exactly who you are. You were my wife for five years. You made love to me and slept in my arms.

Shaking away the voice in his head, Vince asked, “Has a doctor spoken to you about your injuries?”

Her eyes misted over, but she swallowed hard and quickly gathered her emotions. “Yes. He tells me I have a concussion and it’s caused me to have amnesia. He couldn’t find anything else wrong. My baby is okay. But I don’t remember anything about my pregnancy—when I’m due, or even the father! It’s maddening!”

The uneasy feeling that had come over Vince when he’d first walked up to the scene of Geena’s accident had suddenly grown to a menacing cloud hovering over his head. What was he going to do? He couldn’t simply blurt out that he knew who she was, or that she’d once been his wife. She’d gone through a traumatic accident. No telling what the shock might do to her. No, Vince decided, before he could even consider revealing that bit of truth to her, he needed to speak with her doctor.

“Do you have any idea why you were on the highway leading into Carson City?” he continued. “Where you were going?”

With a miserable shake of her head, she said, “No. And now everything I had—my ID, my vehicle—they’re gone!”

As her voice rose to a frantic note, Evan stepped up to Vince’s side, as though to say he believed she’d had enough questions for one night. But Vince had already come to that conclusion.

Trying to sound as positive as possible, Vince said, “Don’t worry. By tomorrow you’ll probably start remembering. And if you don’t, we have ways of figuring out all these things.”

The expression on her face was the same imploring look she’d given him years ago when she’d begged him to give up being a lawman. The look in her eyes had torn at him then, just as it was tearing at him now.

“I hope you’re right. Without my car or money I can’t go anywhere,” she said, then let out a miserable groan. “Dear God, what am I thinking? Money or transportation won’t solve my problems. I wouldn’t know where to go to find my home!”

Her home had once been with him, Vince thought. Now she was a lost little thing without a clue of her past or future. Nothing about this felt real.

Evan slanted her a reassuring smile, which was just what she needed at this very moment. But try as he might, Vince couldn’t follow his partner’s example. His face felt frozen.

Evan must have realized Vince had become dazed with it all, because he suddenly spoke up. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure out where you belong. Right now you need to rest. Vince and I will be back tomorrow.”

The words didn’t appear to give her much relief, as she touched fingertips to the bandage on her temple and closed her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said glumly.

“No thanks are needed, ma’am. We’re just doing our job,” Evan told her.

Vince couldn’t bring himself to say another word. He was too busy fighting the urge to pull her into his arms. What in hell was coming over him? This woman had been completely out of his life for six years. He shouldn’t be feeling anything except the need to find her family.

Turning on his heel, he strode out of the room and didn’t stop until he was several feet down the corridor. He was leaning a shoulder against the wall and wiping a hand over his face when Evan came up behind him.

“That woman isn’t putting on an act, Vince. She truly doesn’t remember.”

Vince squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shove away the raw emotions tearing through him. “Yeah. That much is obvious.”

“You didn’t know she was in the area?”

“Hell, no!” Vince muttered. “I would’ve already told you.”

“Sorry I asked. I know we don’t keep things from each other. But I thought—well, from everything you’ve told me about your marriage, I realize she’s a bit of a sore spot and you might not have wanted to bring it up.”

Vince let out a heavy breath before turning to face his partner. “I don’t have a clue what reason she might have for coming to Carson City,” he said, then let out a rueful groan. “Clearly she doesn’t, either.”

“So when are you going to tell her? I mean, who she is. That might be a start to easing her mind. And who knows, maybe she was on her way here to see you.”

Evan’s suggestion brought him up short. “That’s crazy! She couldn’t have been coming here to see me. After we divorced, all ties between us were dropped. For all she knew I could’ve been living in Alaska.”

“Hmm. You know as well as I that if she wanted to locate you, all she needed to do was make a quick computer search and she would’ve known exactly where you lived.”