In Protective Custody

He gave a quick nod. “Well, that’s a hunting rifle. My dad taught me to hunt and shoot when I was twelve. Like his dad taught him, and his grandfather taught his dad, et cetera. It’s tradition around here.”

Laura thought of the hunting trophies she’d seen in his living room. Okay, that explained the rifles, but…

“What about that gun?” She nodded toward the weapon resting in his lap. “Surely you don’t take handguns hunting.”

“Home protection. I bought it for my wife, for the nights I was at the fire station and she was home alone.” A flicker of pain crossed his face. “She left it with me when we divorced.”

“Oh.” Laura shifted in her seat. Knowing the whys behind Max’s gun ownership didn’t make her any more comfortable being around the things. Her attention shifted to something else Max had said. She checked the ring finger of his left hand.

Bare.

If he was divorced…

A fresh prickle of doubt and concern tickled her neck, and she sat straighter in the seat. “Was your divorce recent?”

“Hmm? No, it’s been a few years.” He furrowed his expressive black eyebrows again. “Why?”

“I just assumed…because of the baby…”

He grimaced and dragged a hand down his face. “Oh…right. I—”

Max heaved a tired sigh, mumbled something about weaving tangled webs, and stared out the windshield.

The suspicion prickling Laura’s neck bit harder with every minute of his silence. “Max, whose baby is—?”

“He’s my nephew.” The haunted, dark-eyed glance he sent her twisted inside her. “My sister’s in the hospital. She might…” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “She might die. She asked me to protect her son from the men who just shot at us.”

Laura narrowed her eyes warily. “You lied to me earlier. When you said you’re his father.”

“Well, in a way, I am. A father figure at least. His real dad’s out of the picture, and—”

“Semantics! You still misled me. You let me believe he was yours!”

Returning his attention to the road, he blew out a harsh puff of air. “I saw no reason to explain. As soon as we got to my house, you were supposed to take your car and leave. The end. Goodbye. No sticky explanations.”

“I knew something was fishy.” She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her mouth. “I’m still not convinced I should trust you.”

His head whipped toward her, and pain riddled his eyes for an instant before he hardened his expression and tensed his jaw. “Elmer is my nephew. And until Emily gets out of the hospital, I’m his guardian. His protector. That’s the plain and simple truth.”

“What about the message on your answering machine? That guy thinks the baby belongs with him.”

“Elmer’s mother wants me to have him. That’s all you need to know.” He held her gaze, his own challenging her to believe him, penetrating to her core and stirring a restlessness in her.

Protect the baby.

She twisted toward the backseat to check on the newborn again. Elmer. How could anyone have named a baby so sweet and innocent something as awkward as Elmer?

Turning back around, she leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. What should she do? Did she dare believe Max? He’d lied to her twice. So how did she trust him now?

Fatigue permeated her to the bone. She longed for the calm and seclusion of her apartment. Even the microwave dinner she’d planned for supper held a certain appeal at this point.

She had decisions to make, but exhaustion numbed her mind too much to think straight.

Her only certainty was she had to do what was best for Elmer. No matter what. Her day care training, her personal experience with foster homes demanded she find out where this baby really belonged, where he would be safe, where he would be loved.

A groan from the driver’s seat called her attention to the ruggedly handsome man behind the wheel. He winced and rolled his injured shoulder.

“You need a doctor.”

“Naw. I’m all right. It’s just stiff.”

“You should go to a hospital and let someone—”

“No! It’s not serious.” He set his jaw in a stubborn glower. “Besides, a doctor would have to report a gunshot wound to the police. I can’t get the police involved.”

Another uneasy prick jabbed her. “Why not? Those men shot at us!”

He hesitated, checked his mirrors again and sighed. “Long story. But…I have to keep the baby with me. The police might take him and—” He sent her a sharp look and shook his head. “Forget it. Just trust me on this, okay?”

She grunted, and he scowled.

“Well, someone needs to clean the wound before it gets infected, and I can’t do it.” She sighed. “Blood makes me sick.”

Taking one hand from the steering wheel, he peeled back his shirt to examine his wound. “It’s really only a scratch. I’ll live.” He paused. “But thanks for your concern.”

The smile he gave her shone from his eyes and warmed his face. His crooked grin removed the hard, worried edge that had darkened his face from the moment she’d met him.

But handsome as he was, his desire to avoid the police, even with the dangerous men after them, baffled her. Bothered her. If Elmer was in some kind of danger, why wouldn’t Max involve the police?

And if the baby was at risk, how could she justify walking away? The baby’s safety was her utmost concern. Max had admitted he wasn’t the baby’s real father, had said Elmer’s real father was “out of the picture”—whatever that meant. The facts of this scenario only seemed to get murkier, more confusing. It seemed the real truth was she was Elmer’s best chance of being returned to the right hands. She needed to take the baby to the police, let the authorities straighten out the question of custody. But how did she get the infant away from Max?

“There’s a little town up ahead.”

She faced Max when he spoke.

“I’m going to stop at a car rental agency there. I need you to go in and rent a car for me. I’ll give you the cash.”

“Me?”

He met her curious look. “I can’t very well go in with a bloody shoulder. I’d raise too much suspicion. Once I have a different car, you’ll be free to go home.”

“That’s it? You’re dismissing me?”

Her comment earned a confused scowl from Max. “You want to go home, right?”

The promise of home and freedom made her spirits jump for joy. But soon after, her sense of responsibility to the infant reared its head. Her stomach clenched.

Protect the baby.

“Well—”

“I’ll pay for repairing your car, if that’s the problem.”

“No, I…”

“What?”

The sinking sun cast deep shadows across his face. The blood on his shirt had dried, leaving a dark vermilion blotch on his blue knit shirt. Max’s handgun lay across his lap, ready for the next brush with death. The man’s appearance screamed danger. Violence. Trouble.

Yet a niggling sensation in her gut wouldn’t be quieted. She had to look out for the innocent baby she’d cradled in her arms. No one had given her the job. Only her conscience, her love for children, her personal experience with being lost in the foster system prodded her to accept the position as the baby’s guardian. Along with her certainty that things with Max Caldwell weren’t what they seemed.

Protect the baby.

She’d worry about getting away from Max and sorting through the facts later. Right now, baby Elmer needed her. Spurred by her determination to assure the baby’s safety, she made her decision and wouldn’t look back.

“I’m not going home. I’m staying with you.”

Chapter 4

“What do you mean, you’re staying?” Max couldn’t deny the surge of relief, the flare of hope that raced through him. He desperately wanted the help with Elmer this woman offered. Her concern for the baby, her sense of humor and her sexy smiles took the edge off a bad situation.

But his reaction to her only made it harder to do what he must—change her mind.

He didn’t want the responsibility of one more life hanging in the balance. He had no real idea what extremes the Rialtos might try to get Elmer back. He imagined the raid on his house only scratched the surface. As long as this woman stayed with him, her life was at risk. Involving her had been a desperate and foolish thing to do. He knew that now.

The woman lifted her chin, squared her shoulders. “I won’t leave Elmer. You obviously have no experience with infants.”

Max pulled into the parking lot of a discount department store in rural Mississippi and cut the car’s engine. “I can’t allow you to stay and put yourself in harm’s way. The sooner you go, the better.”

When the blonde turned, kneeling in her seat to reach for the baby, Max had an up close and personal view of the woman’s shapely fanny—the kind he’d have loved to sink his fingers into during rowdy sex. Under other circumstances.

Max gritted his teeth and averted his gaze. He had no business thinking of her in those terms, no business thinking of anything except keeping his nephew safe.

She unfastened Elmer from the baby carrier and gingerly lifted him into her arms. Cuddling his nephew close to her chest, she twisted and slid back into her seat. “You don’t even know what formula to buy. How could I possibly leave—”

“We’ll be just fine. I know I’ve given you a bad impression of my abilities so far—” He leaned over to take Elmer from her, and she drew back from his reach. “But I can handle things. Let me have him.”

She arched a delicate eyebrow. “No. I’m staying until I’m sure the baby will be all right.”

“That could be a while. Don’t you have a job waiting for you in the morning? A boyfriend who’ll be worried about you?”

“I’ve earned the time off. All I have to do is call the day care director and tell her I need some personal days.”

She ignored his question about the boyfriend, he noticed. Interesting.

“Just the same—” Again he reached for the baby. “I can’t ask you to—”

She turned her back, refusing to give Elmer up. Sighing, Max raised his hand to rake his hair. The motion sent a sharp ache through his shoulder. He winced, moaned.

“See! You’re in no condition to take care of him.”

The self-satisfied look on the woman’s face should have annoyed him. Instead, he found the whole impossible situation so absurdly impossible, so unbelievably ironic that he huffed a short laugh.

The woman stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had. He was actually thinking of letting her stay, despite everything wrong with that idea.

He slapped the steering wheel in frustration, and the loud noise woke Elmer. The baby wrinkled his face and sent up a wail to wake the dead.

“Now look what you did!” she fussed.

Elmer’s complaints grew steadily in volume and verve. Max really hadn’t the foggiest idea what to do with the screaming baby or how to calm him.

He pinched the bridge of his nose then regarded her with a steady gaze. “You understand, don’t you, that if you stay, you’ll be putting yourself in danger? Those guys that shot up my house won’t just give up and go home. They’re looking for us even as we speak.”

She drew her shoulders back, seemed to consider his warning for a moment, then gave a quick nod.

“I’ll do my best to keep you and the baby safe,” he assured her. “But in the end, the baby is my first priority. Got that, lady?”

“Laura.”

“What?”

“My name is Laura…Dalton. I figure if I’m staying, you can’t keep calling me lady. And for the record, the baby’s welfare is my main concern, too. It’s the only thing keeping me here.”

Her bright turquoise eyes cut through him like lasers. Her scrutiny left him feeling strangely vulnerable, as if she could see through his pretenses, saw through to his soul, knew his past failures and his deepest secrets.

Yet he also sensed that with Laura, and with Emily’s son, he’d been offered a gift. A chance at redemption.

“All right, Laura, you can stay. For now.” He reached for Elmer once more, and despite her grunted protest, he took his nephew from her. Throwing the baby’s blanket over his shoulder to hide his bloody wound, he opened the driver’s door. “The first thing we need to do is buy supplies for the baby. And I need to get a change of clothes. I suggest you do the same.”

Max tucked the Glock in his waistband, covered it with his shirt. “Don’t wander off. If you’re staying with me, then you’re staying with me. Where I can protect you. I’m not letting you or Elmer out of my sight. Got it?”

Without waiting for her to answer, he climbed from the car. They may have escaped the Rialtos this time, but he knew Emily’s in-laws were hunting them even now. He had to be ready for trouble.

When they returned to the car, Laura changed Elmer’s diaper on the backseat while Max loaded their purchases into the trunk. He paused several times to scan the parking lot, a wary itch tickling his neck. He felt exposed, jumpy. The Rialtos’ henchmen could be anywhere.

They needed distance. The farther and faster they traveled that night the better.

He paced to the backseat where Laura had fixed Elmer a bottle of ready-made formula. “We gotta get moving. Can you feed him while I drive?”

Laura glanced up then nervously scanned the parking lot. “Did you see those men?”

“No, but the point is to stay well ahead of them. We’re too vulnerable sitting here.”

Laura’s eyes darkened, and she nodded tightly. “Let’s go then. I’ll ride back here so I can hold his bottle.”

As they pulled back onto the Mississippi highway, Max removed the Glock from his jeans and set it on the front seat next to him. “I think we’ll head to North Carolina tomorrow.”

“Why North Carolina?”

“I have a friend with a hunting cabin up in the Smokies. We usually make a trip sometime in the fall, but his wife just had surgery, so we’d canceled our trip this year. His cabin would be a good place to lay low for a while. For tonight, we’ll find a motel somewhere off the beaten path. Get some rest. Regroup.”

Laura didn’t answer.

Max glanced in the rearview mirror, checking that no suspicious cars had followed them out of the parking lot, but his gaze drifted to the woman in the backseat. Her hair shone like spun gold as the sinking sun cast a warm glow across the horizon. With effort, he pushed down the desire to feel her golden hair against his skin and trained his thoughts on planning his next move.

“Elmer’s going to need to be fed every couple of hours throughout the night,” she said evenly. “It’d be easier if I keep him in my room at the motel.”

Max snapped out of his pensive thoughts when her words sank in. “Like hell! That baby—”

“Stop cussing! The baby doesn’t need to hear that kind of language.”

“Wha—? He doesn’t understand what I’m saying!”

“Yet. It’s never too soon to break a bad habit.”

“All right, all right, fine.” He raised a hand in concession. “I’ll watch my language, but there’s no way you’re taking the baby out of my sight.”

She grunted. “He’ll keep you awake all night. You don’t know how to feed him or…”

“Maybe so. But rule number one is, the baby stays with me. If you want to help with him, you’ll have to bunk in with us.” Cocking an eyebrow, he sent her a narrow-eyed look in the rearview mirror, daring her to challenge him on the point.

Her shoulders drooped, and her face fell. “Fine.”

Rather than feeling he’d won this battle of wills, Max shifted in his seat, uneasy with the arrangement he’d cornered her into. The idea of sharing a motel room with the beautiful blonde made his blood thick, hot.

They were well into rural Mississippi before he stopped at a tiny gas station to refuel the car. Turning toward the silent backseat, he discovered Laura had fallen asleep sometime after Elmer had. He let her sleep as he paid for and pumped the gas.

Through the back window, he watched Laura sleep, her cheek pillowed on her hands. Her smooth skin rivaled Elmer’s, looked as silky-soft as the baby’s, and he longed to stroke her face, brush his thumb along her lips. His groin tightened, and he shook off the sensual thoughts. He needed to stay focused.

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