Sawyer

“Maybe because he didn’t want to split the ransom money with her. It happens all the time. Despite the cliché, there’s not much honor among thieves.”

He was right, and the kidnapper could now be a killer. A killer who had her brother.

Even though it wasn’t cold, she was soaking wet, and Cassidy began to shiver. Sawyer noticed, turned on the heat, and he sped up the wipers, too. It didn’t help much. The rain was coming down even harder now, and the wipers couldn’t keep up with the downpour.

“This is destroying the crime scene, isn’t it?” Cassidy asked.

He lifted his shoulder, kept his gaze pinned to the road. “Grayson’s a good sheriff. If there’s anything to find, he’ll find it.”

She thought about that a moment, trying to piece together this puzzle. “They held Bennie and me in your grandfather’s bar. Why? Why would they believe you and I have a connection?”

Another lift of his shoulder, but that wasn’t a casual response she saw in his eyes. No way. He was troubled by all of this—especially about the baby that she’d photographed in his arms.

Why would the kidnappers have wanted that?

She was about to ask him, but his phone buzzed, and she saw Grayson’s name on the screen. Cassidy held her breath, waiting and praying again that this wasn’t bad news about her brother.

“The dead woman had a wallet in her pants pocket,” she heard Grayson say. Since the call wasn’t on speaker, she scooted closer to Sawyer so she could listen to every word. “According to her driver’s license, her name is April Warrick.”

Cassidy repeated it, hoping it would spark some kind of recognition. It didn’t.

“I’m having someone run a background on her now,” the sheriff added.

“Good, we’re almost at the hospital. After Cassidy sees the doctor, I can help get all of this sorted out. What about the baby?” Sawyer asked. “Any calls about her? Is she okay?”

“She’s still with Mason at the E.R.—where you told him to take her. He says the baby’s fine, that he’s just waiting on the paperwork.”

That was something at least. Cassidy hated the thought of an innocent baby being put in the middle of this mess.

“I told Mason to have the doctors do blood and DNA tests on the baby,” Sawyer added.

Grayson stayed quiet a moment. “You want the DNA compared to yours?”

“Yeah.” Sawyer paused, too. “And if I’m not a match, then I’ll run it through the system to see if we can find out who is.”

She wasn’t sure what to hope for. At least if the child were Sawyer’s, then she would have him to protect her.

“Any sign of Bennie?” Cassidy asked. She moved even closer to Sawyer, until they were shoulder to shoulder. He noticed, glanced down at the contact between them and scowled. But Cassidy stayed put.

“Nothing yet,” Grayson answered, and with that, Sawyer did hang up. Another glance at her had Cassidy moving back to her side of the seat.

“You still haven’t forgiven me,” she mumbled. No surprise there. Sawyer wasn’t ever likely to forgive her.

“What do you think?” he mumbled back.

His voice was a growl, and it should have unnerved her. Along with that steely glare he was giving her. But sadly, even now, her reaction to Sawyer was a different kind of unnerving.

The images of them naked in bed flashed through her mind. Memorable images. But with bad timing. Then and now. She had been his one-night stand.

His decision, not hers.

She’d known him for months before that one-nighter. Months of lusting after him. And when Cassidy had finally run into him at a party, they’d left together to go back to his place for that one glorious night.

“I was attracted to you,” she reminded him. Still was. “That’s why I slept with you, not so I could get information about the investigation you were conducting on my brother.”

“Right,” he grumbled. “But it was a nice perk that you got that information.”

Cassidy swallowed hard. “Only by accident, because I overheard your phone conversation with your boss.”

“Worked in your favor, didn’t it.” Not a question. He spoke it as gospel.

And it was something she couldn’t argue with.

She had alerted her brother about the investigation into his possible involvement with money laundering. Not intentionally but only because she’d questioned Bennie about it. She hadn’t wanted to believe he was involved in something so awful. However, Sawyer was certain that Bennie had used that info to cover his tracks so he couldn’t be arrested.

Maybe he had.

But when she’d slept with Sawyer, she certainly hadn’t known that was going to happen. An investigation had been the last thing on her mind.

Sawyer pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, and he made more of those glances around before he got out and ushered her inside and to the E.R. The first sound she heard was a baby crying, and they followed that sound to an examining room, where she spotted a dark-haired man holding the baby.

Cassidy actually dropped back a step. This guy had a deputy’s badge clipped to his belt, but with his desperado stubble and hard eyes, he looked more outlaw than lawman.

“Hope you have better luck with her than I have,” the man said over the baby’s cries. “She won’t hush. Won’t take her bottle, either.” And he eased the baby into Sawyer’s arms.

Despite everything that had just happened, Sawyer looked amused. Well, for a split second he did.

“Your wife’s due any day now,” Sawyer said to the man. “Better get used to it.”

The deputy grumbled something Cassidy didn’t catch and put the baby’s bottle on the table next to Sawyer.

“This is Mason, my cousin,” Sawyer told her. “And this is Cassidy O’Neal.”

Mason made a sound deep in his throat that she figured was disapproval. It was possible Sawyer had spilled all about their brief affair, and even if he hadn’t, she was sure her reputation preceded her. Most people thought she was a spoiled heiress. She was rich but worked plenty hard to manage the real estate investment business that her late parents had left her and her brother.

With his attention on the baby, Sawyer dropped into the chair and studied the baby’s face. No doubt trying to decide if she was his. At least the baby stopped crying, and she looked up at Sawyer, examining him with the same intensity with which he was examining her.

“She’s what...about a week or two old?” Sawyer asked no one in particular. “Any reports of a missing newborn?”

Mason shook his head. “None in this area. There was a newborn boy taken in San Antonio, but that was a custody dispute.” He checked the time. “I’ll see what’s keeping Dr. Michelson. He said he’ll examine Cassidy, but if she’s hurt, you’re to take her over to one of the E.R. docs right away,” he added.

“I’m not hurt,” she insisted.

“Then I’ll let the doc know that,” Mason answered. “Right now, he’s dealing with Social Services. They’re supposed to come and get the baby.”

Sawyer’s head whipped up, as if he might challenge that, but he didn’t. Cassidy thought she might challenge it, too. She’d been in the Social Services system briefly when her parents died, but she had been sixteen. And could fend for herself. Plus, a huge inheritance had helped pave the way to her emancipation, but it cut her to the core to realize this baby could be handed over to strangers while the truth was sorted out.

And speaking of sorting, Sawyer looked to be doing just that. He took out his phone and scrolled through the numbers. Since that wasn’t easy to do with the baby in his arms, Cassidy took the child, easing her into the crook of her arm. It didn’t exactly feel natural since she didn’t have much experience with babies, but it didn’t feel wrong, either.

Not the best time for her biological clock to start ticking.

Sawyer clicked on one of the numbers, waited. “Laurie,” he said when the woman obviously answered.

Cassidy felt an emotion of a different kind. A punch of jealousy, and she would have laughed at herself for feeling it, but laughter at this point would no doubt make Sawyer think she was insane. Maybe she was, for still feeling attracted to a man who clearly hated her.

“Yeah, I’d like to catch up, too,” he added a moment later, “but maybe some other time.” Sawyer paused, his forehead bunching up. “Uh, did you recently have a baby?”

Unlike in the truck, Cassidy couldn’t hear what the woman said, but judging from Sawyer’s reaction it wasn’t good. “Sorry to have bothered you,” he added a moment later and ended the call.

“Well?” Cassidy asked when he didn’t say anything to her.

However, all she got from Sawyer was another shoulder lift. “It’s not Laurie’s baby.”

Which meant it wasn’t Sawyer’s.

“Then, who is she?” Cassidy looked down at the baby. So precious and little. She touched her finger to the baby’s hand, and the little girl grabbed on to it. “And why hasn’t someone reported her missing?”

“I don’t know, but if she were mine,” he said under his breath, “I’d definitely be missing her.”

She had to do a mental double take at that. Sawyer was the ultimate bad boy, the reason she’d been attracted to him in the first place. But this was a side of him that she’d never seen, and he suddenly looked uncomfortable that he’d let her get a glimpse of it.

“Is there anyone else that you could have gotten pregnant?” she came out and asked.

“Other than Laurie or you,” he said, stating the obvious. “There’s one other woman. I barely knew her. It was a hookup-at-a-party kind of thing. I’m not sure how to get in touch with her.”

“With your FBI resources, you should—” But she stopped. Rethought that. “You don’t remember her name.”

Sawyer scrubbed his hand over his face. “No. But I doubt she remembers mine, either. And if you think I’m proud of that, I’m not.”

He stood, as if ready to take the baby from her, but then they heard footsteps. Clearly, they were both still on edge because Sawyer stepped protectively in front of her and the baby. But it wasn’t a threat.

Well, not a real one anyway.

It was Mason.

“Just got off the phone with Gage,” he said.

“Did they find Bennie?” Cassidy immediately asked.

Mason shook his head. “They’re still looking. The doc’s still working on the papers for Social Services, and then he’ll examine you.” Mason turned his attention to Sawyer. “But Gage found out the dead woman, April Warrick, was a con artist with a mile-long rap sheet.”

“Any kidnapping charges on it?” Sawyer wanted to know.

“None.” Mason shifted his attention to the baby. “But April gave birth about ten days ago. She had a girl. We don’t know much more than that, but she was a criminal informant for the San Antonio P.D. Nate’s looking into it now and should be calling you any minute.”

“Nate and Gage are Mason’s brothers,” Sawyer explained to her, but she could tell his mind was on other things.

Mason reached for the baby. “Why don’t I go ahead and take her to the hospital nursery. It could take a while for Social Services to get here.”

“No,” Cassidy jumped to say. It was crazy, but she wanted to keep the baby with her as long as possible.

Mason looked at Sawyer, obviously waiting for his say in the matter, and Sawyer finally nodded. “After the doc’s checked out Cassidy, I’ll bring the baby to the nursery and then head to the sheriff’s office so we can write our reports.”

Mason didn’t question that, though it probably did seem strange to him. He made a sound that could have meant anything and strolled away.

“You can’t keep her, you know,” Sawyer said, standing. He went to her, looking down at the baby, and he touched the little girl’s cheek with this finger.

The corner of the baby’s mouth lifted as if she was smiling.

And that caused Cassidy to smile, too. Well, for a few seconds anyway, and then reality hit her.

“If April was her mother, then her next of kin is her father.” She hated to say it aloud, but she figured Sawyer was thinking it, too. “What if her father’s the other kidnapper?”

“It’s possible,” Sawyer readily admitted. “That’s why we need to catch him and then get the results from the DNA and blood tests. We might be able to exclude him on the blood test alone.”

Yes, but it wouldn’t solve her other problem of finding Bennie. If the kidnapper had murdered his own lover, the mother of his child, and used that child in some kind of kidnapping scheme, then she wanted her brother far away from this monster.

Sawyer’s phone buzzed, and because he was so close to her, she saw the name on the phone screen.

Nate Ryland.

His cousin and the cop from SAPD that Mason had mentioned. Sawyer stepped away from her, but he did put the call on speaker.

“Mason said you wanted some info on April Warrick,” Nate started. “Well, that’s her body you found in Silver Creek. Grayson sent me a photo, and I was able to confirm it with Doug Franklin, the detective who used her as a criminal informant.”

Cassidy was glad the baby was too young to understand the news they’d just gotten.

“Did April really have a baby?” Sawyer asked.

“Yeah. A girl, but I can’t confirm if it’s the baby that the kidnappers had. Still working on that. But we do have a lead. Doug said last year April was involved with a real hothead. A guy named Willy Malloy.”

Sawyer took a notepad from his pocket and wrote down the name. “I want to talk to him.”

“Figured you would. I’ll track him down and get him out to Silver Creek so Grayson and you can question him.” Nate paused. “There’s someone else you’ll want to talk to. A couple of months ago, April was ordered to see a court-appointed therapist, Dr. Diane Blackwell. She’s already called here looking for April, and I told her to get in touch with you.”

A therapist could definitely give them some info. If she’d talk, that is. Cassidy hoped she didn’t play the client-confidentiality card, especially now that her client was dead.

“There’s more,” Nate said a moment later. “Doug said April hadn’t mentioned Willy in months, that she’d been seeing some rich guy, and that April was worried that the guy might be up to no good.”

“You got a name?” Sawyer asked.

“Yeah. It’s a name you’re not going to like. Doug said it was Bennie O’Neal.”

Cassidy wasn’t able to bite back her gasp. No. This couldn’t be happening. But Sawyer only tossed her an I-told-you-so look.

“The detective said if you want to find April’s killer,” Nate added, “then start with Bennie—that judging from the way April talked bad about him, he’s the one who probably murdered her.”

Chapter Five

Sawyer finished up the call with his brother, Josh, and gave him both an apology for having to leave the reception early and well-wishes since Josh was about to leave on his honeymoon with his new bride. Even though Josh had asked about the kidnapping, Sawyer kept the details brief. No need to trouble his brother with a case that didn’t make sense anyway.

When he ended the call, he glanced up to check on Cassidy. Sawyer had no idea what to do about her. Obviously waiting, she was pacing the hall of the Silver Creek sheriff’s office. The trouble was, it might be a long time before they heard anything from the kidnappers.

If there were indeed kidnappers.

It was possible this was all some kind of elaborate scheme concocted by Bennie to get his sister’s money under the guise of a ransom. That part of the twisted plan actually made sense, but not much else did.

Like why had April been murdered?

And why had the kidnappers demanded a photo of Sawyer holding a stranger’s baby? A baby who may or may not belong to April.

One thing was certain—the little girl wasn’t Laurie’s and his. Sawyer wanted to be relieved about that, but there was a flip side to this coin. At least if he was her father, he could have decided her fate. He could have made sure she was in a good place where she’d be safe—with him. As it was now, the baby would become a ward of the state, and that was, sadly, a best-case scenario.

There was a birth father out there. And judging from April’s rap sheet, that father might be scum.

Either her ex-boyfriend Willy Malloy.

Or Bennie.

Sawyer didn’t want either man to have a claim on the newborn and didn’t want the baby to be placed in their care. Of course, he might not have to worry about that if it turned out that April wasn’t the baby’s mother. And if she wasn’t, he really needed to remember the name of the woman he’d met at the bar.

Because if that woman was the mother, then it meant the baby could possibly be his after all since they’d had a one-night stand.

Yeah, this was a tangled mess, all right.

Cassidy paced by the office door again, and Sawyer saw her check the clock on the wall next to the sheriff’s desk. It was going on 6:00 p.m.

“The kidnappers should have called by now,” she grumbled. “Maybe I should check and make sure the calls to my house are routed here.”

“If a call comes in there, you’ll get it here,” he assured her.

He’d made the arrangements for that himself. Ditto for getting her a replacement cell phone with the same number, and he’d had it delivered to the office so the kidnappers could contact her. She had a death grip on the phone now, and other than some emails having to do with her family business, there had been no communication from anyone.

Especially not from Bennie.

She huffed, pushed her hair from her face. “Maybe I should just go home and wait for the call.”

He gave her a flat look to let her know that wasn’t going to happen. Not without him anyway. “Should I remind you one more time that you were kidnapped, too? Those thugs might try to take you again, and the safest place you can be is here with me.”

Sawyer hoped that was true anyway.

He didn’t have time to add to his argument because his phone rang, and he saw Mason’s name on the screen.

“There’s been a snafu with Social Services,” Mason said, “and they want to know if we can keep the baby overnight. It’s either that, or she can be admitted to the hospital.”

Even though Cassidy probably couldn’t have heard what he said, she was studying Sawyer’s face and obviously saw the concern in his expression.

“No hospital,” Sawyer insisted. “Go ahead and take the baby to the ranch. Cassidy and I will be there soon to pick her up and take her to my place.”

He ended the call, knowing that she’d want an explanation about several things. “It’s either the hospital or my house for the baby,” he said. “I figured she’s already been through enough. And besides, there are plenty of us at the ranch to help take care of her.”

“Including me?” Cassidy asked with a boatload of skepticism.

And here was the part she was not going to like. Heck, Sawyer didn’t like it much, either. “You need to be in protective custody. So does the baby. Because the kidnappers could come after either of you again.”

Cassidy’s mouth trembled a little. Not enough to stop her from arguing though. “But your family’s ranch? I won’t be welcome there.”

“You won’t be turned away. Besides, there’s a lot of baby stuff already out there.”

In addition, there were plenty of ranch hands who could provide extra security. To get that kind of security at the hospital, he’d have to tie up several of Grayson’s deputies. They were already busy enough with a murder investigation, the kidnappings and the search for Bennie.

“We’d be in the same house with all your cousins?” Cassidy asked, nibbling on her lip.

“No. There are a lot of houses on the grounds. Including mine. It’s on the back part of the property. It used to be my parents’ house before their divorce.”

Definitely a no-frills kind of place, but it suited Sawyer, and it would have to suit Cassidy, too, since he wasn’t giving her another option.

She still didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t have time to continue the argument. The bell on the front door jangled, and Sawyer pulled Cassidy into the office just in case there was a problem.

And there might be.

The man who stepped into the sheriff’s office had trouble written all over him. From his greasy black hair, prison tattoos on his neck and dingy gray muscle shirt.

“I’m Willy Malloy,” he told the woman at the reception desk, who was Deputy Bree Ryland—his cousin’s wife. And as she stood, she slid her hand over the butt of her gun.

If Willy was intimidated by that, he didn’t show it. The man’s gaze landed on Sawyer. “Are you Agent Ryland?”

Sawyer nodded and gave him back the badass stare that the man was giving him. “Wait here,” he told Cassidy, and Sawyer walked a few steps closer to the man.

“You gonna pay me back for gas?” Willy asked, propping his hands on his bony hips. “Because it was a long drive all the way out here, and I’m not made of money.”

“Didn’t figure you’d mind the drive since this visit is about April, your ex.”

Judging from the surprised look in his eyes, that got Willy’s attention. “She’s not my ex. She’s still my girlfriend, and I’ve been looking for her for months now. You know where she is?”

Oh, man.

Willy hadn’t heard about the murder, or else he was pretending not to have heard. In case it wasn’t an act, Sawyer decided to do this fast and hard.

“April’s dead. Did you kill her?” Sawyer asked, and he studied Willy’s body language and expression.

Sawyer expected the man to curse or howl his innocence, but he just stood there, his mouth open, staring at Sawyer. “Is this some kind of bad joke?”

“No. Someone murdered her earlier today. Was it you?”

Willy put his hands on each side of his head, and blowing out some loud breaths, he practically fell back against the wall. “Murdered,” he repeated. “Who the hell did that to her?”

“I asked you first,” Sawyer fired back.

“Well, it sure as heck wasn’t me. I love her. I wouldn’t have killed her.”

Sawyer looked down at the notes he’d been reading. “According to your rap sheet, you were arrested for assaulting her not once but twice. Doesn’t sound like love to me.”

“I slapped her around, yeah. And she deserved it. That woman’s got a smart mouth on her.” Willy stopped, shook his head. “Had a smart mouth,” he corrected, groaning. “She sure as heck didn’t deserve to die. How’d it happen? How was she killed?”

“We’re still trying to determine that.” It was a lie. She’d been shot point-blank in the head, but Sawyer kept that detail to himself. Best not to give a suspect too much information because Willy could use it to concoct an alibi.

Despite his warning, Cassidy stepped into the hall. “My brother’s Bennie O’Neal. Do you have any idea where he is?”

Willy’s eyes instantly narrowed. “Bennie O’Neal,” he repeated like profanity. “He’s the no-good louse that April was cheating on me with. I warned both of them that it wouldn’t be a pretty sight if they kept it up.”

“So you threatened them,” Sawyer concluded. He was detecting a pattern here, and he got in front of Cassidy to stop her from moving closer to the man.

No more narrowed eyes. Willy no doubt realized that wasn’t the right thing to say to a lawman, especially since he was now a murder suspect. “I got a right to protect what’s mine, and April was mine.”

Sawyer doubted that, and he asked a necessary question he didn’t really want to ask this thug. “What about the baby?”

Willy’s mouth tightened. “What about it?”

“You did know that April was pregnant?” Sawyer prompted when Willy didn’t add more.

“I knew.” And that’s all he said for several moments. “April said the kid was mine. Wouldn’t believe her without one of those paternity tests. April’s not real good on telling the truth. So, she said she’d do the test they do on unborn babies. But if she had it done, she never showed me the results. Probably because the kid wasn’t mine.”

Or maybe because April hadn’t wanted Willy in her and the baby’s life.

Sawyer tipped his head to Bree and then the supply cabinet. “We’ll need to verify what April didn’t tell him.” And he didn’t especially want to leave Cassidy alone with this piece of work while that happened.