The Lawmen of Silver Creek Ranch

Chapter Five

Lucas didn’t know who looked more shocked by the accusation that the wounded gunman had just made. He or Hailey.

“I didn’t,” she said, her gaze firing between Mason and him. “I only left the hospital a couple of hours ago.”

Mason didn’t seem convinced. “You were conscious for a week. You could have called someone and set this whole thing up.”

The anger flared through Hailey’s eyes, and she opened her mouth as if ready to return verbal fire, but she was obviously spent. Heck, so was Lucas, and while part of him hated to defend the woman who’d tried to run from him, he couldn’t see how this would have played out.

“There was no phone in her hospital room,” Lucas explained. “And yes, she could have borrowed one from someone on the staff, but that kind of thing doesn’t stay a secret very long.”

Lucas could have gone on and mentioned the part about Hailey not having touched her bank accounts since she’d been in the coma, and it wasn’t as if she’d had wads of cash lying around the hospital to pay someone to carry through on something like this.

Even Lucas’s own explanation didn’t seem to convince Mason. “You trust her, then?” Mason asked.

“No,” Lucas readily admitted. “But if Hailey intended to take the baby, she wouldn’t have done it this way.”

At least, he hoped like the devil that she wouldn’t. The baby and other members of his family could have been hurt by the thug who’d trespassed onto the ranch.

“Thank you,” Hailey said to him.

For some reason, that riled Lucas. Maybe because he didn’t want to do anything for her that would cause her to say something like that.

“So, who did hire the lying sack of dirt?” Mason asked.

Hailey shook her head, but it was clear from the way she was looking around that her attention was elsewhere. She obviously wanted to see the baby, and Lucas tried to remind himself that if their positions were reversed, he would have wanted the same thing.

Of course, their positions would never be reversed because he would have never gone on the run from the law.

“I’ll question Hailey’s sister, Colleen, and Eric DeSalvo in the morning.” Lucas tipped his head to the hall that led to the bedrooms. “Is Tillie in the nursery?”

Mason lowered his phone and nodded. Even though he didn’t voice his disapproval as to what was about to happen, it was on his face. “I’ll wait here until I get the all-clear from Sawyer.”

Lucas thanked him and made a mental note to thank all the others who’d pulled together to keep Camden safe. For now, though, he had to focus on getting through this. And this was having Hailey see the baby.

From the moment Camden had been born, Lucas had known it might come down to this. But as every day had passed with Hailey in a coma, he’d also considered that she might never wake up. That she might never have a claim on their child. Now, here she was, and Lucas was having to face one of his worst fears.

That he might lose his son.

Not to a kidnapper, either. But to Hailey. She wouldn’t be able to get full custody of Camden. No way would Lucas allow that, but she would be entitled to visitation rights. Considering she was in WITSEC, that was going to be tricky. And not very safe for any of them.

Moving ahead of her, Lucas led her down the hall. She caught onto the side of the wall to steady herself, and she was probably moving as fast as she could go.

When they reached the nursery, Lucas stepped in, his gaze immediately connecting with the nanny’s. There was just as much concern in Tillie’s expression as there had been in Mason’s. But she stepped aside so that Lucas—and Hailey—had the crib in their direct line of sight.

Where Camden was sleeping.

“I’ll be in the living room if you need me,” Tillie said, but her offer seemed to be a question, as if maybe he wanted her to stay.

Lucas nodded, giving her the go-ahead to leave, but Hailey didn’t wait for Tillie to be out the door before she hobbled her way to the crib. The sound that left her mouth crushed at his heart. Part moan, part sigh.

All love.

It was a sound and a look that Lucas felt all too well because he got that same punch of emotion every time he was near his son. And even when he wasn’t.

“He’s so beautiful,” Hailey whispered, touching her fingers to the wispy strands of dark brown hair.

Lucas had to agree with her, but he was certain that was the reaction of most parents. Certain, too, that Hailey would want to do more than just touch his hair. She looked back at him, as if waiting for permission. She didn’t wait long, though, before she scooped Camden up in her arms.

She made that sound again and kissed his cheek. Even though Camden stirred a little, he went right back to sleep. Good. Even though his son was too young to know what was going on, Lucas didn’t want to risk Camden being upset by having his sleep interrupted. He also didn’t want to risk Hailey falling with the child, and since her legs were obviously still wobbly, he helped her to the nearby chair.

“Is he healthy?” she asked.

“Yeah.” It was hard for him to talk about something so—well—normal. “He’s right on target for his height, weight and milestones.”

She nodded and looked up at him, and that’s when he saw the tears in her eyes. “I was so scared that he’d been hurt in the accident.”

“He could have been,” Lucas quickly pointed out, but then instantly regretted the jab. It was the truth, but stating the obvious didn’t make him feel any better.

“I know. I’m so sorry. When I ran, my only thought was to keep him safe.”

Lucas nearly went for another jab by reminding her that the safe thing to do would have been to come to him, but that ship had already sailed. They were here now and had to deal with this. Not just the danger, either. But all those old feelings.

He’d been attracted to her once and vice versa. That’s what had landed them in bed in the first place. And while there were still some lingering traces of the attraction, it wouldn’t play into this. He hoped the bitterness he felt over what’d happened wouldn’t, either. Right now, bitterness wouldn’t help.

He was about to question her more about the night of the accident, to see if she remembered any details that would help them find out who was responsible for the attacks, but Hailey spoke before he did.

“Tell me about the delivery,” she said.

Lucas paused, not because he intended to hold anything back, but because remembering that night still felt like a punch to the gut.

“I was scared,” he admitted. “We didn’t know if there’d been trauma to the baby, and since you were so close to your due date, the docs did a C-section on you. But everything turned out okay. Everything except that you were in a coma,” Lucas added.

She, too, paused. Then nodded. “I’ve heard that some people remember and hear things while they’re in comas. I didn’t.” She brushed another kiss on Camden’s cheek. “I wish I could remember seeing him as a newborn. He’s already so big.”

Camden was, but while Hailey had indeed missed a lot, the baby wasn’t old enough to have noticed that his mom hadn’t been around.

Hailey looked up at Lucas again, those tears still shimmering in her eyes. “I know this is hard for you. You haven’t had to share him with anyone for the past three months.”

Lucas wasn’t sure how to respond to that and didn’t get a chance to say anything anyway, because Mason appeared in the doorway. One look at his cousin’s face and Lucas knew something else had gone wrong. Apparently so did Hailey, because she slowly got to her feet, her attention nailed to Mason.

“The gunman died on the way to the hospital,” Mason said.

Hell. Lucas had wanted him alive so they could get answers. But maybe they could still do that. “Did he have a phone on him? Maybe his boss’s number is in his contacts?”

Mason nodded. “Grayson will check for that, but there’s more.” He paused. “The ranch hands did a thorough search of the fence line in that back part of the ranch, and it appears the dead thug didn’t come alone. There were enough tracks back there for three people.”

Lucas bit back the profanity that he nearly blurted out, something he’d been training himself to do now that he was a father. Still, it was hard not to curse about that. “Any other signs of the men?”

“No. They’re apparently gone. For now, anyway.”

That didn’t mean they wouldn’t be back. Maybe even tonight, since the darkness would give them an advantage for an attack.

“I’ve got men patrolling the entire ranch,” Mason went on. “I also called everyone and told them to lock down and stay inside.”

By “everyone” he meant his brothers and their cousins. No one would be leaving and coming onto the ranch unless Mason gave the okay. Which he wouldn’t do until he was certain it was safe. And Lucas knew what that meant.

This time he wasn’t able to stop himself from cursing.

Because it meant Hailey would have to stay there.

Of course, he probably wouldn’t have been able to talk her into budging since she’d want to be near the baby, but Lucas had planned on having her sleep far away from the Silver Creek Ranch. Far away from Camden, too.

“I’m so sorry,” Hailey whispered. Maybe she was apologizing again for the danger. But one look in her eyes and Lucas knew the reason for this “I’m sorry.” She had also figured out what the sleeping arrangements would be.

“You can stay in the guest room,” Lucas growled. It was at the end of the hall, as far away as he could get her while still having her under the same roof.

Hailey mumbled a thanks, and while Lucas thought part of her looked relieved, that was still fear he saw in her eyes. Worry, too. Especially worry when she looked at Mason again. His cousin wasn’t budging. Mason continued to stand there, his hands bracketed on the doorjamb.

“What else happened?” Hailey asked Mason. Her voice was shaky again, probably because she knew they were about to get another dose of bad news.

“Grayson tried to get in touch with Colleen, so he could bring her in for questioning.” Mason paused again. “But there’s a problem. Colleen is missing.”

* * *

HAILEY HOPED THIS medical exam wasn’t a mistake.

She wasn’t certain about the ER physician, Dr. Parton, but Lucas had assured her that Parton wasn’t the one who’d planted that bug in her hospital room, that the doctor was trustworthy. So, that’s what Hailey was going to do—trust him. Besides, she needed to make sure she was okay. Not just for her sake but to soothe some of the concern on Lucas’s face.

Of course, she had plenty of her own concerns, too.

There were so many things for her to worry about, and that’s what she’d done through the night and now the morning. The constant threat of an attack. Her missing sister. The obvious tension between Lucas and her. Between her and his family, too.

But it was hard for Hailey to focus solely on all of that when she was looking at her son’s face while Lucas was holding him.

For the entire time she’d carried him, she had considered how he might look. Considered as well the love she would feel for him, but she’d way underestimated that love. She couldn’t believe how deep it was for this child, and even though it crushed her heart, she knew that same feeling of love was the very reason that Lucas would do everything to hang on to his child.

Everything, including attempts to exclude her.

Those attempts wouldn’t work, of course. Or maybe they wouldn’t. If they couldn’t stop the threat of another attack, then she might have no choice but to disappear. She’d do that if it meant keeping Camden safe.

She’d started that process by using Lucas’s laptop and putting in her password for the storage cloud for the files she’d gathered on Eric DeSalvo. It’d be a few more hours before she could open them, but once Lucas had a chance to go over them, maybe he could find something he could use to arrest Eric. It might not put an end to the attacks, but at least it would get him off the streets for a while.

“Follow the light with your eyes,” Dr. Parton instructed her.

Hailey did, though it meant taking her attention off her son. And Lucas. Lucas was feeding the baby his bottle while he had his phone sandwiched between his shoulder and his ear. She wasn’t sure who was on the other end of the phone line this time, but Lucas had obviously adapted to juggling his work with fatherhood.

“From what I can tell, you’re fine,” the doctor said, stepping back from her. “You’ll need a thorough exam, though, and some tests that I can do only at the hospital. Any idea when it’ll be okay for that?”

It was the million-dollar question, and Hailey didn’t have a clue what the answer was. She shook her head. “We’re waiting on some information.” Information that would ideally lead to an arrest.

The doctor didn’t seem especially pleased with an indefinite delay to those tests, and Hailey knew why. There could be brain damage. And damage to her legs. The muscles felt a little stronger, but she was nowhere near a hundred percent and might need physical therapy to regain all her strength. No way could she risk going to PT or taking those tests now, though, and she didn’t want to speculate how long it would be before that happened.

The doctor gathered his things and headed to the door, where Mason was waiting to escort him back to town. They left, leaving Hailey to sit there and watch as Camden finished his bottle. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Lucas put the bottle aside and moved the baby to his shoulder to burp him.

A year ago, if someone had told her that the tough cowboy cop would be the doting father, she wouldn’t have believed it. Lucas likely wouldn’t have, either.

Tillie came out of the kitchen and made eye contact with Lucas. “You want me to take him?” Tillie mouthed.

“No, thanks. I’m finished with my call.” He put away his phone and looked at Hailey. “That was Grayson. Still no word on your sister, but Eric DeSalvo should be arriving at the sheriff’s office any minute now.”

Good. Hailey figured the best place to start with getting those answers would be with Eric. And Colleen. It sickened her to think that her sister might be involved in this.

“What about the other gunmen who were around the ranch last night?” she asked. “Any signs of them?”

“No. And the dead guy, Darrin, was using a burner cell phone and didn’t have any contacts stored there. In fact, the phone hadn’t been used, so there’s nothing to trace.”

Another dead end. Literally. Since Darrin had lived only long enough to accuse her of hiring him.

“Grayson had the medics take Darrin’s picture,” Lucas went on. When he reached to take his phone from his jeans pocket, it caused the baby to move, and Camden stirred, lifting his head just a little.

Hailey figured Camden was too young to see her from across the room, so she went closer. Lucas didn’t scowl, exactly, but it was close. He took out his phone and handed it to her.

“Take a look at the picture Grayson sent, and see if you recognize Darrin. Is he the same man who went after you the night you were trying to get away?”

She took the phone, her fingers brushing against his. Lucas noticed. Noticed, too, that she was volleying glances between the baby and him. He pulled in a long, weary breath.

“Sit down,” he growled. “You can hold Camden while you tell me about the picture.”

Hailey moved as fast as she could, making her way back to the chair. Lucas went to her, easing the baby into her arms.

There it was again. That punch of emotion.

Though it was hard to focus with Camden staring up at her, Hailey studied the photo. It wasn’t the best shot since the man’s face was twisted with pain, but Hailey picked through the features.

And remembered.

She sucked in her breath so fast that she nearly got choked. “He definitely looks like the man who ran me off the road.”

Other memories came flooding back. The car following her. Her frantic attempt to get away. Then the crash.

“He rammed into the back of my car, forcing me into a ditch,” she explained. “That’s when I hit my head.”

Thank goodness she’d been wearing a seat belt. That had prevented her from being thrown from the car, but it hadn’t stopped the tree limb from coming through the windshield and hitting her.

Lucas stared at her, clearly waiting for more details. Hailey had more, but she had to fight the panicky feeling rising in her again. It wasn’t that night, but it suddenly felt as if it was.

“After I crashed, Darrin came to the side of the car,” Hailey continued. “He looked at me.” But then she stopped, her attention going back to Lucas. “Why didn’t he just kill me then? I was helpless, barely conscious.”

“Maybe he didn’t want you dead,” Lucas said. “He probably wanted those computer files and would have been willing to torture you to get them.”

Yes. That had to be it. “But he didn’t get a chance to kidnap me, because that’s about the time you drove up. Did you see Darrin leave?”

“I saw his SUV speeding away. I couldn’t go in pursuit.”

That’s because she had needed medical attention ASAP. Lucas had saved her life. Camden’s, too, by staying with them. Lucas didn’t seem any more comfortable thinking about that night than she did, and he looked relieved when Tillie came back into the living room.

“Is Camden ready for his bath?” the nanny asked, her voice tentative, probably because she knew that Hailey wanted to continue holding him.

Lucas nodded. “Best if he sticks to his routine,” he told Hailey. “Plus, we need to do reports for the attack.”

Yes, paperwork. Necessary, but she still hated having to hand her son over to the nanny. She’d gotten so few minutes holding him. Of course, a lifetime would be too few.

“You can watch,” Tillie added, glancing at Hailey. “That way, you’ll know how to do it.” She also glanced at Lucas, and Tillie seemed to ignore the slight scowl that was on his face.

Maybe a scowl because it would mean a delay in doing those reports, but also because Tillie was including her.

Hailey didn’t give Lucas a chance to veto Tillie’s offer. She stood, following the woman as best she could to the bathroom just across the hall from the nursery. Lucas followed, too. Good thing, because just before Hailey reached the door, she stumbled and would have fallen flat on her face if Lucas hadn’t caught her.

And just like that, she was in his arms.

The memories came. No way to stop them. Not with Lucas and her being body to body. Hailey got some flashes of even more body contact. Of when they were naked in bed.

Mercy, that caused the heat to flood through her again. Worse, Lucas noticed, and he looked as if he wanted to curse again. He didn’t. He moved her away from him. Well, he moved so that her breasts were no longer pressed against his chest, but he looped his arm around her waist to steady her.

“You should be resting,” he grumbled.

“Would you rest if you were in my shoes?” she countered.

That only deepened his scowl. Both knew the answer to that—no, he wouldn’t.

Lucas kept his arm around her when they went to the doorway, but it was obvious that he was trying to touch as little of her as possible. Hailey soon didn’t notice it because her attention was on the baby. Or at least, it was until Lucas’s phone buzzed. She was close enough to see Grayson’s name on the screen.

She felt the muscles in Lucas’s arm tense. Probably because this could be bad news. He stepped back into the hall, answered the call and put it on speaker.

“Is Hailey there?” Grayson said without even issuing a greeting. Yes, this was bad news. Hailey could tell from his tone.

“I’m here,” she answered.

“San Antonio PD found your sister,” Grayson continued.

“Where is she?” Hailey immediately asked.

“The hospital. She’s hurt, and she’s asking to see you. Colleen says she knows who’s trying to kill you.”