JOSH (12 page)

Like a baby farm.

He took out his phone and called Grayson. Thankfully his cousin answered on the first ring. “We might have a lead. Bryson owns a ranch at 623 William Casey Road. Can you get someone out there right away to check on the place?”

“Dade and I’ll go. Mason and Kade can stay at the hospital with Sierra.”

“How’s she doing?” And Josh hated that he hadn’t already checked on her.

“She’s with the doctor now. And don’t worry. We’ll cover all exits just in case she decides to jackrabbit again.”

Good. Because he needed to interrogate Sierra again, too.

“I’ll let you know if we find anything at Bryson’s place,” Grayson assured him, and ended the call.

“Speaking of Bryson, where do you think he is?” Jaycee asked.

He hoped the man was at the baby farm so Grayson could arrest him on the spot and close the place down. Josh didn’t intend to give Bryson a heads-up about Grayson’s visit, but he did want to check on the man to see what he had to say about this latest attack on Sierra. Josh was betting that Valerie had already contacted him and spilled everything she’d learned.

Josh punched in Bryson’s number. Waited. It rang so long that Josh was about to hang up, but he finally answered.

Except it wasn’t Bryson.

“Deputy Ryland,” a woman answered. She sounded frantic. “I’m Bryson’s secretary. He left in a hurry and didn’t take his phone. Oh, God. Please tell me you can stop him.”

Josh pulled back his shoulders. “Stop him? Why would I need to stop him?”

“Because he intends to hurt her. He was so angry. I’ve never seen him like that before. He drove out of here like a crazy man.”

“Slow down,” Josh insisted. “Where was Bryson going?”

“To the Silver Creek hospital. He heard that Sierra would be there. Please, Deputy Ryland, go after him. Because as angry as Bryson is, I’m afraid he’ll kill her.”

Chapter Thirteen

Jaycee could hear the shouts when they stepped into the emergency room of the Silver Creek hospital. And there was no mistaking that the person doing the shouting was none other than Bryson.

Josh and she followed the noise and found him outside one of the E.R. examining rooms. He was demanding to go inside, but Mason had blocked his way. Considering that Mason looked like an ornery vampire who was about to rip off Bryson’s head, Jaycee was surprised the man was continuing his tirade.

“I will see her!” Bryson shouted. “Sierra, get out here now!”

That was apparently all Mason intended to put up with because he caught on to Bryson’s shoulder and slammed the man face-first against the wall. Bryson sputtered out a cough but seemed too stunned to do anything but cooperate. Mason cuffed him and then spun him back around.

“You yell one more time,” Mason warned him, his voice dark and dangerous, “and I
will
make you hush.”

Finally, Bryson shut up, but the moment he spotted Josh and her approaching, he apparently decided to plead his case to them.

“Sierra’s in there, and I have to talk to her now.” Bryson kept his voice at a normal level, probably because Mason was still in his face.

“Sierra’s been through an ordeal,” Jaycee reminded him. “I think she needs to see the doctor more than she needs to talk to you.”

Bryson snarled something she didn’t catch, and he turned back to Mason. “Take off the cuffs.”

Mason didn’t jump to answer that. “You planning to do more yelling?”

“No,” Bryson said through clenched teeth.

Mason kept staring at the man, and his stare was a lot worse than Bryson’s glare. “What about it, Josh?” Mason asked without looking at his cousin. “You want the cuffs on or off when you talk to this loudmouthed dirt wad?”

Josh eyed Bryson for several seconds. “Off for now, but if he raises his voice again or tries to go in that room with Sierra, then I’ll cuff and arrest him.”

Clearly, that didn’t please Bryson, but he kept his mouth shut when Mason took off the cuffs. Mason shot Bryson another warning glare, then sank down in one of the waiting room chairs and stretched out his legs.

“You know what Sierra did?” Bryson asked them, but he didn’t wait for an answer. “She tried to blackmail me again. She sent me a letter this time, demanding a half million dollars for my own baby.”

A letter? Now, that was a surprise. Jaycee couldn’t figure out when the woman had had time to do that, considering she’d been on the run.

Josh walked closer, positioning himself between Bryson and the examining room door. “Did you know that someone clubbed her on her forehead?”

“No.” Bryson’s breath caught as if he was genuinely surprised, and if he was acting, it was good. “I thought she was faking an injury so she wouldn’t have to deal with me.”

Well, Jaycee couldn’t rule that out. “It seems odd, though, that she’d make a demand for all that money and then try to dodge you.”

“She knew I’d be furious.”

“Yeah,” Josh agreed. “But getting clubbed on the head isn’t my first choice of ways to avoid a man’s fury.”

Bryson opened his mouth, closed it and then cursed. “How badly is she hurt?”

“We’re not sure,” Josh answered. “In fact, we’re not sure of a lot of things right now. We were supposed to meet another woman in an area just outside of town, and Sierra showed up instead.”

What Josh didn’t mention was the note and the ranch property that was hopefully being checked out as they spoke. While she was hoping, Jaycee added that Grayson and his brother would find enough evidence for them to make an arrest in connection with the baby farms. It didn’t matter if it was Bryson, Valerie or even Sierra, Jaycee just wanted this person off the streets and behind bars.

“Any idea why Sierra was at that meeting?” Josh asked.

Bryson immediately shook his head. “None. The only thing I know about Sierra is that she’s up to her old tricks. But I won’t be blackmailed. If I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t be paying it to her.”

“But what about your
heir?
” Jaycee purposely used that term instead of baby.

“I’ll challenge her for custody. I already have the test to establish paternity, and it shouldn’t be hard to prove her an unfit mother.”

That was the pot calling the kettle black, because in her opinion Bryson was an unfit father.

Unlike Josh.

Jaycee hated that the thought popped into her head, but she couldn’t shut it out. Josh was a good man, but it was also clear that he had a huge interest in this baby she was carrying. Maybe Josh would pull a Bryson and challenge her for custody, too.

If he did, he could win.

She didn’t have family support like Josh did, and she was the daughter of not one but two convicted felons. Her time in foster care wouldn’t help, either, because she’d been pretty much labeled a juvenile delinquent. Hardly a good track record for a mother fighting for custody of her child.

“What’s the matter?” she heard Josh ask.

It took her a moment to realize he was looking at her because she’d made a soft moaning sound at the prospect of losing her child to him.

“Nothing,” she mumbled and tried to get her mind back on Bryson. But Josh obviously didn’t believe her, because he took her by the shoulders and had her lean against the wall. He studied her eyes.

“Come on,” Josh insisted. “I’ll take you to the cafeteria and get you something to eat.”

She wasn’t hungry. Hard to be hungry with the threat of those armed guards looming over them, but Jaycee figured it would do the baby some good if she ate something. Her mealtimes had been regimented when she was being held at the baby farm, but her life had been so chaotic since Josh had rescued her.

“What about Valerie?” she asked. “Shouldn’t we get back to the sheriff’s office?”

“Gage can handle the interview,” Josh insisted. “While we’re here, I want you to get checked out by a doctor. Just to make sure everything’s okay.” A muscle flickered in his jaw. “There’s no telling what those guards did to you.”

Jaycee was certain they hadn’t done anything to harm the baby—especially since a healthy baby had been all they’d wanted. Still, an exam wouldn’t hurt.

Josh looked back at Mason and motioned for him to watch Bryson again, and he led her down a corridor. He’d only made it a few steps when he got a text.

“Not more bad news?” she asked when he looked at the screen.

He shook his head but then lifted his shoulder. “The text was from Melissa Garza, the woman who’s marrying my uncle this weekend. She wanted us to know that the decorators are at the ranch now.”

That could be bad.
Very
bad. “These people were screened for security?”

“Sure, but it’s a big crew, so it’s possible for someone to slip through.” He glanced at her, probably trying to reassure her with that look. “Everyone’s being checked for weapons, and when we get back, I’ll make sure to turn on the security system in the apartment.”

Jaycee tried not to overreact to something as simple as arming a security system. Hard not to do, though, because Josh was right. It was possible for those guards to make it onto the ranch, and if they couldn’t stop them, she at least wanted to be alerted if one of them tried to break in while Josh and she were sleeping.

The cafeteria wasn’t far, just a few doors away, and Jaycee got a sandwich and some milk. Josh got a chili dog, loaded, and some soggy-looking fries. He didn’t waste any time before he started wolfing it down.

“Now, will you tell me what’s wrong?” he asked.

Apparently, she no longer had the poker face that’d made her a decent undercover agent.

“The baby. Our baby,” she clarified. “And custody. I know you said you only wanted to be part of the baby’s life, but I’m worried that maybe you would change your mind when you gave it some more thought.”

He stopped in midbite, staring at her from over the top of that dripping chili dog. “Are you planning to challenge me to get full custody?”

She nearly choked on the sandwich. “No. But I figured you’d challenge me.”

He dragged a fry through the chili, popped it in his mouth. “Right. Because I’m such good father material.”

“But you are.” He knew that.

Right?

Obviously not, judging from the flat look he gave her.

“I’m a mess,” he continued, sounding disgusted with himself. “And let’s not forget that my own mother left when I was a kid. Bad divorce,” he added in a mumble. “My father was, well, absent after that despite being around. Grayson’s the closest thing I ever had to a dad.”

Jaycee was glad she had the sandwich because it gave her something to do. She nibbled on it while she tried to process what Josh had just told her. “I didn’t know.”

“Well, yeah, I don’t share that with a lot of people.” He paused, ate another fry. “Will you use that against me when you try to get full custody?”

“No.” And she stretched that out a few syllables. “Remember, my parents did hard time for aggravated armed robbery and an assortment of other felonies. Plenty of people would argue that their criminal history makes me an unsuitable parent.”

Great. Now she was handing him ammunition to use against her. Not that any of it had been a surprise, but it probably wasn’t a good idea to remind him of it now. She didn’t have time to talk her way out of the hole she’d just dug because Josh’s phone rang.

“It’s Mason,” he let her know right before he answered it. He didn’t put the call on speaker, probably because other diners were close by, and Jaycee couldn’t hear what Mason said even when she leaned across the table.

“Sierra’s water broke,” Josh told her when he finished the call. “Her contractions are coming nonstop, and the doctor doesn’t think it’ll be long before she has the baby. They just moved her to Labor and Delivery, so Mason’s heading over there, too, to make sure Bryson stays away.”

That was good, but the timing of the labor perhaps wasn’t so good. “Maybe the trauma of what happened in the woods caused her contractions to start.”

But Josh just shrugged. “Mason had a quick word with the doctor. He said the cut on Sierra’s head was superficial, hardly more than a scratch. It didn’t even need stitches.”

Jaycee didn’t have to give that much thought. “You think she did it herself?”

Another shrug, and he continued to eat. “I think Sierra’s capable of just about anything. And while I don’t like the idea of Bryson trying to confront her at a time like this, I’d be pissed, too, if she tried to blackmail me like that.”

Jaycee silently agreed, and she cringed at the thought of Bryson raising the child. Maybe just having an heir would be enough for him to collect the rest of his inheritance, and that way he wouldn’t need to have an active part in his son’s or daughter’s life. Of course, Sierra wouldn’t exactly qualify for mother of the year, either.

Josh finished his fries and hot dog and took out his phone again. “I’m calling Grayson to see if he made it out to Bryson’s property. After that, I need to find out how the interrogation is going with Valerie, and then I can see about getting you examined. Then I can take you to the ranch so you can have a nap.”

The married-to-the-badge part of her wanted to insist that they stay at the sheriff’s office to deal with anything else that might come up. But she was exhausted. In need of a nap.

And craving doughnuts.

She looked back at the display cases, but didn’t see any in the cafeteria. “You think there’s a place nearby where I can get a doughnut?”

“We can hit the drive-through on the way home,” Josh murmured right before Grayson came on the line. Again, she couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it caused Josh’s forehead to bunch up.

Please, no more bad news. Jaycee had already had her fill of that today. Besides, she really was tired. At the baby farm, she’d slept most of the day. When she wasn’t figuring out how to escape. But since Josh had rescued her, there hadn’t been time in between attacks for her to get much rest.

“They didn’t find anything at the ranch,” Josh said after he ended the call. He stood. “No sign that anyone had been there recently, but they’ll keep looking.”

It would have been nice to find something incriminating, but maybe there was still a chance for that. “What if it’s to be a future site for a baby farm?”

Josh nodded. “Grayson’s putting up a hidden surveillance camera on the porch of the abandoned house. It’s motion activated, so if anyone goes out there, we’ll know about it.”

And she wouldn’t be surprised to see Valerie, Bryson or those missing guards making that visit. Or even Sierra once she’d had her baby and then recovered. That meant they might have to wait awhile for any possible answers they might get there.

As they turned toward the exit, Jaycee saw a woman making a beeline for them. She was tall and rail thin, and had choppy blond hair. Even though the woman wasn’t armed and didn’t appear to be a threat, Josh still stepped between her and Jaycee.

“Deputy Josh Ryland,” the woman said, extending her hand for him to shake.

“Who are you?” Josh snapped. He darn sure didn’t shake her hand.

“I’m Miranda Culley. And I understand you and Agent Finney have been looking for me.”