Lawman From Her Past

Cameron cursed, and it wasn’t tame. “That’s a big leap to assume the men were talking about Isaac.”

“A leap except that I’d already started to get suspicious. Patrick doesn’t look like me or my late husband.” She swallowed hard. “He looks like you.”

She could tell from his slight flinch that Cameron reacted to that. Maybe because he saw something of her face in Isaac’s?

“Gilly could have arranged the swap,” Lauren went on. “She was afraid of Trace, and if she knew she was dying, this might have been her way of preventing Trace from getting his hands on their child.”

Though it sickened her to think that Gilly, a woman she considered her friend, would have intentionally done something like this since it could have put Lauren’s own precious son in danger.

“Gilly wouldn’t do that,” Cameron insisted. “If she was worried about her baby’s safety, she would have gotten word to me.”

“Maybe. But Gilly was dying. Scared. And they’d had trouble getting in touch with you.”

He flinched again, and she knew why. Cameron had gotten caught up in a lockdown at the prison, where he’d gone to interview a potential witness. He’d been trapped there for hours with no way to leave and get to his sister even though she’d gone into labor.

“But Gilly might not have done this,” Lauren added a moment later.

Mercy, she wished she’d rehearsed this or something because it was hard for her to put her line of thinking into words. Equally hard for her to imagine it had happened. “My late husband was Alden Lange, and his business partner or his sister could be the one responsible. They both hate me. Or at least they hate that I have control over Alden’s estate.”

The flat look Cameron gave her told her he wasn’t buying that. And she hoped she was wrong. Because both Alden’s sister, Julia, and his partner, Duane Tulley, could be very dangerous. They might have seen this as some sick mind game to watch her suffer. Of course, her suffering could also be profitable for them if it led to one or both of them getting their hands on Alden’s money.

“How would Trace or any of these other people have gotten into the hospital nursery to switch babies?” he asked.

Lauren didn’t have the answer to that, either. “It must have been an inside job since the babies wear bracelets with security chips that would trigger an alarm if they were carried out of the hospital. I’d just started checking out the medical staff when I was attacked.”

He made a sound, a rumble deep in his throat. “And why did you do that? What made you suspicious?”

“I kept thinking it was strange that I would look at my son and see you.” She waved that off before he could say anything about it. She didn’t want to talk about why the image of Cameron’s face was still so clear in her head after all these years and after all the bad stuff that’d gone on between them.

“I had a DNA test done,” she went on. “So I could compare Patrick’s DNA to mine. I’m supposed to get the results back any day now, but I made the mistake of asking the housekeeper if there was anything still around with Alden’s DNA on it.” She’d cursed herself for doing that. “I wanted to have the complete DNA results, but I think the housekeeper told Alden’s sister what I’d asked for.”

At least Cameron hadn’t simply dismissed her. He tipped his head to the trail. “We’ll get your son and sort this out.” Lauren was about to blow out a breath of relief, but then Cameron added, “For the record, I don’t believe there was a swap. Isaac is my nephew. But if Duane and Julia are bad news like you think they are, then they could have been the ones behind your attack.”

He took her by the arm again to get her moving, but Lauren dug in her heels. “I can’t risk bringing my brothers into this yet. Those thugs who attacked me could have connections to Duane and Julia, and they could find out I’m here.”

This huff was even louder than his last one. “Look, Gabriel is the sheriff, and my boss. As well as your brother. No way would he risk putting you in danger. I’ll just go inside, call him on his personal line and have him come out here.”

“No.” She couldn’t say that fast enough. “I heard those men say if my family got in the way, they would have to kill them.”

She hated when his skeptical look returned. Because she had the same skepticism. “I know those thugs could have wanted me to hear what they were saying, that they could have been feeding me information. But why would they have done that, then shoot me and try to take Patrick?”

“That’s what we’ll find out—as soon as I call Gabriel.” He tightened his grip on her arm and managed to drag her a few steps.

“They could be watching the front of your house from the road. They could be watching Gabriel’s and Jameson’s places, too. That’s why I used the trail. Only the locals know it’s there, and it’s not easy to spot unless you’re looking for it.”

Cameron couldn’t argue with that, not the last part anyway, even though it looked as if he wanted to dispute something. Anything. “We’ll go in through the back of my house. Even hired guns won’t be suspicious if they see the sheriff dropping by to visit with one of his deputies.”

Lauren wasn’t so sure of that at all. Anything out of the ordinary might trigger those men to shoot again. And this time, Isaac and anyone else who happened to be around could get hurt. If the gunmen were truly out there, they could be looking for any sign she was there, and Gabriel’s visit might give her away.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” Lauren said under her breath. She lifted her head, making direct eye contact with Cameron. “But I just had to know if Isaac’s really my son. Don’t get me wrong. I love Patrick with all my heart, but I had to find out the truth.”

Cameron hesitated, volleying glances at the house, the woods and her. Just when she thought he was about to give in and let her go inside, she heard something. Footsteps. Cameron heard them, too, because he pushed her behind him and aimed his gun in the direction of the sound.

Someone was running toward them.

Oh, God. Had something happened to Patrick?

Nothing could have kept Lauren behind Cameron. She snatched her gun from his left hand and would have taken off toward her car, but she finally saw something.

Something that stopped her cold.

Dara. The nanny had Patrick clutched to her chest, and she was running—fast. Probably as fast as she could go.

“They found us,” Dara shouted. “Run!”

Chapter Three (#u0d5d373d-fe9f-598e-8e39-52e1c91d3203)

Cameron hadn’t been sure of what he was going to do, but there was no time left to debate it now. All of his lawman’s instincts told him that the stark fear in the woman’s voice was real.

So was that baby she had gripped in her arms.

A little blond-haired boy who was about the same size as Isaac.

Cameron forced himself not to think that everything Lauren had told him was real. If this was truly his nephew, anything he felt about that would have to wait. Right now he had to get them to safety.

“Get inside the house,” Cameron told Lauren.

She didn’t listen, of course. Neither would he if that’d been his child out there. Lauren started to run toward the nanny, but Cameron hurried in front of her. The moment he got to the woman and child, he hooked his arm around them, maneuvering them in front of him, and he got them running again.

“Keep watch around us,” Cameron told Lauren.

Maybe that would stop the panic he saw rising in her eyes. It was also something that needed to be done. Because if those two armed thugs were on their tail, then they had to get inside—fast—but they also needed to make sure they weren’t about to be gunned down. If necessary, they would have to take cover before they even reached the house.

The little boy wasn’t out and out crying, but he was whimpering. Probably because he’d picked up on their fear and because the running was jostling him. Cameron tried to ignore the sounds he was making, and he got them on the porch. He had to fumble in his pocket to get his keys to unlock the door, but the moment he did that, he pushed them inside.

“Get on the floor,” he ordered.

Cameron relocked the door, set the security alarm and went to the window to keep watch. He also fired off a text to Gabriel, asking him to come over. Lauren’s brother didn’t live far and could be there in minutes if he hadn’t already left for work. If so, then Gabriel would have to drive back.

A lot could happen in those extra minutes it would take Gabriel to do that.

Cameron still had a much too clear image of the bandage on Lauren’s shoulder where she’d been shot. Those goons could be returning now to finish her off.

Lauren scrambled to the nanny, taking Patrick into her arms and pulling him close. There were tears in her eyes again, and she was trembling. The nanny wasn’t faring much better. Hell, neither was he. Cameron wasn’t trembling the way they were, but he was worried because they had two babies in the house, and he might not be able to protect them if those gunmen started shooting.

“I saw an SUV coming up the trail,” the nanny said. Her breath was gusting so hard that it was difficult to understand her. “I couldn’t drive off since there were trees blocking the way so I got out and started running with Patrick.”

Yeah, there were downed trees back there. Probably shrubs, too, since it wasn’t a trail that was often used.