Wild Stallion (12 page)

Chapter Twelve

Evan.

Jackson didn’t like the way his business manager’s name kept popping up in this investigation. Evan shouldn’t have had anything to with the adoption; but according to Ryan, Evan had been the one who started the ball rolling when it came to finding Caden.

If Ryan was telling the truth.

After all, Ryan had actually profited from the adoption. Jackson had proof of that, since he’d paid the attorney a large amount in legal fees. As far as Jackson knew, Evan hadn’t received a dime for anything related to the adoption.

Of course, maybe this wasn’t about money.

“You think Evan is playing some kind of mind game with you?” Bailey asked.

She had worry written all over her face, and it shouldn’t have been there. This should have been a time for celebration. For Bailey anyway. She’d found her missing baby and was holding him in her arms. Jackson figured this was the best moment of her life, and yet that moment was clouded with the possibility that the person who’d orchestrated the illegal adoption might be planning something worse.

Since both Caden and she were staring at him, Jackson went to them and gathered both in his arms. He kissed Caden’s cheek and intended to do the same to Bailey. A simple, reassuring peck. But hell, he needed more than that, and judging from her expression, so did she.

So Jackson kissed her on the mouth.

He hadn’t planned for it to go on, but it did. And despite the fact that Caden was right there, Jackson still felt the heat from the attraction. Even the danger couldn’t make that go away.

Soon, very soon, he would have to figure out what to do about the attraction. And about Caden. He didn’t think Bailey was ready to jump into a custody battle with him, but she would want to claim her son.

At that thought, Jackson pulled back and took a deep breath. Caden laughed, apparently amused with the kiss and his daddy’s reaction. Jackson pressed his forehead to Caden’s and hoped his son wasn’t also aware that his daddy’s heart was breaking.

He couldn’t lose Caden.

Jackson opened his phone again and called Steven so he could ask the man to track down numbers for Shannon and the attorney, Phillip Dalkey. Normally, that would be an assignment he would give to Evan, but Jackson wanted to keep his business manager, and anyone else from the office, out of the information loop until he was sure Evan had no part in any of this. Steven assured Jackson that he would get back to him with the contact numbers as soon as possible. Jackson ended that call and made another one. To Evan.

Evan’s phone rang. And rang—five rings before it went to voicemail. Strange. In the seven years that Evan had worked for him, Jackson couldn’t remember once, not even on Christmas Eve, that the man hadn’t answered on the first ring. Evan often joked that he even showered with his phone close enough to reach.

“Something’s not right,” Jackson mumbled.

“I agree.” Bailey kept Caden close to her. “Part of me wishes they’d all just disappear. But we have to know who’s behind all of this.”

Yeah. And then they had to figure out how to deal with the aftermath.

Bailey stared at him, huffed and dropped her head on his shoulder. “I know what this is doing to you.”

“And I know what you’ve been through for the past four months,” Jackson countered. “Don’t worry. We’ll work out something.”

Though he had no idea what.

He could ask Bailey to move onto the estate. There was plenty of room. That way, they could share custody. Of course, Bailey would almost certainly want full custody, and Jackson was afraid the law would be on her side, especially since the adoption wasn’t final yet.

That got his mind and heart racing.

All she had to do was go to the police and tell them the DNA results. Family services would step in and probably take Caden and place him in foster care until they got this mess all sorted out. That could take months or longer.

Jackson had never felt this kind of panic before, and it shocked him when Bailey came up on her toes and kissed him.

“We’ll work it out,” she promised. And because Jackson desperately needed something to hang on to, he believed her.

He was about to seal that promise with another kiss, but his phone rang, and since the call was from Steven, Jackson answered it right away.

“I got the numbers for Shannon and Phillip Dalkey,” Steven explained, “but neither is answering their phones.”

Great. First Evan and now Shannon. Ryan had already told him that Phillip seemed to be missing, but Jackson had hoped he would get lucky.

“Robin Russo is back,” Steven added. “She showed up at the gate about five minutes ago. Sir, she’s practically hysterical and says someone’s trying to kill her.”

On most days, Jackson would have been alarmed by that, but this wasn’t most days.

Welcome to the club, Robin.

“Should I let her in?” Steven asked.

Jackson didn’t even have to think about it. “No. I don’t want her inside the estate, and it’s too cold for an outdoor meeting. Are you at the gate with her now?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then use the security camera to set up a video feed into my office.” Jackson ended the call and looked at Bailey. “I doubt I’ll learn anything from her—”

“I want to be there when you talk to her,” Bailey insisted.

Jackson hesitated, figuring, at best, this conversation with Robin would be a waste of time, but he understood Bailey’s need to get to the truth. “Come on. We’ll leave Caden in the nursery with Tracy. It’s time for his bath anyway.”

Since Tracy was already in the nursery waiting for them, it didn’t take long for Bailey to give her Caden so they could then head to his office. By the time they arrived, Steven had already set up the video feed, and Jackson saw Robin on his laptop screen.

The woman was indeed waiting by the massive front gates. She had also gotten out of her car and was staring directly into the camera. She had her coat wrapped tightly around her and had ducked her head against the bitter winter wind. Judging from her red, swollen eyes, she’d been crying.

Jackson hit the button on his laptop that would allow two-way communication. “Robin,” he greeted. “Back for round two already?”

“I’m back because I need your help.” She moved even closer to the camera so that her face took up the entire screen. “Please let me in.”

“You can say what you need to say right where you are,” Jackson insisted.

Robin didn’t get angry. She fired several glances over her shoulder as if she expected someone was about to ambush her. Jackson hoped that wasn’t true, but he couldn’t risk Bailey’s and Caden’s lives by allowing this suspect back onto the property.

“Could you get your man to leave?” Robin asked. “I don’t trust him. I don’t trust anyone right now.”

Jackson thought about that a moment. “Is the gate locked and the security system activated?” he asked Steven.

“They are,” Steven answered. “Should I go?”

Again, Jackson gave it some thought. The fence was crash-proof, something he’d never thought he would need, but he was glad he had it now. “Leave her there and drive back up the estate. I need you to keep checking those numbers for me.”

For Shannon, Evan and the attorney, Phillip Dalkey. Plus, if there truly was a threat to Robin’s life, Jackson didn’t want Steven out there in the open.

Jackson did a split screen so he could watch as Steven got back into his vehicle and drove away. Robin didn’t utter a word until the man was out of sight.

“After I left your estate, someone tried to run me off the road,” Robin continued, her voice and expression a tangle of nerves. “At first I thought it was an accident. But about an hour ago, someone tried to do it again.” Her mouth was trembling so hard now that it was difficult to make out her words. “If you or Bailey set someone on me, please call him off. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Neither Bailey nor I set anyone on you,” Jackson let her know. “You’ve been to the police?”

“I just called them, and I’m going there after I leave here. But if you’re behind this, I don’t think San Antonio PD will be able to stop it.”

Jackson and Bailey exchanged glances. Since Bailey and he knew they hadn’t hired anyone to go after Robin, that meant someone else might have, or else the woman was lying.

Either was possible.

Bailey moved next to Jackson so that Robin would be able to see her on the monitor. “Maybe this is because of the house you purchased. Did you borrow the money from the wrong people?”

“No!” Robin practically shouted, but then just as quickly, the fight seemed to take everything out of her. “If you must know, I got a legal settlement with the hospital, but I signed a confidentiality statement. That’s why I couldn’t say where I got the money.”

Convenient. That wouldn’t be an easy thing to verify or disprove.

“You’ve come to the wrong people,” Bailey explained. “Jackson and I don’t want you dead.”

“Well, somebody does.” Robin looked over her shoulder again and swallowed hard. “Maybe it’s Shannon. Maybe she’s trying to kill us all.”

“Why would she want to do that?” Jackson asked.

Robin opened her mouth as if she were about to blurt out something, but then she glanced around her again. Either she was a good actress, or she truly thought she was in danger just by being there.

When she turned back to the camera, her breath was uneven, and she was trembling even more than when this bizarre conversation had started.

“You’re positive you’re not trying to kill me?” Robin repeated.

“Positive,” Jackson assured her.

She nodded and swallowed hard again. “Then it has to be Shannon.”

Jackson couldn’t assure her that Shannon wasn’t guilty, especially after the stunt she’d pulled about saying she was Caden’s biological mother.

Robin moved even closer to the camera, so close that her breath fogged-up the screen. “I think Shannon was having an affair with one of the gunmen who took the hostages.”

One look at Bailey, and her shocked expression confirmed that this was something she hadn’t heard before. But like the other things Shannon and Robin had said, it didn’t necessarily make it true.

“Did you hear me?” Robin pressed. “Shannon was sleeping with one of the gunmen, and she probably helped him set up the entire hostage mess.”

“You have proof?” Bailey asked.

Robin shook her head and the tears returned. “No. But I heard her talking about him one day. Danny Monroe. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that one of the gunmen had the same name.”

Jackson immediately saw a flaw in Robin’s accusation. Two of them, in fact. “Why didn’t SAPD find this connection, and why didn’t you tell them?”

“I didn’t remember until yesterday. Maybe it’s the danger, but that conversation I had with her just came back to me. Here’s what I think—we know that the gunmen wanted to kill Bailey that day….”

“They did,” Bailey confirmed in a whisper. “They thought I’d seen them without their ski masks.”

“Exactly!” Robin continued. “So I think Shannon hid you because of the baby. She didn’t want her boyfriend coming after you and hurting the child.”

That turned Jackson’s stomach, but he couldn’t dismiss that part. The mystery woman had told Bailey to keep quiet or the gunmen might try to use the baby to get to her. And by getting to her, the gunmen no doubt wanted to silence her permanently.

“So if Shannon took my baby, then why didn’t she return him after the gunmen were killed?” Bailey asked.

“I’m guessing greed,” Robin readily supplied. “I figure she sold the baby or something.”

Jackson slipped his arm around Bailey. It was obvious this nightmare was difficult to relive.

“Robin, you should tell the police everything you just told us,” Bailey insisted.

“I will, but for now I need your help to stop Shannon from trying to kill me.”

“I’m not letting you in,” Jackson repeated. “Leave now and go to the sheriff or SAPD.”

Robin cursed, and she was still cursing when she made another glance over her shoulder. The profanity died on her lips. Her eyes widened, and she screamed.

But Robin’s scream didn’t drown out the loud blast. Someone had just fired a shot.

Chapter Thirteen

Bailey broke into a run, headed for the nursery. She didn’t wait to see what was happening to Robin. She had to get to Caden and make sure he was safe.

Jackson was right behind her, but he had already grabbed his gun and then taken out his phone, no doubt to call and make sure no one had breached security.

“The gate’s still closed,” Jackson reminded her, shoving his gun into the waist of his pants.

Yes, but there could still be another attack on the estate.

Bailey raced into the nursery, and her heart dropped when she didn’t see Caden. She hurried through the massive room and to the adjoining bathroom.

And there he was.

He was sitting in a yellow safety ring in the center of the bathtub. He was splashing water and laughing.

“What’s wrong?” Tracy asked.

“Someone fired a shot near the gate,” Jackson answered. “Go ahead and take Caden to the panic room.”

Tracy had already started to do that before Jackson even finished. The nanny grabbed a thick terry cloth towel and swirled it around the soaking-wet baby. Caden obviously didn’t like having his bath interrupted, because he started to fuss and squirm.

“You should go with them,” Jackson told Bailey while he still had his phone pressed to his ear.

It was tempting to be safely tucked away with her son, but she didn’t want anyone breaking into the estate. Jackson would need all the backup he could get.

“I can help you keep watch,” Bailey insisted. But it nearly brought tears to her eyes to see Tracy whisk Caden in the direction of the panic room. “We need to put an end to this.”

Yes, it was stating the obvious. They did need to end it. But how? The only way to stop the attacks was to figure out who was behind them. Could Robin possibly help with that?

“Steven,” Jackson said when the man came back on the line. “What’s happening out there?” Jackson grabbed Bailey’s hand and headed back to his office. The moment they were inside, he locked the door and used a keypad to engage the room’s security system.

Bailey couldn’t hear Steven’s response, but she could see the security monitors when they got to his desk. He still had the split-screen images, and on the one by the gate, she saw the car speeding away. Robin’s car perhaps.

But Bailey didn’t see the shooter.

Jackson took out his handgun, put it on the desk and typed in something on his keyboard. He pulled up six more images on the screen. Both of them moved closer, examining the various camera angles.

“I don’t see anyone either,” Jackson relayed to Steven. “Maybe the person followed Robin. Call the sheriff so he can get someone out there on the road to protect her.”

Of course, it might be too late for that. Robin could already be dead. And if so, the shooter might come back to the estate.

“Make certain everything is locked up tight,” Jackson told Steven. “No one is getting in or out of the estate until the sheriff has the shooter in custody.”

Jackson ended the call and sank down behind his desk so he could continue to scan the security feed. Bailey’s heart was pounding now, and the adrenaline was raging through her. Her body was preparing itself for a fight. A fight she prayed wouldn’t be necessary.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“We wait. Steven and his men will patrol the grounds and make sure no one gets onto the property. Then we let the sheriff do his job. It wouldn’t be smart for me to go out there and leave Caden and you here.”

“I agree.” There was no way she would let Jackson leave. She was still recovering from the last time he’d done that, and they hadn’t been—well—as close as they were now.

The stakes were so much higher on many levels.

Bailey sat on the armrest of his chair so she could have a better view of the computer screen. And so she could be near Jackson. It was stupid, but just being near him made her feel safer. He must have sensed that, because he slipped his arm around her and drew her closer.

There. She felt it. That click in her head that turned off some of the adrenaline rush. Her breathing began to slow down. She wondered if Jackson knew just how much he could soothe her with a mere touch.

For now, anyway.

It was highly probable they had their own personal storm brewing over Caden. Would they be enemies before this was over? Bailey hated the thought of never being able to sit with him like this again, but she had to put her baby first. She’d already lost so much time with Caden, she wouldn’t let anyone, including Jackson, rob her of another day.

She forced her attention back on the screen, but there were still no signs of attack. Steven and some of the men were moving around outside, and they were all armed, bracing themselves for the worst.

Thankfully, the worst didn’t seem to be coming.

“I think Caden and Tracy should stay in the panic room,” Jackson mumbled. “He’ll be ready for a nap soon anyway, and he can take it in there.”

Bailey couldn’t argue with that. The panic room was the safest place to be.

“Are you all right?” Jackson asked.

She looked over at him to see what had prompted that question and noticed he was staring at her.

“It’ll be okay,” he added.

Of course, Bailey knew he couldn’t possibly guarantee that, but again, it made her feel good just to hear it.

She was obviously in big trouble here.

In the past two days, people had tried to kill them and kidnap Caden. A woman had been shot at just minutes earlier. But she couldn’t stop feeling all warm and comforted because of Jackson.

With his attention fastened back onto the screen, he took her hand, brought it to his mouth and brushed his lips over her skin. “It’ll be okay,” he repeated.

“I don’t know how,” she mumbled.

Jackson kept hold of her hand. “You have to trust that we can get through this and work out everything. We’re not enemies, Bailey. Far from it,” he added.

Was that true? Yes, there was this attraction that seemed to be getting hotter and heavier every time they were together. Or apart. Heck, it just kept growing, even when they needed to focus all their attention on other things.

“We can’t work this out in bed,” she added.

He glanced up, and the corner of his mouth lifted. “No. But we can work out plenty of other things there.”

That smile nearly melted her.

She shook her head. “I don’t understand this.”

“Simple.” Jackson touched his mouth to her hand again. “You’re a beautiful woman and I want you. That’s all there is to it.”

“Really?” she questioned. “Caden isn’t part of this?”

“No,” he said with complete conviction.

Jackson’s phone rang, the sound slicing through the awkward silence.

“It’s Steven,” Jackson said after glancing at the caller ID screen.

Maybe this was the good news she’d been praying for. Maybe Steven or the sheriff had caught the person who fired the shot at Robin.

“Interesting,” Jackson said, after at least a minute of silence. Another minute passed. “Dig into the accusation Robin made about Shannon being involved with one of the gunmen who took the hostages. Danny Monroe is the name. Let me know if you learn anything.”

Jackson hung up and looked at her. “Steven has someone reviewing all the security feed, and he’s not convinced there is a gunman.”

“What? But we heard the shot.”

“Yeah,” Jackson agreed. “But remember, Robin kept moving close to the camera so we couldn’t see what was going on around her.”

Of course. Bailey had thought that was because the woman only wanted Jackson and her to hear what she was saying. “You think Robin could have set this all up and fired the shot herself?”

He shrugged. “It’s possible. Maybe this was her plan, so we’d no longer be suspicious of her. She could be trying to gain our sympathy and trust.”

And it nearly worked. Bailey had indeed been terrified for Robin’s safety. Now she was riled to the core that Robin would try to manipulate them that way.

“Steven’s already called the sheriff and SAPD,” Jackson added, and his phone rang again. “It’s Evan.” He opened the phone and put it on speaker. “I tried to reach you.”

“Yes, I got your message.” And that’s all he said for several moments. “I was out of the office when you called.”

“Obviously.” Jackson paused, too. “I wanted to ask you a couple of things. First, why did you have the lab fake the results of the DNA test?”

“Who said I did?” Evan immediately countered.

“Me. I know they’re fake because I ran another set.”

Evan cursed. “You didn’t trust me?”

“No. And apparently my instincts were right.”

“I did it to protect you,” Evan insisted. “I didn’t want you to lose Caden.”

“That wasn’t your call to make,” Jackson insisted. “Now, talk to me about Ryan Cassaine. He said you’re the one who told him about the college student who wanted to put up her baby for adoption.”

“Yes, it was me. What about it?”

“Well, considering that I now know there are some questionable aspects about Caden’s adoption—”

“Wait a minute,” Evan interrupted. “You think I had something to do with stealing Bailey Hodges’s baby?”

“Did you?” Bailey demanded.

“No.” A moment later, Evan cursed and repeated his adamant denial. “I can’t believe I have to defend myself like this. Jackson told me he wanted to adopt a baby, so I started asking around. This lawyer called out of the blue. Phillip Dalkey. And he said he had a client who might be willing to give up her child, but that she would need compensation. So I called Ryan and gave him the contact info. That’s all. That’s the only part I played in all this.”

“And it has nothing to do with your fiancée’s death?” Bailey prompted.

“No. Jackson, please tell me you don’t believe any of this.”

“I don’t want to believe it, but I have to check out all the angles. Someone sent a man here to kill Bailey and me and kidnap Caden. I have to make sure that everyone around me is someone I can trust.”

“Bailey’s around you,” Evan snapped.

“Yes, because I trust her. She has as much to lose here as I do.”

“And she has everything to gain. That includes her son and your money.” Evan’s words were rushed now, and laced with bitterness. “Have you ever considered that she might have been the one to set up the illegal adoption? Bailey gets a cool million for turning over her baby to you, temporarily, and then a few months later she comes to the estate with DNA results and a sob story about someone stealing her baby. She takes Caden. It’s a win-win for her.”

Bailey frantically shook her head and turned to Jackson to defend herself, but Jackson gently tightened the grip he had on her.

“If Bailey had been trying to scam me, she would have showed up weeks ago. And she damn sure wouldn’t have hired a gunman who’d get so close to Caden.”

Bailey still held her breath. She couldn’t afford to have Jackson think she was guilty of anything, because he might toss her out. God knows how long it would take for her to get Caden then.

“You’ll lose Caden to her,” Evan said a moment later.

“Probably. Merry Christmas, Evan. We’ll talk after the holidays.” Jackson closed his phone and dropped it onto his desk.

“Probably,”
Bailey repeated under her breath. She certainly hadn’t expected that admission from Jackson.

Here she’d been trying to mentally prepare herself for a custody battle with one of the richest men in the country, and that “probably” had sounded like…surrender.

And it touched Bailey the way nothing else could have.

Jackson loved Caden. She was positive of that. Just as positive as she was that Caden loved Jackson. Yet, that “probably” meant he was at least willing to consider losing the child he loved.

“I didn’t come here to scam you,” she reminded him.

But Jackson waved her off before she even finished. “I know.”

He stood, pulling her to her feet. In the same motion, he drew her into his arms. “Evan’s on the back burner for now. If he’s the one behind this, then eventually he’ll try to strike again. He won’t succeed, with all the security precautions we’ve put in place. Eventually, he or the person responsible will be caught.”

The idea sounded so simple. So convincing. And maybe that’s why Bailey didn’t pull back and launch them into a conversation that neither of them was anxious to have. Or maybe she just stayed there because it felt good to have him hold her.

“Can we get Caden from the panic room?” she asked. But she still didn’t move out of his arms.

“Soon.” Jackson didn’t let go either. He held her and kissed the top of her head.

The air changed between them. Or something changed. Maybe it was all happening inside her and had nothing to do with the air. Bailey didn’t care. She only wanted this moment and all the feelings that came with it.

It wasn’t exactly hot passion that sent her in search of his mouth. Something else was going on here. Something that seemed to go bone-deep. Maybe deeper. Something that stirred her heart and blood even more than this fierce attraction could have.

She was falling hard for Jackson Malone.

That was it. More than the fire in her blood, there were the flames in her heart. It was probably stupid to fall for a man like him. A man who could cost Bailey her son and everything else. But her heart wasn’t going to let her back out of this. In fact, her heart was the part of her that urged her to kiss him. Really kiss him—until any doubts that she had simply melted away.

“You’re sure?” she heard Jackson ask.

Bailey didn’t even have to think about this. She had never been more certain of anything in her life.