Page 11 of The Sheriff's Baby

Of course, that meant the guy would probably be long gone by the time they arrived to get Molly. But this could also be a trap to draw Joelle and him out.

“Is Molly all right?” Duncan asked, hoping that Molly would be able to answer that for herself.

“She’s shaken up but fine. Like I said, taking her was a mistake.”

Duncan wanted to press for more. He wanted to know why kidnapping Molly had been a mistake. Had this been a case of the wrong person being taken? Had Joelle been the target? He needed answers to all of that, but he especially wanted to know whose blood was in the house and on Molly’s porch. If it was Molly’s, then she was more than just shaken up.

“Leave Molly somewhere now,” Duncan bargained. “She and her baby need to be checked by a doctor.”

Silence. For a long time. And Duncan hoped like the devil that the guy was considering that. The sooner they got Molly, the better.

“I’ll call you when I call you,” the man finally snarled, and he ended the conversation before Duncan could say anything else.

Duncan immediately cursed and tried to call the kidnapper back. It wasn’t a surprise, though, when the guy didn’t answer. Still, Duncan reminded himself that the call was a positive sign. Molly was alive, and the man who’d taken her wanted to return her.

Supposedly.

He cursed again and looked at Joelle. “He could be using Molly and her baby as bait,” she muttered.

“Yeah.” But Duncan didn’t need to spell out the rest. He’d have to go to Molly even if a trap was a high probability. Which it was. He’d have to go even if there was only a slim chance they’d get Molly back.

“You’ll take backup,” Joelle said, proving that they were thinking the same thing. “And you’ll be careful.”

Duncan shouldn’t have felt good about her adding that last part. But he did. There’d been so many weeks of tension between Joelle and him. So much guilt. Now, though, they were on the same side again, and he realized just how much he’d missed this. He’d had a thing for her for years, that wasn’t going away, but he missed working with her almost as much as he missed being with her.

Almost.

He glanced up the hall when he saw someone approaching, and his body braced. But it wasn’t a threat. It was Luca who’d gone back to Joelle’s after he’d escorted Duncan and her to the hospital.

“No sign of the gunman yet,” Luca reported. “No other shots fired after you left the scene. How are you two? Were either of you hurt?”

“We’re fine,” Joelle assured him. “We just got a call from the kidnapper.” She handed him her phone. “The recording of the conversation is on there, but the kidnapper claims he intends to return Molly.”

That put some hope in Luca’s intense brown eyes. Hope that disappeared as fast as it’d come. “You believe him?”

“Too soon to tell,” Duncan muttered.

Luca’s phone rang. “It’s the fire department,” he explained. “I’d better take this.” He stepped away to do that, and Duncan turned back to Joelle.

“When the kidnapper does call back, you won’t be going with me to pick up Molly,” he told her.

Her mouth tightened, but she didn’t argue. She had to know if this was a trap, then she was likely the intended target.

Well, maybe she was.

“You don’t resemble Molly,” he said, thinking out loud. “You live miles from each other. Yes, you’re both pregnant, and she’s a former cop, but that’s about it.”

Joelle nodded. “Maybe it wasn’t about mistaking Molly for me but he could possibly see the kidnapping as a mistake. It’s possible he didn’t know she was pregnant.” She paused. “Or he could have just changed his mind.”

That was true, but it still didn’t explain the attack on Joelle. Or maybe it did. “If someone wanted to kidnap pregnant women, there could have been two teams operating. The one that hit your place and the one that went after Molly.”

Joelle made a sound of agreement but wasn’t able to add anything else because the door to Kate Moreland’s room opened, and Dr. Benton came out.

Benton was quick to shake his head. “You won’t be able to speak to Ms. Moreland for at least a couple of hours. Maybe longer. Her blood pressure isn’t stable, and she’s at risk for a hypertension crisis, which could lead to a stroke or heart attack. I’ll give you a call when it’s safe for her to have visitors.”

Duncan couldn’t press to continue the interview, not when it could put the woman’s life in danger. But there were also more pressing dangers than Ms. Moreland’s health.

“Ms. Moreland was worried about her son, Brad,” Duncan told the doctor. “She thought he might want to harm Joelle in some way. That’s why she was heading to Joelle’s place, but she was near Molly’s when she was involved in a car crash.”

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