Page 19 of Protecting the Newborn

“You’re sure Allie voluntarily left to go to Devin?” he asked.

Gracelyn opened her mouth and then immediately closed it, obviously rethinking what she’d been about to say. “You’re thinking he somehow lured Allie away?” She paused, then groaned again. “It’s possible. That could go back to Allie using my tablet to get in touch with him. If she did, though, she didn’t leave a trace of that contact. No copies of emails in the Sent folder or trash.”

“Allie could have deleted them. Or Devin could have instructed her to delete them. You said he had an arrest for computer hacking, so he’d certainly know how to do something that simple.”

“Yes,” she muttered, and a moment later she repeated it while she was obviously working through this theory.

Because he was watching her, he saw the exact second she followed the theory to one possible conclusion. A bad one.

She nodded, swallowed hard. “Devin has a violent temper, and he could have lured Allie to him in order to punish her for leaving him. He could have already killed her.”

Yeah. That was a bad possible conclusion, all right. Abusers could escalate. Hits and slaps could turn into something deadly.

“Oh, mercy,” Gracelyn whispered, and the emotion took over.

Ruston went to her, pulling her into his arms, and she didn’t resist. Gracelyn just let him hold her. Let herself lean on him while she dealt with the sickening realization that her sister could be dead. Unfortunately, that might not be the end of this scenario.

He gave Gracelyn a minute. Then two. And he just kept holding her. Definitely not a chore. In fact, it felt good to have her close like this. It stirred memories, of course. Of the heat. Of the one time they’d been together when a hug of comfort had turned into a kiss.

And then so much more.

Obviously, Gracelyn hadn’t been able to deal with thatmoresince she’d left the following day. That was the reason Ruston couldn’t do what his body was urging him to do and push this contact further. He darn sure couldn’t kiss her. That would risk her going on the run again, and he didn’t want to lose her.

“If Allie is dead, if Devin killed her, then he might want to get Abigail,” Ruston said. He was whispering now, too, because even though Abigail was way too young to understand, he didn’t want her to hear any of this. “He might not want any DNA evidence to link him to Allie, and the baby would do that.”

He felt Gracelyn’s muscles tighten. “I could link him,” she muttered.

Ruston eased back enough to meet her gaze. “And that leaves me. Until you told me about Allie and Devin, I had no idea about that connection.”

She made a sound of agreement. “It’s possible Devin contacted Marty to arrange the kidnapping, and Marty hired you.” She stopped. “So, if Marty was indeed Green Eagle and knew your real identity, he could have used this opportunity to get rid of both of us and get payment from Devin for the baby.”

Ruston was about to continue that line of thought, but his phone vibrated again, and he saw Noah’s name on the screen. He showed it to Gracelyn, and he answered the call.

“Noah,” he said, “I have Gracelyn here with me, and I’m putting you on speaker.” That would save Ruston from repeating any info Noah was about to give them. And hopefully, that info would be useful and not simply more bad news. They’d filled their bad-news quota for a while.

“Good,” Noah replied, “because I had a question for her. Do you recall when you contacted retired sergeant Archie Ingram?”

“About two weeks ago,” she quickly provided. “If you need the exact date, I can get it.”

“Probably not necessary,” Noah assured her, “but you should know that thirteen days ago, Archie called SAPD headquarters and asked to speak to Lieutenant Tony Franklin. Tony wasn’t available, so Archie left a message, saying it was important, that some reporter was asking about the baby-farm investigation.”

Gracelyn and Ruston exchanged glances, and she was probably thinking what he was. That this could indeed be important. If Tony had gotten concerned about a reporter, then he could have attempted to nip it in the bud. But for that to fit meant that Archie, or Tony, had figured out that Gracelyn was the bogus reporter.

“Did Tony call him back?” Ruston wanted to know.

“I’m not sure, but it’s something you might want to ask him. He’s on his way to Saddle Ridge, Ruston. I suspect he’ll find his way to wherever you’re staying.”

Ruston wasn’t sure whose groan was louder, his or Gracelyn’s, but he thought he was the winner. “Any idea when he’ll be here?”

“My guess is soon. I saw him hurrying out of his office about twenty minutes ago. Emphasis onhurrying.”

That would have been about the time Ruston had ended his call with Charla, and he wondered if Charla had said something to Tony to make him rush out to Saddle Ridge.

Probably.

Even if Tony didn’t know where the family ranch was, he’d soon find out, and that could mean he’d be here in as soon as ten minutes. Too bad his other sister, Bree, wasn’t home. Bree was a high-profile lawyer for the Texas Rangers and could create legal walls in a blink to stop Tony from getting near the ranch.

But Ruston immediately rethought that.

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