Page 27 of Protecting the Newborn

The heat.

Yeah, it was there, all right, and it felt like a gut punch of a different kind. It was also a complication. One that he knew he shouldn’t act on. But he did anyway.

Ruston dipped his head and kissed her.

Since he hadn’t actually planned it, he wasn’t sure if this was for comfort or if the heat was calling the shots here. When the taste of her jolted through him, he had his answer.

The heat was in charge.

That definitely wasn’t a good sign, and he figured Gracelyn would realize that and push him away. She didn’t. She sank right into the kiss, pressing her mouth harder against his. Deepening it, too, and skyrocketing the fire. Making every inch of him want every inch of her.

The sound of approaching footsteps had Gracelyn and him practically jumping away from each other. Not in time, though, for Duncan to miss what’d been going on. Duncan didn’t question it, not verbally, but Ruston figured the look Duncan gave him was sort of a caution.You’re playing with fire.

Ruston knew that was the truth. This heat between Gracelyn and him was strong and hot. It was also a distraction. One that could ultimately cause him to lose focus at a time when that could turn out to be a fatal mistake. Still, Ruston couldn’t just flip a switch and put an end to the heat. He just needed to try to keep it in check until Gracelyn and the baby were no longer in danger.

Duncan handed Gracelyn the go bag. “Joelle says she’ll stay with the baby as long as needed,” he said while Gracelyn began to dig through the bag for the burner phone. “I’m hoping you’ll let her do that.”

Gracelyn looked up at him, and Duncan huffed. “I’m worried about her. She’s a cop to the bone, but she’s also pregnant. I’d rather her be with Abigail than facing down murder suspects.”

Since Joelle was his sister, Ruston felt the same way. It was even more of a reason for them to find the killer and put a stop to the danger.

“With Allie on that surveillance footage, SAPD will bring her in for questioning,” Ruston told Duncan. “If they can find her, that is.”

“I’d like to question her, too,” Duncan insisted. “And her boyfriend, Devin Blackburn.”

That was exactly what Ruston had hoped he would say. First, though, they had to locate Allie, and that started with the phone call.

“You’ll probably want to record this in case Allie answers,” Gracelyn said.

She waited until Ruston had hit the recording app on his phone before she used the burner to dial the only number in its contacts. Gracelyn then put it on speaker just as it rang.

And rang.

After what felt like an eternity, it went to voicemail, but there was no personal recorded greeting to invite the caller to leave a message. Just the beep.

“It’s me,” Gracelyn said. Ruston figured she purposely didn’t leave her name in case someone other than Allie had access to the burner. “We need to talk. It’s important.”

She ended the call, slipped the burner into the pocket of her jeans and took out her other phone. “I’ll leave a message on the private Facebook page, too,” she added and did that as soon as she pulled up the app.

When Ruston heard the ringing, he at first thought it was Allie returning her sister’s call, but it was his own phone.

“Noah,” he relayed to Gracelyn and Duncan, and he took the call on speaker. Gracelyn stopped what she was doing and moved closer to listen.

“I just heard someone shot at Tony and Charla,” Noah said right off the bat.

Ruston realized he should have added that to the text he’d sent to Noah earlier. “Yeah,” he verified. “They’re both okay. The sniper hasn’t been found, but Tony and Charla are headed back to San Antonio.”

“Glad to hear they weren’t hurt. Does their departure have anything to do with the Texas Rangers being in Captain O’Malley’s office?” Noah asked.

“It does.” And this was yet something else he should have told Noah about. “There was a fingerprint in our attackers’ truck that belonged to former cop Terry Zimmer. He was also connected to the baby farm. And Tony. They were rookies together in Austin.”

Noah said a few words of choice profanity. “Yeah, that would get him in the captain’s office.” He paused a second. “You really think Tony could be dirty?”

Ruston didn’t want to think it, but there was no way he could deny the possibility. “Either that or someone came by a whole lot of information that shouldn’t have been available to anyone but cops.”

Noah made a sound of agreement. “Terry Zimmer,” he repeated. “I’m plugging his name into a search engine I put together. It’s sort of a cop’s form of Google that taps into data pools of arrest histories, police reports and witness statements. I’ll let that run while I tell you the main reason I’m calling.” He paused. “There’s a problem with Marty’s computer files.”

Now it was Ruston who cursed, and Gracelyn wasn’t far behind him on that particular reaction. “What happened? Did they go missing?” Ruston asked.

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