Page 45 of Protecting the Newborn

That was a nutshell account of what’d happened. Of course, the emotional couldn’t be put in a nutshell. There’d been an attack at the sheriff’s office, and now two men were dead. No wonder Duncan was still at work.

“What about the prisoner they were supposed to transport?” Gracelyn asked. “Was he in on it?”

“Duncan doesn’t think so. Austin PD was actually sending down two officers to collect him, but they weren’t coming for another two hours.”

She stayed quiet for several seconds. “So, these two fake cops would have had access to Austin PD info,” she concluded.

“Looks that way,” he agreed.

“Zimmer,” she muttered. “He could have set all of this up.”

She’d get no argument from him about that. In fact, it was possible Zimmer had orchestrated this and everything else that’d happened. The man had sounded somewhat sincere when he’d told them about his quest to catch those involved in the baby farm, but that could have been all smoke. A ruse to confirm Gracelyn and he were at the sheriff’s office so he could send in the thugs to attack.

“We were the targets,” she said. “Me, you and Allie. They came there to kill us.” Her voice broke and she squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to hold back tears.

Cursing and breaking his promise to himself that he wouldn’t try to soothe her, Ruston pulled her into his arms. A hug probably wasn’t going to do much, but it was all he had. There was no good news to give her. Heck, he couldn’t even dispute that part about them being targets. In fact, it all made sense if Zimmer was trying to tie up some loose ends.

“I’m not going to let Allie or Zimmer get to Abigail,” she whispered, her words brushing against his neck.

Ruston rethought that notion about a hug not doing much good because Gracelyn sounded stronger than she had just seconds earlier. Of course, the baby could do that. Ruston would protect the little girl with his own life, and that included not letting Allie or Zimmer get anywhere near her.

“Allie doesn’t even love her,” Gracelyn went on. “She was going to sell her.”

“I know,” Ruston murmured. And he knew something else.

That Gracelyn did love the baby.

Heck, so did he. That added even more urgency to the need to keep Gracelyn and her safe.

“Has there been any sign of Allie?” she asked.

“No.” And that had given him plenty to think about.

If Allie had told the truth about not having much money, she couldn’t have gotten far. Not on her own, anyway. But it was possible Zimmer or another thug was waiting near the sheriff’s office and scooped her up after she ran outside. If that hadn’t happened, then whoever had hired those two fake cops would no doubt be looking for her.

If they found her, they’d kill her.

Ruston knew Gracelyn was well aware of that. Allie probably was, too, but so far, that hadn’t caused Allie to seek out police protection, something she could get with one phone call to either Gracelyn, Duncan or him.

Gracelyn had left a message for Allie encouraging her to do just that. To accept that protection. But so far, there’d been no response from her sister.

She eased back from him, just far enough for her to make eye contact. “You moved in front of me,” she said, and he must have looked confused, because she added, “During the shooting.”

Oh, that. “Yeah,” he admitted. “It has nothing to do with you being a woman. It was just instinct.”

Since she wasn’t exactly doling out any thanks, he geared up to add an apology to that. And let her know that his instincts would be the same if it happened again.

“You did that at the baby farm, too,” she muttered.

Ruston couldn’t recall that for certain. Those moments they’d been pinned down by gunfire were a blur. Then again, he’d worked hard to make sure they were. He didn’t need images like that in his head.

She sighed. “What’s going on here?” Gracelyn asked.

And he didn’t think they were talking about gunfire any longer. Nope. There was just enough light for him to see the change in her eyes. Her breath hitched a little. He felt her muscles tense beneath his hands. A reminder that he was still holding her in his arms.

“I think what’s going on is a complication,” he admitted. “Something we’d like to postpone. But it doesn’t seem to want to go away.”

“No,” she quietly agreed.

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