Page 48 of Protecting the Newborn

“I was hoping you’d get more than an hour’s sleep,” he said, and because he couldn’t stop himself, he kissed her.

Gracelyn kissed him right back and made that amazing sound of pleasure that took the hunger up even more. And while his body was all for revving up, it wasn’t a good idea.

“I don’t have a second condom,” he told her.

She winced a little, then smiled. A wistful kind of smile that had an edge to it. The kind of edgy vibe that lovers threw off when the heat was strong and wouldn’t just go away.

Using a single finger, she slid a strand of hair off his forehead. That shouldn’t have felt like foreplay. It did. Then again, at the moment her breathing felt like foreplay, too.

He kissed her, way too long, way too deep. Enough to fire them both up. He would have taken that heat to the center of her body for some very pleasurable kisses. But a flash of light stopped him.

It hadn’t come from the window, so it wasn’t headlights. It took him a second to realize it was the phone. It was on the floor mixed with their discarded clothes. And it grabbed his attention, all right. It grabbed Gracelyn’s, too, because she tensed, clearly bracing for the worst.

He scrambled off the bed, located the phone and saw the name on the screen. “It’s a text from Luca,” he relayed to her.

Apparently, Luca wasn’t getting any sleep tonight either. Ruston read the message and quickly told her so she could release the breath she was holding.

“The search team found the dead man, Buddy, who Zimmer told us about,” Ruston explained. “The body was just off one of the ranch trails. The medical examiner will get the body and give us a cause of death, but Luca says it appears the guy did bleed out. So, Zimmer hadn’t lied about that.”

But Ruston immediately rethought that.

“Zimmer could have been the one to kill him,” Ruston amended. “I could have shot Buddy when he was at the front door of your house, but Zimmer could have finished him off. Zimmer might not have wanted to leave behind a loose end, especially one who’s a hothead.”

Obviously, that hadn’t occurred to Gracelyn yet, but it would have soon enough. Zimmer could have told them only the details that would paint him in the best light possible. The bottom line, though, was Zimmer could be a cold-blooded killer.

“Duncan will look for any connection between Zimmer and the dead fake cops,” Ruston assured her. Since it didn’t feel right to be discussing this while he was naked, he began to dress. “But my guess is if there is one, it won’t be obvious. Whoever set this up had to know it was risky.”

She made a sound of agreement and must have felt the same way he did, because she got up and started dressing as well. “And yet he went through with the plan anyway.” Gracelyn sighed. “That tells me the attacks aren’t going to stop.” She pulled on her top, and when she’d gotten her head through the neck opening, she looked him straight in the eyes. “You and I are the ultimate loose ends because the killer has to know we won’t stop until he’s caught.”

Ruston couldn’t argue with any of that, but he had a bad feeling about where Gracelyn was going with this. Still, he sat there and heard her out.

“Before today, I thought Abigail was the target,” she continued. She pulled on her panties and then the jogging pants. “But I think they wanted her only because they could sell her. They didn’t come after her here at the ranch. Thank God,” she added in a mutter. “They came after us instead. So, we’re their priority.”

Again, he couldn’t argue. In fact, he could take this line of thought one step further. “You’re thinking Abigail would be safer away from us.”

She nodded, but he saw the dread that was causing. For all intents and purposes, Gracelyn had become Abigail’s mother, and it would crush her to have to leave the baby. Still, it would crush her even more if Abigail was hurt because some thugs were coming after Ruston and her.

But there was even more to this.

More that had Ruston muttering some profanity.

“You’re thinking of making ourselves bait,” he spelled out. He cursed while he finished putting on his clothes and his shoulder holster.

“Bait with a plan,” she said, and she continued talking despite his groan. “We could leave Abigail here with lots of protection. Lots,” she emphasized. “I mean security that’s so tight, there’s no way anyone can get to her. Then you and I could draw out the killer. Because as you know, we’ll never be safe until the killer is caught.”

He did know that. But there was a part of this plan he didn’t like, and that was a huge understatement.

“You could have that same airtight security,” Ruston insisted. “You could be here with Abigail, and I could become the bait.”

She stared at him and took hold of his shoulders. “They want both of us, Ruston. If I’m here, they could come here. Or they just wait until something draws me out. I can’t stay holed up in here forever, and they know that.”

Ruston wanted to argue with her. Mercy, he did. Because he wanted to keep Gracelyn safe. He didn’t want her anywhere near the line of fire again.

“We’ve done undercover together before,” she added a moment later, “and this would be very similar.”

“Yeah, and the last time we were undercover together, we nearly died,” he reminded her.

“Because someone betrayed us or made us as cops. Maybe Zimmer. Maybe Charla or Tony. Heck, maybe it was Devin, since he seems to be connected to everything that’s happening. But for this, we make the plan. This time, only people we trust will know what’s going on.”

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