Page 52 of Protecting the Newborn

“Don’t,” she warned Tony when he reached for something in his pocket.

Tony huffed, clearly annoyed at her warning. “I just want to call SAPD and get you some help out here.”

“No calls,” Duncan ordered, muting his phone so that Devin wouldn’t be able to hear any of this. “Just stand there and don’t say anything.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed, but he held up his hands as if in mock surrender. Oh, yes. Gracelyn was definitely going to watch him.

Duncan’s phone began to ding with a series of texts, and Gracelyn caught glimpses of his screen. Carmen, Luca and Woodrow were on their way.

“Sheriff Holder,” Devin said the moment he was on the phone. “I’ve got Allie with me.”

“So I heard. How did you know I was here?” Duncan asked.

Devin seemed to hesitate as if he hadn’t expected the question. “Allie told me about the shooting at the sheriff’s office, and I figured the place was a giant crime scene right now.”

It was, and since the CSIs were working the scene, the building was temporarily closed, and Duncan and the other deputies were working from home.

“I guessed you’d come back here with Gracelyn,” Devin tacked on to his explanation.

“And you decided to bring Allie with you.” The remark was heavy with skepticism.

“He brought me here against my will,” Allie shouted. “He tied my hands and kidnapped me.”

“I found her trying to sneak into my house,” Devin countered. “I’d changed the locks, and she’d broken a window. When I confronted her, she tried to punch me. Then bite me. Then scratch me.” He sounded riled about that. “I brought her here so you can arrest her.”

“SAPD could have done that much faster,” Duncan was quick to point out.

More silence from Devin. But not from Allie. She continued to curse and yell, and Gracelyn hoped she didn’t break out of whatever restraints were on her.

“I thought you’d want to handle the arrest,” Devin finally said. “SAPD might not turn her over to you to answer for what she did, and I know Gracelyn especially will want her sister punished.”

“Abigail is mine.” That came as another shout from Allie. “I can do with her what I want.”

The words hit Gracelyn like a heavyweight’s fists. Allie could be just ranting out of rage, but that sounded very much like the threat that it was. If Allie got her hands on Abigail, there was no telling what she’d do to the child.

Duncan sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, and he checked the text messages that were lighting up his phone. “Stay put at the end of the road. Deputies Vanetti and Leonard will be there in just a few minutes. They can take custody of Allie and transport her to the county jail.”

That brought out even louder shouts and cursing from Allie. “Gracelyn?” her sister called out. “I know you’re there. Help me. Help your sister. Please,” Allie begged. “Stop the deputies from taking me.”

Gracelyn nearly spoke, not to give Allie any assurance she would stop the deputies, though. But to tell Allie that she would arrange for a lawyer to represent her.

“Gracelyn,” Allie went on, and this time she spoke her name as if coated with venom. “So much for sisterly love, huh? You won’t even help me. Well, to hell with you, Gracelyn. I wish the gunmen would have killed you. I wish you were dead.” She was shrieking by the time she got out those last words.

Gracelyn wanted to be immune to them. But she wasn’t. The words and her sister’s hatred sliced her to the bone.

“Hell, Allie managed to get out of the car,” Devin snarled.

Through the phone, Gracelyn heard Devin shouting her sister’s name just as there was the squeal of brakes.

And the deadly-sounding thud that followed.

Chapter Fourteen

Ruston finished his latest phone call, this one an update from Slater. A call he purposely hadn’t put on speaker since Gracelyn was talking with one of the ER nurses, Eileen Parsons, and he hadn’t wanted Eileen to hear anything that might then end up as gossip. Added to that, if Slater had doled out some bad news, Ruston had wanted the chance to soften that news before passing it along to Gracelyn.

Gracelyn didn’t look on the verge of falling apart, but he didn’t want to add anything else to this already bad situation. Allie was now out of nearly seven hours of surgery, but she was critical. The surgeon had already told Gracelyn and him that Allie’s chances of survival weren’t good.

Ruston hadn’t actually seen Allie since she’d bolted into the road and been hit by a rancher who just happened to be driving by at the time. But he’d heard the sound of the impact. He’d heard the urgency in Hank’s voice, too, when he’d shouted for Devin to call an ambulance.

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