Page 105 of Winter Vows

Jeb promptly straightened in his seat. “Tell me what you know,” he said with an eagerness he never displayed when talking about his work for the family oil business.

Dylan laid out the case point by point. For all of his carefree ways, Jeb had a quick mind. They were a good match. Dylan relished the details, the assembling of clues. Jeb could lay them out and see the big picture. When Dylan was finished, Jeb nodded. “He wants something from Kelsey,” he concluded. “And he’s stringing her along until he figures she’ll be desperate enough to give it to him.”

“But what?” Dylan asked. “Obviously not Bobby. He has him and he hasn’t made a run for it. I heard him on the phone. I don’t even think it’s a play to get shared custody. It’s something else.”

“Money?” Jeb suggested.

Dylan considered it, then shook his head. “Kelsey’s not rich. She’s a small-town doctor. She probably has medical school bills left to pay. Besides, from what I gathered, Paul is a hotshot stockbroker. He’s the one with the bucks.”

“Maybe he played fast and loose with his ethics and got himself fired.”

“So he stole his kid to get back his credibility?” Dylan asked doubtfully. “I don’t think so. Besides, Justin talked to his boss. He’s expecting him back after his two-week vacation ends.”

“Maybe he’s just trying to jerk Kelsey’s chain. Maybe this is payback for her leaving him.” Dylan had certainly heard enough taunting animosity in Paul’s voice to believe him capable of that kind of cruelty, but it still didn’t ring true. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why he felt that so strongly. “No,” he said eventually. “It’s something else. And my gut tells me that Kelsey knows exactly what it is.”

“Then let’s go see the beautiful pediatrician,” Jeb suggested. “We can play good cop, bad cop with her. I’ll be the bad guy, since you want to have a future with her when this is all over.”

“I never said—”

“You didn’t have to, big brother. It’s written all over your face. You’re the transparent one, remember? That’s why Mom always knew you were the one who stole the cookies.”

“No, she knew that because the rest of you blabbed,” Dylan countered. “But you’re right about going to see Kelsey. It’s time to put an end to the evasiveness.”

“Don’t forget, though, I get to be the bad cop,” Jeb said.

If the situation hadn’t been so deadly serious, Dylan would have laughed at his brother’s eagerness. Jeb had obviously spent far to many hours watching shows likeNYPD Blue. He had the typical amateur’s illusions about the glamour of police and detective work. And because he only popped in and out of Dylan’s cases at the most critical junctures, he had no idea how much nitty-gritty, boring legwork was required to get to that point.

Dylan approached Kelsey’s house with mounting trepidation. After all, she had fired him the night before. He doubted she was going to be overjoyed to find him still at work. Maybe the way around that would be to explain he had brought Jeb in as his replacement. Maybe she wouldn’t recall that Jeb had already been on his way to town before Dylan had been fired.

Women tended to accept his brother at face value. Jeb was a charmer with the kind of friendly, open demeanor that drew them in droves. They also tended to take advantage of his good nature, which Dylan believed was the reason Jeb refused to take any relationship seriously. He’d been burned so many times that he now made it a point to be the first to walk away.

“Why is it you look as though we’re about to stroll innocently into the lion’s den?” Jeb asked as they exited the car. “I thought you liked this woman.”

“I’m not exactly at the top of her hit parade at the moment,” Dylan admitted, surprised that Trish hadn’t explained the situation. “The truth is, she fired me last night.”

“She fired you,” Jeb echoed, shaking his head. “Now’s a fine time to mention that. Maybe you’d better be the bad cop, after all.”

Dylan chuckled. “Nah. You do it so well.”

He rang the bell and waited. When Lizzy opened the door, she regarded him with shock. “I thought you’d been—”

“Fired?” Dylan supplied. She nodded.

“I was,” he replied cheerfully. “So I hired him.” He gestured over his shoulder. “You remember my brother Jeb.”

Lizzy stared. “Jeb. Of course. I thought you were in the oil business.”

“I’m a man of many talents,” he said. “Dylan likes to call on me when he’s in over his head.”

“Very funny,” Dylan muttered. He stepped past Lizzy. “Where’s Kelsey?”

“In the kitchen. I’ll get her.”

“Never mind,” Jeb said. “Well go in there.”

“Don’t mind him,” Dylan said. “He’s hoping there will be leftovers from breakfast. He’s a bottomless pit.”

“Then he’s in luck. I’ve been baking again. Cinnamon rolls this time. It keeps my mind off of things and I keep hoping the aroma of all that sugar and cinnamon will get to Kelsey so she’ll eat something.”

---