Cowboy Behind the Badge

Of course they did.

Tucker rummaged through his closet, locating some dry clothes for himself and a white button-up shirt for Laine. He dropped it all on the dresser. He also maneuvered her away from the window and helped her put the babies on the bed so she could change.

“They followed you to your office?” he asked.

But he darn near forgot the question when Laine shucked off her wet top. She had on a lacy white bra, but the rain had practically made it see-through.

This wasn’t the kid he’d kissed in his granddaddy’s kitchen.

Nope. Laine was a fully grown woman now, with real curves he had no business gawking at. She obviously felt the same because she scowled when she noticed where his attention had landed.

“Sorry, I forgot we had this...connection between us,” she mumbled.

“There’s nothing between us,” Tucker jumped to say.

Too bad it was a big fat lie. One that he had zero intention of straightening out. He yanked off his shirt as if he’d waged war on it.

“To answer your question—no, the guards didn’t follow me,” she snapped.

Because his mind still wasn’t where it should be, it took him a moment to remember the question—had the guards followed the CI and her back to her office?

“How would you know if they’d followed you there or not?” he pressed.

Laine huffed, snatched up the shirt. The moment she had it on, she eased down on the bed beside the babies, trying to comfort them. “The CI made sure of that. He drove around with me until they stopped following us, and he said it was safe.”

“Well, he was clearly wrong about that, wasn’t he?” He huffed. “Remember, there are two things that make a CI. Being a paid informant and being a criminal.”

“What does that mean?”

Her gaze snapped back to his. Probably something she wished she could take back, because Tucker had already stripped down to his boxers. Proving that she was the most stubborn woman in the whole state of Texas, she didn’t look away.

“It means the CI could have been looking for a way to earn a few bucks. He could have gone back to the baby farm and told them that he was suspicious of you and that you needed to be taken care of.”

Laine opened her mouth, no doubt to deny that, but then she shook her head. Her eyes widened, and she touched her fingers to her mouth. “Oh, God.”

“Yeah, oh, God,” he mumbled. “You took a serious risk going out there, going anywhere, with that idiot. And even if he was truly trying to help, he put your neck right on the line by taking you into a hornet’s nest.”

He could have continued his tirade for several more minutes, but his phone rang, and Tucker saw Reed’s name on the screen. He hoped the deputy had some good news, because they sure as heck needed it. He hit the speaker button so he could take the call and finish dressing.

“I was just out at the parking lot behind Laine’s office,” Reed said. “I found some blood.”

Tucker cursed, not because he hadn’t expected the news. After everything Laine had told him, he had, but that blood was confirmation they were dealing with killers and not just some loons out to kidnap a pair of newborns.

“There’s not much blood left because it’s raining hard,” Reed went on. “Still, I found some spots on the corner of the building beneath the eaves. Found a pacifier, too. Hard to tell, but it might have a fingerprint on it. DNA, too, if the rain hasn’t gotten to it.”

“Send it and the blood sample to the Ranger lab for immediate processing,” Tucker instructed. He glanced at the babies. He needed to know who the dead woman was so he could locate the babies’ next of kin.

“Any security cameras nearby?” Tucker asked. “Maybe we can get footage of what happened. In case we don’t have a print, we might be able to get some photos of her.”

And photos of her killers, as well.

After all, Laine had said they’d gotten out of the car to retrieve the body, and that meant a camera could show the murder in progress.

“Maybe,” Reed answered. “That new jewelry store up the street has cameras. Don’t know if the angles are right, but I’ll call them while I’m driving out to check Laine’s car for prints.”

“Make the call, but skip the fingerprints on the car for now.” With the rain, it was probably a lost cause anyway. Besides, he had something more important for Reed to do. “Come out to my place. I’d like someone close by in case things get ugly again.”

That didn’t help soothe any of the tension from Laine’s face. It wouldn’t help soothe his, either, but it was a precaution Tucker needed to take.

Not just for Laine, but for those babies.

The moment he finished the call with Reed, Laine said, “The dead woman could have heard the guards or the CI mention me. She could have heard my name, and that’s why she called me.”

Yeah, Laine’s phone number wouldn’t have been hard to find. But why had the woman thought she could trust Laine? And how the heck had she gotten away from the baby farm and into town?

“She probably heard more than just your name,” Tucker explained. “She likely heard the guards say that they didn’t trust you, that you could be working for the cops.”

Of course that meant assuming the woman was totally innocent in all of this. And that she was indeed trying to protect her babies. But maybe the men killed her for a different reason, and finding that reason would only be possible if they first learned her identity. Hopefully the blood Reed had found would help with that.

“Come on.” Tucker grabbed some towels from the adjoining bathroom. “Reed will be here soon, and I need to get the babies and you to the hospital for checkups.”

Laine gave a shaky nod, probably because she wasn’t thrilled about going outside, where the missing gunman might spot her. “And then what?”

“Protective custody. A safe house.”

Another nod. She wrapped the babies each in the towels. Not ideal cover, but it was better than using the damp blanket Laine had used to hold them earlier.

“Can you manage to carry both of them?” he asked. It was a strange question, because she’d carried them across the pasture to get to his house, but she was more shaken up now. After all, she’d just come darn close to dying.

“Yes.” And her attention went to the belt holster he’d just put on. Then to the backup weapon he slid into the back of his jeans.

“I’ll pull the truck right up to the steps,” he assured her. “By the time we make it to the road, Reed should be here.”

Tucker had barely made it a step before he heard the sound of a car engine. He hurried to the front window, expecting to see Reed’s truck, but it was a black four-door sedan.

“What’s wrong?” Laine asked, obviously noticing the change in his body language.

“Maybe nothing.” Of course, it felt like something since it could be their attacker returning.

However, the man who stepped out from the car wasn’t the escaped gunman. This guy was in his late twenties and had pale blond hair. He was wearing a dark gray suit, with no sign of a weapon. He ducked his head against the storm and ran toward the porch.

The man wasn’t alone. There was someone else in the car, but Tucker could only make out a silhouette because of the rain-streaked windows.

“You know him?” Laine asked.

“No. Wait here and stay away from the windows.” Tucker didn’t move until she had the babies back by the bed before he drew his gun and started for the door. Their visitor knocked just as he got there. He swung open the door and asked the guy to identify himself.

“Martin Hague,” the man said, but his voice trailed off to nothing but breath when he spotted Tucker’s gun. “I heard on the drive over that you’d had some trouble out here.”

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