Darcy didn’t have time to think about it because there was another blast. It was so loud, so strong, that it shook the SUV.
“Hell,” Nate mumbled.
Terrified of what she might see, she looked back and saw more of the nightmare that had started when she’d first learned someone had kidnapped her son.
The house was a fireball. The barn, too.
And so were the woods where she’d last seen Mason.
“
C
ALL ME THE MINUTE
you know anything,” Nate said to Grayson.
Nate pushed the end-call button on his cell and released the breath he’d been holding. Finally, he had some good news to go with the not so good. Of course, the best news was in his arms.
Kimmie was asleep, her head resting right against his heart, and they were safely back at the Ryland ranch.
Nate had already said prayers of thanks, but he intended to add a lot more. Having Kimmie safe was the most important thing in his life, but his brothers were a close second.
He looked across the foyer and saw Kimmie’s nanny, Grace Borden. The petite woman with graying red hair was studying his face. “Well?” she asked in a whisper.
“My brothers are okay,” he relayed. Grayson had just let him know that. “And they found Marlene hiding in some bushes. She’s shaken up but all right.”
Grace nodded and walked to him. “Why don’t you let me take Kimmie and put her in her crib for the night?”
Nate wanted to hold her. Heck, he didn’t want to let go, but his baby would sleep much better in her own bed than in his arms. Besides, he had to check on Darcy and Noah. He didn’t want to wake Kimmie doing that.
Grace eased Kimmie from his arms. “I’ll take good care of her,” she assured him. It wasn’t necessary. Nate trusted her completely, but it still tugged at him to see his daughter being whisked away. It might be a lifetime or two before he started to forget that she’d been stolen from him.
Someone would pay for that.
He felt the anger boil inside him. A lethal mix, but he pushed that powder keg of emotion deep inside him. Soon, he would get the men responsible for what had happened.
Nate went to the bar in the living room and poured himself a shot of whiskey. He took it in one gulp, even though he preferred beer to the fireball of heat that slid down his throat. Still, he needed something to settle his nerves.
He made his way to the family room, where he’d left Darcy as soon as they’d gotten back from the Lost Appaloosa. He had to tell her that Bessie, the housekeeper, had fixed a room for Noah and her.
Before he even got there, he heard the voices coming from the family room. Not Darcy’s voice. But Kayla Brennan’s, Dade’s fiancée, who had already moved into the ranch. Good. Maybe talking with Kayla had managed to calm Darcy down because Nate didn’t want to tackle that job.
“Yes, that was an obstacle,” Kayla said. “Dade’s family hated me.”
Nate groaned silently and stopped. This didn’t sound like a calming-down kind of conversation. He peered around the corner and saw both women seated on the leather sofa. Darcy held a sleeping Noah in her lap. Kayla had her sleeping son in her arms.
“I was Charles Brennan’s daughter-in-law,” Kayla continued. “The man who ordered Nate’s wife to be killed.”
“But Dade and his brothers obviously got past that,” Darcy pointed out.
Yeah. But it hadn’t been easy. Just a short time ago, Kayla had been the enemy.
Much as Darcy was now.
And that gave Nate a jolt. A nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“That’s true.” Kayla shrugged. “I fell in love with Dade, and everything else fell into place. The Rylands and my son are my family now.” Her gaze flew to the doorway, where he was standing. “Nate,” she greeted. She stood, slowly. “You have news?”
“They’re all okay,” Nate said as quickly as he could. “Dade doesn’t have a scratch on him, and he’ll be home soon.”
Kayla made a sound of relief and blinked back tears. “Thank you.”
Darcy mumbled a thank-you under her breath, and she closed her eyes for a moment.
Kayla glanced down at her son. Then, at Darcy, before her gaze went back to Nate. “It’s time I put Robbie to bed.” There was an inflection in her voice, an implied
so you two can talk
.
Yeah, they needed to do that. And Darcy probably wasn’t going to like what he had to say. Nate waited until Kayla was out of the room before he started what was essentially a briefing.
One with a bad twist.
“Are your brothers really okay?” she asked.
“They are. Kade has a few cuts and scratches because he was close to one of the blasts, but his injuries are minor.” He took a deep breath and rested his hands on his hips. “And they found Marlene. She said she got separated from us when we were running, and she hid in some bushes.”
“That’s good.” Darcy stared at him, waiting.
“Come on.” Nate motioned for her to stand. It might be better to finish this if he didn’t have to see her face. There was concern, and fear, written all over it. “Bessie made up a bed for you. Noah, too.”
She stood, not easily. Her legs were wobbly, but Nate didn’t move to help her. He’d been doing too much of that lately. Instead, he led her out of the family room, across the foyer and into the hall that fed into the west wing of the house.
“Okay, what’s wrong?” Darcy asked.
Well, the woman was perceptive. “Only one of the kidnappers survived. The boss, aka Willis Ramirez. And he’s not talking. Plus, I’m not sure how long we can even hold him.”
“What?” It wasn’t a whisper, either. Noah jolted, and Darcy frantically started rocking him. She also stared at Nate. “The man kidnapped our children.”
“Yes, but Mexico has an extradition order for him. He worked for one of the drug lords and gunned down six people, including a high-ranking police officer.”
The color blanched from her face, and he got her moving again so she could put Noah down. She looked too shaky to be holding anything right now, especially a baby.
“How much time do we have to interrogate him?” Darcy wanted to know.
“Not much. A day or two at most. Grayson is with him now and will keep pressing until the federal marshals arrive and take custody.”
Darcy shook her head, mumbled something. “Grayson has to get a confession. We have to find out who hired him to kidnap the children.”
“We will,” Nate promised.
He opened the door to the guest suite and took her through the sitting area and into the bedroom where Bessie had prepared the crib. Bessie had also left Darcy a loaner gown, a robe and some toiletries.
Darcy laid the baby down, kissed one cheek and then the other. She lingered for several moments, and Nate didn’t rush her. He understood her reluctance to leave her baby.
Finally, she stepped away, keeping her eyes on Noah until she was in the sitting room. She groaned softly and leaned against the wall. “I don’t know how I made it through this day,” she whispered.
Nate was right there with her on that. He’d faced down armed criminals before, had even been wounded in the line of duty. But only Ellie’s death came close to this.
“Tomorrow I’ll have someone drop by your house and get some things,” he told her. “If you need anything specific, make a list.”
The weariness didn’t fade from her eyes, but they did widen a bit. “I’m not going home?”
“No.” Nate thought about how to say it and decided to just toss the truth out there. “The danger isn’t over. If Ramirez doesn’t give up the person who hired him, then one way or another I’ll have to find out who he is. That might take some time.”
She didn’t argue. Didn’t look as if she had the strength to put up even a token resistance. “And in the meantime?”
“Noah and you will stay here.” That was the logical solution. The ranch had a security system. Plus, there were at least a dozen ranch hands on the grounds at any given moment. It also didn’t hurt that five lawmen lived there.
And four of those lawmen might be a problem.
“Your brothers?” she said, getting right to the heart of the matter.
“There’ll be tension,” he admitted. “But no one here will turn you out. The kidnappers went after our children. They might try again.”
She shivered, and closed her eyes. Did she see the same nightmarish images that he did? The gunmen, the children huddled on the floor of the preschool? The explosions that tore apart the Lost Appaloosa only minutes after they’d rescued Noah and Kimmie?
Her eyelids fluttered open, and she met his gaze. “If Ramirez doesn’t talk, I think we know where your investigation starts. Sandra Dent’s son, Adam, or her ex-husband, Edwin Frasier.”
Yeah. That ball was already rolling. Mason was arranging for both men to be brought to Silver Creek for questioning. Too bad they couldn’t find the dead woman’s missing diary. Then maybe they would know who was behind this. Nate knew from accounts from Sandra’s friends that the diary existed, but it hadn’t turned up in any of the searches of her estate. Of course, her killer could have destroyed it, and with it any possible evidence.
“I can’t rule out Dent himself,” Nate added. “He could have orchestrated this to make himself look innocent.” He braced himself for the lawyer to kick in.
But she only nodded. “About how much would it have cost to put this kidnapping together?”
“Three vans, seven men, weapons, explosives. We’re probably looking at a minimum of a hundred thousand.” He hesitated. “Unless Ramirez’s drug-lord connections are behind this. Then the men could have been coerced into helping with the kidnapping.”
A heavy sigh left her mouth, and she plowed her hands through her hair to push it away from her face. But then she winced when her fingers raked over her stitches.
Nate moved her hand so he could have a look, which required him to push aside a few strands. Her hair was as soft as silk. And despite their ordeal in the woods, she didn’t smell of sweat and blood but rather the faint aroma of the fragrant cedars. Her own scent was there, too. Something warm and musky.
Something that stirred feelings best left alone.
“Well?” she prompted.
“The stitches held.” But there was an angry bruise around the edges. He made a mental note to call the doctor and ask him to come out to the ranch to examine Darcy. He also made a mental note not to let her scent get to him.
“How does it look?” she asked. But she waved him off. “Never mind. I know I look bad.”
That was the problem. She didn’t. Even with the fatigue, the stitches and the bruise, Darcy managed to look amazing.
Beautiful.
And that was not a good thing for him to notice.
Nor was her body. It was pretty amazing, too. She was a good eight inches shorter than he was. On the petite side. But she still had interesting curves. Curves that reminded him it’d been too long since he’d held a woman.
Or had one in his bed.
His own body responded to that reminder. His blood started to race. His heart, too. And his jeans were no longer comfortable.
Nate stepped back, or rather, tried, but she caught his arm. “I’m sorry.”
Of all the things he’d expected her to say, that wasn’t one of them.
He studied her eyes. Also beautiful. And he shook his head, not understanding her apology. He was the one with the bad reaction here.
“I’m sorry for everything,” Darcy clarified. Her voice was mostly breath now. “Especially for defending the man whose hired gun killed your wife. I’m sorry I managed to keep him out of jail so that he could go after Dade and Kayla.”
Oh, hell, no. Nate didn’t want to go there. He didn’t want to talk about Ellie. So he shook off her grip and turned to leave.
“For what it’s worth,” Darcy continued, “I’ve applied to be the assistant district attorney here in Silver Creek.”
That froze him in his tracks, and Nate eased back around to stare at her. As the A.D.A, she’d have to work with Grayson, Dade and Mason. Work
closely
with them, on the same side of the law.
“I’m not a bad person.” Her voice trembled again. So did her bottom lip, and her eyes began to water. “I just got wrapped up in doing…what I thought I needed to do. Old baggage,” she added in a mumble. “Something you might know a little about.”
Oh, yeah. His old baggage had baggage.
“When did yours start?” she asked.
Nate didn’t have to think about that. He also didn’t have to think about it to know this was a conversation he didn’t want to have. But he answered her, anyway. “Twenty years ago when I was fifteen, my grandfather was murdered, and it was never solved.”
“Yes. Sheriff Chet McLaurin. Kayla asked me about him.”
Nate was sure he blinked. “Why would she ask you that?”
“She called me a few weeks ago and wanted to know if I’d come across a photo of your grandfather in any of Charles Brennan’s things. She faxed me a copy of the picture and said it was taken on the day the new sheriff’s office opened.”
Now, he understood. Kayla had asked because Darcy was the executor for Brennan’s will, and the picture was definitely in question. Kayla had seen a copy, and now the family wanted to know why a man like Brennan had held on to a photo seemingly unrelated to him.