Newborn Conspiracy (6 page)

Mia put Tanner back into his carrier, picked up the diaper bag and went into the corridor.

Logan was thereat the other end, on his cell phone. He was also pacing, but he stopped when he spotted her.

“Dig deep " she heard Logan say. It was an order."Find out how the devil this could have happened. And get someone over here now just in case the police don’t put a guard on Collena Drake."

This time Mia didn’t mind Logan’s orders because they weren’t aimed at her and because Collena obviously needed protection. They would also likely need to dig deep to find out what was going on. They had a lot of questions, few answers, and the answers they did have only created more questions.

“Collena just got out of surgery." Logan let her know, “The doctor should be out soon to talk to us."

He took the diaper bag and led her to the unoccupied seats on the far side of the room. She sat next to Logan and purposely put the carrier on the other side of her—away from him.

The ploy didn’t work.

“Is he okay?’" Logan asked, looking into the carrier. He reached over her, his arm brushing against her breasts, and used his index finger to pull back the blanket so he could see Tanner’s face.

Mia moved his arm away."He just finished eating. He’ll sleep for several hours now."

He frowned, probably because she hadn’t let him touch the baby."Does he need anything?"

“No. That’s the advantage of nursing. I don’t have to heat formula or wash bottles. And as for diapers, I had some with me in the bag."

This time, Logan didn’t touch Tanner, He touched her. He used his finger to push a strand of hair out of her eyes. It felt…intimate.

Mia moved away again.

No frown this time. But he did put some distance between them.

Logan leaned his head back against the wall and folded his arms over his chest."What about you?" he asked."You have to be exhausted. It’s nearly I0:00 pm."

Yes, she was exhausted. With Tanner not sleeping through the night yet, she was usually in bed by nine so she could get up for his 2:00 a.m., nursing. The fatigue was only worse with the adrenaline crash that’d hit her earlier.

“I can wait until we talk to the doctor about Collena," she let him know.

Mia owed the woman that much.

While she was waiting, she needed to figure out what she was going to do. The police hadn’t offered any form of protection. They didn’t have the manpower for it, they’d said when she brought up the subject. And she couldn’t very well go home since her front lawn was a crime scene. With no family or close friends nearby, that left her with few options. A hotel, one with security.

Or she could ask for Logan’s help.

She glanced at him. The rumpled hair. Those dark, dangerous blue eyes. The total male intensity that frightened her, Mia made her decision.

She would check in to a hotel.

Which for some stupid reason made her feel guilty. Why? Because she was shutting out Logan.

But then, she didn’t have a choice about that. For her own personal sanity, she had to shut him out. Yes, this situation was horrible and not of his own making. And yes, he probably thought he had a right to touch and see Tanner, but it couldn’t happen.

Still, she did owe Logan something, too.

Mia cleared her throat to get his attention."I didn’t say thank you for saving our lives."

He shrugged."We got lucky. Let’s hope Collena is equally lucky." Logan glanced at her, unfolded his arms."I had my crew go through your car and they found something."

That comment put her on instant alert."What?"

“Someone had planted a listening device inside it, under the dash"

Mia swallowed hard and tried to prevent her stomach from churning."How long had it been there?"

“Not long. It looked brand-new. Perhaps someone hid it in your car when you were inside the pediatric clinic. I didn’t get there until shortly after you’d arrived for your appointment."

She tried to process that. It seemed like a piece of a puzzle. Only in this case, lots of pieces were missing."Before today, I don’t think anyone had been following me for the past six weeks."

He stayed quiet a moment."That might be true. The person might have followed the same paper trail I did."

Oh. She hadn’t thought of that."And they got to my car ahead of you," she concluded.

“It looks like it." He turned in the seat and faced her."I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but that’s what I’m going to have to ask you to do."

Mia didn’t like the sound of that, either."I’m checking into a hotel," she blurted out.

“I’d rather you not do that. I’d like to take you to one of my houses."

She was shaking her head before he even finished."That wouldn’t be safe."

“I’ve already told you that Genevieve doesn’t know where this place is."

“So you’ve said. But we don’t know for certain that she’s the one behind the shooting. It could be someone who’s tracking your every move."

Logan drew in a weary-sounding breath."Here’s what I think happened. Genevieve wanted to have a child with me because she thought it would save our doomed relationship. When she couldn’t get pregnant, she put her plan into action—she broke up with me under the guise of giving herself some time to think and then she went straight to the Brighton Birthing Center and requested they immediately find her a surrogate. One who looked like her."

Mia felt her eyes widen."Are you saying that Genevieve thought I would be her surrogate?"

“She didn’t just think it, she planned it, and she had plenty of help from her criminal friends at Brighton. She probably paid them to be on the lookout for a surrogate like you. She would have needed someone ASAP since the baby’s birth couldn’t have happened much more than nine months after I last slept with her. So when you walked in the door of the birthing center, your fate was sealed."

It took a moment to say anything, but her mind was racing with the possibility and the improbability of Logan’s theory."That doesn’t make sense."

Didn’t it?

She didn’t want it to make sense.

There had to be obvious massive holes in that speculation. Because Mia didn’t want to think that someone could have intentionally done something like this.

Logan stood and it took a moment to figure out why he’d done that. Mia soon spotted the doctor coming their way.

“Mr. McGrath?" the doctor asked.

Logan nodded. "How’s Collena?"

“She came through surgery just fine. The bullet broke her collarbone, then exited through her back. It did some damage to her shoulder. With some physical therapy, she should be close to perfect in a few months."

Logan shook the doctor’s hand."Thank you," The breath he released was one of relief."I’ll be back to check on her, but in the meantime, if she needs anything, my number is at the nurses’ station"

Mia waited until the doctor had walked away before she spoke. She was relieved that Collena was going to be okay, but they had a new issue on their hands."I don’t think your ex-girlfriend would have paid Brighton to make me a surrogate. That’s insane and criminal."

“Genevieve is capable of doing insane, criminal things. She’s desperate and desperate people do terrible things—including using you. I figure she planned to kidnap Tanner when he was born and then try to pass him off as the son that she herself had delivered"

“Oh, mercy." Mia pressed her fingertips to her mouth. Her doubts about the theory were starting to melt away.

“Yeah." Logan took a deep breath."The sickening thing is her plan might have worked, too, if you hadn’t come to see my brother and delivered Tanner on the porch, if I hadn’t been suspicious and if you hadn’t gone into hiding, I believe Genevieve would have kidnapped Tanner and brought him to me, telling me he was our baby."

Mia couldn’t speak and she felt herself start to tremble again.

“Once she’d done that." Logan continued."I would have had Tanner’s DNA tested, of course, to prove he was my son. And the DNA would have proven just that. What I probably wouldn’t have done was requested a maternity test. Because it wouldn’t have crossed my mind that Genevieve could have done something this heinous."

“But you really think she did?" Mia asked, her voice nearly soundless.

He didn’t answer her, “You can’t check into a hotel," Logan insisted."I know it’s hard, but you have to trust me to keep you and Tanner safe."

“Wait a minute." And because she needed time to compose herself, Mia repeated it."Genevieve must have known a plan like this wouldn’t work. After all, I wouldn’t have gone to Brighton if I hadn’t desperately wanted a baby. I wouldn’t have just stood still and allowed her to kidnap Tanner. I would have fought—"

Her gaze flew to Logan’s. She could see the confirmation in his eyes. A confirmation of what she’d just realized.

He reached out, slowly, and slid his arm around her. He pulled her to him. Mia didn’t resist.

She was too numb and sick to resist.

“Genevieve would have killed you and taken Tanner," Logan supplied."And I think that’s what she still plans to do."

Logan unlocked the door to his north-side San Antonio home and disengaged the security system so that Mia, Tanner and he could go inside.

He’d won the first battle with hen Thank God. He’d convinced Mia to go with him to his house, but it was obvious she wasn’t happy with the decision. She had a white-knuckle grip on Tanner’s carrier seat, and she eyed the place as if it were the enemy’s camp.

Which was no doubt the way she felt about it.

To her, he was the enemy. He was the last man on earth she would have chosen to father her baby. Plus, in the hours since their second meeting at the pediatric clinic, she’d been followed, shot at and forced out of her own home.

And also during that time, Mia had learned the reason that someone likely wanted her dead.

That was a lot for anyone to deal with, especially since the threat wasn’t over in many ways, it’d just begun.

“Here’s the guest room," Logan said, leading her through the Mexican-tiled kitchen and to the other side of the house.

The place wasn’t grand by anyone’s standards, but it had a homey feel to it, thanks to the decorator he’d hired. Everything was designed for comfort because it was his place to get away from it all. Nestled on the Guadalupe River amid four acres, it was still technically within city limits. Close enough to the city but also the perfect place for peace and quiet.

He hoped.

Logan flipped on the lamps in the guest room, set the diaper bag on the floor and turned back the earth-toned log cabin quilt on the queen-size bed. He did a quick scan to make sure the curtains were drawn and the tiny red security lights next to the windows were on, meaning the windows were locked and secured. Not that he had thought differently. Someone he trusted from his team had already checked out the entire house and grounds to make sure it was as safe as it could possibly be.

“There are pj’s in the dresser that might fit you," he whispered so he wouldn’t wake the baby."And you should find a toothbrush and some toiletries in the bathroom. If you’re hungry, just help yourself to anything in the kitchen."

She gave a crisp nod.

“There’s obviously no crib," he continued."But I’ve arranged to have one delivered in the morning. Extra diapers and baby clothes are on the way, too."

“That’s not necessary," she practically snapped."We won’t be here that long and Tanner can sleep in the carrier tonight." She sat it on the center of the bed and turned back around to face him.

Logan heard the argument they were going to have before she even spoke a word. So he tried to diffuse it and alleviate some of her fears, “I’m not trying to worm my way into your life."

Her mouth was already open, but that closed it. Temporarily."It feels that way."

“I know. And I wish I could change that, but I can’t. I need to keep Tanner safe until we can figure out what’s going on. And since you’re breast-feeding him, and since you’re his mother, you’re stuck here with him. For his sake." Logan added.

He considered adding for your sake, too, but he instinctively knew that would only cause her more concern. Heck, it would cause him concern, as well, because his focus had to be on Tanner, not Tanner’s mom.

But he would get to know his son, and would be a father, even if that hadn’t been Mia’s plan from the start. Now that he knew about Tanner, he could not go back and extract himself from the picture.

Mia huffed, but that simple sound seemed to take the wind out of her sails. Or maybe she was just too tired to argue. Logan certainly was.

“Genevieve might not even be behind the shooting," she said, rubbing her fingertips over her left temple. Obviously she’d given this some thought on the thirty-five minute drive from the hospital to the house."We don’t even know if we’re looking in the right direction."

“Genevieve isn’t the only direction," Logan agreed."She’s just a start. I also have my people looking for Donnie Bishop."

“The man you mentioned earlier? You said he was an investor at Brighton," Mia supplied,

“Did you ever meet him?"

“No."

“I doubt he spent much time around the clients or patients. From what I can tell, he dealt with the criminal elements. Anyway, if he knew about your forced surrogacy, he could be trying to cover his tracks so there won’t be anyone to testify against him."

Still, Logan’s first choice of suspects was Genevieve.

Tanner stirred inside the carrier and Logan tried to bend closer to check on him, but Mia stepped in front of him.

That probably wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had, because her attempt to stop him resulted in them landing against each other, breasts against chest.

There it was again. That kick. His body reacted to her. A reaction that Logan shoved to the side.

What he didn’t do was move. Nope. Even if they had to stand there all night, he was going to see his son. He only hoped he didn’t have to stand there all night. He was tired and worse, he was physically reacting to the contact with Mia.

Mia reacted, too. He saw the pulse jump on her throat. Though that probably didn’t have anything to do with attraction. At least he hoped it didn’t. It was for the best that only one of them was going insane. If they both did, it was going to cause one helluva distraction that neither of them needed.