“And you’re not going to jail, either.” Wyatt’s gaze swept around the room. “There’s another way. One that’ll put the right person behind bars. Yeah, whoever it was did us all a favor by killing Webb, but he’s not doing us any favors now. He’s trying to kidnap Lyla to force her to falsify evidence.”
“Evidence that I faked,” Billy mumbled.
“We can use it,” Wyatt said. “Because the killer doesn’t know it’s fake. We can use it to trap him.”
“I’m listening,” Kirby said. Everyone was. Including Lyla. She was willing to try anything that would get Wyatt, his family and the baby out of harm’s way.
“We can leak that we have the tape that Sarah gave Billy. The one with the killer’s voice,” Wyatt continued. “We can say it’s going to a specific crime lab for expedited analysis. And we can make sure the lab is well guarded. When the killer or his henchman shows up, we can arrest him and force a confession.”
“Using the fake tape worked before,” Billy added. “Well, it worked in the wrong way, because it sent the killer after Lyla, but this time we can leave Lyla completely out of it.”
“I have the contacts to leak this,” Lyla argued. “I can make it sound official so the killer believes that the recording truly exists and will be tested for voice identification.”
Wyatt was shaking his head before she even finished. “You’re not getting in the middle of this.”
“I don’t have to. The killer just has to think that I’m involved. We could arrange for a CSI vehicle to come out here under the guise of picking up the tape.”
Wyatt stared at her, obviously processing that, and he finally nodded. “Okay to the CSI pickup and to you making the call to get things started, but no to any involvement on your part after that. We could use the marshals’ official communication channels to set up the leak. Maybe the sheriff could even be the one to let it slip.”
“I can work on that,” Declan volunteered. “I can have Sheriff Geary put in a request for extra security to accompany the tape to a lab, and that’s what we can leak.”
“What if we say we’re transporting the recording to the lab in San Antonio?” Lyla asked. “And that Wyatt and I will be going with the CSIs in the evidence van so we can get the results as soon as they’re done?”
“That’s good,” Declan said. “And I won’t create the leak until the van is out here. That way, it won’t get attacked en route, and the killer won’t have time to plant someone on the vehicle.”
A good precaution for the CSIs. But it wouldn’t end the danger for Wyatt’s brothers and the sheriff. Lyla realized a second too late where this conversation was about to head.
“No,” Declan said before Wyatt could speak. “You should stay here with Lyla.” His gaze dropped to her stomach. “She’s been through enough.” He tipped his head to Dallas and Harlan. “You should stay with Caitlyn and Joelle, too.”
Slade stood. “I’ll do protection detail.” His wife, Maya, didn’t look pleased about that, but she didn’t try to stop him. Maybe she understood this was a risk that the entire family had to take.
“And I’ll join you,” Declan insisted.
They all looked around as if waiting for someone to bring up a major hitch in this impromptu plan. When no one did, Kirby continued. “Dallas and Harlan should take everyone else to Dallas’s house. Everyone except Lyla and Wyatt. That way, they could appear to get into the CSI van, just in case someone has the ranch under long-range surveillance. As backup to the security system, Stella and I can stay here with them and keep watch out the back of the house from my room. They can keep watch out the front.”
“That means the CSI van and the route to San Antonio has to be heavily guarded,” Wyatt insisted. “And when the van arrives, it can park right next to the house so that no one can tell who’s getting inside it.”
Again, no one objected, though Stella did look at all of them. “Everyone has to be careful.”
And with that, they got moving. Dallas and Harlan started ushering family out. Lyla took out her own phone. She called the lab in San Antonio and requested a pickup for evidence surrendered to her in the Webb murder case.
That would get them moving fast, especially since she’d been removed from the case.
“Bring some security with you,” she added, “because it’s possible someone might not want this evidence to reach the lab.”
Of course, there’d be no such danger until the leak happened, and Declan wouldn’t create that until the van had actually arrived.
Everything inside her felt like a huge, tight knot. She’d just made Wyatt and herself bait. His brothers, too. So, this had to work.
But Lyla did think of a potential problem.
A leak of a different kind so that the killer could learn what they were actually going to do.
“Could the killer have hired someone to blend in with the ranch hands or someone else on the grounds?” she asked Wyatt.
“Normally, yes. We don’t usually have this high of security, but everyone hired within the past three months was given paid time off. Like the new horse trainer Dallas had hired and the maid who was sweeping the porch when I first brought you here.”
Yes, she remembered. It was a good precaution to keep them away just in case they had some kind of connection to the killer. Of course, that didn’t mean the killer hadn’t managed to somehow get to a trusted employee. But Lyla wasn’t going to borrow trouble.
Especially since they had enough of it already.
“What now?” she asked Wyatt.
He pulled her to him, brushed a kiss on her forehead. “We wait.”
Chapter Fifteen
Wyatt watched the feed from the security cameras on his laptop and tried not to let Lyla see the hurricane of emotions going on inside him. Declan and Slade were out there, headed toward San Antonio in a CSI van. Maybe on the verge of being ambushed, if this plan turned deadly.
Still, having no plan at all could end up getting them killed, too.
That was why both Dallas and another of the ranch hands were monitoring the feed from the security cameras. Wyatt wasn’t only watching the feed, he was also keeping an eye on the front windows in case someone managed to sneak on the ranch. Kirby and Stella were doing the same through the window that faced the backyard.
If something moved out there, they needed to be able to respond immediately. Ditto for anything that could happen to the CSI van. The sheriff and his deputies were following it. Not too closely, though. Because they wanted the killer to make his move.
Which made Slade and Declan bait.
That caused him to feel the rapid pump of his heart.
“You should rest,” Lyla suggested again.
But she wasn’t taking her own advice. Yes, she was on the bed while he was at his desk in the corner. And she actually had her head on the pillow, but she’d yet to shut her eyes. Probably wouldn’t, either. Because Wyatt figured she had the same worries and doubts he did.
He could have used a drink to steady his nerves but didn’t want a cloudy head just in case he had to hurry out to help his brothers. Of course, that would only happen if everything else failed.
Because he couldn’t leave Lyla alone.
His other brothers were already tucked away at Dallas’s place, and some of the ranch hands were there standing guard. The others were watching the main house and pastures. There was a lot of ground to cover, but Wyatt kept reminding himself that the security system would alert them if anyone tripped any of the sensors. The killer couldn’t get onto the ranch without them knowing.
And besides, the highest probability was that the killer would go after that van. To steal the evidence that didn’t exist.
Billy had left to go to the sheriff’s office in town so he could monitor things from there with the night deputy. It wasn’t ideal, especially since Wyatt wasn’t sure he could completely trust Billy, but that was the reason he hadn’t wanted him to stay at the ranch. There was enough to stretch his attention without adding Billy to the mix.
Outside, the winter wind was slapping at the windows. No snow, but it felt as if it were on the way. Hopefully that didn’t mean there’d be ice on the roads. Declan and Slade had enough on their plates without having to deal with Mother Nature.
Wyatt glanced at his phone. No calls yet. Not that he’d expected any. It was too soon to hear from Declan, but
soon
couldn’t come soon enough.
“I think Kirby and Stella have resolved their differences,” Lyla said. Probably an attempt to make small talk since he no doubt looked ready to come unraveled.
“Yeah. They’re in love.” Which meant settling differences was a given. He looked at Lyla, at the way she had her hand on her stomach over the baby. “Sometimes, settling differences has to happen even when there isn’t love.”
That probably wasn’t a good thing to toss out there like that, but it was better than small talk. And it was something Lyla and he wouldn’t be able to avoid much longer.
Her forehead bunched up, and she eased to a sitting position. “You’ll challenge me for custody.”
It wasn’t a question. And he didn’t want to answer it anyway. They needed to discuss this, not start a raging argument.
Since he’d still be able to hear the security system from the bed and glance out the window, Wyatt went closer and sat next to her. She was fully clothed in her jeans and sweater. Barefoot, though. And maybe it was her bare feet that reminded him of the rest of her that’d been bare.
Who was he kidding?
He didn’t need to see her feet to think of that. Sex with Lyla seemed to be permanently on his mind now, and it didn’t help that he’d had her only hours earlier.
Wyatt leaned in. Kissed her. And because he liked that little purring sound she made, he kissed her again.
“When you look at me,” she asked, “do you think of your late wife?”
“No.” He only saw Lyla here, and that created a new flurry of guilt inside him. He’d loved Ann for so long. For years. And he still loved her. However, he could feel a tug in his heart telling him it was time to let go.
But he couldn’t.
Letting go hurt too much.
Lyla took his hand, put it on her belly. “What about the baby? Does that make you think of Ann?”
Not nearly enough. In fact, he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around anything but Lyla and this child. Still, Wyatt shook his head. Best not to share that with Lyla.
“The baby’s like a gift from Ann,” Lyla continued. “A gift for both of us. We’ll both get the child we always wanted.”
He knew where this was going—back to the subject of their wanting this child so much that they’d end up fighting for custody.
“We can stay married,” Wyatt suggested, cutting her off at the pass while he continued to glance at the window and the security screen. “Raise this child together.”
She stared at him. What she didn’t do was jump to take him up on that offer.
“Earlier, before Billy called, you said you were about to tell me what you felt on the
inside,
” he reminded her. Maybe that would get her to consider his offer.
More staring. “I’m falling in love with you.” And with that bolt from the blue delivered, she got up and moved away from him. She didn’t look at him. Lyla kept her back to him. “I don’t want to feel it. You don’t want me to feel it, either. But I can’t seem to stop it.”
Well, hell. It had to stop.
Didn’t it?
Part of him realized this would be a good thing for the baby. But sure as heck not for Lyla. Or even for him. Because he wasn’t sure he could ever love her in return. That would make for a very uncomfortable arrangement.
“I’m offering to be your husband,” he settled for saying. “And a full-time father for this child.”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “It’s not enough, Wyatt.”
For such simple words, they packed a punch. A hard one. “Are you saying you’ll leave?”
“I won’t continue this sham of a marriage after the danger’s over.”
There it was. The threat he’d been trying to dodge since he learned the baby was indeed his. Because if she walked out, the baby went right along with her. Yeah, he could fight her and win. But the cost of winning would be pretty damn high.
A beep pierced through the room, and Wyatt pushed the conversation aside so he could hurry back to the window and the laptop. He didn’t see anything unusual outside so he searched through the images on the screen, but he saw only the ranch hands.
And a blank spot.
Where there should have been some camera feed.
Wyatt’s phone buzzed, and Busby’s name popped up on the screen.
“What happened?” Wyatt immediately asked the ranch hand.
“Not sure, but I’m taking two of the men with me, and we’re going out for a look at the west fence. That’s where the sensor was tripped and the camera’s out.”
“Let me know if you spot anything.”
There weren’t any other precautions to take. The blinds were closed, and he’d already warned Lyla to stay away from the windows. Still, Wyatt turned off the lights and kept his gun ready.
Lyla’s breathing had kicked up a significant notch by the time she made it to him, and she watched the screen over his shoulder.
But there wasn’t much to see.
There was no movement around Dallas’s or Harlan’s house. Still no one visible in any of the pastures, except for the ranch hands. There was one man standing guard on the back porch and another on the front. Both men were bundled in heavy coats and were carrying rifles to protect their home.
Home.
She probably thought of this place as the opposite of that. Nearly every minute she’d been here, Lyla had been in danger or in bed with him.
And she was still in danger.
She’d already said she would leave when it was safe to, but Wyatt knew she wouldn’t just leave. She’d try to run, and even though he couldn’t let her do that, he would have tried to do the same thing in her position.
It didn’t take long for Busby and the two hands to disappear from view and into that blank space. Wyatt held his breath. Prayed. And he wished he could somehow divide himself and be out there to help them while protecting Lyla, too.
Even though Wyatt had been expecting the call, the buzzing sound from his phone still shot through him, and he immediately jabbed the button to answer it.
“False alarm,” Busby said. “A tree limb fell on the camera and took it out. Looks like it’s too damaged to fix.”
Normally, that wouldn’t have given Wyatt much cause for concern. After all, it was winter and downed tree limbs were common.
But this situation was far from normal.
“You’re sure the limb wasn’t tossed there?” Wyatt asked.
“Can’t be sure of that at all, but I don’t see anyone out here.”
“Okay.” That helped ease the tension a little. “Come on back to the house,” Wyatt told Busby. “But keep watch.” He didn’t have to tell the man that this could turn into an ambush.
Or even something worse.
“I’ll call Dallas, too,” Busby offered, “and let him know what’s going on. Keep watch on that computer screen.”
“I will.” In fact, Wyatt didn’t intend to take his eyes off it.
Lyla sat on the edge of the desk, her attention nailed to the laptop, as well. Her breathing was way too fast, and Wyatt touched the back of her hand in an effort to soothe her.
“Are Kirby and Stella watching this?” she asked.
“Probably.”
There was another laptop in Kirby’s room where they were waiting and keeping watch. And if they were indeed seeing what was going on, Kirby would call Dallas for an update. Even though Kirby and Wyatt hadn’t talked about it, his foster father knew that Lyla would be in the room with him. Listening to every word. Kirby would want to do whatever it took not to add more stress to what had already been too much for Lyla and the baby.
Wyatt was torn between staying put with Lyla so he could keep watching out the window or going to Stella and Kirby. Maybe if something did go wrong, he’d get enough of a heads up so he could hurry to them while still protecting Lyla.
The seconds crawled by with no sign of Busby and the other men. Wyatt knew they probably weren’t moving fast because they’d want to be able to hear if anything went wrong around them, but the wait was almost unbearable.
Finally, Wyatt saw the men come into range of a working camera. He had a clear view of them thanks to the lights they had fixed onto their hats. They weren’t too far from the house now, and each step put them closer to being out of the line of a possible attack.
“Maybe it really was just a fallen limb,” Lyla whispered, releasing the long breath she’d been holding.
Wyatt released a breath, too, but then he saw something that tightened every muscle in his body.
The shadows.
Not in front of the men. But behind them where their lights didn’t reach.
There was just enough of a moon for Wyatt to make out the trees and underbrush on the camera feed.
“It could be the wind moving the tree branches,” he said, hoping. Praying even more.
But then he saw something else. Another shadow, and it didn’t mesh with the movement of the trees.
Without taking his eyes off the screen, Wyatt called Busby. “We might have a problem,” he said the moment that Busby answered. “I think there might be somebody trailing along behind you.”
“You’re sure?”
“No—”
But Wyatt had to take back that answer. Because the shadows moved again. Thanks to the wind fanning the branches, he got a glimpse of something he sure as hell didn’t want to see.
Two men dressed all in black.
And they were armed.