JOSH (6 page)

Jaycee wanted to be mule headed, too. Mercy, did she want that. But he was right. The pregnancy did change things. She’d fought her way out of plenty of bad situations, but fighting wasn’t much of an option now because it’d put the baby at risk.

“No one will protect you like I will,” Josh added, and he jammed his thumb against his chest.

The moment seemed to freeze, and she thought he was about to move toward her. To pull her into his arms. Jaycee wasn’t stupid and knew it wouldn’t be for a steamy kiss that her body seemed to want.

Bad.

But Josh looked to be on the verge of giving her something else she needed. A good old-fashioned hug.

It didn’t happen, though, because his phone rang again, and the moment was gone. He drew in a hard breath and stabbed the button to put the call on speaker.

“Josh,” she heard Grayson say. “I think Jaycee and you should get down here to the sheriff’s office right away. Our suspect, Bryson Hillard, just walked in. He’s got a lawyer with him, and he says he’ll talk if he can speak to one of the former hostages.”

In other words,
her.

Jaycee pulled her breath. Waited.

It didn’t take long for Grayson to continue. “Bryson says he knows who’s running the baby farms.”

Chapter Seven

“You recognize either of them?” Grayson asked Josh and Jaycee.

Josh looked through the one-way mirror and into the interview room of the Silver Creek sheriff’s office where Bryson Hillard and his attorney, Valerie DeSilva, were seated. Both appeared to be in their mid-forties. Both wore nondescript business clothes. Bryson had salt-and-pepper hair, conservative but expensively cut. Nothing much conservative about Valerie’s hair. It was flame red, short and choppy—the style of a much younger woman.

“Never seen them before,” Josh answered.

Jaycee shook her head and echoed the same, her attention returning to the background report on the two that Grayson had given them when they’d first arrived at the sheriff’s office. They were all anxious to hear whatever information Bryson had, but Josh knew that Grayson needed to be armed with info so he could convince the man to talk without Jaycee’s help.

Just in case this was some kind of ruse to get to her.

Josh certainly couldn’t rule it out, especially since the guards knew who she was and also knew that she was in protective custody in Silver Creek. They’d left that threatening note, and if they’d been that brassy, Josh figured they wouldn’t hesitate to send someone right into the sheriff’s office so they could launch another kidnapping attempt.

There was just one problem with that theory.

Neither Bryson nor Valerie looked capable of kidnapping unless they had help, and lots of it. Of course, those three missing guards would be plenty of help, and if he was looking at the faces of the people in charge of the baby farms, Bryson and Valerie could have those guards waiting nearby.

Josh was in such deep thought and way too much on edge that he nearly reached for his gun when he spotted the movement out of the corner of his eye. But it wasn’t a threat. It was one of the other deputies. She had a cup of coffee in one hand and was balancing a large box of doughnuts in the other.

“I’m Bree,” she said to Jaycee, and she slid the doughnut box on the table. “Married to Grayson’s youngest brother, Kade.”

Jaycee nodded. “I know the name. He’s an FBI agent.”

Josh couldn’t help but notice that while Jaycee sounded polite, she was eyeing that box.

“Want some?” Bree asked, obviously noticing, too. “Josh sent me a text asking me to pick up a dozen.”

“Thanks, both of you.” And the moment Bree stepped away, Jaycee grabbed one of the doughnuts and took a huge bite. “Mercy,” she mumbled. “That’s really good.”

And she made a sound of pleasure that had both Grayson and Josh looking at her.

“I’ll eat something healthier later,” she added.

That wasn’t his concern. It was the dab of sugar at the corner of her mouth. Without thinking, Josh reached out, wiped it away and then licked the sugar off his thumb.

He should have given that some thought.

Because even though it’d been an innocent gesture, it sure didn’t seem like it.

“All right,” Grayson said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m going in there to see if he’ll spill something. So far, no luck. He keeps insisting that he wants to talk to one of the former hostages.”

Grayson left, and Josh continued to read the backgrounds while trying to forget about the sugar-licking episode. Jaycee had a look, too, and continued eating.

“Bryson owns a successful investment company,” she pointed out. “Plenty of money to put a baby farm operation together.”

Josh tapped Valerie’s page. “Ditto for her. She’s a prominent attorney. Once served on the city council.”

Hardly the profile of someone who would be involved with black-market babies. Still, he’d seen stranger things. And Valerie definitely had the cash to front such a business.

Josh looked up from the pages to see Grayson walking into the interview room. “I’m sorry, but I can’t get one of the former hostages here,” Grayson explained, sounding very believable.

But Bryson glanced in the mirror. Scowled.

“I doubt that,” Bryson grumbled. “You appear to be a resourceful man, but obviously you haven’t understood me. I’ll only talk to one of the hostages. I need answers to some questions before I’ll tell you what I know.”

Jaycee huffed. “He’s not buying it.” She turned to leave. No doubt to go in to the interview room.

Josh caught her arm to stop her. Dropped his gaze to her stomach. “There’s a reason you’re craving doughnuts, and it’s the same reason you should stay put.”

She huffed again and turned around to face him. “Look, we both know I have to do this,” she argued. She crammed the rest of the doughnut in her mouth, licked her fingers.

And his body tightened.

Hell. Not now.

What the heck was wrong with him? He was acting like a teenager.

“Are you listening to me?” Jaycee asked.

“Not really.”

That answer got her huffing again, but it was the honest truth. He wasn’t listening in part because his body was acting crazy, but another part was because he knew what Jaycee was going to say, and he was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to like it.

Her hands went on her hips, and the breath she blew out carried her scent. Or rather the sugary sweet scent, thanks to her doughnutfest.

“Both Grayson and you will be in there with me,” she argued. “Besides, they were checked for weapons, right?”

They had been. That didn’t mean this couldn’t get ugly. Jaycee had already been through way too much, and he hated putting her through more. And an interrogation would definitely qualify as
more.

She lifted his chin. Made eye contact with him. “This could save those women’s lives. Heck, it could save
our
lives. Because if we manage to close down the baby farms and arrest those guards, then the danger will be over.”

Josh had known this was a battle he was going to lose from the moment he started it, but he’d had to try. A lot was at stake here, and he just wanted to make sure he was thinking straight. He still wasn’t certain he was, but he didn’t see a lot of options here. They needed Bryson to talk, and he clearly wouldn’t start doing that until he laid eyes on Jaycee.

Josh had to make certain that was the only thing Bryson laid on her.

“Don’t make me regret this,” Josh mumbled.

The relief on her face was instant. Followed by a quick smile. In midsmile she dropped a kiss on his mouth.

Then froze.

“Sorry,” Jaycee immediately said. And she winced. “I just got caught up in the moment because I’ve never won an argument with you. Or maybe it’s the sugar high from the doughnut.”

Yeah, Josh knew a little about being sorry. The kiss had been hardly more than a peck, but he’d felt it, all right. It must have made him even more stupid, because he started to think about what it would be like to kiss her for real.

Not a peck.

A real kiss.

Even if the past had been settled between them—and it wasn’t—he darn sure shouldn’t be kissing someone in his protective custody. It was the fastest way to get them both killed.

“Sorry,” Josh repeated, and he pulled way back from her. “We’ve been saying that a lot to each other.”

She nodded, and he caught another whiff of her sweet breath when she murmured an agreement. “I thin
k the ‘I’m sorrys’ are j
ust getting started, though.”

He wasn’t stupid. Not about this anyway. He figured that applied to many things. The attraction. Her pigheaded views of how to run an investigation. Her views, period. Jaycee and he always seemed to be butting heads, and he was making it worse with this stupid ache he had for her.

Though he hadn’t gone through with the kiss, Jaycee must have sensed what he’d been thinking of doing.

“Yeah.” She pressed her lips together a moment, and even though the simple gesture wasn’t meant to tease, it made his body tighten again.

And beg.

“It’s all right,” she added. “I know this attraction doesn’t mean anything.”

It didn’t.

Well, nothing other than he was playing with fire and losing focus. Something that always seemed to happen when he was around Jaycee.

He quickly got that focus back. Josh fired off a text to Grayson to let him know they were about to come in the interview room. Just in case Grayson had any objection. But his cousin only gave a weary nod. Grayson clearly wasn’t making any headway with Bryson.

Hoping this wasn’t as big a mistake as he figured it was, Josh stayed ahead of Jaycee when they went into the room, but Bryson looked right past Josh. The man barely gave him a glance and then turned to stare at Jaycee.

“I need your help,” Bryson said to her, and he slipped his hand inside his jacket, causing both Grayson and Josh to reach for their guns.

Bryson’s hand froze for a moment. “It’s just a picture,” he explained. But Josh and Grayson kept their hands on their guns until Bryson did indeed pull a photograph from his pocket. He held it up for them to see.

“Do you recognize her?” Bryson asked, his attention back on Jaycee. “Was she one of the women being held captive with you at the baby farm?”

Now, that was a question Josh hadn’t seen coming. He looked at the photo.

Grayson and Jaycee did, too.

It was a glammed-up shot of a woman in her early thirties, with dark auburn hair that tumbled onto her shoulders. She was wearing a flimsy negligee and a come-hither expression. It was the kind of photo that a woman gave to her lover.

“I don’t think she was there,” Jaycee said. “Who is she?”

“Sierra DeSilva,” Valerie supplied. “My sister.”

“She’s missing?” Grayson asked.

Valerie lifted her shoulder, and her forehead bunched up. “She could be. Sierra isn’t the most responsible person. She often disappears for months at a time. Usually when she has a rich boyfriend who’ll cater to her whims.” She made a sound of disgust. “And after she’s run through all his money, she comes to me looking for more. But this time, she hasn’t come back.”

Josh intended to do a background check on this Sierra, but first he wanted more information. “Sierra’s pregnant?”

“Yes,” Bryson and Valerie said in unison. “She should be just about ready to deliver,” Bryson added. “And it’s my child she’s carrying.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” Valerie mumbled.

“I can be,” Bryson fired back. That wasn’t an affectionate look he was giving Valerie. Or even a civil one. Odd since this woman was his attorney. “I had Sierra take an amnio, and the test proved the child was mine.”

“If she didn’t have the results faked.” Valerie huffed. “You were only with her for a few months. You don’t know how manipulative Sierra can be.”

Bryson’s face reddened, but he didn’t challenge that. So maybe Sierra was running some kind of scam and this had nothing to do with the illegal adoptions or baby farms.

Jaycee had another look at the photo. “I remember the faces of the dozen or so women I saw come and go while I was there. But Sierra’s face isn’t familiar. What makes you think she was one of the captives?”

“This.” Bryson reached into his pocket again, but this time he took out a piece of paper. He put it on the table next to the photo. “It’s a ransom demand.”

That got Josh’s complete attention. To the best of his knowledge, there’d been no demands for any of the other pregnant captives.

None of them touched the letter, but Grayson, Jaycee and Josh leaned closer to have a better look. It was a typed single page, and it had Bryson’s name at the top.

“‘If you want to see your newborn baby,’” Josh read aloud, “‘it’ll cost you two hundred grand. Will be in touch tonight with the drop-off details. Don’t go to the cops or the deal’s off.’”

“I found it on my car windshield yesterday morning,” Bryson explained, “but no one’s contacted me yet.”

Maybe because the operation had been busted the day before when Jaycee and the others had gotten out.

“Is it possible that Sierra was one of the women in the house?” Josh asked Jaycee.

She continued to study the picture. “Maybe. If so, she changed her hair color. All three women in the house were brunettes.” Jaycee drew in a weary breath. “But honestly, I didn’t get a good look at their faces. The only times that I was in the house were for my weekly checkups, and they didn’t let me talk to the other women.”

Valerie stood, shoving back the chair so fast that it made a shrill scraping noise on the floor. “I can’t sit here and pretend that Sierra’s a victim. Because she’d
never
be a victim.”

Clearly, Valerie didn’t have a high opinion of her sister. Josh needed to run that check on both women ASAP, because something about this didn’t feel right.

“You think Sierra’s behind the ransom demand?” Grayson asked.

“I do,” Valerie said at the same moment Bryson said, “I’m not so sure.”

“Bryson’s not sure because he wants that to be his child,” Valerie snapped. “Because he wants an heir.” She pointed at Bryson. “Tell them what Sierra pulled when you broke things off with her.
Tell them,
” she repeated when he didn’t answer right away.

Bryson twisted the button on his shirt cuff before he answered. “Sierra and I used to, well, record ourselves when we had sex. She said it was a turn-on. Anyway, after I broke things off with her, she threatened to release the sex tapes if I didn’t pay her fifty thousand dollars.”

This woman sounded like a real winner. “You paid her?” Josh asked.

“No. I hired someone to break into her place and steal the recordings.” His expression turned into a cold glare. “And I’m not apologizing for it, either. My reputation would have been ruined if she’d released them.”

“Bryson’s married,” Valerie supplied. “In name only, but he’s married to Elise Wells.”

Josh had known the name before he’d ever read Bryson’s bio. Bryson’s estranged wife wasn’t just rich, Elise had powerful friends. Politicians and community business leaders. And yeah, she wouldn’t have wanted her husband’s sex tapes leaked.

“Any chance your wife had anything to do with the ransom demand?” Grayson wanted to know. “It could be her way of getting back at you.”

“Elise isn’t involved in this,” Bryson said without hesitation.

“But maybe Sierra is,” Valerie said the moment Bryson finished. She looked Grayson right in the eyes. “It’s possible Sierra’s the one who was in charge of that baby farm.”