Sawyer (8 page)

Chapter Nine

Cassidy took hold of Willy and pulled him off her brother. Not that she had to do it alone. Sawyer shoved Willy to the side, and the man would have fallen if he hadn’t caught onto the window to steady himself.

Willy aimed some of his venom at Sawyer that seconds earlier he’d doled out to Bennie. But it wasn’t the venom that bothered her.

It was the accusation of murder that Willy had made against her brother.

“You’re lying,” Bennie snarled, and despite his injuries, he managed to sound surprisingly strong when he spoke to Willy. “Because I didn’t kill April.”

“You did, too. I know it was you.” Willy tried to go at Bennie again, but Sawyer not only held him back, he slammed him hard against the wall. Thankfully, Bree took the baby out of the area and into Grayson’s office. There was no need for Emma to hear all of this yelling.

“Use your inside voice,” Sawyer warned Willy in a mocking tone. “And keep your temper in check.”

Cassidy appreciated that Sawyer seemed to be taking her brother’s side in this, but that probably didn’t mean he thought Bennie was innocent. He despised her brother, but at the moment he despised Willy even more.

Willy didn’t try to move closer to her brother again, but he did stab his index finger in Bennie’s direction. “He’s the one you should be yelling at so you can get him to confess. He killed April, all right.”

“You said there was proof?” Sawyer reminded Willy, and he motioned for the medics to stay put.

“Yeah. April told me she was scared of this clown, that he’d threatened her to keep her mouth shut when he broke off things with her. Guess he didn’t want his new girlfriend to get word of it. I wasn’t the only one who heard it. That quack shrink heard it, too. Two witnesses saying the same thing, and that’s proof, if you ask me.”

“Really?” Cassidy asked, and she didn’t bother to keep the skepticism out of her voice. “Because we heard that the person April was afraid of was
you
.”

Willy didn’t jump to deny it, but he shot her a glare. “You’re just trying to protect your brother.” The glare then went to Sawyer. “Got your FBI friend here still helping you, too, I see. But I got news for both of you— Bennie killed her, all right, and he’ll do the same to anybody who gets in his way.”

“I didn’t kill her,” Bennie repeated.

He groaned, closed his eyes a moment as if reliving some horrible memories. Cassidy had some of those same memories of being held captive, of thinking that Bennie and she might be killed at any moment. At least she hoped that’s all there was to his reaction.

“Are you in pain?” she asked him.

Bennie took his time answering. “Some. But I won’t let that get in the way of learning the truth. And something tells me that Willy knows a lot when it comes to the truth.”

Willy immediately challenged that. Not with a shout. Probably because Sawyer was still practically in his face. But the man mumbled plenty of profanity.

Sawyer ignored him and turned his attention back to Bennie. “What did happen to April?”

“I’m not sure. After Cassidy left to get the photo of the baby with you, one of the kidnappers stepped out of the building for a few minutes, and he came back in with April.”

Cassidy met her brother’s gaze. “Had April recently given birth?”

“I don’t know. And since she was wearing a loose top, it was hard to tell.”

So, she’d already delivered because it would have been easy to see a nine-month baby bump. Did that mean Emma was indeed April’s baby? It seemed likely that the kidnappers would have taken April’s newborn when they’d kidnapped her.

“April didn’t mention the baby?” Sawyer wanted to know.

Bennie shook his head. “But she was furious that the men had taken her. Several times she said that Willy was behind this.”

“Not me!” Willy howled. “He’s lying—”

Sawyer cut off anything else with a glare. It worked. Willy shut up and backed away, though he did continue to mumble more profanity and profess his innocence.

“April thought Willy had kidnapped us so he could get revenge for her cheating on him with me,” Bennie went on. “She was afraid that once Willy got his hands on the ransom money, he’d kill us all. So we waited until the kidnappers were distracted with a phone call, and April cut me loose from the ropes, and we tried to escape.”

That must have happened just minutes before Sawyer and she had arrived back at the Tumbleweed.

“April cut you loose?” Sawyer questioned. “How? With what?”

Part of her wanted to stop these questions and get Bennie to the hospital, but her brother no longer seemed in pain. In fact, he sat up even farther to answer Sawyer. “She had a knife hidden under her top. I didn’t ask her where she got it. I was just thankful to be out of those ropes.”

“What happened next?” Sawyer asked when Bennie didn’t say anything else.

“I’m not sure. It was raining, and when we were running, April and I got separated in the woods. I figured that she’d managed to get away, but one of the kidnappers found me. I think it’s the one you have in custody now. He put a gun to my head and dragged me back to where they’d left their vehicles. It wasn’t long before I heard a shot.”

Yes, Cassidy had heard it, too, and she’d thought her brother had been killed.

Bennie swallowed hard. “When the other kidnapper came back, April wasn’t with him, and he had blood on his clothes.”

It was so hard for Cassidy to hear all of this. From the moment Bennie and she had been taken captive, she’d been terrified that someone would die.

And it had happened.

Still, there was something about all of this that didn’t make sense. “Why did the kidnappers have me take the baby to Sawyer for that photograph?” she asked.

“I figured it was because Sawyer was the baby’s father, and they wanted to milk some money out of him, too. Maybe they planned to use the photo to show his boss or something. It wouldn’t have looked good for an FBI agent to have fathered a baby with a woman with a criminal record who was now dead. Murdered, at that.”

No, it wouldn’t have looked good. But that meant the kidnappers must have truly believed that Sawyer was Emma’s father. Or else they simply wanted to make it look that way.

Oh, mercy.

Maybe the photo was meant to give Sawyer a motive for killing April.

One glance at Sawyer, and she realized he’d already come to the same conclusion. Even if he wasn’t Emma’s father, it might look as if he’d murdered April when she tried to blackmail him with the child.

But Sawyer wouldn’t have done that.

Cassidy wanted to feel the same way about her brother. And she did, for the most part anyway. However, she still had that niggling feeling that there was something Bennie wasn’t telling her. Probably because Bennie had a history of keeping things from her and involving himself with the wrong people.

Bennie’s attention shifted back to Willy. “Or maybe the kidnappings, the photo, all of this was just a way for you to get more revenge on another of April’s lovers.”

“April and I weren’t lovers,” Sawyer snapped.

“But he thought you were.” Bennie tipped his head to Willy. “And when it comes to April, Willy would do just about anything to get back at her. Including murder.”

“If I’d wanted revenge,” Willy quickly answered, “you damn sure wouldn’t be here talking about it. You’d already be in the grave.”

“Enough of this,” Sawyer growled, and he motioned for the medics to get moving. Cassidy tried to follow, but Sawyer stopped her. “The kidnapper could come after you at the hospital.”

Cassidy shook her head. “But what about Bennie? The kidnapper could come after him, too.”

“I’ll arrange for some security,” Grayson said, taking out his phone. He made the call as Cassidy watched the ambulance drive away.

The moment that Grayson was finished with his call, he took Willy by the arm. “Come on. I want you to stay put until I have someone at the hospital. Wouldn’t want you to carry your fight with Bennie there, especially after that
in the grave
comment you just made.”

Good. The last thing her brother needed was another confrontation with this hothead. Too bad Grayson and Sawyer didn’t have any evidence to arrest Willy.

Or maybe they did.

“Can you use any of what my brother said to charge Willy with kidnapping?” she asked. Yes, it was a long shot, but she wanted Willy locked up.

Grayson blew out a long breath, shook his head. “But with his temper, maybe he’ll do something stupid that will give me cause to arrest him.”

That sounded like a veiled threat. It must have sounded like one to Willy, too, because he shut up and let Grayson lead him to one of the interrogation rooms. He deposited Willy inside, shut the door and came back to reception. Still holding the baby, Bree came out, as well.

Sawyer checked the time. “I need to get Cassidy and the baby to the safe house. Once the bodyguards and nanny are in place, I’ll come back here and try to get Finley to talk.”

“No need,” Grayson said, glancing at Cassidy. He no doubt saw the worry and fatigue in her eyes. “Stay with them for the night. Maybe by tomorrow we’ll find the other kidnapper, and the danger will be over.”

Cassidy latched on to that hope, but Sawyer certainly wasn’t following suit. He volleyed glances between her and the interview room, and he finally scrubbed his hand over his face.

“I’ll be back first thing in the morning,” he told Grayson.

Which meant they’d be spending another night under the same roof. Of course, they wouldn’t be alone this time, not to mention the baby would be with them. Maybe that would be enough to cool down the fire brewing between them.

“You can drive to the safe house in my SUV,” Bree volunteered. “It already has an infant seat in it.”

Sawyer thanked her and took her keys when Bree pulled them from her pocket. She also eased the baby into Cassidy’s waiting arms.

“You’ll call as soon as you find out about Bennie’s injuries?” Cassidy asked.

Grayson nodded. However, he didn’t get to add more because his phone rang. Sawyer started to lead her toward the back exit, but Grayson held up his finger in a wait-a-moment gesture. He grabbed a notepad and started writing.

Cassidy couldn’t hear any part of the conversation or see what he was jotting down, but whatever the caller was saying, it had captured Grayson’s complete attention. She prayed it wasn’t more bad news because they’d already had enough of that for the day.

“She’s what?” Grayson asked. “How the hell did that happen?”

Sawyer groaned. Yes, this was definitely bad news, and all Sawyer and she could do was wait for Grayson to deliver it.

“Thank you for getting Willy off my brother,” Cassidy whispered to Sawyer while Grayson continued his conversation. “I know that couldn’t have been easy for you.”

He didn’t deny it. And Sawyer paused a long time. “Willy could be right about Bennie. Or vice versa,” he quickly added.

Cassidy nodded, prayed he was wrong about Bennie. “At least part of the danger is over. We have one kidnapper in custody, and with Bennie free, there’s no way they can collect the ransom money.”

“The danger’s still there,” Sawyer argued. “I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt whoever’s behind this will just give up on getting the other half million.” He looked down at the baby. “To get their hands on the cash, they’ll no doubt try to kidnap Bennie, you or Emma.”

“Or you,” she added.

He flinched a little, shook his head.

“You,”
she verified. “Willy thinks we’re lovers. I could see that in his eyes. And if he believes it, so could the kidnapper.”

“You’d pay a half million for me?” Sawyer asked with a Texas-size amount of skepticism in his voice.

“Yes.” And she didn’t have to think about it. “This doesn’t have to do with that night we spent together.” At least she hoped it didn’t. “But you saved my life and Emma’s today.”

Sawyer stared at her. Cursed. “That is
not
going to happen between us again.”

She nodded. “I know.”

But Cassidy figured just saying it wouldn’t stop her from wanting it to happen.

“The cops just finished going through April’s apartment,” Grayson said the moment he ended the call.

Good. With everything else going on, Cassidy had forgotten all about the search warrant. Now she braced herself for whatever had put that scowl on Grayson’s face.

“They found April’s diary taped behind her headboard,” Grayson explained. “It’s over a hundred pages, so it’ll take them a while to go through it all, but my brother Nate spotted something right away.”

Cassidy prayed that Grayson wasn’t about to say it was an incriminating entry regarding her brother.

“It’s about Dr. Diane Blackwell,” Grayson continued.

Not her brother. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t something else about Bennie in there.

“If the diary is really April’s, then Willy didn’t lie about April being afraid of the shrink.” Grayson looked down at his notes. “The last entry that April made said ‘I think Dr. Blackwell is playing with my mind somehow. Maybe even slipping me drugs during our sessions. I think she might be trying to kill me or something,’” he finished.

Cassidy replayed all of that in her mind and then shook her head. “Maybe April was just being paranoid. Because what motive would Dr. Blackwell have for doing that?”

Now it was Grayson’s turn to shake his head. “I don’t know, but it’s definitely something we need to check out. We also need to make sure the diary is real and wasn’t planted by one of the kidnappers.”

True, she wouldn’t put it past Willy to do something like that.

Sawyer took out his phone. “I’ll get Dr. Blackwell out here.”

“You can’t,” Grayson said. “Well, not right away. Nate made some calls, and according to her coworkers, Dr. Blackwell’s missing.”

Chapter Ten

Sawyer went through his security checklist one more time.

There was a fellow agent in the living room watching the front of the house. Another one was in his car parked at the back of the house. The nanny, Elaine Wilkins, was from a P.I. agency that specialized in providing bodyguard services to infants at risk. She would spend the night in Emma’s room in case something went wrong.

He hoped like the devil that it didn’t.

Both Emma and Cassidy had already been through enough.

He checked the security system again to make sure it was armed. It was. All the blinds were down, and once it got dark, they’d use minimal lighting so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. Not that there would be a lot of opportunities for them to draw attention. The house was out in the middle of nowhere, centered on about fifty acres. It had once been a ranch, but now it would hopefully be a safe haven until the second kidnapper was caught. Then Cassidy and Emma could go home.

Wherever home was in Emma’s case.

Sawyer had already called about the DNA results, only to be told they weren’t ready. Nothing unusual about that, but he had asked that the test be expedited. If he wasn’t Emma’s father, then he needed to look for her parents.

Just the thought of that twisted his stomach, but it had to be done. If she were his, he certainly wouldn’t want anyone keeping her from him.

He heard the footsteps and saw Cassidy making her way into the kitchen and toward him. “Emma’s okay,” she relayed.

Like Sawyer, Cassidy had obviously been going through her own mental list, and that included frequent checks to the makeshift nursery to ensure that Emma was still safe. Sawyer had made a few of those trips himself, and with each one he’d studied that tiny, precious face to see if he could pick out any resemblance to himself.

He couldn’t.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t his. Hell, he could hardly remember Monica’s face, and it was entirely possible that Emma looked exactly like her mom.

“It’ll be okay,” Cassidy said.

She had a death grip on a glass of iced tea she’d been nursing, and her reassurance didn’t mesh with the fear he saw in her eyes. The same fear had been there when he’d tried to reassure her on the drive to the safe house. Nothing would truly be okay until this ordeal was over.

“Anything in your phone calls about Monica Barnes?” she asked.

Sawyer had to shake his head. “No one knows where she is.” Like Dr. Blackwell, Monica was missing.

Well, maybe.

And maybe Monica just didn’t want to be found. There could be plenty of reasons for that, but he hoped it wasn’t because she didn’t want anything to do with a baby they’d possibly made together. Too bad he didn’t know Monica well enough to believe she wouldn’t do something like that.

“If I ever get the urge to have another one-night stand,” he mumbled, “I hope someone hits me in the head with a rock.”

The corner of Cassidy’s mouth twitched a little as if threatening to smile, but she clamped her teeth over her bottom lip until the moment passed. Considering he’d had a one-nighter with her, Cassidy probably thought he was reckless. And sometimes he was.

He’d been especially reckless with her.

He darn sure should have learned about her lawbreaking sibling before he’d ever stripped off her clothes and gotten her into bed.

“Maybe you can ask for references from your next lover,” she mumbled. Obviously she hadn’t fully fought back that urge to poke some fun at him. “Or do an FBI background check.”

“Kinda takes the spontaneity out of it.” Something he wished he hadn’t said. It was just another reminder of his night with Cassidy. And the kiss. And the dozen or more heated looks they’d given each other since all this kidnapping mess had started.

Like now, for instance.

That was definitely a heated look. One he felt in every stupid part of his body.

As if she knew exactly what he was thinking, Cassidy cleared her throat. “What about Bennie?” she asked. “Anything more on his condition?”

Another head shake. “Only that his injuries aren’t serious.” The doctor was keeping him at the hospital for a while only because he was dehydrated.

In the grand scheme of things, Bennie had gotten off lightly with just a few stitches and some bruises. Cassidy and he had gotten off lightly, too, but for Cassidy, the attack would no doubt be the stuff of nightmares for a long time. Heck, it would give Sawyer a few nightmares, too. He’d come close to losing both Emma and Cassidy, and he couldn’t be sure that another close call wasn’t out there waiting for them.

Since the thoughts and worries were gnawing away at him—the blasted heat between them, too—Sawyer focused on what he could do something about.

“You should try to eat,” Sawyer reminded her. The fridge was fully stocked with plenty of sandwiches and frozen food, and since he’d been with Cassidy all day, he knew she hadn’t eaten a bite.

“Maybe later,” she mumbled.

Even though he figured she’d said that just to placate him, he didn’t push it. Truth was, he’d had to force himself to eat earlier. His stomach was still churning from the attack and the worry of a new one. Still, starving himself wasn’t going to help anything.

Even though he figured it was a bad idea, Sawyer walked closer to her. For just a moment Cassidy stiffened a little. But this wasn’t fear. Nope. She knew getting close was a bad idea, too.

Did that stop them?

Not a chance.

“Maybe you should start looking for that rock now,” she whispered.

Sawyer couldn’t help himself. He laughed. Why, he didn’t know, because this wasn’t a laughing situation. He slipped his arm around her waist and eased her to him. He hoped it would help soothe both their raw nerves, but he purposely didn’t put his mouth anywhere near hers.

“Funny, I keep finding myself in this position,” she said, leaning back just a little so they were face-to-face. Obviously, she wasn’t thinking of the danger of their mouths being too close. “In your arms, with you comforting me. And there’s never a rock in sight.”

Yes, it had happened a couple of times. And sadly, it hadn’t always been for comfort. Like that whole session earlier and the one the year before when they’d landed in bed.

That jolted him back to reality, and Sawyer moved farther from her.

Her eyebrow lifted. The corner of her mouth, too. But there was no humor in her near smile, either. No doubt because she was remembering the yelling match that had followed the scalding-hot sex.

“I didn’t, you know,” she said almost in a whisper.

“Didn’t what?”

But he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer. In fact, Sawyer wasn’t sure he wanted to hear anything because it was likely to up the heat in his body. Anything would do it at this point.

Including Cassidy just breathing.

“I didn’t sleep with you so I could find out about your investigation into Bennie’s business dealings,” she said.

There it was. The blasted gauntlet. They’d been dancing around it for days now, but he hadn’t wanted it thrown because he didn’t want to have to rehash that old argument.

That thought got him moving back even more, and Sawyer groaned. “I thought we agreed never to discuss that.”

“No. You demanded we not discuss it, but I didn’t agree. You need to hear this because it’s the truth. I did arrange to meet you, but that was it.”

She snagged his wrist to stop him from turning around. Sawyer could have broken the grip, easily, but he stayed there. Still standing too close. And having a conversation that would break down even more barriers than a kissing session.

“I didn’t plan on doing anything other than talk to you,” she continued. “But then the talking led to a few drinks...” Her words trailed off, thank goodness. No need to remind him where those few drinks had landed them.

“During all the
talking,
you might have mentioned that you were Bennie’s sister,” he reminded her.

She nodded. “And I intended to do that—”

“When? Before or after you let me get you naked?” Yeah, that was harsh, but that whole encounter was still a sore subject for him.

“Definitely before,” she snapped. But almost immediately the angry expression faded, and she dodged his glare. “Look, I don’t make a habit of sleeping with men I hardly know. Whether you believe it or not, you were my first and only one-night stand.”

He did believe her. Didn’t want to. But he did. Still, that didn’t let her off the hook.

“You can’t deny that you’d do anything to protect your brother,” he reminded her.

“No. I can’t deny that. And you no doubt feel the same way about your own brother.”

He did. To an extent. He wouldn’t break the law for him. Except Sawyer immediately had to rethink that. Blood was indeed thicker than the badge, and if it came down to saving his kid brother, he would do whatever it took. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take sleeping with a woman. Even one who seemed to light every unwanted fire in his body.

“Yes,” Cassidy said softly. “I didn’t need a reason to sleep with you. The desire was already there. Still is.”

Man, he would have liked to argue that, but she was right about the blasted lingering attraction. It burned hot and showed no signs of letting up. So hot that Sawyer thought about kissing her again. And not just kissing. More.

Much more.

Thankfully, the sound of the ringing phone stopped the conversation and also stopped him from acting on the
much more
. But Sawyer was worried he would need more than a phone call to keep Cassidy out of his arms.

And his bed.

He glanced at the phone and answered it right away when he saw Grayson’s name on the screen. “All settled in?” his cousin asked.

“Getting there. Everything okay?”

Sawyer didn’t realize that he was holding his breath until his lungs started to ache. Cassidy seemed to be doing the same, and she leaned in, no doubt so she could hear. He made that easier for her by putting the call on Speaker.

“So far everything’s okay,” Grayson went on. “I just got a call from the doctor about Bennie. Within an hour or so, he’ll be released into my protective custody.”

Well, it wasn’t bad news, but it could be. “You’re not thinking of bringing him here?” No need to spell out that Sawyer didn’t trust Cassidy’s brother, and he’d yet to rule out Bennie’s possible involvement in this. After all, Bennie had been involved with shady deals in the past. Yeah, his
involvement
would be extreme since he’d been beaten up and Cassidy had been kidnapped, too, but Sawyer wasn’t about to eliminate Bennie as a suspect just yet.

Sawyer’s gaze met Cassidy’s, and he expected her to be riled about his request, but the fear and concern were still there.

No anger.

Of course, that particular emotion might come later—especially if there was another attempt to kidnap her brother.

“No, Bennie refused our offer of a safe house,” Grayson verified. “He wants to go back to his place. He said he has a good security system, and I can assign someone to watch him.”

“He’ll probably try to ditch a guard,” Cassidy volunteered. “I know my brother, and he’ll want to go after the kidnapper. Please don’t let that happen.”

“We’ll do our best,” Grayson assured her. “I’ve also asked the FBI to flag bank deposits of half a million dollars. The ransom amount you’ve already paid. It’s possible the kidnapper will try to deposit that money somewhere, and if he does, we can use that to track him down.”

It was a good plan, but there were plenty of ways to hide money. Maybe the kidnapper wasn’t smart enough to figure them out.

“What about Chester Finley?” Sawyer asked. “Is he talking yet?”

“Not a word. He’ll be arraigned in a few hours. Maybe he’ll ask for a plea deal once he realizes he’s being charged with enough felonies to keep him in jail for the rest of his sorry life.”

Maybe. Finley would perhaps rat out his partner so they could get to the bottom of this.

“We’re still looking for Dr. Blackwell,” Grayson continued. “Officially, she’s not a missing person because it hasn’t been twenty-four hours, but her coworkers said it wasn’t like her not to show for work.”

“What about her husband?” Sawyer asked. He remembered the whopping diamond ring she’d been wearing.

“That’s sticky territory. His name is Martin Blackwell. Ring any bells?”

Yeah, it did. “He’s a rich businessman. Owns some hotels on the Riverwalk.”

“That’s the one,” Grayson verified. “Diane and he are separated, and he’s filed for divorce. A divorce she’s fighting. From what I’m hearing, she ran through a boatload of his money, and he’s trying to ditch her before she goes through the rest. There’s a prenup, so she won’t be getting anything in the divorce.”

The doc had a messy personal life. And combined with the allegations Willy had made against her, it set off the little alarm in his head. The timing of her disappearance was certainly suspicious, and he had to wonder if it had anything to do with the kidnapping.

“How long has she been missing exactly?” Sawyer asked.

“No one has seen her since her trip to Silver Creek.”

Bad timing again. “Is her soon-to-be ex a suspect?”

“No. He’s out of the country on business and is already in another relationship. A happy one, from the sound of it. If he had any part in her disappearance, I’d be surprised.”

Sawyer would trust his cousin’s judgment about that, but he went back to the timing again. The doc had disappeared shortly after her trip to the Silver Creek sheriff’s office. And Willy had been there. Sawyer hoped the doctor hadn’t been kidnapped, too, by Willy or anyone else involved.

But then, why would the kidnappers have gone after her?

Unfortunately, Sawyer could think of a solid reason. “What about April’s diary? Any other mention of Dr. Blackwell, maybe something about April being worried that the doc was going to do something bad to her—like kidnap her for ransom?”

Because if so, then maybe the doctor had disappeared rather than face an interrogation and possible criminal charges.

“There was nothing about the kidnapping in the diary,” Grayson explained. “But Nate found an entry that was a little surprising. April thought Bennie and Dr. Blackwell were seeing each other. And I don’t mean in a professional way. April thought they were lovers.”