Thunder Horse Heritage. Elle James
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other than the one night they’d spent in bed. One night.
Apparently, one night was all it took. His gaze shifted to the baby in his arms. He was amazed by the fact he was a father. One night, and a beautiful baby was conceived.
Lily’s dark eyes blinked up at him. She looked so much like a Thunder Horse, it hurt to think of her in any kind of danger. Tuck’s jaw hardened. “Let me call a friend of mine and see what’s happening with the investigation. We’ll take it from there. But I’m not making any promises.”
Julia’s eyes widened. “You won’t tell them about me and Lily?”
“I won’t say a word.” He hugged Lily close to his chest. A wave of protectiveness made his arm tighten around the tiny bundle. He’d do anything to keep this child safe.
“Are you sure you can trust the man you’re about to call?” Julia chewed on her lower lip, the movement capturing Tuck’s attention. She was so beautiful, with her blond hair and blue eyes.
“I’d trust him with my life.”
She leveled her gaze at him. “What about the life of your baby?”
His baby. The words struck him all over again. The tiny human in his arms was his child, a part of him and completely dependent on him to protect her from harm. The baby’s eyes drifted shut, her cheek resting against his chest, trusting him to keep her safe and warm. “I trust him,” he repeated. Josh had saved him on more than one occasion, and Tuck had returned the favor. They were as tight as brothers.
Julia nodded, gathered Lily from his arms and walked around the small living area, gently rocking the baby back to sleep.
Still in a state of semishock, Tuck dialed Josh’s personal cell phone and waited, his gaze on the woman and baby who’d completely rocked his world. The phone was answered on the second ring. “Josh?”
“Yeah, Tuck.”
“Anything new on the murder case?”
“I just got off the phone with Bismarck. I can’t go into a lot of detail, but it’s never good when we lose an NIGC. They want answers, and fast.”
“Typical. Got any leads on who did it?” Tuck asked.
“No, and from what the sheriff said, we don’t have any live witnesses.”
Tuck glanced across at Julia. The one witness they had was too afraid to come out of hiding, the only other evidence on a cell-phone video.
His blood ran cold. That put Julia right in the middle of the investigation. If the killer knew that Jillian had sent Julia that video, he’d do anything to eliminate all eyewitnesses and destroy any physical evidence. And he might be ruthless enough to use a baby to get what he wanted.
“What about the Anderson woman?” he asked.
Julia’s attention swung back to him, her eyes wide.
“That’s the sad part. She was identified as a local schoolteacher. All we can figure is that she witnessed the murder and was killed for her trouble. Strange thing is that there were no signs of a struggle.”
“None?”
“No. And unlike the NIGC rep, who was shot, the woman was stabbed. She might have known the killer. We checked in at her apartment, and the neighbors said she had a baby, which is strange.”
“How so?” Tuck asked.
“The babysitter who lives next door said Julia picked the kid up around the same time as the murder. The murderer could have killed her close to her apartment, but no one’s seen the baby since. We have an Amber Alert out. I hope the killer doesn’t have her.” Josh sighed. “It’s tragic when the innocent become collateral damage.”
Tuck knew exactly where the baby was, but he clamped his lips shut, not ready to reveal any more than he had to. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, the babysitter mentioned a sister who came to visit. There’s a suitcase and clothing, but we haven’t located the sister, and there wasn’t any identification in her belongings. Maybe she’s taken off with the baby, running scared. We’ve initiated a background check to see if we can locate the sister.”
“Let me know what you find.”
Josh snorted. “Man, you’re supposed to be off. I’m sorry I dragged you all the way down here.”
“Yeah, but I knew the victim. Now I’ve got a stake in this.”
“We meeting for breakfast in the morning?” Josh asked.
“Sorry, Josh. I think I’ll sleep in. That little bit of jet lag is kicking in. But call me if you learn anything else or if Rick wants to leave early.” Tuck’s gaze met Julia’s. The dark smudges beneath her eyes and the tears trembling on her lashes made his chest ache. When he clicked the off key, he stood for a long moment, his world having made a one-eighty.
“You didn’t tell him I was here. Does that mean you’re going to help us?” She hugged Lily closer. “Because if you aren’t, I’m out of here.”
“Fort Yates won’t be safe once the killer figures out there’s another witness. You better hope he didn’t find your sister’s phone.”
Either way, Tuck knew that Julia would be in danger by morning, if she wasn’t already. Once the forensics team did their job, it wouldn’t be long before they discovered the dead woman was really Jillian Anderson. Whoever had killed her would put two and two together after it came out that Jillian had a twin named Julia, alerting the killer to the possibility that the woman who witnessed his crime and the woman who came after him were two separate people. And God forbid he’d found Jillian’s phone. It would show that her last communication was to send Julia the video with evidence of the murder. He’d be after Julia, and Lily would no longer be safe if she stayed with her mother.
She drew in a deep breath and looked down at the baby sleeping in her arms. “I have to get Lily out of Fort Yates.”
“First thing in the morning. Right now, you look dead on your feet.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he could have bitten his tongue.
The ready tears spilled from her eyes, running down her wan cheeks. “I’m sorry. I just can’t seem to stop crying.”
“Understandable. You just lost your sister.” The thought of losing one of his brothers hit Tuck so hard that before he could think straight, he pulled Julia and his baby into his arms and held them. The fear of what might happen to them outweighed the fear of losing his heart all over again.
Yeah, his life had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.
* * *
JULIA LAY AWAKE in the king-size bed of the hotel suite, Lily sleeping quietly beside her.
Through the crack in the bedroom door, she watched Tuck moving around. The coolly efficient FBI agent was worlds away from the funny, attentive, passionate man she’d met and married a year before.
Her life had come full circle—not just bringing her back to Tuck, but also landing her last adult relative in the morgue. The career path that had frightened her all her life, that had taken away her father, broken her mother’s heart and driven her away from Tuck all those months ago, was now the reason why she’d turned to Tuck for protection. She trusted him to keep her and Lily safe. But what would happen when all of this was over? He knew about Lily now, and if the look on his face when he held the baby was any indication, he wouldn’t let Julia just walk away with his child again.
She really didn’t know anything about Tuck, his family, where he grew up, what his parents were like. He’d mentioned his mother, but did he have siblings? Were they anything like him? Would they want to know Lily? They hadn’t had time in their whirlwind courtship to find out all the important details.
What if Tuck wasn’t a fit father for Lily? Julia would take Lily and raise her all by herself if that’s