The Baby Pursuit. Laurie Paige
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home drunk one night, he ran into a truck. I’d wished for it a hundred times.”
“Did he hit you and your mother?”
His hesitation was noticeable. “Yes.”
She understood the darkness in him now. “It wasn’t your fault. Your mother was the adult. It was her job to protect you, not the other way around. She chose to stay instead of leaving your father.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“I didn’t say it was easy, only that she made a choice each time she could have left and didn’t.”
The muscles tightened in his jaw, but he didn’t say anything else.
“You won’t always close me out,” she vowed.
“Don’t confuse me with one of your psychology projects,” he advised. “My life isn’t open for study.”
“I don’t have to study it. I know all about you. From the moment we met. Just as you know me.”
She could feel the closing down and shutting out as he gazed at her without speaking. It hurt. She looked away, suddenly unsure of herself.
“I know you as the pampered darling of a very rich father,” he said calmly. “You’re spoiled, impatient and probably think you were put on earth to tell everyone how to live.”
“That’s right. My twin thinks it’s her calling to save the world. I tell people how to save themselves. We’re a good team, don’t you think?” Her tone challenged him to disagree with her.
He shrugged.
She finished her lunch, her eyes ever drawn to him. He glanced at her occasionally, noting her steady perusal, but obviously didn’t let it bother him. He looked over his papers while he ate.
“Let’s go for a ride,” she suggested, overcome with a need to do something. She stacked dishes on the tray.
He stopped her from taking his soup. “I’d like to finish, if you don’t mind. Besides, I’ve got work to do.”
“Being outdoors clears the cobwebs. It helps a person think. There’s a trail along the creek that’s perfect.” She eyed his brawny physique. “Between Dad and Matthew, we should be able to outfit you. Since you’re too stubborn to bring your things out here and stay in your room.”
He leaned back in the chair. “This may come as a shock to your delicate system, but not every person is born with a silver saddle in the stable, so to speak. I’ve never ridden a horse in my life.”
Heat slid up her neck. Her face grew hot. “That was terribly rude of me,” she apologized. “I did assume… Wouldn’t you like to learn?”
“I see no reason for it.”
“So we can share all the things we like,” she said, taking her most reasonable tone with him. “I want to show you all my favorite places, the hideaways where Victoria and I played—”
“Hideaways? Where?” he interrupted.
“Along the creek. There’s a bluff where there’s an overhang. We used to pretend we were Indians and try to track animals through the woods. Cruz was really good at it. He could follow deer and rabbits fairly easily. Once he led us to a bobcat. My brother Dallas and my cousin Logan were with us. You should have seen us scatter when the cat snarled.”
“Interesting.” Dev picked up the list of suspects, or whatever he called it, and made some notes. “Was he ever jealous of your brothers?”
“Cruz? Why should he be?”
“He’s the son of a hired hand. Your brothers were the landed gentry. It would be a natural thing, especially since he seems drawn to the land.”
“He wants a spread of his own, but it costs a lot to buy land and start an operation from scratch. He loves working with the horses, and he’s the best cutting horse trainer we’ve ever had. His mother, Rosita, tells him all things will come in good time, but he’s impatient.”
“Now that’s a trait your family should recognize,” Dev murmured.
She wrinkled her nose at him, then continued with her analysis. “Lately, Cruz has been moody. I think Dallas offered him the money to buy a small place near here to start a champion rodeo line, but Cruz got all steamed about it. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder, but I don’t know why.”
Dev gave a scornful snort.
“Cruz isn’t the sort to carry a grudge,” she assured him. She saw the doubt in his eyes. “You don’t suspect…surely you don’t think Cruz…he wouldn’t hurt us,” she ended vehemently, indignant for her childhood companion and friend.
“He had opportunity. He may have motive. That only leaves one thing.”
“What?”
“The drive.”
“Sophia has all three.”
“Your stepmother?”
“Don’t call her that,” Vanessa ordered sharply. “She was no mother to any of us. Aunt Mary Ellen and Rosita filled that gap after my mother died.”
“All right. Give me a motive.”
“She hates us.”
“She stands to gain more from the divorce settlement than from a kidnapping. Why would she jeopardize a sure thing for fifty million in ransom that might also land her in jail?”
Vanessa considered the situation. “You’re right. Sophia isn’t stupid, only greedy. Father has vowed she won’t get more than the Austin town house and the allowance he already gives her. Which is more than enough for ten families to live on.”
“But is it enough for her?”
“Well, I used to hear them quarrel about it when I lived at home full-time. She says she won’t settle for less than half his holdings.”
“A cool billion and a half.”
“Not really. Grandfather set up a trust for all the grandkids. Dad controls everything, though. I haven’t paid much attention to the legalities of it, so I’m not sure how it’s all divided.”
“Hmm,” he said.
She thought she heard condemnation in the word. “What does that mean?” she demanded defensively.
“It means money has never been a problem to you, so you’ve never had to think much about it.”
The truth in his statement hit home. “It means, I would never think of kidnapping to get it. But others would.”
“Exactly.”
“Cruz needs money to follow his dream. I suppose you think everyone who works for us is a suspect.”
“If the boot fits…” he said.
“You’ll find the one who wears it,” she concluded. She smiled beatifically at him. “I know you will.”
“Your faith is touching,” he mocked.
She shook her head and gave him a slow, deliberate grin. “Not faith, my love. You have more than luck on your side. You have me.”
“God help us,” he murmured.
Three
“You’re looking good,” Vanessa said.
“Huh.”
She hid a grin. Dev had arrived at the ranch dressed in jeans, obviously new cowboy boots—the correct kind, not the ones drugstore cowboys wore—and proper headgear, which for summer was a white straw hat. It had a blue band and no eagle feathers, thank goodness.
He