Undercover Daddy

Maybe someone hadn’t followed him per se, but they might have gotten the information from Collena Drake and backtracked until they found Elaina.

Now the question was—what the hell did they want?

Luke didn’t want to get into a lengthy discussion, or argument with Elaina to try to figure all of that out. Later, he would have to learn what kind of hornet’s nest her dead fiancé had left her to deal with. Because according to what Elaina had said, these men were almost certainly connected to Kevin.

Unless…

There was an outside shot that they were connected to him. Oh, man. He hoped that wasn’t the case.

Elaina moved to the window next to him and stared out. “Do you see them?”

“No.” In fact, no one seemed to be around.

Except Elaina, of course.

She moved so close to him that he caught her scent. Something fresh, floral and feminine. Something that he didn’t want to smell or notice. Luke stepped away from her and moved to a window in the adjoining dining room.

Of course, she and her feminine scent quickly followed him. “How long before you hear something from your partner?”

“Soon. He’ll be as thorough and as fast as he can possibly be.” Luke only hoped that it wouldn’t be hard to spot two strangers in the small town. Thankfully, there wouldn’t be many guys with an eye patch.

“This is a nightmare,” she mumbled. “And this is what I’ve been trying to avoid for over a year.”

Luke spared her a glance to see how she was physically reacting to the situation. Elaina had a white- knuckled grip on the perky yellow umbrella, but other than that, she seemed to be holding up.

“You sure that’s all you were trying to avoid?” he asked.

Elaina’s grip tightened even more. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe you were trying to avoid me because I’m Christopher’s father.”

She probably would have pounced on that accusation if Luke hadn’t noticed the car driving toward the house. He held up his left hand to cut off anything she might have said, and then raced back to the front door so he’d have a direct shot if it became necessary.

Luke waited, his heart in his throat, as the black four-door car slowly approached and stopped in front of the house. A blond man was driving. The guy with the eye patch was riding shotgun.

This didn’t look good.

He took out his phone and called Rusty Kaplan again. “The suspects are at the sitter’s house. Get here ASAP.”

He put his phone away so he could focus on keeping his weapon aimed and ready. Beside him, Elaina did the same. She lifted her umbrella.

Luke rolled his eyes at her attempt to defend herself. “Get down on the floor,” he ordered.

“I want to protect Christopher,” she countered.

“Well, it won’t happen with an umbrella. Get on the floor in case they fire shots.”

“Oh, God,” she mumbled.

She was obviously terrified at the thought of bullets flying.

So was Luke.

But it wouldn’t help matters if Elaina got hurt. In fact, it was his responsibility to keep everyone in the house safe. He might not have been the one to bring these men to Crystal Creek, but there was too much at stake for him to not make sure they did no harm— especially to his son.

Instead of getting on the floor, she stooped down next to him and put her shoulder against the door so she could peek out the stained-glass sidelights. “I can’t just hide. I have to do something to stop them.”

Luke knew how she felt.

“For now, the best way to help is stay put. Backup in on the way.”

The men didn’t leave their parked car. They just sat there, watching the house, occasionally saying something to each other.

More than anything, Luke wanted to go out there to confront them. But that was too big of a risk. If he got shot or hurt, then that would leave Christopher, Elaina and Theresa without protection. He couldn’t do that. But he could try to make sense of all of this while they were waiting.

“If these guys are looking for Kevin’s software modifications, what do you think they’ll do to you if they can’t get them?” he asked.

“They’ll kill me.” Her voice wasn’t shaky or trembling. Nor was she hesitant.

Luke didn’t take his eyes off the car or the men inside. “And these guys didn’t show up until after you’d adopted Christopher?”

“That’s right.” Now, there was some hesitation. “Why do you ask?”

“Because they might not be associated with software but with the adoption itself. Maybe they’re working for someone who wanted to cover their tracks.”

“Maybe. But the people involved with the adoption ring have already been arrested.”

“That’s why they’d need to hire someone on the outside to do it for them,” Luke pointed out.

Especially if their crimes included murder.

There, Luke had finally made a connection that he didn’t want to make. A connection that linked him with these goons in the car. And it also might link them to his estranged wife’s suspicious death. “What did this so-called adoption agency tell you about Christopher’s birth mother? Specifically, what did they say about her death?”

“Nothing.”

“They didn’t even tell you that she was dead?”

Elaina’s eyes widened, and she shook her head. “I didn’t know. The paperwork was sketchy at best, and I never dealt directly with them. Only Kevin spoke to them.”

Great. One crook dealing with a bunch of others who were making a fortune in the baby-selling business. The police had estimated that Kevin had paid nearly fifty thousand dollars for his son.

“You think they killed your wife?” Elaina asked.

The woman was certainly good at connecting the dots. “Someone did,” Luke mumbled.

He heard Elaina suck in her breath. Luke had a similar mental reaction. Just thinking about Taylor’s death affected him that way. Even though Taylor and he had fallen out of love long before their separation, he would always blame himself for not being there to protect her.

“I had Taylor’s body exhumed,” Luke explained. “They’re doing the autopsy in a day or two, but it looks as if she had help dying from complications from a C-section.”

That was all Luke had time to say.

Because the two men stepped from the car and started walking toward the house.

ELAINA LIFTED HER umbrella, knowing it was probably futile and borderline stupid, but also knowing that she wouldn’t let these men get to her son.

If that’s what they intended.

It was entirely possible they’d come just to kill her. She wasn’t ready to die, but she preferred that to any attempt they might make to harm Christopher.

The two men stopped at the end of the walk and stared at the house. The blonde said something to the other and then glanced over his shoulder at Elaina’s car. They obviously knew she was there.

Would they just try to break in?

Would they storm the place?

Maybe. But with Luke there, she was betting they wouldn’t be successful. For the first time since she’d laid eyes on the man who could destroy her, she was thankful Luke was with her. Protecting Christopher was everything now, and though Elaina had plenty of doubts about Luke Buchanan, she didn’t doubt his ability to keep her baby safe.

But safe from what?

Were these men connected to Kevin, or as Luke had suggested, were they connected to the adoption? If so, had they already murdered Luke’s wife?

That chilled her to the bone. Because if this was linked to the adoption, then they might plan to go after Christopher. Maybe they’d do that to eliminate a connection to a murdered woman. But if that was true, then Luke would be a target, as well.

The men began walking again. Beside her, she was aware that Luke tensed his muscles. But that was only reaction. He aimed his weapon directly at them.

“Move away from the door,” Luke whispered. And even though it was a whisper, it was still an order.

This time, Elaina obeyed, because she knew that bullets could easily go through the wood. Theresa’s fifty-something-year-old home wasn’t designed to block intruders.

Elaina crawled to the side. Not far. She wanted to be near that door if the men tried to break it down.

“There’s my backup,” she heard Luke say.

Elaina scrambled to the window to see what he meant, and she saw the other car approach. But it didn’t just approach. The dark blue SUV came screeching around the corner and came to a jerky stop right behind the men’s vehicle. And that wasn’t all. The agent who got out was armed. He pointed a huge gun right at the men.

“Stay put,” Luke warned her.

Luke barreled out the door, probably to give back up to the backup. Elaina didn’t mind. She wanted those two men arrested and away from Christopher and her.

She couldn’t hear what Luke said to them, but both men lifted their hands into the air. Luke kept his gun trained on them while Luke’s partner, a tall brown-haired man, rushed to handcuff the two men. The agent also searched them. Both men had not just one weapon but two each.

Luke and the agent didn’t waste any time. They ushered the men into the backseat of the agent’s SUV. Elaina sat there, her face glued to the sidelight window, and she watched as Luke said something else to them. The men didn’t respond. A few moments later, the agent drove away with the men.

Elaina got to her feet, though the adrenaline made her jittery. Later, when all of this sank in, she was certain she’d be furious at those imbeciles for putting her through this.

Luke came through the door, and he tucked his gun back into his shoulder holster. “Agent Kaplan is taking them to the local jail. As soon as they’re processed, I’ll go there and assist with the interview.”

“So, they didn’t admit to any guilt when you arrested them?”

He shook his head and blew out a weary breath. “No. But unless they have permits to carry concealed weapons, we can hold them on that for a while.”

For a while didn’t sound nearly long enough.

“Why would those men have killed your wife?” Elaina asked. She shoved the umbrella back into the basket and made sure that Theresa was still in the nursery. She didn’t want the woman overhearing any of this. “You think they did it to get Christopher from her so they could hand him over to the lawyers running the adoption ring?”

Luke adjusted his leather jacket so the weapon wouldn’t be visible. “That’s one theory.”

She snapped toward him. “There’s more than one?”

He nodded. Raked his fingers over his eyebrow. “Right before I went on the deep cover-up last year, I arrested a man named George Devereux. He was slime, into too many different crimes to name. Devereux vowed revenge because I arrested him. I haven’t been able to prove it, but it’s possible that Devereux murdered Taylor shortly after she gave birth. It’s also possible that he or one of his henchmen sold or gave Christopher to the adoption ring.”

Elaina felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. It took several seconds to regain her breath and some semblance of composure. It took her slightly longer than that to manage to think his theory through. On the one hand, it would make her feel marginally better to put the blame on Luke. But on the other hand, she didn’t want a heavy-duty criminal like Devereux to be involved in this.

“So then, why would Devereux’s men come after me?” she demanded to know. “I certainly can’t link him to Christopher’s adoption or to Taylor’s death.”

“Maybe Devereux didn’t want to stop with Taylor.” Luke paused and met her gaze. “Maybe he’s had time to stew while sitting in prison and wants to continue his revenge.”

“Oh, God.” Elaina dropped back a step. “You mean Christopher?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed.

Elaina groaned and felt the sickening knot form in her stomach. “So, either George Devereux or Kevin might have spawned this?”

“There’s only one way to find out which one. Those two men will provide the answers.”

Yes. The men. With all the talk about Devereux and revenge, she’d nearly forgotten that they might be very close to learning what this was really about. In fact, if the men confessed to trying to kill her, then they’d be off the streets for a long, long time. Their confession and incarceration could give her the safety she’d been praying for and the freedom to resume a normal life.

For all the good it’d do her now.

Luke Buchanan’s arrival had changed everything, and Elaina didn’t think they would agree on what she considered a normal life. Heck, he could still try to have her arrested for the illegal adoption.

Elaina felt sick. That feeling didn’t go away when she heard Theresa call out. “I hope those protestors are gone. Christopher’s up from his nap. Is it okay if I bring him out there?”

She was on the verge of saying no, but the word stuck in her throat. Luke, however, seemed to have no trouble responding. Obviously following the sound of Theresa’s voice, he headed straight for Christopher.

Elaina rushed after him. It was like a train wreck about to happen.

Luke paused in the doorway of the nursery, and since he took up nearly the entire space, Elaina had to stand on her tiptoes to see what had stopped the agent in his tracks.

Christopher was there. He wore the denim overalls and long-sleeved knit blue shirt that she’d dressed him in that morning. He was standing, holding on to the arm of the rocking chair where Theresa was seated.

“The protestors are gone?” Theresa asked.

“They’re gone,” Luke assured her, but his attention was focused solely Christopher.

Luke stepped toward the baby. Elaina’s instincts screamed to stop him. But she couldn’t. She could only stand there and watch as Luke reached down and gently lifted her son into his arms.

Chapter Five

Luke forgot to breathe.

In fact, he forgot everything when he picked up his son. He’d never thought anything could feel like this. It was magic. Pure magic. And the weight of the world slipped off Luke’s shoulders.

Well, in one way it did.

In another, he knew instantly that he would do whatever it took to protect—and claim—his son.

Christopher whimpered a little and tossed a questioning glance at Elaina before turning those suspicious gray eyes back on Luke. Eyes that were a perfect replica of Luke’s own.

The genetics didn’t stop there. Luke had seen baby pictures of himself, and Christopher was a little DNA copy, right down to his chocolate-brown hair.

His son’s bottom lip quivered, and judging from his expression he was about to cry.

“It’s okay,” Theresa said, her voice soothing. “It’s Da Da. Remember, we talk about Da Da. Well, Da Da’s come home to be with you.”

Even more skepticism came into Christopher’s eyes, but he tested out the syllables he’d heard his sitter say. “Da Da.”

Behind him, Luke heard Elaina’s breath shatter, and he looked back to see the tears streaming down her cheeks. Theresa was crying, too, but Luke was almost positive that the sitter’s tears were of the happy variety.

He couldn’t say the same for Elaina.

Those were real tears of pain and anguish. Luke understood them. Though he hadn’t cried, he’d felt those same raw emotions from the moment that he learned he had a son. It’d ripped his heart into pieces. Now, just holding his baby, just hearing him say those precious sounds, made all the pain and anguish melt away.

“I’ll give the three of you some privacy,” Theresa insisted. She stood and left the room, closing the door behind her.

His son smelled like baby powder and cookies. Luke brushed a kiss on Christopher’s forehead, and because he suddenly wasn’t feeling too steady on his feet, he sat down in the rocker. Elaina sat, as well. Groaning softly, she sank down onto the floor and buried her face in her hands.

That seemed to be Christopher’s cue to get moving. The little boy squirmed to get out of his arms, and though Luke hated to let go of him, his son was insistent. Fearing that he might drop him, Luke finally deposited him onto the floor. He held on to him until Christopher plopped into a sitting position and then immediately crawled toward Elaina.

The only mother his son had ever known.

Christopher used her knees to pull himself up to a rather precarious standing position. He slapped at her hands until she lowered them. Despite her tear- stained face, the little boy smiled at her. It wasn’t an ordinary smile, either. It was a smile of joy and love.

Seeing that love aimed at Elaina put a fist around Luke’s heart. On the one hand, he despised the woman who’d perhaps robbed him of months with his son. On the other hand, she was the center of his baby’s world.

For now, anyway.

She reached out and pulled Christopher to her. “You can’t take him away from me.”

Maybe not right away he couldn’t, but if she was innocent Luke couldn’t see including her permanently in his life. Except for perhaps visitation rights. He only hoped that was enough.

“Concentrate on the here and now,” Luke told her. “I will raise my son, and that’ll be a lot easier to do with your cooperation.”

That sent her gaze slicing to his. “And what do you consider cooperation?”

“Help Christopher through this adjustment.”

She huffed. “You’re talking about your plan. You want me to pretend to be your loving wife until you’re comfortable enough to take Christopher.”

“I don’t want him to have too many changes at once,” Luke clarified. “I want this to be the easiest possible transition for him. If we’re in the house that he considers home, if you’re there, and if we can create a safe, nurturing environment for him, then—”

“Then you’ll wait until he gets to know you and then take him.”

Yes. But Luke couldn’t say that to her, not with those tears in her eyes. “We’ll see what we can work out,” he offered.

And under the circumstances, it was the best he could give her.

They sat there, both looking at the little boy they loved and wanted. And there was no doubt about it. Luke did love this child. Unconditional, total love. Even though he’d just met him for the first time, he couldn’t imagine a life without his son.

Christopher babbled something indistinguishable and dropped back to the floor so he could crawl to his toys. Luke got down there with him, but before the playtime could start, his cell phone rang.

Hating the interruption but knowing it could be critical, Luke answered the call. “Agent Buchanan.”

“It’s me, Rusty,” he heard his friend say. “We made it to the jail without incident. The sheriff is booking the guys now. This is all just preliminary, but I checked their IDs. Their names are Damien Weathers and Simon Foster. Neither have a permit to carry concealed weapons so we can hold them. I ran their priors. Both also have records for burglary and some outstanding traffic tickets, but that’s it.”

That didn’t mean the two were innocent of this particular count. Whatever this count was. And it didn’t mean they weren’t the ones who’d tried to hurt Elaina a year ago.

“I’ll come down for the interviews,” Luke insisted.

“There won’t be any, not for a while at least. Both lawyered up, and both are giving us the silent treatment. You’re not getting anything out of these guys.”

Luke mentally cursed. “When will the lawyer be there?”

“Not until morning. No interviews, no interrogations until then.”

He mentally cursed even more. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear. But on the upside, as long as the men were behind bars, then Christopher was probably safe. Still, Luke wasn’t about to take any chances.

“You take care of things there with your little boy,” Rusty insisted. “I’ll arrange to install the security equipment we discussed.”

Luke had nearly forgotten about that. Not good. He needed to be totally focused because that equipment was a necessity. He wanted it installed in the wooded area behind Elaina’s house. With a motion- activated silent alarm, it would warn in advance if someone tried to sneak onto her property.

“I can get one of the agents from the Austin office to install it,” Rusty explained. “We’ll connect it to your cell phone signal so we won’t need to put any equipment inside Elaina’s house.”

“That’d be a big help,” Luke assured him.

“No problem. I’ll spend the night here at the sheriff’s office. In the mean time, I’ll keep digging and see if I can find any outstanding warrants on them. I’ll have their car impounded, as well. Something might turn up that we can use to put these guys away for a long, long time.”

“Thanks, Rusty.”

Elaina was staring at him when he ended the call. “What happened?”

“The men are in jail. I’ll interrogate them tomorrow after their lawyer shows up.” But no lawyer was going to stop him from getting answers.

“So, what do we do until then?” she asked.

It would not be an answer she liked, but it was the only answer Luke was going to give her.

“We take Christopher to your house,” he said. “Together. I’ll start getting acquainted with my son.”

She swallowed hard. “Does that mean you’ll be staying the night?”

It was yet another answer she wouldn’t like. Actually, Luke didn’t like it much, either. “Of course. That’s been my plan all along,” he reminded her.

But he’d come up with that plan before he’d ever met Elaina face-to-face. Before he’d had these stupid lustful thoughts about her.

Luke definitely hadn’t counted on the attraction.

Now, he had to figure out how to get past it. Because if he didn’t, it was going to be a very long night.

SHE COULD RUN AGAIN.

That was the one thought that kept going through Elaina’s mind. She could wait until Luke was asleep and try to sneak out with Christopher. Yes, she’d probably be breaking the law, but she couldn’t bear the thought of losing her son.

Elaina unlocked the front door of her house, and as she always did, reset the security system. She motioned for Luke to walk in ahead of her while she aimed a few daggers his way. Not that it would do any good. He obviously wasn’t going to change his mind about this asinine plan.

Luke had a sleeping Christopher cradled in his arms. The baby obviously hadn’t finished his nap because he’d fallen sound asleep on the short drive from Theresa’s to the house. It wasn’t unusual for him to do that, but because Christopher wasn’t awake, that meant she’d have to spend time alone with Luke. Elaina was not looking forward to that.

“His bedroom is at the end of the hall,” Elaina explained. She showed Luke the way, but she didn’t give him a tour or even a friendly expression. She simply opened the door to the nursery and pointed to the crib.

Luke gently lay the baby down and covered him with a pale blue quilt. What he didn’t do was leave. He stayed right there, looking down at Christopher.

Elaina didn’t want to speculate about what he was thinking, but she couldn’t help herself. Luke was no doubt realizing how much he loved this child. That love would only make him more adamant about taking Christopher.

Unless she did something to stop it.

She had to either sneak away with Christopher, or convince Luke to give up his plan.

“How long will you be staying in my house?” she demanded in a whisper.