The Baby He Wanted

“What do you mean? Have they robbed other banks?”

“This is at least the third, and there’s a possibility of others. These guys have used the signs before. They took them away when they left after the two previous robberies, but witnesses had noticed them and remembered the wording, which was identical to what you saw and to the one taped to that sandwich board. You were right—they did take down the one on the door as they fled, but left the one at the drive-through. Unfortunately, neither have any fingerprints. These guys are careful.”

Hung up on what he’d said at the beginning of that last speech, she asked, “What do you mean, a possibility of others?”

“There’ve been a couple others in the past eighteen months that were so similar, it’s likely the same two guys. Ski masks, yelling, making everyone sit behind the counter with their backs turned. No one saw signs.”

“If no one happened to come to the door or try to go through the drive-through...”

“Exactly,” he said.

“I remember the news mentioning several bank robberies not that long ago,” she said, trying to recall details. “But weren’t they down south?”

“The two where we know they used the signs were both in Pierce County. One in Tacoma, one in Lakewood.” Two hours away, then. “The others that may be linked happened in Issaquah and Monroe.”

So, midway. Both were at least an hour drive from Clear Creek.

“Because of the string of robberies, we’re assuming the two men are not locals,” Bran said. “The agent in charge of the investigation suspects that they live in Pierce County, but decided it was getting too hot down there for them to risk hitting another bank in the area. Some had taken additional precautions, including armed guards, and these two were smart to be nervous.”

“That’s why you think I don’t have to worry.” She felt lighter, suddenly.

“It’s likely that the guy just had one of those faces that isn’t especially distinctive.”

“Have they killed anyone before?”

He shook his head.

Lina absorbed the information. So much anger rose in her, for that instant she was almost glad Mr. Floyd was dead, too. If not for him, Maya wouldn’t have died. He’d put the bank’s money ahead of her life.

They sat in silence for long enough, she had trouble making herself look at Bran. Could he tell what she was thinking? If she didn’t say anything else, would he go away?

If he did, that would only give her longer to tie herself up in knots. Ask. You have to ask.

She took a deep breath. “Are you married?”

He jerked, rocking the chair. “What? Why would you think—” Then he fell silent.

“I saw the invitation. You left it on the dresser. It was...it was your wedding day.”

“Oh, hell.” He sounded weary. “That’s why you took off, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not married, Lina. I wouldn’t have slept with you the night before my wedding, for Christ’s sake. How could you think—”

“I didn’t know you. I still don’t know you.” With an effort, she calmed herself. “But you were planning to get married.”

“We’d called it off a couple days before I met you.” He made an odd sound. “She called it off.”

“It’s not very flattering to me, either way,” Lina said. “All I knew was that I’d been stupid.” So much for calm. Every tumultuous emotion she’d felt today coalesced into a burst of rage. “You didn’t use a condom!”

“No.” Honesty and regret showed stark on his hard face. “I didn’t even think about it until later. I’m sorrier than I can say. I...worried.” He paused. “I tried to find you.”

Because he was afraid he’d gotten her pregnant, not because he wanted to see her again. Good to know.

“If you saw the invitation, you knew my name.”

She bent her head and focused on her hands, clenched into fists on her thighs. “Yes.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?” For the first time, anger crackled in his voice, too.

“Yes.” She made herself lift her head and meet those blue eyes. “I swear I was.”

“When?”

“Soon.” She’d been telling herself the same thing for months. Soon. More honestly, Lina said, “Before she’s born.”

He looked stunned. “She?”

“Yes. I had an ultrasound. I’m having a girl.”

“You mean, we’re having a girl.”

She didn’t blame him for the renewed anger, even though she had good reason to be mad, too. “It’s we if, well, you believe this is your baby. And you plan to take responsibility.”

“Yeah,” he said hoarsely. “I believe you. And of course I do. This is my fault.”

“This?” She shot to her feet. “If you see this baby as some horrible mistake you feel duty-bound to take responsibility for, forget it!”

Instead of fighting back, he let out a pained sound and rubbed both hands over his face. “Lina, will you sit down?”

She wanted to tell him this was her baby and he could take a hike. But she suspected her volatile emotions had more to do with hormones and the horror of the day than with anything he’d said. Slowly, she lowered herself again to the sofa.

He sounded inexpressibly weary when he said, “You’ve had time to come to terms with it. I haven’t.”

“You’re right,” she said stiffly. “I’m sorry.”

“Did you consider an abortion?”

She closed her eyes and made herself be honest. “Briefly. I was...pretty freaked out. But, you know, I’m thirty-two. I want to have children. I can be a good mother on my own.”

“You won’t be on your own.”

She couldn’t deny that financial support would be welcome. A teacher’s salary wasn’t fabulous. Even if she could work up until the birth, she would miss the last three months of the school year, which would eat up a fair amount of her savings.

“Do you have other children?” she blurted. Why hadn’t she wondered before?

“No. God, no. I’ve never been married.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “You?”

“I’m divorced.”

At her answer, emotion crossed his face. She couldn’t quite decipher it.

At last he nodded. “There’s more we’ll have to talk about, but right now I just want to say one thing. From here on out, this baby ties us together. It would help if you could trust me.”

He hadn’t gotten mad. He almost sounded...gentle. Lina took some deep breaths and remembered the hope she’d felt that morning six months ago, before she saw the wedding invitation. What had he done that was really so awful? Face it, she’d readily agreed to spend the night with him. He had gone so far as to give her an out when he asked if she’d be sorry in the morning, and she knew in her heart he wouldn’t have taken her to bed if she’d said yes, or even maybe.

Not using a condom had been unbelievably stupid, of course, but he’d probably been hungover.

She was making excuses for him.

Well, who was she to talk? The responsibility had been shared. Drowsy or not, she should have thought about a condom, too.

And...he was right. He would forever be her child’s father.

“I...I think I can,” she said shakily. “Trust you, I mean.”

“Thank you.” Instead of leaving, he asked, “Do you feel all right? You’re not having any problems?”

“So far, no big problems. I was sick to my stomach for a couple months, but mostly right now I just need more sleep than usual.”

He gazed at her, unblinking. “What do you mean, so far? And do you have problems that aren’t big?”

“Nothing ominous.” Although she worried constantly. “My blood pressure is a little higher than the doctor would like. She’s leaning on me to get plenty of exercise, which I’m doing. Otherwise...things can go wrong later in the pregnancy, but that’s rare. I’ve always been healthy. My mother had no difficulties in childbirth.” When he failed to look convinced, she added, “It is all natural, you know.”

“Do you feel the baby moving?”

She smiled and looked down to see that she had laid an open hand on her swollen belly. “Yes. It’s amazing. The first time—” she lifted her head “—it was a flutter, like a butterfly inside me. But she’s already getting stronger. She’ll be kicking me before I know it.”

He appeared unwillingly fascinated. “I’ve never really been around many pregnant women. Today I wondered how you’ll manage to drive when you get further along.”

She made a face. “I don’t know. I want to work as long as I can, though, which means driving.”

“At least you’ll have the summer.”

“Combined with maternity leave, it’ll give me nearly six months off, thank God. I have a bad feeling that leaving her in day care will be hard.”

Lina would swear he was making calculations, but he didn’t share them with her. Instead he shook his head after a minute. “Man.”

“I’ll bet you wish you hadn’t gotten out of bed this morning.”

“But you were going to surprise me with the news one of these days anyway, weren’t you?”

Lina didn’t like the sardonic note in his voice. He didn’t believe she would have told him. She’d have liked to be offended, but couldn’t really blame him. After all, she’d procrastinated for months.

“I would have.”

He rose abruptly and said, “I’ll let you know when we get the sketch artist scheduled. The holiday may complicate that. I assume you’re off work.”

“We go back the fourth.”

“Can you make yourself available tomorrow for the FBI agents to interview you?”

“Yes.”

His gaze settled on her Christmas tree before returning to her. “Are you expecting family?”

She wasn’t expecting anyone. Did she have to tell him the truth? He’d think she was pathetic.

“My family lives near Minneapolis. Flying didn’t sound like fun right now—” she touched her stomach “—so I decided not to join them.”

He frowned a little. “Won’t you be celebrating with friends?”

“Maya—” Her voice hitched. “Maya was my best friend.”

“I’m sorry I reminded you.”

“Did you think I’d forget?” she asked incredulously.

“No.” A man she suspected was rarely hesitant, Bran lingered, looking down at her. “You’re likely to have nightmares, Lina.”

“I didn’t this afternoon when I napped.”

“It’ll all catch up with you.” On that cheerful note, he nodded. “I’ll call in the morning. Lock up after me.”

She followed him to the door. He hovered momentarily just outside as if he wanted to say something else, but finally dipped his head again and walked away without looking back.

Lina closed the door and locked it, then sagged against it, the painted steel cool beneath her forehead. Thoughts and images tumbled in her head like clothes in the dryer.

Maya staring at her. Her head... The monster seeing her. Tearing across the street, expecting a bullet to strike her any moment.

And then the shock of having Bran walk in.

At least she’d gotten the dreaded meeting over with, but...

From here on out, we’re tied together.

Lina moaned and bumped her head repeatedly against the door.

CHAPTER FOUR

BRAN SHOULD HAVE gone straight home, but his car seemed to steer itself across town to his brother’s house. Christmas lights glittered like icicles around the eaves, and a warm glow from the windows told him Zach and Tess were still up. He glanced at his watch: 7:34. Of course they hadn’t gone to bed. Bran realized how unbalanced he felt. With a snort, he thought, Unbalanced? How about stupefied? His damn head was spinning. The day felt as if it had already lasted twenty-four hours at least.

He turned off the engine but hesitated. He should have called first. And...was he really ready to tell anyone else?

Bran guessed he must be, or he wouldn’t be here.

With a sigh, he got out and crossed the lawn, bounding up the steps to the porch. He rang the bell and waited. No surprise, Zach had put in a new front door with a peephole. He worried about Tess, and for good reason. After the two of them witnessed an ugly crime committed by another sheriff’s deputy, she had been terrorized. Even though Andrew Hayes, the deputy, had been convicted of attempted first degree murder for trying to kill Tess, Zach hadn’t let down his guard. Bran didn’t blame him.

Zach opened the door. If he was surprised, it didn’t show. There was still tension between the two of them—reconnecting after twenty-five years wasn’t easy—but tonight Bran saw only welcome.

“Hey, come in. I hear you had an exciting day.”

He didn’t know the half of it.

“It was a little out of the ordinary,” Bran agreed. “I was heading home, but somehow I ended up here.”

“Have you eaten? We have leftovers.”

“Thanks, but I had a good dinner. I’d sent Lina—uh, our principal witness—to a friend’s house, and when I went to get her, they fed us. Best Mexican food I’ve eaten in years, if ever.”

A slightly raised eyebrow told him he hadn’t distracted Zach from his slip. But it didn’t matter—wasn’t he here to spill his guts?

“Bran!” Tess had popped out of the kitchen and, smiling, came toward the two men. She rose on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek, something she’d taken to doing lately. No, not lately—since her wedding day. She’d apparently decided Bran was her brother-in-law, so by God she’d treat him like family whether he liked it or not.

The odd thing was, he did like it, even if he hadn’t said so. He liked Tess. She was a gutsy woman. He liked that she was making his brother happy. Their screwed up childhoods had left Zach determined never to marry or have a family, a resolve that crashed and burned when he couldn’t run from Tess. Keeping her safe had meant keeping her close.

“If this is a bad time...”

She frowned. “Don’t be silly. Do you want a beer?”

“Uh...thanks. Sure.”

“Zach?”

“Yeah, I’ll take one, too.”

They got comfortable in the living room, which was one of the first rooms they had finished remodeling. The day Bran came to help replace the roof, the wood floors in the whole house were worn, and there had been holes in the walls in here. Zach had applied a thin coat of plaster over the new wallboard, and now they were a creamy white while the hardwood floor gleamed. The star on the Christmas tree in front of the window almost touched the ceiling.

This house looked like a home now. Disquieted, Bran realized it had come to feel more like home to him than his own apartment did. He had dinner here at least a couple times a week, and often spent one of his days off helping Zach work on the place.

Tess reappeared with two bottles of a dark German beer, smiled and said, “I’ll leave you two to talk.”

“No, you can hear this unless there’s something you want to get back to,” he heard himself say.

“Of course I want to hear.” She plopped down on the sofa next to Zach, who wrapped an arm around her.

At first sight, anyone would have been able to tell the two men were brothers. Both were an inch or two above six feet, athletic. Zach’s features were cleaner cut, making him handsome and Bran...not. At least in his opinion. Zach had dark hair, Bran a deep auburn darkened from the carrot-red he’d been born with. Both had blue eyes the same color as their mother’s, a fact that disconcerted Bran when he thought about it. He’d turned his back on her a lot of years ago and still wasn’t happy to have been forced to accept her in his life. Again, because of Zach.

Tess was a cross between sex goddess and girl-next-door with her scattering of freckles. She was tall enough to have modeled, had thick, glossy, maple-brown hair and green-gold eyes. Bran wasn’t oblivious to her sexual appeal, but hadn’t been slammed with it at first sight the way his brother was. Good thing, as it turned out.

Now Lina, she’d hit him hard. If he’d had her number, he’d have called her within twenty-four hours. Truth was, he hadn’t so much as touched another woman since the night with Lina. He had convinced himself it was because of Paige and the last-minute cancellation of their wedding, but he knew better now. He hadn’t been able to get Lina out of his head.

Nobody said a word. Their expectant expressions spoke for them.

He groaned and tugged at his hair, which was more characteristic of Zach than him. Getting started wasn’t easy. “The night before my wedding—what should have been my wedding—I got drunk.”

Zach nodded, even though he, like Bran, wasn’t much of a drinker.

“I should have gone home, but I didn’t. I went to a tavern, and I met a woman. We spent the night together, but I didn’t know anything but her first name. When I got out of the shower in the morning, she had taken off.”

“With your wallet?” his brother, the cop, asked.

“No. She hadn’t touched anything. I made some attempt to find her, but with only a first name, I struck out.” He hesitated, suddenly wishing he hadn’t invited Tess to sit in on this confession. “I didn’t use a condom.”

“Oh, dear,” she said.

He grimaced. “The one solid witness to today’s bank robbery? It’s her. Lina. Lina Jurick. And she’s six months pregnant.”

Zach swore.

“She didn’t know how to find you, either?”

That was Tess, optimistic about human nature.

“She knew,” he said grimly. “Turns out, I’d had the damn wedding invitation with me. While I was in the shower, she saw it. That’s why she took off.”

“O-oh,” Tess breathed.

“She swears she was going to tell me before the baby was born. It’s a girl,” he added. “What it comes down to is, I’m going to be a father.”

“Shouldn’t you insist on some testing?” his brother asked. “To be sure you are the father?”

Bran shook his head, sure at least about this much. “Lina isn’t like that. She teaches at the middle school. She’s a thoroughly nice woman.”

“Pretty?”

“Beautiful.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “My head is spinning.”

“How much did she see today?” Zach asked.

Bran told them about the robbery and about his own initial fear that the killer might know Lina. “Doesn’t sound likely, though,” he concluded. “She says he has one of those faces. Not ugly, not handsome. Not memorable. His head was shaved, and she isn’t sure if he was partially bald or what. She thinks he might have had an earring but didn’t see any tattoos. The feds will be sitting down with her in the morning, and the sketch artist as soon as we can line it up.”

“But tomorrow is Christmas Eve.”

“Yeah, that complicates things.”

“So, back to Lina,” his brother said. “What’s your plan?”

Wheels had been grinding in his head since he’d set eyes on her at the pharmacy. “Spend time with her,” he heard himself say. “Unless I don’t like her, I’ll marry her.” He shrugged. “Why not? I intended to marry. I want a family. With her, I already have one.”

Amusement glinted in Zach’s eyes, but Tess gaped at him.

“Just like that?” She sounded outraged. “No special fondness required? If that’s not a recipe for disaster!”

“Why would it be?” he countered. “I liked her when we talked. And we did talk quite a bit that night. We’re attracted. We’re having a baby together. Not so many years ago, that alone would have guaranteed a wedding.”

“But it doesn’t anymore. Bran, what if you fall in love with someone else? What if she does?”

He’d kill the son of a bitch, that was what. Bran blinked at the violence of his reaction to the idea. No, he decided, there was nothing surprising about it. She was carrying his baby. She was his, even if she didn’t know it yet. He didn’t share, and when he made a commitment, by God he kept it, and he expected the same of her.

“I’m closing in on forty,” he said. “It’s not happening.”

“So you were drunk that night,” Zach said thoughtfully, rather than asking how old Lina was. “What about her?”

Suddenly wary, Bran asked, “And that matters how?”

“She was at a tavern on her own, maybe getting plastered. Either that wasn’t so unusual for her, which makes me think you should ask some more questions before she puts your name on that birth certificate, or it was unusual for her, in which case you have to ask yourself what was going on that had her there.”

He stared at his brother, who was right. He should have asked himself exactly that. Why hadn’t he? Because she seemed so nice? What kind of idiot was he?

After a minute, he nodded. “Okay.”

“Does she have family in town?” Tess asked.

“No. Doesn’t sound like she’s going anywhere, either.”

Her forehead crinkled. “She won’t be by herself for Christmas, will she?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I didn’t get a straight answer.” He hesitated. “The loan officer Lina saw killed? Maya Lee was her best friend.”

A gasp escaped Tess, who pressed a hand to her mouth. Even Zach looked disturbed.

“She was there because they were supposed to have lunch together. In no time, it’s going to occur to her that, if she’d suggested an earlier time, her friend would be alive. Or she’ll come up with some other reason to start blaming herself. I told her she’s going to have nightmares,” Bran said. “I didn’t like leaving her, but I didn’t have a lot of choices.”

“Do you think she’d join us tomorrow night?” Tess asked immediately, with the generosity he’d come to expect of her.

“Your dad will be here.” Not, thank God, his mother, who had plans with her current husband—number five—and stepkids. Bran would have preferred never to see her again, but he had been polite at Zach’s wedding. He wasn’t looking forward to the next time he had to be polite to her.

“So?”

“I don’t know, Tess. I’ll...think about it. She may not want to.”

“She’s going to be the mother of your daughter, no matter what. That makes her family, in a way.”

“I told her that, but I don’t think she’s quite over finding out why I was there getting plastered that night. She was offended to think I was supposed to get married the next morning. I think she figures she was some sort of stand-in.”

His brother’s eyebrows rose. “Wasn’t she?”

Bran scowled. “No.”

His brother smiled. “You being mad and depressed didn’t have anything to do with you taking a woman you didn’t know to bed.”

“I wasn’t depressed.” He didn’t deny the mad part. “I had no intention of picking up a woman. All I wanted was a few drinks. She and I hit it off. That didn’t have anything to do with the damn wedding.”

Zach’s smile widened. “Then bring her tomorrow. Let us meet her.”

He sighed and took the first swallow of his beer. “I’ll try.”

Zach asked about Mrs. Greaver and Bran’s appointment to see her this afternoon. He had, at least, thought to call her instead of being a no-show. She’d sounded the tiniest bit relieved.

“If you’re tied up with this bank robbery, I can get in touch with her,” Zach offered. “Or has the FBI taken over the whole show?”

“Actually, these two haven’t been bad to work with. They seem to want to collaborate.”

His brother grinned. “You mean, they need minions to do their bidding, don’t they?”

Despite his mood, Bran grunted a laugh. “Probably.”

Not until he left half an hour later did he wonder if he hadn’t stopped by to see Zach and Tess because he was hoping they’d suggest he bring Lina. Something about that small tree with only a few presents under it in Lina’s apartment had saddened Bran, damn it, even though he wasn’t big on holidays himself. This year, he hadn’t bothered to decorate because he wouldn’t be spending Christmas Eve or Day at his own place. Last year, he’d been stuck joining Paige’s family. The year before, he ignored the holiday. This year was different. He had family again.

Discovering he was being driven by impulses lurking in his subconscious didn’t make him happy. He used his head; he didn’t make decisions because of emotions.

And, sure, he’d surprised himself with the announcement that he was going to marry Lina, but the decision itself was entirely rational. It disturbed him a little that his equally rational decision to marry Paige had blown up in his face the way it did, but he was grateful now it had. Lina was a better choice. He’d have stuck to the commitment he made to Paige, but the truth was, he’d been finding he didn’t much like her as the wedding neared.