LITMIR.BIZ

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gave her a flat look to let her know that wasn’t going to happen. Not without him anyway. “Should I remind you one more time that you were kidnapped, too? Those thugs might try to take you again, and the safest place you can be is here with me.”

      Sawyer hoped that was true anyway.

      He didn’t have time to add to his argument because his phone rang, and he saw Mason’s name on the screen.

      “There’s been a snafu with Social Services,” Mason said, “and they want to know if we can keep the baby overnight. It’s either that, or she can be admitted to the hospital.”

      Even though Cassidy probably couldn’t have heard what he said, she was studying Sawyer’s face and obviously saw the concern in his expression.

      “No hospital,” Sawyer insisted. “Go ahead and take the baby to the ranch. Cassidy and I will be there soon to pick her up and take her to my place.”

      He ended the call, knowing that she’d want an explanation about several things. “It’s either the hospital or my house for the baby,” he said. “I figured she’s already been through enough. And besides, there are plenty of us at the ranch to help take care of her.”

      “Including me?” Cassidy asked with a boatload of skepticism.

      And here was the part she was not going to like. Heck, Sawyer didn’t like it much, either. “You need to be in protective custody. So does the baby. Because the kidnappers could come after either of you again.”

      Cassidy’s mouth trembled a little. Not enough to stop her from arguing though. “But your family’s ranch? I won’t be welcome there.”

      “You won’t be turned away. Besides, there’s a lot of baby stuff already out there.”

      In addition, there were plenty of ranch hands who could provide extra security. To get that kind of security at the hospital, he’d have to tie up several of Grayson’s deputies. They were already busy enough with a murder investigation, the kidnappings and the search for Bennie.

      “We’d be in the same house with all your cousins?” Cassidy asked, nibbling on her lip.

      “No. There are a lot of houses on the grounds. Including mine. It’s on the back part of the property. It used to be my parents’ house before their divorce.”

      Definitely a no-frills kind of place, but it suited Sawyer, and it would have to suit Cassidy, too, since he wasn’t giving her another option.

      She still didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t have time to continue the argument. The bell on the front door jangled, and Sawyer pulled Cassidy into the office just in case there was a problem.

      And there might be.

      The man who stepped into the sheriff’s office had trouble written all over him. From his greasy black hair, prison tattoos on his neck and dingy gray muscle shirt.

      “I’m Willy Malloy,” he told the woman at the reception desk, who was Deputy Bree Ryland—his cousin’s wife. And as she stood, she slid her hand over the butt of her gun.

      If Willy was intimidated by that, he didn’t show it. The man’s gaze landed on Sawyer. “Are you Agent Ryland?”

      Sawyer nodded and gave him back the badass stare that the man was giving him. “Wait here,” he told Cassidy, and Sawyer walked a few steps closer to the man.

      “You gonna pay me back for gas?” Willy asked, propping his hands on his bony hips. “Because it was a long drive all the way out here, and I’m not made of money.”

      “Didn’t figure you’d mind the drive since this visit is about April, your ex.”

      Judging from the surprised look in his eyes, that got Willy’s attention. “She’s not my ex. She’s still my girlfriend, and I’ve been looking for her for months now. You know where she is?”

      Oh, man.

      Willy hadn’t heard about the murder, or else he was pretending not to have heard. In case it wasn’t an act, Sawyer decided to do this fast and hard.

      “April’s dead. Did you kill her?” Sawyer asked, and he studied Willy’s body language and expression.

      Sawyer expected the man to curse or howl his innocence, but he just stood there, his mouth open, staring at Sawyer. “Is this some kind of bad joke?”

      “No. Someone murdered her earlier today. Was it you?”

      Willy put his hands on each side of his head, and blowing out some loud breaths, he practically fell back against the wall. “Murdered,” he repeated. “Who the hell did that to her?”

      “I asked you first,” Sawyer fired back.

      “Well, it sure as heck wasn’t me. I love her. I wouldn’t have killed her.”

      Sawyer looked down at the notes he’d been reading. “According to your rap sheet, you were arrested for assaulting her not once but twice. Doesn’t sound like love to me.”

      “I slapped her around, yeah. And she deserved it. That woman’s got a smart mouth on her.” Willy stopped, shook his head. “Had a smart mouth,” he corrected, groaning. “She sure as heck didn’t deserve to die. How’d it happen? How was she killed?”

      “We’re still trying to determine that.” It was a lie. She’d been shot point-blank in the head, but Sawyer kept that detail to himself. Best not to give a suspect too much information because Willy could use it to concoct an alibi.

      Despite his warning, Cassidy stepped into the hall. “My brother’s Bennie O’Neal. Do you have any idea where he is?”

      Willy’s eyes instantly narrowed. “Bennie O’Neal,” he repeated like profanity. “He’s the no-good louse that April was cheating on me with. I warned both of them that it wouldn’t be a pretty sight if they kept it up.”

      “So you threatened them,” Sawyer concluded. He was detecting a pattern here, and he got in front of Cassidy to stop her from moving closer to the man.

      No more narrowed eyes. Willy no doubt realized that wasn’t the right thing to say to a lawman, especially since he was now a murder suspect. “I got a right to protect what’s mine, and April was mine.”

      Sawyer doubted that, and he asked a necessary question he didn’t really want to ask this thug. “What about the baby?”

      Willy’s mouth tightened. “What about it?”

      “You did know that April was pregnant?” Sawyer prompted when Willy didn’t add more.

      “I knew.” And that’s all he said for several moments. “April said the kid was mine. Wouldn’t believe her without one of those paternity tests. April’s not real good on telling the truth. So, she said she’d do the test they do on unborn babies. But if she had it done, she never showed me the results. Probably because the kid wasn’t mine.”

      Or maybe because April hadn’t wanted Willy in her and the baby’s life.

      Sawyer tipped his head to Bree and then the supply cabinet. “We’ll need to verify what April didn’t tell him.” And he didn’t especially want to leave Cassidy alone with this piece of work while that happened.

      “I’ll get a DNA swab kit,” Bree volunteered, moving out of the reception area and down the hall.

      “Now, wait a minute,” Willy challenged. Bree didn’t stop. She continued toward the supply cabinet. “If April’s dead, so is the kid, right?”

      “No.” Except Sawyer didn’t know if that was true or not. He was assuming the baby that the kidnappers gave Cassidy was April’s child. But maybe she wasn’t.

      “Are you saying she had the kid already?” Willy pressed.

      Sawyer settled for a nod.

      Willy

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