LITMIR.BIZ

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      Gabrielle’s heart pounded harder with each step. Her lungs felt ready to burst. She was out of shape and hadn’t run since early in her pregnancy, but she used every bit of her energy and resolve to race across the yard and to the front. Thankfully, she’d left the car unlocked, and she jerked open the door and dove inside. Not so thankfully, her keys were in her pocket, and she had to dig for them.

      She finally pulled them free, jammed the key into the ignition and started the car. She had barely touched the accelerator, when the passenger door flew open and Houston jumped inside.

      “Keep going,” Houston demanded.

      He wasn’t breathing hard and certainly didn’t look as if he’d just sprinted across his massive yard. But he did look intense. Eyes narrowed. Mouth tight. His jaw muscles were working hard against each other.

      “I said keep going,” he repeated. “Drive. Take me to my son. Or I’ll call the sheriff and have him arrest you right now.”

      Oh, God. Some choice. Revealing her son’s location or jail.

      If she went to jail, it was all over. The nanny, Lily Rose, would eventually start making calls to find out where she was. That would in turn lead the police to Lucas. Then Houston would take him.

      But if she pretended to cooperate with Houston, it might buy her some time.

      Gabrielle put on her seat belt and drove away from the ranch. Houston put on his belt, too, and then turned to face her.

      “I figure you’re up to something,” he accused. “You’re trying to decide the best way to ditch me. That’s not going to happen, Gabrielle. I didn’t come up with this so-called plan to produce a baby, but the child exists now, and I won’t walk away from him.”

      Gabrielle knew she should just shut up, but she couldn’t make herself stop. “You might have to walk away when I prove you orchestrated this. I took a picture of the car that followed me, the one registered to you.”

      He stayed quiet a moment. “Then why not just go to the police?”

      “I considered it. But then I decided you’d have some kind of explanation, or enough cops in your pocket, that I’d be the one who ended up in jail.”

      “I don’t own any cops, and there are several logical explanations. Someone could have used fake license plates. Or maybe the photo isn’t clear and you had your friend run the wrong numbers. Stating the obvious, again, but you could also be lying because you think I’ll give you a big payout for giving birth to Lizzy’s and my baby.”

      Gabrielle huffed and took the turn to the farm road that would lead her to the highway. From there, she would take the interstate south, the opposite direction she’d need to go if she had any intentions of driving Houston to see Lucas.

      “I didn’t lie,” she insisted, though she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

      “How much money did you plan to ask for?” Houston wanted to know.

      “None. Because Lucas is not for sale.”

      Houston obviously ignored that. “How much? Because you know what? As much as this disgusts me, I’ll give you fifty million for him.”

      She made a sound of outrage.

      “Seventy-five million,” Houston countered.

      That did it. Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone behind her because Gabrielle slammed on her brakes. Her tires squealed in protest, and she brought the car to a jarring halt amid the fumes and smoke of the rubber burning on the asphalt.

      Gabrielle grabbed him by his shirt, gathering up wads of fabric in her fists, to make sure they would have a face-to-face conversation and complete eye contact. “I didn’t have Lucas so I could sell him to you, or anyone else. I had him because I’ve wanted a baby my entire life, and I didn’t want to wait until Mr. Right showed up so I could have a traditional family. Lucas is my family now. Your late wife might be his biological mother, but I carried him for nine months. I gave birth to him.”

      She fought it, but the emotion clogged her throat, making her voice a whisper. Tears sprang to her eyes. “He’s my baby, and I won’t let you take him.”

      Houston opened his mouth, probably to return verbal fire, but he stopped and glanced behind them. When he didn’t bring his gaze to hers, Gabrielle looked to see what had captured his attention.

      It was a black car.

      And it had come to a stop about thirty yards behind them.

      “Is that the same car that you said was following you, the one that belongs to me? “ he asked.

      Gabrielle turned fully in the seat so she could get a better look. Not that she needed it.

      She recognized the black car with the heavily tinted windows. That tint made it impossible to see the driver or anyone else who might be in the vehicle.

      “No. I told you that was a Range Rover,” she clarified. “The one behind us is a different vehicle, but I have seen it before.”

      “When and where?” he snapped.

      She fought through the fog in her head so she could remember. “The first time was the day I took Lucas home from the hospital.”

      “The day you stole him.”

      That should have given her another jolt of anger, but she was too concerned about that menacing vehicle behind them. “I didn’t steal him. After the hostage situation ended, the police had completed the DNA test on him, and I figured we were free to go. My mistake was in not telling the police that I used a donor embryo. Needless to say, I wasn’t thinking straight after being held at gunpoint for hours.”

      “But you had something to hide,” Houston reminded her. “Because you went on the run.”

      “Yes, because of that car back there. I thought it was following me, and I was afraid it might be someone involved with the hostage situation.”

      “An accomplice?” he questioned.

      She nodded. “I figured that was a strong possibility, so I asked for police protection. They didn’t have the resources to provide a round-the-clock guard, but they did say they would send an officer to patrol my neighborhood. I didn’t think that was enough.”

      He made a sound that was possibly an agreement. If he’d lived through the hostage situation as she had, he wouldn’t have thought it was enough, either.

      “I lost sight of the car that day,” she continued, “but it reappeared about a week later, outside the hotel where I was staying. That’s when I changed locations.” And why she continued to change.

      The fear started to grow. That same fear that’d caused Gabrielle to be on the run for the past six weeks. “Please tell me you know who’s in that car. Is it someone who works for you? “ she asked, hoping.

      “No.” And Houston didn’t hesitate, either. He took out his phone.

      Gabrielle grabbed his wrist to stop him. “If you call the sheriff, he’ll take me into custody for questioning. Maybe he’ll even arrest me for what the cops think is an illegal surrogacy. If I’m arrested, you’ll never find Lucas.”

      Houston volleyed glances between the car and her. The vehicle started to inch its way toward them. “You said you had Lucas hidden safely away?”

      “Yes. Of course,” she answered, cautiously.

      “Good. Because that’s not one of my vehicles back there, but it could belong to someone connected to the hostage situation.”

      Her fear went up another notch, even though she’d already been through this mentally a hundred times. “But why follow me? If they want to eliminate a potential witness, why not just try to kill me?”

      “Maybe because they haven’t had the right opportunity. Maybe they

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