LITMIR.BIZ

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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

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