Laurel opened her eyes and nearly bolted from the bed. It took her a moment to realize where she was.
In the guest room at the Appaloosa Pass Ranch that the Crocketts owned.
Not Jericho’s place, either, but the main house. Where most of his family still lived. The same family who despised her. And they had reasons for hating her. Her father’s possible involvement with Sherman Crockett’s murder, and now she’d kept Jericho in the dark about Maddox.
Her being here would only rub salt in a still-open wound.
Along with possibly bringing the danger to their doorstep. The danger was still there because they didn’t have the answers to stop it. Answers they definitely wouldn’t get from DeWitt, the man who’d rammed into Jericho’s truck.
That’s because DeWitt had committed suicide.
The cause of death was a dose of poison that his lawyer had likely slipped him. Of course, last she’d heard, the lawyer was nowhere to be found. The man could have been another hired killer like the ones who were already after her.
Yet, Jericho had insisted on bringing Maddox and her here to the ranch. Despite her objections. He’d said they could discuss it after a good night’s sleep and by then she would see that this was the right move.
Well, it was morning, the sunlight seeping through the edges of the blinds, and Laurel still wasn’t convinced coming here had been the right thing to do.
Easing out of the bed, she glanced down at the borrowed T-shirt she’d used as a gown. Maybe Jericho’s. But thankfully, it didn’t carry his scent. She already had too many reminders of the man without having that.
She checked on Maddox, who was still asleep in the crib in the corner of the room. Thankfully, Jericho hadn’t had to go to any trouble to find the crib. It was already set up because Jax’s fifteen-month-old son sometimes stayed over. Also thankfully, Maddox had slept through the night. Probably because he’d been as exhausted by their ordeal as she’d been.
Laurel looked at the clock on the nightstand, almost seven, and she hurried to the adjoining bathroom so she could grab a shower. Even though the steamy water felt heavenly on her tight muscles, she stayed in the shower only a couple of minutes because Maddox would be up soon. Someone—Jericho’s mother, Iris, or maybe the housekeeper—had left her clean underwear and toiletries.
Since she hadn’t gotten any clothes from her house, Laurel was forced to put back on the jeans and red sweater she’d worn the night before when she had gone to Jericho’s house to ask him to marry her. Clearly, that plan hadn’t worked.
Nothing had.
She’d need a change of clothes soon. And a change of location. That meant hiring bodyguards and moving Maddox to some kind of safe house. No way could she stay at the Crocketts’ ranch another night.
Laurel hurried back into the bedroom and practically skidded to a halt when she spotted Jericho. She hadn’t heard anything to indicate he was in the guest room. But there he was.
Holding Maddox.
“I didn’t hear him wake up,” she said. “I didn’t hear you.”
Jericho looked up at her, a half smile on his face, but the smile vanished as quickly as it’d come, and he made a manly sounding grunt. It took Laurel a moment to realize that had something to do with the fact that she was still pulling down her sweater. She hadn’t exactly flashed him, but since her bra was nothing but flimsy white lace, he’d gotten an eyeful. She quickly fixed that.
“I heard Maddox and came in to check on him.” Jericho turned his attention back to the baby.
“He was fussing?” She wanted to kick herself for not hearing it. And for taking a shower. And for the bra peep show.
“Not exactly. He was just moving around in the crib. I tapped on the door, and when you didn’t answer, I came in to make sure he was okay.”
Well, Maddox certainly wasn’t fussing now. Jericho had taken off his badge, and Maddox was playing with it. Smiling, too. And yes, it was the same half smile that she’d just seen on Jericho’s face.
She went to them, expecting Maddox to reach for her, but her son clearly was more interested in the badge and the man holding him.
“Tar,” Maddox babbled. His attempt at saying star—the shape of the badge. Something that Jericho had obviously already taught him. But that wasn’t all Jericho had done.
“You changed his diaper?” she asked when she saw the fresh one Maddox was wearing.
Jericho nodded. “He’d stripped off the other one. When I came in, he was bare-butt naked.”
Not unusual. Maddox often did that. In fact, she was surprised he still had on the cotton T-shirt, since he’d recently learned to pull that off, as well.
“Anyway, I found the diaper bag and put a fresh one on him,” Jericho finished.
It was as if she’d stepped into an alternate universe. “You know how to change a diaper?”
Maybe her tone was a little insulting, because she got a flash of a scowl. “Jax is a dad. We’ve all had some practice.”
“Of course.” In fact, since Jax was a widower and worked both at the sheriff’s office and the ranch, he and his son probably spent a lot of time here.
But not now.
She’d heard Jericho say the nanny had taken Jax’s little boy to relatives who lived out of the county. Wise move, considering it wasn’t safe to be around her. Still, it meant Jax wasn’t with his son right now, and with Christmas so close, she figured Jax wasn’t happy about that.
She certainly wasn’t.
“How is Jax?” she asked. “I mean, since his wife died.” And not just died. His wife, Paige, had been murdered by a vicious serial killer called the Moonlight Strangler, who’d been murdering women for over three decades.
“Jax’s dealing as best he can.” As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Jericho took a pair of overalls from the diaper bag and put them on Maddox. “It’d help if we could catch the bastard who killed her. Well, it’d help Jax to better deal with her murder, anyway.”
What Jericho wasn’t saying was that the Moonlight Strangler had more than one emotional hold on his family. The killer was also the biological father of Jericho’s adopted sister, Addie. So, yes, catching the Moonlight Strangler would give Jax and plenty of other families some much-needed justice, but if and when that happened, it wouldn’t be easy for Addie to have to deal with the man who’d fathered her.
Of course, other than Jax’s wife, the Moonlight Strangler had left Addie and her adopted family alone. And even more, it was rumored that the serial killer had developed an eerie attachment to the Crocketts and had even helped them solve a recent case where Addie had been in danger.
“Jax’s son is much too young to remember his mom,” Jericho added a moment later. “I guess that’s both good and bad. He doesn’t remember she was killed. And it helps that Jax has family to step in and try to fill the void.”
“You’ve stepped in,” she pointed out. “I just hadn’t expected you to be a hands-on kind of uncle.”
All right, that earned her another scowl. She was batting a thousand in the piss-off-Jericho-this-morning department.
But then Jericho shrugged and smiled when Maddox looked up at him. “Guess that means you didn’t expect me to be a hands-on kind of father, either. Well, expect it because that’s exactly what I’ll be.”
That sounded like a threat. And it probably was. Laurel hadn’t thought for one second that she could tell Jericho about Maddox and that he’d then quietly step away.
Jericho wasn’t the quietly type.
But she also hadn’t expected to feel, well, this. Maybe a little jealousy. Was that it? Apparently so. For eighteen months, it’d just been mainly Maddox, her mother and her. Theo and her father had rarely been in the picture. Laurel hadn’t braced herself nearly enough to share Maddox with his own father.
Nor had she braced herself for being so close to Jericho again.
She’d thought that over two years would be enough to make herself immune to him. No such luck.
“There should be a vaccination that women can take for when they’re around men like you.” She hadn’t intended to say that aloud. It just slipped out. And she thought maybe Jericho would be puzzled by it.
But no.
She got that brief half smile again. The one that turned her brain to mush and made her feel like a hormone-raged, sixteen-year-old girl again.
The heat came. Of course it did. Sliding through her. Jericho dropped his gaze to her mouth, and even though there were still several inches of space between them, she could have sworn she felt him kiss her.
“Yeah,” Jericho said. He didn’t look any happier about this heat than she was. But he looked just as affected.
Good grief.
Laurel shook her head to clear it. “I’ll need to make other arrangements for a place to stay.”
“Already in the works. But I figure we’ll be okay here for a while.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “How long is awhile?”
Jericho’s forehead bunched up. “As long as it takes. Maddox’s safety has to come first, agreed?”
Laurel nodded, but her agreement was just for the Maddox-coming-first part of that. “As long as it takes?” she repeated. “Because you know I can’t stay here. Your family—”
“Won’t be a problem. They know I’m Maddox’s father. I told all of them.”
All of them, meaning his mother, three brothers, his sister and her fiancé. Laurel had expected it, of course. News like that wouldn’t stay secret for long, especially since Jericho was close to his family.
“They’ll hate me now even more for keeping Maddox from you all these months,” she said on a heavy sigh.
“Well, it didn’t earn you any gold stars.” He tipped his head to her face. At least, she thought it was her face. She realized he was actually looking at her mouth. “That won’t, either.”
“That?” Again, it was something she shouldn’t have asked out loud. No need to clarify anything when it came to her mouth and his.
“That,” he verified, and touched her lips with his index finger. Like the previous look, it felt very much like a kiss. “We’re good together like that, but it’s the only way we’re good together. My family knows it, and they won’t want me tangled up with you again.”
It was true. They were good together when kissing. And in bed. But they couldn’t live in bed forever, and the real world always came crashing in. After all, she’d always be Herschel’s daughter, and in the eyes of his family, she would always be the one who helped her father get away with murder.
Too bad it was partly true.
If she’d just figured out a way to stop him. Or at least have found some evidence that would lead to his arrest. But nothing.
“Don’t worry,” Jericho added. “No one will object to you being here.”
Only because of Maddox. And it made her wonder—would the Crocketts soon want her out of the picture?
Probably.
That wouldn’t happen. Despite the mess she’d made of her life, Maddox was her son, and even though he had Crockett blood, she wouldn’t just let Jericho push her out of their son’s life.
“I’m bringing in your father for questioning this morning,” Jericho tossed out there.
That got her attention. “You talked to him?”
He shook his head. “Only spoke to one of his lawyers and told him if Herschel didn’t come in, that I’d put out a warrant for his arrest.”
Her gut twisted. Not because her father shouldn’t be questioned. He should be. But an ultimatum like that was like poking a stick at a bed of rattlers.
“Maddox and you will stay here while I talk to him,” Jericho went on. Not really a request. More of an order. “Chase and Levi will be coming to the ranch, to make sure you’re safe.”
“But what about you? Someone tried to kill you, too.”
He tapped his badge. “That goes with the territory.”
As arguments went, that one sucked. Because she was the reason he was in this territory.
“Talking to my father won’t help,” she reminded him. “In fact, prepare yourself because he’ll probably have some out-of-county lawman with him who’ll insist on you turning me over to him so I can be arrested or locked up in a mental hospital.”
“Yeah, I figure he’ll try to pull something like that. But I’ve got three hours before the meeting, and I’m hoping between now and then we can find something to connect him to the hired guns who’ve been coming after us.”
“Good luck with that.” Sarcasm aside, she meant it. And then she had a thought. “Maybe while you’re with my father, I can somehow get into his office and find something. Not just connected to this, but also to your father’s murder. My mother’s death, too.”
Jericho didn’t shake his head. He just gave her a flat look to let her know that wasn’t going to happen. “Just in case he’s the one who wants you dead, let’s not make it easy for him.”
“Just in case?” she repeated. “You’re thinking maybe it’s not him, after all?”
“I’m thinking there are other suspects. Theo and his Mommy Dearest. Diego Cawley and Quinn Rossman. And no, adding Theo to the suspect list doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that he’s your ex-lover.”
“My ex-fiancé, not my lover,” she corrected without thinking.
She should have thought first.
Because Jericho honed right in on that. “Something you want to tell me, Laurel?”
“No.” And she was certain of that. Best not to get into why she’d allowed herself to accept a proposal from Theo. Jericho already thought too little of her, and that wouldn’t help.
Besides, it wasn’t any of his business.
Though Jericho’s look said differently. Still, he didn’t press it, thank goodness. “Levi called earlier about those two men, Rossman and Cawley, who were involved in the money laundering deal.”
“And?” she couldn’t ask fast enough.
“Lots of shady deals but no arrests. Also, just as you said, there’s no obvious link to your father. Obvious,” Jericho repeated. “But one of Rossman and Cawley’s companies did business with Theo’s mother. And I’m not talking about the deal your father’s trying to use to put you in jail. This was something that happened well over a year ago.”
“How’d Levi find that?”
“Apparently, the FBI had Rossman and Cawley under surveillance for a while. Nothing turned up, but the agent kept track of all the men’s contacts. Dorothy was one of them. So were you.” Jericho paused. “Who did the initial paperwork for the money laundering deal?”
She huffed. “My father, of course.”
“So, there had to have been some kind of communication between him and Rossman and Cawley. I’ll have Levi keep digging.”
It was a long shot, but maybe, just maybe, something would finally turn up.
“Maddox will be hungry soon,” she said, forcing the conversation in a different direction. “He doesn’t take a bottle, but he’ll need cereal or something.”
“I’m pretty sure Ellie and Mom will be fixing some oatmeal,” Jericho finally said, a muscle flickering in his jaw.
Ellie, their longtime housekeeper. She probably wouldn’t care for Laurel being there, either.
“I can’t make this perfect for you,” Jericho said as if reading her mind. With Maddox still in his arms, he headed toward the door and the stairs.
Laurel followed after them. “At least tell me someone found the kidnapper and he’s been arrested.”
“Afraid not.” Jericho glanced back at her. No heat this time. Just the same worry she figured was in her own eyes. “Not yet, anyway. But Jax and the other deputies are working on it.”
Jericho likely had been, too. There was more than worry and brief flashes of forbidden heat for her in those amber eyes. There was also plenty of exhaustion, which probably meant he’d been up most of the night—something she should have done, as well. But the adrenaline crash had gotten the best of her and, despite the nightmares, Laurel had gotten some sleep.
He led her through the family room, and the Christmas tree with the twinkling lights instantly caught Maddox’s attention.
“Pretty,” he said. Or rather he said a baby version of the word. And he repeated it with each new decoration. The wreaths on the walls and the gold angels and a trio of stuffed Santas on the mantel.
“My mom really gets into Christmas,” Jericho said as they passed another decorated tree in the hall. There was yet another small one in the eating area just off the kitchen.
Normally, Laurel made a big deal out of the holidays, too, but with grieving over her mother’s death and trying to escape her father, the holidays hadn’t exactly been in the forefront of her thoughts. Too bad, because Maddox deserved Christmas. Instead, they’d dodged bullets.
And she would have to dodge more. Not literal ones this time. But rather, Jericho’s mother. Iris was at the stove, stirring a pot of oatmeal. She looked up, sparing Laurel a frosty glance, but her expression warmed considerably when she spotted Maddox.
“There he is.” Smiling, Iris put aside the wooden spoon, and wiping her hands on her apron, she walked toward them. She held out her arms, and Laurel got yet another surprise when Maddox went to her.
Maddox had met his grandmother hours earlier when they had first arrived at the ranch house, but Maddox hadn’t been fully awake then. And Iris hadn’t exactly been in a chatty mood, especially since she’d just learned that Jericho was Maddox’s father. Laurel was certain Jericho had gotten an earful about that after Laurel had gone to bed.
“He’s usually a little shy around strangers,” Laurel remarked. Obviously, though, he didn’t consider Iris a stranger. Or the enemy.
Unlike the way Iris felt about her.
After a few snuggles with Maddox, Iris finally made eye contact with her. “I can’t forget that my husband is dead. Murdered. And it’s all because of your family. You might not have pulled the trigger, but you also didn’t help us put Herschel behind bars. Now it’s led to this.”
Laurel nodded, was about to assure her that she couldn’t forget it, either, but Iris continued before she could say anything.
“But we need a truce,” Iris said. “Certainly not for your sake but for Maddox’s. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” It definitely wasn’t a warm fuzzy welcome, but then Laurel hadn’t expected one.
Iris’s smile returned. Aimed at Maddox, of course. “Are you hungry, sweetie?” Iris asked him. “Because Grandma and Ellie made some oatmeal. Scrambled eggs, too.”
Laurel noticed the easy way Grandma had rolled off her tongue. It had to be hard because of the bad blood between their families. Still, Iris was either putting on a good show or else she wasn’t letting any of that bad blood extend to Maddox.
“The oatmeal will be fine.” Laurel went to the stove to dish him up a bowl so it could cool.
“Tar,” Maddox said, showing Iris Jericho’s badge.
“Yes, it is. A pretty one. And there’s another star. A gold one.” Iris pointed to the one on top of the Christmas tree by the breakfast table, and she went in that direction with Maddox. Maddox discarded the badge when Iris plucked off a horse ornament for him to play with.
That’s when Laurel noticed the blinds were down. Not just in the breakfast area, either, but in the kitchen, as well. That probably wasn’t their usual position, but she was thankful for it. The ranch was likely well protected, but that didn’t mean someone with a rifle couldn’t fire a shot into the house, as they’d done to Jericho’s the night before.
Not exactly a good thought to settle her already churning stomach.
And speaking of unsettling things, Laurel glanced around at the empty kitchen. She’d known Chase and Levi wouldn’t be there yet, but she’d expected to see the others. “Where is everyone?”
Iris and Jericho exchanged an uneasy glance before Jericho answered. “Addie and Weston are in Austin visiting his sister. Jax’s son is staying with his other grandmother for a few days.”
Laurel understood the uneasy glance then. “They’re not here because of me. Because of the danger.” She huffed. “Maddox and I should have been the ones to stay elsewhere.”
“Nonsense.” Iris got another ornament off the tree for Maddox. “Addie and Weston understand.”
Laurel didn’t get a chance to argue about that because Jericho’s phone rang, and she saw Jax’s name on the screen. Since this probably had something to do with the investigation, he stepped out of the breakfast area and into the hall.
“I’ll feed Maddox,” Iris volunteered, taking the bowl of oatmeal from Laurel.
“Thank you.” And Laurel meant it. She was thankful because it gave her the opportunity to go into the hall with Jericho and listen in on his conversation.
Jericho didn’t put the call on speaker. Probably because he didn’t want his mother to hear if it turned out to be more bad news. That meant Laurel had to go close to him.
Very close.
And despite the fact her mind should be on anything but Jericho, her body gave her a little nudge to let her know Jericho would always be on her mind.
“We haven’t found anything on DeWitt’s lawyer,” she heard Jax say. “He used a fake ID when he checked into the sheriff’s office, and we can’t get any usable fingerprints off the sign-in sheet.”
All planned, no doubt. Heck, the man probably wasn’t even a lawyer.
“I reviewed the surveillance footage from the camera outside the holding cell,” Jax continued, “and he did hand DeWitt some papers. It’s possible that’s when he passed DeWitt the poison he used to kill himself.”
“So, he didn’t actually murder him,” Jericho concluded. “Any reason why DeWitt would commit suicide?”
“Nothing I can find so far.” Jax added something under his breath she didn’t catch. Profanity, maybe. “In fact, I’m not finding anything on anybody that’ll put an end to this danger.”
Jericho whispered some of that profanity himself. “Get some rest. I’ll be there in about an hour.”
He pushed the button to end the call but didn’t budge. Maybe because Jericho needed a moment to take some of the gloom and doom off his face. Laurel was sure there was plenty of it on her face, as well.
“What now?” she asked.
Jericho stared at her and touched her arm, rubbed gently. “I’ll make arrangements for a safe house for the three of us.”
She was partly relieved that Jericho would be going with her. No one would protect Maddox the way he would. But Laurel reminded herself that being under the same roof with Jericho just wasn’t a good idea.
Jericho must have gotten that same jolting reminder because he glanced down at where he was rubbing her arm and eased back his hand. He looked ready to apologize.
Or kiss her.
That stupid part of Laurel was hoping for the kiss. But he didn’t get a chance to do either because the phone in the kitchen rang. Jericho hurried to answer it, but his mother beat him to it.
“Teddy,” Iris greeted. She was still holding Maddox in her arms. Still smiling, but the smile quickly faded. “I’ll let Jericho know.”
“Teddy’s a ranch hand,” Jericho explained to Laurel. “What’d he want?” he asked his mother the moment she hung up.
“We have a visitor,” Iris said, her voice practically trembling. “Herschel Tate just arrived, and he’s demanding to see his daughter.”