Even though it’d been months since Kade had seen the man, he hadn’t changed much. The same salt-and-pepper hair styled to perfection. A pricey foreign suit. Pricey shoes, too. The man was all flash. Or rather all facade. McClendon appeared to be a highly successful businessman, but at the moment he was basically unemployed and living off the millions he’d inherited from parents. Old money.
The man was also old slime.
And Kade was going to have to hang on to every bit of his composure to keep from ripping McClendon’s face off. If this arrogant SOB was behind Bree’s kidnapping and the insemination, then he would pay for it.
Kade positioned himself in the center of the door, blocking the way so that McClendon couldn’t enter. He also blocked Bree so she couldn’t get any closer. She was already way too close for Kade’s comfort.
“Why are you here?” Kade demanded.
McClendon ignored the question and looked past Kade. His attention went directly to Bree, who was on her tiptoes and peering over Kade’s shoulder.
“I got a call about her.” McClendon jabbed his index finger in Bree’s direction. “I thought I was rid of you. Guess not. But if you’re back to make more accusations about me, then you’d better think twice.”
Despite Kade’s attempts to block her, Bree worked her way around him, stepping to his side, and she faced McClendon head-on. “Who called you?”
McClendon’s face stayed tight with anger, but he shook his head. “It was an anonymous tipster. The person used some kind of machine to alter his voice so I couldn’t tell who it was. I couldn’t even tell if it was a
he.
Could have been anybody for all I know.”
Like the call Kade had gotten about Bree. “This person told you Bree was here? Because I only found her myself a little while ago.”
“No, the person didn’t say she was here, only that she was with you. I figured out the ranch part all by myself since this, after all, is your family home,” McClendon smugly added.
“It’s a long drive out here just to talk to Bree,” Kade remarked.
The man made a sound of agreement. “Let’s just say the anonymous caller piqued my interest. Plus, I wanted to make sure Agent Winston here wasn’t trying to pin more bogus charges on me.”
Kade wished he had a charge, any charge, he could pin on the man. Maybe he could arrest him for trespassing, but that wouldn’t get him behind bars.
“So, why do you look like death warmed over?” McClendon asked Bree.
“Because I’ve had a bad day. A bad year,” she corrected in a snarl. “Someone kidnapped me. Maybe you? Or maybe someone working for you? Maybe even the Neanderthal standing by your car.” Bree aimed her own finger at him, though unlike McClendon’s, hers was shaky. “And that someone had me inseminated. What do you know about that, huh?”
McClendon flexed his eyebrows. Maybe from surprise, but Kade seriously doubted it. In fact, McClendon might have personal knowledge of every detail of this investigation.
“I know nothing about it,” the man insisted. “And it’s accusations like that I’m here to warn you against. I have plans to open a new clinic in the next few months. One that will help infertile couples.
Real couples.
Not FBI agents hell-bent on trying to ruin me and my reputation.”
“Your own shady dealings ruined you,” Kade fired back. “You used illegal immigrants as gestational carriers and surrogates. Hell, you didn’t even pay them. Just room, board and minimal medical care.” And for each of those women, McClendon and the clinic had collected plenty of money.
“Prove it,” McClendon challenged.
“Give me time and I will. And while you’re here, you could just go ahead and make a confession.” Though Kade knew that wasn’t going to happen.
McClendon looked ready to jump in with a smug answer, but instead, he pulled in a long breath. “I knew nothing about the illegal activity that went on.” No more flexed eyebrows or surprise, feigned or otherwise. Fire went through McClendon’s dust-gray eyes. “That was my son’s doing and that idiot nurse, Jamie Greer. They’ll be tried, and both will pay for their wrongdoings.”
“Yes, they will,” Kade assured him. “But that doesn’t mean there won’t be more charges. Ones that involve you spending a lot time in jail.”
Now, the venom returned. “I’m not responsible for those two losers’ actions, and I refuse to have any of Anthony and Jamie’s mud slung on me. Got that?”
McClendon didn’t wait for Kade or Bree to respond to that. He turned and started off the porch.
“If you did this to Bree…to
us,
” Kade corrected, calling out to the man. “I’ll bring you down the hard way.”
McClendon stopped and spared them a glance from over his shoulder. “Careful, Agent Ryland. You just might bite off more than you can chew. Trying to bring me down will be hazardous to your health. And anyone else who happens to get in my way.”
Bree started after him, probably to rip him to shreds as Kade had wanted to do, but Kade caught her arm. She wasn’t in any shape to take on a man like McClendon, and besides, assaulting an unarmed civilian wouldn’t be good for the investigation.
And there would be an investigation.
That’s how Kade could wipe that smug look off this rat’s face. He didn’t believe for one second that McClendon had stayed clean from all the illegal junk that went on at the clinic.
“An anonymous tipster,” Bree mumbled. Her mind, too, was obviously on the investigation. Good. Because they needed answers and they needed them fast. That was the only way to make sure Leah remained safe.
Bree, too.
Even though Kade doubted she’d agree to let him protect her. Still, he had to do something to make things as safe as he could. McClendon had just thrown down the gauntlet, and it could be the start of another round of danger.
Kade’s phone buzzed, and on the screen he could see it was from his brother, Dade. “Make sure McClendon leaves the grounds,” Kade said to him as he watched the Jaguar speed away.
“I will,” Dade assured. “But someone else is coming up the driveway. It’s Dr. Mickelson, and he should be there any minute. Who’s sick?”
Kade looked at Bree, who was still glaring at McClendon’s retreating Jag, and he hoped that she didn’t fall into that sick category. Heaven knows what her kidnappers had done to her these past ten and a half months. Hopefully nothing permanent, but he doubted they’d had her health and best interest at heart. There were a lot of nasty addictive drugs they could have used to force her to cooperate.
“The doc’s here for Bree,” Kade told his brother, and he ended the call just as he saw the doctor’s vehicle approaching. Not a sleek luxury car. Dr. Mickelson was driving a blue pickup truck.
“This checkup is just for starters,” Kade reminded Bree, just in case she planned to fight it. “Once we’re sure Leah is safe, I want you at the hospital for a thorough exam.”
She opened her mouth, probably to argue like he’d anticipated, but her fight was somewhat diminished by the dizzy glaze that came over her eyes. No doubt a residual effect of the drugs, or maybe crashing from the adrenaline that kept her going through the gunfight.
Kade caught her to keep her from falling. When she wobbled again, Kade cursed, holstered his gun and scooped her up in his arms.
Of course, she tried to wiggle out of his grip. “I’m not weak,” Bree mumbled.
“You are now,” Kade mumbled back. “Thanks for coming,” he said to the doctor.
“This is Leah’s birth mother?” the doctor asked.
Unlike their previous visitor, the doctor had concern all over his expression and in his body language. With his medical bag gripped in his hand, he hurried up the steps toward them.
“Yep, the birth mother,” Kade verified.
The sterile title worked for him, but he didn’t know if it would work for Bree. Especially not for long. He’d seen the way she had looked at Leah right before McClendon had interrupted them, and that was not the look of a
birth mother,
but rather a mother who loved her baby and had no plans to give her up.
“This way,” Kade instructed the doctor, and he carried Bree up the stairs toward his living quarters.
There was probably a guest room clean and ready. There were three guest suites in the house, but Kade didn’t want to take the time to call Bessie, the woman who managed the house. And she also managed the Rylands. Bessie was as close to a mother as he had these days. Heck, for most of his life, since his mother had passed away when he was barely eleven.
“I can walk,” Bree insisted.
Kade ignored her again, used his boot to nudge open his door, and he walked through the sitting-office area to his bedroom. He deposited her on his king-size bed.
Funny, he’d thought about getting Bree into his bed from the moment he first met her on the undercover assignment, but he hadn’t figured it would happen this way. Or ever. After Bree and he had escaped that clinic, he hadn’t thought he would see her again. Now her life was permanently interlinked with his.
“She’ll need blood drawn for a tox screen,” Kade reminded Dr. Mickelson.
“Will do. Any possibility there’s something going on other than drugs?” the doctor asked. “Maybe an infection or something?”
Kade could only shake his head. “I’m not sure. She’s been held captive for months. I have no idea what all they did to her. And neither does she.”
“I’ll run a couple of tests,” Dr. Michelson assured him, and he motioned for Kade to wait outside.
That made sense, of course, because Dr. Mickelson would want to check Bree’s C-section incision. Maybe other parts of her, too. Kade didn’t want to be there for that, especially since Bree had already had her privacy violated in every way possible.
Kade eased the bedroom door shut, leaned against the wall. And waited. It didn’t take long for the bad thoughts to fly right at him.
What the devil was he going to do?
McClendon’s visit was a hard reminder that he hadn’t left the danger at the motel in San Antonio. It could and maybe would follow them here to the ranch, the one place he considered safe.
He couldn’t bear the thought of his baby girl being in harm’s way, though she had been from the moment of her conception. What a heck of a way to start her life. But there was a silver lining in all of this. Leah was too young to know anything about her beginnings. She knew nothing of the danger.
Nothing of a mother who wasn’t totally acting like a mother.
Yeah. That was unfair, and it caused Kade to wince a little. Bree needed to get her footing, and when she did…
Kade’s thoughts went in a really bad direction.
When Bree got that inevitable footing, what if she wanted full custody of Leah? Until now, Kade hadn’t thought beyond the next step of his investigation—and that step was to find Bree. Well, he’d found her all right.
Now what?
It sent a jab of fear through him to even consider it, but could he lose custody of his baby?
He shook his head. That couldn’t happen. He wouldn’t let it happen. Besides, Bree was a Jane and by her own admission not motherhood material. She worked impossible hours on assignments that sometimes lasted months. Then there was that whole confession about her being raised in foster care and never having planned to be a mother.
But Kade hadn’t thought he was ready to be a father until he had seen Leah’s face. Just the sight of her had caused something to switch in his head, and in that moment Leah became the most important person in his life.
He would die to protect his little girl. But his best chance of protecting Leah was to stay alive. And keep Bree alive, as well. There were probably some much-needed answers trapped in Bree’s drug-hazed memories, and this exam by the doctor was the first step in retrieving those memories.
Kade’s phone buzzed, and he saw on the screen that the call was from Mason. Mercy, he hoped nothing else had gone wrong. He’d had his
gone wrong
quota filled for the day.
“I’ve got news,” Mason answered. As usual, there was no hint of emotion in his brother’s voice. Mason definitely wasn’t the sort of man to overreact, even when all hell was breaking loose. “I just got off the phone with Nate.”
Kade breathed a little easier. Well, at first. Nate was handling the situation at the Treetop Motel in San Antonio where the gunman had tried to kill Bree and him. “Please tell me nothing’s wrong,” Kade commented.
“Not that I know of. But then all I got was a thirty-second update. Nate wanted me to tell you that he has his CSI folks out at the motel. They’re going through the room where Bree was. His detectives also plan to comb the area to look for anyone who might have seen Bree come in.”
That was a good start. “Any chance of surveillance cameras?”
“Slim to none. That neighborhood isn’t big on that sort of thing.”
Probably because it was a haven for drug dealers, prostitutes and a whole host of illegal activity. Still, they might get lucky. CSI could maybe find something that would help him identify Bree’s kidnappers. That was step two. Then, once he had the culprits behind bars, he could think about this potential custody problem.
And Bree.
There was something stirring between them. Or maybe that was just lust or the uneasiness over what could turn out to be a potentially nasty custody dispute. Kade hoped that was all because lust and uneasiness were a lot easier to deal with than other things that could arise.
“I want to talk to Anthony McClendon and Jamie Greer again,” Kade insisted. Both were suspects, just like Anthony’s father, and he hadn’t officially questioned them in months. “Can you set up the interviews and get them to the Silver Creek sheriff’s office?”
That way, his brothers could assist, and he wouldn’t have to be too far away from Leah or Bree. Though judging from her earlier behavior, Bree might want to get far away from here. He couldn’t blame her after McClendon’s threats. The man hadn’t named Leah specifically, but it had certainly sounded as if he were threatening the baby.
“Sure, I can get Anthony and Jamie out here. McClendon, too. But you have a couple of other fires to put out first. Special Agent Randy Cooper just called and demanded to see Bree. I take it he’s her FBI handler or whatever it is you feds call your boss?”