Newborn Conspiracy (9 page)

Logan glared right back at them.

“The police came to my home and interrogated Royce and me," Genevieve announced, adding a little huff."They talked to us as if we were common criminals." She shoved her kid-gloved hands into the pockets of her expensive duster-length black coat. Anger flared in her cat-green eyes. That anger also tightened the muscles in her face.

Royce Foreman wasn’t faring much better. There was lots of anger there, too. And it was obvious from the way he had his arm looped around Genevieve’s waist that he was being territorial. Perhaps even protective.

“How did you find this place?" Logan demanded.

“Did you hear me?" Genevieve countered, not answering his question. "The police interrogated us."

“They should have arrested you."

Genevieve’s crimson-red mouth tightened even more. She took a step toward him. Logan lifted his gun to readjust his aim. That was apparently enough to stop her from taking another step.

“Genevieve and I did nothing wrong," Royce declared. "You have no right to treat her this way,"

Since Genevieve’s hands were in her pockets, and therefore perhaps on her gun. Logan kept his main focus on her. "You did nothing wrong? You didn’t orchestrate an involuntary and therefore illegal surrogacy deal at the Brighton Birthing Center?"

Genevieve flinched, as if he’d slapped her. "I’ll tell you the same thing I told the police—no. I didn’t."

“She had no reason to do that, Logan," Royce supplied. He was still glaring; the winter wind was causing his otherwise pale, Nordic face to redden. "It was over between you two. Genevieve had already walked out on you when all of that happened at Brighton."

That last part was true, but because Logan was watching Genevieve so closely, he could see the longing still in her eyes. She might not still be madly in love with him, perhaps she never was, but he recognized that look. And he didn’t think he was mistaken that she wanted him back.

What he couldn’t see in her face was guilt.

It was odd—Logan had been certain he would see it. Genevieve wasn’t exactly an expert at hiding her feelings. Of course, maybe she’d developed a poker face in the past year.

“Are you saying you didn’t follow this surrogate from Brighton after she was impregnated?"

Logan asked.

Ah, now there was some guilt in her eyes. It was followed by an admission when Genevieve nodded. "I did follow Mia Crandall, but only because I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I thought she must have some answers."

Logan hadn’t expected her to say that. "What do you mean?"

“Someone was following me, too." Genevieve insisted, jerking her hand from her pocket and flattening it on her chest. "And yes, I’d gone to Brighton to inquire about hiring a surrogate—"

“So you could produce our baby," Logan interrupted.

Again, there was some guilt. Her cheeks reddened, as well, but it could have all been a result of the icy February wind. "Yes, but I changed my mind."

Logan gave her a flat look, “Did you?"’

Genevieve’s chin came up. "Yes. I didn’t go through with anything other than the initial payment. But when I realized someone was following me, I went to Brighton and demanded to know whet was going on. I got a look at the computer records and that’s when I realized that they’d assigned Mia Crandall as my surrogate."

“And why would they do that if you’d cancelled the request for a surrogate?" Logan asked, still giving her that skeptical look.

“The director said someone else had paid for the remainder of the fee and requested that the surrogacy continue as planned."

She seemed sincere. Seemed being the operative word. "Who would do something like that?" he pressed.

She shook her head. "I don’t know"

“Guess." Logan insisted.

She huffed and glanced down at the frozen ground. What she didn’t do was answer for several moments. "Maybe Donnie Bishop."

Again, she’d surprised him. He motioned with his gun for her to continue. However, it wasn’t Genevieve but Royce who spoke for her.

“This might be linked to Genevieve’s father," Royce explained,

Logan cursed under his breath. He didn’t want to hear that. Nor was he sure it was true.

Better yet, he prayed it wasn’t true.

He didn’t want any of this connected to George Devereux. George had been another of Brighton’s big investors, but he was a lot more than that. He was a dangerous criminal who was thankfully behind bars for extortion and other unsavory crimes.

“Her father knew how upset she was about her breakup with you," Royce continued. "He also knew how much she wanted a baby. We think he might have continued the surrogacy process even after Genevieve called everything off."

It didn’t make sense. Well, not normal sense, anyway. But this was George Devereux they were discussing, and from what Logan had learned about the man, he was capable of just about anything.

But this?

Why would Genevieve’s father possibly want her to have a child with an ex-lover? Especially an ex-lover he’d never even met?

Logan wasn’t ready to take George Devereux off his list of suspects, but he wasn’t at the top of that list, either, Genevieve was.

“How did you know where I was?" Logan asked. "And this time, don’t evade the question."

“I hired a P.I," Genevieve admitted.

She said it so quickly and so confidently that it didn’t appear to be a lie.

But Logan didn’t believe her.

Because, simply put, there were no records that linked him to this house. And that meant the most likely explanation for Genevieve finding him was that she or someone had managed to plant another tracking device on Mia. His team had found the one in Mia’s car, but there had to be another. That was the only explanation that made sense.

Well, either that or George Devereux or Genevieve had managed to buy off someone on his team.

Logan’s stomach tightened. If that was the case, he was not going to be pleased to discover a traitor in his midst.

“So now that you know the truth," Royce went on, “you can call off the police. I don’t want them knocking on either of our doors again, understand?"

“As long as you’re suspects—and, trust me, you are suspects—I’m sure the police will knock anytime they want."

“But I’m innocent." Genevieve declared. "I didn’t go through with the surrogacy and I didn’t have anything to do with that woman being shot."

“I don’t believe you," Logan told her. "And the police don’t believe you either. That’s why they questioned you."

Royce took a protective stance in front of Genevieve. "If you don’t drop these insane accusations, I’ll file a lawsuit against you for slander."

“That’s the best threat you can manage?" Logan didn’t wait for an answer. He looked Royce right in the eyes. "Okay, now it’s my turn. If you two don’t stay away from Mia Crandall and her baby. I’ll personally drag you into the police station myself. Then, I’ll assign my entire team and every friend I have in the United States Department of Justice to make sure you’re convicted."

“I’m innocent," Genevieve repeated, though this time there was some intense emotion in it.

She didn’t exactly stamp her foot on the ground, but it was close.

“Leave now." Logan ordered as he slammed the door.

He then locked it and engaged the security system in case the duo had brought bodyguards or gunmen along with them. He didn’t want anyone sneaking up on them or trying to break in.

“I heard," Mia said coming out of the bedroom.

Logan kept watch through the side window. He also kept his weapon ready in case Royce and Genevieve decided to linger around the place. And that’s exactly what they seemed to be doing. They were standing in his front yard talking.

“As soon as our visitors are on their way, get the baby," Logan instructed Mia. "But don’t bring anything else with you. We have to leave."

Mia walked closer to him and he could hear the unevenness of her breathing. "You think they found us because of another bug?"

“Probably, because no one followed us here last night."

“What about the supplies?" she asked. "Maybe Genevieve followed the guy that brought them?"

Logan hoped that wasn’t the case, but just incase, he took his cell phone from his pocket and called Jason Cartwright. "Please tell me you weren’t followed " Logan said when Jason answered.

“No. I left San Antonio about an hour ago and have been driving all over the city to make sure no one’s tailing me. Why? Did something happen?"

“Oh, yeah. Genevieve Devereux and Royce Foreman are here at the house. They came to discuss their pleasure at being interrogated."

Thankfully, Royce and Genevieve got back into their car. What they didn’t do was drive away.

“Well, they didn’t follow me," Jason insisted.

“That’s what I figured. Mia and I are leaving within just a few minutes. When you get here, scrub down the place to see if there are any bugs."

“Will do. I’ll be there in about ten minutes, maybe less. By the way, where will you go?"

“I’d rather not say over the phone." But Logan had a place in mind. He had to do something to get Mia and Tanner out of danger. And right now, Genevieve and Royce were two people that he considered very dangerous.

Logan ended the call and looked at Mia. She was a little pale, but she wasn’t trembling with fear, even though his gun was clearly in sight.

“I’m sorry" he told her.

“This isn’t your fault" She tipped her head to the door."And, according to them, it’s not their fault, either. Do you believe them?"

Logan was about to give an unequivocal no, but he just didn’t know. Genevieve had been convincing.

“I’ll find the answers," Logan assured her.

Logan reached out and gently touched her arm. Mia didn’t back away. In fact she stepped closer, until she was side-by-side with him. She looked out the window.

“What if it was her father who did this?" Mia whispered.

He didn’t want to consider the possibility. But he couldn’t put his head in the sand, “George Devereux loves his daughter. He would have gone through with this if he thought it would make her happy."

“Then how do you explain the gunmen?"

“It’s a stretch, but maybe Devereux realized the baby wouldn’t make Genevieve happy after all. And maybe now he’s trying to cover his tracks so that he doesn’t get more jail time added to his sentence."

Mia drew in her breath and Logan could feel the muscles in her arm tense. She’d already been through too much and Logan wanted to put an end to at least what was causing her this immediate stress.

“I’m going out there to coax our guests into leaving." he informed her.

Mia caught his arm."You think that’s a good idea?"

Logan had already started to reach for the button to disengage the security system, but that stopped him. No. It wasn’t a good idea, even if it’d feel damn good to try to pound some sense into Royce. But if he left the house, he’d leave Mia and Tanner more vulnerable.

Maybe that’s what Genevieve and Royce wanted him to do. Leave, get distracted with a fist fight, then they would sneak someone in through the back.

“I’ll wait until Jason gets here before I go out there," Logan assured her.

She nodded.

So, the concern and discomfort from their unwanted visitors would have to continue. For a while longer. But once Jason arrived. Logan would have the backup he needed and nothing would stop him from getting rid of Genevieve and Royce, “What about Tanner’s carrier seat?" she asked."Can I bring it with us?"

“You’ll have to leave it behind."

And that riled Logan, because that seat was necessary for Tanner’s safety. Still, it wouldn’t be beneficial to Tanner’s safety, or Mia’s, if Royce, Genevieve or a gunman used a tracking device to find them. He heard Royce start the engine to his car and Logan saw the white fog from the exhaust as the heat collided with the colder air. Finally, they were leaving.

He watched as the tires kicked up gravel and dirt, and he didn’t stop watching until the car was out of sight.

But Logan didn’t have much time to revel in the small victory of having Royce and Genevieve off his property because Logan’s SUV suddenly exploded in a thundering ball of fire, Logan caught Mia and dragged her to the floor. It wasn’t a second too soon because the debris crashed through the windows and daggered through the house.

‘Tanner," Mia cried out.

Logan did a quick visual check of the damage. There was broken glass and some shards of what was left of his vehicle, but none of the glass or shards had penetrated the door or walls of the guest room.

Still, that visual check didn’t soothe his fears or raw nerves. Both Mia and Logan jumped up from the floor and raced toward the baby. Logan threw open the door and saw Tanner sleeping peacefully in his carrier, which Mia had positioned in the center of the bed.

His son hadn’t been harmed.

Logan’s relief was instantly replaced by the rage of what’d just happened. Were Royce and Genevieve responsible for this? Or had the explosive device been set prior to their arrival?

He wasn’t sure, but he intended to find out.

He hurried back to the window to keep watch. What was left of the SUV was in flames; black coils of smoke lashed through the air. What Logan didn’t see was the culprit. It would have been awfully ballsy of Genevieve or Royce to set an explosive right in front of him, especially since one slight malfunction would have blown up her car as well.

“This has to stop," Mia said. She had a still-sleeping Tanner cradled in her arms.

Logan reached out and pulled her to him."It will." Though he had no idea how he was going to keep that promise. And to make matters worse, he now had another suspect to consider in all of this.

George Devereux.

But Logan knew one thing—George Devereux wouldn’t have risked his daughter’s life by putting her in the vicinity of a bomb. Of course, it was possible that Devereux didn’t know that Genevieve would be making a trip out to Logan’s house.

Logan saw a team car approaching and he checked to make sure the driver was indeed Jason Cartwright.

“Let’s go," Logan told Mia. He disengaged the security system and opened the door."We’re leaving now."