It was tempting, especially since the fatigue was starting to set in, but if one of the men was the person who’d just attacked them on the road, Gabrielle didn’t want to hide away in her room while Houston dealt with it alone.
He must have realized what her answer was, because he tipped his head toward Lily Rose’s room. “Have her stay with Lucas. And I want the door locked. Just give me a minute to change.”
She nodded, and while Houston went next door to
his room, she knocked on the nanny’s door. Lily Rose answered right away, so Gabrielle had her go into the room with Lucas. And she didn’t leave until she heard Lily Rose engage the locks.
Gabrielle hoped that was just a precaution, and that the danger wouldn’t make its way up the stairs to her son.
She went to Houston’s room, and since the door was already open, she looked inside.
And got an eyeful.
He was butt naked, and in the process of stepping into his boxers.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, and she started to close her eyes. But for some reason, her eyes didn’t cooperate.
Houston’s face wasn’t the only thing hot about him. So was his body. She’d been right about the toned part, and that applied not to just his chest but his abs and butt, as well. And Gabrielle felt like an idiot for noticing that at a time like this.
“Trust me,” Houston mumbled back, “if I had a choice, both of us would be getting naked right now.”
She felt her face flush. The rest of her went hot, too, and she wondered just how strong this attraction was, that it would override the dread she should be feeling about the meeting with Dale, Mack and Salvador?
Gabrielle hoped it was simply an attraction and nothing more, but she was afraid she’d crossed yet another line with Houston. And that made her a double idiot. Because, if she fell hard for him, then a broken heart was in her near future. There was no way a man like him would fall for a woman like her.
Houston pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a blue
shirt that was almost identical in color to his eyes. His boots went on next, and then he reached for the gun he had on his dresser.
That got her attention in a different kind of way. The heat vanished, and her concerns returned full force.
“You think that’s necessary?” she asked.
Houston shrugged and tucked the gun in the back waist of his jeans. “I don’t know anymore what’s necessary and what isn’t.” He headed for the door but stopped.
And he kissed her.
It wasn’t a quick peck of reassurance. It was a full kiss to remind her that they had some personal things to work out, and that working them out would almost certainly land them in bed.
Houston let her go, gave her a look of regret that they couldn’t immediately finish what they’d started and then headed for the stairs. Gabrielle was right behind him, and it didn’t take her long to see their visitors. All three of them were in the sitting room just off the foyer. Salvador was seated, Dale was standing next to him and Mack was at the bar, fixing himself a drink.
“Hell of a mess you’re in,” Mack announced to Houston right away, and he finished off the shot he’d just poured. “Are you all right, son?”
“Yeah,” Houston answered, but not before a long pause and a glance at all of them. “Did the three of you come together?”
Mack shook his head. “I asked Salvador to meet me here.”
Gabrielle didn’t wait for Mack to ask about her well-being. She aimed her attention at Dale. “Before
someone tried to kill us, we’d just spoken with Harlan Cordell. He said both Mack and you went to my brother’s apartment.”
Dale tipped his eyes to the ceiling and cursed. What he didn’t do was deny it.
“I took Dale with me,” Mack volunteered. “With Jay’s hot head and all, I didn’t know if I’d need backup when I went to ask him your whereabouts.”
“I swear, Houston, that’s the only reason we went,” Dale explained. “I didn’t know about anything that had happened at Cryogen. Mack just said he might need some muscle. Hell, I didn’t even know where we were going until we got there.”
Houston took a step closer to Dale and met him eye to eye. “And you didn’t think it was important to tell me that my father had taken you to see Gabrielle’s brother?”
“I didn’t know this had anything to do with Gabrielle,” Dale insisted.
“He didn’t,” Mack confirmed. “I told him I needed to see Jay about the lawsuit, that I’d heard rumors he was filing another one.”
Gabrielle looked at both Mack and Dale, and even though it might be naïve of her, she believed them. Or maybe she just wanted to believe that Dale hadn’t betrayed Houston.
His father was a different matter.
Mack might be telling the truth about Dale accompanying him for that visit, but she wasn’t sure that he had come clean about everything else.
She folded her arms over her chest. “Here’s what I think,” Gabrielle started, and she stared at Mack. “I suspect that, when you learned that Lizzy’s embryo was at
the Cryogen Clinic, that you and Salvador here worked out a deal. You used me for a surrogate.”
Salvador jumped to his feet. “No!” And he was adamant about it, too. “It’s a clerical error, just as I said.” But then he dodged her gaze.
Houston switched his attention from Dale to Salvador. “If you have something to add, you’d better do it now.”
Gabrielle took note of everyone’s expressions, and for the first time since she’d met him, Mack seemed concerned. Dale just appeared riled, and embarrassed that he’d been brought into all of this.
Of course, Dale could be faking his outrage.
She still wasn’t ready to trust anyone but Houston.
“Your father pressured me,” Salvador finally said. “He didn’t want you to know that Ms. Markham was carrying your child.”
“You SOB,” Mack howled, smacking the glass down onto the bar.
Houston ignored Mack’s string of name calling and kept his attention fastened on Salvador. “Did my father say why he wanted to keep that secret?”
Salvador looked away again. “Because once the child was born, he wanted me to, uh, coerce Ms. Markham into giving you the baby.”
That sent Mack storming across the room, and he would have grabbed Salvador by the jacket if Dale hadn’t stepped in his path.
Dale aimed his index finger at Mack. “You stay put,” he warned.
Salvador swallowed hard before he continued. “After the baby was born, I was supposed to go to Ms. Markham and tell her about the mix-up. I was also supposed to
show her doctored papers that would have indicated that her brother knew what was going on.”
“What?” Gabrielle said, with a gasp.
Houston’s “what?” was said through clenched teeth.
“I was to convince her that, if she didn’t give up the child, then her brother would be arrested. She probably would be arrested, too. Then I was to offer her a seven-figure compensation, along with covering all her expenses and offering her a new embryo.”
In disbelief, she lifted her hands, palms up, and shook her head. “And you thought this plan would work?”
Salvador drew in a deep breath. “I believe Mack Sadler was counting on the high probability that you would protect your brother, and yourself.”
Gabrielle found that laughable and outrageous. She stared at Mack to see if he would deny any of what Salvador had just said. He didn’t. He just looked defiantly at her.
“I was obviously wrong about you,” Mack mumbled. “But everything I did, I had Houston in mind. My son was hurting, and he needed something to heal him.”
“I was doing just fine, Dad,” Houston mumbled back. He turned to Dale. “I’m disappointed that you had any part in this.”
Dale nodded. “I’ll gather my things and leave.”
Houston caught on to his arm. “For now, why don’t you just take some time off? A paid vacation. It’ll give us both a chance to figure out where this needs to go.”
“And what about me?” Mack’s voice boomed through the room. “You plan to send me away again, too?” But his arrogant tone indicated he didn’t believe Houston would do that.
Houston walked closer to his father. “Yes.”
The arrogance vanished from Mack’s eyes. “For how long?”
“I don’t know. I’ll leave that up to Gabrielle. When and if she ever forgives you, then I’ll think about doing the same.”
“You can’t mean that,” Mack insisted.
“But I do.” And Houston left no doubt about that.
Mack went closer to him. “The ends justify the means. You have a son, and judging from the fact that you’ve got Gabrielle here under your roof, and probably in your bed, you’re damn close to having that family you always wanted.”
Houston went toward his father, but Gabrielle latched on to him to hold him back. She’d had enough violence for one day.
“How can you fault me for trying to give you that baby?” Mack asked. “I didn’t put all of this into motion. The clinic screwed up. I just wanted to fix that screwup by giving you what’s rightfully yours.”
Houston’s eyes stayed narrowed, and she could practically feel the tension tightening his body. “Oh, I can fault you, all right, because you were dead wrong to try to manipulate Gabrielle.” Houston looked at Dale. “We’ll talk after a day or two.”
Dale nodded, apologized again, and headed for the door. Salvador excused himself, as well, and left. Mack stayed.
“We’re blood,” Mack reminded him, and then he looked past Houston and at her. “Tell me, do you regret you got Lucas?”
“No.” And Gabrielle meant that. Even if she could,
she wouldn’t go back and undo things and get a different embryo. “But I don’t trust you. And right now I prefer to be in the company of people I can trust.”
“Leave now,” Houston ordered his father.
Mack glared at both of them, and for a moment she thought there might be a fight after all, but then Mack stormed toward the door. He slammed it shut behind him.
Houston stood there, staring down at the floor, and then he went to the front door to lock it. He also reset the security system.
“I’m sorry,” Gabrielle told him.
“Don’t be. My father is the one who should be apologizing.” He turned back around to face her. “For the record, I don’t want you in my bed because you gave birth to Lucas. I don’t want you there because it’ll score some kind of brownie points if we have custody issues. I want you there because I want you. And that’s all there is to it.”
Gabrielle didn’t have any real doubts about that, because she understood the attraction between them. That attraction didn’t have anything to do with Lucas. She was sure of that now. Of course, in some ways that only made things more complicated.
Houston reached out, slid his hand around the back of her neck and eased her to him. “I’m not like my father,” he promised her.
“I never thought you were.” And because she needed to reassure him and herself, Gabrielle kissed him.
She probably would have kept on kissing him, too, but there was a knock at the door.
Houston cursed. “That better not be my dad.” He glanced out the window next to the door and froze.
“What?” Gabrielle asked. She didn’t wait for Houston to explain that look of shock and concern on his face, she moved to the side so she could see for herself.
And what Gabrielle saw was the blood.
Hell.
“What now?” Houston mumbled.
Gabrielle tried to push her way past him, but he stopped her and looked around the front yard. Even though his first instinct was to rush out onto the porch, as well, Houston knew that wasn’t a smart thing to do after everything that had already happened today.
He took out his cell and passed it to Gabrielle. “Call nine one one,” he instructed.
The color had drained from her face, and she was staring at her brother who was leaning against one of the pristine, white porch columns. Jay was clutching his left arm.
“I’ve been shot,” Jay managed to say.
Houston had already figured out that part. There was blood on his green shirt sleeve, and some of that blood had splattered onto the porch.
“Stay inside,” Houston warned Gabrielle, doubting that she would, but at least the nine-one-one call would keep her occupied for several seconds.
“I’ve been shot,” Jay repeated. With the column supporting his back, he slid to a sitting position.
Despite the risk, Houston couldn’t just let him die. Jay
might be a scumbag, but he was Gabrielle’s brother. So he hurried out to the man, but he also kept watch of their surroundings, in case this was some kind of ambush. His father, Salvador Franks and Dale had already driven away, so the front lawn and drive were empty, except for an older model red car. Jay’s probably.
Did that mean Jay had driven from his apartment to the ranch after someone had shot him?
Or was this some kind of trick?
Behind him, Houston heard Gabrielle ask the emergency dispatcher for an ambulance. Her voice was frantic, and the moment she finished the call, she ran out onto the porch and knelt down next to her brother.
“Who did this to you?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Jay shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment. “I was on my way out to see you, and when I slowed down to make that last turn to the ranch, someone shot me. The window was down, and the bullet went right into my arm.”
Houston hadn’t heard a shot, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been one. After all, the discussion he’d had with his father had gotten pretty loud.
“Was the shooter driving a white car?” Houston asked.
Jay gave another head shake. “I didn’t see who did this.” He looked up at Houston. “I thought it might be you or your father.”
Despite the gut punch of an accusation, Houston picked up the man and hauled him into the foyer. He kicked the door shut behind them. He hated the idea of bringing Jay into the house with Lucas just upstairs, but he preferred that Gabrielle be inside, in case there was
another attack. There was no way Houston would get her to do that if her brother was still on the porch.
Greta, the maid, came running into the foyer. When she saw Jay and the blood, she gasped and pressed her hand to her mouth.
“Set the security system,” Houston told the maid. “Arm the entire house and turn on all the surveillance cameras.”
And he wished he could be giving these orders to Dale. Dale knew the security system better than anyone else on the ranch. Too bad Houston wasn’t sure he could trust the man.
Greta first used the panel by the front door to arm it. That meant, if anyone opened a window or a door, the alarm would sound. Then she hurried toward Dale’s office on the ground floor, where the main system was located.
Houston unclamped Jay’s right hand from his injured arm, and he ripped open the shirt sleeve. There was a two-inch gash on his outer left arm, and it was bleeding.
“Just hang on,” Gabrielle whispered to Jay. “The ambulance will be here soon.”
Her brother nodded and dragged his tongue over his bottom lip. “I came out to warn you, sis.” Jay stopped and drew in a ragged breath. “I had to tell you that he’ll try to kill you again.”
Gabrielle pulled back her shoulders. “
Who
will try to kill me?”
Jay took his time answering. “Mack Sadler.”
Houston stared at Jay a moment before looking at Gabrielle. She didn’t seem surprised, and that cut him
to the core. Because, while he knew his father could be manipulative, Houston had never thought that manipulation would extend to physically hurting someone.
“Why do you think my father wants to kill Gabrielle?” Houston asked, pressing Jay.
“Because of Lucas.” Jay moved his hand back over his arm and winced in pain.
Houston mentally winced, as well. He figured he knew where this was going.
“Your father called me two days ago. He wanted to know where Gabrielle was, and he offered me ten grand if I’d tell him.” Jay shook his head. “But I didn’t know where she was. Mack must have thought I was lying, because he upped the money. I told him I’d help. I had to,” he added, giving his sister a pleading look.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because of the money I owe. I didn’t want to help Mack. Honestly, I didn’t. But I’ve got people who’ll kill me if I don’t come up with the cash.”
“But you couldn’t help my father,” Houston pointed out, “because you didn’t know where Gabrielle was.”
Jay nodded frantically. “That’s right. I didn’t know. But Mack kept pressing. He thought if he pressed me hard enough, that I’d come up with your location.”
“Mack wanted to find me so he’d find Lucas,” Gabrielle mumbled. Was it Houston’s imagination, or did she seem skeptical about what her brother was saying? “What does that have to do with him wanting me dead?”
Jay glanced at both of them, then winced again. “He didn’t come out and say he intended to kill you, but that’s the gist I got. He wants you out of the way so Houston can get full custody of Lucas.”
Houston wanted to call the man a liar, but he couldn’t. After the stunt his father had pulled at the Cryogen Clinic with Salvador Franks, Houston wasn’t ready to trust Mack anytime soon.
But he wasn’t about to trust Jay, either.
Houston glanced at the wound again and used Jay’s shirt to wipe away the blood. He frowned. “That seems pretty superficial.”
Jay’s eyes widened. So did Gabrielle’s. Houston braced himself for verbal fire from both of them for suggesting that Jay might have shot himself to gain his sister’s sympathy.
And gain access to the ranch.
“Why would I do this to myself?” Jay asked, his voice sounding weaker. Or at least, he was making himself sound that way.
Houston shrugged. He was guessing this was about the money Jay owed. He stooped down and checked Jay for a weapon. He didn’t find one, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a gun stashed in his car.
He heard the hurried footsteps coming from the hall, and Houston looked over his shoulder to see Greta running their way. “Sir, I did as you asked, but you need to see the security monitor. When I turned on those cameras like you asked, I saw someone. It looks like we might have an intruder on the grounds.”
Houston groaned. What the hell else could go wrong today?
He stood, but then looked at Gabrielle and Jay. He didn’t want to leave her alone with a man who might have shot himself in order to get to her. But he also didn’t want
to leave Jay unattended in the house. The man might try to go after Lucas. Or Gabrielle.
“Stand back from him,” Houston instructed Gabrielle. He took out the gun and put it in her hand. “Keep him at gunpoint. I’ll be right back.”
Gabrielle glanced down at the gun. “Is this really necessary?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
She didn’t argue. She simply gave a shaky nod, and even though Houston hated to leave her with this kind of dirty duty, he had to check out the possible intruder.
“Wait here with Gabrielle,” Houston told Greta. Not that the maid would be much help if Jay was about to launch some kind of attack, but he might think twice if there were two instead of one.
Houston glanced at Gabrielle one last time, and then hurried down the hall to Dale’s office. He spotted the surveillance screen used for the system, and he saw what the motion-activated cameras were recording. Someone was indeed climbing over the east fence.
Houston zoomed in on the images and cursed.
He took out his phone and called Sheriff Whitley. The man answered on the first ring.
“I was about to call you,” he told Houston. “I had to cut Harlan Cordell loose about a half hour ago. He lawyered up, and there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him.”
“Yeah. I know. He’s crawling over my fence as we speak.”
Now it was the sheriff who cursed. “I have a deputy already on the way out there. He should arrive with the ambulance you requested through nine one one.”
Good. But that could take twenty minutes or more. Houston watched as Cordell landed on the ground at the bottom of the fence. The man didn’t hesitate. Cordell made a beeline for the house.
“Why do you need an ambulance?” the sheriff asked.
“Gabrielle’s brother is here, too. He claims someone shot him. He’d definitely injured, but I can’t tell if he did it himself or if someone did try to kill him.”
“I’m on my way,” the sheriff said, and he ended the call.
Houston wanted the sheriff on the scene, but he wouldn’t arrive any faster than the deputy and the ambulance. By then, Cordell might have made it all the way to the house. Houston didn’t intend to let that happen.
He took out his cell and pressed in the security code that Dale had installed to alert the ranch hands. Of course, when his foreman had put that security measure into place, he’d been thinking about flood or tornado warnings. Maybe even an attempted theft. He likely hadn’t counted on someone like Cordell trespassing, and perhaps trying to commit a murder. Even if Cordell didn’t have killing on his mind, there could be no good reason why he’d climb over the fence.
Had Cordell been the one to shoot Jay?
That was certainly one question Houston intended to ask the man.
He grabbed a handgun from Dale’s desk and checked to make sure it was loaded. It was. Houston hurried back to the foyer and found things just as he’d left them. Gabrielle was still holding the Smith and Wesson on her brother, and Greta was waiting, her own cell phone
poised in her hand as if she were ready to make an emergency call.
“Cordell’s on the grounds,” Houston told Gabrielle.
“Lanny?” Jay questioned, and he looked just as alarmed and stunned as his sister. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” Houston insisted.
Despite her reaction to hearing about Cordell being on the grounds, Houston didn’t have time to sugarcoat this. “I’m going after him. Lock the door when I leave, and make sure Jay stays put.”
“I’m not the guilty party here,” Jay grumbled. “Harlan Cordell is a dangerous man.”
Houston ignored him and gave Gabrielle one last look before he disarmed the security alarm on the front door. “The sheriff, a deputy and the ambulance are all on the way.”
“Then wait for them,” Gabrielle pled. “Don’t go after Cordell alone.”
“I won’t be alone. The ranch hands have all been alerted, and I’ll grab one of them as my backup.”
Gabrielle caught on to his arm. “Please, don’t go out there.”
Houston hated to see the fear and worry in her eyes, but he couldn’t reassure her with just words or by staying put.
“If Cordell gets close enough to the house, he might fire shots through the windows,” Houston said.
“Oh, God,” Gabrielle mumbled. Obviously understanding now, she nodded. They couldn’t risk a shooting, because Lucas might be hurt.
Houston brushed a kiss on her mouth and hurried out the door. Leaving was a huge risk, because Jay might
indeed be up to something; but right now Cordell was the bigger risk, and he had to be neutralized.
Keeping his gun ready, Houston jumped in one of the work trucks that was parked at the back of the house.
“We have an intruder by the east fence,” he shouted out the window to a pair of ranch hands who he saw near the stables. “I don’t want this SOB to get anywhere near the house.”
That got them moving, and they shouted out for others to assist. His men began to fan out around the yards and the property.
Houston started for the east fence, and he saw in his rearview mirror that a ranch hand from one of the barns got into a pickup, as well, probably so he could follow Houston. He didn’t wait for the man. Houston sped ahead, making his way down the graveled pasture road.
He tried to put a choke hold on his fears for Gabrielle’s safety, but it was hard to do, and he prayed he wasn’t making a mistake by leaving her alone.
The road soon narrowed as Houston had known it would, but he didn’t slow down. He raced the truck through the path until he saw the east fence. What he didn’t see was Cordell, but the man couldn’t have gotten far on foot.
Houston drove off the road and went toward a cluster of trees and shrubs. He kept watch all around him and behind. He could see the ranch hand when he made the same turn that Houston had taken.
But where the hell was Cordell?
Houston finally spotted some movement in the trees, and he slammed on the brakes. He barely took time for
the truck to stop when he barreled out. He used the truck for cover so he could get a better look.
Cordell was there, just behind a sprawling live oak.
“I’m not armed!” Cordell shouted. “Don’t shoot.”
Of all the things he’d expected Cordell to say, that wasn’t on Houston’s list. He replayed the images he’d seen on the surveillance camera and knew he hadn’t seen a gun in Cordell’s hand, but he’d assumed he had a weapon tucked away.
And he probably did.
“Come out where I can see you,” Houston instructed. “And put your hands in the air.”
Much to Houston’s surprise, Cordell did just that. He calmly lifted his hands and started out from the tree.
“I saw Jay,” Cordell said, his voice a shout because of the distance between them. “I was on my way out of town, but then I saw him when he pulled into the ranch. I figured now was as good a time as any to collect that money he owes me.”
“And you thought the best way to do that was to climb over the fence?”
Cordell shrugged. “He said he was getting the money from Mack Sadler. I didn’t know if he was lying about that or not. If I’d called him, or if I’d driven right up in front of the house, Jay would have seen me and run. Or done something worse. Jay’s more than a little desperate when it comes to seeing me.”