Chapter Twenty
Blaize was the faster runner. However the men chasing them could have weapons. There was no choice to make. He urged Carys to run in front. This way he could put some mass—himself—in between her and those bastards.
They darted in between houses, making a big zigzag in an attempt to put more distance between the jerks and them. Whoever was chasing them stopped talking. Were these the dudes from the SUV?
It dawned on him that no one was using guns.
The night of the storm, the attacker didn’t break a window.
Was he trying to scare Carys out of the car so he could snatch the baby?
Blaize hoped like hell there wasn’t some kind of reward out there for anyone who brought the kid safely to Silus.
That could bring more criminals out of the woodwork—anyone looking to make a quick buck.
Damn. This thing could escalate quickly. He needed to get a hold of Raiden and bring him up to speed. Whoever followed her to the ranch the other night might have put two-and-two together.
It also dawned on him that Raiden and Kit weren’t answering their phones.
Double damn.
Using the phone app, he unlocked the four-door white sedan as they rounded the corner. It was two vehicles away, and they were coming in on the driver’s side.
“Hop into the back seat to save time. Okay?” he said to Carys.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” she said.
“Don’t hesitate or look around—just go and then duck.”
“Got it,” she confirmed.
At the car, he slipped into the driver’s seat and grabbed the key from underneath the mat on the floorboard. Carys hopped into the back and disappeared. They were looking for a couple, so this move might buy a few extra critical seconds needed to escape.
He started the engine and pulled out of the spot, hating leaving his Jeep behind.
Since they’d tampered with his vehicle, they would be able to find his name through his registration.
Fortunately, the address was still on the outskirts of Austin.
Even if they had someone on the inside who could run his plate, they wouldn’t get the ranch.
Hunkering down in his seat to make himself appear shorter, he navigated onto the main street that was thankfully crowded with vehicles.
This was the first and only time he would see Austin traffic as a blessing instead of a curse.
The white sedan was the most common color and would blend into the environment perfectly.
He glanced into the rearview and then the sideview mirrors. He scanned the vehicles around him, searching for the SUV or anyone who seemed a little too interested in everyone around them. He came up empty.
“It’s probably safe for you to sit up now,” he said to Carys.
“I’ll stay in the back seat so, at first glance, it’ll seem like you’re a hired driver and I’m a fare.”
“That’s a good idea,” he said. “It’ll be safer for you to buckle in in the event we’re chased again and it’s safer anyway.”
She did.
“We need to get in touch with Raiden or Kit,” he said, keeping a close eye on the road ahead as well as his surroundings. “I need to have my Jeep towed. I’d hate to leave it sitting out unattended. Who knows how long it’ll be before I can get back to it.”
“What about the note?” she asked. “Do you want me to read it now?”
With everything that had happened since leaving Rumi’s, he’d tucked the note somewhere in the back of his mind. “Might as well.”
“Okay. Just a sec.” She fumbled around in her handbag before producing the yellowing card-sized envelope. “Here goes.” She used a key to open the envelope, then pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Are you ready?”
The secret of how Stephanie/Sharon knew him was about to be revealed. “I guess so.”
“It says, ‘You probably won’t remember me even if you see me again. I’m going red instead of blond, and I’m changing the way I make up my face.
I overheard you talking about losing your wife, Lynn, at Deep Roots, and I knew right then and there you were the person I wanted to take care of my baby.
I’m starting to show and have to get out of my situation before it’s too late and he knows.
Anyway, you seem like a nice guy. Like the kind of person my Lark deserves.
I’ve made mistakes. Big ones. But I’ll figure something out.
If I don’t, well, I guess you came looking for answers like I hoped you would.
Don’t be mad. Whatever happens, please don’t let him get hold of her. ’”
“There’s only one other person I mentioned Lynn to, and that was at Deep Roots not long after she died.”
“Guess Sharon was there, too,” Carys said.
“Seems so,” he said.
“Who is this man anyway?”
“You haven’t heard of Silus Vexler?” He figured everyone knew the man, or to avoid him at the very least.
“Why? Should I?”
“His name gets around in Austin for leaning on business owners for so-called protection,” he said.
“I didn’t realize that was a thing,” she admitted. “I just went to school here. I moved away when I got the job in Maverick Pass.”
“That’s possibly why you would never have crossed paths with him. I used to manage a custom saddle business, and my suppliers had trouble with him since they sourced across the border. I knew he was bad news, but he didn’t come knocking on my door.”
“Do you still work there?”
“No. After Lynn passed, I spiraled. Went to a dark place. Gave up my job because I couldn’t go into work every day and pretend everything was fine. My employees deserved better.”
“Do you mind if I ask how you survived financially?”
“By that point, I had stock in the company. Sold most of it to pay for Lynn’s treatments that insurance decided not to cover.
There was enough left over to live on for a while.
That’s what I’ve been doing.” He choked out a laugh.
“Funny thing about it is that I was about to head back to work. Finally got my head on straight and decided it was time to make some money, pick my life up and find a way to move forward. Then I got the call about Cormac dying. Seems like every time I set off in a direction, the universe laughs and throws me a new twist.” He would have said it always went from bad to worse, but then he met her.
He couldn’t regret that one bit. It also brought him Rue.
“If I changed my mind and told you that I’m the little girl’s father, would you believe me? ”
She sat in silence for a long moment, giving away nothing.
Before she could answer, his cell buzzed.
“Can you answer that for me?” he asked.
“Sure.” She leaned forward enough to grab the phone from the cupholder. “It’s Raiden.”
“THIS IS CARYS. I have you on speaker.”
“Blaize? Are you there, too?” The concern in Raiden’s voice caused her pulse to race. Rue was crying softly in the background.
“I’m here,” Blaize said. “I’m driving, so Carys is helping me out.”
Raiden exhaled.
“Is everything okay? Because when no one answered and I didn’t hear back from you, I was worried something happened,” Blaize said, getting right to the point.
“It’s Kit.”
Blaize’s knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “What about her?”
“She fell.”
“Again?”
“I’m afraid so,” Raiden said. “Caught the corner of the dresser this time and had to get stitches.”
“Where are you guys now?”
“At the hospital.” The strain in Raiden’s voice said it had been a long day in Maverick Pass, too.
“Is Kit conscious?” Blaize asked.
“Yes.”
“Is that Rue crying in the background?”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “A nurse is helping me try to calm her so I could call you. The kid has a set of lungs on her, and I’m not cut out to be a parent. I’ve tried everything I know to do, which isn’t a helluva a lot, and none of it works.”
All of a sudden, Rue stopped crying.
“What just happened?” Blaize asked.
“The nurse swaddled her.”
“Did you change her diaper?” Blaize asked.
“Yes.”
“Feed her?”
“Did that, too.”
“Does she have a fever?” Blaize asked.
All these questions were spot-on. Carys had no clue why Blaize didn’t think he’d be a good father. Now that she knew his background and about his wife, was he afraid to admit he still wanted children?
It would be understandable after all the disappointments he’d endured. Most people would have folded the tent at this point. Not Blaize. He became stronger and more determined with every setback.
“The nurse checked. No, no fever.”
“That’s a relief.” Blaize released some of the tension in his grip on the steering wheel.
“There doesn’t seem to be a reason for her to be fussy,” Raiden said. “And Kit will be fine, by the way.”
“Will she?” Blaize asked.
“She says this is the reason we have to sell and put her in a home.”
“And you believe her?”
“I can only go by what she says.” Raiden sounded at the end of his rope. He also sounded much less confident than he had when he first arrived. A good sign?
“We’re heading back now,” Blaize said. “Is Kit being released tonight?”
“That’s the plan, according to her doctor.”
“Keep me posted, will you?” Blaize frowned. “There’s not much I can do from the road, but I’ll be there as soon as humanly possible.”
“Will do.” Raiden paused a beat. “Any guesses as to your ETA?”
“I’m three hours out, if traffic cooperates.” He didn’t mention the fact they could be derailed by someone determined to take them out. Was it safe to go back to the ranch?
They couldn’t leave Rue with Kit and Raiden anymore.
The brothers exchanged goodbyes. Their bond might have been challenged, but Carys could hear how much they cared for each other in their voices.
You can’t fake something as genuine as that.
She’d witnessed people trying to convince her they were a solid unit.
She had a special detector for people like that.
“What if whoever cut my battery cable gets to them first?” Blaize said the minute the call ended.
She glanced at the screen to make certain Raiden didn’t accidentally hear something he shouldn’t. Relief washed over her when the generic screensaver came up. “Everyone should be safe at the hospital.”
“What if Kit is released before we get there?”
“That’s a possibility. But there’s a good chance we’ll get there first.” The mention of hospitals caused Blaize’s muscles to string tight. Having his beloved Kit in one must be the worst feeling.
“There is so much that needs to be done when I get back.” He rubbed the two-day-old scruff on his chin. Dark circles cradled his eyes, and yet the man was still sex-on-a-stick gorgeous, looking more like a sculpture than a human.
Carys faked a cough. “I seem to be coming down with something. I could take a couple of days off, just until you get settled. Besides, I need to make a trip to the orphanage to explain why I kept Rue over the weekend.”
“Will you have to drop her off?”
“At some point she—”
He gave one finite headshake. “If you don’t get me busted for not being her father, the government believes I’m the one at least for now. Correct?”
“I have to establish paternity at some point in the near future. I can’t leave it open-ended like this and keep my job. Plus, my boss will catch on and the courts will require proof before establishing custody.”
“I’ll find a way to adopt her. I’ll get a lawyer to intervene. I’ll say her mother was my best friend and wanted me to be the guardian.”
“Blaize, be reasonable. You can’t take care of everyone.
Kit needs someone in the house to watch over her.
Rue is a full-time job. You heard how tired Raiden is.
It’s already too much. Add in the fact you need to save the ranch to keep a roof over Kit’s head and there’s just too much going on for you to be able to take care of an infant. ”
“I can do it.”
Stubborn must’ve been his middle name. Carys admired his determination. Reality said that he wasn’t Superman.
“If anyone could, it would be you.” She needed to add a dose of reality into the situation. “The task is impossible, and you would wear yourself down. I can help for a couple of days, but then I’ll have to get back to my own schedule. Where does that leave Rue?”
“I need that meeting with my brothers to figure it out. What if they come back? What if everyone takes a shift? We have to have someone home to watch Kit while she’s awake anyway. Why not let them assist her in taking care of Rue?”
“That sounds more like a fairy tale than reality.”
He bit down on his bottom lip. “Having Rue in the house has made Kit the happiest I’ve seen her.
They always say parents never recover from losing a child.
Cormac wasn’t a kid, but he was her son and she loved him.
So much so, she jumped to his defense when I brought up one or two of his many deficiencies. I barely scratched the surface.”
“She loves you, too.”
“I guess I can do no wrong in her eyes. Believe me when I say I’m far from perfect.” He glanced around. “I can pull over if you want to slide up to the passenger seat.”
“It might be safer to stay like this for a while even though we’re on the highway now.”
“Let me know if you change your mind,” he said.
“Okay.” She thought about what he said about Kit. “I highly doubt my father would care if I lived or died. It’s too bad not every parent is like Kit, protective even when their kids make huge mistakes.”
“She’s special,” he agreed. “Do you think you’ll reconnect with your father at some point?”
“Why? So he can remind me how much I disappointed him? Or tell me again that I’m not his daughter? That one stung at eighteen.”
Blaize was quiet for a long moment. Based on the wrinkle across his forehead, he was deep in thought. “I would have liked the chance to tell Cormac what a disappointment he was to his face and how much it damaged us growing up. Now? I’ll never get the chance.”
“I thought you were going to tell me to try to reconcile with my father,” she said. His words resonated.
“What would be the point of that?” he asked. The question was rhetorical. “It’s far better to be able to reconcile with yourself. Does that make any sense?”
“Actually, yes. It does. A whole lot of sense, actually.” When this ordeal was over, could she reach out? Tell her father how she really felt about the way he’d treated her for wanting to live her own life?
Could she open up to Blaize, too? Risk losing him and Rue?