Page 3 of Ransom for His Secret Son

She stayed quiet a moment. “Possibly. I honestly hadn’t expected that. But I had taken the precaution of parking just up the road on a trail and sneaking into the cemetery. I’d hoped to see if I recognized him—”

“Did you?” he interrupted.

“No. He was wearing a ski mask, and he obviously didn’t want me to know who he was, because he ran. But here’s what I do know. That case file he wanted involved a missing newborn,” she said, her words trailing off as if she’d just thought of something else.

Something she didn’t immediately spill to Brody.

“A missing newborn you found?” he asked as they climbed back over the stone wall. Remi wasn’t hurdling and hurrying this time, though. She had slowed to a crawl, and something other than the shooting seemed to be gnawing at her.

“Yes, I found the baby,” she eventually said. “But it wasn’t a…traditional missing-child case. And at the time, I didn’t think there might be others.”

Everything inside him went still. “Others?” Brody asked. “You mean other missing babies like the one Smith claims he had?”

She nodded, and he heard her quick intake of breath. “I didn’t think it through. When I heard the baby crying in the background of the phone call and John Smith told me to get here fast, I came.”

“Why this cemetery?” Brody had to know.

“I don’t know. At first, he told me to go to the Cedar Creek Bridge for the exchange, but when I got there, a note told me to come here to the cemetery. He said I was to leave the flash drive with my files and notes at the Hernandez mausoleum. I was on my way to do that, but then I saw the guy running away, so I went after him.”

“And he started shooting at you,” Brody prompted when she fell silent.

“Not right away. When I caught up with him, he punched me in the ribs and started running again.” She rubbed her side and winced again.

“Anything broken?” he asked. Maybe she’d need that ambulance after all.

“No.” She was quick to answer, but he wondered if that was wishful thinking on her part. “The punch just knocked the breath out of me, so that’s why he was able to get so far ahead of me.”

Remi stopped in her tracks. So did Brody. For a moment, they stood in tense silence, and he was sure the weight of their past was pressing hard between them. It was certainly pressing on him. Finally, Brody let out a slow breath to try to push that past away. He had a hell of a lot more questions, but he started with the obvious one.

“Why did this man want you to leave the flash drive here in Lost Canyon?” he demanded.

“I don’t know.” She opened her mouth. Closed it. And a look of sheer horror went through her eyes. “No, it couldn’t be,” she muttered. “Could it? Oh, God,” she blurted before she took off running again.

“Remi, wait,” Brody shouted, but she was already sprinting through the headstones, her movements frantic and uncoordinated.

Swearing under his breath, he followed her, his hand still gripping his Glock. His gut told him something was way off here. Something bigger than the missing gunman or even the mysterious baby.

Remi skidded to a stop in front of a headstone, her breath hitching as she dropped to her knees. Brody slowed as he approached, his gaze locking onto the stone marker. Miranda Walker. His wife.

His chest tightened. “What the hell—”

And then he saw it. A baby. Swaddled in a soft blue blanket, nestled against the base of Miranda’s headstone.

Brody froze, his mind trying to process what he was seeing. The baby squirmed slightly, a faint, sleepy cry escaping its mouth.

Remi was already reaching for the child, her hands trembling. “Oh, God,” she repeated, cradling the infant against her chest. “He left the baby here.”

Brody’s heart pounded, a mix of confusion, anger and protectiveness flooding him. He dropped to one knee beside her, his gaze fixed on the infant. “This is the baby he mentioned?”

She nodded, her face pale. “Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m not sure what’s happening.”

Brody leaned closer, his eyes scanning the area for any signs of danger. “We need to get out of here. Now.” Because any possible danger wasn’t just to him and Remi but to this child.

Remi hesitated, clutching the baby tighter. “Brody, I think…” She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.

“You think what?” he snapped, his tone sharp and urgent. Everything inside him was yelling for him to get this child to safety.

When she finally spoke, Remi’s voice was barely audible. “Brody, I think this might be your baby.”