Page 33 of Ransom for His Secret Son

Brody clenched his jaw. He knew Langley had been holding back. He’d felt it in every dodged answer, every nervous glance.

“I saw something else,” Remi went on. “When we were on the roof looking for Tarrant, I spotted Langley. He was on the phone.”

Hell. Langley could have blocked his number and made that call to Dispatch. Brody’s gut was telling him to get back out there. To find Langley. To talk to Christina again and interview Eloise.

He reached into his pocket for his keys. “I’m not letting Langley slip away. If he made that call, we need—”

“Brody, it’s ten o’clock at night,” Remi interrupted, her voice steady but firm. “And the San Antonio cops are likely speaking to Langley right now. We need to regroup. Go over everything we’ve learned so far. There’s a chance we’re missing something. Something that could help us pinpoint our next move instead of running around blind.”

Brody started to shake his head, but she cut him off with one last push.

“And your mother might need you right now,” Remi added. “She’s been through a lot in the past few hours.”

That hit him harder than he expected.

Sandra had been steady, but he knew her. Knew how much she internalized stress. Hell, she’d already lost a daughter-in-law and almost lost him more times in the line of duty than he wanted to count. And now, she was caring for a grandchild she hadn’t even known existed until today, all while someone was trying to rip his family apart.

Brody let out a slow breath, dragging a hand over his face.

“Let’s focus on what we can do tonight,” Remi suggested. “I want to pull up traffic-camera feed around the medical building. I want to see if we can get eyes on Tarrant’s escape route. If we’re lucky, we might even catch what kind of vehicle he got into.”

Brody finally nodded, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction. “Fine. But I want to get started now.”

A flicker of amusement crossed Remi’s face. “Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Brody didn’t waste another second. They had work to do.

And tomorrow, they were going to find the SOB who had his son.

Chapter Ten

The scent of coffee pulled Remi from sleep.

She shifted, her muscles stiff from too many hours spent on the too-small sofa in Brody’s home office. They’d worked late, combing through everything they knew, analyzing footage, piecing together every fragment of the puzzle. She must have crashed at some point, exhaustion finally dragging her under.

She blinked awake to find Brody standing over her, two steaming mugs of that coffee in his hands. He had showered, his dark hair damp, the scent of soap and something unmistakably him drifting in the air. The last time she had seen him he’d been falling asleep at his desk, and Remi had no idea how long he’d been up.

For a split second, while she considered the coffee in a sleepy haze and started clearing out the mental cobwebs, she remembered the hug. The way his arms had wrapped around her. The solid, steady feel of him.

The way it had felt like more.

Remi sat up, forcing the memory aside, but as she looked at Brody, she caught the shift in his expression. The flicker of something unspoken in his eyes. Like maybe he was remembering it, too.

Or, better yet, looking as if he didn’t want to remember it.

Yes, he’d feel that, all right. Heat and guilt, not a good combination, but Remi figured both were there. Heat he didn’t want to feel when it came to her and the guilt he felt for the wanting. That heat probably felt like a betrayal to Miranda.

With that uneasy thought going through her head now, Remi reached for the coffee Brody held out, her fingers brushing against his for a second before he let go. The warmth seeped into her hands, waking her up faster than she would have liked.

“Thanks,” she murmured, taking a sip. Strong. Just how she needed it.

Brody took a seat across from her, his own mug in hand. He looked as exhausted as she felt, dark shadows under his eyes, tension lining his jaw. But he was steady, just like always.

“One of my deputies dropped off some clothes for you,” he said, taking a drink of his coffee and tipping his head to a backpack that was sitting on his desk. “Toiletries, too. You’re welcome to use the guest room if you want to shower.”

She took another sip before nodding. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that in a bit.” She let a beat pass before shifting gears. “How’s the baby?”

Remi saw the hint of a smile. “Good,” he said in a way that she knew meant far more than good. Brody’s son was already the new center of his world, just as he should be. But there was a shadow in his happiness. A horrible dark shadow since his other son was still missing.