Page 34 of Ransom for His Secret Son

“Any news about the investigation?” she asked.

The slight change in Brody’s expression told her everything she needed to know before he even answered. Frustration flickered in his eyes, tightening the lines around them.

“No,” he answered on a huff.

Definitely frustrated, and Remi was feeling it, too. Despite working through most of the night, they had gotten nothing on the traffic cameras. Tarrant had slipped into an alley and disappeared. They hadn’t been able to pick him up on any other feed around the crime scene.

But they had managed to spot him on traffic cams earlier in the evening. He’d been in a car near Christina’s neighborhood, and that likely explained how Tarrant had known that she and Brody had gone to Langley’s clinic. Tarrant had followed them, tried to kill them and then had escaped. The cops were looking for his car, but Remi figured Tarrant had ditched it by now.

So frustrating.

Langley was also in that category of frustrating things. San Antonio PD had questioned him, but he hadn’t given them anything useful. He’d claimed he didn’t know who sent the text from the unknown number, didn’t know where Tarrant was and had nothing to do with any of this.

“What about the fire?” she pressed. “Anything there?”

Brody shook his head. “Nothing there either. Fire investigators determined someone, likely Tarrant, broke a window, set the fire and took off. It was a way to get us running out of the building.”

Yes, and it had worked like a charm. The only part of his plan that had failed was that she and Brody were still alive.

Brody set his coffee down on the desk and muttered some profanity under his breath. “I’ve tried calling Langley, Christina, and Eloise,” he said. “None of them are answering.”

Remi frowned and checked the time on her phone: seven o’clock. Not the earliest she’d ever been up, but early enough that it could explain why three of their suspects weren’t picking up their phones. Still, she didn’t like it.

“They could just be asleep,” she suggested, though the words felt hollow even as she said them.

Brody clearly wasn’t convinced either. “Yeah. Or they don’t want to answer.”

Remi took another sip of coffee, considering. “Which one do you want to visit first?”

“Eloise,” he said without a moment of hesitation.

That settled it. Remi pushed to her feet, draining the rest of her coffee. “Then, I’d better get moving.”

She grabbed the backpack that Brody’s deputy had dropped off and started toward the stairs. As she moved through the house, she caught sight of Holt by the front window, standing watch, his shoulders squared in quiet vigilance.

A reminder the threat hadn’t passed.

That someone had set up a distraction last night, the alleged breach in security at Brody’s house, and that whoever was behind it wasn’t done yet.

Remi took the fastest shower of her life, scrubbing away the exhaustion and tension clinging to her skin. By the time she dressed and made her way downstairs, she felt more awake, more focused. They had work to do, and wasting time wasn’t an option.

She stepped into the kitchen and stopped when she took in the scene.

Brody stood by the kitchen island, holding his son. The baby was nestled close, his tiny fingers curling against Brody’s shirt. Sandra moved around the kitchen, assembling breakfast sandwiches and wrapping them in foil. This looked normal. Routine. As if Brody and his mom had been doing this much longer than a handful of hours.

Sandra glanced up as Remi entered, and gave a small smile. “You can eat on the drive to San Antonio.”

Remi nodded her thanks, but her focus shifted back to Brody. He wasn’t talking, just looking down at his son with a proud-daddy softness in his expression. Sandra noticed, too. She smiled again, but Remi could feel the undercurrent of nerves beneath it.

Brody finally glanced up at her. “We’re calling him Joe,” he said. “After my grandfather. We’ll figure out the other name when we have him,” he added, his voice dropping slightly.

When. Not if.

There was pure determination flaring in his eyes as he pressed a kiss to Joe’s forehead, then carefully lifted him toward Sandra.

Sandra passed the wrapped sandwiches to Remi and took the baby in her arms. “I’ll take care of this little man. You two be careful out there.”

Brody nodded. “We will,” he said, already moving.