Page 49 of Ransom for His Secret Son

Brody wasn’t so sure about that. He didn’t miss the way her fingers curled slightly, as if she was gripping something invisible to steady herself.

“The dead nurse, Lila Montgomery,” Brody spelled out. “She was his ex.”

Eloise took a deep breath, nodded. “I know.”

Brody did some more snapping. “And you didn’t think that was relevant?”

“Because it wasn’t,” she insisted. “I didn’t know the woman was dead, not until Zeke told me. And Zeke hasn’t been with Lila in years. Their relationship ended long before any of this. He moved on. He had nothing to do with whatever she was involved in.”

Brody wasn’t convinced, and apparently neither was Remi. “Maybe. Maybe not,” she remarked.

Eloise’s eyes narrowed. “You’re both wasting your time if you think Zeke is behind this.”

Brody got right in her face. “Convince me of that. Give me a good reason not to press the cops to arrest Zeke for a whole host of felonies, including murder.”

The woman stared long and hard at them, and for a moment Brody thought she was going to order them out. She didn’t. Instead, Eloise went to the sofa, sank down on it and gave a weary shake of her head.

“I know Lila,” she admitted after some snail-crawling moments. “And the woman is poison. Was poison,” Eloise amended in a mutter. “You want to know if I believe she could have assisted Tarrant with what he did a year ago, and the answer is yes. I believe Lila helped him.”

“What about with my sons?” Brody was quick to ask.

Eloise nodded. “Yes, Lila could have assisted with that, too, but not with Zeke’s help. He wouldn’t help her do anything like that. He knows what a viper she could be.”

“Explain that,” he demanded because he was getting the feeling that Eloise was holding back something important.

Brody crossed his arms, watching Eloise carefully. Every move, every word—he knew she was calculating. But there was something beneath her polished exterior today. A crack.

“Eight days ago Lila called me,” Eloise finally said.

Everything inside Brody went still. Eight days. That’s when his sons had been born.

“You want to tell me why Lila contacted you?” he demanded. And it wasn’t a suggestion. It was a cop’s order.

Eloise’s gaze flicked to him before she exhaled. “She wanted to make a deal. Nothing to do with your sons,” Eloise was quick to add. “She said she had information on Tarrant’s whereabouts. She wanted a million dollars in exchange for it.”

Brody let that settle, watching her reaction. She was playing it cool, but there was something else there. A hesitation. A tell.

“And you didn’t believe her,” he said.

“No,” Eloise admitted. “I thought it was a ruse. Maybe to draw me out so Tarrant could kill me. Or maybe just so I’d cough up money that she and Tarrant could split. Lila was reckless but not stupid. She’d have known that Tarrant would have slit her throat if she’d tried to betray him.”

Yeah, Tarrant would have done that. But it didn’t mean that Lila hadn’t reached some level of desperation that she’d been willing to risk Tarrant’s wrath. And that desperation could have come if she’d realized the twins she’d just helped into the world were the offspring of a cop.

A cop who’d do anything to get them back.

“I told Lila I wasn’t interested,” Eloise went on a moment later. “I didn’t meet with her.”

Brody didn’t buy that for a second. “You expect me to believe you just ignored a lead on the man who killed your son?”

Eloise lifted her chin. “I expect you to believe I don’t throw money at people who can’t deliver.”

Brody studied her, the pieces clicking together in his mind. “You didn’t meet with her,” he said slowly, “but Zeke did.”

Something flickered in her expression, but it was gone as fast as it came. “I never said that.”

Brody let the silence stretch. Eloise didn’t confirm it, but she didn’t deny it either. Which meant he was right.

“Zeke went to meet her,” Brody said, pushing further. “And he found her dead.”