With a baby suddenly in his care,
he’ll need all the help he can get.
When Nash Dillon’s childhood friend leaves a baby on his doorstep, his days become unpredictable. Thankfully, Emily Lang, an undercover investigator posing as a nanny, comes to his rescue. But once he discovers why Emily is really there—and that both her and the baby’s life are in danger—he unleashes every skill in his law enforcement arsenal to keep them out of harm’s way. Especially once it leads them down a very deadly path.
“There’s something special about us. I felt it from the beginning,” Emily said.
“So did I.” Nash pressed his mouth against hers.
She returned the kiss, inching her hands up his throat. With her fingers laced behind his neck, she pulled him closer and he deepened the kiss.
Nash’s body jerked, and he pulled away from her.
“I—I agree.” She put a hand to her hot cheek. “Bad idea.”
“Shh.” He rose to his feet and turned toward the sliding door that led to their room.
“What is it?” She touched his back, straining her ears for Wyatt’s cry.
Nash lunged forward and charged through the door.
With the adrenaline rushing through her system, Emily stumbled after him. She tripped over the sliding-door track and screamed as she saw Nash tackle a man hovering over Wyatt’s crib.
CHAIN OF CUSTODY
Carol Ericson
Carol Ericson is a bestselling, award-winning author of more than forty books. She has an eerie fascination for true-crime stories, a love of film noir and a weakness for reality TV, all of which fuel her imagination to create her own tales of murder, mayhem and mystery. To find out more about Carol and her current projects, please visit her website at www.carolericson.com, “where romance flirts with danger.”
Books by Carol Ericson
Harlequin Intrigue
Holding the Line
Evasive Action
Chain of Custody
Red, White and Built: Delta Force Deliverance
Enemy Infiltration
Undercover Accomplice
Code Conspiracy
Red, White and Built: Pumped Up
Delta Force Defender
Delta Force Daddy
Delta Force Die Hard
Red, White and Built
Locked, Loaded and SEALed
Alpha Bravo SEAL
Bullseye: SEAL
Point Blank SEAL
Secured by the SEAL
Bulletproof SEAL
Her Alibi
Harlequin Intrigue Noir
Toxic
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Emily Lang—A fired cop trying to get her PI business off the ground, she takes a job keeping tabs on baby Wyatt, and when that baby leads her to the doorstep of a sexy border patrol agent, she’s only too willing to conceal her dislike of babies and pose as a nanny to get close to Wyatt—and the agent.
Nash Dillon—When an old friend drops her baby off on this border patrol agent’s porch with little explanation, he’s thrilled to find a caring nanny—until he discovers his nanny is a PI with ulterior motives and a fiery temperament to match her red hair.
Wyatt Lemoin—This innocent baby is at the center of a tug-of-war involving petty criminals, drug dealers and child traffickers.
Jaycee Lemoin—Nash’s old friend has gotten herself, and her baby, into big trouble but she could always count on Nash to help her out.
Brett Fillmore—Jaycee’s boyfriend isn’t above using a baby to save his own skin, but he crossed the wrong people this time.
Marcus Lanier—A Phoenix mover and shaker, Marcus hires Emily to follow a baby he claims is his own, but is he a concerned father or something more sinister?
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Excerpt from Badlands Beware by Nicole Helm
Chapter One
Emily held her breath as the man with the gun leaned over the playpen and ran the butt of the weapon down the front of the baby’s onesie.
“Cute kid.” His lips stretched into a semblance of a smile. “He yours?”
Jaycee started forward and then stopped, licking her lips.
Emily whispered to herself, “C’mon, Jaycee. Do what you do best. Lie.”
Flicking her fingers in the air, Jaycee said, “It’s my roommate’s. I’m making her move and take the brat with her.”
The bigger, beefier man in the room, who clearly didn’t need a weapon for intimidation, strolled toward the window and out of Emily’s view. “You sure you don’t know where your boyfriend is?”
“I told you. Brett and I broke up. I don’t have a clue where that loser is.”
Emily squinted and brought the phone with the video flickering across the display closer to her face. Was Jaycee telling the truth this time?
Emily’s client, Marcus Lanier, was sure Jaycee planned to take their baby and run off with Brett Fillmore. If Brett were in trouble with these two guys, Jaycee wouldn’t be likely to hand him over.
The big man skimmed a hand over his shaved head as he stepped back into the range of the camera Emily had set up in Jaycee’s apartment—without her knowledge. Once Marcus had hired her to keep an eye on his baby, Emily’s first step had been to install some electronic surveillance in Jaycee’s apartment. She hadn’t gotten much info in the five days she’d been tracking Jaycee—until now.
Marcus Lanier, a mover and shaker in Phoenix, had suspected Jaycee of hanging out with a sketchy crowd, and these guys with their guns and veiled threats definitely qualified. Marcus had feared for his baby’s safety due to Jaycee’s relationship with Brett Fillmore, a low-level druggie, but these two were next-level serious.
What did they want with Brett? If they thought he was the father of this baby, what would they be willing to do?
“Wh-what do you want with Brett, anyway?” Jaycee crossed her arms and wedged her back against the playpen, blocking the baby from the intruders.
The man holstered his gun. “Don’t worry about it. If you hear from him, let him know he needs to call us.”
Jaycee finally asked the question Emily was dying to know. “Who’s us?”
The bigger guy, the one who hadn’t drawn the weapon tucked in his waistband, straightened the sunglasses he hadn’t bothered to remove inside. “How many people are looking for him?”
The other man snorted. “Tell him to call us—or else.”
Knots tightened in Emily’s gut. Had Jaycee noticed he glanced at the baby when he said that?
“If I
