“Wait and see what Dr. Regner says, okay?” Ryker bowed his head for a moment, before meeting her gaze. “I’m just glad we made it here safely. I was worried you might deliver this baby in the car.”
“Nah, she’s too stubborn for that.” Olivia tried to make light of the situation, but truthfully, she’d had the same fear. “Thanks for staying with me.”
“Of course.” His gaze turned serious. “I’d never let you go through this all alone, Olivia.”
Tears pricked her eyes again. Hormones. And maybe something more. She cared about Ryker, way too much. Her head knew he was just being nice, her knight in shining armor, rescuing her from certain danger, but her heart yearned for something more.
His love.
A contraction tightened her belly, making her suck in a harsh breath. “I guess I was wrong.”
“About?”
“They’re back. The contractions, I mean.” She concentrated on breathing.
“Easy now,” Ryker crooned. “Do you want me to get the nurse?”
“In a minute.” She rode the crest of the contraction, then relaxed as the pain eased.
Ryker’s phone rang. He gave her hand a quick pat, then stood. “I’ll answer this and get the nurse, okay?”
“Okay.” She wasn’t going to argue. If the baby insisted on coming early, then she needed to be prepared.
Ryker left the room. She imagined him chatting briefly with the FBI agent outside her door before moving on.
When her door opened, she turned her head to greet the nurse. Only it wasn’t the nurse standing there. It was Tim’s cousin Seth Willis.
Her blood ran cold for a moment, as she registered the fact that Seth was wearing a uniform and a name tag identifying him as a hospital security guard. “What do you want?”
Seth didn’t answer, but the flatness in his eyes reminded her of Tim. She reached for her call button a second too late. Seth slammed one hand over her mouth, the other pinning her wrists together in a painful grip.
Kicking the side rail with her foot, she tried to make as much noise as possible. But to no avail.
With Seth’s hand over her mouth, it was impossible to breathe. The room spun. No! This couldn’t be happening. Where was the FBI? Ryker? The nurse?
Please, Lord, help me! Save me and my baby!
FIFTEEN
Ryker paced the hallway as Marc updated him on the SUV that had tried to run them off the interstate. “We found it abandoned at the side of the road, wiped clean. Not a single fingerprint or piece of trace evidence.”
“Figures.” They really needed a break, some way to get directly to Kevin Blake and Harper Moore. They were the ones behind these attempts against Olivia and he wanted them held responsible. “Anything else?”
“We’re working with local law enforcement to find Blake and Moore but so far we don’t have any idea where they are. The good news is that the banking information is legit. Our team was able to track down the embezzled funds with an electronic trail back to the Blake-Moore Group. Once we get our hands on Blake and Moore, we should have what we need to arrest them.”
“Good.” Ryker heard a muffled thump and turned toward the door of Olivia’s room. Tony Seavers, the FBI agent posted there on guard duty, abruptly turned and pushed open her door and let out a shout.
“Hey! Get away from her!”
Shoving the phone in his pocket without disconnecting from the call, Ryker ran into Olivia’s room hot on Tony’s heels. When he realized Tony was pulling a man off Olivia, he ran toward them. His blood ran hot when he saw it was Seth Willis.
He grabbed on to Seth, helping to pull him away. Between them, he and Tony wrestled Willis to the floor and cuffed him.
“What are you doing, Seth? I thought you wanted to turn your life around.” Ryker didn’t hide the anger in his tone. “What did you hope to accomplish by hurting Olivia?”
“I didn’t want to hurt her. I just wanted the bank-account information.” Seth glared at him. “If she had handed it over, I would have left her alone.”
Ryker couldn’t believe he’d bought into the guy’s story about going straight. That he’d actually given Willis the phone information for Dennis Ludwig, their FBI contact.
“Ryker!” Hearing his name from his pocket, he realized Marc Callahan was still on the phone.
“Seth Willis tried to attack Olivia,” he said into the phone. “I’ll call you back.” Without waiting for a response, he ended the call and rushed over to Olivia, raking his gaze over her. Her cheeks were pink, her hair disheveled and her breathing seemed labored. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m not sure. Please get the nurse.” Both of her hands were splayed over her belly. “I’m not having any contractions and I’m worried something is wrong.”
No way was he leaving. He reached over and pushed the call button. “The nurse is on her way. Please, Olivia, I need to know if he hurt you.”
She shook her head. “Scared me more than anything, because I couldn’t breathe. I kept kicking the side rails, hoping to make enough noise to attract attention. I knocked him off-balance, which helped.”
His jaw tightened when he saw her bare feet, imagining the bruises that would likely mar her beautiful skin within the next day or so.
“I heard you.” Tony Seavers finished zip-tying Seth’s ankles then came over to stand beside Ryker. “I’m so sorry. When he claimed to be Olivia’s husband’s cousin, I didn’t think to question him. Especially since he works here in security. Why wouldn’t he be legit?”
Ryker wanted to snap at the Fed, but reined in his temper. This was his fault for not checking to see if this was the hospital where Seth worked. Not to mention believing the guy’s innocence in the first place. “It’s okay.” He shot a glare at Seth who was propped in the corner of the room. “But I want him booked for assault and battery.”
“Agreed. I’ll call in the local law enforcement now. They can
