The man with the shaved head leveled a finger at her. “You forgot the ‘or else’ part—and no police, or we’ll be looking for you, too.”
“Me and the police don’t get along so well.” Jaycee shrugged. “I don’t think I’ll have any contact with Brett, but I’ll tell him if I do.”
Emily blew out a long breath when the two men finally left. She’d been worried about the baby, but Jaycee must’ve been terrified despite her nonchalant attitude.
As soon as the door closed behind the men, Jaycee sprang into action. She ran toward the hallway and stayed out of view for a good ten minutes. She reappeared, dragging a suitcase behind her with a diaper bag slung over her shoulder.
Emily’s heart rattled in her chest. Jaycee planned to leave. She’d better take the car Emily had put a tracker on, because Emily had no intention of letting that baby—or her own fat paycheck—out of her sight.
With one eye on her phone, Emily packed a bag almost as quickly as Jaycee had. She didn’t have to pack baby stuff, but she had her own bag of tricks she might need on the road. She had to be prepared for anything. Jaycee might even try to slip across the border.
When the red dot on her phone indicated Jaycee was on the move, Emily grabbed a bottle of water and a half-eaten sandwich from the fridge. Holding her cell in front of her, she tossed her bag into the trunk of her car and slid behind the wheel.
She lived near enough to Jaycee’s neighborhood in south Phoenix to wait it out on the street in front of her own place until she could determine Jaycee’s intent. When her cell phone showed Jaycee’s car heading for the 10 South, she cranked on her engine and peeled away from the curb.
Following Jaycee, Emily kept her distance—not that Jaycee would recognize her or her nondescript silver hatchback, but she might be keeping an eye out for a tail...at least she should be.
Emily checked her own rearview mirror, scanning the freeway behind her. Had the goons who’d dropped in on Jaycee believed her about the baby not being hers? Maybe they believed her about Brett. If they trusted anything that woman said, they didn’t know Jaycee Lemoin very well—at least if all of Marcus Lanier’s stories about her were true.
A half a sandwich, a bottle of water and about an hour and a half later, Emily watched on her phone’s display as Jaycee cruised past Tucson. She flexed her fingers on the steering wheel. Did this chick really intend to cross the border?
If she did, maybe Marcus should just let her go. Maybe Jaycee and the baby could keep safe by getting lost in Mexico. But Marcus didn’t want to let Jaycee go, and he wanted to keep the baby safe from Jaycee. Emily hadn’t even informed her client of this second threat stalking his son, but it wouldn’t surprise him.
Marcus knew all about the company Jaycee kept and her lifestyle, making him fear for the baby’s safety. He’d hired Emily to watch out for the baby until he could prove his paternity and get his ducks in a row before making a move for custody.
This little excursion of Jaycee’s would give Marcus even more ammunition.
Emily’s gaze darted to her phone and the red dot heading west. Did Jaycee plan to spend the night somewhere before crossing over? Or was she waiting for nightfall before making that surreptitious journey?
Five minutes later, Emily took the same exit—to Paradiso, a small Arizona border town.
Jaycee’s car had stopped, and Emily blew out a breath. She could be a lot more inconspicuous in this little hick border town than in Mexico. If Jaycee decided to stay put in Paradiso, Emily would be able to watch her and the baby better. Then Marcus could take over and do whatever he needed to do to get his son back.
Emily sucked in her bottom lip when she turned off the main road running through the town. She’d expected Jaycee to hole up at a hotel. If she were staying with a friend, surveillance would be more difficult.
As she rolled past a grove of leafy trees, Emily buzzed down her window and sniffed the air, which had a slightly sweet smell. Who knew orchards grew in the middle of the desert?
She squinted and scanned the long, empty road ahead. Jaycee must’ve pulled into the gates on the right. Nothing else but trees stretched on either side of the road. The house behind those gates must be set back from the street because Emily could see just the top of it.
Emily pulled into a turnoff well beyond the gates and dug in her bag for a pair of binoculars. She leaned out the car window and focused on the entrance to the property. She could research the records later for the owners and their connection to Jaycee.
She had barely settled in for her little watch party when Jaycee’s car flew out of the gates, kicking up dust.
Emily pulled her head back in the car and tossed the binoculars onto the seat next to her. “Damn. On the road again.”
She followed Jaycee into town and to a gas station on the edge of it. The woman hadn’t made her once on the trip down and wouldn’t take notice of another car fueling up.
After Jaycee got her gas, she walked into the mini-mart to pay, but she didn’t have the baby with her. No wonder Marcus was concerned. That action right there screamed negligence. She’d add it to her list for Marcus’s custody battle.
With her palms sweating, Emily scrambled from her car and strolled past Jaycee’s at the pump. She glanced into the back seat of Jaycee’s little compact and tripped, clutching
