He pulled his truck just inside the gate, but not too far, as he didn’t want to crush the GPS in the driveway.
Emily parked behind him and went around to the passenger side to collect Wyatt. As she approached him, she held out the baby, legs dangling beneath him. “Take Wyatt. I’ll get the tracker.”
Wyatt whined in his arms, and Nash patted his back. “I know, buddy, but she’s all we got right now.”
Emily returned with her hand held out and a black device in the center of her palm. “Here it is. We’re putting it back on my car?”
“Let’s make a trade.” He peeled Wyatt from his shoulder. “Get this one a bottle, and I’ll secure the GPS to your rental and call my friend. Then I’ll throw a few things in a bag and we’ll hit the road.”
Emily scurried into the house with Wyatt, and Nash got busy. His friend Kyle, who was in security, was more than happy to take Emily’s car out to the desert. He was going to have his girlfriend, Meg, follow him in her car, and they’d abandon Emily’s rental near the border.
By the time Emily returned with Wyatt clutching a bottle, Nash had settled everything. “We’re good to go. Let me just pack an overnight bag.”
He threw some things together, his only thought to get away from Paradiso for a day and make a plan. If Jaycee came back here and he was gone, it would serve her right. If she ever turned her phone back on, he could leave her a voice mail. She had to know these guys were after her, or that someone was after her. She wouldn’t have dropped Wyatt on him, literally, if she hadn’t known. Did she go off in search of Brett? Was Brett Wyatt’s father? Was Lanier? Had Jaycee even had an affair with Lanier? Too many questions, no answers.
He burst from the house, holding his breath until he saw his truck idling at the foot of his driveway, Wyatt strapped in the back. He still didn’t completely trust Emily.
He rapped on the window of the driver’s side and she powered it down. “Let me drive. I know this area better than you, and I have an idea.”
She scrambled from the truck and went around to the passenger side with no argument, and he slid behind the wheel and repositioned the seat. “How’s our guy doing back there?”
“Happy with his bottle. I think he’s sleepy and probably confused.”
“That makes two of us.” Nash shifted into gear and pulled away from his house.
Emily turned away from blowing kisses at Wyatt and tucked one leg beneath her. “He really is a good baby, isn’t he? He hardly ever cries. That’s not normal, is it?”
He lifted one eyebrow. “You really don’t know anything about babies, do you?”
“It’s amazing what you can learn from online videos, but Wyatt did seem to take to me, didn’t he? Babies aren’t much different from dogs. Dogs always seem to know exactly who isn’t thrilled with their presence and then glom on to that person.”
“So, not only do you not know much about babies, you aren’t particularly thrilled with them?”
“I wouldn’t say I dislike babies.” She shook her finger at Wyatt. “Don’t listen to this, Wyatt. I’ve just never been around them much. I don’t have siblings, and my dad was too paranoid to allow me to babysit when I was a teen. Only one of my friends has a baby, and I don’t see much of her.”
Nash placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry about your father. I read some news articles about his murder.”
She blinked and grabbed her sunglasses from the console. “Thanks.”
“You got fired from the same department he served?”
“Yeah.” She shoved her glasses onto her face. “Where are we going?”
She’d been more forthcoming as Emily O’Brien. Nash cranked up the air-conditioning. “I thought we’d head out to Tombstone, get lost among the tourists. Something tells me you didn’t actually do any sightseeing down here.”
“You would be correct. In fact, I haven’t been to Tombstone since moving out to Arizona, and I always meant to go.” She formed her hands into two pistols. “I wanna see the shoot-out at the OK Corral.”
“They do a re-creation of that. It’s all kinds of kitschy, but they do a good job of recounting the history of the town in all its violent, bloody glory.”
“That’s for now.” Emily pinned her hands between her bouncing knees. “How are we going to shake these guys?”
“We’ll figure out something. When Jaycee returns, I’m going to convince her to go to the police—regardless of what happens to Brett. Right now, I’m more interested in finding out what Lanier’s stake is in all this. Is he really the father? Has he discovered some paternal instinct for his girlfriend’s baby? What’s he going to tell his wife?”
“I told you what he told me. He’s in the process of getting a paternity test done—thanks to me.” She patted her chest. “I was able to get one of Wyatt’s bottles for the test.”
Nash twisted his lips. “You were spying on and sneaking around Jaycee and Wyatt before you followed her to Paradiso?”
“Y-yes. I was doing surveillance on her for several days before she took off for Paradiso.” She crossed her index fingers, one over the other, and held them out. “Don’t crucify me. I thought I had an up-and-up job, helping a father protect his son. That may still be my mission. You don’t know for certain that Lanier is involved with the cartels.”
Nash ran his tongue along his bottom lip. “Question for you. Whose idea was it to collect Wyatt’s DNA? Yours or Lanier’s?”
“It was his idea. He wants a DNA test done first, and then a more formal paternity test once he makes his claim.”
“Is he sure Wyatt is his and not Brett’s? How can he be certain?”
“Brett didn’t come into the picture until later when Jaycee already had Wyatt.”
“Are you sure? You got that info
