“Good God.” Luke knelt down in front of Jaelyn and forced a fake smile. “Do you know someone named Michelle Allen?”
The child’s face lit up the moment he mentioned the trusted Powell agent’s name. “That’s my aunt Chelle.”
Derek shared after-dinner drinks with Griff and Sanders in Griff’s study. Dinner had been sandwiches and chips served in the kitchen, which had given them all a chance to wind down as much as possible after a grueling day. For the past half hour, ever since the men had left the ladies in the kitchen, their conversation had been limited, as if they didn’t know what else there was to say. Sanders had poured their drinks and although he had not told Griff that one drink should be his limit tonight, he had given Griff a stern look as he handed him a second glass of Scotch whisky. Derek had noticed that, like him and Sanders, Griff had leisurely sipped on his first drink.
“Our not talking about the situation won’t change it,” Griff finally said, breaking the strained silence.
“No, of course not,” Sanders agreed. “But perhaps any more discussion should be postponed until tomorrow. It has been a very long and trying day for all of us.”
“Before we call it a night, I’d like to run a thought or two by y’all,” Derek said.
Griff eyed him, curiosity in his hard gaze. “A thought about what?”
“About who may have killed Shiloh,” Derek replied.
Sanders squinted his almond-shaped eyes and focused directly on Derek. “You think you know who the murderer is?”
“No, I can’t name the killer, but I believe there is only one reason either a guard here at Griffin’s Rest or one of the Powell agents would kill Shiloh Whitman.”
“I think we all agree that it had to be someone inside Griffin’s Rest, someone we trusted.” Griff heaved a heavy, labored groan. “I’ve tried to fight accepting the truth, but that one thought has been in the back of my mind all day.”
“Maleah and I discussed the possibility that the person who calls himself Malcolm York is the mastermind behind all the murders. And this man found a way to force a Powell guard or an agent to kill Shiloh. He’s using some type of blackmail to—”
Griff’s cell phone rang. He let out a few choice curse words.
“It’s probably Sheriff Fulton.” Griff got up and walked across the room to where his phone lay atop his desk. He picked up the phone, glanced at it, and said, “It’s not Fulton.” And then he answered the call. “Luke?”
Derek watched as Griff listened, his face growing darker with each second and his body visibly tensing.
“Charter a jet,” Griff said. “You and Meredith bring the child back to the U.S. as soon as possible. I’ll call her parents in Paducah to let them know their child is safe. And we’ll handle things here at Griffin’s Rest.”
Griff laid the phone on the desk. He looked at Derek and then at Sanders. “Linden is dead.” He paused for a moment. “Linden kidnapped Michelle Allen’s niece.
He had the child with him when Luke arrived. She’s safe.”
“We have to find Michelle,” Derek said. “She needs to know that her niece is all right.”
“Yes, and after that, we will have to deal with what Michelle has done,” Griff told them.
When Nic came out of the bathroom, the test stick in her hand, Maleah rose from where she sat on the edge of Nic’s bed.
“Well, are you or aren’t you?”
Nic hurried toward Maleah, tears in her eyes, and held out the stick to show her. “It’s positive. I’m pregnant.” She grabbed Maleah and hugged her. “I’m really pregnant. I had just about given up hope of our having a baby.”
Maleah grasped Nic’s trembling hands, took the test stick from her and laid it on the nightstand. “Have you been experiencing any symptoms? Didn’t you suspect you might be pregnant?”
Nic shook her head. “I guess I’ve ignored the symptoms and chalked them up to nerves, which is understandable considering the stress we’ve been under for several months now. But when I missed my period again, I began to wonder.”
“Good thing you already had a test kit.”
“Yes, it was, wasn’t it. Remember I bought several of them about six months ago when I thought I might be pregnant. But it turned out that I wasn’t pregnant then.”
“But you are now.” Maleah grabbed Nic’s hands again and squeezed. “You’ve got to tell Griff as soon as possible. He’ll be thrilled.”
“We both want a child so very much.” Nic swiped the teardrops from beneath her eyes. “But dear God, what bad timing.”
Maleah hugged Nic again. “Maybe it was simply meant to be. We could all use a little good news about now.”
“I feel as if I’ve been given a miracle.”
When they pulled apart, Maleah said, “You should take a nice, long bubble bath, put on your sexiest lingerie, and call downstairs to tell your husband that he’s needed upstairs immediately.”
“I like your suggestion.”
“I’ll bet Griff will like it, too. And, Nic, just for tonight, forget about everything else and concentrate on you and Griff and your baby.”
Maleah kissed Nic’s cheek. “I think I’ll go back to my room, grab a shower, and see if I can find something sexy to slip into before Derek stops by to say goodnight.”
Nic laughed. “Can you believe it? In the midst of all this chaos, you fall in love and I find out I’m pregnant.”
Maleah waved at Shaughnessy Hood, who stood guard outside Nic’s bedroom. The big bear of a man smiled and nodded. She took her time meandering along to the other side of the house where the guest rooms were located. It seemed wrong somehow to be so happy. But Nic was pregnant. Her best friend, who had been trying to get pregnant for several years, was at long last going to have a baby. And Maleah having fallen head over heels in love was as much of a miracle as Nic being pregnant.
She was in love with Derek Lawrence of all people.
Laughing softly to herself, savoring Nic’s secret and thinking about the night ahead with Derek, Maleah opened her bedroom door and flipped on the light switch to turn on the bedside lamp. The low-watt bulb gave off a dim radiance, creating a romantic glow similar to candlelight. She took off her jacket, tossed it onto a nearby chair, and then removed her holster and slipped it into the right-side nightstand drawer. She kicked off her shoes and waltzed barefoot across the floor to the bathroom. After turning on the shower, she adjusted the water to a toasty warm. Then she stripped off her clothes, tossed them into the laundry hamper and grabbed a washcloth from the stack on the vanity. After lathering her hair with the floral scented shampoo and following with a silky conditioner, she shaved her legs and under her arms.
If only she had something really sexy to slip into after her shower. Although she owned several nice sets of lacy panties and bras, she didn’t have any sexy sleepwear. Considering the fact that her sex life had been pretty much non-existent for a number of years, she hadn’t needed anything other than cotton sleep shirts for summer and wintertime flannel pajamas.
After she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her wet hair, she ran a second towel over her arms and legs.
Suddenly Maleah heard a noise outside in her bedroom. “Derek?”
No response.
“Derek, is that you?”
Silence.
Odd, she could have sworn she heard something that sounded like a door opening and closing.
