Wild Stallion. Delores Fossen

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СКАЧАТЬ break into the hospital lab the day before, and they thought I’d seen them without their masks. I might have,” she admitted.

      “You don’t remember?” he questioned.

      “No. I was there for some pre-op tests, and my mind was on the baby I was going to have. But they didn’t know that. They thought I was a threat. So they found out who I was and made a bogus call for me to come to the hospital for a bogus appointment. But I was already at the hospital because my labor started early.”

      He checked the phone monitor again. “Why didn’t the gunmen just go into the recovery room after you?”

      Bailey heard the question, but she had to know what was going on. Jackson kept looking at the phone, but he was giving her no clues as to what was happening. “Where’s the intruder?”

      “Still at the rear of the property. My men are closing in on him. Now, back to the question. Why didn’t the gunmen go into recovery after you?”

      “Because someone hid me, and my baby. I don’t know the person who did that, but I think it might be one of the two women in those photos. Both of them worked at the hospital at the time of the hostage incident.”

      He made an impatient circling motion with his finger when she stopped. “Keep going.”

      “The woman told me she had to take my son because the gunmen might hurt him.” Bailey had to pause again when she relived those last moments with her baby. “She took him and disappeared. I’ve been looking for him ever since, but I think someone doesn’t want me to find him. There have been three attempts on my life.”

      Jackson made a sound of mild interest. “I read the gunmen are dead now, and the person who hired them is in prison.”

      She nodded. “But I’m pretty sure someone has continued to follow me. I don’t know if it has anything to do with my missing son, or if it’s just someone who wants to do a news story. Some of the former hostages have been hounded by reporters.”

      No sound of mild interest this time. He groaned, a deep rumbling in his throat, and cursed. “Still, someone tried to kill you, but you decided to come here anyway?”

      “Those attempts on my life have nothing to do with this visit.” She couldn’t say it fast enough. “It’s been days, weeks even, since anyone has followed me. That’s why it was time for this visit. I thought I should come here today… .”

      “Say it,” Jackson demanded when she stopped.

      Bailey wasn’t sure she could. She’d searched for so long, and it was bittersweet to think she might be this close and still be so far away from having the life she’d planned.

      “I thought if I could see the child you’re adopting,” she whispered, “that I would know if he was—well—mine.”

      There it was. She’d just let him know that Caden James Malone could be the child who had been stolen from her.

      And in Jackson’s mind that meant she was the enemy.

      She’d read all about him. The ruthless business practices, the endless string of properties and businesses he’d acquired, often through hostile takeovers. His failed marriage in his early twenties to a woman who’d turned out to be a gold-digging opportunist. Rumors were, the sour relationship had embarrassed him and his family and had cost him millions. And it had also caused him to vow to stay single for the rest of his life.

      Obviously, that vow hadn’t extended to fatherhood.

      Bailey had poured over every article she could find, and it seemed as if, more than the money and his billion-dollar portfolio, the one thing Jackson Malone wanted most was children.

      Now he had one.

      And God knows what he would do to hang on to the baby.

      “Do you have any proof?” he asked. There was pure skepticism in his tone.

      “Some. I’ve researched all the adopted baby boys who were born in Texas on his birthday, and Caden is the only one I haven’t been able to exclude.”

      He gave her a flat look. “Who says your son was adopted? He could have been taken to another state, or across the border. His adoption could have been illegal. Or maybe there was no adoption at all.”

      Yes. And that possibility had caused her many sleepless nights. Not knowing what had happened was the worst.

      “I have my son’s DNA,” she continued. “I got it from the umbilical cord that had been saved after his delivery. The police kept that quiet so no one in the media would report it. They wanted to be able to use it when and if they found a baby matching my son’s description. But the police also gave me a copy of those test results, and I was hoping you’d let me compare that DNA to the baby you’re about to adopt.”

      His right eyebrow lifted, and he gave her a cold, hard stare to let her know that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

      “It’s best for all of us if we know the truth,” Bailey said, still trying.

      “Really?” he challenged. “Here’s what I do know.” But a sound cut off whatever he’d been about to say.

      It was a loud bang.

      A gunshot.

      Jackson’s attention went straight to the phone, but he turned the screen so that she couldn’t see.

      “Because you came here today, you might have endangered my son,” he continued, with his gaze fastened to the screen. “If what you’ve told me is true, someone could still be trying to kill you. So why the hell would you want to involve an innocent child in all of this?”

      Her eyes burned, and Bailey tried to blink back the tears. She wasn’t quite successful. “Because I don’t think anyone is still trying to kill me. Besides, I had to know if he’s my son.”

      “And then what?” Jackson snapped. He glared at her.

      That was the hardest question of all, because she couldn’t just walk away until she’d learned the truth.

      She swallowed hard. Even if Caden was indeed her son, Jackson Malone wasn’t just going to let her claim him. He no doubt approached fatherhood like he did his business, and that meant she was in another fight for her life.

      “Caden’s adoption is legal,” Jackson concluded. “No one stole him from you. His birth mother is an unmarried college student from Austin who couldn’t raise him, so she contacted a private adoption agency after he was born.”

      That was info that Bailey hadn’t been able to uncover. But it didn’t mean it was true. Maybe it was a story concocted by the woman who’d stolen Bailey’s newborn.

      His phone buzzed, and Jackson glanced down at the screen. He pulled in a deep breath and used the device to make a call. “Well?” he said to the person who answered.

      Since this was likely about the intruder, Bailey tried to listen, but she couldn’t hear the explanation that Jackson was getting. She held her breath, waiting.

      “My men have the СКАЧАТЬ