Be My Baby: Konigsburg, Texas, Book 3 Read online

  She grabbed the crate and headed to the back yard. Behind her, she heard Jack begin to fuss. She knew he was picking up on her own anxiety, but she couldn’t do anything about that right now.

  Sweetie raised his head again as Jess hurried toward him. “C’mon Sweetie,” she murmured. “Let’s get you some help.” She gathered the largely limp puppy into her arms and placed him in the crate, then closed the lid.

  Back in the kitchen, Jack had moved from fussing to full-blown distress. Jess set the crate next to the door, and pulled Jack from his high chair. She wrapped him in a blanket and carried him outside to the car, rubbing his back.

  “Please, Jack, don’t make more trouble for Mama,” she begged. “Things are tough enough already.”

  Jack stared at her curiously, then smiled as she put him into his car seat. Oh good, he seemed to say, we’re going for a ride! At least he was easily amused.

  Jess ran back to the house and swung the crate into her arms, locking the door behind her. As she placed it on the back seat, she heard a car turn down the drive.

  Lars’s SUV pulled into view as Jess hurried around to the driver’s side. She heard his car door slam. “Jess?” he called. “Trouble?”

  She paused, turning. “Sweetie’s…sick. I’m taking him to the clinic.”

  She heard Daisy’s wail of distress from Lars’s car, followed by Jack’s wail from her own. Terrific. Dueling babies.

  “We’ll follow you,” Lars called, as she closed her door.

  The parking lot at the clinic was almost empty, so Jess could park at the front. She started unbuckling Jack as Lars pulled in beside her. “I’ll take the kids,” he called. “You get Sweetie inside. I called Cal on the way here.”

  Jess grabbed the crate handles and ran toward the entrance. A dark-haired man in scrubs held the door open for her. “You’re the one who called, right? Come on—let’s get him set up. Dr. T’s on his way.”

  Cal walked in five minutes later, after the aide, Armando, had already lifted Sweetie out of his crate and onto the examination table.

  Cal ran his hands over the dog’s body, watching Sweetie wince. “Oh man, pup, you definitely ate something.” He turned to Jess. “Any idea what?”

  Jess shook her head. “I found him when I got up, lying out in the backyard. He’d been vomiting. The only food I gave him was a bowl of the kibble I bought here.”

  Cal nodded absently, checking Sweetie’s mouth then the rest of his body. “If I had to guess, I’d say something like acetaminophen. It can be toxic to dogs. I don’t suppose you gave him any?”

  Jess shook her head again, more vehemently this time. “No, absolutely not. He was healthy when I went to bed last night.”

  “Okay. I’ll send a blood sample to be tested, but I’m going to go with acetaminophen. We’ll need to give him some medications and rehydrate him with intravenous fluid. And he’ll need to stay here, probably for a few days.”

  “Will he be all right?” Jess thought of Daisy’s anguished face.

  Cal nodded. “Probably. Looks like you got him here fast, and that’s the most important thing.”

  He turned back to Armando, giving him a series of instructions that might as well have been in Urdu as far as Jess was concerned. Armando gathered Sweetie up gently, carrying him through a door in the back of the examination room.

  All of a sudden, Jess found herself collapsing into a chair behind her, as if her legs could no longer bear her weight. She pressed a hand to her mouth, fighting back sobs that made her throat ache.

  Cal knelt in front of her, handing her a paper cup of water as he patted her shoulder. “Drink this. Take it easy. It’s going to be okay now.”

  No it isn’t. Jess swallowed a gulp of water. “He was supposed to protect us, but I didn’t protect him. He was poisoned, wasn’t he?”

  Cal nodded. “I’d guess so. When he recovers you can train him not to take food from strangers. Think of this experience as sort of like aversion therapy.”

  “I shouldn’t have put him outside.” Jess stared at the paper cup in her hand. “I should have left him in the house. It was just…we thought it would keep people out of the backyard.”

  “Obviously, somebody else thought so too.” Cal watched her for a moment, then took the cup out of her limp fingers. “Jess, you should think about staying in town with one of us. It’s not safe out there. And you’ve got Jack to think about too. Docia and I have a spare bedroom you’d be welcome to.”

  Jess took another in a series of deep breaths. “Thank you. I know it’s getting dangerous. I’ll try to figure something out.”

  “If you change your mind, call me. Or Docia. Hell, now that I think of it, you could even stay at Docia’s father’s place back in the hills. He’s got enough security to throw James Bond for a loop.”

  Jess stood, trying hard to smile. “Do you have a tissue? I think I need to wipe my face before I see Daisy.”

  “Right. She’s liable to assume the worst, infant drama queen that she is.” Cal handed her a box of tissues, then opened the door to the waiting room after she’d given her face a quick scrub.

  Daisy stood beside her father’s chair, her eyes the size of quarters. The moment she saw Jess, her lower lip began to tremble. “Where’s Sweetie?” she whimpered.

  “Sweetie’s getting some medicine,” Jess said briskly. “Your Uncle Cal helped him, but he needs to stay here in the hospital until he feels okay again.”

  Tears began to slide down Daisy’s cheeks. “Is he gonna die?”

  “Nope.” Cal picked her up and kissed her on the forehead. “He’s sick right now, but we’ll fix him up, Dais. Have you had any breakfast?”

  Daisy nodded, sticking out her lower lip.

  Lars turned toward Jess. “Have you?”

  Had she? Jess tried to remember. “Maybe not. Too many things happened at once. I’ll fix myself something when I get back home.”

  There was a moment of silence as Cal and Lars both stared at her.

  “We’ll be all right.” Jess swallowed. “Although I’ll understand if you don’t want Daisy to be out there.”

  “Goddamn it, Jess!” Lars snapped. “It isn’t safe for you or Jack either.”

  Daisy stared up at her father, eyes back to quarter size again. Jess wondered if she’d ever heard Lars swear before. She’d be willing to bet not, or at least not since the divorce. “I’ll think of something, Lars.”

  He rubbed a hand across his jaw, then sighed. “Okay. You take Daisy back with you. See if you can find whatever it was Sweetie ate. And by the way, you’re having guests for dinner, which I’ll supply.”

  Jess frowned. “The guests or the dinner?”

  “Both.” Lars headed for the parking lot, shaking his head.

  Lars spent the morning clearing work off his desk and trying not to think about Jessamyn Carroll Moreland. She was either the bravest woman he’d ever met or the dumbest. The jury was still out on which.

  He also called his brothers and his sisters-in-law to let them know what had happened. All his brothers, including Erik.

  The news about Sweetie had already traveled. Even Erik knew, although Lars wasn’t sure exactly how he’d found out.

  “I’m on night duty tonight,” he explained. “I’ll drop by after I get on, say around seven or so. You think you’ll still be there?”

  “I can almost guarantee it,” Lars muttered through clenched teeth.

  Erik chuckled. “Okay, then. Any chance you can talk Ms. Carroll into moving back into town?”

  Lars’s shoulders tightened. “That I can’t guarantee, but I’m working on it.”

  He called the Coffee Corral late in the afternoon and ordered a box of fried chicken with all the fixings. Al Brosius, the cook, promised him French fries, green beans and some passable apple pie. Lars wondered if he’d have to force-feed Jess.

  She was looking a little thin. Hell, she was beginning to look almost transparent. Probably because she didn’t sleep more than a coup
le of hours a night and kept forgetting to eat when she was awake. He needed to do something about that.

  At five he closed down his computer and said goodnight to Mrs. Suarez, then swung by the Corral and picked up the box of food. He was tempted to grab a six-pack at the Stop and Go, but he wasn’t sure Jess drank.

  He wasn’t sure of much about her, he realized. At the moment, he also wasn’t sure what he was going to say. Maybe a calm, reasoned discussion of all the reasons she needed to get the hell out of that house as soon as possible.

  And if she didn’t buy it, maybe he’d just throw her over his shoulder and toss her in the SUV. A move that would be complicated by the fact he’d have to also put Daisy and Jack into their car seats.

  Kids were hell on romance.

  Romance? He only half-raised an eyebrow this time. Yeah. Romance. Deal with it. His interest in Jess Carroll had stopped being platonic a long time ago.

  Lars pulled down the drive to the cabin and stopped. A row of cars was parked in front. Cal’s SUV sat next to Pete’s Acura near Jess’s Accord. Rounding out the line-up was a Konigsburg patrol car.

  Well, crap. Kids weren’t the only thing that was hell on romance. Lars pulled in beside Cal’s car, grabbed his box of food, and walked into the cabin.

  He shouldn’t have bothered with the fried chicken, that much was obvious. Jess was putting a large bowl of soup on the table, while Docia and Janie finished setting up a tray of cold cuts and Kaiser rolls. He could smell something delectable from the kitchen, which probably meant somebody had taken the time to swing by Allie Maldonado’s bakery, praise the lord.

  “Oh good, you’re here.” Docia gestured toward the box of chicken. “Give me that and I’ll get a plate for it.”

  “Where’s Daisy?”

  “She and Jack are out back with your brothers. I’m not sure what they’re doing, but I haven’t heard any squeals, so I assume they’re okay.”

  Jess gave him a somewhat tight-lipped smile.

  Not my fault, ma’am. I didn’t invite them—I swear.

  In the backyard, three Toleffson males prowled around the edge of the fence, two of them—Cal and Pete—with children propped on their shoulders.

  Daisy squealed a hello and then went back to pounding on Cal’s head. Lars figured it served him right. “What exactly is everybody doing here?”

  Cal shrugged as much as he could with Daisy sitting on his shoulders. “Showing our interest and support?” He waggled his eyebrows beneath Daisy’s assault.

  “Butting in,” Lars muttered between his teeth. “Meddling.”

  “That too. Docia and Janie decided on a pre-emptive strike. Also dinner. They think Jess needs a break.”

  “She does.” Lars sighed. “This isn’t it.”

  He wandered across the yard toward Erik. “So what are you doing?”

  Erik glanced up. “Looking for whatever poisoned the dog.”

  Lars checked Daisy. He didn’t think she’d heard.

  “Guys?” Pete called.

  Erik ambled in his direction, with Lars right behind him. Pete nodded toward something in the grass beside his foot, and Erik leaned down.

  A dried-out hamburger patty. With a couple of bites out of one side.

  “Smart dog,” Erik rumbled. “He didn’t eat much.”

  “Lucky dog.” Cal walked up behind them. “You can still see the Tylenol tablets.”

  Erik and Lars knelt on either side. Sure enough, he could see white flecks throughout the reddish-brown meat.

  “Probably tasted like crap.” Cal shrugged Daisy to his other shoulder. “But he only had to eat a little to get sick.”

  Lars glanced at Erik. “Any point in saving this?”

  “There’s always a point.” Erik’s mouth was a grim line. He pulled out his cell phone again and snapped a couple of pictures of the patty. “Let me see if Ms. Carroll has some sandwich bags.”

  Pete sighed, swinging Jack up onto his shoulders again. “I have to say, this changes things. At least for me.”

  Lars watched Cal gallop Daisy to the other end of the yard, then turned back to Pete. “How does it change anything?”

  “Up until now, I figured you might have just a garden-variety burglar. Not too bright, if he thought your lady friend had anything worth stealing, but nothing special. I thought maybe the two of you were overreacting. But no burglar would go to this much trouble unless she’s hiding a cache of diamonds.”

  Lars managed not to snarl. “She’s hiding her son.”

  Pete nodded. “Right. I admit—I wasn’t entirely sold on her story at first. Whole thing sounded a little too dramatic. And after a while, you learn domestic problems usually have a lot of angles. But now I’m buying in. We still don’t have any way to stop these people, though, unless they actually make a grab for the baby. Which nobody wants them to do.”

  “There’s a comfort,” Lars snapped. “At least you don’t want them to go through with the kidnapping.”

  Pete grimaced at him, then began strolling back toward the house. “Give me a break. I told you—I’m buying in. I’m just trying to figure out what the hell we can do now.”

  Jack giggled as Pete picked up his pace a little. Lars tried not to be pleased at the drool running down the baby’s chin and pooling in his brother’s hair.

  “We need to get her out of here and into town.” Lars rubbed the back of his neck. “That has to happen before anything else.”

  “All that does is make them safe for now.” Pete lifted Jack down from his shoulders as he reached the back door, grimacing at his damp palm. “It doesn’t take care of the long-term problem.”

  “I’ll settle for now, believe me.”

  The door opened and Jess leaned out. “Dinner’s on the table.”

  Jack cooed delightedly, reaching for her, and she gathered him into her arms. For a moment she stood in the doorway, rubbing her nose against the baby’s cheek. A willowy Madonna with eyes like jade. Then she looked up again, tucking Jack against her shoulder. Her gaze met Lars’s before she glanced away.

  “C’mon, kid,” she murmured. “Let’s go eat.”

  Pete stood beside Lars watching them go. After a moment, he sighed. “Okay, let’s settle for now.”

  Lydia Moreland didn’t entirely hate the contractor. Not yet, anyway. But she did find his attitude more than a little annoying. She expected daily reports, but no matter how many messages she left on the voice mail number he’d given her, he never contacted her immediately.

  That meant she had to bring her special cell phone with her to the office, which not only wasn’t convenient, it wasn’t safe. Preston had been known to walk into her office unannounced, no matter how many times she’d warned him not to.

  Sometimes she didn’t know quite what to make of Preston. He was certainly a more satisfactory son than Barrett had been, but sometimes he seemed entirely too…self-contained. Particularly lately.

  She didn’t think he’d really disapprove of her efforts to find Barrett’s slut of a wife and retrieve her grandson. After all, he’d been at the funeral. He knew what she was. But sometimes Preston seemed less interested in Moreland affairs than he should be. In spite of all Lydia’s efforts, he didn’t entirely understand the ramifications of letting outsiders into the family.

  For that reason alone, Lydia preferred to keep her interactions with the contractor private. Having to explain oneself, even to one’s son, could be quite annoying.

  As it happened, the contractor’s call finally came through when she was getting ready for bed. She’d just pulled on the new silk La Perla nightgown she’d bought in Philadelphia when she heard the cell phone.

  By now she was beyond waiting out more than two rings. Besides, there was always the chance the contractor would hang up. She clicked the connect button. “What’s happened?”

  “What makes you think anything has?”

  She pressed her lips together, fighting back her immediate response. If they got into another of these silly
games, she’d never find out what she wanted to know.

  “I hoped something had,” she snapped. “Perhaps I should have asked what you had to tell me.”

  “Yes,” the contractor drawled, “that would have been better.”

  Lydia closed her eyes, drumming her fingers on the night table. She was paying for this insolence. “What do you have to tell me?” she muttered.

  “Your daughter-in-law has picked up some local allies, although they may not know who she is. I’ve developed some counter-measures. I should be able to make good on our agreement within two weeks.”

  Lydia balled her hand into a fist, telling herself not to shout. “You’ve already had considerable time and money to achieve that goal. You’re telling me you’re still not ready to deliver my grandson?”

  “Kidnapping is a tricky business, Mrs. Moreland. Even though you have basically given me permission to murder your daughter-in-law in the process.” The contractor’s mechanical voice hummed in her ear.

  Her throat tightened dangerously. “How dare you!”

  “How dare I what? Say it out loud?” The contractor chuckled. “All right, Mrs. Moreland, here’s your chance. Would you rather I not kidnap your grandson? Do you forbid me to harm your daughter-in-law even in passing?”

  Lydia licked her lips, listening to her pulse thunder in her ears. She didn’t think she could manage to say anything, even if she’d wanted to.

  “Mrs. Moreland?” The contractor’s voice was brisk. “Still there?”

  “I’m here,” she croaked.

  There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. Lydia could picture the bastard smiling at her distress. “Good. Let’s have no more pretense, shall we? I’ll call you when I have something to report.”

  The click in her ear sounded exactly like a rifle shot.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jess found dinner an interesting experience. Up until now, she’d seen the Toleffson brothers only in pairs, where they seemed large but not overwhelming. When all four of them were in the same room, overwhelming didn’t begin to describe the feeling.