That puts everyone on alert.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because he looked at Sophie like she was something he owned. And when he found out she was pregnant, he showed up furious. Said she ruined everything. She made me promise that if anything ever happened to her, I’d take Aidan and run.”
I clench my fists.
Rafe shifts his stance. “It could be nothing. Could be a coincidence. Or it could be that someone out there doesn’t want this kid to live long enough to be a liability.”
“Jesus,” Kayley breathes.
“We’ll figure it out,” I say, voice low. “We always do.”
I nod to the others. “Keep digging. I want background on every alias Ford might’ve used. Bank transfers. Deployment records. Any companies he’s been tied to.”
Wyatt nods and gets to work. Rafe and Harlan move toward the back room where the secure comms are housed.
I turn to Kayley. “I need to talk to someone. I won’t be long.”
She tugs her flannel tighter. “Where are you going?”
“Just out back. Sheriff’s on-site today.”
Her brow lifts. “Youknowthe sheriff?”
I smile. “We trained him.”
Silas James is smokinga cigar out behind the barn, leaning against a post with the casual stillness of a man who’s seen every kind of trouble and learned to wait it out.
“Thought you’d be holed up in your cabin,” he says when he spots me.
“Had to bring her in,” I reply. “We’re getting pieces now. Enough to make me nervous.”
Silas grunts. “That hard to do.”
“Only when it’s personal.”
He gives me a long look. “It’s personal now?”
I don’t answer. Don’t need to.
“You think this guy’s on some black list?”
“If he’s who she says, he’s operating with off-the-books clearance and shadow contracts. That makes him dangerous.”
“Want me to run a quiet background?”
I nod. “Anything you can find. Anything youdon’tfind. She’s got custody of that kid, and someone wants him gone. That’s not a baby-daddy custody dispute. That’s bigger.”
Silas nods, flicks ash off his cigar, and murmurs, “You like her.”
“She’s different.”
He smirks. “You said that about the nurse in Montana.”
“Irespectedthe nurse in Montana. This is different.”
He nods again, and it’s quiet for a moment before he says, “You gonna keep her?”
