Cox, Suzanne - Unexpected Daughter Read online

  “Thanks for letting me ride, Mr. Robert.”

  The man smiled and waved as they walked away, then he disappeared into the barn.

  In the car, Dylan buckled her seat belt. “Did Mr. Robert ask you about the guys throwing us off the boat?”

  Brijette glanced at her daughter. “Yeah, he did.”

  The girl wiggled in the seat. “Good. I told him you’d remember more than I did.”

  Brijette stuck the key in the ignition. “What do you mean? What did he ask you?”

  “About a million questions. I finally told him I couldn’t remember much because my arm hurt bad, which wasn’t really true, but heck, I don’t know what the guys sounded like or if I’ve heard their voices before.”

  Brijette stopped with the ignition key half-turned. “Why did he ask you all that?”

  Dylan shrugged. “I guess he wanted to know. Hey, wait—” she looked around the car “—I left my tote bag with my stuff in it. It’s got my shorts I had on this morning and the book I’m reading.” She unhooked her seat belt but Brijette stopped her.

  “Tell me where it is and I’ll go get it.”

  “It’s by the feed room.”

  Brijette threw the door open and hurried toward the barn. She didn’t want Robert quizzing Dylan about what happened that day on the river, and she’d tell him if he were still here. But what bothered her most was why was he asking those questions at all.

  Shadows filled the barn as horses stamped in their stalls. Halfway down the hall she could see the bag and she hurried toward it. A dim light shone from beneath the feed room door and she wondered if Robert was still there or if he’d gone and forgotten to turn it off. She bent to reach for the bag, and that was when she saw it. Her heart beating fast, she scooted a little way farther into the hall, her fingers exploring the ground. She lifted a clump of dirt and rubbed it between her fingers until it became dust and drifted to the ground. She traced the edges of the footprint one more time.

  The door to the feed room swung open, the light blinding her, and a figure appeared. She knew it was Robert but her heart sailed into her throat. His face was hidden in the shadows, his body outlined by the light behind him. She would be okay. He wouldn’t know why she was poking around in the dirt, would he?

  “Brijette, what are you doing down there?”

  “I came to get Dylan’s bag and I…it…fell and I stumbled when I bent to get it.” She laughed, but it sounded forced, even to her.

  Robert stepped into the hallway. He smiled, but his brows were drawn together.

  “Be careful, and bring Dylan back soon.”

  She gripped the bag’s straps and sprinted for the car.

  Sliding into the seat, she tossed Dylan the bag and started the car.

  “Did Mr. Robert tell you his leg was hurting?”

  “What?”

  “He said he had an injury that hurts him a lot. He told me his leg always hurts before it rains. Did you know he almost got killed in a car wreck when he was young?”

  Brijette knew Robert had an injured leg. She simply hadn’t thought of it in years, probably not since she learned of it when he’d come in to get Doc Arthur to renew his prescription for pain medication. He was one of Doc’s oldest friends. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t recognized that the footprint she’d been studying these past few weeks—the one she’d seen a year ago when she’d scrambled onto Jodi’s front porch—was Robert’s.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “JACKSON’S GONE to Lafayette until tomorrow. Do you want to leave a message?”

  “No, that’s okay.” Brijette put the phone on its base and got a bottle of water from the refrigerator. In the hall, Cade gave Alicia instructions for what he wanted done with the patient he’d just seen. Her fingers tightened around the cold damp plastic. She’d have to wait even though the hair on her scalp felt perpetually on end. Revealing her suspicions to anyone would make them think she’d completely lost her mind. She still wasn’t totally convinced herself.

  When Jackson came back she’d get the papers she’d given him with the drawings of the prints she’d made at the last house. She’d take them to Robert’s barn when he wasn’t there and compare the drawings with his tracks. That would be proof that Robert had actually been present at all the places they’d found the drugs and even at Jodi’s house on the day he died, an idea she’d rather not consider.

  “Hey, I’ve got two rooms ready for you with patients waiting.”

  “Oh, okay, I’m coming,” she called to Alicia.

  Before she could make it to the kitchen door, Cade intercepted her. “You sick this morning? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

  She shook her head. “A little tired, that’s all.”

  “Why don’t you come eat with Dylan and me tonight? You can go home early and rest.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  “Try to reign in that excitement if you can, or I’ll think you really like the idea.”

  Brijette smiled. “Sorry, I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  “Need to talk about it?”

  Yes, she wanted to say, but she couldn’t, not until she knew for sure Robert was the one. Claiming that a local businessman could be involved in major drug dealing wasn’t going to earn her popularity points in this town. Not unless she could conclusively prove it was true. For that she needed the help of the sheriff’s department, since they already had an ongoing investigation. Until then, her suspicions were better kept to herself.

  “No, it’s just day-to-day stuff.”

  “You’re not worrying because of the custody proceeding, are you?”

  How could she possibly have forgotten that? Cade had been working with a lawyer to establish legal custody of Dylan, while his mother had decided to stay in Cypress Landing until the proceedings were complete. It was only right he share in their child’s life, and she realized that now. Brijette certainly wasn’t trying to fight his bid for joint custody because she’d seen how wrong she’d been to keep them apart. Slight nuances of Dylan’s personality were now so obviously Cade’s. He was being very generous in the custody proceedings and hadn’t once mentioned leaving for Dallas. The possibility that he wouldn’t made her happier than she cared to admit. He’d been angry with her that day on the boat when she’d stopped him from kissing her. But he seemed to have forgotten that lately. He hadn’t tried to kiss her again, but she could tell he wanted to and she didn’t plan on stopping him next time.

  He squeezed her shoulder and she remembered he was still standing there watching her. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

  He tugged her, gently at first, then roughly, pulling her against him, a place she hadn’t been since she’d kissed him that evening on the boat. She’d missed being there, even though she’d tried briefly to convince herself it wasn’t true. Finally, she quit resisting. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest, his heart thumping next to her ear. She almost believed him when he said the words. The image of the three of them, maybe even more than three of them, as a family, wavered in the part of her mind where she kept the dreams she wasn’t sure she could make happen.

  “Brijette, I want you to know that I’ve learned to love it here in Cypress Landing and I…”

  “Hey, Cade. Can you come see what you think—”

  Andy stopped short, in the doorway to the kitchen, his shoes squeaking on the wood floor. “Sorry, you two, but you could at least get a room.”

  Cade ignored him. “Later,” he whispered, and untangled himself from her, following Andy into the hall.

  What was it he’d been about to say? She could think of several different possibilities. “I’m going to stay here.” “I wish I could stay but I made a commitment to my father before he died”—that would be the dutiful Cade. Or had he been about to tell her that he’d chosen a different path than his family had imagined for him, by ending his sentence with “and I love you”? Rubbing her forehead, she tried to push the thought from her mind. At the
moment, planning her future was giving her a monumental headache.

  BRIJETTE STUDIED HER watch after replacing the phone in the clinic’s kitchen for the second day in a row without talking to Jackson. Ten-thirty in the morning and the lead investigator was already on a call. The dispatcher who took non-emergency incoming calls hesitated slightly before telling Brijette she wasn’t sure where he was at that moment or when he would return. It made the back of her neck itch. Did the girl really not know, or was she not telling? Maybe they’d made a big break in the prescription drug case but were keeping everything under wraps until they caught whoever they were after. She wondered if they’d found evidence on Robert. What if they were arresting the wrong person or a low-level assistant who would never give them Robert’s name for risk of his family being hurt?

  Slamming the chart onto the counter, she tried to stop her errant thinking. This was her neighbor Robert, not an underworld criminal. He wouldn’t hurt people like that, would he? She scribbled some notes on the chart, slipping the pen into her pocket when she finished. The truth was, she might not even know her neighbor, not really.

  In the front she heard voices. They were indecipherable at first, then Cade’s boomed loudly above the rest. “This can’t be right.”

  She started across the room, hoping he wasn’t talking to a patient. As she rounded the door into the hall, she saw Jackson Cooper striding toward her. “Jackson, thank goodness, I’ve been trying to reach you for two days and…” Her voice faltered as she noticed his grim expression.

  He clasped her upper arm. His features became pained when the silver in his hand flashed in front of her. “I’m sorry, Brijette.”

  “Jackson, what is this?”

  He gripped her tightly as he fastened the cuff to her wrist. Nausea hit her as the metal band clicked. She couldn’t breathe and the edges of her vision began to darken.

  Almost as if from a world away, Jackson’s voice floated into her consciousness. “Brijette Dupre, you are being arrested…”

  The words passed over her as she crumpled to the floor with Jackson trying to hold her by the arm. Past Jackson’s leg it seemed the entire staff had gathered in the hall. Cade’s face was as white as the lab coat he wore. In his eyes she saw it, what she’d seen years ago, disbelief and distrust. History was repeating itself and she could see all her hopes and dreams draining away. Only this time it wasn’t just Cade she’d be losing, it would be Dylan, too.

  CADE SIGNED THE CHECK, handing it across the counter, and like that, Brijette was free on bail. Not exactly a phrase he expected to use in reference to the mother of his child. He wouldn’t see her today, though. She was meeting with a lawyer and he had to get Dylan out of town. Brijette’s voice begged him through her tears to please take the girl to his mother’s house in Texas until she could clear her name. She claimed she was innocent. He hadn’t known what to believe the last time she was arrested and he wasn’t sure this time, either. The evidence was completely convincing. A shadow fell across the counter and he glanced up.

  “Sheriff Wright.” Cade didn’t know what to expect from the man who had stood quietly watching during Brijette’s arrest.

  “You understand she didn’t do this, don’t you?”

  Cade frowned. “Why did you arrest her, then?”

  He walked to the far side of the room and motioned for Cade to follow.

  “There’s plenty of evidence to prove she was behind the prescription drug ring. We found records, drugs, prescriptions, you name it. When we finally got information out of T.J. Broussard, the father of that baby Brijette delivered, we were able to pick up one of the guys on the boat. Everything we found at his place led us straight to her. Once we picked her up and searched her house, the rest of the evidence was there.”

  “Sounds pretty conclusive to me.”

  Matt nodded. “That’s what bothers me. It’s too tight, too perfect, lying there waiting for us to find. Besides, I’ve known Brijette a long time and I don’t think for a minute she’d do this.”

  “Even though she was involved in a similar incident when she was younger?” Cade stuffed his checkbook in his pocket.

  “I don’t believe the past has any bearing on the present. She learned a hard lesson. She’s honest and upright, and you know it.”

  “Do I? She’s lied and hidden my child from me for years.”

  The sheriff eyed the sunglasses in his hand. “We both know there was more to it than that. Why should she have told you when she didn’t think you wanted the child?”

  Cade didn’t have a response because Matt had a point. In his heart he didn’t believe Brijette had done wrong this time; even when she was younger it had just been a case of bad judgment. Before, it had been easier to believe she was guilty and go on with his life, never going against his parents. But this was the mother of his child. Not only that, she was the woman he loved. He couldn’t run now, not again.

  He pushed his hair away from his forehead. “Who would do this? Who would want to make her look guilty?”

  “She says she knows who it might be, but honestly, it’s so unbelievable it’s going to be next to impossible to prove.”

  The door swung open and several people entered the room.

  “We’ll have to discuss it later. Are you waiting here for Brijette?”

  “No, she doesn’t want me to. I’ve brought her car here and my mother and I are going to take Dylan to Dallas. She’ll stay there with my mother until we know what’s going to happen. Brijette didn’t want her to deal with the gossip.”

  Matt sighed. “I hope we can find something. My getting on the stand saying I don’t believe she did it won’t make much difference with the evidence we’ve got.”

  Cade pushed through the door into the thick summer air. Uncle Arthur and Andy could manage a while at the clinic by themselves. He only prayed that when he went back to help them, Brijette would be with him.

  BRIJETTE LEANED against the hot metal of her car door. “I did not do this, Jackson. It’s pure insanity.” Behind the investigator waves of heat reflected off the asphalt parking lot.

  “Hell, Brij, I know that. But what are we supposed to do? Your house looked like drug dealer central.”

  “Like I’d be stupid enough to have that stuff at my house.”

  “It doesn’t have to make sense, as long as it’s there.”

  “I keep trying to tell you, Robert is involved with this. I found his tracks at several of the scenes we went to.”

  “And I’m telling you, we have less than nothing on him. It’s not like there’s a plaster cast of those footprints in my office. All I’ve got is you saying that the imprint of his foot in the dirt matches tracks you saw at a crime scene. Tracks that are long gone by now, I might add. If we start asking questions he’ll pack everything up and we’ll never catch him. Then guess who’s left?”

  “I’ll have to find more evidence myself.”

  Jackson shook his head. “Now you’re being stupid. If he is doing this you could end up floating downriver. You have a daughter at home. I suggest you leave this to us.”

  “What, and hope I get released from jail in time to watch her graduate? You said yourself you’ve got nothing to go on. It could be years before you find who did this. While you’re investigating, I’ll be sitting on my butt in jail.”

  “It won’t take that long, I promise.”

  She jerked the car door open. “It better not, Jackson, because I’m beginning to think I don’t have time to spare.”

  She drove off, leaving the county jail and courthouse behind. At seventeen she’d spent time in a youth detention facility for ignoring what her good sense told her. This time she was older, and, unlike before, she’d done nothing to put herself in this situation. That is, nothing but find who was orchestrating the drug ring in Cypress Landing.

  All these years Robert had been a neighbor and friend. Her daughter had spent hours at his barn riding horses. If he’d been able to hide his involvement for this long, t
he sheriff’s department wouldn’t be able to catch him that easily. She could go to jail. The thought made her nauseous and she tilted one of the air-conditioning vents toward her face. That kind of thinking would only slow her down. There was a way to solve this and she was going to find it. Robert would see. She wouldn’t go to jail quietly.

  Her house was a wreck as a result of the deputies stripping it in their search for evidence. Brijette stood in the entrance, staring at the contents of drawers that had been emptied onto the floor and the furniture that had been left at odd angles. Before she set foot inside, she heard tires crunching the gravel. She recognized the car immediately, although she hadn’t expected Mrs. Wheeler to agree to Brijette’s seeing Dylan before they left for Dallas. But Dylan scrambled from the car and raced toward her. Brijette stopped her at the front steps, not wanting her to go inside to see the mess the sheriff’s people had made in their house.

  Dylan threw her arms around her. “Mom, what’s happening?”

  Brijette hung on to her, trying to will her tears away, but they spilled over onto her cheeks.

  “Don’t worry. It’s a mistake and I’m going to set everything straight. I did not do this.”

  “You promise. You’re telling the truth.”

  She put her palms on either side of Dylan’s face, holding her so the girl would have to meet her eyes. “I told you before that I would always tell the truth from now on because I trust you to be able to handle whatever it is you and I have to face.”

  Between her hands Dylan’s head moved up and down.

  “But Cade says I have to go with them to Dallas.”

  “You do need to go. I’ll be very busy working with Mr. Cooper and Sheriff Wright to find out who did this to me, so it’s a great time for you to see your grandmother’s house. I’ll bet it’s very nice.”

  “I want to stay here and help you.”

  Brijette shook her head. “You can’t, not this time.”

  She glanced up to see Mrs. Wheeler standing at the bottom of the steps. If Brijette hadn’t thought her incapable she’d have sworn the woman had tears in her eyes.