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softly, Sloan crossed to the crib. Peering over the side, she saw that Jake
was asleep, his little lips moving in a sucking motion. She watched him,
half-tempted to pick him up anyway, then thought better of it.
As quietly as she had entered the nursery, she left and retraced her path down
the wide corridor. Within steps of the den she caught the sound of Max s
voice, forceful with anger.
In a reflexive action, she glanced toward the den and noticed the door was
opened a crack. She didn t mean to eavesdrop, but it was impossible not to
hear him.
I know what I said. The situation has changed. I don t care how you do it,
but you ve got to lure Calder into town within the next ten days. Sloan came
to a dead stop when she heard the name Calder. All thought of the baby monitor
fled from her mind. After that, I don t particularly give a damn whether you
plant the drugs on him or in his vehicle. I just want an arrest for drug
possession on his record within ten days.
Shock splintered through her. Even though he hadn t mentioned Trey
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specifically, Sloan knew that was who Max was arranging to have framed for
drug possession. The reason was obvious: to influence the judge against Trey
at the custody hearing. She took a step toward the door, intending to stop
this before it went any further. Then Max spoke again.
I wouldn t worry about that. Scorn was in his voice. Once he s been
arrested for drug possession, it won t take much to convince people he s
using. Look at how easily you convinced them he was having an affair. So what
if nobody s seen him high on anything. They never saw him with a woman,
either, but they believed the story just the same.
Her mind whirling with questions, Sloan stood motionless. What was he saying?
That there wasn t another woman? That it was no more true than the drugs he
intended to plant on Trey? But the phone calls? Had they been fake, too? But
why would Max do that? He had to have known it would create problems in her
marriage? Or was that part of his plan?
She suddenly had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that Trey had been
right all along. Max had engineered everything. And, like a fool, she had
believed it. Anger swept through her that she could have been so gullible.
In agitation, Sloan turned away and faltered when Bennett entered the living
room from a side hallway. There was an instant sharpening of his gaze at the
sight of her, as if something in her expression had caught his attention.
Is anything wrong, Mrs. Calder?
Thinking on her feet, she searched for an answer that wouldn t arouse his
suspicion. Yes, but I don t think you can help me. I came back here for
something, and now I can t remember what it was. Of course! she said,
pretending to remember at that moment. The baby monitor.
Acting was a skill she had never needed to practice before. With all the
insecurities of an amateur, Sloan strove to project an air of normalcy while
she collected the monitor from the end table and retreated again to the
hallway. Her nerves screamed with the certainty that Bennett had seen through
her pretense. Yet she didn t dare check his reaction.
Bennett studied her thoughtfully until she was out of sight. He resumed his
original course and crossed to the den, noticed the door wasn t tightly shut,
and walked in.
Was that Sloan s voice I heard, Max demanded the instant he appeared.
Yes.
What was she doing out there? Suspicion was sharp in his look.
She left the baby monitor in the living room. She came back to get it.
Then she wasn t listening at the door?
She didn t appear to be, Bennett replied.
A grunt was the only response.
Before Sloan reached the nursery, Jake started crying. This time it was no
halfhearted sob, but a full-blown wail. The cause was a dirty diaper. Changing
it was a mindless task that allowed Sloan time to think and satisfy the need
for contact with her son.
Does that feel better, little guy? Sloan crooned when she lifted him off the
changing table and cradled him against her shoulder, a hand lightly supporting
the back of his head. Lovingly, she nuzzled the top of it, breathing in the
fresh, clean baby scent that clung to his skin. You certainly smell better,
she murmured. Then fear ran its icy finger over her. What are we going to do,
Jake?
Without an answer, Sloan wandered over to the window. Outside the rain had
stopped, but water continued to drip from the eaves, falling past the glass
panes. Off to the west the clouds had lightened in color as the sun worked to
penetrate their thinning layers.
One of the security guards, in full rain gear and with a leashed German
shepherd at his side, crossed the far side of the lawn. He was a visible
reminder of the cordon of armed guards on the ranch. Ostensibly they were
there to protect her, but Sloan realized they could also prevent her from
leaving.
Alone, she might be able to slip past them. But she knew she d never make it
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with the baby, and there was no way she d leave without him. Sloan felt
trapped.
Yet there had to be a way out, some excuse that wouldn t arouse suspicion.
It was only when she went through her options that she realized how clever Max
had been, eliminating virtually any need for her to leave the ranch. Someone
else did the household shopping. Anything she and Jake could ever need had
already been supplied. She had a lawyer who came to the house, and Sloan
didn t doubt that Max could arrange for doctor s visits as well if any illness
should arise. And there wasn t a chance of faking one, not with a registered
nurse in residence.
Oh my God, she gasped softly as she suddenly realized the true danger
Bennett posed. On two or three occasions over the years, Sloan had seen him
removing medicine from a locked drug cabinet. She could only guess at the
myriad of sedatives, painkillers, and muscle relaxers that were kept on hand
for Max s use. But they could just as easily be given to her if she raised any
objection to being kept there or worse, confronted Max with what she knew.
Then Sloan remembered the document she had signed making Jake the beneficiary
of her estate. Among the provisions was one that dealt with her death. If it
occurred before Jake reached his majority, Sloan had designated Max Rutledge
as Jake s legal guardian.
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