AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As he entered the bedroom, Hayley was just finishing eating. “Is Dania okay?”
“What do you think?” he asked gently, wanting her to give him a recount of what had taken place.
“I don’t know. When I told her what I wanted to name my son, she got a funny look on her face and left.” She innocently blinked at him as he stood beside her bed.
He stared at her. She wasn’t stupid. She had to know exactly what she’d done when she’d told Dania who the father was. He waited for her to say more. They were at a standoff. He might as well go into this conversation full throttle. Sometimes that blasted through all the bull and helped people get right to the point, which was what they needed now. “I want you to tell me the truth. You know darn well that Val was Dania’s old boyfriend, and yet, until this morning, you never told her that he was the father of your child. Why?”
“Val doesn’t believe the baby is his, and we haven’t been in a relationship for nine months. Why would I tell her that?” Hayley glared at him.
“Because you both know him. That gives you something in common.”
She gave him an assessing look, as if debating whether to tell him what he needed to know. “Look, things happened so fast last night, I didn’t have a chance; plus, I was a little busy giving birth.”
He clenched his teeth. If it had been anyone else and if what this woman said and did wouldn’t have grave repercussions on Dania, he might be more willing to feed her more questions to catch her in a lie. But he didn’t have time.
The clock kept ticking toward Dania’s capture, and time was fast running out. “Tell me the true reason you were at Gran’s house last night and who that other guy was.”
“I swear I don’t know him. And I was telling you the truth. I did know your grandmother.”
Brett pulled the handcuffs from his back pocket. “Okay, I’ve had enough. I’m taking you in, whether you’ve just had a baby or not. You’ve confessed to trespassing, and I’m filing charges.”
“No, you won’t.” A smirk pulled at her lips. “I’ll tell the authorities about Dania and you.”
“I’m taking Dania with me.” He reached to grab her arm.
“Wait!” Hayley looked panicked. “Okay. If you must know, Val sent me there.”
He’d suspected it was so, but to have it verbally confirmed made him feel like he was on the verge of making an even bigger discovery. “Why would he have you do that?”
“I don’t know.” Hayley shook her head and gave a shrug. “He knew I visited your grandmother’s house. She was such a kind and caring woman. I feel her spirit at her house, and it gives me comfort. He just wanted me to check to see if Dania was hiding there. Something happened yesterday that rattled him. That’s all. You have to believe me.”
Val had suspected Dania was with Brett. He’d probably put a tail on Brett after he’d left the auction office. Brett hadn’t noticed one, and he had been darn careful. Would Hayley know if Val had him followed? What could it hurt to ask? “Let’s try this again, and remember, Hayley, I can take you in, and you won’t be able to see your baby. He’ll be put in Child Protective Services, and you might never see him again.”
“I don’t know how Val knew where she was.” Hayley wrung her hands together. “He came here yesterday very upset. He slapped me around a bit and yelled at me, telling me I was a worthless dog and that he’d take the baby from me. He would do it too. Even though he doesn’t believe the baby is his, he’d do it.”
Randy used to beat Brett’s mother, which had been terrifying. That Val could hit a pregnant woman churned Brett’s gut. A wellspring of empathy for Hayley filled him. Curious, he asked, “Hayley, why would you want to name your child after Val?”
As if welcoming another chance to explain, she said, “Because it would eat at him, make him rethink and know that I was telling the truth.”
In a crazy, roundabout way, Brett understood. “You might think that name over for a bit. Val doesn’t deserve the honor of having a child named after him. Plus, what message are you sending your child? Your baby is a handsome little guy. If I were you, I’d take him far away from here and make up some story about his dad until he’s old enough to understand. Your son might be upset, but in the end, you could be saving not only his life but your own. Please think it over long and hard.”
“Then, you believe me?”
He hadn’t noticed the red marks on her brow before. His gaze went to the bruises on her arms. He hadn’t seen them last night, but they had to have been there. They backed up her story. “Let’s just say, if what you’ve just told me is true, I’m giving you the benefit of a doubt. Were you supposed to report to Val this morning?”
She nodded and pulled out her cell phone that she’d hidden beneath her pillow. “I already did.” She pressed her screen and handed the phone to him.
Brett scrolled to a text between her and Val. The last one stated:Dania was not at that house.
Val hadn’t sent a reply.
“I couldn’t give her away.” Hayley wrung her hands together again. “Not after all she’s done for me and my son. But I told him the truth. Dania wasn’t at your grandmother’s when I saw her. I just didn’t add that she’d been at the neighbor’s and is with me now.”
Brett knew what a giant risk Hayley was taking. When Val realized she didn’t tell him everything, he’d come after her with a vengeance. She and her baby wouldn’t be safe. “You have a very small window of time before he figures out that you lied. Is there someplace you could go and hide for a while?”
“My parents disowned me, and I wouldn’t want to go there anyway. I don’t want to put them in danger.” She smoothed a hair away from her face.
The fact that even after her folks kicked her out, she didn’t want harm to come to them spoke volumes of her character. Brett may have severely misjudged her. “You know I’m a deputy marshal, right?”
