The Cowboy's Son. Delores Fossen

to dust because he’d attacked a vulnerable woman who’d just given birth. And why? All so someone could steal her infant son and sell him.

      But Dylan had lived the flip side of Rodney Harmon’s diabolical plan. He’d adopted the baby that Rodney had helped steal. Dylan couldn’t regret that. Ever. But he could regret the pain Collena had gone through.

      But maybe that could be overshadowed by Curtis’s other allegation. That Collena was responsible for what had happened.

      Had Collena assisted Rodney in some way?

      Since there was obviously a lot of new issues to discuss, Dylan chose the one that could cause the most serious and immediate problems. “Why would this Harmon guy come after you?” Dylan asked Collena. “Weren’t there dozens of cops who helped put him away? Why single you out?”

      Collena looked him straight in the eye when she answered. “He blamed me personally for his arrest because I was the only one who was able to identify him. And I tes tified against him during his trial.”

      Hell.

      So, there was a new threat—a serious one. And if Harmon had escaped the night before, he could have been the one to set fire to Collena’s car. But that was a stretch, since Harmon would have first had to know where Collena was and then follow her.

      Still, it wasn’t impossible.

      But Harmon was a threat Dylan would have to deal with later. Right now, he had to get Curtis off his porch and far away from Adam.

      “Look, I have zero patience for you and this visit, especially today,” Dylan told Curtis. “Have your lawyer contact my lawyer, and stay away from anything that’s mine. And right now, Adam is mine.”

      “This isn’t over,” Curtis insisted, though he did proceed down the steps. “One way or another, I will get my grandson. There’s not a judge anywhere in the world that will give Collena custody. Nor you, Dylan Greer.”

      That did not sound like an idle remark. “Been digging up dirt on me, too?” Dylan calmly asked.

      Curtis caught the door handle of his car, but he didn’t get in. “You bet I have.” The man smiled. “That’s some dark cloud you got hanging over you. Two women are dead. Others are psychologically scarred for life. It could happen again. And I’m going to use anything I can to get custody of Adam.”

      With that threat still lingering in the freezing air, Curtis got in his car and slammed the door. Dylan and Collena watched as he sped away, kicking up a spray of snow, dirt and ice. The back end of the car fishtailed on the slick surface, but Curtis continued to speed out through the gates.

      “Why don’t you come in?” Dylan invited Collena. He took hold of her arm to make her realize this wasn’t an invitation she could turn down. “You have some things to explain.”