Under The Cowboy's Protection. Delores Fossen

steps. Good. It was bad enough that he had Thea to watch, and he didn’t want to have to keep an eye on Yvette, too. If those armed thugs were still in the area, it was too dangerous for Yvette to follow them.

      Thea didn’t stay back though. Despite her unsteady gait, she kept on walking, straight toward the woods, and Raleigh had to run to catch up with her. He’d just managed that when he heard someone call out to him.

      “Raleigh?” It was Deputy Dalton Kane. Since Raleigh hadn’t heard a siren, it meant Dalton had done a silent approach, and Raleigh was glad he was there. He needed some backup right now.

      “Stay with Mrs. O’Hara,” Raleigh told him. “The woman on the porch,” he added in case Dalton didn’t know who Yvette was. “And get more backup and some CSIs out here. I want the house processed ASAP.”

      Again, Thea got ahead of him, and Raleigh had to catch up with her. She didn’t even pause when she made it to the trees; she just walked right in. Since it was obvious that she wasn’t going to be cautious, Raleigh moved in front of her.

      “I think the thugs were parked back here somewhere,” Thea said. “Shortly after the one hit me with the stun gun, I believe I heard a vehicle leaving.”

      Raleigh silently groaned. If that was true, then there was no telling where Sonya could be. “Is it possible one of the men had the baby with him?” he asked.

      “No.” But Thea paused and shook her head. “Maybe. I didn’t get even a glimpse of him. After the stun gun hit, I fell on the porch, and I think I passed out.”

      Perhaps because she’d hit her head. Raleigh could see the bruise forming on her right cheekbone. Of course, if this was a kidnapping, the person could have even drugged Thea to make sure she didn’t come after them.

      But who would want to kidnap Sonya?

      Raleigh drew a blank. Sonya hadn’t been romantically involved with anyone. At least he didn’t think she had been, but it was possible she’d met someone. It was something Raleigh hoped he could ask her as soon as they found her.

      They kept walking, and it didn’t take long for Raleigh to spot the clearing just ahead. He’d been born and raised in Durango Ridge, but he hadn’t been in this part of the woods. However, like the rest of the area, there were paths and old ranch trails like this one that led to the creek.

      “The rain is washing away the tracks,” Thea mumbled, and she sped up.

      She was right—if there were any tracks to be found, that is. And there were. Despite the rain, Raleigh could still see the grooves in the dirt and gravel surface. A vehicle had been here recently. He took out his phone to get photos of the tracks just in case they were gone before the CSI team could arrive. He’d managed to click a few shots when he heard Thea make a loud gasp.

      Raleigh snapped in her direction, following her gaze to see what had captured her attention. There, in the bushes, he saw something that he definitely hadn’t wanted to see.

      Sonya’s lifeless body.

       Chapter Two

      Thea fought the effects of the adrenaline crash. Or rather she tried. But while she was waiting on Sonya’s front porch, she was also fighting off the remnants of that stun gun, along with the sickening dread that another woman was dead.

      Oh, God. She was dead.

      For a few seconds after she’d seen the body, Thea had tried to hold out hope that it wasn’t Sonya. That it was some stranger, but that had been an unrealistic hope to have. After all, she’d seen the gunman taking Sonya. She’d known the woman was in extreme danger.

      “Why did the gunman even take Sonya from the house?” Thea mumbled. “If he was just going to kill her, why didn’t he do that when he first broke in?”

      She hadn’t intended for anyone to actually hear those questions. Not with all the chaos going on. But Raleigh obviously heard her, since he looked at her. What he didn’t do was attempt an answer, because he was standing in the front doorway while giving instructions to the CSIs, who were now processing Sonya’s yard and house.

      Because it was a crime scene.

      One that wasn’t in Thea’s jurisdiction.

      That’s why she just sat there on the front porch, waiting for Raleigh to give her some task to do. Any task. Anything that would help them find out who’d done this. That wouldn’t stop this crushing feeling in her heart though, and it couldn’t bring back Sonya. But maybe Thea could help get justice for the dead woman.

      “Please tell me you found the baby,” she said when Raleigh finished with the CSIs and started toward her.

      He shook his head. “But there’s some evidence that Sonya delivered the child here, at her house.” Raleigh added a weary sigh to that, and he stopped directly in front of her. “There were some bloody sheets in the washer, and a package of newborn diapers had been opened. So had a case of premade formula bottles. Three of the bottles and four of the diapers were missing.”

      Well, Sonya had obviously had the baby somewhere, so the delivery could have easily happened here in her home, but that just led Thea to yet another question. Why wouldn’t Sonya have gone to the hospital to deliver the child?

      However, Thea instantly thought of a bad answer to that.

      Maybe the gunman was here when the baby had been born. Those thugs could have stopped her from getting the medical attention she needed.

      She looked up at Raleigh, and he was staring at her. His lawman’s stare. That meant his comment about the sheets and diapers hadn’t been just to catch her up on what they’d found. This was the start of his official interview, since she’d actually seen the man who was likely responsible for murdering Sonya.

      Of course, Thea had already told him some details when Raleigh had found her on the back porch, and she had added other bits of info while they’d waited for the CSIs and ME to arrive. Obviously though, he wanted a lot more now.

      But Thea didn’t have more.

      “You should be inside the house with Yvette,” Raleigh reminded her. It wasn’t the first time he’d mentioned that. “Whoever killed Sonya is still at large, and you could be a target.”

      “So could you.” Best not to mention that the gunmen might want him dead because he was Warren’s son.

      No.

      That would only make matters worse. And as for going inside with Yvette, obviously neither of them wanted to do that, because they both stayed put.

      Thea’s heart was breaking for Yvette, since the missing baby was her biological child—a daughter, from what Sonya had told her a couple months ago—but Thea didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with Yvette just yet. Besides, she didn’t even know what to say to the woman. The only thing they could do was hope they found the baby soon, along with finding Sonya’s killer.

      “I had at least a dozen conversations with Sonya,” Thea explained to Raleigh. “I visited her here at her house three times, and not once did she ever hint that she was in any kind of danger.”

      He made a sound that could have meant anything and kept up the intense stare. He was good at it, too. Unfortunately, looking at him reminded her of other things that had nothing to do with the murder and missing baby.

      Once Raleigh had been attracted to her. Obviously not now though. There wasn’t a trace of attraction in his stormy blue eyes or on that handsome face. He was all cowboy cop now.

      “And you visited Sonya because of Hannah Neal,” he said.

      It wasn’t a question, but Thea nodded to confirm that. “Hannah was my friend, and it eats away at me that I haven’t been able to find her killer.”

      She