The Colton Ransom. Marie Ferrarella

the interim, maybe he should get over his pride, stop trying to handle this on his own and ask Faye for help, Trevor thought. She’d always been the sensible one, stable even when everything else looked as if it was just going to hell in the proverbial hand basket. She’d stepped right in not just in his case, but also when the Colton girls’ mother, Mandy, decided to take off, leaving the ranch—and them—ten years ago. It was Faye who made sure they didn’t lack for attention, didn’t feel abandoned. Faye would know what he needed to do to ensure that Avery was not just looked after, but well taken care of, too.

      After all, he didn’t just want to dump the kid. None of this was her fault. She hadn’t asked to be born, right? Trevor reflected silently. Just like he hadn’t asked to become a father.

      Life had a way of making things happen, but he didn’t have to just stand there and take it. There had to be options, decent options, he reasoned, in order to make things right.

      He and Faye would find Avery a good home and that would be the end of it.

      With his game plan roughly in place, Trevor went into his office. There was some paperwork he still needed to catch up on. It was his least favorite thing to do, but he decided that he might as well utilize the peace and quiet he found himself in while it lasted. He’d be listening to Avery howl soon enough.

      Trevor glanced at his watch and realized that at this point he’d had over two hours of sweet silence and freedom from the daunting burden of fatherhood. He wasn’t exactly eager to get caught up in it again, but on the other hand, he’d never been one to shirk his responsibilities, no matter how oppressive or annoying they might be.

      Maybe he’d be lucky and Avery would still be sleeping, although he sincerely doubted it. In the short time he’d had the infant, he couldn’t remember a single instance when Avery had slept more than ninety minutes at a clip, much less over two hours. To expect that it could go on indefinitely was just plain wishful thinking on his part and completely unrealistic.

      Trevor sighed as he pushed himself away from his desk and squared his shoulders. Time to face the music.

      Literally.

      Since Gabby was so good with kids and didn’t seem to mind being around them, maybe he’d see if he could get her to volunteer her services again—soon. Oh, he wouldn’t come out and actually ask her to mind Avery for him, but if he happened to show up somewhere in her vicinity and Avery was howling like last time, he had a pretty good hunch that Gabby would take it upon herself to put the kid—and him—out of their misery and just take over. She wasn’t the type to leave well enough alone or ignore a situation that needed remedying. He figured she had what they called a type A personality and just couldn’t help herself when it came to taking over.

      Trevor smiled to himself as he left his office and went toward the main wing of the house.

      Who knew, maybe some kind of a satisfactory arrangement could even be reached between him, Gabby and Faye regarding Avery. Then he wouldn’t have to give her up for adoption.

       Have to?

      The phrase he’d just used came echoing back to him in his head.

      Since when did he have to give the kid up for adoption? He wanted to give her up for adoption, he reminded himself.

      At least, that was what he thought he wanted.

      Damn it, the situation he was facing was getting him all jumbled up inside, he thought, annoyed with himself as well as the situation. He’d been spun around so many times, he didn’t know which way was up, which way was down anymore.

      That had to change.

      The kid was going up for adoption and that was that, he concluded. He couldn’t be a dad—who did he think he was kidding to even consider that? He never undertook anything unless he thought he had a chance of getting it right. There was no chance like that in this case. He had no example to follow, no fond memories to tap into. He certainly wasn’t about to emulate the father who’d dumped him on the Colton doorstep.

      Annoyed, Trevor blew out a breath as he came closer to the nursery. This whole thing was getting damn confusing and really way out of hand. He had to stop overthinking it. He was going to put Avery up for adoption and that was that.

      As Trevor drew closer to the closed door, nothing but a wall of silence greeted him. The corners of his mouth curved slightly.

      He assumed the kid was still asleep after all.

      That had to be a good sign. Maybe keeping her around wouldn’t be all that ba—

      His thoughts were abruptly shut down as a scream suddenly tore through the silence.

      The scream, followed by another, louder one, was coming from the nursery.

      Instantly, Trevor broke into a run before the full import of the scream and what it could mean had a chance to sink in.

      The door was unlocked and he yanked it open. The first thing he saw was Gabby on her knees in the middle of the nursery.

      Obviously struggling to regain control over herself, Gabby was staring at the body she was kneeling over. Blood pooled around the body’s upper torso and it was steadily leaching into Gabby’s jeans where she was kneeling.

      She didn’t seem to realize it.

      Drawing closer, Trevor looked at the victim’s face. His lunch swiftly rose in his throat, threatening to come out, and he felt as if someone had stuck a hot poker into his gut and was twisting it.

      The body on the floor was Faye. The short black hair she always kept so neatly was in complete disarray, a casualty of the physical struggle that had obviously taken place. Small-boned and slender, it was apparent that she had still fought like a tiger.

      And lost.

      There was no pulse when he felt for it in the woman’s neck. The expression on her lifeless face was a combination of anger and horror.

      The exact same emotions he was now feeling, multiplied by ten.

      Trevor realized that Gabby was desperately trying to stop the flow of blood from the woman’s chest with her hands. Both were covered with Faye’s blood. It was a futile undertaking.

      “She’s dead,” he told her, his tone harsher than it should have been in order to mask his own pain.

      “No, she’s not,” Gabby insisted frantically through her tears. “She’s alive.” Her tears fell, mingling with the dead woman’s blood. “We can keep her alive! Maybe if we—”

      Trevor didn’t let her finish. Instead, grasping the back of her collar, he physically pulled Gabby away from the lifeless body.

      “She’s dead,” he repeated a bit more gently this time, stepping back from his own grief and seeing the pain and tears that were in Gabby’s eyes. “There’s nothing you can do for her now,” he told her, drawing Gabby up to her feet.

      Gabby’s knees suddenly buckled, giving way. Reacting, Trevor caught her and pulled her against him without thinking. For an instant, Gabby broke down, sobbing and clutching on to him for support.

      “Who could have done this to her?” she asked between sobs. “Why would anyone want to hurt Faye? She was always so good to everyone.”

      “I don’t know,” he answered, seething. There was now an entire myriad of emotions rushing and flashing through him like so many fireworks on a collision course.

      As he stroked Gabby’s hair in an awkward attempt to comfort the sobbing woman, he looked around the rest of the room.

      And suddenly froze.

      This isn’t right.

      “Where’s the kid?” he asked Gabby sharply.

      Pulling herself together, Gabby drew her head back, blinked several times to clear her vision and then turned in the direction of the crib.

      Her