Page 28 of Her Baby, Her Badge

“And yet you didn’t show any signs of it,” Dutton remarked, watching her hand move over their baby. “No sign of hormones and pregnancy,” he joked, repeating Wilson’s childish insult.

One corner of her mouth lifted, just as he’d hoped it would. Dutton wanted to lighten this moment for her and wished he could take all of her stress onto his own shoulders.

Grace reached out, took his hand and placed it on her stomach. It felt odd to touch her, especially since they’d spent the last five months making sure there was no physical contact between them. But there was contact now, not just with Grace and him. Dutton also felt the slight thumps of the baby.

His breath went thin, and he got a surge of…well, he wasn’t sure, but it felt good. For something so small, it certainly packed a punch, and in that moment, Dutton understood why parents gushed about their kids.

He looked at Grace and saw that she was smiling. He got that. She was able to feel these little miracle kicks even when dealing with a pain like Wilson. Even when things seemed so dangerous and uncertain.

His gaze automatically dropped to her mouth, and Dutton had to fight the overwhelming urge to kiss her. It was an urge he might not have been able to suppress had her phone not rang.

Grace sighed but then also seemed a little relieved. He got that. A kiss would feel amazing, but it would skyrocket the uncertainty and maybe cause them to lose focus.

She took out her phone and glanced at the screen before she answered it. “It’s Larry Crandall,” she said.

He was the head CSI who’d been working the crime scenes by the ranch, so Dutton was very much interested in this call. Thankfully, Grace put it on speaker.

“Sheriff Granger, this is Larry,” the CSI greeted her. “We found something.”

CHAPTER NINE

Grace realized she was holding her breath. And hoping. Because she really wanted the CSI to tell her that they’d just gotten a huge break in the investigation and could now find the killer.

“What did you find?” Grace asked.

“Fibers caught on a splinter in the fence post. They haven’t been here long and don’t match the rope or anything the victim was wearing,” Larry said. “It’s possible it’s from the killer or maybe the carpet or floor mats in the killer’s vehicle. They’re gray,” he added.

Grace’s mind began to whirl with possibilities. She didn’t need a search warrant to glance through the windows of the suspects’ vehicles and see the color of the carpet.

“Obviously, I’ll get these to the lab right away,” Larry assured her. “And while I’ve got you on the phone, the team out at your house found some tire tracks in the mud on the trail behind your house.”

She knew which one he meant. It was only about twenty yards away and was hidden in some trees. But Grace had to mentally shake her head.

“The stabbed woman came from the front of the house,” Grace said.

“Yes, and there are no unusual tracks there. Just the ones from the cruisers. I guess it’s possible the killer dropped her off toward the front of your house and then parked on the trail.”

That made sense, but it also meant the woman’s blood would likely be in the vehicle the killer was driving.

Grace thanked Larry for the info, and the moment she hung up, she fired off a text to Eden to ask her to have Brian’s car impounded and examined. That was the easiest of the three since it was in the parking lot. Checking the carpet in Cassie’s vehicle wouldn’t be that hard, either. Wilson’s, though, would be tricky.

“You want me to have my PI check and see if any of our suspects rented a vehicle?” Dutton asked.

She nearly smiled but didn’t repeat her comment about him sounding like a cop. Because she was stretching her deputies thin, she nearly took him up on his offer, but she had a different task in mind.

“Could your PI go to the county sheriff’s office and take a discreet look at the carpet inside Wilson’s vehicle?” she asked. “And maybe a glance inside the other cruisers as well? Discreet,” she repeated. “Nothing illegal. If I send a deputy, someone there might recognize them and report back to Wilson.”

“Let sleeping dogs lie,” he muttered while he composed a text, no doubt to his PI. “Or maybe this is more like not poking a rattlesnake with a short stick.”

Grace nodded. “If Wilson is the killer, then enraging him might provoke him into committing another murder. He has a very short fuse, and I’d rather not set it off.”

Dutton gave his own nod and was finishing up the text when there was a knock at the door. A moment later, Rory came in.

“Just wanted you to know that the EMTs are here with Brian,” Rory said. “He didn’t refuse the exam.”

“Good. And the lawyer?” she asked.

“Not here yet, but I did just call the hospital to see if there was any change in Georgia’s condition. She had to go in for a second round of surgery for internal bleeding.”

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