Page 28 of Juan

“What happened next was a series of trains, buses, and one very long road trip,” Adrian said.

“But before we left, Adrian picked one nurse she trusted and told her everything,” Clara said. “She worked on our behalf to find the people who helped you, then put it through the grapevine that we needed to contact you.”

“We traveled around somewhat aimlessly while nothing happened,” Adrian said. “I assume our story was being verified, though, because somewhere in Georgia, we got the information that you’d been brought to California. Whether you were still here or had left and moved somewhere else on your own, my friend couldn’t tell me, but we decided to buy an old RV to make our way west. We were in Montana when we learned you’d settled in Mystery Lake.”

“As luck would have it, on our first night here, I saw you at the Dirty Boom,” Clara said. “I’d stopped in to get us some takeout and saw you park and walk inside.”

“That’s when you left the first note on Amber’s car,” Juan said. Clara inclined her head.

“You don’t believe you’ve been followed, but do you think Anthony Ely will come after you?” Ryan asked. “After Zoe?”

“He’s the kind of man who doesn’t like to lose, and Amber slipping away would be unacceptable to him, so yes, he wouldn’t think twice about using Zoe to get back what he believes is his,” Clara said. “But you should know, Chief, that what Anthony did to Amber and Zoe isn’t the only thing that makes him human scum. We’re pretty sure he’s mixed up in something big, something ugly and dangerous.”

“Care to explain?” Ryan said.

Clara glanced at her daughter, who nodded. “Over the past year, about a dozen people have visited Anthony at his house. And within a week of those visits, someone close to them has died.”

Chapter fourteen

Amber stood at the edge of the portable crib staring at her daughter. At Zoe. It wasn’t a name she had picked out, but when Clara told her they’d chosen it because it meant “alive” and “full of life,” she decided then and there she wanted her daughter to wear the name fiercely, proudly.

A hand touched her back, and she didn’t have to look to know Spencer stood beside her. He leaned in and brushed a kiss across her shoulder. “How are you?” he whispered.

“Better. Now that she’s here. Now that I understand what happened.” She paused as Zoe flopped onto her belly and tucked her knees underneath her, raising her little behind in the air. Spencer chuckled softly at the sight, and Amber smiled as the rightness of it all settled over her.

“Clara and Adrian are…” She couldn’t even think of a word to describe them. Angels, fairy godmothers, miracle workers?

“Happy,” Spencer said. She looked over her shoulder. “They are happy to have done what they did to save her, raise her, and bring her to you.”

Tears of gratitude welled in her eyes. Again. Both women were happy. And that they’d done so much to make Amber a part of Zoe’s life from day one pulled an emotion from her so raw that it went past thought to something deeply primal. “They are remarkable. I don’t know how I, we, got so lucky.”

He inclined his head. “They are that. Do you want to go downstairs and hear the rest of what they have to say while Zoe naps?”

No, she didn’t want to go downstairs where everyone waited for them. Staying right where she was and watching Zoe sleep sounded like a much better plan. But despite having her daughter in her arms, in her life, a long road stretched in front of her. In front of them. A road they started down today, but she sensed that what Clara and Adrian had left to say was critical to the route they’d decide to take next.

Zoe’s demand for another snack had paused all talk. Then nap time took precedence. But if there was anything to the claims Clara made about Anthony being involved in some sort of murder scheme, Amber wanted to know. She’d eventually have to confront Anthony about custody, and she wanted all the ammunition she could gather.

Of course, custody wasn’t the only thing that needed to be sorted out. Zoe had no birth certificate. Amber couldn’t begin to figure out how to rectify that without alerting Anthony. She also didn’t know if Clara or Adrian had broken any major laws. She wouldn’t let either of them suffer for being the Samaritans they were.

And then there was the mountain to climb of her and Zoe getting to know each other.

She sighed. “I want to stay here, but I have a feeling that if Clara is right in her assertions, the sooner we figure it out, the sooner we can focus on what really matters.”

He slipped his arm around her waist. “You are amazing.”

She turned, setting her hands on his chest, feeling the heat of his body and the beat of his heart. Strong and steady, like the man. “Thank you.”

He frowned. “For?”

“You are more than my friend, but for being my friend.”

“You have a lot of friends in your corner now. And many of them are powerful,” he said, likely referring to HICC.

“Yes,” she agreed, grounded in the knowledge that she wasn’t alone. Whatever came next, she had friends and allies. “But you’re the only one I want to do this with. The only one I want to have his arms around me, to hold me, to help keep me together.”

A soft smile tipped the right side of his mouth. “I’m glad to hear that. It might cause a problem otherwise.”

Her gaze jerked to his. His lips might be smiling, but his eyes told another story. Intent, serious, and something else shadowed the green depths. Something not quite fear but acquainted with it. Hope, perhaps.