Page 74 of Off Limits Daddy

I pulled out all my information about the stolen social security numbers, and sure enough, all the children were through offices under her area of control. I still had no direct tie between her and Wally Creighton except that for some reason, he was still a licensed foster parent. Plus, she’d been so insistent that Aiden be moved out of Duncan’s home. Was the two-parent home she wanted to send him to back to Wally and his wife?

"Got word about Jonny Walters," agent Matthews said.

I looked up, not realizing he had approached my desk. "Yes. Detective Riker said he would let me know the results of the autopsy."

"Well, with the threat of Aiden Brennan's kidnapping gone, I removed the agents who were watching Mr. Ashworth's home."

I shot up from my chair. "What? No. Jonny might've tried to kidnap Aiden, but not for himself. It was ordered by Creighton."

"We don't know that. We don't even know how Mr. Walters died. Maybe he felt guilty. Or maybe he was afraid of getting caught and he killed himself."

I gave my supervisor a pointed stare. "You know this has to be related."

He shook his head. "I don't know anything. We might have hunches or theories, but we don't have any proof. We can't afford to continue to have agents watching the house to protect the child when the person who tried to get the child is now deceased."

I pressed my fingertips into the sockets of my eyes. I felt like everything in my life was unraveling. Not just my personal life, but my professional one as well. The walls of protection I was trying to erect around Aiden and Duncan were falling, and I was terrified I was going to fail.

"Please, I need more time—" My phone rang on my desk. I was going to ignore it except I saw that it was Detective Riker. Hopefully, he'd tell me that Jonny was murdered and that somehow, they were able to link Wally to it. I picked up the phone and answered it. "Agent Marsden."

"I wasn't sure if you're aware or not, but I’m at Duncan Ashworth's home. We got a call about gunfire."

My blood turned icy cold. "What happened?"

"We found Mr. Ashworth, two gunshots to the chest."

My knees turned to jelly. I sank down into the chair.

"We can't find the boy."

My hands shook. I had failed. "Are you at the house?"

"Yes."

"I'll be right there." Somehow, I found the strength to stand and grab my coat. "Someone shot Duncan Ashworth and Aiden Brennan is missing." I gave my supervisor a hard look. “Turns out they needed those guards after all."

He opened his mouth to say something, but I wasn't going to stick around to listen. I drove like a maniac to Duncan's, skidding to a stop in the driveway and running up to the front of the brownstone.

A policeman stepped in my way, but I had my badge out. "I want to see Detective Riker."

He let me by and I entered the house. Just inside the doorway was a pool of blood. Everything inside me went cold. Except for the crushing guilt, I felt numb. "Where's Duncan?"

"He's on his way to the hospital. I can't tell you his prognosis. A neighbor says she saw a woman visit. They indicate it's the first woman they've seen here in a long time except for you." He cocked his head to the side. "They said you were engaged to him."

I nodded and left it at that. Now wasn't the time to explain the arrangement I had made with Duncan. An arrangement that could have gone from fake to real if I’d been brave enough to trust him.

"He has a sophisticated security system here. There must be video."

"Already on it. Listen, the neighbor who saw the woman come to the door also said that she didn't leave with the child."

My heart leapt up to my throat. "But you don't know where he is?"

"No. Would you have any ideas?"

In fact, I did. I wondered if Duncan had time to call out the codeword or Aiden had seen or overheard what happened and knew what to do. "Give me a minute."

I moved through the foyer and down the hall to the door to the garage. As I descended the steps, I picked up my pace, my heart filling with hope that Aiden was hiding and safe even as I despaired over Duncan's situation. I couldn’t do anything for Duncan now except make sure his son was safe and protected.

I entered the garage and immediately headed toward Duncan's SUV. As I approached the door, I said, "Aiden? Aiden, it's Veronica." I wanted him to know that it was me and not someone else coming to find him.