walked around the bedroom. Shards of glass lay over the carpet. Grant had taken the rock with him as evidence.
But he’d find nothing. Already I knew this in my gut. Whoever was behind this had covered their tracks.
Which made my job all the more difficult.
“Baby,” I said to Daphne, “you and little Joe need to sleep somewhere else tonight.”
“I’m not sleeping anywhere but next to you.”
“Of course. I’ll sleep with you. I need to move his cradle. Okay? Until we get this glass fixed, we can’t sleep in here.”
Where I slept tonight mattered little, because I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. I’d lie awake all night and watch over my wife and child.
They would never be harmed on my watch.
By noon the next day, I’d contracted someone to install bulletproof glass in all the windows in the main ranch house and the guesthouse, I’d ordered a state-of-the-art security system to be installed as soon as possible, and I’d hired a bodyguard for my wife and son. Cliff would arrive soon. He’d stay in one of our guest rooms and would be part of the household. He’d also be Daphne’s driver.
She’d balk at the intrusion, but their safety was paramount. Until I neutralized whoever or whatever was threatening them, they’d be watched and protected at all times.
Now, I perused the files in my father’s cabinet. He’d whispered the combination to his personal safe to me before he died. In the safe, I found the key to his always-locked file cabinet.
Since his death and little Joe’s birth and everything else that had occurred in the last month, I hadn’t had the time to look through the files. Now? I had to find any secrets my father might be hiding. The Future Lawmakers were not behind this attack on my child. I didn’t believe it for a minute. They were young and greedy, but they weren’t killers. They no longer needed my money, and none of them would hurt a baby. Not even Wendy.
I’d given it a lot of thought. They were businessmen, first and foremost, and hurting an innocent child would not result in any profit.
But someone had made the threats.
I’d always known the Steels had a few skeletons in their closet. Now it was time to unearth them.
These were my father’s personal files.
All the ranch files were in three other cabinets, none of them ever kept locked.
This cabinet had always been hands-off to everyone except George Steel.
What are you hiding, Dad?
I opened the top drawer. It was stuffed with hanging file folders housing thick manila files. This cabinet had four drawers. Did my father truly have this many personal files?
Apprehension gripped me as I let my hand hover over the sea of manila. Which one should I grab first? And would it lead me down a dark path from which I could never escape?
Didn’t matter.
My wife and son were depending on me to keep them safe, and if knowing what hid in these files could help accomplish that, I had to look at them.
I had no choice.
I’d turn twenty-three in a month. Not even a quarter of a century old. But I felt like I’d already lived a lifetime of threats and fears.
I had to suppress the fear.
My old man hadn’t been afraid of anything—especially not losing someone close to him.
Why? Because he’d never gotten close to anyone.
He loved my mother once, and in his own way, he loved me. He would have loved Jonah, too.
But not the way I loved Daphne and my child.
George Steel hadn’t been capable of that kind of love. I’d learned that kind of devotion from my mother.
Take a file, Brad. You’re procrastinating.
I sucked in a breath and grabbed a file folder.
None of the folders were marked, so I had to look inside to see what the file contained.
I opened the folder…and nearly lost my footing.
This file was all about me.
Chapter Forty-Four
Daphne
Little Joe had gone to sleep after his noon feeding, and I sat in the family room watching game shows. I didn’t want to think about anything serious, so Bob Barker and The Price Is Right were a nice distraction.
My mom had gone to the greenhouse with Mazie. Mom had really taken to the greenhouse. I wished she had one at home. I enjoyed the greenhouse as well, but I hadn’t gotten out there since Joe had arrived.
Belinda puttered in the kitchen.
I jerked when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it, Miss Daphne,” Belinda called.
I wasn’t expecting anyone, but I shivered anyway. I hadn’t been expecting anyone last