Page 38 of Ransom for His Secret Son

Well, maybe.

There was still that unanswered question about Christina’s possible fertility treatments.

Remi turned back to Langley. “Was Christina Turner a patient of yours?” she came out and asked.

Langley shifted uncomfortably. “I—”

Brody’s phone buzzed with an incoming text, cutting Langley off. Brody still had his phone in his hand, and for a moment Remi thought he was getting something that Langley had sent him. But his face hardened as he read it. Before he even spoke, Remi knew that it wasn’t good.

“What is it?” she asked.

Brody’s voice was low, edged with something dark and dangerous. “It’s from an unknown number.”

Remi moved closer, peering over his shoulder as he opened the message. A photo was on the screen. A baby. Small. Vulnerable. Lying in an unfamiliar crib.

Brody’s missing son.

And below it was a message. Words that shot an icy chill down her spine.

Work faster if you want to see your son. You have 24 hours, or he disappears for good.

Chapter Eleven

Brody’s grip on his phone tightened, his stomach still knotted from the photo. He forced himself to push the panic aside, to stay focused. Losing control wasn’t going to get his son back.

His gaze went to Langley. “Get out.”

Langley blinked. “What?”

“Go straight to SAPD and report the blackmail,” Brody ordered, his tone all cop. “Tell them everything you just told us. If you don’t, I’ll have you arrested for obstruction, and I’ll make sure they rip apart every financial record you have.”

Langley’s face reddened. “You can’t just—”

“Try me,” Brody cut in, his patience completely gone. “I have enough to hold you overnight at the very least. You want to explain to the media why you’re involved in an embryo-theft scandal and why you’ve been paying off a fugitive? Be my guest.”

Langley hesitated, his jaw twitching, but he wasn’t stupid. He finally let out a breath, muttering a curse before he stood. “Fine. But I don’t know anything else.”

“Then, let’s hope you’re not lying,” Brody warned him.

Langley shot one last nervous glance at Eloise before hurrying out of the room.

Brody barely waited before turning back to Eloise. “Are you behind this?”

Her bodyguard tensed, his hand sliding over his holster in a slow, deliberate movement. “Back off,” Brody ordered.

The man hesitated, assessing.

Brody stood and took a single step forward, and he didn’t hold back when it came to the glare he shot this guy. “My son’s life is at stake here,” he said, his tone cold and dangerous. “And I will take you down if it means finding him.”

The standoff stretched between them before Eloise sighed and waved a dismissive hand. “Stand down,” she told her man.

The guard relaxed some, but his eyes stayed on Brody.

Eloise turned her attention back to Brody. “I already told you, I’m not behind this.”

Brody studied her, looking for cracks in her composure. He couldn’t see them, but that didn’t mean she was telling the truth. “You’d say that either way,” he spat out.

A dry smirk crossed her lips. “Of course I would. Whoever did this has broken multiple laws. Do you really think they’d admit it?”